lexical stylistic devices
by Aida Ibrayeva
1. 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.
1.1. ex:War is the mother of all battles.
1.2. Metaphor
2. Irony
2.1. VERBAL IRONY AND SUSTAINED IRONY
2.2. 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.
2.2.1. ex:he doctor is as kind hearted as a wolf.
3. METONYMY
3.1. 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.
3.2. ex:Let me give you a hand. (Hand means help.)
4. HYPERBOLE
4.1. 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.
4.2. ex:She is as heavy as an elephant!
5. MEIOSIS
5.1. 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.
5.2. 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…”
6. LITOTES
6.1. 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.
6.2. ex:A million dollars is not a little amount.
7. EPITHET
7.1. 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.
7.2. 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….”
8. Oxymoron
8.1. Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect.
8.2. Open secret Tragic comedy Seriously funny
9. Antonomasia
9.1. Antonomasia is a literary term in which a descriptive phrase replaces a person’s name. Antonomasia can range from lighthearted nicknames to epic names.
9.2. ex:Aristotle as “The Philosopher” Winston Churchill as “The Great Commoner”
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.
