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Aposiopesis

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

Aposiopesis is a rhetorical break where speech halts abruptly, implying overwhelming emotion, suspense, or intentional omission.

Detailed Definition
Aposiopesis is a rhetorical break in speech where the speaker halts mid-sentence, implying overwhelming emotion, uncertainty, or unspeakable horror; in poetry, it creates dramatic tension and invites reader inference, as in Shakespeare’s “I will have revenges on you both / That all the world—” (King Lear).
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespeare’s Mark Antony: “O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts, / And men have lost their reason—”; Emily Dickinson: “I could not see to see—”; Aposiopesis breaks speech mid-thought to show overwhelm; in “King Lear,” Lear cries “I will have such revenges on you both...”; contemporary example: Claudia Rankine writes “What did you say?—” to convey racial shock; this rhetorical break implies unspeakable emotion or threat.
Additional Notes
Deliberate breaking off mid-sentence for dramatic effect, indicated by dash or ellipsis. Greek for "falling silent." Related to ellipsis but more sudden. Creates suspense or suggests emotion too strong for words.
Other Meanings of “Aposiopesis”
Also Known As
Sudden break Deliberate silence Trailing off Unfinished thought
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