Adnomination

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The repetition of words derived from the same root for rhetorical effect.

Detailed Definition
Adnomination is the rhetorical repetition of words with the same root or etymological origin within close proximity, creating semantic resonance and emphasis; for example, “hope” and “hopeful” in adjacent lines reinforce a theme through lexical kinship, enriching texture without exact repetition.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s “double, double toil and trouble” uses adnomination for incantatory effect; adnomination in Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “sprung rhythm” repeats root sounds (“dapple-dawn-drawn”); Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” echoes “treading–treading”; adnomination enhances musicality through semantic and phonetic repetition
Additional Notes
Wordplay using similar-sounding words for rhetorical effect. Related to paronomasia and polyptoton. Common in Renaissance verse for wit and emphasis.
Other Meanings of “Adnomination”
Also Known As
Word play repetition Nominal wordplay Name variation Etymological pun Paronomasia
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