Lexical stylistic devices

Plan

1. Metaphor.
2. Metonymy.
3. Play on words and its types.
4. Irony.
5. Antonomasia.
6. Epithet.
7. The structure of epithets.
8. Hyperbole and understatement.
9. Oxymoron.

1. Metaphor. Metaphor is a stylistic device consisting in the transference of names based on the associated likeness between two objects, when two different phenomena or actions are simultaneously brought to mind by the imposition of some or all of the inherent properties of one object on the other which by nature is deprived of these properties. Metaphor has the power of realizing two lexical meanings at the same time.

The connection between the chosen feature, representing the object, and the word is especially vivid in cases of transparent "inner form" when the name of the object can easily be traced to the name of one of its characteristics, e.g. railway, chairman. Thus, the semantic structure of a word reflects, to a certain extent, characteristic features of the piece of reality which it denotes (names). So it is only natural that similarity between real objects or phenomena finds its reflection in the semantic structures of words denoting them: both words posses at least one common semantic component. Thus, the sun may be referred to as a volcano or as a pancake, the common semantic components being "hot" and "round" correspondingly.

The expressiveness of the metaphor depends on the simultaneous implicit presence of both objects - the one which is actually meant and the one that supplies its own "legal" name. The wider is the gap between the associated objects the more striking and unexpected, the more expressive is the metaphor.

Metaphors can be expressed by all notional parts of speech and function in the sentence as any of its members. They can be classified according to the degree of unexpectedness. Those which are unexpected and unpredictable are called genuine metaphors, those which are commonly used in speech and are therefore fixed in dictionaries as expressive means of language, are trite, or dead, metaphors. E.g., in the sentence He smelled the ever-beautiful smell of coffee imprisoned in the can (J.St.) we deal with a genuine metaphor. Trite metaphors are observed in the phrases: a ray of hope, the feeling melted away, etc.

Sometimes the primary meaning of metaphor is re-eslabiished alongside the new (derivative) meaning. This is done by supplying the central image created by the metaphor with additional words bearing some reference to the previous image. Such metaphors are called sustained or prolongued, e.g. Mr.Pickwick bottled up his vengeance and corked it down, (D.)

It is incorrect to define metaphors as compressed similies. The metaphor aims at identifying the objects, while the simile aims at finding some points of resemblance, keeping the objects apart. These two stylistic devices are different in their linguistic nature.

If a metaphor involves likeness between animate and inanimate objects, we deal with personification, e.g. the face of London, the pain of the ocean.

2. Metonymy. In metonymy we observe a different type of relation between the dictionary and contextual meaning, based not on identification, but on contiguity (nearness) of objects or phenomena. Transference of names in metonymy does not involve a necessity for two different words to have a common component in their semantic structures, as in the case with metaphor, but proceeds from the fact that two objects (or phenomena) have common grounds for existence in reality. Metonymy is in many cases trite and registered by dictionaries in the semantic structure of a polysemantic word, e.g. the press (i.e. a printing or publishing establishment), the bench (i.e. magistrates and justices), a hand (a worker), etc.

Genuine metonymy reveals quite an unexpected substitution of one word for another, or one concept for another, on the ground of some strong impression produced by a chance feature of the thing, e.g. Then they came in. Two of them, a man with long fair moustaches and a silent dark man. Definitely the moustache and I had nothing in common. (D.L.) We have a feature of a man which catches the eye, in this case his facial appearance: the moustache stands for the man himself. The metonymy here shows that the speaker does not know the man in question, moreover, there is a definite implication that this is the first time the speaker has seen him.

There are various types of relations in metonymy. The most common are as follows:

1. A concrete thing is used instead of an abstract notion. In this case the thing becomes the symbol of the notion, e.g. There you are at your tricks again. The rest of them do earn their bread; you live on my charity. (E.Br.)

2. The container instead of the thing contained, e.g. The hall applauded,

3. The relation of proximity, e.g. The round game table was
boisterous and happy. (D.)

4. The material instead of the thing made of it, e.g. The marble spoke.

5. The instrument which the doer uses in performing the action instead of the action or the doer himself, e.g. As the sword is the worst argument that can be used, so should it be the last. (B.)

Metonymy is less frequently observed than metaphor, because the scope of human imagination identifying two objects or phenomena on the ground of commonness of one of their innumerable characteristics is boundless while actual relations between objects are more limited. As a rule, metonymy is expressed by nouns or substantivized numerals, e.g. Dinah, a slim, fresh, pale seventeen, was plain and yet fragile. (C.H.)

One type of metonymy, which is based on the relations between the part and the whole, is often viewed independently as synecdoche, e.g. For every look that passed between them, and word they spoke, the dwarf had eyes and ears. (D.)

3. Play on words and its types. Here belong a few stylistic devices which have much in common both in the mechanism of their creation and in their functioning.

ZEUGMA is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relation being, on the one hand, literal, and on the other, transferred. E.g. Dorothy, at my statement, had clapped her hand over her mouth to hold down laughter and chewing gum.(J.B.) "To hold down", used in the primary meaning, denotes the action of keeping something with one's teeth and tongue. Its simultaneous realization of another, transferred, meaning "to restrain" creates a zeugma, which in this instance has a slightly humorous effect.

Zeugma is frequently used in English emotive prose and poetry. The revival of the original meaning of words is regarded as an essential quality of any work in the belles-lettres style. It is a strong and effective device to keep the purity of the primary meaning when the two meanings clash.

The same effect is observed in VIOLATION OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS of different stylistical patterns, as in the following sentence: Little Jon was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, which was rather curly and large. (G.) The word "mouth", with its content, is completly lost in the phraseological unit which means "to have luck, to be born lucky". Attaching to the unit the qualification of the mouth, the author revives the meaning of the word and offers a very fresh, original and expressive description.

Another stylistic device based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word or phrase is called PUN. Here one word is deliberately used in two meanings.

Contextual conditions resulting in the realization of two meanings in pun may vary:

1. Pun can emerge as a result of misinterpretation of one speaker's utterance by the other. E.g., in Dickens's Pickwick Papers there is an episode in which the fat boy, Mr. Wardle's servant, comes from the corridor, very pale, and his master asks him: "Have you been seeing any spirits? " - "Or taking any? " added Bob Allen. The first word spirits refers to supernatural forces, the second one - to the strong drink.

2. Phonetic similarity of two homonyms may also lead to pun. This is illustrated by the title of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. Here the name of the main character and the adjective meaning "seriously-minded" are both present in our minds.

3. Pun may be the result of the speaker's intended violation of the listener's expectation. E.g. here comes a period in every man's life, but she is just a semicolon in his. (B.) Here we expect the second part of the sentence to unfold the content of the first, because period means "an interval of time", but the author has used the word in the meaning of "punctuation mark", and this becomes clear from the semicolon following it.

The main function of pun is to create a humorous effect. Play on words also includes the so-called NONSENSE OF NON-SEQUENCE. It is based on the extention of syntactical valency and results in joining two semantically disconnected clauses into one sentence. E.g. Emperor Nero played the fiddle, so they burnt Rome. (E.)

When a few semantically disconnected homogeneous members are attached to one verb, we deal with a variation of zeugma, the SEMANTICALLY FALSE CHAIN. Usually the last member of the chain falls out of the thematic group, defeating our expectancy and producing a humorous effect. E.g. Most women in London nowadays seem to furnish their rooms with nothing but orchids, foreigners and French novels. (O.W.)

4. Irony. This is a stylistic device based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings, dictionaiy and contextual. They stand in opposition to each other, e.g. She is a charming middle-aged lady with a face like a bucket of mud and if she has washed her hair since Coolidge's second term, I'll eat my spare tyre, rim and all (R.Ch.). The word "charming" here has acquired the meaning which is opposite to its primary dictionary meaning. This becomes clear from the accompanying context. This word bears a logical stress and is strongly marked by intonation.

In this stylistic device it is always possible to indicate the exact word whose contextual meaning is quite opposite to its dictionary meaning. That is why this type of irony is called verbal irony. But in many cases we may feel the ironic effect, but we cannot identify the exact word in whose meaning we can see the contradiction between the said and the implied. The effect of irony in such cases is created by a number of statements, by the whole of the text. This type of irony is called sustained, and it is formed by the contradiction of the writer's considerations and the generally accepted moral and ethical codes. Such examples can be found in the works by Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens, Sinclair Lewis.

Irony should not be confused with humour, though they have much in common. But humour always causes laughter. What is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and the negative. Here indeed, irony and humour have common points. But irony does not always create a humorous effect. It may express irritation, displeasure, pity or regret, as in the sentence "How clever of you!". Since irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning, only positive concepts can be used in their logical dictionary meanings.

5. Antonomasia. This is a lexical stylistic device in which a proper name is used instead of a common noun or vice versa. Here we observe the interplay between the logical and nominal meaning of the words. Let us consider a few typical examples. In the sentence "Her mother is perfectly unbearable. Never met such a Gorgon " (O.W.) the proper name of a mythological woman is preceded by the indefinite article and it means not that particular personage, but any woman whose character is similar to that of Gorgon, i.e. a fussy, cruel, cantankerous woman, something like a monster.

When a common noun is employed instead of a proper name, antonomasia is intended to point out the leading, most characteristic feature of a person or event, at the same time pinning this leading trait as a proper name to the person concerned. In fact, antonomasia is the initial stage in naming individuals. E.g. The next speaker was a tall gloomy man, Sir Something Somebody. (P.) Here we are to understand the insignificance and triviality of the speaker who is indistinguishable among the multitude of common people.

Another type of antonomasia is presented in the so-called "speaking names", names whose origin from common nouns is still clearly perceived. So, in such popular English surnames as Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown the etimology can be restored, but no speaker of English today has it in the mind that the first used to mean occupation and the second - colour. But such names from Sheridan's School for Scandal as Lady Teazle or Mr. Surface immediately raise associations with certain human qualities due to the primary meaning of the words "to tease" and "surface". In Ukrainian and Russian literature this device is used by many classic writers, e.g. Vralman, Molchalin, Korobochka, Kalytka, Halushka, Taras Tryasylo.

Translators often preserve the double role of speaking names, trying to keep their connotational peculiarities. E.g. Miss Languish - Mic ToMHefi; Mr.Backbite - MicTep KneBeTayH; Mr.Credulous - Micxep ^OBepn; Lord Chatterino - JTopa Eana6ojio; Island Leaphigh — OcTpoB BwcoKonpHraa (F. Cooper).

The use of antonomasia in publicistic style also has the same function, e.g. / suspect that the Noes and Don't Knows would far outnumber the Yesses. ("The Spectator")

6. Epithet. Epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase or even sentence used to characterize an object from the subjective point of view. Its basic feature is its emotiveness and subjectivity: the characteristic attached to the object or quality is always chosen by the speaker himself. Epithets should not be confused with logical attributes, which are purely objective, non-evaluative. They are descriptive and indicate an inherent or prominent feature of the object or phenomenon.

E.g. in green meadows, white snow, high mountains we deal with logical attributes. They indicate those qualities of the objects which are generally recognized. But in mild wind, heartburning smile the adjectives are purely evaluative, i.e. they are epithets. The epithet makes a strong impression upon the reader and the latter begins to see and think of things as the writer wants him to.

From the semantic point of view epithets can be divided into affective (associated) and figurative (transferred, unassociated). Affective epithets are those which point to a feature which is essential to the object they describe, the idea expressed in the epithet being inherent in the concept of the object. They serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker. Most of the qualifying words found in the dictionary can be and are used as affective epithets, e.g. dark forest, careful attention, fantastic terror.

Figurative epithets are formed on the basis of metaphors, metonymies and similes expressed by adjectives. They name a feature not inherent in the object, i.e. a feature which may be so unexpected as to strike the reader by its novelty. E.g. the smiling sun, the frowning cloud, a dream-like experience. These epithets are used for stylistic purposes to make the narration more expressive and emotional.

Epithets are mostly expressed by adjectives or qualitative adverbs (e.g. his victorious smile - he smiled victoriously), but also by nouns used either as exclamatory sentences (e.g. Hey you, piglet!) or as postpositive attributes (e.g. Richard of the Lion Heart).

7. The structure of epithets. Depending on their composition epithets are divided into simple, compound, phrase (sentence) and reversed epithets. Simple epithets are expressed by ordinary adjectives, e.g. swollen earth, voiceless sands. Compound epithets are built like compound adjectives, e.g. cloud-shapen giant, mischief-making monkey.

Due to the tendency to cram as much as possible information into one language unit and owing to the analytical structure of the English language a phrase or even a sentence may become an epithet when it is used attributively, e.g. He thoroughly disliked that never-far-from-tragic look of a ham Shakespearean actor. (H.)

Such epithets are generally followed by the words expression, air, attitude and others which express behaviour or facial expression. They seem to transcribe into language symbols a communication usually conveyed by non-linguistic means.

The reversed (inverted) epithet is composed of two nouns linked in an o^-phrase. The evaluating element is contained not in the noun attribute but in the noun structurally described, e.g. a dog of a fellow, this devil of a woman. An inverted epithet should not be confused with an ordinary of- phrase. In this case attention should be paid to the article: the toy of the girl - the toy belonging to the girl, the toy of a girl - a small, toyish girl.

Here we can also single out two-step epithets in which the process of qualification passes two stages: the qualification of the object and the qualification of the qualification itself, e.g. an unnaturally mild day, a pompously majestic female. These epithets have the model Adv.+Adj.

From the distributional point of view we should point out the string of epithets. It gives a many-sided depiction of an object, and usually such a string is supplied with certain emotional intonation, the epithet coming last bearing the logical stress, e.g. He is a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-nosed peacock.(D.) Another distributional model is transferred epithet. Such epithets are usually logical attributes, generally describing the state of a human being, but applied to an inanimate object, e.g. sick chamber, breathless eagerness, a disapproving finger. The meaning of the logical attributes in such combinations usually acquires a definite emotional colouring.

8. Hyperbole and understatement. Hyperbole is one of the most common expressive means in our everyday speech. When we describe our admiration or anger and say "I would gladly see this film a hundred times " or "/ haven't seen him for ages " we use trite language hyperboles which through long and repeated use have lost their originality and remain signals of the speaker's roused emotions. When used by authors in speech, hyperbole becomes a stylistic device based on the deliberate exaggeration of some features of an object, e.g. Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. (Sc.F.)

It is quite evident that a human being cannot be so old, so the reader perceives the exaggeration at once. Hyperbole is often the final effect of another stylistic device - metaphor, simile, irony, e.g. He has the tread of a rhinocerous or The man was like the Rock of Gibraltar.

Hyperbole can be expressed by all notional parts of speech, though there is a group of words which are used in this device more often than others, e.g. every, everybody, all, etc., e.g. He was all smiles. Numerical nouns such as a million, a thousand and the adverbs of time (ever, never) are also often used.

For the stylistic device to be perceived as hyperbole it is necessary that both the speaker and the listener should be aware of the deliberate quality of the exaggeration. If this reciprocal understanding of the intentional nature of the overstatement is absent, hyperbole becomes a mere lie.

When the characteristic features of an object are intentionally underrated, we deal with the SD opposite to hyperbole - understatement. E.g. She was a sparrow of a woman (Ph.L.), where the writer deliberately diminishes the height of a woman. As in the case with hyperbole, it does not mean the actual state of affairs in reality, but presents the latter through the emotionally coloured perception and rendering of the speaker. English is well known for its preference of understatement in everyday speech, e.g. / am rather annoyed instead of/ am infuriated, etc. As time goes on, both hyperbole and understatement may become fixed, e.g. Snow White, LilUput. When used in creative writing, they increase the vividness of narration, make it more emphatic and expressive.

9. Oxymoron. This is a combination of two words in which the meanings of the two clash, because they are opposite in sense, e.g. sweet sorrow, nice rascal, horribly beautiful. Each oxymoron is a combination of two semantically contradictory notions that help to emphasize contradictory qualities as a dialectical unity simultaneously existing in the described phenomenon. One of the two members of the oxymoron points out the feature which is universally recognized, while the other shows a purely subjective individual perception of the object.

Oxymoron may have the structural model Adj.+Noun, e.g. loving hate, cold fire, etc. Here the subjective part of the oxymoron is embodied in the attribute-epithet. In this structural model the resistance of the two component parts to fusion manifests itself most strongly. Another model is Adv.+Adj. Here the change of meaning in the first element is more rapid, and the resistance to the unifying process is not so strong.

Besides, there exist other structural models, in which verbs are used. Such verbal structures as to shout mutely, to cry silently seem to strengthen the idea and show the writer's individual approach to it. Sometimes the tendency to combine the uncombinative is revealed in structurally different forms. Here the originality and specificity of oxymoron becomes especially evident, e.g. the street damaged by improvements (O.H.), silence was louder than thunder (U.). The reader immediately feels that, in the first example, the author is critical of the improvements and shows that they were quite unnecessary, in the second -silence has a dangerous quality and produces a deafening effect on the listener. In this way a lot of additional, objective information is conveyed in the oxymoronic structure.

Though oxymorons rarely become trite, some of them have really become traditional and show a high degree of the speaker's spiritual involvement in the situation, e.g. awfully nice, terribly sorry. Here the qualifying adjectives serve as intensifiers.

Literature:

1. Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. – М., 1990.
2. Єфімов Л.П., Ясінецька О.А. Стилістика англійської мови і дискурсивний аналіз. Учбово-методичний посібник. – Вінниця, 2004.
3. Мороховский А.Н., Воробьев О.П. и др. Стилистика английского языка. – К., 1991.
4. Трибуханчик А.М. Курс стилістики англійської мови (для денного відділення). – Ніжин,2006.
5. Galperin I.R. Stylistics. – М, 1981.
6. Kukharenko V.A. A Book of Practice in Stylistics: A manual. – Vinnytsia, 2003.

Questions for Control

1. What is the basis of metaphor? What types of metaphor are
   distinguished in English?
2. In what way does metaphor differ from metonymy? Enumerate the types of relations observed in metonymy.
3. Explain the principles of the play on words. What is the difference between zeugma and pun?
4. When does irony appear? Explain the difference between verbal and sustained irony
5. When do we observe antonomasia? What additional information do we obtain from speaking names?
6. Can every adjective be considered an epithet? Why?
7. Enumerate the existing structural types of epithets. Which of them become possible due to the analytical structure of the English language?
8. What is the necessary condition for the creation of hyperbole? Is understatement based on the same principle?
9. What principle is oxymoron based on?