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Anacoluthon

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

A rhetorical device involving an abrupt syntactic break or shift in grammatical structure mid-sentence, creating expressive disjunction.

Detailed Definition
Anacoluthon is a syntactic discontinuity where a sentence shifts grammatical structure mid-utterance, often used in poetry to mimic thought processes, convey urgency, or express emotional turmoil; it creates tension between expectation and disruption, as in dramatic monologues.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s King Lear: “I will have such revenges on you both... / No, I’ll not weep” demonstrates Anacoluthon—abrupt syntactic shift reflecting emotional rupture; Emily Dickinson’s “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” uses Anacoluthon to mirror cognitive collapse; modernist poets like Mina Loy employ Anacoluthon to fracture logical discourse; Anacoluthon appears in stream-of-consciousness poetry to mimic thought processes; the device conveys psychological intensity through grammatical instability
Additional Notes
Grammatical break or shift mid-sentence creating discontinuity. Related to aposiopesis and syntax disruption. Can indicate emotion, interruption, or thought break. Modernists use deliberately. See Eliot's fragmented syntax.
Other Meanings of “Anacoluthon”
Also Known As
Grammatical shift Syntactic break Sentence disruption
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