Lexical Stylistic Devices

Metaphor

(Метафора - скрытое сравнение, осуществляемое путем применения названия одного предмета к другому и выявляющее таким образом важную черту второго.)

  Metaphor is realizing two lexical meanings simultaneously. Due to this power metaphor is one of the most potent means of creating images.

 Metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, i.e. quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors:

 1. ‘The leaves fell sorrowfully.’

 2. A puppet government

3. He is a mule.

4. ‘The Tooth of Time, which has already dried many a tear, will let the grass grow over this painful wound.’ The expression tooth of time implies that time, like a greedy tooth devours everything, makes everything disappear or be forgotten.

5. He is not a man, he is just a machine!

 6. a treacherous calm

Genuine metaphors are mostly to be found in poetry and emotive prose.

 Metaphors, commonly used in speech are called trite / dead /окаменелые/ (stereotyped, hackneyed), they are fixed in dictionaries:

 A ray of hope, a flight of fancy, seeds of evil, roots of evil, to fish for compliments, to bark up the wrong tree, to apple one’s eye, to burn with desire.

 Trite metaphors are generally used in newspaper articles or scientific language (cliches).

Metonymy

Metonymy is the substitution of one word for another with which it is associated:

 ‘The White House said…’ (the American government); the press (newspapers and magazines); the cradle(infancy, place of origin);the grave(death);

 The hall applauded; The marble spoke; The kettle is boiling;

 I am fond of Agatha Christie; We didn’t speak because there were ears all around us; He was about a sentence away from needing plastic surgery.

Synecdoche

Synecdoche is a form of metonymy: using the name of a part to denote a whole or vice versa:

 ‘Hands wanted’;’Чёрные глаза…вспоминаю-умираю,” the police (for a handful of officers); bread (for food).

Simile

Simile is a figure of speech in which the subject is compared to another subject. By means of the comparison the objects are characterized.

The formal elements of a simile are like, as, as if, as though, such as, seem, etc.

 1. ‘A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle’.

 2. She seemed nothing more than a doll.

 3. Maidens, like mohs are ever caught by glare.

Sometimes the simile-forming like is placed at the end of the phrase:

 ‘Emily Barton was very pink, and looked a Dresden-china-shepherdess like. ’ In the English language there is a long list of hackneyed similes, which are not genuine similes any more but have become cliches:

 Faithful as a dog; to work as a horse; stubborn as a mule; slow as a tortoise; busy as a bee; hungry as a bear; to swim like a fish and many others of the same type.

Cliche

Cliches are stereotyped unoriginal (trite) word-combinations that do not surprise; they are predictable and easily anticipated:

 rosy dreams of youth; the whip and carrot policy; to live to a ripe old age; to let bygones be bygones; the patter of rain;

The usage of cliches is a specific feature of the publicistic style. They are necessary in newspaper language helping the writer to enliven his work and make the meaning more concrete.

Irony

Irony (‘mockery concealed) is a form of speech in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the words used.

  Well done! A fine friend you are!

 ‘What a noble illustration of the tender laws of this favoured country! - they let the poor go to sleep!’

 Irony must not be confused with humour, although they have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter. But the function of irony is not to produce a humorous effect. Irony is generally used to convey a negative feeling: irritation, displeasure, pity or regret.

Epithet

Epithet coveys the subjective attitude of the writer as it is used to characterize an object and pointing out to the reader some properties or features of the object. Epithet aims at evaluation of these properties or features.

  Heart-burning smile; wild winds; fantastic terrors; voiceless sands;

unearthly beauty; deep feelings; sleepless bay.

  Fixed epithets (stock images) are mostly used in ballads and folk-songs:

‘true love’, ‘dark forest’, ‘sweet Sir’, green wood’; ‘good ship’, ‘brave cavaliers’.

From the point of view of their compositional structure epithets may be divided into simple, compound, phrase and sentence epithets.

 Simple: dreary midnight; brilliant answer; sweet smile.

 Compound: heart-braking sigh; good-for-nothing fellow;

Phrase epithets and sentence epithets: 1. ‘Personally I detest her (Giaconda’s) smug, mystery-making, come-hither-but-go-away-again-because-butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression’. 2. There is a sort of ‘Oh–what–a-wicked-world-this-is-and-how-I-wish-I-could-do-something-to-make-it-better-and-nobler’ expression about Montmorency that has been known to bring to tea s into the eyes of pious old ladies and gentlemen.

The reversed epithets, or metaphorical, are of two types: 1) two nouns are linked in an of-phrase: a devil of a job; ‘A little Flying Dutchman of a cab’ 2) The predicative is in the inverted position: ‘ Fools that they are’; ‘ Wicked as he is’

Transferred epithets describe the state of a human being but referred to an animate object: sleepless pillow; unbreakfasted morning; merry hours;

 an indifferent shoulder; sick chambers.

Oxymoron

Oxymoron is a combination of two words in which their meaning clash, being opposite in sense:

Sweet sorrow; pleasantly ugly face; deafening silence; horribly beautiful.

 The following example describes the author’s attitude to New York: ‘I despise its vastness and power. It has the poorest millionaires, the littlest great men, the plainest beauties, the lowest skyscrapers of any town I ever saw. (Satiric mocking)

Allusion

Allusion is reference to a famous historical, literary, mythological, biblical or everyday life character or event, commonly known. As a rule no indication of the source is given. It’s his Achilles heel.

Antonomasia

Antonomasia is intended to point out the leading, most characteristic features of a person or of event. It categorizes the person and simultaneously indicates both the general and the particular. Antonomasia can be defined as a variety of allusion:

  Vralman, Molchalin, Mr. Zero, Don Juan.

Metalepsis

Metalepsis is a reference to something remotely associated with the theme of the speech.

  ‘I’ve got to go catch the worm tomorrow morning.’ said Mary. (The early bird catches the worm- a proverb)

Zeugma

Zeugma (syllepsis) is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations. It creates a semantic incongruity which is often humorous:

 1. He lost his hat and his temper.

 2. ‘…and covered themselves with dust and glory.-Mark Twain

3.Шел дождь и два студента. Один в галошах, другой – в университет.

 4. The alphabet was above the blackboard and friendly atmosphere was there.

5. ‘And May’s mother always stood on her gentility; and Dora’s mother never stood on anything but her active feet’.

Pun

Pun (also known as paronomasia) is a deliberate confusion of similar – sounding words for humorous effect. Puns are often used in jokes and riddles.

 E.g.1. What is the difference between a schoolmaster and an engine-driver?

(One trains the mind and the other minds the train.)

 2. The name Justin Time sounds like ‘just in time’

3. I have no idea how worms reproduce but you often find them in pairs (pears).

4. Officer.-What steps (measures) would you take if an enemy tank were coming towards you?

 Soldier. - Long ones.