Words of the Month (March 2023)

 1. Polysyndeton (English)-From Oxford Reference:

[from Greek, ‘using many connectives’]

The repetition of conjunctions in close succession for rhetorical effect, as in ‘Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea’ (Shakespeare, Sonnet 65).

See https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100336782;jsessionid=2B2540DCB4E4B304614AC888E2163CAE

The example from Shakespeare reminds me of Romans 8:38-39 (RSV): "For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

2. Asyndeton (English)-"Asyndeton (ah-SIN-di-ton) is the deliberate omission of a coordinating conjunction between words or phrases in literature or any written speech."

The definition comes from https://www.supersummary.com/asyndeton/

The website contains bountiful amounts of data about asyndeton and other rhetorical devices. One of my favorite examples is "veni, vidi, vici" by Julius Caesar (attributed to him).

Compare Aristotle, Rhetoric 3.12, which the website above references.

See also https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/asyndeton

Veni, vidi, vici is an example of other devices, rhetorically speaking, including alliteration.