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Epanalepsis

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 the initial word or phrase of a clause at its end

Detailed Definition
Epanalepsis is a rhetorical figure in which the beginning of a clause or sentence is repeated at its end, creating a circular, emphatic structure that underscores a central idea or emotion; in poetry, this device reinforces thematic obsession or psychological fixation, as in Tennyson’s “Break, break, break, / On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!” where the repetition of “break” not only mimics wave motion but also conveys unrelenting grief, making the form itself an echo of the speaker’s internal state.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Blood hath bought blood, and blows have answer’d blows” (Shakespeare); “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.” (Star Wars, poetic in rhythm); Emily Dickinson: “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, / And mourners, to and fro”; Epanalepsis reinforces key ideas through repetition at sentence start and end.
Additional Notes
Epanalepsis is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and end of a clause or line (e.g., “Blood has bought blood”); it creates emphasis, circularity, or haunting resonance.
Other Meanings of “Epanalepsis”
Also Known As
Framing repetition Bookend words Beginning-ending echo Cyclical repetition Épanalepse Circular repetition
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