Explanation
Conversio denotes in rhetorical taxonomies the recurrence of the same word or expression at the ends of successive sentences, clauses, or units. In many traditions it corresponds to epiphora or epistrophe; the historical name should remain visible as a terminological variant rather than being made into an artificial separate figure. Fixed final position lets different beginnings converge upon one verbal endpoint. Repetition alone is insufficient: end placement and a recognisable series are constitutive. Conversio can create emphasis, rhythm, cohesion, or affective intensification and establish the repeated expression as a measure for changing statements. Its movement leads several paths toward the same ending, which changes at every arrival because identical wording bears new syntactic and semantic weight.
Movement of thought
1. Several successive units first open different assertions, images, or arguments. 2. Each unit ends with the same word or phrase, making closure the expected position of recurrence. 3. The repeated endpoint links different approaches and gains additional weight with every return. 4. A counter-test examines final position and series structure and separates conversio from anaphora, epanalepsis, refrain, and unpositioned repetition. 5. The common ending returns transformed, gathering the preceding paths and allowing their differences to resonate in one expression.
Scientific use case
Rhetoric, stylistics, and corpus linguistics annotate repeated form, syntactic unit, position, and function. Historical work reconciles the names conversio, epiphora, and epistrophe.
Example
“We open the sources for the atlas; we test the relations for the atlas; we preserve the countervoices for the atlas.”
Counterexample
“We test sources and organise paths” coordinates two activities but contains no recurrent expression at the ends of several units and is not conversio.
Distinction
Distinguish it from epiphora and epistrophe as usually synonymous names, anaphora as initial repetition, symploce, epanalepsis, refrain, parallelism, and repetition generally.
Effect on thought and perception
Conversio creates rhythmic closure, strengthens a key expression, and can direct different propositions toward a shared argumentative or affective endpoint.
Resonance
Different sentences depart from different places and reach the same shore; every return deposits another current of meaning at the ending.
Cite this entry
Reich, Michael (Hrsg./ed.): „Conversio“. Atlas der Sprache, AT-METZ2-0004. ATLAS 260, data model 1.6.0. https://atlasoflanguage.com/concept/AT-METZ2-0004The address remains stable; editorial content may evolve. Editorial reading state: 2026-10-15. Include your access date for precise references.
Historical background
Peacham’s epiphora repeats a significant word at the ends of successive clauses and explains the effect through its persistence in the hearer’s attention. This supplies a specific English handbook witness for the pattern associated with conversio, but not direct evidence for that alternative label in the inspected entry. The Atlas should keep the formal location visible: recurrence at endings differs from an unrestricted return of a word anywhere in a passage. A repeated ending can draw several claims towards one shared judgment while leaving their individual support unexamined. Peacham’s caution against excessive use also shows that rhetorical force was not equated with frequency alone. The genealogy of conversio as a Latin and English rhetorical name needs separate collation with sources that actually employ it.
How conceptual history changes the analysis
Check the position and relation of the repeated endings. A shared verbal conclusion does not give the preceding claims equal evidential support.
References for the historical section
- Henry Peacham, The Garden of Eloquence (1593), Schemates Rhetorical; Perseus transcription · Schemates Rhetorical, Epiphora: repeated clause endings
Selected passage, not a complete genealogy or an English first-attestation claim. Original Atlas applications are editorial interpretations, not reported experiments. Named historical passage read in transcription; no complete edition collation or adoption of historical normative assumptions.
- Henry Peacham, The Garden of Eloquence (1593), Schemates Rhetorical; Perseus transcription · Schemates Rhetorical, Epiphora: repeated clause endings
Selected passage, not a complete genealogy or an English first-attestation claim. Original Atlas applications are editorial interpretations, not reported experiments. Named historical passage read in transcription; no complete edition collation or adoption of historical normative assumptions.