14 Intended ambiguity Pun Zeugma

Zeugma is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations to two adjacent words in the context, the semantic relations being, on the one hand, literal, and on the other, transferred.

Zeugma occurs when a word (usually a verb) has the same grammatical relation to two or more other words, but a different meaning in each application.

Alexander Pope uses this figure in «The Rape of the Lock* (1714) when tblack Omens* threaten the heroine with «dire dis­aster*; perhaps she will err in some respect, *Or stain her hon­our, or her new brocade. «Stain» has a figurative sense when applied to «honour» (meaning the loss of chastity) and a literal sense when applied to «brocade» (a stain on her dress). Here the effect of the zeugma is comical because of the disparate im­portance of the two threatened disasters yoked together.

Zeugma is rather rare. It is also extremely hard for translation.

Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the primary meaning when the two meanings clash.

The pun is another stylistic device based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word or phrase. It is difficult to draw a hard and fast distinction between zeugma and the pun. The only reliable distinguishing feature is a structural one: zeugma is the realization of two meanings with the help of a verb, which is made to refer to different subjects or objects (direct or indirect). The pun is more independent. There need not necessarily be a word in the sentence to which the pun word refers. This does not mean, however, that the pun is entirely free. Like any other stylistic device, it must depend on a context.

Pun corresponds to the interaction of two well-known mean­ings of a word. Whereas zeugma is the realization of two mean­ings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different ob­jects, pun is more independent. There needn't necessarily be a verb in the sentence to which the pun-word refers. Indicate cases when a pun is created:

a) through homonyms;

b) through different meanings of a polysemantic word.

The Stylistic function of these devices is to produce a humorous effect. Puns are often used in riddles and jokes, for example, in this riddle:

What is the difference between a schoolmaster and an engine driver? (One trains the mind and the other minds the train.)

The title of one of Oscar Wilde’s plays “The Importance of Being Earnest” has a pun in it in as much as the name of the hero and the adjective meaning “seriously-minded” are both present in our mind.

15 Irony

Irony is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings -dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings stand in opposition to each other. For example:

“It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one’s pocket.”

Irony must not be confused with humor, although they have very much in common. Humor always causes laughter. What is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and the negative. In this respect irony can be likened to humor. But the function of irony is not confined to producing a humorous effect.

Another important observation must be born in mind when analyzing the linguistic nature of irony. Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning.

Modern theories of rhetoric distinguish among verbal, dramatic and situational irony.

• Verbal irony is a disparity of expression and intention: when a speaker says one thing but means another, or when a literal meaning is contrary to its intended effect. An example of this is when someone says "Oh, that's beautiful", when what they mean (probably conveyed by their tone) is they find "that" quite ugly.

• Dramatic irony is a disparity of expression and awareness: when words and actions possess a significance that the listener or audience understands, but the speaker or character does not. For example when a character says to another "I'll love you until I die!" not realizing a piano is about to crush them.

• Situational irony is the disparity of intention and result: when the result of an action is contrary to the desired or expected effect. Likewise, cosmic irony is disparity between human desires and the harsh realities of the outside world. By some definitions, situational irony and cosmic irony are not irony at all.

Dramatic irony

Dramatic irony is the device of giving the spectator an item of information that at least one of the characters in the narrative is unaware of (at least consciously), thus placing the spectator a step ahead of at least one of the characters. Dramatic irony has three stages - installation, exploitation, and resolution (often also called preparation, suspension, and resolution) - producing dramatic conflict in what one character relies or appears to rely upon, the contrary of which is known by observers (especially the audience; sometimes to other characters within the drama) to be true. In summary, it means that the reader/watcher/listener knows something that one or more of the characters in the piece is not aware of.

For example:

• In City Lights the audience knows that Charlie Chaplin's character is not a millionaire, but the blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) believes he's rich.

• In Oedipus the King, the reader knows that Oedipus himself is the murderer that he is seeking; Oedipus, Creon and Jocasta do not.

• In Othello, the audience knows that Desdemona has been faithful to Othello, but Othello does not. The audience also knows that Iago is scheming to bring about Othello's downfall, a fact hidden from Othello, Desdemona, Cassio and Roderigo.

• In Romeo and Juliet, the other characters in the cast think Juliet is dead, but the audience knows she only took a sleeping potion.