2. Figures of quantity: hyperbole, meiosis, litotes.

Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration of a certain quality of an object or phenomenon. It is used to express an emotional attitude of the author to what he is depicting. Hyperbole mounts the expressiveness of speech.

Hyperbole can be expressed by all notional parts of speech. The most typical cases of expression are: by pronouns (all, every, everybody, everything); by numerical nouns (a million, a thousand); by adverbs of time (ever, never). In Ukrainian the ways of expression are such: by pronouns (всі, все, весь, вся, всяк(ий), кожен, кожна, кожне); by numerical nouns (сотня, тисяча, мільйон); by intensifying adverbs (жахливо, страшенно, колосально); by adverbs of time, place (завжди, ніколи, всюди).

Hyperbole may be language (trite) and speech (stylistic). Language hyperbole is the following:

I haven’t seen you for ages!

Mary was scared to death.

I beg a thousand pardons.

Таким поглядом можна вбити.

Тато ж тебе сто разів просив не робити з мухи слона, а ти все життя усе перебільшуєш.

Він такий голодний, що коня з'їсть.

Я вас чекав цілу вічність. Ви завжди забуваєте про час і ніколи не поспішаєте. Вас лише за смертю посилати.

Speech hyperbole may be the final effect of other stylistic devices: metaphor, similie, irony. Examples:

I saw their chief tall as a rock of ice.

Sam would give the world to see Dave again.'

Pete knows everybody in the town.

Every single rascal tries to cheat the public here.

It was so noisy inside that you couldn't hear yourself think.

А сома... сома мені самому доводилося бачити такого завбільшки, як комбайн! Тільки трохи довшого.

Meiosis (understatement) is opposite in meaning to hyperbole. Meiosis is a deliberate diminution of a certain quality of an object or phenomenon. It is smallness that is being hyperbolized: a woman of pocket size.

Meiosis underlines insignificance of such qualities of objects and phenomena as their size, volume, distance, time, shape, etc. The domain of meiosis is colloquial speech. Meiosis makes speech expressive. Examples:

There was a drop of water left in the bucket.

It was a cat-size pony.

August can do the job in a second.

Gary and Jane's house is one minute from here.

The guy is so disgusting! He is a real microbe.

Можна ще крапельку супу?

Зачекайте хвилинку. Він пару секунд тому побіг до друга, що живе у трьох кроках звідси, і зараз повернеться.

Litotes is a specific variant of meiosis. Litotes has a peculiar syntactic structure. Litotes presents an affirmation in the form of negation, e.g., They spoke with one another hopefully, not without undertones of self-satisfaction.

It may be expressed by different means:

• a word with a negative affix, e.g., not hopeless, not bad, not unkind

• a word with a negative meaning, e.g., not a coward

• a negative construction, e.g., not without love

• a construction with too, e.g., not too awful

Litotes extenuates (смягчать, уменьшать, умерять) positive qualities of objects or phenomena. Litotes attempts to arouse emotion by denying it. It makes statements and judgments sound delicate and diplomatic. It also expresses irony. Litotes is used in all functional styles of English.

Examples:

After the brawl Julia was not dissatisfied with herself.

Martin is not without sense of humour. The decision was not unreasonable.

The venture was not impossible.

John's behaviour was not disrespectful.

Він не якийсь там жалюгідний жебрак і не просить вас зробити неможливе. Бачу, що ви обурені, і не без причини.