Diaphroa, also called Diapher, is a rhetorical stylistic device used in all literary genres. The diaphora is the repetition of a word or a word sequence in different meaning. The word is, therefore, meant in the repetition in a different way, or is perceived differently from the first mention. Thus, the words are orthographically identical, while homophones (similarity in other spelling) are possible in the oral.
The term comes from the Greek (διαφορά) and can be translated with difference. According to this, the translation of the word already refers to the fundamental point: namely, the different meaning of two words [the ants are identical in the same way]. Let’s look at an example:
When fly flies fly, fly flies fly after.
The above example is a common word game, where the word is used four times as a noun and twice as a verb. What is decisive here is that the word has two different meanings. As a verb (fly) it means that something moves through the air, as a noun means the insect. The repetition is therefore meant or felt differently, which is called diaphora.
“What do you want here,” she said, “you wanted to listen to me here, did not you, Simpel?”
“It is not true, it is not true,” he cried with the same voice.
This example is taken from the novel Die Kronenwächter (1817) by Achim von Arnim, a German author and representative of the Heidelberg Romantic movement. In this case, the word sequence is not true, which is repeated in different meanings, albeit in the same way and in identical words. For the first time the group of words is used as an affirmation of what has been said before, that is, to reinforce the question.
In the answer to this question, however, the word sequence is used to dispute something. The word is not supposed to negate the adjective here, that is, to deny it. The word sequence is thus repeated, but in the repetition it signifies something else, whereby the whole is called a diaphora. Another example:
This trick will make it easier for you.
The above example set could be a commercial slogan to promote a new diet formula. Here the adjective is easily used, which is used in different meanings. On the one hand, it means that a thing or task does not require a great effort and is therefore easy to solve. On the other hand, the word refers to the weight of a thing. Is something light, it is of a light weight.
Diaphora and Homophone
The Diaphora therefore always means a repetition, whereby the meaning of the repeated is changed. It is essential that the repeated word or phrase be identical to the first. However, verbal expressions are conceivable that the stylistic figure is formed by homophones.
Homophones, also called homonyms, are words which have the same name but are the same, but are written differently, have different etymologically different origins, and nevertheless sound identical. For example, the noun Sea sounds more like the adverb. Nevertheless, the two words mean something completely different. Let us now look at an example:
Whoever becomes nothing will become host.
The above example is therefore a diaphora, which is formed by homophones and, consequently, possible only in the spoken language. For when the sentence is written, the words are no longer identical for the reader. This is about the consonance of the word landlord, which is the owner of an inn and the third person singular of the verb. These sound the same, but have different meanings. The same is true in a Schlager of Theolingen:
The Theodore, the hero!
Diaphora as an antistasis and anaklasis
The stylistic means Antistasis and Anaklasis describe two special forms of the Diaphora. Both styles are already shown in the above examples, but are now to be presented in detail.
The anaklasis describes a diaphora, which develops in the dialogue between two interlocutors. This means that the first participant uses a word which is also used by the respondent, but which has a different meaning. Obviously this is the case of Achim von Arnim in the above example.
“What do you want here,” she said, “you wanted to listen to me here, did not you, Simpel?”
“It is not true, it is not true,” he cried with the same voice.
The first sentence of the example comes from a landlady who feels overheard by Anton, who catches her when she argues with the landlord. In the reply of Anton the same word sequence is used, which, however, has a different meaning. Thus the meaning change is carried out in dialogue, which is called anaklasis.
The antistasis means the corresponding counterpart in the monologue. Here, the diaphora is formed by a single speaker, who independently gives the word a different nuance, that is, a subtle difference in meaning. All other examples of this contribution can therefore be regarded as an antistasis, if they fall into the monologue, and thus as a special form of the diaphora.
Short overview: The most important thing about styling at a glance
Diaphora, also called diaphor, is the repetition of a word or a word sequence with a different meaning. Very often, the second part is emphasized more strongly in order to make the subtle difference also clear for the recipient, if he can only hear and read the corresponding utterance.
If the utterance is not written, but exclusively linguistic, the diaphor can also be formed using homophones. Here, a word is repeated which sounds the same but is written differently. For the recipient, the difference is not obvious.
The antistasis and the anaklasis are special forms of the style figure. The antistasis is the use of the diaphora within a monologue, that is, the repetition of a word which receives a different meaning by a speaker, while the anaclasis describes the circumstance that the change of meaning is carried out in a dialogue of two speakers.