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Zeugma as a Figure of Speech

Lecture



Zeugma — a figure of speech consisting in the fact that a word which forms syntactic combinations of the same type with other words in a sentence is used in only one of these combinations, while being omitted in the others

Zeugma (Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα “zeugma,” literally “yoking,” “connection”) — a figure of speech consisting in the fact that a word which forms syntactic combinations of the same type with other words in a sentence is used in only one of these combinations, while being omitted in the others (The nobleman is honored behind the lattice of his tower, the merchant — in his shop (Pushkin, “Scenes from the Age of Chivalry”) — the word honored is used here only once, and is understood the second time). In traditional ancient rhetoric, zeugma was not associated with the notion of a violation of logical and semantic connections; in modern rhetoric, however, it is often assumed that zeugma rests on a violation of the law of logical identity (Rain fell, and a detachment of Red Army men, Today in the Kremlin the president received a representative of the OSCE and a military doctrine). Such a view of zeugma as a stylistic error goes back to the works of Adolf Knoch. Depending on the position of the “common” word, one distinguishes protozeugma (common word at the beginning), mesozeugma (common word in the middle), and hypozeugma (common word at the end).


See also

Figures of speech
Figures

Adynaton • Allusion • Amplification • Anadiplosis • Anacoluthon • Anaphora • Antithesis • Antitheton • Apocope • Apostrophe • Attraction • Asyndeton • Hyperbaton •Homeoteleuton • Gradation (Climax, Anticlimax) • Distinctio • Zeugma • Isocolon • Nominative of Theme • Inversion • Correctio • Mesarchia •Polycasus (Polyptoton) • Polysyndeton • Oxymoron • Parallelism • Paronomasia • Parcellation • Periphrasis • Pleonasm • Prolepsis • Retardation •Rhetorical Question • Rhetorical Exclamation • Rhetorical Address • Symploce • Solecism • Tautology • Exact Repetition • Aposiopesis • Chiasmus • Exergasia •Ellipsis • Emphasis • Epiphora

Tropes

Allegory • Antiphrasis • Asteism • Antonomasia • Hyperbole • Dysphemism • Irony • Pun • Catachresis • Litotes • Meiosis • Metaphor • Metonymy • Personification •Pathos • Periphrasis • Sarcasm • Synecdoche • Simile • Euphemism • Epithet

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created: 2020-11-01
updated: 2026-03-09
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Lectures and tutorial on "Rhetoric"

Terms: Rhetoric