Figure of speech

Last updated

A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from straightforward language use or literal meaning to produce a rhetorical or intensified effect (emotionally, aesthetically, intellectually, etc.). [1] [2] In the distinction between literal and figurative language, figures of speech constitute the latter. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into schemes , which vary the ordinary sequence of words, and tropes , where words carry a meaning other than what they ordinarily signify.

Contents

An example of a scheme is a polysyndeton: the repetition of a conjunction before every element in a list, whereas the conjunction typically would appear only before the last element, as in "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"—emphasizing the danger and number of animals more than the prosaic wording with only the second "and". An example of a trope is the metaphor, describing one thing as something it clearly is not, as a way to illustrate by comparison, as in "All the world's a stage."

Four rhetorical operations

Classical rhetoricians classified figures of speech into four categories or quadripita ratio: [3]

These categories are often still used. The earliest known text listing them, though not explicitly as a system, is the Rhetorica ad Herennium , of unknown authorship, where they are called πλεονασμός (pleonasmos—addition), ἔνδεια (endeia—omission), μετάθεσις (metathesis—transposition) andἐναλλαγή (enallage—permutation). [4] Quintillian then mentioned them in Institutio Oratoria . [5] Philo of Alexandria also listed them as addition (πρόσθεσις—prosthesis), subtraction (ἀφαίρεσις—afairesis), transposition (μετάθεσις—metathesis), and transmutation (ἀλλοίωσις—alloiosis). [6]

Examples

The cartoon is a pun on the word Jamaica, whose pronunciation [dZ@'meIk@] is a homonym to the clipped form of "Did you make her?" Jamaica her own idea.png
The cartoon is a pun on the word Jamaica, whose pronunciation [dʒəˈmeɪkə] is a homonym to the clipped form of "Did you make her?"

Figures of speech come in many varieties. [7] The aim is to use the language imaginatively to accentuate the effect of what is being said. A few examples follow:

To say "it was like having some butterflies in my stomach" is a simile, because it uses the word like, which a metaphor does not.
To say "It was like having a butterfly farm in my stomach", "It felt like a butterfly farm in my stomach", or "I was so nervous that I had a butterfly farm in my stomach" could be a hyperbole, because it is exaggerated.

Types

Whitehall is a road in the City of Westminster, London used synecdochically to refer to the entire UK civil service, as many government departments are nearby. Whitehall MOD 45155526.jpg
Whitehall is a road in the City of Westminster, London used synecdochically to refer to the entire UK civil service, as many government departments are nearby.

Scholars of classical Western rhetoric have divided figures of speech into two main categories: schemes and tropes. Schemes (from the Greek schēma, 'form or shape') are figures of speech that change the ordinary or expected pattern of words. For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known as apposition. Tropes (from Greek trepein, 'to turn') change the general meaning of words. An example of a trope is irony, which is the use of words to convey the opposite of their usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men").

During the Renaissance, scholars meticulously enumerated and classified figures of speech. Henry Peacham, for example, in his The Garden of Eloquence (1577), enumerated 184 different figures of speech. Professor Robert DiYanni, in his book Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay [8] wrote: "Rhetoricians have catalogued more than 250 different figures of speech, expressions or ways of using words in a nonliteral sense."

For simplicity, this article divides the figures between schemes and tropes, but does not further sub-classify them (e.g., "Figures of Disorder"). Within each category, words are listed alphabetically. Most entries link to a page that provides greater detail and relevant examples, but a short definition is placed here for convenience. Some of those listed may be considered rhetorical devices, which are similar in many ways.

Schemes

Schemes are words or phrases whose syntax, sequence, or pattern occurs in a manner that varies from an ordinary usage.

Tropes

Tropes are words or phrases whose contextual meaning differs from the manner or sense in which they are ordinarily used.

See also

Related Research Articles

An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a determiner, a clause, a preposition, or a sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or level of certainty by answering questions such as how, in what way, when, where, to what extent. This is called the adverbial function and may be performed by an individual adverb, by an adverbial phrase, or by an adverbial clause.

Template:Short description Group of words Template:Unreferenced section date=May 2023

English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and whole texts.

Pleonasm is redundancy in linguistic expression, such as in "black darkness," "burning fire," "the man he said," or "vibrating with motion." It is a manifestation of tautology by traditional rhetorical criteria. Pleonasm may also be used for emphasis, or because the phrase has become established in a certain form. Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhetorical device</span> Literary technique used to persuade

In rhetoric, a rhetorical device, persuasive device, or stylistic device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading them towards considering a topic from a perspective, using language designed to encourage or provoke an emotional display of a given perspective or action. They seek to make a position or argument more compelling than it would otherwise be.

In rhetoric, zeugma and syllepsis are figures of speech in which a single phrase or word joins different parts of a sentence.

In literature and writing, stylistic devices are a variety of techniques used to give an auxiliary meaning, idea, or feeling.

In linguistics and grammar, a sentence is a linguistic expression, such as the English example "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." In traditional grammar, it is typically defined as a string of words that expresses a complete thought, or as a unit consisting of a subject and predicate. In non-functional linguistics it is typically defined as a maximal unit of syntactic structure such as a constituent. In functional linguistics, it is defined as a unit of written texts delimited by graphological features such as upper-case letters and markers such as periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. This notion contrasts with a curve, which is delimited by phonologic features such as pitch and loudness and markers such as pauses; and with a clause, which is a sequence of words that represents some process going on throughout time. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request, command, or suggestion.

<i>Rhetorica ad Herennium</i> Ancient Latin book on rhetoric

The Rhetorica ad Herennium is the oldest surviving Latin book on rhetoric, dating from the late 80s BC. It was formerly attributed to Cicero or Cornificius, but is in fact of unknown authorship, sometimes ascribed to an unnamed doctor.

Parallelism is a rhetorical device that compounds words or phrases that have equivalent meanings so as to create a definite pattern. This structure is particularly effective when "specifying or enumerating pairs or series of like things". A scheme of balance, parallelism represents "one of the basic principles of grammar and rhetoric".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of rhetorical terms</span>

Owing to its origin in ancient Greece and Rome, English rhetorical theory frequently employs Greek and Latin words as terms of art. This page explains commonly used rhetorical terms in alphabetical order. The brief definitions here are intended to serve as a quick reference rather than an in-depth discussion. For more information, click the terms.

This glossary of literary terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the discussion, classification, analysis, and criticism of all types of literature, such as poetry, novels, and picture books, as well as of grammar, syntax, and language techniques. For a more complete glossary of terms relating to poetry in particular, see Glossary of poetry terms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trope (literature)</span> Use of figurative language for artistic effect

A literary trope is an artistic effect realized with figurative language — word, phrase, image — such as a rhetorical figure. In editorial practice, a trope is "a substitution of a word or phrase by a less literal word or phrase". Semantic change has expanded the definition of the literary term trope to also describe a writer's usage of commonly recurring an overused literary techniques and rhetorical devices motifs, and clichés in a work of creative literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scheme (rhetoric)</span> Figure of speech that relies on the structure and syntax of sentences

In rhetoric, a scheme is a type of figure of speech that relies on the structure of the sentence, unlike the trope, which plays with the meanings of words.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhetorical operations</span> Classification of figures of speech

In classical rhetoric, figures of speech are classified as one of the four fundamental rhetorical operations or quadripartita ratio: addition (adiectio), omission (detractio), permutation (immutatio) and transposition (transmutatio).

Saliba is an Oceanic language spoken on the islets off the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea. There are approximately 2,500 speakers of Saliba. Significant documentation of the language was undertaken by the Saliba-Logea documentation project, and hundreds of audio-video resources can be found in the project archive.

In literary criticism and rhetoric, a tautology is a statement that repeats an idea using near-synonymous morphemes, words or phrases, effectively "saying the same thing twice". Tautology and pleonasm are not consistently differentiated in literature. Like pleonasm, tautology is often considered a fault of style when unintentional. Intentional repetition may emphasize a thought or help the listener or reader understand a point. Sometimes logical tautologies like "Boys will be boys" are conflated with language tautologies, but a language tautology is not inherently true, while a logical tautology always is.

In rhetoric, parallel syntax is a rhetorical device that consists of repetition among adjacent sentences or clauses. The repeated sentences or clauses provide emphasis to a central theme or idea the author is trying to convey. Parallelism is the mark of a mature language speaker.

<i>The Elements of Eloquence</i>

The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase is a non-fiction book by Mark Forsyth published in 2013. The book explains classical rhetoric, dedicating each chapter to a rhetorical figure with examples of its use, particularly in the works of William Shakespeare. Forsyth argues the power of Shakespeare's language was a result of studying formal rhetoric, and highlights their use through Shakespeare's development.

Poetic devices are a form of literary device used in poetry. Poems are created out of poetic devices via a composite of: structural, grammatical, rhythmic, metrical, verbal, and visual elements. They are essential tools that a poet uses to create rhythm, enhance a poem's meaning, or intensify a mood or feeling.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Mar, Emanuel del (1842). "A Grammar of the English Language .. In a series of familiar lectures, etc". Archived from the original on 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
  2. ↑ "figure of speech". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
  3. ↑ Jansen, Jeroen (2008) Imitatio Archived 2015-07-14 at the Wayback Machine ISBN   978-90-8704-027-7 Summary Archived 2008-12-05 at the Wayback Machine translated to English by Kristine Steenbergh. Quote from the summary:
    Using these formulas, a pupil could render the same subject or theme in a myriad of ways. For the mature author, this principle offered a set of tools to rework source texts into a new creation. In short, the quadripartita ratio offered the student or author a ready-made framework, whether for changing words or the transformation of entire texts. Since it concerned relatively mechanical procedures of adaptation that for the most part could be learned, the techniques concerned could be taught at school at a relatively early age, for example in the improvement of pupils' own writing.
  4. ↑ Book IV, 21.29, pp.303–5
  5. ↑ Institutio Oratoria, Vol. I, Book I, Chapter 5, paragraphs 6 and 38–41. And also in Book VI Chapter 3
  6. ↑ Rhetorica ad Herennium
  7. ↑ "The Forest of Rhetoric". Silva Rhetoricae. Brigham Young.
  8. ↑ Robert DiYanni, Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill, ISBN   0-07-557112-9, p. 451
  9. ↑ Bernard Marie Dupriez (1991). A Dictionary of Literary Devices: Gradius, A-Z. University of Toronto Press. p. 213. ISBN   978-0-8020-6803-3. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2013.Dupriez, Bernard Marie (1991). A Dictionary of Literary Devices: Gradus, A-Z. University of Toronto Press. p. 213. ISBN   978-0-8020-6803-3. Archived from the original on 2014-01-07.
  10. ↑ Kevin Wilson; Jennifer Wauson (2010). The AMA Handbook of Business Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Style, Grammar, Usage, Punctuation, Construction, and Formatting. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. p. 224. ISBN   978-0-8144-1589-4. Archived from the original on 2013-12-05.
  11. 1 2 Stephen Cushman; Clare Cavanagh; Jahan Ramazani; Paul Rouzer (26 August 2012). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition. Princeton University Press. p. 647. ISBN   978-1-4008-4142-4. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013.
  12. ↑ Shipley, Joseph T. (1943). "Trope". Dictionary of World Literature: Criticism, Forms, Technique. Philosophical Library. p. 595. Archived from the original on 2016-03-10.
  13. ↑ Kennedy et al, 2006 p. 4-5
  14. ↑ Quinn, 1999. p. 12
  15. ↑ Baldick,2008. p. 7
  16. ↑ Corbett and Connors, 1999. p.62
  17. ↑ Corbett and Connors, 1999. p. 64-65
  18. ↑ Corbett and Connors. 1999. p.69-70
  19. ↑ Corbett and Connors, 1999. p.60

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.