Figura etymologica
Encyclopedia
Figura etymologica is a rhetoric
al figure
in which words with the same etymological
derivation are used adjacently. Note that to count as a figura etymologica, it is necessary that the two words be genuinely different words, and not just different inflections of the same word. For example, the sentence Once I loved, but I love no more is not a figura etymologica since, although love and loved are obviously etymologically related, they are really just inflections of the same word.
An example of a figura etymologica can be found in Romans
(1:25) - "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator".
In fact, the figura etymologica has been both much more broadly and narrowly defined. In the narrowest definition, it is restricted to specialized uses of the accusative with cognate verbs (e.g. live a good life, sing a long song, die a quiet death). In modern linguistics, this same construction goes by the name of "cognate object construction" abbreviated COC. In its less restricted sense, the figura etymologica refers to just about any sort of repetition of cognate words in relatively close proximity to each other.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
al figure
Figure of speech
A figure of speech is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile,...
in which words with the same etymological
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
derivation are used adjacently. Note that to count as a figura etymologica, it is necessary that the two words be genuinely different words, and not just different inflections of the same word. For example, the sentence Once I loved, but I love no more is not a figura etymologica since, although love and loved are obviously etymologically related, they are really just inflections of the same word.
An example of a figura etymologica can be found in Romans
Epistle to the Romans
The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, often shortened to Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
(1:25) - "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator".
In fact, the figura etymologica has been both much more broadly and narrowly defined. In the narrowest definition, it is restricted to specialized uses of the accusative with cognate verbs (e.g. live a good life, sing a long song, die a quiet death). In modern linguistics, this same construction goes by the name of "cognate object construction" abbreviated COC. In its less restricted sense, the figura etymologica refers to just about any sort of repetition of cognate words in relatively close proximity to each other.