Explanation
Diazeugma connects one common subject with several parallel verbs or predicates. The subject is stated once while its actions, states, or qualities unfold in a series. A single agent therefore remains central while versatility, activity, or change becomes visible. Parallelism may create rhythmic closure or semantic contrast. Analysis identifies the shared subject, assigns every predicate syntactically, and tests whether the sequence gathers similar actions, narrates temporal development, or places contradictory roles of one bearer beside one another.
Movement of thought
1. The stated or implied common subject is established for all subsequent predicates. 2. Each verb or predicate is assigned to that subject independently in syntax and meaning. 3. Parallelism, tense, and rhythm reveal simultaneity, succession, escalation, or contrast. 4. Repeating the subject before each predicate exposes the compression specific to the figure. 5. Context shows whether the series foregrounds agency, versatility, division, or responsibility.
Scientific use case
Syntax, stylistics, narratology, and political rhetoric examine diazeugma through predicate coordination, subject prominence, and event structure. Corpus analysis can show how the figure constructs agency or concentrates responsibility.
Example
A report describes the director: “She checked the data, heard the objections, changed the plan, and accepted responsibility.” One subject carries four distinct actions.
Counterexample
Several verbs in one sentence do not form diazeugma when they have different subjects or merely combine into one complex predicate. Recognisable parallel assignment to the same bearer is required.
Distinction
Distinguish diazeugma from zeugma, syllepsis, enumeratio, and verb coordination generally. Diazeugma unfolds parallel predicates of one subject; classical zeugma may yoke semantically different complements to one governing word.
Effect on thought and perception
Diazeugma keeps one bearer at the centre while multiple actions pass rapidly across it. It can communicate dynamism, competence, and coherence, but also an onerous accumulation of duties.
Resonance
One subject sends out several lines of action. Each returns to the same origin, so diversity is perceived as the resonance of a common bearer.
Cite this entry
Reich, Michael (Hrsg./ed.): „Diazeugma“. Atlas der Sprache, AT-HAR6-0008. ATLAS 260, data model 1.6.0. https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-HAR6-0008The address remains stable; editorial content may evolve. Editorial reading state: 2026-10-15. Include your access date for precise references.
Historical background
Burton identifies diazeugma through one subject associated with several verbal constructions, commonly arranged in parallel. The reference reports disiunctio in the Ad Herennium as a historical source, but the original passage has not been independently inspected in this pass. The structure lets a reader retain an agent while moving through successive actions, producing continuity without repeating the subject each time. For the Atlas, that organisation is distinct from proving that all the actions have a single explanation. Parallel grammar can suggest coherence which the evidence does not support. The entry documents a scholarly classification and its proposed historical connection. Direct source comparison should examine the relation to zeugma and hypozeuxis, since historical catalogues may draw their boundaries differently.
How conceptual history changes the analysis
Diazeugma attaches several predications to one subject; formal continuity does not prove a common cause or argumentative unity.
References for the historical section
- Gideon O. Burton, Silva Rhetoricae, Brigham Young University, diazeugma, undated reference entry · Definition and reported Ad Herennium 4.27.37
Selected witness, not a complete genealogy or first English attestation. Contemporary Atlas comparisons are editorial interpretations. A scholarly reference entry was inspected directly; its references to earlier works are reported secondary leads, not independently inspected historical attestations. Entry publication date is not established.