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Stylistic semasiology of the english language. Figures of replacement

1.

LECTURE 4.
STYLISTIC SEMASIOLOGY
OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
FIGURES OF REPLACEMENT

2.

Outline
1. Stylistic semasiology.
2. Figures of replacement
2.1. Figures of quantity: hyperbole, meiosis,
litotes.
2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony.

1. Stylistic semasiology
Semasiology –
studies the meaning of linguistic units. Stylistic
semasiology deals with “renaming”,
“transference”, which is the substitution of the
existing names approved by long usage and fixed
in dictionaries by new, occasional, individual ones,
prompted by the speaker’s subjective original
view and evaluation of things [Kukharenko, 2003].

4.

1. Stylistic semasiology
A trope –
a linguistic unit in which two meanings
(primary dictionary and contextual) interact
simultaneously, both these meanings are
perceived by language users.

5.

1. Stylistic semasiology

6.

2.1. Figures of quantity:
hyperbole, meiosis, litotes
Hyperbole (Gk “overcasting”) –
a purposeful overstatement or exaggeration of
the truth to achieve intensity, or for dramatic or
comic effect:
“Welcome to Euphoria”, said Wag, “the sweetest
little land, a hundred million welcomes, Thag.
You are the finest, greatest Prince that we
have ever known.”
(J. Thurber)

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2.1. Figures of quantity: hyperbole, meiosis,
litotes
to show the overflow of emotions:
I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers could
not, with all their quantity of love, make up my
sum.
(W. Shakespeare)
to intensify a statement:
Imagination can figure nothing so grand, so
surprising, and so astonishing. It looked as if
ten thousand flashes of lightning were darting
at the same time from every quarter of the sky.
(J. Swift)

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2.1. Figures of quantity: hyperbole, meiosis, litotes
to create a humorous effect:
Well, that boy used to get ill about twice a week, so that he couldn’t
go to school. There was such a boy to get ill as that Sandford and
Merton. If there was any known disease going within ten miles of
him, he had it, and had it badly. He would take bronchitis in the
dog-days, and have hay-fever at Christmas. After a six weeks’
period of drought, he would be stricken down with rheumatic
fever; and he go out in a November fog and come home with a
sunstroke.
(J. Jerome)
Trite hyperbole:
I am scared to death. I haven’t seen you for ages.

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2.1. Figures of quantity: hyperbole, meiosis,
litotes
Meiosis (Gk “lessening”) or understatement –
a deliberate underestimation for emphasis. The features
stressed are usually size, volume, distance, time etc.
Meiosis is mainly used in oral speech where it usually
emphasizes the insignificance of an object:
She wore a pink hat, the size of a button. (J. Reed)
It will cost you a pretty penny.

10.

2.1. Figures of quantity: hyperbole, meiosis,
litotes
Litotes (Gk “single, simple, meagre”) –
a specific form of meiosis. It presents a statement in the form
of negation. It has a specific semantic and syntactic
structure: the usage of not before a word with a negative
prefix:
Her face was not unhandsome.
She liked money as well as most women, and accepted it with
no little satisfaction (K. Chopin)
Thus, even though important changes began to take place in
the communication paradigm in the middle of the twentieth
century, it is still not uncommon to hear the process
described in terms that reflect the older view …

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group,
epithet, irony
Types of transference:
a) transference by contiguity (metonymy);
b) transference by similarity (metaphor);
c) transference by contrast (irony).

12.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Metonymy (Gk “name change”) is a stylistic figure which
reveals a quite unexpected substitution of one word for
another, or one concept for another on the ground of
some kind of association.
This may include:
1. The name of a part instead of the name of a whole
(synecdoche, синекдоха):
Washington and London (= USA and UK) agree on most
issues; He was followed into the room by a pair of
heavy boots (= by a man in heavy boots)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
2.
The name of a container instead of the contents:
He drank a whole glass of whiskey (= drank the liquid
contained in a glass).
Will you have another cup? (= the conversational cliché)
The whole town was out in the streets (= the people of the
town).

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
3. The name of a characteristic feature of an
object instead of the object:
The massacre of the innocents
(= children; the biblical phrase is related to the
killing of Jewish male children by King Herod in
Bethlehem).

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical
group, epithet, irony
4.
The name of an instrument instead of an
action or the doer of an action:
All they that take the sword shall perish with the
sword (= war, fighting).
Let us turn swords into ploughs.
(=Let us replace fighting by peaceful work)
(Перекуём мечи на орала.)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Periphrasis (Gk “peri – around; phrase – speak”) –
a roundabout way of speaking or writing; known also as
circumlocution:
root of evil = money;
to tie the knot = to marry;
her olfactory system was suffering from temporary inconvenience =
her nose was blocked.
A young blood from Cambridge chanced to enter the inn at Chipping
Norton, while Sterne was seated there. (R. Stevenson)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Well-established (traditional) periphrasis:
gentlemen of the long robe (lawyers),
the better (fair, gentle) sex,
my better half (a wife),
the minions of the law (the police),
prince of the Church (a cardinal),
the man in the street (an ordinary person).

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical
group, epithet, irony
Euphemism (Gk “eupheme – speaking well”) is a variety of
periphrasis which is used to replace an unpleasant word or expression
by a conventionally more acceptable one. Euphemisms may be
divided into several groups according to the spheres of usage:
religious euphemisms:
God - goodness, Lord, godalmighty, etc.;
Jesus – gee, jees etc.;
Christ – creation, Chrisamighty, Christmas, etc.;

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony.
euphemisms connected with
death:
he’s gone,
he’s left us,
to go the way of all flesh,
he’s no longer with us,
to go west,
he’s been taken from us,
to breathe one’s last,
he’s gone to the great beyond,
to expire,
he’s among the dear departed,
to depart
to join the majority,
to pass away,

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group,
epithet, irony
political euphemisms:
undernourishment = starvation,
less fortunate elements, the ill-provided, the deprived,
the disadvantaged = the poor,
economic tunnel = the crisis,
black, Afro-American = Negro,
Native American = Indian

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
euphemisms connected with gender (i.e. replacement of
gender specific words with lexeme –man or suffixes –ix, –
ess, –ette for those which do not contain markers of
gender):
fireman = fire fighter,
spokesman = spokesperson,
serviceman = soldier, sailor,
poetess = poet, etc.

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group,
epithet, irony
euphemisms connected with professions (the
so-called “name-lifting”):
Secretary = team assistant
cleaning lady = interior care provider
rat catcher = exterminating engineer

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
euphemisms connected with bodily functions,
sex and body parts:
toilet = restroom
Leg = limb.
euphemisms connected with things and
events which are unpleasant:
to hit the bottle = to drink heavily
to tell the stories = to lie

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Metaphor (Gk “carrying from one place to another”)
- expressive renaming based on likeness, similarity or affinity
(real or imaginary) of some features of two different objects;
- transference of meaning based on a covert (скрытое)
comparison:
He is not a man, he is just a machine;
the childhood of mankind;
the dogs of war;
a film star.

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed,
and some few to chewed and digested (F. Bacon);
pitiless cold;
cruel heat;
virgin soil;
a treacherous calm.

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Simple metaphors (when expressed by a word or
phrase):
Man cannot live by bread alone.
(= by things satisfying only his physical needs)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Complex (prolonged, or sustained) metaphors:
when a broader context is required to understand it, or when the
metaphor includes more than one element of the text:
The average New Yorker is caught in a machine. He whirls along, he
is dizzy, he is helpless. If he resists, the machine will crush him to
pieces. (W. Frank)
... the scene of man,
A mighty maze, but not without a plan;
A wild, where weeds and flowers promiscuous shoot;
A garden tempting with forbidden fruit ... (A. Pope)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Fresh/original/genuin
e metaphor–
Trite/hackneyed/
stale –
when first used in
speech
is overused in speech, so that it has
lost its freshness of expression:
“The pub door was
opened, and light and
noise spilled out into
the street.” (N.G.)
a rooted prejudice,
“Richard had noticed
that events were
cowards…” (N.G.)
seeds of evil,
a flight of imagination,
in the heat of argument,
to burn with desire,
to fish for compliments,
to prick one's ears

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Metaphor might be embodied in verbs and adverbs:
1) In the slanting beams that streamed through
the open window the dust danced and was golden.
2)The leaves fell sorrowfully.

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
personification –
if a metaphor involves likeness between
inanimate and animate objects:
Autumn comes
And trees are shedding their leaves
And Mother Nature blushes
Before disrobing.
(N. West)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Allegory (Gk “allegoria – speaking otherwise”) –
a variety of metaphor and means expressing abstract ideas through
concrete pictures;
a form of symbolism in which ideas or abstract qualities are
represented as characters or events in the story, novel, or play:
“Gulliver’s Travels” (J. Swift):
the author on the example of two peoples, Lilliputantians and
Brobdignagians, depicts his contemporary English society with its
vices, political intrigues and religious strife.

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Allusion (L “allusio – a play on words or game; and a
derivative of the Latin word alludere – to play around or
to refer to mockingly”) –
an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or
thing or to a part of another text (the so-called allusive
quotations).

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
The main sources of allusions and quotations:
The King James (Authorized) Version of the Bible
English literature (poetry, prose, drama) of different epochs
Shakespeare’s works
Ancient literature and mythology
Historical reminiscences
Art
Music
World literature (in the original and translation)
Folklore (proverbs, sayings)
Children’s verses.

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Groups of allusions:
1) obvious, popular allusions –
when the author uses well-known quotations or refers to works
of famous writers:
“That as Sherlock Holmes would say, is what you may expect
to see when there is nothing there‟, said Wimsey kindly.
(D. Sayers. Strong Position. / A. Conan Doyle. Stories)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
2) non-obvious –
when the author quotes the woks of not so well-known
writers or when the references are so implicit that it
hinders their understanding:
“…lines of remembered verse were floating through his
head:
“Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day and
make me travel forth without my cloak …”
(M. Innes. Old Hall, New Hall. / Shakespeare. Sonnet 34)

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2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Idioms fixed in dictionaries:
the pen is mightier than the sword,
be the captain of one’s soul,
ours not to reason why,
a rift in the lute etc.
The works of Shakespeare and the Bible of King James:
the primrose path, someone’s salad days, gild and lily,
the milk of human kindness, to suit the action to the word,
the land of milk and honey, be a law onto oneself,
the parting of the ways, cast pearls before swine

38.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Epithet –
a word or phrase containing an expressive characteristic of the object,
based on some metaphor and thus creating an image:
O dreamy, gloomy, friendly trees! (Trench)
- expresses characteristics of an object, both existing and imaginary.
Its basic feature is its emotiveness and subjectivity:
the characteristic attached to the object to qualify it is always chosen
by the speaker himself.

39.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
An epithet may be used in the sentence as:
an attribute: a silvery laugh; a thrilling story/film; Alexander the Great;
a cutting smile;
an adverbial modifier: to smile cuttingly;
a syntactic construction (a syntactic epithet):
Just a ghost of a smile appeared on his face;
she is a doll of a baby;
a little man with a Say-nothing-to-me, or-I'll-contradict-you expression
on his face.

40.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Fixed epithets are often found in folklore:
my true love;
a sweet heart;
the green wood;
a dark forest;
brave cavaliers;
merry old England.

41.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
2 main groups (semantically):
1) affective (or emotive proper) –
serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker:
"gorgeous",
"nasty",
"magnificent",
"atrocious“

42.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical
group, epithet, irony
2) figurative, or transferred, epithets –
are formed of metaphors, metonymies and similes expressed by adjectives.
"the smiling sun",
"the frowning cloud",
"the sleepless pillow",
"a ghost-like face",
"a dreamlike experience"

43.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Epithet is expressed by:
adjectives or qualitative adverbs:
his triumphant look = he looked triumphantly
nouns:
exclamatory sentences: "You, ostrich!"
or postpositive attributes:
"Alonzo the Clown", "Richard of the Lion Heart“

44.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Single epithets
Pairs:
two epithets joined by a conjunction or asyndetically:
"wonderful and incomparable beauty" (O.W.)
"a tired old town" (Harper Lee)

45.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical
group, epithet, irony
Chains (strings) of epithets –
present a group of homogeneous attributes varying in number from
three up to sometimes twenty and even more:
"You're a scolding, unjust, abusive, aggravating, bad old creature."
(Ch. Dickens)

46.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Two-step epithets (Adv + Adj model):
the process of qualifying seemingly passes two stages:
the qualification of the object and the qualification of the qualification
itself:
"an unnaturally mild day" (A. Hutchinson),
"a pompously majestic female" (D.)

47.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Phrase-epithets always produce an original impression:
"the sunshine-in-the-breakfast-room smell" (J.Baldwin),
"a move-if-you-dare expression" (Greenwood)

48.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
Inverted epithets –
are based on the contradiction between the logical and the syntactical:
logically defining becomes syntactically defined and vice versa.
"this devilish woman“= "this devil of a woman“
"the giant of a man“
"the prude of a woman“
"the toy of a girl" (a small, toylike girl)
// "the toy of the girl" (the toy belonging to the girl)

49.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group, metaphorical group, epithet,
irony
Irony –
refers to a contrast or discrepancy between appearance and reality:
“verbal irony” - a contrast between what is literally said and what is
meant.
“dramatic irony” - a discrepancy between what a character thinks and
what the reader knows to be true.
“situational irony” - an event occurs which is opposite of what is
expected.

50.

2.2. Figures of quality: metonymical group,
metaphorical group, epithet, irony
In context, there are usually some formal markers of irony
pointing out to the meaning implied:
I posted a video on YouTube about how boring and useless
YouTube is.
The name of Britain’s biggest dog was “Tiny”.

51.

Cognitive metaphor

52.

George Lakoff
and Mark Johnson
Metaphor is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one
that allows us to use what we know about our physical
and social experience to provide understanding of
countless other subjects. Because such metaphors
structure our most basic understandings of our
experience, they are “metaphors we live by” —
metaphors that can shape our perceptions and
actions without our ever noticing them.

53.

Cognitive metaphor
Metaphor is a property of concepts
rather than words
Conceptual or cognitive metaphor
refers to the understanding of one
idea (or conceptual domain) in terms
of another
I spent a lot of time at work today.

54.

Cognitive metaphor
structural
oriental
ontological

55.

Structural metaphor
“TIME IS MONEY”
You’re wasting my time.
This will save your time.
That flat tire will cost me an hour.
“LOVE IS WAR”
He’s known for his many rapid conquests.
She fought for him, but his mistress won out.
He’s slowly gaining ground with her.

56.

Ideas are objects
Linguistic expressions are containers
Communication is sending
I gave you that idea.
Your reasons came through us.
It’s difficult to put my idea into words.
When you have a good idea, try to capture it in words
immediately.
His words carry little meaning.
Your words seem hollow.
The idea is buried in terribly dense paragraphs.

57.

Oriental metaphor
Most common directions:
up – down
in – out
front – back
on – off
deep – shallow
central – peripheral

58.

Oriental metaphor
UP
Happy
That boosted my spirits.
Conscious
He rises early in the morning.
Health and life
He’s at the peak of his health.
Having control or force
I am on top of the situation.
More
My income rose lost year.
High status
He’s climbing the ladder.
Good
He does the high-quality work.
Virtue
She’s an upstanding citizen.
Rational
We put our feelings aside and had
a high-level intellectual
discussion of the matter.
DOWN
Sad
I fell into a depression.
Unconscious
He dropped off to sleep.
Sickness and death
He came down with a flu.
Being subject to control or force
He’s low man on the totem pole.
Less
The number of errors he made are
incredibly low.
Low status
He’s at the bottom of the social
hierarchy.
Bad
Things are at an all-time low.
Depravity
That was a low trick.
Emotional
He couldn’t rise above his
emotions.

59.

Oriental metaphor
Movement
upwards and downwards
For the first time in months, my spirits
soared.
The price of a pint of beer is soaring in
Britain’s pubs.
The bank’s profits had plunged by 80%.
Prices have dipped slightly in recent
weeks.

60.

Ontological metaphor
Quantifying: There is so much hatred in the world.
Identifying Aspects: The ugly side of his personality
comes out under pressure.
Setting goals: He went to New York to seek fame and
fortune.
Most evident ontological metaphor is personification.
The dollar has been destroyed by inflation.

61.

Visual metaphor
Visual metaphor –
the representation of a person,
place, thing, or idea by means
of a visual image that suggests
a particular association or point
of similarity. It is also known
as pictorial metaphor and
analogical juxtaposition.

62.

Visual metaphor
PARKING METER IS DYING CREATURE

63.

Visual metaphor
BOTTLE OF MOTOR OIL
IS INTRAVENOUS DRIP

64.

?
«My faire bryd, my sweete cynamome»

65.

Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales
580 Up rist this joly lovere Absolon, And hym arrayeth
gay, at poynt-devys. But first he cheweth greyn and
lycorys To smellen sweete, er he hadde kembd his heer.
Under his tonge a trewe-love he beer, 585 For therby
wende he to ben gracious. He rometh to the carpenteres
hous, And stille he stant under the shot-wyndowe; Unto
his brest it raughte, it was so lowe, And softe he cougheth
with a semy soun:
590 "What do ye, hony-comb, sweete Alisoun, My faire
bryd, my sweete cynamome? Awaketh, lemman myn,
and speketh to me! Wel litel thynken ye upon me wo,
That for youre love I swete ther I go.