Seminar 3

PART 2. Figures of Combination

1. Figures of ambiguity. Speak on SDs known as “play upon words”. Describe the
difference between zeugma and pun.
ZEUGMA [‘ZJUGMA] (from Greek ‘yoke’) is the use of polysemantic word referring to two
adjacent words in the context, in different semantic relations.
It is a kind of PLAY UPON WORDS, as the basic word enters one combination in one meaning,
and the other combination in another meaning. The first meaning is often literal, and the second
metaphorical.
Thus, zeugma usually structurally
consists of three elements: basic
word and its use in two
combinations with different
meanings:
E.g. Silence was not broken by
some time, but the soles were” (J.
Galsworthy, The White Monkey).
Zeugma at its finest: “The farmer
plowed the field and his wife”
PUN (каламбур) is another stylistic device based on the simultaneous realization of two
meanings within the same context. You can distinguish between zeugma and pun in this way: in
pun the word on which the effect is based is repeated:
e.g. Did you hit the woman with the child? – No, Sir, I hit her with a stick (O’Henry).
A pun is AMBIGUITY: specifically, a foregrounded lexical ambiguity. It involves either the use
of polysemantic word or homonyms. Pun commonly occurs in jokes.
Pun based on Polysemy e.g."Money doesn't grow on the trees. But it blossoms at our branches.”
Pun based on complete or partial homonymy e.g. "More sun and air for your son and heir“;
“Make Time For Time.”
Pun based on parody "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play“
Puns based on phonetic similarity “John said to Pete at dinner: “Carry on”. But Pete never eats
carrion.”
SYLLEPSIS [SI’LEPSIS] (Greek ‘taking together’) is a figure of speech in which one word is
used in two senses within the same utterance; and where the effect is of putting together two co-
ordinate constructions with ellipsis. SYLLEPSIS is very hard to distinguish from ZEUGMA.
It is frequently used for comic effect: e.g. She went home in a flood of tears and a sedan chair
(Dickens); e.g. Search your locker and your conscience
2. Figures of identity
SIMILE is a stylistic device based on partial identification of two unlike objects. From Latin
SIMILIS = like. Thus, in simile two concepts are imaginatively and descriptively compared.

e.g. My love is like a red, red rose; Her face was like a white sheet
 Features: simile should not be confused with logical comparison which is devoid of any
stylistic meaning.
 The structure of SIMILE:
 the tenor
 the vehicle
 the ground for comparison
e.g. 1. She (the tenor) is as beautiful (the ground) as a rose (the vehicle). 2. She is like a rose
Simile may be expressed by:
 Conjunctions ‘as’ or ‘like’: Rosa is as beautiful as a flower
 Adverbial clauses of comparison (conjunctions ‘as’, ‘as if’, ‘as though’): Mary behaves
as if she were a child
 Adjectives in the comparative degree: ‘Ray behaves worse than a cut-throat’.
 Adverbial word-combinations containing prepositional attributes: ‘With the thickness of
a cat, Samuel climbed up the tree’
 Simile may be implied, having no formal indications of comparison: ‘Odette had a
strange resemblance to a bird’
SYNONYMS Synonymy is the expression of the ‘same’ meaning by different words within a
language.
It is very hard to list ABSOLUTE synonyms: words that are identical both in DENOTATION or
basic CONCEPTUAL meaning, and in their CONNOTATIONS, and so that can be interchanged
in all contexts. E.g. laryngitis and sore throat.
Synonymic Repetition:
 Synonyms – substitutes (‘replacers’) are words used to denote object or thing,
supplementing new additional details.
 e.g. “The little boy was crying. It was the child’s usual time for going to bed, but
no one paid attention to the kid.”
 e.g. ‘Dear Paul, it’s very weak and silly of me, I know, to be so trembly and shaky
from head to foot.’ (Ch. Dickens)
 Synonyms – specifires (specifying, clarifying synonyms) – a chain of words which
express similar meaning.
 e.g. ‘You sly, sinful, insidious hog,’ says I to Murkison (O. Henry)
 ‘Joe was a mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going, foolish dear fellow.’
(Ch.Dickens)
 2.1. Speak about semantic and structural types of epithets.
Unlike mere attributes EPITHETS describe objects expressively. Epithets are subjective and
evaluating, often metaphorical: e.g. loud ocean, wild wind, irresistible charm.
Epithet is based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word,
phrase, or even sentence, used to characterize an object. e.g. a smiling sun, the frowning
cloud.
Semantic types of EPITHET:
 affective (or emotive proper) e.g. ‘gorgeous’, ‘nasty, ‘magnificent’ ‘atrocious’
 figurative (metaphorical, transferred) e.g. a ghost-like face.

Structural types of EPITHET:

 Simple (adjectives, nouns, participles): e.g. He looked at them in animal panic.
 Pairs of epithets
 Chains (strings) of epithets
 Compound epithets expressed by compound adjectives e.g. an apple - faced man;
 Two-step epithets
 Sentence and phrase epithets: clausal epithets: expressed by sentences: e.g. I-don’t-want-
to-do-it felling.
 Reversed epithets - composed of 2 nouns linked by an of-phrase: e.g. "a shadow of a
smile";
 Phrasal epithets: expressed by word-combinations of quotation type e.g. It is his do - it -
yourself attitude.
2.2. Speak about types and functions of a simile.
 An implied simile is used when formal markers of comparison are substituted by notional
words or semi-notional words (resemble, seem, remind): A girl resembled a rose.
 Trite simile – without any stylistic value.
Simile can be classified into four groups according to the nature of “terrium comparazionis”
(ground for comparison):
 of quality: e.g. A woman moved like a fountain troubled.
 of action: e.g. The clocks in the office jumped about like sailors during the storm.
 of relation: e.g. Her anger dispersed before his humor like a foam before breeze.
 of analogy
According to the structure:
 In a simple simile the vehicle is expressed briefly and directly.
 In a sustained simile the likeness is not only expressed but further developed into a vivid
micropicture.
Simile and metaphor are different in their linguistic nature.
1. M. aims at identifying the object while S. aims at finding some point of resemblance.
2. M. implies the feature that serves as a ground for comparison while S. indicates the
feature.

A simile helps your reader or listener visualise, understand and have a better conception of
the quality of the nouns being compared. It makes it a lot more vivid and descriptive.
3. Figures of contrast.
OXYMORON (Greek OXYS = sharp, clever + MOROS = dumb, foolish) is a stylistic device
presenting a combination of two contrasting ideas, or two words which are semantically
incompatible. One of the components reveals some objectively existing feature or quality, while
the other one serves to convey the speaker’s subjective attitude towards the same. As a result, a
new meaning is developed and the object under description obtains characteristics contrary to its
nature. (sweet sorrow, wise fool, pleasantly ugly, loving hate)
PARADOX (from Greek = against opinion) is a statement which is apparently self-
contradictory, a kind of expanded OXYMORON. E.g. Orwell’s: “War is peace. Freedom is
slavery. Ignorance is strength” (1984)
Beyond the literal meaning, a deeper, usually more philosophical meaning is found in paradox.
Because of its apparent absurdity and initial puzzlement, paradox is a trope that can be
effectively exploited in advertising slogans to attract attention. It has also been a prominent
device in love poetry.
"What a pity that youth must be wasted on the young." (George Bernard Shaw)
"I must be cruel to be kind.“ (William Shakespeare) “War is peace” (George Orwell)
"Less is more." This statement uses two opposites to contradict one another. How can less be
more?
ANTITHESIS is very close to oxymoron and paradox. A. effectively contrasts ideas by
contrasting LEXICAL ITEMS in a formal structure of parallelism.
 often involves explicit antonymy:
e.g. Dickens’s “A Tale of Two Cities”: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…
 Many famous quotations are often based on witty or satirical antithesis
e.g. Marriage has many pains, but celibacy has no pleasures (Johnson)
 The conjunction ‘but’ is often used as an antithetical conjunct, other explicit antithesis
markers in discourse include ‘on the contrary’, ‘by comparison’, ‘on the other hand’.

3.1. Speak about structural peculiarities and functions of antithesis.

We may distinguish three varieties of antithesis.
 opposition of features possessed by the same referent.
E.g. Some people have much to live on and little to live for (O.Wilde)
The purpose of this device is to show complex and contradictory nature of the object of
speech.
 opposition of two or more different reference having contrasting features.
The device serves to underline their incompatibility:
‘Large houses are still occupied while weavers’ cottages stand empty.’ (Gaskell)
‘His fees were high; his lessons were light.’ (O. Henry)
 opposition of reference that embrace a wide range of features.
‘For the old struggle – mere stagnation, and in place of danger and death, the dull
monotony of security and the horror of an unending decay!’ (Leacock)
Stylistic antithesis is not only an effective stylistic devise, but as all expressive means it is an
expression of inner, elevated contents of speech.
3.2. Speak about an oxymoron, its types and meaning.
Oxymoron is a combination of two words (mostly an adjective and a noun or an adverb with an
adjective) in which the meaning of the two clashes, being opposite in sense:
‘His honour rooted in dishonour stood And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.’ (Tennyson)
There are trite oxymorons (Terribly good, pretty dirty, awfully nice) and original oxymorons (to
look their horrid best)
Depending on the circumstance that the oxymorons are used, they can be categorized as natural,
literary, punning, humorous, accidental and deliberate oxymorons. Based on how many words
make the oxymoron, they can be divided into single-word and double-word categories.
Single-word Oxymoron
In these oxymorons, two opposite or contrasting ideas are conjugated inside a single word.
Double-word Oxymoron
Any oxymoron that is not a single-word oxymoron is most certainly a double-word one since an
oxymoron is about two contradictory ideas. These oxymorons consist of two completely opposite
words standing separate from one another and emitting a deeper meaning when considered as
one unit. i.e. industrial park, open secret, recorded live etc.
4. Figures of inequality. Speak about the stylistic devices of climax and its types. What is
anticlimax?
CLIMAX (GRADATION) (from Greek = LADDER) is a figure of inequality consisting in
arranging the utterance so that each subsequent component of it increases significance,
importance or emotional tension of narration: e.g. I am sorry, I am so very sorry, I am so
extremely sorry.
Climax is widely used to refer to the point of greatest importance and intensity in a story, play,
film, etc.
E.g. What light is to the eyes, what air is to the lungs, what love is to the heart, liberty is to the
soul of man (R.G. Ingersoll).
Types of CLIMAX:
 Emotive: based on the strings of words, word combinations, sentences with emotional
meaning:
E.g. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m terribly sorry!
e.g. ‘A SMILE would come into Mr. Pickwick’s face, THE SMILE extended into A
LAUGH, THE LAUGH into A ROAR, and THE ROAR became general’ (Ch. Dickens)
 Logical: based on the use of synonymous words arranged in such a way that each
subsequent component is relatively more important than the previous one in terms of
concepts denoted by them.
e.g. And you want down the old steep way … insane pride … lies … robbery … murder
 Quantitative: an increase in the volume of the corresponding concepts.
e.g. They looked at hundreds of houses; they climbed thousands of stairs; they inspected
innumerable kitchens. I told you dozens of times, hundreds of times, millions of times!

ANTICLIMAX (BATHOS)
If climax is a figure of speech that presents arguments in an ascending order of importance,
reserving the best point till last, ANTICLIMAX as its name suggests, puts the best point first It
presents a sudden lowering or deflation from a heightened tone for IRONIC effect.
Anticlimax is used to describe a disappointing turn of events or "let down" that occurs after
tension builds in a text. Unlike climax, anticlimax is the arrangement of a series of words,
phrases, or clauses in order of decreasing importance. It has been much exploited in literature
for humor and satire.
e.g. He lost his family, his car and his cell phone.
If John’s eyes fill with tears, you may have no doubt: he has been eating raw onions.