We explain what the hyperbaton is, its functions, what types exist and examples from the literature. Also, other literary figures.
What is the hyperbaton?
The hyperbaton is a Literary figure which consists of the alteration of the natural order of the prayer, with the purpose of emphasizing any of its parts or to achieve a certain type of metric or rhyme. It is a figure commonly used in the composition of literary texts, especially in languages that allow greater syntactic freedom.
There are three different types of hyperbaton, each of which has a specific name, and they are:
- The parenthesis, which consists of the introduction in the middle of a sentence of a phrase or sentence with an intonation different from the rest. For example, in the verses of Calderón de la Barca: "and declaring myself mute (because there are sorrows and anguish that my affections say much better than my mouth), I said my sorrows while being silent"
- The anastrophe, which consists of the inversion, within a sentence, of two terms that naturally should be in order. For example, in the verses of the Archpriest of Talavera: "no one should use or want love from women."
- Hysterology, which consists of altering the natural order of the elements of the sentence to begin by saying what ordinarily should be said last, or vice versa. For example, in the verses of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: "The dark swallows will return / their nests to hang on your balcony."
Examples of hyperbaton
Other examples of hyperbaton are the following:
- In Miguel Arteche's verses: "Silence is stopped on the wheel / and distance is frozen in brake."
- In the verses of Garcilaso de la Vega: "With so much meekness the crystalline lens / Tagus in that part walked, / that the eyes could the path / hardly determine what it was leading".
- In the verses of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer: "From the living room in the dark corner, / of its owner perhaps forgotten, / silent and covered in dust / the harp could be seen."
- In the verses of Luis de Góngora: "Where the Sicilian sea sparkled / the silver silver foot to the Lilibeo / pale ashy signs a plain / the hard trade gives".
- In the verses of Fray Luis de León: "From the mountain on the hillside, / by my planted hand I have a garden, / that with spring / covered with beautiful flower / already shows in hope the true fruit."
- In the verses of Miguel Hernández: "My loves are more black than sooty / even the lightest details / they detail their regrets with what verve".
Also examples of hyperbaton are the phrases of everyday language: "Thank God", "If I remember correctly" or "I don't even have to say".
Other literary figures
Besides the hyperbaton, other literary figures are:
- The synesthesia, which consists of the mixture in a phrase of auditory, visual, taste, tactile sensations, etc., in the manner of the metaphor (synaesthetic metaphor).
- The parallelism, which consists of the repetition of a structure within the text, changing an element as it is repeated.
- The asyndeton, which consists of the suppression or omission of the links which would naturally go in an enum, using a pause (comma intonation) instead.
- The polysyndeton, which is the opposite of the previous case, since it consists of the normally excessive use of a nexus or a conjunction within an enum of some kind.
- Paronomasia, which consists of the use of paronyms (words with sounds similar but different meanings) in the phrase to induce the pun, usually with a sense ironic or satirical.