Figures of contrast

1. Lecture 7

Figures of contrast
1. Zeugma
2. Oxymoron
3. Paradox
4. Pun

2. Zeugma [zju:gmə] - зевгма

E.g. He TOOK his hat and his leave (homogeneous
objects)
• Zeugma involves two or more notions which are
syntactically homogeneous and semantically
incompatible.
• Zeugma is the use of a word in the same grammatical
but different semantic relations to two words in the
context. The semantic relations are on the one hand
literal, and on the other – transferred (Galperin).

3.

• Zeugma
revives
the
original
meanings of the words and makes
them prominent:
E.g. People put their pride into their
pockets together with their bus
tickets.

4. STRUCTURAL PATTERNS OF ZEUGMA

• Verb + Object + Object
E.g. You are free to execute your laws, and your citizens, as you
see fit (TV program).
• Subject + Subject + Verb
E.g. Either you or your head must be off! (Carrol)
My teeth and my ambitions are bared: be prepared! (T. Rice
The Lion King).
• Verb + Object + Verb + Object
E.g. And May’s mother always stood on her gentility; and Dot’s
mother never stood on anything but her active little feet
(Dickens).

5.

• Zeugma is often found in humorous
texts
E.g. At noon Mrs Turpin would get out
of bed and humor, put on kimono,
airs and the water to boil for coffee
(O.Henry).

6. Oxymoron [oksı‘mo:rən] - оксюморон

A combination of two words in which the
meanings of the two clash, being opposite in
sense.
E.g. And painful pleasure turns to pleasing pain.
(Spencer)
His honour rooted in dishonour stood
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.
(Tennyson)

7. Oxymoron→Intensifier

If the primary meaning of the qualifying word is
weakened, it becomes an intensifier and the
oxymoronic effect is lost.
E.g. I’m terribly sorry/ pleased.
I’m awfully glad.
It’s pretty awful.
Я ужасно виноват/рад. Было ужасно весело.
Она страшно/жутко красивая.

8. STRUCTURAL MODELS OF OXYMORON

• Adjective + Noun
E.g.O loving hate!
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health!
(Shakespeare)
Peopled desert
proud humility
sweet sorrow
deafening silence

9. STRUCTURAL MODELS OF OXYMORON

• Adverb + Adjective [ the adverb is likely to
change its meaning and become an
intensifier]
E.g. a pleasantly ugly face
a terribly moving film
• Verb + Adverb
E.g. ‘It was you who made me a liar,’ she cried
silently.

10. OXYMORONS IN FICTION

Oxymorons in fiction are often employed to convey the
author’s individual perception and evaluation of the
phenomenon’s contradictory nature.
E.g. I despise its very vastness and power. It has the
poorest millionaires, the littlest great men, the
haughtiest beggars, the plainest beauties, the lowest
skyscrapers, the dolefulest pleasures of any town I
ever saw (O.Henry The Duel).

11. Paradox [‘pærədoks] - парадокс

A statement contradictory to what is accepted as a
self-evident truth.
Literary paradoxes involve examining apparently contradictory
statements and drawing conclusions to reconcile them or
explain their presence.
E.g. Wine costs money, blood costs nothing (Shaw).
I can resist anything except temptation (Wilde).
Life is far too important a thing ever to talk about it seriously
(Wilde)
Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.
(Shakespeare)

12. PUN [pΛn] - каламбур

The term is synonymous with the expression ‘play on
words’.
E.g. ‘Have you been seeing any spirits?’
‘Or taking any?’ (Dickens)
(1) spirits = ‘ghosts’, ‘apparitions’
(2) spirits = ‘alcohol’, ‘strong drinks’
The pun is a stylistic device based on the interaction
of two well-known meanings of a word or phrase
(Galperin).

13. TYPES OF PUN

Zeugma
Puns based on
homonymy
Puns based on
polysemy

14. Zeugma as a kind of pun

• Zeugma may be qualified as a peculiar kind of
pun, the difference between them being
structural: zeugma actualizes two meanings with
the help of a verb to which homogeneous objects
or subjects refer. A pun-word doesn’t necessarily
refer to another word.
E.g. She dropped a tear and her pocket
handkerchief (zeugma).
One swallow does not make a summer (pun).

15. Puns based on polysemy

Polysemy is actualized in one utterance which has
at least two meanings.
E.g. There comes a period in every man’s life, but
she is just a semicolon in his (B.Evans).
Period – (1) a lapse of time;
(2) full stop (US English)
E.g. Art for heart’s sake (R. Goldberg)
Heart – (1) the organ in one’s chest;
(2) soul.

16. Puns based on homonymy

E.g. The Importance of being Earnest (O. Wilde)
Earnest = male name
earnest = seriously-minded
E.g. ‘What trade art thou?’
‘A trade, sir … It is a mender of bad soles’
(Shakespeare)
sole [soul] – the bottom part of a shoe;
soul [soul] – the spiritual part of a person

17. Pun and context

Pun often requires an expanded context to be
realized.
E.g. ‘Bow to the board,’ said Bumble. Oliver
brushed away two or three tears that were
lingering in his eyes; and seeing no board but
the table, fortunately bowed to that (Dickens).
board(1) – a group of officials with
administrative functions;
board (2) – a flat piece of wood.

18. Pun and pretended misunderstanding

• The pun-word is seemingly misunderstood by the
interlocutor and used in its primary meaning.
E.g. ‘Why, you cannot deny that he has good turns
in him’.
‘So has the cockscrew’ (Behan)
E.g. ‘I suppose you are thinking of Ada Fergusson’
‘Hang Ada Fergusson’
‘I think it’s rather drastic punishment’

19. Translating puns

E.g. ‘What gear were you in at the moment of
impact?’
‘Gucci’s sweats and Reeboks’
- На какой передаче Вы были в момент
столкновения?
- «Последние известия»