 | This article includes a list of general
references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding
inline citations. (March 2017) |
Figura etymologica is a rhetorical figure in which words with the same etymological derivation are used in the same passage. [1] To count as a figura etymologica, it is necessary that the two words be genuinely different words and not just different inflections of the same word. For example, the sentence Once I loved, but I love no more is not a figura etymologica since although love and loved are obviously etymologically related, they are really just inflections of the same word.
Examples in modern English are the phrases " might and main" (both of which are derived from the Proto-Indo-European root megʰ-) and " chai tea", in which both come from words for tea (cha and te) in different Chinese dialects.
The figura etymologica has both a narrower and a broader definition. In the narrower definition, it is restricted to the use of the accusative with cognate verbs (for example, live a good life, sing a long song, die a quiet death). In the Western medieval tradition, it is often expressed in phrases like to sail a sailing, to run a running, or even to propose a proposal. In modern linguistics, this same construction goes by the name of " cognate object construction" (COC).
In the broader definition, the figura etymologica refers to just about any sort of repetition of cognate words relatively close to each other.[ clarification needed]
See also
- Antanaclasis
- Cognate object
- Hendiadys
- Legal doublet
- Merism
- Pleonasm (the use of more words than necessary to express an idea)
- Polyptoton (a stylistic scheme in which words derived from the same root are repeated)
References
-
^
"Figura etymologica".
{{ cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=( help)
| This article includes a list of general
references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding
inline citations. (March 2017) |
Figura etymologica is a rhetorical figure in which words with the same etymological derivation are used in the same passage. [1] To count as a figura etymologica, it is necessary that the two words be genuinely different words and not just different inflections of the same word. For example, the sentence Once I loved, but I love no more is not a figura etymologica since although love and loved are obviously etymologically related, they are really just inflections of the same word.
Examples in modern English are the phrases " might and main" (both of which are derived from the Proto-Indo-European root megʰ-) and " chai tea", in which both come from words for tea (cha and te) in different Chinese dialects.
The figura etymologica has both a narrower and a broader definition. In the narrower definition, it is restricted to the use of the accusative with cognate verbs (for example, live a good life, sing a long song, die a quiet death). In the Western medieval tradition, it is often expressed in phrases like to sail a sailing, to run a running, or even to propose a proposal. In modern linguistics, this same construction goes by the name of " cognate object construction" (COC).
In the broader definition, the figura etymologica refers to just about any sort of repetition of cognate words relatively close to each other.[ clarification needed]
See also
- Antanaclasis
- Cognate object
- Hendiadys
- Legal doublet
- Merism
- Pleonasm (the use of more words than necessary to express an idea)
- Polyptoton (a stylistic scheme in which words derived from the same root are repeated)
References
-
^
"Figura etymologica".
{{ cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=( help)