LEXICO-SYNTACTICAL

Devices

Definitions and examples

Dictionary of English. Language Stylistic Terms
Кухаренко В.А., Гальперин И.Р., Арнольд И.В.
 CLIMAX(gradation)

§ a semantically complicated parallel

construction, in which each next word
combination (clause, sentence) is
logically more important or emotionally
stronger and more explicit
 Emotive Climax

§ a two-step climax, in which the second

part repeats the first one and is further
strengthened by an intensifier
§ is based on the relative emotional tension
produced by words with emotive meaning
Examples:

§ He was so helpless, so very helpless.

(W.Deeping)
§ e.g. She felt better, immensely better.
(W.Deeping)
§ e.g. I have been so unhappy here, so
very very unhappy. (Dickens)
 Logical Climax

§ a three-step climax, in which

intensification of logical importance, of
emotion or quantity (size, dimensions) is
gradually rising step by step
§ e.g. Better to borrow, better to beg, better to
die! (Dickens)
§ e.g. For that one instant there was no one else
in the room, in the house, in the world, besides
themselves. (M.Wilson)
 Quantitative Climax
§ an evident 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. (S.Maugham)
§ e.g. Little by little, bit by bit, and day by day,
and year by year the baron got the worst of
some disputed question. (Dickens)
Anticlimax

§ a climax suddenly interrupted by an

unexpected turn of the thought which defeats
expectations of the reader and ends in
complete semantic reversal of the emphasised
idea
§ Eg.Women have a wonderful instinct about
things. They can discover everything except
the obvious. (Wilde)
§ . He was uncon’solable - for an afternoon
 Simile/ˈsɪmɪli/

§ an imaginative comparison of two unlike

objects belonging to two different classes on
the grounds of similarity of some quality. Used
to make a description more emphatic or vivid
(e.g. as brave as a lion).
§ two semantic poles of the simile can be
connected by one of the following link words:
“like”, “as”, “as though”, “as if”, “as like”, “such
as”, “as ... as”, etc.
Examples:

§ e.g. She is like a rose.

§ e.g. He stood immovable like a rock in a
torrent. (J.Reed)
§ e.g. His muscles are hard as rock.
(T.Capote)
§ e.g. Maidens, like moths, are ever caught
by glare. (Byron)
§ But:The boy seems to be as clever as his
mother. – logical comparison (the same class
of objects)
Trite Simile
§ A simile, often repeated, becomes trite and adds to the
stock of language phraseology. Most of trite similes
have the foundation mentioned and conjunctions "as",
"as...as" used as connectives. Cf.: "as brisk as a bee",
"as strong as a horse", "as live as a bird"
§ Similes in which the link is expressed by notional verbs
such as "to resemble", "to seem", "to recollect", "to
remember", "to look like", "to appear", etc. are called
disguised, because the realization of the comparison is
somewhat suspended, as the likeness between the
objects seems less evident. Eg:"His strangely taut, full-
width grin made his large teeth resemble a dazzling
miniature piano keyboard in the green light."
 Litotes [laɪ’təʊtiz]
§ is a sd consisting of a peculiar use of negative
constructions: the negation plus noun or adjective
serves to establish a positive feature in a person or
thing. Expresses politeness or irony. Litotes intensifies
the emotion intended by the writer and moderately
conveys the feelings.

§ e.g.Her face isn't a bad one.

§ e.g. Soames, with his lips and his squared chin was not
unlike a bull dog. (Galsworthy)
§ 'Indeed, it is not uncommon for slaves even to fall out
and quarrel among themselves about the relative
goodness of their masters .
Examples

§ She's not the friendliest person I know. (=

she's an unfriendly person)
§ The idea was not totally erroneous. The
thought did not displease me.
(I.Murdoch)
§ He is no coward.- Не is a brave man.
§ It was not unnatural if Gilbert felt a
certain embarrassment. (E.Waugh)
 Antithesis /ænˈtɪθəsɪs/
§ a semantically complicated parallel construction, the
two parts of which are semantically opposite to each
other
§ - is to stress the heterogenity of the described
phenomenon, to show that the latter is a dialectical
unity of two (or more) opposing features
§ - basic functions: rhythm-forming copulative;
dissevering; comparative
§ often signalled by the introductory connective but,
when so, the other structural signal, the parallel
arrangement, may not be evident, it may be
unnecessary;
Examples:
§ I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in
what is evil.
§ Some people have much to live on, and little to live for.
(Wilde)
§ If we don’t know who gains by his death we do know
who loses by it. (A.Christie)
§ In marriage the upkeep of woman is often the downfall
of man. (S.Evans)
§ Don’t use big words. They mean so little. (Wilde)
§ Man proposes, God disposes.
§ Money is the root of all evils: poverty is the fruit of all
goodness
 Periphrasis
/pəˈrɪfrəsɪs/circumlocution
§ . a) using a roundabout form of
expression instead of a simpler one
§ b) using a more or less complicated
syntactical structure instead of a word
§ e.g. The lamp-lighter made his nightly
failure in attempting to brighten up the
street with gas. [= lit the street lamps]
(Dickens)
Figurative Periphrasis

§ a periphrasis that is made of phrase-

metonymies or phrase-metaphors
§ -is to convey a purely individual
perception of the described object
§ e.g. The hospital was crowded with
the surgically interesting products of the
fighting in Africa. [=wounded] (I.Shaw)
Logical Periphrasis

§ phrase synonymic with the words which

were substituted by periphrasis because
the direct nomination of the not too
elegant feature of appearance was
substituted by a roundabout description

§ e.g. I am thinking an unmentionable thing

about your mother.
Euphemism

§ a word or phrase used to replace an

unpleasant word or expression by a
conventionally more acceptable one
e.g. to lie = to possess a vivid
imagination, to tell stories;
§ e.g. to die = to pass away, to expire, to be no
more, to depart, to join the majority