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Lexical repetition

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

Intentional repetition of significant words or phrases to reinforce theme, create rhythm, or establish cohesion across a poetic composition.

Detailed Definition
Lexical repetition involves the deliberate reuse of specific words or phrases to create rhythm, emphasis, or thematic resonance; unlike anaphora (line-beginning repetition), it can occur anywhere in the text, building incantatory power or obsessive focus, as in Whitman’s catalogs or Ginsberg’s liturgical lists.
Example
Example in poetry:
Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” uses lexical repetition: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”; Emily Dickinson’s “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—” repeats “Blue” for emphasis; Contemporary poet Tracy K. Smith’s “The United States Welcomes You” repeats “Open your mouths” as lexical repetition; Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” uses lexical repetition: “I, I, I, I”; Langston Hughes’ “Harlem” repeats “What happens to a dream deferred?”; Ocean Vuong’s “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong” repeats “Ocean” for self-address.
Additional Notes
Repeating specific words for emphasis, structure, or incantatory effect. Related to anaphora, epistrophe, and refrain. Differs from synonymic repetition. Study tip: Distinguish deliberate repetition from redundancy.
Also Known As
Word repetition Lexical echo Vocabulary return Term recurrence Related-word scheme
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