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commutative figure

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 metaphor or simile where the terms of comparison are reversible or symmetric

Detailed Definition
Commutative figure is a rhetorical device where the order of words, clauses, or images is deliberately reversed or permuted to reveal new meanings, ironies, or symmetries; by treating language as a set of interchangeable elements—such as “love is blind” becoming “blind is love”—the poet exploits syntactic flexibility to challenge assumptions and generate interpretive multiplicity through structural inversion.
Example
Example in poetry:
In metaphor, “time is a thief” and “a thief is time” demonstrate commutative figure by reversing tenor and vehicle; In parallelism, “The sea roars; the wind howls” shows commutative figure through interchangeable natural forces; In kennings, “whale-road” and “sea-path” are commutative figures for ocean; In proverbs, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” and “Two in the bush are worth less than one in the hand” illustrate commutative figure through logical reversal.
Additional Notes
commutative figure: A figure of speech where elements can switch places without altering meaning; emphasizes symmetry and reversibility.
Also Known As
Exchangeable figure Replaceable trope Commutative trope Commutative metaphor
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