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chiasmatic phrase

Phrase
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 structure following an ABBA pattern, mirroring concepts or words

Detailed Definition
Chiasmatic phrases create symmetry and emphasis through inverted repetition; common in biblical and classical poetry, they frame central truths at the crossing point, using form to underscore thematic or spiritual equilibrium.
Example
Example in poetry:
To speak is to wound; to wound is to remember; to remember is to speak—the syntax folds inward like a Möbius strip; Love destroys, and destruction loves; He who seeks peace finds war, and he who wages war craves peace; Power corrupts, and corruption empowers; In silence I heard my voice; in voice, I found silence.
Additional Notes
Chiasmatic phrases follow an ABBA pattern: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country”; they create symmetry and intellectual resonance; used by Milton, Frost, and biblical poets to mirror ideas; structure lines as mirror images: “I lost her, and she lost me”; avoid forced symmetry—clarity must prevail; related to antithetical phrase and parallelism; powerful in epigrams, aphorisms, and concluding stanzas.
Also Known As
chiasmus inverted parallelism
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