lexical stylistic devices

1. METONYMY

1.1. It is a figure of speech that replaces the name of a thing with the name of something else with which it is closely associated. We can come across examples of metonymy both from literature and in everyday life.

1.2. ex:Let me give you a hand. (Hand means help.)

2. HYPERBOLE

2.1. Hyperbole, derived from a Greek word meaning “over-casting,” is a figure of speech that involves an exaggeration of ideas for the sake of emphasis.

2.2. ex:She is as heavy as an elephant!

3. MEIOSIS

3.1. In rhetoric, meiosis is a euphemistic figure of speech that intentionally understates something or implies that it is lesser in significance or size than it really is.

3.2. ex:“I am a very foolish fond old man, Fourscore and upward, not an hour more or less; And, to deal plainly, I fear I am not in my perfect mind…”

4. EPITHET

4.1. Epithet is a descriptive literary device that describes a place, a thing or a person in such a way that it helps in making the characteristics of a person, thing or place more prominent than they actually are.

4.2. ex:“My restless blood now lies a-quiver, Knowing that always, exquisitely, This April twilight on the river Stirs anguish in the heart of me….”

5. Antonomasia

5.1. Antonomasia is a literary term in which a descriptive phrase replaces a person’s name. Antonomasia can range from lighthearted nicknames to epic names.

5.2. ex:Aristotle as “The Philosopher” Winston Churchill as “The Great Commoner”

6. Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics.

6.1. ex:War is the mother of all battles.

6.2. Metaphor

7. Irony

7.1. VERBAL IRONY AND SUSTAINED IRONY

7.2. Is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings - dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings are in opposition to each other. The literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning.

7.2.1. ex:he doctor is as kind hearted as a wolf.

8. LITOTES

8.1. Litotes, derived from a Greek word meaning “simple”, is a figure of speech which employs an understatement by using double negatives or, in other words, positive statement is expressed by negating its opposite expressions.

8.2. ex:A million dollars is not a little amount.

9. Oxymoron

9.1. Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect.

9.2. Open secret Tragic comedy Seriously funny

10. Pun, zeugma, semantically false chains and nonsense of non-sequence

10.1. united into a small group as they have much in common both in the mechanism of their formation and in their function.