The figurative meaning of the word to call. Direct and figurative meaning of the word
Introduction
The richness and diversity of the vocabulary of the Russian language is noted not only by specialists - learned linguists, but also by writers and poets. One of the factors in the richness of our language is the polysemy of most words. This allows them to be used not in one specific context, but in several, sometimes completely different ones.
The meanings of polysemantic words can be direct and figurative. Figurative meanings are involved in the creation of vivid figurative texts. They make the literary language richer and more intense.
Purpose of the work: to find examples of the use of words with direct and figurative meanings in the text by M. Sholokhov “Quiet Don”.
Job objectives:
- · Determine which values are considered direct and which are figurative;
- · Find examples of words with direct and figurative meanings in M. Sholokhov’s text “Quiet Don”.
The work consists of two chapters. The first chapter presents theoretical information on the problem of direct and figurative meanings of words. The second chapter is a list of examples illustrating words used in their literal and figurative meaning.
Direct and figurative meaning words in Russian
Words in Russian have two types of meanings: the main, direct meaning, and the non-basic, figurative meaning.
The direct meaning of the word is “a direct connection between a sound complex and a concept, a direct nomination” Modern Russian literary language / Ed. P. Lekanta - M.: Higher. school, 1988. - pp. 9-11..
The figurative meaning is secondary; it arises on the basis of associative connections between concepts. The presence of similarities between objects is a prerequisite for the fact that the name of one object begins to be used to name another object; thus, a new, figurative meaning of the word arises.
The use of words in a figurative meaning is a generally recognized method of expressive speech. The main types of figurative meaning are the techniques of metaphor and metonymy.
Metaphor is “the transfer of a name from one object to another based on any similarity of their characteristics” Rosenthal D.E., Golub I.B., Telenkova M.A. Modern Russian language. - M.: International relationships, 1995. - 560 pp.
The similarity of objects receiving the same name can manifest itself in different ways: they can be similar in shape (ring 1 on the hand - smoke ring 2); by color (gold medallion - golden curls); by function (fireplace - room stove and fireplace - electrical appliance for heating the room).
The similarity in the location of two objects in relation to something (the tail of an animal - the tail of a comet), in their assessment (clear day - clear style), in the impression they make (black blanket - black thoughts) also often serves as the basis for naming different things in one word phenomena. Similarities are also possible based on other characteristics: green strawberries - green youth (the unifying characteristic is immaturity); fast running - fast mind ( common feature- intensity); the mountains stretch - the days stretch (associative connection - length in time and space).
Metaphorization of meanings often occurs as a result of the transfer of qualities, properties, actions of inanimate objects to animate ones: iron nerves, golden hands, an empty head, and vice versa: gentle rays, the roar of a waterfall, the talk of a stream.
It often happens that the main, original meaning of a word is metaphorically reinterpreted on the basis of the convergence of objects according to various characteristics: a gray-haired old man - a gray-haired antiquity - a gray-haired fog; black blanket - black 2 thoughts - black ingratitude - black Saturday - black box (on an airplane).
Metaphors that expand the polysemanticism of words are fundamentally different from poetic, individually authored metaphors. The first are linguistic in nature, they are frequent, reproducible, anonymous. Linguistic metaphors, which served as a source for the emergence of a new meaning for the word, are mostly non-figurative, which is why they are called “dry”, “dead”: the elbow of a pipe, the bow of a boat, the tail of a train. But there can also be transfers of meaning in which the imagery is partially preserved: a blooming girl, a steely will. However, the expressiveness of such metaphors is significantly inferior to the expression of individual poetic images.
Dry metaphors that give rise to new meanings of words are used in any style of speech (scientific: eyeball, root of a word; official business: retail outlet, alarm signal); linguistic figurative metaphors tend to expressive speech, their use in an official business style is excluded; individual author's metaphors are property artistic speech, they are created by masters of words.
Metonymy is “the transfer of a name from one object to another based on their contiguity.”
Thus, it is metonymic to transfer the name of the material to the product from which it is made (gold, silver - Athletes brought gold and silver from the Olympics); names of the place - to the groups of people who are there (audience - Audience listens carefully to the lecturer); the names of the dishes - based on their contents (porcelain dish - delicious dish); names of the action - on its result (doing embroidery - beautiful embroidery); names of the action - to the place of action or those who perform it (crossing the mountains - underground transition); the name of the item - to its owner (tenor - young tenor); the name of the author - on his works (Shakespeare - put Shakespeare) etc.
Like metaphor, metonymy can be not only linguistic, but also individually authored.
Synecdoche is “the transfer of the name of a whole to its part, and vice versa” Rosenthal D.E., Golub I.B., Telenkova M.A. Modern Russian language. - M.: International Relations, 1995. - 560 pp. For example, pear - fruit tree and the pear is the fruit of this tree.
Transfers of meaning in such expressions as, for example, the feeling of an elbow, the right hand, are based on synecdoche.
word polysemous metaphor expressiveness
Words, phrases, phrases and sentences - all this and much more is inherent in the concept of “language”. How much is hidden in it, and how little we actually know about language! We spend every day and even every minute next to him - whether we say our thoughts out loud or conduct an internal dialogue, read or listen to the radio... Language, our speech is a real art, and it should be beautiful. And its beauty must be genuine. What helps in finding the true beauty of language and speech?
The direct and figurative meaning of words is what enriches our language, develops it and transforms it. How does this happen? Let's understand this endless process when, as they say, words grow from words.
First of all, you should understand what the direct and figurative meaning of the word is, and what main types they are divided into. Each word can have one or a number of meanings. Words with one meaning are called unambiguous words. In the Russian language there are significantly fewer of them than words with many different meanings. Examples include words such as computer, ash, satin, sleeve. A word that can be used in several meanings, including figuratively, is a polysemantic word, examples: house can be used to mean a building, a room for people to live, a family way of life, etc.; the sky is the air space above the earth, as well as the location of visible luminaries, or divine power, conduction.
With polysemy, a distinction is made between the literal and figurative meaning of a word. The first meaning of the word, its basis, is the direct meaning of the word. By the way, the word “straight” in this context is figurative in nature, i.e. the main meaning of the word is “something even, 
without bends” – is transferred to another object or phenomenon with the meaning “literal, expressed unambiguously.” So we don’t have to go far - we just need to be more careful and observant in what words we use, when and how.
From the above example it already becomes clear that a figurative meaning is a secondary meaning of a word that arose when the literal meaning of the word was transferred to another object. Depending on what feature of the object served as the reason for the transfer of meaning, there are different types of figurative meaning such as metonymy, metaphor, synecdoche.
The literal and figurative meaning of a word can resonate with each other based on similarity - this is a metaphor. For example:
ice water - icy hands(by attribute);
poisonous mushroom – poisonous character (by attribute);
star in the sky - star in hand (by location);
chocolate candy – chocolate tan (based on color).
Metonymy is the selection of some property in a phenomenon or object, which by its nature can replace the others. For example:
gold jewelry - she has gold in her ears;
porcelain dishes - there was porcelain on the shelves;
headache - my headache went away.
And finally, synecdoche is a type of metonymy when one word is replaced by another on the basis of a constant, really existing relationship of part to whole and vice versa. For example:
He is a real head (meaning very smart, the head is the part of the body in which the brain is located).
The entire village took his side - every resident, i.e. the “village” as a whole, which replaces its part.
What can we say in conclusion? Only one thing: if you know the direct and figurative meaning of a word, you will be able not only to use certain words correctly, but also enrich your speech, and learn to beautifully convey your thoughts and feelings, and maybe one day you will come up with your own metaphor or metonymy... Who knows?
What is the literal and figurative meaning of the word
The plurality of meanings of a word is an aspect of linguistics and linguistics that attracts the close attention of researchers, since every language is a mobile and constantly changing system. Every day new words appear in it, as well as new meanings of words already known. For their correct use in speech, it is necessary to monitor the processes of formation of new semantic shades in the Russian language.
Ambiguous words
These are lexical units that have two or more meanings. One of them is direct, and all the others are figurative.
It is important to note what place ambiguous words occupy in the Russian language. Direct and figurative meanings are one of the main aspects of the study of linguistics, since the phenomenon of polysemy covers more than 40% of the vocabulary of the Russian language. This happens because not a single language in the world is capable of giving its specific designation to each specific object and concept. In this regard, there is a divergence in the meanings of one word into several others. This is a natural process that occurs under the influence of factors such as people’s associative thinking, metaphor and metonymy.
Aspects of polysemy: relationships of meaning
Polysemy implies a certain system of meanings of a word. How does this system arise? How do such two components as the literal and figurative meaning of a word appear? First of all, any lexical unit is formed in a language with the formation of a new concept or phenomenon. Then, as a result of certain linguistic processes, additional meanings appear, which are called figurative. The main influence on the formation of new meanings is exerted by the specific context in which the word is located. Many researchers note that polysemy is often impossible outside the linguistic context.
Words with direct and figurative meanings become so by reference to context, and their use depends on the choice of meaning in each specific situation.
Aspects of polysemy: semantic relations
It is very important to distinguish between concepts such as polysemy and homonymy. Polysemy is polysemy, a system of meanings put into the same word and connected with each other. Homonymy is a linguistic phenomenon that covers words that are identical in form (spelling) and sound design (pronunciation). Moreover, such lexical units are not related in meaning and do not have a common origin from one concept or phenomenon.
The direct and figurative meaning of a word in the light of semantic relationships between the various meanings invested in a particular word are the object of study by many scientists. The difficulty in studying this group of lexical units is that it is often difficult to find a common original meaning for polysemantic words. It is also difficult to separate completely unrelated meanings that have many common features, but are only examples of homonymy.
Aspects of polysemy: categorical connection
Of particular importance for scientists in the aspect of researching the topic “Direct and figurative meaning of a word” is the explanation of polysemy from the point of view of cognitive categoricality. This theory suggests that the language system is an extremely flexible structure that can change in connection with the acquisition of new concepts about a phenomenon or object in the human mind.
Many researchers are inclined to believe that polysemy appears and develops according to certain laws, and is not caused by spontaneous and unsystematic processes in language. All meanings of a word are initially in the human mind, and are also a priori embedded in the structure of language. This theory already affects not only aspects of linguistics, but also psycholinguistics.
Characteristics of direct value
All people have an intuitive idea of what the literal and figurative meaning of a word is. If we speak in the language of ordinary people, the direct meaning is the most common meaning that is put into a word; it can be used in any context, directly pointing to a specific concept. In dictionaries, the direct meaning always comes first. Below the numbers are figurative meanings.
All lexical units, as mentioned above, can be divided into single-valued and polysemous. Unambiguous words are those that have only a direct meaning. This group includes terms, words with a narrow subject-matter, new, not yet very common words, proper names. Perhaps, under the influence of the development processes of the language system, words of these categories may acquire additional meanings. In other words, lexical units representing these groups will not necessarily always be unambiguous.
Characteristics of figurative meaning
This topic will definitely be chosen by any Russian language teacher at school for certification. “Direct and figurative meaning of the word” is a section that takes up a lot of important place in the structure of studying Russian speech, so it is worth talking about it in more detail.
Let's consider the figurative meaning of lexical units. The additional meaning of a word that appears as a result of indirect or direct nomination is called figurative. All additional meanings are related to the main meaning metonymically, metaphorically or associatively. The figurative meanings are characterized by blurred meanings and boundaries of use. It all depends on the context and style of speech in which the additional meaning is used.
Particularly interesting are cases when a figurative meaning takes the place of the main one, displacing it from use. An example is the word “bulda”, which originally meant a heavy hammer, and now a stupid, narrow-minded person.
Metaphor as a way of transferring meaning
Scientists highlight different types figurative meanings of words depending on the method of their formation. The first of these is metaphor. The main meaning can be transferred by similarity of features.
Thus, they distinguish similarities in shape, color, size, actions, feelings and emotional state. Naturally, this classification is conditional, since similar concepts can be metaphorically divided into the previously listed categories.
This classification is not the only possible one. Other researchers distinguish metaphorical transfer by similarity depending on the animation of the object. Thus, the transfer of properties is described animate object to inanimate, and vice versa; animate - to animate, inanimate - to inanimate.
There are also certain patterns in which metaphorical transfer occurs. Most often, this phenomenon refers to household objects (a rag as a tool for cleaning the floor and a rag as a weak-willed, weak-willed person), professions (a clown as a circus performer and a clown as someone who behaves stupidly, trying to seem like the life of the party), sounds characteristic of animals (mooing like the sound a cow makes, and like the slurred speech of a person), diseases (an ulcer as a disease and as satire and evil irony in human behavior).
Metonymy as a way of transferring meaning
Another aspect important for studying the topic “Direct and figurative meaning of a word” is metonymic transfer by contiguity. It represents a kind of substitution of concepts depending on the meanings inherent in them. For example, documents are often called papers, a group of children at school is called a class, etc.
The reasons for such a transfer of value may be as follows. Firstly, this is done for the convenience of the speaker, who seeks to shorten his speech as much as possible. Secondly, the use of such metonymic constructions in speech may be unconscious, because in Russian the expression “eat a bowl of soup” implies figurative sense, which is realized using metonymy.
Using words figuratively
On practical exercises in Russian, any teacher will certainly require examples for the section being studied. “Polysemantic words: direct and figurative meanings” is a topic that is replete with visual illustrations.
Let's take the word "burdock". Direct meaning this concept– a plant with large leaves. This word can also be used in relation to a person in the meaning of “narrow-minded”, “stupid”, “simp”. This example is a classic use of metaphor to convey meaning. Adjacency transfer can also be easily illustrated with the phrase “drink a glass of water.” Naturally, we drink not the glass itself, but its contents.
So, the topic of figurative meanings is intuitively clear to everyone. It is only important to understand how the transformation of the direct meaning of the word occurs.
Direct and figurative meaning of the word. What examples can you give?
The direct meaning of the word strictly correlates with a certain thing, attribute, action, quality, etc. A word can have a figurative meaning based on points of contact, similarity with another object in form, function, color, purpose, etc.
Examples of the meaning of words:
table (furniture) - address table, table No. 9 (diet);
black color - back door (auxiliary), black thoughts (dreary);
bright room - bright mind, bright head;
dirty rag - dirty thoughts;
cold wind - cold heart;
golden cross - golden hands, golden heart;
heavy burden - heavy look;
heart valve - cardiac reception;
gray mouse - gray man.
Zolotynka
A large number of words and figures of speech in the Russian language can be used both in a literal and figurative (figurative) sense.
The direct meaning usually completely coincides with the original meaning; the narrator means exactly what he says.
We use words in a figurative meaning in order to give our speech figurativeness, to especially emphasize some quality or action.
The examples below will help you “feel the difference”:
The language is in constant development, those words that a few decades ago were used only in a literal meaning can begin to be used in a figurative sense - birdhouse - starling house, birdhouse - traffic police post, zebra - animal, zebra - pedestrian crossing.
Nelli4ka
Direct is the primary meaning of a word, figurative is secondary. Let me give you examples:
Gold earrings - direct meaning.
My husband's gold hands - figurative meaning.
Rain worm- direct.
Book worm- portable.
Silver ring - straight.
Silver century - figurative.
The sky is burning star- direct.
Star screen - portable.
Icy sculpture - straight.
Icy smile - figurative.
Sugar buns - straight.
Mouth sugar- portable.
Woolen blanket- direct.
Winter covered everything around with snow blanket- portable.
Mink fur coat- direct.
Herring under fur coat- portable.
Marble plate - straight.
Marble cupcake - portable.
Black suit - straight.
Leave on black day - portable.
Any word in Russian initially has one or more direct meanings. That is, the word Key can mean something like what we use to close the lock on front door and can mean water gushing out of the ground. In both cases this is the direct meaning polysemantic word. But almost every word in the Russian language can also be given a figurative meaning. For example in the expression key to all doors, not a word key, not a word doors are not used in their direct meaning. The key here is the possibility of solving the problem, and the doors are this very problem. The figurative meaning of words is often used by poets, for example in Pushkin’s famous poem, every word has a figurative meaning:
Or here is the famous young man from Bryusov, who had a burning gaze, of course, burning in a figurative sense.
There are a lot of words with direct and figurative meanings in the Russian language. And as a rule, all these meanings are reflected in dictionaries. It is very useful to look there from time to time.
Examples of words and phrases with figurative meaning:
- to step on a rake, in a figurative sense - to get a negative experience.
- prick up your ears - become very attentive,
- reel in fishing rods - leave, and not necessarily from fishing,
- a heart of stone is an insensitive person,
- sour face - dissatisfied facial expression.
- work hard - work hard
- sharp tongue - the ability to formulate accurate, accurate and even caustic information.
Now, I remember.
Moreljuba
But in fact, a very interesting fact is that words can have not only a direct meaning, but also a figurative one.
If we talk about the direct meaning, then in the text we mean exactly the lexical meaning of a specific word. But figurative meaning means transferring the meaning of the lexical original as a consequence of comparison
And here are some examples:
Eugenie001
In Russian, words can have both direct and figurative meanings. Under direct meaning understand words naming an object of reality or its property. Moreover, the meaning of such words does not depend on the context; we immediately imagine what they mean. For example:
Based on the direct meaning of a word, additional lexical meanings may arise, which are called portable. The figurative meaning is based on the similarity of objects or phenomena in appearance, properties or actions performed.
Compare: “stone house” and “stone face”. In the phrase “stone house”, the adjective “stone” is used in the literal meaning (solid, motionless, strong), and in the phrase “stone face”, the same adjective is used in a figurative meaning (insensitive, unkind, harsh).
Here are some examples of the literal and figurative meaning of words:
Many stylistic figures or literary tropes are built on the basis of figurative meaning (metonymy, personification, metaphor, synecdoche, allegory, epithet, hyperbole).
Sayan Mountains
Examples of words and expressions with figurative meaning:
As we see, words acquire a figurative meaning when they are used together with certain words (which do not have such a quality in the literal sense). For example, nerves cannot literally be made of iron, so this is a figurative meaning, but iron ore is precisely made of iron (the phrase has a direct meaning).
virgin virginia
Sweet tea - sweet kitty, sweet music.
Crying in pain - the prison is crying (for someone).
Soft plasticine - soft light, soft heart.
Sunny day - sunny soul, sunny smile.
Plastic bag - social package (vacation, sick leave).
Wolverine skin is a sellable skin.
Garden flowers are flowers of life (about children).
Green fruits - green generation.
Woodpecker (bird) - woodpecker (informer).
To poison with pills is to poison with moral violence.
Marlena
The direct meaning of a word is when the word is used in its original sense. For example: sweet porridge.
The figurative meaning of a word is when the word is used in a non-literal sense, such as sweet deception.
I need to give examples of words with a figurative meaning... help?
give examples please
Diana Klimova
Portable (indirect) meanings of words are those meanings that arise as a result of the conscious transfer of a name from one phenomenon of reality to another on the basis of similarity, commonality of their characteristics, functions, etc.
Thus, the word table is used in several figurative meanings: 1. A piece of special equipment or a part of a cold-form machine (operating table, raise the machine table); 2. Meals, food (rent a room with a table); 3. A department in an institution in charge of a special range of cases (help desk).
The word black has the following figurative meanings: 1. Dark, as opposed to something lighter, called white (black bread); 2. Has taken on a dark color, darkened (black from tanning); 3. In the old days: Kurnoy (black hut); 4. Gloomy, desolate, heavy (black thoughts); 5. Criminal, malicious (black treason); 6. Not the main one, the auxiliary one (the back door in the house); 7. Physically difficult and unskilled (menial work).
The word boil has the following figurative meanings:
1. Manifest to a strong degree (work is in full swing); 2. Manifest something with force, to a strong degree (boil with indignation); 3. Move randomly (the river was boiling with fish).
As we see, when transferring meaning, words are used to name phenomena that do not serve as a constant, usual object of designation, but are brought closer to another concept by various associations that are obvious to speakers.
Figurative meanings can retain imagery (black thoughts, black betrayal). However, these figurative meanings are fixed in the language; they are given in dictionaries when interpreting words. This is how figurative meanings differ from metaphors that are created by writers.
In most cases, when transferring meanings, imagery is lost. For example: a pipe bend, a teapot spout, a carrot tail, a clock ticking. In such cases, they speak of extinct imagery in the lexical meaning of the word.
The transfer of names occurs on the basis of similarities in something between objects, characteristics, and actions. The figurative meaning of a word can be attached to an object (sign, action) and become its direct meaning: the spout of a teapot, a door handle, a table leg, the spine of a book, etc.
Anton Maslov
The direct (or basic, main) meaning of a word is a meaning that directly correlates with the phenomena of objective reality. For example, the word table has the following basic meaning: “a piece of furniture in the form of a wide horizontal board on high supports or legs.”
Figurative (indirect) meanings of words arise as a result of transferring the name from one phenomenon of reality to another on the basis of similarity, commonality of their characteristics, functions, etc. Thus, the word table has several figurative meanings: 1. A piece of special equipment or a part of a machine of a similar shape (operating table, raise the machine table). 2. Meals, food (rent a room with a table). 3. A department in an institution in charge of some special range of affairs (help desk).
Depending on on what basis and on what basis the name of one object is transferred to another, three types of transfer of word meanings are distinguished: metaphor, metonymy and synecdoche. Some linguists also distinguish transfer by similarity of functions.
Summary of a Russian language lesson in 6th grade
(teacher: Nesvat L.N., teacher of Russian language and literature MKOU OOSH village.
Ershovka, Vyatskopolyansky district, Kirov region)
LESSON TOPIC:
Direct and figurative meaning of words.
Goals: 1)
To introduce students to the literal and figurative lexical meaning of a word
2)
To develop the ability to find words with a figurative meaning in the text,
4)
Develop skills in working with spelling and punctuation.
During the classes:
Motivation.
1) Teacher's word:
Friends, before announcing the topic of today's lesson, I want to ask you a question,
related to literature, do you know who Ilya Muromets is?
(People's hero, hero of many epics)
In one of the epics about Ilya Muromets there are the following words: “The word is like an apple: from one
green on one side, ruddy on the other, you know how to turn it, girl...”
Think about the meaning of this sentence: The word, if we consider it from different sides,
miscellaneous - “Green on one side”, “Ruddy on the other”. And most importantly: "You know how to do it, girl
turn over", i.e. know how to use your words, as a word can have more than one meaning
It turns out that a word, in addition to its direct meaning, can also have another meaning,
portable. This is the topic of the lesson: “Direct and figurative meaning of the word”
(write in notebooks).
2) Write on the board:
iron nails, iron health.
Teacher's explanation: In the phrase iron nails the adjective means
What is the meaning of the word green? (Unripe,
unripe)
11)
Information on the use of figurative words in fiction
works. (Information from the textbook).
Vocabulary work: personification, metaphor
13) Execute exercise 339
Teacher:
Words with a figurative meaning make it bright and expressive not only
poetic speech, but also prose.
15) Let's turn to exercise 342.
a) Reading the text.
b) Determination of speech style, type of speech.
c) Determining the title of the text.
d) Vocabulary work: azure, coral, sapphire.
16) Recording text, explaining spelling.
: I hope you will be able to determine the literal and figurative meaning of a word. A
When you were very little, you probably didn’t understand a lot. Famous
children's writer K.I. Chukovsky recorded several statements of children who did not know
Reading the roles of the following statements and explaining the words used in
figurative meaning:
“I won’t go to school,” said fifth-grader Seryozha. - There on exams
cutting.
b) - Here In winter it will snow and frost will hit
-And then I won’t go outside.
- Why?
- So that the frost doesn’t hit me.
V) The boy is asked about his sister
- What does your sister Irinka lie down with the roosters?
She doesn’t lie down with the roosters - they peck: she goes to bed alone in her crib.
Mom washed the shirt and asked Petya to hang it to dry in the sun.
Petya left, but soon returned with the shirt.
- Why didn't you hang it up to dry?
- I don't “reached the sun,” answered Petya.
19)
Teacher:
Children, you have heard funny stories. No less fun, I think
will seem to you ex. 340.
20) Exercise: In each pair of sentences, indicate the words used directly
figurative meaning.
The wind howls and whistles in the chimney. The dog howls.
The tired day turned to night. The tired boy bowed his head to
mother's shoulder.
Dad came home from work. The long-awaited day of departure has finally arrived.
The hostess warmed the water. A cheerful song warmed us on the way.
21) Let's summarize the lesson.
a) How does a figurative meaning differ from a direct one?
b) What are words with figurative meanings used in speech for?
) Homework:
Theoretical information on pp. 132-133, exercise 338
The direct (otherwise primary, basic, main) meaning of a word is the reflection in the word of that phenomenon of reality with which the word has been associated for a long time and steadily; portable (or secondary) meaning is acquired by a word as a result of its conscious use to designate not the phenomenon that it traditionally designates, but another phenomenon that is close to the first one in our minds according to some characteristics. For example, iron in the literal meaning - containing iron (iron ore) or made of iron (iron roof), and in the figurative meaning - strong, strong(iron muscles) or unshakable, unyielding, not knowing deviations, retreats ( iron will). Head in the literal sense - top part human body, the upper or front part of the body of an animal containing the brain, and in a figurative sense - mind, consciousness, reason(clear head, bright head), a man of great intelligence (Ivan Ivanovich is a head!), a person as a bearer of some properties, qualities (smart head, hot head).
In Pushkin's line Dawn rises in the cold darkness word dawn appears in its direct meaning (bright illumination of the horizon before sunrise or after sunset), and in its lines And over the fatherland of enlightened freedom Will a beautiful dawn finally rise?– figuratively (beginning, origin, early time of something).
The use of words in literary works in a literal, non-figurative meaning is called autology (Greek autos – himself + logos), and the use of words in a figurative meaning – metalogy (Greek meta – through, after, for -+- logos). The field of metalogy includes all trails .
Trope(Greek tropos – turn; turnover, image) – a generalized name for stylistic devices consisting of using a word in a figurative meaning in order to achieve special expressiveness, imagery . Since the transfer of meaning (or, as they sometimes say, the transfer of names) can occur on the basis of correlation various signs, trails can be different types, each of which has proper name. The main trails include metaphor, metonymy, irony and hyperbole; Varieties of the main tropes include personification, synecdoche, and litotes.
Metaphor(Greek metaphora - transference) represents a transfer of meaning by similarity. We can say that the basis of a metaphor is a comparison that is not formally designated (for example, with the help of comparative conjunctions). They also say that a metaphor is hidden comparison. For example, metaphor Empty skies transparent glass(Akhmatova) contains a comparison of the sky with transparent glass, a metaphor A red rowan fire is burning in the garden(S. Yesenin) contains a comparison of rowan brushes with the flame of a fire.
Many metaphors have become commonplace in everyday use and therefore do not attract attention and have lost their imagery in our perception: go beyond the boundaries, hot time, hot heart, dizzy, love has faded, he has lost his head, piercing with his eyes, strings of the soul, the patient’s temperature is jumping, thin voice, difficult character, etc.
In artistic literature, a metaphor achieves its pictorial purpose the more it is unexpected, original and at the same time accurate in the sense of correlating phenomena. The aesthetic assessment of metaphors (as well as other means of artistic representation) is a subjective thing.
And the diamond trembling of the stars fades in the painless cold of dawn.(Voloshin);
And bottomless blue eyes bloom on the far shore.(Block);
Like similes, metaphors can be extended. Sometimes poems are constructed from beginning to end as extended metaphors.
Any familiar metaphor can be presented in its literal sense for artistic purposes, and then it “comes to life” and receives new imagery. This technique is called realization of the metaphor . It can be used for humorous and satirical purposes (for example, in Mayakovsky’s famous poem “The Satisfied Ones” the metaphor is implemented torn apart), but it could also be a trick lyric poetry. The same Mayakovsky implemented the metaphor with great emotional force wring your hands:
Loves? does not love?
I break my hands and fingers
I scatter it, breaking it.
The closeness of metaphor to comparison is expressed, in particular, in the fact that these means of artistic representation are often combined: Russia entered Europe like a deflated ship, with the sound of an ax and the thunder of cannons(Pushkin);
In that long-ago year when love was kindled, like a throne cross in a doomed heart.(Akhmatova);
Metonymy(Greek metonymia - renaming) is transfer of values (renaming) according to the contiguity of phenomena . The cases of such transfers are varied, the main ones being the following.
From vessel, container to contents: The circular buckets, foaming, hiss(Pushkin). Common expressions also belong to this type of metonymy ate a whole plate, drank two cups, etc..
From a person to his clothing or any external signs: And you, blue uniforms(Lermontov; meaning gendarmes); Hey beard! how to get from here to Plyushkin?(Gogol).
From a settlement to its inhabitants: The whole city was discussing this event; The village was delighted with this news, etc.
From an organization, institution, event to its employees, participants: The research institute was busy completing an urgent task; The plant decided to go on strike and so on.
The author's name may indicate his work: Evgeny Onegin, as you know, Scolded Homer, Theocritus, but read Adam Smith(...) Expressions like Wonderful Kustodiev! Magnificent Faberge! – to designate a painting by an artist or a product of a master.
Irony(Greek eironeia - literally: pretense) - the use of a word or statement in a sense opposite to its direct meaning. A textbook example is the Fox’s appeal to the Donkey, whom she considers stupid, in Krylov’s fable “The Fox and the Donkey”: Why, smart one, are you delirious, head? Words used in reverse direct meaning, can be placed in quotation marks for greater expressiveness, as, for example, in Severyanin’s poems addressed to politicians on behalf of people of art:
Your hostile everyday life is harmful to us - We are burning with eternal art. You are busy with “business”, and we are only “drones”, But we are proud of our title!
The opposite meaning can be given not only to a single word, but also to a broader context or an entire work. An example is the famous poem by Lermontov
Gratitude
For everything, for everything I thank you: For the secret torment of passions, For the bitterness of tears, the poison of a kiss, For the revenge of enemies and the slander of friends; For the heat of my soul, wasted in the desert, For everything I was deceived by in life... Just arrange it so that from now on I won’t be thanking you for long.
In this poem you can see the highest degree of irony – sarcasm (Greek sarkasmos, from sarkazo - literally: tearing meat).
Hyperbola(Greek hyperbole - exaggeration) in contrast to metaphor, metonymy and irony, which are renamings on a qualitative basis, consists in transferring values by quantitative characteristic . More precisely, hyperbole consists of a quantitative enhancement of the signs of an object, phenomenon, or action, which for simplicity is sometimes called “artistic exaggeration.”
Hyperbole is often used in folk literature. For example, in the epic about Volga and Mikula:
We drove all day from morning to evening,
We couldn’t get to Oratai.
They were driving and it was another day,
Another day is from morning to evening,
We couldn’t get to Oratai.
How Oratay yells and whistles in the field,
Oratai's bipod creaks,
And the little guys are scratching the pebbles.
They rode here for the third day,
And the third day is still before the swan day.
And we came across an open field in Oratay.
And here is the hyperbole in the mischievous ditty:
The darling sits on the porch With an expression on his face, And the darling’s face Occupies the entire porch.
Gogol was a great master of hyperbole; everyone remembers that a rare bird will fly to the middle of the Dnieper what do you have Cossacks wore trousers as wide as the Black Sea, and Ivan Nikiforovich’s trousers had such wide folds that if they were inflated, the entire yard with barns and buildings could be placed in them.
Personification – a technique consisting of transferring the properties of a person (person) to inanimate objects, natural phenomena or animals. Personification is usually in folk literature and the closest genre of book literature to it - fable; often used in lyric poetry. A few examples:
Luna laughed like a clown.(Yesenin) Midnight through my city window Enters with the night's gifts.(Tvardovsky)
Like simile and metaphor, personification can be expanded. For example, in Lermontov's poem The Cliff
The golden cloud spent the night on the chest of a giant rock, In the morning she rushed off early, playing merrily across the azure; But a wet trace remained in the wrinkle of the Old Cliff. He stands alone, deep in thought, and quietly cries in the desert.
Synecdoche(Greek synekdoche – correlation) – a special case of metonymy: designation of the whole (or generally something larger) through its part (or generally something smaller included in a larger one). For example: All flags will visit us(Pushkin), i.e. ships flying the flags of all countries. Synecdoche can become a familiar phraseological phrase: to have a roof over your head, not enough workers, so many heads of cattle, etc. Synecdoche is the use of singular forms instead of plural: Swede, Russian stabs, chops, cuts (Pushkin); And you could hear until dawn how the Frenchman (Lermontov) rejoiced.
Litotes(Greek litotes - simplicity) - a technique opposite to hyperbole, i.e. consisting of quantitative understatement of the characteristics of an object, phenomenon, action . The litotes are the names of the fairy-tale characters Thumb and Thumb Girl. Litotes is also used in the description of the hero of Nekrasov’s famous poem:
And while walking, it is important in decorous calm. The horse is led by the bridle by a peasant in big boots, in a short sheepskin coat, in big mittens... and he himself is as small as a fingernail.
Litota is also the method of defining a phenomenon or concept through the denial of the opposite, which also leads to an understatement of the objective qualities of what is being defined. For example, if we say: This is not without interest, – then such an expression will not contain as definite an estimate as This is interesting. Two examples from Tvardovsky’s poetry:
That hour was already knocking on the window Not without solemn undertakings(“Beyond the distance – the distance”);
No, our days are not without a trace in the world("Birch").
Figure(rhetorical figure, stylistic figure, figure of speech) – a generalized name for stylistic devices in which a word, unlike tropes, does not necessarily have a figurative meaning. The figures are built on special combinations of words that go beyond the usual, “practical” use and are aimed at enhancing the expressiveness and figurativeness of the text. Since figures are formed by a combination of words, they use certain stylistic possibilities of syntax, but in all cases the meanings of the words forming the figure are very important. There are numerous figures; we will name only the main ones here.
Anaphora(Greek anaphora - bringing up, repetition), or unity of command - repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of sentences, poetic lines or stanzas . We have already encountered anaphora in Lermontov’s poem “Gratitude,” cited above, where six lines begin with the preposition for. Two more examples from the poetry of A. Fet:
Only in the world is there anything shady
Dormant maple tent. Only in the world is there something radiant
Childishly thoughtful look. Only in the world is there something fragrant
Sweet headdress. Only in the world is there anything pure
Parting to the left.
Here, each sentence forming two poetic lines begins with the expression Only in the world there is... In the following example, each stanza except the first begins with the word tell, and in the first stanza the second line begins with this word:
I came to you with greetings To tell you that the sun has risen, That it fluttered with hot light across the sheets; Tell me that the forest has woken up, The whole forest has woken up, every branch, every bird has roused itself, And is full of spring thirst; To tell that with the same passion as yesterday, I came again, That my soul is still happy and ready to serve you; To tell that joy is blowing at me from everywhere, That I myself don’t know what I will sing - but only the song is ripening.
Antithesis(Greek antithesis – opposition) – stylistic device of contrast, opposition of phenomena and concepts. The most clearly expressed and simple in structure antithesis is based on the use of antonyms:
I am a king - I am a slave, I am a worm - I am a god!(Derzhavin);
You are also poor, You are also abundant, You are also powerful, You are also powerless, Mother Rus'!
(Nekrasov)
Over the Black Sea, over the White Sea On black nights and white days (...)
But opposition can be expressed and descriptive: He once served in the hussars, and even happily; no one knew the reason that prompted him to resign and settle in a poor town, where he lived both poorly and wastefully: he always walked on foot, in a worn black frock coat, and kept an open table for all the officers of our regiment. True, his dinner consisted of two or three dishes prepared by a retired soldier, but the champagne flowed like a river.(Pushkin);
Gradation(Latin gradatio – gradual rise) – a stylistic device for arranging words and expressions, as well as means of artistic representation, in order of increasing or decreasing (descending) significance. The gradation of the first type is called climax (Greek klimax - ladder), the second - anticlimax (Greek anti - against + klimax). Increasing gradation in Russian literature is used more often than descending. An example of a clear gradation according to the increasing importance of a characteristic can be taken from the epic about Volga and Mikula:
The fry on the bipod is maple, the horns on the bipod are damask, the horn on the bipod is silver, and the horn on the bipod is red and gold.
An expanded multifaceted gradation underlies the composition of Pushkin’s “Tales of the Fisherman and the Fish.” The old fisherman didn’t catch it right away goldfish, the miraculous catch is described using gradations:
Once he threw a net into the sea, - The net came with nothing but mud. Another time he cast a net, and a net came with sea grass. For the third time he cast the net, The net came with one fish, With a difficult fish - a golden one.
“Up the stairs” the old woman’s wishes rise: I don't want to be a black peasant woman, I want to be a high-ranking noblewoman- I don’t want to be a pillar noblewoman, But I want to be a free queen - I don’t want to be a free queen, I want to be the mistress of the sea. In place of the dilapidated dugout, first a hut with a light appears, then a tall tower, and then the royal chambers. The more irrepressible and absurd demands of the old woman the old man is forced to convey to the goldfish, the harsher and more menacing the sea greets him: the sea has become slightly violent - the blue sea has become clouded - the blue sea is not calm - the blue sea has turned black - there is a black storm at sea.
Gradation (mainly ascending) is also widely used in non-stylized book literature. Examples:
I called you, but you didn’t look back, I shed tears, but you didn’t condescend.
No, it would be unbearably terrible, an earthly destiny, if we were not always with us, Neither our childhood days, nor our youth, nor our whole life in its last hour.
(Tvardovsky)
Examples of descending gradation:
He brought mortal resin and a branch with withered leaves.
Will I find the same embrace there? Hello old man, will you meet me? Will the friends and brothers recognize the Sufferer after many years?
(Lermontov)
He promises him half the world, and France only for himself.
(Lermontov)
Oxymoron, or oxymoron (Greek oxymoron – literally: witty-stupid),– a stylistic device of combining words with opposite meanings for the purpose of an unusual, impressive expression of a new concept or idea . Oxymoron is a common figure in Russian literature; it is used, for example, in such titles literary works, like “Living Relics” by Turgenev, “Living Corpse” by L. Tolstoy, “Optimistic Tragedy” by V. Vishnevsky. Examples of oxymorons from poems by Russian poets:
And the impossible is possible.
The long road is easy.
Parallelism(Greek parallelos – walking next to, parallel) – a stylistic device of similar, parallel construction of adjacent phrases, poetic lines or stanzas. Examples of parallelism in the construction of poetic lines:
I look at the future with fear, I look at the past with longing.
(Lermontov)
Repetition. As the name itself indicates, this stylistic device consists of repeating a word, expression, song or poetic line in order to attract special attention to it. Repetition - frequent use folk songs. For example:
We were in the field, walking along the boundaries
Wreaths have developed, Let the life give birth, -
The wreaths have developed "Ugly, God,
And they looked lively. Zhito is thick,
And Saint Ilya Zhito is thick,
Spike walks along the borders,
Vigorous!”
Poets often resort to repeating lines in texts that are stylistically close to folk songs:
“I see the death of me, bury me
Here, in the steppe, he will slay, Here, in the steppe, deaf;
Don’t remember, friend, the black horses
My evil grievances. Take me home.
Take my evil grievances home,
Yes, and nonsense, hand them over to the priest...”
Unreasonable words
The old rudeness.
(I. Surikov)
Repeating a line or several lines at the end of a stanza called refrain (French: refrain - chorus).
Repeating a word or phrase can also be used in prose. For example, the ideas of Olga Ivanovna, the heroine of Chekhov’s story “The Jumper”, are far from reality! about her role in the life of the artist Ryabovsky are emphasized by the repetition in her improperly direct speech of the word influence: (...) But, she thought, he created this under her influence, and in general, thanks to her influence, he changed a lot for the better. Her influence is so beneficial and significant that if she leaves him, he may perhaps die. In characterizing Ryabovsky, a significant role is played by the words he repeats, “I’m tired, how tired I am.”
Rhetorical question, rhetorical exclamation, rhetorical appeal(Greek rhetorike - oratory). The definition of rhetorical, fixed in the names of these figures, indicates that they developed in oratorical prose, and then in artistic literature. Here, rhetorical questions, exclamations and appeals increase the emotionality of the statement and attract the reader’s attention to certain parts of the text. In grammar a rhetorical question defined as a sentence that is interrogative in form, but contains not a question, but a message. In literary literature, a rhetorical question can retain an interrogative meaning, but it is asked not with the goal of giving (or receiving) an answer, but with the goal of enhancing the emotional impact on the reader.
Rhetorical exclamations enhance the expressed feelings in a message:
How beautiful, how fresh the roses were in what garden! How they seduced my gaze! How I prayed for the spring frosts not to touch them with a cold hand!
The rhetorical appeal is directed not to the real interlocutor, but to the subject of the artistic depiction. Of the two functions inherent in an address – appealing and evaluative-characterizing (expressive, expressive) – the latter predominates in rhetorical appeal:
Master Earth! I bowed my forehead to you.(V. Solovyov)
Put me to sleep, ring the bell! Bear with me, three tired horses!
(Polonsky)
Rhetorical questions, exclamations and appeals are also used in prose, mainly in lyrical digressions (for example, in the well-known lyrical digressions in “ Dead souls"Gogol) and in cases of transition of the author's narrative into improperly direct speech (for example, in Bulgakov's "The White Guard": But the days, both in peaceful and bloody years, fly like an arrow, and the young Turbins did not notice how a white, shaggy December arrived in the bitter cold. Oh, our Christmas tree grandfather, sparkling with snow and happiness! Mom, bright queen, where are you?)
Default – a figure that gives the listener or reader the opportunity to guess and reflect on what could be discussed in a suddenly interrupted utterance. A perfect example of silence that awakens deep thoughts and strong feelings, we find in Bunin’s poem:
In the forest, in the mountain, there is a spring, alive and ringing, Above the spring there is an old cabbage roll with a blackened popular icon, And in the spring there is a birch bark.
I do not love, O Rus', your timid Millennial, slavish poverty. But this cross, but this ladle is white. . . Humble, birthmarks!
More examples of omissions in direct speech are from Chekhov’s “Lady with a Dog.” Anna Sergeevna's words: – (...) When I married him, I was twenty years old, I was tormented by curiosity, I wanted something better, because there is, I told myself, another life. I wanted to live! To live and live... Curiosity burned me. . . Gurov's words: - But understand, Anna, understand. . “- he said in a low voice, hurrying. “I beg you, understand.” . .
Ellipsis in literary literature acts as a figure with the help of which special expressiveness is achieved. At the same time, the connection between artistic ellipsis and colloquial expressions is clearly preserved. Most often the verb is omitted, which gives the text a special dynamism:
Let... But chu! This is not the time to walk! To the horses, brother, and the foot in the stirrup, out with the saber - and I’ll cut it! Here is a different feast that God gives us.
(D. Davydov)
In prose, ellipsis is used mainly in direct speech and in narration on behalf of the narrator. A few examples from Lermontov’s “Bela”: (...) If he was a little lazy, it would look like there was either a lasso on his neck or a bullet in the back of his head; Grigory Alexandrovich teased him so much that he could even throw himself into the water; Kazbich shuddered, changed his face - and went to the window; Well, that's an aside; Grigory Aleksandrovich squealed no worse than any Chechen; the gun out of the case, and there - I followed it.
Epiphora(Greek epiphora – repetition) – The figure opposite to anaphor is the repetition of a word or phrase at the end of a poetic line. Epiphora is much less common in Russian poetry than anaphora. Examples:
The number of steppes and roads is not over; No account found for stones and rapids.(E. Bagritsky).
The section is very easy to use. In the field provided, just enter the right word, and we will give you a list of its values. I would like to note that our site provides data from various sources - encyclopedic, explanatory, word-formation dictionaries. Here you can also see examples of the use of the word you entered.
What does "figurative meaning of a word" mean?
Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998
figurative meaning of the word
secondary (derived) meaning of a word, arising on the basis of different types of associative connections, through metonymy, metaphor and other semantic changes. For example, the figurative meaning of the word “wake up” (“the forest woke up”), “falsify” (“falsify the facts”).
figurative meaning of the word
secondary (derived) meaning of a word, associated with the main, main meaning through relations of metonymic, metaphorical dependence or any associative features. P. z. With. can arise on the basis of spatial, temporal, logical, etc. correlation of concepts (adjacency of material and product, process and result, etc.), average metonymic meanings of the words “edition”, “finishing”, “wintering”, “image” ”, based on associations by similarity (in shape, color, nature of movements, etc.), for example, the metaphorical meanings of the words “dull”, “fresh”, “stamp”. As a result of the transfer of names based on general function many P. z. arose. pp., for example, in the words “wing”, “shield”, “satellite”. P. z. With. have greater syntagmatic coherence (see Syntagmatic relations), while direct meanings are most conditioned paradigmatically (see Paradigmatic relations). Patterns of occurrence of P. z. With. (regularity and irregularity of formation of semantically homogeneous groups of words, etc.), the nature of their relationship with the main meaning (for example, the direction of development from more concrete meanings to more abstract ones, etc.) can be described both in synchronic (see Synchrony) and and in diachronic (see Diachrony) plans. In the history of the development of the language of P. z. With. can become the main ones and vice versa (average development of meanings for the words “hearth”, “slum”, “red”). This shift in the semantic structure of a word is influenced by various factors (emotional and evaluative elements, associative connections accompanying the word when used, etc.).
Lit.: Vinogradov V.V., Basic types lexical meanings words, “Issues of linguistics”, 1953, ╧5; Kurilovich E., Notes on the meaning of words, in his book: Essays on Linguistics, M., 1962; Shmelev D.N., Problems of semantic analysis of vocabulary, M., 1973.