EnglishRhetoricBySongPingfeng

ChapterOne

Introduction:FiguresofSpeech

11.Whatisafigureofspeech2.Whyarefiguresofspeechused3.Theclassificationoffiguresofspeech4.UsefiguresofspeechinarightwayContentsofThisChapter21.Whatisafigureofspeech1.1Inclassicalrhetoric:Thefigureofspeechwastermed“trope”(修辭,比喻).Tropeshavetodowiththewaywordsaremadetomeanotherthanwhattheywouldnormallyimply,involvingthedeviationfromitsordinaryandliteralmeaning.Theyarewaysofmakinglanguagefigurative.Tropesincludemetaphor,irony,andsynecdoche（提喻）.

1.2Inthesixteenthcentury:Theterm“figureofspeech”wasthesynonymof“scheme”.Schemescomprisedthefiguresthatarrangedwordsintoschematized(格式化的、公式化的)patternsofforegrounded（置于最突出位置的、最顯著的）regularityofform,syntacticorphonetic.31.3AccordingtoWalterNash:The“figure”isthesuperordinateterm(上義詞),applicabletoanyrhetoricaldevice.Hedivideditinto“figuresofsyntax”and“figuresofsemantics”whichwasfurtherdividedinto“wordsemantics”and“discoursesemantics”.FIGUREScheme(syntax,e.g.parison)4Figuresofspeecharejustcommonandoureverydayusageisnaturallyfigurative,oratleastfigurativebypreference(偏愛

).E.g.NowandthenofalunchtimeI’lltake

aglass----twoglassesandI’lltaketomybed.

Metonymy:involvingthesubstitutionofonethingforthatofanother.Peopleoftenusethecontainerasanameforthesubstance.E.g.Thekettleisboiling.Therefore,

Glassherereferstothewineoralcohol.Syllepsis(一語雙敘):acquringdifferentmeaningswithdifferentcollocationsinthesentence.1.take:drink;2.take:生病臥床

Moreexample:Helosthiscoatandhistemper.Yesterday,hehadablueheartandcoat.51.4Today:Figuresofspeechrefertoallkindsofstrikingorunusualconfigurationsofwordsorphrases.Theyinvolvethevariationofanyunitofthelanguagesystem:graphic,phonological,morphological,syntactic,semantic,andpragmatic.Forexample:Thenewsisadaggertohisheart.Giveusthisdayourdailybread.Tosmokeornottosmoke,thatisaquestion．Speechissilver;silenceisgolden.

Acannon-balltookoffhislegs,sohelaiddownhisarms.(metaphor)(synecdoche)(Parody)（Antithesis）（Pun）(Here"arms"hastwomeanings:aperson'sbody;weaponscarriedbyasoldier.)62WhyarefiguresofspeechusedFiguresofspeechaimatincreasingvividnessoflanguage.Theyareusedtoembellish,emphasizeorclarifyexpressions,tomakethelanguagemorecolorful,moreforceful,ormoreexplicit,andthusmakingcommunicationmoreefficientandmoreeffective.Forexample:a.Starstwinklelikediamondsinthesky.b.Starsshinebrightlyinthesky.(2)a.Imperialismisapapertiger.b.Imperialismappearstobestrongbutinwardlyitisweak.(3)a.Theexperimentendedinfailureagain.Itwasablowbetweentheeyestothem.b.Theexperimentendedinfailureagain.

Itwasasuddenshocktothem.73.Theclassificationoffiguresofspeech1)Figuresofspeech,accordingtotheirfunction,fallintothreecategories:(1)thoseinvolvingemphasis,association,clarification,andfocus.(2)thoseinvolvingphysicalorganization,transition,anddispositionorarrangement(3)thoseinvolvingdecorationandvarietyBut,thereisalsosomeprobleminsuchclassification.E.g.Parallelismbelongstoallthreecategories.82)Inthetextbook,theauthorintroducesFiguresofSpeechasfollows:LogicalFiguresOfSpeechSyntacticFiguresOfSpeechSemanticFiguresOfSpeechPhoneticFiguresOfSpeechFiguresOfSpeech94.UsefiguresofspeechinarightwayFiguresofspeechaddvigorandemphasistolanguage,butwecannotdependmuchonthem.Figuresofspeechar