Antanaclasis
Inrhetoric,antanaclasis(/æntəˈnækləsɪs,ˌæntænəˈklæsɪs/;from theGreek:ἀντανάκλασις,antanáklasis,meaning "reflection",[1]fromἀντίanti,"against",ἀνάana,"up" and κλάσιςklásis"breaking" ) is the literarytropein which a single word or phrase is repeated, but in two different senses.[2]Antanaclasis is a common type ofpun,and like other kinds of pun, it is often found inslogans.[3]
Examples[edit]
- I'm not abusinessman,I'm abusiness, man— Lyrics byJay-Zfrom "Diamonds From Sierra Leone"byKanye West
- Your argument issound,nothing butsound.—Benjamin Franklin.The wordsoundin the first instance means "solid" or "reasonable". The second instance ofsoundmeans "noise".[4][5]
- Although we'reapart,you're stilla partof me. — Lyrics from "Blueberry Hill"byFats Domino.[3]
- Time isn'twasted,when you're gettingwasted.— Lyrics from "I Love College"byAsher Roth
- Real sugar,sweetas asweetcan be — Lyrics from "Real Sugar"byRoxette
- And meet me in thejohn,John,meet me in thejohn,John.— Lyrics from "My Bag"byLloyd Cole and the Commotions.
- “In Genua, someone set out to makedreamscome true... Remember some of yourdreams?”–Sir Terry Pratchett.[6]The first usage ofdreamsrefers to aspirations or desires, while the second refers to literal dreams.
- In Genesis 40:13 and 40:19, Joseph interprets two dreams and uses "lift up your head" to deliver two messages—one positive and the other, negative—to the two prisoners.[7]
- The wordthatis repeated five times in the sentenceThat that is is that that is not is not is that it it is,which has various meanings, depending on how it is punctuated.
- Hadis repeated eleven times in the sentenceJames while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher,which can be read differently depending on punctuation and intonation.
- Buffalois repeated eight times, and has three different meanings (a city,an animal,anda verb), in "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo".
- The Chinese poem "Shī-shì shí shī shǐ"(" Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den ") byYuen Ren Chao.The words are written differently in the original language (Classical Chinese), and are pronounced as the same syllable (some with different tones) when read aloud in modernStandard Mandarin.
- Do you want theAladeennews or theAladeennews? — Doctor inThe Dictator.[8]
Shakespeare[edit]
- Put out thelight,then put out thelight.— FromOthello.Othello utters these words to himself as he entersDesdemona's chamber while she sleeps, intending to murder her. The first instance of put the light out means he will quench the candle, and the second instance means he will end the life of Desdemona.[4]
- I willdissemblemyself in't; and I would I were the first that everdissembledin such a gown. — InTwelfth Night,the foolFeste,wheredissemblechanges from "disguise" to "act hypocritically".[9][10]
- Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thyWill
AndWillto boot, andWillin overplus... —Shakespeare'sSonnet 135.The speaker is named Will, but the woman he is addressing has another lover who is also named Will. In this sonnet, the word will is used thirteen times, meaning "William", "sexual desire", "penis", or "vagina", depending on the context (and it usually means more than one of these things at once).[11][12] - Shall this hismockmockout of their dear husbands,Mockmothers from their sons,mockcastles down — fromHenry V,King Henry utters four times the word mock to express two different meanings of 'mock' - one is 'to cheat' another is 'to taunt'.[13][14]
Witticisms[edit]
- "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"is an example of agarden path sentence– the first half of the sentence misleads the reader into parsing the second half incorrectly. The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, but differing versions of it have appeared in print since the 1960s.
- Benjamin Franklin,at the signing of theDeclaration of Independence,is reported to have said: "We must, indeed, allhangtogether, or assuredly we shall allhangseparately ".[15]However, the phrase has also been attributed toRichard PenninAlexander Graydon'sMemoirs of a Life,[16]and appeared inFrederic Reynolds' playLife,first published in 1801.[17]
- In an essay entitled "The Literati of New York City",Edgar Allan Poewrote ofGeorge B. Cheever:"He is much better known, however, as the editor ofTheCommonplace Bookof American Poetry,a work which has at least the merit of not belying its title, andisexceedingly commonplace ".[18][19]
- The American football coachVince Lombardionce told his team: "If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired, with enthusiasm".[4]
Advertising[edit]
- Thelongcigarette that'slongon flavor ". —Pall Mallcigarettes[5]
- We make the traveler'slotaloteasier. —Overseas National Airways[5]
Responding to questions[edit]
Antanaclases are prevalent in humorousparaprosdokiansemployed when responding to a question. For example, in response to the question "how are you two?", an Israeli (Modern Hebrew) speaker can say בסדר גמור; היא בסדר, אני גמורbe-séder gamúr; hí be-séder, aní gamúr,literally "in-order complete; she in-order, I complete", i.e. "We are very good. She is good, I am finished".[20]: 88 Note the ambiguity of the Israeli lexical item גמורgamúr:it means both "complete" and "finished".[20]: 88 A parallel punning paraprosdokian in English is a man's response to a friend's questionWhy are you and your wife here?:Aworkshop;I amworking, she isshopping.[20]: 88
Latin literature[edit]
- The Roman poetLucretiusinDe rerum naturaBook 3 line 365 observes that we sometimes find ourselves temporarily blinded by bright objects because "lumina luminibus quia nobis praepediuntur" (because our eyes are impeded by the lights), taking advantage of the fact that in Latin the same word can mean both "eye" and "light".
See also[edit]
- Equivocation,used as a logical fallacy
- Figure of speech
- List of linguistic example sentences
- Polyptoton
- Pun
- Rhetoric
- Zeugma
Footnotes[edit]
- ^Antanaklasis,Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott,A Greek-English Lexicon,at Perseus project
- ^Dupriez, Bernard Marie (1991).A Dictionary of Literary Devices: Gradus, A-Z.University of Toronto Press. p.44.ISBN9780802068033.
- ^abCorbett and Connors, 1999. p.62-63
- ^abcMy English Pages. Retrieved 09 June, 2018.https:// myenglishpages /site_php_files/writing-antanaclasis.php
- ^abcCorbett and Connors, 1999. p.63
- ^Pratchett, Terry (1991).Witches Abroad.London: Victor Gollancz Ltd.ISBN0-575-04980-4.
- ^Noegel, Scott (2013). Khan, Geoffrey (ed.).Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics.Polysemy: Brill.ISBN978-9004176423.
- ^THE DICTATOR - HIV Aladeen - YouTube. Retrieved 28 April, 2024.https:// youtube /watch?v=NYJ2w82WifU
- ^Shakespeare, William.Twelfth Night.Act IV, scene II, lines 5-6.
- ^Keller, Stefan Daniel (2004).The Development of Shakespeare's Rhetoric.Tübingen: Francke. p. 72.ISBN3772083242.
- ^Sparknotes. Retrieved 09 June, 2018.http://nfs.sparknotes /sonnets/sonnet_135.html
- ^Kennedy, 2006. p. 123
- ^Shakespeare, William (2005-07-21).King Henry V.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-84792-6.
- ^"Antanaclasis - Definition and Examples of Antanaclasis".Literary Devices.2014-05-05.Retrieved2021-04-04.
- ^Sparks, Jared (1840).The Works of Benjamin Franklin, with Notes and a Life of the Author by J. Sparks.Oxford University. p. 408.
- ^Graydon, Alexander(1811).Memoirs of a Life, Chiefly Passed in Pennsylvania.John Wyeth.p.116.
- ^Reynolds, Frederic (1811)."Life".In Mrs. Inchbald (ed.).Volume 1: The Will, The Rage, Life, How to Grow Rich, Notoriety.The Modern Theatre: A Collection of Successful Modern Plays. Longmans, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. p. 176.
- ^Poe, Edgar Allan (June 1846)."The Literati of New York City — No. II".Godey's Lady's Book.32:266–272.
- ^Zimmerman, Brett (2005).Edgar Allan Poe: Rhetoric and Style([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 129–130.ISBN0773528997.
- ^abcZuckermann, Ghil'ad(2020).Revivalistics: From the Genesis of Israeli to Language Reclamation in Australia and Beyond.New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN9780199812790.
Sources[edit]
- Baldrick, Chris.2008.Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms.Oxford University Press. New York.ISBN978-0-19-920827-2
- Corbett, Edward P. J.and Connors, Robert J. 1999.Style and Statement.Oxford University Press. New York, Oxford.ISBN0-19-511543-0
- Forsyth, Mark.2014.The Elements of Eloquence.Berkley Publishing Group/Penguin Publishing. New York.ISBN978-0-425-27618-1
- Kennedy, X.J.et al. 2006.The Longman Dictionary of Literary Terms: Vocabulary for the Informed Reader.Pearson, Longman. New York.ISBN0-321-33194-X
External links[edit]
The dictionary definition ofantanaclasisat Wiktionary
