Zeugma

This article is about the rhetorical concept. For other uses, see Zeugma (disambiguation).

Zeugma (ⁱ/ˈzuːɡmə/ or /ˈzjuːɡmə/; from the Ancient Greek ζεῦγμα, zeûgma, lit. "a yoking together") and syllepsis (/sɪˈlɛpsɪs/; from the Ancient Greek σύλληψις, sullēpsis, lit. "a taking together") are figures of speech in which one single phrase or word joins different parts of a sentence.

Definition

There are multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions for zeugma and syllepsis in current use. This article will categorize the figures into four types, based on four definitions.

Type 1

Grammatical syllepsis (sometimes also called zeugma): where a single word is used in relation to two other parts of a sentence although the word grammatically or logically applies to only one.

By definition, grammatical syllepsis will often be grammatically "incorrect" according to prescriptivist rules. However, such solecisms are sometimes not errors but intentional constructions in which the rules of grammar are bent by necessity or for stylistic effect.

• "He works his work, I mine".(Tennyson, "Ulysses")

This is ungrammatical from a prescriptive grammarian's viewpoint, because "works" does not grammatically agree with "I", i. e. the sentence "I works mine" would be ungrammatical.

Sometimes the "error" is logical, rather than grammatical:

• "They saw lots of thunder and lightning."

Logically, they "saw" only the lightning.

Type 2

Zeugma (often also called syllepsis, or semantic syllepsis): where a single word is used with two other parts of a sentence but must be understood differently in relation to each. Example: "He took his hat and his leave." This type of figure is not grammatically incorrect, but creates its effect by seeming at first hearing to be incorrect, by exploiting multiple shades of meaning in a single word or phrase.

• "Miss Bolo […] went straight home, in a flood of tears and a sedan-chair." (Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, Chapter 35)
• "Give neither counsel nor salt till you are asked for it." (English proverb)
• "Here Thou, great Anna! whom three Realms obey,
  Dost sometimes Counsel take – and sometimes Tea." (Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, Canto III)
• "You are free to execute your laws and your citizens as you see fit." (William Riker, Star Trek: The Next Generation)
• "When he asked "What in heaven?" she made no reply, up her mind, and a dash for the door." (Flanders and Swann, "Have Some Madeira M'Dear")
• "Where the washing is not put out, nor the fire, nor the mistress". (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)
• "[They] covered themselves with dust and glory." (Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
• "Eggs and oaths are soon broken." (English proverb)
• "...a house they call the rising sun, where love and money are made." (Dolly Parton's rendition of "The House of the Rising Sun")
• "...Now when all the clowns that you have commissioned / Have died in battle or in vain." (Bob Dylan, "Queen Jane Approximately", Highway 61)

When the meaning of a verb varies for the nouns following it, there is a standard order for the nouns. The standard order is first the noun taking the most prototypical or literal meaning of the verb, followed by the noun or nouns taking the less prototypical, or more figurative, verb meanings.

• "The boy swallowed milk and kisses," as opposed to "The boy swallowed kisses and milk." (Kelly, Bock & Keil, 1986).

Type 3

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms offers a much broader definition for zeugma, describing a zeugma as any case of parallelism and ellipsis working together so that a single word governs two or more other parts of a sentence.

• Vicit pudorem libido timorem audacia rationem amentia. (Cicero, Pro Cluentio, VI.15)

  "Lust conquered shame; audacity, fear; madness, reason."

The more usual way of phrasing this would be: "Lust conquered shame, audacity conquered fear, and madness conquered reason." This sentence consists or three parallel clauses, called parallel because each has the same word order – subject, verb, object. The verb "conquered" is a common element in each clause. The zeugma is created by removing the second and third instances of "conquered." The act of removing words that still can be understood in the context of the words that remain is called ellipsis.

• Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. (Francis Bacon).

The more usual way of phrasing this would be: "Histories make men wise, poets make them witty, the mathematics make them subtle, natural philosophy makes them deep, moral [philosophy] makes them grave, and logic and rhetoric make them able to contend."

Or perhaps: : "Histories make men wise, make poets witty, make the mathematics subtle, make natural philosophy deep, make moral [philosophy] grave, and make logic and rhetoric able to contend."?

Zeugmas are defined in this type 3 sense in Samuel Johnson's 18th-century Dictionary of the English Language.

Type 4

A special case of semantic syllepsis occurs when a word or phrase is used both in its figurative and literal sense at the same time. In this case, it is not necessary for the governing phrase to relate to two other parts of the sentence. One example, from the song "What's My Name?" is, "Okay, there we go / Only thing we have on is the radio." Another example is in an advertisement for a transport company: "We go a long way for you." A syllepsis of this type is similar to a homonymic pun.

Other types, and related figures

There are several other definitions of zeugma, encompassing other ways in which one word in a sentence can relate to two or more others. Even a simple construction such as "this is easy and comprehensible" has been called a "zeugma without complication," because "is" governs both "easy" and "comprehensible."

Specialized figures have been defined to distinguish zeugmas with particular characteristics, such as the following figures that relate to the specific type and location of the governing word:

Diazeugma

A diazeugma is a zeugma where a single subject governs multiple verbs. A diazeugma where a single subject begins the sentence and controls a series of verbs was called a "disjunction" (disiunctio) in the Rhetorica ad Herennium.

• Populus Romanus Numantiam delevit Kartaginem sustulit Corinthum disiecit Fregellas evertit. (Rhetorica ad Herennium. IV. xxvii.)

  The Roman people destroyed Numantia, razed Carthage, demolished Corinth, and overthrew Fregellae.

• "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
  • John F. Kennedy

Hypozeugma

Hypozeugma or "adjunctions" (adiunctio) is used in a construction containing several phrases. It occurs when the word or words on which all of the phrases depend is placed last.

• Assure yourself that Damon to his Pythias, Pylades to his Orestes, Titus to his Gysippus, Theseus to his Pyrothus, Scipio to his Laelius, was never found more faithful than Euphues will be to his Philautus. (John Lyly, Euphues)

Prozeugma

A prozeugma, synezeugmenon, or praeiunctio is a zeugma where the governing word occurs in the first clause of the sentence.

• Vicit pudorem libido timorem audacia rationem amentia. (Cicero, Pro Cluentio, VI.15)

  "Lust conquered shame; audacity, fear; madness, reason."

• Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtile; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. (Francis Bacon).

Mesozeugma

A mesozeugma is a zeugma where the governing word occurs in the middle of the sentence and governs clauses on either side. The form of mesozeugma where the common term is a verb is called "conjunction" (coniunctio) in the Roman Rhetorica ad Herennium.

• "What a shame is this, that neither hope of reward, nor feare of reproch could any thing move him, neither the persuasion of his friends, nor the love of his country. [sic]" (Henry Peacham)

See also

• Glossary of rhetorical terms
• Figure of speech
• Rhetoric
• Hypozeuxis

• Antanaclasis
• Anaphora
• Pun
• Syndeton
• Polysyndeton

External links

• Some examples of zeugma as a synonym for syllepsis
• Perseus Project with links to original sources on rhetoric