Homeoteleuton
Encyclopedia
Homeoteleuton, also spelled as homoeoteleuton and homoioteleuton, (from the Greek
, homoioteleuton, "like ending") is the repetition of endings in words. Homeoteleuton is also known as near rhyme.
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
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.
We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity,
and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest
of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.
(Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, speech, 1866)
Hungry people cannot be good at learning
or producing anything except
perhaps violence.
(Pearl Bailey, Pearl's Kitchen)
He arrived at ideas the slow way, never skating
over the clear, hard ice of logic, nor soaring
on the slipstreams of imagination, but slogging,
plodding along on the heavy ground of existence.
(Ursula K. LeGuin, The Lathe of Heaven)
s, 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.
However, use of this device still ties words together in a sort of rhyme or echo relationship, even in prose passages:
It is important to use all knowledge ethically,
humanely, and lovingly.
(Carol Pearson, The Hero Within)
"Well, sir, here's to plain speaking and clear understanding."
(Caspar Gutman to Sam Spade, Chapter XI (The Fat Man) in Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1930)
"The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter."
(Sam Spade to Wilmer, Chapter XII (Merry-Go-Round) in Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1930)
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 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 Ammon
ites:
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 4QSama, gives the missing beginning the I Samuel 11, which can be seen here. Some very recent English translations (such as the TNIV) add the reading in a footnote.
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
, homoioteleuton, "like ending") is the repetition of endings in words. Homeoteleuton is also known as near rhyme.
History
Homeoteleuton (homoioteleuton) was first identified by AristotleAristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
in his Rhetoric
Rhetoric (Aristotle)
Aristotle's Rhetoric is an ancient Greek treatise on the art of persuasion, dating from the 4th century BC. In Greek, it is titled ΤΕΧΝΗ ΡΗΤΟΡΙΚΗ, in Latin Ars Rhetorica. In English, its title varies: typically it is titled Rhetoric, the Art of Rhetoric, or a Treatise on...
, where he identifies it as two lines of verse which end with words having the same ending. He uses the example of
ᾦηθησαν αὐτὸν παίδιον τετοκέναι
ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ αἴτιον γεγονέναι (1410a20)
ōiēthēsan 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)
In Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
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.
and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest
of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.
(Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, speech, 1866)
Hungry people cannot be good at learning
or producing anything except
perhaps violence.
(Pearl Bailey, Pearl's Kitchen)
He arrived at ideas the slow way, never skating
over the clear, hard ice of logic, nor soaring
on the slipstreams of imagination, but slogging,
plodding along on the heavy ground of existence.
(Ursula K. LeGuin, The Lathe of Heaven)
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 syllableSyllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
s, 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
Adverb
An adverb is a part of speech that modifies verbs or any part of speech other than a noun . Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives , clauses, sentences, and other adverbs....
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.
However, use of this device still ties words together in a sort of rhyme or echo relationship, even in prose passages:
humanely, and lovingly.
(Carol Pearson, The Hero Within)
"Well, sir, here's to plain speaking and clear understanding."
(Caspar Gutman to Sam Spade, Chapter XI (The Fat Man) in Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1930)
"The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter."
(Sam Spade to Wilmer, Chapter XII (Merry-Go-Round) in Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon (1930)
Scribal error
In the field of palaeographyPalaeography
Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...
and textual criticism
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
, 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
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. As the scribe was reading the original text, his 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
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
city of Jabesh-Gilead
Jabesh-Gilead
Jabesh-Gilead is an ancient town referred to in four books of the Old Testament. Some biblical scholars believe it to have been located east of the Jordan River, in the vicinity of Wadi Yabes....
was under siege by the Ammon
Ammon
Ammon , also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital...
ites:
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
Dead Sea scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
, the scroll 4QSama, gives the missing beginning the I Samuel 11, which can be seen here. Some very recent English translations (such as the TNIV) add the reading in a footnote.
Further reading
- 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.
- Paul D. Wegner, A student's guide to textual criticism of the Bible: its history, methods, and results, InterVarsity Press, 2006, p. 49.