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{{short description|Figure of speech reversing a natural or rational order}} |
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The '''hysteron proteron''' (from the {{ |
The '''hysteron proteron''' (from the {{langx|el|ὕστερον πρότερον}}, ''hýsteron próteron'', "later earlier") is a [[rhetoric]]al device. It occurs when the first key word of the idea refers to something that happens temporally later than the second key word. The goal is to call attention to the more important idea by placing it first.<ref>{{cite book | last = Smyth | first = Herbert Weir | year = 1920 | title = Greek Grammar | publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge MA | isbn = 0-674-36250-0 | pages = 679–680}}</ref> |
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The standard example comes from the ''[[Aeneid]]'' of [[Virgil]]: "''Moriamur, et in media arma ruamus''" (" |
The standard example comes from the ''[[Aeneid]]'' of [[Virgil]]: "''Moriamur, et in media arma ruamus''" ("Let us die, and charge into the thick of the fight"; ii. 353).<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Hysteron-proteron|volume=14|page=212}}</ref> An example of hysteron proteron encountered in everyday life is the common reference to putting on one's "shoes and socks", rather than "socks and shoes". |
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By this deliberate reversal, hysteron proteron draws attention to the important point, so giving it primacy. |
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An example of hysteron proteron encountered in everyday life is the common reference to putting on one's "'''shoes and socks''',” rather than "socks and shoes." |
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Hysteron proteron is a form of [[hyperbaton]], which describes general rearrangements of the sentence.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://changingminds.org/techniques/language/figures_speech/hysteron_proteron.htm|title=Hysteron proteron|website=changingminds.org}}</ref> |
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It can also be defined as a figure of speech consisting of the reversal of a natural or rational order (as in "then came the thunder and the lightning").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hysteron+proteron|title=Definition of HYSTERON PROTERON|website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref> |
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== Hysteron proteron in poetry == |
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{{Too abstract|date=April 2013}} |
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==Example from the Quran== |
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{{ref improve section |date=April 2013}} |
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An example from the [[Quran]] that demonstrates hysteron proteron, verse (aya) number 89–90 from [[Surah|Sura]] Number 21 says that God granted [[Zechariah (priest)|Zechariah's]] prayer for a son even though Zechariah was very old and his wife was sterile: |
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In addition to the traditional use, hysteron proteron is often cited modernly as the usage of a succinct sentence in poetry as a transition between two interposed points and to emphasize the relationship between them or as one line equivocal of two structurally larger paragraphs. This is oft used by the revered poet Matthew Arnold; the seminal example of this is the transitional line between stanzas 1 and 4 in the episcopalian "To Marguerite—Continued," Arnold's ruminative, metaphysical commentary on mental isolation; "''Across the sounds and channels pour --... But but how long we walk without the moon, one of speckling and sparkling sheen... Oh! then a longing like despair''". |
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{{blockquote|We granted his prayer and gave him [[John the Baptist|John]], and we made his wife fertile for him. }} |
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A more conventional phrasing would be: "We granted his prayer; we made his wife fertile for him; and [having done so] we gave him John." The reversal of the expected sequence (hysteron proteron) in the verse suggests immediacy: Zechariah's prayer was granted without any delay at all, so much so that the detail itself, ''"We made his wife fertile for him,"'' was not allowed to intervene between the prayer and its acceptance.<ref>Literature and the Quran, [[Encyclopedia of the Quran|Encyclopaedia Of The Quran]]</ref> |
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==See also== |
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* [[Begging the question]], a subtype of which is sometimes called "hysteron proteron" as well |
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* [[Cart before the horse]] |
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* [[George Hysteron-Proteron]] |
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* [[Hysteron Proteron Club]] |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist |
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{{Figures of speech}} |
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{{Aeneid}} |
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[[Category:Rhetorical techniques]] |
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[[Category:Figures of speech]] |
[[Category:Figures of speech]] |
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[[Category:Narratology]] |
[[Category:Narratology]] |
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[[Category:Word order]] |
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[[Category:Oxymorons]] |
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{{lit-stub}} |
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Latest revision as of 10:13, 25 October 2024
The hysteron proteron (from the Greek: ὕστερον πρότερον, hýsteron próteron, "later earlier") is a rhetorical device. It occurs when the first key word of the idea refers to something that happens temporally later than the second key word. The goal is to call attention to the more important idea by placing it first.[1]
The standard example comes from the Aeneid of Virgil: "Moriamur, et in media arma ruamus" ("Let us die, and charge into the thick of the fight"; ii. 353).[2] An example of hysteron proteron encountered in everyday life is the common reference to putting on one's "shoes and socks", rather than "socks and shoes".
By this deliberate reversal, hysteron proteron draws attention to the important point, so giving it primacy. Hysteron proteron is a form of hyperbaton, which describes general rearrangements of the sentence.[3]
It can also be defined as a figure of speech consisting of the reversal of a natural or rational order (as in "then came the thunder and the lightning").[4]
Example from the Quran
[edit]An example from the Quran that demonstrates hysteron proteron, verse (aya) number 89–90 from Sura Number 21 says that God granted Zechariah's prayer for a son even though Zechariah was very old and his wife was sterile:
We granted his prayer and gave him John, and we made his wife fertile for him.
A more conventional phrasing would be: "We granted his prayer; we made his wife fertile for him; and [having done so] we gave him John." The reversal of the expected sequence (hysteron proteron) in the verse suggests immediacy: Zechariah's prayer was granted without any delay at all, so much so that the detail itself, "We made his wife fertile for him," was not allowed to intervene between the prayer and its acceptance.[5]
See also
[edit]- Begging the question, a subtype of which is sometimes called "hysteron proteron" as well
- Cart before the horse
- George Hysteron-Proteron
- Hysteron Proteron Club
References
[edit]- ^ Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). Greek Grammar. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 679–680. ISBN 0-674-36250-0.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 212.
- ^ "Hysteron proteron". changingminds.org.
- ^ "Definition of HYSTERON PROTERON". www.merriam-webster.com.
- ^ Literature and the Quran, Encyclopaedia Of The Quran