Determining the types of tropes has always caused great difficulties, especially among schoolchildren and students of humanities universities. The article will examine one of the most difficult figures of speech - metonymy. This is the trope that is often the most difficult to define.
What is a trope?
A trope is a figure of speech, words used in a non-literal (figurative) sense. They are usually used to make the language more figurative and expressive. Paths also serve to reflect the individual author’s perception of reality.
They are divided into several types: personification, epithet, metaphor, comparison, metonymy, periphrase, hyperbole and others.
What is metonymy?
So, metonymy is the replacement of one word with another, adjacent (related) to the first in meaning. For greater clarity, here are some examples:
- “splash the bucket” instead of “the water in the bucket splashed”;
- “eat two cups” - instead of the name of the food, the name of the vessel in which it is contained is used;
- “the whole village was sleeping” - that is, all the villagers were sleeping;
- “the stadium applauded” - that is, the people who were in the stadium applauded.
The technique of metonymy is used to give the language richness, expressiveness and imagery. It is widely used in rhetoric, poetics, lexicology and stylistics.
Metonymic connections
Metonymy is the establishment of a connection between objects that have something in common. This is its purpose. But this connection can be varied, for example:
- transference based on the connection between a person and the place in which he is: “there was silence at school,” that is, the children at school did not make noise;
- the name of the material from which the object is made, instead of the object itself - “ate from silver”, that is, ate from silver utensils;
- instead of the name of the substance, the vessel in which it is contained is indicated - “drink a jug”, without indicating a specific drink;
- replacing an object with its attribute when naming it - “people in red”, instead of a specific description of the details of clothing;
- naming a creation after the author - “to love Roerich,” that is, to love Roerich’s paintings, etc.
But the types of communication in metonymy are not mixed in a chaotic order; they have a certain structure and are grouped by type.
Types of metonymic connections
First of all, metonymy is a transfer carried out on the basis of a certain connection, which is divided into three types: spatial, temporal and logical. Let's look at each of them.
- names of the container based on the volume of substance it contains (“eat a plate”, “pour a ladle”);
- names of the material for the item made from it (“wear furs”, “win bronze”);
- the name of the author on what was created by him (“read Yesenin”, “listen to Glinka”);
- names of the actions on the object that carries them out (“putty”, “suspension”);
- names of a geographical area for the substance or object that is produced or mined there (“Gzhel”, “harbour”).
Metonymic species
Metonymy is divided into types depending on the area in which it is used.
- General language view- very common, used in everyday speech and most often not even noticed by native speakers. Example: “bag of potatoes” (indicating the volume of the product), “beautiful crystal” (indicating crystal products).
- General poetic or artistic metonymy- used most often in poetry or prose verse. Example: “celestial azure” (sky), “merciless lead” (pistol bullet).
- General newspaper view- characteristic of various types of media systems. For example: “newspaper strip”, “golden shot”.
- Individual-author metonymy- is characteristic only of the work of a certain writer, reflects his originality and worldview. For example: “chamomile Rus'”.
The connection between metonymy and synecdoche
You can often hear the question of how metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche differ. To answer this, let us first turn to the connection between metonymy and synecdoche. Usually, these concepts are perceived as two completely different paths, but this opinion is fundamentally wrong.
Synecdoche is a special type of metonymy, meaning the transfer of the name of some part (detail) of an object to the whole. The purpose of this trope is to emphasize a certain aspect of an object or function. For example, “historical figure”, “significant figure in history”, “legal entity”.
However, the main functional feature of synecdoche is the identification of an object by indicating its distinctive feature or attribute. This is why this trope always includes a definition. In a sentence, synecdoche usually acts as an address. For example: “Hey, hat!” - the call is addressed to the man in the hat.
It should be borne in mind that synecdoche is always contextual. This is due to the fact that the characteristics of the object to which the synecdoche will be addressed must be given earlier in the text. Only then will the reader be able to understand what is being said. For example: “A young man in a bowler hat walked along the platform. The bowler hat smiled and nodded to the ladies passing by.” Therefore, in sentences that begin any narrative, synecdoche is never used, since it will lose its ability to connect two objects. For example, we will begin the story about Little Red Riding Hood like this: “Once upon a time there lived a girl who had a red riding hood,” and not with the words: “Once upon a time there lived a Little Red Riding Hood...” In the second case, the main character of the fairy tale becomes an object - a red cap. .
Metaphor and metonymy
Let us turn to the comparison of metonymy and metaphor. Now we will talk about completely different paths that have serious differences, although there is a lot in common between them.
Let's consider the concept of metaphor. Metaphor, like metonymy, forms related connections between objects (objects, things), but these connections are based on associations, individual perception and memory of the speaker himself. For a better understanding, let’s give an example of creating a metaphor: take the sentences “Sasha runs fast”, “Cheetah runs fast”, combine them - “Sasha runs like a cheetah”, we get a metaphor - “Sasha is a cheetah”.
Unlike metaphor, metonymy is created on the basis of information perceived by the senses. Its meaning does not need to be further explained; everything necessary for understanding is given directly in the context.
Literature's relationship to metonymy
Metonymy is especially widespread in poetry. Examples from literature are numerous; works are literally replete with this trope. But metonymy was most popular in the twentieth century, when constructivists abandoned metaphor, believing that the reader should not bring personal experience into the perception of a work. However, this approach did not last long; today metaphor and metonymy occupy equally significant places in literature.
So, examples of metonymy found in works of Russian literature:
- A. S. Pushkin: “All flags will come to visit us” - the word “flags” here means “countries”.
- A. Tolstoy: “His pen breathes revenge” - “pen” is used instead of “poetry.”
- M. Zoshchenko: “Weak container.”
- M. Yu. Lermontov: “I pointed my lorgnette at her and noticed that my daring lorgnette had seriously angered her.”
- N.V. Gogol: “Hey, beard! How can we get from here to Plyushkin without passing the master’s house?”
- A. Blok: “I will send you a sweet dream, I will put you to sleep with a quiet fairy tale, I will tell you a sleepy fairy tale, as I watch over children.”
Russian language
What is metonymy? Types of figures of speech
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Metonymy from Greek translates as “renaming something.” Metonymy is a type of phrase, a figure of speech in which the author replaces one word with another.
Another meaning denotes an object or phenomenon that is in spatial or temporal connection with the replaced or designated word. The replacement word has a figurative meaning.
People confuse metonymy with metaphor, but they are two different terms. The main difference between metonymy and metaphor is that when the former is used in the text, the similarity between objects is not provided. And nothing to do with .
In order for contraction of speech patterns or phrases to occur, metonymy is used, for example:
- tableware made of gilding - tableware gilding;
- students in the audience listen - the audience listens;
- drink chamomile infusion - drink chamomile.
What is metonymy in Russian? Modern writers regularly use this technique in their writing. The main goal of metonymy is to create a model of semantics in a polysemantic word.
Metonymy is the result of a combination of several words, united according to the principle of semantic-grammatical and phonetic compatibility.
The regularity of occurrence is the result of an elliptical contraction with a bunch of words.
This or that limitation is preserved, but a new word with an independent contextual character is not created. For example: There are two Aivazovskys in the exhibition hall(meaning two works by the artist), but one cannot say “One Aivazovsky depicts a golden autumn b".
A strong connection between the metonymic context occurs when a specific situation is designated. It must be based on a statement in the subject, for example: "What's wrong with you? - oh, head”(that is, the answerer meant a headache).
Where is metonymy used?
Metonymy is used as a technique for situational nominations with individualization of details of appearance, for example: What are you doing, Beard? In this case, the name is used in the form of a meaning of belonging - a noun and an adjective.
This form of metonymic turnover provokes the creation of nicknames and nicknames, for example: Little Red Riding Hood, White Bim Black Ear.
When metonymy indicates the typicality of an individual, it will remain in Russian speech as the meaning of social positions. Such metonymic phrases do not have semantic stability.
In many historical records, the word “beard” was used to describe wise men and peasants.
The advantages of metonymy are that they identify the subject of speech and connect it with a syntactic position (address, subjects, object).
When should you not use metonymy?
Situational metonymy cannot be used in the predicate position. It does not perform a characterizing function.
If metonymy is used in a predicate, it turns into a metaphor. The main goal is to aspect the subject, but the technique cannot be considered as metonymy.
You should not use metonymy in an existential sentence and its substitute forms. In this case, the described object is introduced into the narrative world. Don't start your story with words “Once upon a time there lived (one) old man. Thus, the reader perceives the object in personified form, and not as a designated person.
Another limitation in using metonymy is to use a noun "soul" with meaning "Human"; “head” - “unit of livestock”; “saber” - “cavalryman”.
Metonymization of names is not reflected in the norm of its grammatical and semantic consistency, for example: went black beard (male), the black boots became agitated (although the phrase indicates the action of one person).
Rarely is a metonymic phrase used by a definition that has a connection with ellipsis.
Metonymy and its types
There are three main types in Russian. They are defined depending on related concepts, objects and actions.
Let's figure out how each type is used in written presentation, what its meaning is with examples, in order to avoid mistakes.
Spatial metonymy
Its meaning is in the spatial arrangement of objects or phenomena.
A common example is that the name of various institutions is transferred to the people who work in it, for example: in the phrases spacious hospital and bright store, the words hospital and store are used in their literal meaning, but if they are used in this context: the entire store took part in the cleanup and the hospital took part in city competitions, then this is already a metonymic turnover. The reader perceives what is said in a figurative sense.
Spatial metonymy consists in transferring a vessel or utensil to its contents, for example, a saucepan is boiling, the process of boiling something occurs in it.
Temporal metonymy
This technique is used when comparing objects that are in the same time period. For example, when an action (in the form of a noun) is transferred to its subsequent result (what occurs during the action).
Metonymy of logical form
Not only does it have a vast meaning, but it is different from each other. Differences in specific transfer.
- The author transfers the name of the vessel to what is in it. For example: broke a cup the phrase is used in its literal meaning, meaning the name of the vessel.
Now let's use them differently: broke a cup of tea, in this case, the noun has a figurative meaning in order to denote the volume of the product that they contain. - The authors transfer the name of the materials to the final product, for example: the team won gold(the team won the gold medal), put on the arctic fox(that is, wear an arctic fox fur coat), sort out papers(work with documents).
- When, when writing, the author's name is transferred to his work, for example: read Yesenin(read Yesenin’s book), admire Shishkin(admire his paintings) use Dahl(use the dictionary that was published under his editorship).
- Transferring the name of a process or action to the person doing it, for example: suspension(jewelry), putty(a substance that eliminates defects), change(a group of people).
Replacement of an ongoing process at the place where it occurs, for example: signs with the words “ transition”, “detour”, “stop”, “turn” and further. - Cases when we transfer characteristic features to the phenomenon or object to which they belong. For example, let's take the phrases: tactless words, banal assessment- they have abstract features. If we rearrange them, we get: commit a tactlessness, admit a banality. We used metonymic type transfer.
What is the difference between metonymy and metaphor?
These two concepts are perceived as something similar, but this statement is incorrect.
Unlike metaphors, a metonymic phrase replaces words not by similarity, but by the contiguity of the concept.
In metonymic usage there are connections:
- a substance involved in the process of making an item, the item itself, for example, drank two cups- the author meant that he drank the contents of two cups;
- relationship between content and contained, for example: boiling pot- in fact, what is meant is what is bubbling in the pan;
- any action and its final result, for example: a sign with the inscription exit- that is, a place to exit;
- using the author's name instead of his work, for example: the other day I read Yesenin - in fact I read his works;
- connection between people and the place they are in, for example: the capital fell asleep— the people who are in the capital actually fell asleep.
A type of metonymy
In the Russian language there are certain types of metonymy that are widely used. Metonymic turnover is one of the most common.
1. General linguistic menonymy
When speaking, people do not notice that they use metonymic expressions in their speech. This is especially true for general linguistic metonymy. What can be attributed to this species? For example, the word gold, gilding, ceramics, porcelain- this is a product, but gold plate collector- a person who collects collections of gilded items.
Words shop, hospital, factory- these are institutions, but if you use the phrase the hospital has confirmed its qualifications, implies that hospital workers have confirmed their qualifications.
Words turn, detour, and so on - this is the place of actions that imply that here you need to turn, go around.
Instead of talking about a new thing, people use the name of the material that was used in production, for example: instead of a fox fur coat, people prefer to just say: put on a fox.
2. General poetic metonymy
Refers to an expressive form; in other sources it can be found under the name artistic metonymy. It is called that because it is used in artistic expressions, for example: clear cold autumn - metonymy is the word transparent.
Russian poets in their works blue sky called glaze. In such cases glaze - metonymy. Since the use of general poetic metonymy is characteristic of artistic presentation, it has two names.
3. General newspaper metonymy
The list of similar metonyms includes the words: fast (quick minute), golden (golden flights). Statements and phrases that publicists use in their work.
4. Metonymies of individual type
The trails have a wide variety. This is justified by the fact that they have forms, types, and the use of metonymy is no exception. This is a technique in the Russian language when a phrase or phrase is used in the works of one author, that is, individual. They are not used everywhere.
5. Synecdoche
Among the authors there is a question about what is the relationship between metonymy and synecdoche. The authors believe that these are two different concepts; this opinion is erroneous. Synecdoche is one of the forms of metonymic phrase. Its goal is to identify a part of an object with its whole. It is used to highlight some part of an object. A detail is used that makes it stand out from the rest, syndecoha consists of a definition.
Synecdoche is a special version of metonymy If we consider the structure of the sentence, then it will play the role of a nominal member, the person to whom you are addressing, for example: Beard, where did you go? In this case, the synecdoche is the word beard.
When, in oral speech or when writing artistic statements, authors resort to the use of metonymic phrases, they add expressiveness to the language. You can reveal the richness of your vocabulary.
Metonymy
Metonymy
METONYMY - a type of trope (see), the use of a word in a figurative meaning, a phrase in which one word is replaced by another, as in a metaphor (see), with the difference from the latter that this replacement can only be made by a word denoting an object (phenomenon), located in one way or another (spatial, temporal, etc.) connection with an object (phenomenon), which is denoted by the replaced word; eg: “All flags will visit us”, where flags replace ships (a part replaces the whole, pars pro toto). The meaning of M. is that it identifies a property in a phenomenon that, by its nature, can replace the others. So. arr. M. essentially differs from metaphor, on the one hand, in the greater real interconnection of the replacing members, and on the other, in its greater restrictiveness, the elimination of those features that are not directly given in this phenomenon. Like metaphor, metaphor is inherent in language in general, but it has a special meaning in artistic and literary creativity, receiving its own class saturation and use in each specific case.
In Soviet literature, an attempt to make maximum use of material, both theoretically and practically, was made by the constructivists (see Constructivism), who put forward the principle of the so-called. “locality” (motivation of verbal means by the theme of the work, i.e. limiting them to real dependence on the theme). However, this attempt was not sufficiently substantiated, since the promotion of M. to the detriment of metaphor is illegal: we have before us two different ways of establishing connections between phenomena, enriching our knowledge about them, which are not exclusive, but complementary.
Literary encyclopedia. - At 11 t.; M.: Publishing House of the Communist Academy, Soviet Encyclopedia, Fiction. Edited by V. M. Fritsche, A. V. Lunacharsky. 1929-1939 .
Metonymy
(Greek metonymia - renaming), type trail; transfer of names from subject to subject based on their objective proximity, logical connection. Varieties of metonymy are based on the type of connection: 1) the connection between an object and the material from which it is made - “On gold ate..." (“Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboyedov); 2) the connection between an object (or person) and its essential feature - “Above simplicity mocking lie..." (sonnet No. 66 by W. Shakespeare, trans. S. Ya. Marshak); 3) the connection between the internal state or property of human character and their external manifestation - “He stands and sighs heavily"("Airship" by M. Yu. Lermontov); 4) connection of content with content - “I am three dishes ate..." ("Demyanov's ear" by I. A. Krylov), in particular - a limited space with people within it - "Standed up Street, full of gray” (“Rising from the darkness of the cellars...” by A. A. Blok); 5) the connection between the active person and his instrument of action - “Where is the vigorous sickle the ear walked and fell” (“There is in the original autumn...” by F.I. Tyutchev). Types of metonymy include synecdoche.
Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Edited by prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .
Metonymy
METONYMY(Greek Μετονυμία, renaming) - is usually defined as a type of trope based on association by contiguity. Whereas metaphor (see) is based on comparison or analogies such objects of thought that are not really connected with each other (as is customary to think), are independent of one another, metonymy is based on a real connection, on in real terms between objects. These relations, which make two objects of thought logically adjacent to each other, can be of different categories. Most often, the classification of metonymies is reduced to three main groups: either the division is based on spatial, temporal and causal relations, or the categories of coexistence, sequence and logical internal connection. But in all these attempts to embrace and classify all the diverse phenomena of speech, which are usually defined as metonymy, neither clarity in the differentiation of the subject is achieved, nor is there any indication of the actual logical relatedness among themselves of everything that is classified as metonymy, isolating it from other tropes, metaphors and synecdoche. Thus, the categories spatial and temporal in certain cases are combined by the category of coexistence (for example, naming a place in the sense of its population - “Ukraine was silently worried” - and naming a period of time in the sense of the phenomena that occurred during its course - “hunger year”, “ Bronze Age"). Behind the sequence relation there is almost always a causal relation, i.e. internal, logical connection, why there is no serious reason to separate them into different groups; one external, random sequence, as well as random spatial contiguity, even if sometimes gives grounds for renaming an object, then almost all such cases relate to completely special linguistic phenomena, such as different conventional dialects (for example, thieves' language), children's speech, etc. etc. - such renamings cannot have any general significance. But if we accept that contiguity in metonymy is always somehow connected with internal dependence, then such a characteristic can not be considered completely exhaustive of the essence of the subject, since in synecdoche(see) the relationship of the expression to the expressed cannot be limited to one external connection or contiguity of a part of an object and its whole. The whole point is that the definition of metonymy must be based on some other principle, which would make it possible to isolate its very nature from the logical and psychological nature of both metaphor and synecdoche. They are trying to find such a principle by focusing research on the very mental processes that give rise to this or that expression (see especially Richard M. Meyer, “Deutsche Stilistik”, 2 Aufl. 1913.) It is rightly believed that, based on static results alone, it is difficult to avoid arbitrariness and contradictions in definitions of the nature of a phenomenon. From this point of view, attempts have been made to establish a different order of distinction between metonymy and its related synecdoche. The latter, as it were, starts from a part (or sign) of an object, which catches the eye and obscures the whole: “Rhinoceros”, the name of a strange beast, “patched”, in Gogol about Plyushkin - characteristic synecdoche, where the part is highlighted, and whole only implied. Metonymy certainly comes from the whole; which is somehow already present in consciousness; it is, as it were, a phenomenon of condensation of thought about the whole into a separate word or expression; here expressing not so much replaces expression how much stands out, as essential, in the continuous content of thought. “I read with pleasure Apuleius"(Pushkin) means only one thing: the works (novel) of Apuleius; for a certain content of thought, what is essential here is what is expressed by the highlighted word “Apulius” - this is the constitutive, formative element of a given thought. Artists say “paint in oils” instead of “oil paints”, unlike other paints non-oil, and by oil here we do not mean any special oil independent of oil paints. That is why metonymy can be characterized, and in accordance with the etymology of this word, as a kind of naming, renaming an object of complex logical or material composition according to its essential, in general or for a given view of it, its constitutive element. And this is why, if a metaphor is sometimes defined as compressed comparison, then metonymy could be defined as a kind of condensed description. « Theater applauded,” we say instead of “the audience gathered in the theater applauded”; here “theater” is a condensed description of a coherent concept, focused on a feature that is essential to a given view: a place that unites a heterogeneous crowd of people and therefore defines it as a whole. Likewise, the metonymy " graduate from university”compresses the expression “university course of study”; or - another example: “I am three dishes ate" (Krylov), where the image of the plate is not thought of separately from the fish soup that makes up its content, but here only the single concept of "three plates of fish soup"; so in the chronicle expression: “inherit sweat his father” we have a metonymy in one word giving a concise description of the labors associated with the inherited power.
M. Petrovsky. Literary encyclopedia: Dictionary of literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov-Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky. - M.; L.: Publishing house L. D. Frenkel, 1925
Synonyms:
See what “Metonymy” is in other dictionaries:
- (Greek). A rhetorical trope in which the cause is taken for the effect, the part for the whole, the containing for the content, for example: he has a lively pen, the whole house is gone. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. METONYMY... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Metonymy- METONYMY (Greek Μετονυμια, renaming) is usually defined as a type of trope based on association by contiguity. Whereas metaphor (see) is based on a comparison or analogy of such objects of thought that are actually interconnected... Dictionary of literary terms
metonymy- and, f. metonymie, German. Metonymie gr. meta name + onyma name, title. A figure of speech consisting of replacing one word with another of similar meaning (for example, table instead of food). Krysin 1998. Metonymy is when things have some belonging between... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language
Cm … Synonym dictionary
metonymy- (incorrect metonymy) ... Dictionary of difficulties of pronunciation and stress in modern Russian language
- (Greek metonymia, literally renaming), trope, replacement of one word with another based on the connection of their meanings by contiguity (the theater applauded instead of the audience applauded). Compare Metaphor... Modern encyclopedia
- (Greek metonymia lit. renaming), trope, replacement of one word with another based on the connection of their meanings by contiguity (the theater applauded instead of the audience applauded) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
METONYMY, metonymy, female. (Greek metonymia) (lit.). Trope, a figure of speech in which, instead of the name of one object, the name of another is given, which is related to it by association by contiguity, for example: table instead of food, pocket instead of money.… … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary
METONYMY, and, female. 1. Type of trope: the use of one word, expression instead of another based on proximity, contiguity, contiguity of concepts, images, for example. the forest sings (i.e. birds in the forest), need jumps, need cries, need sings songs (i.e. people in ... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary
Women rhetorical trope: containing for content or reason for action. He has a lively pen. This is a smart head. Get the tongue. Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary. IN AND. Dahl. 1863 1866 … Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary
Books
- Adjective metonymy in modern Russian. Theoretical foundations and models of reality. Uch. allowance , Eremin Alexander Nikolaevich, Petrova Oksana Olegovna. This paper examines issues of lexical semantics and metonymy of adjectives and offers practical tasks for students to develop knowledge, skills and abilities.…
So oh meton and mii.
One of the most famous examples is “All the flags will come to visit us”
. Here
A.S. Pushkin made a substitution of words (“countries, states, peoples, delegations” - “flags”), while completely retaining the meaning of his idea.
Here's another classic example:
“Amber on the pipes of Constantinople,
Porcelain and bronze on the table,
And, a joy to pampered feelings,
Perfume in cut crystal" (A.S. Pushkin, “Eugene Onegin”).
The poet here used only the names of the materials, but clearly designated the objects made from them on his hero’s table.
Examples of metonymy in literature, media texts and everyday speech
“I ate three plates...” (I.A. Krylov, “Demyanov’s ear”).
“Where the cheerful sickle walked and the ear fell...” (F.I. Tyutchev, “There is in the original autumn...”).
“Bronze Age”, “Age of Great Geographical Discovery”, “Famine Years”, “Computer Age” .
“The Hand of Moscow”, “the machinations of the Pentagon”, “Occupy Wall Street”, “plans of the Celestial Empire”, "applicant for a ministerial portfolio."
“The theater applauded,” “the stands froze,” “the stadium chanted.”
“The hissing of glasses”, “the whole house has gathered”, “the head has passed”, “the pocket is empty”.
“The kettle (samovar) is boiling,” “light the pan,” “hold your tongue,” “let’s go in a cab,” “he has the right eye.”
“I love Mozart and Beethoven,” “I bought Marquez,” “we went to Stanislavsky,” “we met at the opera.”Difference from metaphor. Metonymy is based on replacing a word according to the “contiguity” of meaning, and metaphor is based on the similarity of the qualities of objects that are usually not related to each other (see:). In addition, a metaphor can easily be converted into a simile using words as if and so on. But metonymy does not allow such a transformation.
It is close to metonymy and is its variety syn é kdoha(Greek sinekdohe- correlation). Its peculiarity is the replacement of the plural by the singular, the use of a part instead of the whole or vice versa). Synecdoche is often called quantitative metonymy. It enhances the expressiveness of the syllable and gives speech a greater generalizing meaning.
Examples of synecdoche
“The company does not have enough workers.”
"A detachment of one hundred bayonets."
“I won’t let him in!”
“There are no foxes in these parts.”
“The student is lazy today.”
"An Englishman can't understand this."
“I imagined myself as Shakespeare.”
======================================== ===============================And now, as always, - "Russian language in pictures" , new portion. Today, seasoned with metonymy and synecdoche.
"Sad time! The charm of the eyes!
Your farewell beauty is pleasant to me -
I love the lush decay of nature,
Forests dressed in scarlet and gold..."
"In their canopy there is noise and fresh breath,
And the skies are covered with wavy darkness,
And a rare ray of sunshine, and the first frosts,
And distant threats of gray winter..."
“And every autumn I bloom again;
The Russian cold is good for my health;
I again feel love for the habits of being;
One by one sleep flies away, one by one hunger comes..."
"The blood flows easily and joyfully in the heart,
Desires are boiling - I’m happy, young again,
I'm full of life again - that's my body
(Please forgive me the unnecessary prosaicism)..."
"They lead a horse to me; in an open expanse,
Waving his mane, he carries the rider,
And loudly under his shining hoof
The frozen valley rings and the ice cracks..."
"But the short day is extinguished, and in the forgotten fireplace
The fire is burning again - then the bright light is pouring,
It smolders slowly - and I read in front of it
Or do I harbor long thoughts in my soul..."
"And I forget the world - and in the sweet silence
I'm sweetly lulled by my imagination,
And poetry awakens in me:
The soul is embarrassed by lyrical excitement..."
"Trembles, and sounds, and searches, as in a dream,
To finally pour out with free manifestation -
And then an invisible swarm of guests comes towards me,
Old acquaintances, fruits of my dreams..."
"And the thoughts in my head are agitated in courage,
And light rhymes run towards them,
And fingers ask for pen, pen for paper,
A minute - and the poems will flow freely..."
"So the motionless ship slumbers in the motionless moisture,
But choo! - the sailors suddenly rush and crawl
Up, down - and the sails are inflated, the winds are full;
The mass has moved and is cutting through the waves..."
"It's floating. Where should we swim?.."
Metonymy
Usually defined as a type of trope based on association by contiguity. While metaphor is based on comparison or analogy of such objects of thought that are not really connected with each other (as is commonly thought) and are independent of one another, metonymy is based on real communications, on the real relationship between objects. These relations, which make two objects of thought logically adjacent to each other, can be of different categories.
1. thing - material
Porcelain and bronze on the table, perfume in cut crystal...
2. content - containing
The flooded stove is cracking...
3. carrier - property
cheek brings success…
4. creation - creator
read Apuleius willingly...
5. weapon - its action, cause - effect, form - content
the theater applauds...
Examples linguistic metonymy found everywhere in everyday speech: drink a glass, put flowers in water. There are many examples and poetic metonymy:
With a boot - timid and meek -
Behind the cloak - lying and lying...
And a ray shone on a white shoulder,
And everyone looked and listened from the darkness,
How the white dress sang in the beam.
I pointed the lorgnette at her and noticed that my daring lorgnette had seriously angered her (Lermontov),
If metaphor is sometimes defined as a compressed comparison, then metonymy could be defined as a kind of compressed description. “The theater applauded” we say instead of “the audience gathered in the theater applauded”; here “theater” is a condensed description of a coherent concept, focused on a feature that is essential to a given view: a place that unites a heterogeneous crowd of people and therefore defines it as a whole. Likewise, the metonymy “graduate from university” compresses the expression “course of study at the university”; or - another example: “I ate three plates” (Krylov), where the image of the plate is not thought of separately from the fish soup that makes up its content, but only the single concept of “three plates of fish soup” is thought of here; so in the chronicle expression: “to inherit the sweat of one’s father,” we have a metonymy in one word that gives a concise description of the labors associated with inherited power.
Synecdoche
Based on quantity relationships: more instead of less or less instead of more. (a part replaces the whole, lat. pars pro toto). Zhirmundsky and Tomashevsky considered synecdoche a special case of metonymy and proposed not to use this term.
Exists two options synecdoche:
- 1) use of singular instead of plural
- - Tell me, uncle, it’s not for nothing
Moscow, burned by fire,
Given to the Frenchman?
(Lermontov.)
And he thought:
From here we will threaten the Swede.
The city will be founded here
To spite an arrogant neighbor
- (Pushkin)
- 2) a definite large number, instead of an indefinite plural
Donkeys! I’ll tell you a hundred times! (words by Famusov)
Is there some more:
3) instead of the whole, a part is called, which clearly represents the whole in a given situation: “Hey, beard! How do you get from here to Plyushkin?” (N. Gogol) - here the meanings of “man with a beard”, “bearded man” (“man”) and “beard” are combined
Thus, Pushkin’s “All flags will visit us” is interpreted in one article both as a synecdoche: flags instead of ships, and as a metonymy: flags instead of “merchants of different states.” Obviously, all this instability and confusion of terminology is due to the fact that they proceed from attempts to accurately establish the object that stands behind a given expression, which almost always presents great fundamental difficulties due to the very nature of verbal (in particular, poetic) allegory. At its core, however, the synecdochic process of thought differs significantly from the metonymic. Metonymy is a kind of condensed description, consisting in the fact that from the content of a thought an element that is essential for a given case, for a given view, is isolated. Synecdoche, on the contrary, expresses one of the characteristics of an object, names a part of the object instead of its whole, and the part is named, but the whole is only implied; thought focuses on that of the attributes of an object, on that part of the whole that either catches the eye, or for some reason is important, characteristic, or convenient for a given case. In other words, the thought is transferred from the whole to part of it, and therefore in synecdoche (as in metaphor) it is easier than in metonymy to talk about the figurative meaning of the image. The separation of the expression and the expressed, direct and figurative meaning appears more clearly in it, for in metonymy the relation of an object to its given expression is, approximately, the relation of the content of a thought to its compressed description, in synecdoche - the relation of the whole to not only what is isolated from it, but also a separate part of it. This part can stand in different relationships to the whole. A simple quantitative relation gives the most indisputable synecdoches of the type of singular instead of plural, about which there is no disagreement among theorists. (For example, in Gogol: “everything sleeps - man, beast, and bird”). But in a different order, relationships can be revealed in synecdoche without making it a metonymy. Based on this distinction between both phenomena, it is easier to avoid hesitation. “So many bayonets”, “All the flags”, etc. will then turn out to be a synecdoche, regardless of the point of view on the implied object, for no matter what is meant by flags - whether they are just ships, merchant ships, etc. - this expression indicates only one of the signs, one of the parts of the fused content of thought, which is co-implied as a whole. Other examples of synecdoche: “hearth”, “corner”, “shelter” in the sense of home (“at the native hearth”, “in the native corner”, “hospitable shelter”), “rhinoceros” (the name of the animal after one of its parts, rushing into eyes), “live to see gray hair” vm. until old age, “until the grave”, “summer” in the sense of the year (“how many years”), “bread and salt”, “little red” (ten-ruble note), etc.
Metonymic expressions typical of colloquial speech. Metonymy helps save speech effort and words. As they are repeated, they can give rise to new meanings for the word. Many words in their ordinary meaning are of metonymic origin. German (initially mute, i.e. unable to speak Russian, foreigner, then only German)