Intensification of a Certain Feature of a Thing or Phenomenon.

SIMILE

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PERIPHRASIS

Periphrasis (circumlocution ) – an indirect way of naming an object, giving the characteristic features of the object instead of naming the object itself.

Periphrasis is the use of a longer phrase instead of a possible shorter and simpler expression.

This figure of speech consists in expressing the m-g of a word or phrase by many or several words instead of a few or one.

E.g. a book – two hundred pages of blood-curdling narrative

Periphrasis aims at pointing to one of the seemingly insignificant features of the given object and intensifies this property by naming this object by its property

Periphrasis gives a new name for an object by disclosing some of its quality and expresses a very individual idea of the concept

e.g. “my little son has been so prematurely deprived of what can never be replaced” ( =he lost his mother) (Dickens)

e.g alterations and improvements on the truth (= lies) Dickens)

Prof. Galperin divides periphrasis into logical and figurative.

Logical periphrasis is based on the inherent property of a thing (women=fair sex, instruments of desrtuction= pistols, the most pardonable of human weaknesses=love).

Figurative periphrasis is based on metaphor or metonymy (to tie the knot= to marry; servant of all work= the sun; в объятиях Морфея, царь зверей, подземные магистрали столицы).

Periphrasis, which was widely used by the writers of the past centuries as a means of embellishment, nowadays sounds pompous:

In 19-20^th-century prose periphrasis often creates a humorous effect:

e.g. To the waiter he betrayed the fact that the minutest coin and himself were strangers (= he had no money at all).

Periphrasis is also used in political speeches: in the speeches of American presidents USA is often called ‘the land of opportunities’, while the USSR used to be called ‘an evil empire’. It was absolutely clear to the contemporaries which country was meant in each particular case, but the value of the device was certainly to attract the attention of the listeners to some particular characteristic feature of a country.

Euphemism

Euphemism is a variety of periphrasis.

Euphemism is a word or a phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or a taboo expression by a conventionally more acceptable one. It is a synonym which aims at producing a deliberately mild effect, a mild expression instead of a rude or harsh one:

E.g. to pass away, to expire, to be gone = to die

to misinform, to mislead = to cheat

Euphemisms can be genuine and trite.

A genuine euphemism must call up the word it stands for in the mind of the reader/listener.

E.g. We have come by this horse in some dishonest manner (= have stolen) (Dickens 'P.Papers of Pickwick Club')

Trite euphemisms can't be regarded as stylistic devices: they refer to the mind directly, but don't call to the mind the key-word. Trite euphemisms belong to expresive means of the language and are fixed in special dictionaries.

Prof. Galperin classifies them according to the spheres of their use:

1. religious e. – (the Bible offers innumerable words and phrases standing for the name of God, not to use the name of god in vain: the Lord, Father of the nations, Prince of Peace, the Redeemer, the Lamb, Son of Man)

2. medical e.- mentally ill (mad, insane), mental hospital (Lunatic asylum, madhouse)

3. moral e. – misinform, mislead (lie), pass away (die), senior citisen (pensioner)

4. political e. – free enterprisers (capitalists), savings (profit), the building up of labour reserves (unemployment). They aim at misleading the public opinion.