Difference between revisions of "Figures of Speech"
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*[[zoomorphism]]: applying animal characteristics to humans or gods | *[[zoomorphism]]: applying animal characteristics to humans or gods | ||
− | [[Category:Handout|Figurative Speech]] | + | [[Category:Handout:Literature and Culture|Figurative Speech]] |
Revision as of 10:34, 17 April 2008
Contents
Tropes: not to be taken literally
Name Explanation Example metaphor metonymy synekdoche metalepsis irony paradox oxymoron litotes hyperbole
Metaplastic figures: playing with spelling and sound
The addition of letters and sounds
Name Explanation Example prosthesis addition of letters to the beginning of a word epenthesis addition of letters to the middle of a word paragoge addition of letters to the end of a word
The omission of letters and sounds
Name Explanation Example aphaersis omission of letters to the beginning of a word syncope omission of letters to the middle of a word apocope omission of letters to the end of a word
The switching of letters and sounds
Name Explanation Example antisthecon substitution of a letter or sound for another within a word metathesis transposition of a letter out of its normal order in a word
Combinations of these factors
synaeresis
Playing with the structure of sentences
Words (seem to) get lost
Name Explanation Example ellipsis omission of a word zeugma an ellipsis of a verb, in which one verb is used to govern several clauses scesis onamaton omission of the verb of a sentence anapodoton omission of a clause aposiopesis stopping a sentence in midcourse so that the statement is unfinished occupatio The orator promises not to speak of a certain thing - and does it the more provocatively by doing so
Repetions of words
Name Explanation Example epizeuxis emphatic repetition of a word with no other words between polyptoton repetition of the same word or root in different grammatical functions or forms antanaclasis repetition of a word, but in two different meanings anaphora repetition of a word at the beginning of a clause, line, or sentence epistrophe repetition of a word at the end of a clause, line, or sentence I'll have my bond!/ Speak not against my bond!/ I have sworn an oath that I will have my bond.---The Merchant of Venice, 3.3.4 symploce repetition of both beginnings and endings epanalepsis repetition of the beginning at the end anadiplosis repetition of the end of a line or clause at the next beginning Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,/ Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain ---Sir Philip Sidney, Loving in Truth (1591) gradatio congeries a heaping together and piling up of many words that have a similar meaning antimetabole repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order; a chiasmus on the level of words (AB; BA) pleonasm
Figures of an unusual aarangement of clauses and thoughts
Name Explanation Example auxesis arrangement of clauses or sentences in ascending order of importance isocolon repetition of phrases or clauses of equal length and corresponding grammatical structure chiasmus reversal of grammatical structures or ideas in sucessive phrases or clauses, which do not necessarily involve a repetition of words antithesis repetition of clauses or idea by negation periphrasis the replacement of a single word by several which together have the same meaning; a substitution of more words for less anastrophe arrangment by reversal of ordinary word order, usually confined to the transposition of two words only hyperbaton hypallage a reversal of words which seems to change the sense parenthesis a word, phrase, or sentence inserted as an aside in a sentence complete by itself
Peculiar thoughts
Name Explanation Example adynaton the impossibility of expressing oneself adequately to the topic aporia true or feigned doubt or deliberation about an issue correctio a correction or revision of previous words prosopopoeia representing an imaginary or absent person as speaking or acting; attributing life, speech or inanimate qualities to dumb or inanimate objects apostrophe a diversion of discourse from the topic at hand to addressing some person or thing, either present or absent
more
anthimeria
- accumulation: Summarization of previous arguments in a forceful manner
- adnominatio: Repetition of a word with a change in letter or sound
- alliteration: A series of words that begin with the same letter or sound alike
- anacoluthon: A change in the syntax within a sentence
- anadiplosis: Repetition of a word at the end of a clause at the beginning of another
- anaphora: The repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses
- anastrophe: Inversion of the usual word order
- anticlimax: the arrangement of words in order of decreasing importance
- antimetabole: Repetition of words in successive clauses, in reverse order
- antistrophe: The repetition of the same word or phrase at the end of successive clauses
- antithesis: The juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas
- aphorismus: statement that calls into question the definition of a word
- aposiopesis: Breaking off or pausing speech for dramatic or emotional effect
- apostrophe: Directing the attention away from the audience and to a personified abstraction
- apposition: The placing of two elements side by side, in which the second defines the first
- assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse
- asteismus: Facetious or mocking answer that plays on a word
- asyndeton: Omission of conjunctions between related clauses
- cacophony: The juxtaposition of words producing a harsh sound
- classification (literature & grammar): linking a proper noun and a common noun with an article
- chiasmus: Reversal of grammatical structures in successive clauses
- climax: The arrangement of words in order of increasing importance
- consonance: The repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse
- Diorimazeau
- dystmesis: A synonym for tmesis
- ellipsis: Omission of words
- enallage: The substitution of forms that are grammatically different, but have the same meaning
- enthymeme: Informal method of presenting a syllogism
- epanalepsis: Repetition of the initial word or words of a clause or sentence at the end of the clause or sentence.
- epistrophe: The counterpart of anaphora
- euphony: This is the opposite of cacophony - i.e. pleasant sounding
- hendiadys: Use of two nouns to express an idea when the normal structure would be a noun and a modifier
- hendiatris: Use of three nouns to express one idea
- hypallage: Changing the order of words so that they are associated with words normally associated with others
- hyperbaton: Schemes featuring unusual or inverted word order
- isocolon: Use of parallel structures of the same length in successive clauses
- internal rhyme : Using two or more rhyming words in the same sentence
- kenning: A metonymic compound where the terms together form a sort of synecdoche
- non sequitur: a statement that bears no relationship to the context preceding
- merism: Referring to a whole by enumerating some of its parts
- parallelism: The use of similar structures in two or more clauses
- paraprosdokian: Unexpected ending or truncation of a clause
- parenthesis: Insertion of a clause or sentence in a place where it interrupts the natural flow of the sentence
- paroemion: A resolute alliteration in which every word in a sentence or phrase begins with the same letter
- parrhesia: Speaking openly or boldly, or apologizing for doing so (declaring to do so)
- perissologia: The fault of wordiness
- pleonasm: The use of superfluous or redundant words
- polyptoton: Repetition of words derived from the same root
- polysyndeton: Repetition of conjunctions
- pun: When a word or phrase is used in two different senses
- sibilance: Repetition of letter 's', it is a form of alliteration
- synchysis: Interlocked word order
- synesis: An agreement of words according to the sense, and not the grammatical form
- synizesis: The pronunciation of two juxtaposed vowels or diphthongs as a single sound
- synonymia: The use of two or more synonyms in the same clause or sentence
- tautology: Redundancy due to superfluous qualification; saying the same thing twice
- tmesis: Division of the elements of a compound word
Tropes
Tropes
- allegory: An extended metaphor in which a story is told to illustrate an important attribute of the subject
- allusion: An indirect reference to another work of literature or art
- anacoenosis: Posing a question to an audience, often with the implication that it shares a common interest with the speaker
- antanaclasis: A form of pun in which a word is repeated in two different senses
- anthimeria: The substitution of one part of speech for another, often turning a noun into a verb
- antiphrasis: A word or words used contradictory to their usual meaning, often with irony
- antonomasia: The substitution of a phrase for a proper name or vice versa
- aphorism: A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion, an adage
- apophasis: Invoking an idea by denying its invocation
- aporia: Deliberating with oneself, often with the use of rhetorical questions
- apostrophe: Addressing a thing, an abstraction or a person not present
- archaism: Use of an obsolete, archaic, word(a word used in olden language, e.g. Shakespeare's language)
- auxesis: A form of hyperbole, in which a more important sounding word is used in place of a more descriptive term
- catachresis: A mixed metaphor (sometimes used by design and sometimes a rhetorical fault)
- circumlocution: "Talking around" a topic by substituting or adding words, as in euphemism or periphrasis
- commiseration: Evoking pity in the audience.
- correctio: Linguistic device used for correcting one's mistakes, a form of which is epanorthosis.
- denominatio: Another word for metonymy
- epanorthosis: Immediate and emphatic self-correction, often following a slip of the tongue.
- erotema: Synonym for rhetorical question
- euphemism: Substitution of a less offensive or more agreeable term for another
- hermeneia: Repetition for the purpose of interpreting what has already been said
- hyperbole: Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis
- hypophora: Answering one's own rhetorical question at length
- hysteron proteron: Reversal of anticipated order of events
- innuendo: Having a hidden meaning in a sentence that makes sense whether it is detected or not
- invocation: An apostrophe to a god or muse
- irony: Use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning
- litotes: Emphasizing the magnitude of a statement by denying its opposite
- malapropism: Using a word through confusion with a word that sounds similar
- meiosis: Use of understatement, usually to diminish the importance of something
- metalepsis: Referring to something through reference to another thing to which it is remotely related
- metaphor: An implied comparison of two unlike things
- metonymy: Substitution of a word to suggest what is really meant
- neologism: The use of a word or term that has recently been created, or has been in use for a short time. Opposite of archaism.
- onomatopoeia: Words that sound like their meaning
- oxymoron: Using two terms together, that normally contradict each other
- parable: An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral lesson
- paradox: Use of apparently contradictory ideas to point out some underlying truth
- paralipsis: Drawing attention to something while pretending to pass it over
- paronomasia: A form of pun, in which words similar in sound but with different meanings are used
- pathetic fallacy: Using a word that refers to a human action on something non-human
- periphrasis: Substitution of a word or phrase for a proper name
- personification/prosopopoeia/anthropomorphism: Attributing applying human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena
- praeteritio: Another word for paralipsis
- procatalepsis: Refuting anticipated objections as part of the main argument
- prolepsis: Another word for procatalepsis
- proslepsis: An extreme form of paralipsis in which the speaker provides great detail while feigning to pass over a topic
- rhetorical question: Asking a question as a way of asserting something. Or asking a question not for the sake of getting an answer but for asserting something (or as for in a poem for creating a poetic effect).
- simile: An explicit comparison between two things
- syllepsis: A form of pun, in which a single word is used to modify two other words, with which it normally would have differing meanings
- synecdoche: A form of metonymy, in which a part stands for the whole
- synesthesia: The description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another.
- transferred epithet: The placing of an adjective with what appears to be the incorrect noun
- truism: a self-evident statement
- tricolon diminuens: A combination of three elements, each decreasing in size
- tricolon crescens: A combination of three elements, each increasing in size
- zeugma: a figure of speech related to syllepsis, but different in that the word used as a modifier is not compatible with one of the two words it modifies
- zoomorphism: applying animal characteristics to humans or gods