antimetabole

Etymology

(Traditional) Gk. anti “in opposite direction” and metabole “turning about”

Synonyms, partial synonyms, and alternate spellings

antimetathesis, antimetavole, chiasmus, commutatio, reciprocal change, the counterchange

Definition

The occurrence of at least two of the same lexemes in one sequence (A<B) and in the reverse sequence (B<A).

Example

[B]ehavior built language in the brain; the brain did not build language in behavior. (Kennedy and Terrace 2016)

Studdert-Kennedy, Michael, and Herbert Terrace. 2016. “The Birth of Language.” The New York Review of Books, September 29, 2016.

antimetabole
    antimetabole 1
    antimetabole 2
alliteration
anadiplosis
epanalepsis
mesodiplosis