Hyperbaton facts for kids

Hyperbaton (say: hy-PER-ba-ton) is a cool trick with words! It's a figure of speech where you mix up the usual order of words in a sentence. Imagine you want to say "I love cheese," but instead, you say "Cheese I love." That's hyperbaton! It makes certain words stand out or adds a special rhythm. Sometimes it's also called an anastrophe.

What Does "Hyperbaton" Mean?

The word "hyperbaton" comes from ancient Greek. It means "stepping over." Think of it like this: to understand the sentence, your brain has to "step over" some words that are placed in between others that usually go together. It's like a little puzzle!

Hyperbaton in Ancient Languages

Hyperbaton was very common in old languages like Latin and Ancient Greek. These languages are "inflected," meaning their words change endings to show their job in a sentence. This allows words to be moved around more freely without confusing the meaning. When hyperbaton is used, the first word often gets extra attention.

Ancient Greek Examples

Here are some examples from Ancient Greek:

• ὑφ' ἑνὸς τοιαῦτα πέπονθεν ἡ Ἑλλὰς ἀνθρώπου (from Demosthenes)

* This means: "Greece has suffered such things at the hands of only one person." * The words "only one" (henos) and "person" (anthrōpou) are separated. This makes "only one" stand out.

• πρός σε γονάτων (from Euripides)

* This means: "[I entreat] you by your knees." * The word "you" (se) comes between "by" and "knees," which usually go together.

• τίνα ἔχει δύναμιν; (from Plato)

* This means: "What power does it have?" * "What" (tina) and "power" (dúnamis) are separated, putting emphasis on "what."

New Testament Greek Examples

You can also find hyperbaton in the Greek of the New Testament:

• οὗτος

  hoûtos

  ὁ

  ho

  ἄνθρωπος

  ánthrōpos

  πολλὰ

  pollà

  ποιεῖ

  poieî

  σημεῖα

  sēmeîa

  (John 11:47)

   

  οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος πολλὰ ποιεῖ σημεῖα

  hoûtos ho ánthrōpos pollà poieî sēmeîa

  "This man is performing many signs" (not just a few)

* Here, "many" (pollá) is separated from "signs" (sēmeîa), making "many" more important.

• ταλαίπωρος

  talaípōros

  ἐγὼ

  egṑ

  ἄνθρωπος

  ánthrōpos

  (Paul, Romans 7:24)

   

  ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος

  talaípōros egṑ ánthrōpos

  "I (am) a wretched man" (not a fortunate one)

* "Wretched" (talaípōros) is separated from "man" (ánthrōpos), highlighting how wretched the person is.

Latin Examples

Hyperbaton is very common in Latin, both in everyday writing (prose) and in poems (verse). Often, it helps to show a contrast or to emphasize a word.

Latin Prose

• meo tu epistulam dedisti servo? (Plautus)

* This means: "You gave the letter to my slave (not your own)?" * The words "my" (meo) and "slave" (servo) are separated, stressing that it was *my* slave.

• duas a te accepi epistulas heri (Cicero)

* This means: "I received two letters from you yesterday" (not just one). * "Two" (duas) is separated from "letters" (epistulas), emphasizing the number.

• pro ingenti itaque victoria id fuit plebi. (Livy)

* This means: "The people saw this, therefore, as an enormous victory." * "Enormous" (ingenti) is separated from "victory" (victoria), making the victory seem even bigger.

Latin Poetry

In Latin poetry, hyperbaton is used very often. It can make the language sound more beautiful or dramatic. Sometimes, two sets of separated words are used in the same sentence!

• saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram (Virgil, Aeneid)

* This means: "on account of the mindful anger of cruel Juno." * Here, "cruel" (saevae) is separated from "Juno" (Iunonis), and "mindful" (memorem) is separated from "anger" (iram). This creates a special pattern. When two adjectives are followed by a verb and then two nouns in the same order as the adjectives, it's often called a "golden line".

• in nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas / corpora (Ovid, Metamorphoses)

* This means: "My spirit leads me to tell of forms transformed into new bodies." * "Transformed" (mutatas) is separated from "forms" (formas), and "new" (nova) is separated from "bodies" (corpora). This shows how things change from one form to another.

Hyperbaton in Other Languages

Hyperbaton is not just in ancient languages. You can find similar word order changes in other languages too, like Polish, Russian, and Modern Greek.

• Here's an example from Polish:

* "Beautiful" is separated from "painting" by other words.

• And from Modern Greek:

* Here, "red" (kókkino) is separated from "dress" (fórema). This emphasizes that it was the *red* dress, not a different color.

Hyperbaton in English

In English, hyperbaton means changing the normal word order. It's often used to create a special effect, like in poetry or dramatic speeches.

Here are some famous examples:

• "Bloody thou art; bloody will be thy end" — William Shakespeare in Richard III.

* Instead of "You are bloody," it's "Bloody thou art."

• "Object there was none. Passion there was none." — Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart.

* This sounds more dramatic than "There was no object. There was no passion."

• "Arms and the man I sing" — Opening words of Virgil's Aeneid, translated by E. F. Taylor.

* The usual order would be "I sing of arms and the man."

• "Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind." — Wolcott Gibbs's parody of Time magazine.

* This playfully shows how confusing sentences can be when the order is reversed.

See also

In Spanish: Hipérbaton para niños

• Anastrophe
• Apposition
• Figure of speech
• Golden line
• Parenthesis
• Split infinitive
• Epiphrase