Make Cool Sounds and Rhythm


Figures that repeat words, move them around, or make delightful noises

 These are the true figures of speech, because they change the voice; figures that change the mind are, technically, “figures of thought.”


alliteration
Beginning the first letter of succeeding words with the same letter, usually a consonant.

anadiplosis (an-a-di-PLO-sis)
The last-word first-word repetition. 
Also see this.

anaphora (ann-AH-for-ah)
The first-word repeater.
Also see this.  And this.

anastrophe (ann-ASS-tro- fee)
The poetic word-order switch.
Also see this.

antistasis (an-TIH-sta-sis)
The repeat that reverses a word’s meaning.
Also see this.

antistrophe (an-TIS-tro-fee)
The last-word repeater. Also known as epistrophe.
Also see this.

asyndeton (a-SYN-de-ton)
The conjunction skipper.

chiasmus (kee-AZZ-muss)
The criss-cross figure.
Also see this.

conduplicatio (con-du-pli-CAT-io)
Repeating words in different clauses to make a point.
Also see this.

diaphora (die-AH-for-ah)
Repetition that describes a character.

diazeugma (die-ah-ZOOG-ma)
The play-by-play figure.
Also see this.

dirimens copulatio (dear-ih-mens cop-u-LAT-ee-oh)
The but-wait-there’s-more figure.
Also see this.

epistrophe (e-PIS-tro-phee)
The end-word repeat. (Also known as antistrophe.)

hyperbaton (hie-PER-ba-ton)
The interrupter.

hypophora (hie-PAH-for-uh)
A figure that answers your own question. (What’s the secret to comedy? Timing!)

hysterologia (hys-ter-o-LO-gia)
The preposition interrupter.

hysteron proteron
The word-order swap.

idiom (ID-ee-om)
The figure of inseparable words.

isocolon (i-so-CO-lon)
The figure of similar clauses.
Also see this.

onomatopoeia (onna-motta-PEE-ah)
The noisemaker.

palilogia (pa-lih-LO- ja)
The emphatic  repeater.
Also see this.

paroemion (pa-RO-mee-on)
Alliteration.

paromoiosis (pa-ro-moi-OH-sis)
Similar-sounding clauses laid side by side.

paronomasia (pa-ro-no-MAY-sia)
A pun that plays on words that sound or mean the same, but aren’t identical.
Also see this.

ploce (PLO-see)
The braided figure.  It repeats a word with another word or two in between, usually with a different connotation.

polyptoton (po-LIP-to-ton)
The root repeater.

polysyndeton (polly-SIN-deh-ton)
The conjunction connector.

symploce  (SIM-plo-see)
The first-and-last repeater. It repeats the same word at the beginning and the end of successive clauses.
Also see this.

tasis (TAY-sis)
The delectable figure.

traductio (trah-DOOK-tio)
A repetition that modifies a word.