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metaphoric jump

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 sudden, associative leap between disparate images or ideas to forge a striking or unexpected metaphorical connection.

Detailed Definition
Metaphoric jump is a sudden, unexpected shift from one figurative domain to another within a single image or line, generating surprise or cognitive dissonance; this technique, favored by metaphysical poets and modernists, energizes metaphor through incongruity and imaginative leaps.
Example
Example in poetry:
Comparing a human heart not just to a clock, but to a 'ticking time bomb' in a single leap of association; Moving from describing a river's movement to immediately calling it 'the history of silence' without intermediate steps; Describing a simple kiss as 'the Big Bang of all future sorrows,' making a vast and immediate conceptual jump; A quick shift from a minor object to a grand, unexpected abstract idea: 'The dust motes settled, a universe of forgotten errands.'
Additional Notes
A sudden, often jarring, leap between two images or concepts in a metaphor, requiring the reader to make a significant mental effort to connect them; a technique of high imaginative intensity.
Also Known As
Metaphor leap figurative leap imagistic jump Associative leap
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