A semiconductor memory apparatus includes a voltage transfer unit configured to transfer a first word line control voltage among a plurality of word line control voltages to an assigned word line in a first operational period, and to transfer a second word line control voltage among the plurality of word line control voltages to the assigned word line in a second operational period; and a word line discharge unit configured to discharge the word line to a voltage level that is higher than a ground voltage and lower than the first and second word line control voltages in a discharge period between the first operational period and the second operational period.