Diacope

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet famously announces the following extended diacope: "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

Diacope (/daɪˈækəpi/ dy-AK-ə-pee) is a rhetorical term consisting of the repetition of a word or phrase separated up by a single intervening word or short phrase. It derives from a Greek word diakopḗ, which means "cut in two". Diacopes (or diacopae) are used for emphasis— specifically on the repeated phrase— and expressing strong emotions.

Types of diacopes

There are three types of diacopes:

  1. Vocative diacopes involve the intervening phrase being a noun of address; for example, "Yeah, baby, yeah" from Austin Powers (baby is vocative in this context).: 72 
  2. Elaborative diacopes involve an explanatory word as part of the intervening phrase to enhance the repeated phrase's meaning; for example, the line "O Captain! My Captain!" from Walt Whitman's eponymous poem.: 72 
  3. Extended diacopes involve the repeated phrase being reiterated more than twice. While non-extended diacopes take on the form ABA, extended diacopes can use other variations; many of which use the AABA form as in Juliet's soliloquy in Romeo and Juliet: "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?": 73 

Rhetorical use

Diacope can be used to emphasize be placed on the repeated word. Additionally, it can create strong emotional impact and sense of urgency or insistency, especially if the repeated word is emotionally impactful. For example, The Cardigans' "Lovefool's" chorus has an extended diacope— "Love me. Love me. Say that you love me—" which strengthens the listener's emotional resonance with the speaker and emphasizes the song's chorus as an increasingly-urgent plea. This can additionally be used for persuasion.

Diacopes can also provide rhythm to the text.

Examples

The following are examples of vocative diacopes:

The following are examples of elaborative diacopes:

The following are examples of extended diacopes:

Leo Marks's poem "The Life That I Have", memorably used in the film Odette, is an extended example of diacope:

The life that I have
Is all that I have
And the life that I have
Is yours.
The love that I have
Of the life that I have
Is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have
A rest I shall have
Yet death will be but a pause.
For the peace of my years
In the long green grass
Will be yours and yours and yours.

The first line in the poem not to deploy diacope is the one about death being "a pause."

See also

References

  1. ↑ Phillips, Edward (1720). The New World of Words Or Universal English Dictionary Containing and Account of the Original Or Proper Sense and Various Significations of All Hard Words Derived from Other Languages. J. Phillips.
  2. ↑ Walker, John (1874). Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language, Adapted to the Present State of Literature and Science. Simpkin, Marshall.
  3. 1 2 3 "Diacope - Examples and Definition of Diacope". Literary Devices. 2016-04-11. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  4. ↑ "Mining Rhetorical Devices by means of Natural Language Processing" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "Diacope," by Richard Nordquist. Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 24 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Want to get noticed at the workplace? These word tricks are all you need - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  7. 1 2 "Diacope: Definition and Examples". Literary Terms. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2023-12-02.
  8. 1 2 3 MasterClass (August 4, 2021). "Understanding Diacope: Definition and Examples of Diacope". MasterClass. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 Forsyth, Mark (2013). "Diacope". The Elements of Eloquence. ISBN 9780425276181.
  10. ↑ "Diacope". LitCharts. Retrieved July 21, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ↑ Marks, Leo (1998). Between Silk and Cyanide. New York: The Free Press (Simon and Schuster). p. 454. ISBN 0-684-86422-3.