Diacope (/daɪˈækəpi/ dy-AK-ə-pee) is a rhetorical term meaning repetition of a word or phrase that is broken up by a single intervening word, or a small number of intervening words.[1][2] It derives from a Greek word diakopḗ,[3][4] which means "cut in two".[5][6] Diacopae (or diacopes) is used in writing to emphasize or describe something. Like other forms of repetition, diacope helps express strong emotions, or help give weight to the repeated word.[7]

Types of Diacope

Diacope can be utilized in three ways in writing. They are:

  1. Vocative Diacope: In this type of diacope, the repeated words are separated by nouns that are directly addressed. The noun must address something, or someone.
  2. Elaborative Diacope: Here an adjective is used between the repeated words to enhance the meaning of the repeated word.
  3. Extended Diacope: Sometimes a word is repeated thrice for even more emphasis.[8]

Examples

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

The first line in the poem not to deploy diacope is the one about death being "a pause."

  • "In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these." — Paul Harvey. This is also an example of an epanalepsis.
  • "Keeps going and going and going." — Energizer Slogan (Example of Extended Diacope)
  • "I am dying, Egypt, dying" — Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV, Scene 15. (Example of Vocative Diacope)
  • "You held me down, but I got up (hey) Already brushing off the dust You hear my voice, you hear that sound Like thunder, gonna shake the ground You held me down, but I got up (hey) Get ready 'cause I've had enough I see it all, I see it now"

Here, the repetition of "You held me down, but I got up" emphasizes the main idea of the song. This shows the existence of diacope in pop culture.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Phillips, Edward (1720). The New World of Words Or Universal English Dictionary Containing and Account of the Original Or Proper Sense and Various Significations of All Hard Words Derived from Other Languages. J. Phillips.
  2. ↑ Walker, John (1874). Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language, Adapted to the Present State of Literature and Science. Simpkin, Marshall.
  3. ↑ "Diacope - Examples and Definition of Diacope". Literary Devices. 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  4. ↑ "Mining Rhetorical Devices by means of Natural Language Processing" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "Diacope," by Richard Nordquist. Accessed 24 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Want to get noticed at the workplace? These word tricks are all you need - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  7. ↑ "Diacope: Definition and Examples". Literary Terms. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  8. ↑ MasterClass (August 4, 2021). "Understanding Diacope: Definition and Examples of Diacope". MasterClass. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  9. ↑ Marks, Leo (1998). Between Silk and Cyanide. New York: The Free Press (Simon and Schuster). p. 454. ISBN 0-684-86422-3.
  10. ↑ "Diacope: Definition and Examples". Literary Terms. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2023-12-02.


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