Repetition is the simple repeating of a word, within a short space of words, with no particular placement of the words to secure emphasis. It is a multilinguistic written or spoken device, frequently used in English and several other languages, such as Hindi and Chinese, and so rarely termed a figure of speech. Its forms, many of which are listed below, have varying resonances to listing, as a matter of trite logic often similar in effect.
Epizeuxis or palilogia is the repetition of a single word, with no other words in between. This is derived from Greek for "fastening together".
Conduplicatio is the repetition of a word in various places throughout a paragraph.
Anadiplosis is the repetition of the last word of a preceding clause. The word is used at the end of a sentence and then used again at the beginning of the next sentence.
Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of every clause. It comes from the Greek phrase "carrying up or back".
Epistrophe is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of every clause.
Mesodiplosis is the repetition of a word or phrase at the middle of every clause.
Diaphora is the repetition of a name, first to signify the person or persons it describes, then to signify its meaning. In modern English it has become the standard form of syntax in the example of the personal possessive pronouns given below.
Epanalepsis is the repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or sentence at the end.
Diacope is repetition of a word or phrase with one or two words between each repeated phrase.
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.
Polyptoton is the repetition of a word derived from the same root in different grammatical forms. In inflected languages, this commonly refers to the repetition of a single word in different grammatical cases.
