rhetoric - Comparative studies of examples of epizeuxis


Epizeuxis is a rhetorical device which is defined as involving immediate or close repetition of a word or phrase - 'Break, break, break, On thy cold grey stones, O sea!' (Tennyson) or 'There's a fox, a fox in the garden' (quoted in Pilkington, p 125).


If we restricted examples to a strict, single-word, immediate repetition pattern based on English language texts, would it be valid to state that:


A: One-syllable patterns are more common than two-or-more-syllable ones; and, if so, then B: Examples involving the immediate repetition of two-or-more-syllable words have more impact? OR Does the impact depend solely/chiefly on the emotional weight of (a) the term and (b) the term in context?


I am checking various works including Fisher's Repetition and have not found references to any comparative studies of this type to date. I wondered whether anyone on here might be aware of any specific studies that could provide some answers ... I would be very grateful for any constructive suggestions/pointers.




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