Chapter 4 Figures of SpeechIntroduction•Figures of Speech-- the generic term of any artful deviations from the ordinary mode of speaking or writing•The functions of figures of speech–render our thoughts vividly concrete, and help us to communicate with our audience clearly and effectively; (Logos)–stir emotional responses, carry truth, in Wordsworth's phrase, "alive into the heart by passion"; (Pathos)–elicit admiration for the eloquence of the speaker or writer, exert a powerful ethical appeal. (Ethos)4.1 ClassificationTwo Classification Systems–Corbett and Connors's System of Classification–Walter Nash's Classification System of Figures4.1.1 Corbett and Connors's System of ClassificationTwo main groups: the schemes and the tropes.A scheme (Greek schema, form, shape) involves a deviation from the ordinary pattern or arrangement of words.A trope (Greek tropein, to turn ) involves a deviation from the ordinary and principal signification of a word.The Schemes 布局/形变辞格Schemes of Words1. Adding or subtractingProsthesis (adding a syllable in front of word) e.g. loved -- belovedEpenthesis (adding a syllable in the middle of word) e.g. visiting -- visitatingProparalepsis (adding a syllable at the end of word) e.g. climate -- climatureAphaeresis (subtracting a syllable from the beginning of word) e.g. beneath –…neath, It is - 'tis, advantage - vantageSyncope (subtracting a syllable from the middle of word) e.g. prosperous -- prosprousApocope (subtracting a syllable from the end of word) e.g. evening – even, cinematograph - cinema2. Exchanging soundsmetathesis (transposition of letters in a word) e.g. clasp -- clapsantisthecon (change of sound) e.g. wrong -- wrangSchemes of Construction1. Schemes of BalanceParallelism (similarity of structure in a pair or related words, phrases, or clauses)Antithesis (the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure)2. Schemes of unusual or inverted word order (hyperbaton )Anastrophe (inversion of the natural or usual word order)Parenthesis (insertion of some verbal unit in a position interrupts the normal syntactical flow of thesentence)Apposition (placing side by side two co-ordinate elements, second of which serves as an explanation or modification of the first)3. Schemes of OmissionEllipsis (deliberate omission of a word or of words which are readily implied by the context) Asyndeton (deliberate omission of conjunctions between series of related clauses)4. Schemes of RepetitionAlliteration (repetition of initial consonants in two or more adjacent words)Assonance (repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words)Anaphora (repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginnings of successive clauses) (a...)(a...)Epistrophe (repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive clauses) (...a) (...a)Epanalepsis (repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of the clause) (a …a)Anadiplosis (repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause) (…a, a …)Climax (arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing importance) Antimetabole (repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order)Chiasmus (reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses)Polyptoton (repetition of words derived from the same root)The Tropes 辞格/变异辞格Metaphor(an implied comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common)Simile(an explicit comparison between two things of unlike nature that yet have something in common)Synecdoche (a figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole)Metonymy (substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is actually meant)Puns (generic name for those figures which make a play on words)1. Antanaclasis (repetition of a word in two different senses)2. Paronomasia (use of words alike in sound but different in meaning)3. Syllepsis(use of a word understood differently in relation to two or more other words, which it modifies or governs)Anthimeria (the substitution of one part of speech for another)Periphrasis (substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name or of a proper name for a quality associated with the name)Personification (Prosopopoeia) (investing abstractions or inanimate objects with human qualities or abilities)Hyperbole (the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect)Litotes (deliberate use of understatement, not to deceive someone but to enhance the impressiveness of what we say)Rhetorical Question (erotema) (asking a question, not for the purpose of eliciting an answer but for the purpose of asserting or denying something obliquely)Onomatopoeia (use of words whose sound echoes the sense)Oxymoron (the yoking of two terms that are ordinarily contradictory)Paradox (an apparently contradictory statement that nevertheless contains a measure of truth)See 李鑫华，pp8- 17 for reference4.1.2 Walter Nash's Classification System of FiguresWalter Nash, British linguist, has adopted a linguistic approach toward the classification of the figures. For Nash, The word figure is the super-ordinate term, applicable to any rhetorical device. Scheme will refer to figures of word-order and syntactic patterning; trope will refer to figures that play on the sense of words.•We shall further distinguish between tropes that confine their play to a single word or phrase, and those that pervade longer stretches of discourse; these last we shall call modes调式. There are thus figures of syntax and figures of semantics, the latter being roughly divisible into word-semantics and discourse semantics. The proposed hierarchy of terms is represented in the following sketch:FIGURESCHEMES TROPE(syntax. (semantic)E.g. climax)(word meaning, (discourse sense,e.g. metaphor) e.g. irony)4.1.3 The classification of The New Encyclopedia Britannica1. figures of resemblance or relationship e.g. metaphor, simile2. figures of emphasis or understatement e.g. hyperbole, litotes3. figures of sound e.g. alliteration4. verbal games and gymnastics e.g. pun, anagram 字谜5. errors e.g. malapropism语词的滑稽误用,飞白, periphrasis 折绕4.1.4 Other classificationsLinguistically–Phonetical–lexical–StructuralSee 李鑫华，p8Aesthetically1. Figures related to sound and color声色美2.Figures related to resemblance and relationship3. Figures related to balance4. Figures related to emphasis5. Figures related to change6. Figures related to vagueness4.2 Syntactic schemes4.2.1 Syntactic Schemes of BalanceGeneral RemarksBalance in sentence construction is based on the principle that ideas of the same importance should be expressed in the same grammatical form to enhance clarity and coherence, by giving them equal weight.E.g.(1) Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them.(Francis Bacon: " Of Studies")(2) Penny wise; pound foolish.•The chief schemes of balance are Parallelism, Antithesis, Chiasmus (交错配列), and its variation Antimetabole (颠倒重复). These are now discussed below, individually.1. ParallelismIn parallel construction it is necessary to balance word for word (noun with noun, verb with verb, adjective with adjective, etc.), phrase with phrase, clause with clause, sentence with sentence.Compare: Are they parallels?a. The child was pretty and had brains.b. The child was pretty and intelligent.c. He sat down and was beginning to work.d. He sat down and began to work.•Parallelism is regularly employed in the listing of facts, ideas, events etc., and the parallel elements may range from a minimum of two to any number required.•To make the parallelism clear, it is essential to repeat, as the case demands, the marker of the parallelism, such as an article, a preposition, the to of an infinitive, or the introductory word of a main or subordinate clause.E.g.(3) She was a good hostessand an accomplished pianist.(4) You can go there on foot,by busor by train.(5) It is important to know how to studyand to learn how to plan one's time.(There are two sets of parallelisms here.)(6) Do you know who will comeand when they will arrive?The careless omission of such markers will lead to awkward, if not unidiomatic sentences.E.g.(7) (×) I will wait until you call or shecomes.(√) I will wait until you call oruntil she comes.(8) (×) She is a swimmer and artist.(√) She is a swimmer and an artist.However, it is permissible to leave out such markers if their omission does not cause ambiguity,awkwardness, or if they do not sound unidiomatic.E.g.(9) She likes to read, swim, and play tennis.(10) We can go there by bus, train or plane.Parallel constructions are also introduced by correlative such as either ... or, neither ... nor, both … and, not only … but also, whether … or，and rathe r … than.E.g.(11) You may either go with them or stay behind.(12) She was both their friend and teacher.(13) I would rather go shopping than visit the parks.•From the above examples, we can see that parallelism involves balancing the structural elements of a sentence. Very often, however, repetition is used with parallelism to emphasize the equal importance and weight of the parallel parts. E.g.(14) We live in deeds, not years;in thoughts, not breaths;in feelings, not in figures on a dial.(P. J. Bailey: Festus, v)(15) ... and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.(Abraham Lincoln: "Gettysburg Address")(16) Is not a Patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help?为……所累The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labours, had it been early, had been kind, but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it.(Samuel Johnson: "Letter to Lord Chesterfield")•In conclusion, we will say parallelism is one of the most frequently used of all English rhetorical devices, and anyone who has learnt to use it with ease in all its variety will find it an invaluable aid in making his/her writing clear and effective.2. AntithesisAntithesis is the deliberate arrange-ment of contrasting words or ideas in balanced structural forms to achieve force and emphasis.Speech is silver; silence is golden.Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.-- Shakespeare: Julius CaesarIt takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature. -- Henry JamesI had walked into that reading room a happy healthy man. I crawled out a decrepit wreck.-- Jerome K. Jerome: Three Men in a Boat•Sometimes a whole passage can be made up of contrasts, and this extract from Ecclesiastes is a well-known example, which emphasizes a point of view, an idea:There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: (Ecclesiastes)a time to be born and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot,a time to kill and a time to heal,a time to tear down and a time to build,a time to weep and a time to laugh,a time to mourn and a time to dance,…a time to be silent and a time to speak,a time to love and a time to hate,a time for war and a time for peace.It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the era of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of Hope, it was the winter of Despair, we had everything before us.3. Chiasmus and Antimetabole(交错配列,颠倒重复).Chiasmus is a device that consists of two balanced statements, the second of which reverses the order of the words in the first, with or without a repetition of words.(1) We live to eat, not eat to live.(Here the key words in the first statement are repeated, and reversed in order in the second. This is called antimetabole.)(2) He was an angel on the surface, but a t heart a knave.(Here there is no repetition of words; but the positions of the nouns and adverbials are reversed. This is called chiasmus.)(3) Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. (chiasmus)-- J.F. Kennedy(4) And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. (antimetabole)-- J.F. KennedySimilar Chinese device is called “回环”, for example:（1）啊呀啊呀，真实愈有钱，便愈是一毫不肯放松，愈是一毫不肯放松，便愈有钱……（鲁迅《故乡》）（2）“人家说了再做，我是做了再说。
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