Antiptosis
Antiptosis, which translates from the Greek ανταλλαγή (exchange of) and περίπτωση (case), is a rhetorical device. Specifically, it is a type of enallage (the substitution of grammatically different but semantically equivalent constructions) in which one grammatical case is substituted for another.[1]
In English, this technique is used only with pronouns, and is more effective with languages that use inflected nouns, such as Greek and Latin.
Forms of Antiptosis[edit]
One form of the device is to replace the conjunction and with the preposition of, thus changing the case of the second noun from a case agreeing with the first noun to the genitive case.
This form of antiptosis is related to the technique hendiadys; it is more or less the opposite of it. It is also related to the technique hypallage, except that the governing noun becomes the adjective instead of the noun in regimen.[clarification needed]
Usage[edit]
The classic example of the use of antiptosis is:
- the kingdom of glory
instead of
- the kingdom and the glory
where the relation of kingdom and glory are altered by antiptosis.
In another example, one might say "That dress is you!" rather than "That dress is becoming to you," placing you in the nominative case rather than the expected objective case to emphasize the point being made.[2]
Another prime example is "Me Jane, Tarzan," where "me" is used (the objective case pronoun) instead of the proper subjective case pronoun, "I". This example also includes ellipsis of the verb "am.”
References[edit]
- ^ Burton, Gideon. "Antiptosis". Silvia Rhetoricea. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
- ^ Stanley, Jeff (May 2007). "The figure of speech Antiptosis in John 1:1-2" (PDF). Biblical Research Journal. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-23. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
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