Anadiplosis

Anadiplosis repeats the last word or phrase of one clause at the start of the next, so each step of a sentence begins where the previous one ended.

The delay cost money. Money the department did not have.

The word that closes the first clause opens the second. The effect is a handhold: the reader is passed from one statement to the next without a gap, and the sequence feels like consequence rather than a list.

How anadiplosis works

Anadiplosis (pronounced an-uh-dih-PLOH-sis) straddles the join between two clauses. Its neighbours sit in fixed positions instead: anaphora repeats at the start of each clause, and epistrophe at the end of each.

Extended, it becomes a chain, and the chain reads as a causal argument whether or not the logic is sound:

Fear leads to silence. Silence leads to habit. Habit leads to a department where nobody writes anything down.

The King James Bible has a well-known chain in Romans 5: tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope. Each quality grows out of the one before.

More examples

• She wanted an answer. An answer was the one thing he could not give. Why it works: the repeated word shifts from her need to his failure.
• He kept the letter in his coat, and the coat in the wardrobe, and the wardrobe locked. Why it works: each link pushes the letter further out of reach, so the chain itself shows how hard he is hiding it.

Using it in fiction

Anadiplosis is persuasive precisely because the linking looks like reasoning. That makes it the figure to reach for when a character is building a case, and the figure to distrust when someone is building one on you. A manipulator who talks in chains sounds reasonable for exactly this reason.

Common mistakes

• Too many chains. It is conspicuous, so one chain per scene is plenty.
• A weak link word. The repeated word has to be worth the repetition. A chain built on thing or situation draws attention to a weak noun and holds it there.
• Accidental doubling. He went to the car. The car was cold. Plain narration often does this by accident, and it can sound flat. If the link is not doing work, rephrase so the second sentence starts elsewhere.

Frequently asked questions

What is anadiplosis in simple terms?

Anadiplosis is picking up the last word of one sentence or clause and using it to start the next one. 'The delay cost money. Money the department did not have.' The repeated word links the two.

How do you pronounce anadiplosis?

It is pronounced an-uh-dih-PLOH-sis. The name comes from Greek and means a doubling back.

What is it called when anadiplosis continues in a chain?

A chain of several linked clauses is sometimes called climax or gradatio in classical rhetoric. It is the same move repeated, each clause handing its last word to the next.