SEMINAR 4. Lexical expressive means and stylistic devices

Essential Terms:

metaphoris a trope which consists in the use of words (word combinations) in transferred meanings by way of similarity or analogy. Metaphor is the application of a name or a descriptive term to an object to which it is not literally applicable. This is an implied comparison. It is based on analogy or association: Art is a jealous mistress (Emerson).

antonomasia(a variant of METAPHOR) a trope which consists in the use of a proper name to denote a different person who possesses some qualities of the primary owner of the name: Every Caesar has his Brutus (O'Henry).

metonymy is a SD based on association, the name of one thing is used in place of the name of another, closely related to it. There is an objectively existing relation between the object named and the object implied: from the cradle to the grave

SYNECDOCHE(a variant ofMETONYMY) - a trope which consists in putting part for the whole, the concrete for the general, or vice versa: 1) Two heads are better than one; 2) The hat went away.

irony- a trope which consists in: a) the use of evaluative (meliorative) words in the opposite meanings (cf. ENANTIOSEMY): You’re in complimentary mood today, aren’t you? First you called my explanation rubbish and now you call me a liar; b) “worsening” of the meliorative connotation of a word: I’m very glad you think so, Lady Sneerwell; c) the acquisition of a pejorative connotation by a non-evaluative word: Jack: If you want to know, Cecily happens to be my aunt.- Algernon: Your aunt; Ironic use of words is accompanied by specific suprasyntactic prosody.

zeugma(a variant of SYLLEPSIS)- a figure of speech using a verb or adjective with two nouns, to one of which it is strictly applicable while the word appropriate to the other is not used: 1) to kill the boys and /destroy/ the luggage; 2) with weeping eyes and /grieving/ hearts.

pun(or PLAY UPON WORDS) - a figure which consists in a humorous use of words identical in sound but different in meaning, or the use of different meanings of the same word: "What's the matter with the boy?" - exlaimed Wardle. "Nothen's the matter with me", - replied Joe, nervously. "Have you been seeing any spirits?" - inquired the old gentle­man. "Or taking any?" - added Ben Allen.

interjections and exclamatory wordsare words we use when we express our feelings strongly and which may be said to exist in language as conventional symbols of human emotions. “Heaven”, “goodgracious!”, “dear me!”, ”God!”, “Come on!”, ”Look here!”, “dear”, “by the Lord!”, “God knows!”, “Bless me!”, “Humbug!” and many others of this kind are not interjections as such; a better name for them would be exclamatory words generally used as interjections, i.e., their func­tion is that of the interjection.

epithet is an attributive characterization of a person, thing or phenomenon. Having a logical meaning, it acquires in the context emotive meaning, rendering the subjective attitude of the writer towards the concepts he evaluates. Semantically we distinguish:

Fixed (logical/usual) epithets are fixed word-combination which have become traditional: sweet smile

Affective (emotive/occasional) epithet serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker: gorgeous, nasty, magnificent

Figurative (transferred/metaphoric) epithets are formed of metaphors, metonymies and similes expressed by adjectives: the smiling sun

Structurally we distinguish:

Simple epithet are built like simple adjectives: true love

Compound epithet are built like compound adjectives: heart-burning sigh

Phrase/sentence epithets - a phrase which has lost its independence and come to refer to a noun describing human behaviour or look (used with the words: 'attitude', 'look', 'expression'). The words in the phrase or sentence epithet are hyphenated or written in inverted commas: a move-if-you-dare expression (“a move-if-you-dare” expression); She looked at me with that please-don’t-touch-me look of hers. ( She looked at me with that “ please don’t touch me” look of hers.

Reversed (inverted) epithet - two nouns connected in an "of"-phrase where one part is metaphorical: this devil of a woman

Chain of epithets - a number of epithets which give a many-sided description of an object. Each next epithet is stronger than the previous one, the last is the strongest (from the speaker's point of view): her large blue crying crasy eyes

oxymoronis a figure of speech by means of which contradictory words (notions) are combined: 1) To live a life half-dead, a living death (Milton); 2) Thou art to me a delicious torment (Emerson).

I. Speak on the following:

1. Lexical EMs & SDs based on the interaction of the nominative and contextually imposed meaning:

a) metaphor

b) antonomasia

c) metonymy

d) irony

2. Lexical EMs & SDs based on the interaction of the nominative and the derivative logical meaning:

a) zeugma

b) pun

3. Lexical EMs & SDs based on the interaction of the logical and the emotive meaning:

a) interjections and exclamatory words

b) epithets

c) oxymoron

II. In your books of either home reading or individual reading find the above mentioned expressive means and stylistic devices and comment upon their structure and stylistic function.

III. Do the following exercises:

Exercise I. Analyse the given cases of metaphor from all sides mentioned
above - semantics, originality, expressiveness, syntactic function, vividness and
elaboration of the created image. Pay attention to the manner in which two objects (actions) are identified: with both named or only hint — the metaphorized one – presented explicit:

1. And the skirts! What a sight were those skirts! They were nothing but vast decorated pyramids; on the summit of each was stuck the upper half of a princess. (A. B.)

2. She was handsome in a rather leonine way. Where this girl was a lioness, the other was a panther-lithe and quick. (Ch)

3. He felt the first watery eggs of sweat moistening the palms of his hands. (W. S.)

4. He smelled the ever-beautiful smell of coffee imprisoned in the can. (J. St.)

5. They walked along, two continents of experience and feeling, unable to communicate. (W. G.)

6. Geneva, mother of the Red Cross, hostess of humanitarian congresses for the civilizing of warfare! (J. R.)

7. Autumn comes

And trees are shedding their leaves,

And Mother Nature blushes

Before disrobing. (N. W.)

Exercise II. Indicate metonymies, state the type of relations between the object named and the object implied, which they represent, also pay attention to the degree of their originality, and to their syntactical function:

1. He went about her room, after his introduction, looking at her pictures, her bronzes and clays, asking after the creator of this, the painter of that, where a third thing came from. (Dr.)

2. She wanted to have a lot of children, and she was glad that things were that way, that the Church approved. Then the little girl died. Nancy broke with Rome the day her baby died. It was a secret break, but no Catholic breaks with Rome casually. (J. O'H.)

3. "Evelyn Clasgow, get up out of that chair this minute." The girl looked up from her book.

"What's the matter?

"Your satin. The skirt'll be a mass of wrinkles in the back." (E. F.)

4. She saw around her, clustered about the white tables, multitudes of violently red lips, powdered cheeks, cold, hard eyes, self-possessed arrogant faces, and insolent bosoms. (A. B.)

5. "Some remarkable pictures in this room, gentlemen. A Holbein, two Van Dycks and if I am not mistaken, a Velasquez. I am interested in pictures." (Ch.)

6. I crossed a high toll bridge and negotiated a no man's land and came to the place where the Stars and Stripes stood shoulder to shoulder with the Union Jack. (J. St.)

7. He made his way through the perfume and conversation. (I. Sh.)

Exercise III. Analyse various cases of play on words, indicate which type is used, how it is created, what effect it adds to the utterance:

1. After a while and a cake he crept nervously to the door of the parlour. (A. T.)

2. There are two things I look for in a man. A sympathetic character and full lips. (I. Sh.)

3. Dorothy, at my statement, had clapped her hand over mouth to hold down laughter and chewing gum. (Jn. B.)

4. "Someone at the door," he said, blinking.

"Some four, I should say by the sound," said Fili. (A. T.)

5. He may be poor and shabby, but beneath those ragged trousers beats a heart of gold. (E.)

6. Babbitt respected bigness in anything: in mountains, jewels, muscles, wealth or words. (S. L.)

7. Men, pals, red plush seats, white marble tables, waiters in white aprons. Miss Moss walked through them all. (M.)

8. My mother wearingher best grey dress and gold brooch and a faint pink flush under each cheek bone. (W. Gl.)

9. "There is only one brand of tobacco allowed here - 'Three nuns'. None today, none tomorrow, and none the day after." (Br. B.)

10. Good morning," said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining and the grass was very green. (A. T.)

Exercise IV. In the following excerpts you will find mainly examples of verbal irony. Explain what conditions made the realization of the opposite evaluation possible. Pay attention to the part of speech which is used in irony, also its syntactical function:

1. When the war broke out she took down the signed photograph of the Kaiser and, with some solemnity, hung it in the men-servants' lavatory; it was her one combative action. (E. W.)

2. From her earliest infancy Gertrude was brought up by her aunt. Her aunt had carefully instructed her to Christian principles. She had also taught her Mohammedanism, to make sure. (L.)

3. "Well. It's shaping up into a lovely evening, isn't it?"

"Great," he said.

"And if I may say so, you're doing everything to make it harder, you little sweet." (D. P.)

4. Mr. Vholes is a very respectable man. He has not a large business, but he is a very respectable man. He is allowed by the greater attorneys to be a most respectable man. He never misses a chance in his practice which is a mark of respectability, he never takes any pleasure, which is another mark of respectability, he is reserved and serious which is another mark of respectability. His digestion is impaired which is highly respectable. (D.)

5. Several months ago a magazine named Playboy which concentrates editorially on girls, books, girls, art, girls, music, fashion, girls and girls, published an article about old-time science-fiction. (M. St.)

6. Apart from splits based on politics, racial, religious and ethnic backgrounds and specific personality differences, we're just one cohesive team. (D. U.)

7. I had been admitted as a partner in the firm of Andrews and Bishop, and throughout 1927 and 1928 I enriched myself and the firm at the rate of perhaps forty dollars a month. (Jn. B.)

8. Last time it was a nice, simple, European-style war. (I. Sh.)

9. But every Englishman is born with a certain miraculous power that makes him master of the world. As the great champion of freedom and national independence he conquers and annexes half the world and calls it Colonization. (B. Sh.)

Exercise V.Analyse the following cases of antonomasia. State the type of meaning employed and implied; indicate what additional information is created by the use of antonomasia; pay attention to the morphological and semantic characteristics of common nouns used as proper names:

1. "Her mother is perfectly unbearable. Never met such a Gorgon." (O.W.)
2. Cats and canaries had added to the already stale house an entirely new dimension of defeat. As I stepped down, an evil-looking Tom slid by us into the house. (W. Gl.)

3. Kate kept him because she knew he would do anything in the world if he were paid to do it or was afraid not to do it. She had no illusions about him. In her business Joes were necessary. (J. St.)

4. In the moon-landing year what choice is there for Mr. and Mrs. Average-the programme against poverty or the ambitious NASA project? (M. St.)

5. We sat down at a table with two girls in yellow and three men, each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble. (Sc. F.)

Exercise VI.Discuss the structure and semantics of epithets in the following examples. Define the type and function of epithets:

1. He has that unmistakable tall lanky "rangy" loose-jointed graceful closecropped formidably clean American look. (I. M.)

2. He's a proud, haughty, consequential, turned-nosed peacock. (D.)

3. The Fascisti, or extreme Nationalists, which means black-shirted, knife-carrying, club-swinging, quick-stepping, nineteen- year-old-pot-shot patriots, have worn out their welcome in Italy. (H.)

4. Harrison-a fine, muscular, sun-bronzed, gentle-eyed, patrician-nosed, steak-fed, Gilman-Schooled, soft-spoken, well-tailored aristocrat was an out-and-out leaflet-writing revolutionary at the time. (Jn. B.)

5. Her painful shoes slipped off. (U.)

6. She was a faded white rabbit of a woman. (A. C.)

7. And she still has that look, that don't-you-touch-me look, that women who were beautilul carry with them to the grave. (J. B.)

8. Ten-thirty is a dark hour in a town where respectable
doors are locked at nine. (T. C.)

9."Thief!" "Pilon shouted. "Dirty pig of an untrue friend!"(J. St.)

10. He acknowledged an early-afternoon customer with a be-with-you-in-a-minute nod. (D. U.)

11. His shrivelled head bobbed like a dried pod on his frail stick of a body. (J. G.)

12. The children were very brown and filthily dirty. (V. W.)

13. Liza Hamilton was a very different kettle of Irish. Her head was small and round and it held small and round convictions. (J. St.)

Exercise VII. In the following sentences pay attention to the structure and semantics of oxymorons. Also indicate which of their members conveys the individually viewed feature of the object and which one reflects its generally accepted characteristic:

1. He caught a ride home to the crowded loneliness of the barracks. (J.)
2. Sprinting towards the elevator he felt amazed at his own cowardly courage. (G. M.)

3. He behaved pretty lousily to Jan. (D. C.)

4. There were some bookcases of superbly unreadable books. (E. W.)
6. Absorbed as we were in the pleasures of travel-and I in my modest pride at being the only examinee to cause a commotion-we were over the old Bridge. (W. G.)

7. Harriet turned back across the dim garden. The lightless light looked down from the night sky. (I. M.)

8. Sara was a menace and .a tonic, my best enemy; Rozzie was a disease, my worst friend. (J. Car.)

9. A neon sign reads "Welcome to Reno-the biggest little town in the world." (A. M.)

10. Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield are Good Bad Boys of American literature. (V.)

11. You have got two beautiful bad examples for parents. (Sc. F.)

1)

1. INTERACTION OF PRIMARY DICTIONARY AND CONTEXTUALLY IMPOSED MEANINGS

The interaction or interplay between the primary dictionary meaning (the meaning which is registered in the language code as an easily recognized sign for an abstract notion designating a certain phenomenon or object) and a meaning which is imposed on the word by a micro-context may be maintained along different lines. One line is when the author identifies two objects which have nothing in common, but in which he subjectively sees a function, or a property, or a feature, or a quality that may make the reader perceive these two objects as identical. Another line is when the author finds it possible to substitute one object for another on the grounds that there is some kind of interdependence or interrelation between the two corresponding objects. A third line is when a certain property or quality of an object is used in an opposite or contradictory sense.

The stylistic device based on the principle of identification of two Objects is called a metaphоr. The SD based on the principle of substitution of one object for another is called metonутy and the SD based on contrary concepts is called irony.

Let us now proceed with a detailed anaiysis of the ontology, structure and functions of these stylistic devices.

Metaphor

The term 'metaphor', as the etymology of the word reveals, means transference of some quality from one object to another. From the times of ancient Greek and Roman rhetoric, the term has been known to denote the transference of meaning from one word to another. It is still widely used to designate the process in which a word acquires a derivative meaning. Quintilian remarks: "It is due to the metaphor that each thing seems to have its name in language." Language as a whole has been figuratively defined as a dictionary of faded metaphors. Thus by transference of meaning the words grasp, get and see come to have the derivative meaning of understand. When these words are used with that meaning we can only register the derivative meaning existing in the semantic structures of the words. Though the derivative meaning is metaphorical in origin, there is no stylistic effect because the primary meaning is no longer felt.

A metaphor becomes a stylistic device when two different phenomena (things, events, ideas, actions) are simultaneously brought to mind by the imposition of some or all of the inherent properties of one object on the other which by nature is deprived of these properties. Such an imposition generally results when the creator of the metaphor finds in the two corresponding objects certain features which to his eye have something in common.

The idea that metaphor is based on similarity or affinity of two (corresponding) objects or notions is, as I understand it, erroneous. The two objects are identified and the fact that a common feature is pointed to and made prominent does not make them similar. The notion of similarity can be carried on ad absurdum, for example, animals and human beings move, breathe, eat, etc. but if one of these features, i.e. movement, breathing, is pointed to in animals and at the same time in human beings, the two objects will not necessarily cause the notion of affinity.

Identification should not be equated to resemblance. Thus in the. following metaphor:

"Dear Nature is the kindest Mother still" (Byron) the notion Mother arouses in the mind the actions of nursing, weaning, caring for, etc., whereas the notion Nature does not. There is no true similarity, but there is a kind of identification. Therefore it is better to define metaphor as the power of realizing two lexical meanings simultaneously.

Due to this power metaphor is one of the most potent means of creating images. An image is a sensory perception of an abstract notion already existing in the mind. Consequently, to create an image means to bring a phenomenon from the highly abstract to the essentially concrete. Thus the example given above where the two concepts Mother and Nature are brought together in the interplay of their meanings, brings up the image of Nature materialized into but not likened to the image of Mother.

The identification is most clearly observed when the metaphor is embodied either in an attributive word, as in pearly teeth, voiceless sounds, or in a predicative word-combination, as in the example with Nature and Mother.

But the identification of different movements will not be so easily perceived because there is no explanatory unit. Let us look at this sentence:

"In the slanting beams that streamed through the open window the dust danced and was golden." (O. Wilde)

The movement of dust particles seem to the eye of the writer to be regular and orderly like the movements in dancing. What happens practically is that our mind runs in two parallel lines: the abstract and the concrete, i.e. movement (of any kind) and dancing (a definite kind).

Sometimes the process of identification can hardly be decoded. Here is a metaphor embodied in an adverb:

"The leaves fell sorrowfully."

The movement of falling leaves is probably identified with the movement of a human being experiencing some kind of distress—people swing their bodies or heads to and fro when in this state of mind. One can hardly perceive any similarity in the two kinds of movements which are by the force of the writer's imagination identified.

Generally speaking, one feature out of the multitude of features of an object found in common with a feature of another object will not produce resemblance. This idea is worded best of all in Wordsworth's famous lines:

"To find affinities in objects in which no brotherhood exists to passive minds."

Here is a recognition of the unlimited power of the poet in finding common features in heterogeneous objects.

Metaphorization can also be described as an attempt to be precise, as J. Middleton Murry thinks. But this precision is of an emotional and aesthetic character and not logical. This is what Middleton Murry writes:

"Try to be precise and you are bound to be metaphorical; you simply cannot help establishing affinities between all the provinces of the animate and inanimate world." 1

Metaphors, like all stylistic devices, can be classified according to their degree of unexpectedness. Thus metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, i.e. are quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. Those which are commonly used in speech and therefore are sometimes even fixed in dictionaries as expressive means of language are trite metaphors, or dead metaphors. Their predictability therefore is apparent. Genuine metaphors are regarded as belonging to language-in-action, i. e. speech metaphors; trite metaphors belong to the language-as-a-system, i.e. language proper, and are usually fixed in dictionaries as units of the language.

V. V, Vinogradov states:

"...a metaphor, if it is not a cliché, is an act of establishing an individual world outlook, it is an act of subjective isolation... Therefore a word metaphor is narrow, subjectively enclosed, ...it imposes on the reader a subjective view of the object or phenomenon and its semantic ties."2.

The examples given above may serve as illustrations of genuine metaphors. Here are some examples of metaphors that are considered trite.

They are time-worm and well rubbed into the language: 'a ray of hope', 'floods of tears' , a storm of indignation', 'a flight of fancy', 'a gleam of mirth', 'a shadow of a smile' and the like.

The interaction of the logical dictionary meaning and the logical contextual meaning assumes different forms. Sometimes this interaction is perceived as a deliberate interplay of the two meanings. In this case each of the meanings preserves its relative independence. Sometimes, however, the metaphoric use of a word begins to affect the source meaning, i.e. the meaning from which the metaphor is derived, with the result that the target meaning, that is, the metaphor itself, takes the upper hand and may even oust the source meaning. In this case we speak of dead metaphors.

In such words as to melt (away), as in "these misgivings gradually melted away," we can still recognize remnants of the original meaning and in spite of the fact that the meaning 'to vanish', 'to disappear' is already fixed in dictionaries as one of the derivative meanings, the primary meaning still makes itself felt.

Trite metaphors are sometimes injected with new vigour, i.e. their primary meaning is re-established alongside the new (derivative) meaning. This is done by supplying the central image created by the metaphor with additional words bearing some reference to the main word. For example: "Mr. Pickwick bottled up his vengeance and corked it down." The verb to bottle up is explained in dictionaries as follows: 'to keep in check' ("Penguin Dictionary"); 'to conceal, to restrain, repress' ("Cassell's New English Dictionary"). The metaphor in the word can hardly be felt. But it is revived by the direct meaning of the verb to cork down. This context refreshes the almost dead metaphor and gives a second life. Such metaphors are called sustained or prolonged. Here is another example of a sustained metaphor:

"Mr. Dombey's cup of satisfaction was so full at this moment, however, that he felt he could afford a drop or two of its contents, even to sprinkle on the dust in the by-path of his little daughter," (Dickens, "Dombey and Son")

We may call the principal metaphor the central image of the sustained metaphor and the other words which bear reference to the central image—contributory images. Thus in the example given the word cup (of satisfaction) being a trite metaphor is revived by the following contributory images: full, drop, contents, sprinkle. It is interesting to note that the words conveying both the central image (the cup) and the contributory images are used in two senses simultaneously: direct and indirect. The second plane of utterance is maintained by the key word—satisfaction. It is this word that helps us to decipher the idea behind the sustained metaphor.

Sometimes, however, the central image is not given, but the string of words all bearing upon some implied central point of reference are so associated with each other that the reader is bound to create the required image in his mind. Let us take the following sentence from Shakespeare:

"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent." The words spur, to prick, the sides in their interrelation will inevitably create the image of a steed, with which the speaker's intent is identified.

The same is to be seen in the following lines from Shelley's "Cloud":

"In a cavern under is fettered the thunder,

It struggles and howls at fits."

Here the central image—that of a captive beast—is suggested by the contributory images—fettered, struggles and howls.

The metaphor is often defined as a compressed simile. But this definition lacks precision. Moreover, it is misleading, inasmuch as the metaphor aims at identifying the objects, while the simile aims at finding some point of resemblance by keeping the objects apart. That is why these two stylistic devices are viewed as belonging to two different groups of SDs. They are different in their linguistic nature.

True, the degree of identification of objects or phenomena in a metaphor varies according to its syntactic function in the sentence and to the part of speech in which it is embodied.

Indeed, in the sentence 'Expression is the dress of thought' we can hardly see any process of identification between the concepts expression and dress, whereas in the lines

"Yet Time, who changes all, had altered him

In soul and aspect as in age: years steal

Fire from the mind as vigour from the limb;

And Life's enchanted cup but sparkles near the brim.

(Byron, "Childe Harold")

The metaphors steal, fire, cup, brim embodied in verbs and nouns not used predicatively can be regarded as fully identified with the concepts they aim at producing.

Genuine metaphors are mostly to be found in poetry and emotive prose Trite metaphors are generally used as еxрressive means in newspaper articles, in oratorical style and even in scientific language. The use of trite metaphors should not be regarded as a drawback of style. They help the writer to enliven his work and even make the meaning more concrete.

There is constant interaction between genuine and trite metaphors. Genuine metaphors, if they are good and can stand the test of time," may, through frequent repetition, become trite and consequently easily predictable. Trite metaphors, as has been shown, may regain their freshness through the process of prolongation of the metaphor.

Metaphors may be sustained not only on the basis of a trite metaphor. The initial metaphor may be genuine and may also be developed through a number of contributory images so that the whole of the utterance becomes one sustained metaphor.

The central image—'The eye—the painter' is developed through a number of contributory images: to draw, to stell, table, frame, hanging (picture) and the like.

In conclusion it would be of interest to show the results of the interaction between the dictionary and contextual meanings.

The constant use of a metaphor gradually leads to the breaking up of the primary meaning. The metaphoric use of the word begins to affect the dictionary meaning, adding to it fresh connotations or shades of meaning. But this influence, however strong it may be, will never reach the degree where the dictionary meaning entirely disappears. If it did, we should have no stylistic device. It is a law of stylistics that in a stylistic device the stability of the dictionary meaning is always retained, no matter how great the influence of the contextual meaning may be.

Metonymy

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

Thus, the word crown may stand for 'king or queen', cup or glass for 'the drink it contains', woolsack for 'the Chancellor of the Exchequer who sits on it, or the position and dignity of the Lord Chancellor', e. g., "Here the noble lord inclined his knee to the Woolsack." (from Hansard).

Here also the interrelation between the dictionary and contextual meanings should stand out clearly and conspicuously. Only then can we state that a stylistic device is used. Otherwise we must turn our mind to lexicological problems, i.e. to the ways and means by which new words and meanings are coined. The examples of metonymy given above are traditional. In fact they are derivative logical meanings and therefore fixed in dictionaries. However, when such meanings are included in dictionaries, there is usually a label fig ('figurative use'). This shows that the new meaning has not replaced the primary one, but, as it were, co-exists with it.

Still the new meaning has become so common, that it is easily predictable and therefore does not bear any additional information, which is an indispensable condition for an SD.

Here are some more widely used metonymical meanings, some of which are already fixed in dictionaries without the label fig: the press for '(the personnel connected with) a printing or publishing establishment', or for 'the newspaper and periodical literature which is printed by the printing press'. The bench is used as a generic term for 'magistrates and justices'. A hand is used for a worker; the cradle stands for infancy, earliest stages, place of origin, and the grave stands for death.

Metonymy used in language-in-action, i e. contextual metonуmy, is genuine metonymy and reveals a quite unexpected substitution of one word for another, or one concept for another, on the ground of some strong impression, produced by a chance feature of the thing, for example:

"Miss Tox's hand trembled as she slipped it through Mr. Dombey's arm, and" felt herself escorted up the steps, preceded by a cocked hat and a Babylonian collar" (Dickens)

'A cocked hat and a Babylonian collar' stand for the wearer of the articles in question. One can hardly admit that there is a special characterizing function in such a substitution. The function of these examples of genuine metonymy is more likely to point out the insignificance of the wearer rather than his importance, for his personality is reduced to his externally conspicuous features, the hat and red collar.

Here is another example of genuine metonymy:

"Then they came in. Two of them, a man with long fair moustaches and a silent dark man... Definitely, the moustache and I had nothing in common." (Doris Lessing, "Retreat to Innocence")

Again we have a feature of a man which catches the eye, in this case his facial appearance: the moustache stands for the man himself. The function of the metonymy here is to indicate that the speaker knows nothing of the man in question, moreover, there is a definite implication that this is the first time the speaker has seen him.

Here is another example of the same kind:

"There was something so very agreeable in being so intimate with such a waistcoat; in being on such off-hand terms so soon with such a pair of. whiskers that Tom was uncommonly pleased with himself." (Dickens, "Hard Times")

In these two cases of genuine metonymy a broader context than that required by a metaphor is necessary in order to decipher the true meaning of the stylistic device. In both cases it is necessary to understand the words in their proper meanings first. Only then is it possible to grasp the metonymy.

In the following example the metonymy 'grape' also requires a broad context:

"And this is stronger than the strongest grape

Could e'er express in its expanded shape." (Byron)

Metonymy and metaphor differ also in the way they are deciphered. In the process of disclosing the meaning implied in a metaphor, one image excludes the other, that is, the metaphor 'lamp' in the 'The sky lamp of the night', when deciphered, means the moon, and though there is a definite interplay of meanings, we perceive only one object, the moon. This is not the case with metonymy. Metonymy, while presenting one object to our mind, does not exclude the other. In the example given above the moustache and the man himself are both perceived by the mind.

Many attempts have been made to pin-point the types of relation which metonymy is based on.

The list is in no way complete. There are many other types of relations which may serve as a basis for metonymy.

It must also be noted that metonymy, being a means of building up imagery, generally concerns concrete objects, which are generalized. The process of generalization is easily carried out with the help of the definite article. Therefore instances of metonymy are very often used with the definite article, or with no article at all, as in "There was perfect sympathy between Pulpit and Pew", where 'Pulpit' stands for the clergyman and 'Pew' for the congregation.

This is probably due to the fact that any definition of a word may be taken for metonymy, inasmuch as it shows a property or an essential quality of the concept, thus disclosing a kind of relation between the thing as a whole and a feature of it which may be regarded as part of it.

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

Irony must not be confused with humour, although they have very much in common. Humour 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 humour. But the function of irony is not confined to producing a humorous effect. In a sentence like "How clever of you!'' where, due to the intonation pattern, the word 'clever' conveys a sense opposite to its literal signification, the irony does not cause a ludicrous effect. It rather expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret. A word used ironically may sometimes express very subtle, almost imperceptible nuances of meaning, as the word 'like' in the following lines from "Beppo" by Byron.

XLVII

I like a parliamentary debate,

Particularly when 'tis not too late.

XLVIII

I like the taxes, when they're not too many;

I like a seacoal fire, when not too dear;

I like a beef-steak, too, as well as any;

Have no objection to a pot of beer;

I like the weather, when it is not rainy,

That is I like two months of every year.

And so God save the Regent, Church and King!

Which means that I like all and everything.

In the first line the word 'like' gives only a slight hint of irony. Parliamentary debates are usually long. The word 'debate' itself suggests a lengthy discussion, therefore the word 'like' here should be taken with some reservation. In other words, a hint of the interplay between positive and negative begins with the first 'like'.

The second use of the word 'like' is definitely ironical. No one would be expected to like taxes. It is so obvious that no context is necessary to decode the true meaning of 'like'. The attributive phrase 'when they're not too many' strengthens the irony.

Then Byron uses the word 'like' in its literal meaning. 'Like' in combinations with 'seacoal fire' and 'a beef-steak' and with 'two months of every year' maintains its literal meaning, although in the phrase "I like the weather" the notion is very general. But the last line again shows that the word 'like' is used with an ironic touch, meaning 'to like' and 'to put up with' simultaneously.

Richard Altick says, "The effect of irony lies in the striking disparity between what is said and what is meant."1 This "striking disparity" is achieved through the intentional interplay of two meanings, which are in opposition to each other.

Another important observation must be borne in mind when analysing the linguistic nature of irony. Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning. Therefore only positive concepts may be used in their logical dictionary meanings. In the examples quoted above, irony is embodied in such words as 'delightful', 'clever', 'coherent', 'like'. The contextual meaning always conveys the negation of the positive concepts embodied in the dictionary meaning.

Antonomasia

Antonomasia is a stylistic device based on the interaction of logical and nominal meanings of the same word. One of the interacting meanings exists independently of the context, the other one is born within the context.

Depending on the character of the contextual meaning there are two types of antonomasia:

1) That based on the interaction between the nominal and contextual logical meanings.

2) That based on the interaction between the logical and contextual nominal meanings.

To the first group we shall refer those cases in which a proper noun is used for a common noun.

This type of antonomasia is usually trite for writer repeats the well-known, often-mentioned facts. Through long and consistent usage of a proper noun for a common noun the former may lose its nominal meaning altogether to acquire the function of naming a certain objects or phenomenon.

In the second type of antonomasia we observe the interaction between the logical and the contextual nominal meaning, i.e. practically any common noun can be used as a common name. It is always original. In such cases the person’s name serves his first characteristics.

But to characterize a person through his name is not the only function of antonomasia. Very often it helps to give concrete expression for abstract notions.

The stylistic effect of such antonomasia very much depends upon the very unexpectedness of a name being expressed by a word-combination.

Names-phrases are usually spelt with hyphens between their components to stress their close syntactical and semantic relations.

e.g. So, my dear Simplicity, let me give you a little respite.

2)