14. Lexical stylistic devices and expressive means. Metaphor, metonymy, irony

Metaphor is a lexical stylistic device which denotes transference of meaning based on similarity. In metaphor different phenomena, objects, qualities are compared. For example: the leg of the table. The word leg is a metaphor.

Metaphors may be of different types. Simple metaphors are expressed by a word or a phrase (man cannot live by bread only). Complex (prolonged, sustained) metaphors include more than one element of the text.

Metaphors may also be fresh (genuine, original) and trite. The first are metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, are quite unpredictable. For example: his words were coming so fast; they were leap-frogging themselves (“Farewell, My Lovely” by Raymond Thornton Chandler; July 23, 1888, Chicago, Illinois, United States – March 26, 1959, La Jolla, California, United States). The latter are those that have been overused in speech and lost their originality and expressiveness (flight of fancy, floods of tears).

A subtype of metaphor is called personification. It establishes resemblance between inanimate objects and human quality. For example: She had been asleep, always, and now life was thundering imperatively at all her doors (Chapter 14, “Martin Eden” by John Griffith “Jack” London (born John Griffith Chaney); January 12, 1876, San Francisco, California, United States – November 22, 1916, Glen Ellen, California, United States).

Metonymy is a lexical stylistic device which denotes the transference of meaning based on contiguity. On metonymy there is an objectively existing relation between the object named and the object implied. For example, he encountered a strange face running hastily downstairs.

There are different types of metonymic relations:

1. the name of a contour is used instead of its contents (the whole town was in the streets);

2. the name of a part is used instead of the name of the whole (this type is also called synecdoche: he was followed into the room by a pair of heavy boots);

3. a proper name is used for a common one or vice versa (Mr. Know-It-All);

4. the name of a characteristic feature of an object is used instead of the object (the massacre of innocence);

5. the name of an instrument is used instead of the name of an action or its doer (he earned his living by pen).

Irony is a lexical stylistic device which is based on simultaneous realization of two opposite meanings – dictionary and contextual. Usually the direct dictionary meaning expresses the positive evaluation of the situation. The contextual meaning expresses the negative one: How delightful – to find yourself in a foreign country without a penny in your pocket!

Sometimes we are unable to point out the exact word, in the meaning of which we see the contradictions between what is said and what is implied. This effect or irony is created by a number of elements and sometimes by the whole text. This type of irony is called sustained. It lies on the contradictions between the writer’s (or speaker’s) considerations and the generally accepted moral and ethical codes.