Homeoteleuton
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Homeoteleuton (from the Greek ὁμοιοτέλευτον,[1] homoioteleuton, "like ending") is the repetition of endings in words. Homeoteleuton is also known as near rhyme.[2]
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[edit] History
Homeoteleuton was first identified by Aristotle in his Rhetoric, where he identifies it as two lines of verse which end with words having the same ending. He uses the example of
ωιηθησαν αυτον παιδον τετοκεναι
αλλ' αυτου αιτον γεγονεναι (1410a20)
ôiêthêsan auton paidion tetokenai,
all' autou aition gegonenai (1410a20)
they thought that he was the father of a child,
but that he was the cause of it (1410a20)[3]
In Latin rhetoric and poetry homeoteleuton was a frequently used device. It was used to associate the two words which had the similar endings and bring them to the reader's attention.
[edit] Types of Homeoteleuton
Today, homeoteleuton denotes more than Aristotle's original definition.
[edit] Near Rhyme
As rhyme, homeoteleuton is not very effective. It is the repetition of word endings. Because endings are usually unstressed and rhyme arises from stressed syllables, they do not rhyme well at all. In the following passage
The waters rose rapidly,
and I dove under quickly.
both rapidly and quickly end with the adverbial ending -ly. Although they end with the same sound, they don't rhyme because the stressed syllable on each word (RA-pid-ly and QUICK-ly) has a different sound.[4]
[edit] Scribal Error
In the field of palaeography and textual criticism, homeoteleuton has also come to mean a form of copyist error present in ancient texts. A scribe would be writing out a new copy of a frequently reproduced book, such as the Bible. As the scribe was reading the original text, his or her eyes would skip from one word to the same word on a later line, leaving out a line or two in the transcription. When transcripts were made of the scribe's flawed copy (and not the original) errors are passed on into posterity.
An example of this can be found in the Bible, more specifically in I Samuel 11. The Israelite city of Jabesh-Gilead was under siege by the Ammonites:
Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and camped against Jabesh-gilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. But Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition I will make a covenant with you, that I thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. (I Samuel 11.1-2)
Prior passages do not explain Nahash's desire to blind the Israelites, and scholars have been unable to explain this punishment in the context of the Bible. A find from the Dead Sea scrolls, the scroll 4QSam, gives the missing beginning the I Samuel 11, which can be seen here.[5]
[edit] References
- Holy Bible: Concordance. World Publishing Company: Cleveland.
- Cuddon, J.A., ed. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. 3rd ed. Penguin Books: New York, 1991.
- Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, p. 678. ISBN 0-674-36250-0.
- ^ Silva Rhetoricae (2006). Rhetorical Figures for Shakespeare and the Scriptures
- ^ Brigham Young University (2006). Rhetorical Figures for Shakespeare and the Scriptures
- ^ Perseus Digital Library (2006). Aristotle, Rhetoric
- ^ (2006). The Beste Rym I Kan: The Emergence of Rhyme in English
- ^ Lehrhaus Judaica (2006). Fifty Years of the Dead Sea Scrolls
