anaphora

English

WOTD – 27 February 2006

Alternative forms

• (plural of anaphora) anaphoras, anaphors
• (plural of anaphor) anaphors

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀναφορά (anaphorá, “a carrying back”), from ἀνά (aná, “up”) + φέρω (phérō, “I carry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ænəˈfɔɹə/, /ənˈæfəɹə/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Noun

anaphora (countable and uncountable, plural anaphoras or anaphors or anaphora)

Examples (rhetoric)
“Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition!” Shakespeare, King John (II i.)

Examples (expression referring to a preceding expression)
That's John's car. He [referring to "John"] won't want to see you sitting on it [referring to the car]. John had a drink. So did [referring to "had a drink"] Mark. John had been feeling rather dehydrated. Mark was even more so [referring to "dehydrated"].

1. (rhetoric) The repetition of a phrase at the beginning of phrases, sentences, or verses, used for emphasis.
   • [1835, L[arret] Langley, A Manual of the Figures of Rhetoric, […], Doncaster: Printed by C. White, Baxter-Gate, OCLC 1062248511, page 73:

     Anaphora elegantly begins
     With the same word or phrase successive lines.]

   Antonyms: epiphora, epistrophe

2. (linguistics) An expression that can refer to virtually any referent, the specific referent being defined by context.
3. (linguistics) An expression that refers to a preceding expression.

   Hypernym: endophora

   Coordinate terms: cataphora, exophora, homophora

4. (Christianity) The most solemn part of the Divine Liturgy or the Mass during which the offerings of bread and wine are consecrated as body and blood of Christ

Derived terms

• anaphoric

Usage notes

• In linguistics, the terms anaphor and anaphora are sometimes used interchangeably, although in some theories, a distinction is made between them. See the Wikipedia article.

Translations

repetition of a phrase used for emphasis

• Basque: anafora
• Catalan: anàfora f
• Czech: anafora f
• Dutch: anafoor (nl) f, anafora (nl) f
• Finnish: toisto (fi), anafora
• French: anaphore (fr) f
• German: Anapher (de) f
• Hungarian: anafora

• Icelandic: klifun f, runklifun f, anafóra f
• Italian: anafora (it) f
• Portuguese: anáfora (pt) f
• Russian: ана́фора (ru) f (anáfora)
• Serbo-Croatian: anafora (sh) f
• Spanish: anáfora (es) f
• Swedish: anafor (sv) c
• Tagalog: saulit

linguistics: expression that refers to another expression

• Catalan: anàfora f
• Dutch: anafoor (nl) f, anafora (nl) f
• Finnish: anafora
• French: anaphore (fr) f
• German: Anapher (de) f
• Icelandic: vísiorð n

• Italian: anafora (it) f
• Occitan: catafòra f
• Portuguese: anáfora (pt) f
• Russian: ана́фора (ru) f (anáfora)
• Serbo-Croatian: anafora (sh) f
• Spanish: anáfora (es)

See also

• deixis

Noun

anaphora

1. plural of anaphor

Further reading

• anaphora on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Anaphora (linguistics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia