syllepsis syllepsis
 sil-lep'-sis from Gk. syn, "together" and lepsis, "taking"
Also sp. sillepsis, silepsis, syllempsis
conceptio, conglutinata conceptio, concepcio
double supply, change in concord

When a single word that governs or modifies two or more others must be understood differently with respect to each of those words. A combination of grammatical parallelism and semantic incongruity, often with a witty or comical effect. Not to be confused with zeugma.
 
Note: Originally, syllepsis named that grammatical incongruity resulting when a word governing two or more others could not agree with both or all of them; for example, when a singular verb serves as the predicate to two subjects, singular and plural ("His boat and his riches is sinking"). In the rhetorical sense, syllepsis has more to do with applying the same single word to the others it governs in distinct senses (e.g., literal and metaphorical); thus, "His boat and his dreams sank."
Examples
  In the following example, "rend" governs both objects, but the first rending is figurative; the second, literal:
Rend your heart, and not your garments. Joel 2:13

You held your breath and the door for me
—Alanis Morissette

"Fix the problem, not the blame." —Dave Weinbaum
The verb "fix" governs both "problem" and "blame." In its first instance, "fix" means "solve," but this verb shifts its meaning when applied to its second object, where the understood "fix" = "assign."

Related Figures
 

  • zeugma
  • ellipsis
    Syllepsis is a form of ellipsis, and like ellipsis the sense of the word is repeated, but not the word itself. The difference from ellipsis is that the sense varies in its repetition.
  • metaphor
  • Figures of Division
Related Topics of Invention
 

 
  Sources: Isidore 1.36.5-6; Mosellanus ("syllepsis' "conglutinata conceptio") a5r; Sherry (1550) 30 ("silepsis," "concepcio"); Peacham (1577) F1r; Putt. (1589) 176 ("sillepsis," "the double supply"); Day 1599 82


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Gideon O. Burton, Brigham Young University
Please cite "Silva Rhetoricae" (rhetoric.byu.edu)

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