Figure of speech
A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that uses words or phrases in ways that go beyond their literal meanings, enhancing expression and persuasion in language. These devices include various forms, such as metaphors, similes, idioms, and hyperboles, which serve to convey meanings more vividly or creatively. Historically, figures of speech have been classified into key categories like addition, omission, transposition, and permutation, with contributions from ancient scholars and rhetoricians shaping our understanding. They can be further divided into schemes and tropes, where schemes focus on word arrangement and tropes involve using words in non-literal ways.
Figures of speech play significant roles in literature, speeches, and everyday communication, often making statements more impactful and memorable. Renowned figures like William Shakespeare and modern politicians have effectively employed these devices to engage audiences and convey complex ideas. While some expressions may become clichéd over time, others resonate deeply and inspire across generations. Overall, figures of speech enrich language, adding depth and flavor to communication, reflecting both creativity and a playful engagement with words.
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Subject Terms
Figure of speech
A figure of speech is the use of a word or phrase in a manner that transcends its literal meaning. As part of rhetoric, the art of discourse or persuasive speaking, figures of speech can appear in many forms: noteworthy repetition, omission of words, or unique phrases that do not necessarily mean what the words say, as with hyperbole, idiom, metaphor, or simile. Ancient Roman rhetoricians established four fundamental categories governing the formation of figures of speech: addition, omission, transposition, and permutation.
Background
From antiquity, scholars have studied literature to analyze figures of speech as a means to understand semantics. The Roman orator Cicero (106–43 BCE) taught that innovative and recognizable delivery of figures of speech could bring success in oration.
Figures of speech such as litotes, an understatement which affirms something by negating its opposite, abound in the Bible. For example, Isaiah 55:11 says, “So shall my word . . . it shall not come unto me void.”
Classical Western rhetoricians have divided figures of speech into two main areas: schemes, which use word order or word choice to form unusual patterns, and tropes, which use a word in a way other than its literal meaning. The etymologist Philo of Alexandria (20 BCE–50 CE) studied the semantics of words across languages and classified figures of speech into four categories: addition, subtraction, transposition, and transmutation. Roman rhetorician Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (35–100 CE) in his Institutio Oratoria (95 CE) delineated theories and practices for rhetoric, including figures of speech.
During the Renaissance, English curate Henry Peacham (1546–1634) classified stylistic vernacular rhetoric. His Garden of Eloquence (1593) defined two hundred rhetorical terms and offered a full analysis of historical and contemporary figures of speech.
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) employed figures of speech in his plays and poetry, including elaborate run-on sentences and irregular pauses and stops to achieve dramatic effect. Shakespeare’s figures of speech fall under many categories. For example, he employs alliteration, the use of two or more words that begin with the same consonant sound in a line of speech for emphatic effect, such as “When to the sessions of sweet silent thought. . .” (Shakespeare, Sonnet 30).
There are many more types of figurative language. Chiasmus is a rhetorical inversion of the second of two parallel structures. Euphemism is the substitution of a less offensive term for another, as “to pass away” is used for “to die.” An aphorism is a brief statement of principle, or an adage, such as “today is the first day of the rest of your life,” coined by a member of Alcoholics Anonymous. Onomatopoeia is a word formation that imitates what they denote, such as “buzz” or “cuckoo.” An idiomatic expression is one that has a meaning that is not clear from the usual meaning of the words, such as “to fly off the handle” meaning “to lose one’s temper.”
Impact
Some figures of speech get recycled so much that they become cliché or commonplace. Conversely, some are so powerful they inspire through the generations. The primary author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson (1743–1823), used a tricolon (featuring three parallel words, phrases, or clauses): “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Politicians create figures of speech to convey complex ideas simply, so that they can be easily remembered and passed along. American Federalist Robert Goodloe Harper (1765–1825) employed antithesis, a direct contrast or juxtaposition of sharply contrasting ideas in grammatical structures when he condemned bribes with the comment “Millions for defense but not a cent for tribute.” Schemes and tropes can be used to influence an audience. For instance, John F. Kennedy (1917–63), in his inaugural address, employed a scheme known as an anastrophe, where the expected word order was altered for emphasis in his assertion: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Conversely, George W. Bush utilized antithesis in his January 20, 2001, inauguration: “Where there is suffering, there is duty. Americans in need are not strangers, they are citizens, not problems, but priorities.”
Barack Obama, also a master of creating political figures of speech, utilized multiple tricolons in his speech the night he was elected president in 2008. Obama’s selection of words appears simple, but he created energy using his campaign slogan “Yes we can” as an anaphora, or phrase repeated many times for emphasis, in speeches through the race.
Figures of speech within the context of speaking, writing, and performing contribute to both the style and substance of semantics. Schemes and tropes, the structural basis for all figures of speech, offer much more than can be understood at a glance; they also represent humanism and cognitive playfulness with words and meaning. Schemes and tropes are stylistic devices that add flavor to speaking and writing: while in simplistic terms a trope is the use of a word or phrase in an abnormal way and a scheme is a change in standard grammatical pattern, both forms are pervasive because they add spice that keeps language alive, interesting, and entertaining.
Bibliography
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