TRAILS AND STYLISTIC FIGURES.

TRAILS(Greek tropos - turn, turn of speech) - words or figures of speech in a figurative, allegorical meaning. Paths are an important element of artistic thinking. Types of tropes: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, litotes, etc.

STYLISTIC FIGURES- figures of speech used to enhance the expressiveness of a statement: anaphora, epiphora, ellipse, antithesis, parallelism, gradation, inversion, etc.

HYPERBOLA (Greek hyperbole - exaggeration) - a type of trope based on exaggeration (“rivers of blood”, “sea of ​​laughter”). By means of hyperbole, the author enhances the desired impression or emphasizes what he glorifies and what he ridicules. Hyperbole is already found in ancient epics among different peoples, in particular in Russian epics.
In the Russian litera, N.V. Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin and especially

V. Mayakovsky (“I”, “Napoleon”, “150,000,000”). In poetic speech, hyperbole is often intertwinedwith other artistic means (metaphors, personification, comparisons, etc.). Opposite – litotes.

LITOTA (Greek litotes - simplicity) - a trope opposite to hyperbole; a figurative expression, a turn of phrase that contains an artistic understatement of the size, strength, or significance of the depicted object or phenomenon. Litotes is found in folk tales: “a boy as big as a finger,” “a hut on chicken legs,” “a little man as big as a fingernail.”
The second name for litotes is meiosis. The opposite of litotes is hyperbola.

N. Gogol often turned to litotes:
“Such a small mouth that it can’t miss more than two pieces” N. Gogol

METAPHOR(Greek metaphora - transfer) - a trope, a hidden figurative comparison, the transfer of the properties of one object or phenomenon to another based on common characteristics (“work is in full swing”, “forest of hands”, “dark personality”, “heart of stone”...). In metaphor, as opposed to

comparisons, the words “as”, “as if”, “as if” are omitted, but are implied.

Nineteenth century, iron,

Truly a cruel age!

By you into the darkness of the night, starless

Careless abandoned man!

A. Blok

Metaphors are formed according to the principle of personification (“water runs”), reification (“nerves of steel”), abstraction (“field of activity”), etc. Various parts of speech can act as a metaphor: verb, noun, adjective. Metaphor gives speech exceptional expressiveness:

In every carnation there is fragrant lilac,
A bee crawls in singing...
You ascended under the blue vault
Above the wandering crowd of clouds...

A. Fet

The metaphor is an undifferentiated comparison, in which, however, both members are easily seen:

With a sheaf of your oat hair
You stuck with me forever...
The dog's eyes rolled
Golden stars in the snow...

S. Yesenin

In addition to verbal metaphor, metaphorical images or extended metaphors are widespread in artistic creativity:

Ah, the bush of my head has withered,
I was sucked into song captivity,
I am condemned to hard labor of feelings
Turning the millstones of poems.

S. Yesenin

Sometimes the entire work represents a broad, expanded metaphorical image.

METONYMY(Greek metonymia - renaming) - trope; replacing one word or expression with another based on similar meanings; the use of expressions in a figurative sense ("foaming glass" - meaning wine in a glass; "the forest is noisy" - meaning trees; etc.).

The theater is already full, the boxes are sparkling;

The stalls and the chairs, everything is boiling...

A.S. Pushkin

In metonymy, a phenomenon or object is denoted using other words and concepts. At the same time, the signs or connections that bring these phenomena together are preserved; Thus, when V. Mayakovsky speaks of a “steel orator dozing in a holster,” the reader easily recognizes in this image a metonymic image of a revolver. This is the difference between metonymy and metaphor. The idea of ​​a concept in metonymy is given with the help of indirect signs or secondary meanings, but this is precisely what enhances the poetic expressiveness of speech:

You led swords to a bountiful feast;

Everything fell with a noise before you;
Europe was dying; grave sleep
Hovered over her head...

A. Pushkin

When is the shore of hell
Will take me forever
When he falls asleep forever
Feather, my joy...

A. Pushkin

PERIPHRASE (Greek periphrasis - roundabout turn, allegory) - one of the tropes in which the name of an object, person, phenomenon is replaced by an indication of its signs, as a rule, the most characteristic ones, enhancing the figurativeness of speech. (“king of birds” instead of “eagle”, “king of beasts” - instead of “lion”)

PERSONALIZATION(prosopopoeia, personification) - a type of metaphor; transferring the properties of animate objects to inanimate ones (the soul sings, the river plays...).

My bells

Steppe flowers!

Why are you looking at me?

Dark blue?

And what are you calling about?

On a merry day in May,

Among the uncut grass

Shaking your head?

A.K. Tolstoy

SYNECDOCHE (Greek synekdoche - correlation)- one of the tropes, a type of metonymy, consisting in the transfer of meaning from one object to another based on the quantitative relationship between them. Synecdoche is an expressive means of typification. The most common types of synecdoche:
1) A part of a phenomenon is called in the sense of the whole:

And at the door -
pea coats,
overcoats,
sheepskin coats...

V. Mayakovsky

2) The whole in the meaning of the part - Vasily Terkin in a fist fight with a fascist says:

Oh, look how you are! Fight with a helmet?
Well, aren't they a vile bunch!

3) The singular number in the meaning of general and even universal:

There a man groans from slavery and chains...

M. Lermontov

And the proud grandson of the Slavs, and the Finn...

A. Pushkin

4) Replacing a number with a set:

Millions of you. We are darkness, and darkness, and darkness.

A. Blok

5) Replacing the generic concept with a specific one:

We beat ourselves with pennies. Very good!

V. Mayakovsky

6) Replacing the specific concept with a generic one:

"Well, sit down, luminary!"

V. Mayakovsky

COMPARISON - a word or expression containing the likening of one object to another, one situation to another. (“Strong as a lion”, “said as he cut”...). The storm covers the sky with darkness,

Whirling snow whirlwinds;

The way the beast will howl,

Then he will cry like a child...

A.S. Pushkin

“Like a steppe scorched by fires, Gregory’s life became black” (M. Sholokhov). The idea of ​​the blackness and gloom of the steppe evokes in the reader that melancholy and painful feeling that corresponds to Gregory’s state. There is a transfer of one of the meanings of the concept - “scorched steppe” to another - the internal state of the character. Sometimes, in order to compare some phenomena or concepts, the artist resorts to detailed comparisons:

The view of the steppe is sad, where there are no obstacles,
Disturbing only the silver feather grass,
The flying aquilon wanders
And he freely drives dust in front of him;
And where all around, no matter how vigilantly you look,
Meets the gaze of two or three birch trees,
Which are under the bluish haze
They turn black in the empty distance in the evening.
So life is boring when there is no struggle,
Penetrating into the past, discerning
There are few things we can do in it, in the prime of life
She will not amuse the soul.
I need to act, I do every day
I would like to make him immortal, like a shadow
Great hero, and understand
I can't, what does it mean to rest.

M. Lermontov

Here, with the help of the detailed S. Lermontov conveys a whole range of lyrical experiences and reflections.
Comparisons are usually connected by conjunctions “as”, “as if”, “as if”, “exactly”, etc. Non-union comparisons are also possible:
“Do I have fine curls - combed flax” N. Nekrasov. Here the conjunction is omitted. But sometimes it is not intended:
“The execution in the morning, the usual feast for the people” A. Pushkin.
Some forms of comparison are constructed descriptively and therefore are not connected by conjunctions:

And she appears
At the door or at the window
The early star is brighter,
Morning roses are fresh.

A. Pushkin

She's cute - I'll say between us -
Storm of the court knights,
And maybe with the southern stars
Compare, especially in poetry,
Her Circassian eyes.

A. Pushkin

A special type of comparison is the so-called negative:

The red sun does not shine in the sky,
The blue clouds do not admire him:
Then at mealtimes he sits in a golden crown
The formidable Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich is sitting.

M. Lermontov

In this parallel depiction of two phenomena, the form of negation is both a method of comparison and a method of transferring meanings.
A special case is represented by the instrumental case forms used in comparison:

It's time, beauty, wake up!
Open your closed eyes,
Towards northern Aurora
Be the star of the north.

A. Pushkin

I don't soar - I sit like an eagle.

A. Pushkin

Often there are comparisons in the form of the accusative case with the preposition “under”:
“Sergei Platonovich... sat with Atepin in the dining room, covered with expensive oak wallpaper...”

M. Sholokhov.

IMAGE -a generalized artistic reflection of reality, clothed in the form of a specific individual phenomenon. Poets think in images.

It is not the wind that rages over the forest,

Streams did not run from the mountains,

Moroz - commander of the patrol

Walks around his possessions.

N.A. Nekrasov

ALLEGORY(Greek allegoria - allegory) - a specific image of an object or phenomenon of reality, replacing an abstract concept or thought. A green branch in the hands of a person has long been an allegorical image of the world, a hammer has been an allegory of labor, etc.
The origin of many allegorical images should be sought in the cultural traditions of tribes, peoples, nations: they are found on banners, coats of arms, emblems and acquire a stable character.
Many allegorical images go back to Greek and Roman mythology. Thus, the image of a blindfolded woman with scales in her hands - the goddess Themis - is an allegory of justice, the image of a snake and a bowl is an allegory of medicine.
Allegory as a means of enhancing poetic expressiveness is widely used in fiction. It is based on the convergence of phenomena according to the correlation of their essential aspects, qualities or functions and belongs to the group of metaphorical tropes.

Unlike metaphor, in allegory the figurative meaning is expressed by a phrase, a whole thought, or even a small work (fable, parable).

GROTESQUE (French grotesque - whimsical, comical) - an image of people and phenomena in a fantastic, ugly-comic form, based on sharp contrasts and exaggerations.

Enraged, I rush into the meeting like an avalanche,

Spewing wild curses on the way.

And I see: half the people are sitting.

Oh devilishness! Where is the other half?

V. Mayakovsky

IRONY (Greek eironeia - pretense) - expression of ridicule or deceit through allegory. A word or statement acquires a meaning in the context of speech that is opposite to the literal meaning or denies it, casting doubt on it.

Servant of powerful masters,

With what noble courage

Thunder with your free speech

All those who have their mouths covered.

F.I. Tyutchev

SARCASM (Greek sarkazo, lit. - tearing meat) - contemptuous, caustic ridicule; the highest degree of irony.

ASSONANCE (French assonance - consonance or response) - repetition of homogeneous vowel sounds in a line, stanza or phrase.

Oh spring without end and without edge -

An endless and endless dream!

A. Blok

ALLITERATION (SOUNDS)(Latin ad - to, with and littera - letter) - repetition of homogeneous consonants, giving the verse a special intonational expressiveness.

Evening. Seaside. Sighs of the wind.

The majestic cry of the waves.

A storm is coming. It hits the shore

A black boat alien to enchantment...

K. Balmont

ALLUSION (from Latin allusio - joke, hint) - a stylistic figure, a hint through a similar-sounding word or mention of a well-known real fact, historical event, literary work (“the glory of Herostratus”).

ANAPHORA(Greek anaphora - carrying out) - repetition of the initial words, line, stanza or phrase.

You're miserable too

You are also abundant

You're downtrodden

You are omnipotent

Mother Rus'!…

N.A. Nekrasov

ANTITHESIS (Greek antithesis - contradiction, opposition) - a sharply expressed opposition of concepts or phenomena.
You are rich, I am very poor;

You are a prose writer, I am a poet;

You are blushing like poppies,

I am like death, skinny and pale.

A.S. Pushkin

You're miserable too
You are also abundant
You are mighty
You are also powerless...

N. Nekrasov

So few roads have been traveled, so many mistakes have been made...

S. Yesenin.

Antithesis enhances the emotional coloring of speech and emphasizes the thought expressed with its help. Sometimes the entire work is built on the principle of antithesis

APOCOPE(Greek apokope - cutting off) - artificially shortening a word without losing its meaning.

...When suddenly he came out of the forest

The bear opened its mouth at them...

A.N. Krylov

Barking, laughing, singing, whistling and clapping,

Human rumor and horse top!

A.S. Pushkin

ASYNDETON (asyndeton) - a sentence with the absence of conjunctions between homogeneous words or parts of a whole. A figure that gives speech dynamism and richness.

Night, street, lantern, pharmacy,

Pointless and dim light.

Live for at least another quarter of a century -

Everything will be like this. There is no outcome.

A. Blok

MULTI-UNION(polysyndeton) - excessive repetition of conjunctions, creating additional intonation coloring. The opposite figure isnon-union

Slowing down speech with forced pauses, polyunion emphasizes individual words and enhances its expressiveness:

And the waves crowd and rush back,
And they come again and hit the shore...

M. Lermontov

And it’s boring and sad, and there’s no one to give a hand to...

M.Yu. Lermontov

GRADATION- from lat. gradatio - gradualism) is a stylistic figure in which definitions are grouped in a certain order - increasing or decreasing their emotional and semantic significance. Gradation enhances the emotional sound of the verse:

I don’t regret, I don’t call, I don’t cry,
Everything will pass like smoke from white apple trees.

S. Yesenin

INVERSION(Latin inversio - rearrangement) - a stylistic figure consisting of a violation of the generally accepted grammatical sequence of speech; rearrangement of parts of a phrase gives it a unique expressive tone.

Legends of deep antiquity

A.S. Pushkin

He passes the doorman with an arrow

Flew up the marble steps

A. Pushkin

OXYMORON(Greek oxymoron - witty-stupid) - a combination of contrasting words with opposite meanings (living corpse, giant dwarf, heat of cold numbers).

PARALLELISM(from the Greek parallelos - walking next to) - identical or similar arrangement of speech elements in adjacent parts of the text, creating a single poetic image.

The waves splash in the blue sea.

The stars shine in the blue sky.

A. S. Pushkin

Your mind is as deep as the sea.

Your spirit is as high as the mountains.

V. Bryusov

Parallelism is especially characteristic of works of oral folk art (epics, songs, ditties, proverbs) and literary works close to them in their artistic features (“Song about the merchant Kalashnikov” by M. Yu. Lermontov, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by N. A . Nekrasov, “Vasily Terkin” by A. T, Tvardovsky).

Parallelism can have a broader thematic nature in content, for example, in the poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “Heavenly clouds are eternal wanderers.”

Parallelism can be either verbal or figurative, or rhythmic or compositional.

PARCELLATION- an expressive syntactic technique of intonation division of a sentence into independent segments, graphically highlighted as independent sentences. (“And again. Gulliver. Standing. Slouching.” P. G. Antokolsky. “How courteous! Kind! Sweet! Simple!” Griboedov. “Mitrofanov grinned, stirred the coffee. He narrowed his eyes.”

N. Ilyina. “He soon quarreled with the girl. And that’s why.” G. Uspensky.)

TRANSFER (French enjambement - stepping over) - a discrepancy between the syntactic division of speech and the division into poetry. When transferring, the syntactic pause inside a verse or hemistich is stronger than at the end.

Peter comes out. His eyes

They shine. His face is terrible.

The movements are fast. He's beautiful

He's like God's thunderstorm.

A. S. Pushkin

RHYME(Greek “rhythmos” - harmony, proportionality) - a variety epiphora ; the consonance of the ends of poetic lines, creating a feeling of their unity and kinship. Rhyme emphasizes the boundary between verses and links verses into stanzas.

ELLIPSIS (Greek elleipsis - deletion, omission) - a figure of poetic syntax based on the omission of one of the members of a sentence, easily restored in meaning (most often the predicate). This achieves dynamism and conciseness of speech and conveys a tense change of action. Ellipsis is one of the types of default. In artistic speech, it conveys the speaker’s excitement or the tension of the action:

We sat down in ashes, cities in dust,
Swords include sickles and plows.

Our language is a holistic and logically correct system. Its smallest unit is sound, its smallest meaningful unit is morpheme. Words, which are considered the basic unit of language, are made up of morphemes. They can be considered from the point of view of their sound, as well as from the point of view of structure, as or as members of a sentence.

Each of the named linguistic units corresponds to a certain linguistic layer, tier. Sound is a unit of phonetics, a morpheme is a unit of morphemics, a word is a unit of vocabulary, parts of speech are a unit of morphology, and sentences are a unit of syntax. Morphology and syntax together make up grammar.

At the level of vocabulary, tropes are distinguished - special turns of speech that give it special expressiveness. Similar means at the syntax level are figures of speech. As we see, everything in the language system is interconnected and interdependent.

Lexical means

Let us dwell on the most striking linguistic means. Let's start with the lexical level of the language, which - recall - is based on words and their lexical meanings.

Synonyms

Synonyms are words of the same part of speech that are close in their lexical meanings. For example, beautiful – wonderful.

Some words or combinations of words acquire a close meaning only in a certain context, in a certain linguistic environment. This context synonyms.

Consider the sentence: “ It was day August, sultry, painfully boring" . Words August , sultry, painfully boring are not synonyms. However, in this context, when characterizing a summer day, they acquire a similar meaning, acting as contextual synonyms.

Antonyms

Antonyms are words of the same part of speech with opposite lexical meaning: tall - low, high - low, giant - dwarf.

Like synonyms, antonyms can be contextual, that is, acquire the opposite meaning in a certain context. Words wolf And sheep, for example, are not antonyms out of context. However, in A.N. Ostrovsky’s play “Wolves and Sheep” two types of people are depicted - human “predators” (“wolves”) and their victims (“sheep”). It turns out that in the title of the work the words wolves And sheep, acquiring the opposite meaning, become contextual antonyms.

Dialectisms

Dialecticisms are words that are used only in certain areas. For example, in the southern regions of Russia beet has another name - beetroot. In some areas the wolf is called the biryuk. Växa(squirrel), hut(house), towel(towel) - all these are dialecticisms. In literary works, dialectisms are most often used to create local color.

Neologisms

Neologisms are new words that have recently entered the language: smartphone, browser, multimedia etc.

Outdated words

In linguistics, words that have fallen out of active use are considered obsolete. Obsolete words are divided into two groups - archaisms and historicisms.

Archaisms– these are outdated names of objects that still exist today. Other names, for example, used to have eyes and a mouth. They were named accordingly eyes And mouth.

Historicisms– words that have fallen out of use due to the disappearance of the concepts and phenomena they denote from everyday use. Oprichnina, corvee, boyar, chain mail– objects and phenomena called such words do not exist in modern life, which means that these are historic words.

Phraseologisms

Phraseologisms are adjacent to lexical linguistic means - stable combinations of words reproduced equally by all native speakers. Like snow fell on your head, play spillikins, neither fish nor fowl, work carelessly, turn up your nose, turn your head... There are so many phraseological units in the Russian language and what aspects of life they don’t characterize!

Trails

Tropes are figures of speech based on playing with the meaning of a word and giving speech special expressiveness. Let's look at the most popular trails.

Metaphor

Metaphor is the transfer of properties from one object to another based on some similarity, the use of a word in a figurative meaning. Metaphor is sometimes called a hidden comparison - and for good reason. Let's look at examples.

Cheeks are burning. The word is used in a figurative meaning are burning. Cheeks seem to be on fire - that’s what hidden comparisons are like.

Sunset bonfire. The word is used in a figurative meaning bonfire. The sunset is compared to a fire, but the comparison is hidden. This is a metaphor.

Expanded metaphor

With the help of metaphor, a detailed image is often created - in this case, not one word, but several, appears in a figurative meaning. Such a metaphor is called expanded.

Here is an example, lines from Vladimir Soloukhin:

“The Earth is a cosmic body, and we are astronauts making a very long flight around the Sun, together with the Sun across the infinite Universe.”

The first metaphor is Earth is a cosmic body- gives birth to the second - we, people - astronauts.

As a result, a whole detailed image is created - human cosmonauts make a long flight around the sun on an Earth ship.

Epithet

Epithet– colorful artistic definition. Of course, epithets are most often adjectives. Moreover, the adjectives are colorful, emotional and evaluative. For example, in the phrase golden ring word golden is not an epithet, it is a common definition characterizing the material from which the ring is made. But in the phrase gold hair, golden soul - gold, golden- epithets.

However, other cases are also possible. Sometimes a noun plays the role of an epithet. For example, frost-voivode. Voivode in this case, application is a type of definition, which means it may well be an epithet.

Often epithets are emotional, colorful adverbs, for example, funny in a phrase walks merrily.

Constant epithets

Constant epithets are found in folklore and oral folk art. Remember: in folk songs, fairy tales, epics, the good fellow is always kind, the maiden is red, the wolf is gray, and the earth is damp. All these are constant epithets.

Comparison

Likening one object or phenomenon to another. Most often it is expressed in comparative phrases with conjunctions as, as if, exactly, as if or comparative clauses. But there are other forms of comparison. For example, the comparative degree of an adjective and adverb or the so-called instrumental comparison. Let's look at examples.

Time flies, like a bird(comparative turnover).

Brother is older than me(comparative turnover).

I younger than brother(comparative degree of the adjective young).

Squirms snake. (creative comparison).

Personification

Endowing inanimate objects or phenomena with the properties and qualities of living things: the sun is laughing, spring has come.

Metonymy

Metonymy is the replacement of one concept with another based on contiguity. What does it mean? Surely in geometry lessons you studied adjacent angles - angles that have one common side. Concepts can also be related - for example, school and students.

Let's look at examples:

School went out on a cleanup day.

Kiss plate ate.

The essence of metonymy in the first example is that instead of the word students the word is used school la. In the second example we use the word plate instead of the name of what is on the plate ( soup, porridge or something similar), that is, we use metonymy.

Synecdoche

Synecdoche is similar to metonymy and is considered a type of it. This trope also consists of replacement - but the replacement is necessarily quantitative. Most often, the plural is replaced by the singular and vice versa.

Let's look at examples of synecdoche.

“From here we will threaten Swede… “- thinks Tsar Peter in A.S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”. Of course, this meant more than one Swede, A Swedes- that is, the singular number is used instead of the plural.

And here is a line from Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”: "We all look at Napoleons". It is known that the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was alone. The poet uses synecdoche - uses the plural instead of the singular.

Hyperbola

Hyperbole is excessive exaggeration. “The sunset glowed with one hundred and forty suns”, writes V. Mayakovsky. And Gogolsky had trousers “as wide as the Black Sea.”

Litotes

Litotes is the opposite trope of hyperbole, an excessive understatement: a boy with a finger, a man with a nail.

Irony

Irony is hidden mockery. At the same time, we put into our words a meaning that is directly opposite to the true one. “Get off, smart one, your head is delusional”, - such a question in Krylov’s fable is addressed to the Donkey, who is considered the embodiment of stupidity.

Periphrase

We have already considered paths based on the replacement of concepts. At metonymy one word is replaced by another according to the contiguity of concepts, when synecdoche The singular number is replaced by the plural or vice versa.

A paraphrase is also a replacement - a word is replaced by several words, a whole descriptive phrase. For example, instead of the word “animals” we say or write “our little brothers.” Instead of the word "lion" - king of beasts.

Syntactic means

Syntactic means are those linguistic means that are associated with a sentence or phrase. Syntactic means are sometimes called grammatical, since syntax, along with morphology, is part of grammar. Let's look at some syntactic means.

Homogeneous members of the sentence

These are members of a sentence that answer the same question, refer to the same word, are one member of a sentence and, in addition, are pronounced with a special intonation of enumeration.

Grew in the garden roses, daisies,bells . — This sentence is complicated by homogeneous subjects.

Introductory words

These are words that more often express an attitude towards what is being communicated, indicate the source of the message or the way the thought is expressed. Let's analyze the examples.

Fortunately, snow fell.

Unfortunately, snow fell.

Maybe, snow fell.

According to a friend, snow fell.

So, snow fell.

The above sentences convey the same information (it snowed), but it is expressed with different feelings (fortunately, unfortunately) with uncertainty (maybe), indicating the source of the message (according to a friend) and the way to formulate thoughts (So).

Dialogue

A conversation between two or more people. Let us recall, as an example, a dialogue from a poem by Korney Chukovsky:

- Who's talking?
- Elephant.
- Where?
- From a camel...

Question-and-answer form of presentation

This is the name for constructing a text in the form of questions and answers to them. "What's wrong with a piercing gaze?" — the author asks the question. And he answers to himself: “Everything is bad!”

Separate members of the sentence

Secondary members of a sentence, which are distinguished by commas (or dashes) in writing, and by pauses in speech.

The pilot talks about his adventures, smiling at the listeners (a sentence with a separate circumstance, expressed by an adverbial phrase).

The children went out into the clearing, illuminated by the sun (a sentence with a separate circumstance expressed by a participial phrase).

Without a brother his first listener and admirer, he would hardly have achieved such results.(offer with a separate widespread application).

Nobody, except her sister, didn't know about it(sentence with a separate addition).

I'll come early at six o'clock in the morning (sentence with a separate clarifying circumstance of time).

Figures of speech

At the syntax level, special constructions are distinguished that give expressiveness to speech. They are called figures of speech, as well as stylistic figures. These are antithesis, gradation, inversion, parcellation, anaphora, epiphora, rhetorical question, rhetorical appeal, etc. Let's look at some of the stylistic figures.

Antithesis

In Russian, antithesis is called opposition. An example of this is the proverb: “Learning is light, but ignorance is darkness.”

Inversion

Inversion is the reverse order of words. As you know, each member of a sentence has its own “legitimate” place, its own position. So, the subject must come before the predicate, and the definition must come before the word being defined. Certain positions are assigned to adverbs and complements. When the order of words in a sentence is violated, we can talk about inversion.

Using inversion, writers and poets achieve the desired sound of a phrase. Remember the poem "Sail". Without inversion, his first lines would sound like this: “A lonely sail whitens in the blue fog of the sea”. The poet used inversion and the lines sounded amazing:

The lonely sail turns white

In the blue sea fog...

Gradation

Gradation is the arrangement of words (usually homogeneous members, in ascending or descending order of their meanings). Let's look at examples: "This optical illusion, hallucination, mirage« (a hallucination is more than an optical illusion, and a mirage is more than an optical illusion). Gradation can be either ascending or descending.

Parcellation

Sometimes, to enhance expressiveness, the boundaries of a sentence are deliberately violated, that is, parcellation is used. It consists of fragmenting a phrase, which results in the formation of incomplete sentences (that is, constructions whose meaning is unclear outside the context). An example of parcellation can be considered a newspaper headline: “The process has begun. “Backward” (“The process has gone backward,” this is what the phrase looked like before fragmentation).

To add brightness to speech, enhance its emotional sound, give it an expressive coloring, and also attract the attention of readers and listeners to words, special means of expressive language are used. Such figures of speech are distinguished by great diversity.

Speech expressive means are divided into several categories: they are phonetic, lexical, and also related to syntax (syntactic), phraseological units (phraseological), tropes (speech figures with the opposite meaning). Expressive means of language are used everywhere, in various areas of human communication: from fiction to scientific journalism and simple everyday communication. Such expressive figures of speech are least often used in the business sphere due to their inappropriateness. As you might guess, means of expression and artistic language go hand in hand: they serve as the best auxiliary means for creating vivid literary images and conveying characters, helping the writer to better characterize the world of his work and more fully realize the intended plot.

Modern philologists do not offer us any clear classification of the expressive means of language into specific groups, but they can be conditionally divided into two types:

• trails;
• stylistic figures.

Tropes are figures of speech or individual words used in a non-literal meaning, using hidden meaning. Such expressive means of language are an important part of conveying the author’s artistic intent. Paths are represented by such individual phrases as metaphor, hyperbole, synecdoche, metonymy, litotes, etc.

Stylistic figures are expressive means used by the author of a work of art in order to convey to readers the greatest degree of feelings and characters of characters and situations. The correct use of stylistic figures allows you to better express the meaning of the text and give it the necessary coloring. Antithesis and anaphora, inversion and gradation, as well as epiphora, parallelism - these are all stylistic figures of speech.

The most commonly used means of expression in the Russian language

Earlier we talked about a wide variety of expressive lexical means of speech that help convey the desired emotional coloring. Let's figure out which means of expressiveness are used most often both in fiction and in everyday speech.

Hyperbole is a figure of speech that is based on the technique of exaggerating something. If the author wants to enhance the expressiveness of the figure being conveyed or to amaze the reader (listener), he uses hyperbole in speech.

Example: fast as lightning; I told you a hundred times!

Metaphor is one of the main figures of language expressiveness, without which the full transfer of properties from one object or living thing to others is unthinkable. Such a trope as a metaphor is somewhat reminiscent of a comparison, but the auxiliary words “as if”, “as if” and the like are not used, while the reader and listener feels their hidden presence.

Example: seething emotions; sunny smile; icy hands.

An epithet is a means of expression that colors even the simplest things and situations in expressive, bright colors.

Example: ruddy dawn; playful waves; languid look.

Please note: you cannot use the first adjective you come across as an epithet. If an existing adjective defines clear properties of an object or phenomenon, it should not be taken as an epithet ( wet asphalt, cold air, etc.)

Antithesis is a technique of expressive speech that is often used by the author to increase the degree of expression and drama of a situation or phenomenon. Also used to show a high degree of difference. Poets often use antithesis.

Example: « You are a prose writer - I am a poet, you are rich - I am very poor" (A.S. Pushkin).

Comparison is one of the stylistic figures, the name of which lies its functionality. We all know that when comparing objects or phenomena, they are directly opposed. In artistic and everyday speech, several techniques are used that help ensure that the comparison is successfully conveyed:

• comparison with the addition of a noun (“storm” haze the sky covers...");
• turnover with the addition of conjunctions of comparative color (The skin of her hands was rough, like the sole of a boot);
• with the inclusion of a subordinate clause (Night fell on the city and in a matter of seconds everything became quiet, as if there was no such liveliness in the squares and streets just an hour ago).

Phraseologism is a figure of speech, one of the most popular means of expression in the Russian language. Compared to other tropes and stylistic figures, phraseological units are not compiled by the author personally, but are used in a ready-made, accepted form.

Example: like a bull in a china shop; make porridge; Play the fool.

Personification is a type of trope that is used when there is a desire to endow inanimate objects and everyday phenomena with human qualities.

Example: it is raining; nature rejoices; the fog is leaving.

In addition to those expressive means that were listed above, there are also a large number of expressive expressions that are not so often used, but are just as important for achieving richness of speech. These include the following means of expression:

• irony;
• litotes;
• sarcasm;
• inversion;
• oxymoron;
• allegory;
• lexical repetition;
• metonymy;
• inversion;
• gradation;
• multi-union;
• anaphora and many other tropes and stylistic figures.

The extent to which a person has mastered the techniques of expressive speech determines his success in society, and in the case of an author of fiction, his popularity as a writer. The absence of expressive phrases in everyday or artistic speech predetermines its wretchedness and the manifestation of little interest in it by readers or listeners.

Perhaps the most confusing and difficult topic for those who are not friends with literature and verbal figures. If you have never been impressed by classical literature, and especially poetry, then perhaps getting to know this topic will allow you to look at many works through the eyes of the author and spark an interest in the literary word.

Paths - verbal turns

Paths make speech brighter and more expressive, more interesting and richer. These are words and their combinations used in a figurative sense, which is why the very expressiveness of the text appears. Paths help convey various shades of emotions, recreate true images and pictures in the mind of the reader; with their help, masters of words evoke certain associations in the mind of the reader.

Along with the syntactic means of language, tropes (related to lexical means) are quite a powerful weapon in the literary sphere. It is worth paying attention to the fact that many tropes have moved from the literary language into colloquial speech. We have become so accustomed to them that we have ceased to notice the indirect meaning of such words, which is why they have lost their expressiveness. It’s a common occurrence: tropes are so “hackneyed” in colloquial speech that they become cliches and cliches. The once expressive phrases “black gold”, “brilliant mind”, “golden hands” have become familiar and hackneyed.

Classification of tropes

In order to understand and clearly clarify which words and expressions, in what context, are classified as figurative and expressive means of language, let us turn to the following table.

Trails	Definition	Examples
Epithet	Designed to define something artistically (object, action), most often expressed by an adjective or adverb	Turquoise eyes, monstrous character, indifferent sky
Metaphor	Essentially, this is a comparison, but hidden due to the transfer of the properties of one object or phenomenon to another	The soul sings, consciousness floats away, the head is buzzing, an icy look, a sharp word
Metonymy	Renaming. This is the transfer of the properties of one object or phenomenon to another based on contiguity	Brew chamomile (not chamomile tea), the school went on a cleanup day (replacing the word “students” with the name of the institution), read Mayakovsky (replacing the work with the name of the author)
Synecdoche (is a type of metonymy)	Transferring the name of an object from part to whole and vice versa	Save a penny (instead of money), the berries are ripe this year (instead of berries), the buyer is now demanding (instead of buyers)
Hyperbola	A trope based on excessive exaggeration (of properties, dimensions, events, meaning, etc.)	I told you a hundred times, I stood in line all day, I scared you to death
Periphrase	A semantically indivisible expression that figuratively describes a phenomenon or object, indicating its peculiarity (with a negative or positive meaning)	Not a camel, but a ship of the desert, not Paris, but the capital of fashion, not an official, but a clerical rat, not a dog, but a man’s friend
Allegory	Allegory, expression of an abstract concept using a concrete image	Fox - cunning, ant - hard work, elephant - clumsiness, dragonfly - carefree
Litotes	Same as hyperbole, only in reverse. Downplaying something to make it more emphatic	As the cat cried, I earn my penny, thin as a reed
Oxymoron	Combination of incompatible, contrasting, contradictory	Loud silence, back to the future, hot cold, favorite enemy
Irony	Using a word in a sense completely opposite to its meaning for the purpose of ridicule	Come into my mansion (about a small apartment), it will cost you a pretty penny (a lot of money)
Personification	Transferring the properties and qualities of living beings to inanimate objects and concepts to which they are not inherent	The rain is crying, the leaves are whispering, the blizzard is howling, sadness has set in
Antithesis	A trope based on a sharp contrast of any images or concepts	I was looking for happiness in this woman, And I accidentally found death. S. Yesenin
Euphemism	An emotionally and semantically neutral word or combination of words used instead of unpleasant, rude, indecent expressions	The places are not so remote (instead of a prison), he has a unique character (instead of bad, heavy)

From the examples it becomes clear that the figurative and expressive means of language, namely tropes, are used not only in works of art, but also in living spoken language. You don’t have to be a poet to have competent, rich, expressive speech. It is enough to have a good vocabulary and the ability to express thoughts outside the box. Saturate your vocabulary by reading quality literature, it is extremely useful.

Visual means of phonetics

Paths are only part of the arsenal of artistic means of expression. What is intended to specifically influence our hearing is called phonetic figurative and expressive means of language. Once you understand the essence of the phonetic component of the artistry of a language, you begin to look at many things with different eyes. An understanding of the play on words in the poems of the school curriculum, once studied “through force” comes, and the poetics and beauty of the syllable are revealed.

It is best to consider examples of the use of phonetic means of expression based on classical Russian literature; this is the richest source of alliteration and assonance, as well as other types of sound writing. But it would be wrong to think that examples of figurative and expressive means of language are not found in modern art. Advertising, journalism, songs and poems by modern performers, proverbs, sayings, tongue twisters - all this is an excellent basis for searching for figures of speech and tropes, you just need to learn to hear and see them.

Alliteration, assonance and others

Alliteration is the repetition of identical consonants or their combinations in a poem, which gives the verse sound expressiveness, brightness, and originality. For example, the sound [z] in Vladimir Mayakovsky’s “Cloud in Pants”:

You came in

sharp, like “here!”

mucha suede gloves,

“You know -

I'm getting married."

or right there:

I'll strengthen myself.

See -

how calm!

Like the pulse of a dead man.

Remember?...

And here is a modern example for us. From the singer Utah (“Fall”):

I will smoke and eat bread,

Staring at the dusty lampshade in the hallway...

Assonance is a specially organized repetition of consonant sounds (usually in a poetic text), which gives the verse musicality, harmony, and songfulness. A skillfully created phonetic technique can convey the atmosphere, setting, state of mind and even surrounding sounds. Vladimir Mayakovsky’s carefully crafted assonance carries a tinge of fluid hopelessness:

Your son is beautifully sick!

His heart is on fire.

Tell your sisters

Lyuda and Ole,—

he has nowhere to go.

In any poem, Vladimir Vladimirovich combines figurative and expressive means of a phonetic nature with tropes and syntactic figures. This is the author's uniqueness.

Pun rhymes are combinations of words and sounds based on the similarity of sounds.

The realm of rhymes is my element,

And I write poetry easily,

Without hesitation, without delay

I run to line from line,

Even to the Finnish brown rocks

I'm making a pun.

D. D. Minaev

Syntactic means of expressiveness in language

Epiphora and anaphora, inversion, parcellation and a number of other syntactic means help the master of verbal art to saturate his works with expressiveness, creating an individual style, character, and rhythm.

Some syntactic devices enhance the expressiveness of speech and logically highlight what the author wants to emphasize. Others add dynamism and tension to the narrative, or, conversely, make you stop and think, re-read and feel. Many writers and poets have their own individual style, based specifically on syntax. Suffice it to recall A. Blok:

"Night, street, lantern, pharmacy"

or A. Akhmatova:

"Twenty-one. Night. Monday"

The individual author's style consists, of course, not only of syntax, there is a whole set of all components: semantic, linguistic, as well as rhythm and vision of reality. And yet, an important role is played by what figurative and expressive means of language the artist prefers.

Syntax to aid artistic expression

Inversion (rearrangement, reversal) is the reverse or non-standard order of words in a sentence. In prose it is used to semantically highlight any part of a sentence. In poetic form it is sometimes necessary to create rhyme and focus attention on the most important points. In Marina Tsvetaeva’s poem “An Attempt of Jealousy,” inversion conveys an emotional breakdown:

How are you doing - are you healthy -

Maybe? Sung - how?

With the ulcer of an immortal conscience

How are you coping, poor man?

A. S. Pushkin considered inversion to be perhaps the most important means of poetic expression; his poems are mostly inversion, which is why they are so musical, expressive, and simple.

A rhetorical question in a literary text is one that does not require an answer.

The day was innocent and the wind was fresh.

The dark stars went out.

- Grandmother! - This brutal rebellion

In my heart - isn't it from you?..

A. Akhmatova

In Marina Tsvetaeva’s lyrics, her favorite devices were the rhetorical question and the rhetorical exclamation:

I'll ask for a chair, I'll ask for a bed:

“Why, why do I suffer and suffer?”

I learned to live in the fire itself,

He threw it himself - into the frozen steppe!

That's what you, dear, did to me!

My dear, what have I done to you?

Epiphora, anaphora, ellipse

Anaphora is the repetition of similar or identical sounds, words, phrases at the beginning of each line, stanza, sentence. A classic example is Yesenin’s poems:

I didn't know that love is an infection

I didn't know that love is a plague...

Oh, wait. I don't scold her.

Oh, wait. I don't curse her...

Epiphora - repetition of the same elements at the end of phrases, stanzas, lines.

Foolish heart, don't beat!

We are all deceived by happiness,

The beggar only asks for participation...

Foolish heart, don't beat.

Both stylistic figures are more characteristic of poetry than prose. Such techniques are found in all types and genres of literature, including oral folk art, which is very natural, given its specificity.

An ellipse is an omission in a literary text of any linguistic unit (it is easy to restore), while the meaning of the phrase does not suffer.

What yesterday is waist-deep,

Suddenly - to the stars.

(Exaggerated, that is:

Full height.)

M. Tsvetaeva

This gives dynamism, conciseness, and highlights the desired element intonationally in the sentence.

In order to clearly navigate the diversity of linguistic figures and professionally understand the name of a visual and expressive means, you need experience, knowledge of theory and language disciplines.

The main thing is not to overdo it

If we perceive the surrounding information through the prism of linguistic means of expressiveness, we can come to the conclusion that even colloquial speech refers to them quite often. It is not necessary to know the name of a figurative and expressive means of language in order to use it in speech. Rather, it happens unintentionally, unnoticed. It’s another matter when various figures of speech flow in the media, both appropriate and not entirely appropriate. The abuse of tropes, stylistic devices, and other means of expressiveness makes speech difficult to perceive and oversaturated. Journalism and advertising are especially guilty of this, apparently because they deliberately use the power of language to influence the audience. The poet, in the rush of the creative process, does not think about what visual and expressive means to use; this is a spontaneous, “emotional” process.

Language is the most powerful tool in the hands of the classics

Each era leaves its mark on the language and its visual means. Pushkin's language is far from Mayakovsky's creative style. The poetics of Tsvetaeva’s legacy differs sharply from the unique texts of Vladimir Vysotsky. The poetic language of A. S. Pushkin is permeated with epithets, metaphors, personifications, I. A. Krylov is a fan of allegory, hyperbole, and irony. Each writer has his own style, created by him in the creative process, in which his favorite visual forms play an important role.

When we talk about art and literary creativity, we are focused on the impressions that are created when reading. They are largely determined by the imagery of the work. In fiction and poetry, there are special techniques for enhancing expressiveness. A competent presentation, public speaking - they also need ways to construct expressive speech.

For the first time, the concept of rhetorical figures, figures of speech, appeared among the orators of ancient Greece. In particular, Aristotle and his followers were involved in their study and classification. Delving into the details, scientists have identified up to 200 varieties that enrich the language.

Means of expressive speech are divided according to language level into:

• phonetic;
• lexical;
• syntactic.

The use of phonetics is traditional for poetry. Musical sounds often predominate in a poem, giving poetic speech a special melodiousness. In the drawing of a verse, stress, rhythm and rhyme, and combinations of sounds are used for emphasis.

Anaphora– repetition of sounds, words or phrases at the beginning of sentences, poetic lines or stanzas. “The golden stars dozed off...” - repetition of the initial sounds, Yesenin used phonetic anaphora.

And here is an example of lexical anaphora in Pushkin’s poems:

Alone you rush across the clear azure,
You alone cast a dull shadow,
You alone sadden the jubilant day.

Epiphora- a similar technique, but much less common, in which words or phrases are repeated at the end of lines or sentences.

The use of lexical devices associated with a word, lexeme, as well as phrases and sentences, syntax, is considered as a tradition of literary creativity, although it is also widely found in poetry.

Conventionally, all means of expressiveness of the Russian language can be divided into tropes and stylistic figures.

Trails

Tropes are the use of words and phrases in a figurative sense. Paths make speech more figurative, enliven and enrich it. Some tropes and their examples in literary work are listed below.

Epithet- artistic definition. Using it, the author gives the word additional emotional overtones and his own assessment. To understand how an epithet differs from an ordinary definition, you need to understand when reading whether the definition gives a new connotation to the word? Here's a simple test. Compare: late autumn - golden autumn, early spring - young spring, quiet breeze - gentle breeze.

Personification- transferring the signs of living beings to inanimate objects, nature: “The gloomy rocks looked sternly...”.

Comparison– direct comparison of one object or phenomenon with another. “The night is gloomy, like a beast...” (Tyutchev).

Metaphor– transferring the meaning of one word, object, phenomenon to another. Identifying similarities, implicit comparison.

“There is a red rowan fire burning in the garden...” (Yesenin). The rowan brushes remind the poet of the flame of a fire.

Metonymy– renaming. Transferring a property or meaning from one object to another according to the principle of contiguity. “The one in felt, let’s argue” (Vysotsky). In felt (material) - in a felt hat.

Synecdoche- a type of metonymy. Transferring the meaning of one word to another based on a quantitative connection: singular - plural, part - whole. “We all look at Napoleons” (Pushkin).

Irony- the use of a word or expression in an inverted, mocking sense. For example, the appeal to the Donkey in Krylov’s fable: “Are you crazy, smart one?”

Hyperbola- a figurative expression containing exorbitant exaggeration. It may concern size, meaning, strength, and other qualities. Litotes is, on the contrary, an exorbitant understatement. Hyperbole is often used by writers and journalists, and litotes is much less common. Examples. Hyperbole: “The sunset burned with one hundred and forty suns” (V.V. Mayakovsky). Litota: “a little man with a fingernail.”

Allegory- a specific image, scene, image, object that visually represents an abstract idea. The role of allegory is to suggest subtext, to force one to look for hidden meaning when reading. Widely used in fable.

Alogism– deliberate violation of logical connections for the purpose of irony. “That landowner was stupid, he read the newspaper “Vest” and his body was soft, white and crumbly.” (Saltykov-Shchedrin). The author deliberately mixes logically heterogeneous concepts in the enumeration.

Grotesque– a special technique, a combination of hyperbole and metaphor, a fantastic surreal description. An outstanding master of Russian grotesque was N. Gogol. His story “The Nose” is based on the use of this technique. A special impression when reading this work is made by the combination of the absurd with the ordinary.

Figures of speech

Stylistic figures are also used in literature. Their main types are shown in the table:

Repeat	At the beginning, end, at the junction of sentences	This cry and strings, These flocks, these birds
Antithesis	Opposition. Antonyms are often used.	Long hair, short mind
Gradation	Arrangement of synonyms in increasing or decreasing order	Smolder, burn, glow, explode
Oxymoron	Connecting contradictions	A living corpse, an honest thief.
Inversion	Word order changes	He came late (He came late).
Parallelism	Comparison in the form of juxtaposition	The wind stirred the dark branches. Fear stirred in him again.
Ellipsis	Omitting an implied word	By the hat and out the door (he grabbed it and went out).
Parcellation	Dividing a single sentence into separate ones	And I think again. About you.
Multi-Union	Connecting through repeating conjunctions	And me, and you, and all of us together
Asyndeton	Elimination of unions	You, me, he, she – together the whole country.
Rhetorical exclamation, question, appeal.	Used to enhance feelings	What a summer! Who, if not us? Listen, country!
Default	Interruption of speech based on a guess, to reproduce strong excitement	My poor brother...execution...Tomorrow at dawn!
Emotional-evaluative vocabulary	Words expressing attitude, as well as direct assessment of the author	Henchman, dove, dunce, sycophant.

Test "Means of Artistic Expression"

To test your understanding of the material, take a short test.

Read the following passage:

“There the war smelled of gasoline and soot, burnt iron and gunpowder, it scraped with caterpillar tracks, screeched from machine guns and fell into the snow, and rose again under fire...”

What means of artistic expression are used in the excerpt from K. Simonov’s novel?

Swede, Russian - stabs, chops, cuts.

Drumming, clicks, grinding,

The thunder of guns, stomping, neighing, groaning,

And death and hell on all sides.

A. Pushkin

The answer to the test is given at the end of the article.

Expressive language is, first of all, an internal image that arises when reading a book, listening to an oral presentation, or a presentation. To manipulate images, visual techniques are needed. There are enough of them in the great and mighty Russian. Use them, and the listener or reader will find their own image in your speech pattern.

Study expressive language and its laws. Determine for yourself what is missing in your performances, in your drawing. Think, write, experiment, and your language will become an obedient tool and your weapon.

Answer to the test

K. Simonov. The personification of war in the passage. Metonymy: howling soldiers, equipment, battlefield - the author ideologically connects them into a generalized image of war. The techniques of expressive language used are polyunion, syntactic repetition, parallelism. Through this combination of stylistic techniques when reading, a revived, rich image of war is created.

A. Pushkin. The poem lacks conjunctions in the first lines. In this way the tension and richness of the battle are conveyed. In the phonetic design of the scene, the sound “r” plays a special role in different combinations. When reading, a rumbling, growling background appears, ideologically conveying the noise of battle.

If you were unable to give the correct answers while answering the test, do not be upset. Just re-read the article.