Afigure of speech orrhetorical figure is a category of literary or linguistic terms, with two related meanings. The first meaning is the broader and more technical one: asynonym forliterary device,[1][2] particularly when divided into two sub-types:schemes, variations deviating from the usual sequence of words, andtropes orfigures, deviations of the words themselves from ordinary usage. This meaning dates back to theRenaissance humanists, themselves inspired by theclassical rhetoricians.[2]
The second meaning of figure of speech is narrower and its most common onecolloquially—essentially, a synonym fortrope as defined above: any word or phrase that deviates from straightforward language use orliteral meaning to produce apersuasive or other intensified effect (emotionally, aesthetically, intellectually, etc.).[3][4][5][6] In the distinction betweenliteral and figurative language, figures of speech constitute the latter.
This article focuses on the first, broader meaning.
addition (adiectio), also called repetition/expansion/superabundance
omission (detractio), also called subtraction/abridgement/lack
transposition (transmutatio), also called transferring
permutation (immutatio), also called switching/interchange/substitution/transmutation
These categories are often still used. The earliest known text listing them, though not explicitly as a system, is theRhetorica ad Herennium, of unknown authorship, where they are calledπλεονασμός (pleonasmos—addition),ἔνδεια (endeia—omission), μετάθεσις (metathesis—transposition) andἐναλλαγή (enallage—permutation).[8] Quintillian then mentioned them inInstitutio Oratoria.[9]Philo of Alexandria also listed them as addition (πρόσθεσις—prosthesis), subtraction (ἀφαίρεσις—afairesis), transposition (μετάθεσις—metathesis), and transmutation (ἀλλοίωσις—alloiosis).[10]
The cartoon is apun on the wordJamaica, whose pronunciation [dʒəˈmeɪkə] is a homonym to the clipped form of "Did you make her?"
Figures of speech come in many varieties.<[1] The aim is to use the language imaginatively to accentuate the effect of what is being said. A few examples follow:
"Round and round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran" is an example ofalliteration, where the consonantr is used repeatedly. "Sister Suzy's sewing socks for soldiers" is a particular form of alliteration calledsibilance, repeating ans sound. Both are commonly used in poetry.
"She would run up the stairs and then a new set of curtains" is a variety ofzeugma called asyllepsis.Run up can refer either to a quick ascent or to manufacture. The effect is enhanced by the momentary suggestion, through apun, that she might be climbing the curtains. Theellipsis or omission of the second use of the verb makes the reader think harder about what is being said.
"Painful pride" is anoxymoron, where two contradictory ideas are placed in the same sentence.
"I had butterflies in my stomach" is ametaphor, referring to a nervous feeling as if there were flying insects in one's stomach.
To say "it was like having some butterflies in my stomach" is asimile, because it uses the wordlike, which a metaphor does not.
To say "It was like having a butterfly farm in my stomach", "It felt like a butterfly farm in my stomach", or "I was so nervous that I had a butterfly farm in my stomach" could be ahyperbole, because it is exaggerated.
"That filthy place was really dirty" is an example oftautology, as there are the two words ('filthy' and 'dirty') having almost the same meaning and are repeated so as to make the text more emphatic.
Scholars of classical Western rhetoric have divided figures of speech into two main categories:schemes andtropes. Schemes (from the Greekschēma, 'form or shape') are figures of speech that change the ordinary or expected pattern of words. For example, the phrase, "John, my best friend" uses the scheme known asapposition. Tropes (from Greektrepein, 'to turn') change the general meaning of words. An example of a trope is irony, which is the use of words to convey the opposite of their usual meaning ("For Brutus is an honorable man; / So are they all, all honorable men").
During theRenaissance, scholars meticulously enumerated and classified figures of speech.Henry Peacham, for example, in hisThe Garden of Eloquence (1577), enumerated 184 different figures of speech. Professor Robert DiYanni, in his bookLiterature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, Drama and the Essay[11] wrote: "Rhetoricians have catalogued more than 250 differentfigures of speech, expressions or ways of using words in a nonliteral sense."
For simplicity, this article divides the figures between schemes and tropes, but does not further sub-classify them (e.g., "Figures of Disorder"). Within each category, words are listed alphabetically. Most entries link to a page that provides greater detail and relevant examples, but a short definition is placed here for convenience. Some of those listed may be consideredrhetorical devices, which are similar in many ways.
Anti-climax: an abrupt descent (either deliberate or unintended) on the part of a speaker or writer from the strong conclusion that appeared imminent.
Example: "People, pets, batteries, ... all are dead."
Antimetabole: a sentence consisting of the repetition of words in successive clauses, but in reverse order.
Antithesis: juxtaposition of opposing or contrasting ideas in separate clauses.
Aphorismus: statement that calls into question if a word or phrase is properly used to characterize a subject.
Aposiopesis: breaking off or pausing speech for dramatic or emotional effect, often through the use of dashes or ellipses.
Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds: "Smooth move!" or "Please leave!" or "That's the fact Jack!"
Asyndeton: omission of conjunctions between related clauses.
Chiasmus: two or more clauses related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point. subordinate class toantimetabole.
Climax: arrangement of words in an ascending order.
Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds, most commonly within a short passage of verse.
Hypallage: a transferred epithet from a conventional choice of wording.[12]
Hyperbaton: two ordinary associated words are detached.[13][14] The term is also used more generally for any figure of speech that transposes natural word order.[14]
Hypozeuxis: every clause having its own independent subject and predicate.
Hysteron proteron: the inversion of the usual temporal or causal order between two elements.
Isocolon: use of parallel structures of the same length in successive clauses.
Internal rhyme: using two or more rhyming words in the same sentence.
Litotes: an understatement achieved by negating the opposite statement, such as "not too bad" for "very good", or "she is not a beauty queen" for "she is ugly", yielding an ironical effect.
Paradiastole: A rhetorical device using euphemistic or mild language to avoid offence or harsh reality.
Parallelism: the use of similar structures in two or more clauses.
Paraprosdokian: A sentence or phrase with an unexpected twist or surprise at the end.
Paroemion: alliteration in which nearly every word in a sentence or phrase begins with the same letter.
Polyptoton: repetition of words derived from the same root.
Polysyndeton: close repetition of conjunctions. An example of a scheme is in "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"—emphasizing the danger and number of animals more than theprosaic wording with only the second "and".
Symploce: simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe: the repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning and the end of successive clauses.
Synchysis: words that are intentionally scattered to create perplexment.
Synonymia: use of two or more synonyms in the same clause or sentence.
Tautology: redundancy due to superfluous qualification; saying the same thing twice.
Tmesis: insertions of content within a compound word.
Tricolon diminuens: combination of three elements, each decreasing in size.
Tricolon crescens: combination of three elements, each increasing in size.
Zeugma: the using of one verb for two or more actions.
Innuendo: having a hidden meaning in a sentence that makes sense whether it is detected or not.
Irony: use of word in a way that conveys a meaning opposite to its usual meaning.[21]
Kenning: using a compound word neologism to form ametonym.
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.
Merism: type ofsynecdoche referring to two or more contrasting parts to describe it's whole
Metalepsis: figurative speech is used in a new context.
Metaphor: an implied comparison between two things, attributing the properties of one thing to another that it does not literally possess.[22] A well-known example is "All the world's a stage".
Metonymy: a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.
Nosism: the practice of using the pronounwe to refer to oneself when expressing a personal opinion.
Non sequitur: statement that bears no relationship to the context preceding.
Onomatopoeia: word that sounds like its meaning, imitating a real sound (e.g. tick-tock or boom).
Oxymoron: using two terms together, that normally contradict each other.
Parable: extendedmetaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral lesson.
Paradiastole: extenuating a vice in order to flatter or soothe.
Paradox: use of apparently contradictory ideas to point out some underlying truth.
Paraprosdokian: phrase in which the latter part causes a rethinking or reframing of the beginning.
Rhetorical question: asking a question as a way of asserting something. Asking a question that already has the answer hidden in it, or asking a question not to get an answer, but to assert something (or to create a poetic effect).
Syllepsis: the use of a word in its figurative and literal sense at the same timeor a single word used in relation to two other parts of a sentence although the word grammatically or logically applies to only one.
Synecdoche: form ofmetonymy, referring to a part by its whole or vice versa.
Synesthesia: description of one kind of sense impression by using words that normally describe another.
Tautology: superfluous repetition of the same sense in different words Example: The children gathered in a round circle
Zeugma: use of a single verb to describe two or more actions.
Zoomorphism: applying animal characteristics to humans or gods.
Using these formulas, a pupil could render the same subject or theme in a myriad of ways. For the mature author, this principle offered a set of tools to rework source texts into a new creation. In short, the quadripartita ratio offered the student or author a ready-made framework, whether for changing words or the transformation of entire texts. Since it concerned relatively mechanical procedures of adaptation that for the most part could be learned, the techniques concerned could be taught at school at a relatively early age, for example in the improvement of pupils' own writing.
^Shipley, Joseph T. (1943)."Trope".Dictionary of World Literature: Criticism, Forms, Technique. Philosophical Library. p. 595.Archived from the original on 2016-03-10.
