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Multiple zeugma

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 use of a single word governing several others differently, creating wit, ambiguity, or compression

Detailed Definition
Multiple zeugma is a rhetorical figure where a single word (often a verb or preposition) governs or modifies two or more other words in different, often incongruous ways within the same sentence; in poetry, this creates wit, surprise, or layered meaning, as in “She broke his car and his heart,” where “broke” applies literally and figuratively.
Example
Example in poetry:
Applying one verb to multiple subjects in different senses; “He stole her heart and her jewels”; “She broke the silence and the glass”; “He took his leave and her smile”
Additional Notes
A rhetorical device in which a single verb governs multiple subjects or objects in different and often incongruous senses simultaneously, adding wit, compression, and syntactic surprise. Related to zeugma and syllepsis. Contrasts with simple zeugma (one pair). Study Pope's use for comic effect. Learners should write zeugma chains of three or four objects to practice expanding the device while maintaining grammatical coherence.
Also Known As
Compound zeugma Multiple yoking Serial syntactic linkage Polyzeugma Hypozeuxis
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