Epanadiplosis

In the cited French usage, epanadiplosis repeats an earlier proposition's opening expression at the end of the following proposition.

Version

v1 · 2026-10-31 · History

Domain-specific #

14491

Domain group

Humanities

Origin domain

Rhetoric

Subdomain

Figures of Repetition → Rhetoric

Core Idea

In the French usage described by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), epanadiplosis repeats a word or group from the opening of one proposition at the close of the following proposition. The directional relation is earlier opening to following close.^[1]

How would you explain it like I'm…

Start Word Comes Back

Epanadiplosis is a word trick in talking or writing. You use a word at the start of one part, and then use the same word again at the very end of the next part. It only counts if the word is in those exact spots, not just anywhere twice.

Beginning Word at the End

Epanadiplosis is a figure of speech, which is a special way of arranging words. In the French definition used here, a word or group of words that begins one clause comes back at the end of the next clause. So the pattern goes: start of the first part, then end of the following part. Just using the same word twice isn't enough — you have to find the two parts and check that the word is in those exact spots.

Opening-to-Close Repetition

Epanadiplosis, as defined in the French terminology described by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), is the repetition of a word or phrase from the beginning of one proposition at the end of the following proposition. Its defining relation is directional — the opening of an earlier proposition echoes at the close of the next — so the propositions and both positions must be identified. Simply finding the same word twice doesn't establish the figure. The OQLF gives a literary example repeating 'l'enfance', and a published address repeats 'vous' across two clauses; both pass the same positional test. This definition doesn't settle every English use of 'epanadiplosis' or the related 'epanalepsis', and it doesn't cover a story whose opening scene is repeated at its end.

 

In the French terminological usage documented by the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), epanadiplosis is a figure in which a word or word group from the beginning of one proposition is repeated at the end of the following proposition. Its distinguishing relation is positional and directional: earlier opening to following close. Identifying the figure requires delimiting the propositions and locating both occurrences; the mere recurrence of a word is insufficient. The OQLF's attributed literary example repeats 'l'enfance' across a prose sentence, and a separately documented published address repeats 'vous' across two clauses. These instances show the same positional test applied in two verbal settings. They do not resolve how 'epanadiplosis' or 'epanalepsis' is used in all English rhetorical traditions. Nor does this definition extend to narrative-level structures in which an opening scene recurs at the end of a whole work.

Structural Signature

• Ordered verbal units: identify an earlier proposition and the following proposition.
• Opening expression: locate the repeated word or group at the earlier proposition's beginning.
• Following close: the same expression appears at the later proposition's end.
• Optional context: OQLF says the propositions are generally correlated and often juxtaposed; neither is a universal condition.^[1]

The reader must state how the text is segmented into propositions; a repeated word by itself is insufficient.

What It Is Not

A recurrence in the middle of either unit misses the relevant boundary. OQLF distinguishes its same-construction épanalepse from this cross-proposition account, while terminology varies across traditions; the distinction is source-specific, not a universal English naming rule.^[2][1] A repeated opening and ending scene in a narrative is a different scale of pattern and is not established by this verbal definition.

Examples

Prose. OQLF attributes an example repeating l’enfance across a passage to Cocteau. The source provides the example; the original work and edition were not independently inspected.^[1]

Published address. An official published address repeats vous across two clauses; Hafri classifies the passage as épanadiplose. The published text and thesis classification do not establish delivery or audience effect.^[3][4]

Reasoning and Boundary

Identify each proposition and its boundaries, then compare the first opening and following close. A different ordering or repetition on another textual scale needs its own analysis. Donatus discusses historical verse figures with different directional arrangements; a verse boundary should not automatically be treated as a proposition boundary.^[5]

Neighborhood in Abstraction Space

Epanadiplosis sits in a moderately populated region (47^th percentile for distinctiveness): it has near-neighbors but no dense thicket of look-alikes.

Family — Language, Mind & Meaning-Making (73 abstractions)

Nearest neighbors

• Fallacy of Four Terms — 0.87
• Collostructional Analysis — 0.86
• Dyck language — 0.86
• Hypozeuxis — 0.86
• Semantic Externalism — 0.86

Computed from structural-signature embeddings · 2026-10-31

References

[1] Office québécois de la langue française, “Épanadiplose,” Grand dictionnaire terminologique, definition and notes. Direct French terminological source for the cross-proposition relation, qualified correlation and juxtaposition, naming notes, and the Cocteau-attributed example. The original Cocteau work and edition are not inspected here. registry ↩a ↩b ↩c ↩d

[2] Office québécois de la langue française, “Épanalepse,” Grand dictionnaire terminologique, definition and notes. Source-specific same-construction comparison and naming caveat. registry ↩

[3] Emmanuel Macron, “Hommage solennel de la Nation à Simone Veil”, published address, Présidence de la République, 2018, paragraph beginning “Votre œuvre Madame” and page note “Seul le prononcé fait foi.” Direct official published text, not an inspected recording or verified delivery. registry ↩

[4] Nourelhouda Hafri, Discours d’hommage d’Emmanuel Macron : Répétitions qui s’énoncent, master’s thesis, Université Kasdi Merbah Ouargla, 2023, printed p. 34, PDF p. 40. Directly inspected scholarly classification of the Vous … vous passage as épanadiplose; not evidence of measured audience effect or orator intent. registry ↩

[5] Donatus, Ars maior, “On Figures,” in J. Marchand's English translation hosted by Georgetown University, items 5 and 7. Historical, verse-based directional comparisons; not an authority for making verse and proposition boundaries interchangeable. registry ↩