Figurative and descriptive language means

Изобразительно-выразительные средства языка

In some language styles, particularly in publicistic and literary works and colloquial speech, wide use is made of language means that heighten the impact of utterances in that they add various emotive expressive nuances to their logical content.

Some of these means, so-called tropes, make it possible to depict in vivid terms objects and phenomena and the feelings associated with them which we experience through our sense organs (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste). These language means can he defined as figurative.

Other means, so-called stylistic devices, are used to intensify the expressive power of an utterance through special arrangement of language material, particularly through special syntactical constructions. These means can he defined as expressive.

It should be noted that there is no rigid demarcation between tropes and stylistic devices, between figurative and expressive language means: in a number of instances they are closely linked and tend to overlap.

TROPES

ТРОПЫ

Tropes are expressions in which a word or phrase is used in its figurative meaning. The trope is used for the juxtaposition of two con­cepts which appear closely related in some way. Below follows a sur­vey of some of the most wide-spread types of tropes and their stylistic functions. [112]

§ 1. Epithets • Эпитет

Epithets are words which qualify an object, phenomenon or action through an image and stress some quality or property characteristic of that object, phenomenon or action. The stylistic function of the epithet lies in its power to evoke images. For example, in the sentence Быстро мелькают золотые дни беспечного, веселого детства (Григ.) adjectives provide a figurative language means and perform the role of epithets. A similar role is played by the adverb гордо in the sentence Между тучами и морем гордо реет Буревестник (Горьк.) or the noun красавица in the sentence И вот сама идет красавица зима (Пушк.). The function of epithets is fulfilled most frequently by adjectives and adverbs on account of the polysemy inherent in them and their seman­tic wealth and diversity.

1. Point out the epithets in the following sentences:

l. Вечерняя заря бледнеющим румянцем одевает вершины гор (Лерм.). 2. Что ты жадно глядишь на дорогу? (Некр.). 3. От весел к берегу кудрявый след бежал (Фет). 4. Старик океан будто притих (Станюк.). 5. Его особенно смутили детские гневные слова Ольги (Горьк.). 6. Петроград жил в эти январские дни напряженно, взволнованно, злобно, бешено (А. Н. Толст.). 7. На проклятой гитаре пальцы пляшут твои в полукруг (Есен.). 8. В атаку стальными рядами мы поступью твердой идем (Сурк.). 9. Пусть ветер же­лезного мщенья насильника в бездну сметет (Исак.). 10. А ну-ка песню нам пропой, веселый ветер! (Леб.-Кум.).

§ 2. Simile • Сравнение

Simile is a comparison of two objects or phenomena designed to clarify the nature of one by means of the other. "Simile is one of the most natural and effective means of description," remarked Lev Tolstoy. The stylistic function of the simile is reflected in the imagery it introduces into text. For example, in the sentence Могучий дуб стоит, как боец, подле красивой липы (Тург.) the comparison of the tree to a living being evokes an image, made still more effective by the fact that the masculine noun дуб is followed, after the simile, by the feminine noun липа. [113]

Simile may be expressed in different ways:

1. by a phrase consisting of an adjective or adverb in the comparative degree and a noun in the genitive, e.g.: Но нельзя быть милей резвой,ласковой Мери (Пушк.);

2. by phrases containing various conjunctions (км, словно, будто,точно and others), e.g.: Воздух чист и свеж, как поцелуй ребенка (Лерм.); Он бежал быстрее, чем лошадь (Пушк.);

3. by a noun in the instrumental, e.g.: В груди ее птицею пела радость (Горьк.);

4. lexically (by means of the words подобный, похожий, etc.), e.g.: Ее любовь к сыну была подобна безумию (Горьк.); На глаза осторожной кошки похожи твои глаза (Ахмат.).