Syllepsis&Zeugma&Paradox&Oxymoron

英语修辞

Syllepsis一笔双叙

Definition

(1) Syllepsis is a figure of speech in which the same word is applied to two others in different senses.

(2) Syllepsis ---use of a word understood differently in relation to two or more other words, which it modifies or governs.

(3) A figure by which a word may refer to two or more words in the same sentence, applying to one literally and to the other(s) figuratively. This aspect of the figure,then, plays on the sense or idiom of words.

Eg.

(1) While the soldiers were fighting, and losing limb and mind, and dying, others stayed behind to pursue education and career.

.to lose one's limbs is literal;

.to lose one's mind is figurative: to go mad.

(2) She looked at the object with suspicion and a magnifying glass.

.with suspicion: to indicate manner

.with a magnifying glass: to indicate instrument

(3) He lost his coat and his temper.

(4) Yesterday, he had a blue heart and coat.

Different forms of syllepsis

1. One verb+ two (or more) objects

(1) McHake advised us to keep our public image intact and our students in their seats. .to keep our public image intact is figurative, and means to give the public a good impression;

.to keep our students in their seats is literal.

.Both of theses two collocations are correct.

(2) The lid to the piano was closed, shutting out the dust, my misery, and her dreams. .shutting out the dust: preventing the dust from entering 挡住灰尘

.(shutting out )my misery: hide my misery from sight 掩盖痛苦

.(shutting out) her dreams: exclude her dreams 驱走梦想

(3) She opened the door and her heart to the homeless child.

(4) Every time she went to a party, the woman put on ornaments and airs.

(5) The senator picked up his hat and his courage.

(6) Their talk continued on their three days’ horseback journey, and finally they arrived at the town hall and an agreement.

(7) He swallowed bread and butter and a spasm(发作) of emotion.

2. One preposition +two (or more) objects

(1) …old people gathering in the social hall for comradeship and a hot lunch. (…为了友谊和一顿热气腾腾的午餐而聚集在社交厅里的老人们)

.for comradeship：abstract

英语修辞

.(for ) a hot lunch: concrete

(2) Miss Bolo rose from the table considerably agitated, and went straight home, in a flood of

tears and a sedan chair.

(博罗小姐相当激动地离开餐桌，泪如泉涌的坐着轿子回家了。)

.in a flood of tears：to indicate the manner

.(In) a sedan chair: to indicate the transportation means

(3) The businessmen left in high spirits and a Cadillac. (4) She was serving soup with a ladle and a scowl.

(5) He fought with desperation and a stout club.

3. One adjective +two (or more) nouns

(1) He halted in the district where by night are found the lightest street, hearts, vows, and

librettos.

他到了一个市区才停下来，那里到了晚上有最明亮的街道，最欢快心情，信口而出的

誓言和最轻松的歌曲。

The four nouns can all be used together with light, but it means differently with each of

the nouns

(2) He had short coat-tails and temper.

(3) On the opposite side of the street was a restaurant of no great pretensions(不起眼的小

饭馆). It catered to large appetites and modest purses. Its crockery (陶制餐具)and atmosphere were thick; its soup and napery thin.

4. Two (or more) subjects+ one verb

(1) Ten minutes later, the coffee and Commander Dana of Naval Intelligence arrived

simultaneously.

十分钟后，咖啡和海军情报指挥官戴纳同时到了。

The coffee arrived and Commander arrived are both right collocations; but the former is figurative (It was sent by someone) while the latter is literal (He arrived himself.).

(2) Time and her aunt moved slowly.

(3) At length down went head and out came the truth and tears.

英语修辞

Zeugma 轭式搭配法

Definition

Zeugma is a figure of speech by which a word is used to modify or to govern two or more words although its use is grammatically or logically correct with only one.

(1) "The sun shall not burn thee by day, nor the moon by night." (The Bible)

(burn applies properly to the sun, but cannot be used with the moon, as the moon's light is not strong enough to burn anyone.)

( It is interesting to note that in The Bible in Today's English Version the word burn has been changed to hurt, which can apply to both sun and moon.)

(2)And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and mountain smoking.

众百姓看雷鸣、闪电、号角声、山上冒烟。

.Saw lightnings, smoking: proper collocation

.Saw noise, thunderings: not proper

(3)At noon Mrs. Turpin would get out of bed and humor, put on kimono, airs, and the water to boil for coffee.

Different forms of zeugma

1. One verb+ two (or more) nouns

(1) Miller responded, describing his symptoms and Dr. Dietrich listened carefully, not only to the words, but to the mood, the tone, the feel of the personality before him.

米勒回答着， 叙述他的症状。迪特里希医生注意地听着，不仅听他的言谈话语，而且仔细观察他面前这个人的情绪、声调和感觉。

.Listen to the words, tone: proper

.Listen to the mood, feel: not proper

(2) He was on his feet, flinging his arms, his rhetoric and his control to the winds. 他站了起来，挥舞双臂，语无伦次，暴跳如雷。

(3) We ate a bun and a glass of milk.

(4) “During our war against the Dutch,” he recalled, “I was a pacifist---but still a patriot. Other people carried guns, I carried words. Wherever people gathered, I spoke against the Dutch…”

2. One adjective + two (or more) nouns

(1) When commemorating the great soul, the friends of his went to the graveyard with weeping eyes and hearts.

为了怀念这位伟大的人物，他的朋友们怀着沉痛的心情，哭泣着来到墓地。

(2) The room was not light, but his fingers were.

房间并不明亮，但他的手指却很灵巧。

(3) It’s much better to have a patched jacket than to have a patched character. patched character.

3. Two (or more) subjects + one verb

(1) Some pitying hands may find it there, when I and my sorrows are dust.

将来会有慈悲的手在那里找到它吧，当我和我的忧愁都已化作烟尘的时候。

英语修辞

Derived from ‘Dust thou art, to dust returnest’,

‘I’ can become dust, but ‘sorrow’ , which is abstract, can’t become dust.

(2) I would my horse had the speed of your tongue.

(“The speed of one’s horse” is normal; “The speed of one’s tongue” is abnormal.)

4. One preposition + two (or more) nouns

(1) Tourists are afraid to come. That is one of the serious effects of poaching (偷猎). It scares off visitors. And that means it scares off money that this young nation of Kenya needs.

旅游者不敢来，那是偷猎带来的严重后果之一。偷猎吓跑了旅游者，而那就意味着偷猎吓跑了肯尼亚这个年轻国家所需要的金钱。

(2)She was dressed in a maid’s cap, a pinafore(围裙), and a bright smile.

(3)All of his purchases of recent years had to be liquidated at a great sacrifice both to his

health and his pocketbook.

.Sacrifice to his pocketbook---abnormal collocation.

(4)She left his apartment with tarnished (damaged) virtue and a new mink.

.With tarnished virtue—improper collocation

The difference between syllepsis and zeugma is evident: the key word in syllepsis usually refers correctly to both or all the words it modifies or governs, while, in zeugma, the key word refers incorrectly to at least one of them. People find this “wrong” collocation acceptable, because the wrong collocation follows or precedes the correct one(s) so closely that it catches little attention of the audience.

syllepsis和zeugma的比较

作为修辞格的一语双叙和轭式搭配是两种完全不同的修辞格，尽管它们在结构上很类似，都是一个词修饰或统辖两个或者更多的词，修辞效果也很类似，但是两者的根本区别是修辞手段的不一样。

syllepsis的搭配，在语法、语义和逻辑上都是适当正确的。

但是zeugma的搭配，前一部分是合乎语法、语义和逻辑的，但是后一部分却是不自然的强行搭配，在语法、语义和逻辑上行不通，仅仅是通过巧妙的牵强附会，也是生硬的搭配，人们只能通过合理的，形象化的想象来心神领会，最后越发觉回味无穷，引人入胜。

英语修辞

Paradox 似是而非的隽语

Definition

A paradox is a figure of speech consisting of a statement or proposition which on the face of it seems self-contradictory, absurd or contrary to established fact or practice, but which on further thinking and study, may prove to be true, well-founded, and even to contain a succinct point.

It is also called expended oxymoron, or oxymoron at the sentence level.

Paradox 的作用在于可以造成警句，发人深省；能鲜明的表现人物特殊的性格，情操；能生动的刻画人物的心理，气质和情状；还可用于广告，文章的题目，吸引读者，耐人寻味。

隽语指前后两句话或同一句话的前后部分字面内容表面上自相矛盾，荒诞不经或有悖常理，不合逻辑，甚至是荒谬的，但仔细想来或进一步研究，实际上其中富有哲理，内涵深刻，意味深长，言奇意深。

paradox 就是一句话中运用相互矛盾或意思正好相反的词语来体现其看似不可信, 甚至荒谬的特点。例如more 与less , child 与father , believed 与unbelievable , healthy 与sick , knowledge 与ignorance , hate 与love 等等。

主要特点有三：所述事物的两个方面似是而非，自相矛盾，不合逻辑；强调事物的矛盾对立；表层意义与深层意义背离，有面看似不符合公理，但深处蕴含真理，意味深长。

Many proverbs are good examples of this kind.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7) The more you give, the more you have. A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody. Everybody’s business is nobody’s business. He who praises everybody praises nobody. When everything is important, nothing is important. Only the man who has known fear can be truly brave. More haste, less speed.

? No news is good news. 没有消息就是好消息。

? Cheapest is the dearest.最便宜的东西最贵。(便宜没好货)

? Homeless, they have a hundred homes.他们无家可归，便处处为家。 ? He makes no friends who never made a foe.从来没有敌人的人也不会有朋友。 ? To be believed , make the truth unbelievable. 真话假说, 可更让人信服。 ? It is healthy to be sick once in a while. 偶尔生场病, 有益健康。

? The greatest hate springs from the greatest love.爱极生恨。

? He who is full of himself is very empty.自以为是的人是很空虚的。

? Failure is the mother of success.失败是成功之母。

? Love is a sweet torment.爱情是甜蜜的痛苦。