Змістовий модуль 2 „Стилістична семасіологія, фразеологія, синтаксис”

Навчальний елемент 2.1 „Стилістична семасіологія”

Лекція 5

Тема „Стилістична семасіологія”

План

1. Особливості взаємодії різних типів лексичного значення.

2. Стилістичні прийоми, що надають додаткової характеристики об’єкту опису: 1) порівняння; 2) перифраз; 3) синонімічний повтор; 4) евфемізм; 5) дисфемізм; 6) гіпербола; 7) мейозис.

3. Використання полісемії зі стилістичною метою: полісемантичний ефект.

4. Стилістичні прийоми, засновані на взаємодії основного та похідного значень: 1) зевгма; 2) гра слів.

Lecture 5. Stylistic semasiology

Lexical Stylistic Devices are divided into the following 3 groups.

I. SD based on the interaction of different types of lexical meaning:

1) dictionary and contextual (metaphor, metonymy, irony);

2) primary and derivative (zeugma and pun);

3) logical and emotive (epithet, oxymoron);

4) logical and nominative (antonomasia);

II. SD based on the intensification of a feature of a thing or phenomenon (simile, hyperbole, periphrasis).

I. Interaction of Different Types of Lexical Meaning

1. Interaction of Dictionary and Contextual Logical Meaning

The relation between dictionary and contextual meanings may be maintained along different lines: on the principle of affinity, on that of proximity, or symbol – referent relations, or on opposition. Thus the stylistic device based on the first principle is metaphor, on the second – metonymy, and on the third – irony.

Metaphor is a relation between the dictionary and contextual logical meanings based on the affinity or similarity of certain properties or features of the two corresponding concepts: “He smelled the ever-beautiful smell of coffee imprisoned in the can”. Metaphor can be embodied in all the meaningful parts of speech, in nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and sometimes even in the auxiliary parts of speech, as in prepositions. Metaphor as any stylistic device may be classified according to the degree of unexpectedness. Thus metaphors which are absolutely unexpected and quite unpredictable are called genuine metaphors: Through the open window the dust danced and was golden. Those which are commonly used in speech and are sometimes fixed in the dictionaries as expressive means of language are trite or dead metaphors: a flight of fancy, floods of tears.

Metonymy is based on a different type of relation between the dictionary and contextual meanings, a relation based not on affinity, but on some kind of association connecting the two concepts which these meanings represent.

Many attempts have been made to classify the types of relation which metonymy is based on. Among them the following are most common:

1. a concrete thing used instead of an abstract notion; in this case a thing becomes a symbol of the notion: The sword (instead of war) is the worst argument in a situation like this;

2. the container instead of the thing contained: May I have another plate; He drank one more cup;

3. the material instead of the thing made if it: This silk fits you perfectly;

4. the instrument the doer uses in performing the action instead of the action or the doer himself: His pen is rather sharp;

5. the relation of proximity: The round game table was boisterous and happy (Ch. Dickens).

A type of metonymy namely, the one, which is based on the relations between the part and the whole – is often viewed independently as synecdoche.

“My brass will call your brass,” says one of the characters of A. Hailey’s Airport to another, meaning “My boss will call your boss”. The transference of names is caused by both bosses being officers, wearing uniform caps with brass cockades.

Irony is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings – dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings are in opposition to each other. The literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning. One thing is said and the other opposite is implied: Nice weather, isn’t it? (on a rainy day).