Jump to content

Synecdoche: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
{{About|the linguistic term|the film|Synecdoche, New York}}
{{About|the linguistic term|the film|Synecdoche, New York}}

{{Refimprove|date=May 2009}}
A '''synecdoche''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|ˈ|n|ɛ|k|d|ə|k|iː}}, {{respell|si|NEK|də-kee}}; from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''synekdoche'' (συνεκδοχή), meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a [[figure of speech]]<ref name="seu">[http://myweb.stedwards.edu/georgek/poetics/synecdoche.html Definition of Synecdoche], [[St. Edward's University]]</ref><ref name="m-w">[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Synecdoche Synecdoche - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]</ref> in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something, or vice-versa.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synecdoche Synecdoche Dictionary meaning], Merriam-Webster</ref><ref name=Clifton1983>{{cite book|author=N. R. Clifton|title=The Figure on Film|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ic9GefOCyFcC&pg=PA173|accessdate=19 May 2013|year=1983|publisher=University of Delaware Press|isbn=978-0-87413-189-5|pages=173–}}</ref> For example, referring to a congregation as '''the church''' or workers as '''hired hands'''.<ref name="uep">[http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/synec.html Oxford English Dictionary- synecdoche], [[University of Pennsylvania]]</ref><ref>[http://literarydevices.net/synecdoche/ Examples of Synecdoch]e from day to day life</ref>
A '''synecdoche''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|ˈ|n|ɛ|k|d|ə|k|iː}}, {{respell|si|NEK|də-kee}}; from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''synekdoche'' (συνεκδοχή), meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a [[figure of speech]]<ref name="seu">[http://myweb.stedwards.edu/georgek/poetics/synecdoche.html Definition of Synecdoche], [[St. Edward's University]]</ref><ref name="m-w">[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Synecdoche Synecdoche - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]</ref> in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something, or vice-versa.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/synecdoche Synecdoche Dictionary meaning], Merriam-Webster</ref><ref name=Clifton1983>{{cite book|author=N. R. Clifton|title=The Figure on Film|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ic9GefOCyFcC&pg=PA173|accessdate=19 May 2013|year=1983|publisher=University of Delaware Press|isbn=978-0-87413-189-5|pages=173–}}</ref> For example, referring to a congregation as '''the church''' or workers as '''hired hands'''.<ref name="uep">[http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/dravling/synec.html Oxford English Dictionary- synecdoche], [[University of Pennsylvania]]</ref><ref>[http://literarydevices.net/synecdoche/ Examples of Synecdoch]e from day to day life</ref>


Line 6: Line 6:
Synecdoche is closely related to [[metonymy]]—a figure of speech in which a term that denotes one thing is used to refer to a related thing.<ref name="seu">[http://mcl.as.uky.edu/glossary-rhetorical-terms#42 Glossary of Rhetorical Terms], University of Kentucky</ref> Indeed, synecdoche is sometimes considered a subclass of metonymy. It is more distantly related to other figures of speech, such as [[metaphor]].<ref name="uwg">[http://www.westga.edu/~scarter/Figurative_Language1.htm Figurative Language- language using figures of speech], University of West Georgia</ref>
Synecdoche is closely related to [[metonymy]]—a figure of speech in which a term that denotes one thing is used to refer to a related thing.<ref name="seu">[http://mcl.as.uky.edu/glossary-rhetorical-terms#42 Glossary of Rhetorical Terms], University of Kentucky</ref> Indeed, synecdoche is sometimes considered a subclass of metonymy. It is more distantly related to other figures of speech, such as [[metaphor]].<ref name="uwg">[http://www.westga.edu/~scarter/Figurative_Language1.htm Figurative Language- language using figures of speech], University of West Georgia</ref>


More rigorously, metonymy and synecdoche can be considered sub-species of metaphor, intending metaphor as a type of conceptual substitution (as [[Quintilian]] does in [[''Institutio oratoria'']] Book VIII). In Lanham's ''Handlist of Rhetorical Terms'',<ref>{{cite book | last = Lanham | first = Richard A | year = 1991 | title = A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms: A Guide for Students of English Literature, Second Edition | publisher = California University Press | location = Berkeley/Los Angeles/London | isbn = 0-520-07669-9 | page = 189}}</ref> the three terms have somewhat restrictive definitions, arguably in tune with a certain interpretation of their etymologies from Greek:
More rigorously, metonymy and synecdoche can be considered sub-species of metaphor, intending metaphor as a type of conceptual substitution (as [[Quintilian]] does in ''Institutio oratoria'' Book VIII). In Lanham's ''Handlist of Rhetorical Terms'',<ref>{{cite book | last = Lanham | first = Richard A | year = 1991 | title = A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms: A Guide for Students of English Literature, Second Edition | publisher = California University Press | location = Berkeley/Los Angeles/London | isbn = 0-520-07669-9 | page = 189}}</ref> the three terms have somewhat restrictive definitions, arguably in tune with a certain interpretation of their etymologies from Greek:


* ''[[metaphor]]'': changing a word from its literal meaning to one not properly applicable but analogous to it; assertion of identity rather than, as with simile, likeness.
* ''[[metaphor]]'': changing a word from its literal meaning to one not properly applicable but analogous to it; assertion of identity rather than, as with simile, likeness.

Revision as of 06:54, 30 September 2013

This article is about the linguistic term. For the film, see Synecdoche, New York.

A synecdoche (/sɪˈnɛkdəkiː/, si-NEK-də-kee; from Greek synekdoche (συνεκδοχή), meaning "simultaneous understanding") is a figure of speech[1][2] in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something, or vice-versa.[3][4] For example, referring to a congregation as the church or workers as hired hands.[5][6]

Similar figures of speech

Synecdoche is closely related to metonymy—a figure of speech in which a term that denotes one thing is used to refer to a related thing.[1] Indeed, synecdoche is sometimes considered a subclass of metonymy. It is more distantly related to other figures of speech, such as metaphor.[7]

More rigorously, metonymy and synecdoche can be considered sub-species of metaphor, intending metaphor as a type of conceptual substitution (as Quintilian does in Institutio oratoria Book VIII). In Lanham's Handlist of Rhetorical Terms,[8] the three terms have somewhat restrictive definitions, arguably in tune with a certain interpretation of their etymologies from Greek:

  • metaphor: changing a word from its literal meaning to one not properly applicable but analogous to it; assertion of identity rather than, as with simile, likeness.
  • metonymy: substitution of cause for effect, proper name for one of its qualities, etc.

Etymology

The word "synecdoche" is derived from the Greek word συνεκδοχή, from the prepositions συν- + εκ- and the verb δέχομαι (= "I accept"), originally meaning accepting a part as responsible for the whole, or vice versa.

Use

Synecdoche can be used to emphasize an important aspect of a fictional character;[1] for example, the X-Files character the Smoking Man. Sonnets and other forms of love poetry frequently use synecdoches to characterize the beloved in terms of individual body parts rather than a coherent whole. This practice is especially common in the Petrarchan sonnet, where the idealised beloved is often described part by part, from head to toe.

Examples

A part referring to the whole

In Wordsworth's "We Are Seven", the speaker says, "Your limbs they are alive" (l. 34). "Limbs" represent the entire body, so the narrator is trying to explain to the little girl that she is alive and breathing, unlike her two dead siblings.[9]

In Coleridge's "Frost at Midnight", the speaker says "…or the redbreast sit and sing/ Betwixt the tufts of snow…" (l. 67-8). This phrase symbolizes the coming of spring, as robins are referred to as harbingers of spring.[9]

The whole referring to a part

  • Use of the name America (the geographical name for two continents) to mean the United States of America, one country located primarily in North America.
A general class name used to denote a specific member of that or an associated class
  • "the good book", or "The Book" for the Bible ("Bible" itself comes from the Greek for "book")
  • "truck" for any four-wheel drive vehicle (as well as long-haul trailers, etc.)
  • "He's good people". (Here, the word "people" is used to denote a specific instance of people, i.e., a person. So the sentence would be interpreted as "He's a good person".)
A specific class name that refers to a general set of associated things
The material that a thing is (actually, historically, or supposedly) made of referring to that thing
A container is used to refer to its contents
  • "barrel" for a barrel of oil
  • "keg" for a keg of beer
  • "he drank the cup", to refer to his drinking of the cup's contents

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Definition of Synecdoche, St. Edward's University Cite error: The named reference "seu" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Synecdoche - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
  3. ^ Synecdoche Dictionary meaning, Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ N. R. Clifton (1983). The Figure on Film. University of Delaware Press. pp. 173–. ISBN 978-0-87413-189-5. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  5. ^ Oxford English Dictionary- synecdoche, University of Pennsylvania
  6. ^ Examples of Synecdoche from day to day life
  7. ^ Figurative Language- language using figures of speech, University of West Georgia
  8. ^ Lanham, Richard A (1991). A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms: A Guide for Students of English Literature, Second Edition. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: California University Press. p. 189. ISBN 0-520-07669-9.
  9. ^ a b Stephen Greenblatt et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, volume D, 9th edition (Norton, 2012)

Further reading

  • Monateri, Pier Giuseppe (1958). La Sineddoche. Formule e regole nel diritto delle obbligazioni e dei contratti. Milano: Giuffré.
Look up synecdoche in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Synecdoche&oldid=575105136"