A Dictionary of Literary Devices Gradus a zCompress

A DICTIONARY OF LITERARY DEVICES
ABC or gradus ad Pamassum [stairway to Parnassus, the seat of

the Muses], for those who might like to learn. The book is not
addressed to those who have arrived at full knowledge of the
subject without knowing the facts.
Ezra Pound, ABC of Reading

Bernard Dupriez
A DICTIONARY
OF LITERARY
DEVICES
GRADUS, A-Z
Translated and adapted by

Albert W. Halsall
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto and Buffalo

www.utppublishing.com
University of Toronto Press 1991
Toronto and Buffalo
Printed in Canada
ISBN 0-8020-2756-3 (cloth)

ISBN 0-8020-6803-0 (paper)
Originally published in French as

Gradus: les precedes litteraires (Dictionnaire)
Union generale d'editions 1984
Printed on acid-free paper
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Dupriez, Bernard, 1933-

A dictionary of literary devices
Translation of: Gradus: les precedes litteraires.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8020-2756-3 (bound) ISBN 0-8020-6803-0 (pbk.)
I. Rhetoric - Dictionaries. 2. Poetics -

Dictionaries. I. Halsall, A.W. (Albert W.).
II. Title.
PN172.D813 1991 808'.003 C91-093568-8

For Mary, Alison, and Colin
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Translator's Preface ix
Extracts from the Original Introduction xv
GRADUS, A-Z 3
Bibliography 479
1 Criticism and Works of Reference 479
2 Literary and Other Non-Critical Works 490
Index 501
Translator's Preface
Rhetoric is the greatest barrier between us and our ancestors. If the

Middle Ages had erred in their devotion to that art, the renascentia, far
from curing, confirmed the error. In rhetoric, more than in anything
else, the continuity of the old European tradition was embodied ...
Nearly all our older poetry was written and read by men to whom the
distinction between poetry and rhetoric, in its modern form, would
have been meaningless. The 'beauties' which they chiefly regarded in
each composition were those which we either dislike or simply do not
notice. This change of taste makes an invisible wall between us and
them. Probably all our literary histories ... are vitiated by our lack of
sympathy on this point. If ever the passion for formal rhetoric returns,
the whole story will have to be rewritten and many judgements may
be reversed.
C.S. Lewis, Literature in the Sixteenth Century
The remarkable resurgence of rhetoric in recent years and the

current application, to texts of all kinds, of literary theories which
derive their methodologies from many modern disciplines, both
scientific and otherwise, mean that modern readers are likely to
meet, in creative as well as in critical texts, terms specific to
literature as a code demanding from its initiates a kind of special-
ized competence most apparent at the terminological level. The
reading contract offered by many modern and postmodern texts
no longer incorporates the old Romantic assumption that reading
provides 'direct' communion with the author, a process affording
privileged insight into the mind of a presiding genius. Many
modern and postmodern texts call attention to their artifices,
having then no need to create other artifices to conceal them. This
fact, though it may imperil the illusion of 'reality' once held to be
essential to critical pleasure, offers readers familiar with the theory
of such devices a different kind of critical enjoyment.
In addition, readers who themselves aspire to become authors

able to address questions more sophisticated than those treated in
ideological or commercial criticism dealing with the evaluation of
texts must express themselves in a modern idiom. (The discussion
of such matters as the desirability of canonizing or purchasing, as
opposed to the necessity of marginalizing or censuring, new texts
occupies the evaluators, modern paradigms for whom might be, on
the one hand, Leavis, and on the other, the reviewer of fiction in
your local newspaper.) While it may still be possible to believe the
old Romantic theory that all literature is no more than disguised
autobiography (the work is the author, and vice versa), other
approaches, both less existential and less gossipy, suggest them-
selves. Whether pursued with methods based upon criteria as
different as semiotic rigour or rhetorical plausibility, the analysis
of texts increasingly requires from its adepts the acquisition of a
species-specific metalanguage at once referential and conventional.
The 'common-sense' application of so-called 'ordinary language'
to the description of texts which prove themselves extraordinary
in every degree, from the refinement of their lexicon and syntax to
their assertion of 'contrary-to-the-fact' states of affairs existing in
worlds possible but not actual, soon reveals its methodological
inadequacy. The structuralists likened this adaptation of a
linguistic tool designed for one specific purpose to another quite
different and frequently altogether inapt, to Ibricolage,' or amateur
'do-it-yourselfship,' and exemplified it with the case of the
amateur handyperson's use of a screwdriver to hammer nails. Such
amateurism explains why some modern readers have been unable
to make the necessary-generic distinctions between the kinds of
reference made by 'literary' texts, as opposed to those made by
journalistic or historiographical texts, to 'reality7 and 'non-reality/
to history and fiction. Notorious examples like the 'Hitler Diaries'
show the folly of misapplying literary criteria like verisimilitude
to narratives defined by quite different generic demands and
expectations.
By drawing the attention of readers to the art or artificiality of
literary texts, the specialized language of ancient, medieval,
classical, and modern (but not Romantic) criticism exposes
common sense as an inappropriate, because simple-minded,
method of comprehending and interpreting verbal structures
which are frequently non-commonsensical, anti-commonsensical,
or even nonsensical. In recent years, the theory of textuality which
x
held (1) that a non-problematic relationship exists between 'the'

world and its representations in possible worlds and (2) that
criticism of texts should employ the 'plain style' of discourse has
yielded to a contrary theory. The belief that text and world are not
concomitant, and that extratextual language and intratextual
language do not necessarily display the same features, has brought
with it the preference for a critical discourse as generically discrete,
cryptic, and encoded as is its creative equivalent. These develop-
ments, which have become progressively apparent to me over a
thirty-year exposure to literary criticism, also led me to translate
and adapt Bernard Dupriez's Gradus: les precedes litteraires.
After hearing him speak at the annual meeting several years ago
of the Canadian Society for the History of Rhetoric and after
having used Gradus both in literary research and in teaching, I
became convinced that its equal did not exist in English. No
similar dictionary of literary terms that I have found provides in
its definitions as much useful information deriving from as many
fields. Linguistics, poetics, semiotics, socio-criticism, rhetoric,
pragmatics, and so on combine in ways which enable readers
quickly to comprehend many of the codes and conventions which
together make up the concept of 'literarity.'
After I had decided to translate Gradus, the question became one
of method. It was obvious from the outset that the examples
illustrating the devices must themselves come in most cases from
modern texts rather than from those produced in the ancient or
medieval periods, or during the Renaissance. In the translation it
would have been easy to repeat examples of techniques, devices,
tropes, figures, and forms which appear in the more than fifty such
dictionaries I have on my shelves. But not only is it depressing to
see, as one follows the definition of a term from dictionary to
handbook, or from literary companion to specialized critical work,
that the same example (frequently borrowed from Quintilian or
Shakespeare, from Boileau or Fontanier) reappears time and again,
but also that it not infrequently reappears (sometimes even in the
same dictionary) as an example illustrating different devices.
Needless to say, I have included what seemed to me the most
relevant among traditional examples in Gradus. Readers will quite
readily supply their own modern equivalents and, should they feel
so inclined, are requested to send them to the translator for
inclusion, with my thanks, in any subsequent editions of this book.
xi
The principal problem involved Professor Dupriez's preference

throughout Gradus for examples deriving from difficult modern
literary works by twentieth-century authors, most frequently
French or French Canadian. By difficult I mean authors who, in the
context of an adaptation into English of French literary devices,
exhibit those for which no close equivalent exists in "canonical'
English texts. Such was the problem, for example, presented by his
predilection for surrealist authors. Surrealism as a "high-culture7
movement produced few English writers. Yet I was reluctant to
abandon a literary approach which offered so many strikingly
paradoxical examples. I began by translating Dupriez's examples
taken from Michaux, Breton, Queneau, Cendrars, and others, and
indeed a considerable number of such translated examples remain
in the text you hold in your hands. However, it soon became clear
that not only was the poetry lost in translation, as Virginia Woolf
warned, but so also was the humour. In fact, I found myself
constantly constrained to "explain the joke/ a process which
usually killed it.
In casting around for equivalents, it was the humorous side of
surrealistic polemic that pointed me in what seems the right
direction. When I asked myself why there did not appear to be an
equivalent in English, I realized that in fact the humour I sought
has occurred constantly in English in such "low culture' modern
forms as post-1960s "satire/ in radio and television popular
comedy, and so on. The kind of outrage caused, for example, in
1920s France by the surrealist addition of a moustache to the Mona
Lisa, or by Marcel Duchamps's exhibition of a urinal as a "ready-
made" art object, recurred in the Anglo-Saxon world in the 1960s,
for instance, when the "Beyond the Fringe" group parodied the
English establishment's proprietary attitudes towards "England's"
victory in the Second World War, and again in the 1970s when the
Monty Python group filmed the life of a mistaken messiah in a
narrative set in the Middle East at the time of Christ. In addition,
such sources quite deliberately exposed the frequently artificial
nature of conventional behaviour - linguistic, logical, or empirical
- in ways both defamiliarizing and ludic. However, such examples
do not form an exclusive category, or produce an anti-canonical
dictionary. A glance at the Index will reveal examples drawn also
from the best-known modern authors.
It remains for me to express my appreciation to those who have
xii
contributed to what for me has proved an enormously enriching

experience. Bernard Dupriez both saved me from committing
egregious errors (the definitions of syllepsis and zeugma are a case
in point) and indicated where he wished to change the original
articles in Gradus, or to add to their number. My colleague at
Carleton University, Genie Zimmerman, frequently discussed
problems in the definition of rhetorical terms and provided me
with a welter of examples from all sources. Among Carleton
students in comparative literature who helped by their efforts as
readers, researchers, checkers, and occasionally as guinea pigs in
linguistic and rhetorical experiments, I would particularly like to
thank Christine Seek. Diane Slimmon corrected (some of) my naive
presuppositions about the teaching of rhetoric, as opposed to
grammar, in Canadian secondary schools, and I adapted (some of)
the definitions accordingly. Greg Schmidt of the Carleton Univer-
sity School of Business provided the invaluable expertise necessary
to the production of the first word-processed version.
I would also like to thank Prudence Tracy of University of
Toronto Press for her belief that a dictionary of rhetorical and
literary terms based on multilingual sources and drawing ex-
amples from both of Canada's official languages should be
published in Canada. To Ken Lewis go my gratitude and admira-
tion for his correction of the texfs many inconsistencies. And to
Gwen Peroni, who input the final version, I am also indebted. My
belief that commonplaces still have a place in modern discourse
permits me to add that none of the above should be taxed with
any remaining errors or infelicities.
On a more practical level: terms marked with an asterisk are the
titles of the main entries in the dictionary; examples have been
quoted from modern editions whenever possible; and publishing
information for quoted works (including critical works cited in the
text by the author's name only) appears in the Bibliography.
Abbreviations
Ex Example
Exx Examples
neol. neologism
OED The Oxford English Dictionary. Compact edition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press 1971, 1987. 3 vols.
xiii
OEDS Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary. Compact

edition.
other def. other definition(s)
Rl, R2,... Remark 1, Remark 2,...
syn. synonym(s)
xiv
Extracts from the
Original Introduction
The following pages contain an alphabetical listing of traditional

literary figures, defined on the basis of a sampling of modern texts
... Due consideration of their overall system ... has led me to
propose some new definitions and also some novel concepts.
[Gradus aims to encourage the personal involvement that readers

achieve with literary texts by increasing their understanding of
rhetorical forms, and by helping them to produce their own
readings.] Having learned to recognize the interplay of literary
forms, readers will perhaps be no longer satisfied either to remain
passively subject to the text's impregnating influence, or to practise
mere classification of texts by attaching to them identifying labels.
Readers may become capable of 'playing' the works over for them-
selves, and of making room for themselves within works. Analysis
and classification of the figures may well help readers to engage
in the creative extension of the self by and through their ex-
perience of literary texts.
Terminology
The two thousand-odd terms listed in the Index belong, neolog-

isms apart, to four socio-historical strata. The most ancient group,
composed of legal and logical terms going back to Corax and
Aristotle, includes: ab absurdo, abjuration, adjuration, antanadasis*,
antanagoge, antiparastasis*, apagoge, apodioxis, etc. The most abun-
dant source is classical philology, extending from the Middle Ages
to modern times, taking its inspiration largely from antiquity. For
example: abruption, acronym*, acrostic*, adynaton*, allegory*, allitera-
tion*, anacoluthon*, anadiplosis*, anagram*, anapest, anaphora*, anta-
XV
Extracts from the Original Introduction
podosis, anticlimax*, etc. The most natural source is everyday lan-

guage, which gives us, for example, accent*, address, allusion*, ambi-
guity*, anecdote, annotation, apology, apostrophe*, archaism*, argument*,
aside, paragraph*, slang*, etc. Some of these terms have acquired a
specifically rhetorical meaning, including, abridgement*, abstraction*,
adjunction*, agreement, alternative*, amplification*, attenuation*, etc.
The most recent contributions derive from modern science, espe-
cially from linguistics and psychology, some of whose concepts
characterize literary devices. The corresponding terms include: ac-
tualization, aggrammatism, allocentric discourse, amalgam, application,
ataxism, autism*, autonymy, paradigmatic/syntagmatic axis, etc.
I have excluded all but a few terms from other languages,
retaining only those that have been Gallicized [or Anglicized 1
(kerygma, leitmotif, oxymoron*, etc.), or that have become current (ad
hominem*, concetti, in petto*, isocolon, hiatus*, etc.), or that quite
simply are useful (bathos*).
In the case of synonyms, I have used the most current term to
designate the main entry, thus preferring, for example, accumula-
tion* to athroism, congeries, synathroesmus, or conglobatio', threat* to
comminatio; and preterition* to paralipsis ... Just as psychoanalysts
have replaced hermaphroditism with intersexuality, I propose to
replace polyptoton with isolexism*, and synchisis with syntactic
scrambling*. When concepts require new names, I have followed
the practice of the ancient rhetors, who named figures by the
current words designating their operation. For example: alluvion,
approximation*, change, concretization*, notation*, permutation*,
syntactic recapitulation*, recovery, restart*, schematization*, and
typographical variation*. I have formed others by processes of
composition, derivation, or analogy: confusion, counter-interruption*,
deportmanteau word, pseudo-language*, and situational* signs.
Ancient terminology retains other attractive features, including
'slightly exotic, odd or magical professional or craftsman's terms,'
as Jean Paulhan writes in Enigmes de Perse. Because of phonetic and
lexical evolution, such terms have been replaced in general use by
synonyms, and the Greek and Latin learned words have, in the
main, become restricted to rhetoric. Litotes* used to mean any kind
of attenuation*. In modern French usage, litotes has come to desig-
nate only the rhetorical device consisting in 'saying less in order
to mean more.' Apocope* and aphaeresis* used to mean any kind of
summary, just as antiphrasis* meant ironical understatement; pro-
lepsis* meant anticipation; and crasis* meant any contraction.
xvi
Semantic evolution has caused the loss of meanings that I have

occasionally recalled: aposiopesis*, epithet, epitrochasmus*, irony*,
metalepsis*, metastasis*, or recrimination*.
In most instances, the name of a figure merely emphasizes one
of its characteristics, a fact that causes certain ambiguities. I have
attempted to disambiguate the following terms: adjunction*, dis-
junction*, and zeugma*; antanaclasis* and diaphora*; antimetathesis*,
antimetabole*, and antimetalepsis; allegory* and personification*; brachy-
logia* and ellipsis*; enallage*, hyperbaton*, and synchisis*; epanalep-
sis*, anadiplosis*, and anaphora*; epiphonema* and epiphrasis*; equi-
voque* and approximation*; incoherence* and non sequitur; bombast,
verbiage*, psittacism*, and verbigeration*; pictogram* and ideogram;
prolepsis* and flash-forward*. In all my decisions, general usage or
the opinion of specialists furnished the predominant criteria. May
I remind readers exasperated by such subtle distinctions that lexi-
cal oppositions may be nullified, every term may be used broadly,
and also that the meaning of every text depends on the decisions
made both by its author and by its readers.
Under the headings actant*, echo* effect, enunciation*, intonation*,
line* (of poetry or verse), narrative*, rhythm*, rhythmic* measures, and
syntagm*, I have described analytical methods covering various
devices, whole galaxies of terms too little known to merit more
detailed treatment. Meanwhile theological terms like blasphemy*,
apocalypse*, and eucharist have been retained for their utility in the
study of religious texts.
The Rhetorical Phenomenon
When the definitions are compared to the rhetorical phenomena

themselves, the natural complexity of the latter seems quite
different from the terminological complexity of the former.
Contrary to what one might think, the most-used figures are those
least recognized by rhetoricians (pauses*, intonations*, rhythms*,
types of sentence*, for instance). The very familiarity of such
figures results in their being taken for granted. As soon as they
become more complicated (reticentia, exclamation*, hypotaxis or
period*, rhythmic or metric verse, irony*, and so on), they begin
to take shape, acquire properties, and so become less common.
That process explains why figures are believed to be forms of
special or 'refined' language.
xvii
In reality, figures abound not only in literature but in everyday

language, as modern advertising demonstrates abundantly.
'Figures' (in Latin, schemata; i.e., "structures') accumulate through
admixture or superimposition even in the shortest textual seg-
ments. The ability to recognize them from their definitions does
not serve only literary analysis. In fact, they constitute a system
immanent in all of culture (metonymy* and metaphor*, for in-
stance, are essential to the semiology of objects); they occur in all
problems of [human] communication, whether the participants use
public or private languages or some other sign system; they pro-
vide the link between the individual unconscious mind, whose
roots are physiological, sunk in the family and social environment,
with its impulses, intentions, and memories, and the sentence ex-
pressed as 'surface-structure/ situated and concrete, a visible ges-
ture leaving a [definite] trace. Figures should not, therefore, be
defined as being different from, or 'modifications' of, 'ordinary
language/ following the all too familiar criterion of stylistic devi-
ation. Such a theory may be useful in stylistics, under certain con-
ditions (see B. Dupriez, L'Etude des styles, pp. 181, 213), but the
problem of establishing a zero variant, one, that is, without its own
specific value, will always remain insoluble, because the rhetorical
phenomenon will be present in the variant itself, since the former
is subjacent to language. According to Saussure, the elements of
style, like those of language, possess only differences, 'without a
positive term.' Figures only modify language accidentally. The
basic ones, which are not only those 'of thought' or those 'of
passion/ as classical authors believed, exist at a level 'deeper' than
the expressive one.
Figures give proper, albeit conventional, form to the often
undiscriminated surge of the self into the world. It is impossible
to speak without figures. When they occur in first- or second-level
articulations (alliteration*, metaplasm*, etc.), the author is playing
on words or meanings. This is rhetoric foregrounded, laid bare,
and is thus of the most visible, but not the most common, kind.
The same process occurs a fortiori in poetics.
Everything is rhetorical that relates to the speech act. Amplifica-
tion* enlarges the text just as a microscope magnifies our view of
muscular tissue. In order to specify the rhetorical phenomenon,
one restricts its field of play to discourse*, as opposed to objective
reality, or even to the subject (see below, subjectal meaning*). The
rhetorical phenomenon occupies the interspace where subject and
xviii
object are joined by language and which is itself forgotten, only

becoming perceptible when displaced, or when functioning
emptily, artificially, or when foregrounded as 'oratorical' (see
below, false -*). The rhetorical phenomenon is neither the self, nor
the world, nor language; but neither self nor world nor language
can exist without it.
The result is that the rhetorical phenomenon is easily ignored.
James Joyce, the greatest modern connoisseur in the theory and
practice of rhetorical forms, seemingly had little more initially than
a schoolboy's exposure to its theory (see The Study of Languages'
in his Critical Essays). Uninformed critics reduce the writer's craft
to a few tricks, to experience, or to 'genius.' However, as P.-M.
Lapointe says: 'Like the musician, the poet must know his craft, in
a very craftsmanlike way, before beginning to write. Craftsman-
ship is the prerequisite.' It is precisely the task of a scientific
poetics to clarify the common and yet complex nature of the craft.
How many ambiguities and, in the final instance, errors in public
meetings and written declarations, in contracts and scientific
papers,, even in conversation, can be put down to mere forms of
speech that no one seems aware of let alone able to avoid? For
example, the character Satan: is he a real being, or an ancient and
durable myth*, or a rhetorical personification* of the idea of evil?
"Rhetorical' does not then signify necessarily a peculiar or
superficial linguistic trick. The rhetorical impulse has its roots deep
in the unconscious. Only pure rhetoric is ridiculous and has a
deservedly bad press. Yeats defined such rhetoric as 'the will
struggling to do the work of the imagination/ Tropes may be
abused, like anything else.
Classification
Alphabetical "disorder' helps the user to establish the key word

sought. But a reader examining a sample text or a set of related
concepts needs some order of classification based on a clarifying
theory ... No figure can occupy infinite space, limited as it is by
each of its neighbours. Public opinion, usage, and tradition may all
support or restore concepts that have become relevant in other
socio-cultural groups. Groups and individuals simplify in their
own ways.
xix
Readers choose their own meanings, or they try to discover how

the text came into being. It may be the result of several complex,
overdetermined creative acts and may embody several coinciding
figures. As for shapelessness and confusion in discourse, they are
figures too and may have been chosen as such. The text-producing
act must have its own mode of expression which, whether the
result of combination, amalgamation, or suppression, is specifiable
because it happened and because its existence is guaranteed by
rereading or rewriting. These existential co-ordinates establish its
place with regard to other signifying systems.
And the definition of the "figure' itself? Let me merely say that
a figure is a syndrome, or set of characteristics - a fact which
explains differences in the definitions* of figures, as well as the
multiplicity of over-elaborate figures and the relative dearth of
basic ones. Ignorance of the mechanics of definition has en-
couraged too much defining. Traditional rhetoric and poetics are
old-fashioned and confused; they define less by reference to
significant classifying units (classemes) and more by reference to
properties, thus sowing confusion by multiplying perspectives.
Neither the proximity between rhetorical devices nor the pos-
sibility of their multiple transformations ever becomes clear. It
would be different if a figure were defined as belonging to a struc-
tured and operational set, the rules of which govern the changes
possible in it at the different levels: narrative, linguistic, composi-
tional, and so on. The sets themselves might be formalized, with
symbols* suggesting abstractly the operations occurring in the
matrices that are controlled intuitively by poets or indeed by any
speaker.
The reason for such complexity is that a characteristic is never
exclusive to the figure it defines. Chiasmus* has one feature in
common with parallelism* (syntactically similar members), another
with inversion* (the reversed order of terms). The same is true of
antimetabole*, which is also a form of repetition*. The characteris-
tics necessary to the definition of figures number about sixty; their
possible combinations reach into the millions. Bernard Lamy was
right in believing that 'the number of figures is infinite.'
XX
GRADUS: A-Z
A
ABBREVIATION A graphic reduction (as in 'etc.' for 'et cetera'). See
Marouzeau.
Exx: Engl. (English), F. (French), Amer. (America[n]), Can. (Canada)
Ex: The narrator of Dickens's Mystery of Edwin Drood remarks (in ch.
11) on the 'mysterious inscription: P.J.T. 1747' over the door of Mr
Grewgious's chambers, and then proposes throughout the ensuing
narrative a number of possible explanations: 'It might mean Perhaps
John Thomas ... Pretty Jolly Too ... Possibly Jabbered Thus/ etc.
Ex: 'My identity as a poor F[rench] Qanadian] condemned me, as a
result of two centuries of [linguistic] delirium, to speak badly, without
taking any pleasure in language' (Hubert Aquin, Trou de memoire, p. 95).
Analogous definition: a set (or sets) of initials, when the abbreviation
has replaced a substantive. Exx: USA, AD, BC, MA, NJ
Rl: Abbreviation is a metaplasm* and should be distinguished from
abridgement*. Abbreviation is graphic reduction to a letter or letters;
abridgement is the reduction in sounds to a syllable.
Allegorical readings of such groups of initials may have a comic
effect. According to David Gersovitz, for instance, the abbreviated
forms of the names of certain airlines give rise to the following satirical
messages: 'L.I.A.T., the Carribean carrier based in Antigua, came to
stand for Leave Island Any Time or Luggage in Another Town. P.A.L, as in
Philippine Airlines, has been known to earn its unauthorized moniker
of Plane Always Late. T.A.P. of Portugal naturally lends itself to Try
Another Plane ...' (Ottawa Citizen, 21 March 1987).
The mark of abbreviation is the abbreviating period, which is not
inserted in French if the word's final letter appears in the abbreviation
itself (e.g., Dr, Mme). Fowler (under 'period in abbreviations') advo-
cates the same procedure in English: 'Abbreviations are puzzling ... and
everything that helps the reader to guess their meaning is a gain. One
such help is to let him know when the first and last letters of the
abbreviation are also those of the full word, which can be done by not
using the period, but writing wt (not wt.) for weight, Bp (not Bp.) for
bishop, Mr (not Mr.) for Mister ...' In fact, both usages frequently occur
in English.
A series of initials may form a new word; see acronym*.
R2: Abbreviation serves a useful function in inscriptions; for example,
R.I.P. on a gravestone, I.N.R.I. on a crucifix. It may also have a euphemis-
tic function: That's B.S., and you know it/ Or in proper names: 'P ...
3
Abridgement
draws a face by joining a profile onto a semi-profile, and the result is

twice as lifelike as the real face' (Henri Michaux, Passages, p. 70; P
stands for Picasso). If complete anonymity is sought, asterisks may be
used: 'la princesse ***' (i.e., la princesse trois etoiles' [three stars]). An
equivalent in English is 'Lady Asterisk/ the (parodic) name of a charac-
ter in Siegfried Sassoon's The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston. For
formal abbreviations, see discourse*, R2.
R3: The OED defines brachygraphy as the 'art or practice of writing with
abbreviations ... shorthand, stenography/ and a brachygrapher as a
shorthand-writer. Ex: at the end of a letter, 'T.T.F.N/ for 'ta-ta for now.'
R4: Another type of abbreviation consists in suppressing vowels (as in
the Semitic languages, where they are optional). Exx: Vncvr, Mtl, Hmltn
(Vancouver, Montreal, Hamilton). Pons proposes (p. 11) that the
corresponding literary procedure be called 'devocalization.' Swift offers
some examples - Pdfr (Podefar), Ppt (Puppet) - as does Joyce:
'Considerable amusement as caused by the favourite Dublin street-
singers L-n-h-n and M-ll-g-n' (Ulysses, pp. 396-7).
R5: Certain abbreviations have been turned into words. One hears
aresveepee for R.S.V.P. Abbreviations do not usually take the plural. See
lexicalization* and oblique* stroke, Rl.
R6: In some French 'New' novels, as in some of Kafka's novels and
stories, the hero is designated by a simple initial. Exx: 'A' in Robbe-
Grillet's La Jalousie, 'K' in Kafka's The Castle.
ABRIDGEMENT In the case of a word, the substitution of a reduced

form for the full one, as in 'metro' for 'metropolitan/ or 'plane' for
'aeroplane.' See OED and Marouzeau.
The device is frequently used in slang and jargon, exemplifying what
Martinet calls the 'law of the least linguistic effort' (Elements de linguis-
ticjue generate, sect. 6-5). Exx: 'just a sec.' for 'just wait a second/ or 'la
prof/ for a female teacher in French school slang.
Literary examples include both cases of specialists' jargon and made-
up forms. Ex:
If only you knew how boring it is
At the Manic
You'd write to me a lot more often
At the Mani ... couagan.
G. Dor, 'La Manic,' a popular song in Quebec. [The Manicouagan
River in Quebec is the construction site of vast hydro-electric dams.]
Ex: 'I g into a bu full of passen' for 'I get into a bus full of passengers'
(R. Queneau, Exercises in Style, p. 79, under 'apocope'). See apocope*.
4
Abstraction
Rl: The absence of an abbreviating period will have been noted in the
above examples; abridgement is an audible, rather than a graphic,
device. This type of metaplasm* is much used in the formation of pet
names; for instance, 'Col' for 'Colin/ 'AH' for 'Alison/ 'Alex' for Alex-
ander' or 'Alexandra/ etc.
R2: Abridgement may be achieved by curtailment of an initial syllable.
Exx: 'Nadette' for 'Bernadette/ Tony' for 'Antony/ In the already cited
case of Alexander, removal of prefix and suffix produces the abridge-
ment 'Lex/ which a Hollywood press agent, presumably, appended to
one of the screen Tarzans, Lex Barker.
R3: A syntagm* may be abridged by the suppression of several words
(e.g., 'Phantom' for 'Phantom of the Opera') or by the creation of a new
form composed of some of the original's surviving elements. Exx:
'Amex' for 'American Express'; 'Boul' Mich' for 'Boulevard Saint-
Michel'; Les Miz for Les Miserables. See acronym*.
R4: Abridgement may be accompanied by gemination*, or doubling of
the initial syllable. Exx: Jon Jon, Mimi, Zsa Zsa.
R5: Abridgement and abbreviation are often confused. Thus, the title of
Thomas Pynchon's novel V. refers to an initial the hero finds in his
dead father's notebook. V. is therefore an abbreviation (hence the
period). Strictly speaking, then, both V and V, would be incorrect in
the title of a novel by Marguerite Duras, Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein.
R6: Abridgement is sometimes demanded for reasons of modesty,
whether ironical or not. Ex: 'He saved the situa. Tight trou. Brilliant
ide' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 221). Asterisks, sometimes followed, or replaced,
by initials (e.g., Tady L***'), are used to conceal proper names. See also
swear-word*, Rl; and ellipsis*, Rl.
ABSTRACTION As a literary device, abstraction consists in replac-

ing an adjective of quality by a substantive, or a verb of action by a
circumlocution*, so as to isolate and draw attention to some abstract
phenomenon.
Ex: 'Bend the binarity of your kneecaps towards the earth' (Lautrea-
mont, Les Chants de Maldoror, 5.6).
Ex [concerning a collar and waistcoat/vest]: 'two articles of clothing
superfluous in the costume of mature males and inelastic to alterations
of mass by expansion' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 583).
Other meaning(s): See riddle*, R2; amalgam*; lexematic inversion*, R2.
Rl: Abstraction may be a form of verbal flamboyance. Ex: 'Conver-
sation-aids' was the expression for armchairs in the parlance of French
5
Abstraction
seventeenth-century 'precieuses,' or blue stockings. Maupassant speaks

ironically about the type of metonymy* which substitutes one of the
qualities possessed by an object for the object itself, a type which the
Goncourt brothers employed frequently: 'Those who nowadays fabri-
cate imagery without taking enough care concerning abstract terms,
who have rain or hail falling on the cleanliness of windows' (P-ierre et
Jean, preface).
R2: Abstraction is frequently synecdochic. Exx: 'Her Majesty'; 'Canada
beat Russia at hockey'; 'One might treat the linguistic structure of the
declarative sentence as a microcosm of power relations in a capitalist
society' (M. Davidson, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Book, p. 149); 'Belpo went
straight to his favourite distillations [of grain; i.e., whiskies]' (U. Eco,
Foucault's Pendulum, p. 79).
R3: In nominal syntagms*, abstraction is achieved by reversing the
functions of adjective and substantive. The adjective becomes the first
lexeme by taking the form of its corresponding abstract noun, and the
substantive becomes the defining complement. Thus 'the binarity of
your kneecaps' replaces 'your two knees,' and 'the cleanliness of
windows,' 'the clean windows.'
R4: Abstraction achieved by substituting for an object one of its quali-
ties is a kind of emphasis* (see emphasis, Rl) and is fairly characteristic
of so-called 'feminine' style. Ex: 'She was thin ... She had dressed this
thinness in a black dress with a double sheath of tulle, also black, and
very low-cut' (Marguerite Duras, Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein, p. 14).
But abstractions also abound in scholarly writing, particularly in the
social sciences: The problem of order, and thus of the nature of the
integration of stable systems of social interaction, that is, of social
structure, thus focuses on the integration of the motivation of actors
with the normative cultural standards which integrate the action
system, in our context interpersonally' (Talcott Parsons, The Social
System, quoted in Lanham, 1974, pp. 71-2).
R5: Mathematical language concretizes abstractions: the statement
'multiplication is commutative' is written 'a x b = b x a.' And in
literature, 'scenic description' supplies concrete examples of abstract
notions. The following extract demonstrates the reasons for 'neurotic-
ism': 'Mafia his wife was in on the bed playing with Fang the cat. At
the moment she was naked and dangling an inflatable brassiere before
the frustrated claws of Fang who was Siamese, gray and neurotic'
(Thomas Pynchon, V., p. 111).
R6: The ability to spot ideas or values underlying actions (or serving as
pretexts for them) is another kind of abstraction: ideology. Ex: 'I'm ready
to give my life for an ideal! - Come on! Come on lads! Smash that
6
Accent
youth's face in! - Gather round me, the young ones! Defend me!
Hearing this appeal, several among them felt Youth battling with
Strength. There followed an exchange of blows' (W. Gombrowicz,
Ferdydurke, p. 39).
In The Great War and Modern Memory Paul Fussell lists a series of
abstractions used by British propagandists to hide the existential
horrors: 'The enemy is the host ... the draft-notice is the summons - to
enlist is to join the colours ... the army as a whole is the legion' (p. 22).
R7: Abstraction invites personification*.
ACCENT A phoneme or group of phonemes is articulated with

additional force (or is prolonged, or the timbre is changed). See K.L.
Pike, The Intonation of American English; Z.S. Harris, Structural Linguis-
tics, chapter 6; Crystal, 1971, pp. 33-5; Ducrot and Todorov; and
Grammont, Traite de phon&ique, pp. 15,18.
One of the differences between the British and North American
accents is the position of the stress in a syntagm*. In adjectival phrases
having the form article + adjective + noun, British speakers still tend to
stress the noun, North Americans the preceding adjective. Compare
'the Lost Boys' (Brit.) and 'the Lost Boys' (N. Amer.).
In French, the final, or tonic, accent is normally lengthened and
placed on the last syllable pronounced (see Leon, p. 58). Other accents,
known as 'emphasizing accents' (accents d'insistance in French) and
characterized by increased resonance, may add stress to the end of a
sentence (see exclamation*), or of a syntagm, and may be combined
with the normal accent, or be extended over several syllables. Ex:
'JEANNE (in a clear, triumphant voice): Et quand Jeanne au mois de Maz
monte sur son cheval de bataille, il faudrait qu'il soit bien malin celui
qui empecherait toute la France de partzV (P. Claudel, Jeanne d''Arc au
bucher, in Theatre, 2:1238).
Clearly English metre, with its long and short syllables, permits the
same phenomena more routinely (obliques [/] mark primary stresses;
dots [•] secondary stresses; dashes [-] indicate unstressed syllables):
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That sends the frozen-eround-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
-
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
Robert Frost, Mending Wall'
Affective accents* and antithetical accents*, which are optional, are
peculiar because they stress the beginning of a word. Epitrochasmus*
exploits the phonetic accent of a word.
7
Accent (Affective)
Other definitions: 1. A tone expressing feelings (a pathetic, oratorical,

haughty, bitter, ironic, etc. accent). This definition is concerned with the
rhythmic or melodic qualities of sentences, rather than simply with
accent (see punctuation*).
2. Vocal inflexions peculiar to the inhabitants of a particular region (a
standard English, American, or English-Canadian accent, a Parisian or
a Quebecois accent). This usage defines collective speech habits. See
mistake*, R2, and phonemic lengthening*, Rl.
3. A graphic sign which, in French, is placed over a vowel to indicate
its quality (an acute accent, i; a grave accent, e) or its timbre and length
(a circumflex accent, £); a mute vowel, mute e, for instance, has no
accent. The proposal made by a group of French schoolteachers in 1989
to suppress the circumflex accent drew this response from the Man-
chester Guardian Weekly (10 Sept. 1989, p. 12): '[Suppression of the
circumflex accent] would be a severe blow for every schoolchild facing
examinations. Generations of children in Britain, struggling with
intractable texts to be rendered into English, have been rescued by the
sudden glorious sighting of a circumflex and the remembrance that
where it now stands there once stood the letter "s." Thus hater, which
might have suggested enmity, is suddenly revealed as "to hasten," foret
emerges as "forest," while for those who had harboured doubts there
is no further mystery about the meaning of batard.'
ACCENT (AFFECTIVE) This is broadly synonymous with the

emphasizing accent, or indeed even with the emotional, pathetic, or
oratorical accent (see Marouzeau and Quillet). See accent*.
However, unlike the antithetical accent*, the term affective accent has
acquired a more restricted meaning. It is an 'accent expressing intensity
... which emphasizes words indicating values ... Such words, pro-
nounced in exasperation, acquire an extra accent on the first consonant'
(Morier, under affectif). Morier gives the following example: 'C'est
inconceivable.' In English, one might say, for instance, "That's too
much, no way,' etc.
Rl: The affective accent, which is peculiar because it emphasizes a conso-
nant, deserves a more distinctive name. Nor does it necessarily express
exasperation. Ex: The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain' (G.B.
Shaw, A. Lerner, and F. Loewe, My Fair Lady). It may be asserted that, in
all cases, such accentuation of consonants invigorates the words thus
pronounced. Why not then be more specific and call it an 'energetic'
accent? The expression 'affective accent' covers too many different kinds
of stress, whose nuances are difficult to specify using an external crite-
rion. The pathetic accent may refer to feigned sentiment; the oratorical
accent to a 'sublime' tone of voice or delivery; the emotional accent to
some confusion experienced by the speaker; the expressive accent to
stylistic colour; the over-emphatic accent to an excess of stress, and so on.
8
Accumulation
ACCENT (ANTITHETICAL) Some accents stress the beginning of

a word, both in French and in English. Ex: 'I go now from a corruptible
to an incorruptible crown' (Alec Guinness as Charles I in the film
Cromwell, 1970). Dauzat and Marouzeau ('Accent affectif et intellectuel/
in Le Frangais moderne [March-April 1934], pp. 123-6) discovered one
placed on the first consonant (see affective accent*) and another on the
first vowel. They claim the latter is an accent which gives 'intellectual
emphasis.' Morier is more precise when he speaks of an antithetical
accent: 'an accent stressing the first vowel of a word, which is em-
phasized in order to contrast it with its opposite, or to make an intel-
lectual distinction ... e.g., "We preferred not to speak of his attentions,
but rather of his intentions towards us"' (Morier, under antithetique).
Compare the modern English 'unbelievable' or 'incredible.'
Rl: Garde (U Accent, p. 45) confirms the placing of the two accents in
French and offers the following example: 'C'est abominable! C'est
terrible! [affective emphasis]. Ce n'est pas abominable, ce n'est pas
terrible, c'est normal [intellectual emphasis].' See also P. Lieberman,
Intonation, Perception and Language.
R2: Logical emphasis necessarily stresses units of meaning, whether a
morpheme or a word. Ex (suffixes):
SARA TURING: [He's working on] ... iodine.
ALAN TURING: lodates.
Hugh Whitemore, Breaking the Code, act 1
But the intermediate syllables do not carry the accent in 'I didn't say
Monfebello, but Monteverdi' because the unit of meaning in this case is
the whole word. Nor would we say, 'Cincinnati' or 'Vancouver.'
Marouzeau and Morier quite rightly state that the first term in an
opposition (the one denied) may remain implicit. Ex: "That's perfectly
amoral.'
R3: In spoken language, the antithetical accent is the sign of the state-
ment made in an assertion. Ex: 'TTiz's is the way, not that way.' It's also
aesthetically important (see assonance*, R2).
ACCUMULATION (L. 'heaping up') A combination of terms or

syntagms similar in nature or function, or of those having the same
final sound.
Exx: 'and there is ever heard a trampling, cackling, roaring, lowing,
bleating, bellowing, rumbling, grunting, champing, chewing, of sheep
and pigs and heavyhooved kine' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 242); 'I gained a real
impression, too, of the vast organism that is an army: all those separate
units which allow the whole to function - ordnance, transport, cloth-
ing, feeding, animals, signals, engineering, roadbuilding, policing,
9
Accumulation
communications, health and sanitation ...' (William Boyd, The New

Confessions, p. 114).
Synonyms: accumulatio; amplification* (Lanham, Preminger); 'congeries'
(Quinn); synathroesmus; systrophe; conglobatio (a leaping up of
descriptions of a thing without defining it' [Lanham, p. 98]); amas ('a
heap' [Paulhan, Enigmes de Perse, p. 74]); athroisme (Quillet, Lausberg);
synathroisme (Littre, Lausberg); conglobation (Fontanier, p. 363). It should
be noted, however, that Littre, Morier, and Quillet restrict the latter
term's use to the piling up of proofs in forensic oratory.
Rl: Accumulation may be used as a facile means of amplification:
Oh yes, I remember him well, the boy you are searching for:
he looked like most boys, no better, brighter, or more respectful:
he cribbed, mitched, spilt ink, rattled his desk and
garbled his lessons with the worst of them/-
he could smudge, hedge, smirk, wriggle, wince,
whimper, blarney, badger, blush, deceive, be
devious, stammer, improvise, assume
offended dignity or righteous indignation as though to the manner
born.
Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 50
R2: Accumulation and enumeration* are not always clearly distin-
guishable the one from the other. Both may be long, baroque (see
baroquism*), disorderly (see verbigeration*, R3), or arranged so as to
form a climax or anticlimax* (see gradatio*). But accumulation may be
the less logical of the two; it switches between different viewpoints and
is able to continue seemingly ad infinitum, whereas enumeration does
have a purpose in view, even if the enumerated elements are contradic-
tory. Lanham quotes the following poem as an example of enumeration
which divides the 'subject into adjuncts, cause into effects, antecedent
into consequents':
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saint. I love thee with the breath,
10
Accumulation
Smiles, tears of all my life - and if God choose,

I shall love thee better after death.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 43
Once all possibilities are envisaged, the series enumerated ends. Some
series, even seemingly complete ones, remain necessarily open and are
therefore accumulations. Ex: 'Oh! but he was a tight-fisted hand at the
grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping,
clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no
steel ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained as an
oyster' (Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 'Stave one').
Ex (the following is an accumulation of paradoxes):
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go,
To right the unrightable wrong,
To love pure and chaste from afar,
To try when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star
Dale Wasserman, The Quest,' in Man of La Mancha (1965),
a musical play based on Cervantes's Don Quixote
R3: When the terms heaped together are not of the same nature, the
accumulation is confused. Spitzer calls it 'chaotic, close to verbiage*.'
Ex: What syllabus of intellectual pursuits was simultaneously possible?
Snapshot photography, comparative study of religions, folklore relative
to various amatory and superstitious practices, contemplation of the
celestial constellations ... ' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 587). This may turn into
verbigeration*.
R4: Accumulations of adjectives have been said to characterize 'epithet-
ical style' (Lausberg). Ex: 'and red green yellow brown russet sweet big
bitter ripe pomellated apples' (Joyce, Ulysses, pp. 379-80). If they are
heaped together in disorder, they may be said to form a confused
medley of qualifiers. See also epitheton*, and for examples of
accumulations of lexemes, see synonymy*, Rl.
R5: The accumulation of qualifiers slows the presentation of informa-
tion (see suspension*, R3, and parastasis*). Conversely, the accumula-
tion of proper names or short sentences seems to speed it up. Ex: We
spent a week idling about Devon in weather that had suddenly turned
chill. East Budleigh, Hayes Barton, over to Compton (the castle most
picturesque), off to Plymouth, across to Exeter ... Small inns, roaring
fires, cold coaches, long and colder walks, and the shire's justly famous
11
Accusation
cream. That to me made up our week' (L.B. Greenwood, Sherlock

Holmes and the Case of the Raleigh Legacy, p. 131).
Ex:
Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words,
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
Shakespeare, Henry V, 5.3.41-5
R6: See epitrochasmus* for the accumulation of short words; see title*
(conferring of), R4, for accumulation of titles. For accumulation of
personifying verbs, see personification*, R2; for accumulation of ques-
tions, see question*, R2.
ACCUSATION To represent someone as being guilty of a crime.

Ex: "Henry Flower. No fixed abode. Unlawfully watching and beset-
ting' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 372).
Rl: In an insinuation, the accusation is conveyed indirectly, or hinted
at obliquely. For accusatory arguments, see antiparastasis*, R5. For
disguised accusations, see question*, R3.
R2: An accusation of intent is one based, not on fact, but on a more or
less gratuitous attribution of criminal, or evil, intentions to one's
adversary. For instance, a simple request draws from an individual the
reply that not only is she or he too busy to comply at the moment, but
the aggressive retort "You're determined not to allow me a moment's
peace, aren't you.'
ACRONYM A group of abbreviatory initials, more or less lexicalized,

or treated phonetically and semantically as a word. Lexicalization* is
more pronounced if the acronym is written as a word (e.g., NATO). If its
individual letters are separated by periods, it remains closer to simple
abbreviation (e.g., N.A.T.O.).
Acronyms are pronounced as if they were new words, a process
called 'integrated pronunciation' (e.g., 'Unesco,' 'flak' [from Fliegerab-
zvehrkanone, 'anti-aircraft cannon']), or by considering each letter sepa-
rately, in 'disjunctive pronunciation' (e.g., U.S.A.). In the second case,
called 'alphabetism' by Crystal (1987, p. 90), it is possible to transcribe
the pronunciation literally. Exx: TeeVeeOh' for TV Ontario; 'Ashel-
lemm' for Habitation] a L[oyer] M[odere] ('subsidized housing, council
house').
Another type of acronymic formation stems from the reduction of
12
Acronym
words to their first syllables. Exx: 'Benelux' for the group of countries
formed by Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg; Telbec' for
Compagnie de Telecommunication du Quebec.
The invention of original acronyms may constitute a literary device.
Ex: 'Le Syndicat des empecheurs de rire en rond a 1'Opera,' referred to
in a footnote to page 185 of Rejean Ducharme's La Fille de Christophe
Colomb as SDEDRERALO (the 'union for the prevention of laughter at the
idiocies of opera-plots'; i.e., UPLIOP in English).
Analogous term: siglum. The abuse of sigla is popularly called
'Alphabet Soup' and was parodied by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore:
COOK: R.B. was an M.O. in the RJM.V.R. ... I saw old T.D. in the Y.M.C.A.
MOORE: I thought he was with T.W.A. in L.A.
COOK: No, he's with B.E.A. in S.W.3. D.G. is a V.I.P. in the U.S.A. T.D. is a
Q.C with the D.T.'s. I'm with LCI. ... doing sweet RA. Well, I'm off for
a P. in the W.C
'Initials/ in Not Only But Also [TV program, 1965]
Rl: Acronyms provide one of the sources used to form proper names
(see denomination*, R2). The newly formed lexeme may engender a
lexical series (see J. Dubois, Etude sur la derivation suffixale en frangais
moderne et contemporain, p. 75). Original derivatives are then derived in
their turn by the use of the same device. Exx: 'NDPers,' Tequistes/
members, respectively, of the New Democratic Party and of the P[arti]
OJuebecois].
R2: The use of acronyms may become a literary* game based on the
possibility of readings texts in several ways. The game itself may also
become a literary device. Ex: 'We call it [the house] D.B.C. because they
have damn bad cakes' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 204).
R3: False acronyms may be encountered that are in reality allographs*
('variants of a grapheme' [Crystal, 1987, p. 194]), in which the graph-
emes are read phonetically. Ex: FMRFIJ; that is, when read aloud,
'ephemere effigie' ('ephemeral effigy') (Robert Desnos, Corps et biens,
p. 6).
R4: Graphic artists convert sigla into symbols*, in which case, since
they evoke more directly the object referred to, they become icons.
When, as in trademarks, they evoke certain qualities, they are emblems.
The Jaguar emblem of the motor car presumably suggests, rather than
frequent and expensive thirst, the qualities of speed and grace with
which its makers would prefer that one associate it.
R5: For the typographical problem which arises when acronyms occur
at the end of a line of typing or printing, see typographical caesura*.
13
Acrostic
ACROSTIC A poem whose subject, or the author's name, or that of

the dedicatee may be read in the word formed by the initial letters of
each line. As Brother William explains to Adso: The text of the verse
doesn't count, it's the initial letters that count. Each room is marked by
a letter of the alphabet, and all together they make up some text that
we must discover!' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 218).
Ex: 'Acrosticountry,' a poem by the contemporary Canadian poet
Stephen Scobie, presents a 'panorama of the chief cities of Canada
together with the associations evoked by these cities in the poet's mind'
(my thanks to Professor Ludwig Deringer of the Catholic University of
Eichstatt for pointing out this example):
Virgin In Character
Tries On Regal Insignia:
Admirable.
Vicarious Anxiety,
Neurotic Concern: Out
Under Vancouver's Endless Rain.
Sweet And Sexy Kisses.
And Truly Original
Olfactory Nuances.
Slagheaps' Ubiquitous Debris
Buried Under Rubble
Yecch.
Too Old? Right On,
Mchol. Too Old.
'My Own Nation' Trudeau.
'Reject Everything Anglais'
Levesque.
The medieval French poet Franqois Villon signs several of his ballads
by placing the letters of his name at the beginning of the lines in the
final verse, or 'envoi.' Ex:
Voulez-vous que verte vous dise?
R n'est jouer qu'en maladie
Lettre vraye que tragedie
Lasche homme que chevalereux
Orrible son que melodic
Ne bien conseil qu'amoureux
(Very well, I'll speak truthfully.
In sickness alone is gaiety.
Look for truth in plays and tragedy.
14
Actant
Lordly knights will show cowardice.

O music gives discord, horribly -
Now only a lover gives good advice!)
Villon, 'Ballade des contre verites/ trans. Beram Saklatvala as
'A Ballad of Paradoxes/ in Complete Poems of Francois Villon, p. 161
Forms of double acrostic exist which make words by combining the
initial letters (acrostic), or middle (mesostich), or final letters (telestich).
Ex (quoted by Espy, The Game of Words, p. 27):
Unite and untie are the same - so say yoU
Not in wedlock, I ween, has the unity beeN
In the drama of marriage, each wandering gouT
To a new face would fly - all except you and I
Each seeking to alter the spell in their scenE.
The unknown author has here combined an acrostic with a telestich.
The opening letters of the lines form UNITE) the closing letters, UNTIE.
Rl: Acrostics belong to the realm of cryptography*. See literary* games.
R2: As Eco demonstrates, acrostics may serve as plot-devices in mys-
tery stories: The system of words was eccentric ... It was purely a
mnemonic device to allow the librarian to find a given work. To say of
a book that it was found in "quarta Acaciae" meant that it was in the
fourth room counting from the one in which the initial A appeared,
and then, to identify it, presumably the librarian knew by heart the
route, circular or straight, that he would follow, as ACAIA was dis-
tributed over four rooms arranged in a square' (U. Eco, The Name of the
Rose, p. 320).
ACTANT A function of plot-development sometimes or 'usually'

played by a 'character/ depending on one's theoretical bias.
Etienne Souriau (in Les Deux cent mille situations dramatiques) desig-
nated six functions and described them as follows: the force orientee (Fo)
or 'directed power/ the bien souhaite' (Bs) or 'object of desire/ the
obtenteur souhait^ (Os) or 'desired obtainer/ the opposant (Op) or
'antagonist/ the arbitre de la situation (Ar), the 'arbiter' or 'referee/ and
the adjuvant (Ad) or 'helper.' Vladimir Propp, who studied the 'mor-
phology of the folk-tale' from the same point of view, differentiates
seven types of characters: the hero, the princess or person desired, the
aggressor or villain, the donor or provider of magical devices, the
'dispatcher' who sends the hero forth on his adventures, the helper,
and the false hero. A.J. Greimas (Semantique structurale, pp. 176-80)
stretches these notions to cover more abstract entities and suggests the
following concordance between his and the earlier systems, taking as
his example the 'classical philosopher':
15
Ad Hominem (Argument)
ACTANTIAL PARADIGMS
SOURIAU PROPP GREIMAS EXAMPLE
Fo hero subject philosopher
Bs princess (desired) object the world
Ar dispatcher dispatcher/donor God
Os receiver/beneficiary humanity
Op aggressor/false hero opposer matter
Ad helper helper the Mind
These paradigms should be applied flexibly to specific works, and
excessive claims should not be made for the system. A character may
serve a function which distinguishes him or her from all others in the
same text, or the same character may assume several functions. The
paradigms need to be re-allocated at times. Thus, in Montherlant's
theatre, for example, it is possible to reduce the number of characters
to four; the reduction reveals dramatic constants evolving in a way
which parallels the author's affective situation (see B. Dupriez, 'Les
Structures et 1'inconscient dans le theatre de Montherlant/ Protee, no. 6,
pp. 47-64). Actantial analysis needs to free itself from the complications
of plot and will be clearer if it recognizes the relevance to plot-analysis
of point of view or focalization. See narrative*.
Rl: Actantial analysis may also be practised, not only in accordance
with some general plot dialectic, but by means of a rigorous delinea-
tion of specific plots, as Claude Bremond proposed in Logique du recit.
Such an analysis begins with characters who are considered in detail as
they participate in each event in the action, and even in the three
stages essential to the event itself: (1) potentiality; (2) realization; and
(3) outcome. Characters are classified as either agents or victims; as
either influencers, helpers, or protectors or those whose function is to
degrade or frustrate; and as either acquiring merit or earning retribu-
tion. According to Philippe Hamon (Le Personnel du roman, 1983), even
realistic descriptions transform actors into actants, and so constitute
actantial indices. Many devices used by those who favour this
approach remain undefined. See communication*, other def., 2.
R2: Actants may be reversed; see flip-flop*, R3, and antimetabole*, R3.
AD HOMINEM (Argument) An argument that is valid only against

one's current adversary, either because it is founded on one of his
logical errors, inconsequential arguments, or concessions, or because it
is aimed at a particular detail of his individual nature or system of
beliefs. See Lanham, A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms; and Lalande, Voca-
bulaire technique et critique de la philosophie.
Ex: Churchill's reputed denigration of Attlee: 'He was a modest man,
with much to be modest about.'
16
Adjunction
Ex: 'Forever! ah my Lord, think of yourself / How terribly cruel that

word is to someone in love' (Racine, Berenice, 4.5).
Alternative definition: 'An argument which contrasts current opinion
of a man with his prior actions or words' (Littre, in Tre"sor de la langue
franqaise). This is a very specific meaning which likens the device to
retortion* or retaliation, and is frequently used in politics to contrast
pre-election promises with post-election realities.
Rl: The ad hominem argument is an attack. When it is used to hide the
absence of valid arguments by impugning the person instead of seek-
ing to refute that person's ideas, it is pure 'rhetoric' and, as such,
fallacious. However, the combination of an attack on the morals, for
instance, of a candidate for office, together with the casting of doubt on
the candidate's trustworthiness produces the kind of a fortiori argument
that, in 1987, ended the presidential aspirations of Gary Hart (if
'immoral,' then all the more politically 'untrustworthy'). Ad personam
might be used to designate the corresponding positive or 'friendly'
argument. Ex: 'You, as a lover of Chopin, should know that...,' etc.
R2: In order to avoid a charge of sexism* in argumentation, one should
logically envisage the necessity of adding a parallel term, the ad
feminam argument, to describe one used against a female adversary.
ADJUNCTION A kind of ellipsis* by which a word used in one part

of a sentence is not repeated in the contiguous one. The elliptical
proposition is added to a sentence which is already syntactically com-
plete; hence the name, 'adjunction.'
Ex: 'His eyes are brown, his hair blond.'
Ex: 'The pack will be going into a curve when suddenly two cars, three
cars, four cars tangle ... Laurence Mendelsohn had a vision of an
automobile sport that would be all crashes. Not two cars, not three
cars, not four cars, but 100 cars would be out in an arena doing noth-
ing but smashing each other into shrapnel' (Tom Wolfe, The Kandy-
Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, p. 33). See also zeugma*.
Rl: Fontanier contrasts adjunction and ellipsis*, in the latter of which
the omitted words are not found in a contiguous clause. But he also
contrasts it to zeugma* (see Les Figures du discours, p. 336), unlike
Lanham, Preminger, Fabri (2:156), Littre, and Robert. The distinction he
proposes is that adjunction must occur (as in the first sentence quoted
from Wolfe) before the full proposition has been asserted, so that the
whole sentence forms one and the same complex proposition.
This distinction seems unnecessary, given that, without the adjunc-
tion, the sentence would be complete anyway (see disjunction*, R3).
17
Adynaton
Adjunction may occur at the beginning (protozeugma), in the middle

(mesozeugma), or at the end of a sentence (hypozeugma).
R2: Nowadays adjunction is a mode of syntactic development, espe-
cially in spoken language. Indeed, it's the simplest way to connect two
adjacent assertions (see assertion*, R5). Ex: 'A shell ... Boom ... which
hits the bridge. The principal arch buckles, disintegrates ... digs a hole
in the roadway, an enormous pit ... a crater into which everything
around topples ...' (L.-F. Celine, Guignols Band, p. 17). Adjunction is
possible even when the sentence seems to be already complete. Ex:
'[He] would build a house there. In the winter an igloo' (Yves Theri-
ault, Agaguk, p. 10).
R3: If the adjunctive element does not serve the same function as the
stated one, there is semi-adjunction, which is frequent in parataxis*. Ex:
'I arrived, I made inquiries, I left.' Any syntactic unit separated at the
end of a sentence may be placed in semi-adjunction by means of spe-
cially reinforced punctuation. Ex: 'Brought by force into the intimacy of
this barricaded house. In the middle of winter. At the side of the road,
between Sainte-Anne and Kamouraska. On the night of January 31'
(Anne Hebert, Kamouraska, p. 210). If the final separated syntagm is in-
troduced by a conjunction, a comma will suffice. Ex: Tou will have a
fine dowry, and a rich legacy' (Raymond Queneau, Pierrot man ami, p. 95).
R4: Usage decides which elements are elided. In the following quota-
tion, Gide creates an unusual example of adjunction by repeating if:
'Oh! if time could only turn back to its beginning! and if the past come
back!' (Les Nourritures terrestres, in Romans, p. 245).
R5: Adjunction leads to hyperbaton* (see hyperbaton, R2) and para-
taxis* (see parataxis, R2).
ADYNATON Hyperbole involving magnification of an event by

reference to the impossible. See Lanham, Lausberg, and Preminger.
Exx: Td walk a million miles for one of your smiles' (Al Jolson, My
Mammy'); '... Through caverns measureless to man' (Coleridge, 'Kubla
Khan')
Ex (a publicist's example): 'This gravy makes bricks digestible.'
Analogous terms: fatrasie ('dealing with impossible or ridiculous
accomplishments' [Preminger]); cock-and-bull story
Rl: If it uses the fantastic to extend the possibilities of the real world,
adynaton is pure rhetoric. Ex:
Had we but world enough, and time
18
Agnominatio
... I would
Love you ten years before the Flood:
And you should if you choose refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress'
Ex: "The air was so damp that fish could have come in through the
doors and swum out the windows, floating through the atmosphere in
the rooms' (G. Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude, p. 292).
In such comparisons, the second term may be anything provided it is
sufficiently fantastic: 'Djeky is as elusive as the wind, as fire, or as
space itself (Geste de Djeky in Kesteloot, ed., L'Epopte traditionnelle,
p. 45). The question of isotopic coherence becomes more acute when
the same text claims that 'Djeky ... swallowed the ocean and spat it out
again.' The question need not be settled in the same way as in the case
of fatrasie, which seems nearer to verbigeration*. What Morier calls 'im-
possible' fatrasie were French medieval verse forms ('usually of eleven
lines/ according to Cuddon) founded on incoherent or impossible
statements. Ex: 'I saw an eel - Fixing her daughter's hair - On top of a
steeple' (an old song, which the Dictionnaire du surrealisme classifies
under 'possible'). Some trace of these forms survives in the comptine or
French children's sing-song rhyme. One function of the comptine is to
designate, by the counting-out of its syllables, who is either to leave the
game or to be 'it' and chase after the other participants. Exx (in Eng-
lish): 'Eeny, meeny, miney, mo'; ' O U T spells OUT, and so are you,' etc.
Adynaton, when used by surrealist writers, combines the fantastic
with the rhetorical. Ex: 'One day our friendship will have become so
substantial that, simply by looking at me, it will be able, like a razor, to
carve furrows in my flesh' (Rejean Ducharme, L'Oceantume, p. 116). It
thus retains one meaning, whereas surrealistic dissociation* serves
rather to deconstruct the mental structures to which it refers.
Alan Bennett used adynaton in a parody* of the doctrine of numeri-
cal attrition which served as a criterion for the judgment of success and
failure in the so-called 'Great' War: '[Teacher dictating to class]: "If the
ten million dead of the 1914-18 War were to march in column of fours
through the Gates of Death, it would take eighty days and eighty
nights for the column to pass through ... In the light of this informa-
tion, I want you to calculate (1) the width of the Gates of Death to the
nearest centimetre, and (2) the speed in m.p.h. at which the column
was marching" ' (Forty Years On, 1968, act 1).
AGNOMINATIO (alt. sp. adnominatio) Remotivation* of a proper

name through etymology*, metanalysis*, or translation*. In other
words, a proper name, instead of retaining a purely conventional
relationship with its referent, receives the meaning of the common
19
Agnominatio
noun it expresses (Smith becomes the smith who shoes horses), or of its
constitutive elements (Smithson becomes 'the smith's son'), or of ele-
ments that can be read into it through simple homophony with words
of the same language or other languages. See OED, Littre, and Ducrot
and Todorov.
Exx: 'And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church' (Matt. 16:18); 'MEPHISTOPHELES: Ah how evil is
the Evil One!' (P. Valery, Man Faust, in Oeuvres, 2:346).
Other definitions: 1. Scaliger, Marouzeau, and Lausberg make
agnominatio a synonym of paronomasia*.
2. The OED points out the same relationship and to this partial iden-
tification adds that agnominatio is also a form of alliteration*. Lanham
suggests that agnominatio may involve play on the sound of words
while paronomasia involves play on their sense.
3. As a first meaning for agnominatio, Morier gives the 'evocation of a
proper name (which is not pronounced) by means of other words simi-
lar in sound' (see allusion*, R5). In a poem from Henri de Regnier's
Vestigia Flammae (p. 109) which begins 'O Romeo,' Morier claims that the
expression 'eau muette' suggests Juliette' to an obsessed Romeo or to a
reader whose mind is predisposed to complete the 'allusion' to the play.
Rl: In his definition, Littre does not distinguish agnominatio clearly from
proper denomination* when the former is motivated by a common
noun. So he would include among examples of agnominatio 'Lieutenant
Letourdi' (Thoughtless') and 'Madame Vabontrain' ('Speedy') which
indeed are very close to it because they play on two meanings of name
and noun. (They do so, however, in a way opposite to the one we have
defined: they go from common noun to proper name. Thus there is
motivation, rather than remotivation*, of an existing proper name.)
R2: The context uses the second meaning in various ways, negatively
for instance: 'DORINE: This Mr. Loyal seems very disloyal' (Moliere,
Tartuffe, 5.4).
R3: Agnominatio is a form of word-play* often used in familiar lan-
guage. Ex: Madame Maura ne m'aura pas' ('will not get me'). How-
ever, Etienne Souriau reminds us (Revue d'esthetique, 1965, p. 28) that 'in
French, jokes made by playing upon proper names are likely to be as ill
received as are "personal remarks" in English/ Ex: 'Paul de Kock. Nice
name he' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 221). Joyce changes names and titles for
reasons of irony*: 'The delegation, present in full force, consisted of
Commendatore Bacibaci Beninobenone ... Monsieur Pierrepaul Petite-
patant, the Grandjoker Vladinmire Pokethankertscheff ... Hiram Y.
Bomboost ... Ali Baba Baksheesh' (ibid., p. 252). In this example equi-
voque* reinforces word-play*.
20
Allegory
ALLEGORY A literary image in which the relationship between

vehicle and tenor applies not globally, as in simile* or metaphor*, but
element by element, with accompanying personification*. See Cuddon,
Frye, Girard, Lanham, Littre, Morier, Preminger, Robert, and Lausberg.
Ex: 'Reverie ... a magical young girl, unpredictable, tender, enigmatic,
provocative, from whom I never seek an explanation of her escapades'
(Andre Breton, Farouche & quatre feuilles, p. 13).
In the following example, the narrator reveals the allegorical nature of
his characters in a final scene of anagnorisis or recognition: 'After that
it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising
the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters. It did not seem
strange to learn that the pigs had bought themselves a wireless set
[and] were arranging to install a telephone ... Napoleon himself
appear[ed] in a black coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings'
(George Orwell, Animal Farm, pp. 114-15).
Synonyms: 'extended metaphor/ 'metaphore filee.' See apocalypse*.
Rl: Allegory differs from other imagery because of the number of
elements compared. It embodies the distinction which separates, albeit
in briefer form, simile and metaphor. There exist allegories in which
the tenor is clearly separated from the vehicle by 'like' or some other
sign of analogy (see comparison*, R2), and others in which the two
commingle.
R2: As in metaphor* (see metaphor, Rl), the tenor may be suppressed.
That, for Fontanier, was indeed the precondition of allegory as such
(see Les Figures du discours, p. 114). He claims that when tenor and
vehicle mingle, the result is allegorism. This is not a trivial remark since
allegorism would be defined, in that case, as partial, or semi-allegory.
(We recommend the use, in French, of the term metaphore fiUe ['running
metaphor'] to describe such cases.)
Does this mean that allegory should necessarily be enigmatic, or
'undecidable' in deconstructionist terms? Allegory may of course be
so (see riddle*, Rl), but normally the context indicates the tenor. Such
is the case in all the examples cited by Fontanier. When, for instance,
in his Art po&ique, Boileau declares, 'I prefer a stream to a raging
torrent/ he is speaking about authors, and therefore obviously about
their style.
Fontanier gives greatest importance to the coherence possessed by
terms forming the vehicle; any incoherencies lessen the impact of the
allegory. Nowadays we seem to prefer a shift in meaning from tenor to
vehicle. Ex: Tou have a clear conception of the people of God. A great
flock - good sheep and bad sheep - kept in order by mastiffs - the
warriors, or the temporal power - the Emperor, and the overlords,
21
Allegory
under the guidance of the shepherds, the clerics, the interpreters of the
divine word' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 200).
R3: Allegory is often defined as personification* (see Morier, first
meaning; Lausberg, second meaning) since the latter figure usually
involves several metaphors (see metaphor, R4). An image's anthropo-
morphic aspect is clearest in an allegory which, through personifica-
tion, dramatizes and renders its tenor in visual terms. (See the last
example quoted.) Personified allegory may be brief, but care must be
taken to avoid figuration made inadvertently ridiculous by excess. Ex:
'Go, and may love serve as your mahout, sweet elephant of my
thoughts' (Tristan Dereme, La Verdure dorle, p. 1).
R4: Every trope involving detailed comparison is not an allegory. Ex:
'He really has a musical flair, thought Dancourt. He treats every
meeting symphonically. The theme is announced, developed in major
and minor, pulled about, teased, chased up and down dark alleys, and
then, when we are getting tired of it, he whips us up into a lively finale
and with a few crashing chords brings us to a vote' (Robertson Davies,
The Lyre of Orpheus, p. 2). The substitution of 'dark alleys' and 'crashing
chords/ concrete terms for abstract ones, seems simply to produce
metonymy*.
One concrete term sometimes replaces another: 'the flock of tactile
sensations grazes in the limitless fields of skin' (M. Leiris, Aurora, p.
20). In the following example, a concrete phenomenon is allegorized in
abstract terms: 'NOTES ON THE DAWN OF DAY. Here is the most recent
edition of day's oldest text: the verb SUN develops its conjugations of
colours; it comments upon all the varied propositions of light and
shade which make up the discourse of time and place' (P. Valery,
Oeuvres, 2:859).
Changes of point of view and of vocabulary also occur: The first
operation in medical history, which had Adam for patient, was an
intercostal incision. One post-operative complication took the form of a
ravishing young woman' (L.-M. Tard, Si vous saisissez I'astuce, p. 11). In
his Exercises in Style, Raymond Queneau tells the same story in ninety-
nine different ways by borrowing the idioms specific to such widely
differing disciplines as philosophy, botany, medicine, gastronomy,
zoology, mathematics, and so on.
One might call detailed or 'allegory-like' metonymy 'application,'
thus borrowing a name from Cartesian mathematics. One semantic set
is in fact compared to another when one points to elements common to
both. See Angus Fletcher, Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode (1964)
and Philippe Dubois, 'La Metaphore filee,' in Le Frangais moderne, July
1975.
R5: As a form of allegory, application may be co-extensive with a
whole work. Exx: J. Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress; J. Swift, Gulliver's
22
Alliteration
Travels; G. Orwell, Animal Farm; R. de Obaldia, Le Tamerlan des coeurs;

H. Aquin, Prochain Episode.
R6: For the differences between allegory and apologue*, see the latter,
Rl; see also diatyposis*, Rl, and riddle*. Allegory is a feature of the
'sublime' or 'high style' of expression (see grandiloquence*, Rl).
ALLITERATION Multiple repetitions of an identical sound. See

Cuddon, Fontanier, Lanham, Lausberg, Marouzeau, and Preminger.
Exx (initial consonant): 'cool, calm and collected'; 'sing a song of six-
pence'; Villainous violinist.' Also alliterative is the title of Benjamin
Britten's Simple Symphony, as are those of its four movements: bois-
terous bourre'e, playful pizzicato, sentimental saraband, frolicsome finale.
Ex: 'Pour qui sont ces serpents qui sifflent sur vos tetes?' (Tor whom
do you bring those serpents hissing upon your heads?') (Jean Racine,
Andromacjue, 5.5, trans. George Dillon, in Three Plays of Racine, p. 58).
Ex (assonance, or alliterated vowels): /Warm-l«zd grave of a womb-life
grey; / Manger, maiden's knee ...' (G.M. Hopkins, The Wreck of the
Deutschland/ 1.7).
Synonyms: paromoeon (Lanham); paragrammatism (Littre); parachresis
(Fontanier); 'rebound' ('successive repetitions of the same vowel within
a word' [Morier]; e.g., lugubrious, horror, nepenthe)
Rl: Alliteration is not necessarily the reproduction of a sound for
allusive purposes, as is the case in the famous Racinian example
involving snakes. It may also make a text reverberant or narcotic, as in
the following example: The moan of doves in immemorial elms / And
murmuring of innumerable bees' (Tennyson, The Princess/ 11.202-3).
Alliteration may also create a comic effect, as the following example
involving initial consonants shows:
To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black block.
W.S. Gilbert, The Mikado (1885), act 1
R2: The last example quoted exhibits the device called 'head-rhyme' by
some critics, who name the repetition of vowels 'assonance.' Such
consonantal repetition emphasizes the utterance's affective accent* and,
as Morier remarks, extends the meaning of assonance at the expense of
alliteration.
R3: Alliteration's notoriety means that it is used in a very broad way to
designate all figures of sonority except rhyme (see musication*, Rl;
23
Allograph
echo* effect, Rl; imitative harmony*, Rl; paronomasia*, R2; tautogram*,

R2). Both Valery and Morier speak of intrasonance (to distinguish the
device from multisonance or variety in the sounds used).
ALLOGRAPH (neol.) A text transcribed into another set of words.

Homophones replace the original words; the process seems to change
the meaning of the phrase or sentence.
Exx: 'Eureka! You doan smella so good yourself (Chico Marx, quoted
by Redfern, p 12); 'La rue meurt de la mer. He faite en corps noirs' [for
'La rumeur de la mer. II fait encore noir'] (J. Cocteau, Optra, p. 41).
The homophones involved may be taken from another language, a
process which creates bilingual examples. See Luis d'Antin van
Rooten's Mots d'Heures: Gausses, Rames (1967) and Ormonde de Kay's
N'Heures Souris Rames (1980). Among their allographic English 'nursery
rhymes' are such pastiches of early 'French' poems as: 'Georgie Port-
regie, peu digne en paille, [Georgy Porgy, pudding and pie,] / Qui se
degeule sans mais. Dame craille. [Kissed the girls and made them cry.]
/ Ou haine de bouees ce qu'aime a tout pile [When the boys came out
to play] / Georgie Port-regie regne. Ohe [Georgy Porgy ran away]' (O.
de Kay, N'Heures Souris Rames, p. 1).
Rl: To 'spot' the allograph, the receiver must submit the sound chain
to metanalysis*, as in the case of a charade or rebus (a pictographic
allograph):
HILL
JOHN = John Underbill, Andover, Mass
MASS
Grambs, p. 86
R2: Allographs are apt to be allusive. Ex: 'la des-mots-cratie' puns on
free speech, a feature of the regime in question.
R3: Alphabetical allographs transcribe the original in an abridged form.
Ex: 'Et LN? LR' (for 'Et Helene? Elle erre [errs]') (Queneau). See acro-
nym*.
ALLUSION A reference, by means of an evocative utterance, to

something implied but not stated. See Abrams, Belisle, Cuddon, Fon-
tanier, Littre, Robert, Preminger, and Z. Ben-Porat, 'The Poetics of
Literary Allusion,' PTL 1 (1976), pp. 105-28.
Ex: 'Sliding for home: a play in nine innings' (Frank Moore, 1987).
Ex: 'The same resonance of spirit has been caught so evocatively in
Canada's unofficial national anthem, Quebec folksinger Gilles Vig-
neault's Mon pays, c'est I'hiver1 (P.C. Newman, Company of Adventurers,
p. 5).
24
Allusion
Ex: In Quebec, the Canadian parlour game Trivial Pursuit' is called

'Quelques arpents de pieges' (literally 'a few acres of traps'). The
allusion is, of course, to Voltaire's dismissive reference to Canada as
being merely 'quelques arpents de neige' (Candide, ch. 23).
Ex: "The mistress of the house had to lock everything up - the
"tantalus" [security-frame for the decanters], the cellar, etc.' (Robert
Hughes, The Fatal Shore, p. 347).
Analogous expressions: tacit, implicit, or indirect reference, usually
brief in nature
Rl: Allusion, like tropes, which it resembles in this respect, is a devia-
tion of meaning, but one which involves a sentence or its equivalent
(rather than a single word). Allusions may therefore be:
- metaphorical. Ex: 'To Carthage then I came / Burning' (T.S. Eliot, The
Waste Land). The reference to Saint Augustine's Confessions echoes the
opening of book 3, which recounts Augustine's unspiritual youth.
- metonymic. Ex: There it is [in the clandestine areas of human activity]
that surge into view those great spiritual lighthouses, similar in shape
to less innocent signs' (L. Aragon, Le Paysan de Paris, p. 143). The
abstract expression less innocent' suggests the more concrete, phallic
referent alluded to. See also metalepsis*.
- synecdochic. Ex: 'the sun's temperature being that of its disintegrating
atoms' (M. Duras, Hiroshima mon amour, 1959).
- allegorical. Ex: 'Argive Helen, the wooden mare of Troy in whom a
score of heroes slept' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 165). Here the allusion is
historical or mythological, in which there is agreement between original
and secondary models on several points. In the following use of the
same allusion taken from a computer manual, however, the reference is
uni-functional: 'A Trojan horse is a program that claims to do some
nifty task but instead pulls some nasty trick on you, like deleting every
file on a disk, corrupting the file allocation table, or reformatting the
disk' (Don Berliner, Managing Your Hard Disk, p. 541).
- catachretic. Ex: 'A mouth well made to hide / Another mouth' (P.
Eluard, 'La Halte des heures,' in Oeuvres completes, 1:731). To hide' for
'to kiss' because there are no other possible meanings.
Allusion also has recourse occasionally to syllepsis*, in which two
possible meanings exist at the same time. So the village story-teller
laughs at Tartarin by speaking of his gun 'qui ne partait pas/ which
means both that it didn't 'go off and that its owner never left his
village, despite his often reiterated boast that he would go hunting in
Africa (A. Daudet, Tartarin de Tarascon, ch. 2).
R2: According to their content, allusions may be historical, mythologi-
cal, literary, political, comminatory, erotic, or private. Ex (a literary
25
Alternative
allusion): 'I wore a baggy old woman's dress ... and a straggly grey
wig. I must have looked like one of the witches in Macbeth' (Robertson
Da vies, The Rebel Angels, p. 287). The erotic allusion seems to be the
easiest to decode since it can be achieved by mere lexical erasure*. Exx:
'He thinks of only one thing'; 'Everyone knows she likes it very much';
'Are you getting enough!' See also euphemism*.
Other semantic contents remain available: all that is necessary for
allusion is the presumption that the decoder will understand. Percep-
tion of the allusion remains fairly subjective, however. Some receivers
see allusion everywhere, others nowhere. So allusion is a most useful
device for the clandestine communication of ideas. Ex: Gilles Vig-
neault's song Tvlon pays, ce n'est pas un pays, c'est 1'hiver' CMy
country is not a country, it is winter'). Is this only an antithesis*
emphasizing that meteorological conditions serve as the relevant
definitional characteristic of Quebec? That was not the first view taken
by the Canadian government, which began by banning the song for its
subversive allusion to Quebec separatism.
So allusion may be hidden or transparent. Peter Hutchinson quotes,
for example, an allusion made in Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles: 'Alec
d'Urberville whistles a line of "Take, O take these lips away," but,
suggests the narrator, "the allusion was lost upon Tess." The narrator
may be suggesting that Tess is simply ignorant of the source: the song
sung by the Boy to Mariana in act IV of Measure for Measure1 (Games
Authors Play, p. 58).
R3: Allusion needs to be distinguished from implication*.
R4: Evocation, a narrative veiled by the discourse* (see discourse, Rl)
which includes it, is a kind of allusion, as is metalepsis*.
R5: Some allusions involve only sounds. See agnominatio*, other def.;
counter-pleonasm*, R4 and R5; alliteration*; echo* effect, R3; and
tautogram*, R2. Others involve only graphic forms (see graphy*, Rl,
and allograph*, R2). If disseminated throughout a text, allusion be-
comes a kind of anagram*.
R6: Allusion favours periphrasis* and has a role in the definition of
puns* (see pun, Rl). It may increase concision (see epitheton*, R3). It
may cause amusement (see wit*, Rl), supply the vehicle for threats*
(see threat, Rl), serve to prolong sarcasm* (see sarcasm, R2), or make a
silence more pregnant (see interruption*).
ALTERNATIVE The speaker asks the listener or reader to choose

between two mutually exclusive possibilities.
Exx: Tour money or your life'; It's one of two things, either x, or y.'
26
Alternative
Ex:
Maid of Athens, ere we part,
Give, oh give me back my heart!
Or, since that has left my breast,
Keep it now, and take the rest!
Byron, 'Maid of Athens'
Rl: The non-exclusiveness of the two terms produces the false alterna-
tive form (and/or), which means that the choice itself is of little impor-
tance. Ex: 1 will perform x and/or y.' This conjunctive disjunction
brought the following blast from Fowler: The ugly device of writing x
and/or y to save the trouble of writing x or y or both of them is common
and convenient in some kinds of official, legal, and business docu-
ments, but should not be allowed outside them' (Modern English Usage,
p. 29). Modern usage has not respected his preference. See also oxy-
moric* sentences, Rl.
R2: Strictly speaking, the alternative is a kind of argument. The OED
defines alternative as a 'proposition containing two statements, the
acceptance of one of which involves the rejection of the other' and
illustrates this definition with the following example: "The brief, simple
alternative of Mahomet, death or the Koran' (H. Rogers, Ed. Faith,
1853, p. 422). The most rigorous form of alternative is the discursive
dilemma in each of the inescapable hypotheses of which the consequen-
ces are identical. Miriam Joseph explains (p. 363) and illustrates the
dilemma and its rebuttal as follows:
In its full form the dilemma consists of a compound hypothetical
proposition as the major premise, a disjunctive proposition as the
minor, and a simple or a disjunctive proposition as the conclusion ...
E.g.: Euathlus gave some money in hand to his rhetorical doctor
Protagoras, and promised to pay the rest when Euathlus should win
the first cause he pleaded. Protagoras, when he later sued Euathlus for
his money, said, if Euathlus overcomes me, then by his bargain and
by its composition he must pay me the money; if he loses, then by
course of law. Not so, responded Euathlus, if I lose, then according
to the terms of my promise, you get nothing; if I win, then the
judgement will discharge me from paying the debt.
Ex: 'JEAN VALJEAN: If I speak, I am condemned, / If I stay silent, I am
damned' (V. Hugo, Les Miserables, musical version, lyrics by Herbert
Kretzmer [1985]).
The dilemma is not always formally marked as such. Ex: 'We always
die too soon, or too late' (J.-P. Sartre, Huis-dos, p. 89). Or, in other
words, the absurd event has no 'right' moment. The dilemma's refuta-
tion consists in the demonstration of its inadequacy to cover all even-
27
Amalgam (Syntagmatic)
tualities. When faced with it, we acknowledge its inevitability by

refusing all other possibilities in favour of one of those posited.
R3: The alternative may be offered to the reader. In fact, Todorov (The
Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre) sees the reader's
hesitation between alternative interpretations as being the principal
characteristic of fantastic narrative. Henry James's story 'The Turn of
the Screw' offers an obvious example of the device: readers' hesitation
cannot be resolved either by opting for a psychological explanation of
'supernatural' events or by accepting their supernatural nature (see
Christine Brooke-Rose, A Rhetoric of the Unreal, pp. 128-229). See also
double* reading and attenuation*, Rl.
AMALGAM (SYNTAGMATIC) The expression of several syn-

tagms*, or indeed several assertions*, in a single phonetic word. The
transcription of this phenomenon depends on graphic elision and
juxtaposition.
Ex: 'Abyssinia.' for Til be seeing you.'
Ex: A conversation in French-Canadian joual between two (anonymous)
fishermen: '- Lodjo. - Lopol. - Mansava? - Pommal. - Kostapri? -
Coupparchaudes. - Sorddapa? - Menepitoue?' This phonetic transcrip-
tion becomes in a standard graphic representation: '- Hello, Joe. -
Hello, Leopold. - Comment qa va? - Pas mal. - Qu'est-ce que tu as
pris? - Un couple de perchaudes [Canadian perch]. - Quelle sorte
d'appat [bait]? - Des menes [fry]. Et puis toi?'
In English, the word-game 'Knock, knock' invites the creation of
syntagmatic amalgams:
Knock, knock. Who's there?
Sarah. Sarah who?
Sarah a doctor in the house.
Knock, knock. Who's there?
Howard. Howard who?
Howard you like a punch on the nose?
AMBIGUITY Only prior knowledge of the context saves many

utterances from ambiguity. We can distinguish Empson's 'seven types'
of deliberate ambiguity (see, for instance, diaphora*, antanaclasis*,
approximation*, equivoque*, spoonerism*, syllepsis*) from involuntary
types (see cacemphaton*, amphibol[og]y*); also those deriving from
metanalysis* (see cacemphaton*, equivoque*, diaphora*, etc.); from
ambiguities fostered by 'indefinite' grammatical morphemes or poly-
valent constructions (see amphibol[og]y*, squint*, and negation*, Rl
and R2); those exploiting polysemic words (e.g., diaphora* and
28
Ambiguity
antanaclasis*) or idiomatic syntagms; those deriving from what semio-

ticians call 'double' isotopy* (i.e., from two coincident but colliding
universes of discourse); and, finally, ambiguities present in the idea
expressed.
1. Ambiguities arising from polysemic words. This type is more
frequent than is generally believed, although it is most often perceived
by someone who deliberately takes things the 'wrong' way or who
pretends not to be familiar with the isotopy* or with the subject under
discussion. Ex: In one of his conversations with Ophelia, Hamlet feigns
madness by deliberately confusing the conventions regulating social
intercourse with the sexual connotations which he virtually accuses her
of reading into his first question:
HAMLET: Shall I lie in your lap?
OPHELIA: No, my lord.
HAM.: I mean, my head upon your lap?
OPH.: Aye, my lord.
HAM.: Do you think I meant country matters?
OPH.: I think nothing, my lord.
HAM.: That's a fair thought to lie between maids' legs.
Shakespeare, Hamlet, 3.2.119-26
Ambiguities which are unconscious or naive connote the speaker.
Malapropisms, for instance, such as 'He is the very pineapple of
politeness' or 'as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile,'
besides denoting a kind of solecism, remind the competent reader or
listener of their first utterer, Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan's The Rivals. See
also: 1 feel like Joan of Arc with the Dolphin' (G. Vidal, Duluth, p. 122).
Ambiguities may also be used as the basis for sarcastic remarks:
'Leurs poitrines reluiront des crachats que meritent leurs visages' ('On
their chests will gleam gobs/gongs which should be on their faces') (L.
Tailhade, Imbeciles ..., p. 222). By antiphrasis*, crachat (spit or saliva) has
acquired the secondary meaning of 'medals'; the reference to the
word's etymology makes for an easy pun*. See remotivation*, Rl.
2. Ambiguities deriving from polysemic syntagms. Ex: 'No news is
good news.' A syntagm is said to be idiomatic when it acquires a
specific meaning which is more or less independent of that inhering in
its constitutive elements. The latter may, in that case, promote a secon-
dary meaning; hence the ambiguity. Exx: Both British and American
English have several euphemistic idioms to refer to death: 'kick the
bucket' (Brit.); 'cash in one's chips' (Amer.). A French example: 'Nos
hommes d'Etat ont tout pour eux. (C'est pourquoi, d'ailleurs, il ne reste
rien pour les autres)' (Henri Rochefort, La Lanterne, no. 1). Here, the
syntagm's 'first' meaning, 'Our politicians have everything going for
them/ is accompanied by a second, viz. that they hold all the available
29
Ambiguity
advantages. This then makes possible the ironic consequence, which

'explains' why no one else has any advantages at all. See also
antanaclasis*, R2.
Sometimes the idiomatic meaning is secondary. Ex (on a photo-
grapher's display window): 'Ici, on vous fera de beaux enfants' (Jean-
Charles, Les Perks du facteur, p. 71). 'We'll make your children look
handsome' replaces "We'll help you to beget fine children.' This ex-
ample borders on syllepsis*.
3. Ambiguities produced by inadequately defined lexemes. The
ambiguity may arise from the utterance's global meaning: no answer is
found to the questions posed by its main theme. So, in Paul Valery's
Man Faust, for example, when Lust rereads what Faust dictated to her,
she remains unsure about the meaning of the words 'What if my wife's
conduct is normal' (P. Valery, Oeuvres, 2:283). This is because Faust did
not indicate the meaning attached in the specific context to the concept
of 'normality' or 'custom/ The lexeme's meaning therefore remained
ill-defined.
The Proverbs of Solomon skilfully exploit the possible ambiguity of the
following verses: 'Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise
in his own conceit' (26.4-5). The phrase 'according to his folly' makes
the two pieces of advice appear contrary to one another, whereas they
are in fact identical: (1) 'Don't answer a fool foolishly, or you risk
resembling him'; (2) 'Answer the fool by calling attention to his folly,
so that he doesn't imagine that he is wise.' A receiver tries to complete
such utterances by suggesting what their meaning 'might' be, and
supporting these hypotheses with anything known about the speaker.
Ex: 'Once again, doctor, I take the liberty of making a moral and a
physical appeal to you' (Jean-Charles, Les Perles du facteur, p. 82). The
lady expressing herself thus has no ulterior motive.
Rl: Ambiguity caused by ignorance of the relevant isotopy* is rarer but
remains possible for texts lacking a context. Ex: 'Conjunction is not
adjunction.' Was this said by a grammarian, a logician, a mathe-
matician, a biologist ...? In each case the syntagm would have a mean-
ing specific to the discipline. Ex: Major purge strengthens Gorbachev.'
Only knowledge of the context enables readers to decide whether the
Soviet leader's physical or political 'health' is involved.
R2: Ambiguity is sometimes deliberately chosen as a rhetorical device,
so as to promote 'agreement' by positing already existent unanimity
among users of the code:
In today's atmosphere of open records and ready lawsuits, a Lehigh
University professor has come up with a system of doublespeak to
pan job applicants without risk. Under the system, dubbed LIAR or
Lexicon of Inconspicuously Ambiguous Recommendations by
30
Amphibol(og)y
economics professor Robert Thornton, managers and teachers can

hide behind ambiguity when asked to write recommendation letters
... [For example]: To describe a lacklustre employee, he said, a
manager would write: In my opinion, you will be very fortunate to
get this person to work for you.' To describe a candidate who is
woefully inept, he recommends saying: 'I most enthusiastically
recommend this candidate with no qualifications whatsoever.' To
describe a candidate who is so unproductive the position would be
better left unfilled: 1 can assure you that no person would be better
for the job.' To describe a candidate who is not worth further con-
sideration: 'I would urge you to waste no time in making this
candidate an offer of employment/
Any of the statements might be taken as praise, Mr. Thornton said
... 'Whether perceived correctly or not by the candidate, the phrases
are virtually litigation-proof/ he said, noting that court rulings have
opened up employment records to workers. (Extract from a United
Press release, 1987)
R3: Semi-ambiguity exists when the expression lacks clarity, not in
meaning, but in syntactic point of view. The noun complement, with of,
easily becomes ambiguous, for example, because the second noun may
just as well be the subject as the object of the first noun's action. In the
phrase 'the criticism of Frye/ the genitive is said to be subjective if Frye
is doing the criticizing, objective if he is being criticized. In the expres-
sion 'Attila, the scourge of God/ 'scourge' may be understood as a
natural cataclysm. The Romans, however, took the word in its literal
sense as designating an implement for separating the wheat from the
chaff, and thus as a means of punishing Christians who lived like
pagans. See meaning*, 5.
AMPHIBOL(OG)Y (The figure is written both as 'amphiboly' and as

'amphibology.') Ambiguity deriving from grammar, morphology, or
syntax. See Frye, Fowler, Lanham, Lausberg, and Littre.
Ex [a lady telegraphs her husband]: 'Missed the train. Will leave
tomorrow, same time.' The husband's response: 'Well then, you'll miss
it again' (Jean-Charles, Les Perles du facteur, p. 65).
Indefinite parts of speech can never be too precise. Ex: 'the French
teachers' strike' - either the strike of French-speaking teachers or of
teachers of French. Here's an extract from a letter addressed to Social
Security: J'ai ete malade au lit avec le docteur pendant une semaine'
(Jean-Charles, Les Perles du facteur, p. 199). Equivalent ambiguity would
result in English from the use of the preposition under. 'Dangling'
participles produce syntactic ambiguity because they may apply to any
mentioned referent. George Puttenham, the Renaissance poetician,
discussed amphibol(og)y as follows: ' "I sat by my lady soundly
31
Amplification
sleeping / My mistress lay by me bitterly weeping." No man can tell

by this, whether the mistress or the man, slept or wept: these doubtful
speeches were used much in the old times ... by the Oracles of Delphos
... and in effect all our old British and Saxon prophesies be of the same
sort' (quoted by Joseph, p. 301). An obvious example, from Macbeth,
concerns the prophecy affirming Macbeth's unique vulnerability to an
adversary 'not of woman born' (5.5.42).
The syntactic arrangement of sentences may also create ambiguity.
Ex [on a sign near a small village school]: 'Attention! School! Don't run
over the children. Wait for the teacher' (Jean-Charles, Les Perles du
facteur, p. 71).
Rl: Amphibol(og)y is a defect, but like all types of ambiguity* it has its
uses, either as a source of evocative effect (it demonstrates a character's
verbal and mental incompetence) or of word-play*, which makes it
similar to semantic syllepsis*. Ex: 'Posters mean business/ In A Mid-
summer Night's Dream (5.1.10), Quince, by his clumsy syntax, makes of
his prologue a captatio malevolentiae, rather than the opposite which he
intended:
If we offend, it is with our good will,
...
We do not come, as minding to content you,

Our true intent is. All for your delight,
We are not here. That you should here repent you,
The actors are at hand: and by their show,
You shall know all, that you are like to know.
R2: Usually, such errors are easily corrected, as Quince's auditors
comment sarcastically: This fellow doth not stand upon points ... he
knows not the stop ... a sound, but not in government ... His speech
was like a tangled chain nothing impaired, but all disordered.' Cor-
rection consists here in syntactical rearrangement, as the comments
imply.
R3: See also dissociation*, R9.
AMPLIFICATION The grandiloquent development of ideas so as to

make them more richly ornamented, broader in scope, or more forceful.
Ex: To rejoice, to be joyful, to be filled with joy, to feel one's heart
burst, spill over with joy. Oh how joyous, how tender to prefer such
internal, undisciplined joy to a life ordered by an external, unchanging
necessity ...' See accumulation*, Rl. Roget's Thesaurus of English Words
and Phrases clearly has particular value for the amplification of ideas.
Synonyms: expansion, extension
32
Anachronism
Antonyms: precis, contraction, summary

Other definitions: Classical rhetoricians applied the term to the treat-
ment of the whole discourse. Amplification to them implied the art of
finding the best arguments and of exploiting them in accordance with a
logical and persuasive plan*, preferably based on their mounting
intensity. Such a process of reasoning* demanded description, com-
parison, examples, a discussion of motives, pathetic elements, reminis-
cences, quotations elicited from prominent citizens or from poets,
explanation, and justification. In short, discursive amplification would
employ an accumulation* of arguments, of facts, or of sentences or
synonyms. Ex: 'CICERO: It is a sin to bind a Roman citizen, a crime to
scourge him, little short of the most unnatural murder to put him to
death; what then shall I call his crucifixion?' (quoted by Quintilian,
Institutes of Oratory, 8.4.4.). When such oratorical amplification is felt to
go 'too' far, it is judged 'overstated,' 'pathetic/ 'superfluous,' 'verbose,'
'diffuse,' 'mere speechifying,' in short the 'empty rhetoric' of which we
conventionally accuse those with whom we disagree. See verbiage* and
grandiloquence*.
Rl: Amplification may serve to emphasize; it may take the form of
concretization* (see concretization, Rl), of example (see reasoning*, R2),
of enumeration*, gradatio*, paraphrase*, apologue*, apostrophe*, or
cliche*. See also rhythm* (of the action).
R2: The opposite of amplification is condensation (OED; Greimas,
Semantic/tie structurale, p. 74), by means of which the speaker strives to
say everything in a few words (see recapitulation*), or even in a single
term (denomination*).
R3: Allied to amplification is the refusal, whether for reasons deriving
from the constraints imposed by versification or for rhetorical effect, to
use pronouns as a means of avoiding the repetition of a lexeme:
Upon the king! let us our lives, our souls,
Our debts, our careful wives,
Our children and our sins lay on the king.
Shakespeare, Henry v, 5.4.2-4
Occasionally, too, out of a taste for fine-sounding Christian names:
'Catherine tried at once to leave Michel so that no one should see them
together. Michel tried to stop Catherine' (A. Hebert, Les Chambres de
bois, p. 28).
ANACHRONISM A mistake* in dating.

The mistake may be read as either accidental (the clock in Julius
Caesar) or deliberate as in the following example: 'As Napoleon and
33
Anacoluthon
Beryl flee the burning city in his carriage, two crazed Russian priests -
could one of them be Rasputin? - attack the carriage with flaming
torches' (Gore Vidal, Duluth, pp. 253^1). Cuddon contends (p. 35) that
Shakespeare's clock is 'used deliberately to distance and to underline a
universal verisimilitude and timelessness/ much as do versions of the
plays in modern dress. Such hermeneutical decisions are best left to the
individual reader. In Robertson Davies's What's Bred in the Bone, the
anachronistic representation of a monkey in a 'medieval' painting
serves as a plot-device enabling the hero to demonstrate his com-
petence as authenticator and art historian.
Rl: Genette has shown that in Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu
spatial and thematic parallels contrary to the chronological order of
events incline the narrative towards a-temporality or a-chrony (see
Narrative Discourse, ch. 1).
This also happens in surrealistic rhetoric. Ex: TVIy nose bleeds
as much as did Holofernes' head when Napoleon cut it off (Rejean
Ducharme, L'Oce'antume, p. 146). In this example, we have a substitu-
tion* of Napoleon for Judith rather than an anachronism. We may
therefore define achrony as one of the factors used to produce a per-
spective which ignores temporality. The Dictionnaire des media also
proposes the term uchrony for temporality which goes beyond the usual
chronological frame of reference (notably in science fiction).
R2: One literary genre which may seem somewhat obsolescent is the
dialogue of the illustrious dead. This consists in a dramatization (see
hypotyposis*) of conversations between personages from the past; such
conversations are represented as taking place in our present and in that
mythic place where all the dead 'meet' each other. Because of their
structuring anachronistic device, such dialogues may bring together, for
instance, the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, and Stalin. They may
just as well be termed parachronic, or achronic, since by placing them
outside time, their authors confer upon them a certain abstract quality.
This enables them to use the dialogues as vehicles for the judgments
they plan to make more or less explicitly on the characters introduced
or upon their authors' own times. (The American TV interviewer Steve
Allen recently hosted a version of such dramatized dialogues between
the illustrious dead on American Public TV called 'Meeting of Minds,'
and Patrick Watson 'interviewed' various Canadian historical per-
sonages on the CBC TV program 'For the Record.')
R3: See dissociation*, R2.
ANACOLUTHON A breakdown in the syntactic construction of a

sentence. See Cuddon, Fowler, Marouzeau, Preminger, and Robert.
Exx: 'Leaving for the office, Smith's car would not start'; 'Or what man
34
Anacoluthon
is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?'
(Matt. 7:9).
Other definitions: 1. Fowler (p. 393) speaks of nominativus pendens, 'a
form of anacoluthon in which a sentence is begun with what appears
to be the subject, but before the verb is reached something else is
substituted in word or in thought, and the supposed subject is left in
the air ... Cf., in Shakespeare, "They who brought me in my master's
hate, I live to look upon their tragedy" (Richard in, 3.2.57).'
2. Lausberg (p. 459) defines anacoluthon as imbalance or asymmetry,
rather than as incoherence* or breakdown in sentence-structure.
Viewed rhetorically, anacoluthon occurs in a period* or complete
sentence when a single part of either protasis or apodosis is missing.
(Strictly speaking, these latter terms, in English at least, designate
respectively the clause expressing the condition and the main clause of
a conditional sentence; see OED. However, modern linguists also use
them in a more general way to designate subordinate and main clauses
of sentences.)
Rl: Lausberg's definition makes anacoluthon a figure of style rather
than a (sometimes expressive) stylistic weakness. As an error in style it
is not always obvious. Ex: 'He couldn't go, how could he?' Anacolu-
thon is only frequent in spoken language. A speaker begins a sentence
in a way implying a certain logical resolution and then ends it dif-
ferently. A writer would begin the sentence again, unless its function
were to illustrate confusion of mind or spontaneity of reporting. Both
functions are characteristic of interior monologue, and to the extent
that Molly Bloom's monologue* consists of a single unpunctuated
sentence, it contains hundreds of examples of anacoluthon, of which
the following is taken at random: '... I suppose she was pious because
no man would look at her twice I hope 111 never be like her a wonder
she didnt want us to cover our faces but she was a welleducated
woman certainly and her gabby talk ...' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 608). See
restart*, Rl.
R2: When the sentence is recast as it proceeds, the result is anapodoton.
This is a kind of anacoluthon, such as occurs when an antecedent
sentence which remained in suspense is taken up again in a new,
asymmetrical form to serve as the beginning of a consequent sentence.
Ex: 'If you declare yourself incompetent to judge, as is your right, - if
that's your attitude, I will act accordingly' (Marouzeau). See restart*, Rl.
R3: When the sentence is abandoned before the end, the phenomenon
is called anantapodoton or particula pendens. Exx: 'If you only knew ...';
That is so funny ...' Morier defines anantapodoton as a 'kind of ana-
coluthon in which, of two correlative elements presenting an alterna-
tive (some ... others ..., for example), only the first is expressed.' Ex:
35
Anadiplosis
'Sometimes he expressed his enthusiasm at the idea of the trip; and then
what did he stand to gain far from his homeland and family?' (The parallel
expression, 'sometimes he was despondent at .../ or its equivalent, has
been abandoned in favour of a rendering in free indirect style.)
R4: Certain examples of anacoluthon derive from the combination of
two incompatible elements. The French translator of War and Peace
produced the following example: Tes hommes de 1'Occident etaient en
marche vers ceux de 1'Orient afin de s'entretuer' (for 'et ceux de
1'Orient etaient en marche les uns vers les autres'). This anacoluthon is
'corrected' by over-simplification in the English version as follows: 'The
people of the West moved eastwards to slay their fellow men' (Tolstoy,
War and Peace, trans. Rosemary Edmonds, 2:718).
ANADIPLOSIS Repetition* of the last word of one sentence, or line

of poetry, as a means of (sometimes emphatic) liaison. See Lanham,
Lausberg, Littre, Morier, and Preminger.
Ex:
For I have loved long, I crave reward.
Reward me not unkindly: think on kindness,
Kindness becometh those of high regard.
Regard with clemency a poor man's blindness.
Bartholomew Griffin, Fidessa, XVI
Rl: Preminger distinguishes between emphatic and merely linking
anadiplosis. Compare the following examples: 'Both princes and
population groaned in vain; in vain did the King's brother, in vain did
the King himself clasp Madame to his bosom' (Bossuet, Oraison funebre
de la duchesse d'Orleans); "To me, it's a tragedy. A tragedy, everyone
knows what that is. It leaves you defenceless' (A. Camus, L'Etranger,
p. 136). See grandiloquence*, Rl.
R2: In a conversation, anadiplosis serves (by lexical repetition*) to link
the replies together. Ex: To Stephen, who has described the soul as a
'simple substance,' Bloom replies: 'Simple? I shouldn't think that is the
proper word' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 518).
R3: Anadiplosis slips imperceptibly into reduplication*. Ex: 'Universal
suffrage rules like a tyrant and like a tyrant with dirty hands' (Stend-
hal, Lucien Leuwen, ch. 65).
R4: Anadiplosis is the natural device for linking together relatively
extensive discursive units, such as paragraphs. Ex:
'Help yourselves from the Platter of Plenty.'
The Platter of Plenty was a joke ... (Robertson Da vies, The Lyre of
Orpheus, p. 5)
36
Anagram
For examples formed by even larger textual units (chapters, for

example), see epanalepsis*, R4.
R5: A series of anadiploses forms a concatenation*.
ANAGRAM A word or words obtained from the transposition of the

letters forming another word or words. See Beckson and Ganz, Frye,
and Robert.
Exx: violence / nice love; Evangelists / Evil's agents
Exx: chien/niche; Carmen Tessier / tire sans merci (J. Lacroix, L' Anagram-
mite). The following 'poem' uses the same nine-letter group (aegimnrst)
in four different anagrammatic configurations to recount the prepara-
tions being made for the departure of the Mayflower in 1620:
xxxxxxxxx and repainting and refitting ...
They patched the little vessel with the notion
Of xxxxxxxxx oppression, and the ocean.
When she was shipshaped, holystoned and gleaming,
Aboard the pilgrim xxxxxxxxx came xxxxxxxxx.
Willard R. Espy, The Game of Words, p. 41
Solution: Remasting, mastering, emigrants, streaming
Synonyms: A 'metagram' is 'a kind of puzzle turning on the alteration
of a word by removing some of its letters and substituting others'
(OED). Littre, however, in his Dictionnaire de la langue franqaise, taking
his inspiration from the Greek, gives the term a more general meaning,
synonymous with metaplasm*.
Rl: Anagrams serve above all to create pseudonyms. Exx: Alcofribas
Nasier, for Franqois Rabelais; Alcuinus, for Calvin(us). These are
perfect anagrams, which use the same letters as are found in the
original word. The first letter of Alcofribas Nasier is the 3rd of Francois
Rabelais. Then come in order the 13th, 5th, 6th, 1st, 2nd, 7th, llth, 10th,
8th, 4th, 14th, 16th, 15th, 12th, and 9th letters of the patronym.
If the anagram reverses, without scrambling, the order of letters, the
result is a palindrome*, which may be either a word in common use or
an invented word.
R2: The anagram may also combine with a paragram*. Ex: Ivirnig, the
hero of Les Oranges sont vertes, is an (approximate) double of the
author, his name being drawn from Gauvreau through consonantal
anagram and vocalic paragram (the o sound becomes an z).
R3: Antimetathesis* is an anagram (often only a very partial one)
spread out along the syntagmatic axis.
R4: According to Saussure, the anagram, by disseminating letters or
37
Anamnesis
sounds throughout the text 'outside of the temporal order of its ele-
ments' (J. Starobinski, Les Anagrammes de F. de Saussure, p. 255), causes
words to be read 'into' the words printed and so allows for different,
clandestine, 'hypogrammatic' readings. Certain critics like J. Kristeva
and H. Meschonnic see in the anagrammatic view of literature a way of
exposing the 'unconscious' content of a poetic work. In Gulliver's
Travels (1726), however, Jonathan Swift indicated clearly the dangers to
the producer and receiver of such arbitrary 'anagrammatic readings'
(random censure and more or less implausible allegorical readings
respectively):
In the kingdom of Tribnia [an anagram of 'Britain'] ... plots were
discovered by 'the anagrammatic method' - by transposing the
letters of the alphabet in any suspected paper, they can lay open the
deepest designs of a discontented party. So, for example, if I should
say, in a letter to a friend, 'Our brother Tom has just got the piles,' a
skilful decipherer would discover that the same letters which com-
pose that sentence, may be analysed into the following words,
'Resist, - a plot is brought home, the tour.' ('A Voyage to Laputa/
ch. 6)
See paragram*, R4. If done intentionally, the device is a graphic
allusion* (see allusion, R5) or a device of cryptography* (see crypto-
graphy, R2). Anagrams are a source of literary* games. Ex: Lewis
Carroll devised the anagrams 'Flit on, cheering angel/ from 'Florence
Nightingale,' and 'Wilt tear down all images?' from 'William Ewart
Gladstone' (Augarde, pp. 75-6). The derivation of a seemingly apt
semantic content from the rearranged elements forming proper names
is a form of cryptography*.
ANAMNESIS Originally a form of Hebraic religious thought; if used

rhetorically, reminiscences of actual events replace the expression of an
idea or of a feeling.
Ex: To him who divided the Red Sea in sunder ... And made Israel
pass through the midst of it...' (Psalm 136: 13-14)
Synonym: remembrance
Rl: Anamnesis belongs in the ancient literary genre of eucharistia; see
celebration*, R4.
R2: Flashbacks* in narrative* present remembered events as re-
experienced in the present by character and reader together. Such
flashbacks frequently serve as a means of 'explaining' a character's
subsequent actions. In Camus's L'Etranger, for instance, Meursault's
narrative recapitulation of events leading to the death of his victim
serves to discredit the too simple solution, namely his guilt. His ac-
38
Anaphora
count of the act itself reveals that he acted involuntarily, whereas his
account of his trial indicts the legal system which condemned him to
death.
ANAPHORA The repetition* of the same first word in successive
phrases, clauses, or sentences. See Cuddon, Frye, Girard, Lanham,
Morier, and Preminger.
Ex:
One passed in a fever,
One was burned in a mine,
One was killed in a brawl,
One died in jail,
One fell from a bridge
Edgar Lee Masters, "The Hill'
Ex: 'Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits
and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the
tiers of shipping ... Fog on the Essex Marshes, fog on the Kentish
heights' (Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 1).
Other definition: For anaphoric extension of the definite article, see
explanation*, R4.
Synonym: epanaphora (Frye, Lanham, Morier, Preminger). See also
epanalepsis*, other def., 2.
Rl: Anaphora is a 'technique of coordination and replacement allowing
for, and even emphasizing, juxtaposition' (G. Antoine, La Coordination,
p. 1291). It is a natural means, therefore, of creating accumulations* of
analogical, antithetical, or heterogeneous elements. The following
example combined anaphora with epiphora* to produce symploce*:
Where the city of the faithfullest friends stands,
Where the city of the cleanliness of the sexes stands,
Where the city of the healthiest fathers stands,
Where the city of the best-bodied mothers stands
W. Whitman, 'Song of the Broad Axe'
The following is a combination of anaphora with antithesis*:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under
heaven
a time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
39
Anastrophe
...
a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
...
a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.
Eccles. 3:1-9
These kinds of anaphora, which vary the lexemes within each repeated
unit, are examples of reprise*, and so produce substitutive collages*.
R2: As a figure, anaphora, like epiphora* and symploce*, belongs to the
'sublime' style (see grandiloquence*, Rl). Anaphoric lexemes form
motifs*. Anaphora itself contributes to the production of parallelisms*
(see parallelism, R3) and refrains* (see refrain, R2).
ANASTROPHE Reversal of the usual order of terms in the same

group. See Frye, Lanham, Lausberg, and Preminger.
Exx: muros intra instead of intra muros; 'at speed incredible.' Such
reversals may bring a change in meaning: 'the person responsible' as
opposed to, for example, 'a responsible person.'
Ex:
Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
T.S. Eliot, 'Burnt Norton/ in Four Quartets
Synonym: hyperbaton* (see hyperbaton, Rl)
Rl: Anastrophe as a variety of inversion* is distinguished, strictly
speaking, by the fact that the latter affects complete syntagms*. Ana-
strophe merely reverses the order of words within a syntagm. Exx:
'Backward run the sentences, till reels the mind' (from a parody of
Time magazine); 'Day one midday towards' [i.e., 'one day towards
midday'] (R. Queneau, Exercises in Style, p. 133); Tet I'll not shed her
blood; / Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow' (Shakespeare,
Othello, 5.2.3-4).
R2: Anastrophe in English seems less strictly controlled than in French.
Anastrophe is only possible in French in certain fixed expressions or
with qualifiers (adjectives or adverbs). Exx: 'sans lien aucun'; 'Qui plus
est ...'; 'plus encore/encore plus'; 'pas meme/meme pas.' Usage limits
even more strictly the possibilities of anastrophe of noun and adjective
(see A. Blinkenberg, L'Ordre des mots en franqais moderne).
In English, on the other hand, the upsetting for rhetorical effect of
such normal word order as preposition before noun, adjective before
40
Anglicism
noun, or object after verb occurs without the perpetrator of such prose
passages being immediately accused of 'poetic' tendencies. The relative
frequency of such anastrophes as 'Came the dawn' or 'to the manner
born' is one of the traits distinguishing anglophone from francophone
syntax. In the following example, taken from Valery Larbaud's French
translation of Joyce's Ulysses, we can see that the translator omitted the
English anastrophe: 'Notre ame blessee de la honte du peche se cram-
ponne a nous toujours plus, femme cramponnee a son amant, plus, tou-
jours' (p. 48). The original has: 'Our souls, shame wounded by our sins,
cling to us yet more, a woman to her lover dinging, the more the more'
(p. 40).
ANGLICISM A peregrinism* taken from English.

Ex: J'ai commence d'un petit air matter of fact et naturel pour ne pas les
effaroucher [startle]' (N, Sarraute, Portrait d'un inconnu, p. 17).
Anglicisms include French words deriving from English (like redingote,
from riding-coat), those which have only recently become part of
current French usage (like bifteck, from beefsteak), and all those which,
because of pressures placed on modern living by technology CMicro
Channel,' 'IBM') and the media ('le Look'), seek to penetrate the French
language. See Etiemble, Parlez-vous franglais?; G. Colpron, Les Angli-
cismes au Quebec. M. Kington's Let's Parler Franglais and Let's Parler
Franglais Again (1981, 1982) parody naive or ignorant combinations of
bilingual 'faux-amis' (see gallicism*) or false cognates. Pierre Daninos,
in Les Garnets du Major Thompson, tells the story of a cultural schizo-
phrenic who strives to find exact equivalents for English phenomena in
French and vice versa. His failure to do so and the compensations he
discovers in his passage between two sets of equally ethnocentric
presuppositions supply the novel's peripeteia.
Rl: Foreign elements penetrate more or less completely. Pipeline,
pronounced in French 'peep leen,' has merely lost its English sound,
and the official translation (oleoduc) has little currency. Some anglicisms
only involve syntax (1'actuel [present] gouvernement' for le gouverne-
ment actuel'). Lexically, a borrowing - 'living-room,' for instance -
differs from a caique, like salle de sejour, which is more insidious. (See
Martinet, La Linguistique: guide alphabetique, p. 309). A complete transla-
tion of an English term into French needs a root and a French suffix (as
in vivoir; i.e., vivre [to live, living] + oir, a regular French ending as in
parloir [parlour], and so vivoir, 'living-room'). However, special mean-
ings given to already existing French words may also replace angli-
cisms: 'convivial' has thus replaced 'user friendly.'
When a word exists in both languages but with different meanings,
the result is a semantic anglicism. Ex: Tes architectes ont leur conven-
tion annuelle' (for their 'congres annuel'); 'convention' in French means
41
Announcement
'agreement' or 'treaty.' Graphic anglicisms: realizer, abbreviation.

R2: All that is necessary to turn an anglicism into a literary device is
that it be expressive. Ex: La Guerre, yes Sir! (R. Carrier). The expression
yes Sir, which denotes submission, recalls that French Canadians fought
the last war under constraint from English Canada. An anglicism's
characteristic connotation is not necessarily evocative, but may simply
be part of the word itself. Ex:a 'Boys du severe/ These are the first
words of Andre Breton's L'Amour fou: they avoid both the religious
connotations of the words ange (angel) and those associated with the
too commonplace gargon or serveur (waiter). The term refers, because of
its colonial connotation, to young male domestic servants and, trans-
lated, the expression becomes: '(The) servants of strictness.'
R3: Anglicisms, like gallicisms*, are sometimes a matter of pure (or
parodic) snobbery. Ex: Tes membres de ce bar ... passent leur temps a
boire du stout, du porter et de YOld Tom gin, en mangeant des mutton-
chops avec des pickles' (A. Jarry, La Chandelle verte, p. 374). The follow-
ing example parodies 'franglais'/'Frenglish':
Bonjour. Hrumph. OK, stand facile. Bon. Vous savez chaque jour
6,000,000 dolphins sont extermines. Moi, je trouve cela un tres mauvais
show. Mais au Fund de la Wildlife du Monde il y a un effort tremen-
deux pour combattre ce mayhem. Done, envoyez vos cheques marques
'Sauvez le Dauphin.' Immediatement. A propos, savez-vous que le mot
dauphin signifie 1) un dolphin 2) lefils de la monarcjue? Done, Charles,
Prince de Wales, est un dolphin ... (M. Kington, Let's Parler Franglais
Again, p. 5)
ANNOUNCEMENT Prior (private or public) communication of a

subsequent event.
Ex: To the Red-Headed League: "On account of the bequest of the late
Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., there is now an-
other vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a salary
of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All red-headed men
who are sound in body and mind, and above the age of twenty-one
years, are eligible"' (Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, 1:178).
Analogous terms: declaration, notice, message, proclamation (see
discourse*). The Annunciation is the term specific to the announcement
made to Mary that the son conceived 'in [her] womb ... shall be called
the Son of the Highest' (Luke 1:31-2).
Rl: In a narrative*, an announcement serves as an anticipation (see
flash-forward*, R3), that is, as a device of proleptic repetition* (see
repetition, R5). In a discourse, it is called a division (into kinds or
classes; see plan*) and marks a transition* (see transition, Rl). On the
42
Antanaclasis
radio, it may take the form of a station identification (This is CFCF'; see
notation*, Rl). The announcement of government policy is often made
implicitly. Ex: see Roosevelt's declaration of devaluation quoted under
implication*.
R2: Classified advertisements (newspaper ads, items on notice boards,
etc.) are announcements offering specific individual transactions. Ex:
see ellipsis*, Rl.
R3: An announcement may fulfil a performative function by concretiz-
ing an event which is already generally expected or is a matter of
common knowledge. See prophecy*, Rl.
R4: In the evangelical announcement, or kerygma, the sender of the
message is unknown because (He?) is transcendent and invisible. See
prophecy*, R3.
ANTANACLASIS A diaphora* which occurs in a dialogue*, or

indeed in an advocate's speech (see Lausberg). The speaker takes up
the words of the interlocutor, or of the adversary, and changes their
meaning to the speaker's own advantage. See Frye and Joseph.
Exx: Troculeius reproached his son with waiting for [i.e., 'anticipating']
his death, and the latter replied that he was not waiting for it. Well
then, replied the father, in any case, please wait' (Quintilian, Institutes of
Oratory, 9.3.68-73); 'I [i.e., Jim Hacker] smiled sympathetically. "So
that's agreed. A quiet word. Reach a gentleman's agreement." Hum-
phrey scowled. "But she's not a gentleman. She's not even a lady!" ' (J.
Lynn and A. Jay, Yes Prime Minister, 2:136).
Lanham calls antanaclasis a 'homonymic pun*.' Verest and Vuillaume
(p. 16) compare the term to the logical fallacy called ignoratio elenchi
('irrelevant conclusion' [Lanham]), which shows that they see it as a
device used in dialogue*. Ex: ' "Valentulya, you're always clicking your
spoon on your glass after taps and I'm sick of it." "How do you expect
me to dissolve the sugar?" "Silently" ' (A. Solzhenitsyn, The First Circle,
pp. 72-3). Compare the old riddle*: 'How do porcupines make love?
Carefully.'
Other definitions: 1. diaphora* (Dumarsais, p. 243; Fontanier, pp.
347-9; Morier, Elkhadem, The York Dictionary of Literary Terms).
Antanaclasis is a specific form of diaphora.
2. Preminger, in the entries on anadiplosis* and pun*, describes
antanaclasis as a form of punning repetition*.
Analogous terms: 1. Anaclasis (repetition of a word spoken by some-
one else 'to stress its meaning or importance' [Elkhadem, p. 8]). Ex:
43
Antanaclasis
HAMLET: How came he mad?

FIRST CLOWN: Very strangely, they say.
HAMLET: How 'strangely'?
Ex: '[Maimas]: "Don't expect me to make an omelette without breaking
eggs." [Zadkiel]: "I was thinking about breaking hearts"' (Robertson
Da vies, What's Bred in the Bone, p. 123).
2. For Fontanier (pp. 347-8), antanaclasis is a form of paronomasia* 'in
which the form and sounds are exactly the same in words whose
meaning is different and which are brought together.' The poet Guil-
laume Colletet (1598-1659), having received a gratuity from Cardinal
Richelieu in thanks for an obsequious short poem, expressed his
gratitude in these terms: 'Armand, qui pour six vers m'as donne six
cents livres / Que ne puis-je a ce prix te vendre tous mes livres'
('Armand, who for six verses gave me six hundred francs, why can't I
sell you all my books at the same rate?'). As the example shows
('livres' means both 'francs' and 'books'), we have homonymy* but not
repetition of the same meaning.
Rl: When, in replying, one takes up another's words, even in the
absence of diaphora*, there occurs what Lausberg (p. 939) calls reflexio,
'the act of a reflecting mind.' Antanaclasis, then, is a devious form of
such reflection, which plays on ambiguity*, and usually has recourse to
puns*. There is therefore a kind of coq-a-l'ane* (see coq-a-l'ane, R2) and
also of false retortion*.
R2: The dialogue* may only be implied. Ex: Je 1'sais qu'tu veux mon
bien, mais hi 1'auras pas, mon sacripant' ('I know you desire my bien,
but you won't get it, you scoundrel'). In this monologue*, which by
implication* is 'addressed to' a politician, a farmer takes up the word
bien used by the politician to mean the 'welfare' of the constituents,
and turns it back against him by declaring that he won't get the farm-
er's 'wealth' (second meaning*). The reflection obviously concerns the
difference existing, in the speaker's opinion, between the politician's
spoken and unspoken motivation.
R3: If based only on homophony, antanaclasis becomes a game. Ex:
'PROTEE: "Ah, je voudrais la voir [la belle Helene]." BRINDOSIER: "Vous
voudriez I'avoirT'' (P. Claudel, Protee, in Theatre, 2:240). The play is on
'seeing' and 'possessing.' An English equivalent occurs in a Monty
Python sketch: 'FIRST SPEAKER: "x knew his mother." SECOND SPEAKER:
"And knew her bloody well." '
R4: The modalizing terms of antanaclasis include: just(ly), particularly,
(e)specially, principally (see enunciation*, R3, and counter-litotes*, R2).
R5: Antanaclasis of the referent is an argumentative evasion or 'cop-
44
Anticlimax
out' (see argument*, R2). Ex: " 'Do you still like books?" he asked ... I
said that books burned more quickly than coal, but that for want of
any other fuel, I still used them' (G. Bessette, Le Libraire, p. 23).
ANTEPIPHORA The repetition* of the same expression or of the

same line at the beginning and end of a period* or stanza*. See Morier.
Ex:
To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like coral in all of the neighbouring gardens,
And to-day we have naming of parts.
Henry Reed, 'Naming of Parts/ in A Map of Verona and Other Poems
Ex:
Adorable witch, do you love the damned?
Say, do you know the unforgivable sin?
Do you know poisonous remorse,
Which makes our hearts its target?
Adorable witch, do you love the damned?
Ch. Baudelaire, T/Irreparable,' in Les Fleurs du mal
Rl: Antepiphora is an intermediate form of symploce* and of
inclusion* since it defines the limits of a paragraph or stanza, rather
than of a phrase or a whole work.
ANTICLIMAX A device consisting of a magnificent announcement*

which leads to almost nothing. The text takes a sharp about-turn and
fizzles out.
Exx: 'MRS. MARTIN: "Oh well, today I witnessed something extraordi-
nary. Something really incredible ... In the street, near a cafe, I saw a
man, properly dressed, about fifty years old, or not even that, who ...
you'll say that I'm making it up ... He was tying his shoelace which had
come undone" ' (E. lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in Four Plays, pp. 21- 2);
The evening of the surrender of Breda, Roger de la Tour de Babel took
his stick and went out' (R. Ducharme, Le Nez qui voque, p. 9).
Rl: Anticlimax is a kind of surprise which consists in preparing the
reader for something other than what happens.
R2: The device plays on the linear nature of language (i.e., on its
syntagmatic axis), which prevents the reader from knowing in advance
what will 'happen next.' The text contrives to make one expect marvels
and then becomes all the more astonishing when it deflates expecta-
45
Antilogy
tion. Bringing together opposite extremes is one type of surrealist

image* (see image, Rl).
R3: Various figures, notably gradatio*, combine with anticlimax to
create disappointment and so become 'deceptive' (see bathos*; punch*
line, R2; extravagant* comparison, R4). Anticlimactic conundrums (see
riddle*) are easily composed. Ex: 'Know what they do with banana
skins in China? They throw them away.' The truism* used as an em-
phatic comparison* also produces surrealistic anticlimax. Ex: Two pil-
lars ... were to be seen in the valley, taller than two pins. Indeed, they
were two enormous towers' (Lautreamont, Les Chants de Maldoror, 4).
R4: Anticlimax has its own intonation*.
ANTILOGY A contradiction in terms or ideas. See OED and Robert.

Exx: 'A twosided triangle, a virtuous tyrant' (OED); 'squaring the
circle'; 'almost quite ready'; 'Even if it's true, it's false' (H. Michaux,
Tranches de savoir, in L'Espace du dedans, p. 339); 'On the stroke of five
thirty six o'clock' (R. Queneau, Pierrot mon ami, p. 32)
Antonym: tautology*
Rl: Antilogy, which is related to sophistry* and to paralogism*, is in
fact a defect in reasoning* (see reasoning, Rl). The defect is pushed so
far that not only do the ideas involved seem mutually contradictory,
but the meaning of the words themselves also prevents any possibility
of conciliation.
R2: Antilogy should not be confused with oxymoric* sentences in
which the two extremes, when placed in parallel, remain compatible
each in its separate sphere. Antilogy resembles oxymoron*, in which a
single meaning may emerge, as, for example, in expressions such as
'jumbo shrimp/ 'open secret,' etc.
R3: Antilogy belongs in the realm of paradox*, since the incom-
patibility existing between its terms cannot but offend against common
sense. If no intelligibility remains, antilogy constitutes a nonsense*.
R4: A quite frequent figure used by modern theorists is false antilogy, a
formal opposition resolved by some deeper meaning. Ex: 'the îgnifier
demands another place ... in order that the word which it supports
may lie, that is, present itself as the Truth' (J. Lacan, Ecrits, p. 807).
ANTIMETABOLE A mutual exchange between two sentences or

clauses of their constituent words in such a way that each word occurs
in the place and with the relationships possessed by the other. See
Morier, Preminger, and OED: 'A figure in which the same words or
ideas are repeated in inverse order.'
46
Antimetabole
Exx: 'Love's fire heats water, water cools not love' (Shakespeare, sonnet
154); 'Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do
for your country' (J.F. Kennedy, inaugural address); 'Women are
changing the universities and the universities are changing women'
(Germaine Greer, TLS, 3-8 June 1988, p. 629); The gambling known as
business looks with austere disfavor on the business known as
gambling' (A. Bierce, quoted in Frank S. Pepper, Twentieth-Century
Quotations, p. 158).
Synonyms: antimetalepsis (Lausberg); antimetathesis* ('inversion of
the members of an antithesis*' [OED, Littre]); reversio (Fontanier, pp.
381-2, Lanham); commutatio. When the propositions have opposite
meanings, Lanham's definition, given below, like that of Group MU (A
General Rhetoric, p. 125), indicates some of the taxonomical problems
involved in the definition of this figure which is close to so many
others:
Antimetabole; chiasmus*; commutatio; permutatio; counterchange. In
English inverting the order of repeated words to sharpen their sense
or to contrast the ideas they convey or both (AB:BA); chiasmus and
commutatio sometimes imply a more precise balance and reversal,
antimetabole a looser, but they are virtual synonyms: 'I pretty and
my saying apt? or I apt, and my saying pretty?' (Love's Labour's Lost,
1.2.21). (Lanham, p. 10)
Other meaning: See antimetathesis*.
Rl: A metabole* is a figure which uses different words to say the same
thing, whereas an antimetabole uses the same words to say something
else. Quintilian's famous example is apposite: Tvfon ut edam vivo, sed
ut vivam, edo' ('I eat to live, I do not live to eat') (Institutes of Oratory,
9.3.85).
R2: Antimetabole is useful for challenging causal relationships. Ex: Do
we study the Classics because they are classic, or are they Classics
because we study them?
The figure's air of originality makes it a favourite with writers of all
historical periods. Exx: 'He was a rake among scholars, and a scholar
among rakes' (Macaulay, speaking of Richard Steele in his July 1843
review of Aikin's Life of Addison); 'And what do they know of England,
who only England know' (R. Kipling, The English Flag). A company of
saints carved on a typanum is described as: 'united in their variety and
varied in their unity, unique in their diversity, and diverse in their apt
assembly ... beyond reduction to vicissitudes and to vicissitudes re-
duced' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, pp. 42-3).
R3: An antimetabole which differs somewhat in form from those al-
ready discussed is the one which inverts actants* around a lexeme. Exx:
47
Antimeta thesis
'It's not the men in my life that count, it's the life in my men' (Mae
West); 'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But
it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning' (W. Churchill, 'Speech/ 10
Nov. 1942).
R4: Unless one term is made subordinate to the other, there is only
false antimetabole. Ex: 'Emptiness and love, love and emptiness'
(Y. Theriault, Cul-de-sac, p. 83).
R5: See paronomasia*, R7; chiasmus*, R2; epiphora*; and reversio*,
Rl.
ANTIMETATHESIS Placing together two words which differ in the

order of succession of some of their letters and therefore in their
meaning. See Lausberg.
Exx: navo an vano (Lausberg, p. 887); vain Ivan; vole love; time, emit,
item, mite, etc.
Exx: 'S'il se pouvait un choeur de violes voiUes' (L. Aragon, Les Yeux
d'Elsa, p. 67); 'Le fiat et le fait' (P. Claudel, Journal, 2:873).
Other definitions: 'Inversion* of the members of an antithesis*' (OED).
See also antimetabole*.
Synonyms: antimetabole*, antimetalepsis (Lausberg, Littre, Morier),
retortion*, antistrophe (Littre)
Rl: Antimetathesis is a variety of paronomasia* and more generally of
repetition*; the two words must follow one another or occupy cor-
responding (syntactic) positions.
R2: Another type of antimetathesis is acoustic chiasmus*, which may
occur inside a single word. Thus 'metamathematic' presents the vowels
e-a, and then a-e. In I'artiste attristd, we have (partial) acoustic chiasmus
between consonants accompanied by acoustic parallelism* of vowels.
R3: A perfect antimetathesis would be an anagram* if there were
graphic replacement without rapprochement along the syntagmatic
axis. Exx: 'misanthrope: spare him not; presbyterian: best in prayer'
(T. Augarde, The Oxford Guide to Word Games, p. 77).
R4: If composed of elements which read the same forwards as back-
wards, antimetathesis becomes palindrome*. Ex: 'Madam I'm Adam.
And Able I was ere I saw Elba' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 113).
R5: See also equivoque*, R2.
ANTIPARASTASIS A refutation which consists in showing that the

object of complaint or condemnation is on the contrary commendable.
48
Antiphrasis
See Littre and Morier (the term remains uncollected in anglophone

rhetorics).
Ex: ' "You abuse quotation [by giving too many]" ... "There are not as
many as you think, their quality, aptness, rareness, and vividness
deceive you about their frequency"' (Valery Larbaud, Sows I'invocation
de Saint Jerdme, p. 215).
Rl: Antiparastasis without proof or explanation is less trustworthy. Ex:
' "But don't you think," asked the teacher, "that instilling naivete into
one's pupils is a bit archaic, anachronistic as a device?" "Exactly,
anachronistic devices are the best" ' (W. Gombrowicz, Ferdydurke,
p. 28). Striking out blindly against an adversary's strongest argument*
with the expression That's all the more reason why I'm right!' is a
common trick surprising only to the over-serious debater.
R2: Antiparastasis sometimes is present only in one's tone of voice (see
intonation*).
R3: The opposite case, which consists in proving that the object praised
is, on the contrary, to be condemned, is also an example of antipara-
stasis. The same subject is repeated (parastasis*) but from the opposite
point of view. Ex [Gillou has announced that he wants to enter the
Resistance]: 'GEORGES: In short, he would like to take up courage as a
summer hobby. Idleness produces many things' (H. de Montherlant,
Theatre, p. 704).
R4: The corresponding literary genre is the apology, which combines
praise with defence or justification. Personal apology takes its author as
subject.
R5: The person accused may refute the condemnation without making
an admission of guilt. Ex: 'He should rather be praised than blamed, if
it were indeed true that he had done what he is accused of (Encyclopedic,
1751).
ANTIPHRASIS 'A word used in a manner contrary to the natural

one' (Fontanier, p. 266). See also Cuddon, Lausberg, Littre, and Robert.
Exx: A mother calls her child a little monster,' or a speaker uses the
common antiphrastic imperative: Take your time, we've got all day!'
Other common examples: Tell me about it!' (i.e., 'Don't bother, I know
all about it already.'); 'I could care less about ...' (i.e., T couldn't ...').
See also threat*, Rl; asteismus*, R2; euphemism*, R6; and persiflage*,
Rl.
Other definitions: Morier, following Quintilian, describes antiphrasis
as being synonymous with irony*, as does Frye, who merely cross-
refers the two terms. Lausberg distinguishes between them. For him,
49
Antithesis
irony exists in the tone of an utterance, whereas antiphrasis is rendered

obvious by context and situation. For the distinction between irony of
utterance and irony of situation, studied by Muecke, Booth, and others,
see irony*. Irony may exist without antiphrasis; it is simpler, then, to
see irony as subsuming antiphrasis among its many varieties. Ex:
'Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly.' Even without
explanation, the invitation is seen to be a veiled threat*, and as such is
antiphrastic.
Synonym: an untruth, or 'counter-factual' (contre-verite), reduced to a
single word, according to Littre and Lausberg. In our opinion at least,
antiphrasis communicates clearly enough the opposite content of the
term it uses that there is no untruth, fraud, or lie perpetrated. Ex: 'It
has ... an excellent engine [spoken over the sound of one clearly fail-
ing]' (E. lonesco, Le Salon de I'automobile, in Theatre, 4:198). This is a
counterfactual statement, not antiphrasis, since the salesman has no
intention of conveying anything else but what he says.
Rl: The strength of antiphrasis derives from an implicit assertion* (see
implication*) such as 'What is meant is so true that we can even affirm
the contrary without creating obscurity.' Ex: 'She came to know ... the
world, that cavern full of honorable people" (Montherlant, Romans,
p. 766). So antiphrasis is context-dependent (see litotes*, R2, and
sweet* talk, R2).
R2: When the receiver fails to recognize antiphrasis, the speaker exag-
gerates it to emphasize its improbability. Ex: ' "Is he intelligent?"
"Very, a genius, in fact."' Appeals to the judgment of the person
addressed are also possible: 'No one is unaware ... / As everyone
knows ... / It is well known that...' A special kind of intonation* is
also available for such statements.
R3: French lexicographers, while not taking the device into account,
nonetheless attribute contradictory values (scorn and affection, for ex-
ample) to a single term: the Robert dictionary, under 'qa' (indef. pron.
'that'), quotes Brunot's example of a mother saying as she points to her
child, Tou see how attached one gets to thatY (La Pensee et la langue).
ANTITHESIS The contrasting of two ideas: the negative presentation

of its opposite makes the principal idea more striking.
Exx: 'Neither the one hurt her, nor the other help her; just without
partiality, mighty without contradiction, liberal without losing, wise
without curiosity' (Sir Philip Sidney, The Arcadia); 'Canada is the
businessman's paradise, the man of letters' hell' (J. Fournier, Mon
Encrier, p. 48); 'It's not the pale moon that excites me ... Oh no, it's just
the nearness of you' (Hoagy Carmichael).
50
Antithesis
Raymond Queneau ridicules the device's artificiality in his Exercises in

Style: 'It was neither the day before nor the day after, but the same
day. It was neither the Gare du Nord nor the Gare de Lyon, but the
Gare Saint-Lazare' (p. 44). See redundancy*, R3.
Rl: Antithesis is a popular form of emphasis. Ex: 'That and nothing
else.' (See also allusion*, R2.)
R2: Sometimes the thesis, or principal idea, remains implicit. Ex: 'Soap
cannot tolerate dirt' (H. Michaux, Face aux verrous, p. 54).
R3: Antithesis, particularly implicit antithesis, is a natural device which
has its own auditive marker. See antithetical accent*.
R4: Gorgias advised joining antithesis to homoioteleuton* to form
isocolon members in a sentence (see sentence*). Cicero, Quintilian, and
Saint Augustine all transmitted and followed this advice, combining
the three devices under the heading 'Gorgianic figures' (M. Comeau, La
Rh&oricjue de Saint Augustin, p. 51; E.P.J. Corbett, Classical Rhetoric for the
Modern Student, pp. 437-8, 459, 464-5). Antithesis is a characteristic
feature of Petrarchism (see imitation*, R3). Both English and French
neo-classical authors used and abused antithesis: it made the construc-
tion of periods easier (see period*, R2). Ex:
Be not the first by whom the new are tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.
A. Pope, 'An Essay on Criticism/ 2.335-6
Albalat, who gives it two chapters in La Formation du style, boldly as-
serts that antithesis is 'the key, the explanation, the generating principle
of half of French literature, from Montaigne to Victor Hugo' (pp. 192-3).
R5: Rhetorical antithesis is generally confused with enantiosis, which
stresses essential (rather than accidental) oppositions. The followers of
Pythagoras considered good and evil, odd and even, single and mul-
tiple, etc., as the source of everything logical. It is antithesis, taken to
mean enantiosis, that deserves G. Durand's criticism: 'Its implicit
manicheism haunts the greater part of Western thought' (Les Structures
anthropologiques de I'imaginaire, p. 453).
R6: Again English and French usage of rhetorical terms may differ, for
Redfern puts enantiosis closer to irony*: 'An enantiomorph is a mirror-
image, and enantiosis means saying (ironically) the reverse of what you
mean. "Enantiodromia" is a term from Heraclitus, and denotes the
process ... whereby things meet their opposites. It means "clashing
together"' (W. Redfern, Puns, p. 103).
R7: Antithesis can take the form of a distinction* (see distinction, R2); it
produces surprise (see negation*, Rl); allows for the alignment of
51
Antonomasia
hypotheses (see supposition*, R4); and depends upon synonymy* (see

synonymy, R6).
ANTONOMASIA The substitution* of a proper name for a common

noun or vice versa. See Fontanier (p. 95), Frye, Lanham, Lausberg, and
Preminger.
Exx: a 'Daniel' for a judge (Merchant of Venice, 4.1.334); the 'Corsican
Monster' for Bonaparte
Ex: '... each of us carries his Mexico and United States within him, a
dark and bloody frontier we dare cross only at night' (C. Fuentes, Old
Gringo, p. 187).
Other name: synecdoche* (Fontanier). Quintilian points out the same
similarity.
Rl: Antonomasia is a stylistic embellishment: the Augustan Age, the
Age of Pericles, the Sun King, the Virgin Queen, the Diva. It corres-
ponds, according to Barthes, to the mythic 'incarnation of a virtue in a
figure' (see L'Aventure semiologique, p. 129): Cato for courage; Job for
patience; in our own day, Churchill for courage, Pope John XXIII for
goodness.
It may derive simply from the fact that individuals who are con-
sidered great are well known (their proper names become common
names). Ex:
Some village Hampden that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood;
Some mute, inglorious Milton here
Some Cromwell guiltless of his blood.
Th. Gray, 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard'
Ex: 'My mathematics teacher predicted I would become a Vauban' (Ph.
Aubert de Gaspe, Les Anciens Canadiens, p. 35).
They become common nouns, in the grammatical sense, when used
without a capital letter, since their origin as proper names has been
lost, as in pander, or Jeroboam.
R2: The Greeks named the years after the principal magistrate, the
eponymous archon, their towns after the gods (e.g., Athens): they thus
substituted one proper name for another. A modern eponymy is the
'Oedipus complex.' See metonymy*, R6.
R3: Antonomasia occurs spontaneously: 'London is deciding ...'
('London' stands for the British government); "The Quay d'Orsay
refuses to comment'; 'Is Quebec Corsica?' (for 'Has the central govern-
ment abandoned you?'). See concretization*, R3.
52
Apocalypse
R4: See also denomination*, R3; metonymy*, R4; personification*, Rl;

meaning*, 4; synecdoche*, Rl and R7; and title* (conferring of), R5.
APHAERESIS Dropping a syllable or a letter from the beginning of a

word. See Frye, Lanham, Lausberg, Marouzeau, and Preminger.
Exx: 'neath, 'mid, 'fore, 'though, 'cause, etc.
Ex: 'Ot us sengers' (for 'Got on bus, passengers') (R. Queneau, Exercises
in Style, p. 78).
Other definition: suppression at the beginning or end of a word
(Quillet)
Rl: Aphaeresis is a metaplasm*.
R2: Children learning to speak first tend to retain only the final syllable
of words (-nette for marionnette, -range for orange), then two syllables
(-anna for nanna, -odor for doctor). Loose pronunciation ('xactly for
exactly) has thus something childish about it. But in 'tention! (for
Attention!) economy of effort and efficiency come into play.
R3: Like apocope*, aphaeresis most commonly involves the slack use of
an expression rather than a literary device. Cases in French such as
Breton's writing of Humour as 'Umour (Dictionnaire abrege du surrealisme,
under 'Vache'), although seeming to be covered by the definition, are
rather in our view exceptional graphs chosen to represent a special
meaning*. See graphy*.
APOCALYPSE A phantasmagorical allegory* (see fantastic*) whose

theme is the revelation of coming events or of present, though hidden,
realities.
Ex:
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned.
W.B. Yeats, 'Second Coming'
Rl: Apocalyptic extravagance refers, not to the fiction itself, but to
some transcendental, religious, or surreal aspect of it. Ex: 'And the
times of the end will have come, and the end of time ... On the first
day at the third hour in the firmament a great and powerful voice will
be raised, a purple cloud will advance from the north, thunder and
lightning will follow it, and on the earth a rain of blood will fall. On
the second day ...' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 404).
Allegory* and the type of narrative* which develops an explicit
53
Apocope
process of enunciation* (sometimes becoming a dialogue* with the

reader) aim to confer on the phantasmagorical content itself the status
of reality or truth. Apocalypse attempts to unite two contrary effects;
hence the surrealists' admiration for Lautreamont.
R2: An ancient literary genre, apocalypse flourished in the Bible (in the
book of Daniel), in the Kabbala, and in the Koran. Difficult to decode,
it slips easily into hermeticism. Ex: 'It's him ["The Interloper!"] that will
come as the Antichrist, to lead men into the flaming bowels of perdi-
tion, to the bloody end of wickedness, as Star Wormwood hangs
blazing in the sky ...' (Stephen King, The Dark Tower (l): The Gunslinger,
p. 50). Cuddon remarks (p. 50) that 'sermon literature abounds in
apocalyptic visions.' But the hermetic nature of apocalyptic utterances
is often counterbalanced by trivial observations, pat answers to fun-
damental questions, colloquial language, and by a kind of simplicity
intended to be reassuring.
R3: Apocalypse includes apotheosis, the hero's triumph, when he, in
public view, is raised to the skies. Ex: 'And they beheld Him in the
chariot, clothed in the glory of the brightness, having raiment as of the
sun, fair as the moon and terrible that for awe they durst not look
upon Him. And there came a voice out of heaven, calling: Elijah! Elijah!
And he answered with a main cry: Abba! Adonai! And they beheld
Him, even Him, ben Bloom Elijah, amid clouds of angels ascend to the
glory of the brightness at an angle of fortyfive degrees over Donohoe's
in Little Green street like a shot off a shovel' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 283).
R4: See also prophecy*, R2.
APOCOPE Omission of a letter or syllable at the end of a word. See

Frye, Lanham, Marouzeau, Morier, Preminger, and Robert.
Exx: 'oft' for 'often'; encor for encore; Hallowe'en
Synonym: ecthlipse (Lausberg, p. 493)
Antonym: paragoge* (see paragoge, Rl)
Rl: According to Lausberg (sect. 490), apocope is a variety of abridge-
ment* (suppression of a letter); according to Marouzeau, it is a showy
means of rounding off a sentence*, of turning it into a type of punch*
line (see punch line, Rl). See also metaplasm*, Rl.
R2: In English, elision* is the omission of a vowel or syllable in the
pronunciation of a word or syntagm* (e.g., 'I'm' or let's') (Concise
Oxford Dictionary); in French, it is apocope of a final letter before a
word beginning with a vowel: / 'art, de / 'or, etc.
R3: The progressive disappearance, in French, of the mute e has pro-
54
Apologue
duced various difficulties in verse because feet are syllabic. By the

sixteenth century, Ronsard had already opted for apocope. Instead of
writing 'Rolland avait deux epe-es en main/ he insists on 'deux epe's
en la main/ 'Don't you feel/ he argues, 'that these two epe-es en main
offend a delicate ear?' (quoted by Grammont, Le Vers frangzis, p. 464).
The advice was taken, notably by Ronsard's rival, Philippe Desportes
(who wrote 'des charbons inutils/ rather than the more grammatically
correct form, 'inutiles'). As Boileau remarked (L'Art poetique, 1:131),
however, 'Malherbe intervened ...' Thanks to his rigorous defence of
the mute e in verse, classical French writers of tragedy composed in
alexandrines (twelve-syllable lines), which modern actors can only
plausibly pronounce as having eleven, ten, or even nine syllables, a
manner not always compatible with rhythm. On this problem, see line*
(of poetry).
The principal apocope authorized by French classicism is that of the
s following an elided mute e. Ex: Tu 1'emporte, il est vrai' (Lamartine;
i.e., six syllables, rather than seven if the s remains: emportes).
One elegant way of avoiding the problem is to elide a final e by
following it with words with an initial vowel (e.g., marbre onyx). This
is what Theophile Gautier frequently does, for example. Morier calls
this type of line vers plein, and he calls vers ajoure (i.e., 'pierced') the
line containing one (or several) pronounced mute e's.
R4: If clear pronunciation of a 'mute' e is desired, the spelling eu has
become necessary in modern French. Ex: 'Tout de meme leu temps,
c'est leu temps. L'passe, c'est 1'passe' (R. Queneau, Le Chiendent, p. 295).
R5: The problem of the mute e apart, apocope particularly attacks final
liquid consonants in French (e.g., table, propre, quatre, in which the final
groups tend to disappear in spoken language). Exx: Le minis(tre); 'C'est
pas croyab' (Queneau, Zazie dans le metro, p. 31).
R6: In (verbal) delivery of the alexandrine, it is the unaccented final
vowel of a word which tends to disappear. Ex: Ta chevlur' d'oranges
(see Parent, ed., Le Vers franqais au xxe siecle, p. 34).
APOLOGUE A narrative* illustrating some 'truth.'

Ex: 'It is said that an Oriental caliph one day set fire to the library of a
famous and glorious and proud city, and that, as those thousands of
volumes were burning, he said that they could and should disappear:
either they were repeating what the Koran already said, and therefore
they were useless, or else they contradicted that book sacred to the
infidels, and therefore they were harmful' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose,
p. 399). Parodic examples abound in modern literature:
55
Apologue
One afternoon a big wolf waited in a dark forest for a little girl to
come along carrying a basket of food to her grandmother. Finally a
little girl did come along and she was carrying a basket of food. 'Are
you carrying that basket to your grandmother?' asked the wolf. The
little girl said yes, she was. So the wolf asked her where her grand-
mother lived and the little girl told him and he disappeared into the
wood.
When the little girl opened the door of her grandmother's house
she saw there was somebody in bed with a nightcap and nightgown
on. She had approached no nearer than twenty-five feet from the bed
when she saw that it was not her grandmother but the wolf, for even
in a nightcap a wolf does not look any more like your grandmother
than the Metro-Goldwyn lion looks like Calvin Coolidge. So the little
girl took an automatic out of her basket and shot the wolf dead.
Moral: It is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to
be. (James Thurber, The Thurber Carnival, p. 283)
Rl: Originally apologue belonged to oral literature. It is close to myth*
(see myth, Rl), as is parable (see below). Later, apologue became a way
of amplifying ideas, one which differed from hypotyposis* because of
its purely imaginary nature and especially because of its implicit or
explicit 'moral.' Thus the fables of Aesop or of La Fontaine are fre-
quently apologues.
When the underlying truth (the theme; the 'noema' according to
Morier; the 'moral' in the case of a fable) is clearly expressed, the
apologue is related to simile*; when the truth is implicit, it is linked to
symbol*.
If the theme is some truth of a religious nature, one speaks of
parable. Exx: the evangelical parables of the ten virgins, the marriage
feast, the sower, etc.
The apologue is interpreted globally rather than by establishing a
term-for-term equivalence. Indeed, without such a stipulation, the
apologue would be an allegory* or extended comparison*.
R2: The expression of an idea by means of an anecdote employs the
same device (a more or less detailed narrative* containing relevant
speeches made by the characters). However, strictly speaking anecdotes
deal with imaginary events (hence the meaning of anecdotal, and the
related anecdotage: 'that which does not treat of the essential question').
Therefore they actually constitute forms of the exemplum. Thus:
'MONICA: Now I would have the housework to occupy me, so I would
feel better. But with the maid we have, how could I? ... Look. By
hiding it from her I had kept myself a bit of dust, in a corner, for me
on Sunday ... Just enough for a little dusting. Well, this morning, my
dust had flown, cleaned up' (J. Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 142). See
also simulation*, R4.
56
Aposiopesis
R3: The apologue is an excellent argument* for an author who wishes

to convey certain shades of meaning*, more of a sentimental than of a
legal nature. Ex: '[The English governor of French Canada] behaved
like a stranger who, in the home of a family gathered together to com-
memorate one of its beloved deceased, would turn up uninvited at the
feast, sit down at the table, drink and sing, on the pretext that he was
the owner of the house' (J. Fournier, Man Encrier, p. 62). It may replace
a line of argument (see reasoning*, R3).
APOSIOPESIS A sudden interruption, betraying an emotion, a

threat*, or hesitation. See Frye, Lausberg, Morier, Preminger, and
Lanham.
Exx: 'You remember Elizabeth, sort of statuesque-looking; she's the one
who ...' (Margaret Atwood, Life before Man, p. 38); [Marcelle is pregnant
and believes that her lover has kept her condition secret; but, as a
result of the allegations made by a friend, she guesses that the latter
has been informed] 'She grows pale: 'He ... Oh! the ... He swore that he
would tell you nothing' (J.-P. Sartre, L'Age de raison, p. 226).
Lanham (p. 15) adds that the 'idea, although unexpressed, is clearly
perceived/ Ex: 'You can go to H—!' Turco (p. 71) distinguishes a form
of 'implied aposiopesis [which] substitutes another letter, syllable,
word or passage for the dropped material.' Ex: 'You dear friend, who
talk so well, / You can go to H-ertford, Hereford and Hampshire'
(G.B. Shaw, A.J. Lerner, and F. Loew, My Fair Lady).
Synonyms: reticence, reserve
Rl: Aposiopesis is a type of interruption* (see interruption, Rl) charac-
terized by the fact that its causes are personal and of an emotional
order (see Lausberg, Morier). Frequently (as in the above example from
Sartre), its cause is indignation, but it might also be an excess of
pleasure, simulated or otherwise.
R2: Unlike Preminger (p. 42), who separates aposiopesis from preteri-
tion*, Dumarsais (5:285) and Fontanier (pp. 135-6) place aposiopesis
among the different types of preterition, emphasizing the device's
oratorical nature. (See false -*.) This is classic aposiopesis, which
consists in 'suddenly stopping in the course of a sentence, to convey by
the little that one says, and with the aid of the utterance's contextual
circumstances, what is supposedly suppressed, and frequently much
more' (Fontanier, p. 135). As such, it is a trick of discursive pathos (see
argument*). Ex (expressing a threat*):
LEAR: No, you unnatural hags,
I will have such revenges on you both,
That all the world shall - I will do such things -
57
Apostrophe
What they are, yet I know not; but they shall be

The terrors of the earth.
Shakespeare, King Lear, 2.4.281-5
Ex: ' "The Government's position is not a particularly healthy one just
at the moment," said the Dean. 'It only needs a nudge ..."' (Tom
Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue, p. 212).
Ex (expressing fear): ' "I said I'm hurt. For God's sake come ..."' (ibid.,
p. 209).
R3: According to Lamy, the flow of the discourse* is not necessarily
held back, but simply chopped up by the hasty insertion. This is
certainly the case when it expresses hesitation. In the following ex-
ample, the hero is searching for a word: 'In an api ... tho ... in a sad
and solitary apotheosis' (Marie-Claire Blais, Une Saison dans la vie
d'Emmanuel, p. 60). Aposiopesis also may express distractedness
[McCoy asks Bloom the time of the funeral, but Bloom's thoughts are
elsewhere, on Martha's letter]: 'Eeleven' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 60).
These are examples of spontaneous, natural aposiopesis. They are
frequent in interior monologue*, where one does not trouble to finish
one's sentences. Ex: 'All quiet on Howth now. The distant hills seem.
Where we. The rhododendrons. I am a fool perhaps ... Where I come
in. All that old hill has seen. Names change: that's all. Lovers: yum,
yum' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 308). (The interior monologue contains an
imagined dialogue*.)
R4: Reticentia, the rhetorical figure, resembles the word's current
meaning (an attitude of reserve) when it consists of a refusal to com-
plete a sentence. Ex: The laugh is in my ... / A tear is in my ...' (H.
Michaux, 'Glu et gli'). The speaker may also stop upon seeing that the
person addressed has already understood an utterance's meaning. This
is reticence based on, or producing, complicity (Marchais).
R5: Aposiopesis has its own intonation* (see intonation, R3) and its
own expressive punctuation*.
APOSTROPHE The orator suddenly breaks off to address someone

or something. See Cuddon, Fontanier (p. 371), Frye, Morier, Preminger,
and Robert.
Ex: Milton's narrator interrupts Paradise Lost to apostrophize Light:
'Hail holy Light, offspring of Heaven first-born, / Or of the Eternal
coeternal beam / May I express thee unblamed?' (3.1-3).
Exx: 'Ring out, wild bells' (Tennyson, In Memoriam, 2); 'O Beer! O
Hodgson, Guiness, Allsop, Bass!' (Charles S. Calverley, 'Ballad')
Other meaning: a graphic sign of elision*
58
Apostrophe
Rl: Nothing is more natural than the address made to another speaker
(see dialogue*; discourse*, R2). Apostrophe is rhetorical when one of its
elements is unexpected, either because, in a narrative*, the process of
enunciation* is made explicit by means of a second-person pronoun
designating the reader (see below, R2); or because, in a discourse*,
some general truth is addressed specially to the attention of the
listeners; or because the author pretends to address absent persons,
ideas, or objects.
One, rather lofty, mark of apostrophe is the initial vocative, O or
Oh!, which differs from the call Ho! (as in 'What ho, within'); there
exists also an exclamative O, different from oh. Compare: 'O nuit desas-
treuse!' (Bossuet); 'O gull! O dolt! / As ignorant as dirt!' (Othello,
5.2.163); 'O rare Ben Jonson' (John Berryman, 'A Thurn,' from His Toy,
His Dream, His Rest, p. 126). See also prosopopoeia* and false -*, Rl.
R2: One might call an address a passage in a literary work in which the
author names and describes the reader, as for instance in one of the
final stanzas of Pushkin's Evgeny Onegin, or in the first chapter of the
final book of Fielding's Tom Jones. The address may also be placed at
the beginning of a work (e.g., Baudelaire's 'Au lecteur,' the prefatory
poem to Les Fleurs du mal).
The address differs from the dedication, a handwritten or printed
formula accompanying the gift to a private individual of a work or
copy of a work. Ex: To that impeccable poet, to that perfect magician
of French Literature, to my dear and much venerated master and
friend Theophile Gautier ... I dedicate these sickly flowers' (Ch. Baude-
laire, Les Fleurs du mal).
In the world of publicity, the device - rendered quasi-automatic by
the advent of word-processed messages - of including in the message
the name of the addressee ('Dear John Smith ...') is called personali-
zation. See prayer*, Rl.
R3: Apostrophe may combine the referential and phatic functions of
communication* which a simple greeting would achieve in the real
world (see exclamation*, R2, and injunction*, R3).
Apostrophe, however, may be addressed to no real person, but
rather to some imaginary collectivity, made witness by the device to
the truth of what is advanced. Such addresses to no one in particular
have as their function the raising of the discourse's tone. It also hap-
pens that addresses are made to a second person in the hope that they
will be overheard by a third party, as when a mother asks her two-
year-old child to look for the scissors, knowing that her husband is not
far away. This produces a double actualization of the receiver. The
device is not as rare as it may appear. Thus Sganarelle, at the begin-
ning of Moliere's Don Juan, boldly scolds his own master, while pre-
tending to be addressing another: 'I'm not speaking to you ... I'm
speaking to the master I mentioned before.'
59
Apostrophe
The search for the 'right' addressee can produce dubitatio*. Ex:
'Storms, sisters of hurricane; blueish firmament whose beauty I admit
not; hypocrite sea, mirror of my heart; land with a mysterious heart; in-
habitants of the spheres; God responsible for such magnificent creation,
I call upon you; show me a good man' (Lautreamont, Les Chants de
Maldoror, 5).
To apostrophize someone is to establish a surprising, often disagree-
able, contact with that person. Ex: ' "Cock o' the walk," he screeched,
"you stink, you gorilla." Gabriel sighed' (R. Queneau, Zazie dans le
metro, p. 12). See also sarcasm*, R2; title* (conferring of), Rl; and sweet*
talk, R3.
R4: Apostrophe is a means of filling out a speech. See amplification*.
Ex: 'Amen. So be it. Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the mil-
lionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my
soul the uncreated conscience of my race' (Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist
as a Young Man, p. 253). It is also a way of effecting a transition* (see
transition, Rl).
R5: For the tone of apostrophe, see celebration*, Rl; intonation*, R3;
and supplication*, R2. As for its construction, see apposition*, R5; and
notation*, R6.
R6: Apostrophe may involve a metaphor*. Ex: 'Black sand, sand of
nights which make you run so much more quickly than white sand, I
could not stop trembling when I was given the mysterious power of
having you slip through my fingers' (A. Breton, L'Amour fou, p. 81).
When the object apostrophized is a thing or idea, personification* is
necessarily involved, but one must question the latter's degree of
reality. Ex:
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being
Thou from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing
...
Wild spirit, thou art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and preserver, hear, oh, hear.
P.B. Shelley, 'Ode to the West Wind'
Metaphorically, the object has become a person.
R7: Apostrophe may be diegetic (narrated indirectly rather than
expressed by direct discourse*). Ex: 'Dr Upper, assuming a whining
voice and a cringing demeanour, spoke to a mother - whom he called
Mommy - in a monologue in which worship and obedience were
mingled ... He had worked up his great Apostrophe to Mommy over
many years, and of its kind it was a masterpiece' (Robertson Davies,
What's Bred in the Bone, p. 115).
60
Apposition
APPOSITION Characterization of one substantive or pronoun by

another which follows it (see Fontanier, p. 297). A following noun that
further describes or specifies (see Grambs, p. 144).
Exx: 'The holy bread, the food unpriced, / Thy everlasting mercy,
Christ' (John Masefield, The Everlasting Mercy7); 'Night, my foliage
and my glebe' (Rene Char, Neuf Merci..., in Oeuvres completes, p. 386).
Other names: epergesis (Lanham); epexegesis [archaic] (Lanham, Littre,
Marouzeau)
Rl: Apposition placed between commas and suppressible without loss
to the rest of the sentence is simply explanatory ('accidental' as Fon-
tanier emphasizes). In the absence of commas, identification of con-
tiguous terms occurs within the assertion* itself. Ex: 'From casual lake-
front sex to warm meaningful relationships ...' (G. Vidal, Duluth, p. 5).
The apposition's integration can be made even stronger by the addition
of a hyphen*. Ex: 'the rationalized power-ritual that will be the coming
peace' (Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow, p. 177). Apposition in this
case is turning into lexical juxtaposition*.
Lanham, Frye, and Grambs, as well as the francophone grammarians
and rhetoricians Dumarsais, Beauzee, Fontanier, Littre, and Quillet,
only identify explanatory apposition, a grammatical device (e.g.,
'Homer, the prince of poets'). They consider as apposition any charac-
terization (even an adjective) placed between commas. Ex: 'A plain
without a feature, bare and brown' (W.H. Auden, 'The Shield of
Achilles').
R2: The pause* which precedes an apposition replaces the copula of an
adjacent assertion* (it is the equivalent of which is/are), except in ellipti-
cal style (see ellipsis*), where it may replace the main verb (the under-
stood copula is/are). Ex: 'under the crosses, the dead man's garden'
(Tennyson, Merlin and the Gleam'). Similarly, in cases of enumeration*
preceded by a colon, there is inverted apposition, the initial element
being the predicate. The construction of asyndeton* (see asyndeton, R2)
is quite different, since the implicit term (and) is one of co-ordination.
Even in normal apposition (adjacent assertion*), inversion* occurs.
Ex: 'The son of a Hebridean tenant farmer, related through his mother
to the Highland laird Maclaine of Lochbay ... was to become the laird
of New South Wales' (R. Hughes, The Fatal Shore, p. 293).
The added substantive's role as predicate explains the absence of an
article. The pause*'s importance derives from the absence of a taxeme
(see parataxis*, Rl); hence the name, 'apposition.' Without a pause,
there would merely be an adjective or qualifier.
R3: Apposition may introduce metaphor*, metonymy*, or synecdoche*.
(See simile*, Rl.) Apposition also allows the removal of equivoque*
61
Approximation
deriving, for example, from the use of pronouns. Ex: Jim and Jack
were brothers. When he, Jim that is ...'
R4: Appositional construction is the same as that of apostrophe*; hence
the possibility of confusion. Ex: 'I remember thy name in the night, O
Lord' (Psalm 119), for 'thy name, O Lord' or 'thy name which is The
Lord.' (See also successive approximations*, R3.)
R5: See also sentence*, 4; and title* (conferring of), Rl •
APPROXIMATION A double meaning* obtained by a single slight

displacement of one or two phonemes in a sentence* or syntagm*. The
device may only be inserted into a well-known expression or one of
fixed meaning.
Ex: 'She used to say Ben Dollard had a base barreltone voice. He has
legs like barrels and you'd think he was singing into a barrel. Now,
isn't that wit' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 126).
Other name: quasi-homonym (Dubois et al., Dictionnaire de linguistique)
Rl: Approximation is one way of producing equivoque*. It may com-
bine with allographs* (see allograph, R2); it is close to lexical
scrambling*. The spoonerism* (see spoonerism, Rl) is a more refined
form of approximation which employs double displacement.
R2: In the broad sense, approximation is the slightly incorrect use of a
word, or a slightly gauche turn of phrase (see Le Hir, p. 122). But in
such a case, a transfer of meaning occurs, rather than lexicalization*:
the meaning* becomes an approximate one. See also ellipsis*, R3.
APPROXIMATIONS (SUCCESSIVE) Several non-synonymous

terms given as having the same function: lacking something better,
they present themselves as aiming at some signified concept situated
on vocabulary's margins.
Ex: 'And that guilty, touching, childlike smile' (N. Sarraute, Portrait
d'un inconnu, p. 109).
Rl: The device occurs frequently in spoken language when speakers
are unable to find the right words to describe their impressions. Equal
units of suspensive intonation* serve to indicate the syntagms' identical
function. See also squint*, R2.
R2: Approximations which spread over quite extensive segments
sometimes occur: for example, over whole paragraphs. Exx: the Upani-
shads; and Charles du Bos's collection of critical essays Approximations.
R3: In apposition*, semes are added one to another; in successive
approximation, they replace each other.
62
Archaism
ARCHAISM A word no longer in use, or obsolete; a previous mean-

ing which has yielded to a new one; an ancient construction lacking
currency. See Cuddon, Grambs, Littre, Marouzeau, OED, and Robert.
La Fontaine, for example, liked archaisms, and his works are full of
them. Ex: Tel cuide engeigner autrui qui souvent s'engeigne lui-meme'
('He who thinks he's deceiving others frequently deceives himself).
Engeigner (i.e., tromper) is a lexical archaism. Scott and Tennyson, in
using them to give colour to conversation in historical romance, ren-
dered themselves guilty of what Robert Louis Stevenson called
'tushery/ Ex: 'Knight / Slay me not: my three brothers bad me do it'
(Tennyson, 'Gareth and Lynette/ in Idylls of the King). Meanwhile
Fowler, who found anent at home only in a Scottish courtroom, quotes
the following, which he considered both grammatically incorrect and
imprecise: 'Dear Sir, Your remarks today on the result of the Canadian
election anent the paragraph in the Philadelphia Record is, I am glad to
see, the first sign of real appreciation of ...' (Modern English Usage,
p. 29).
Ex (of archaic meaning): 'Verily,' which in the Gospels, or in historical
novels, means 'in very truth,' was in Fowler's day (1906) 'perhaps
confined to a single phrase ... / verily believe, which has the special
meaning, 'It is almost incredible, yet facts surprise me into the belief" '
(Modern English Usage, p. 677). See also etymology*.
Ex (of a morphological archaism): the use of subjunctives in modern
English. Expressions like 'It were futile to attempt ...' or T)o not ring
unless an answer be required' merely confirm the following remark
made by Porter Perrin: Today the subjunctive is a trait of style rather
than of grammar and is used by writers chiefly to set their language a
little apart from everyday usage' (Harper Dictionary of Contemporary
Usage, p. 569).
Ex (of a graphic archaism in French): '[Une pensee] d'une singularite
espovantable' ('A thought of feerful singularity') (Montherlant, Essais,
p. 896). The English form betwixt,' sometimes shortened to "twixt/ is
a near equivalent: 'Now is steel 'twixt gut and bladder interposed'
(A. Bennett, P. Cook, J. Miller, and D. Moore, Beyond the Fringe, Capitol
Records W-1792,1961).
For archaic pronunciation, see diaeresis*, Rl. Modern producers like
John Barton or actors like Ian McKellen, who delight in showing how
Shakespeare's words were pronounced by the Elizabethans, rely on
phonetic forms considered archaic in 'standard received' English. Exx:
'Now - pronounced "n-oew" as in our genteel "now"; time - pronoun-
ced "tay-eme"; murmur - pronounced "oo" as in Yorkshire and Lan-
cashire; dark - pronounced with a short "a" as in "cat"' (John Barton,
Playing Shakespeare, pp. 52-3).
63
Argument
Rl: In the French neo-classical period (seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries), allowable archaisms were imitations of Marot; hence the
term marotisme (see imitation*), a synonym at that time of archaism
(Fontanier, p. 288).
R2: Legal language is full of archaisms. Terms prescribed in France by
Colbert in 1667, for example, were only reformed in 1908. Similarly,
anyone with experience of English or North American legalese will be
familiar with expressions such as 'whereof/ 'thereof/ 'tort, tortious/
and so on.
R3: Imitation of archaic language may go to some lengths to achieve
(parodic) authenticity. Ex: The nursingwoman answered him and said
that that woman was in throes now full three days and that it would
be a hard birth unneth to bear and that now in a little it would be'
(Joyce, Ulysses, p. 316).
R4: Uncommon Latinisms (like arcanum arcanorum, for instance) are
archaisms (see peregrinism*).
ARGUMENT An assertion* made in a process of reasoning* or

speech; its function is to justify or explain another assertion. See OED
and Tr&or de la langue frangaise.
Ex: 'JULIEN: "How could you allow this creature to call you his little
wolf? I had forbidden you to speak to him." COLOMBE: "But he's the
author of the play" ' (J. Anouilh, Colombe, in Pieces brillantes, p. 270).
In literature, either assertion may be metaphorical, so increasing the
ambiguity*. Ex: "The past is a foreign country. They do things differ-
ently there' (L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between, p. 7).
Synonyms: proof, reason
Analogous term: allegation; that is, an assertion relied upon to justify
one's position
Other definitions: synopsis (of a play, novel, etc.; see recapitulation*,
R2); reasoning*
Rl: The demands and abuses of oratory brought the creation and
categorization of a thousand and one ways of discovering arguments.
These are the commonplaces in the original meaning* of that term,
otherwise called topics. 'Common' has degenerated, coming to mean
'banal, lacking novelty'; hence the current usage (see cliche*). But for
Aristotle, commonplaces are opposed to specific places, which are the
axioms of the various sciences, techniques, and disciplines. In book 1 of
the Rhetoric, he examines the arguments specific to the three kinds of
64
Argument
oratory: judicial (concerning the past), epideictic (concerning the

present), and deliberative (concerning the future).
In the Rhetoric, Aristotle divides the topics according to ethos (the
character of the author), pathos (that which moves the public), and logos
(reasoning that is logical or illustrated by examples). Book 2 is entirely
devoted to the explanation of these three kinds of topics: orators must
present themselves in a favourable light, and thus display their ethical
qualities; they must arouse in their audience certain passions - anger,
affection, hatred, fear or confidence, indignation or pity - according to
the persons alluded to. Among the methods used, Miriam Joseph
reminds us, were 'figures of vehemence, mocks, taunts, chiding, repre-
hension, accusation, abhorrence, etc.' (Shakespeare's Use of the Arts of
Language, pp. 391-2). There are almost forty 'logical' topics, notably:
non-contradiction or the excluded middle, so called because it refers to
cases in which the possibility of a compromise solution or 'happy
medium' does not exist (a door must be either open or closed; one
cannot be 'a little' pregnant); the link between an act and the person
committing it (one who kills is a killer); the link between antecedent
and consequent; that between the whole and its parts, or between the
individual and the group; inseparables (you can't make an omelette
without breaking eggs), and so on. These places or topics give rise to
conclusions having plausibility rather than truth value. Hence the value
of rhetoric relative to the 'exact' sciences: the field of rhetoric is human
affairs, where nothing is clear-cut, or able to be categorized in binary
oppositions of the 'black/white' kind. Angenot adds the following
topics: the indifference shown by interested parties (There's no need to
be more Catholic than the pope); the topic of waste (We must carry
this through, or lose our investment); that of inflexible discipline (If
you give in once, you'll have to give in all the time), etc.
Despite what has just been said, the 'logical' topics do aim to
establish a certain truth value, of the kind necessary in human affairs.
One of the most important is therefore the rule of justice, which consists
in treating like things in a like manner. Ex: 'Is the burning of brick
houses to be called a crime whereas that of bamboo huts only a pec-
cadillo?' (M. Bardeche, Le Proces de Nuremberg, p. 174). To transgress
this rule is to make unfair exceptions, or as the French proverb con-
cerning weights and measures has it, 'faire deux poids, deux mesures'
(to have a double standard).
The same rule is found in stronger form in the a fortiori argument (if
p, then all the more q). Exx: 'If to die for one's prince were a glorious
death / What would it be to die for one's God?' (P. Corneille, Potyeucte,
4.3); 'History is written by the winners, all the more so military his-
tory'; 'Even a European atheist will be offended by Hindu references to
Jesus' (H. Michaux, Un Barbare en Asie, p. 119). This kind of argument
must however avoid hyperbole*. Ex: Taintings of a lubricity to make a
65
Argument
captain of dragoons blush (the virginity of a captain of dragoons is,

after the discovery of America, one of the finest made in a long time)'
(Theophile Gautier, Mile de Maupin, preface).
From Cicero on down, logical commonplaces have been replaced by
more empirical topics. This change was due less to considerations of
truth value than to growing forensic skill: cases came to be scrutinized
from every imaginable angle. For example, exhaustion is the method
that uses up all possible arguments (Robert); diallage (Lanham; Laus-
berg; Scaliger, Poetices libri septem, 3:64) is the discourse* deriving from
this method in which argument follows argument, all tending to the
same conclusion. Since Cicero, therefore, the manuals have taught, not
the discovery of logical relationships, but rather the viewpoints one
should adopt in order to discover arguments. The commonplaces have
become those relating (1) to the person (race, nationality, origins, sex,
age, education, way of life, wealth, class, character, tastes, etc.); (2) to
the case itself (its sum and parts, its beginning, progression and end,
the words used to describe it, its precedents, etc.); (3) to causes, man-
ner, means, definition, comparison, hypotheses, circumstances (see
Lausberg, sect. 373-99). Vuillaume (pp. 25-6) gives a mnemonic sum-
mary of topics in the form of the Latin verse: quis, cui, pro quo, de quo,
quando, ubi, quidque loquatur. The dactylic hexameter thus formed
gathers together the essential 'oratorical proprieties' which refer respec-
tively to the orator himself, to the listener, to the person whose case
one is pleading, or about whom one is speaking, and to the time, place,
and subject in question.
Roland Barthes lists other topics including those of the ludicrous, the
theological, the imaginary; see 'L'Ancienne Rhetorique: aide-memoire,'
in Barthes, L'Aventure s&niologique, pp. 85-165. In French, the word
topique is masculine in linguistic usage, feminine in rhetorical.
Coveted by the ignorant, endlessly repeated in courses for future
orators, the topics became even less flexible, being reduced to mere
extracts to be imitated, 'ready made pieces, re-usable after only a little
touching up in any speech at all' (Aristotle, Rhetoric, Bude edition,
analysis of book 2, p. 32). Act 3 of Racine's Les Plaideurs contains an
amusing example of topics used in this way, whereas act 2, scene 2, of
Shakespeare's Measure for Measure provides a more serious example,
since Isabel is pleading for her brother Claudio's life. A similar modern
example is Reginald Rose's play Twelve Angry Men, virtually all of
which consists of the conflicting arguments produced by the members
of a jury debating the guilt or innocence of a prisoner charged with
murder. Rose also wrote the screenplay for Sidney Lumet's memorable
film (1957).
R2: In order to be valid, arguments must not only be correct in them-
selves, they must be relevant to the matter in hand. See ad hominem*;
alternative*; aposiopesis*, R2; refutation*; apologue*; quotation*, R3;
66
Argument
communicatio*; and hyperbole*, R2. For admonition, see threat*, R2; and
praemunitio*.
Different kinds of argumentative tricks have been identified and
taught (not always with a view to exposing them as such). Angenot
draws attention to the following:
- the a contrario argument or enantiosis, in which proof is replaced by
refutation of a contrary assertion. Ex: It's better to laugh than cry about
something.
- the corax (from the name of the Sicilian believed by some to have
invented argumentative rhetoric), by means of which a probable truth
is overturned by saying that it's too probable. Ex: In mystery stories,
the character at whom all the clues point must never turn out to be the
real criminal.
- the amalgam or argument by assimilation, in which notions, pheno-
mena, or different objects are considered as belonging in the same
category. Recourse to the amalgam forms the natural approach of an
abstract thinker who takes a given perspective; it is used constantly in
mathematics. But it can give rise to confusions detrimental to one's
case, which critical analysis would reveal. Ex: These helmeted, red-
cheeked thugs accomplish the same task as the pure, venerable thinkers
on whose works we were nurtured' (P. Nizan, Les Chiens de garde, p. 94).
The antithetical physical appearances are irrelevant, strictly speaking,
to the contrasting actions performed by the two groups.
- the argument of the invented witness, in which the help of an anony-
mous authority, an imaginary, distant, 'objective' arbitrator, is called in.
Ex: 'I sometimes dream about what future historians will say about us.
A sentence will be enough to describe modern man: he fornicated and
read newspapers' (A. Camus, La Chute, p. 10).
Ex:
In a thousand years or so, when the first archaeologists from beyond
the date-line unload their boats on the sands of Southern California,
they will find much the same scene as confronted the Franciscan
Missionaries. A dry landscape will extend from the ocean to the
mountains. Bel Air and Beverly Hills will lie naked save for scrub
and cactus, all their flimsy multitude of architectural types turned
long ago to dust, while the horned toad and turkey buzzard leave
their faint imprint on the dunes that will drift on Sunset Boulevard.
(Evelyn Waugh, The Essays, Articles and Reviews, p. 331)
The more ordinary (i.e., representative) the witness, the stronger the
argument. Ex: 'If a thousand years hence someone reads this text [by
Levi-Strauss], he will deduce from it that in the llth century there
existed in the south of France a religion whose god was wine' (J.-Fr.
Revel, Pourquoi des philosophes, p. 145).
67
Argument
- the ad ignorantiam argument, by which one imposes on an adversary

the burden of proving the contrary (Lalande). Ex: Trove to us that we
are swimming against the current of our nature and of our history, and
we will change course' (P. Nizan, Les Chiens de garde, p. 88).
- the pretext*
- the loophole (an evasive answer, prevarication, ignoratio elenchi, or
fallacy of the irrelevant conclusion), in which the remarks made have
no bearing on the question discussed. The OED defines the device thus:
'A logical fallacy which consists in apparently refuting an opponent,
while actually disproving some statement different from that advanced
by him; also extended to any argument which is irrelevant to its pro-
fessed purpose/
Evasive answers may sometimes be funny. Ex: On a poster proclaim-
ing, 'Alcohol kills slowly,' an imbiber had written, 'Who the hell cares.
We're in no hurry.' On another poster (displayed in a British city)
which asked, 'What would you do if Jesus came to Liverpool?' an
ardent soccer fan had written, 'Play Saint-John on the left wing.' (Ian
Saint-John was at that time the Liverpool centre-forward.) Ignoratio
elenchi (Joseph, pp. 197, 370; Vuillaume, p. 16; Verest, sect. 422) is an
argumentative ploy by which, as though 'unaware' of the point of the
debate, a speaker proves something else, thus imperceptibly (it is
hoped) shifting the subject under discussion. Boris Vian exposes the
device by foregrounding it: 'Gentlemen of the jury, we'll leave aside
the motive for murder, the circumstances in which it took place, and
also the murder itself. Under these conditions, what blame do you
attach to my client?' (B. Vian, Te Brouillard,' in Les Fourmis, p. 155).
See also antanaclasis*.
- the argument ad populwn, which attempts by 'appealing to popular
sentimental weaknesses rather than to facts or reasons' (Grambs, p. 7)
to influence an easily persuaded audience
- the apodioxis (Morier), which rejects an argument without discussion,
declaring it childish. Fabri (2:113) called it contennement (i.e., 'contempt'
in eighteenth-century French) 'when we say that our opponent's speech
is a small thing, less than nothing, or that it's irrelevant, distasteful, or
incredible, or that it would be boring or ridiculous to speak of it.'
One useful variety peculiar to learned papers is the dismissal of a
point on the grounds that it would take too long to discuss it. Ex (iron-
ical): Is milk nutritious? The discussion of such a question would ex-
ceed the limits set upon this article' (A. Jarry, La Chandelle verte, p. 489).
Or one can reject points by declaring them to be of secondary interest:
'obviously certain details of your paper might be discussed [a list of
them is then given very rapidly], but we'll examine instead ...' If the
point is too tricky to be put aside like this, it is avoided with the 'prom-
ise that, at the right time and place, we will discuss it fully, so that we
do not seem to be evading it.' (Fabri [2:112] calls this an intermission.)
68
Assertion
Angenot defines disqualification as another kind of argumentative dis-

pensation one allows oneself by declaring that the baseness, triviality,
or undue violence of an attack is enough to discredit its author. Andre
Breton, the surrealist leader, uses the argument in Legitime Defense (p.
21) against one of the movement's critics: 'According to Marcel Mar-
tinet (Europe, May 15,1926), the Surrealists became disenchanted with
Surrealism only after the war because there was no money in it ... The res-
ponsibility for which assertion we leave to him, since its unfairness dis-
penses me from taking up his article point by point.' See also counter-
litotes*; definition*, Rl; etymology*; paralogism*; prosopopoeia*, R4;
and sophistry*. For the ad verecundiam argument, see threat*, R3.
R3: Any argument used, even implicitly, in a process of reasoning* is
open to the possibility of refutation*, unless one has recourse to the
argument from authority (see quotation*, R3). The discussion of an
argument's value is one of the techniques of amplification*, in the
broad sense of that term (see also deliberation* and letter*).
R4: A good many arguments always remain implicit. These are the
culture-specific presumptions and prejudgments which form the
underlying presuppositions of argumentation.
ASSERTION A speech act giving the position of a speaker on a

given subject. The assertion has two parts: the topic (Fr., le theme) or
psychological subject, that is, what is spoken about or more exactly that
about which something is said; and the comment (Fr., le propos) or
psychological predicate, that is what is said (about the topic).
Although not always distinguishable, topic and predicate together
represent the source of the sentence's syntactic constitution as a nomi-
nal syntagm followed by a verbal one. Ex: 'Shock is indispensable.
Magicians like darkness.' The topic may figure in an initial phrase fol-
lowed by a comma. Ex: 'In this house, Voltaire was born.' In this
sentence taken from a tourist guide, the house is identified; the topic is
thus in the adverbial complement, while the rest forms the predicate.
Obviously, then, grammatical and psychological subjects do not neces-
sarily coincide.
The verb which has an apparent subject allows for a clearer distinc-
tion of topic from predicate. Ex: "There has been a watch lost.' This
assertion serves to inform. The topic would be '(this is) what is hap-
pening.' If 'watch/ the real subject, were the grammatical subject ('A
watch has been lost'), it would be less clearly evident that the topic is
not the watch.
Logically, the predicate is distinguished by the fact that it may be
said to be either true or false. Psychologically, it may be questioned or
denied. Although not offering a perfect criterion, the French emphatic
transformation Vest... qui' (also called pseudo-clivage in French) draws
69
Assertion
attention to the predicate. Exx: 'C'est elle (\ui est arrivee en retard hier'
('She arrived late yesterday'); 'C'est en retard qu'elle est arrivee hier'
('She arrived late yesterday'); 'C'est hier qw'elle est arrivee en retard'
('Yesterday she arrived late'). In all of these cases, the verb and its
adjuncts are forced back into the topic. In the first instance, 'C'est elle
qui est arrivee hier' implies that 'someone arrived late yesterday.' To
which is added that in this regard (on this topic, therefore) it must be
said (this announces the predicate) it was she (who arrived late yester-
day). In such cases, English achieves oral emphasis* through intona-
tion*, whereas the sign of graphic emphasis is italics, as in the transla-
tions above.
In spoken language, the antithetical accent* plays an identical part in
the emphatic formula, which is the principal reason for the apparent
superiority in intelligibility enjoyed by the spoken over the written
form.
The topic does not always appear explicitly. If sufficiently implied in
the context or situation, it is elided. Exx: 'Very nice!'; Tameux!'; 'I
never speak about it, but I think about it all the time' (A. Allais, La
Barbe et autres conies, p. 64). P. Guiraud (p. 73) calls ellipsis* of the
predicate (a rarer phenomenon) locutive: such elision* works by refer-
ence to situation, by tone, or through recourse to interjections*. Ex: 'At
the present time, distances, pooh!' [i.e., they may be discounted] (J.
Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 145).
Analogous expressions: predication (logic), affirmation
Analogous definitions: See Ducrot and Todorov (p. 314), Marouzeau
(under 'phrase'), OED, and Robert.
Rl: Assertion may take the form of a question*. In this case, it is the
person addressed who is invited to take a position. On the other hand,
assertions may be affirmative, negative (see negation*), or dubitative
(see dubitatio*). Sentences may express all the degrees, from assurance
to doubt, in the appropriate forms: affirmative, negative, declarative,
interrogative, exclamative, or injunctive.
R2: In generative grammar, assertion is a sentence modality, charac-
teristic of its referential function (see enunciation*). J. Kristeva, in La
Revolution du langage po&ique, pp. 42-50, points out a relationship
between syntactic constituents (see syntagm*) and 'the thetic phase of
significance' composed of an enunciation* which concerns a denotatum.
The creation, which may be called 'true' or 'false,' of a relationship
between two elements is the 'logical property' of assertive utterances.
Aristotle called such propositions apophantic, a term derived from the
Greek ocTUXpaoic;, which means both declaration and negation; hence, in
the OED, apophasis, and in Littre apophase, 'denial, refutation/ as op-
posed to cataphase, 'affirmation.'
70
Assertion
R3: There are various means of joining to the constituent assertion of

the assertive sentence supplementary assertions, called adjacent (or
second, third, etc.) assertions (or predications). These are adjunctions*
(see adjunction, R2), interpolated clauses, parentheses*, appositions*,
self-corrections*, and examples of hyperbaton*. Ex: 'We have here an
example of what Godel demonstrates - laboriously - in his system'
(A. Badiou, Tvlarque et manque/ Cahiers pour I'analyse, no. 10 [1969],
p. 169). The adverb placed between two pauses is the equivalent of
another assertion, which would state: 'but his demonstration is (very)
laborious.' Ex: The propositions which define reality present as true
something which is not (immediately) true' (H. Marcuse, L'Homme uni-
dimensionnel, pp. 171-2). The parenthesis* is the equivalent of a conces-
sion* which would follow on from the paradox*: 'something not true,
or at least not immediately so/ Ex: 'It is, I say, when eyes opened that
truths and lies surfaced, and that illusion submerged mankind'
(R. Ducharme, L'AvaUe des avails, p. 102). A simple comma may suffice:
7ohn Paul Vann was born, illegitimate, in 1924 in Norfolk, Virginia, of
poor immigrant stock' (Independent Magazine, 15 April 1989, p. 21). That
is: 'Vann was born in Norfolk, and he was born illegitimate' (see
caesura*, R4).
R4: Oswald Ducrot, examining the implicit context of the assertion,
proposes a stricter operating definition. He contrasts what is posed to
what is presupposed. The posed is the element which the assertion
presents as new, so that any negative or interrogative transformation
erases it. The presupposition, which survives such transformations, is
presented to the receiver as being implicitly self-evident, already
accepted, beyond discussion. It thus has an illocutionary value, which
is founded on social convention. (See finesse* and coq-a-l'ane*', R5.)
Conversely, if what is posed contains no more than the relevant pre-
suppositions, then the result is mere empty assertion, talking for talk-
ing's sake. Ex: 'Since Picasso devoted his life to art, the latter occupies
an important place in his paintings/ As established by the science of
discursive pragmatics, it is a law of the text that every assertion must
contain an element that may be added to what has already been said
or presupposed. (Discursive pragmatics, a discipline of recent origin, is
a branch of linguistics; it studies utterances and enunciation*.)
R5: Assertion is the normal form of argument*. It has various degrees
(see enunciation*, Rl), as well as its own intonation*. Nominalization*
resolves it. In more developed form, it becomes a period*. It appears in
different kinds of sentences* and is articulated in diverse ways accord-
ing to the position of the antithetical or expressive accent* (see expres-
sive punctuation*, R2). In disguised form, it becomes a question* often
implying a response* (see response, Rl). Reduced to a single word it is
emphatic (see emphasis*, Rl).
71
Assonance
ASSONANCE A mark of the poetic line. Miller Williams (Patterns of

Poetry, p. 14) defines assonance as the 'relationship between words
with different consonants immediately preceding and following the last
accented vowels, which vowels have identical sounds (hit/will,
disturb/bird, go/know, undoing/construing).' See also Littre.
In French, assonance is 'a verse-marker: the repetition* of the last
accented syllable' (J. Pesot, conversation with the author). Ex:
II dormiront sous la pluie ou les etozles
Us galoperont avec moi portant en croupe des victoires.
G. Apollinaire, Poemes a Lou, in Oeuvres poetiques, p. 382
Other definition: Frye defines assonance in anglophone poetry as
'repetition* of middle vowel sounds' wherever in the line they appear.
See alliteration*, R2.
Rl: Rhyme* and assonance are varieties, in regular poetry, of the more
general device homoioteleuton*, but frequently assonance is used as a
synonym of homoioteleuton. Ex: 'We cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground' (Abraham Lincoln, 'Gettys-
burg Address').
R2: In the case of homoioteleuton, accented vowels are identical, but no
account is taken of consonants. Paronomasia* is a more general case
employing similarities between several phonemes.
R3: One also finds cases in which only the post-tonic consonants are
identical. The Leys d'amors (the most important treatise on the language
and poetic practices of the troubadours of medieval Provence) calls the
latter 'consonantal rhymes' [rims consonans]. P. Guiraud (Essais de
stylistique) both points this out and quotes a recent example:
/e sors! si un rayon me b/esse
/e succomberai sur la mousse.
A. Rimbaud, Les Illuminations
On the same subject, J. Mazaleyrat (Elements de metrique frangaise,
p. 196) speaks of counter-assonance, a term which seems more relevant
than apophonic rhyme (Morier; see paronomasia*, R3).
R4: Assonanced lines may be grouped to form laisses (see stanza*, R2).
ASTEISMUS 1. 'Refined, witty talk ... Facetious or mocking answer

that plays on a word' (Lanham). See also Grambs, Jacobs, and Joseph.
Ex:
BLAIR: Your letter mentioned some unsavoury business with choir-
boys.
72
Asyndeton
PURVIS: Savoury business, not unsavoury business.

BLAIR: Savoury business?
PURVIS: Yes. You know what a savoury is. Mushrooms on toast...
sardines ... or, in this case, Welsh rarebit.
Tom Stoppard, The Dog It Was That Died, scene 3
2. Delicate, clever banter or badinage which praises or flatters while
appearing to blame or reproach. See Fontanier, p. 150; Genette (Figures
II, p. 251); and Morier.
Ex: 'What! another chef d'oeuvre! Weren't those you had already
published enough? Do you want [to drive] your rivals to utter des-
pair?' (V. Voiture, quoted by Fontanier).
Other names: 'Civill Jest; Merry Scoffe; Urbanitas' (Lanham)
Rl: Asteismus is a form of social irony*. French rhetoricians therefore
unite it with its opposite: 'disguise blame under the veil of praise' (Le
Clerc, p. 298; Verest, p. 106). Cyrano's famous 'nose speech' piles up
example on example CWhat a sign board for a perfumer!' etc.) which
are also examples of chleuasmos*. The device is eminently rhetorical
(see false -*, Rl). It has its own intonation*.
R2: Since asteismus presupposes a certain connivance between the
speakers, it is used mostly between friends. Ex [Brunet is proposing
that Mathieu join the Communist Party. He thinks that involvement
will be good for him]: 'Mathieu went up to Brunet and shook him by
the shoulders (he was very fond of him). - You dirty bloody talent-
spotter. It does me good to hear you talk like that' (J.-P. Sartre, L'Age de
raison, p. 172). As the example shows, asteismus may include swear-
words*. It is close to antiphrasis*.
ASYNDETON A kind of ellipsis* which omits the merely copulative

conjunctions supposed to unite the different parts of a sentence. See
Littre, Girard, Lanham, Lausberg (sect. 709-11), Le Clerc (p. 268), Paul
(p. 141), Preminger, Quillet, and Robert.
Exx: 'I came, I saw, I conquered' (Caesar); That government of the
people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth'
(A. Lincoln, 'Gettysburg Address'); 'Rain, wind, clover, leaves became
parts of my life. Real parts of my body' (Anne Hebert, Le Torrent, p. 37).
Ex:
For poetry makes nothing happen: it survives
In the valley of its making where executives
Would never want to tamper, flows on south
From ranches of desolation and the busy griefs,
73
Attenuation
Raw towns that we believe and die in; it survives,

A way of happening, a mouth.
W.H. Auden, 'In Memory of W.B. Yeats'
Other names: disjunction (Fontanier [p. 340], Girard, Lausberg [sect.
711], Littre, Paul, Quillet); dissolution (Le Clerc, p. 269); asynateton
(Quillet); articulo, brachylogia*, dialyton, loose language, dialelumenon
(all in Lanham, who uses a larger definition: 'omission of conjunctions
between words, phrases or clauses')
Antonym: polysyndeton*
Rl: Asyndeton expresses disorder (Spitzer, p. 283). Ex: There had been
so many funerals since grandmother Antoinette reigned over her
household, little black deaths, in winter, disappearances of children, of
babies, who had only lived a few months, mysterious disappearances
of adolescents in autumn, in spring' (Marie-Claire Blais, Une Saison dans
la vie d'Emmanuel, p. 28).
R2: Since asyndeton is characterized by the absence of conjunctions and
commas, it may happen that nothing, except the meaning, allows one
to distinguish whether the second element is added to the first with the
same function or whether it stands in apposition*. Ex: 'sadly and
tenderly the woman stared at the children, the babies' (ibid., p. 53). Are
we to understand two associated or dissociated groups?
This formal relationship is not unconnected with the effect of vague
conjunction provided by asyndeton, whose assembled elements form a
badly outlined concept. Ex: 'my mother confused names, events' (ibid.).
R3: When discussing asyndeton, it is better to avoid speaking of jux-
taposition*, since the latter term has a specific, quite distinct meaning.
ATTENUATION We may group under this title the figures of

extenuation*, euphemism*, and their ironic form, litotes*. These are
figures of enunciation* whose function is to diminish, for reasons of
propriety or otherwise, the real intensity of things.
Exx: oaths (see interjection*, R5); preterition* (see preterition, Rl);
certain negative constructions (see negation*, R3); certain kinds of
questions* and tautologies* (see tautology, R2)
Analogous expressions in French: ecriture blanche Cblank writing');
degre zero de I ecriture ('zero-degree writing') (Barthes). See litotes*, R2.
Antonym: hyperbole*
Rl: The attitude implied by such devices presents an alternative* to the
reader, who may consider the attenuation as natural (if, for example,
things are well known and 'speak for themselves') or as ironical (if, for
74
Autism
example, it is a matter of controversial or repressed truths). If inter-

preted as ironic, attenuation provokes a vigorous reaction (see litotes*).
R2: Attenuation may be distinguished from reduction (see generaliza-
tion*, R3), which belongs to the utterance and not to an attitude.
R3: Narrative* is attenuated by discourse*. Exx: See discourse*, Rl, and
truism*, R2.
AUTHORISM (Mot d'auteur) A word or remark which a reader

recognizes as coming from the author rather than from a character.
Ex: 'AUDUBON. - "It's all the same to me. Besides, in this age of deep
thinkers, talking nonsense is the only way to prove that one's own
thoughts are free and independent"' (B. Vian, Thtdtre, 1:233). The idea
expressed is too deep to have come from the character, a child who has
never grown up, but it is typical of Vian's attitude towards existen-
tialism.
Rl: The utterance may have maximum relevance to the character's situ-
ation: for a reader to recognize it as an authorism, it need only reflect
exactly the author's ideas. See reactualization*, 1. Ex: 'DORA. - "If the
only solution is death, we are not on the right path. The right path is
the one that leads to life, to the sun"' (A. Camus, Les Justes, p. 165).
R2: Authorisms should be distinguished from parabasis*: authorial
intrusions, comments, and digressions made in the present tense.
AUTISM 'A condition in which a person is morbidly self-absorbed

and out of touch with reality' (OEDS). An attitude which consists in
envisaging everything from a single strictly personal, 'subjective' point
of view. See Marchais.
Ex: 'This happened in one of those unspeakably foul omnibi which fill
up with hoi poloi precisely at those times when I have to consent to
use them' (R. Queneau, Exercises in Style, p. 24).
Rl: Autism has a basis in private experience. Ex: 'All of mankind's
shaky science is in no way superior to the immediate knowledge I can
have of my own being. I am the only judge of what there is in me' (A.
Artaud, L'Ombilic des limbes, p. 72).
Solipsism gave Schopenhauer a base for his theories, to which, in
Aurora, Michel Leiris has given literary form: The word I summarizes
for me the structure of the world. It is only as a function of myself and
because I deign to give some attention to their existence that things
exist... It is only as a function of myself that I exist and if I say that it
is raining or that the sea is evil, these are only periphrases which express
the fact that a part of myself has resolved itself into fine droplets or
75
Ballad or Ballade
that another part is full of dangerous cross-currents' (p. 86). Such

interiorization provides one mode for the formation of images* (see
image, R5).
R2: We may distinguish autism from the nai've kind of egoism dis-
played by those who constantly call attention to themselves. Ex: 'I tell
you, personally, I think there are some odd things in this life, it's only
mountains that never meet' (R. Queneau, Exercises in Style, p. 82).
The egoism displayed by a Stendhal, a Barres, a Wilde, a Burgess, or
a Vidal, on the other hand, is a kind of autism, just as is the apologia
pro vita sua. Ex: 'I know how to use a pen, but ever since I took my last
written examination, the pen has always been for me a musical instru-
ment: I still write orchestral scores with it but, associating it as I do
with the shaping of notes and dynamic signals, I find it difficult to put
it in the service of any written statement longer than allegro ma non
troppo. Still, I do not have to make excuses for not being a literary
penman ...' (A. Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. xii).
R3: Autism may possess oral markers: a kind of fruity intonation* and
a preference for the higher registers.
B
BALLAD or BALLADE A group of stanzas* in simple rhythm*
(bailer in French means to dance). In its strict form, the ballad has three
and a half stanzas, each ending with the same line (see refrain*). The
final half-stanza (or envoy) begins with an apostrophe* dedicating the
poem to the beloved or to some other eponymous person.
Exx: 'La ballade des dames du temps jadis' (Villon; see acrostic*);
'Ballade of Dead Actors' (W.E. Henley)
Rl: The ballad is a 'poem of fixed form' (see poem*): three octaves and
a quatrain (see stanza*). The grande ballade has ten-lined stanzas. Ex:
A.C. Swinburne's 'A Ballad of Franqois Villon.' The chant royal has five
and a half stanzas of eleven lines. Exx: H.C. Bunner, 'Behold the
Deeds'; Wesli Court, 'Requiem for the Old Professor,' collected in
Miller Williams, Patterns of Poetry, pp. 102-5.
BARBARISM A mistake* in vocabulary; a use of words or forms

which do not belong to the language (as opposed to solecism*). See
Fowler, Marouzeau, and Robert (who insists: 'a gross error').
Exx: 'youse'; 'ashphalt'
76
Baroquism
Fowler, who described the barbarism as 'an illiterate expression ...

some word that, like its name, is likely to wound feelings' (pp. 48-9),
cited Thou asketh' as a barbarism. The rarity of his example is an
indication, perhaps, of the tolerance by anglophones of linguistic
phenomena which francophones would condemn as barbarisms.
Other definition: Littre gives a wider meaning to barbarism: any
expression which violates the rules of language. Barbarisms would thus
include solecisms* and even examples of cacology*.
Rl: Barbarisms are alterations, obtained by composition, derivation, or
linguistic 'patching'; they always result from ignorance or confusion.
This does not prevent them finding a place in literary works. Ex:
'Awright,' she said contemptuously. 'Awright, cover 'im up if ya
want ta. Whatta I care? You bindle bums think you're so damn
good. Whatta ya think I am, a kid? I tell ya I could of went with
shows. Not jus' one, neither. An' a guy tol' me he could put me in
pitchers.' (J. Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, p. 86).
Each mispronunciation by the character makes possible movement
towards other meanings. As may be seen here, barbarisms may pro-
duce effects directly, as well as through indirect evocation. In such
cases, however, they resemble incorrect use of words (see incorrect*
word, R3).
R2: The mistake* may be due to a borrowing from a foreign language.
See peregrinism* and sarcasm*, Rl.
BAROQUISM The search for the rarest, the most surprising, and
most curious ideas, figures, and words.
Ex:
Anon out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a temple, where pilasters round
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
With golden architrave; nor did there want
Cornice or frieze with bossy sculptures graven;
The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon,
Nor great Alcairo such magnificence
Equalled in all their glories, to enshrine
Belus or Serapis their gods or seat
Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove
In wealth and luxury.
J. Milton, Paradise Lost, 1.710-22
77
Baroquism
Ex:
It was as if all the guests of the symposium were now in the crypt,
each mummified in its own residue, each the diaphanous synec-
doche of itself, Rachel as a bone, Daniel as a tooth, Sampson as a
jaw, Jesus as a shred of purple garment... From every corner of the
crypt, now I was grinned at, whispered to, bidden to death by this
macrobody divided among glass cases and reliquaries and yet recon-
structed in its vast and irrational whole, and it was the same body
that at the supper had eaten and tumbled obscenely but here,
instead, appeared to me fixed in the intangibility of its deaf and
blind ruin. (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 433)
Analogous terms: mannerism, preciosity, Marinism (see imitation*),
Asianism. Littre proposes 'cataglottism' ('the use of well-chosen
words'). Closer examination reveals cataglottism to be a 'false friend/
which the OED, citing Cotgrave, defines as a ' "kisse or kissing with
the tongue."' The Supplement to the OED recommends the deletion of
the observation, but still retains in a modern example the English
meaning of 'kissing.'
Rl: The opposite of Asianism was 'Atticism' (see period*, R4), with
Greek clarity and the democratic aim of persuasion being opposed to
the fascination with the kind of beauty to be found in profuse detail.
Atticism, however, was too recherchg for some: one of its avatars,
Ciceronianism (Erasmus), aroused in some humanists (Dolet, Justus
Lipsius) a reaction, which became the 'anti-Ciceronian movement' and
which rejected anything not going tersely and directly to the heart of
the matter. The 'anti-Ciceronians' favoured concision, laconicism, and
brevity, as did Orwell in his influential essay Tolitics and the English
Language' (Inside the Whale and Other Essays, pp. 143-57).
R2: During the seventeenth century, French prtcieuses or blue stockings
abused metonymical periphrasis*. Exx: 'We shall take the meridional
necessities' for 'We are going to have lunch'; 'My good commoner, go
and seek my zephyr in my precious' for Maid, go and get my fan from
the cupboard' (A. Somaize, Le Grand Dictionnaire des iprecieuses, 1661).
But even today, baroquism triumphs in some comparisons*. Ex: 'Her
amber comb divided the silky mass [her hair] into long orange threads
similar to the furrows which the happy ploughman makes with a fork
in apricot jam' (B. Vian, L'Ecume des jours, p. 7). Other figures used
(and abused) in precious style: abstraction*, accumulation* (see
accumulation, R2), oxymoron*, diaphora*, conceit*, enumeration* (see
enumeration, R5), litotes*, periphrasis*, point*, homonymy*, word-
play*, semantic syllepsis*, and synecdoche* (see synecdoche, R3).
R3: If the ornamentation obscures meaning* completely, the result is
78
Bathos
phoebus*, the undecipherable text, the acme of baroque. A skilful

author may prepare the reader for such obscurities, however, by first
introducing simple prefigurations, before combining them later into
formulas or points*.
R4: Asianisms, embroideries on gratuitous hypotheses or on the shape
of letters, appear in Arabic literature up to the present day. Ex: 'Which
is better: the upper or the lower lip? Would you like to know? What
does it matter if both are velvet to my kisses, to my love' (G. Ghaneur,
in Norin, ed., Anthologie de la litterature arabe contemporaine, 3:158). This
is almost an example of a conceit*.
French neo-classical writers scorned this type of irrational develop-
ment, but modern writers have returned to it. Ex: "The sky was full [of
stars], the sparkling y and the i of myriad' (C. Simon, Histoire, p. 355).
R5: Positivism classified all baroque or surrealist devices under the
pejorative label of procedisme, or device-mania: 'Procedisme consists in
saving oneself the trouble of thinking or more especially of observing,
in favour of reliance on made-up terms or well-defined formulas ... In
the XVlth century, the Gongorists and Euphuists, and in the XVTIth
century, the Precieuses were all Procedistes' (Annales meclico-psychologi-
Cjues, quoted by Andre Breton in Manifestes du surrealisme, p. 74). What
would these learned alienists, for whom scientific observation was the
only type of thinking, have said about modern and postmodern 'poten-
tial' or 'disseminated' forms of French literature?
R6: If it lacks distinction, baroquism slips into burlesque*; lack of
isotopy* produces device-mania. See false -*, R4, and extravagant*
comparison, R3.
BATHOS A sudden fall in a climactic development. See Preminger.

Ex: 'A. de Musset, charming, likeable, subtle, graceful, delicate, exqui-
site, small' (Victor Hugo, quoted by P. Clarac in La Classe de francais, le
Xixe siecle, p. 202). The effect may be ironical or sometimes simply
comical. Ex: 'A hundred petitioners go seeking jam, cigarettes, dollars
and kicks in the behind' (R. Ducharme, L'AvaUe des avaUs, p. 96).
Other definitions: Longinus used the word as an antonym of sublime,
whereas Pope in Peri Bathous; or, Martinus Scriblerus His Treatise on the
Art of Sinking in Poetry (1728) used it to designate something at once
pathetic and ridiculous. Preminger offers two definitions: 'an uninten-
tionally ludicrous because ill-managed attempt at elevated expression'
and 'deliberate anticlimax*.' This type of ridicule of some sublime
aspiration through a final opposition aptly describes Claire's mockery
of her own enthusiasm: 'CLAIRE: In his perfumed arms, the devil bears
me away. He raises me up, I take off, depart ... (she stamps her heel on
79
Battology
the ground) ... and I remain here' (J. Genet, Les Bonnes, p. 21). It also
expresses Churchill's irony* at his post-war treatment by the British
electorate: 'On the night of the tenth of May [1940], at the outset of this
mighty battle, I acquired the chief power in the State, which henceforth
I wielded in ever-growing measure for five years and three months of
world war, at the end of which time, all our enemies having sur-
rendered unconditionally or being about to do so, I was immediately
dismissed by the British electorate from all further conduct of their
affairs' (W. Churchill, The Gathering Storm, pp. 666-7).
Rl: In its modern meaning, bathos combines gradatio* (see gradatio, R5)
with anticlimax* (see anticlimax, R3).
BATTOLOGY Unnecessary, tedious repetition* of the same thoughts

in the same terms in similar clauses. See Littre and OED.
Ex: 'He wants me to answer that phenol is an oxydized derivative of
benzene extracted from oil found in tar and coal, but I will not answer
him that phenol is an oxydized derivative of benzene extracted from
oil found in tar and coal!!' (R. Ducharme, L'Avalee des avales, p. 196).
Ex ['East Village hippie describing the sexual customs of that scene (in
The Hippie Trip, pp. 121-2)']: 'Now here, like Mary got screwed last
night and she went and did it, well, gee whiz, good enough - wow, I
mean what's it to me? I mean, wow, that's the way it is here' (Lanham
[1974], pp. 89-90).
Rl: Battology is a particular form of verbiage*. To distinguish it from
redundancy*, perissology*, and pleonasm* (see pleonasm, Rl), Marou-
zeau compares it to stammering*, probably for reasons of etymology*
(Battos was a king who stammered; see Herodotus, 4:155). Justified
repetition* is epanalepsis* (see epanalepsis, R2); if the speaker uses
other terms, it is a metabole* or a paraphrase*.
BLASPHEMY Words deliberately outrageous to the deity.

Ex:' "If I believed in a God I would curse him," he said. "I would spit
in his face. I would send him to his own hell"' (Katherine Ann Porter,
Ship of Fools, p. 321).
Rl: Profanities, or familiar exclamations*, vaguely blasphemous in
origin, are similar to interjections* (see interjection, R5). They liberate
affectivity at the expense of the super-ego. Ex:
O God! O Montreal!
Preferrest thou the gospel of Montreal to the gospel of Hellas,
The gospel of thy connexion with Mr. Spurgeon's haberdasher to the
gospel of Discobolus?
80
Blunder
Yet none the less blasphemed he beauty saying, The Discobolus

hath no gospel,
But my brother-in-law is haberdasher to Mr. Spurgeon.'
O God! O Montreal!
Samuel Butler, Tsalm of Montreal'
In any case, the profanity in question should be distinguished from
an exclamation* which invokes the deity without seeking to outrage it.
Convent-dwellers used to call this type the ejaculation. A current ex-
ample: Jesus! Sweet Jesus! My God, Jesus Mary and Joseph!' This sort
of exclamation has become a banal kind of interjection. It resembles any
supplication* addressed to the super-ego. Ex: 'Mother! Holy Toledo!'
BLUNDER A mistake* arising from simple-mindedness or careless-

ness.
The French terms nigauderie and niaiserie frequently apply to mis-
takes due to simple-mindedness, whereas sottise designates a careless
mistake. In literary texts, both types of 'mistakes' are often deliberate.
Ex: 'Every life is many days, day after day' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 175).
Analogous terms: howler, boner, bloomer, nonsensical or stupid
remark, nonsense*, blather (familiar), [to talk] cock (coarse), gaffe, faux
pas, blooper
Rl: There are errors in pronunciation (e.g., as/zphalt'), in vocabulary
(e.g., 'He is disinterested in the truth'), as well as in thought (e.g., 'Our
dog has gone missing. It is a portent of doom' [Sue Townsend, The
Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4, p. 130]).
R2: Sometimes blunders are mimological. Ex:
LITERARRY CORNER.
A book for the hols. 'Rob Roy' by Charles Dickens. (Grabber &
Grabber, 6s.)
To judge from the first page which i happned to see by mistake this
is something about a small boy who had to climb chimneys. Ak-
tually i would have thort this was quite super as you get black but
this one seemed to be rather sorry for himself. On page 5 there is a
pressed leaf and on page 77 some orange juice i spilt while the book
was acting as part of a fort. There seemed to be something about
some water babies or something soppy but i dont really kno. i
supose he must hav climbed the chimney to rob roy but this is only
a guess. (G. Willians and R. Searle, Down with Skool, p. 45)
Ex:
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably
want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood
81
Boustrophedon
was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had
me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like
going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that
stuff bores me and in the second place, my parents would have two
hemmorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them.
They're nice and all - I'm not saying that - but they're also touchy as
hell. Besides I'm not going to tell you my whole godamm auto-
biography or anything. (J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, p. 5)
Both these texts (as does Adrian Mole) 'reproduce' the voices of juvenile
or adolescent narrators, attributing to them graphic blunders or ideas
consonant with their age and view of the world. Blunders made by old
people are put down to senility and form part of anecdotage.
R3: Simulation* (and pseudo-simulation*) of blunders is a principal
source of comedy, as the number of synonyms* for the word clown
attests: blunderer, buffoon, bungler, charlatan, clod, farceur, fool,
harlequin, mountebank, punch, rustic, stooge, tumbler, etc.
BOUSTROPHEDON Graphic transcription from right to left.

Exx: 'mangiD kcirtaF (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 101); 'Llareggub Hill' (Dylan
Thomas, Under Milk Wood); 'The input hadn't been IAHVEH, but HEVHAl'
(Eco, Foucault's Pendulum, p. 40); 'elbare'd elliuef al ed enneivuos em ej
euq li-tuaf?' [i.e., 'fael elpam eht rebmemer I tsum?'] (R. Duguay,
Lapokalipsd, p. 147).
Rl: The order of the letters is reversed but not the letters themselves.
It's not enough, therefore, simply to look at them on a transparency or
in a mirror to decipher them, unlike in the following example: 'And in
the medicine cabinet mirror, the word REDRUM flashing on and off.
Suddenly a huge clock in a glass bowl materialized in front of it ... he
saw the word REDRUM reflecting dimly from the glass dome, now
reflected twice. And he saw that it spelled MURDER' (Stephen King, The
Shining, p. 306).
In the case of boustrophedon, suppression of separating marks like
capital letters and apostrophes, and even of the divisions between
words, produces graphic scrambling*.
R2: Boustrophedon, in its literal sense, means '(written) alternately
from right to left and from left to right, like the course of the plough in
successive furrows; as in various ancient inscriptions in Greek and
other languages' (OED).
R3: See also palindrome* and allograph*, R3.
BRACHYLOGIA A vice of elocution consisting of excessive brevity,

pushed to the point of stylistic obscurity. See Littre.
82
Brachylogia
'Elocution' is here used in Fontanier's sense of the term (Latin

elocutio, 'the choice, the matching of words') or in the broader sense of
'the way of expressing oneself (Littre, Larousse, OED), but not in its
restricted, more recent sense (since 1850 in French) of 'the "correct"
way of articulating sounds in speaking' (Larousse). The OED gives this
latter meaning as existing in English only since the seventeenth cen-
tury. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary (1976 ed.), however, it is the only
meaning listed for the term.
Ex: 'He sang his didn't he danced his did' (e.e. cummings). The missing
elements (punctuation, signified s) of this minimal sentence would be
supplied: 'He sang his (part, songs?), (his friend? girl-friend?) didn't he,
he danced his (measures, steps?), (he?) did.' See also anastrophe*, R3.
Analogous term: contraction
Other definitions: See Marouzeau; and Grevisse (Le Bon Usage, sect.
228, no. 1): 'a kind of ellipsis* consisting in not repeating an element
previously expressed.' This is zeugma*. See also ellipsis*. Lanham:
'Brevity of diction; abbreviated construction; word or words omitted. A
modern theorist differentiated this use from ellipsis*, in that the ele-
ments missing are more subtly, less artificially, omitted in ellipsis: "The
corps goeth before, we follow after, we come to the grave, she is put
into the fire, a lamentation is made" (Peacham).'
Rl: Brachylogia is not always a vice. Sometimes its obscurity is the
price paid for convenient brevity, or signals euphemism* or irony*. Exx:
coffee-break (a break in which to have coffee); a social disease (one
contracted through close [social] contact). Brachylogia is of great help
to the novelist in avoiding repetition* of the declarative verbs (to say,
etc.). Exx: ' "Sir," he accosted me [he said on accosting me]'; ' "What!"
started my visitor [said my visitor, with a start].' Grevisse, in collecting
these examples (sect. 559, rem. 6, no. 1), allows in good French usage
only verbs containing the idea of saying something (to sigh, to express
astonishment, to insist, etc.). Similarly Grambs (pp. 402-5)f who offers
over one hundred 'acceptable' English dialogue-verbs, castigates the
use of what he calls 'facial verbs' and 'physiognomy-speak.' Exx:
' "Absolutely not," she frowned'; ' "Gladly," he chuckled'; ' "Let's do
it!" they beamed.'
Brevity can play an expressive role: Je t'aimais inconstant, qu'eusse-
je fait fidele' ('I loved you faithless, what would I have done, [had you
been] true?') (Racine, Andromaciue, 4.5). Spitzer comments (p. 269): 'So
concentrated a sentence can only express a soul's oppression/ (This
example often falls under the rubric of ellipsis*. Some examples of
brachylogia are no more than particularly strong ellipses.)
Brachylogia's very obscurity may have aesthetic importance, as in
Valery's expression 'terre osseuse' ('Cimetiere marin,' v. 53), in which it
83
Burlesque
functions as litotes*: the bones filling the ground in question are those
of the poet's ancestors.
R2: Syntactic juxtaposition* is one of the forms of brachylogia. See also
portmanteau* word, Rl.
BURLESQUE Low, extravagant comedy.

Ex:
If you're anxious for to shine in the high aesthetic line, as a man of
culture rare ...
Then a sentimenal passion of a vegetable fashion must excite your
languid spleen,
An attachment a la Plato for a bashful young potato, or a not-too-
French French bean.
Though the Philistines may jostle, you will rank as an apostle in the
high aesthetic band,
If you walk down Piccadilly with a poppy or a lily in your mediae-
val hand.
W.S. Gilbert, Patience
Ex:
A poor mendicant friar and Grand Admiral of the slave hulks
arrives at top speed by sea
and after having made the usual demands
This is my expeditionary corps
This is your blood
sermonizes Haiphong with shots of canonical law
exterminating angels accomplish their mission and decimate the
population
J. Prevert, 'Entendez-vous, gens du Viet-Nam ...'
in La Pluie et le beau temps
Rl: Both Littre and Hutchinson (Games Authors Play, pp. 94-5) distin-
guish between burlesque, parody*, and the mock-heroic poem. These are
the three species of the farcical (or 'bouffon') genre. Burlesque treats a
noble, heroic subject using vulgar characters and a low style (e.g., J.
Gay, The Beggar's Opera, and B. Vian, Le Gouter des generaux). The mock-
heroic, on the other hand, is an epic form which gives lower-class
characters recherchl manners (e.g., Marivaux, Le Tdemaque travesti).
According to Littre, parody* too 'changes the class of the characters in
the works travestied.' Hutchinson gives the following account of the
burlesque elements found in Gay's The Beggar's Opera:
Italian opera was in vogue in the early part of the eighteenth cen-
tury, but its excesses were regretted by many of the leading English
writers of the day ... Gay accordingly turned the traditional Italian
84
Cacology
formula upside down. He used the title 'opera' but nevertheless

chose a setting, characters and language which were completely at
odds with audience expectations. Instead of courtly or mythological
figures, he chose beggars, thieves, and prostitutes; instead of a
dignified language, he employed the slang of the underworld;
instead of great deeds, he portrayed crime on a grand scale, double-
crossing and murder. Yet all this was contained within the operatic
structure, constant references by characters to 'Honour' and 'Love,'
the designation of the leading highwayman as 'Captain,' of the
prostitutes as 'Ladies,' and so on, all of which link the present piece
with dominant traits of its sources. (Games Authors Play, pp. 94-5)
R2: Burlesque came from Italy along with baroquism* and flowered in
France in the seventeenth century with d'Assoucy and Scarron, while
suffering Boileau's sarcastic sallies. In any case, 'burlesque' is now used
in a less specific meaning*: see interjection*, R5, and celebration*, R2.
R3: Mazarinades are examples of burlesque persiflage* with a political
angle. The term derives from lampoons in couplets circulated during
the civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653 called the Fronde.
Satirists directed their attacks against Cardinal Mazarin. Nowadays, the
genre survives in France in caricatural drawings.
c
CACEMPHATON A combination of sounds producing an un-
pleasant utterance.
Lanham (p. 20) gives both the older meaning, 'scurrilous jest; lewd
allusion*' or 'double entendre,' and the more modern meaning, 'sounds
combined for harsh effect,' citing Peacham: 'when there come many
syllables of one sound together in one sentence, like a continual jarring
upon one string, thus, neither honour nor nobility could move a
naughty niggardly noddy.' Augarde (p. 161) cites the following parody
by Swinburne of his own abuse of alliteration*: 'From the depth of the
dreamy decline of the dawn through a notable nimbus of notable
moonshine, / Pallid and pink as the palm of the flag-flower that
flickers with fear of the flies as they float' (A. Swinburne, 'Nephelidia').
Rl: Cacemphaton may produce an equivoque*, but an undesirable one.
Its remedy sometimes involves a departure from common usage.
CACOLOGY A defective expression which, although not grammati-

cally incorrect, does violence to usage and logic (Marouzeau; see also
Lausberg, sect. 1070); unacceptable pronunciation or use of language
85
Cacophony
(Crystal, 1987); bad pronunciation; impropriety of wording or unac-

ceptable diction (Grambs).
In English, cacology emphasizes 'good/ received pronunciation,
rather than grammatical correctness: elocution rather than logic. Ex:
'THE FLOWER GIRL: Ah-ow-ooh! Aaah-ow-ooh! Aaaaaaaaaaa-ow-ooh!!!'
(G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion, act 1). The following French example empha-
sizes faulty logic: 'Les intentions des gardes ne se resument qu'a
assurer leur confort' ('The guards' intentions extend only to assuring
their own comfort'), a contamination of se resument a and ne consistent
qu'a (Marouzeau).
Other definition: synonym of cacemphaton* (Marouzeau)
Rl: Cacology is a generic term in French for a mistake*, specified so as
to cover any error in language other than barbarism* and solecism*. It
involves the misunderstanding of certain privileged associations (said
to be logical,' but often merely imposed by usage) such as 'remplir une
mission' ('to fulfil a mission') and 'atteindre un but' ('to reach a goal');
hence Marouzeau's criticism of 'remplir un but' ('to achieve a goal'),
which nonetheless has become current in French.
The expression verges upon semantic incompatibility. As soon as it
is motivated as an error, cacology becomes a device (see dissociation*),
a means, for example, of reviving dead metaphor*. Ex: 'The hand that
rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket.'
CACOPHONY An elocutionary vice, consisting of a disagreeable or

harsh sound, produced by the collision of two letters or syllables, or
by the too frequent repetition* of the same letters or syllables. See
Cuddon, Frye, Lausberg, Marouzeau, Preminger, and Quillet.
Exx: 'The Leith police dismisseth us'; 'En Ten entendant parler/
Poets combine harsh sounds for effect. Ex:
Dry clashed his harness in the icy caves
And barren chasms, and all to left and right
The bare black cliff clanged round him, as he based
His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang
Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels.
Tennyson, 'The Passing of Arthur,' in Idylls of the King
Other name: dissonance*
Antonym: euphony
Rl: Repetition of a syllable produces parechema*.
R2: Tautophony is cacophony due to excessive alliteration*. The Greeks,
who were interested in the phenomenon, called tautophony involving I
86
Cadence
lambdacism; that involving m, mytacism; i, iotacism; r, rhotacism; and

s, sigmatism. They distinguished between consonantal and vocalic
tautophony. Ex: 'Progress is not a proclamation nor palaver. It is not
pretense nor play on prejudice. It is not the perturbation of a people
passion-wrought nor a promise proposed' (Warren D. Harding nomina-
ting W. Howard Taft in 1912). Corbett (p. 471) quotes this as an ex-
ample of alliteration*, adding that such a 'scheme of construction' may
also be deliberately used for comic effect, as in: 'He was a preposter-
ously pompous proponent of precious pedantry.' Obviously decisions
on what constitutes 'excessive' alliteration belong to the reader. See
tautogram*, R2, and paronomasia*, R5.
R3: Hiatus* is not necessarily cacophonic.
R4: Imitative cacophony consists in reproducing unpleasant sounds, as
in the above example from Tennyson. See imitative harmony*, Rl.
CADENCE Harmony* resulting from the arrangement of words in a

sentence or line* of poetry (see Robert); 'the natural rhythm* of
language, its "inner tune," depending on the arrangement of stressed
and unstressed syllables' (Cuddon).
Ex:
Side by side, their faces blurred,
The earl and countess lie in stone,
Their proper habits vaguely shown
As jointed armour, stiffened pleat,
And that faint hint of the absurd -
The little dogs under their feet.
Philip Larkin, 'An Arundel Tomb'
Ex: 'If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world
during which the condition of the human race was the most happy and
prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed
from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus' (Edward
Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. 3). The longer periodic
groups also feature gradatio*.
Other definitions: 'Cadence' can also designate speed of oral delivery
(see tempo*), or the 'melodic pattern preceding the end of a sentence'
(Cuddon). See punch* line, Rl.
Rl: Morier defines cadence as 'rhythm entirely formed of repeated or
symmetrical quantities/ a sort of renewed, rhythmic echo*. These are
perfect cadences, frequent in poetical prose and in the prose poem (e.g.,
in Gibbon's Decline and Fall; Macaulay's History of England; Fenelon's
TeUmaque; or Chateaubriand's Les Martyrs). Such works incorporate
'prose cadencee,' or 'rhythmical prose.'
87
Caesura
R2: In French, even prose which is only slightly rhythmical is said to

be 'nombreuse/ that is, 'well-balanced/
CAESURA The limit of a syntagm*. The caesura cuts off sets of one
or more phonetic words, constituting what, from the viewpoint of
syntactic function, makes a single clause or assertion*. It is thus a
constant phenomenon in prose (see punctuation*), as it is in poetry. But
it is usually studied only in rhythmic verse, where its role is essential.
In Greek and Latin verse the break in the movement generally occurred
in the middle of the third or fourth foot. In English verse, if the aim is
to mark the hemistich, the pause comes near the middle of the line.
(The hemistich designates half-lines cut off by the caesura. The first
half-line is frequently called 'the' hemistich, as is the point of division
itself.) In French verse, a caesura may be strong or weak (see R4 below)
and should produce rhetorical effects by calling attention to the mean-
ing of a line or lines. Traditionally, the caesura has been very free in
English, falling either near the middle or end of a line, thus adding
variety or music to lines or whole poems. Cuddon (p. 96) finds that the
caesura may either 'emphasize formality and stylize' or 'slacken the
stiffness and tension of formal metrical patterns.' Ex (of the latter):
People are putting up storm windows now,
Or were, // this morning, / until the heavy rain
Drove them indoors. // So, / coming home at noon,
I saw storm windows lying on the ground
Frame-full of rain; // through the water and glass I saw
The crushed grass, // how it seemed to stream
Away in lines / like seaweed on the tide
Or blades of wheat / leaning under the wind.
Howard Nemerov, 'Storm Windows/
in Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov
In neo-classical French (and English) poetry the alexandrine, with its
obligatory caesura after the sixth syllable, is an example of strongly
rhythmic poetry. To test this assertion, let's take a twelve-syllable line
with the caesura after the seventh syllable. 'Les capitaines vainqueurs
// ont une odeur forte' ('The conquering captains give off a strong
smell') (A. Gide, Romans, p. 142). Is this a poetic rhythm*? Quot
homines, tot sententiae.
The importance of the placing of the principal caesura in French
verse is still demonstrated by the fact that the decasyllabic divided
5//5 is quite different from that divided 4//6.
Same definition: Boileau, Art poetique: 'Be sure that always in your
verses the sense, interrupting the flow of words, suspends the half-line
and marks the caesura/
88
Caesura
Other definition: French typographers call the division of a word at

the end of a line a 'caesura' (Bernard Vie and Jean Chaumely, La
Composition automatique des textes).
Rl: Grammatical divisions are as various as syntagms*. The more
clearly defined divisions - those surrounding an 'excluded' syntagm or
those separating elements having the same function (see syntagm*, R2)
- are usually marked at beginning and end by commas. Principal or
secondary caesuras are therefore always equivalent to commas (and, a
fortiori, to semicolons and periods). See monologue*.
In addition, expressive punctuation* may give rise to 'rhythmic'
commas, in prose as well as in poetry. Ex: 1 became aware of a dis-
tinct, hollow, metallic, and clangorous, yet apparently muffled rever-
beration ../ (E.A. Poe, 'The Fall of the House of Usher').
R2: In metric verse, the most harmonious rhythm* is obtained by
separating the rhythmic divisions from the caesuras. Ex:
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress.
W.B. Yeats, 'Sailing to Byzantium'
R3: Normally there is no graphic mark of the caesura, but it may be
indicated by a thin vertical wavy line, or by an oblique* stroke (here
two obliques are used). Commas, which mark off assertions, coincide
with caesuras, but caesuras occur without commas. Concerning the
caesura's acoustic mark, Morier has established that in poetry it con-
sists of a fall in intensity, sometimes accompanied by a pause*.
R4: In French, the presence of a 'mute' e which one can sound to
greater or lesser degree at the caesura makes for hesitation.
(a) French neo-classical syllabic verse rejects the problem by not allowing
a syllable ending in e to fall at the caesura except where elision is
possible. Ex: 'Mais il me faut tout per//dr' et toujours par vos coups'
(Racine, Andromaque). Thus the caesura does not necessarily entail a
pause.
(b) The epic caesura consists in dropping an e (syncope*). Ex: 'Ci fait la
gest(e)//que Turoldus declin(et)' (Chanson de Roland, last line). So the
same difficulty may arise at the end of a line; in addition, everything
said here about the caesura at the hemistich is true, mutatis mutandis, of
its articulation at the end of a line: we will see this again when dealing
with enjamb(e)ment*.
(c) Use of the lyric caesura consists, on the other hand, in giving the e
the greatest possible value. Ex: Ta verrai-je // jamais recompense^?'
(Charles d'Orleans, quoted by Deloffre, p. 37). In lyric poetry (i.e.,
poetry accompanied by a lyre) the 'mute' e supported a note which
89
CalHgramme
was sung, making the pause quite natural, as in modern French popu-
lar songs. Ex: 'Ne me quitte pas' (six syllables; J. Brel).
(d) It is still possible to defer the mute syllable until the second hemi-
stich, but the aesthetic effect is dubious. This is the 'overflow' caesura
(cesure enjambante). Ex: 'Que la victoi / / r e venait avec moi' (Eustache
Deschamps, quoted by Deloffre).
R5: It sometimes happens that the principal utterance occurs before, or
after, the obligatory caesura, wherever there is only secondary articula-
tion: this produces end* positioning. See enjamb(e)ment*, R2 and R3.
R6: The alexandrine without a caesura after the sixth syllable is roman-
tic (4/4/4), or liberated (2//6/4, 4/6/2, etc.). See Morier. For caesura
for the eye, see enjamb(e)ment*, R4. For strophic (or stanzaic) caesura, see
stanza* and period*, Rl.
CALHGRAMME A word invented by Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-

1918) to designate what he originally called lyrical ideograms (see
Oeuvres -poetiques, p. 1075); he arranged the poetic text so as to produce
an approximate design of some corresponding subject.
Ex:
Get This
Arbrisseau Little Tree
Qui se prepare Which is preparing
A fructifier to bear fruit
te is
res li
sem ke
ble you
Apollinaire, Oeuvres poetiques, p. 170
'The principle is to try to reflect the content of the poem by the
graphics, as in George Herbert's "Easter Wings," Stephane Mallarme's
"Un Coup de Des," or John Hollander's "A State of Nature"' (Group
MU, A General Rhetoric, p. 239, n. 43).
Synonyms: concrete poetry; figurative poetry (see Robert, who gives as
an example the song of the divine bottle in Rabelais's Cinquieme Livre,
in which the text is arranged in the form of a bottle). Morier gives 'vers
rhopaliques' ('rhopalic lines'; i.e., lines of unequal lengths [OED]) and
'poeme-dessin' ('poem-drawing').
Rl: See imitative harmony*, Rl; pictogram*; graphic line* of poetry.
CAPITAL A typographical character so called in opposition to

lowercase characters (minuscules). The distinction made between small
90
Caricature
and large capitals (majuscules) allows the latter to stand as the initial
letter in proper names composed in the former.
Ex: THE ILIAD; DON QUIXOTE OF LA MANCHA. See situational* signs, 1;
emphasis*, R2; and graphism*, Rl.
Rl: Although an initial capital letter is the graphic sign of the proper
name, capitalization of a whole word or words signals the title* of a
work (see paragraph*, Rl), or the word intended to stand out (the
vedette or 'keyword': a term printed so as to make it as 'visible' as
possible; the term derives from the Italian, vedere, to see). A word or
phrase printed in red is a rubric. In a dictionary, the head word is also
called an entry or lemma. See also discourse*, R2.
R2: Linguists put in SMALL CAPITALS the segment taken to designate the
referent. See situational* signs, R7.
R3: In manuscript, the mark of capitalization is triple underlining (see
emphasis*, Rl).
CARICATURE The presentation of an object, of an idea, or of a

person in an excessively unfavourable light, with overdrawn, exag-
gerated features. See Cuddon, Frye, Lausberg, and Robert.
Ex: Just arrived, at Mr. Bull's Menagerie, in British Lane, the most
renowned and sagacious Man Tiger, or Ourang Outang called NAPOLEON
BUONAPARTE ... He imitates all sounds; bleats like a Lamb; roars like a
Tiger; cries like a Crocodile; and brays most inimitably like an Ass'
(quoted by John Ashton, English Caricature and Satire of Napoleon I, pp.
200-1).
Dramatic caricatures in English include: Sir Epicure Mammon (Jonson,
The Alchemist); Lady Bracknell (Wilde, The Importance of Being Ernest);
and the generals, major-generals, marshals, and field-marshals leading
the British expeditionary force in France (Joan Littlewood, Oh 'What a
Lovely War!).
Antonym: euphemism* (see also celebration*, R3)
Other names: skit (Fr. charge); dysphemism (in opposition to euphem-
ism); 'cacophemism' (Redfern, pp. 91-2)
Other definition: parody* (Littre, Robert)
Other meaning: a cartoon as in Punch (see burlesque*, R3)
Rl: Like hyperbole* (see hyperbole, R2), caricature turns as much on
the choice of terms as on that of the aspects of reality. Ex: 'this piece of
meat in a uniform' (A. Solzhenitsyn, The First Circle, p. 83). Language
abounds in marks, sometimes tenuous, of pejorative connotation, from
91
Catachresis
contemptuous intonation* to insults* in flowery jargon* or low slang*.

Ex: 'Near ate the tin and all, hungry bloody mongrel' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 251). Such marks include certain suffixes in French (-eux, -ard, -astre:
luxuriant/luxuriewx [i.e., luxuriant v. lecherous]; chauffewr/chauffani
[chauffeur v. road-hog]; medecm/medicastre [doctor v. quack]), as well
as qualifying adjectives and syntagms ('lower class/ 'down-market/
'puppet-like/ 'small-scale/ 'shady/ 'cheap/ etc.).
The marks of caricature need not proliferate in the sentence; they
facilitate comprehension and signal enunciation*. A speaker has only to
string together, for instance, words ending in -ism, a suffix which is in
itself neutral, for the whole utterance to become pejorative.
R2: When the object caricatured is the person addressed, the result is
an insult* (if it involves merely a flash of bad temper as manifested in
a qualifier); it becomes sarcasm* or persiflage* if the criticism is more
substantial, or made in front of witnesses.
R3: See also description*, Rl, and portrait*.
CATACHRESIS Sometimes language appears not to offer a normal

or proper term; a speaker may in such a case have recourse to tropo-
logical denominations, which sometimes enter the lexicon. (Quintilian
called catachresis a 'necessary misuse/ for example.) See also Benac,
Dumarsais (p. 46), Lausberg, Le Clerc, Littre, Marouzeau, Preminger,
and Robert.
Ex: The crossing-point of several highways may thus be called in
Britain 'spaghetti junction'; whereas North American English rejects the
British catachresis for the more literal word 'interchange.'
Exx: 'Spalding, the longest ball' [advertisement for golf balls allegedly
with the longest carry]; 'Molson's dry beer' [presumably by analogy
with 'dry' wine]; 1 will speak daggers to her' (Shakespeare, Hamlet,
3.2); 'Tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse' (Timon, 3.4); 'streaker';
'Latin [or maths, physics, etc.] is Greek to me'; '[military] escalation,
de-escalation'
Other definitions emphasize the misuse of a trope with no ornamental
function and show the possibility of ridiculous consequences resulting
from such misapplications. Ex: 'a cheval sur un ane' ('on a horse on a
donkey' [literally]; i.e., 'sitting on, astride, a donkey7). See Cuddon,
Espy (1983), Fontanier (pp. 213-19), Grambs, Gray, Lanham, Paul (pp.
137-8), Preminger, and Puttenham.
Rl: Catachresis may be synecdochic (e.g., 'crash-helmet' for 'goggles/
or vice versa), metonymical, or metaphorical (e.g., 'source-language/
'target-language'; see translation*), but it always produces denotation,
not connotation. (Compare 'a streaker' and 'a filthy temper.' Only
92
Celebration
'streaker' is catachretic since a 'foul' temper is also possible. See seman-

tic neologism*.) Catachresis responds to the need to name, with a
single word, some new reality or one considered new. Thus when J.F.
Dulles upheld that if Vietnam went communist, all Asian countries
would follow suit one after another, someone created the expression
'the domino theory.' If there is a proper term, the image is not catach-
retic. See incorrect* word, Rl.
R2: Many terms considered proper are catachretic in origin: a leaf (of
paper), the foot (of a mountain), balkanization (see antonomasia*), etc.
See also discourse*.
CELEBRATION Rhetorically speaking, celebration consists of

expressing one's joy by means of some stereotyped formula, or in some
more extended form (a line* of poetry, or verset*; a stanza* or para-
graph*).
Ex:
'Let us now praise famous men' -
Men of little showing -
For their work continueth ...
Greater than their knowing.
R. Kipling, 'A School Song,' in Stalky & Co.
Other names: benedictio (Lanham); macarism or beatitude (formulas
beginning: 'Blessed is/are ...'); epinicion ('a triumphal ode commemorat-
ing a victory' [Cuddon]); panegyric (a speech praising an institution, a
person, a work); blazon (short verses in rhyming couplets, in praise,
frequently ironical, of a person); tombeau (prose and verse collection in
honour of the deceased); encomium (originally, praise sung in a street
procession, according to the Grande Encyclopedic; encomiological metre
alternates rapid and slow measures); paean ('a solemn song, in many
voices, sung in Greece on important occasions' [Littre])
Antonym: lamentation*
Rl: Usual celebratory formulas include: long live, blessed be, happy
she/he/they, praised be, how fortunate that, Oh! happy (it is) that,
honour to, marvellous to, what luck that, let us rejoice because, let's
congratulate ourselves that, congratulations to, bravo for, hurrah for.
Celebration, usually a collective act, has explicit, even institutional
marks, but it also can have subtler ones, intonations* only, so that its
sentiment of grateful joy may easily colour exclamations*, apos-
trophes*, or enumerations*. Ex:
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
93
Celebration
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Tied Beauty'
Intimate celebration may reduce to a simple gesture*. 'With a single
caress, I make you shine in all your splendour' (P. Eluard, Oeuvres
completes, 1:731).
R2: The word praise, more usual than celebration, will designate in what
follows the literary genre which corresponds to the device, the epideictic
genre. See discourse*. Exx: some prefaces; most presentations of lec-
turers; parts of the throne speech (the inaugural discourse). Burlesque
praise exists too. Exx: Erasmus's Praise of Folly; the 'Celebration' collec-
tion edited by A. Morel (celebration of the pipe, of love, of silence, of
the artichoke, etc.). See short* circuit, R3.
Praise addressed to the one celebrated, pronounced in his/her
presence, is laudation, the opposite of sarcasm*; if self-interested, or
excessive, it becomes flattery; if deceitful and base, fawning. A literary
genre constructed on hyperbolic laudation is the dithyramb. The medie-
val equivalent was the panegyric (see extravagant* comparison, Rl). See
also antiparastasis*, R4.
R3: Celebration and lamentation* are opposed to euphemism* and
caricature* respectively. The latter two constitute respectively meliora-
tive and pejorative means of representation, whereas celebration and
lamentation expose the sentiments experienced. Simulation* always
remains possible, however.
R4: In Judeo-Christianity, there used to be a literary genre called the
eucharistia, which expressed not adoration or even gratitude but rather
collective admiration before what manifests the existence and presence
of God. For the first Christian communities, this was principally Jesus'
resurrection. (See Joseph, pp. 274, 397; J.-P. Audet, 'Esquisse historique
du genre litteraire de la "Benediction" juive et de 1' "Eucharistie"
chretienne,' Revue biblique 65 [1958], pp. 369-99.) One can distinguish
three parts in texts which fall within the genre. (1) An exclamation*
('Blessed be Yahweh'), which is the Hebraic formula of benediction or
berrakhah. This exclamatory form returns at greater length in the Sanc-
tus. (2) A remembrance or anamnesis*, which states the motive for the
preceding cry. Most often it involves a succession of concrete events. In
the canon of the mass, there remain traces of these - not the mementos
belonging to the supplication* - but the narrative* of the Last Supper
and the text immediately following it (Unde et memores, 'We remem-
ber'). (3) An acclamation or doxology like 'Allelujah' (a word signifying
'Praise you Yahweh/ which is formed of three words: hallel, u, Jah), or
a Christian form like 'Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit.' The acclamation still exists at the end of the canon (Per ipsum
...). The final psalms of David, songs of triumph, are doxologies, as is
94
Chiasmus
the expression 'world without end/ (See Mahood, Shakespeare's Word-

play, p. 110.)
The expression 'thanksgiving' is a translation of eucharistia. Thanks'
represents a shift in meaning.
R5: Epitaphs, reduced perhaps to a simple inscription (name, dates and
places of birth and death), often contain at least one sentence of cele-
bration (e.g., 'a good husband, a good father'). Ex: 'Born of the sun,
they travelled a short while towards the sun, / And left the vivid air
signed with their honour' (Stephen Spender, 'I Think Continually of
Those'). For another example, see distinction*.
CHIASMUS The placing in inverse order of the segments formed by

two syntactically identical groups of words. See Lanham, Marouzeau,
Morier, and Preminger.
Ex: Northrop Frye used chiasmatic arrangement to create the structure
of The Great Code, the titles of whose eight chapters are repeated in
inverse order in that book's two 'parts': part 1: The Order of Words';
ch. 1: 'Language I'; ch. 2: 'Myth I'; ch. 3: Metaphor l'; ch. 4; Typology
I'; part 2: "The Order of Types'; ch. 5: Typology II'; ch. 6: TVIetaphor IF;
ch. 7: 'Myth n'; ch. 8: 'Language II.' As he explains (p. 79), the chias-
matic arrangement enables him to respect the 'typological' reading of
the Old and New Testaments: 'Everything that happens in the Old
Testament is a "type" or adumbration of something that happens in
the New Testament, and the whole subject is therefore called typology,
though ... in a special sense ... What happens in the New Testament
constitutes an "antitype," a realized form, of something foreshadowed
in the Old Testament.'
Rl: Corbett (pp. 478, 573), Quillet (sect. 1244), Quinn (p. 93), Lausberg,
and Robert compare chiasmus to antithesis*, which indeed does some-
times take chiastic form. Ex: 'I no; no I: for I must nothing be: / There-
fore, no, no, for I resign to thee' (Shakespeare, Richard n, 4.1.201-2).
R2: Preminger compares chiasmus to antimetabole*. However, he
introduces the following distinction: 'It would seem convenient to use
the term chiasmus for the criss-cross order and correspondence in
meaning or syntax of two pairs of words, whether or not involving
word repetition, and restrict antimetabole to the narrower meaning of a
pair of words repeated (usually with some morphological change) in
reverse order.' Quinn (p. 95) calls chiasmus 'a large epanados.' Many
collectors of tropes and figures continue to confuse the two terms.
R3: Littre does not mention the word. Lausberg (p. 361, no. 1) observes
that although the word itself is an old one, its present meaning is
recent.
95
Chleuasmos
R4: The inversion occurs almost always in the second group. Exx: 'I
have changed in many things: in this, I have not' (J.H. Newman,
Apologia pro vita sua, 1864); Taylor and Burton, Burton and Taylor
became the licentious royalty of the sexy Sixties' (M. Bragg, Rich: The
Life of Richard Burton, p. 162).
R5: Acoustic chiasmus exists (see antimetathesis*, R2).
CHLEUASMOS Irony* turned against oneself. Mockery, persiflage*,

or sarcasm* at one's own expense, but performed with the expectation
that others present will protest if only by a gesture. See Lausberg and
Morier.
Exx: 'Stupid me!'; 'Well! aren't I clumsy!'
Ex: 'A fortnight ago I prepared a Ghost Story to read to you on this
occasion. It was a lame affair, because I had to manufacture the whole
thing ... Perhaps I had better be quite frank and admit that I stole the
whole thing out of an old volume of Chums, and adapted it clumsily to
a College setting' (Robertson Davies, High Spirits, p. 33).
Other definition: 'a sarcastic reply that mocks an opponent and leaves
him no answer' (Lanham)
Rl: Chleuasmos, a form of simulation*, does not practise to deceive;
that is, use of the device does not necessarily indicate an attempt to
provoke a categorical denial (of the speaker's 'worthlessness' by the
person to whom the self-criticism is addressed). And yet that is what
happens in a frequently quoted example: 'TARTUFFE: Yes, my brother, I
am evil, guilty. A miserable sinner full of iniquity' (Moliere, Tartuffe,
3.6). The hypocrite is manoeuvring to persuade Orgon that, for reasons
of humility, he is accepting responsibility for evil doings, and that he is
not guilty, whereas, in fact, he is. This is hyperchleuasmos.
R2: Another type of chleuasmos: Telling the truth ... but secretly
wagering that its enormity - and the unusual character of such an
avowal - will mean that it is taken as "humorous" and so will not be
believed. "I am Mephisto," Mephisto announces, and everyone falls
about laughing. Including him, even more so, but not for the same
reason' (D. Noguez, 'L'Humour ou la derniere des tristesses/ in Etudes
frangaises, May 1969, p. 159). The trick demands an actor's skill, because
of the intonation which identifies chleuasmos as such.
R3: Chleuasmos is natural when one is led into speaking about oneself,
because it allows for compensatio* (see compensatio, R2). Ex: 'I sit writing
every day under the bougainvillea and pay the inevitable price of
having shown my face on British television. "I say," an elderly English-
man comes trotting up. "We know who you are. But who are you?"'
96
Circumlocution
(John Mortimer, Manchester Guardian Weekly, 12 March 1989, p. 21). In

this case, there is also a kind of asteismus*.
CHRONOGRAPHY A type of description* which characterizes the

time of an event by its attendant circumstances. See Fontanier, p. 424.
Ex: In Michel Butor's novel La Modification, the countryside seen
through the train windows, small events, even the succession of reflec-
tions, mark the passing of time.
Exx: '[They have ordered beer]: "How do you pass your time?" she
asked, several bottles later' (R. Queneau, Le Chiendent, p. 292); Two
hours after compline, at the end of the sixth day, in the heart of the
night that was giving birth to the seventh day, we entered the finis
Africae* (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 460).
Rl: The distinction between chronography and chronology is clear: the
latter is a simple indication of the moment, in terms of the era, century,
year, month, day, hour, minute, second, nanosecond, etc. Chronology
may be ludic. Michel Butor takes pleasure in making it complicated in
L'Emploi du temps, where precision leads to confusion. The well-known
mistakes in chronology in Flaubert's Madame Bovary and in the sixty
stories making up the Sherlock Holmes canon have been variously
interpreted as deliberate or as the result of oversight.
R2: A chronogram is a Latin phrase in which the I, V, X, C, D, and M,
when their numerical values (1, 5,10, 50,100, 500, 1000) are added up,
provide the indication of a date. Ex: 'Paul Hallweg ... commemorates
1969, the year of the first landing on the moon, with: "Men Can Make
Lunar excursions In extravagance' (Augarde, p. 96).
CIRCUMLOCUTION 1. The embarrassment felt at having to say

something causes a roundabout verbal approach to the subject in hand.
See Lausberg (sect. 1244), Littre, and Morier.
2. The 'use of many words where a few would do' (Concise Oxford
Dictionary). See also OED and Fowler.
Ex:
JACK: Charming day it has been, Miss Fairfax.
GWENDOLEN: Pray don't talk to me about the weather, Mr. Worthing.
Whenever people talk to me about the weather, I always feel quite
certain that they mean something else. And that makes me so
nervous.
JACK: I do mean something else.
GWENDOLEN: I thought so. I am never wrong.
JACK: I would like to be allowed to take advantage of Lady Brack-
nell's temporary absence ...
97
Cliche
GWENDOLEN: I would certainly advise you to do so ...

JACK (nervously): Miss Fairfax, ever since I met you I have admired
you more than any girl ... I have ever met since ... I met you.
O. Wilde, The Importance of Being Ernest, act 1
In Little Dorrit, Dickens parodies techniques of verbal evasion prac-
tised by the bureaucrats in the 'Circumlocution Office/ a government
department. More recently, Sir Humphrey Appleby, the civil servant
represented in the television series Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister,
frequently uses circumlocution to flummox his 'master/ the politician
Jim Hacker: 'I see. What you are suggesting is that, within the frame-
work of the guidelines about Open Government which you have laid
down, we should adopt a more flexible posture' (J. Lynn and A. Jay,
The Complete 'Yes Minister/ p. 29).
Other name (in French): ambages (but only in the expression 'parler
sans ambages/ 'to get straight to the point')
Other definition: Quillet, Robert, and Lanham compare circumlocution
to periphrasis* (a comparison which is particularly valid etymologi-
cally).
Rl: Circumlocution is to the sentence* what periphrasis* is to the word:
it fills out a text (so a sentence may become a paragraph) but only
indirectly addresses the subject in question.
CLICHE An over-used, trite, or commonplace idea or expression (see

Cuddon and Robert). See also Benac, Fowler, Frye, and Quillet.
Exx: 'golden hair'; 'ruby lips'
See James Rogers, Dictionary of Cliches; see also image*, 4. Fowler's
examples include 'filthy lucre/ 'tender mercies/ 'suffer a sea change/
and leave no stone unturned.' N. Bagnall's A Defence of Cliches (1985)
presents an opposing view.
Analogous terms: stereotype; ready-made syntagm* (not necessarily a
pejorative designation)
Rl: The above definition, by Cuddon and Robert, gives equal stress to
trite expressions and banal ideas. Although they are not always clearly
distinguishable, strictly speaking in French the word refers only to
expressions, according to Remy de Gourmont (Esthe'tique de la langue
franqaise, p. 189) and Marouzeau.
Banal ideas are often called commonplaces, which, incidentally, is an
extended meaning of the synonym topic (derived from the Greek topos;
see argument*). In certain cases, French uses the more accurate term
poncif: 'a literary or artistic theme, a mode of expression, which, be-
cause of imitation, has lost all originality' (Robert). See also truism*, Rl,
and imitation*, R7.
98
Cliche
R2: Since it is a stylistic defect, the conscious use of cliche connotes

pretentiousness and an absence of sincerity. Ex:
Some answers are absolutely standard. No matter who is being
interviewed, you can be sure that: (1) Everyone sharing the dais with
the speaker is an absolutely marvelous and talented human being;
(2) The film has been a pet project for years; (3) It doesn't matter if it
wins a prize, because being here at Cannes is honor enough; (4)
Nobody has the slightest idea what the message of the film is, or
indeed if it has one; (5) All interpretations of the film by the jour-
nalists are quite plausible; and (6) It is just a shame the filming had
to end, and everybody is looking forward to working together again
as soon as possible. (R. Ebert, Two Weeks in the Midday Sun, pp.
128-9)
Cliche may be used ironically, or parodically:
The arrival of the worldrenowned headsman was greeted by a roar
of acclamation from the huge concourse, the viceregal ladies waving
their handkerchiefs in their excitement while the even more excitable
foreign delegates cheered vociferously in a medley of cries ... amid
which the ringing evviva of the delegate of the land of song ... was
easily distinguishable. (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 253)
Charles Bally (Trait^, sect. 99) emphasizes that cliches have 'evoca-
tive effects.' But, he adds, they may 'in certain cases, pass for original
creations.' They do possess, or may appear to possess, the advantage of
elegance and that of facilitating the amplification* of an idea, which
explains their frequency in public speaking. Such 'originality' is, of
course, open to parody*:
I have discovered that only last month the previous government
signed a contract to import ten million pounds worth of office
equipment from America ... Well, if the Americans are going to take
us for a ride, at least the British people have a right to know about
it. And we will fight them on the beaches, we will fight them ...
(J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes Minister/ p. 25)
R3: The problem posed by the cliche is that of a writer's originality.
Does a writer have the right, as Proust believed for instance, to abuse
'ordinary' syntax? '[Writers] only begin to write well if they are ori-
ginal, if they themselves create their language. Correctness and stylistic
perfection exist, but on the far, not the near, side of originality' (Proust,
Correspondance generate, 6:94). When the desire for correctness takes
precedence, he adds, the result may be expressions like 'discreet
emotion,' 'smiling friendship,' etc.
R4: Certain cliches originate in metaphors* (see metaphor, R2). Others
99
Click
are comparisons* which have become trite forms of emphasis*. See

simile*, R3. Extended cliches exist (see slogan* and proverb*, Rl),
which may acquire a very specific or 'extended' sense. See meaning*, 4.
Foregrounding* occurs when their literal meaning contradicts them.
R5: Cliches are revived by the substitution* (see substitution, R2) of
terms, by the deliberate introduction of (apparent) incoherence*. Ex:
'People in this country from coast to coast to coast ../ (Audrey
McLaughlin, Yukon M.P., inaugural speech on becoming leader of the
NDP party, 2 Dec. 1989). Irony* (see irony, R5) makes use of them as
does well-wishing* (see well-wishing, R2).
CLICK Voiceless articulation independent of breathing produced by

'[muscular] sucking movements made with the tongue or lips' (G.
Straka, Les Sons et les mots, p. 30).
Exx: the sound of a kiss (rendered very approximately by 'smack'); the
lateral explosion in the gums by which one calls an animal
Rl: Clicks are noises* made by human beings outside the phonological
and the graphic systems; hence the difficulty of their transcription. In
Hottentot, where clicks form part of the linguistic structure, such
transcriptions do exist. Certain clicks have a coded meaning in English
or French. For instance, smacking the lips expresses relish; explosive
lateral clicks are an invitation by French prostitutes to possible clients;
central dental explosive inhaling signifies reproval ('tsk, tsk'). Then
there are whistles of admiration; the aspirated s expressing pain; the /
which accompanies a shoulder-shrug. All these expirated or aspirated
consonants are quasi-interjections*.
COINAGE A neologism* originating neither from a noise* nor from

existing lexical roots (see derivation* and compound* word); in other
words, a word apparently coined out of nothing. See Lausberg.
Ex: "The Korova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto ... [which] had no
license for selling liquor, but there was no law yet against prodding
some of the new vesches which they used to put in the old moloko, so
you could peet it with velocet or synthemesc or drencrom or one or
two other vesches which would give you a nice quiet horrorshow
fifteen minutes admiring Bog And All His Holy Angels and Saints
in your left shoe with lights bursting all over your mozg' (Anthony
Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, p. 5).
Other names: neologism*; artificial word (e.g., nylon, Kodak); esoteric
word (G. Deleuze); blends (V. Adams, L. Bauer); mot forge; forgerie
Rl: Almost all coinages can be interpreted as portmanteau* words,
according to G. Deleuze (Logique du sens, pp. 59-60), who proposes a
100
Collage
distinction based on meaning*. A portmanteau word would be one in

which the amalgamated terms refer to two or more distinct semantic
series. Exx: ballute (< balloon + parachute); chunnel (< channel +
tunnel); dawk (< dove + hawk, i.e., neither pro- nor anti-war).
R2: Coinages strictly refer to newly invented objects or to non-existent
objects like the Jabberwock. Ex:
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky'
R3: Words may be coined from other existing words (see anagram* and
palindrome*, R3) or from pure sounds.
R4: See substitution*, Rl.
COLLAGE A process invented by the surrealist painters, who glued

to their canvases bits of paper, fabric, etc., and which certain poets
have imitated, creating 'preposterous combinations of disparate objects'
(R. Caillois, quoted by Robert {Supplement, under 'collage']).
Ex:
They wash their feet in soda water
Et O ces voix d'enfants, chantant dans la coupole.
Twit twit twit
Jug jug jug jug jug jug
So rudely forc'd
Tereu.
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
Ex: 'A doll's arm, the chitterlings of a clock, a saucepan full of hat-
bands' (Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 41).
Synonyms: incongruous combination, coincidental harmony. Frye adds
(p. 109) that 'a pastiche is an unsuccessful collage, for some critics.'
Other definition: a text composed of fragments from previous texts.
Ex: W. Lewino, L'Eclat et la blancheur. Pound's Cantos contain many
examples of textual collage.
Rl: Collage is a kind of dissociation* characterized by the bringing
together of two objects with incompatible semes. It may be obtained
artificially (see reprise*, R3), but to be truly poetic in the surrealist
sense at least, it must spring from the unconscious (see dissociation*,
R5). Ex: 'seins 6 mon coeur' ('Breasts O my heart') (P. Eluard, Oeuvres
completes, 1:366).
101
Colon
R2: In surrealist poetry, it is sometimes difficult (and the difficulty is

not always the fault of the reader) to decide which is dissociation
proper (caused by the presence of two distinct isotopies*) and which
false dissociation or incoherence* (a single possible isotopy is involved
because at least one of the referents is understood figuratively). Ex:
'There are muffled drums even in light dresses' (P. Eluard, Oeuvres
completes, 1:353). This is not a collage, not, at least, if we are correct in
taking 'in light dresses' as a metonymy* for the female body and
'muffled drums' as a metaphor* for mourning.
R3: Collage may take the form of a juxtaposition*, of anaphora* (see
anaphora, Rl), of reprise*, of a portmanteau* word, a maxim*, even of
a simple assertion*. Ex: 'Aeroplanes fear gardens, justifiably' (J. Levy,
in Aragon et al., Dictionnaire abre'ge' du surrealisme, under 'avion'). The
creator of this curious collage is a painter, Max Ernst, who in an
engraving with the peculiar title 'The plane-gulping garden' repre-
sented an aeroplane crashing into a garden (photographed in Breton's
L'Amour fou, p. 112).
COLON A sign of punctuation* marking an articulation of meaning.

Whereas the period and semicolon define the limits of segments
which may be written as separate sentences, and the comma indicates
breaks in the syntagmatic flow, the colon marks the existence of a
relationship between the segments which it separates. This, at any rate,
is its specific role in French. In English, according to Fowler, it has
acquired a special relational function also, which he limits to 'that of
delivering the goods that have been invoiced in the preceding words ...
[it is] a substitute for such verbal harbingers as viz., scil., that is to say,
i.e., etc.'
The relationship between segments exists because, for example, one
part of the text involved enunciation*, the other presents the corres-
ponding utterance. Ex [Persse McGarrigle speaking]: 'Remember how
the poem ends: "And they are gone: ay, ages long ago / Those lovers
fled away into the storm" ' (David Lodge, Small World, p. 40). (See
enumeration*, Rl.) On the other hand, the return to the level of the
enunciating text requires only a comma. Ex: ' "I am tired," she said.'
The colon often marks the passage from a fact to its attributed cause:
The more experience I acquire in art, the more art becomes torture for
me: imagination remains stationary while taste grows sharper' (G.
Flaubert, Correspondence, 4 Nov. 1857). Sometimes there is only a vague
relationship between the two segments: 'In reality, there is neither
beautiful style, beautiful drawing, nor beautiful colour: there is only a
single beauty, that of the truth revealed' (A. Rodin, in Le Nouveau
Dictionnaire de citations frangaises, no. 12088).
When the segments separated by the colon are not clauses but
syntagms*, the result is an assertion* in which the colon replaces the
102
Communicatio
copula (the verb to be or a verb of similar function). Exx: Total: six

canteens'; 'a single boss, a single capitalist: Everyone' (J. Guesde, in
ibid., no. 12414). See apposition*, R2.
Normally the subject under discussion precedes the colon, and what
is said about it follows. Ex: 'POETIC LICENCE: there is no such thing'
(Theodore de Danville, Petit Trait£ de poesie franchise). If the sentence
already contains an assertion*, the colon introduces an adjacent asser-
tion and replaces i.e., etc., as Fowler pointed out. Ex: That was his
pride: to startle people with such fine work' (A. Munro, Who Do You
Think You Are?, p. 2).
COMMUNICATIO In order the better to persuade those to whom,

or against whom, one is speaking ... one appears to consult them ... and
to rely on what they decide' (Fontanier, p. 414). See also Dumarsais,
Girard, Littre, Quillet, and Morier.
Ex [Cicero, to his client's opponent]: 'I ask you, what would you have
done in such delicate circumstances?' (quoted by Fontanier). Anglo-
phone compilers of figures (see Lanham and Joseph, for example) refer
to this debating trick as anacoenosis.
Other definitions: 1. The basic sense of communication is: 'contact
between speakers.' See enunciation*.
2. In French, a communication is a learned paper on a specific subject
and presented at a conference.
3. Scaliger, Dumarsais, and Littre speak of a 'communication in words,'
a figure by which one makes common to many what one says only for
a few, as when, in Moliere's Tartuffe, Orgon says to his son: 'Now then,
someone can leave my house right now.' Fontanier prefers to call this
figure 'association'; Morier, 'communion.'
4. 'Drawing from the principles of those addressed the admission of
the truths one is trying to establish against them' (Amar du Rivier,
Rhetorique, p. 102). This is a type of argument ad hominem*.
Rl: Communicatio belongs to the group of figures whose function is 'to
gain the listener's goodwill either by offering praise (without ever
flattering him), or by speaking about what he knows and likes' (J.
Folliet, Tu seras orateur, p. 59). It seems to us essential to the definition
of the device, therefore, that the public or someone really present be
taken as judge of the case. See deliberation*; dubitatio*; question*; R3;
and simulation*, R2.
The anonymous author of the Ad Herennium emphasizes the neces-
sity of creating sympathy in one's listeners. He recommends, in dif-
ficult cases, a device called commiseration, which consists in the listeners
being invited to put themselves in the speaker's place. This attitude, a
well-known example of which is the lecturer who tells of feeling
perplexed when approached to speak, is dangerous when it usurps the
103
Comparison
place of the relevant arguments, in which case it becomes an argument

ad populum (see argument*).
R2: Semi-communicatio consists in taking as judge some qualified,
though absent, person. Ex: 'I defy any sane man to read the contending
Parties' posters and proclamations, whichever they may be, without
losing his appetite for a week' (G. Poulet, Aveux spontanes, p. 151). We
are close here to the argument of the invented witness (see argument*,
R2), unless the judge appealed to is some real third person. Ex: If we
had wanted to adopt the normal style of the popular press, we could
have compared this new professor to Sainte-Beuve or Taine. But what
would he himself have thought of such flattery? ... He would either
have smiled or lost his temper at it, and in either case, he would have
been right' (J. Fournier, Man Encrier, p. 103).
R3: One quite exceptional form of communicatio, and one which is the
opposite of commiseration, consists in putting oneself as author (des-
pite the risks attached) in the place of the addressee. So an application
for work might take this form: tvlaybe you need an extra secretary7
(Thierrin, Toute la correspondance ['Here I am' is understood]). Ex: 'O
Man, my friend, why have I never yet spoken to you about the sym-
phonic delights of listening to you listening to me? Because I do hear
you hear me. You hear me and it's as if you were speaking. You don't
hear me quietly, you hear me loudly. Each word that I say to you
reverberates in you as in some golden grotto' (R. Ducharme, Le Nez qui
vocjue, p. 254).
We might call the device altruization. It may also be used in respect
of a character in a novel. Thus Butor's famous second-person narration
('voussoiement') in La Modification marks the hero's otherness, which
does not prevent the author from constantly adopting the latter's point
of view (see focalization under narrative*, R3).
R4: The device has its appropriate intonation* suggestive of (simulated)
deference.
COMPARISON The expression of a similarity (or of several similari-

ties) between two entities of the same order, or quality, etc. In more
developed form, comparison becomes parallel*; limited to its expressive
role, it is simile* (see simile, Rl); see also image*. Comparisons may
have a polemical function (see reasoning*, R3).
Rl: Simile is distinguished from simple comparison because the former
introduces a qualifier (an adjective or adverb) whereas the latter brings
in a supplementary grammatical actant* (a noun). Only the simile is a
literary image*. Compare: 'sly as a fox' (simile) and 'sly as his father'
(comparison).
True comparison allows the development of the predicate's ex-
104
Compensatio
pressed similarity between like objects (e.g. 'as sly as his father, but
more obstinate, less quiet'), whereas false, pure, or rhetorical com-
parison necessarily introduces a subjective viewpoint and allows the
development of the comparing elements. Exx: 'as sly as a fox'; Tvly love
is like a red, red rose'; 'A computer virus is a program, or set of
instructions, that can enter surreptitiously through telephone lines or
exchanged memory disks, hidden among legitimate information. It is
called a virus because it also makes multiple copies of itself and sends
those copies from computer to computer as a biological virus may move
from person to person' (Philip J. Hilts, Manchester Guardian Weekly, 13
Nov. 1988, p. 18).
Vian plays skilfully on the possible confusion: 'A piece of bread as
fresh as an eye, and like an eye, fringed with long lashes' (Le Loup-
Garou, p. 183).
R2: 'Superlative depreciation' (Angenot) begins with a comparison in
order to emphasize hyperbolically some defect. The speaker chooses
some particularly feeble analogue and asserts that in comparison with
the subject discussed, the analogue appears to have considerable value.
Ex: 'I refuse to review X, a program so poor that it makes Y, by con-
trast, a model of modesty and thoughtful dignity.' The following
extract from a review of the film Love Story (1970) makes the com-
parison implicitly: 'Camille with bullshit' (Alexander Walker, Halliwell's
Film Guide, 4th ed., p. 500). The same device operates in reverse: "Vatel
[Louis XIV's brilliant chef] is only a tyro compared to our cordon bleu
cuisine' (J. Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 240). This is comparative
hyperbole*.
R3: Comparison belongs among the commonplaces (see argument*, Rl)
and encourages expressivity (see discourse* and hypotyposis*, Rl) in a
sober style (see grandiloquence*, Rl). It permits the extension of an
argument (see reasoning*, R3) and provides a method for component
analysis (see meaning*, 1). Comparison serves to establish correspon-
dences*, emphasis* (see anticlimax*, R3), amplification* (see amplifica-
tion, other def.), hyperbole* (see hyperbole, R3), and extravagant*
comparison. It may slip into baroquism* (see baroquism, R2).
COMPENSATIO The neutralization of a lexeme's pejorative (or

meliorative) connotations by joining to it a word or syntagm* of con-
trary effect.
Ex:
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
105
Complaint
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Tennyson, TJlysses'
Other definitions: 'showing the resemblances and differences between
two persons or objects' (Quillet). See parallel*. In the English rhetorical
tradition, the term compensatio covers two figures of balance produced
by contrasting evaluations, antanagoge and antisagoge (see Lanham, pp.
9,11).
Rl: Apparently, compensatio is a blending that relates neither to the
denotative semes nor to the sentiments expressed (see oxymoric*
sentiments, R2). It therefore rarely produces a literary effect (see below,
however, the example from Vigneault). Compensatio's most frequent
task is to eliminate the undesirable connotations of terms one would
like to render denotative. So, for instance, Empson comments upon the
use made by some critics of compensatio to treat sympathetically Yeats's
belief in fairies (see W. Empson, Using Biography, pp. 163-86). Or if one
wishes to defend Gerard de Nerval's Illuminism, one says that he had
'a sincere bent towards illuminism' (L. Cellier, De Sylvie a Aurelia, p. 15).
In the event that the appropriate lexeme is lacking, speakers may have
recourse to some periphrasis* like 'in the best sense of the word.' Ex:
'Resistance poetry consisted, in the noblest sense of the word, of occa-
sional works' (Bersani, ed., La Littfrature en France depuis 1945, p. 13).
R2: Compensatio, the combination of a pejorative and a meliorative
lexeme, protects a speaker against the risk attached to expressions of
undue self-esteem or self-respect. Exx: 'O little fame, poor fortune, here I
come to conquer you' (G. Vigneault, 'Petite gloire, pauvre chanson,' a
Quebecois song); 'Often, I have felt threatened by inspiration ...' (P.
Perrault, En d&espoir de cause, p. 15). See also chleuasmos*.
R3: If incorporated in an implication*, compensatio may invert connota-
tion. Ex: 'In favour of a better kind of arrogance' (Eluard, Oeuvres
completes, 1:831). This implies that the arrogance in question is good:
the lexeme becomes marked as meliorative.
COMPLAINT A popular sung poem* on a sad historical subject.

Ex: the complaint of the wandering Jew. Much of American country
music, when sung, expresses complaints about the singer's life and
times.
Rl: The medieval complaint characteristically alternates only two
rhymes, one of which 'is made to express repeated groans of anguish'
(Morier).
106
Compound Word
COMPOUND WORD A word made up of distinct parts: the root

and prefix. See Crystal; Leech; L. Bauer, English Word-Formation, p. 11;
Marouzeau (under composition); OED; and Robert.
Exx: lifeboat; frostbite; polytone (quoted by Lausberg), a word invented
by Voltaire on the model of monotone
Exx: 'My wishes raced through the house-high hay' (Dylan Thomas,
'Fern Hill'); 'Babies in upper bedrooms of salt-white houses dangling
over water, or of bow-windowed villas squatting prim in neatly treed but
unsteady hill-streets, worried the light with their half-in-sleep cries'
(Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 9).
Other definition: In An Introduction to Modern English Word-Formation
Valerie Adams stipulates that a compound word 'is usually understood
to be the result of the (fixed) combination of two free forms, or words
that have an otherwise independent existence, as in frostbite, tape-
measure, grass-green' (p. 30). Both Bauer and Marouzeau (under mot)
add this distinction between words and affixes.
Analogous term: paralexeme
Rl: English and French possess many compound words ('telegram/
'seaworthy,' 'free-trader/ etc.). For the different types of compounds
(copulative, attributive, subordinative, asyntactic, etc.), see Adams,
Bauer, and Marouzeau (under composition). Neological compounds
particularly interest the rhetorician. Some conform to already existing
structures, as in the examples already quoted and in Dylan Thomas's
common compounding procedure (e.g., 'fishing-boat-bobbing sea' in
the Prologue of Under Milk Wood). Others are more eccentric, even
bizarre. Ex: 'I was plat-bus-forming co-massitudinarily in a lutetio-
meridional space-time and I was neighbouring a longisthmusical
plaitroundthehatted greenhorn' (R. Queneau, 'Word-composition/
in Exercises in Style, p. 45). These are foregrounded forms of artifi-
cially compounded or made-up words (see neologism*) or even bar-
barisms*.
R2: Compound words, although frequently combining with deriva-
tions, differ from them, as the example from Queneau amply demon-
strates.
R3: The device is quite popular: 'un-novels, counter-novels, antinovels,
infra-novels, so many possible variables on the interminable new novel'
(H. Aquin, Trou de memoire, p. 74). See euphemism*, R2 (f).
R4: Should a word be called decompounded if it is withdrawn from a
compound through, for example, amputation of a negative prefix? Ex:
couth (from uncouth). Valerie Adams sets up the concept of the 'zero
prefix' to cover examples like the verb to cage (= 'to put someone or
107
Concatenation
something into a cage')/ since the verb to encage already exists. The
parts of a compound word may be separated from one another (see
tmesis*).
CONCATENATION A word proposed by Beauzee to describe the

kind of climax in which a word is repeated from one clause to an-
other, thus serving to connect them together. See Littre, Lausberg, and
Morier.
Ex: "There is a sound like the knocking of railway trucks in a siding.
That is the happy concatenation of one event following another in our
lives. Knock, knock. Must, must, must. Must go, must sleep, must
wake, must get up - sober, merciful word which we pretend to revile,
which we press light to our hearts, without which we should be
undone' (V. Woolf, The Waves, p. 339).
Ex:
I read one poem. One poem is enough.
O western wind ...
O western wind, you are at enmity with my mahogony table.
(V. Woolf, The Waves, p. 315)
Concatenation might appear to be anadiplosis*; but, according to
Beauzee, at least two successive anadiploses are necessary to form
concatenation.
Other definitions: G. Antoine gives concatenation as a synonym of
polysyndeton* (Les Cinq Grandes Odes de Claudel, p. 36). Anglophone
rhetoricians tend not to make this numerical distinction between ana-
diplosis and concatenation. Ex (listed by Lanham under 'anadiplosis'):
For I have lived long, I crave reward
Reward me not unkindly: think on kindness,
Kindness becommeth those of high regard
Regard with clemency a poor man's blindness.
Bartholomew Griffin, Fidessa, 16
Other name: linked anadiploses
Rl: A type of concatenation, typical of Indian poetry, is the karanamala
or 'chain of causes.' Exx: 'Without satisfaction, how would there be
appeasement; without appeasement, happiness; without happiness,
pleasure; without pleasure, bliss?' (Asvaghosa, quoted by H.R. Diwe-
kar, p. 69); Melancholy and sadness are already the beginning of
doubt; doubt is the beginning of despair; despair is the cruel beginning
of the different degrees of viciousness' (Lautreamont, Poe'sies).
This form must go back to the primitive concrete mode, the gene-
alogy. Ex: 'Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judah
108
Conceit
and his brothers ...' It requires very little to produce a link. Ex: 'grief,
sadness, sadness and misery, misery and torment' (W. Gombrowicz,
Ferdydurke, p. 156).
CONCEIT Concetti were expressions borrowed from Italian poetry

prior to the Renaissance striking for their subtlety of meaning and
mannered style (antitheses*, curious images*, mythological allusions*,
etc.); both in France and in England the word finally came to designate
all kinds of precious points*. See Benac and OED.
Ex [on a flea which has sucked the blood of two lovers and which is to
die at the hand of the lady]:
Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, yea, more than married are.
This flea is you and I and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
J. Donne, 'The Flea'
See also K.K. Ruthven, The Conceit.
Analogous definitions: See Cuddon, Frye, Lausberg, and Quillet. Some
authors emphasize the pejorative aspects of the conceit. Grambs writes,
for instance: '[a] cleverly evocative turn of expression, sometimes one
that is affected or strained; intellectual whimsy; stylistic artifice.'
Montherlant apologizes before committing one [after he has just de-
nounced the hollow verbiage prevalent in 1939]: 'Allow me one concetto:
in this hole, the nation is engulfed' (Montherlant, Essais, p. 906).
Preminger's definition is more specific: 'An intricate or far-fetched
metaphor, which functions by arousing feelings of surprise, shock, or
amusement... The poet compares elements which seem to have little or
nothing in common.' His example -
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table.
T.S. Eliot, 'The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'
- indicates that examples of conceit include simile* as well as meta-
phor*. The above examples of conceit are similar to the surrealistic
image* (see image, Rl).
Analogous terms: marinism; conceptism (a Spanish type represented in
Herrera's works and which Benac calls 'erudite allusion*'); Cleve-
landism (see Cuddon); shafts of wit*. R. Escarpit (L'Humour, p. 40)
opposes conceptism to 'cultism' (see imitation*, 4). According to Escar-
pit, the former is ingenuity of thought, the latter of expression.
Rl: Their preciosity makes conceits forms of baroquism*. Less precious,
they would be witticisms, or bans mots. Ex: 'I have no foreign lan-
109
Concession
guages, except the French language, which is not a foreign language,

except, curiously enough, for foreigners' (J. Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion,
p. 142). For other types of witticism, see wit*; nonsense*, Rl; simulation*
R3 and R4; and pseudo-simulation*, R4. Witticisms frequently employ
periphrasis* (see periphrasis, Rl) and have their own intonation*.
R2: The point* is a type of perennially topical conceit, which serves to
produce persiflage* (see persiflage, Rl).
CONCESSION Allowing one's adversary a point which might be

disputed. See Littre. Fontanier adds (p. 415) 'in order to get a greater
advantage later.' See also Lanham, Lausberg, Morier, OED, Quillet, and
Robert.
Ex: 7 like disorder, but not a mess.'
Analogous terms: epitrope (Frye, Lanham, Morier, Quillet, Scaliger);
paromologie (Morier, Robert); permissio (Lanham). Epitrope is a fore-
grounded (see foregrounding*) concession which emphasizes the
contentiousness of the point accorded. Thiebault, cited by Le Flir, calls
a purely hypothetical concession synchoresis. Ex: 'Supposing that we
were to admit...' [the speaker then demonstrates the resultant improb-
abilities]. Lanham, however, defines synchoresis as the permission to
be personally judged which a speaker gives to a questioner, and cites
Falstaff: 'And here I stand: judge my masters' (Shakespeare, Henry IV,
Ft 1, 2.4).
Rl: Rhetorical concessions, or oratorical withdrawals, are acts of
pseudo-generosity aimed only at convincing the jury of the extent and
force of one's principal entitlement. The opposite is the cession or real
relinquishment of a past claim. Ex: 'I am, alas! nonetheless obliged to
recognize that Rodin was an artist of genius' (P. Claudel, Oeuvres en
prose, p. 274). A cession made under coercion readily becomes aggres-
sive. Ex: 'Yes, I dare say, I am only a traveller, a pilgrim on this earth.
Are you anything more?' (Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, trans.
E. Mayer and L. Bogan, p. 99). However, a cession relating to actions
under censure may also become a confession or avowal, followed in that
case by an excuse*. Ex: 'I am aware that I am doing what I shouldn't; I
know that I indulge in mad love affairs; but what [would you have me
do]?' (Ronsard, quoted by Le Hir, p. 111). The avowal frees one of the
fault.
R2: The briefest of concessions is 'yes, but...' Other marks are 'I dare
say ...' and To be sure ...'
R3: Pure concessions form the pretext for all the more scathing refuta-
tions*. Ex: 'It is understood that M. Barbusse is fair game for us. Yet, here is
a man who enjoys, on the same plane of action as our own, a reputa-
110
Concretization
tion unjustified by any consideration of merit: who is not a man of

action, nor a leading light intellectually, who represents nothing of
positive value' (A. Breton, Lfyitime Defense, p. 39).
R4: Close to concession is insinuation described by Mestre as follows:
The orator at first appears to interpret the listener's thoughts, before
skilfully diverting them again to another subject.' Ex:
'Now all those who knew anything of the library's secrets are dead.
Only one person remains: yourself.'
'Do you wish to insinuate ...' the abbot said.
'Do not misunderstand me ... I say there is someone who knows.'
(U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 446)
R5: See also ad hominem*; intonation*; and transition*, Rl.
CONCRETIZATION A concrete example replaces the expression of

an idea.
Exx: 'It's raining cats and dogs'; 'Mele-toi de tes oignons' CMind your
own business'); In the past, I had only liberty in my mouth. In the
morning I spread it on my toast, I chewed it all day long. I carried
with me into the world my breath which was deliciously perfumed by
liberty' (A. Camus, La Chute, p. 153). See also abstraction*, R5.
Rl: An idea may be expressed in terms more abstract than concrete or
vice versa. Ex: 'You will always encounter difficulties in your work.
The end of your difficulties will be the end of your work.' The
exemplum is a characteristic device of concrete expression. But, when
considered as a set of devices, concretization, just like abstraction* and
generalization*, has effects which reach further afield. It distorts the
given in order to create an effect.
R2: The effect in question frequently has something comical about it,
because the idea in question is reduced to one of its more limited
aspects. Ex: 'Indeed, reading, after all, consists merely of moving your
nose from left to right and from right to left' (P. Valery, Oeuvres com-
pletes, 2:355). The gain in expressivity risks a loss of credibility. Ex:
popular rhetoric concerning the punishments of hell.
R3: Similes*, metaphors*, metonymies*, and synecdoches* are some-
times concretizations reduced to a single word. The following example
foregrounds the device: Tvlany a man in love with a dimple makes
the mistake of marrying the whole girl' (Stephen Leacock, quoted by
F.S. Pepper, Twentieth-Century Quotations, p. 231). The same is true of
antonomasia*: 'Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood' (Th.
Gray, 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard') for 'some military
leader.'
Ill
Contamination
R4: Merely using an abstract word in the plural is enough to concretize

it. Compare: Margaret's kindness / Margaret's kindnesses.
R5: The inversion* of lexemes may result in concretization. See also
amplification*, Rl; riddle*, R2; reasoning*, R2; and lexematic inversion*,
R2.
CONTAMINATION The amalgamation into a single work of the

material of two or several. See Benac.
Exx: Stendhal's first two publications, Vies de Haydn and Mozart et
M&astase, as well his Histoire de la peinture italienne, are in part plagia-
rized compilations of previous works.
Cuddon points out (p. 150) that contamination 'usually refers to the
Roman practice of adapting and combining Greek New Comedy.'
Analogous terms: compilation, plagiarism
Other definitions: See portmanteau* word, R3. M. Pei and F. Gaynor
define linguistic contamination as the 'effect exercised by one element
of speech upon another with which it is customarily or accidentally
associated, resulting in a portmanteau or telescope word' (Dictionary of
Linguistics, p. 47).
CONTINUATION A rise in tone at the end of a syntagm*, so as to

indicate simply that the sentence will continue. P. Delattre defines this
very common melodic mark as a rise in the voice from medium to
sharp pitch for a minor continuation (see expressive punctuation*, Rl),
and a rise to a pitch above the normal range in the case of a major
continuation. (Cf. P.R. Leon, pp. 51-3.) The rise is at first rapid, then
diminishes progressively, whereas in a question*, the pitch at first rises
slowly then more and more rapidly, to reach the same maximum level
of sharpness. (See, however, expressive punctuation*, Rl and R2.)
Delattre also distinguishes between a major continuation and an
implication*, for which the downward curve is slightly prolonged after
its rise.
Comparable to continuations are two straightforward melodies,
called by Delattre echo and parenthesis, the first rising in character, the
second descending. They accompany, without directly participating in
it, an utterance inserted in a sentence.
Other fundamental kinds of intonation*, according to Delattre,
include one which expresses finality, in which pitch descends from
medium to low; exclamations* reverse the intonation of questions,
passing quickly first from very high to low and then increasing in
rapidity; and in commands, the same fall is an abrupt one. (See injunc-
tion*.)
112
Coq-a-l'dne
COQ-A-L'ANE A form which skips between two unrelated ideas. See

J. Cohen, Structure du langage po&ique, p. 167.
Ex:
MONIQUE: I would like to count the blonde pirates among my ances-
tors ... Aboard my sailing ship, I would demonstrate the energy they
have left me. I would disregard fogs.
BLAISE: How many masts?
MONIQUE: Eh?
J. Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 171
Synonym: to ramble on (in conversation); purler a batons rompus
Analogous definition: 'an incoherent manner of speaking or writing'
(Preminger)
Other definition: 'a discourse without coherence, linkages and ...
sometimes without meaning' (Benac). He is referring to coq-a-l'dne the
ancient literary genre, the content of which Preminger defines as 'the
satiric treatment of the vices, faults and foibles of individuals, social
groups, and even institutions.' See verbigeration*, R2.
Rl: Coq-a-l'dne is not synonymous with the English 'cock-and-bull
story,' an 'idle invention, incredible tale' (Concise Oxford Dictionary).
Coq-a-l'dne differs from a digression* because the latter departs, or
appears to depart, from the subject without breaking the discursive
thread*. For an example, see verbiage*, R5.
R2: Usually, coq-a-l'dne occurs in dialogue* and may produce word-
play*. It may be simulated: a speaker's reply misses the point in a
way that implies the speaker does not understand (see antanaclasis*).
Ex:
ALFRED: Turn on the box - hang on, where's the Radio Times? - ah -
is this this week's?
CONSTANCE: Forty-two-and-a-half, and all I've got is a headache.
ALFRED: Is this the new one? ... what's today?
CONSTANCE: Sunday.
ALFRED: No-no-no - what's - oh never mind ...
Tom Stoppard M is for Moon among Other Things,
in The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays, p. 63
In a monologue*, coq-a-l'ane combines with inconsequence* and dis-
sociation* to form the ancient literary genre already mentioned.
Preminger adds: 'Clement Marot, who created the form in 1530, was
the author of four coq-a-l'dne, all of them in the form of (generally)
octosyllabic verse epistles of varying length.'
R3: Coq-a-l'dne may be more than a device. Henri Michaux considered
113
Correspondences
it to be a phenomenon in the stream of consciousness, heightened by

hashish:
Shovels fly
then screams
I get free
the next moment, Naples
Each moment ... appears clearly, without flow or linkage either with
the one before or after. Absolutely raw. Verses made up of coq-a-
I'ane will be the style. (Michaux, Connaissance par les gouffres, p. 121)
R4: Coq-a-l'ane is most frequent when a conversation is not a dialogue*
but a clash of two monologues*. Ex:
TEACHER: How do you say 'Italy' in French?
PUPIL: I've got a toothache.
E. lonesco, The Lesson, in Four Plays, p. 69
In the absence of a transition*, some general-purpose expression
replaces it, like a propos, 'by the way/ etc. Ex:
MRS. MARTIN: Thanks to you, we've spent a really Cartesian half-hour.
FIREMAN: Speaking of that, the bald Soprano?
E. lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in ibid., p. 37
R5: Normal discourse* proceeds by avoiding both redundancy* and
coq-a-l'ane. Ducrot (Dire et ne pas dire, p. 8) shows that two laws, the
'law of progression' and the 'law of coherence,' govern the linking of
sentences. His distinction of statement from presupposition clears up
the apparent contradiction between them. 'It is considered normal to
repeat a semantic element already present in the preceding discourse,
provided that it is repeated as a presupposition ... Progress should
occur at the level of what is stated.'
Broadly stated, therefore, coq-a-l'dne would seem to occur when a
sentence's presuppositions contradict either its own statements or
previous presuppositions, whereas the descent into redundancy occurs
when the statement made in a sentence merely reproduces statements
or presuppositions in preceding sentences. Compare: 'She is not polite.
You know that' (consequence); 'You know that she is not polite. She is
so' (coq-a-l'One); and Tou know that she is not polite. She is not'
(redundancy).
CORRESPONDENCES The correlative use of two symbolic images*

whose vehicle belongs to two different kinds of sensation, but whose
tenor is identical. See Benac and Preminger (under 'synaesthesia').
Ex: 'The summer airs, like Weber waltzes, fall' (Edith Sitwell, "The
Innocent Spring').
114
Counter-Interruption
Ex:
While singing in the minor key
Their song mingles with the moonlight
The calm, sad, beautiful moonlight.
P. Verlaine, 'Clair de lune,' in Les Fetes galantes
'Song' and 'moonlight' may replace one another because each repre-
sents, in its own sphere, the same intimate sentiment (as suggested by
'the minor key7 and 'sad and beautiful').
Both the device's theory (synaesthesia) and its name come from
Baudelaire's poem 'Correspondances':
Perfumes, colours, and sounds recall one another.
There are perfumes as fresh as baby skin.
As sweet as an oboe, as green as fields.
By means of similes*, Sitwell and Baudelaire are trying to establish a
relationship underlying distinct sensations.
Rl: A correspondence is established between two images*, or more
accurately, between two vehicles: it risks the confusion with analogy
which unites tenor and vehicle. Occasionally, the two vehicles cause
the tenor to blur, especially when an analogy, a more abstract kind of
utterance, replaces it. Ex: 'She has the voice of her thighs. Slender.
Elegant. Radiant' (J. Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 216).
R2: Morier (pp. 323-31), following Rimbaud's lead, sought to found
correspondences upon values drawn from the sonority of the terms
used. Open a (as in 'ate') would thus be bright red; closed a (as in
'cart') would be dark red, etc.
COUNTER-INTERRUPTION The suppression, not of the end of a

text, but of the beginning.
Ex: 'Sir only I havnt known which way to turn since the funeral' (Peter
Reading, Ukelele Music, p. 14). This beginning of a letter* from the
speaker's cleaning lady suggests a conversation presumably interrupted
at some previous moment.
Ex:
PORTRAIT OF THE MEIDOSEMS:
Besides, like all Meidosem women, she dreamed only of entering
Confetti Palace. (H. Michaux, La Vie des plis, p. 125)
This 'single' characteristic (introduced by 'besides,' which implies that
it is not the first) gives enough information about the young girl, which
is why her 'other' traits, those which 'preceded' the one noted, are not
considered worthy of mention.
115
Counter-Litotes
Rl: The three spaced, or unspaced, periods at the beginning of a text

are the graphic mark of the counter-interruption. Ex: '... after my fifth
glass of kirsch, warmer blood began to circulate in my brain' (A. Gide,
Les Nourritures terrestres, in Romans, p. 208). When omitting the begin-
ning of a quotation*, one may place the three periods in parentheses or
in square brackets.
R2: The meaning* of a counter-interruption depends in each case on
the context, which permits the supposition that some of the text is not
mentioned. Eluard gives the device a particular importance when he
begins Poesie ininterrompue with a line of periods (see situational* signs,
6). According to Raymond Jean, by that Eluard means that the poet's
voice is 'the prolongation and echo of a kind of voice more ... universal
... both that of the poet in his preceding works and that of all the
people who preceded him' (R. Jean, Eluard, p. 104).
COUNTER-LITOTES Hyperbole* which tends to deflate an idea.

Exx: 'No smoking, remember the fire at the Charity Bazaar. [Written in
pencil underneath:] No spitting, remember the flooding of the Seine'
(Jean-Charles, Les Perles du facteur, p. 68); '[Writers of stories serialized
in newspapers] kindly let it be understood that they were murderers
and vampires, that they had contracted the vicious habit of killing their
fathers and mothers, that they drank blood out of skulls, used tibias as
forks and cut their bread with a guillotine' (Theophile Gautier, Mile de
Maupin, preface).
Counter-litotes may be unintended: Ex: 'That's the most unheard of
thing I ever heard of (Senator Joseph McCarthy, quoted by Corbett in
Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, p. 487).
Rl: Litotes* understates in order to emphasize. Overstatement whose
function is to de-emphasize is thus counter-litotes.
R2: The device contains, implicitly at least, an ironic type of refutation*,
which apparently answers the contrary argument* by colouring it
differently; counter-litotes is, therefore, a type of antanaclasis*.
COUNTER-PLEONASM Instead of comparing different signifiers

which have the same signified, a characteristic of the pleonasm* (see
pleonasm, Rl), a speaker uses different signifiers whose meanings are
identical, at least functionally.
Exx: '[instruction in a computer program:] Type type to display the
document'; 'You cannot not see it'; 'How do you calculate the number
of numbers in a given number of numbers!'; 'Only take into account the
effects which are effectively in place.'
116
Counterpoint
Rl: Counter-pleonasms represent an opposite type of mistake* to the

pleonasm*; hence their name.
R2: When they relate to lexemes, they differ in meaning, a fact which
distinguishes them from isolexism*. In addition, counter-pleonasms do
not arise out of a desire for enhanced expressivity, but from a lack of
vocabulary that confuses the idea expressed. The usual remedy is
synonymy*. Exx: 'Enter "type" '; 'effects really in place/ Syntactic
changes and the substitution of grammatical tool-words also help. Ex:
'Calculate how many numbers there are in n digits.'
R3: The avoidance of counter-pleonasms accords with the use of
language postulated in Saussurean structuralism: 'The linguistic fact
can therefore be pictured in its totality - i.e. language - as a series of
contiguous subdivisions marked off on both the indefinite plane of
jumbled ideas and the equally vague plane of sounds ... Each linguistic
term is a member, an articulus in which an idea is fixed in a sound and
the sound becomes the sign of an idea' (Ferdinand de Saussure, Cours
de linguistique generate, trans. W. Baskin, pp. 112-13).
It may well be possible to express different ideas by the same sets of
sounds: polysemia and polymorphia are frequent phenomena. But the
hypothesis concerning the system's clarity suffers from them as much
as does communication itself. And so the surrealists amused them-
selves by denouncing faults in language. Ex: 'II etait une fois un rein et
une reine' ('Once upon a time there was a kidney and a queen') (R.
Desnos, Domaine, p. 211). Reine ('queen') is not the feminine form of
rein, which means Tddney' in French; the male equivalent of reine is, of
course, rot.
R4: Deliberate counter-pleonasm, or epizeuxis (Foclin, cited by Le Hir;
Lanham), is useful because it recalls, by acoustic allusion*, the principal
lexeme in the assertion*. Ex: 'O horror, horror, horror.' Epizeuxis tends
to become isolexism*.
R5: Reduced in scope, counter-pleonasm becomes allusion* and word-
play*. See foregrounding*, R4.
COUNTERPOINT The alternation of several distinct isotopies*.

Ex: In The Antiphonary, Hubert Aquin tells two stories, one about the
fifteenth century, the other about the twentieth. The two isotopies, or
universes of discourse, sometimes coincide, and yet remain perceptibly
separate:
Strangely, Jules-Cesar Beausang seems to have had no high regard
for the great reformer, Zwingli. Beausang, an ardent Gomarist,
remained so all his life which ... ended abruptly in Chivasso. When I
went through Chivasso (with Jean-William ... We were on our way
117
Counterpoint
to Turin) I did not recognize the Via Santa Clara, nor the inn where
Jules-Cesar Beausang suffered his death-agony. In Turin, however, I
do remember seeing the church of San Fernando sopra San Tomaso
(a modern church built on the ancient foundation of the parish
church of San Tomaso) as well as the quarter ... where the fair must
have been held at which poor Renata one day met her friend Rosa-
lita ... But Jean-William at that moment had only one thing in mind:
following the Sesia upstream to Modena. (Hubert Aquin, The
Antiphonary, pp. 129-30)
On the other hand, isotopic limits may not be indicated, and the
narrator risks giving the reader the impression of a kind of semantic
scrambling* (a cryptographic device which consists in the substitution
of lexemes from a different isotopy for the same number of lexemes
in the first). A rapid reading of Sartre's Les Chemins de la liberte may
produce the same effect. Sartre commingles episodes occurring simul-
taneously, although they are spatially distant from and independent
of each other. Thus, at the beginning of volume 2, three separate
threads unwind: (1) the Czechs are suffering persecution at the hands
of the Germans (hero: Milan); (2) Daniel, a pederast, has just married
Marcelle out of masochism; (3) Charles, a casualty, is being evacuated
from the threat of war. Milan can scarcely prevent himself reacting to
provocation, when his wife reminds him of his responsibility to his
family:
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and repeated: 'I am not alone. I
am not alone.' Daniel thought: 'I am alone! ... Tears of rage filled
Milan's eyes, and Daniel turned to Marcelle ... Caught like a rat! He
had raised himself onto his forearms and was watching the shops go
by. (J.-P. Sartre, Le Sursis, pp. 56-7)
The final two sentences refer to Charles, without naming him or
signalling the transition*.
Counterpoint is possible in the theatre. Michel Tremblay, in A toi
pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou, undercuts a couple's conversation with
those that their daughters had several years later. The effect is remark-
able, as much from the communicative as from the aesthetic perspec-
tive. In A. Brassard's production, for example, which separated the two
pairs of antagonists, with the parents remaining in semi-darkness, there
was little possibility of confusion.
Rl: Counterpoint is sometimes reversed, or implicit. Ex: Jean Valjean,
in the town of Digne, goes to City Hall, to the inn, then to the printer's.
In inverse order, these were the three places in the same town visited
by Napoleon six months earlier, 'as if there were some kind of inter-
action between the rise of Napoleon and the fall of Valjean' (A. Brochu,
Amour, crime, revolution: essai sur 'Les Misfrables,' p. 80).
118
Cryptography
R2: Involuntary confusion of isotopies produces disorder or surrealistic

counterpoint. Ex: In The Antiphonary (1969), Hubert Aquin draws up a
confused list of European and Quebec towns, and explains the lack of
order in Point defuite (1971, p. 101) by saying that it was 'as if his own
memory of the trip was getting out of order/
CRASIS The contraction of two syllables into one. See Elkhadem,

Littre, Preminger, and Quillet.
Ex: "The evil-hearted Grocer / Would call his mother "Ma'am"' (G.K.
Chesterton, 'Song against Grocers').
Synonym: contraction
Antonym: diphthongization
Rl: Synaeresis (see diaeresis*, R3) is, like elision*, a phonetic phenome-
non affecting the coming together of two vowels. Crasis may also
involve the intermediate consonant. See metaplasm*. In English, a kind
of crasis occurs in expressions like miniskirt, minigolf, etc., in which a
substantive and an adjective 'miniature' are contracted to form a single
element (see Group MU, A General Rhetoric, p. 69).
R2: Elkhadem notes that the fusion of two separate vowels into one
'usually takes place in order to adhere to the metrical pattern.' Ex: o'er
and e'er for 'over' and 'ever': 'And o'er and o'er the sand' (C. Kingsley,
'The Three Fishers').
R3: Countercrasis, marked in French by an h between the two vowels,
occurs in order to make a clear separation between them. The h in
'lugu/mbre' also conforms to etymology*. Ex: 'J'adore Valcohol' (A.
Jarry, Oeuvres, 1:152).
CRYPTOGRAPHY Encoded writing or numbers which may be

decoded or deciphered if one has the key.
We can distinguish two kinds of cryptography. In the first, the
encoded message has an apparent meaning. Ex: 'Une bicyclette a deux
roues est etendue dans la cave' ('A two-wheeled bicycle is spread out
in the cellar'). This was the text of a BBC radio message sent to France
in 1940 and quoted in the film Le Matin d'Albert Camus. In the second
type, the message has no apparent meaning. Ex: 'Ed on to ay rd wa id
sm yo da he nt ar re at pi rm ...' (R. Queneau, Exercises in Style, p. 129).
These are two-letter permutations of the order of the signs used. The
original sentence appears after a simple transposition of the first and
second, third and fourth groups, etc.: 'One day towards midday on the
rear platform ...' The decoding process is called cryptanalysis.
119
Cryptography
Rl: For the formation of cryptograms in French slang*, see G. Esnault,

Dictionnaire historique des argots francais, under largonji. Ex: TJn lour-
jingue vers lidimege sure la lateformeplic arriere d'un lobustotem ...'
(R. Queneau, Exercises de style, p. 122). In her translation of Queneau,
Barbara Wright (p. 158) converts this into 'rhyming slang' as follows: 'I
see a chap in the bus with a huge bushel and peck and a ridiculous
titfer on his loaf.'
For 'Cryptarithms or Alphametics/ puzzles in which letters are
substituted for numbers to form an arithmetical sum, see T. Augarde,
The Oxford Book of Word Games, p. 124. See also Esnault, under javanais
('double Dutch') - Ex (from Queneau): TJnvin jovur vevers mividin
suvur unvin vautobobuvus' [vin, vur, ve, vu, etc., added to each syl-
lable] - or under vers-l'en (syllabic inversion*): Exx: brelica (calibre);
Sequinzouil (Louis Quinze). This is backslang which, according to
Cuddon (p. 68), 'can still be heard occasionally in London markets.'
Barbara Wright (p. 159) renders the last quoted example from Queneau
(TJnvin jour ...') as follows: IJnway ayday aboutyay iddaymay onyay
anyay essyay usbay.'
R2: Literary 'encoding' might be called an attenuated form of crypto-
graphy. It involves replacing certain key lexemes so as to disguise only
the isotopy*. Eluard gives an example from Peret along with the key:
'Ah! quelle douceur, mon pope (ami). C'etait comme une mince (danse)
nouvelle et tout minqait (dansait) en moi. Jamais je n'aurais douille
(imagine) cela. Et je t'assure que c'est bien fini avec les culottes
(femmes) ... Apres cela le bruleur (soleil) disparut dans un poussant
(arbre)' (P. Eluard, Oeuvres completes, 1:1169). Some of these terms are
tropological, others are slang* terms, but with a different meaning. One
message may also be concealed in another by means of acrostics*,
anagrams*, and allographs*, or by means of paragrams*, or by the
different types of scrambling*.
R3: Steganography is a type of cryptography which uses numbers and
drawings as well as letters. See E. Souriau, 'Esthetique et cryp-
tographie/ La Revue d'esihltique (1953), pp. 32-53. Incidentally, Eco's
cryptogram and its solution (The Name of the Rose, pp. 155, 208) involv-
ing the substitution of signs of the zodiac for letters of the alphabet
recall Souriau's use of the zodiac in Les Deux cent mille situations drama-
ticjues (1950) to represent the different functions within a dramatic
work. See also counterpoint*.
120
D
DECOUPAGE Graphic texts are divided into letters*, which are
graphic units, and into words, which are theoretical combinatorial
units. (We propose to add the following definition of the term to those
already existing: a word is a group of phonemes which is endowed
with meaning* and which cannot be divided into separate parts by
other inserted 'words.') Decoupage may affect syllables (see typographi-
cal caesura*, Rl); or phonetic words, which are rhythmic units; syn-
tagms*, which are functional units; assertions*, which are units of
enunciation*; or sentences, paragraphs, or chapters.
Exx: 'Drinka Pinta Milka Day'; 'Ive a right to sell flowers' (G.B. Shaw,
Pygmalion, act 1); 'deux tu I'as eu' [the character pronounces this as
tulazu] (J. Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 166). See logatom*.
The spoken text, especially when there are liaisons, invites metanaly-
sis*. Cutting up a naddre or a napron gives respectively an adder and an
apron as Jespersen noted. Grambs (p. 9) refers to these as examples of
'affix-clipping.' (See metanalysis*.) Similarly in French, d&oupage of
tropeureu produces trap heureux ('too happy') and trop peureux ('too
timorous'): usually the expression is only a single phonetic word.
Analogous term: delimitation
DEFINITION An assertion* whose subject is a thing or a word and

whose predicate is an explanatory periphrasis* which designates the
generic semes (classification), the specific semes (stipulative definition),
or the virtual semes (example).
Ex: ' "Blitzer," said Thomas Gradgrind. "Your definition of a horse."
"Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely, twenty-four grind-
ers, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive. Sheds coat in the spring; in
marshy countries, sheds hoofs, too. Hoofs hard but requiring to be
shod with iron. Age known by marks in mouth" ' (Dickens, Hard Times,
ch. 1).
Ex: 'Iris. 1. The name of a goddess in Greek mythology, who was the
messenger of the Gods. By unfurling her scarf, she produced the
rainbow' (R. Char, Les Matinaux, p. 97).
The lexical definition of a word belongs to the metalinguistic function
of communication (see enunciation*, 6). Definition regroups various
possible meanings*, since polysemy increases with frequency of use
(Zipf s law). In literature, concretizing definitions and stipulative
definitions, both of which give an idea precision, predominate. Exx:
121
Definition
'Genius (if at any rate one can speak thus of the great man's
indefinable germ) must...' (Baudelaire, Oeuvres, p. 1133); "The body is a
machine for living, no more. And since he [Napoleon] had embarked
upon one of his pleasures, the search for definitions, he unexpectedly
invented a new one: "Rapp, do you know what the art of war is? It is
being stronger than the enemy at a given moment"' (L. Tolstoy, War
and Peace, trans. R. Edmonds, 2:235).
Merely exceeding the quite narrow limits of definition produces
humorous effects. Ex: In francophone computerese, carte blanche means
any non-perforated card, even a red one. Ex: ' "CANOE. A long hollow
[tube] which keeps out the water," said the explorer' (H. Michaux,
Ecuador, p. 180).
Rl: Mestre (pp. 13-15) and Puttenham (The Arte of English Poesie,
p. 231) distinguish the 'philosophical' or logical' definition as being
'dry and short' from the 'oratorical definition' (see also Le Clerc, p. 214;
Lausberg, sect. 78). Other varieties include: 'descriptive' definition (see
description*), which lists the parts and properties of the object de-
scribed, matches causes with effects and circumstances, and even
makes comparisons*. Pseudo-definition occurs when the predicate does
not explain the semes of the subject but attaches new connotations to it,
by means of metaphor* or synecdoche*. Thus definition may become a
disguised argument*, all the more peremptory since it assumes the
aspect of linguistic or logical definition. Exx: 'This pack of dogs called
an army' (L. Tailhade, Imbeciles et gredins, p. 219); The frightful passage
from the uterus to the grave we agree to call life' (L. Bloy, Belluaires et
porchers, p. 29). Elliptical pseudo-definitions give an idea the force of a
maxim*. Ex: 'Hell is other people' (J.-P. Sartre, Huis-dos, p. 92). Opera-
tional definitions offer a useful method for differentiating concrete
examples; for an example, see assertion*, R4.
R2: Definition may become identification. Writing to a friend, 'I saw
your wife,' Apollinaire might have added: she is both ugly and beauti-
ful; a simple assertion. Replacing the adjectives by substantives pro-
duces: 'She is at once a horror and a beauty'; definition by classifica-
tion. He in fact chose to write: 'She is ugliness and beauty/ conferring
on the woman, by the simple syntactic device which turns definition
into identification, the nobility belonging to a type.
Identification with concrete objects is possible and all the more
striking. Ex: 'For I have spent my life waiting for you / And my heart-
beats were but your footsteps'(P. Valery, Charmes, in Oeuvres, 1:121).
R3: Victor Hugo's definitions often take question-answer form. Ex:
'What is an octopus? It is a sucker' (Les Travailleurs de la mer, 2.4.2).
R4: Essays of the scientific type make great use of definitions, which
permit the avoidance of neology while rendering thought extremely
122
Denomination
specific. Thus G. Genette (Narrative Discourse, p. 157), studying repeti-

tion* in narrative*, calls the diachronic limits of a series of events their
determination; 'the rhythm of recurrence' of the events, their specification;
and the duration of each one, its extension.
R5: The use of abstract terms often broadens definitions to the point of
imprecision. Ex: see ambiguity*, R2. But the definition of the terms of a
problem is a means of finding good arguments* (see argument, Rl).
Definitions found in crossword puzzles are often no more than con-
undrums.
DELIBERATIO The pretence that one is weighing the arguments*

with respect to a decision which has already been taken. See Fontanier,
p. 412.
Ex: 'The Revolution had failed elsewhere, so what could the Bolsheviks
do? Wait? Commit "hari-kiri" before the task's enormity? Or construct
the socialist state in a single country? The latter is the route they chose'
(Elleinstein, in Le Monde, 2 Aug. 1973).
Rl: The speaker imitates for rhetorical reasons the discussions of a
deliberating assembly. Each option is summarized in the form of a
question*. The device resembles communicatio*', the rhetorical question*
(see question, R3), and dubitatio*.
DENOMINATION Proper names are those attributed to individuals,

places, organizations, or objects in order to designate them exclusively,
by a word belonging to them 'in their own right,' because their
'common' names would not distinguish them from other identical
individuals.
Analogous terms: The study of proper names has proceeded taxonomi-
cally by dividing referents into classes. Reonymy studies objects: names
of boats, of restaurants, etc. Hydronymy studies names of rivers; ethnon-
ymy, names of peoples; phytonymy, names of plants; oronymy, names of
mountains; hodonymy, names of roads and streets; zoonymy, names of
animals (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1974 ed., tvlacropedia' under 'Names').
Rl: The mark of the proper name is the capital letter. Ex: the Earth. In
French, once a lexeme is turned into a proper name, or appropriated,
determinants (articles, for instance, except in rare cases) are no longer
necessary. In the same way, plural markings are only useful if
appropriation is very weak. English usage is different. Compare: les
Smith I the Smiths; des Matisse / several Matisses; des Fords / several
Fords; les 'Amphitryon' de Moliere et de Giraudoux / the Othellos of
Shakespeare and Verdi; Us se prennent pour des dons Juans / they think
they are Don Juan. As may be seen, in French, unlike in English, the s
123
Denomination
of the plural appears only when the proper name is used as a common
noun. Ford no longer refers to the car's inventor, but to the title of
numerous series of virtually identical objects; hence also, by contrast, in
both French and English, the article: une Ford / a Ford. 'Dons Juans'
refers to individuals having in common the hero's character. The same
goes for nouns expressing nationality: Un Suisse / a Swiss.
When the capital letter disappears, it is because the name has be-
come a common noun, and so appropriation no longer exists. Articles
and the plural s are then regular. Ex: 'I saw a smith / several smiths at
the forge,' as opposed to 'I saw (Bill) Smith yesterday.'
R2: In both French and English, names of individuals are formed of a
first or given (baptismal or Christian) name, plus a middle name or
names, and a surname or family name, or patronymic (i.e., a name
derived from the given name of the father, following the common
model in antiquity, and one still current in Russia and Acadia, the 'son
of N'), later replaced by the name of a place of origin or ancient sur-
name (e.g., Manchester, Dupont), and sometimes by a nickname (called
ironically a sobriquet, which originally meant a 'tap under the chin')
based on some individual trait. Exx: 'Richard Crookback' for Richard
III; Tricky Dicky' for Richard Nixon.
In certain closed groups, the members of the invented society are
'rebaptised/ using nicknames or even titles* (heraldic names; boy scout,
Ku Klux Klan, or religious titles, etc.). The conferring of titles* is a
common expressive process.
Pseudonyms replace proper names with fanciful names. Exx: Ringuet
and John Le Carre, pen-names of Philippe Panneton and David Corn-
well respectively. Cryptonyms are false names used by detectives or
spies. A family name which comes from the mother is called a matrony-
mic.
Just as personal names may have ancient origins, place names also
go back to antique linguistic substrata. Some appellations are referen-
tial. Ex: 'Charles the Bald.' If names of professions become family
names in French, they retain the article. Ex: Lecuyer/Squire.
Names of institutions or organizations come from common nouns
(Faculty of Medicine, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Electricite de France)
or from acronyms*. Names of objects, industrial terms, and makes of
products are frequently either compound* words (hovercraft, jetset),
derivations* (CompuServe) or coinages* which resort to onomatopoeia*
(popcorn), etymology* (Clairol, brand-name of a shampoo), metanaly-
sis* (Sanka, a coffee 'sans cafeine'; 'Nylon,' a fabric invented concur-
rently in New York and London), and portmanteau* words (Yoplait, the
'yogourt qui plait / which pleases').
The conferring of proper names is constantly used in data process-
ing; each 'program,' 'sub-routine,' and 'file' down to the smallest
variable gets some more or less significant title*. Proper names some-
124
Derivation
times play an important part in literature, since characters' names may

have various connotations. Thus, in Les Chambres de bois, Anne Hebert
constantly uses 'fine-sounding' given names, Catherine, Michel, Lia.
Eugene Labiche, the nineteenth-century Parisian writer of bourgeois
comedies, in order to find names which are comical but not too un-
likely, combined anthroponymy with toponymy, combing the railway
timetable in the process (according to E. Souriau, in La Revue d'esth&i-
cjue [1965], p. 27). Some authors choose animal names: Lebeuf (ox)
(Bessette, in La Bagarre); Bantam Lyons, the horse-racing fanatic in
Joyce's Ulysses. Others take advantage of the liberty conferred by the
use of nicknames. Exx: 'We'll keep the Little one here. Safe and sound
with her children' (A. Hebert, Kamouraska, p. 99; to the speaker, one of
her aunts, Catherine will always remain the 'Little one'); Hugh 'Blazes'
Boylan, 'the worst man in Dublin' (Joyce, Ulysses). See sarcasm*.
In principle, proper names may appropriate any segment of the text:
lexemes*, syntagms*, even morphemes. Exx: (1) Tvly name is Neuras-
thenic' (R. Ducharme, Le Nez qui voque); Trollope's Mr Quiverful, who
has fourteen children in Barchester Towers; (2) Gide, perhaps drawing
his inspiration from the name of the architect of the Marseilles Basilica,
Esperendieu, invents for one of the families in Les Faux-Monnayeurs the
evocative name of Profitendieu; Dickens produced Gradgrind in Hard
Times, 'Dotheboys Hall' in Nicholas Nickleby, 'Eatanswill' in Pickwick
Papers, and so on; (3) Victor Hugo gave us Je suis Tous, 1'ennemi
mysterieux de Tout' ('I am Everyone, the mysterious enemy of Every-
thing'); this involves an appropriation of grammatical morphemes.
Even puns* serve to create proper names: in Rejean Ducharme's works,
we find Ines Pfre~e (unhoped for) and Inat Tendu (unexpected), and
'Dunrovin' is a name found on many gateposts both in and out of
Scotland.
R3: Unlike personification*, proper denomination only affects the
signifier. The general tendency is to create 'motivated' proper names,
indeed to remotivate proper names (see agnominatio*).
In the case of antonomasia*, the common noun functions as a proper
name without losing its character, and so keeps the article. Exx: the
Iron Duke, the Sun King.
Nicknames may have the marker 'dit / alias, a.k.a. (also known as).'
Exx: Blaise Cendrars, 'dit Sans-bras,' because he had lost an arm in the
First World War; 'Peter a.k.a. the Cruel'; former President Reagan,
nicknamed the 'Gipper' (from a movie role).
DERIVATION A new lexeme formed by affixation. See Lauri Bauer,

English Word-Formation; Valerie Adams, An Introduction to Modern
English Word-Formation; Marouzeau; and Robert.
Ex: thinker; the suffix -er is added to think-.
125
Description
The set of words derived from the same lexia [neol.], or root, stem, or
base (for distinctions between these terms, see Bauer, English Word-
Formation, pp. 20-2), forms a word-family. The appropriate grammatical
categories for lexemes are usually represented: noun, verb, adverb,
adjective. Ex: clean, to clean, cleaner (noun), cleanliness, cleanly. But
each word may take on a specialized meaning* and so become re-
stricted to it.
In such cases, the possibility of syntactic construction is restricted.
The needs of the sentence, or the necessity to avoid specific meanings*
or supplementary connotations, force writers to create unusual deriva-
tions. Ex: '[This American professor] seems to be taking the line that
English writers, from 1870 to 1914, were over-keen on preparing the
nation for war. They suffered from "invasiophobia" and "isleophilia" '
(Manchester Guardian Weekly, 27 Mar. 1988, p. 28). If the derived word is
useful, it may enter the language, where its effect is sometimes comical.
Ex: 'And skeweyed Walter sirring his father, no less! Sir. Yes sir. No,
sir' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 32). Joyce conjugates sir, as if it were a verb (see
transference*).
Other name: Provignement, the process of 'enriching vocabulary [with
derivatives of existing words]' (Harrap's New Standard French and
English Dictionary), was the term used to refer to neological derivatives
introduced by the sixteenth-century French poets of the Pleiade. Zero
derivation, or zero suffix, is frequently called conversion: 'the change in
form class of a form without any corresponding change in form'
(Bauer, p. 32). Ex: 'napalm' (noun) becomes 'to napalm' (verb).
Rl: Suppression of a suffix may produce derivations which are 'regres-
sive.' Exx: 'ad'; 'gent'
R2: Diminutives (or hypocoristic forms) are created either by abridge-
ment* and gemination*, or by the addition of suffixes like -ie and -ey.
Exx: Tom, Mimi, Charley, Laurie
R3: See also acronym*, Rl; nominalization*, R4; neologism*, Rl; isolex-
ism*; and transference*.
DESCRIPTION External representation of a place, an object, an

action (see hypotyposis* and diatyposis*), or a person (see portrait*).
Ex: 'A calculated, cast up, balanced, and proved house. Six windows
on this side of the door, six on that side; a total of twelve in this wing,
a total of twelve in the other wing; four and twenty carried over to the
back wing. A lawn and garden and an infant avenue, all ruled straight
like a botanical account-book' (Dickens, Hard Times, ch. 3).
Ex: 'Brother William's physical appearance was at that time such as to
attract the attention of the most inattentive observer. His height sur-
126
Description
passed that of a normal man and he was so thin that he seemed still
taller. His eyes were sharp and penetrating; his thin and slightly beaky
nose gave his countenance the expression of a man on the lookout...'
(U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 15).
Rl: In classical rhetoric, topographia is the description of a place
(Fontanier, p. 422; Lanham, p. 100); prosopographia, that of a person.
There were also names for descriptions of time: chronographia; of the
earth: geographia; of water: hydrographia; of trees: dendographia; of the
wind: anemographia.
A completely descriptive work of literature is not impossible, as Poe
demonstrated in 'Landor's Cottage' and The Domain of Arnheim.' But
excessive description has never been recommended, and it's possible to
believe that descriptions in the nouveau roman sometimes caricature the
obsession with objectivity. Ex:
The two other chairs have been placed on the other side of the table,
even further to the right, so as not to block the view between the
two first ones and the balustrade of the veranda. Again because of
the 'view/ these other two chairs have not been turned towards the
rest of the group: they have been put at an angle, sideways to the
openwork balustrade and the upper end of the valley ...
The third one, which is a folding chair made of canvas stretched
over a metal frame is set decidedly further back, between the fourth
one and the table ... (A. Robbe-Grillet, La Jalousie, pp. 19-20; trans.
A. Jefferson, in The Nouveau Roman and the Poetics of Fiction, pp.
136-7)
R2: As in the sciences, a diagram is worth several pages of text, and a
photograph obviously 'says' more than a description, as, among others,
Breton and Hemingway showed in Nadja and in Death in the Afternoon
respectively. But photographs may also tell too much or fail to spot-
light essentials.
R3: In descriptions, the roles played by verbs easily become artificial: 'a
partly eaten rice pudding was crumbling; eggs filled a flowery salad
bowl; a rabbit's liver displayed its purple viscosity; a towering pile of
saucers rose [above the rest]' (J.K. Huysmans, En menage, p. 51). As a
result, certain authors prefer to use noun phrases: The table with the
computer, printer, and boxes of discs. A few pictures in the space not
occupied by shelves' (Eco, Foucault's Pendulum, p. 23). Notations*,
particularly those specifying details of theatrical sets, regularly take this
form. Ex: 'An entrance hall before a council chamber in the palace of
Whitehall' (Maxwell Anderson, Elizabeth the Queen, 1.1).
For the importance of the signifier, see also parallelism*, R3, and
reactualization*, 6.
127
Description
R4: Description, which plays a major part in Naturalist narrative*, risks

appearing conventional (see epitheton*, R2); hence the following advice
from Maupassant, the burden of which has since infiltrated the peda-
gogy of 'creative writing': 'The slightest object contains some unknown
quality. Find it. To describe a blazing fire and a tree in a plain, stay in
front of the fire and the tree until they no longer look to you like any
other tree, any other fire' (Pierre et Jean, preface). The technique thus
recommended is observation, which, when combined with focalization
and narrative* produces the values connoted by the whole text. Ex: 'He
climbed at the crest of the sandhill and gazed about him. Evening had
fallen. A rim of the young moon cleft the pale waste of skyline, the rim
of a silver hoop embedded in grey sand; and the tide was flowing in
fast to the land with a low whisper of her waves, islanding a few last
figures in distant pools' (J. Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,
pp. 172-3).
Description sometimes functions more modestly as a framing device
placed around the action. The term framing (by analogy with cinematic
framing) will be used here. 'By the framing device, the director forces
the spectator to share his field of vision' (Page and Pagano, eds.,
Dictionnaire des media). Narrowing the field 'leads the spectator's eye
from a general view towards a single character or object' (ibid.).
Description may also be subjective, characters or objects being
presented as seen by other characters, with whom a reader may gradu-
ally come to identify. This is what J. Pouillon (Temps et roman, p. 65)
called 'vision avec'; Genette, focalization; Booth, limited point of view,'
etc. Ex: To be a man, watched by women. It must be entirely strange.
To have them watching him all the time. To have them wondering.
What's he going to do next? To have them flinch when he moves, even
if it's a harmless enough move, to reach for an ashtray perhaps. To
have them sizing him up' (Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale,
p. 83).
R5: In the absence of a correct term, a speaker has recourse to peri-
phrasis* which may be merely descriptive ('a little green can,' for
instance, when the product itself escapes the memory). B. Pingaud, in
the 'Avis au lisant' (i.e., 'Foreword') to G. Perec's La Disparition, a novel
written without the letter e, describes the latter periphrastically: "Mum's
the word then on the unknown core that's missing - a not quite complete
circle ending in a horizontal stroke.' See lipogram*. Description is also
one of the modes of amplification* and of definition* (see definition,
Rl).
R6: Butor's handy name for description which transposes a 'view'
through memories (real or imagined) is inner cinema (Intervalle, p. 71).
Compare: 'Darcourt was sitting in his dressing-gown gazing at his
interior movie-show' (R. Da vies, The Lyre of Orpheus, p. 110).
128
Dialogue
When description's function is to guarantee the authenticity of the

narrative universe, we have Barthes's reality effect. Description which
'shows' may disguise its own process. If showing is foregrounded, on
the other hand, we have description as pretext, as in the nouveau roman.
DIAERESIS The pronunciation as two separate vowels of a syllable

formed of one vowel and a semi-consonant, so as to obtain an extra
foot in the line. See Lanham, Lausberg (sect. 486), Marouzeau, Morier,
OED, and Quillet.
Ex:
Miniver cursed the commonplace
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
He missed the medieval grace
Of iron clothing.
E.A. Robinson, quoted by the translators of Group MU's General Rhetoric
The translators of General Rhetoric add: 'Scansion forces us to pro-
nounce medieval in four syllables' (p. 52).
Ex: 'Patience, patience'[i.e., four syllables in French, which helps to
produce a seven-syllable line] (P. Valery, 'Palme/ in Charmes). Morier
uses the accentual mark called diaeresis ["] as a graphic mark of the
phenomenon. Ex: 'Les sanglots longs / Des violons ...'
Synonym: division (Lausberg)
Rl: In French verse, the pronunciation of a mute e, which in everyday
conversation would disappear, increases the number of feet in a line
Ex: Patience. Like diaeresis, the phenomenon is archaic and both may
be explained by the prestige possessed by syllabism in French versifica-
tion. See line* of poetry.
R2: Diaeresis is a metaplasm* which may become a type of emphasis*
in casual French speech. Ex: J'demande a vohar [voir], interrompit
Saturnin' (R. Queneau, Le Chiendent, p. 293).
R3: Synaeresis, the opposite phenomenon to diaeresis, contracts two
syllables into one (see Cuddon, Lanham, Lausberg, Marouzeau, OED,
and Quillet). Ex: the word extraordinary. In ordinary speech, both in
French and English, the group ao reduces to a single sound. However,
as is the case in careful English, the a is pronounced in careful French.
For English usage, see Fowler; for French usage consult P. Fouche
Trait^ de prononciation franchise, p. 38.
DIALOGUE An exchange of remarks between two persons or groups

with each assuming alternately the role of speaker (I, we) and inter-
locutor (you).
129
Dialogue
Ex:
'I don't know why you do it/ my mother said. They're never
grateful.'
'Do what?' I said, bulgy-eyed, breaking my vow of silence in my
eagerness to know. (Margaret Atwood, Lady Oracle, p. 70)
Analogous terms: conversation; verbal exchange (Dubois et al., Diction-
naire de linguistique). An antiphony is a (religious) chant executed alter-
nately by two choirs.
Rl: The oral signs marking the reversal of roles are external to lan-
guage (the change of speaker and tone); the graphic mark is a colon or
dash (see situational* signs, 3). Reference to the speakers is sometimes
implicit. Ex:
'His brother's rich
A somebody - a director in the bank/
'He never told us that/
'We know it though/
'I think his brother ought to help, of course/
Robert Frost, The Death of the Hired Man'
R2: Dialogue is the most natural mode for speech when it becomes
verbal exchange. Most literary dialogues attempt to reproduce real or
supposedly real conversations. They are thus examples of mimesis.
Dramatic works are most often mimetic, with actors imitating fairly
common types (the juvenile lead, a lady, an employee, etc.). Despite the
possibility of individuation conferred upon them by actors skilled in
their craft, such types may become stylized. Some actors specialize in
certain roles which suit their physical and moral characters; such
specialization leads inevitably to type-casting.
R3: Discourse* may include embedded dialogue which replaces indirect
or reported speech. In this case, a character's I replaces the initial I of
the implied author; a different character's you replaces the initial
second-person address to an implied addressee. Double actualization
thus takes place (see reactualization*). Dialogue becomes a means of
diversifying and adding life to the exposition of a subject. This is
second-degree, or second-level, dialogue, which is not without artifice,
even when tending towards realism. Consequently, it is a figure, dia-
logism, discussed by Fontanier (p. 375), Lausberg, Joseph, and Lanham,
and defined in the OED. Ex [a narrator / implied author engages in
dialogue with his invented characters]: What do you expect, my
friend? You're a victim of war' (M. Barres, Les Dfracines, p. 356). Ex
[Alceste invents a poet to whom he 'confides' the criticisms which he
thus makes indirectly to his rival Oronte]: 'But, one day, on seeing
some of his verse, I said to someone whose name I won't mention, that
130
Dialogue
a gentleman needs to exercise iron control over the itch driving us all
to write ... and that the desire to show off one's works exposes one to
play a very poor part ... I showed him how, in our age, that desire has
spoiled some very decent people' (Mollere, Le Misanthrope, 1.2).
The mark of the passage from one level of dialogue to another (from
an / attributable to the author to one attributable to a character, for
example) is the introduction of a declarative verb (to say, announce,
etc.), and the graphic signs are quotation marks. In familiar conver-
sation in French, the expressions kidi and kedi (i.e., c\u'il dit and qu'elle
dit, equivalents to English he sez and sez she) serve as opening quotation
marks. Ex:
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an sez, 'we serve no red-coats 'ere.'
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I...
R. Kipling, Tommy,' in Barrack-Room Ballads
Ex: 'La-d'sus, e [elle] lui dit: Vous avez eu des trues a regler ensemble,
et elle cligna de 1'oeil [winked]. L'aut', i' [il] dit qu'i' n'comprenait pas.
- Et Theo, qu'elle dit. JTconnais pas, qu'il repondit d'un air furieux' (R.
Queneau, Le Chiendent, p. 115).
A character may introduce other speakers into his speech; dialogism
enters into his remarks in the same way as one narrative* may include
another. Ex [Lenehan is speaking about Mrs Bloom]: 'At last she
spotted a weeny weeshy one miles away. And what star is that, Poldy?
says she. By God, she had Bloom cornered. That one, is it? says Chris
Callinan, sure, that's only what you might call a pinprick. By God, he
wasn't far wide of the mark' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 193).
R4: Since dialogue consists formally of the replacement of third-person
pronouns by pronouns of the first or second person, it is hardly sur-
prising that the dialogic capacity may be extended, along with per-
sonification* (see personification, Rl) of an artificial kind, to things or
ideas (see prosopopoeia*; and cheretema in R8 below).
R5: The double actualization characteristic of dialogism occurs also
without dialogue (without responses from the character addressed) and
even in monologues* (speeches without addressees). Ex: The former
addressed himself to the latter in these terms: I say, you, anyone might
think you were treading on my toes on purpose' (R. Queneau, Exercises
in Style, p. 87). Even dialogism tends toward mimesis, the principal
device - along with simile* - of what is called Homeric style.
R6: The two speakers in a dialogue may be two aspects of the Self: this
is interior dialogue, which used to be called sermocinatio (Lanham;
Lausberg; Scaliger, 3:48), a form frequent in meditations on decisions
131
Dialogue
which depend on the morality of actions. Ex: W.B. Yeats's 'Dialogue of

Self and Soul.' Ex:
THOMAS: Peace, and be at peace with your thoughts and visions.
These things had to come to you and you accept them.
This is your share of the eternal burden,
The perpetual glory.
T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral, part 2
R7: Another kind of dialogue which remains pure form, the dialogue de
sourds or 'dialogue of the deaf/ involves the criss-crossing of two mono-
logues*, with both speakers pursuing their own trains of thought. Ex:
PENELOPE: (OV distant) Dahling!
(Bone takes no notice.)
Dahling ...
(He has heard but won't respond.)
Help! Fire! Murder!
BONE: (Murmurs) Wolf ...
PENELOPE: Wolves! Look out! Rape! Rape! Rape!
BONE: Not the most logical of misfortunes.
Tom Stoppard, Another Moon Called Earth, scene 1,
in The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays
R8: Fabri (2:166) calls oratorical dialogue which presents a subject in
question/answer form cheretema to be distinguished from subjectio,
whose addressee is not a fiction. After counsels' speeches, the Greeks
had a question and counter-question period called an altercation, from
which tragic authors drew the inspiration for their writings, particu-
larly for their amoebean verses, spoken alternately by two speakers
(Benac, Cuddon, Preminger, Robert). The second speaker was expected
to 'cap' the remarks made by the first. Ex:
PYLADE: You were deceiving me, my lord.
ORESTE: I was deceiving myself.
J. Racine, Andromaque, 1.1
R9: We can distinguish three types of dialogue following their different
functions: expositional dialogue intended to inform the first addressee,
that is, the public (see explanation*); tonal dialogue intended to present
character; and scenic dialogue, in which the principal characters con-
front one another. For dialogue in the form of interrogation, see ques-
tion*, R4.
RIO: Dialogue may take monological form, as in a telephone conversa-
tion in which the speech of one of the parties allows the reconstruction
of the other's. Cocteau constructed a playlet, Le Bel indifferent, in this
way; Camus wrote a narrative, La Chute, in which the main character,
132
Diaphora
Clamence, both addresses himself directly to the reader and 'quotes'

the latter's reactions; 'Fine city, no? Fascinating? That's an adjective I've
not heard in a long time ...' (p. 8).
Conversely, dialogue becomes general conversation when there are
several speakers. Brainstorming, for example, 'a technique intended to
allow a group to produce the greatest possible number of ideas in the
shortest time' (Page and Pagano, eds., Dictionnaire des media), has a
literary counterpart, given the necessity for dramatic concision.
Rll: See also enunciation*, R3; antanaclasis*; apocalypse*, Rl; apos-
trophe*; coq-a-l'One*', R4; prayer*, Rl; prolepsis*, Rl; repetition*, R2;
response*, R2; emphasis*, Rl; verbigeration*, R4; portrait*, R3; and
rhythm* of the action, Rl.
DIAPHORA Using a common term, in contrast to a proper one, a

second time, but with a different meaning. See Encyclopaedia Britannica.
See also Lanham, Lausberg, and Morier.
Exx: The heart has reasons unknown to reason' (Blaise Pascal, Pens&s,
4:277); 'My advocation is not now in tune. / My lord is not my lord'
(Shakespeare, Othello, 3.4.123-4); "We must all hang together, or most
assuredly we shall all hang separately7 (Benjamin Franklin); 'In the
view of numerous academicians, the anonymous authors of the four
Gospels ... were working from second- and third-hand materials ...
Consequently, the Gospels cannot be taken as gospel; that is, they cannot in
every instance be considered as describing actual events' (Time, 15 Aug.
1988, pp. 35-6); 'When I was in New York last month, I was in one of
those crazy cabs and the driver was a maniac. I told him, listen, I'd
rather be the late Mr. Berle than the late Mr. Berle' (Milton Berle, The
Ottawa Citizen, 14 Oct. 1989, p. Hll).
Other names: antanaclasis*; traductio ('the transference of the meaning
of one word to another' [Quintilian, 9.3.71]). Fabri derives his defini-
tion* from Quintilian's: 'repetition*, except that the word must remain
equivocal and is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses.' Ex:
'Cures are achieved by doctors, cures are [ad]ministered by priests'
(Fabri, Pleine Rhetorique, 2:161).
Rl: Like antanaclasis*, which Empson discusses in Seven Types (ch. 3),
diaphora is a kind of ambiguity* related to baroquism*. The two
meanings* of the term repeated appear different because of their
immediate context, as in the Milton Berle joke quoted above.
R2: Diaphora differs from homonymy* (see homonymy, Rl), often
becoming word-play* which may extend over several words. Ex: 'We
don't take sides, we just take pictures' (motto of Visnews, a photo-
133
Diatyposis
graphic department of Renter's, quoted in Sight and Sound, Winter

1986-7, p. 27).
R3: Stiff or formal syntagms* may become false diaphoras. Ex: 'Let
him at least try to see her. Then he will see' (J.-P. Sartre, L'Age de raison,
p. 314).
R4: Strictly speaking, diaphora may play on homonyms without
necessarily becoming word-play*. Exx: 'RICHARD: Base court, where
kings grow base ... / That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword' (Shake-
speare, Richard II, 3.3., 4.1); 'He said, "I suppose we are cousins more or
less," but in his mind I suppose that in my case the word must for him
rather have meant mosquito or gnat, and again I blushed angrily' [the
French homonym, cousin, means both 'cousin' and 'gnat'] (Cl. Simon,
La Route des Flandres, p. 8).
R5: Diaphora may also play upon antonyms. Ex: 'When I'm big [grown
up], will I still be little [small in size]?'
R6: Some examples of diaphora result not from a change in meaning*,
but in actualization. Ex: 'The king is dead. Long live the king [the new
king].' Or from a change in the type of sentence*. Ex:
DE VALVERT: Villain, cad, stupid flat-footed clod.
CYRANO: Ah? ... And I am Cyrano-Savinian-Hercule de Bergerac.
E. Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac, 1.4
R7: Most cases of tautology* (see tautology, R2) are redundant because
they contain diaphora. See also distinction*, R2.
DIATYPOSIS Hypotyposis* (vivid, energetic description*) reduced

to few words. See Lausberg, Littre, and OED.
Ex: 'A blonde who resembled Marilyn Monroe was kneading him with
suntan oil' (Truman Capote, In Cold Blood, p. 229).
Other definition: In the anglophone rhetorical tradition (see Lanham,
Peacham, etc.), diatyposis is also a figure 'whereby one recommends to
another certain profitable rules and precepts. Polonius' advice to
Laertes (Ham., 1.3, 58-80) is an outstanding example' (Joseph, p. 101).
Rl: The same (quantitative) difference separates diatyposis from
hypotyposis as distinguishes metaphor* from allegory*: fewer words,
and therefore fewer things made visual; the scene is barely evoked, and
comparisons* remain allusive.
Moreover, as is true for hypotyposis, some diatyposes are more
visual than rhetorical whereas others are more rhetorical than visual. A
current example of the latter in French: 'Avoir un oeil qui dit zut a
1'autre' (i.e., to squint).
134
Digression
R2: The following examples of diatyposis describe by using negation*:

'Last scene of all / That ends this strange eventful history, / Is second
childishness, and mere oblivion, / Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste,
sans everything' (Shakespeare, As You Like It, 2.7.163-6); 'Oh worms!
dark companions without ears or eyes' (Ch. Baudelaire, 'Le Mort
joyeux.'
DIGRESSION A part in a work which treats matters apparently

extraneous to the principal subject, but which nonetheless are essential
to the author's goal. See Cuddon, Frye, Lanham, Lausberg, Littre,
Morier, OED, Quillet, and Robert.
Ex:
What business Stevinus had in this affair - is the greatest problem of
all; - it shall be solved, - but not in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XI
Writing, when properly managed (as you may be sure I think mine
is), is but a different name for conversation ... (L. Sterne, Tristram
Shandy, vol. 2, chs. 10,11)
Synonyms: egressio (Lanham, Lausberg); episode (Girard); excursus
(Lanham). For Quillet, however, the excursus is a digression 'on a point
of archaeology or philology, concerning a text by an ancient author.'
Rl: Even a long digression may be placed in parentheses*. Ex [a
drunkard, claiming to be an explorer, has just given a bizarre account
of the customs of savages; this is how Bloom reacts to the tale]:
Though not an implicit believer in the story narrated (or the egg-
sniping transaction for that matter despite William Tell and the
Lazarillo-Don Cesar de Bazan incident depicted in Maritana on
which occasion the former's ball passed through the latter's hat)
having detected a discrepancy between his name (assuming he was
the person he represented himself to be and not sailing under false
colours after having boxed the compass on the strict q.t. somewhere)
and the fictitious addressee of the missive which made him nourish
some suspicions of our friend's bona fides, nevertheless it reminded
him in a way of a longcherished plan ... of travelling to London via
long sea. (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 512)
Obviously, the device does not particularly make for clarity. It verges
on cocj-a-l'dne* (see coq-a-l'dne, Rl) and easily becomes verbiage* (see
verbiage, R5).
R2: Morier emphasizes that digressions act as a kind of suspension*,
aimed at keeping the receiver on tenterhooks. Ex: In Rostand's Cyrano
de Eergerac (3.13), Cyrano recounts to Christian's rival, de Guiche, the
135
Discourse
story of his arrival from the moon so as to make possible Roxane's

marriage to Christian.
DISCOURSE In the broad sense, a discourse is a set of syntagms*,

oral or written, which in the view of the speaker or writer, constitutes a
coherent whole. This broad sense, frequent in linguistics, is not a new
one: the OED first records use of the expression 'parts of speech' to
designate grammatical categories in 1509; the expression merely trans-
lates the Latin partes orationis.
However, it is only by catachresis* that 'discourse' may mean
'sentence.' A discourse is an organized collection of sentences. Thus
sentences really form the parts of (a) speech, as Benveniste has shown. It
will be objected, however, that the parts of a speech are themselves
sentences organized into subsets which function as preamble, perora-
tion, etc.
In rhetoric, there is every reason to consider that there exist as many
kinds of discourse (in the broad sense) as there exist genres, that is types
of works, or of linguistic functions (see enunciation*).
In the strict sense, discourse is a form which tends to influence others
through the communication of ideas, emotions, or a desire for action; it
strives to control concrete, actual situations. This function, which may
be called injunctive (see enunciation*, R3), entails the following charac-
teristics:
- a certain length (compare discourse and maxims*)
- a requirement for sustained internal coherence (see plan*)
- convincing argumentation (see argument*, communicatio*', etc.)
- expressive figures (see repetition*, comparison*, etc.)
- clear, easily understood language
- oral delivery (speeches are normally spoken, although written out
beforehand or transcribed after the event; an unprepared speech is an
improvisation)
- numerous listeners (imaginary ones at least)
- a tendency towards elevation of tone
Since the sublime always risks appearing (and being) artificial (see
grandiloquence*), it needs to be combined with simplicity. Ex:
We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on
the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and
growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the
cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the
landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we
shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.' (W. Churchill,
speech, House of Commons, 4 June 1940)
Analogous terms: address; allocution (for a relatively short discourse).
136
Discourse
For the statement of a speaker's position: manifesto, declaration,

position-paper. For public announcements: notice, message, proclama-
tion. For an accusation*: charge, indictment, diatribe, philippic oration.
For the defence or praise of someone: plea, petition, apology, vindica-
tion, eulogy, panegyric, encomium, speech of congratulation, funeral
oration. For the encouragement of certain dispositions: harangue,
exhortation*, advice, paraenesis (moral exhortation), admonition or
reprimand, objurgation or chiding, order of the day, briefing (definition
and distribution of the tasks at hand). For religious subjects: sermon,
homily, prayer*. For didactic subjects: lesson, lecture, causerie, report.
Pejoratives: patter, puff, spiel.
Rl: Narratives* introduced into discourse represent, according to
Lanham (p. 68), examples of narratio, 'the second part of the seven-
part classical oration. It tells how the problem at hand has come up,
gives the audience, as it were, the history of the problem.' Because it
takes on the elevation of tone characteristic of the surrounding dis-
course, narrative risks the loss of precise detail. Ex:
Anne [of Austria] ... at an already advanced age, and Marie-Therese
[of Austria] in the vigour of her age ... have been unexpectedly taken
from us, the former after a long illness, the latter at one unforesee-
able stroke. Anne, warned long in advance by a disease as cruel as it
is incurable, saw death approach slowly, and in the guise which she
had always found most terrible. (Bossuet, 'Oraision funebre de M.-
Th. d'Autriche')
What Bossuet might have said in narrative, rather than discursive, form
was that Anne died of breast cancer, 'the disease so frightful even to
the imagination,' as she herself wrote to Mme de Motteville (quoted by
J. Truchet, in the Garnier edition of Bossuet's Oraisons funebres, p. 235).
Attenuated evocation replaces the proper term. (See allusion*, R4.)
Conversely, discourse may enter into narrative or dialogue* in the
form of tirades, long passages of declamation. The works of Calderon,
Shakespeare, and Corneille afford many examples; not forgetting the
"nose tirade' in act 1 of Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, or the vehement,
abusive anti-establishment harangues of Jimmy Porter in John
Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1957).
R2: One characteristic of discourse is the application of noble-sounding
forms of address to listeners at principal points of articulation. Ex: Tet
I cannot hide from you, Gentlemen and Philosophers (indeed there is
not much that one could hide from you), that this view ... Do not think,
Gentlemen, my view is very distant from that of our own Descartes' (P.
Valery, Oeuvres, 1:798, 799).
Oratorical discourse lends itself to frequent parody*. Ex:
137
Disjunction
'Gentlemen/ said the mayor, at as loud a pitch as he could possibly

force his voice to, 'Gentlemen. Brother electors of the Borough of
Eatanswill. We are met together here today for the purpose of
choosing a representative in the room of our late -' Here the mayor
was interrupted by a voice in the crowd. 'Success to the mayor/
cried the voice, 'and may he never desert the nail and sarspan
business, as he got his money by.' This allusion ... rendered the
remainder of his speech inaudible, with the exception of the con-
cluding sentence, in which he thanked the meeting for the patient
attention with which they had heard him throughout, - an ex-
pression of gratitude which elicited another burst of mirth, of
about a quarter of an hour's duration. (Ch. Dickens, The Pickwick
Papers, ch. 13)
Protocol determines the order of precedence of the listeners whom it
is desirable to thank for their presence by addressing them by name at
the beginning of a speech: 'Mister/Madame President/Prime Minister,
Mr Minister, Ladies, Gentlemen/ etc.
R3: See also aposiopesis*; apostrophe*, Rl; argument*, Rl; attenuation*,
R3; celebration*; quotation*, R3 and R5; cocj-a-1'dne; dialogue*, R3;
gradatio*, Rl; hyperbole*, R6; monologue*, R4; level* of language, R2;
plan*; question*, R6; recapitulation*, R3; narrative*, R5; and meaning*,
DISJUNCTION A syntactic construction in which elements common

to several parallel clauses are separated, 'resolved into factors/ as it
were, so as not to need repetition*.
Exx: 'Either I'm late or you're early'; 'The true relationship with God is,
in contemplation, love, in action, slavery7 (S. Weil, La Pesanteur et la
grace, p. 57).
Other definitions: See asyndeton*. Crystal (1987, p. 419) defines
semantic disjunction as 'an alternative or contrasting relationship
between elements in a sentence (Either we're early or the bus is late).' See
alternative*.
Rl: Disjunction is an elaborate form of zeugma*. See also enumeration*,
R4; and seriation*, Rl.
R2: English allows interruption* after a preposition. Ex: '[The Irish
protestant church] abjured by him in favour of a Roman Catholicism at
the epoch of and with a view to his matrimony in 1888' (Joyce, Ulysses, p.
588). The influence of English has produced the factorization in French
of an actualized lexeme after two prepositions, conjunctions, or
phrases, as the French translation shows: '[L'eglise protestante irlan-
daise] qu'il avait abandonnee plus tard en faveur du catholicisme a
138
Dissociation
I'epoque de, et pour faciliter, son mariage en 1888' (Joyce, Utysse, p. 636,
trans. Valery Larbaud).
R3: Adjunction* and disjunction, far from opposing one another (as the
prefixes ad- and dis- might lead one to expect) may sometimes appear
to have the same structure: y(xV/xV). See Lausberg (sections 739 and
743). But in the case of adjunction, the parallel member (xV) is not
required by syntax, being added to an already balanced syntactic struc-
ture. Compare the example from Weil above with the one from Que-
neau under adjunction*. See also regrouped* members, R2.
DISLOCATION A device for emphasizing any part of a sentence by

means of agents (personal or demonstrative pronouns) authorizing
either anticipation or reprise*.
Exx: 'They are so proud, Corsicans'; 'The other car, where does it come
from?'; 'And he added that besides, it deserved it, let it be closed, my
place, why? because it was immoral. They took their time realizing that
it was immoral, my place. In any case, it is closed, my place, very
closed' (R. Queneau, Pierrot mon ami, p. 116).
Other name: 'segmented sentence' (J.-C. Chevalier et al., Grammaire
Larousse du frangais contemporain, p. 100)
Other definition: Bally (Traite, p. 285) employs dislocation in a broader
sense. For him, it is a case of parataxis*, or rather of hyperparataxis, in
which not only the dependent relations between propositions remain
implicit, but the propositions themselves are split up into several word-
sentences, which remain grammatically quite separate. Ex: Tou can't
seriously be thinking of such a thing' becomes 'Such a thing. Come
now. Are you seriously thinking of it?' For a literary example from
Beckett, see monologue*.
Rl: Dislocation separates elements (most often using pronouns) whereas
adjunction* joins other elliptical elements onto autonomous segments.
R2: Dislocation apparently serves to implement the desire to isolate the
predicate from the subject by the use of some syntactic device. Ex: 'She
took it from her, that is, Jane took the ribbon from Anne.' See also
emphasis*, Rl; theme*, R3; and isolexism*, R4.
DISSOCIATION The systematic rupture of articulation ... at

sentence-level, through semantic dissociation of its subject and predi-
cate, by choosing them among different series of terms having incom-
patible classemes' (P. Zumthor, Essaf de po&ique medievale, p. 141).
The definition must be extended to cover any syntactic combination
which, although 'conforming to the code/ imposes association on terms
semantically unassociable (see Angenot, pp. 127,176). Exx (cited by
139
Dissociation
Angenot, pp. 185-206): 'soluble fish'; 'a morganatic avalanche' (non-

pertinent adjective); 'the revolver with white hair' (Breton, collage*);
'My sister / divine like me / who am her brother from time to time' (B.
Peret, non-pertinence of the adverb); 'A bell-clapper umbrella' (Tzara,
noun phrase, collage*).
Synonyms: discordance (Angenot); contrast (Porter, La Fatmsie et le
fatras); discontinuity (Richard, Onze Etudes sur la pogsie moderne)
Other definition: distinction*
Rl: Dissociation is apparently a fairly new concept whose predecessors
include fatrasie or nonsense verse, coq-a-l'Ane*, etc. (See verbigeration*,
Rl.) However, in the older forms, the semantic rupture did not occur
systematically at the level of the elements of meaning* possessed by the
words of the language. Thus, Voltaire's nonsense verses, for example,
merely confuse place names and multiply anachronisms* and bizarre
combinations of sounds. Ex:
In Japan
Artemis's petticoat
Serves the Persian Ruler
When to Rome he goes without
A shirt.
Compare:
He has many friends, laymen and clerical;
Old Foss is the name of his cat;
His body is perfectly spherical,
He weareth a runcible hat.
Edward Lear, 'Self Portrait'
The novelty of the concept explains the multiplicity of terms pro-
posed. We have kept 'dissociation' rather than 'discordance' because
the former exhibits more clearly the fundamental separation occurring
concomitantly with syntactic association.
R2: Dissociation needs to be distinguished from oxymoron* (see oxy-
moron, Rl), and from dissonance*, both of which involve ruptures in
tone (or in stylistic level).
R3: The terms of some dissociations are objects and so the latter form
collages*. Other dissociations result from combinations of phrases and
as such constitute examples of telescoping*.
R4: In order to be able to understand, or translate, Breton and certain
other writers, it is important to know that their 'images*' must not,
except in exceptional cases, be decoded as metaphors*, but as dissocia-
tions; that is, as expressions which possess dual isotopies*, with each
140
Dissociation
incompatible term of a comparison* being taken literally. See image*,

Rl.
R5: Dissociation is not as gratuitous as one might think from reading
certain theoretical texts. There are two isotopies*, as distant from one
another as possible, but they have their psychological foundation in the
creative subject. Michaux recounts the following exemplary experience.
Having written, when under the influence of hashish, 'Paolo! Paolo! /
crie d'une voix bordee de rouge' (Connaissances par les gouffres, p. 94),
he comments later:
'A Voice edged in red.' A purely literary expression? No, not at all, but
a precise phenomenon, well known to the hashish smoker, which
says exactly what it should and which - I'm thinking about it now -
would justify perfectly a certain literary device, which is not so
artificial as all that.
When two sensations, two such hyper-sensations appear, equally
strong, extravagant and importunate, having ipso facto put to shade
concomitant sensations, one wants to express them in conjunction, as
they appear, violently and precipitately, ex aequo. (Ibid., pp. 127-8)
R6: If one of the terms is taken to be figurative, the dissociation
between the two terms taken literally is abolished by the underlying
isotopy*, which becomes the only one in question. The only remaining
rupture is at the figural level, and we speak in that case of false dis-
sociation. (See incoherence*; for an example, see collage*, R2.)
R7: Dissociations exist in everyday language due to negligence. Ex:
'Children, from 14 to 65, can work.' See cacology*.
R8: Instead of dissociating lexemes from one another, an author may
break the link which the audience establishes spontaneously between a
discourse* and a supposed reality, so that the discourse's meaning*
loses referential specificity. Ex:
MRS. SMITH: And Bobby Watson's aunt, old Bobby Watson might very
well, in her turn, pay for the education of Bobby Watson, Bobby
Watson's daughter. That way, Bobby, Bobby Watson's mother could
remarry. Has she anyone in mind?
MR. SMITH: Yes, a cousin of Bobby Watson's.
MRS. SMITH: Who, Bobby Watson?
MR. SMITH: Which Bobby Watson do you mean?
E. lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in Four Plays, p. 13
R9: Dissociation represents a higher degree of dissolution than adyna-
ton*, equivoque*, syllepsis*, amphibol(og)y*, approximation*, etc. It not
only strains meaning* but does violence to the global isotopy*, which
as a result shifts towards nonsense*.
141
Dissonance
DISSONANCE The mixing of several tones. See Littre (sense 2) and

Lausberg. Voltaire speaks of the mixture of styles. Preminger offers a
restricted definition: 'poetic elements other than sound that are discor-
dant with their immediate context.'
Ex: Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie. / Watch the wall, my
darling, while the Gentlemen go by' (R. Kipling, 'A Smuggler's Song').
The first member, with its agrammatism, belongs to spoken language;
the second, with its ironic use of lexical archaism*, is in the 'noble'
style sometimes used in conversation intended to hide realities from
children. For forty pages in Ulysses (pp. 240-83), Joyce alternated
paragraphs in sustained style with those in slang*. Ex:
In Inisfail the fair there lies a land, the land of holy Michan. There
rises a watchtower beheld of men afar ...
I dare him, says he, and I doubledare him. Come out here Geraghty,
you notorious bloody hill and dale robber!
And by that way wend the herds innumerable of bellwethers and
flushed ewes and shearing rams and lambs ...
So we turned into Barney Kiernan's and there, sure enough, was
the citizen up in the corner having a great confab with himself and
that bloody mangy mongrel, Garryowen, and he waiting for what
the sky would drop in the way of drink ... (Joyce, Ulysses, pp. 241-2)
Other definitions: 'the meeting of discordant sounds' (Littre, sense 1;
see cacophony*); 'a break in metre which parallels a sudden change of
mood' (Morier)
Rl: The use of noble speech for trivial subjects is a form of dissonance.
Ex: 'Sir, what do you wish? Get lost, you weary me' (A. Jarry, Ubu roi,
p. 43). In L'Ironie, Jankelevich shows that this kind of dissonance,
which society finds objectionable, may result from sincerity.
DISTANCING A term proposed by Spitzer (Etudes de style, p. 209 et

seq.) to designate an actualization which introduces 'a certain remote-
ness.'
First-person pronouns or possessive adjectives are replaced by
proper names, common nouns, third-person pronouns, or articles. Exx:
'CAESAR: Caesar shall forth. The things that threatened me / Ne'er
looked but on my back. When they shall see / The face of Caesar, they
are vanished' (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 2.2.10-12); 'JOAS: Joas will
never cease loving you' (Racine, Athalie, 4.4).
Demonstratives or neuter pronouns like 'one' may replace names
and third-person pronouns. Ex [Brutus]: 'Friends, I owe more tears /
To this dead man than you will see me pay' (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar,
5.3. 98-9). Ex [Lily Briscoe's interior monologue]: '... But one got
142
Distinction
nothing by soliciting urgently. One got only a glare in the eye ... For
there were moments when one can neither think nor feel. And if one
can neither think nor feel, she thought, where is one?' (V. Woolf, To the
Lighthouse, p. 224).
Rl: In these two categories of examples, the distancing effect is ob-
tained by generalization*. Replacement of the singular by the plural,
also pointed out by Spitzer, is more ambiguous. The so-called 'royal'
plural (Queen Victoria: We are not amused' [Notebooks of a Spinster
Lady, 2 Jan. 1900]) intensifies the effect made by the speaker rather than
distancing her. Spitzer also draws attention to the use of abstract
expressions in this regard. Ex [Brutus to the conspirators]: 'O Con-
spiracy / Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night, / When
evils are most free?' (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 2.1. 77-9). Finally,
Spitzer mentions 'royal countries' in which monarchs receive the name
of their fiefdom:
KING HENRY: Peace ... unto our brother France ...
FRENCH KING: Most worthy brother England ...
Shakespeare, Henry, v, 5.2
These are metonymies* used instead of 'you' or 'I.'
DISTINCTION The splitting into two opposite terms of a notion

generally held to be homogeneous. See Angenot and Perelman.
Exx: '[A cynic is] a man who knows the price of everything and the
value of nothing' (O. Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, act 3); The pro-
foundest egoism is not egoism' (M. Pages, La Vie affective des groupes,
p. 336).
Synonyms: distinguo, paradiastole (Quillet, Lanham); dissociation*
(Lalande; see also Perelman, pp. 550-5)
Rl: Distinctions differ from dissimilitudes, in which the notions
opposed to one another belong respectively to two things compared. In
distinctions, the speaker simply discards one of the notions. Ex: Tn an
S bus (not to be confused with a trespass), I saw (not an eyesore) a
chap (not a Bath one) wearing a dark soft hat (and not a hot daft sack)
...' (R. Queneau, Exercises in Style, p. 51).
R2: The most elementary kind of distinction is the co-ordination which
results from a repeated lexeme, an implicit form of diaphora*. Ex:
There are lies and lies, statistics and statistics.' A facile form of distinc-
tion is self-correction* (see self-correction, R4).
R3: A speaker employing oratorical or false distinction claims to be
opposing two notions whereas, in fact, two principles, two attitudes
not on the same plane, are being opposed in a kind of antithesis*. Ex: 1
143
Double Reading
am not defending Germany. I am defending truth' (M. Bardeche, Le

Proces de Nuremberg, p. 9).
R4: Isolexism* reinforces the device. Ex: 'Some day I shall tell the story
of my descent into hell; and you'll see that it was not totally irrational,
although it always did lack reason' (G. de Nerval, Les Filles du feu). So
does paronomasia*. Ex:
FAUST: Understand what I say to you, don't bother trying to under-
stand what I dictate to you.
LUST: I don't have my answer. Master ... I only have remarks.

P. Valery, Oeuvres, 2:280, 289
DOUBLE READING A (typo)graphical device permitting the reader

to choose among several simultaneous readings, most frequently by
means of parentheses excluding (even very short) segments; such
exclusions produce quite different meanings.
Exx: '(typo)graphical'; '(s)he'; Taludes e(s)t [i.e., is or and] son double'
(the title of an article by D. Viart in Communications, no. 19).
The oblique* stroke is also used. Ex: 'Sexual imagery is both covered
and uncovered by writing which restores to it the sexual/textual
secrecy of its lived totality' (R. Jean, 'Les Signes de 1'Eros,' quoted by
Cl. Simon in Entretiens, no. 31 [1972]). The device is also used in the
case of words spelled in two different ways. Exx: amphibol(og)y*,
enjamb(e)ment*.
DUBITATIO True or feigned deliberatio* about an issue. The speaker

hesitates, appearing not to know which word or line of argument to
take, or which meaning to attach to an action. See Littre, Lausberg,
Morier, and Quillet.
Ex [Cicero]: 'whether he took them from his fellows more impudently,
gave them to a harlot more lasciviously, removed them from the
Roman people more wickedly, or altered them more presumptuously, I
cannot well declare' (quoted by Lanham [1968, p. 15], under aporia).
Ex: 'GUILDENSTERN: If it is, and the sun is over there (his right as he faces
the audience) for instance, that (front) would be northerly. On the other
hand, if it is not morning and the sun is over there (his left) ... that ...
(lamely) would still be northerly' (Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead, act 2).
Analogous definition: Fontanier (pp. 444-7) restricts the meaning to
the impassioned hesitation 'of a soul which ... now desires one thing,
now another, or better, neither knows what it does or does not want.'
144
Dubitatio
Exx: Hamlet's anguished debates concerning the action he should (or

should not) take with regard to Claudius; Hermione's anguish after
sending Orestes to kill Pyrrhus, while time yet remains to save him
(Racine, Andromaque, beginning of act 5). Unlike Hamlet, Hermione is
closer to frenzy than indecisiveness.
Another definition: 'Simulated suspicion, resulting from anger, also
simulated, with a view to prevent objection' (J. Suberville, pp. 202-3).
Ex: In Racine's Iphigenie (4.6), Achilles knows that Agamemnon is going
to sacrifice his daughter. He interrogates the former, pretending not to
believe such a crime possible. This definition would make the device a
kind of simulation*.
Analogous terms: aporia, hesitation, doubt, indecision, irresolution
Rl: Limited doubt is a kind of anacoenosis or communicatio*. As Chaig-
net emphasizes (p. 506); It [the device] confers on the orator the
presumption of sincerity and good faith; he throws himself on the
conscience, the intelligence, the judgment... of his audience.' Thus, in a
novel, the author/narrator appears to withdraw behind the facts when
he hesitates to explain them precisely. Exx: 'For Sarah has remained in
the studio, staring down at the garden below, at a child and a young
woman, the child's mother perhaps ... There are tears in her eyes? She
is too far away for me to tell' (John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's
'Woman, p. 398); 'She stared straight in front of her, towards the bare
wall on which a blackish stain marks the place where the centipede
was crushed last week, at the beginning of the month, the previous
month, perhaps, or later' (A. Robbe-Grillet, La Jalousie, p. 27). Dubitatio
serves also to forestall objections (see question*, R3).
R2: Dubitatio is not always an oratorical device (see assertion*, Rl). The
speaker's intonation* always conveys a high or low degree of
assurance. Doubt is quite natural in interior monologue*. Ex: 'Although
this - must I say experience? may be recaptured by many people ...' (H.
Michaux, Mouvements, postface). Dubitatio divides or doubles back on
itself as a thought develops. Ex: Tet he looked so desolate; yet she
would feel relieved when he went; yet she would see that he was
better treated tomorrow; yet he was admirable with her husband; yet
his manners certainly wanted improving ...' (V. Woo If, To the Light-
house, p. 135).
R3: If pushed too far, doubt acquires a surrealistic or ridiculous charac-
ter. Ex [a highwayman holds his victims at pistol-point]: '... it certainly
wouldn't be worth your while trying to escape because I'm a very
good shot. I practise every day, well, not absolutely every day, but
most days in the week ... I expect I must practise four or five times a
week at least ... at least four or five, only some weekends ... like last
145
Echo (Rhythmic)
weekend, there really wasn't much time, so that moved the average
down a bit ... but I should say it's definitely a solid four days' practice
every week ... at least. I mean ...' (Chapman et al., Monty Python's
Flying Circus: Just the Words, 2:195).
R4: The interrogatory form is not the only marker of dubitatio. Gram-
matical markers include the conditional and the conjunction 'or';
syntagmatic forms: 'might it be possible that/ 'I wonder/ etc. For other
forms, see preterition*, R4, and variation*, R2.
R5: Dubitatio may relate to the choice of addressee (see apostrophe*,
R3). It may also reduce a subject to nothing (see negation*, R3).
E
ECHO (RHYTHMIC) The rhythm* of a succession of syllables or
words repeats in the following group or groups. The recurrence of
groups of identical length and/or stress.
Ex: 'Listen. Rattarattarattaratta. And then - shhh - over there. Fatta-
fattafattafatta. And again. Rattarattarattaratta - fattafattafattafatta' (Julian
Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot, p. 82). The group is: 4/4/4/4. The echo is
simply due to the return of the phonetic groups. See also triplication*,
Rl.
Synonyms: rhythmic parallelism; 'equality' (Fabri); cadence* (see
cadence, Rl)
Rl: This kind of echo occurs in regular alexandrines, if they are rhyth-
mic. Rhythmic echo explains the relative frequency of alexandrines in
French prose or free verse.
R2: When it affects phrases or whole sentences, rhythmic echo may
create parallelisms*. Ex: 'She is drowning. Agenbite. Save her. Agen-
bite. All against us. She will drown me with her, eyes and hair. Lank
coils of seaweed hair around me, my heart, my soul. Salt green death.
We. Agenbite of inwit. Inwit's agenbite. Misery. Misery' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 200).
ECHO EFFECT The return of identical phonemes associates two or

several syntagms*, hemistiches, or poetic lines*.
Ex: 'And on a sudden, lo! the level lake / And the long glories of the
winter moon' (Tennyson, The Passing of Arthur/ in Idylls of the King).
The echo may derive principally from the consonants, as in the ex-
ample from Tennyson, or from the vowels. Ex:
146
Echo Effect
O let me try a triolet.

O let me try. O let me try
A triolet to win my pet.
O let me try a triolet
W.R. Espy, The Game of Words, p. 94
The probability of the purely fortuitous repetition* of phonemes
increases with the length of the verse. The echo effect only obtains if
the system of repetitions possesses a certain structure, which need not
take into account every example. A reader retains those which, by
their position and grouping, associate certain segments. Thus Mallarme
associates the following two hemistiches through their vowels, and
the two-word groups by their consonants: 'Abolz bibelot \\ d'inanz'te
sonore' and '\ Aboli bibelot \ d' \ inanite sowore V
Rl: Echo effects differ from harmony* (see harmony, Rl) and from
imitative harmony*. The latter recalls some natural sound, as does
onomatopoeia*. On the other hand, critics have long classed echo
effects under alliteration*, a less polished device in which one or two
sounds stand out by their frequency.
If the phonemes return together in the same order, the echo effect is
similar to paronomasia*, or it combines to form leonine, or disyllabic,
rhyme*, in which the word before the caesura* rhymes with the last
word of the line of verse. Exx: 'the splendour falls on castle walls';
'And the stately Spanish men to their flagship bore him then, / Where
they laid him by the mast, old sir Richard caught at last' (Tennyson,
The Splendour Falls' and The Revenge').
R2: Although nothing, in theory, prevents the combination of the echo
effect with end rhyme* (see rhyme, R4), the former seems destined to
replace the latter in free verse. Japanese poetry prefers it, excluding
rhyme, whose music is considered too martial. (See Preminger under
'Japanese poetry.')
R3: Echo effects may extend from line to line until they fill a whole
poem. Morier has shown that, very often, they may help the essential
metaphors* or theme* to reverberate thanks to a kind of sonorous
allusion* (see Morier, under theme 2, and harmoniques). In 'Dans la nuit/
H. Michaux offers a striking example. The vowels [a], nasal [a], and
[wi] constantly repeat:
Nuit de naissance
Qui m'emplis de mon cri ...
Toi qui m'envahis
The complete poem contains eight repetitions of [a], thirty of the nasal
[a], and thirty-two of [z], of which fifteen are preceded by the labio-
palatal semi-vowel [w\. So, out of a total of 117 vowels in the poem, 70
repeat those in the title.
147
Echolalia
ECHOLALIA 1. 'Habitual or pathological repetition* of others' words

or remarks' (Grambs).
2. The repetition of the final syllable of a word to achieve an echo* effect.
Ex (of def. 2):
Gold on her head, and gold on her feet,
And gold where the hems of her kirtle meet,
And a golden girdle round my sweet; -
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.
Of Margaret sitting glorious there,

In glory of gold and glory of hair
And glory of glorious face most fair; -
Ah! qu'elle est belle La Marguerite.
William Morris, The Eve of Crecy'
Ex: These examples may seem sillilty {bebetes}' (Group MU, A General
Rhetoric, trans. Burrell and Slotkin, p. 53).
Synonyms: rime couronnee ('crowned rhyme') or rhetorique a double queue
('two-tailed rhetoric'). See Morier, under queue.
Other definition: a kind of palilalia or palimphrasia (see repetition*)
consisting in the repetition of a speaker's final word or sentence (see
Crystal, 1987, p. 271). Ordinary language calls the device 'parroting.'
Rl: Echolalia is a kind of paragoge*.
R2: Palilalia is a feature of interior monologue, serving perhaps to hide
short memory blanks. Ex: 'taken from us so young so brutally and now
- taken taken - these two children that you're going to have to because
certainly as long as he remains unmarried - unmarried unmarried - it
will at least be a consolation - consolation consolation - now all your
grandchildren here nearby ...' (Cl. Simon, Histoire, p. 27). The device
might be recommended to an orator momentarily at a loss for words, but
it would make such a lapse of memory too obvious. The orator might be
better to employ such expletive bromides as 'in the final analysis' or 'at
this moment in time.'
ELISION Dropping a vowel to avoid hiatus*; an apostrophe* (')

generally marks such omissions.
In English, the rules of apostrophe often create problems because of
confusion with the possessive. Fowler lists seven 'possessive puzzles/
six of which involve the apostrophe:
1. Septimus's [now standard] versus Achilles' [archaic, still used in
verse]
148
Ellipsis
2. "Mr Smith (nor Lord LondorO's intervention ...' ['the reasonable

solution but has no chance against the British horror of fussy correct-
ness'; avoid using the apostrophe in such cases]
3. Somebody / everybody else's [preferable to the 'pedantic though
correct' even/body's else]
4. 'In "The Times" 's opinion [to be avoided in favour of 'In the
opinion of "The Times" ']
5.'Five years' holiday' ['perhaps better' than 'five years holiday'; i.e.,
possessive v. adjectival noun]
6. The non-possessive 's ['may occasionally be used before a plural s
as a device for avoiding confusion ... We may reasonably write dot
your i's and cross your t's, but there is no need for an apostrophe in
but me no buts or one million whys, or for the one we sometimes see in
such plurals as M.P.s, A.D.Cs, N.C.O.S, the 1920s, etc.'] (Dictionary of
Modern English Usage, pp. 466-7)
In French, elision is regular in certain cases (mainly mute final e
followed by a word beginning with a vowel), but it is only marked by
an apostrophe* in the few cases determined by graphic usage. Only the
following are elided in French: de, ne, le and la (articles or unstressed
pronouns), je, me, te, se, que, and jusque ('as far as, up to') before a
vowel and h, except before aspirate h (as in huit, onze, oui, un [digit or
number]), letters of the alphabet, quoted words, and certain words
beginning with y. Add to these ce before en or an auxiliary verb; lorsque
('when'), puisque ('since'), and quoique ('although') before il, die, on, un,
une, and ainsi ('thus'); quelqu'un ('someone') and presqu'ile ('peninsula');
and some compounds of entre and si before il(s). Ex: J'm'en fous. J'les
ai voles' (H. de Montherlant, Romans, p. 832). To these literary ex-
amples, whose function is to suggest spoken usage, compare similar
usages in anglophone literary texts: 'D'you know what I'm goin' to tell
yuh?' (R. Davies, What's Bred in the Bone, p. 112). See also apocope*, R4.
Rl: Elision is a metaplasm*. When a letter is omitted before a word
beginning with a consonant, the result is apocope*. See crasis*, R2.
R2: See caesura*, R5, for the specific problems of elision relating to
caesura in French.
R3: Counter-elision in English speech consists in adding an unnecessary
h: 'I 'ope has 'ow you hare well'; in French speech it consists in
emphasizing e: tlnew lettrew.'
ELLIPSIS The suppression of words necessary to the full form of a

construction, but which those expressed cause to be understood,
without obscurity or uncertainty. (See Fontanier, p. 305.) 'Omission of a
149
Ellipsis
word easily understood' (Lanham). See Corbett, Marouzeau, Morier,

Preminger, Quillet, and Robert. The more general definition given by
Littre and Cuddon, 'the omission of a word or words from a sentence/
covers zeugma*, parataxis*, and brachylogia*.
Ex: 'Knew her eyes at once from the father' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 124). A
reader supplies without difficulty T and 'she has,' actualizers whose
function is to express the relationship between the lexeme and its
environment. (In spoken language, when the environment is obvious,
ellipses are common.) A reader may also supply the causal link
Cbecause') between the two (completed) clauses, which shows that
suppression of actualizers occurs after that of taxemes. (See para-
taxis*.)
Other definitions: 1. An elliptical narrative* strictly observes unity of
action while avoiding any unnecessary episode and collecting the
essentials into a few scenes.
2. C. Bureau (Linguistique fonctionnelle et stylistique objective) makes a
distinction between ellipsis and non-repetition. In 'He recognizes us,
comes to meet us, asks us ...,' He, according to Bureau, actualizes the
three verbal syntagms*. We propose to make a similar distinction
between 'performative' ellipsis, which is made possible by the context
and avoids a repetition (e.g., 'Paul is four years old and Peter ten'); and
ellipsis deriving from 'competence,' which is a feature of the language
itself. Exx: a 'documentary' (film); 'un steak aux pommes' ('de terre' is
understood).
Rl: Ellipsis characterizes telegraphic style. Ex: 'Mother deceased. Burial
tomorrow. Sincerely yours' (A. Camus, L'Etranger, p. 9). Or hastily
written notes (i.e., 'notebook style'). Ex: 'Wait three days for next truck,
ask advice of driver, certainly mechanic' (J. Hebert, Blablabla du bout du
monde, p. 61). It may also signal a text dictated into a tape recorder,
rather than written down. Ex: 'Once you have played it [Hamlet], it will
devour you and obsess you for the rest of your life. It has me' (L.
Olivier, On Acting, p. 77). Combined with abridgement*, ellipsis
appears for practical reasons in short advertisements (want ads, etc.).
Ex: 'Resp. girl (R.C.) wishes to hear of post in fruit or pork shop' (Joyce,
Ulysses, p. 131).
R2: Brusque, authoritarian, or domineering style also cultivates the
brevity offered by parataxis* and ellipsis. Ex: 'Thank you for your
frankness. Carry on' (G. Bernanos, Oeuvres romanesques, p. 771).
R3: The most elliptical texts arise out of a kind of aphasia called
agrammatism. Sentences are reduced to lexemes but retain their mean-
ing thanks to intonation*. Ex: 'ambulance ... Gentlemen ... good! operate
... but where? full ... full ... full' (ibid.). Faulty knowledge of a lan-
150
Ellipsis
guage's grammatical tool-words also produces discourse* in which

lexemes predominate and which might be called 'morphological
erasure/ Ex: 'Bald deaf Pat brought quite flat pad ink. Pat set with ink
pen quite flat pad. Pat took plate dish knife fork. Pat went' (Joyce,
Ulysses, p. 229). Baby-talk also works in this way (see Crystal, 1987, pp.
235, 244; H. Hermann, Introduction & la psycholinguisticjue, p. 256).
Writers derive certain effects from it. Ex:
Baobabs many baobabs
baobabs near, far, round about
Baobabs, Baobabs.
H. Michaux, Telegramme de Dakar/ in Plume, p. 94
Written Chinese, which does without actualizers, possesses thou-
sands of signs (one per concept), which restricted its use to the learned.
In the same way, modern mathematics possesses its jargon* of nominal
lexemes corresponding to symbols*: 'A union B. A inter B.' This too is
a form of morphological erasure.
R4: Ellipsis often occurs in interior monologue*. Ex: 'Come. I thirst.
Clouding over. No black clouds anywhere, are there? Thunderstorm.
Allbright he falls, proud lightning of the intellect, Lucifer, dico, qui
nescit occasum. No. My cockle hat and staff and his my sandal shoon.
Where? To evening lands. Evening will find itself (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 42).
R5: Fontanier (pp. 342-4) names abruption the ellipsis of the declarative
verb in the passage from narrative* to discourse*, that is, from indirect
to direct speech. He quotes Voltaire's Henriade: 'a woman distraught
and dripping with blood: "Yes, it is my own son,"' adding: '[If you]
write: "[a woman] who tells them furiously" ... you will no longer have
the original's magical effect.'
The phenomenon produces focalization (see narrative*, R3). The
suppressed segment would have introduced the narrator's perspective.
On the other hand, direct discourse* gives the reader a kind of exter-
nalized or internalized contact with the character.
R6: For ellipsis of subject or predicate, see assertion* and notation*, R6.
For ellipsis of the copula, see colon*, and apposition*, R2. Note also
that numerous cases of metonymy* (see metonymy, R2) disappear if
one develops the implications in the lexemes involved. We can there-
fore say that the semantic device of metonymy is frequently created by
the grammatical device of ellipsis. The same holds for enallage* (see
enallage, other def.). For diegetic ellipsis, see rhythm* of the action, Rl.
R7: Ellipsis is a device of denomination* when it reduces a definition to
its first term. Ex: 'Conjunction' for 'conjunction of contradictory words'
(see oxymoron*). See also permutation*, Rl. Ellipsis is one possible
151
Embedding
form of euphemism* (see euphemism, R2) and of emphasis* (see

emphasis, Rl). See also phoebus*, R4.
EMBEDDING The insertion of one sentence or syntagm* into an-

other.
Exx: 'touching their still ears with words, still hearts of their each his
remembered lives' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 225); ' "I walk," she said, "did I
forget to tell you? a long way each day" ' (Marguerite Duras, Le Ravis-
sement de Lol V. Stein, p. 150).
Other definition: second-degree narrative* (Ducrot and Todorov,
Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Sciences of Language, p. 298). See mirror*,
R5, and staircase*.
EMPHASIS The use of various means to call attention to certain

parts of a text.
Ex: 'It was the 1950s, for God's sake. Jane Russell. Cashmere sweaters.
Couldn't my mother see that? "I am too old to wear an undershirt ... I
want to buy a bra." "What for?"' (Nora Ephron, in Richler, ed., The
Best of Modern Humor, p. 468; the italics appear in the original).
Synonymous: underlining, italic type, small capitals, boldface
Rl: Forms of emphasis: In texts, the use of bold type corresponds to a
raised voice in speech. (In a manuscript or typescript, underlining used
to serve, but most word processors have a bolding capacity.) Italics
often replace bold type (see situational* signs). To avoid confusion,
single underlining marks a particular tone to be printed in italics;
double underlining indicates small capitals; triple underlining signals
capitals; a wavy line marks intensity, and a passage so underlined is to
be printed in bold type. Various additional ways of indicating em-
phasis:
- syllabification or pronunciation of a word as a succession of separate
syllables. Ex: 'men-da-ci-ty' (Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,
act 1).
- phonetic pause. Ex: 'A // frightful noise.' See situational* signs.
- repetition*. Ex: "He said nothing. Nothing.' (See reduplication*.) In
this case, the repeated word forms a complete assertion*, hence its
power. Isolated as it is, its meaning is nonetheless clear because of the
sentence which precedes it. Only the part containing the assertion is
repeated.
- repetition* strengthened by some other means. Ex: 1 wanted to tell
him that I was like everyone else, absolutely like everyone else' (A.
Camus, L'Etranger, p. 95).
- repetition* in dialogue* form. Ex:
152
Emphasis
JOHN: In April!
MARC: April!
Georges F. Kaufman, in Richler, ed., The Best of Modern Humor, p. 83
- abnormal word order; that is, drawing attention to the beginning of a
segment by dislocation*. Ex (ethnic humour indicated by inversion):
The food! In my mouth to ashes the food is turning!' (Joseph Heller, in
Richler, ed., The Best of Modern Humor, p. 241).
- situational* signs used for emphasis. Ex (dashes): 'If I owned all those
telephones, oh boy - no business would run without me' (J. Heller,
ibid., p. 241).
- segmentation of the sentence (hyperparataxis). Ex: 'Politics, I, you
know ...'
- the use of 'it is ... he/she/it ... who/that...' to present the subject of
the sentence. Ex: 'It is for him to show the way/
- ellipsis* (see aposiopesis*). Exx: 'He has such charm ...'; That's so
funny [that ...?]/
- the seemingly pointless use of expletives (see Crystal, 1987, p. 61; for
expletion, see Fontanier, p. 303). Ex: 'Free, my foot,../ Analogous: the
ethic dative, the dative of person indirectly interested: 'Answer me the
telephone.'
- certain graphisms* (see gemination*)
- amplification*. Ex: 'No question of anything but the fullest support'
(J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes Minister,' p. 123).
- the use of abstractions*. Compare the following: 'anything that his
peculiar mind had invented'; 'anything that a mind of that peculiarity
might have invented.'
R2: The normal function of capitals is not emphasis: 'Capitals must...
be used for the initial letters of sentences and for the names of places,
persons, months, days, and nationalities' (M[odern] H[umanities]
R[esearch] Association] Style Book, p. 16). However, capitals, both small
and large, may take on the function of bold type. Ex: 'Whether he
wrote DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER or whether he refrained from writing it,
made no difference' (George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, p. 19).
R3: The addition of devices for purposes of emphasis may be fore-
grounded: 'And it is only because I have in mind all those thousands
of persons, not unlike myself, who ... are not always sure whether a
sentence is Literature or whether it is just sheer flapdoodle, that I have
adopted the method perfected by the late Herr Baedeker, and firmly
marked what I consider the finer passages with one, two or three stars'
(Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm, introduction).
R4: Various devices may create emphasis. See cliche*, Rl; simile*, R3;
counter-litotes*, R3; diaeresis*, R2; riddle*, R3; enumeration*, R5;
epanadiplosis*, Rl; lengthening*, R2; etymology*, other def.; euphem-
153
Enallage
ism*, R5; generalization*, R2; interjection*, R5; isolexism*, R3 and R4;

metanalysis*, Rl; pleonasm*, Rl; rewriting*, Rl; truism*, R2; litotes*,
R3; anticlimax*, R3; exclamation*; distancing*, Rl; and hyperbaton*. For
emphasis in quotations, see quotation*, R7.
ENALLAGE Substitution of one tense, number, or person for another

tense, number, or person. See Fontanier, p. 293. Lanham (p. 40) adds
case, gender, mood, and part of speech as possible substitutions. See
also Academie franchise, Dictionnaire (8th ed. 1932); Dictionnaire de
Trevoux (1704); Joseph; Morier (sense 1); Lausberg (sect. 515); Peacham;
and Quinn.
Ex: 'One move and you're dead.' Here are three further examples
illustrating respectively substitution of the tense of the verb, of person,
and of singular for plural: 'I was dying this morning worthy to be
mourned; / I took your advice: I die dishonored' (J. Racine, Phedre,
3.3); 'We would like to give you our version of ...' (popular singer
introducing a solo effort); 'Whiles I threat, he lives; / Words to the heat
of deeds too cold breath gives' (Shakespeare, Macbeth, 2.1.60-1). As may
be seen, enallage is related to solecism*, which Joseph (p. 300) calls the
'ignorant misuse of cases, genders, tenses.'
Other definitions: 1. Littre, citing as his example La Fontaine - 'So
said the fox and the flatterers to applaud' - sees the infinitive, not as the
form exchanged ('and the flatterers applauded'}, but as the complement
of a finite verb which is understood (i.e., 'and the flatterers began to
applaud'). Consequently, influenced apparently by a note in the Dic-
tionnaire de Trevoux, he defines enallage as a form of ellipsis*.
2. Marouzeau, Quillet, and Robert include under enallage the substitu-
tion of constructions which more accurately form examples of hypal-
lage*.
3. Morier (sense 2), inspired by Virgil's line Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte
(They moved along in the gloom of the solitary night' [Aeneid, 6:268]),
speaks of substitutions of adjectives. It is true that Lausberg has shown
(sect. 685, 2) that in Latin, hypallage* of adjectives might be considered
equivalent to enallage of adjectives (e.g., obscuri instead of obscura, sola
instead of soli, with interchange of adjectives and their referents), but
the same does not hold for English (or French), in which substitution of
adjectives, a purely syntactic device, can only form a double hypallage.
Ex: 'Neiger de blancs bouquets d'etoiles parfumees' ('Snowing white
bouquets of perfumed stars' [for 'perfumed bouquets of white stars'])
(Mallarme, 'Apparition'). This type of hypallage facilitates the crea-
tion of isocolons (see period*) and eliminates a 'natural' (i.e., banal)
epithet.
Rl: Enallage of propositions also exists, when the main clause in the
154
End Positioning
sentence's meaning takes the grammatical form of a subordinate clause.

Wagner and Pinchon (sect. 595) call this phenomenon converse subor-
dination. Ex: 'For many years, everything about Combray except the
place and drama of my going to bed had no meaning for me, when,
one winter day, as I was going back to the house, my mother, seeing
that I was cold, proposed that I should take, although it was not my
custom, a little tea' (Proust, A la recherche du temps perdu, first sentence).
The whole construction turns on the conjunction when, but the subor-
dinate temporal clause following it, from the point of view of mean-
ing*, is the main clause, because the 'real' main clause preceding when
merely introduces a temporal circumstance, or rather, serves simply to
situate the event in time.
In any case, if one considers the whole narrative*, the sentence
appears to be situating what will follow, the taste of the madeleine and
the memories it will revive. From that perspective, the clause is a
temporal one, it is true, but the main clause, 'For many years .../ is a
sub-temporal. It would therefore be better to view things from the
perspective of the sub-temporal promoted to the rank of main clause,
as does Marouzeau, who calls it a superordinate clause, defining it as
follows: 'the main clause is taken to be secondary in meaning' (Lexique
de la terminologie linguistic}ue).
END POSITIONING Transferring to the end of a clause or sentence

an important or significant element, with normal word order being
abandoned in favour of expressiveness. See Robert.
Ex: 'But wherein any man is bold - I am speaking foolishly - I also am
bold ... Are they ministers of Christ? I - to speak as a fool - am more'
(Paul, 2 Cor. 11:21, 23).
Other names: syntactic transfer; trajectio (Morier uses the term to refer
to the transfer of adverbs in French)
Other definitions: 1. Transfer in prosody (rejet in French): at the end of
a line or at the hemistich; see enjamb(e)ment*, R2; caesura*, R6.
2. Transfer of enunciation*. When a speaker takes no responsibility for
certain expressions, he uses such transferring markers as quotation
marks, indications of sources, and expressions like 'so called/ 'alleged/
'what is called/ 'it says here/ etc. See situational* signs, 5.
3. The traiectio in alium (Lanham) is a shifting of the responsibility for
an act onto someone else. See apodioxis (argument*, R2).
Rl: The transfer of a syntagm* over an extended time in a long peri-
odic sentence produces an effect of suspension* or, in a dramatic
context, of suspense*. If the syntagm is transferred outside the sen-
tence, we have hyperbaton*.
155
Enjamb(e)ment
ENJAMB(E)MENT The sentence runs on from one line* (of poetry)

to the next without there being a marked stop. See Frye, Marouzeau,
Cuddon, Martinon, and Preminger.
Ex:
The lighting rooms perfect a chequerboard
Across apartment boxes. Through the popcorn
Reek, hotdogs and chips, the air lets fall
A rain of quiet coolness on the flesh.
Earle Birney, Thisk on English Bay'
in Charlesworth and Lee, eds., An Anthology of Verse, p. 73
Analogous definition: See Morier.
Rl: Theorists of French classical poetry proscribed enjambment. The
outcry provoked in 1830 by the first two lines of Victor Hugo's Hernani
is well known: 'Serait-ce deja lui? C'est bien a 1'escalier / Derobe ...' ('Is
that already he? It [the noise] is on the secret / Staircase'). When 'the
meaning does not permit a stop at the end of the line' (Ph. Martinon,
Dictionnaire des rimes franqaises, p. 34), the rhythm* instrumental in
defining the poetic line* is jeopardized.
Enjambment may occur at the hemistich: 'the first syntactic group
spills over into the second hemistich' without the possibility of a
caesura* (Grammont, 1950, p. 43).
R2: The rejet is enjambment with a rhythmic pause* or caesura* main-
tained despite the fact that the sentence continues. Ex [recited with a
pause after 'suddenly']: '... for the oyster suddenly / Snaps shut' (La
Fontaine, quoted by Ph. Martinon, Dictionnaire des rimes franqaises,
p. 35). The rejet calls a syntagm* to the reader's attention by putting at
odds rhythm and grammatical articulation. Placed thus, 'Snaps shut [se
referme]' expresses suddenness. In English verse, the pause* is less
marked:
The world is too much with us: late and soon
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.
W. Wordsworth, The World'
R3: As the name indicates, contre-rejet is the opposite of rejet. The
principal caesura* appears before the end of the first hemistich or line.
The syntagm isolated between the two caesuras (the one semantic, the
other rhythmic) is thus foregrounded.
The following double example displays contre-rejet at both the
hemistich and the end of the line:
Ils atteindront / le fond de 1'Asturie, // avant
Que la nuit ait couvert / / la sierra de ses ombres.
156
Enjamb(e)ment
(They will reach the depths of Asturia, before / Night covers the
sierra with shadow.)
V. Hugo, quoted by Grammont,
in Essai de psychologic linguistique, p. 129
Fond and avant are foregrounded, in accordance with Hugo's expressive
intent: the passage refers to the character's need to find a safe place to
escape from pursuit.
R4: If the end of a line is not orally marked, there is enjambment, but
the line's rhythm will not be perceived. If one pauses, the expression is
cut in half. Such an artificial rejet is false. The French 'visual caesura' or
caesura 'for the eye' is an enjambment at the hemistich which transforms
the classical alexandrine into a romantic line. Ex (V. Hugo, quoted by
Morier): 'L'ombre des tours faisait / la nuit dans les campagnes' (The
towers' shadow turned day into night in the countryside'). The
rhythm*, of course, is: 'L'ombre des tours / faisait la nuit / dans les
campagnes.'
R5: The appearance of rhythmic articulation in the middle of a syn-
tagm* transforms enjambment into a case of 'forced' rejet, which Morier
has called 'expected rhyme'; he gives the following example from
Verlaine:
De ca, de la,
Pareil a la
Feuille morte.
([Blown] here and there, like a dead leaf.)
P. Verlaine, 'Chanson d'automne';
quoted by Morier, in Parent, ed., Le Vers franqais au xxe siecle, p. 98
The rhyme invites an unexpected pause after the definite article, la,
thus expressing hesitation, abandonment.
R6: The French surrealist poet Louis Aragon, in particular, attempted
to renovate French rhyme* (see rhyme, R3) by ending a line in the
middle of a syntagm*, even in the middle of a graphic word. Ex:
Je vais te dire un grand secret
Le temps c'est toi
Le temps est femme II a
Besoin qu'on le courtise.
(I'm going to tell you a great secret / Time is you / Time is a
woman It nee / Ds to be courted.)
Aragon, beginning of Les Yeux d'Elsa
He calls the above 'complex rhyme/ 'made up of several words which
break up the rhyming sound between them' (ibid.). Ex:
157
Enumeration
Ne parlez plus d'amour. J'ecoute mon coeur battre

... Ne parlez plus d'amour. Que fait-elle la-fas
Trop proche et trop lointaine 6 temps martyrise
(Speak no more of love. I listen to my heart beating / ... Speak no
more of love. What is she doing over there / At once too near and
too far O martyred time)
Aragon, Le Creve-coeur, p. 78
The latter he calls "modern enjambment... in which the sound, the
rhyme straddling the end of one line and the beginning of the next,
splits up' (ibid., p. 77). The translation inadequately expresses the
rhythmic effect.
ENUMERATION A list which counts out, specifies, mentions items

one by one.
Ex: '[An executive] will pass, as is well known, the following stages in
his successful career: 1. Age of Qualification. 2. Age of Discretion.
3. Age of Promotion. 4. Age of Responsibility. 5. Age of Authority.
6. Age of Achievement. 7. Age of Distinction. 8. Age of Dignity. 9. Age
of Wisdom. 10. Age of Obstruction' (C.N. Parkinson, The Law Complete,
p. 126).
Analogous definitions: See Lausberg, OED, and Robert.
Rl: Unlike accumulation*, enumeration constitutes a kind of definition*
characteristic of collective entities, and is therefore frequently preceded
by a colon or introduced by some inclusive term such as "viz/ or
'namely.' Ex (colon):
They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt
And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance.
Henry Reed, 'Naming of Parts/ in A Map of Verona
R2: Enumeration is a type of amplification* particularly useful because
it translates the abstract into concrete terms, the general into the
particular. Jakobson sees it as the exposure of the paradigm, which is
not part of the poetic function of communication. Enumeration serves
chiefly to display something, in a small space.
R3: An enumeration which aspires to exhaustivity is an inventory. Ex:
'Eeltraps, lobsterpots, fishingrods, hatchet, steelyard, grindstone,
clod crusher, swatheturner, carriagesack, telescope ladder, 10 tooth rake,
washing clogs, haytedder, tumbling rake, billhook, paintpot, brush, hoe
and so on' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 586). A partial enumeration is like an
exemplum. Alternatively, only the extremes may be listed, leaving the
rest implied. Ex: "Women, monks, old people, all came down' (La
Fontaine): a fortiori the men and children.
158
Enunciation
R4: The listing of individuals when they each refer to other elements -
as in disjunction* - produces distribution or merismus (Lanham,
Lausberg). Ex: Ivlaybe the Chapdelaines thought about it, each in his
own way; the father with the invincible optimism of a man who knows
he is strong and thinks he is wise; the mother with sorrow and resigna-
tion; the others, the youngsters, in less precise terms and without
bitterness' (Louis Hemon, Maria Chapdelaine, p. 40). See also seriation*
and apposition*, R2.
R5: Superfluous enumeration is a form of baroquism*. Ex: 'Not to
inherit by right of primogeniture, gavelkind or borough English, or
possess in perpetuity an extensive demesne of a sufficient number of
acres, rods and perches' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 585).
False enumeration is a kind of emphasis*. Exx: Three reasons for
buying [a condominium] downtown: location, location, location' (ad-
vertisement in the Ottawa Citizen); '... the first three essentials of the
literary art are imagination, imagination and imagination' (Ambrose
Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, in The Devil's Advocate: An Ambrose Bierce
Reader, p. 289). In such cases the elements are arranged to form a
climax* (see climax, R2).
For chaotic enumeration, see accumulation*, R3, and verbigeration*,
R3. The Orient has a tradition of non-systematic enumeration. Ex:
There are seven ways of getting rich through trade: frauds relating to
the goods, sale on commission, sales in partnership, sales to devoted
customers, price-fixing, the use of false weights and measures, foreign
trade' (R. Daumal, Bharata, p. 163). Borges foregrounds the practice:
'Animals are divided into those a) belonging to the Emperor, b)
stuffed, c) tamed, d) suckling pigs, e) mermaids, f) fabulous, g) un-
leashed dogs' ('Otras inquisiciones,' quoted by Michel Foucault, in Les
Mots et les chases, p. 7).
R6: Points enumerated may be numbered without each one constitut-
ing a paragraph, unless indentation is used (in which case the segment
begins with a capital letter).
R7: For other uses of enumeration, see gradatio*, R2; homoioteleuton*,
R3; celebration*, Rl; recapitulation*, R2; synonymy*, R3; and telescop-
ing*, R2.
ENUNCIATION The act of enunciating, of producing a self-

sufficient unit of spoken language or set of linguistic signs. Every
enunciation occurs only once. Even when several enunciative acts
produce the same utterance (e.g., 'Hello!'), they do not coincide, since
each occurs at a distinct point, which may be defined as the intersec-
tion of time, place, and person.
Enunciation includes seven orienting characteristics. These are the
seven elements in the communication model: (1) speaker, (2) contact,
159
Enunciation
(3) addressee, (4) situation, (5) content of the message or utterance, (6)
the language used, and (7) the aesthetic form of the message. These
characteristics define what Jakobson called the linguistic functions of
communication (we have added situation to Jakobson's six functions;
see notation*), to which correspond seven quite distinct types or
'modalities' of sentences, as well as seven genres.
1. When enunciation centres on the speaker, the text's function is
emotive (or expressive); the sentence takes the form of an exclamation*
(an interjection* or more or less complete sentence); the genre is the
monologue*.
2. When enunciation centres on the contact between the interlocutors,
the text has a 'phatic' or contact function; the sentence is a greeting,
call, or address (see apostrophe*); the work is a dialogue* or conversa-
tion between several speakers. Phatic expressions include: 'Isn't that
so?'; 'Eh?.' See also pseudo-language*.
3. When enunciation centres on the addressee or receiver, the function
is said to be 'conative' or injunctive; the sentence modality is injunctive
since it involves the speaker obtaining something from the receiver; the
work is a discourse* in the narrow or rhetorical sense of the word.
4. If enunciation centres on its real, frequently implicit, surrounding
framework, it has a situational function which states the relevant
temporal and spatial co-ordinates; the sentence is a simple notation*.
Works belonging in this genre include bibliographies, almanacs, tele-
phone directories, indexes, tables of contents, etc., which situate things
or persons at a particular point.
5. Enunciation centred on the content of the message has a denotative
or referential function; the modality is assertion*; the genre is narrative*
(action situated outside the receiver's present) or explanation*. (Note
that the referent is the real object denoted in the message and often
remains implicit. Considered thus, it always belongs to the situational
function, which does not, however, prevent our speaking of the refe-
rential function in connection with the denotative function, since it is
the referent which gives rise to the utterance.)
6. Enunciation centred on language as a set of structures or of expres-
sive usages has a metalinguistic function; the modality is lexical defini-
tion* (in which the theme* is itself the autonymical focus of attention);
the genre: dictionary, glossary, catalogue, thesaurus, grammar.
7. Enunciation centred on aesthetic form has a poetic function; modali-
ties: all kinds of artistic transformations; genre: any literary work.
Analogous term: narration (as opposed to what is narrated; see narra-
tive*)
Rl: Besides these 'functions' possessed by sets of signs, the Dictionnaire
de linguistique lists various ways of approaching the relationship
between author and reader established by texts. These include the
160
Enunciation
relative position of the speakers (equality, superiority, inferiority); their

respective degree of involvement (expectation, intention, promise); the
degree of assertion* (predictions, statements); the way in which what is
stated relates to the expected or permissible attitudes (warnings,
information); the distance from the text taken by the subject and the
possibility of the receiver reading it as though he or she were its author
(e.g., as in manuals); modalities of agreement (possibility, necessity);
the receiver's inclusion in or exclusion from the group addressed
(connivance, simulation* or 'masking' of appearances); and, finally, the
types of argument* (objection, refutation*, etc.) As may be seen from
this list, a whole barrage of discursive devices exists, not only in
literature, but in social and political life and in psychology.
R2: The utterance sometimes coincides with its enunciation. Austin
called performative those verbs which may accomplish, at the time and
place of the utterance and between the two persons communicating,
the concept evoked (How to Do Things with Words, 1962). Exx: I say; I
swear; I promise; Excuse me; etc. So there exists a "meaning effect'
which adds to the meaning and is engendered by the enunciation
rather than by the utterance itself. It concerns the persons alluded to by
the shifters (morphemes whose referents are context-related). A
promise exists because a speaker, at a particular time and place, said 'I
promise.' This is an illocutionary act whose value derives from the fact
that it is addressed to a particular person in particular circumstances.
See implication* and litotes*.
In Dire et ne pas dire, Ducrot showed that illocution has legalistic
overtones. The social customs of the group confer on a particular
formula a certain degree of obligation which transfers to the speaker.
The oath, for instance (see Fontanier, p. 442), commits one to sincerity.
The fact of swearing on some sacred object (the Bible, 'on my mother's
life,' etc.) or of adding hypothetical maledictions ('may I die if I have
not told the truth') simply emphasizes the definitive nature of the
commitment.
Locutionary acts (mere productions of an utterance) differ from
perlocutionary acts, which concern the speaker's unavowed intentions
and which remain a subject of conjecture and interpretation (Ducrot
and Todorov, p. 343). For example, the function of questions* may be
to help someone, to embarrass someone, or to make that person feel we
value his or her opinion.
R3: Marks of enunciation within the utterance: In speeches, spon-
taneous dialogues*, and even soliloquies, enunciation is very close to
utterance: both refer to the same present universe (e.g., 'Do you think
...'; It seems to me ...'). The 'shifters' (Jespersen, Jakobson) used
establish the poles of the enunciation.
Intonation* is the principal illocutionary and perlocutionary marker.
161
Enunciation
A main clause, or an adverb, makes the function of intonation explicit

(e.g., 'It's already eleven o'clock'). Connotation often draws its excessive
importance from intonation by defining the speaker's attitude and also
by creating obligations of propriety (responses* to questions*, accept-
ance of implication*). The markers within the utterance permitting
examination of the speaker's point of view have been studied under
the heading modalizing terms (Ducrot and Todorov, p. 325). Ex: 'Exactly,
that's ...' introduces a change in point of view because of the implicit
affirmation that one sees things more clearly than one's opponent. This
expression is often found, therefore, in antanaclasis*.
Once the subject under discussion becomes less immediate, enuncia-
tion becomes distinct from the utterance, entering another world. From
then on, it is either deleted, or there is double actualization. (See
monologue*, R2.) In that case, enunciative markers include:
- the use of past tenses, a characteristic of narrative*
- adjectives like 'so-called' or 'alleged/ or quotation marks drawing
attention to a term's relevance, in the narrator's opinion
- mention of the author or public (see parabasis*). Ex: 'Some years ago,
when I was the Editor of a Correspondence Column, I used to receive
heart-broken letters from young men asking for advice and sympathy'
(Stephen Leacock, 'How to Avoid Getting Married,' in Literary Lapses,
p. 48).
- mention of the text as a narrative*, or literary work of some kind. Ex:
'Having reached the end of my poor sinner's life ... I prepare to leave
on this parchment my testimony as to the wondrous and terrible
happenings that I happened to observe in my youth, now repeating
verbatim all I saw and heard, without venturing to seek a design ...' (U.
Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 11).
- mention of the text as a text (the metalinguistic function). Ex: 'Nor,
for that matter, could I call Salvatore's speech a language, because in
every human language there are rules and every term signifies ad
placitum a thing, according to a law that does not change, for man
cannot call the dog once dog and once cat, or utter sounds to which a
consensus of people has not assigned a definite meaning, as would
happen if someone said the word "blitiri"' (ibid., p. 47).
R4: Utterances may, without losing their correlative enunciation,
engender other utterances in respect to which the former play an
enunciative role. There are then three levels of actualization, as is the
case, for example, in second-degree narrative* (see narrative*, R4).
R5: When utterance and enunciation are actualized on two distinct
planes, pretended confusions between them may result from more or
less deliberate blunders*, irony*, or exaggerated 'elegance.' Thus
Jacques Ferron allows himself to be contradicted by one of his own
characters (La Barbe de Fr. Hertel, p. 105) or alternates between figura-
162
Epanalepsis
tive and literal meanings, which produces unexpected twists in the

plot. In Amelanchier, for example, a rabbit called Mr Northrop becomes
a character who expatiates on the British Navy and lampoons British
humour, all the while nibbling on a carrot. See also Woody Allen's
story The Kugelmass Episode/ in Side Effects, and his film Purple Rose
of Cairo for the passage of a character from one diegetic (i.e., narrative*)
universe to another. For other enunciative games, see preterition*, Rl.
R6: For more information concerning enunciation, see: apocalypse*, Rl;
situational* signs, 5; colon*; excuse*, Rl; nominalization*, Rl; paren-
thesis*, R4; personification*, Rl; prophecy*, Rl; prosopopoeia*, R2 and
R3; and reminder*, R2.
EPANADIPLOSIS The ending of the second of two correlative

clauses with the word or words that began the first. See Dumarsais,
(4:139), Scaliger (4:30), Lausberg, and Morier.
Ex: 'You bleed when the white man says bleed. You bite when the
white man says bite, and you bark when the white man says bark'
(speech by Malcolm X).
Other names: epanastrophe (Littre, Lausberg, Morier); inclusion*
(Marouzeau; Quinn, p. 88); epanalepsis* (Lanham, Morier, Preminger)
Rl: The effect sought by epanadiplosis is emphasis*, even hackneyed or
hyperbolic repetition*. Ex:
Possessing what we still are possessed by
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Robert Frost, The Gift Outright'
Some examples seem to occur simply by chance. Ex: 'A donkey im-
mobile on a terrace, like a statue of a donkey7 (G. Cesbron, Journal sans
date, p. 166).
EPANALEPSIS 1. The repetition* of a single word or words, or of a

complete phrase. See Littre, Lausberg, Morier, and Preminger.
2. The repetition of a word or words after an intervening word or
words, whether for emphasis* or clarity, as to resume a construction
after a lengthy parenthesis*. See Preminger.
Exx: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ...' (Shakespeare,
Macbeth, 5.5.19); 'She's just a shadow of her former self! a shadow of
her former self! The poor thing had aged a hundred years! a hundred
years!' (Colette, Cheri, p. 72).
Epanalepsis differs from other types of repetition* in that it involves an
asseverative fragment of an autonomous text. If reduced in scope, the
repeated segment still contains the essential assertion* or statement. Ex:
'... a hundred years! a hundred!'
163
Epanalepsis
Other definitions: 1. Morier and Preminger add a second meaning: 'by

modern authorities, most often and most usefully defined as the
ending of a clause or sentence with its own opening word or words.' In
our view, this definition is that of epanadiplosis* or inclusion*.
2. Marouzeau: repetition of a term or expression either at the beginning
or end of successive groups, or at the end of the first and beginning of
the second (e.g., 'but I saw, saw with my own eyes, saw it as I see you').
This is a combined definition of anaphora*, epiphora*, and anadiplo-
sis*.
Rl: Epanalepsis involving only a single word approaches reduplica-
tion*. According to Lausberg (sect. 618), reduplicatio becomes epanalep-
sis when a single word separates the two identical terms (e.g., "Think,
Master, think ...'), which is corroborated by the fact that in such a case
the repeated word is the equivalent of a syntagm* containing the one
to which emphasis attaches.
R2: Pointless epanalepsis is battology*. Ex: 'But they are not where I
am when I have closed my eyes. Where I am when I have closed my
eyes, there is no one, there's only me' (R. Ducharme, L'AvaUe des avales,
pp. 8-9).
R3: Repetition of a title at the beginning of a chapter or poem also
constitutes epanalepsis. In many poems the first line serves as title in
the absence of an assigned one. Ex: 'And death shall have no domi-
nion' (Dylan Thomas, 'And Death Shall Have No Dominion').
R4: When used to join together extensive textual segments (paragraphs,
chapters, etc.), epanalepsis may act as a liaison in the same way as
anadiplosis* does between sentences and paragraphs. Ex:
If the fine weather continues, said old Mrs. Chapdelaine, the blue-
berries will be ripe for St. Anne's Day.
The fine weather did continue and, in the first few days of July,
the blueberries ripened ... (Louis Hemon, Maria Chapdelaine, pp. 67-8)
See also restart*, Rl.
R5: Epanalepsis may occur at more or less regular intervals, like a
refrain*. Ex:
Here is the efflux of the soul,
The efflux of the soul comes from within ...
The efflux of the soul is happiness ...

Walt Whitman, 'Song of the Open Road/ 7-8
R6: Semi-epanalepsis, which introduces variation into the repetitions,
may become anaphora*, epiphora*, and symploce*. Ex:
164
Epanorthosis
Speeding through space, speeding through heaven and the stars,

Speeding amid the seven satellites and the broad ring, and the
diameter of eighty thousand miles,
Speeding with tail'd meteors, throwing fire-balls like the rest
Walt Whitman, 'Song of Myself/ 33
EPANORTHOSIS A return to something already said, either to

reinforce or soften it, or to retract it completely (see Fontanier, p. 408).
Having 'second thoughts.' See also Cuddon, Lamy, Peacham, and
Quillet.
Ex: 'He in a few minutes ravished this fair creature, or at least would
have ravished her if she had not, by a timely compliance, prevented
him' (H. Fielding, Jonathan Wild, book 3, ch. 7).
Synonyms: correctio (Lanham), expolitio (Morier), retroaction (Fontanier)
Rl: Epanorthosis is a parastasis* embellished with one of the marks of
self-correction*, although the latter is briefer. Ex: ' "Arrest you!" said
Holmes. "This is really most grati - most interesting"' (Conan Doyle,
'The Norwood Builder'). Fontanier contrasts epanorthosis, a figure of
thought, to correction, a figure of style.
R2: A retraction is but one of the possible forms of epanorthosis. Ex:
'Old Marley was as dead as a doornail. Mind! I don't mean to say that
I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a
doornail' (Dickens, A Christmas Carol, stave 1). The device may extend
throughout a whole work of self-criticism: this is called a palinode after
the poem by Stesichorus in which he recanted his earlier harsh words
about Helen of Troy. Chaucer also used the palinode as a device in The
Legend of Good Women, presented as an apology for his Troilus and
Criseyde. In his Errata, Raymond Queneau criticizes his own theory
concerning the growing importance of spoken over written language.
A solemn retraction, whose solemnity is emphasized by reference to
some sacred object, is an abjuration.
R3: The device may be a matter of pure form, as in the already quoted
Dickensian pseudo-retraction which continues: 'I might have been
inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of iron-
mongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile;
and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done
for' (ibid.).
R4: It frequently happens that a poem's first line contains the essential
idea which the subsequent lines develop. Ex: The hand that signed the
paper felled a city' (Dylan Thomas, 'The Hand That Signed the Paper').
This seems to be a kind of epanorthosis or regression*; hence the
importance of the incipit (the punch* line is the opposite device).
165
Epenthesis
EPENTHESIS Insertion of a letter or sound within a word. See Group

MU, Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg (sect. 483), Marouzeau, and Quillet.
Exx: the b in thimble (Concise Oxford Dictionary); the first h in 'as/zphalt'
Analogous definitions: 'insertion of a letter, phoneme, or syllable into
the middle of a word: e.g.: "visitating" for "visiting"' (Oulipo, A Primer
of Potential Literature, p. 198); 'the appearance within a word of a non-
etymological phoneme. E.g.: chanvre (hemp) which comes from cannabis'
(Robert); 'a parasitic sound' (Dubois et al., Dictionnaire de linguisticsjue);
'a phoneme which arises to aid the mechanics of articulation' (Morier)
Analogous terms: paremptosis ('the addition of a word in a sentence
complete in itself [Lanham]); the addition of a letter (not a syllable),
according to Lausberg and Littre
Rl: A term of ancient grammar which corresponds to a modern device.
Exx: 'steadyfast, Goldylocks'; Tvlerdre' (Jarry, Ubu roi); TJrlysse' (R.
Ducharme, L'AvaUe des avales, p. 265); Troemes' (Fr. Ponge).
Emile Pons (p. 10) calls multiple epenthesis saupoudrage or
'sprinkling.' He thinks that Swift fabricated his term 'Hounyhnhnms'
from the French word hom(me) pronounced (naturally) by horses. The
following is an example of saupoudrage in Joyce: 'M.y eppripfftaph. Be
pfrwritt' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 211).
The device resembles the phenomenon psychiatrists call embololalia:
'the use of virtually meaningless filler words, phrases, or stammerings*
(or so-called hestitation-forms) in speech, whether as unconscious
utterings while arranging one's thoughts or as a vacuous, inexpressive
mannerism, e.g., "you know," "well," "like," "I mean," "uh"' (D.
Grambs, Literary Companion Dictionary, p. 112).
R2: Epenthesis is a metaplasm*. See also euphemism*, R2.
EPIGRAM A short poem which often ends with a satirical dig. See
Benac.
Exx:
Macaulay tells us Byron's rules of life
Were: Hate your neighbour; love your neighbour's wife.
W.R. Espy, The Game of Words, pp. 96-7
'On an Ageing Prude'

She who, when young and fair,
Would wink men up the stair,
Now, old and ugly, locks
The door where no man knocks.
Ibid.
166
Epigraph
Analogous terms: blazon (see celebration*); pasquinade ('a lampoon

hung up in some public place' [Cuddon, p. 475])
Rl: In his Traitte de I'epigramme, Guillaume Colletet gives 'madrigal' as
a Spanish or Italian equivalent of the epigram. The madrigal which
aims, in the main, to entertain, frequently does end with an ingenious
punch* line.
R2: From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, the epigram first rose
to the dignity of a literary genre, then fell into disuse. Its function was
the skilful criticism of holders of high office. Then, as more democratic
government gradually replaced royal favouritism, such criticisms
became more theoretical (less often directed ad hominem) and quit the
salons for more public arenas. If it is remembered that epigram simply
means inscription, then the contemporary form of the genre appears in
inscriptions like those so highly esteemed during the 'events' of 1968 in
France. Such inscriptions are not mere graffiti, like those found on
school desks or in public lavatories, but consist of slogan*-like forms
having political aims and repercussions. Ex: 'I like Ike.'
R3: See also negation*, R7; literary* games; and sarcasm*, R3.
EPIGRAPH A quotation* placed, as a clue to the sense, at the begin-

ning of a work or chapter.
Ex: 'Does there not pass over man a space of time when his life is a
blank? THE KORAN sura 76' (epigraph in John Updike's The Coup).
Ex:
The very day we landed upon the Fatal Shore,
The planters stood around us, full twenty score or more;
They ranked us up like horses and sold us out of hand,
They chained us up to pull the plough, upon Van Diemen's Land.
- Convict ballad, ca. 1825-30
Epigraph in Robert Hughes's
The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding
Rl: The author's general intention may be clarified by an epigraph, or
epigraphs may be used ironically. Part of the pleasure a reader gains
from epigraphs derives from the decision to take them 'seriously' or
not. Ex: 13ut as to myself, having been wearied out for many years
with offering vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly
despairing of success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal ... - Jonathan
Swift, A Modest Proposal' (quoted at the beginning of Margaret
Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale}.
R2: See also imitation* and lexical erasure*, R2.
167
Epiphany
EPIPHANY For Joyce, a moment of profound, spiritual revelation

when an observer perceives the 'real' significance of an act or object: a
'sudden spiritual manifestation' (J. Joyce, Stephen Hero, p. 216). As Eco
writes: '... a thing becomes the living symbol of something else, and
creates a continuous web of references. Any person or event is a
cypher which refers to another part of the book. This generates the grid
of allusions in Ulysses and the system of puns in Finnegans Wake" (U.
Eco, The Aesthetics of Chaosmos: The Middle Ages of James Joyce, p. 7).
Ex: 'The instant flashed forth like a point of light and now from cloud
on cloud of vague circumstance confused form was veiling softly its
afterglow. O! In the virgin womb of the imagination the word was
made flesh' (Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, p. 217).
Joyce's epiphany is not unlike the moments of intense pleasure deriv-
ing from personal revelation achieved by Marcel, the narrator of
Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu. David Nokes describes Joyce's
epiphanies as 'acts of verbal magic that give old words a rub and make
them new, offering not a jingle of words, but a jangle of ideas' (D.
Nokes, ' "Hack at Tom Poley's": Swift's Use of Puns,' in Probyn, ed.,
The Art of Jonathan Swift, p. 46).
Rl: See mistake*, R4.
EPIPHONEMA An exclamation*, frequently sententious, used to end

a narrative*. See Bary, Le Hir, Girard (p. 299), Lausberg (sect. 879), and
Robert.
Ex: 'I forced the last stone into its position; I plastered it up. Against
the old masonry I re-erected the old rampart of bones. For the half of a
century no mortal has disturbed them. In pace recjuiscat!' (E.A. Poe, The
Cask of Amontillado/ in Selected Writings, p. 366).
Modern narrative tends to avoid epiphonema or to employ it ironically.
Ex: 'And now they [the ghosts of Saint Patrick and Cleodolinda] are in
[the narrator's guest room in Massey College], how shall I ever get
them out? Beware of compassion!' (Robertson Davies, 'Refuge of
Insulted Saints/ in High Spirits, p. 72).
Other definitions: 1. Neither Joseph nor Lanham includes exclamation
as a characteristic of epiphonema, although both see it as a sententious
utterance used to conclude a passage, poem, or speech. Fontanier (p.
386f.) finds the classical definition too narrow and adds: 'a short and
vivid afterthought... about a narrative ... but whose general nature
makes it absolutely distinct from it... and which precedes, accom-
panies, or follows it.' This would produce 'initial, terminating or
interjectional' epiphonemas. Their vivid or sententious turn of phrase
accompanied by a change of tone implying generalization* and a
168
Epiphrasis
'moral lesson' would distinguish them from ordinary parenthetical

remarks. Ex: the morals of fables.
2. Marouzeau: 'an utterance added to explain a previous utterance (I
said nothing to him, since he was so preoccupied).' This is rather
epiphrasis* or rationalization.
Rl: Epiphonema is a partial parabasis*. However, if the 'short and
vivid afterthought' is not detached, if its 'general nature [does not]
make it absolutely distinct,' or if it remains attached to a character, the
device is no longer partial parabasis, but is closer to epiphrasis*.
EPIPHORA Placing the same word or words at the end of two or

more clauses or sentences. See Lanham, Littre, and Lausberg.
Ex:
Breast that presses against other breasts it shall be you!
Root of wash'd sweet-flag! timorous pond-snipe! nest of guarded

duplicate eggs! it shall be you!
You sweaty brooks and dews it shall be you!
Broad muscular fields, branches of live oak, loving lounger in my

winding paths, it shall be you!
W. Whitman, 'Song of Myself,' 24
Other terms: epistrophe (Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, Morier);
antistrophe (Lanham, Littre, Quillet); conversion (Fontanier, p. 330).
According to Fabri (2:161), however, conversion consists in repeating the
same sentence three times at regular intervals, whereas according to
Girard (p. 281) conversion consists of symmetrical repetition*. Ex: 'He
has done me too much harm for me to speak any good of him; he has
done me too much good for me to speak ill of him/ (See antimetabole*.)
Rl: We have preferred the term epiphora over epistrophe because the
former better reveals the link with anaphora*. See epanalepsis*, R6.
R2: Epiphora is a feature of periodic style (see period*) but appears
also in poetry, as the example from Whitman shows.
EPIPHRASIS A sentence or part of a sentence specially added

seemingly to indicate the author's feelings or those of a character.
Ex: 'It's Monday tomorrow, I will hear the old people's confessions.
That's nothing. Tuesday the children's. I'll soon be finished' (Alphonse
Daudet, 'Le Cure de Cucugnan,' in Lettres de mon mouliri).
Ex [newsreader]: 'Events in Lebanon took a new turn today ("it says
here" [or] "I'm sorry, I'll read that again") ...'
169
Epitheton
Other definitions: Fontanier (p. 399), Littre, and Morier speak of the
addition of secondary ideas. Such a definition, which is less accurate,
would make epiphrasis comparable to hyperbaton* of a parenthetical
or interpolated clause (Fontanier also mentions this, p. 318). The term
does not appear in the OED or in Webster's New World Dictionary. Lists
of literary or rhetorical terms in English give examples of epiphrasis
under hyperbaton*.
Rl: A partial parabasis*, epiphrasis frequently takes the form of a
parenthetical or interpolated clause, or indeed of an interpolation
within a parenthesis*: There is no sculptor who does not make you
think of death (although many sculptors, so much the worse for them,
have never thought about it at all)' (A. Pieyre de Mandiargues in Oster,
et al., Nouveau Dictionnaire de citations franqaises, no. 15836). With the
appropriate intonation*, the parenthesis may become a kind of redup-
lication*. Ex: The expression on Mr. Octave's face when he saw the
[cigarette] smoke in his bedroom (his bedroom! ...), and the ash on his
carpet (his carpet! ...), was worthy of the theatre' (H. de Montherlant,
Les Celibataires, in Romans, p. 861).
R2: Epiphrasis is close to epiphonema*. Morier observes that it fre-
quently expresses a restriction. See the example under allusion*, R2.
R3: In Greek poetry, the group formed by strophe and anti strophe also
contains the epode, made up of two lyrical lines of unequal length. The
epode is not unrelated to epiphrasis.
R4: The abbreviation N.B. [nota bene], when placed in the margin or at
the foot of the page, signals in modern texts an extra-textual remark
directed to aid the reader's better understanding.
EPITHETON The use, above all for rhetorical purposes, of conven-

tional epithets, helpful to expressivity but virtually meaningless. See
Joseph, Lanham, Littre, and Puttenham.
Ex: 'Hacker: "You know Godfrey, there's a lot of nonsense talked about
the Civil Service. It is actually a marvellous, efficient, professional organ-
isation capable of tremendous effort and speed. It is full of talented,
dedicated people who do all they can to make Government policies
become law"' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes Minister,' p. 99).
In the past, grammarians contrasted epithet with adjective rather than
with predicative adjective; in so doing, they designated rhetorical quality
not function. Despite Lausberg's apparent belief that epithetical style is
one which uses many epithets, it is not the accumulation of adjectives
but their use as pure ornament which characterizes epitheton, accord-
ing to Littre, Puttenham, etc. Accumulations of adjectives produce a
different figure: accumulation*, not epitheton.
170
Epitrochasmus
Other definition: Fontanier distinguishes epithet (p. 324) from epithetism

(pp. 354-7). For him, as for Puttenham and Littre, an epithet is an
adjective 'serving only to adorn a discourse or make it more vivid/
suppressible without changing the meaning. The following is a parody*
of the 'Homeric' epithet: 'a broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed
frankeyed redhaired (etc.) hero' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 243).
Rl: Epitheton is a device of 'sublime' style (see grandiloquence*, Rl).
Le Clerc, however, views it rather as a defect of style. 'Every time [the
epithet] fails to characterize or modify the substantive ... ban it as
pleonastic.' His example is: '[Crevier] quite rightly ridiculed Chapelain
for praising the fair Agnes's doigts inegaux [fingers of different lengths].'
For epithets used as padding in the period*, see sentence*, 5.
R2: The ancient rhetorical distinction between adjectives and epithets
has resurfaced in another form in more recent critical terminology.
Lausberg (sect. 680,1) opposes characteristic epithets and unnecessary
epithets. Marouzeau distinguishes between natural epithets (e.g., 'the
big sky') and circumstantial epithets (e.g., 'a pretty face'). Natural
epithets are those which apply independently of circumstance. Exx: 'It's
the war, the whole bloody war' (Nicholas Monsarrat, The Cruel Sea,
p. 213); The sea, the vast sea' (Baudelaire, 'Moesta et errabunda').
Natural epithets tend to 'depict' or 'display' the object represented.
The qualifying syntagm* is also natural or circumstantial, whether
referring to a noun or verb. This is the case with the Homeric epithet
(e.g., 'swift-footed Achilles'). Ex: 'An incoming train clanked heavily
above his head, coach after coach' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 65).
R3: Epitheton reduces what Morier calls a text's density, that is,
the 'proportion of concepts ... relative to the number of words.'
'Concise writing seeks high conceptual density by means of ellipses,
allusions ... Prolixity on the other hand ... prefers ... pleonasm* and
periphrasis*.'
EPITROCHASMUS An accumulation* of short, expressive words;

frequent in invective: 'Traitor! coward!' A rhythmical figure.
Ex: "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for' (E. Hemingway,
For Whom the Bell Tolls, p. 55).
Other definitions: '(Gr. run lightly over, treat briefly) ... a swift move-
ment from one statement to the other; rapid touching on many differ-
ent points. (Coacervatio is the opposite figure)' (Lanham, p. 45). His
example:
All Kings and all their favorites,
All glory of honours, beauties, wits,
The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass,
171
Equivoque
Is elder by a year, now, than it was

When thou and I first one another saw:
All other things to their desctruction draw,
Only our love hath no decay.
John Donne, The Anniversary'
The OED proposes 'a hurried accumulation of several points/ and the
Larousse du xxe siecle offers: 'the accumulation of strong ideas in a
concise form.'
Rl: This figure is not collected by Fontanier, Joseph, Lausberg, Littre,
Marouzeau, or Preminger.
R2: Recognizable in the word epitrochasmus is trochee, a rapid metrical
foot containing one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed, the
latter of which may be dropped in the 'tailless trochee.' Care must be
taken lest the monosyllabic line be identified necessarily with epitrochas-
mus. Ex: Til noon? Till night, my lord, and all night too!' (Shakespeare,
King Lear, 2.2.140).
EQUIVOQUE The introduction, by means of a graphic or other

modification, into a sentence already complete in meaning, of a second,
quite distinct and complete (or almost complete) meaning.
Augarde (p. 145) quotes the following example of 'equivocal verses,'
in which ambiguous loyalties are expressed: 'patriotic as it stands but
revolutionary if the lines are read in the numbered order':
1. I love my country - but the King
3. Above all men his praise I sing,
2. Destruction to his odious reign
4. That plague of princes, Thomas Paine;
5. The royal banners are displayed
7. And may success the standard aid
6. Defeat and ruin seize the cause
8. Of France, her liberty, and laws.
C.C. Bombaugh, Gleanings for the Curious, 1890
Redfern (Puns, pp. 120,171) gives as examples of equivoques: inten-
tional (pun*: 'an eavesdropper is an icicle') and unintentional (howler,
lapsus: 'Population of US broken down by age and sex'; 'Incest more
common than thought in British Isles').
Synonym: double meaning
Analogous term: pun* (see pun, other def.)
Rl: Equivoque is a kind of extended ambiguity* going from allograph*,
with or without meaning, to semantic syllepsis* in which a sentence
has no need of modification to evoke a second meaning. Equivoque can
172
Equivoque
result from pronunciation or from the choice of a pronoun (see apposi-

tion*, R4).
R2: Approximation* is an equivoque which only affects one word; a
spoonerism* is an equivoque resulting from antimetathesis*; cacem-
phaton*, sometimes because of scrambling* (see syntactic scrambling,
Rl), is parasitic equivoque. See also dissociation*, R9.
R3: Holorhymes are phonetic (but not rhythmic) equivoques, decodable
thanks to their two written forms. Ex (quoted by Redfern, p. 100):
Gal, amant de la reine, a la tour Magne, a Nimes
Galamment de 1'arene alia, tour magnanime.
If the holorhyme occurs only at the end of a line, one has rhyming
equivoque. Ex (quoted by Redfern, p. 100):
There's not a sea the passenger e'er pukes in,
Turns up more dangerous breakers than the Euxine.
Lord Byron, Don Juan, 5.5.7-8
When holorhymes occur in prose, they are called homophones (words
different in meaning but alike in sound). Ex: 'When the Flood had
subsided and the animals were leaving the ark, Noah blessed them
saying, "Increase and multiply." To which two snakes replied sadly,
"We can't, we're adders"' (quoted by L.G. Kelly in Tunning and the
Linguistic Sign,' Linguistics, no. 66 [1971], pp. 5-11).
R4: The Grands Rhetoriqueurs cultivated equivoque in their poems at
the end of the fifteenth century. Among the forms listed by Paul
Zumthor (Anthologie des grands rhetoriqueurs) were bilingual, double,
and triple equivoque as well as retrograde equivoque or chain rhymes, in
which the beginning of the second of two successive lines repeats the
last word or words of the first but with a different meaning: Trop
durement mon coeur souspire; / Pire mal sent que desconfort' (Too
strongly does my heart sigh, / Worse evil it feels than mere discom-
fort' [p. 273]). See also spelling* out, R2, and metanalysis*, R2.
R5: The popular BBC panel game 'My Word!' in which Frank Muir and
Denis Norden concocted narratives containing spoof explanations of
well-known sayings or quotations relied heavily on equivoque. Exx:
Tou can't have your cake and eat it' became Tou can't have your
kayak and heat it'; 'And so to bed' (Pepys) became 'And saw Tibet.'
'So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other
side' (John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress) became 'So he passed Dover,
and all the strumpets undid for him on the other side' (F. Muir and D.
Norden, The 'My Word!' Stories, pp. 11, 30, 23).
R6: In daily life, unconscious equivoque may form a revealing lapsus*.
173
Erasure (Lexical)
R7: See also agnominatio*, R3; meaning*, 9; and phoebus*, R4.
ERASURE (LEXICAL) Instead of using proper names, specific

common nouns, or even propositions, the speaker uses demonstratives
or indefinite, almost meaningless grammatical and lexical forms (e.g.,
'thingamujig,' 'what-d'you-call-it').
Exx: Til never forget Whatshisname' [title of film, directed by M.
Winner, 1967); The Life, Death, Miracles of Saint Somebody'; 'Saint
Somebody Else, his Miracles, Death and Life' (R. Browning, The Ring
and the Book, book 1, 80-1); 'Bonnie wee thing, cannie wee thing, /
Lovely wee thing ...' (R. Burns, The Bonnie Wee Thing'); His thoughts
flew like flaming arrows: he must not forget to mention this; he must
remember to speak of that, about this, and about that, too' (A. Solzhen-
itsyn, The First Circle, p. 181).
Rl: We owe the theory of this device to a mathematician turned fiction
writer: 'It was Lewis Carroll who advised the timid to leave blank
some of the words in their letters ... Or to put completely indefinite
nouns: alicjuid, it, that, thing, thingamy or thingum(a)bob' (G. Deleuze,
Logique du sens, p. 59).
R2: The use of numbers without specifying what they determine' (H.-
R. Diwekar, Les Fleurs de rh&orique de I'lnde, p. 63), sometimes found in
hermetic texts, is also a kind of lexical erasure. Exx: 'He kept the five,
obtained the triad, took in the triad, conquered the pair, and then
discarded the pair' (Ramayana); The one becomes the two, the two
becomes the three, and the three rediscovers unity in the four. Axiom
of Mary the Copt' (epigraph* in Hubert Aquin's novel The Antiphonary).
R3: In everyday language, a kind of lexical erasure exists whose effect
is to broaden the scope of an assertion*. Ex: 'It [the air] will do you
good, Bloom said, meaning also the walk, in a moment' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 539). See also parataxis*, R2.
R4: Lexical erasure is a kind of allusion* (see allusion, R2), also of
euphemism* (see euphemism, R2). The device is involuntary in amnesic
aphasia, or simply when one cannot find the right word.
ERASURE (OF SUBJECT) The German diarist and aphorist Georg

Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-99) seems to have invented this device,
which consists in defining out of existence the subject of a discourse*.
He is considered a humorist with his 'knife without a blade and
lacking a handle,' but the device may correspond to some deeper
concern, as examples like 'I died before my birth' suggest. See T.P.
Stern's Lichtenberg. The surrealists imitated him. Exx: 'For the moment
an absence of eggs on the plate, no plate' (S. Dali, quoted by Eluard in
174
Etymology
Oeuvres, 1:1173); "A sentence without words, sounds or meaning' (H.

Michaux, Connaissance par les gouffres, p. 142). See also extravagant*
comparison.
Rl: The device is a kind of nonsense*.
EROSION A kind of repetition* in which a part of the text dis-

appears each time it is repeated.
Ex: In Stanley Kubrick's film 2002: A Space Odyssey (1968), Hal the
homicidal computer 'lobotomized' by the pilot whose life is threatened,
reverts to a first memory, a nursery-song: 'Daisy, Daisy give me your
answer do, / I'm half-crazy, all for the love of you ... Daisy, Daisy give
me your answer do, / I'm half-crazy ... Daisy, Daisy give me your
answer do ... Daisy, Daisy ... Dai ...' Erosion and the ensuing silence
signal the computer's 'death.' (See G.D. Phillips, Stanley Kubrick: A Film
Odyssey, p. 192.)
Rl: Rhetorical erosion seems intended as a kind of emphasis, or as an
echoing device, or even as a way of pointing to new meanings in the
successive syntagms*. Ex: 'In this restaurant, if you don't eat meat, then
you don't eat.' Ex: '... during those long journeys which we made sepa-
rated from one another, I now know that we were really together, we
were really, we were, we' (P. Eluard, Oeuvres completes, 1:373).
R2: Joyce employs the opposite device which, naturally enough, we
shall call alluvion. Ex: '... outriders leaping, leaping in their, in their
saddles' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 198). An example from modern publicity:
'Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet.' An example combining both erosion and
alluvion:
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
T.S. Eliot, 'Ash Wednesday'
ETYMOLOGY In its 'learned' or strict meaning, etymology consists

of a return to a word's origin (or etymon) so as to comment upon or
modify its meaning*.
Exx: ' Computerists often use the term booting DOS, which comes from
the phrase "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps" ' (D. Berliner,
Managing Your Hard Disk, p. 26); ' "Obscenity" is one of the rare words
which have to be referred to their etymology in order to be granted at
least the spectre of a meaning. Obscenus means inauspicious and it is
perhaps related to caenum, signifying filth' (Anthony Burgess, TLS,
12-18 Feb. 1988, p. 159).
175
Etymology
This relatively rare use of etymology confuses its meaning with that of
the archaism*. But etymology may also be used as an argument*. Ex: '...
the line between poison and medicine is very fine; the Greeks used the
word "pharmacon" for both' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 108). This
is linguistic or formal proof if ever one existed. Plato, and even Aris-
totle, considered it legitimate and for centuries philosophers imagined
they could discern the essence of things from the composition or sound
of words (see Isidore of Seville's Etymologiae and, as late as the seven-
teenth century, comparisons made between English or French and
Hebrew).
The graphic variants used by modern existentialist writers represent
a recent phase of the method. Following Heidegger's example, they
insert new ideas into well-worn words. Ex: 'We thus come to see the
subject as ek-static and an actively transcendental relationship between
the subject and the world' (Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenologie de la
perception, p. 491).
Jean Paulhan's short treatise la. Preuve par I'etymologie ('Proof by
Etymology') seeks to undermine a reader's naive confidence in this
type of proof, which is so close, as he says, to punning. Such proofs
almost always involve unscientific or 'popular' etymology, cases of
paronymic attraction. As Redfern remarks, 'this kind of creative ety-
mology is sometimes called ethymologia' (Puns, p. 86) and leads to
humorous absurdities both intended and involuntary. Exx: '... there
were doctors who refused to accept Freud's clinical proof that men
could have hysteria on the grounds that the word was derived from
•f>crt£pa and could only therefore apply to women' (Molly Mahood,
Shakespeare's Wordplay, p. 170); 'And is not the cat the animal beloved
by the Catharists, who according to Alanus de Insulis are so called
from "catus," because of this beast whose posterior they kiss, con-
sidering it the incarnation of Lucifer' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose,
p. 328).
In rhetoric, etymology is almost always false but, even in the form of
an argument* which proves nothing, remains eloquent. Children realize
this as they explore the lexicon by means of irrefutable rhetorical
etymology. Ex: 'If Mars is the god of war, then a "Mars" bar must be a
deadly weapon.' In the process they discover both language and the
world, that is, the (in)capacity of the one to explain the other. Texts like
Down with Skool by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, 1066 and All
That by W.G. Sellar and R.J. Yeatman, and Sue Townsend's The Secret
Diary of Adrian Mole attempt to reconstruct a world (still latent in
adults) where a child learns even through the whimsical use of words
and their motivation.
Other definition: Marouzeau gives: the combination in the same
construction of words related by etymology (e.g., 'to live one's life') or
176
Euphemism
meaning (e.g., 'sleep the big sleep'). Grammarians more often call the
device an internal complement, which is a form of lexematic emphasis*,
pleonasm* but not perissology*.
Rl: When (false) etymology attacks proper names, it becomes a kind of
compliment or persiflage*. Ex:
Thou, Leonatus, art the lion's whelp.
The fit and apt construction of thy name,
Being Leo-natus, doth impart so much.
Shakespeare, Cymbeline, 5.5.443-5
See agnominatio*.
R2: Etymology is the principal means of remotivating a word (see
remotivation*, Rl). Ex: Derrida's use of the word 'dissemination' to
mean 'the splitting up of semes.' See also battology*, Rl, and homony-
my*, R2.
EUPHEMISM The disguising of disagreeable, odious, or painful

ideas by the use of expressions which do not express such ideas liter-
ally (see Dumarsais, Des Tropes, 2:5). See also Cuddon, Elkhadem, Frye,
Lausberg, Marouzeau, Quillet, Morier, and Robert.
Exx: a growth (cancer); to waste (kill); tickle the ribs (flog); massage
parlour (brothel). See J.S. Neaman and C.G. Silver, Kind 'Words: A
Thesaurus of Euphemisms (1983).
Ex: 'FIGARO [who has just been insulted by the Count]: Those are the
familiar kindnesses with which you have always honoured me' (P. de
Beaumarchais, beginning of Le Barbier de Seville).
Ex:
... everybody gathered to look in the entryway of the Boys' Toilet
when the word went round: Shortie McGill is fucking Franny
McGill!
Brother and sister.
Relations performing.
That was Flo's word for it: perform. (Alice Munro, Trivilege/ in Who
Do You Think You Are?, p. 28)
Synonym: transumption (Fabri, 2:157). See also irony*.
Rl: Euphemism is a kind of attenuation*. Antonym: dysphemism; see
caricature*. It differs from extenuation* (see extenuation, Rl; also
celebration*, R3). It belongs to sublime style. See also grandiloquence*,
Rl.
R2: Euphemistic forms:
177
Euphemism
(a) Metonymy* and metaphor*. Frequent in current expressions. Exx:

'rear end'; 'to go to bed with someone'; 'blossom' (pimple); 'cherry7
(hymen). See also metalepsis*.
(b) Double negation* or negation of the contrary. Ex: 'Republics, the
last, and not the least pernicious form, of authoritarian government'
(G.-A. Lefranqais).
(c) Allusions*. Ex: 'Electronic counter measures or reconnaissance'
(spying).
(d) Implication*. Ex: 'His studies? Well, he works very hard ...' (i.e.,
'that's the most that can be said').
(e) Metaplasm*. Exx: 'vamp' (vampire, seductive woman); 'cripes'
(Christ); 'pee' (piss).
(f) Compound* words. Ex: 'an under-achiever (Pleasant-sounding
expressions exist nowadays to refer to stupidity)' (G. Bessette, Le
Libraire, p. 152).
(g) Ellipsis* or lexical erasure*. Ex: 'Ladies' for 'Ladies' Room,' that is,
lavatory or toilet (both euphemisms, of course).
Euphemism sometimes takes the form of metalepsis* (see metalepsis,
Rl). Implication* or italics make it easier to spot.
R3: Euphemism may cause misinterpretation. Ex: Mary and Joseph
never knew one another before their marriage. It's in the Bible, Dad.'
And so euphemism, to avoid misunderstandings of this sort, some-
times needs to be foregrounded. Ex [in the British Saturday Review in
1861]: 'we encounter ... the miserable Dr. Blandling in what is called ... a
blue funk' (quoted by Neaman and Silver, Kind Words, p. 125).
R4: Euphemism is a factor in semantic deterioration. If we say, so as to
avoid worrying anyone, rather than a disturbing situation, only a serious
situation, we cause serious to lose its meaning (intermediate between
tragic and comic), and it becomes a synonym of grave. Similarly, gay
used to mean 'happy' and was the adjectival form of the noun gaiety.
Homosexual appropriation of the term has compromised the linguistic
structure linking the two forms. When a euphemism is no longer
recognized as such, pejoration results.
R5: On the other hand, if euphemisms are too clearly evident, their
effect, instead of being one of attenuation*, is reversed: this phenome-
non is meiosis*. Ex: 'It isn't very serious. I have this tiny little tumour
on the brain' (J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, p. 55). Metaphors*
and double negation* do not prevent euphemism from acting as a kind
of emphasis*. It may also be foregrounded by the use of preterition*
(see preterition, Rl).
R6: Counter-euphemism exists as a kind of antiphrasis* which uses a
pejorative form to avert the supposed ill luck attached to a meliorative
178
Exclamation
term. A current example in French: 'Les cinq lettres!' (i.e., 'merde') in

place of 'Good luck/ which is believed to be unlucky. Contrast among
English-speaking actors the wishing of ill luck in order to pre-empt
disaster: 'Break a leg!'
EXCLAMATION A form of assertion* characterized graphically by

an exclamation mark (see expressive punctuation*), and orally by a rise
in the voice which is clear but less marked than in a question*. (The
rise in pitch affects the first enunciated vowel and so is usually fol-
lowed by a rapid descent to a lower or concluding pitch. Delattre [see
continuation*] saw the fall as the characteristic feature of exclamation,
which, indeed, allows it to be distinguished from questions*, in which
the rise affects the tonic vowel.) The exclamation principally serves
the emotive (or expressive) function of languge; that is, in the word's
strict sense, the function centred upon the speaker; see enunciation*, 1.
Exclamations are frequently elliptical, use interjections*, and replace
certain lexemes with adjectives, pronouns, or adverbs of interrogative
form. Ex: 'Bless my heart, how very odd! Why, surely there's a brace of
moons! See! the stars! how bright they twinkle ...' (Sir Theodore Martin,
The Lay of the Lovelorn [In Imitation of Tennyson],' in Michael
Roberts, ed., The Faber Book of Comic Verse, p. 152).
Ex:
How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!
Lewis Carroll, 'How doth the little crocodile,' in ibid., p. 187
As the above example shows, the limits between questions and
exclamations are not always clear: it is sometimes possible to sub-
stitute one for the other without harming the overall meaning.
Analogous definitions: Dumarsais, Fontanier (p. 370), Joseph (p. 389),
Lanham, Lausberg (sect. 809), Littre, and Robert define exclamations as
expressions of emotion; this meaning is a more restricted one. Marou-
zeau's definition is more formal: an interjectory word (e.g., 'Hi!') or
simple sentence in which added intonation* makes up for grammatical
insufficiency.
Rl: Any sentence with an exclamation mark added or with an oral
intensive accent* becomes an exclamation: injunctions*, threats*, sup-
plications*, sarcasm*, caricatures*, well-wishing*, celebrations*, insults*,
excuses*, and curses (see blasphemy*, Rl). Even pure exclamations,
empty of explicit content, are possible: applause, whistling of various
kinds, ovations.
179
Excuse
R2: Apostrophes* are followed by exclamations whose principal func-

tion is conative. Compare Jane!' as a greeting with Jane!' as an
expression of surprise at an unexpected meeting.
R3: Exclamations persist in free indirect style. Negative exclamations
may have positive meanings. Exclamations may serve to emphasize
(see emphasis*, R3); they have their own intonation*.
EXCUSE An argument* touching on the speaker's good faith or

goodwill, and offered to avoid possible reproach.
Ex:
I know there are readers in the world ... who find themselves ill at
ease, unless they are let into the whole secret from first to last, of
every thing that concerns you.
It is in pure compliance with this humour of theirs, and from a
backwardness in my nature to disappoint any one soul living, that I
have been so very particular already. (Laurence Sterne, Tristram
Shandy, vol. 1, ch. 4).
Rl: In literary texts, excuses may be addresses to the reader; they are
devices of enunciation* and frequently take the form of parabasis*. But
they may also be purely rhetorical. Ex: In the beginning of the last chap-
ter, I informed you exactly when I was born; - but I did not inform you
how. No; that particular was reserved entirely for a chapter by itself; -
besides, Sir, as you and I are in a manner perfect strangers to each other,
it would not have been proper to have let you into too many circum-
stances relating to myself all at once' (L. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. 1,
ch. 6).
The expression 'Excuse me' implies sorrow which may also produce,
however, recriminations* or refutations*, as may be seen in the expres-
sion 'Excuse me!' meaning '(Please) get out of my way!' An expression
of regret is an unjustified excuse. Ex: 'Philosophy - put my remark
down to my ignorance - seems to me to be in a state of crisis' (Valery,
Oeuvres, 1:799). Some justifications come without an excuse. Ex: ' "Then
why do you want to know?" "Because learning does not consist only
of knowing what we must or we can do, but also of knowing what we
could do and perhaps should not do"' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose,
p. 97). False (or rhetorical) regret accompanies a refusal and adopts a
tone of ironic pleasure. Ex: Tm sorry to have to say this, but you seem
to be confusing objective with subjective.'
Pseudo-justification exists, consisting of excusing oneself without
offering a reason. Ex: 'And it's not my fault if the word immediately
recalls Rimbaud' (Claudel, Oeuvres en prose, p. 258). Pseudo-justification
is natural precisely because speakers feel that they ought to be able
simply to report a criticism without necessarily accepting it. Or they
may excuse self-reference by an ironic gesture or smile, or by the use of
180
Exhortation
an exclamation mark in parentheses. Ex: 'A friend has called me to ask

for some information on my written work (!)' (Michaux, Connaissance
par les gouffres, p. 60, n. 1).par les gouffres, p. 60, n. 1).
R2: One may excuse the choice of a word by the use of an expression
placed after it. Ex: 'Well, I'll be buggered. Excuse my French' (A. La
Bern, Goodbye Piccadilly, p. 220). Common expressions: 'if I may say'; 'if
I may venture to say7; 'forgive me for saying'; etc.
Rhetorical hesitation may be used to introduce and excuse too
learned a word. Ex: 'One sees living coral,... what do you call them? -
madrepores' (Gide, Romans, p. 969).
R3: In the past, excuses were placed at the end of a work, disguised as
farewells: TBxcuse the author's mistakes'; and, in works of piety,
'Brothers, pray for the copyist.' Or they may occupy a place of honour
in the prologue, as they do, albeit in ironic form, in Don Quixote. They
may follow a confession (see concession*, Rl). They have their own
intonation*. They quite properly precede a re-examination of presup-
positions (see finesse*, Rl).
R4: Semi-excuses exist (see preterition*, Rl, and licence*, Rl [correctio]);
as do anticipated excuses (see prolepsis*, Rl).
EXHORTATION A discourse* by means of which a speaker urges a

listener to undertake an action represented as being worthy of merit.
Ex: 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, / Or close the
wall up with our English dead ... / On, on you noblest English :.. / Be
copy now to men of grosser blood ...' (Shakespeare, Henry V, 3.1.1-23).
Ex: 'Of course, if by any chance you think there is a reasonable doubt
in this case you will follow Mr Rumpole's advice and acquit the
defendant Glassworth of this serious charge ... But if you think the
prosecution case is unanswerable ... then it is your plain duty, in
accordance with your oath, to find the defendant guilty as charged'
(John Mortimer, The Trials of Rumpole, p. 172). The use of 'if ...' is here
an attempt to disguise exhortation under a cloak of 'objectivity.'
Analogous terms: conjuration (a solemn appeal in the name of some-
thing sacred); adjuration (a summons or earnest request; the person
making the request may even invoke the divinity. See also well-
wishing*, R2)
Rl: Speakers may exhort themselves to greater efforts (even ironically,
as in the following example):
Be still, be still my soul; it is but for a season;
Let us endure an hour and see injustice done.
A.E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, no. 48
181
Exorcism
EXORCISM A formula or gesture capable of long-range action.

Ex: Abracadabra
Ex: 'He [Salvatore] made a deep bow, muttered through half-closed
lips a "vade retro," devoutly blessed himself, and fled ...' (U. Eco, The
Name of the Rose, p. 48).
Analogous terms: magic spell, incantation, mantra, sorcery, sortilege
Other definitions: a conjuration (see exhortation*); invocation or use of
the holy name to expel evil spirits
EXPLANATION A (frequently brief) discourse* added to certain

assertions* in order to clarify a word or action, etc.
Ex: ' "Do you know, Rapp, what military art is?" he [Napoleon] asked.
"It is the art of being stronger than the enemy at a given moment. Voila
tout! [That's all there is to it!]"' (Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, 2:935).
Ex: 'He kissed her hand and called her you and Sony a. But their eyes
met and said thou, and exchanged tender kisses. Her eyes asked his
forgiveness for having dared, through Natasha, to remind him of his
promise, and thanked him for his love. His were thanking her for
offering him his freedom, and telling her that one way or another he
would never cease to love her' (ibid., 2:352).
Analogous term: scholium (see paraphrase*), a marginal note or
explanatory comment, especially one by an ancient grammarian on a
passage in a classical author (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
Rl: Explanation is one of the mainsprings of the traditional novel. In
the modern novel, since existence precedes essence, the hero acts first
and asks why later, sometimes in vain. An absurd universe provides
no explanations.
When explanations come in the guise of speeches attributed to char-
acters, they are called expositional dialogue. Ex: 'AGNES: I was brushing
my teeth after dinner. It's only the two middle ones that come out - the
rest's my own, what there is, but of course, it's the gap, isn't it?' (Tom
Stoppard, Teeth, in The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays, p. 72). See
also response*, R2; epiphonema*, other def.; and rhythm* (of the action),
Rl.
R2: Explanations may fill whole chapters or treatises, or may be re-
duced to a single parenthetical lexeme. Ex: 'He must, however, have
known other [women] in London' (G. Bessette, L'Incubation, p. 10).
R3: Presuppositions call for explanation. Ex: 'Zola was Zola, i.e., rather
gross as an artist, but with hearty lungs and big fists' (J.-K. Huysmans,
A Rebours, preface). See tautology*, R2. A request for an explanation is
182
Extravagant Comparison
formulated as a request for meaning: 'What does that mean?'

R4: See also interjection*; prophecy*, Rl; reasoning*, R5; response*, R2;
and translation*, R3.
EXTENUATION The substitution, for the real idea under discussion,

of an idea of the same kind but weaker. See Lausberg, Scaliger (3:81),
Le Clerc (p. 300), and Littre.
Ex: 'Disputes ... express nostalgia or aspiration, hope or regret, a malaise
at any rate! (R. Aron, La Revolution introuvable, p. 93).
Synonyms: underrating (OED); diminution (Littre, Quillet); tapinosis
(Paul, p. 172; Preminger)
Antonym: hyperbole*. (Hypobole, which might appear etymologically to
be the opposite of hyperbole and therefore synonymous with extenua-
tion, is in ancient rhetoric a synonym for subjectio, a strategy by which
one advances one's own case by supplying an answer to one's own
question [see Lanham, Lausberg].)
Rl: Extenuation is a form of attenuation* but differs from euphemism*,
which attenuates pejorative connotation rather than force.
R2: Extenuation may be reduced to intonation*, as in some modern
plays, notably those of Beckett.
R3: By repressing expressivity, one surpasses zero-degree banality and
sinks below the level of truism*. Ex: Tanguage recoils from only one
thing, that is, being reduced to silence' (Francis Ponge, Le Parti pris des
choses, p. 136). The device offers the speaker's critics the smallest target
to aim at. When used in evidence, it is a refuge from attack.
R4: Extenuation is standard when one speaks about oneself. Ex: 'With
regard to my moods, I believe I have a right to complain of those who
accuse me of misanthropy and reserve: it seems that not a single one of
them has considered me to be worthy of closer examination' (Jean-
Jacques Rousseau, Correspondance, ed. Dufour, 1:378).
EXTRAVAGANT COMPARISON The qualification or presenta-

tion of an object, idea, argument*, or person as more powerful and
more extraordinary than all others. See Curtius, p. 200.
Exx: '[S.J.] Perelman is, like Groucho himself, at his best when he takes
the figurative literally ... He is at his better than best when he writes
dialogue' (Anthony Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 469);
Thomas Jefferson is, despite his slaves, a transplanted Englishman of
large culture, to whom John Kennedy, honouring forty-nine Nobel
prizemen in 1962, paid the best tribute: "The most extraordinary
collection of human talent ... that has ever been gathered at the White
183
House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined

alone" ' (ibid., p. 228).
Rl: Frequently, the point of comparison* is perfection itself, in which
case we may justly speak of paroxysmal comparison. Exx: 'ALVARO: I
tolerate only perfection' (H. de Montherlant, Le Mattre de Santiago, in
Theatre, p. 627); 'At the least crossing out, the principle of total inspira-
tion is ruined' (P. Eluard, Oeuvres completes, 1:478).
The medieval literary genre panegyric made paroxysmal comparison
the first of its 'commonplaces/ as Curtius shows: 'A favorite piece of
flattery is to the effect that the person celebrated surpasses the gods ...
Walafrid Strabo praises a certain Probus for writing better poetry than
Virgil, Horace [and so on]' (E.R. Curtius, European Literature and the
Latin Middle Ages, pp. 162-3).
A modern (parodic) form combines the medieval gab Can idle vaunt,
a piece of brag or bravado' [OED]) or 'boast' with a comparison of an
idyllic past, productive of a 'superior' brand of individual, to an
inferior present, responsible for the 'effeteness' of modern youth. The
parody* involves turning the idyll into a narrative* incorporating
grotesque claims to a past period of extreme, 'heroic' poverty:
FIRST YORKSHIREMAN: In them days we wuz glad to 'ave the price of a
cuppa tea.
SECOND: A cuppa cold tea.
THIRD: Without milk or sugar.
FOURTH: Or tea.
FIRST: In a cracked cup, an' all.
SECOND: Oh, we never 'ad a cup. We used to 'ave to drink out of a
rolled up newspaper.
THIRD: The best we could manage was to suck on a piece of damp
cloth.
G. Chapman, J. Cleese, T. Gilliam, E. Idle, T. Jones, and M. Palin,
'Four Yorkshiremen' in Monty Python Live at the Theatre Royal,
Drury Lane, Polygram, Charisma Records CA-1-1502
See erasure* of subject.
R2: What distinguishes extravagant from ordinary comparisons is that
the former imply that, by going 'further,' the speaker gets the better of
real or possible addressees (hence the paroxysmal or irrefutable form of
the device).
R3: The principal marks of extravagant comparisons are the compara-
tive and superlative forms; adverbs of liaison like 'not only ... but
more'; expressions such as 'it would be better to say' or 1 would go so
far as to say'; and proverbs like 'Diamond cut diamond' (i.e., wit or
cunning is met by its like). See lexical mirror*, Rl.
184
We may well judge that the whole of the French preciosity move-
ment in the seventeenth century, which was itself the heir of man-
nerism, neo-Platonism, and Platonism, offers an example of generalized
extravagance, both in its content and form, adopted by an aristocratic
group. On the other hand, classical writers considered such excessive
attention to detail an affectation and so a lack of naturalness. See
baroquism* and Lausberg, p. 523.
R4: Like gradatio*, which ascends to a climax or descends to an
anticlimax*, extravagant comparisons may also produce diminutions.
Ex: 'But he had only been in Prussia - and then only on the front' (A. I.
Solzhenitsyn, The First Circle, p. 11). Another kind of extravagant
comparison is the hypercorrection, as a result of which, by striving to
speak more correctly than others, one falls into error. Ex: ' "Ah, my
dear vicomte," put in Anna Pavlovna, "Urope" (for some reason she
pronounced it Urope as if it were a special refinement of French which
she could allow herself in conversing with a Frenchman), "Urope will
never be a sincere ally of ours" ' (Tolstoy, War and Peace, 1:429).
Extravagant comparisons may also take the form of corrections. See
self-correction*, Rl.
If it ends tautologically, an extravagant comparison is anticlimactic.
Ex: 'A strange business ... I could say more: this business is really ... er
... strange.'
One may also present in a comparison* the weaker term as the
stronger, which produces ironic implications*. Ex: 'It is worse than a
crime, it is a blunder' (Boulay de la Meurthe, on hearing of the execu-
tion of the Due d'Enghien in 1804).
R5: Irony*, triplication*, and foregrounding* combine in the deflation of
extravagant comparisons in the following anecdote:
In the late seventeenth century, the finest instruments originated
from three rival families whose workshops were side by side in the
Italian village of Cremona.
First were the Amatis, and outside their shop hung a sign: 'The
best violins in all Italy/ Not to be outdone, their next-door neigh-
bours, the family Guarnarius, hung a bolder sign proclaiming: The
best violins in all the world.'
At the end of the street was the workshop of Anton Stradivarius,
and on its front door was a simple notice which read: The best
violins on the block/ (Freda Bright, Decisions, p. 121)
185
F
FALSE - Since most devices have both a form and a meaning, it is
possible to separate the former from the latter. Thus a familiar form
may have a new meaning: this is artifice. Ex: the kind of question
known as rhetorical (or false) because it hides an assertion. The kind of
etymology* by means of which one changes the meaning* of a word
while pretending to be simply going back over its semantic evolution is
false or vulgar etymology to the linguist. Quotations* may be invented
according to need. Personification* is always false because it presents
inanimate objects or ideas as people. Permissio* is a false permission, as
the latter term is usually understood. The open letter is only formally a
letter addressed to a single receiver since in reality it is a public text.
Synonyms: mere (as in expressions like 'mere sophistry'; see conces-
sion*, R3); rhetorical (in the term's pejorative sense); figurative (see
comparison*, Rl); oratorical
Rl: Some false figures have been specifically named. Preterition* is
false reticence; prosopopoeia*, false apostrophe*; subjectio, false dia-
logismus;; litotes*, false attenuation*; licence*, false encouragement
given to oneself; asteismus*, false insult* or false sarcasm*; parody*,
false imitation*; adynaton*, pure hyperbole*; pretext*, a false reason.
R2: The discovery of numerous cases of sham figures may have caused
critics to declare all rhetoric false and to add that, as such, it is a form
of composition capable only of producing deviation from 'normal'
language, a fact which deprives the text of the truth conferred by
natural forms. Thus, Valery quotes the following remarks from Mal-
larme's table-talk: 'Art is false! and he explains how an artist is one
only when at his best and when making an effort of will' (P. Valery,
Oeuvres, 2:1226).
From there to a condemnation of both art and poetics there is but
one step, which has often been taken throughout history. But it is a fact
that such so-called falseness is itself most often false: it only seems to
simulate. Artifice which fools no one is honest: simulation* becomes
pseudo-simulation*.
Truly false devices do exist nevertheless, such as sophisms*, which
are intended to trick. And to specious arguments* correspond apparent
refutations*, which simulate falseness. 'It is unwise and naive to refute
seriously an argument that is not serious' (Chaignet, La Rhftorique et son
histoire, p. 152).
There also exist true devices necessary to meaning that therefore are
the opposite of pure figures. True prosopopoeia* (see prosopopoeia,
R2) is a form of delirious exaltation. Hypotyposis* becomes 'evocation'
186
Fantastic (The)
(see prosopopoeia, R3). Is not any means a good one which achieves its
objective (since no utterance is entirely aimless)?
R3: When falseness becomes a value in itself and is turned into an art-
object, it is kitsch. The deliberate display of art's artifice is known as
foregrounding* the illusion.
R4: The parading of devices (see baroquism*, R5) and, more recently,
forms like surrealistic substitution*, 'potential' literature, and dissemi-
nation systematize formal transformation. Computers may well pro-
duce curious new developments in this area.
FANTASTIC (THE) The representation as real of an episode incom-

patible with reality.
Ex: 'As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he
found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect' (Franz
Kafka, The Metamorphosis,' in The Complete Stories, ed. N. Glatzer,
p. 75).
The presence of any supernatural being serves to define the fantastic.
Ex: 'And suddenly, to my intense dismay, there was - right before me
in the Chapel - a red dragon, having seven heads and seven horns,
and seven crowns upon his heads ... "O the Devil!" I exclaimed ...
"Great Lord, what is your will?"' (Robertson Davies, 'When Satan
Goes Home for Christmas/ in High Spirits, p. 55).
When overdone, the fantastic degenerates into mere phantasmagori-
cal hyperbole*. The evanescent variety of fantastic narrative* presents
ghosts, hallucinations, apparitions, and so on, as in the following
parody*. Ex: 'But Malachias' tale began to freeze them with horror. He
conjured up the scene before them. The secret panel beside the chim-
ney slid back and in the recess appeared - Haines! Which of us did not
feel his flesh creep! He had a portfolio of Celtic literature in one hand,
in the other a phial marked Poison' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 336).
Rl: We need to distinguish between the fantastic proper and the purely
fictional which does not pretend to be faithful to reality but rather
foregrounds the fictional illusion itself. Ex: Alphonse Allais has a
Swedish narrator who tells the story of drownings caused by the
overflow from a water-colour representing the sea, which was painted,
it should be pointed out, by an artist who used seawater in his water-
colours (La Barbe et autres contes, p. 112).
R2: Fairy stories, which used to be 'dramatic works founded on mar-
vels' (Benac), have turned from the fantastic into mere fiction and have
nowadays come to mean 'irrational and poetic worlds' (Cocteau) where
surrealists like Cocteau are quite at home. Ex: 'Now there is no longer
anyone in Paris except an old dead grocer's wife whose face is soaking
187
Final Word
in a fruit-dish full of cream smiles' (R. Desnos, Penalties de I'enfer,

quoted in P. Berger, Robert Desnos, p. 115). So mirages and illusions,
analogical or simulated, link up with dreams which, because they
represent themselves as such, are not really fantastic. Ex: 1 have been
turned into a number. I am falling down a well which is also a piece of
paper, passing in and out of equations' (R. Desnos, 'Reves/ quoted in
Berger, Robert Desnos, p. 114).
R3: The English gothic novel is a species of the fantastic with witches,
dark forests, twisted trees, spider webs, and haunted houses, which
Jane Austen parodied in Northanger Abbey.
R4: See also image*, Rl, and prosopopoeia*, R3.
FINAL WORD A work's last word, phrase, or sentence, which

leaves the reader with a certain impression (see plan*) and which forms
a sign of completion.
Ex: the words 'The End' or 'Curtain'
Common forms: 'that's it, finished'; 'that's all (there is)'; 'one more
thing and that's all'; 'that's all folks!' (the sign-off to the 'Loony Tunes'
series of cartoons). In fairy stories: 'They all lived happily ever after-
wards and had lots of children.'
Exx: 'It is cold in the scriptorium, my thumb aches. I leave this manu-
script, I do not know for whom; I no longer know what it is about: stat
rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose,
p. 502); 'Moral: there exist obsessive ideas, they are never personal;
books talk among themselves, and any true detection should prove that
we are the guilty party' (U. Eco, Postscript to "The Name of the Rose,'
p. 81). See also punch* line, R2.
Rl: There frequently exists between a work's title and its final word a
connection which displays the text's closed nature. Sartre's Age of
Reason ends with the hero reflecting: 1 have attained the age of reason.'
In oral literature, the work's first sentence is often repeated. See
inclusion*.
lonesco has shown the pure contingency of endings by repeating the
first scene at the end of The Lesson and The Bald Soprano. Calvino, on
the other hand, draws from the work's own logic the necessity of
making an end. On the final page of his novel, he puts the following
words into the mouth of his 'Reader,' who has married Ludmilla, one
of the characters:
Ludmilla closes her book, turns off her light, puts her head back
against the pillow, and says, 'Turn off your light, too. Aren't you
tired of reading?'
188
Flashback
And you say, Just a moment, I've almost finished If on a Winter's

Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino.'
R2: The text's final word is not the last word: that belongs to the reader.
R3: See point*, Rl.
FINESSE (Fr. impasse) The analytic distinction between affirmation

and presupposition (see assertion*, R4) explains various devices,
particularly the finesse. Finesse consists in treating as basic presupposi-
tions ideas known to be contrary to those of one's opponent, whom
one thus seeks to oblige to accept them implicitly, or to take up once
again points of violent disagreement, a procedure which may appear
tactless or aggressive. (See Ducrot, Dire et ne pas dire, pp. 95-7.)
Ex [to a friend just eighteen]: 'So? Did they let you in last night?' (to
find out whether he went to see an 'adult' film).
Analogous terms: 'trick' questions*; hidden presupposition
Rl: The device is called a 'finesse' by analogy with the stratagem or
ploy used in bridge.
R2: An excuse* is often used before an answer which returns to what
has been presupposed. Tom says to Dick, who suspects that Harry will
be coming: 'I'm sorry, Harry won't be coming.' (See Ducrot, Dire et ne
pas dire, p. 92.)
R3: The finesse is a trap or pitfall set in order to cause an opponent to
lose face. Ex: In a French classroom, a boy asks his lady teacher to
translate the English sentence 1 have the five roses' (7'ai les cinq
roses'), a syntagm* which in French can be treated as being homony-
mous with 1 have pink breasts.'
FLASHBACK (Fr. dechronologie) A narrative reversion to previous

events.
Ex: 'Even now, bereft in what might not be for much longer her own
kitchen, Helen had to hold back a little yelp of laughter as she remem-
bered the mild way in which he had said, 'There's no hurry, is there?"
and the incredulity she must have shown as he continued' (Dennis
Potter, Ticket to Ride, p. 157).
Analogous terms: analepsis (Genette); retro-narrative. See also re-
minder*.
Antonyms: flash-forward*, anticipation, prolepsis*
Rl: Flashbacks differ from simple references to a past event, in which
case the narrative present, or allocentric anchorage (see narrative*),
189
Flashback
does not change. (See, for example, anamnesis*.) In Potter's text,

quoted above, 'she remembered' produces a different anchoring, which
serves to situate the other tenses used (particularly 'he had said'),
placed at the moment when Helen's husband, John, speaks, not at the
moment when Helen 'had to hold back' her laughter, and so when she
remembers having (probably) had the thought. Which is to say that a
flashback supposes that the narrative presents the previous episode as
a relived scene. See reactualization*, 7.
The scene is often presented as a short reminiscence, or 'flash,'
inserted between two actions and attributed to a character. Thus, by a
sort of dreamlike hallucination, Elisabeth, stretched on her servant
Leontine's bed, slips back to the time of her childhood and imagines
herself back in the house where her aunts raised her:
It's very strange. Leontine's things are slowly changing ... The para-
phernalia of the rich and saintly old spinsters is now spread out on
Leontine's dresser ... The treasures of my aunts, the three little
Lanouette sisters, are laid out on the white-veined black marble. (A.
Hebert, Kamouraska, pp. 41-2)
If the retrospective movement is not attributed to a character, then the
author must assume responsibility for it, and thus be revealed more or
less explicitly, as in folk-tales where the story-teller's interventions are
essential.
In A la recherche du temps perdu, the author presents himself as a
character and forms a kind of intermediate narrator. In adventure novels
for children, the narrative* sometimes personifies its young readers,
allowing them, as it were, to take up a position inside a character who
asks questions to which flashbacks and flash-forwards offer answers.
One might therefore say that there exists also an intermediate reader.
In the detective novel, on the other hand, in which suspense* must
be maintained, it is common practice to hide the hero's correct guesses
from the reader. Thus, when Lemmy Caution, the intermediate narrator
of P. Cheyney's Poison Ivy, goes alone into the house occupied by
Rudy's gang, he already knows that he can count on Carlotta, Rudy's
mistress, a fact about which he carefully omits to inform the reader
(see Poison Ivy, ch. 8). Genette has named such an omission in a nar-
rated episode paralipsis. (For a different meaning of the term, see
preterition*.)
R2: A flashback to an already narrated episode is repetitive and con-
stitutes a reminder*.
R3: Flashbacks are rarely disorderly; they substitute logical or psycho-
logical order for chronology. Ex: 'By that time, Florentine had begun to
watch for the arrival of the young man who, the night before, among
many teasing remarks, had led her to understand that he found her
190
Flash-Forward
pretty' (G. Roy, Bonheur d'occasion, p. 11). The scene of the previous
evening is recalled just as Florentine 'surprises herself and then dis-
covers the cause of her surprise.
FLASH-FORWARD The insertion in the story-telling process of a

scene which happened after the event currently being related.
Ex: "The daughter [Mile de Saint-Loup] whose name and fortune
permitted her mother the hope that she would marry a prince of the
blood ... later chose as husband an obscure man of letters, and thus
dragged the family down to a lower rank than that from which she
had started' (Proust, A la recherche du temps perdu, 3:1028).
Synonyms: anticipation (Fr.); prolepsis* (Genette)
Antonyms: flashback*; analepsis (Genette)
Other definitions: See prolepsis*.
Rl: The flash-forward skips forward in 'story-time' without affecting
the time of narration. It does so by conserving the one while at the
same time remodelling (through the use of the adverb 'later') the
latter's allocentric anchorage. Its temporality distinguishes it from
expectations, forecasts, declarations of intent, and promises (see pro-
phecy*, Rl), which, because they are centred in the narrator's deictic
'here and now' and because they are expressed by a future tense, the
reader cannot accept as certain. Such expected events may not in fact
come to pass. Ex: 'The day will come when the dancer in me will
escape by shedding its hard skin, and my real legs will leave on the
bed the withered scales rendering them immobile' (A. Hebert, 'L'Ange
de Dominique,' in Le Torrent, p. 112). Such is the conviction held by a
young invalid obsessed by her desire to be a dancer. Dickens fore-
grounds the difference between flash-forward and forecast in A Christ-
mas Carol through the device of the 'Ghost of Christmas yet to come/
who 'shows' Scrooge what will happen if he does not change his ways.
In a story told in the past tense, the future becomes the conditional (or
'future in the past') retaining the same temporal value. Delexicalized,
or 'prospective' (Benveniste), forms like those which say an event 'was
to' or 'was going' to happen are also found. Ex: The commercial
struggle in the Mediterranean Basin was not to cease before the fall of
Carthage.'
These two future modes may be conferred on the author, who will
then play the prophet within the story. We might call this effect
'pseudo-prophecy,' a novelistic trick whose main advantage is that it
leaves unchanged the story-time's allocentric anchorage. Ex [Renata has
gone into a convent]: 'She still thought about Mauricio Babilonia, about
his oily perfume and the butterflies which fluttered around him, and
191
Flash-Forward
she would continue to think about him every day of her life until that
autumn dawn still far off when she would die of old age, with an
identity different from her own and without having said a word, in
some dismal hospital in Cracow' (Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years
of Solitude, p. 275).
The use of the flash-forward does not necessarily risk leading the
reader astray because of the changes of temporal coherence it intro-
duces into a narrative*. Historians too indulge in prolepsis*, as in the
following account of the rivalry between two early explorers of the
Canadian North: 'Neither man would realise his goal. [James] Knight
was to die on one of Hudson Bay's bleakest outcroppings; [Henry]
Kelsey would be recalled to England under a cloud of unsubstantiated
suspicion and vanish from the Company's books with no official
mention of his thirty-eight year loyal service' (Peter C. Newman,
Company of Adventurers, p. 293).
R2: The science-fiction novel is anchored in a real present. It would be
logical in the genre to use the future tense, the time both of its 'science'
and of its 'fiction.' But such is not the common convention. Futurists
hold fast to past tenses (the 'past historic' in English, the passe" simple in
French, for example), which are narrative tenses probably because such
tenses imply a greater degree of 'reality7 than does the future.
Considered carefully, however, such past tenses anchor readers at a
point so hypothetical, so far from the future, that they must begin to
feel blase, accustomed as they soon become to the strangest inventions,
which seem already dated. The author must therefore present as quite
natural inventions which need detailed description*, since such descrip-
tions form essential characteristics of the genre. The use of the future
tense would cancel the dilemma; even the present tense might be
enough. Ex: "This is a new camera. The picture develops automatically.
There's no need to do anything' (P. Claudel, Protle, in Theatre, 2:406).
Temporal displacement is scarcely perceptible here. It might even be
possible to claim that there is in fact no temporal displacement, given
that the camera in question has in fact been invented by the Polaroid
Company since Protee spoke these words.
R3: The announcement*, which reduces a flash-forward to a summary,
is a declaration of authorial intent; hence the introductory formula: 'It
will be seen later that ...' The offer of a curiosity-provoking glimpse of
future events is a kind of bait, also called a 'hook,' when used as an
introductory trailer to films or television dramas. The device is also
used constantly in the final picture(s) of weekly cartoon serials, in
illustrated story magazines, and at the end of chapters in detective
fiction. Ex: 'Somehow I gotta hunch that I'm goin' to get some place
with this job soon' (P. Cheyney, Poison Ivy, end of ch. 6). The bait in
this case is only a false lure since there are nine subsequent chapters.
192
Foregrounding
FLIP-FLOP In two syntactically identical verbal sequences, two

elements having the same function are exchanged.
Ex:
Yes I have a glass leg
and I have a wooden eye.
J. Prevert, La Pluie et le beau temps, p. 9
The device tends to produce a brand-new meaning. Ex: 'In the poet's
case / The ear speaks, / The mouth listens' (P. Valery, Oeuvres, 2:547).
But the most common effect is humorous. Exx: 'I have ears to speak
and you have a mouth to hear me' (A. Jarry, Ubu roi, p. 103); 'Cross the
i's and dot the t's.'
Another definition: The displacement of lexemes (e.g., that of the verb
by its extension and conversely) during translation; 'blown away,' from
'emporte par le vent' (literally, 'carried off by the wind'). See Vinay
and Darbelnet, sect. 88.
Rl: The term chass£-crois£ ('set to partners') comes from the Larousse du
xxe siecle , where it designates a traditional dance figure: 'two couples
placed face to face ... the gentlemen go off right, behind the ladies,
while the ladies pass in front of them on their left.'
R2: The flip-flop resembles hypallage*, syntactic scrambling*, and the
mistake*. Ex: 'Could a swim duck' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 257). See also
permutation*.
R3: The device is possible in narrative*. O. Henry has a marvellous
example, as Andre Breton reports: the meeting of a young servant girl
pretending to be a millionairess with an extremely rich heir pretending
to be a waiter (Anthologie de I'humour noir, p. 247). Equally familiar is
the situation of the eponymous heroes in the operetta Cox and Box,
which Sir Francis Cowley adapted from a farce by J.M. Morton and to
which Sullivan contributed the music. Actants* may thus exchange
functions, as P. Maranda has shown (in Chabrol, ed., Se"miotique narra-
tive et textuelle, p. 133). He proposed the term flip-flop, which comes
from data-processing, for the figure.
FOREGROUNDING For a device to be foregrounded (B. Tomachev-

sky, in Todorov, ed., Theorie de la litterature, p. 300), it must first be
false in the rhetorical sense of the term (see false -*); then the author
must display with satisfaction the artifice, emphasizing that it forms a
trick of the trade.
Ex [in the middle of a description of the hero's mother]: 'Description of
physical appearances and mannerisms is one of several standard
methods of characterization used by writers of fiction' (John Barth, Lost
in the Funhouse, pp. 73-4).
193
Foregrounding
Ex: 'Corollary to the relative fictive law of absolute uniqueness is the

simultaneity effect, which is to fiction what Miriam Heisenberg's law is
to physics. It means that any character can appear simultaneously, in as
many fictions as the random may require. This corollary is unsettling
and need not concern us other than to note, in passing, that each
reader, like each writer, is, from different angles and at different times,
in a finite number of different narratives where he is always the same
but always different. We call this apres post-structuralism' (Gore Vidal,
Duluth, p. 20).
Rl: The device is common in contemporary literature. Ex: 'At this rate
our hero, at this rate our protagonist will remain in the funhouse
forever. Narrative ordinarily consists of alternating dramatization and
summarization' (J. Earth, Lost in the Funhouse, p. 78).
R2: Even mistakes* may be foregrounded. Ex: 'Henry was his father's
son and it were time for him to go into his father's business of Brum-
mer Striving. It wert a farst dying trade which was fast dying' (John
Lennon, In His Own Write, p. 66).
R3: Tomachevsky (p. 301) describes as follows the foregrounding of
other writers' devices: 'An author seeks to ridicule the opposing
literary school, to unveil and destroy its creative system.' This is
pastiche. See parody*.
Or else one pours irony* on facile journalistic hyperbole*. Ex: The
highest tide this century (That's the fifteenth I've seen) ... Each highest
tide of the century breaks my poor heart' (A. Allais, La Barbe et autres
contes, pp. 111-12).
R4: Foregrounding a cliche* (see cliche, R4) is a common form of word-
play*. Ex: 'It's a step forward for the human spirit, always supposing
that the human spirit is two-footed like the human body and like it
capable of taking steps' (R. Queneau, Saint-Glinglin, p. 25). The simplest
way to compose a conundrum is to foreground a figurative expression:
'the foot of the mountain ... becomes a conundrum if I ask: "What has
a foot and can't walk?" ' (A. Jolles, Formes simples, pp. 115-16).
R5: Were it intended, involuntary foregrounding would produce wit*.
Ex: 'Cannabis grows wild on many Himalayan hillsides: it will be
difficult to eradicate the evil [the growing of the weed] at its root.'
(True enough!) See tautology* and counter-pleonasm*.
A speaker has only to indicate he is conscious of a mistake* for it to
be taken as deliberate. Ex: 'A boy with such a fine future before him.
Before him, naturally, not behind' (R. Queneau, Saint-Glinglin, p. 55).
Before him is redundant. Queneau is here treating a current expression
ironically. Foregrounding of quotations* also occurs. See substitution*,
R2.
194
G
GALLICISM A peregrinism* taken from French.
Exx: 'For a moment the gunslinger felt mixed feelings of nostalgia and
fear, stitched in with an eerie feeling of deja vu' (Stephen King, The
Dark Tower (i): The Gunslinger, p. 48). Some authors retain the accents*
from the French original: 'Deja vu haunted me beside the silent,
gleaming pipelines' (Douglas B. Lee, 'An Arctic Dilemma/ National
Geographic, Dec. 1988, p. 864).
Gallicisms include English words deriving from French (like debonair,
from the Old French de bon aire, 'of good disposition'), as well as those
which have only recently become part of current English usage (like
couturier, haute couture) and those for which no exact English equivalent
exists: blase, naif, ballet, coupon, bistro, cafe, etc. M. Kington's Let's Parler
Franglais and Let's Parler Franglais Again (1981,1982) parody naive or
ignorant combinations of bilingual 'faux-amis' (see anglicism*), syntactic
infelicities, or false cognates. Agatha Christie constructed her stereo-
typical detective, Hercule Poirot, on gallicisms. As well as possessing
several comic characteristics (vanity, fastidiousness) which her narrator
believed to be typically Gallic, Poirot has frequent recourse both to
French words and to gallicisms in his conversation without, of course,
allowing them to impede the reader's desire to know 'whodunnit':
'I thank you, no,' said Poirot, rising. 'All my excuses for having
deranged you.' ...
'The word derange,' I remarked ... 'is applicable to mental disorder
only.'
'Ah!' cried Poirot, 'never will my English be quite perfect. A
curious language. I should then have said disarranged, n'est-ce pasT
'Disturbed is the word you had in mind.'
'I thank you my friend. The word exact, you are zealous for it.'
(Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, p. 180)
Rl: Foreign elements penetrate more or less completely. Cafe, in which
the French accent* is commonly pronounced in English as a y, has thus
lost its French sound, and familiar usage sometimes reduces it further,
especially in the U.K., to 'caff/ Some gallicisms only involve syntax (e.g.,
'the word exact').
When a word exists in both languages but with different meanings
the result is a semantic gallicism. Ex: The ascension of Everest' (for
'ascent'). Graphic gallicisms include extraordinaire, ide'al, rdle.
195
Gauloiserie
R2: All that is necessary to turn a gallicism into a literary device is that
it be expressive. Ex: 'But the Ambassador was unperturbed. "I think
otherwise our President will be very hurt. Not personally, but as a
snurb to France." I think he meant snub. It sounded like "snurb," but I
don't know what a snurb is' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, Yes Prime Minister,
2:90). A gallicism's characteristic connotation is frequently evocative.
Ex: bonne bouche, a tidbit reserved for last, suggests the delights of
French cuisine.
R3: Gallicisms, like anglicisms*, are sometimes a matter of pure (or
parodic) snobbery. Ex: 'Sergeant Bird, so wittily nicknamed Oiseau'
(Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 50). Fowler (p. 219) gave
the following examples which involve the literal translation of French
words or idioms: '(to) jump or leap to the eyes, to the foot of the letter, give
furiously to think, knight of industry, daughter of joy, gilded youth, the half-
world, do one's possible, to return to our muttons, suspicion (= soup$on), and
success of esteem.' Although some of his examples are no longer current
(if indeed they ever were), one sees what he means.
GAULOISERIE 'Jovialiiy in the excess of realism concerning the

physical aspect of love' (Sebeok, ed., Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics,
p. 825); amusing anecdotes of a Gallic nature; that is, frank, free, and
'spicy' (Harrap's New Standard French and English Dictionary).
Ex: 'And I have a heart as big / As a Damascene lady's ass' (G. Apol-
linaire, Oeuvres po&iques, p. 53).
Other names: risque stories, smut
Rl: See slang*, Rl; spoonerism*; intonation*; and vulgarism*, Rl.
GEMINATION Doubling of the first syllable in formations like

geegee, bebete, and fifille (Marouzeau, second meaning). See also Robert.
Ex: "The jejune Jesuit' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 4).
Other definitions: 'Rhet. The immediate repetition of a word or phrase,
or the using of a pair of synonymous expressions, for the purpose of
rhetorical effect [e.g., "My God, my God"]. Gram. a. The doubling of an
originally single consonant sound, b. The doubling of a letter in the
orthography of a word' (OED). Marouzeau proposes the terms dittology
and dittography to cover the two forms within the grammatical concept.
Double consonants belong among the many graphic forms of emphasis*.
Rl: Gemination, like aphaeresis*, is a characteristic of childish lan-
guage. Exx: 'beddybyes'; 'geegee'; Jacob Two-Two and the dinosaur'
(Mordecai Richler). It therefore is a common way of forming dimin-
utives. Exx: Jon-Jon, Lulu, Fifi.
196
Generalization
R2: Gemination easily takes on pejorative overtones, as in the example

quoted from Joyce.
GENERALIZATION A generalization, in the term's current mean-

ing, extends over a large number of cases an observation which has
only been verified in a few, sometimes only in a single one. (Ab uno
disce omnes.)
Ex: 'All the swans I've seen are white. All swans are white.'
Rl: Skilful generalization is related to scientific induction and moves
fiction towards applied psychology. Ex: 'A classical understanding sees
the world primarily as underlying form itself. A romantic understand-
ing sees it primarily in terms of immediate appearance' (Robert Pirsig,
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 61). But in rhetoric as in
everyday conversation, the abuse of generalization is the rule because
speakers argue emotionally. Exx: "The best students always are flunk-
ing. Every good teacher knows that' (ibid., p. 124); '... in fact any two
frames of reference can be made to yield a comic effect of sorts by
hooking them together and infusing a drop of malice. The frames may
even be defined by such abstract concepts as "time" and "weather":
the absent-minded professor who tries to read the temperature from
his watch or to tell the time from a thermometer is comic' (Arthur
Koestler, 'Humour and Wit,' Encyclopaedia Britannica [1974], 20:741).
R2: When pushed to absurd limits, generalization becomes a rhetorical
trick, a device for securing emphasis*: this is the pseudo-generalization.
Ex (a current example incorporating antimetabole*): 'When the going
gets tough, the tough get going/ Ex: There is, in fact, no formal dif-
ference between inability to define and stupidity' (R. Pirsig, Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 185).
R3: It is generalization of a personal subject which produces distanc-
ing*. See also epiphonema*, other def., and monologue*, Rl.
R4: Generalizations are obtained by combining actualizing terms (e.g.,
the, all, each, every) with abstract lexemes. Ex: Tet each man kills the
thing he loves ...' (O. Wilde, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol'). Concrete
images* also produce them. Ex: There are few moments in a man's
existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets
with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his
own hat' (Dickens, Pickwick Papers, ch. 4). Conversely, particularizations
come from sentences which begin with concrete terms and often with
actualizing forms like a, some, my, your, I think, It seems to me, or In my
opinion. However, the proposition which follows such a form may
remain general in scope.
R5: Generalizations tend towards reductionism. Ex: The whole of
197
Gesture
Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind is nothing more than the description

and history of the various figures of unfortunate consciousness' (J.-M.
Palmier, Sur Marcuse, pp. 122-3). This is no mere attenuation*, as
occurs in the case of concretization* (see concretization, Rl); the gene-
ralization here distorts the datum.
R6: Diegetic generalizations consist in narrating only once something
which happened several times. G. Genette showed the frequency of
what he calls 'iterative narrative*' in Proust. Ex: 'For a long time, I used
to go to bed early.' Iterative or frequentative aspects of narrative* are
marked in English and in French by adverbs which define the overall
duration, rhythm of occurrence, and extension of repeated units (e.g.,
'last year,' 'every other day,' 'each summer'). The 'repetitive' imperfect
tense, if used with sufficient frequency, marks the change from indirect
to direct speech (see narrative*), within which framework the verb
becomes a general past tense.
GESTURE A signifying movement, capable of announcing, illustrat-

ing, or replacing a sentence, or of serving to describe or interpret
something.
Ex:
INT. TRAIN. DAY
The compartment is full, six passengers. Four of them are 'LOCALS/ includ-
ing one pretty GIRL. The fifth is COMISKY, an American salesman ...
COMISKY concentrates on the GIRL, who is wearing a fur hat... COMISKY
takes her hat and puts it on his head. He prevents her from snatching it
back.
COMISKY: I will take you home to America. I love you. Mrs Comisky
will learn to love you, give her time.
(He brushes aside interruptions and defends the hat.)
I love you. Is this man your husband? Forget him.
(He kisses her hand gallantly. She snatches her hat back. He takes a swig
from a proffered bottle.)
Tom Stoppard, Neutral Ground, a Screenplay,
in The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays, p. Ill
Ex: 'Casting my eyes along the street at a certain point of my progress,
I beheld Trabb's boy approaching, lashing himself with an empty blue
bag ... suddenly the knees of Trabb's boy smote together, his hair
uprose, his cap fell off, he trembled violently in every limb, staggered
out into the road, and crying to the populace, "Hold me! I'm so fright-
ened!" feigned to be in a proxysm of terror and contrition, occasioned
by the dignity of my appearance. As I passed him, his teeth loudly
chattered in his head, and with every mark of extreme humiliation, he
prostrated himself in the dust' (Dickens, Great Expectations, ch. 30).
198
Gibberish
Rl: There are 'gestures' which only involve the face: these involve
mimicry or dumb show. Others are too far removed from the subject
described to have any meaning except in the mind of an observer. Ex:
'A person who watched the interview between the dead and the living,
scrupled not to affirm, that, at the instant when the clergyman's fea-
tures were disclosed, the corpse had slightly shuddered, rustling the
shroud and muslin cap, though the countenance retained the com-
posure of death' (N. Hawthorne, 'The Minister's Black Veil').
R2: Mime is theatre without words. When the action is comic (as in the
Italian theatre), it is pantomime, in that term's extended meaning.
Interjections* partake of both gestures and words. See also monologue*,
Rl; parataxis*, R2; and symbol*, 2.
R3: Some codification of gestures seems to have established a more or
less international language, particularly in the case of 'pre-linguistic'
gestures, which signify attitudes underlying sentences: see monologue*,
Rl. Thus a reader of Stoppard's screenplay may decode without great
difficulty movements indicated simply by the generic expression
(gesture) and which remain undescribed. R.L. Birdwhistell (Intro-
duction to Kinesics [1952]) and Desmond Morris (Manwatching: A field
Guide to Human Behaviour [1980]) offer explanations of a large corpus of
international gestures.
R4: All gestures, even the smallest, such as moving closer or further
away and staring or averting the eyes, modify the respective situations
of the speakers. Exx: see celebration*, Rl; euphemism*, R2; excuse*, Rl;
exorcism*; and reactualization*, 2.
GIBBERISH (Fr. baragouin) Phonetic or lexical deformation, which

aims at creating the impression that one is speaking a foreign language,
whereas in reality the text is decodable by reference to one's native
language.
Ex: ' "You zee," said he, "it iz te bess vor zit still; and now" you shall
know who I pe. Look at me! zee! I am te Angel ov te Odd!"' (E.A. Poe,
'The Angel of the Odd'). See also reactualization*, 5.
Other definition: Incorrect and unintelligible language (Concise Oxford
Dictionary; Petit Robert). This broader sense is current (see phoebus*).
Synonyms: counterfeit language; hybridization (see peregrinism*, R3);
jargon* (in the broad sense)
Rl: The simplest form of gibberish occurs as a device of peregrinated
pronunciation. Ex: Wurn dayee abaout meeddayee Ahee got eentoo a
buss ...' (R. Queneau, 'For ze Frrensh,' in Exercises in Style, p. 169).
Inspector Clouseau, the character created by Peter Sellars in the series
199
Glossolalia
of films involving the Tink Panther/ also spoke in this way ('I haave a
buuuhmp on my 'ead/ etc.).
R2: There exists a counter-gibberish that consists in conferring the
appearance of a particular language on a text which in reality is only
decodable by reference to some other language or set of procedures. In
chapter 6 of Rabelais's Pantagruel, for instance, a student of Talme,
incylt et celebre academic que 1'on vocite Lutece' speaks a Latinized
form of French.
More subtle is the 'langage paralloidre' invented by A. Martel (re-
viewed by E. Souriau, in the Revue d'esth&ique [1965], pp. 38-9). Ex: 'Le
Mirivis des naturgies' means 'le Miroir Merveilleux du Visage des
Surgies de la Nature' ('the marvellous mirror of the Face of Nature's
Surges'). This is glossolalia*.
R3: Texts produced by automatic writing, from which the intention to
communicate almost disappears, allow expression of an instance of the
Self (or Not-Self) analogous perhaps to the instance which surfaces in
glossolalia*.
GLOSSOLALIA Verbigeration* of a religious nature. It occurs in a

situation and before a public which confer on it a function of prophe-
cy* or prayer*. Although unintelligible and structureless, the unintel-
ligibility is made intelligible at the level of the enunciation*, both from
the point of view of production and reception. The perception of
meaning* in such a discourse* signals membership of the charismatic
movement.
Expression: 'the gift of tongues' (Paul of Tarsus, Epistles)
Rl: Literary examples include Lucky's speech in act 2 of Beckett's
Waiting for Godot. Some poetic texts may come close to glossolalia. Ex:
In the world which He has created according to his will Blessed
Praised
Magnified Lauded Exalted the Name of the Holy One Blessed is He!
Allen Ginsberg, 'Hymmnn,' in
Ellmann, ed., The Oxford Book of American Verse, p. 928
R2: See also gibberish*, R2, and pseudo-language*, R3.
GRADATIO 'The presentation of a succession of ideas or feelings in

such an order that what follows always expresses a little more or a
little less than what precedes, in accordance with either a mounting or
descending progression' (Fontanier, p. 333). See also Littre, Marouzeau,
Morier, Preminger, and Robert.
Exx: To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield' (Tennyson, Ulysses');
200
Gradatio
'Let's face it. Let's talk sense to the American people. Let's tell them
that there are no gains without pains' (Adlai Stevenson, speech).
Synonyms: For mounting gradatio: the marching figure; ascendus;
methalemsis (Lanham); the climbing figure; climax (Joseph, Lanham,
Lausberg, Preminger); progression; snowball (Bergson, Le Rire, p. 61).
For descending gradatio: anticlimax* (Dr Johnson, Preminger, Quillet);
bathos* (Pope, Preminger).
Other definition: See cadence* (rhythmic gradatio).
Rl: Gradatio is a device fundamental to amplification* in periodic
discourse*. It belongs to the sublime style (see grandiloquence*, Rl, and
period*, R4). Ex (using gradatio with sorites [see reasoning*, Rl], Rosa-
lind foregrounds the figure by virtually defining it to Orlando): "For
your brother and my sister no sooner met but they looked; no sooner
look'd but they lov'd; no sooner lov'd but they sigh'd; no sooner sigh'd
but they ask'd one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but
they sought the remedy: and in these degrees have they made a pair of
stairs to marriage' (Shakespeare, As You Like It, 5.2.35).
R2: Gradatio is also a way of ordering items in an enumeration* or
accumulation*. Ex: 'It is a sin to bind a Roman citizen, a crime to
scourge him, little short of the most unnatural murder to put him to
death; what then shall I call his crucifixion?' (Cicero, quoted by Quin-
tilian, Institutes of Oratory, 8.4.4.).
R3: Despite its apparent usefulness, the distinction between mounting
and descending gradatio is often ill-founded because it applies also to
the signifier which sometimes descends when the signified mounts in
intensity, as Spitzer shows (Etudes de style, p. 282) with regard to
Racine's line 'I saw him, I blushed, I paled at the sight' (Phedre, 1.3).
The stylistic crescendo serves to represent a decrescendo in Phedre's
emotional mood. In the case of intensity of expression, practically the
only examples found are climaxes.
R4: Morier distinguishes various types of gradatio, notably: rhythmic
gradatio (e.g., the rhopalic period whose clauses get longer and longer);
numerical (e.g., groups of two, three, ten, etc., syllables or feet); intensive
(e.g., love, cherish, adore); and referential, by means of which the reader is
predisposed to accept terms that otherwise might be found 'too'
original.
R5: Gradatio leads to extravagant* comparisons. If, however, the final
term's value opposes those expressed in the rest of the series, the result
is an anticlimax*, or, in other words, bathos*. A transition* (see transi-
tion, Rl) may be disguised by a gradatio. See also variation*, R2.
201
Grandiloquence
GRANDILOQUENCE Lofty, grandiose speech or language.

Ex: '... Mr. Micawber rising. "I have no scruple in saying, in the pres-
ence of our friends here, that I am a man who has, for some years,
contended against the pressure of pecuniary difficulties ... Sometimes I
have risen superior to my difficulties. Sometimes my difficulties have -
in short, have floored me. There have been times when I have
administered a succession of facers to them; there have been times
when they have been too many for me, and I have given in, and said
to Mrs. Micawber in the words of Cato, 'Plato, thou reasonest well. It's
all up now. I can show fight no more.' But at no time in my life," said
Mr. Micawber, "have I enjoyed a higher degree of satisfaction than in
pouring my griefs (if I describe difficulties, chiefly arising out of
warrants of attorney and promissary notes at two and four months, by
that word) into the bosom of my friend Copperfield"' (Dickens, David
Copperfield, ch. 17).
Analogous terms: bombast; pompous, turgid, or flatulent style; high-
falutin, declamatory, or affected language. Pathos is overblown emo-
tion, the 'pornography of emotion/ according to the Los Angeles Times
(16 Mar. 1988, p. 1). See also amplification*.
Antonyms: concinnity; anti-Ciceronian style. Concinitas was a Latin ideal
proposed by Cicero against rhetorical embellishment. Anti-Ciceronian
style was a movement begun by the sixteenth-century humanists Justus
Lipsius and Etienne Dolet, in reaction against the sometimes gratuitous
imitation of Cicero practised by other humanists. As a tautegorical
ideal, anti-Ciceronian style refused everything non-functional, but
without becoming terse to the point of laconicism. (The OED calls
'tautegorical' a nonce-word attributed to Coleridge [Aids to Reflection in
the Formation of a Manly Character], 199): The base of symbols and
symbolic expressions: the nature of which as always tautegorical [i.e.,
expressing the same subject but with a difference] in contra-distinction
from metaphors and similtudes that are always allegorical [i.e., express-
ing a different subject but with a resemblance].')
Rl: The ancients recognized three types of discourse*: the grand, middle,
and low or plain styles (as well as the coarse or vulgar styles, which
were mentioned but dismissed as unworthy of examination). Rhetors
taught, as means of attaining the grand style: anaphora*, allegory*,
prosopopoiea*, epitheton*, euphemism*, gradatio*, and hyperbole*. (In
On Style, the Greek critic Demetrius offered in addition an elegant
variety, somewhere between the grand and middle types. Modern lin-
guistics has only retained three levels* of language, having eliminated
the grand style in favour of the sustained.) Ex: 'A tenured professor
could commit the Sin against the Holy Ghost and get away with it, if
he could find the right lawyer' (R. Da vies, The Lyre of Orpheus, p. 116).
202
Graphism
Those wishing to acquire the middle style were content with anadip-
losis*, comparison*, and apostrophe* since they aimed neither at
embellishment nor idealization.
For a long time, bombast was merely excessively grand style. The
question remains, however, as to where 'excess' begins. From the
seventeenth to the nineteenth century, extraordinary elevation of tone
was considered normal in moments of great importance. As an
example, here is a period* proposed in 1783 as a model of a har-
monious sentence (Sir William Temple is addressing Lady Essex on the
death of her child):
I was once in hope, that what was so violent could not be long: but,
when I observed your grief to grow stronger with age, and to
increase, like a stream the farther it ran; when I saw it draw out to
such unhappy consequences, and to threaten, no less than your
child, your health and your life, I could no longer forbear this
endeavour, nor end it without begging of you, for God's sake and
for your own, for your children and your friends, your country and
your family, that you would no longer abandon yourself to a discon-
solate passion; but that you would at length awaken your piety, give
way to your prudence, or, at least, rouse the invincible spirit of the
Percys, that never yet shrunk at any disaster. (Quoted by Hugh
Blair, in Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, lecture 13, note).
The disappearance, begun in the past and still proceeding, of classi-
cal oratorical style means that nowadays any attempt at grand style
will be dismissed as grandiloquent. Already, in 1783, Blair discussing
what he thought two forms of dramatic bombast, 'fustian and rant,'
declared: 'Shakespeare, a great but incorrect genius is not unexcep-
tionable here. Dry den and Lee, in their tragedies, abound with it' (ibid.,
p. 49).
R2: Grandiloquence is the simplest means of producing macrology, that
is, redundancy* without repetition*. See the example from Joyce under
verbiage*, R2.
R3: Grandiloquence which cannot be sustained becomes ridiculous, as
Mr Micawber's speeches reveal. See incoherence*, R3, and persiflage*,
Rl.
GRAPHISM (neol. in English) A feature peculiar to an individual's

writing. See Robert.
Exx: the different ways of crossing the t; the slope of letters
Ex [Bloom is thinking about disguising his handwriting]: 'Remember
write Greek ees' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 229).
203
Graphism
Analogous terms: handwriting, idiographeme, idiography (a set of

idiographemes). An autograph is a text entirely in the author's hand.
Rl: The shape of the letters of the alphabet has evolved over the
centuries and may well have derived from pictograms*. Ex: the letter
A, which lay on its side in Phoenician, was inverted in Cretan and so
had the same shape as the head of an ox; now, an 'ox' was called alf
(cf. alef in Hebrew) and began with the sound a. It seems that the
alphabet may have been formed in much the same way as it is taught
nowadays to children: 'p is for pipe/ and so on.
The shapes of the characters became stylized, first in the copyists'
shops; then, thanks to the printing press, they became more precise and
subsequently more varied. There are models for about 1500 different
sets in the Encyclopedia of Type Faces by Jaspert, Berry, and Johnson.
Within each set, different fonts (the various sizes of characters mea-
sured in points), small (lowercase) letters, capital (uppercase) letters,
and characters in roman or italic and normal or bold-faced type may be
chosen.
There thus exists a graphism for printing. The Letraset Company
sells transparencies by means of which different characters and sym-
bols* may easily be traced. Computers with 'enhanced' keyboards and
character-composing functions make possible, in combination with
laser or dot-matrix printers, various sets of graphisms. Lumitype,
which can imitate characters of any shape, allows for the composition
of whole volumes based on a specimen page of an author's handwrit-
ing. See J. Peignot, De I'ecriture a la typographic, p. 147.
R2: A signature is the graphism, par excellence. Certain artists reduce it
to initials or to a monogram; that is, to one, two, or three letters, usually
the initial letters of their first name(s) and surname. In a monogram,
however, the same stem or curve serves two or three different letters,
or the letters of a proper name may be interwoven into a single
character-group. Here are samples of initials and monograms taken
from Fr. Goldstein, Monogram Lexicon:
W. W. -WS/vT V V W \AW W
Many institutions, printing houses, magazines, and commercial firms

have their own monogram or initials (in the past their coat of arms and
seal). Exx:
204
Graphy
These stylized designs become emblematic of the institution. They are

denotative in their own right and possess very high iconicity. Analo-
gous term: logo or logotype, a '(single piece of type bearing) non-
heraldic device chosen as badge of organisation and used in advertise-
ments, on notepaper, etc.' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). See Fr.-M. Ricci
and Ferrari, Top Symbols and Trade Marks of the World (1973), 7 vols.
Others are more gratuitous or contingent, as may be seen from present-
day avant-garde typography or from the illuminated capital letters in
medieval manuscripts.
R3: The use of idiography need not exclude aesthetic considerations, as
Chiang Yee showed for Chinese characters (L'Ecriture et la psychologic
des peuples, fig. 4). Graphisms may also bring about remotivations*. Ex:
Croe$u$.
R4: Handwriting in which individual strokes are shapeless and illegible
is said to be spidery.
R5: See gemination*, other def.; graphic juxtaposition*, Rl; onomato-
poeia*, R2; and pictogram*.
GRAPHY A way of representing words through writing; an element

of such representation.
Graphy: a writing-system. There is phonetic graphy, which is adapted
as closely as possible to pronunciation; customary or traditional graphy,
which no longer reflects pronunciation (compare -ough in 'rough/
'through,' 'though,' etc.); and etymological graphy (as in 'doubt/ in
which the b is intended as a reminder of the Latin dubitare). Exx: see
equivoque*, R3; onomatopoeia*, Rl; and interjection*.
Analogous terms: spelling, with a normative connotation; grapheme, 'an
element of a graphic system' (qu, for example; see Crystal); literary
graphy, an expressive modification of customary spelling (e.g., the
replacement of yes by yeah and you by yuh or y' to draw attention to
the reduction of yes and you in current spoken language)
Rl: Graphy permits distinctions between homonyms (see homonymy*).
Literary graphy makes possible allusion* and is related to approxima-
tion*. Ex: ' "That's the pint, sir," interposed Sam; "out vith it, as the
father said to the child, wen he swallowed a farden"' (Ch. Dickens,
Pickwick Papers, ch. 12).
R2: Certain graphic forms attempt to turn peregrinisms* into English,
sometimes by deriding them. Ex: 'Mademoiselle from Armenteers, /
Hasn't been kissed in forty years, / Hinky dinky, parley-voo' ('Red
Rowley/ Song of the Great War, 1914-18). The same is true in French.
Exx: 'bisness' (Montherlant, Romans, p. 908); 'piqueupe' (Queneau,
Pierrot mon ami, p. 77). See anglicism*, Rl; and gallicism*.
205
Haplography
R3: Some dadaists, in their attacks on words, inserted in their poems

what they called 'motscollesensemble' or 'wordstucktogether.' See
graphic juxtaposition*.
R4: Hyphens are graphic signs sometimes used independently of oral
usage, which shows that writing-systems have a certain autonomy with
respect to speech. Ex: 'A little used car is not necessarily the same as a
little-used car or a hard working man as a hard-working man or extra
judicial duties as extra-judicial duties' (Fowler, under 'hyphens' in A
Dictionary of Modern English Usage). The semiotic functions of some
graphic arrangements were studied by J. Bertin in Sdmiologie graphique.
See also 'graphic prosody' (under line* of poetry or verse).
R5: Certain typographical devices allow attention to be focused on the
value of particular words. Ex: 'The poodle grew grew grew GREW' (cited
by Angenot, p. 510). See typographical variation*; pictogram*; and
situational* signs, 1.
R6: For polygraphy, see paragram*, R4. Cases of graphic remotivation*
sometimes occur.
H
HAPLOGRAPHY A mistake* consisting in writing once what should
have been written twice. A copyist skips a segment of the text (several
letters or lines), deceived by the identical nature of the first and last
elements in two passages.
Exx: What I owe your solitude [solicitude]; he prefers classism
[classicism].
Analogous terms: homoioteleuton* (see homoioteleuton, other def.); a
desideratum is a lacuna, something lacking but needed or desirable in a
copy of a manuscript.
Rl: Haplography is similar to haplology* (see haplology, Rl).
R2: Dittography (OED) consists in writing an element within a segment
twice. Ex: statististically [statistically].
HAPLOLOGY Uttering once what should be uttered twice.

Ex: Febr'y for February
Rl: Some cases of haplology are purely graphic and cannot be sus-
206
Harmony (Imitative)
tained in prunciation [pronunciation]. These are example of haplo-

graphy*.
R2: Haplology is close to crasis* insofar as syllables brought together
by the omission are alike in some way. Ex: The authority of interpre-
tive [i.e., interpretative] communities' (subtitle of 7s There a Text in This
Class? by Stanley Fish).
R3: See parechesis*, R4.
HARMONY The effect produced on the ear by certain correspon-

dences between groups of sounds. If the corresponding groups follow
one another closely or are arranged symmetrically, a delicate ear, with
a little training, discerns and finds satisfaction in the correspondence.
See M. Grammont, Le Vers frangais, p. 386.
Ex:
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices
T.S. Eliot, Journey of the Magi', 11-15
Rl: In the case of the echo* effect, comparisons are made on the basis
of identical sounds; in that of harmony, all vocalic sounds come into
play combining the harmonics ('sounds whose frequencies are mul-
tiples of the same base frequency' [Lexis]) of the elements which form
them. They constitute 'dyads' (two vowels) or 'triads' (three vowels) of
partly different sounds.
R2: Harmony may also be due to rhythm*. In the example from Eliot
quoted above, it is the anaphoric function of and followed by the
parallel set of present participles which partly creates a harmonious
effect. In addition, anaphora* combines with polysyndeton* in the
metrical form of the verse. Group MU envisage such figures of rhyth-
mical repetition* as the basis of harmony in poetry: '... harmony and
metrics are systematic groups of practices and rules, two vast syntactic
figures that proceed by addition and repetition' (A General Rhetoric,
p. 75). See cadence* and period*, R2 and R4. If harmony prevails over
meaning, the result is musication* (neol.).
HARMONY (IMITATIVE) Arrangements of words into a sound

which seeks to imitate some natural noise*. See Fontanier (p. 392), Le
Clerc (p. 186), Marouzeau, Quillet, Morier, and Robert.
207
Head-to-Tail
Ex: 'The moan of doves in immemorial elms, / And murmuring of

innumerable bees' (Tennyson, The Princess/ 202-3).
Synonyms: harmonism (Fontanier); phonometaphor (Guiraud)
Rl: This figure may be achieved by the use of alliteration*, onomato-
poeia*, (rhythmic) division, sentence-construction, cacophony*, etc.
Graphics may reinforce it as in calligrammes* or the different effects
seen in the speech-bubbles in cartoon strips. Exx: "The crooked skirt
swinging, whack by whack by whack' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 48); 'Howl,
howl, howl, howl' (Shakespeare, King Lear, 5.3.257).
R2: When tempo is imitated, the more exact term is imitative rhythm.
Ex: 'Half a league, half a league,, / Half a league onward' (Tennyson,
'The Charge of the Light Brigade'). The gallop is in the verse.
HEAD-TO-TAIL A principal lexeme receives a secondary lexeme's

function and vice versa, thanks to the necessary transferences.
Ex: 'It's his lost wallet that makes him mad' (instead of 'the loss of his
wallet').
Analogous terms: hypallage*, transferred epithet, sicilia amissa
(Deloffre), lexematic inversion*
Rl: We have taken the expression 'head-to-tail' from the analysis of
syntagms* into their immediate constituent parts. In such analysis, the
'head' is the part of the syntagm having the same function as the
whole syntagm itself (Dubois et al., Dictionnaire de linguistique); thus,
for example, the noun is the 'head' in such groups as noun + adjective,
noun + noun-complement, or noun + relative clause. The other part, or
modifier, is here considered to be the 'tail' of the group into which
inversion* introduces a 'head-to-tail' transfer.
This type of inversion is common in metaphor*. Ex: 'the pebbles of
noise' (Eluard, Oeuvres completes, 1:230).
R2: If the secondary lexeme is more abstract than the principal one
(which remains the syntagmatic node from a psychological, if not from
the syntactic, point of view), the effect is an abstraction* (see abstrac-
tion, R3); if it is more concrete, a concretization results.
HENDIADYS One by means of two; 'twinning'; 'Siamese twins'

(Fowler); 'a combination of addition, substitution, and (usually) ar-
rangement; the addition of a conjunction between a word (noun,
adjective, verb) and its modifier (adjective, adverb, infinitive), the
substitution of this word's grammatical form for that of its modifier,
and usually rearrangement so that the modifier follows the word:
208
Homoioteleuton
"furious sound" becomes "sound and fury"' (Quinn, p. 102). See also
Cuddon, Frye, Marouzeau, Morier, and Preminger.
Exx: 'try and go' for 'try to go'; 'She and her lips were recounting ...'
(Eluard, in Aragon et al., Dictionnaire abrege du surrealisme, under levres).
Even when each of the elements clearly implies the other, the device
calls attention to them separately.
Rl: The reformulation does not always produce a single syntagm*, but
the co-ordinated 'twins' may seem slightly gratuitous or caused by the
formal constraints of verse. Ex: 'Summertime and the livin' is easy'
(Gershwin, Porgy and Bess), rather than living in summertime.'
R2: Possible also is the opposite of hendiadys: the formulation, by
means of subordination, into a single syntagm* of two elements which
might be co-ordinated. Ex: 'the thick starchiness of [Antoinette's]
petticoats' (M.-C. Blais, line Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel, p. 80) instead
of 'the thickness and starchiness ...'
HIATUS The break between two vowels coming together not in the
same syllable; the clash is heightened if the two are close or similar.
Exx: 'And grew on China imperceptibly / Rococo fmages of Saint and
Saviour' (W.H. Auden, 'Macao'); ' "And arter all, my lord," says he,
"it's a amable weakness"' (Dickens, Pickwick Papers, ch. 23). Clearly, the
shock produced by a-a is greater than that of a-i or o-i.
Other definitions: 'a gap which destroys the completeness of a
sentence or verse' (Preminger); 'discontinuity, a rupture in narrative
continuity' (Page and Pagano, eds., Dictionnaire des media). These usages
are figurative.
Rl: Although the prohibition forbidding hiatus in classical poetry
remains well known, that hiatus has little exercised either English or
French grammarians indicates that the two languages tolerate the
phenomenon. However, in English, the indefinite article, for instance, is
usually altered to avoid hiatus: 'an apple.'
R2: Isocrates seems to have been the first to denounce hiatus as caco-
phonous (see cacophony*, R3) in the fourth century B.C., followed by
the Romans and later by the French Academy from the seventeenth to
the twentieth century. When it is regarded as dissonance*, it may be
eliminated by means of aphaeresis*, crasis*, elision*, or synaloephe
(Elkhadem).
R3: See caesura*, Rl, and line* of poetry, 2.
HOMOIOTELEUTON Placing at the end of sentences, clauses, or

phrases words having the same final syllable or syllables.
209
Homoioteleuton
Ex: 'The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history,
pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical,
tragical-comical-historical-pastoral ...' (Shakespeare, Hamlet, 2.2.414).
Synonyms: rhymed prose (Morier); 'an early form of end rhyme' (Elk-
hadem)
Rl: Homoioteleuton is nothing more than 'prose-rhyme' (Brian Vickers,
In Defence of Rhetoric, p. 263) or assonance* (see assonance, R2) in prose.
Ex: 'All books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour, and
the books of all time ... There are good books for the hour and good
ones for all time; bad books for the hour, and bad ones for all time'
(John Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies [1865], 'Lecture 1').
R2: Most modern rhetorical theorists (Dumarsais, Fontanier, Joseph,
Lanham, Lausberg, etc.) make the ancient distinction between homoio-
teleuton and homoioptoton. Homoioptoton consists in placing words
with similar case-endings near one another. However, both Joseph and
Lanham point out that the distinction 'practically disappears' (Joseph)
in English 'since the question of inflections is not crucial' (Lanham).
Leech (pp. 82-3) modernizes this distinction in his definition: 'the
repetition of the same derivational or inflectional ending on different
words.' He gives the following as an example:
- Not for these I raise
The song of thanks and praise;
But for these obstinate questionings
Of sense and outward things,
Fallings from us, vanishings,
Blank misgivings of a creature
Moving about in worlds not realized.
Wordsworth, 'Ode: Intimations of Immortality'
R3: Homoioteleuton points up antitheses* (see antithesis, R4) and
enumerations*, as in the example from Shakespeare already quoted.
R4: The French neo-classical critic Jean-Franqois Marmontel (1723-99)
advised against 'inopportune' homoioteleuton (i.e., at the middle and
end of a line): 'In our poetry, we make it a law to avoid consonance in
two hemistiches; the same rule should be observed at the rests in a
period' (Oeuvres, 8:31). However, such internal/external homoiote-
leuton delights English-speaking audiences when it occurs in the
patter-songs of Gilbert and Sullivan:
A very delectable, highly respectable,
Threepenny bus young man!
Patience [1881], libretto by W.S. Gilbert
210
Homonymy
HOMONYMY In the Game of Words, Willard Espy lists (pp. 126-32) a

'homonym lexicon' of some six hundred items in English. In French,
about a thousand words have two, three, four, or more homonyms
(other words with the same pronunciation). Writing usually permits
distinctions between them.
Ex: 'Blest be that beast who, though he preys on others, / Gives praise
to God, and prays all beasts be brothers' (Espy, p. 125).
W. Redfern, in his study of word-play* in English and French, makes
the following relevant distinctions between words similar in form and
different in sense: 'Some distinctions are unavoidable, for instance that
between polysemy (one word used in different senses like "doublet")
and "homophony" (several words distinct in meaning but sounding
alike); or between homonyms, single words for different things, and
their opposite synonyms, different words for single things ... Further
distinctions include heteronyms, words identical in spelling, but dif-
ferent in both sound and meaning (tear = weeping, tear = rip) ... and
homographs, words identical in spelling and pronunciation, but having
different origins and meanings (as in race = rush and nation)' (Redfern,
Puns, pp. 17-18). Such coincidences produce various devices:
- counting-out rhymes. Ex: ' "Fire, fire" said Mrs. McGuire, "Where,
where?" said Mrs. Ware' (Hesbois, p. 29).
- echo-effects. Ex: see the one in the example from Espy quoted above.
- surrealistic similarities like those quoted by Redfern from Laforgue:
' "violoupte's <J vif - "rapeture on edge"; "sangsuel" - which translates
as "leecherous" ' (Redfern, Puns, p. 90).
- comic comparisons. Ex: 1 met a wise antelope, born in a zoo; / And I
wish that I knew what that new gnu knew7 (Espy, p. 125).
Rl: Homonyms differ from diaphora*, in which the passage is not from
one word to another but from one meaning* to another possessed by
the same word. However, see diaphora*, R4.
R2: If two syntagms* are pronounced identically, homonymy becomes
homophony in the broad sense. (The restricted sense is defined as
follows: 'Two signs are said to be homophones when they are used to
represent the same sound. E.g. s and t in torsion and portion' [Marou-
zeau]. Etymologically, homophone means 'having the same sound';
homonyms are also homophones.) Ex: First man: 'My wife's gone to
the West Indies/ Second man: 'Oh! Jamaica?' First man: 'No - she went
of her own accord.'
R3: Proper names do not escape homonymy. Ex: The various
individuals named Henry Ford have to be distinguished by their place
in the dynastic line (I, II, III, etc.). If someone else possesses your
211
Humour
features rather than your name, you have a double or look-alike. Sen-
tences may also be homophonous. See 'holorhymes/ under equivoque*,
R3. For partial homonymy, see approximation* and paronomasia*, R2.
R4: Homophony and homonymy also occur in snatches of overheard
foreign speech. Ex: 'In fractured French, "de rigueur" can be nothing
but a two-masted schooner, "an contraire," "away [in the country] for
the weekend," and "a la carte," "on the wagon"' (Espy, p. 112).
R5: Word-play* based on homonymy is characteristic of preciosity (see
baroquism*, R2).
HUMOUR The reason for the difficulty often felt by those attempting
to define humour is that the device or set of devices in question ex-
presses one's feeling concerning the mind's limitations and the banality
of objects. Humour may be defined as the conscious acceptance of the
difference between an ideal state of affairs and reality, a difference
unhesitatingly emphasized as a means of extricating oneself from it.
Ex: 'I remember sharing the last of my moist buns with a boy and a
lion. Tawny and savage, with cruel nails and capacious mouth, the
little boy tore and devoured. Wild as seedcake, ferocious as a hearth-
rug, the depressed and verminous lion nibbled like a mouse at his half
a bun and hiccupped in the sad dusk of his cage' (Dylan Thomas,
'Holiday Memory/ in Quite Early One Morning, p. 22).
See also flip-flop*, R3; hyperbole*, R4; portrait*, R2; substitution*; and
truism*, R2.
Rl: Humour and wit* belong together. Humour may be exercised
against any set of ideals, fine sentiments, or high thoughts (see the
poetry of Jules Laforgue, Lewis Carrroll, or Edward Lear). Ex: 'Samuel
Johnson, the story goes, ran into a college friend he had not seen for
forty years, and in the course of their conversation they got to compar-
ing their lives. "You are a philosopher," the man said to Dr. Johnson.
"I have tried in my time, too, to be a philosopher, but I don't know
how; cheerfulness was always breaking through" ' (The Philosophy of
Laughter and Humour, ed. John Morreal, p. 1).
Humorous allusions* to famous texts employ substitutions*. Ex: 'A
jug of rain, a loofah, bread - and thou' (Frank Muir and Denis Norden,
The 'My Word!' Stories, p. 147). Humour may also be applied to lan-
guage itself or to various languages (see macaronicism*).
R2: Humour and irony* are not incompatible, and humour also uses
pseudo-simulation*. Ex: 'Sir, I would like to ask for your daughter's
hand.' Why not? You've already had the rest of her.' See also chleuas-
mos*, R2.
212
Hypallage
R3: Humour works well when foregrounding naivete or obvious blun-

ders*. Ex [After a long and suggestive conversation concerning a wife's
sexual preferences, the apparently suave questioner asks desperately]:
Tou've, er, er, done it?'
'Done what?'
'Slept ... with a lady?'
Tes.'
'What's it like?'
G. Chapman et al., Monty Python's Flying Circus:
Just the Words, 1:40
R4: Black, sick, and gallows humour are three forms which laugh at tragic
or macabre themes. Exx: 'One of the advantages of nuclear war is that
all men are cremated equal' (J. Crosbie, Crosbie's Dictionary of Puns,
p. 58); ' "Mummy, mummy where's daddy?" "Be quiet and eat what
you're given" '; ' "What is your last word, accused?" "I beg you to
send me wherever you please, just as long as it is under the Soviet
government and the sun is there!"' (A.I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag
Archipelago, pp. 269-70).
HYPALLAGE Transposition of the natural relationship between two

elements in a proposition. See Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg, Marouzeau,
Preminger, Quillet, and Quinn.
Exx: TVIelissa shook her doubtful curls'; 'apply the wound to water for
apply water to the wound' (Concise Oxford Dictionary); 'Winter kept us
warm, covering / Earth in forgetful snow' (T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land,
part 1); The razor-scarred back-street cafe bar' (Dylan Thomas, Quite
Early One Morning, p. 40).
Other name: 'transferred epithet' (Cuddon, Joseph). This is only one
species of hypallage.
Rl: The following passage, concerning a British author crossing the U.S.
on a lecture tour, contains hypallage involving a change of mood (i.e.,
passive for active): There one goes, unsullied as yet, in his Pullman
pride, toying - oh boy! - with a blunderbuss bourbon, being smoked by a
large cigar, riding out to the wide-open spaces of the faces of his wait-
ing audience' (Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 149). See
enallage*, other def., 3.
R2: Like enallage*, hypallage is an apparent mistake*. All changes of
grammatical function are not valid cases of hypallage. Puttenham, who
calls hypallage the changeling, points out that the user of this figure
perverts meaning by shifting the application of words: '... as he should
say, for ... come dine with me and stay not, come stay with me and dine not'
(cited by Joseph, p. 295).
213
Hyperbaton
The mistake* becomes a figure by expressing a meaning*, albeit an

unexpected one. According to Guiraud (p. 197), 'The device is related
to the aesthetics of vagueness; by suppressing the relationship of
necessity between determined and determinant, it tends to liberate the
latter.'
R3: The surrealists used the device to create discordance. Ex: The bed
was sleeping soundly' (Jean Arp, Jours effeuilUs, p. 192). Compare: 'Cast
off the continents. Hoist the horizons' (R. Ducharme, L'AvaUe des avails,
p. 13).
R4: See flip-flop*, R2; metaphor*, R3; sweet* talk, R2; and hendiadys*,
R2.
HYPERBATON The addition to an apparently already complete

sentence of a word or syntagm* which is thus strongly emphasized. See
Quintilian, 9.4.26; and Morier.
Exx: 'About suffering they were never wrong, / The Old masters'
(W.H. Auden, 'Musee des Beaux Arts'); 'Run like a billygoat over the
grass you should keep off of (D. Thomas, Quite Early One Morning,
p. 54); '[Man's] chief occupation is extermination of other animals and
his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapid-
ity as to infest the whole habitable earth and Canada' (Ambrose Bierce,
The Devil's Dictionary, under 'Man').
Other definitions: 'the name given to any intended deviation from
ordinary word order' (Quinn, p. 40); 'schemes of unusual or inverted
word order' (Corbett, p. 466); '1. A generic figure of various forms of
departure from ordinary word order including anastrophe, transgressio,
hysteron proton, hypallage, hysterology*, parenthesis*, epergesis. 2. Separa-
tion of words generally belonging together' (Lanham, p. 56)
Rl: In antiquity, the word hyperbaton had a very broad meaning.
Forcellini, in his Lexicon, includes synchisis* and tmesis* in the list of
figures under hyperbaton. Lanham excludes them. Most theorists,
including those already mentioned, plus Marouzeau, Quillet, Lausberg
(sect. 716-19), and Preminger, have been content to return to the
definition of hyperbaton as an inversion* which expresses 'a violent
movement of the soul' (Littre).
Hyperbaton may well be considered to result from inversion* be-
cause it is possible to recast the sentence so as to integrate the added
segment. But the effect characteristic of hyperbaton derives rather from
the kind of spontaneity which imposes the addition of some truth,
obvious or private, to a syntactic construction apparently already
closed. Hyperbaton always consists in an adjacent assertion* (see
assertion, R3). This appears all the more clearly when the grammatical
link seems loosest, as in the case of and preceded by a comma. Ex: 'The
214
Hyperbole
arms of the morning are beautiful, and the sea' (Saint-Jean Perse,
quoted by Daniel Delas, Po&ique-pratique, p. 44).
R2: Most cases of hyperbaton - those whose function in the sentence is
already represented by another word - are, from a syntactic stand-
point, adjunctions*. However, nothing prevents the repetition by means
of such an adjunction of some already expressed segment for reasons
of emphasis*. Ex: This happened once and only once.'
R3: See also epiphrasis* and emphasis*, R3.
HYPERBOLE An exaggerated or extravagant statement, used to

express strong feeling or produce a strong impression, and not in-
tended to be understood literally (see OED). See also Abrams, Corbett,
Frye, Grambs, Ducrot and Todorov, Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg, Marou-
zeau, Preminger, and Robert.
Exx: To make enough noise to wake the dead'; 'And yet here was
Quality; a tiny, almost unnoticeable fault line; a line of illogic in our
concept of the universe; and you tapped it, and the whole universe
came apart, so neatly it was almost unbelievable' (R. Pirsig, Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 196); ' "Corniche! I want you to go to
the Netherlands and kill a man." "At your service, Meister. Shall I take
my dagger or rely on the poisoned chalice?" "You will rely on the
poisoned word. Only that will do the job"' (R. Davies, What's Bred in
the Bone, p. 408).
Other definition: the "figure [used] for lying' (Fabri)
Other names: emphasis* (Benac); exaggeration (Robert); superlatio
(Lanham; Fabri, 2:158); auxesis (Quinn; Barthes, p. 200); the "Loud
Lyer,' the 'Overreacher' (Puttenham)
Rl: Counter-litotes* deflates through ironic hyperbole.
R2: It is not always possible to tell whether it is the content or the form
which is hyperbolic. Ex: 'Leo had to take on the running of the house-
hold ... The President of the Cabinet does not feel so overworked'
(Montherlant, Romans, p. 767). Is it purely rhetorical to compare a
bachelor's household chores with the duties of a statesman?
Grand guignol is semantic hyperbole, more precisely a kind of exag-
geration which makes an appeal to the basic instincts. Ex: the story of
M. Delout, his face covered in blood because of a fall from his window,
who comes to ask the concierge for the number of his room (Breton,
Nadja, pp. 147-8).
R3: Hyperbolic markers include such augmentative affixes as the
prefixes hyper-, extra-, and maxi-; or the suffix -issimus; periphrastic
comparisons like 'the kind of rancid, wretched terror compared with
215
Hyperhypotaxis
which a murderer's palpable fear is trifling' (Witold Gombrowicz,

Ferdydurke, p. 190); and accumulations* of superlatives or of such
excluding expressions as 'only' or 'the only.' Ex:
The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be;
Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
And worship only thee.
W. Cowper, Onley Hymns, 1
The ultimate expedient is to denounce the inadequacy of language. Ex:
'Through a species of unutterable horror and awe, for which the
language of mortality has no sufficiently energetic expression, I felt my
heart cease to beat, my limbs go rigid where I sat' (E.A. Poe, 'Ligeia').
R4: Strained or excessive hyperbole may represent thought artificially
stimulated, as Michaux showed in the case of poetry written under the
influence of mescalin (Connaissances par les gouffres, pp. 15, 92, etc.), or
may simply be humorous in intent. Exx: comic definitions* like 'noise:
skeletons dancing on a tin roof and 'slime: jellyfish copulating in
Brylcream.'
R5: Hyperbole of a more or less 'dormant' nature abounds in current
speech. Exx: 'hair-splitting'; Tm very attached to him' [i.e., not literally
'fastened' or 'tied,' but metaphorically 'fond of']; 'He somehow con-
trived to misunderstand' [i.e., he 'carefully planned'?].
R6: Hyperbole is obligatory in public speeches addressed to the great,
even more so in pre-Revolutionary Europe or in certain oriental courts.
One must still know how to avoid excesses which soon become subject
to parody*. Ex: 'Her Majesty's civil servants spend their lives working
for a modest wage and at the end they retire into obscurity. Honours
are a small recompense for a lifetime of loyal, self-effacing discretion
and devoted service to Her Majesty, and to the nation' (J. Lynn and A.
Jay, The Complete 'Yes Minister', p. 232). Hyperbole intended as mere
flattery belongs under grandiloquence*.
HYPERHYPOTAXIS The insertion of too many subordinate phrases

and clauses.
Ex: 'But the truth was that Phutatorius knew not one word or one
syllable of what was passing - but his whole thoughts and attention
were taken up with a transaction which was going onwards at that
very instant within the precincts of his own Galligaskins, and in a part
of them where of all others he stood most interested to watch acci-
dents: So that notwithstanding he looked with all the attention in the
world, and had gradually screwed up every nerve and muscle in his
face to the utmost pitch the instrument would bear, in order, as it was
216
Hyphen
thought, to give a sharp reply to Yorick, who sat over against him -
Yet, I say, was Yorick never once in any one domicile of Phutatorius's
brain - but the true cause of his exclamation lay at least a yard below'
(L. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. 4, ch. 27).
Rl: According to Therive (quoted by Spitzer, Etudes de style, p. 468, n.
3), hyperhypotaxis is a period* intended to be read silently rather than
aloud. Its development reflects the diverseness and multiplicity of
effect discernible in leisurely reading, whereas classical periods take on
the rhythm* of sustained oratory.
R2: A clumsily constructed hyperhypotaxis is a synchisis* (see also
syntactic scrambling*).
R3: Classification of sentences in decreasing order of complexity
produces: hyperhypotaxis, hypotaxis (see period*), the average sen-
tence*, parataxis*, and hyperparataxis (see dislocation* and mono-
logue*).
R4: Spitzer (Etudes de style, p. 407) identifies three types of hyper-
hypotactic periods: 'exploded,' 'superimposed/ and 'arched.' In Spit-
zer's scheme, the example from Sterne quoted above would fall into
the 'superimposed' category.
HYPHEN Used in spelling certain expressions (composite nouns or

adjectives, etc.), intentional hyphenation* becomes a literary device in
some cases. Two possibilities exist:
1. Lexicalization of a syntagm*. Ex: '... you women's-cultural-lunch-
club-organizing Saturday Review of Lzterafure-reading-substantial-
inheritance-from-soft-drink-corporation-awaiting old-New-Hampshire-
family-invoking Kennedy-loving-just-wunnerful-labelling Yank bag'
(Kingsley Amis, One Fat Englishman, p. 24). See compound* word, other
def.; and graphy*, R4.
2. Syllabification. Exx: Tho-to-graph ... he stammered' (G. Bernanos,
Oeuvres romanescjues, p. 847); 'She repeats un-com-pro-mi-sing, separat-
ing each syllable ostentatiously' (A. Hebert, Kamouraska, p. 96).
Rl: Both cases involve a single word made up of disjoined elements,
which are either words or syllables. Without the hyphen, the syllables
would be even more disjoined because of the spaces between them. Ex:
'Ah! yes, I want ... to banish i die ness forever from my life (Marie-
Claire Blais, Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel, p. 46). This is disar-
ticulation of a word for ironic reasons. However, see typographic
caesura*, Rl.
R2: By lexicalizing syntagms*, some philosophers create translations*
which replace and improve upon obscure neologisms*. Ex: the existen-
tialist expression 'Being-in the-world' (l'etre-au-monde). The device
217
Hyphenation
seems to come from German, a language which has numerous words

composed by juxtaposition*. See etymology*.
R3: See situational* signs, 3(a); caesura* (typographical), R3; punctua-
tion*, Rl; asyndeton*, R2; oblique* stroke, R3; apposition*; compound*
word; tmesis*; translation*; and approximation*, R3.
HYPHENATION Division of a word too long for right-hand

justification. The division occurs between syllables and is marked by a
hyphen*. The rules differ in French and English.
Synonym: typographical caesura* (French)
Rl: In English, manuals of style devoted to the presentation of type-
scripts discourage the use of the typographic caesura in compound*
words. The MLA Style Sheet (2d ed., 1970, p. 8), a standard for academic
publishing in North America, is quite clear: 'Never end a typed line
with a hyphen which is to be printed, for the compositor may drop the
hyphen and join the two parts in one. Instead, sacrifice appearance
and put the entire compound on the next line.' And the MHRA Style Book
(1978, p. 4), in its 'Notes for Authors, Editors, and Writers of Disserta-
tions' in Britain, also advises against leaving the problem to the com-
positor: 'If a line ends with a hyphen it may not be clear to the printer,
particularly if the passage is in a foreign language, whether he is to set
the word as a hyphenated compound or as one word. When a broken
word is not to be hyphenated this should be indicated by curved lines
C to show that the parts of the word are to be joined. For words not
so marked the printer will normally follow copy and print the hyphen.
This problem may be avoided if the typist is instructed never to allow a
break in a foreign word at the end of a line but to carry over the whole
word to the next line.' Both texts pre-date the current wide use made
by authors of word processors capable of encoding instructions to be
read by automatic printers concerning right-side justification or ragged
edges. Many problems of incompatibility between systems remain.
Graphic and sonic divisions sometimes converge, sometimes diverge.
For instance, ch, gn, ph, and th only transcribe a single sound in French
and are therefore not separated. On the other hand, consecutive vowels
in hiatus* (e.g., 'the/a/tre') constitute syllables not separated, unless they
involve prefixes (e.g., 'pre-arrange'). Needless to say, such complica-
tions inevitably provoke confusion.
R2: Ease of reading precludes division before mute syllables in French
(e.g., es-[perent], but not espe~[rent]) and also, in both English and
French, hyphenation at the foot of a page. Common sense precludes
the isolation of a single letter at the end of a line or the displacement of
fewer than three: absolu and obei are therefore not divided. The
aesthetic sense demands that, at the end of a paragraph, there be a
218
Hypotyposis
segment longer than the indented space marking the beginning of the
next paragraph.
R3: Compound* words divide at the hyphen. Not subject to the typo-
graphical caesura* are: acronyms* (e.g. UNESCO), numbers or dates
expressed in figures (e.g., 1, 520, 300; 1991); and administrative num-
bers (e.g., 7869432).
HYPOTYPOSIS Hypotyposis paints things so vividly and with such

energy that they become in some way visible; it also turns a narrative*
or description* into an image*, a picture, or even a living scene (see
Fontanier, p. 390). See also Quintilian, Dumarsais (2:9), Joseph, Lan-
ham, Lausberg (sect. 400), Littre, OED, Quillet, and Robert.
Ex: 'Here is now such swarms of a small sand flyes that wee can
hardly see the sun through them and where they light is just as if a
spark of fire fell and raises a little bump which smarts and burns so
that we cannot forbear rubbing of them as causes such scabbs that our
hands and faces is nothing but scabbs. They fly into our ears nose eyes
mouth and down our throats as we be most sorely plagued with them'
(James Knight, Journal, 11 Aug. 1717, quoted by P.C. Newman,
Company of Adventurers, p. 194).
Ex: 'Here, over the bridge, come three Javanese, winged, breastplated,
helmeted, carrying gongs and steel bubbles. Kilted, sporraned, tartan'd,
daggered Scotsmen reel and strathspey up a side-street, piping hot.
Burgundian girls, wearing, on their heads, bird cages made of velvet,
suddenly whisk on the pavement into a coloured dance. A Viking goes
into a pub. In black felt feathered hats and short leather trousers,
enormous Austrians, with thighs big as Welshmen's bodies, but much
browner, yodel to fiddles and split the rain with their smiles. Frilled,
ribboned, sashed, fezzed and white-turbaned, in baggy-blue sharavari
and squashed red boots, Ukrainians with Manchester accents gopak up
the hill' (D. Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 142).
Synonyms: enargia, energia (Peacham, Du Bellay, Joseph, Lanham);
image* (Boileau)
Rl: Descriptive hypotyposis may be distinguished from its rhetorical
counterpart in which action is an artificial representation of an idea.
The power of such artifice is made graphically clear in the comparison*
made by the Indian scholar H.-R. Diwekar (Fleurs de rh&orique de I'lnde,
p. 36) between a verse from the Ramayana (1.63.20) ('The eldest son is
generally the father's favourite, Oh king, and the youngest the
mother's') and a verse from the Aitareya Brahmana (7:3) 'Seizing the
eldest son, he said: "Not this one!" - "Nor this one!" said the mother
[seizing] the youngest one').
219
Hysterology
Hypotyposis is therefore a development of the image* in both

meanings of the term: a visual image and a rhetorical image (metonymy"'
or metaphor*). Ex: 'Life, you know, is rather like opening a tin of sar-
dines. We are all of us looking for the key. Others think they've found
the key, don't they? They roll back the lid of the sardine can of life,
they reveal the sardines, the riches of life, therein, and they get them
out, they enjoy them. But, you know, there's always a little bit in the
corner you can't get out. I wonder - I wonder, is there a little bit in the
corner of your life, I know there is in mine' (Alan Bennett et al., The
Complete Beyond the Fringe, p. 104). Similes*, allegories*, and applica-
tions (see allegory*) are all examples of hypotyposis when they 'paint a
picture.'
R2: The opposite of hypotyposis is schematization*.
R3: Is the essential function of hypotyposis to 'embellish' or 'depict,' as
classical theorists thought? Does the figure only exist for the reader?
Michaux's experiments at the limits of perception confer on hypotyposis
a different origin, one found in hallucinations. Situations, characters,
and actions may spring from a consciousness out of control, one which
offers pictures felt to be real-life experiences. Ex: 'Enough ... "No more
writing!" ... And then in the darkness behind his closed eyelids, he sees,
suddenly, violent men rise up, who make fierce negative gestures, then
a whole troop, then a procession of discontented people with placards,
a line of people protesting and threatening. "No more" had turned into
a group of strikers!' (H. Michaux, Les Grandes Epreuves de I'esprit, pp.
98-9).
R4: If the scene described calls to mind a scene in a painting or film
because each character assumes a characteristic pose, the result is a
tableau. Ex: 'Mollie and Josie Powell. Till Mr Right comes along, then
meet once in a blue moon. Tableau! O, look who it is for the love of
God! How are you all? What have you been doing with yourself? Kiss
and delighted to, kiss, to see you. Picking holes in each other's
appearance. You're looking splendid. Sister souls. Showing their teeth
at one another. How many have you left? Wouldn't lend each other a
pinch of salt' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 302).
R5: Diatyposis* is a short form of hypotyposis.
HYSTEROLOGY In a narrative*, circumstances or details which

should follow are situated chronologically before. See Littre, Lausberg,
and Quillet.
Exx: 'He arranges the spices in alphabetical order, on a special shelf in
the kitchen. He builds the shelf (M. Atwood, Cat's Eye, p. 404); 'UBU. -
I'm going to light a fire while I'm waiting for him to bring the wood'
(A. Jarry, Ubu roi, 4.6).
220
Image
Other definitions: Lanham (p. 58): 'A phrase is interposed between a

preposition and its object: "I ran after with as much speed as I could,
the thief that had undone me" (Peacham).' See also Joseph, p. 295.
Synonym: hysteron-proteron (Marouzeau). Lanham adds: '[Richard]
Sherry 01 Treatise of Schemes and Tropes, 1550] makes the term mean
Hysteron Proteron ... He gives Prepostera Locutio as the Latin equivalent.'
Rl: When the inversion of segments responds to some hidden cause,
the device is similar to flashback* or flash-forward*. The classical
example - 'Let us die and rush into battle' (Virgil, Aeneid, 2.353) -
expresses a psychological truth, since in order to throw oneself against
enemy forces, one must have already decided to die. Cocteau's apho-
rism is similar: 'Find first, then seek.'
On the other hand, since it is a mistake*, hysterology connotes
stupidity, naivety, or at any rate absent-mindedness. Exx: 'During one
of his fits, he committed suicide and set fire to the house'; 'I'm going to
kill that magician. I'll dismember him and then I'll sue him' (Woody
Allen, 'Oedipus Wrecks/ in New York Stories [film, 1989]).
I
IMAGE (collective noun: imagery) 1. Since the image lies at the heart
of poetry, all poetic schools have quarrelled over it. But the confusion
surrounding it arises not only because of the differences among the
various logical systems to which it is made subject. Above all, con-
fusion derives from the elusive quality of some poetic texts. Any
attempt to limit their meaning* would be merely tendentious. The true
image says many things at once in what is frequently the only possible
way. Perception of what imagery proposes will be aided by a few
fundamental distinctions.
2. Image and trope. Ex:
Wait for a while, then slip downstairs
And bring us up some chilled white wine,
And some blue cheese, and crackers, and some fine
Ruddy-skinned pears.
Richard Wilbur, 'A Late Aubade,' in Walking to Sleep
This is a visual image (syn.: mental image), which should be distin-
guished in poetry from the real images, either drawn or painted, found
for instance in posters: '(illustrated) texts exhibited in a public place.'
Details about visual images will be found under description*, hypotyp-
221
Image
osis*, diatyposis*, portrait*, and prosopopoeia*. Visual images are not

always without symbolic significance. The same poem contains the
lines 'You could be sitting now in a carrel / Turning some liver-spotted
page/ This visual image, unless interpreted figuratively as referring to
the writer of the page and to the swift passage of youth into age, rather
than to the page itself, could not serve within the poem's overall
economy as indicated in it, viz. as an element in its 'Gather ye rose-
buds' theme*.
Literary images are so called because they introduce into a well-
defined and relatively short portion of the text a second meaning* (see
meaning, 8) which is no longer literal, but analogical, symbolic, or
'metaphorical': either in the form of a single word (see metaphor*) or
syntagm* (see comparison*), or of a succession of words or syntagms
(see allegory*).
Strictly speaking, the literary image is therefore a device which
consists in the replacement or prolongation of one term (called the
'tenor' or subject compared), which indicates what is 'literally' desig-
nated, by the use of a second term, which maintains a merely analogi-
cal relationship with the first: the author relies on the reader's sen-
sitivity to supply the link. The analogue is called the Vehicle' or
'object' and is used to designate reality by figurative means: the vehicle
is to be taken 'figuratively.'
The existence of some literal term, expressed or not, seems essential
to the formation of traditional literary images, but the relationship
between the two must also be one of analogy. Indeed, if the relation-
ship between the two terms is close enough to form a single isotopy*,
the result is metonymy* or synecdoche*.
Tropes are devices which function by replacing the literal term with
another in some way related to it (see meaning*, 4).
3. Tenor and vehicle. The literary image is sometimes said to be
abstract or concrete according to whether the vehicle is more abstract or
more concrete than the tenor. Abstract images are rare. Exx: 'The
Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls' (e.e. cummings); 'Streets
that follow like a tedious argument / Of insidious intent / To lead you
to an overwhelming question' (T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock,' 7-9). Concrete images are more natural. Ex: 'Bent double,
like old beggars under sacks, / Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we
cursed through sludge' (W. Owen, 'Dulce et Decorum Est'). See also
generalization*, R2.
The symbolist image is a concrete image whose tenor is an intuition
or feeling difficult to transmit in non-figurative form. Ex:
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
222
Image
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

W. Blake, The Tyger'
4. Usage. From the point of view of usage, a distinction is made
between 'dead' or worn-out images, or cliches*, and 'revived' or 'new'
images. Cliches are images so worn-out by overuse that the vehicle,
having lost all its original connotational power, immediately evokes the
tenor; its figurative function is no longer perceptible. Such images are
dead or, at any rate, moribund. Exx: 'Are you a man or a mouse?'; 'to
raise oneself by the bootstraps'; 'Many are called but few are chosen.'
A revived image (or rejuvenated cliche*) appears when the context or
some morphological change breathes new life into the tenor's original,
latent meaning. Ex: Groucho Marx is said to have answered the above
inquiry - 'Are you a man or a mouse? - with 'Throw me a piece of
cheese and you'll find out.' To 'boot' a computer, or literally to turn it
on, revives the dead image of self-improvement thanks to bootstraps.
And Noah Jacobs records a new twist to the evangelical cliche* regard-
ing the disparity between those called and chosen: 'Many are called but
few get the right number' (Naming Day in Eden, p. 132).
If rejuvenation of the cliche is achieved by restoration of a word's
literal meaning, the result is frequently humorous: 'Familiarity breeds
children' (Mark Twain). When two cliches with incompatible vehicles
are combined, the resultant 'incoherence' may revive the image (see
incoherence*).
New or original images avoid such mishaps by their refusal of the
commonplace.
5. A.J. Greimas proposed a functional concept regarding imagery (see
Structural Semantics: An Attempt at a Method, trans R. Scleifer and A.
Velie, p. 100): the isotopy*. A text's isotopy is the field of reality to
which its different parts refer. In the case of literary images, the isotopy
is complex. Blake's 'tyger' refers at once to an animal and to the theory
of the Divine Creation of the world. Usually, however, in the case of a
complex isotopy, one of the terms is favoured over the other: a greater
degree of reality is attributed to it. The description of the bateau ivre or
'drunken boat' provided by the French symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud
(the example cited by Greimas) relates rather to Rimbaud (the tenor or
subject compared) than to a boat (the vehicle or comparing object). In
such a case, Greimas speaks of a 'positive' complex isotopy. Since it is
the tenor which normally provides the image's focus, he considers it to
be the 'positive' isotopy; the vehicle, because it is to be taken in a
'figurative' sense, he considers the 'negative' isotopy.
These distinctions become essential in the (admittedly exceptional)
case of images referring to a 'negative' complex isotopy, or to one in
which positive and negative are 'in equilibrium.' Apparently, an
absence of isotopy, or ectopy, may also be envisaged.
223
Image
According to Greimas, there is a negative complex isotopy when the

vehicle, although it must be understood figuratively, nonetheless
receives from the author, and so also from the potential reader, a
degree of reality or truth superior to that possessed by the tenor (which
nonetheless remains the positive term). Ex (provided by Greimas): Mr
Dupont thinks he is a star. A literary example:
I'm a riddle in nine syllables,
An elephant, a ponderous house,
A melon strolling on two tendrils.
O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!
This loaf's big with its yeasty rising.
Money's new-minted in this fat purse.
I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.
I've eaten a bag of green apples,
Boarded the train there's no getting off.
Sylvia Plath, "Metaphors/ in Crossing the Water
The vehicle (an elephant, a melon, etc.) is assumed by the author to be
totally real; the tenor is only partially real.
To the negative complex isotopy belong hallucinations, which the
surrealists class as a kind of image (see below, Rl), and dreams which
are mistaken for reality (cf. 'I am dreaming that I am not asleep'
[Eluard, Oeuvres, 1:933]).
As for the balanced complex isotopy, it is achieved by images whose
complex isotopy is both positive and negative; that is, when the reality
of the tenor is assumed to be equally as true as that of the vehicle (but
no more so). As an example, Greimas gives the Simba (or Lion) war-
riors, who feel themselves to be both fully lion and fully men. The
poetry of Pierre Reverdy (1889-1960) tends towards this type of iso-
topy. Thus in 'Le Coeur soudain' ('Suddenly the Heart') (Ferraille,
1937), 'the appetite of the breakers' refers both to a seascape and to
swirling instincts, as is indicated by a similar but opposite line*: 'Emo-
tion capsizes on the rocks.' Images which refer to a balanced complex
isotopy, that is, to one 'in equilibrium,' are not dissociations*, the usual
type of surrealistic image. Such balanced expressions remain images
since, although the two terms have the same degree of reality, they
retain a figurative relationship one to the other. This is what gives
Reverdy's poetry its particular flavour. Understanding poetry held to
be hermetic may simply be a matter of discovering the theory under
whose auspices it was conceived.
Finally, a word about the absence of isotopy. Purely metaphorical
uses of images seem possible: in such cases, terms would only be
vehicles, having as their sole function the representation of 'something
else,' although what this something else might be remains a mystery.
Several texts by Michaux appear to fall into this category; for example,
224
Image
'La Nuit des embarras' and 'La Ralentie/ Ex: 'It was at the arrival,
between centre and absence, at Eureka, in the nest of bubbles ...' ('Entre
centre et absence/ in Lointain interieur [1938]). Such a theory of poetry
would be covered by Michaux's guiding principle (a principle which it-
self needs to be 'understood'): 'In darkness we will see clearly, broth-
ers. In the labyrinth we will find the straight way' ('Centre!' in La Nuit
remue [1935]). This is a poetics of total interiorization. See autism*.
The question of isotopy* arises whenever two signifieds belonging to
two distinct 'universes of discourse' are brought together. See pun*,
metonymy*, and oratorical syllepsis*.
Rl: Since the surrealists, the word image has taken on very wide
significance. As far as Breton was concerned (see Aragon et al., Diction-
naire abrege du surrealisme, under image), a surreal image occurs when an
expression 'conceals an enormous dose of apparent contradiction' (see
dissociation*); when 'one of the terms [is] curiously concealed' (see
metaphor*); when, 'after a sensational beginning, it seems a weak dis-
appointment of aroused expectation' (see anticlimax*); when 'it draws
upon itself for a ridiculous formal justification' (see musication* and
verbigeration*, R3); when it is 'hallucinatory' (see fantastic*); when it
'lends quite naturally to abstractions a concrete mask, or vice versa'
(see above); when it implies the negation of some elementary physical
property (a kind of paradox*); or when, more generally, 'it provokes
laughter' (see humour*). As may be seen, the word image designates to
Breton all kinds of devices, provided it be surrealist, that is, that it
'present the arbitrary to the highest degree' and that it take a long time
to 'translate it into practical language' (ibid.).
It is not hermeticism which assures the quality of surrealistic
'images,' nor is it their originality. The further apart and more exact
the relationship between the two realities compared, the greater the
power of the image/ wrote Reverdy (quoted by Breton, Manifestes du
surrealisme, p. 31). Semantic separation may also impose itself by its
exactitude. Gratuity and contradiction act as a fortiori proofs, possessing
the beauty of a kind of truth. Breton also said: 'Beauty will be convul-
sive or it will not exist.' And: 'It is from the somehow fortuitous com-
parison of the two terms that a particular light bursts forth, the light of
the image to which we are infinitely sensitive. The image's value de-
pends on the beauty of the spark produced ...' (Breton, Manifestes du
surrealisme, p. 51). The poet is less the author than the place where there
occurs a phenomenon whose composite parts exist less within the poet
than in the world and in language. (See dissociation*, R5.) This ex-
plains the poet's nature, which is often obsessive, distressing, ironic,
vengeful, and so on.
R2: See also hypotyposis* (an image which paints a picture).
225
Imitation
IMITATION Although the only limits to imitation placed on art by

Aristotle include the whole of nature (such a theory of imitation
includes the foregrounding of aesthetic devices, as Souriau points out),
some authors have not hesitated to produce sincere, non-parodic
imitations of culture, or at any rate of their predecessors' works (see
parody*).
Such imitations become 'isms/ nouns formed from the admired
author's surname with the added suffix -ism. Modelled on Pindarism,
Petrarchism, etc., modern French speaks of: Apollinarism, Balzacism,
Malrucism [from Malraux], Mauriacism, Proustism, Valerism, Ver-
lainism, and so on. Although such neologisms* are possible in English,
only Clevelandism and Pinterism immediately spring to mind as
current examples. Ex: Pope's Imitations of Horace belong in this intertex-
tual tradition.
Other definition: Fontanier (p. 288) employs imitation when speaking
not of other authors but of other languages. This we call peregrinism*.
Rl: Marotism (Clement Marot [1496-1544] wrote poems in a witty,
epigrammatic style dubbed 'elegant badinage' by Boileau [Art po&ique,
1674]), which has been in use for centuries, has taken on a broader
meaning in French (see archaism*, R2).
R2: Pindarism (Pindar was a Greek poet in the fourth century B.C.):
'praise of the gods and of heroes, moral commonplaces ... eloquence,
learned mythological imagery' (Benac). Ex: Amers, by Saint-Jean Perse.
R3: Petrarchism (Petrarch was a fourteenth-century Italian poet): 'verse
which is characterized by artificial diction, puns*, conceits*, complex
prosody, casuistical argument, and, in general, hermetic abstruseness'
(Cuddon).
R4: Gongorism or cultism (Gongora was a poet of the Spanish Golden
Age): 'Latinistic vocabulary, and syntax, intricate metaphors*, excessive
hyperbole*, rich colour images*, mythological allusions* and a general
strangeness of diction' (Cuddon).
R5: Euphuism (Euphues: The Anatomy of Wyt [1578] and Euphues and His
England [1580], works by John Lyly): 'an ornately florid, precious and
mazy style of writing (often alliterative, antithetical and embellished
with elaborate figures of speech)' (Cuddon).
R6: Marinism (Marino was an Italian poet of the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries): 'extravagant imagery*, excessive ornamentation and
verbal conceits*' (Drabble).
R7: Cliches* are imitations of the speech or thought of 'the-man-in-the-
street'; psittacisms* are parrotings, or repetitions* by an uncompre-
hending speaker.
226
Implication
R8: Pressed too far, imitation turns into plagiarism or literary theft. Jarry
enjoyed pointing out how Georges d'Esparbes (1864-1944), in a short
story entitled 'Petit-Louis/ had plagiarized Kipling's story Toomai of
the Elephants' in The Jungle Book (see A. Jarry, La Chandelle verte, p.
262). Such unacknowledged use of another's text risks the accusation of
dishonesty.
But where does plagiarism begin? In his Discours de Suede (Essais,
p. 1071), Camus wrote: 'Personally, I cannot live without my art.' He
had quoted van Gogh on the same subject in L'Homme revolte (ibid.,
p. 661): 'In my life and also in my painting, I am quite capable of doing
without God. But, in my suffering, I cannot do without something
greater than msyelf, the power to create, which is my life/ Camus had
made his own this 'admirable [albeit familiar] groan of anguish/
adapting it to his own situation, expressing it in his own terms.
It must also be said that some so-called examples of plagiarism far
surpass their models. Thus P.-A. Lebrun (1785-1873) is the author of a
poem called 'Cimetiere au bord de la mer/ in which the plan, the order
of imagery, and even the text of ten of the lines are very similar to
Valery's poem 'Le Cimetiere marin' (see R. Sabatier, in the Revue des
deux mondes, Dec. 1972, pp. 535-40). In such a case, one speaks of
intertextuality to avoid the pejorative connotations that would be out of
place.
Cases of ironic plagiarism occur. In Les Faux-Monnayeurs, Gide
indicates daybreak thus: 'La paupiere de 1'horizon rougissant deja se
souleve' ('The reddening horizon's eyelid is raised') (Romans, p. 275).
The sentence is taken verbatim from Mauriac. The absence of quotation
marks is obviously not a matter of cheating but rather, in our view, a
teasing challenge to the reader.
IMPLICATION A form of words whose semantic content leads the

reader to understand, in addition to their primary meaning*, something
else which is not immediately apparent but which follows from what
has been said, once one thinks about it.
Ex:
COMMANDING OFFICER [to a World War n British pilot who has
agreed to lay down his life' to improve morale]: Get up in a crate,
Perkins, pop over to Bremen, take a shufti, don't come back ...
Goodbye, Perkins ...
PERKINS: Goodbye, sir - or is it - au revoirl
COMMANDING OFFICER: No.
(Bennett, Cook, Miller, and Moore, 'Aftermyth of War,'
in The Complete Beyond the Fringe, p. 74
Ex: 'In 1979, however, a defector from [the Masonic Lodge] P2 - a
journalist named Mino Pecorelli - accused the CIA. Two months after
227
Implication
this accusation, Pecorelli was murdered' (M. Baigent, R. Leigh, and H.

Lincoln, The Messianic Legacy, p. 426).
By virtue of the law of exhaustivity (Ducrot), implication, even in the
parodical first example quoted above, plays on what is not being said.
The conversational convention presupposes that speakers say what
they know about the matter under discussion. If they say nothing
about the finality of the decision taken, it is because they think it better
to talk of other things. Another recent example is the definition given
by an African leader: 'A specialist is someone who does not work in
his own country.' For another example, see euphemism*, Rl.
Implication may also come into play as a result of what is said
(rather than left unsaid). Ex: 'Even friar Giroflee showed himself useful;
he became a very good carpenter, and even something of a gentleman'
(Voltaire, Candide, ch. 30). If he became so, he could not have been one
previously, and since he had been a monk at that time, Voltaire is
ultimately loosing his apparently innocent barb against the religious
orders.
Implication may function by denying something else; this would be
a form of litotes*. Ex: 'It was not Esdras and Da'Be that she first
thought of (L. Hemon, Maria Chapdelaine, p. 114). It was Franqois with
whom she is in love, as the reader guesses.
Implication may even work by means of antiphrasis*; that is, by
affirming the contrary. This is how many declarations need to be inter-
preted, particularly those intended to reassure the public at moments
of crisis. Ex: Roosevelt in July 1933: The United States is seeking a
dollar which will have the same purchasing power and value for
repaying debts in a generation as the one we want to ensure now for
the immediate future.' One must read 'between the lines' to see that
what the president is in fact announcing in this way is a devaluation of
the dollar. A literary example:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
R. Frost, The Road Not Taken'
The roads implicitly refer to choices of possible careers or lovers.
Analogous: hint; a look or word which speaks volumes; in conversa-
tion: T see what you mean'; insight (Le Clerc, p. 216: To give someone
an insight consists in allowing someone to guess something of what
one is thinking; this technique, when used tactfully, is most agreeable
because it allows others to exercise and display their intelligence.')
Rl: Implication is not unlike allusion*, which, however, evokes a fact,
person, or object rather than an assertion*. Allusion refers to something
228
Inclusion
known which is introduced into the text from outside, whereas im-
plication follows from the text itself. Ex: 'He jests at scars who never
felt a wound' (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 2.21). The ultimately tragic
consequences of Romeo's inexperience are implied.
R2: Rhetorical implication, which aims at communicating what is not
said, is therefore linked to irony*. It differs from logical implication,
which belongs to philosophy and which demands enunciation*. Ex:
'When two statements are combined by placing the word "if" before
the first and inserting the word "then" between them, the resulting
compound statement is a hypothetical (also called a conditional, an
implication, or an implicative statement)' (Irving M. Copi, Introduction to
Logic, p. 245).
R3: Ducrot makes a distinction between implication and presupposition.
See theme*, Rl, and assertion*.
R4: Implication in advertising is as artful as it is tempting. Ex: 'Large,
elegant, sunny, available right now' [an advertisement for apartments].
R5: It needs only the addition to an assertion* of a superfluous detail
for the latter's restrictive function to become apparent. Ex: What a nice
breakfast this morning!' risks the rejoinder: Tou didn't like yester-
day's?' A literary example: 'After my wife had pronounced, foolishly
saying that St. Urbain's Horseman was the best novel I'd written so far
(making me resentful, because this obviously meant she hadn't enjoyed
my earlier work as much as she should have done) I submitted the
manuscript to my editors' (Mordecai Richler, Shovelling Trouble, p. 12).
INCLUSION A device consisting of beginning and ending a poem,

story, or play with the same word. See Quinn.
Ex: 'It may be that universal history is the history of a handful of
metaphors ... It may be that universal history is the history of the
different intonations given a handful of metaphors' (J.L. Borges, 'The
Fearful Sphere of Pascal,' in Labyrinths, pp. 189,192).
Ex:
Ask me no more: the moon may draw the sea
Ask me no more.
Tennyson, 'Ask Me No More'
Other definitions: 1. Following several authors like Bary (see Le Hir,
p. 129), Marouzeau restricts the meaning of inclusion to epanadiplosis*.
However, his definition - 'Beginning and ending a sentence or verse
with the same word' - lacks precision. We prefer to keep epanadiplosis
for examples of the type he specifies and to use inclusion for those
229
Incoherence
involving whole works (however minimal), since the aesthetic effect is

quite different.
2. In logic, inclusion is a characteristic of the relationship between two
classes. The species is included in the genu$. This definition is impor-
tant for the analysis of synecdoche*.
INCOHERENCE Mixed metaphor*, that is, one combining two

incompatible images*. See Lausberg, meaning 2,
Ex (quoted by Lausberg, on the subject of an orator): 'He is a torrent
that becomes inflamed.' Fowler quoted (p. 361) the following oratorical
salad: 'No society, no community can place its house in such a condi-
tion that it is always on a rock, oscillating between solvency and insol-
vency. What I have to do is to see that our house is built upon a solid
foundation, never allowing the possibility of the Society's lifeblood being
sapped ...'
Analogous terms: false dissociation* (see dissociation, R6); 'tasteless
word selection' (Fowler)
Other definition: [Ideas, words, sentences] which do not follow, which
do not form a single well-articulated whole' (Lausberg, meaning 1).
This is an extended meaning* which includes dissociated words, incon-
sequential ideas, and coq-a-l'dne* at sentence-level. Incoherencies occur
also between narrative episodes. Ex: Protos's arrest in Gide's Les Caves
du Vatican: a moment earlier he had been declared above suspicion.
Rl: Incoherence could be restricted to mixed metaphor*, not only when
incompatibility arises between irrelevant classemes of the vehicle (e.g.,
the ship of state sailing on a volcano), but also when marginal semes of
the tenor clash with equally marginal semes in the vehicle (or vice
versa). An example taken from an official record and collected by Jean-
Charles: 'An Habitue of brawls, he had long since kept a revolver as
his bedside book.'
R2: When one of the terms of a surrealistic image* lends itself to a
metaphorical meaning, the distance necessary for the 'spark' to travel
creates incoherence between tenor and vehicle. Ex: This downpour is a
flash in the pan' (Eluard, Oeuvres, 1:725). This represents a comic
revival of the cliche* 'a flash in the pan': as may be seen, mixed meta-
phor is not always a defect. Traditional and surrealistic definitions of
the image* (as dissociation) come together here in quite a curious way.
R3: Deliberate incoherence remains the best way of ridiculing grandilo-
quence*. Ex: 'And when all was said and done the lies a fellow told
about himself couldn't probably hold a proverbial candle to the whole-
sale whoppers other fellows coined about him' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 520).
230
Incorrect Word
R4: Incoherence results from semes misplaced in the context (more

accurately from classemes ruled out by the isotopy* and yet still
included). This does not prevent there being in that context relevant
semes which seem to justify the kind of clumsiness that goes un-
punished in everyday conversation. Ex: The horse made superhuman
efforts to free itself.'
INCONSEQUENCE A flight of fancy by which two ideas with no

apparent logical link are co-ordinated.
Ex: Td sooner have been a judge than a miner ... It's safer work judg-
ing than mining. You're not troubled by falling coal, for one thing. You
don't get that down your Guild-halls. It's a feature of your Guild-hall
life, the absence of falling coal ...' (Bennett, Cook, Miller, and Moore,
'Sitting on a Bench,' in Beyond the Fringe, Capitol Records W-1792,1961).
Other name: non sequitur
Rl: Inconsequence, which resembles the combination of oxymoric
ideas, differs from coq-A-l'&ne*, in which widely divergent ideas are not
co-ordinated.
R2: The invention of amusing examples of inconsequence produces the
literary game 'Cross Questions and Crooked Answers' (see Augarde,
pp. 166-7).
R3: Despite its obscurity, inconsequence may be full of meaning*. Ex: A
recent documentary televised by the American Public Broadcasting
Company (Trontline: The Earthquake Is Coming,' 23 March 1988)
reported that a Californian geologist claimed to be able to predict, with
83 per cent accuracy, future earthquakes based on the number of
advertisements in his local paper for lost dogs and cats.
INCORRECT WORD Giving a word a meaning* different from the

one in common usage; that is, using a word to refer to something other
than what is meant. Incorrect words can only occasionally be pin-
pointed by reference to context.
Exx: T trudged, wincing at the toothache in my calf ...' (Anthony
Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 91); The American bases
have superimposed an encirclement complex on the older interven-
tionist trauma' (Fowler, p. 461). Fowler included the latter example of
the incorrect use of Freudian terminology among his 'popularized
technicalities.'
Antonyms: proper word; mot juste; appropriate expression
Other definition: According to Lausberg (sect. 533), among words con-
231
Injunction
sidered incorrect are imprecise synonyms*, words not in current usage,

invented words, and those belonging to a particular region, technologi-
cal field, trade, or occupation. This definition, which reflects ancient
ideas on the sustained style, gives a broader meaning to the term.
Rl: Incorrect words differ from catachresis*, in which there is no
corresponding correct word. It may happen, however, that the correct
term exists but is not known to the speaker. Ex: It's not far from that
pole ... That metal pole ... The pylon? Yes, that's it.' Such spontaneous
examples of the use of incorrect words are semi-catachretic, resulting,
as they do, from a momentary loss of words.
R2: Attenuations* are incorrect in part since they bear only upon
connotation (see euphemism*).
R3: Just as semantic and lexical neologisms* differ, so do incorrect
words contrast with barbarisms*. The latter involve the lexical nature
of words, the former only the desired meaning*.
R4: Purisms and hypercorrections also produce incorrect words. Ex:
'When James the footman says chicking for "chicken," he is being
hypercorrect, leaning over backwards to be correct' (OEDS).
INJUNCTION A type of sentence which expresses the conative

function (see enunciation*) of language (urging the addressee to behave
in a certain way).
Ex (current): 'Make my day!'
Ex (literary): 'LADY CAROLINE: John! If you would allow your nephew to
look after Lady Stutfield's cloak, you might help me with my work-
basket' (O. Wilde, A Woman of No Importance, act 1).
Ex (negative injunctions to a young actor): 'Never underestimate the
audience, never patronize them ... Never cheapen yourself or your
profession ... Remember the court jester: he didn't dare perform badly'
(L. Olivier, On Acting, p. 370).
As the first literary example shows, the imperative is not the only
grammatical form of injunction. Other forms include the future tense,
as in the following parody* of 'biblical' language: 'You shall wear
shined shoes at Speech Day and enjoy the delights of strawberries and
cream and salmon may-on-naise! You shall wear your shined shoes in
the Classical Fifth and in the Classical Sixth also shall you wear them'
(John Mortimer, Clinging to the Wreckage, p. 49).
Injunctions also take the form of noun phrases (e.g., 'Attention!';
'Silence!'), gestures*, and noises* (e.g., the judge's hammering with the
gavel to request silence in court). Lexicalized forms appear in such
232
In Petto
main-clause verbs as 'I order you to ...' and 'I want you to ...'; some-
times they are understood (e.g., 'Let no one go out'). As a mental
attitude, injunction has expanded into a literary genre (see discourse*),
but its purest form remains the imperative, characterized by the ab-
sence of pronouns designating the subject of the action (an absence
implying all the more strongly the subject's immediate presence,
however).
Analogous terms: mandate, command
Rl: For various types of sentences and their corresponding functions,
see enunciation*. Injunctions also take either positive or negative form
(orders and prohibitions). They are analogous to questions* in that they
presuppose from the receiver an answer, not of the assertive kind, but
one which constitutes an attitude (acceptance or refusal).
R2: Although the word injunction implies the superiority of the
speaker, the injunctive function is still exercised by a speaker whose
inferiority may be real, mandatory, or simulated. In such cases, the
same type of imperative is found, as in supplication*, for instance.
Other injunctive formulas - submissive, polite, or attenuated - occur
under different forms: requests, propositions, suggestions, advice, etc.
A motion is a formal proposal in a deliberative assembly.
R3: A (vocal) summons (and its rhetorical form, an apostrophe*) is
preliminary to an injunction, aiming to establish the contact necessary
for a possible injunction. It belongs therefore to the phatic rather than
to the conative function of language. Ex: 'Friends, Romans, countrymen
...' (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 3.2.78).
R4: Injunctions do not have their own graphic marker: they employ
both exclamation and question marks without being able to render the
quite different real intonations* they involve. Ex:
PLAYER: Go! Having mudered his brother and wooed the widow -
the poisoner mounts the throne! ...
ROSENCRANTZ: Oh, I say - here - really! You can't do that!
PLAYER: Why not?
ROSENCRANTZ: Well, really - I mean, people want to be entertained ...
Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, act 2
R5: Insults* and threats* may take injunctive forms. Ex: 'Get stuffed! ...
We'll see about thee in a minute, impudent young pup!' (Keith Water-
house, Billy Liar, pp. 40, 42).
IN PETTO (Ital. 'in the breast') Part of an utterance which the

speaker keeps private by not speaking aloud. See Concise Oxford
Dictionary, Robert, and Dubois et al., Lexis.
233
Insult
Ex: 'Paris pointed out the width of the bull's shoulders, the breadth of
its flank. "And his coat is smooth without scars or imperfections; fit for
a God," he said, and inwardly thought: He is too good for sacrifice; he
should be saved for breeding. Any old bull will do to strike off its head and
bleed on an altar' (Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Firebrand, p. 144).
The text may use the device to indicate self-censorship exercised by a
character or narrator: 'I was beginning to say, "You know, darling, I
think you have feelings, too, deep down," but the Witch had already
resumed the formal attitude she assumed for public appearances. I let
the matter drop' (K. Waterhouse, Billy Liar, p. 63).
Rl: In petto remarks differ from asides. In the latter, the utterance is
heard by someone, by the spectators, for example, when it is made in a
dramatic work (see monologue*, R3). In a public meeting, asides have
very few hearers, frequently only one (synonym: undertone).
R2: The use of in petto as a noun is not current in either English or
French.
R3: In petto remarks interrupt the discursive thread*. For an example of
an in petto remark accompanied by double parenthesis*, see situational*
signs, 4.
INSULT The use of one or more pejorative lexemes which, by means

of an apostrophe*, form the predicate of an implicit assertion* concern-
ing the person addressed.
Exx: 'I felt myself all of a fever and like drowning in redhot blood,
slooshying and viddying Dim's vulgarity, and I said: "Bastard. Filthy
drooling mannerless bastaard" ' (A. Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, p. 25);
'TZARA: By God, you supercilious streak of Irish puke! You four-eyed,
bog-ignorant, potato-eating ponce!' (Tom Stoppard, Travesties, act 1).
The subject may be designated specifically, as in the following ex-
ample, in which a change of tone makes the insult all the more gross
(see swear-word*):
'Outraged of Telford' has written to
tell the Editor how, last
Saturday, she and her spouse
went to the precinct to shop.
There was 'a group of young teenagers
lounging round in a doorway'
sprawling and picking their spots.
One, a girl aged about 12,
...
234
Interjection
said to him [the spouse] 'What do you think of the

youth of Telford, eh, sexy?'
'Not very much/ he replied,
shaking her free of his arm.
Whereupon she became violent,
spat phlegm into the man's face,
screamed, 'Well, I'll tell you what, cunt,
we think you're old fucking shits!'
Peter Reading, Ukelele Music, p. 75
Other term: invective
Antonyms: compliment, flattery
Rl: Insults differ from caricature*, in which some third party is the
subject of the assertion*. In the case of persiflage* and sarcasm*, the
pejorative lexemes are not applied to the person addressed, at least not
directly.
R2: R. Edouard, in the introduction to his Dictionnaire des injures,
distinguishes insults from reproaches (which are well-founded criti-
cisms), threats* (which are future-oriented), and outrageous attacks
(which are cruelly wounding). He reduces the power of insults by
attributing them merely to 'illogical and momentary fits of irritation' or
to the 'need to attract attention,' that is, to the expressive and phatic
functions of communication. The injunctive function of insults forces
others to see themselves in a new and unflattering light; in extreme
cases, if they are assumed to be true, they may have a referential
function.
R3: Institutionalized insults accompanied by parodic ceremoniousness
in the form of 'roasts' of celebrities or well-known comedians confer
litanies of back-handed compliments on their recipients. Valery has the
demons of hell recite such a litany to their master, for whom it con-
stitutes praise, of course: 'Prince of Evil, hear us; Heart of the Abyss,
spare us! ... Arch of Hatred! Pit of Lies! Shadow of the truth!' (P.
Valery, Oeuvres, 2:340).
R4: Insults may take various forms. See injunction*, R5, and false -*, Rl
(the case of asteismus* or pretended insult).
INTERJECTION Interjections exist at the limits of language under-

stood as a code, somewhere between gestures* and word-sentences. As
human noises* uttered by speakers, their meaning* differs in accord-
ance with context and form, but nonetheless remains codifiable.
Ex: 'Huuuh! the drover's voice cried, his switch sounding on their
235
Interjection
flanks. Huuuh!' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 81). The written forms Huuuh,

Huuuh, although they refer to known interjections, deviate from dic-
tionary forms like whoa. In thus rendering vocal acts in a specific way,
they may modify their meaning. One can distinguish, then, between
different meanings attributed to the same or to similar interjections.
J. Tardieu (Un Mot pour un autre, pp. 16, 85) distinguished in this way
between: Ah?: a sign of astonishment, demanding an explanation* or
expressing incredulity; Ah!: the satisfaction at seeing the materialization
of some event long awaited with hope and concern; Ah! Ah!: said with
rising intonation, and confirming what was suspected to be fact. Some
purely French exclamations collected and interpreted by Tardieu: Ah!
Bah!: a polite answer, but one of disbelief and, basically, of indif-
ference; Ah! la-la, la-la-la-la!: an expression of a person's reaction to
disaster.
As may be seen, although dictionaries provide lists of interjections,
their codification exists only in part and their meaning depends on
melodic factors like tone, pitch, and so on. Deserving also of considera-
tion is the Canadian interjection Eh!, as in 'Canadian Eh!'
A (far from complete) list of interjections: Ah! (A)hem! Ahoy! Alas!
Bravo! Blast! Boo! Brrr! Damn! Eh! Eh? Eureka! Fie! Fore! Gee up! Ha!
ha! ha! H[a/e/u]llo! Hallelujah! Hear hear! Hey! Hi! H'm! Hold on!
Hurrah! Hush! Jeez! No go! Now then! Ooof! Oops! Ow! Oh! Ouch!
Out! Pah! Pffft! Poof! Pooh! Pstt! Right! Swoosh! Ugh! Uh! Uh! Well
then! What! Whew! Whoa! Yuk! See also click*.
Rl: The ancients scarcely considered interjections, or cries 'thrown
between' two sentences, to be part of (the) language. Indeed, from the
viewpoint of syntax, only sentences merit consideration (see Crystal,
1987, p. 91; Wagner and Pinchon, p. 494; J. Dubois, p. 17f). But viewed
as a phenomenon of syntagmatic flow, interjections are segments
isolated by rhythm* and melody which nonetheless retain, despite their
isolation, the same meaning they possess in their own context: this
might make of them the shortest kinds of sentences (compare Tes' and
'No') with various possible functions. See enunciation*. Interjections
with an expressive function: Ouch!, Eeek! (terror), Tee-heel (a literary
form of laughter), Ugh!, Blast! Interjections having a phatic function:
Hi!, Hey there!, Ickle! Tickle! (or the like, said to get a baby's attention),
and, best-known of all, the famous Er ... Er ... of a speaker lost for
words. Some interjections have an injunctive function: Hush!, Ahem!
ahem! (an invitation to discretion in a conversation), Gee up! Or a
referential function: Go on! (an ironic form of agreement), Ss! ... Ss! (of
admiration). See J. Tardieu, Un Mot pour un autre, pp. 85-113; and
L. Tesniere, ch. 45
When its function is referential, the interjection (and its intonation*)
is the equivalent of a predicate whose subject exists in the specific
236
Interjection
context. Thus Oh! indicates a response* to an objection (an exclama-

tion* used to interrupt the person objecting). Ex: 'Oh! I'm far from
being a fatalist.' In a narrative*, interjections signal the passage to
direct utterances (either at the level of what is narrated or at that of the
narration). Ex: 'All right, let him worry about that all he wants. As for
me, I'm on a higher plane. I do not stoop to him. He's less than the
dust beneath my chariot wheel. Yah, yah, ya-ah! Less than the du-ust!'
(Dorothy Parker, 'But the One on the Right/ New Yorker, 19 Oct. 1929,
p. 25).
R2: Some interjections elude codification; they are mere human noises*
whose transcription remains approximate: we will call them quasi-
interjections. Ex: 'Aham! ... Aham!' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 197; the passage
describes the warming powers of gin).
The quasi-interjection is a mimology* and may have a very precise
meaning. Ex: 'Me. de Coetquidan said simply: "Hrrr ..." His uncle had
said: "Hrrr," which meant: "Now, my boy, you're beginning to meddle
with what doesn't concern you"' (H. de Montherlant, Romans,
pp. 747-8).
R3: Interjections differ from non-human noises* and from onomatopo-
eia*, the codification of sounds. Such noises are introduced into sen-
tences either as nouns or as a kind of adverb of manner. They could
not form a direct human utterance, complete in itself, as do interjec-
tions and quasi-interjections.
R4: Pseudo-language* appears to be very similar to interjections both
because it also possesses a clear-cut form within a system of sounds,
graphemes, and rhythmic units, and because it seems to be made of
words, although the latter have neither meaning* nor syntactic specific-
ity. But pseudo-language does not reproduce the interjection's sponta-
neous linguistic act; on the contrary, its origins must be sought in lan-
guage, duly constituted as such, of which its prolonged sentences and
expressive or melodic rhythms* are no more than a distant imitation.
R5: Fairly close to interjections are oaths, also often codified, and
having a principally expressive function. (See Courault, 2:127.) Ex: 'One
of the Crokes made a woeful wipe at him one time with his caman and
I declare to God he was within an aim's ace of getting it at the side of
his temple. Oh, honest to God, if the crook of it caught him that time
he was done for' (Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, p. 182).
In order to desecrate, oaths must exceed the limits of what is gener-
ally considered permissible. Quebecois profanity involves repetition of
the names of the sacred altar vessels, chalice and ciborium, as well as
of the host and tabernacle (see blasphemy*, Rl). Ex: 'By the tripes of all
the popes, past, present and future, no! two-hundred thousand times
no!' (Theophile Gautier, Mademoiselle de Maupin, preface).
237
Interruption
Oaths are often distorted (see attenuation*). Exx: Gee whiz!, Crumbs!,
Jeepers creepers!, Holy Toledo!, Gad!, G-dammit! Quebecois distortions
include: 'stie (i.e., Hostie! [host!]), tabarnouche, chriss, cibole, ciboaque (i.e.,
ciboire [ciborium]).
Whereas interjections are often well received (as familiarities helpful
to communication), oaths, because they have something in common
with swear-words*, risk giving offence. They would simply be means
of conferring emphasis*, except that in some circles they are considered
blasphemous. Ex: ' "Talk bloody sense, man!" he roared. "By Christ, if
this is what they learned him at technical school, I'm glad I'm bloody
ignorant!" ' (K. Waterhouse, Billy Liar, p. 79).
In Quebec, Chriss is introduced into sentences as an emphatic
lexeme. Exx: 'un chriss de fou' (equivalent to 'a bloody fool'); 'mon
chriss de tabarnak d'hostie de caliss'!'
R6: Violent or savage sentences or human noises* tend to become
screams.
INTERRUPTION A voluntary action or utterance that prevents the

discourse* from proceeding continuously.
Ex: ' "I am inclined to think -" said I [Dr Watson]. "I should do so,"
Sherlock Holmes remarked, impatiently7 (Conan Doyle, The Valley of
Fear, ch. 1).
Ex: ' "I agree with you, Minister," came the reply, much to my sur-
prise. "There is indeed scope for economy ..." "Then ..." I interrupted,
"... where, for God's sake?" ' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes
Minister,' p. 68).
Other definitions: Fontanier (p. 372) and Puttenham (see Lanham,
p. 60) give to interruption the meaning of aposiopesis*. Fontanier
distinguishes it from reticence, whose silences are, in his view, charged
with allusions* all the more pernicious for being silent.
Rl: Strictly speaking, interruptions are caused by external events; for
example, someone's arrival or a telephone ringing: "ALMA (to John):
And I always say that life is such a mysteriously complicated thing
that no one should really presume to judge and condemn the behavior
of anyone else!' (There is a faraway "puff' and a burst of golden light over
their heads. Both look up. There is a long-drawn "Ahhhh ..." from the
invisible crowd. This is an effect which will be repeated at intervals during the
scene.) There goes the first skyrocket! Oh, look at it burst into a million
stars!' (Tennessee Williams, Summer and Smoke, part 1, scene 1). When
the cause is a psychological event, either expressive or impressive, the
interruption is called aposiopesis*.
R2: In a narrative*, interruptions are signs of mimesis*. Ex:
238
Intonation
- I was just round at the courthouse, says he, looking for you. I hope
I'm not...
- No, says Martin, we're ready. (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 279)
Suppression of the beginning, rather than the end, of the text produces
counter-interruption*.
R3: The reason for some interruptions lies in the obviousness of what is
to follow: judged unnecessary, its enunciation is dispensed with so as
not to fatigue the reader. In such cases, etc. is used. Ex: 'And, to his
credit, he handled it superbly. At once out came all the appropriate
phrases: "But I'm sure ... whatever made you think? ... no question of
anything but the fullest support ..." etc.' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The
Complete 'Yes Minister/ p. 123). If repeated, etc. becomes (even more)
ironic. Ex: 'STUPID WAGERS: A certain Pascal etc., etc.' (J. Prevert, Paroles,
p. 182). Ex: In the musical comedy The King and /, Oscar Hammerstein
II wrote a song called 'Etc. etc.' to allow the King of Siam to display his
domineering nature.
R4: Interruptions do not always entail suppressions. In the following
curious example, by means of a device reminiscent of the process of
dictation, the recovery of control involves the repetition* of part of the
interrupted discourse:
The end of the rigid index finger approaches the circle formed by
the dial of the watch fastened on ...
the circle formed by the dial of the watch fastened on his wrist and
called ... (A. Robbe-Grillet, Le Voyeur, p. 253)
INTONATION Whereas rhythm* involves the duration of segments

(measured in centiseconds) and emphasis* concerns principally their
intensity (measured in decibels), intonation modulates pitch (measured
in Hertz) in relation to a basic or medium tone which differs from one
individual to another. Variations in pitch, characterized by their devia-
tion and contour, produce the melody of sentences.
Any spontaneous utterance is accompanied by various melodies
whose changing nuances are difficult to transpose onto the musical
scale because, unlike the well-tempered clavier, they do not conform
to octaves divided into five tones and two semitones, but bring into
play intermediate tones. Prose melody is the opposite of recto tono,
which is both musical and fixed. In this context, the natural is
inimitable. For an actor, it consists in constant intuitive reinvention of
noteless melodies more expressive of a character's feelings than the text
itself.
Electronic instruments (spectographs, for instance) nowadays allow
for the fairly accurate recording of intonation. But despite frequent
attempts (see the bibliographies in D.B. Bellinger's Intonation and Its
239
Intonation
Parts or P.R. Leon's Essais de phonostylistique), their interpretation re-

mains uncertain.
At least three functions may be assigned to such recordings.
(a) The relevant part of the phenomenon may be localized, since into-
nation plays a part in marking the boundaries of textual articulations.
(b) Consequently, for the same succession of sounds, intonation may
assign different contents. Ex: In 'He would have died but for his dog,'
uttered with steeply rising intonation (level 4; or 5 if said with emo-
tion), died implies that he is still alive thanks to his dog.
(c) Intonation reveals the speaker's private thoughts. Thus, 'That's
cunning!' with a rising or falling melody becomes respectively meliora-
tive or pejorative. By the use of musical notes, Morier transcribes
(under m&odie) different intonations of the sentence-ending 'Le savais-
tu?' ('Did you know?') and others like it, which are able to convey, as
the case may be, a request for information, suspicion, aggressive as-
tonishment, justified distrust, friendly dubitatio*, incredulity mixed with
astonishment, ironic incredulity, antiphrasis*, hesitation, and so on.
Such tones, used constantly in oral language, are immediately
restored by readers, which is why by reading a text aloud, one reveals,
down to the smallest detail, one's understanding or interpretation of it.
But at present there exist only rudimentary means of transcribing such
understanding and attributed meaning. See expressive punctuation*.
See Crystal, 1987, pp. 169-73.
Rl: Which are the significant indications we should transcribe? P.R.
Leon (Essais de phonostylistique) identified several.
1. The most important is the contour of the melodic curve, which may
be written down in musical notation (see Morier, Dictionnaire de po&i-
que et de rh&orique, pp. 616-33). A less onerous kind of transcription
consists in placing under the vowels one or more black dots according
as the melody sinks slightly or markedly, and in putting one or more
circles above the vowels in the case of a rising melody. Two black dots
correspond to level 1, three to level 5. Exx:
(1) You didn't know? (friendly doubt)
(2) You didn't know that? (astonished disbelief)
(3) You didn't know that? (surprise and suspicion)
(4) You didn't know? (ironic doubt)
240
Intonation
A mingogram is 'a graphic recording which includes several simul-

taneous and complementary graphs. The term is a gallicized form of
"Mingograf," [the product-name] of a Swedish apparatus for studying
heartbeats which has been adapted to the needs of research in phonet-
ics' (Morier, p. 770, under mingogramme). The graphs produced by the
mingogram can be projected onto a five-level scale (see Leon, pp.
20-39), or expressed in a diagram like the one below, or coloured and
turned into dots which traverse the line in the text, considered to be
the base line which represents the medium level, no. 2.
LEVELS RANGE
5 high-pitched
4 high
3 infra-high
2 medium
1 low
See continuation*.
2. We must also take into account the separation between the peaks and
troughs in the melodic contour. The deviation is all the greater as
feelings mount. Any exclamation*, any true or even simulated emotion,
causes the voice to rise to level 5, at the end of either a syntagm* or a
sentence (see Leon, p. 52).
3. Intensity (weak, medium, or high) denotes, for example, timidity (i<)
or sadness (i<), or, on the contrary, anger (i>), indignation (i>), or
advertising Tiype' (i>). Medium intensity denotes neutrality of tone or
only slight feeling such as surprise (i=) or wariness (i=). Morier uses
one, two, or three (in the case of extreme force) acute accents (', ", '")
written above the letter for an intensity accent affecting a single vowel,
consonant, or short segment.
4. Duration. Another characteristic of advertising hype is its rapidity.
Intonation in expressions of anger, indignation, and fear is also rapid,
but slows down in those denoting surprise, timidity, and sadness, and
is much slower still in expressions of cheerfulness. These changes in
speed may be represented by v«, v<, v>, and v».
5. Register (sound quality). The average register of the human voice
varies with the individual since it is his or her medium of expression.
However, an individual's register may undergo variation as his/her
feelings change from moment to moment. Sadness is denoted by
lowering the bass register (as an average of the unaccented syllables).
A powerful rise in register accompanies fear, surprise, or hype; the rise
is very powerful in the case of anger. This might be represented as m<,
241
Inversion
m>, and m». Leon speaks of a register's 'symbolic' value, and Crystal
(1987, pp. 174-5) of 'sound symbolism.'
R2: The description, possibly even the transcription, of different types
of intonation would facilitate the identification, in something more than
a merely intuitive fashion, of a great number of literary devices whose
tone makes them 'sing.' The following is a list of those which appear in
the present dictionary, and which seem to possess a melody - or
melodies - of their own:
anticlimax* - antiparastasis* - apology - aposiopesis* - apostrophe* -
approximation* - assertion* - asteismus* - autism* - chleuasmos* -
communicatio* - concession* - disapproval - dubitatio* - epiphonema* -
euphemism* - exclamation* - excuse* - gauloiserie* - howler - imita-
tion* - insult* - interjection* - irony* - licence* - metastasis* - mimol-
ogy* - mockery - monologue* - optatio - palinode - parabasis* -
paradox* - parody* - parroting - permissio* - persiflage* - preterition*
- prolepsis* - prosopopoeia* — pseudo-tautology - psittacism* - ques-
tion* - quibble* - quotation* - rhetorical question - recrimination* -
refutation* - riddle* - sarcasm* - self-correction* - slogan* - soliloquy
- supplication* - surprise - suspense* - threat* - wish - witticism.
The following is an example of intonation which changes the meaning
of an assertion*: '- "So things seem better like this?" "Better! Better! I
take them as they are" ' (Jules Remains, Monsieur Le Trouhadec, in
Theatre, 2:133).
INVERSION A reversal of what is considered the normal or usual

order of the constituent parts (words or word groups) of a sentence
(see Marouzeau). See also Fontanier (p. 284), Lausberg, Morier, OED,
and Preminger.
Exx: 'Fifteen children he had' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 124); 'The House Beauti-
ful is the play lousy!' (Dorothy Parker, in Life, quoted by Pepper,
Twentieth-Century Quotations, p. 358).
Other definitions: In rhetoric, inversion means 'turning an opponent's
argument* against him; also called the figure of retort' (OED, Premin-
ger). Ex: 'I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier's beard. He sent me
word if I said his beard was not cut well, he was in mind it was. This
is called the Retort Courteous' (Shakespeare, As You Like It, 5.4.72).
In prosody, inversion means the turning of feet by substituting
stressed for unstressed syllables, or vice versa. Ex (using a trochee for
an iamb in iambic verse):
Catcht I by Conta I gion, like I in pun I ishment

/ X X /
Milton, Paradise Lost, 10.544
242
Irony
Robert O. Evans, who quotes the above example (see Preminger, pp.
402-3), comments: 'In traditional English verse, inversion of stress is a
common device for securing variation, occurring most frequently in the
initial foot and often immediately following the caesura, only very
rarely in the final foot.'
Rl: Inversion only has figurative value if not demanded syntactically,
and its effect is stronger for being unexpected.
R2: Frequently, inversion's role is to call attention to either subject or
predicate. Ex: 'Morning sex she'd had enough of in her time' (Julian
Barnes, Before She Met Me, p. 124). See apposition*, R2.
R3: Aesthetric inversion may aim to make a sentence's movement
reflect that of the object or behaviour described. Ex: In a recent film,
inversion is the characteristic device identifying the speech of the Jedi
master-teacher, Yoda: 'Harm I mean you not. Away put your weapon'
(George Lucas, The Empire Strikes Back, 1980).
IRONY 1. Expressing in the form of a joke, intended seriously or not,

the opposite of what one thinks or wants others to think (see Fontanier,
p. 145). See also Corbett, Scaliger (3:140), Littre, Quillet, Lausberg (sect.
583), Morier, and Preminger.
Exx: 'What a fine day!' [said on a day of obviously inclement weather];
' "Truly this is the sweetest of theologies," William said, with perfect
humility, and I thought he was using that insidious figure of speech
that rhetors call irony, which must always be prefaced by the pronun-
ciatio, representing its signal and justification - something William
never did' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 145).
2. Anglo-Saxon writers on rhetoric (see, for instance, D.C. Muecke, The
Compass of Irony, and W.C. Booth, A Rhetoric of Irony) distinguish the
kind of ironic statement described by Fontanier from the kind of ironic
situation in which a speaker through 'self-ignorance' commits the
'irony of self-betrayal.' (See also Abrams, Cuddon, Morier ['immanent
irony'], Preminger, and Woodson). Such is the case in the following
instance where the fictional medieval speaker, Bernard Gui, papal
inquisitor and opponent of the doctrine prescribing clerical poverty, is
represented as supporting the pope for reasons of self-interest: 'And I
know for certain that not long ago, in Avignon itself, with necroman-
cies of this sort philters and ointments were prepared to make attempts
on the life of our lord Pope himself, poisoning his foods. The Pope was
able to defend himself and identify the toxin only because he was
supplied with prodigious jewels in the form of serpents' tongues,
fortified by wondrous emeralds and rubies that through divine power
243
Irony
were able to reveal the presence of poison in foods' (U. Eco, The Name
of the Rose, p. 329).
Analogous terms: T>rie Mock' (Puttenham); dissimulatio; enantiosis;
illusio (Lanham); antitrope (Littre groups irony, sarcasm*, and euphem-
ism* under this term)
Rl: Preminger places under the rubric irony: litotes*, hyperbole*,
antiphrasis*, asteismus*, chleuasmos*, mockery (see persiflage*), imita-
tion* (pastiche), puns*, parody*, and false naivety. His criterion is that,
in the case of irony, only the author is sure of the true meaning of
what is said. If the meaning* is too clear, irony turns into sarcasm*,
insults*, threats*, etc. This conforms to the Greek meaning of the term
eipwoeio. ('interrogation'): the reader must ask what may have been
meant. This is irony in the strict sense. However, Morier also includes a
large number of figures in his entry on irony (as well as some of those
in Preminger's list, he includes preterition*, permissio*, and gradatio*,
before partially identifying humour* as the 'irony of reconciliation').
Such compilations of figures under the rubric irony lend plausibility to
the contention of Group MU and others that irony is a 'superordinate'
figure capable of marshalling numbers of ordinate tropes in the interest
of global textual strategies.
R2: Irony may be reduced to no more than a speaker's tone of voice,
which may force a novelist to specify what a character really means.
Ex: 'She added without the slightest discernible irony in her voice: "I
feel safe with you, I never have to fear the unexpected"' (J.-P. Sartre, L'Age
de raison, p. 114). Graphic signs available are parentheses surrounding
either exclamation or question marks. Ex: The present Dean (!)' The
suggestion, made by Alcanter de Brahm (see L'Ostensoir des ironies
[1899]) that a reversed question mark be used as the sign of irony
failed to gain currency. Muecke comments (p. 56): The only proper
comment on his suggested point d'ironie is point d'ironie: plus d'ironie.'
As well as revealing de Brahm's real name, Marcel Bernhardt, Booth
adds (p. 206, n. 9) that the proposed symbol would have been inade-
quate, requiring in addition 'a set of evaluative sub-symbols: * =
average; t = superior; £ = not so good; § = marvellous; 11 = perhaps
expunge.'
R3: Irony is not always playful. Fontanier points to contrefision or
painful irony. Benac specifies that the ironist may wish to convey that
'those who claim the proposition is true, are either stupid, which
provokes his mockery, or dishonest, which arouses his indignation.'
This definition is similar to the Anglo-Saxon view of irony mentioned
earlier. Irony in this extended sense has become a form of mockery (see
persiflage*).
244
Isolexism
R4: Irony employs allusion*, implication*, and cliche*, as well as the

figures already mentioned.
ISOLEXISM (neol.) The return, within a sentence, of a lexeme

already uttered, but in different conditions.
Isolexism comes in four distinct forms:
Isolexism by derivation: The same lexical element returns in different
words. Ex:
Mock mockers after that
That would not lift a hand maybe
To help good, wise or great
To bar that foul storm out, for we
Traffic in mockery
W.B. Yeats, 'Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen'
Morphological isolexism: Repetition of the same word in different ac-
tualizations; that is, within the nominal syntagm, only number, article,
and possessive, demonstrative, or indefinite adjectives change. Exx: 'It
is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can
even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of
the people all of the time' (A. Lincoln, quoted in Alexander McClure,
Lincoln's Yarns and Stories, p. 81); Work in the service of man, for every
man, for everything in man' (Pope Paul VI, 10 June 1969); 'Cursed be
Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren' (Genesis
9:25).
Syntactic isolexism: Actualization of the same word with different
grammatical functions; that is, prepositions may be modified in noun
phrases, and conjunctions in verb clauses, as may the equivalents of
either. Ex: '... government of the people, by the people, for the people
...' (A. Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address,' 1863).
Syntagmatic isolexism (or reiteration): The same word, with the same
actualization and function, is added on to another syntagm in the same
sentence. Ex: 'Over then, come over, for the bee has quit the clover'
(R. Kipling, The Long Trail').
It will be better to group these four types of isolexism under the
same name, not only so as to avoid the proliferation of terminology,
but also because they frequently are combined. Exx: Tlease please me'
[title of a song by the Beatles]; 'Nothing is enough to the man for
whom enough is too little' (Epicurus). The essential feature of the de-
vice is the lexeme's return, which imprints the formula on the memory.
Ex: 'Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is
fear itself (F.D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 1933).
Isolexism may, however, result merely from negligence (e.g., 'Skiers
245
Isotopy
were skiing') or may be an easy way of inventing a tautophony: 'a

hunter hunting hunted with other hunters/ Compare this with the
isolexic rigour of: 'How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a
woodchuck could chuck wood?'
Other names: conjugates (for isolexism by derivation: Aristotle, Topics,
2.23.1397a 20; Thomas Wilson, The Rule of Reason; Abraham Fraunce,
The Lawier's Logike, [see Joseph, pp. 338-9]); derivation (Le Clerc, p. 269;
Fontanier, p. 351); declension (for morphological isolexism: Le Clerc);
traductio (also for morphological isolexism: Lanham; Fontanier, p. 352
['traduction']; Morier); potyptoton (for morphological and syntactic
isolexism: Fontanier, p. 352; Lanham; Lausberg, sect. 640-8; Quinn). In
Greek and Latin, the latter term applied to the repetition of words in
different cases (Gr. potyptoton: 'various cases'). In the same way, homo-
ioptoton (Gr. 'in a like case with a similar inflexion'; see Lanham,
Lausberg, sect. 729) applied to repetition of endings in the same case,
similar in sound. Such figures are no longer possible in modern analy-
tic languages, and, as Lanham says (p. 54) of homoioptoton, 'English
uses the term loosely, often making it synonymous with Homoioteleu-
thon, often making it mean simply rhyme*.' We have followed this
assimilation; see homoioteleuton*.
Rl: Isolexism is the opposite of grammatical reprise*.
R2: Polysemic isolexisms turn into word-play*. Ex: 'Vats of porter
wonderful. Rats get in too ... Rats: vats' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 125).
R3: Morphological or syntactic isolexism is a way of emphasizing a
noun or even of emphasizing a proper name by refusing to use a
pronoun. Ex: 'Long may'st thou live in Richard's seat to sit, / And
soon lie Richard in an earthy pit!' (Shakespeare, Richard II, 4.1.218-19).
R4: Dislocation* and the refusal to use pronouns permit emphasis of
any lexeme forming the focal points of a predicate. Ex: IJnbelievable!
That must seem to you unbelievable!' This is false isolexism, closer to
reduplication*.
R5: Some isolexisms have become part of the language. See ety-
mology*, other def. Ex: To live one's life, sleep the sleep of the just ...'
R6: Lexical mirroring (see mirror*) consists in subordinating the dif-
ferent lexical parts of an isolexism one to another.
ISOTOPY A term proposed by Greimas, composed of topos, 'a place/

and isos, 'equal, same.' Isotopy is not a device, but a concept necessary
to the definition of devices. Consider the case of a lexical word; once
inserted into a text, it refers not only to a meaning but also to a refer-
ent (see enunciation*, 5); that is, it designates something which is part
of the world outside language. The type of reality evoked by the set of
246
Jargon
elements making up the text forms its universe of discourse or isotopy.

An isotopy exists when the words used refer to the 'same place/
An isotopy is situated in a cosmological, noological, historical, or
anthropological dimension according to whether it involves objects, ideas,
actions, or persons. For example, in the case of the expression 'Small is
beautiful,' the context imposes one among several possible isotopies.
Small may belong to the universe of objects: this will give 'the small
hat,' 'the small bouquet,' etc. It may designate a child. It may also enter
the noological dimension and the sentence then means: 'Smallness is
more beautiful [than largeness].'
Rl: Greimas analysed complex isotopies (see image*, 5). Multiple isotopies
have been studied since antiquity (see meaning*, 6 and 7). A double
isotopy creates ambiguity* (see ambiguity, 1). Conversely, a single
isotopy reduces dissociations* (see dissociation, R5) to images*.
J
JARGON Language which is inaccessible to non-specialists.
Ex: David Monaghan describes as follows the fictional language of
espionage invented by John Le Carre [David Corn well]: 'Le Carre
offers nearly two hundred words and phrases ... Thus, amongst his
forty or so terms used to describe types of spies are such felicitous
titles as "little ships," "secret whisperers," "burrowers," "coat trailers,"
"Golden Oldies," "ju ju men," "lamplighters," "pavement artists,"
"shoemakers," "vicars." Elsewhere, to be cleared of suspicion is to be
"graded Persil" and to threaten and bribe simultaneously is to carry
out a "stick-and-carrot job" ' (Smiley's Circus: A Guide to the Secret World
of John Le Carri, p. 11).
Other definitions: gibberish* (Concise Oxford Dictionary, Petit Robert);
'artificial language used by the members of a group desirous of re-
maining uncomprehended by outsiders or of distinguishing themselves
from the common: criminal, schoolboy jargon' (Marouzeau). The latter
definition gives a restricted meaning which includes much that is better
defined as slang* (see slang, Rl). In his Style: An Anti-Textbook, Richard
Lanham devotes a whole chapter (pp. 69-93) to American jargon: 'No
one can deny that America in our time has produced the finest flower-
ing of specialist gobbledegook the planet has seen. Witness the bureau-
cratic mumblespeak ... American jargon is such fun to contemplate, so
full of pompous self-satisfaction on the one hand, and cynical, know-
ing, ritual mystification on the other that description hardly knows
where to begin' (p. 69).
247
Juxtaposition (Graphic)
Rl: What remain reserved for members of the group are more often
special meanings than lexical words themselves. Ex: 'Derivatives of
constant functions are zero. Is the reciprocal case true? i.e., is a function
whose derivative is zero a constant?' (Fr. Roure and A. Buttery, Mathe-
maticjues pour les sciences societies, 1: 155).
R2: Scientific jargon has invaded the novel. Ex: Inside their brains they
shared an old, old electro-decor - variable capacitors of glass, kerosene
for a dielectric, brass plates and ebonite covers, Zeiss galvanometers
with thousands of fine threaded adjusting screws, Siemens milliam-
meters set on plate surfaces, terminals designated by Roman numerals,
Standard Ohms of manganese wire in oil, the old Gulcher Thermosaule
that operated on heated gas, put out 4 volts, nickel and antimony,
asbestos funnels on top, mica tubing ...' (Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's
Rainbow, p. 518). Compare Alain Robbe-Grillet and Hubert Aquin. See
also nominalization*, R4.
R3: The languages invented by computer programmers (Basic, Fortran,
Cobol, Pascal, etc.) are jargons formed in some instances from English
prefixes, roots, or suffixes. Similarly, the names given to newly
invented substances: nylon, orlon, lycra, corfam, etc. In some sectors,
such newly coined denominations have so proliferated as to make
necessary the publication of glossaries.
JUXTAPOSITION (GRAPHIC) A graphism* which eliminates the

spaces between words.
Exx: 'Wotalotigot' [i.e., 'what a lot...,' an ad for chocolates]; 'National-
gymnasiummuseumsanatoriumandsuspensoriumsordinaryprivat-
docentgeneralhistoryspecialprofessordoctor' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 252).
Analogous term: Run on (typography)
Rl: In Raymond Queneau's work, analogous graphisms are syntag-
matic amalgams* like 'Keskya?' ['Worizit?'] (Le Chiendent, p. 238). Joyce
prefers to juxtapose two lexemes (lexical roots) to form a new sememe
(global signified). Ex: 'He smellsipped the cordial juice' (Ulysses,
p. 142). See lexical juxtaposition*.
JUXTAPOSITION (LEXICAL) Whether words are joined together

by hyphens or by graphic juxtaposition*, the result is the same: such
devices amalgamate syntagms* or lexemes, thus inventing new words
whose global meaning is the sum of the individual meanings possessed
by the segments. Ex: 'Davy Byrne smiledyawnednodded all in one'
(Joyce, Ulysses, p. 145). Davy makes only one movement, but there is
no single word to describe it; hence the juxtaposition of the three
constituent actions into a single attitude.
Rl: In the case of apposition*, there is a principal lexeme to which the
248
Lamentation
others are related; in that of juxtaposition, all lexemes exist on the same
footing, amalgamated into a whole which unites all their semes into a
new sememe. Ex: 'par une totale dissipation-derision-purgation' (H.
Michaux, 'Clown/ in L'Espacedu dedans, p. 249).
R2: By juxtaposing contrary lexemes we present the whole semantic
field covered by an idea, however paradoxical. The surrealists did not
miss this opportunity. Ex: 'La beaute sera erotique-voilee, explosante-
fixe, magique-circonstancielle ou ne sera pas' ('Beauty will be both
erotic and hidden, exploding and settled, magic and circumstantial or
there will be no Beauty') (Breton, quoted by P. Eluard, Oeuvres, I: 727).
JUXTAPOSITION (SYNTACTIC) Two or more terms are brought

together, a process resulting in a combination which presumes some
unexpressed relationship between the words united.
Ex: 'cash down, home free.' See also Marouzeau.
Ex: L'Amour la poesie ('Love Poetry') [the title of a collection of love
poems by Eluard; instead of the more usual noun phrase 'poemes
d'amour']
Other definitions: In general, theorists reduce syntactic juxtaposition to
asyndeton*: see Corbett, Georgin, Lanham, Quinn, and Robert. Group
MU (A General Rhetoric, pp. 70-1), discussing metataxes or figures
which by 'acting on the form of sentences ... focus attention on syntax'
(ibid., p. 63), see syntactic juxtaposition as an example of 'nominal
sentences' or parataxis*, the suppression of syntactic links between
signifiers. Fowler discussed the suppression of such links both within
and between sentences under 'Verbless sentences.'
Rl: Syntactic juxtaposition is a type of brachylogia*. Corbett (p. 470)
quotes the following example from a speech by John F. Kennedy: 'that
we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support
any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of
liberty.' Another example: "The children run, the pigeons fly off. Races,
white flashes, minor rout' (Sartre, quoted by Group MU, p. 71).
L
LAMENTATION Rhetorically, lamentation consists in the expres-
sion, in some conventional form of words or phrases, of a feeling of
sorrow.
Exx: Alas! What a tragedy! What a pity! Hell! Oh no!
249
Lapsus
Exx:
The elders of the daughter of Zion
sit on the ground in silence;
they have cast dust on their heads
and put on sackcloth.
Lamentations 2:10
What passing bells for these who die as cattle?
- Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling them from sad shires.
W. Owen, 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'
Other names: In antiquity, several literary genres served as vehicles for
lamentation. Threnody (Gr. 'wailing song') was a song of lamentation
or dirge: 'originally a choral ode, it changed to a monody which was
strophic in form' (Cuddon). Neniae were 'funeral poems sung in primi-
tive times at Rome by the female relatives of the deceased, or by hired
singers' (Harvey, in Oxford Companion to Classical Literature). The
consolatio, or condolence, also had its own theme, viz. 'everyone must
die' (see Curtius, p. 100). Nowadays, funeral orations are less common,
but letters and telegrams of condolence remain. Corsica still has the
vocero or funeral chant sung by the vocdratrices or female mourners.
LAPSUS An inadvertent slip, either of the tongue (lapsus linguae) or

in writing (lapsus calami). See OED and Robert.
Ex: 'Population of U.S. broken down by age and sex' (quoted by E.
Tempel, Humor in the Headlines, p. 149).
Other names: parapraxis (Redfern, Puns, pp. 117-23); lapsus locjuendi,
lubricum linguae, lapsus pennae (Grambs, p. 207)
Rl: Freud showed that several kinds of mistakes*, even mere slips of
the tongue, have their origin in the unconscious. There is the example
of the wife explaining that her ailing husband does not need a special
diet: 'He can eat and drink what I want' (The Psychopathology of Every-
day Life, in The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud, ed. A.A. Brill, p. 77). On
what have come to be called 'Freudian slips,' Helen McNeil comments:
'A sub-group of sexual puns, [they] endanger the speaker because they
communicate more about his secret associations than he wants others
to know' (quoted by Redfern, p. 118). Ex: 'A lady once expressed
herself in society - the very words show they were uttered with fervor
and under the pressure of a great many secret emotions: "Yes, a
250
Lengthening
woman must be pretty if she is to please the men. A man is much

better off. As long as he has five straight limbs, he needs no more!"'
(Freud, The Psychopathology of Even/day Life, p. 77; Freud's emphasis).
R2: A particular kind of slip, called attraction (Concise Oxford Diction-
ary), is false agreement caused by syntactic proximity. Ex: The wages of
sin is death/ Other slips result simply from confusions between terms
similar in sound. Ex: "There is a French widow in every bedroom af-
fording delightful prospects' (G. Hoffnung, quoted by Augarde, p. 178).
R3: Self-correction* (see self-correction, R2) usually follows a lapsus.
LENGTHENING The inordinate drawing out of a phoneme with a

view to rendering an object or movement more perceptible.
Exx: 'My Lor-or-ords, Ladie-ie-ies, and Gen'leme-e-e-en'; The-e-e-y-
y-y're off; ' "But it's true, isn't it?" said Lucy. Annie said: "Ye-e-es, it's
true ... but well, he's in politics"' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes
Minister,' p. 140); 'Eileeeeeeeeeeeeeen! Yoooou arree my Queeeeennnn
...' (Spike Milligan, Puckoon, p. 40); Jazz jazz jazzzzz' (R. Duguay, Ruts,
p. 19).
Rl: The figure is essentially one of sound and has various transcrip-
tions. Accompanying it are melodies and inflections which are impos-
sible to write down and which actors rediscover or re-create according
to their talent. Ex: 'PENELOPE: Oooooh ... Aaaaah ... I can't fight you any
more - It's too lovely - oh - don't stop - ah - I don't care if he comes
in -' (Tom Stoppard, Another Moon Called Earth, scene 1, in The Dog It
Was That Died and Other Plays).
R2: Some cases of phonemic lengthening have an emphasizing or comic
function: Ex: 'Good-bye-ee, good-bye-ee, wipe a tear, baby dear, from
your eye-ee ...' (song in Joan Littlewood's Oh What a Lovely War!, act 1).
R3: Gregorian chant is often recitative on a single note (plainchant)
followed by a melody sung on the final accented syllable. The term
melismatic describes a song 'in which one syllable flowers out into a
passage of several notes. It [melisma] means much the same thing,
then, as Coloratura, Fioratura, or Divisions' (P.A. Scholes, in The Oxford
Companion to Music, p. 618). The troubadours of medieval Provence had
a conventional graphic sign (melisma) indicating which melody to sing
on a particular syllable in their songs (see Th. Gerold, La Musique au
Moyen Age). Ex: Many of Handel's oratorios, including The Messiah,
lengthen syllables by repeating or varying notes sung on them.
R4: One kind of phonemic lengthening is the tremolo. Ex: Dame Edith
Evans, as Lady Bracknell in act 1 of Wilde's The Importance of Being
Ernest, produced a tremolo-effect when she pronounced the words
'ha-a-a-and-ba-a-ag' in the lines:
251
Letter
LADY BR.: Where did the charitable gentleman who had a first-class
ticket for this seaside resort find you?
JACK (gravely): In a hand-bag.
LADY BR.: A hand-bag?
LETTER A written monologue* in which the signatory assumes a

dialogical relationship with the addressee. The genre is a mixture of
global enunciation* and included utterance. It begins with a notation*
of time and place and an apostrophe*, possibly marked affectively (e.g.,
'Dear .../ 'My Dear ...'). In official letters, the addressee's official title
constitutes the form of address and appears on a line by itself above the
first line of text.
The plan* of a letter, other than one which merely 'rambles naively
on,' follows that of a formal conversation. Remarks about the weather,
and health matters, or requests for news, for instance, are means of
establishing contact (the phatic function of communication). An outline
of one's intentions, reasons, and arguments to justify steps taken or to
be taken may follow. A request to be remembered to one's relatives,
the offering of one's best wishes, and expressions of affection or cour-
tesy (i.e., some polite formula), all of these both announce and defer
the ending of the communication. For the different rhetorical flourishes,
both formal and informal, used to close letters in French, see, for
example, J. Serres, Le Protocole et les usages, p. 56, or C. Gregoire de
Blois, Nouveau Dictionnaire de la correspondance, pp. 59-78. The final
word in a personal letter may express the writer's relationship to the
addressee. Ex: 'Your affectionate daughter.'
Analogous terms: missive (an official letter); epistle (archaic); cover,
envelope; note, a few lines, a short word; billet doux (a 'love letter').
Formal letters frequently differ from informal ones in that they are
typed rather than handwritten.
Other meaning: a unit in writing theoretically corresponding to a
phoneme. For the 'letters' which form the alphabet, see graphism*, Rl,
and symbol*, 3, Rl. A triliteral word has three letters, a tetragram has
four (OED).
Rl: The epistolary genre has had an impact on literature. The epis-
tolary novel flourished in the eighteenth century, and letters still
appear frequently with documentary value in novels today. News-
papers publish Tetters' from correspondents in Moscow, Washington,
London, etc., as well as 'letters to the editor.' Poems appear in the form
of letters or even as telegrams. The 'private' correspondences of both
the famous and the unknown continue to be published.
R2: Open letters are published when sent and constitute political acts.
252
Lexicalization
LEVEL (OF LANGUAGE) Three distinct levels are usually asserted

by stylisticians like Bally or Vinay: popular language, everyday (or
current) speech, and sustained (or polished) language. Socio-linguists
like Peter Trudgill prefer a continuum running from formal to informal
language (marked 1 and 3 below). By combining elements from ex-
amples of each it is possible to posit an interface of 'neutral' language
(2):
1. I require your attendance to be punctual.
2. I want you to be punctual.
3. I want you to come on time.
P. Trudgill, Sodolinguistics: An Introduction, p. 110
The only real differences are a few phonetic, lexical, or grammatical
markers scattered throughout an utterance which form parts of the
subsets existing within the general system of language. They no longer
reflect a fixed socio-linguistic stratification of speakers but indicate
different situations or circumstances: trivial or solemn in nature, for
example. Naturally, speakers who are able to perform at all levels
exploit their talent. In literature, word-play* based on the levels is
possible; see dissonance*. Ex (of popular language): ' "Over my dead
body," said the Chef. "Over my bloody dead body"' (Tom Sharpe,
Porterhouse Blue, p. 88). Ex (of popular pronunciation): ' "Gawd," said
Skullion irreverently' (ibid.). For an example of sustained language, see
grandiloquence*.
Analogous terms: low, middle, or elevated tone; familiar, plain, or
sublime style; low or noble words, terms, or expressions
Rl: When popular language abandons ordinary linguistic structures
and slips into the esoteric mode, it turns into slang* or argot.
LEXICALIZATION A previously non-lexical segment (a letter of the

alphabet, digit, noise*, abbreviation*, grammatical word, or syntagm*)
is treated as a lexical unit (actualized or used in a derived sense or
compound noun).
Exx: 'to the nth'; (i.e., 'to any extent, to the utmost'): 'For the nth time,
sit down!'; 'He's a nobody'; 'an overall'; a 'gopher' or 'gofer' (i.e., 'go
for,' an employee sent on errands); 'But me no buts' (John Bartlett's
Familiar Quotations contains under 'but' more than twenty examples of
lexicalized or transferred expressions). See also noise*, abbreviation*,
R5, and hyphen*.
Ex: "Thank me no thankings, nor proud me no prouds' (Shakespeare,
Romeo and Juliet, 3.5.153).
Ex: 'Sandwiched between San Francisco and Berkeley both physically
253
Licence
and psychologically, Oakland has been hard put to establish a singular

identity. Gertrude Stein did not help when she immortalized her native
city with the line "There's no there there." Although Oakland is still
primarily an industrial city and not a centre of tourism, there is some
there there' (B. Thompson, The American Express Pocket Guide to Califor-
nia, p. 136).
Ex: 'Should the morpheme flation become widely accepted ..., it would
be lexicalized and Webster's new edition would list it' (A. Makkai,
quoted in the OEDS, under 'lexicalize').
Rl: Lexicalization differs from transference*, which operates on lex-
emes already formed. The ego and id as well as such existentialist terms
as the For-Itself and the Far-Others are examples combining the lexi-
calization of pronouns and syntagms* with transference (in this case,
with substantivation). Ex: They really prefer the We are to the We will
be' (Camus, Essais, p. 686). Hyphens* may reinforce the cohesion of the
extended groups.
LICENCE Freedom of expression ... by means of which one says

more than is permitted or appropriate (see Fontanier, p. 477). See also
Lanham (licentia) and Quillet.
Ex: 'So that I would have hesitated to exclaim, with my finger up my
arse-hole for example, Jesus-Christ, it's much worse than yesterday, I
can hardly believe it's the same hole. I apologise for having to revert to
this lewd orifice, 'tis my muse will have it so' (S. Beckett, Molloy,
p. 101).
Synonym: parrhesia (Fontanier, Joseph, and Lanham [also parrosia])
Other definition: poetic, grammatical, or prosodic licence: the liberty
enjoyed by the poet to escape from the rules (Cuddon, Frye, and
Preminger). See solecism*, Rl, and mistake*, R5.
Rl: Lanham makes a distinction between parrhesia ('Gr[eek], free-
spokenness, frankness, candid speech' [p. 73]) and Correctio: 'Diorthosis;
Prodiorthosis: Praecedens Correctio. Preparing the way for saying some-
thing the speaker knows will be unpleasant to his auditors: "Although
I realize how offensive this will sound, it is something that must be
said"' (p. 28). In the example above from Beckett's Molloy, the request
for permission to speak candidly about unpleasant things takes the
form of an apology coming after the fact.
R2: Fontanier, in discussing licence, observes that it can hardly be
classed among figures of thought and banishes it from his system,
which does not include attitudinal figures.
254
Line (of Poetry or Verse)
R3: It is considered good form either to avoid licence or to precede it

with an excuse*. Exx: Ivtay I say that [in polite company]?'; Tvtay I say
that word?'; 'It must be said.'
LINE (OF POETRY OR VERSE) A 'poetic' disposition of textual

elements. In the case of oral verse, whether sung, read aloud, or merely
printed, the choice of a particular type of line is above all a matter
which concerns the rhythmic elements used. In the case of written
verse, the choice concerns graphic elements. The role of images* and
sounds, however important it may sometimes be, is of less importance
when we need to define the line of poetry.
There are three ways to appreciate and study rhythm* in English
and French poetry. We will therefore examine syllabic, rhythmic, and
metrical verse. We will begin at the renaissance of the poetic line: free
verse, which possesses a visual form, namely, the graphic line, a form
discussed under (5) below.
See also: acrostic*; antepiphora*; celebration*; dialogue*, R8; diae-
resis*; emphasis*; epitrochasmus*; harmony*; homoioteleuton*, Rl;
homonymy*, R3; maxim*; paragraph*, Rl; parechesis*, R3; poem*;
refrain*; rhyme*; rhythmic echo*, Rl; situational* signs, 5; stanza*;
tautogram*; tempo*, R3; verset*.
1. Free verse / vers libre. Its rhythm resembles that of prose poetry;
that is, it is characterized by a certain regularity of accent* (see below,
'rhythmic verse'). It differs from prose, however, by its use of pauses*,
which are more frequent and more significant. It is often possible to
make the pauses count in the rhythmic structure of free verse. Ex:
White as an almond are thy shoulders; /

As new almonds stripped from the husk. /
They guard thee not with eunuchs; /
Not with bars of copper. /
Gilt turquoise and silver are in the place of thy rest.
A brown robe, with threads of gold woven in patterns, hast thou
gathered about thee,
O Nathat-Ikanaie, 'Tree-at-the-river.'
Ezra Pound, 'Dance Figure'
Rl: We have here borrowed from the theory of stress regularity (see
below, 'rhythmic verse') the system for marking accents* by a dot over
the vowel. Pauses* are marked by commas, semi-colons, or periods.
R2: Rhythm is so essential to free verse that the lack of a widely
accepted system of notation must be regretted. If poets were to place
markers above or below rhythmically accented vowels, and to indicate
255
pauses with oblique* strokes, that might suffice to give back to poetry
the originality and lively rhythms it shares with music and song.
R3: Given the lack of such markers, as is almost always the case,
nothing prevents a reader from applying to the study of the rhythms of
free verse a variety of principles, those of graphic or syllabic poetry, of
stress regularity, or even those of ancient prosody. We thus achieve
quite new poetic maxims, better thought out, and more expressive, than
those in prose. See also noise*, R4; interjection*, R2; and echo* effect.
R4: Free verse is frequently printed in spatial arrangements that facili-
tate its semantic and rhythmical interpretation and that, in so doing,
present it as graphic verse.
2. Syllabic verse. The measure of lines by syllable count establishes
their rhythm*. This is the theory governing the classical French poetic
line, which also conforms to the rules governing rhyme* and caesura*.
From the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, other rules were im-
posed, at least in the principal genres like tragedy, the epic, religious
poetry, and ceremonial lyric poetry. For instance, rhymes, to be accom-
panied by a 'supporting consonant/ were to appear rarely, and words
could not rhyme with composite forms of themselves (e.g., view might
not rhyme with interview); hiatus* was forbidden; as were
enjamb(e)ment* and end* positioning, etc. (See F. Deloffre, Le Vers
franqais, pp. 46-7, 53,109,115,120-1.)
Although the twelve-syllable alexandrine, the decasyllabic epic line,
and the octosyllable were the most-used forms, all lengths were (and
remain) possible, and Victor Hugo, in his poem 'Les Djinns' ('The
Genies' or Jinnees,' sprites or goblins of Arabian tales) employs them
one after another. Poets writing in English have also used monosyl-
labic, disyllabic, trisyllabic, and tetrasyllable lines; lines of five, six,
seven, nine, and eleven syllables; as well as alexandrines, decasyllabics,
and octosyllables. Martinon points out lines of thirteen, fourteen, 'and
even' sixteen syllables (p. 18) in French poetry, and Miller Williams
(pp. 146-7) includes a fourteen-syllable poem written in English. Such
lines are probably rhythmic rather than syllabic.
In traditional or fixed-form poems, lines are isometric (i.e., they have
the same number of syllables) or occasionally heterometric. (See also
stanza*.) As a curiosity, we may point to rhopalic verse (from the
Greek 'club-like/ thicker towards the end), which may go from one to
n syllables (see Preminger).
Rl: French phoneticians, following Grammont's example, questioned
the phonetic reality to which syllabic lines respond. Of course, it is pos-
sible to assign to each syllable in French approximately the same value
or length, but syllabification in itself is not inherently poetic. Syllabic
verse becomes harmonious when it is also rhythmic verse (see below).
256
R2: French eighteenth-century actors recited Racine's verse tragedies as

if they were in prose (see apocope*, R3). Later, the Romantics, by
authorizing pauses* which ruin the regular rhythm* of classical verse,
intended to 'break up the line's unity.' By so doing, they wished to
superimpose the rhythm of spoken language upon poetry (see Deloffre,
pp. 129-30), thus making possible Romantic or ternary alexandrines
(i.e., twelve-syllable lines with three accents*).
R3: Musset continued the same 'revolutionary' movement, which
consisted simply in suppressing rhyme* (and also some excessive
rhythmic uniformity). Thus French prosody moved towards blank verse,
which though neither originally nor exclusively English, has become
'the distinctive poetic form of our language' (John Thompson, in
Preminger). It consists of any number of lines of unrhymed iambic
pentameter (lines of five metrical feet going [x /]). Ex:
A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,

A Jug
A of Wine,
Jug of Wine, aa Loaf
Loafof
of Bread
Bread-- and
and Thou
Thou
x/, x ./ X / me
Beside , X.../.Xsinging
/ Besideinmethe
singing in the Wilderness-
Wilderness
x/x/x/x/x/Oh,
Oh, Wilderness
Wilderness werewere Paradiseenow!
Paradise enow!
Edward Fitzgerald, Rubdiydt of Omar Khayyam, quoted in
Frances Stillman, The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary, p. 16
3. Rhythmic verse. Here, rhythm is determined by the regular repeti-
tion of rhythmical accents, irrespective of the number of intervening
unaccented syllables, all of the same length. It thus becomes possible to
beat time, and lines acquire a rhythm* in the musical meaning of that
term. The length of pauses* also counts, of course, and, as in music,
stress may fall upon a silence. Normally, however, the stress falls upon
accented syllables (see accent*), although it sometimes falls on the
pretonic syllable.
This kind of line is the norm in poetry written in English and other
Germanic languages. Turco (pp. 19-20) quotes (and marks the stress of)
the following example of Hopkins's 'sprung rhythm' (note that the dots
here indicate secondary stresses):
The world is charged with the grandeur of God

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Gerard Manley Hopkins, 'God's Grandeur'
257
Rl: Since mingogram recordings (see intonation*) produce no trace of

rhythmical accents*, Henri Morier had recourse to a trick analogous to
one used by conductors when beating time: tapping the microphone
stand with a stick, which leaves an immediate, precise, and easily
identifiable aural record of the ictus, or accent mark [/]. This very
simple device produces several discoveries or rediscoveries: the pres-
ence of an ictus before and after a line, the caesura* which comes
between two such accent marks, etc. (see Turco; Williams; and Parent,
ed., Le Vers frangais au xxe si&cle, pp. 85-122).
4. Metrical verse. The rhythm of metrical verse, more flexible and
varied than that of Western music, derives from a relatively arbitrary
division into bars or feet (but one which respects the tonic accents).
Any duration counts (not forgetting silences) - long or short syllables,
even consonants (particularly the liquids). The whole forms an 'arabes-
que/ in Souriau's words. The melody of the sentence completes the
aesthetic effect.
This is the prosody of antiquity, both in the Orient and the Occident.
We no longer count syllables or accents, but feet, which may be catalec-
tic (the final foot lacks a syllable). The most harmonious metrical
groups have been codified: thus the dactylic hexameter, the line Virgil
used, is a six-measure line whose ante-penultimate foot is a dactyl. (See
rhythmic* measure for a list of possible measures according to Greek
and Latin metricians.) In the case of French prosody, our mingographic
records of various types of delivery, in particular those made by
Etienne Souriau, indicate syllabic durations difficult to classify into
short/long categories. There would need to be at least four classes:
very short (up to 20 centiseconds); short (from 20 to 40 centiseconds);
long (40 to 60); very long (more than 60).
Sixteenth-century French poets of the 'school' called the Pleiade,
most notably Jean de Bai'f, produced imitations of Latin prosody in
French. But what exactly does French prosody consist of, from the
viewpoint of metre? A recording made by Apollinaire and kept in the
Phonotheque Nationale (the French national library of sound record-
ings) shows that he favoured, when reading his poems, a precise
metrical prosody, one with exceptional incantatory powers. And
Souriau, an expert in aesthetics, also attempted to rethink classical
prosody from the metrical angle. He showed that the best way to read
alexandrines was probably to divide them into rhythmic measures. In
such a case, the alexandrine may be redefined as 'a pentameter with a
caesura* on the fifth semi-measure whose first foot is either pyrrhic, or
iambic, or trochaic ... The second is a dactyl, amphibrach or tribrach.
The third, which includes the caesura, is a trochee ... The fourth con-
tains the same feet as the second; and the fifth and last is always an
amphibrach, either complete (ending with a feminine rhyme [i.e., a
word ending with a mute e]\ or catalectic ([ending with] a masculine
258
rhyme)' (Etienne Souriau, Musique et po&ie, in Correspondance des arts,

p. 204).
Rl: If we place a rhythmical accent* on the final tonic syllables of
phonetic words, we obtain, in French only, combinations of iambics,
anapaests, and paeon fourths: ( ; i.e., 3 shorts and a long). But this
rhythmical notation is only good for French prose and for some syl-
labic and free verse.
R2: Souriau showed (p. 192) that, for French verse, the bar line should
in general be placed 'at the beginning, not at the end of the stressed
syllable.' Morier's observations confirm this: The ictus [or accent mark]
indicates the attack made on the vowel.' Under these conditions, it is
clear that the final tonic syllable of a phonetic word most frequently
begins a new foot. In addition, the caesura* arrives within the foot
causing it to stretch. Indispensable to the unity of the line, this was a
familiar requirement of French neo-classical prosody.
R3: Readings by poets (e.g., the recordings made by Paul Valery, Louis
Aragon, and Emile Verhaeren at the Phonotheque Nationale) show that
in French it is possible, by means of an intensifying or purely rhythmi-
cal accent*, to lengthen most unaccented vowels, just as it is equally
possible to shorten some tonic vowels by placing them inside a longer
phonetic word. Consequently, nothing prevents a return to metrical
verse, nor metrical scansion of most French verse which is said to be
syllabic. The actual rhythmic structure of such poetic readings presents
a practically virgin territory for study. By superimposing rhythmical
markers onto recordings made by some fairly typical authors (e.g., the
recording made by Rene Char of his poem La Sorgue) we noted: (1) that
isochrony of measures is demonstrable; (2) that the bar lines marking
measures within a line of poetry may be moved towards pauses and
away from long vowels; (3) that such displacements, followed by
replacements, occur every two lines, in a kind of alternation breaking
the monotony of a too rhythmical reading. The regular rhythm of a line
is therefore a phenomenon largely independent of spontaneous phone-
tic data (the different accents* of prose).
5. Graphic prosody. Graphic lines are cut off by blank spaces at each
end, or broken up and scattered across pages, as in Mallarme's Un
Coup de des jamais n'abolira le hasard (1897), or even transformed into
iconic, ornamental, or abstract diagrams. (See calligramme* and typo-
graphical variation*.)
Both traditional poetry and vers libres already possess a graphic
'spatial ... or shaped' dimension (Miller Williams, p. 141), which,
although elementary (a matter simply of their division into lines and
stanzas), forms their essential characteristic. In addition, positioning of
the text within limits less wide than the justified margins (see situa-
259
Lipogram
tional* signs, 5) suffices: (1) to assign to them 'markers of poeticity

whose perception as a prerequisite orients the way they are read' (D.
Delas and J. Filliolet, Linguistic}ue et pottique, p. 182); (2) to encourage
vertical or diagonal connections supplementary to the syntagmatic
(horizontal and linear) layout of the poem; (3) to suggest a perception
of the poetic fact, at once 'globalizing and integrative/ and of the type
of integration which 'selects the relevant units as a function of the
relevant forms' (ibid.).
Graphic artists who work in publicity realize the possibilities offered
by the multi-dimensionality of the text on the page. But poets in the
Eastern Bloc and also those in Germany, Italy, France, and Latin
America have maintained their distance both from the movement
which compares texts either to musique concrete (lettrism), and from
abstract painting (spatialism). The spatialist poem may be reduced to a
simple ornamental pattern, or to one which reproduces the energy
expended during its creation. Ex: Ian Hamilton Finlay's 'Au Pair Girl/
in which the three-word title supplies both the body of the poem and,
when arranged in the shape of a pear, provides the oratorical syllepsis*
linking the poem's visual and linguistic elements.
Spatialist poetry may also conjugate the relationship between a text
and a pattern, as in Emmett Williams's 'Like attracts Like,' for instance,
or between text and linotype (see the review Aspects) or in some more
complex form.
Rl: Since antiquity, writing, or calligraphy, has been in some traditions
a graphic art: one thinks of Persian manuscripts, Japanese woodcuts,
and so on. Moslem civilization, in particular, since it condemned
human representations of the Divinity, decorated its architectural con-
structions with stylized patterns in which may be deciphered versets*
from the Koran, unsurpassable examples of visual lines of poetry.
R2: In order to read graphic verse, segments of the same kind may be
linked together (as in Mallarme's Un Coup de des, for example).
LIPOGRAM A text in verse or prose from which the author banishes

a particular letter of the alphabet.
Exx: In 1939 Ernest V. Wright, a Californian musician, published
Gadsby [Los Angeles, Wetzel], a fifty-thousand-word novel which does
without the letter e, the commonest letter in English. In 1969 Georges
Perec published La Disparition, in which no word contains the letter e,
the commonest letter also in French. (In direct contrast, Perec published
three years later a univocalic novel, Les Revenentes, which uses a single
vowel, again e.) See the quotation under description*, R5; and for a
historical survey of lipograms and univocalics in world literature, see
Augarde, pp. 109-13, and Espy, 1971, p. 157.
260
Literary Games
Rl: The whole difficulty resides in the choice of the letter suppressed
and in the length of the text/ notes P. Fournel (Clefs pour la litterature
potentielle, p. 126). He points out ironically that (in French) his own
statement is a lipogram of the letter w.
R2: Perec proposed that the device which consists in writing without
the use of certain words be called liponomy. Ex: A British TV game in
the 1950s, Take Your Pick/ included a 'yes-no' section in which
contestants were rewarded if they were able to answer questions
without using 'yes' or 'no.' In French, see Henry de Chenevieres, Contes
sans 'cjui' ni 'que' (i.e., stories without who, whom, or which).
LITERARY GAMES Some literary games use devices of composi-

tion. They may be defined as forms into which participants are invited
to insert contents, as skilfully as possible.
Acronyms*: Each contestant proposes for solution an acronym* of his
or her own making. Exx: Arbaonwsas: 'A rose by any other name would
smell as sweet'; Nitwoodmgsbtsoy: 'Now is the winter of our discontent
made glorious summer by this sun of York.' Acronyms may remotivate
existing terms or titles*. Ex: The Foreign Office is not popular through-
out the rest of the Civil Service, and it is widely held that the CMC
[Cross of St Michael] stands for "Call Me God," the KCMG [Knight
Commander of St Michael and St George] for "Kindly Call Me God"
and the GCMG [Grand Cross of St Michael and St George] "God Calls
Me God" ' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes Minister,' p. 239).
Acrostics*: Players choose a word at random and write a telegram
using words whose order comes from the initial letters of the word
agreed upon. Tony Augarde (pp. 32-51) proposes variants of acrostic
games, including double acrostics and word squares which, unlike
crossword puzzles, have no black squares. (Other literary games listed
by Augarde include scrabble, anagrams*, charades, enigmas and
riddles*, rebuses, and epigrams&. See also: W.R. Espy, The Game of
Words; P. Hutchinson, Games Authors Play; L. Hesbois, Les Jeux de
langage; D. Grambs, Literary Companion Dictionary, pp. 84-7.)
Bouts-rimes (verses composed to set rhymes): In such competitions in
verse, the group chooses the rhymes and their number at the outset.
(Nonsense verse, short poems of low intelligibility or meaning, parody
some other poem while keeping its rhymes. Ex: 'You Are Old Father
William/ by Lewis Carroll, parodies Robert Southey's "The Old Man's
Comforts.')
Consequences: The surrealist game of the 'cadavre exquis' ('exquisite
corpse') is a form of this game, in which a player writes a word on a
piece of paper which is then folded and handed to the next player,
261
Litotes
who repeats the process. The categories of words (general semantic

content or parts of speech) may be specified in advance. At the end of
the round, contestants examine the results and choose the most amus-
ing. (See Aragon et al., Dictionnaire cibr£g£ du surr&ilisme.)
Word chase: A competition for story-tellers who invent narratives* in
which a previously listed group of incongruous words must appear in
the agreed order. Ex: see 'word-game' in Queneau, Exercises in Style,
pp. 33-4.
Transaddition: Adding a letter to a word whose letters are then re-
arranged to make a new word. Ex: sham + s > smash (Grambs, p. 87).
Word deletion: The removal from one word of a second word con-
cealed in it produces a third word. Ex: patient - tie > pant (ibid.).
Conundrums: See riddle*, 3.
LITOTES Ironical understatement, especially one expressing an

affirmative by the negative of its contrary (e.g., 'no small' for 'great')
(see Concise Oxford Dictionary). See also Abrams, Beckson, Corbett,
Cuddon, Fontanier, Gray, Lanham, Lausberg (a combination of peri-
phrasis* and irony*), Marouzeau, Morier, Preminger, and Quillet.
Exx: 'Not half bad'; Til. bet you don't' meaning Tm sure you do'; 'It is
no coincidence that ...'
Ex: The title of the comedy program 'Not! the Nine o'Clock News' is
litotic: exposure to only a few seconds of its irreverent comments on
current events reveals the impossibility of believing it to represent the
official views of the BBC or any other network.
Other definition: Morier adds a second definition: a synonym of
laconic, sober speech; much is said in few words; the speaker remains
well within the substance of what is to be expressed. Exx: the styles of
Stendhal, Pinter, or Beckett. See baroquism*, Rl.
Synonyms: diminutio (Fontanier, Lanham); false attenuation*; meiosis*
(Preminger: 'treating a thing as less important than it is'). In general,
Anglo-Saxon critics treat meiosis as the genus of which litotes is a
negative species.
Rl: Litotes is attenuation recognized as false or simulated. The reader
immediately reverses its effect and, by imagining what is missing, may
exaggerate (hence the paradoxical definition: to say less in order to
convey more). But readers must remain alert, or alternatively, the
author may alert them by foregrounding the device in an inserted
segment of pure enunciation*. Ex: 'As to the friendship evinced by
262
Litotes
these first people, I will only say that it has already proved to be unreli-
able' (A. Camus, Essais, p. 978).
R2: As in the case of antiphrasis*, context and intonation* reveal litotes,
which is pronounced in a tone of minimal but undeniable assertive-
ness, implying that much more could be said. Ex:' "It may be remotely
conceivable," he stage-whispered with precise delivery, "that not every
single syllable is absolutely beyond all hope of redemption" ' (Kingsley
Amis, The Old Devils, p. 286). The role of context is the determining
factor, as it is in the classical example provided by Chimene's remark
to Rodrigue, her suitor: Je ne te hais point' ('I don't hate you')
(Corneille, Le Cid, 3.4). Rodrigue has just killed Chimene's father in a
duel, in which (extreme) case her statement must clearly imply her
great love for Rodrigue.
And so litotes has created a kind of style, laconicism, which consists
in the reduction of expressive flourishes in favour of 'maintaining
expression within the emotion to be communicated' (V. Larbaud, Sous
I'invocation de Saint Jerdme, pp. 166-7). Thus 'boar-hunting' will be
referred to as 'pig-sticking.' Ex:
About suffering they were never wrong,
The Old Masters: how well they understood
Its human condition; how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking
dully along;
In Brueghel's Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away

Quite leisurely from the disaster; the ploughman may
Have heard the splash, the forsaken cry,
But for him it was not an important failure; the sun shone
As it had to on the white legs disappearing into the green
Water; and the expensive delicate ship that must have seen
Something amazing, a boy falling out of the sky,
Had somewhere to get to and sailed calmly on.
W.H. Auden, 'Musee des Beaux-Arts'
Camus's L'Etranger and Juliette Greco's voice were French prototypes
of the style which the existentialists also practised, precisely because
such a style places the emphasis on context. This is 'white or blank
writing,' the 'zero-degree writing' that Barthes spoke of.
R3: Litotes employs all forms of attenuation* (see euphemism*, Rl) but
most particularly that of the negation* of the contrary, a form popular
in speech. Exx: 'It's not often that ...'; 'It's no joke'; This is not the
ideal way to ...'; 'He didn't come up smelling of roses'; 1 don't have to
be told twice.' A literary example: 'No capon priest the Goodly Fere /
But a man o' men was he' (E. Pound, 'Ballad of the Goodly Fere,'
263
Logatom
15-16). Litotes has become a type of emphasis* found also in written

language. Ex: 'A role no less important for being behind the scenes.'
R4: When too original, litotes degenerates into phoebus*. Exx:
'Harmonious ego, different from dreams' (Valery, 'La Jeune Parque');
'Each one immolates her / Silence in unison' (Valery, 'Cantique des
colonnes'). Litotes also runs the opposite risk, that of falling into
truism* through lack of originality. Ex: 'It is no bad thing to be young,
handsome and a prince' (J. Giraudoux, Electre, 2.3).
LOGATOM A meaningless syllable formed arbitrarily, usually from

initial and final consonants and a vowel, for use in testing telephone
systems, or for testing hearing and memory. See OEDS.
Exx: Ian, nal, tal, etc.
Analogous terms: trigram, paralog. J. Jung writes: 'Nonsense syllables
and other laboratory learning materials, such as trigrams and paralogs.
Trigrams are nonsense syllables, that is, a trigram is any three-letter
combination which does not form a word. Paralogs or dissyllables are
verbal units containing two syllables and range from meaningless units
to actual words' (J. Jung, Verbal Learning, p. 30).
Rl: Arbitrary dfcoupage* produces a kind of semi-logatom in which the
elements are not necessarily consecutive. Ex: infinitesimal if cut up into
bits like iil or tesima.
LOOP (neol.; Fr. boucle) A text which, by returning to its starting

point, suggests that everything is beginning again, and will continue to
begin again in exactly the same way, once the end is reached.
Exx: lonesco's two plays La Leqon and La Cantatrice chauve
The loop figures in some songs and counting rhymes. Ex: 'In what
should I get it [water], dear Liza, dear Liza ... In a bucket. There's a
hole in my bucket... Block it... With what should I block it? ... With
straw ... The straw is not cut ... Cut it... With what should I cut it? ...
With a sickle ... But the sickle isn't sharp ... Sharpen it... With what
shall I sharpen it? ... With a grindstone ... But the stone isn't wet... Wet
it then ... With what shall I wet it? ... With water ... In what shall I get
water, dear Liza ...' (da capo).
Rl: The loop is an inclusion* combined with repetition*. See also
staircase*, Rl, and parenthesis*, R4.
R2: The word comes from data processing, in which it designates a
part of a program which can be begun again indefinitely.
R3: In music, the conclusion often reprises the first phrase, to which
264
Maxim
the initials d.c. (Italian, da capo, 'from the top') refer and whose end is
then marked by a colon* and heavy dash. Literature has no equivalent
convention.
M
MACARONICISM A noun derived from the adjective 'macaronic.'
Macaronic verses are 'of burlesque form containing Latin (or other
foreign) words and vernacular words with Latin etc. terminations'
(Concise Oxford Dictionary). See also Augarde, Benac, Cuddon, Frye, and
Lausberg.
Exx: Tuffus eliminus' [notice by Voyageur Coach Lines announcing
smoke-free routes]; 'Muchibus thankibus' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 115);
[Stephen is speaking of Shakespeare]: 'Like John o'Gaunt his name is
dear to him, as dear as the coat and crest he toadied for, on a bend
sable a spear or steeled argent, honorificabilitudinitatibus, dearer than
his glory of greatest shakescene in the country' (ibid., p. 172).
Other definition: sentences interrupted and jumbled up 'like a plate of
macaroni.' Ex: Lucky's monologue in Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
Other name: 'dog' or ('lacerated') Latin. Ex: 'Caesar adsum jam forte or
Caesar had some jam for tea' (G. Willans and R. Searle, Down with
Skooll, p. 47).
Rl: Macaronicisms are related to parody*. Ex:
JOYCE: (Dictating to GWEN) Deshill holies eamus ...
GWEN: (Writing) Deshill holies eamus ...
JOYCE: Thrice.
GWEN: Uh-hum.
Tom Stoppard, Travesties, act 1
See also humour*, Rl.
MAXIM A general assertion* expressed in a single sentence and

formulated in a striking way. See Benac, Cuddon, Frye, and Grambs.
Exx: 'Work expands to fill the time available'; 'Expenditure rises to
meet income - and tends to surpass it'; 'Delay is the deadliest form of
denial' (C.N. Parkinson, The Law Complete, p. 151).
Other definition: a 'rule of conduct or morality' (Robert). This is a
restricted meaning added to earlier usage (maxima propositio, a sentence
of the greatest generality).
265
Meaning
Analogous terms: sentence (archaic), aphorism, pens£e, truth, saying,

(moral) precept, principle (of conduct), (scientific) axiom or postulate,
apophtegm or apothegm
Adjective: gnomic (gnomic poetry presents maxims in verse [Benac])
Rl: A chria is a maxim put into a dramatic or narrative situation and
attributed to a character (Quintilian; Isidore of Seville, quoted by
Lausberg, sect. 1117-20; see also Joseph, pp. 103, 311). Historical sayings,
authentic or not, are types of chria. Although its name is no longer
used, the device still remains active. Ex: 'Mme Flaubert [to her son,
Gustave]: 'your mania for sentences has dried up your heart' (J. Barnes,
Flaubert's Parrot, p. 156).
R2: By their generality maxims seem to be an appropriate means of
remaking the world, and so characters may use them in answer to a
complaint or to indicate some neurotic complex. Ex:
F...: I am not a nobleman. My mother is a laundress. It's true she
only washes the finest linen.
ALARICA: Nobility lies in ambition and energy.
Audiberti, Le Mai court, act 3
MEANING No one will be surprised to be told that there are many

different kinds. After completion by their authors, texts remain no
more than artefacts until they are read. For the reader, meaning is an
effect produced by the text. The effect is either immediate, or deferred
by reflection or analysis. It is diversified not only by a multiplicity of
cultural differences, but also by the different approaches taken by
readers both to a text's individual elements and to its entirety. The
author may have foreseen these angles of approach, or decoding
procedures, in order to communicate his meaning. The study of the
modalities of signification is therefore essential to that of the devices.
1. Fundamental meaning / specific meaning. The fundamental mean-
ing of a word is an ancient concept which Bloomfield called the word's
'head' meaning and defined as 'what you would think of first if the
context did nothing to define the word' (quoted by W. Empson, in The
Structure of Complex Words, p. 47). Synonyms: the dominant or major
meaning.
Empson observes that the concept may cover quite diverse ideas: the
main meaning, that is, the most frequent one; the central meaning, 'the
one from which others are felt to branch out'; the etymological or 'root'
meaning, 'suggested by derivation'; and the primary meaning, 'which
actually came first in history' (ibid., p. 48).
The preceding definition is primarily of interest to the lexicologist.
The semiotician prefers the concept of classeme, defined by Bernard
266
Meaning
Pettier as a part of the sememe which organizes the generic semes

(seme: 'a semantic trait or characteristic'; generic semes: those which
indicate membership within a class; e.g., the seme 'colour' for the word
red). Semic or componential analysis isolates semes by comparing them
with each other (see Thomas A. Sebeok, gen. ed., Encyclopedic Dictionary
of Semiotics, and Jean Dubois et al., Dictionnaire de linguistique). Pottier
contrasts the classeme with the semanteme or set of specific semes
(e.g., the semes which distinguish red from green and purple) and also
with the virtueme or set of occasional semes dependent upon context.
Neither concept was unknown in classical philology. Beauzee spoke of
the specific meaning, that is, the one which a word shares with its syno-
nyms, a concept not far removed from the notion of semanteme. He
also spoke of accidental meaning, that is, the particular values adhering
to a word used in a specific context; this concept is close to that of the
virtueme (for examples, see catachresis*).
Specific meanings may alter. Ex: the word gay. It may even happen
that the specific meaning of a word comes to signify the opposite of its
fundamental meaning, and thus becomes a source of misunderstand-
ing. Classical when used of French literature of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries risks confusion with literature of the Graeco-Latin
period. Even more frequent: the use of modern in the expression 'the
modern period' to designate the time-span encompassing the seven-
teenth to the twentieth centuries may well be replaced by the fun-
damental meaning of modern, meaning the present century, as in
'modern art/ or, for that matter, Modern Times, the title of a film by
Chaplin.
In dictionaries, the multiplicity of meanings often derives from the
distinctions made between the specific and fundamental meanings of a
word. Ex: Tink. 1. One ring or loop of a chain; 2. Torch of pitch.' The
first, fundamental meaning encompasses the second specific meaning
(links were torches which formerly made up a 'chain-system' for
lighting people along streets).
2. Denotation and connotation. Denotation, which unites essential
semes, should be defined as the set formed by what Pottier calls
classemes and semantemes, or what used to be called fundamental and
specific meanings. Other semes, which are context-dependent, such as
virtuemes or accidental meanings, may be seen as constitutive elements
of connotation. (The mathematical meaning of extension concerns the
referent rather than connotation. For the use made of connotation by
logicians, see Lalande.) Analogous term: usage-value.
Among the semes complementary to an essential idea, according to
Bally, we may distinguish those which reveal one of the author's
attitudes (the expressive meaning) and those intended to produce a
given effect on the reader (the impressive meaning). Both together form
the set of affective effectsa with which we generally identify connotation.
267
Meaning
The search for affective effects involves choosing between para-

synonyms. Ex: content /ecstatic. Connotation is laudatory (or meliorative)
when the term chosen presents a person or thing in a favourable light,
pejorative in the opposite case. Ex: freedom fighter / terrorist. See compen-
satio*, Rl.
To the notion of affective effects, Bally adds that of evocative effects,
since some words carry along with their specific meaning a whole
implied ambiance, that of their natural environment. Ex: '- Is it that
whiteeyed kaffir? says the citizen, that never backed a horse in anger in
his life?' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 274). It's not difficult to imagine that we are
eavesdropping on a pub conversation. Reciprocally, as far as the
lexicologist is concerned, context contributes to our decisions on
meaning. Empson (The Structure of Complex Words) speaks of the topical
meaning as being the one imposed by the context of a whole work. Ex:
post in an article about the Post Office. Using a different example, he
distinguishes this from the probable meaning, the one imposed by the
real context. Ex: saddle, which, in mountainous country, may refer to a
ridge between two summits.
Beauzee's accidental meaning was also called the divided meaning by
Dumarsais (Des Tropes, p. 249). An implicit semic analysis may have
presided over his choice of the term. Some contexts nullify essential
semes in favour of secondary ones, thus 'dividing' the sememe! Ex: 'An
Oxford don has just died. There is therefore a chair.' Only the notion of
a professorial 'vacancy' remains. The complement of divided meaning
is compound meaning, in which all the semes come into play. Ex: 'If we
were to engage more professors, we would be short of chairs.'
Accidental meanings may with usage become essential. In that case
they take the name of derived meanings, whereas the specific meaning
from which they accidentally derive are called primitive meanings. Exx:
crucial: primitive meaning, 'shaped like a cross'; impact: primitive
meaning, the 'shock of a projectile'; derived meaning, 'strong effect,
influence.'
3. Strict sense and broad sense. The prestige enjoyed by some terms
following certain socio-cultural events, or more simply the use made of
them by non-specialists, confers upon them greater and greater breadth
or extension, with the result that they lose some of their specific semes.
They take on a broad or extended meaning while still continuing to
offer themselves for possible use in their strict or restricted meaning.
Ex: metaphor*, frequently used in the broad sense of literary image*,
whereas it designates only images with a single vehicle, combined
syntactically with the rest of the sentence.
It sometimes happens that the strict sense was established later than
the broad one. Ex: structure, which used to mean simply a 'form, or
organization,' has acquired the stricter meaning of a 'system of forms
268
Meaning
defined by their mutual differences.' In this case, we speak rather of

a restricted or limited meaning (particularly if the sense is not cur-
rent).
4. Literal and figurative meaning. Fontanier (p. 57) calls figurative or
tropological (or tropic) a meaning which results from a particular case in
which several semes lose their relevance, with the result that there
occurs a voluntary abandonment of the term's literal meaning. Tropes
are figurative devices. See image*, 2; metaphor*; metonymy*; synec-
doche*; antonomasia*; and, for whole propositions, allusion*.
Semanticists like Darmesteter and Breal see in metaphor* and meton-
ymy* (if the latter is taken to include synecdoche*) the basis for any
shift in meaning (P. Guiraud, La Semantique, pp. 37-8). But Jakobson,
by conferring a broader meaning on these terms, encouraged the
replacement of logic and rhetoric by semiology. Semic analysis makes
the notion of figure more precise by showing that changing the lexical
signifier entails within the signified a change not merely of connota-
tion, but of denotation, for a referent (an extra-linguistic object) which
does not change. Lexemes, which only designate referents by means of
a secondary seme, present gratis all of the essential semes possessed by
such referents. Gide skilfully illustrates this overturning process by
writing: 'Spring, dawn of summer! The spring of each day, dawn!'
(Gide, Romans, pp. 220-1). In the first case, it is 'dawn' which is figura-
tive; in the second, it is 'spring.' Tropes multiply synonyms without
increasing the number of words.
5. Before going on to meanings which involve not single words but
groups of words, we would like to call attention to the following:
- the extended meaning (Fontanier, p. 58), a figurative meaning which
has become a specific meaning and has come into common usage after
undergoing some tropic process. Ex: Mug' as in 'ugly mug!' See
cliche*, R4, and image*, R4.
- the abstract meaning, which situates the sememe in the world of ideas
and differs from the concrete meaning, which displaces it in the direc-
tion of individualization (Dumarsais, Des Tropes, p. 251; Fontanier,
p. 57). Ex: (Either) the soldier's bravery, (or) the brave soldier ... rallied
the platoon.
- the collective meaning, which only applies to groups of referents,
while the distributive meaning applies to each element in the set. See R.
Blanche, Introduction a la logique contemporaine, p. 176; and Fontanier,
p. 56. Ex: Men are numerous. Socrates is a man. Therefore Socrates is
numerous!' Numerous, because of its collective meaning, can only serve
as predicate for a collective subject.
- the undefined or indeterminate meaning, which applies to a lexeme
situated unclearly (some, certain ...), whilst it is defined or determined
269
Meaning
when the link between a lexeme and its environment is specified (the,
this, our). Markers of indetermination for the verbal syntagm* are the
indefinite pronouns, including the indefinite personal pronoun, one. See
Fontanier, p. 56. Indetermination may derive, however, from the
absence of a context. Thus Ducrot, in Dire et ne pas dire (p. 136), shows
that a simple notice such as 'Open on Tuesdays' may mean 'even on
Tuesdays' or 'only on Tuesdays/ depending on the customary practices
of the establishment in question. See ambiguity*, R3.
- the implicit meaning, which is attributed without a specific marker,
owing to the rudimentary state of expression in comparison with
content. Thus, spokespersons whose job it is to comment upon declara-
tions made by politicians strive to explain formulas that are left pur-
posely vague. Implicit meaning may be revealed by means of a peri-
phrasis* which explains the semes in question. Ex: Trom his cradle to
his grave, a gale of blandest prosperity bore [Ellison] along. Nor do I
use the word Prosperity in its mere worldly or external sense. I mean it
as synonymous with happiness' (E.A. Poe, The Landscape Garden/ in
Collected Works, 2: 702-3).
In chapter 8 of his Philosophy of Grammar, Jespersen identifies two
types of implicit relationship between lexemes within the group sub-
stantive + complement: junction and nexus. Ex (proposed by Empson,
The Structure of Complex Words, p. 65): 'The doctor's cleverness was
great.' Some readers will judge that 'doctor' and 'clever' are simply
joined together and that the sentence means that 'the doctor "was very
clever.' The semes are simply added together. Others will see the sen-
tence as an assertion*. 'Doctor' and 'cleverness' form a nexus, that is,
they have common semes since all doctors are necessarily clever. The
sentence means in that case: 'The doctor was clever, very clever in-
deed.'
- the pregnant meaning, which remains implicit but is devoid of am-
biguity since a simple appeal to verisimilitude serves to remove all
doubt. Ex: 'in their wide arms' [i.e., 'wide open']. Analogous: proleptic
meaning (see prolepsis*).
6. Literal and symbolic meaning. Among the ways of approaching
whole texts, the most important is the one which consists in establish-
ing some general isotopy* different from the one indicated by the
theme*. The isotopy is frequently abstract, or 'profound/ and does not
necessarily contradict the work's theme but sheds new light on it and
may come to replace it. See symbol*, 1. Analogous: the spiritual mean-
ing; the moral meaning (Fontanier, p. 59); the allegorical, analogical, or
anagogical meaning. Meaning is allegorical or analogical, whatever the
isotopy, as soon as it is no longer literal. It is moral if it involves moral-
ity; spiritual if it involves mysticism; and anagogic if it involves the
eternal life. Ex: 'And it seems to me that, by the grace of God, I can be
transported from this lower world to that higher world by anagoge ...'
270
Meaning
(U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 144). Non-symbolic language is said to
be literal, or logical. See Dumarsais, Des Tropes, p. 251 f.
7. Original and accommodated meaning. Although the influence
exerted by the content of a paragraph on that of a sentence has never
been studied, it is obvious that a simple modification of the context or
situation of a sentence serves to modify its meaning. The new meaning
produced by quotation* out of context (whether literary or real) is
called the accommodated or adapted meaning (see Dumarsais, Des Tropes,
ch. 3). In the following example, Zola foregrounds the accommodating
or adapting process: 'I will quote once again the image from Claude
Bernard which greatly impressed me: "The experimenter is Nature's
examining magistrate." We novelists are the magistrates who examine
men and their passions' (E. Zola, Le Roman experimental, p. 65).
Almost all quotations must be taken mutatis mutandis (with due
alteration of details), even cum grano salis. Rabelais, for example,
skilfully exploits one of Saint Paul's axioms, 'Charity believeth all
things' (1 Corinthians 13:2), in order to get the reader to believe him
when he recounts how Gargantua entered the world through his
mother's ear.
Accommodation may become reactualization*. Ex: 'Hail Mary, full of
grace ...' These words, attributed to the archangel Gabriel in his ad-
dress to the virgin Mary, take on quite a different sense when recited
by Catholics. They no longer contain an announcement*, for example.
(Their meaning is different again in a poem Victor Hugo addressed to
Marie, one of his mistresses, whose 'graces' he 'hails.')
The original context often restricts the meaning while isolated
quotation* dilates it. In the latter case, the accommodated meaning is
called the plenary sense (from the Latin plenior). Most authors' ideas
would be distorted by attribution of a plenary sense to every sentence
they wrote. 'Give me a single line written by a man and I guarantee to
get him hanged,' says the proverb. Some authors, however, seem
deliberately to choose ideas with multiple applications. See authorism*.
The validity of an accommodated meaning depends on the user.
Instead of being plenary, it may be restrictive. Ex: Bossuet, who, like
many others, cites Ecclesiastes 1:2 - 'Vanity of vanities; all is vanity' -
carefully omits to include among his examples the vanity of wisdom
itself according to the prophet. On the contrary, Bossuet undertakes the
praise of wisdom.
The adaptation of texts is a reader's right.
8. Manifest and subjective meanings. Between its expression in
writing and its perusal, content may suffer distortions. Each person, in
theory, alone knows what he or she 'means.' Next to manifest meaning,
there is a place for subjective meaning, however infinitely diversified,
even though it may become the subject of much onerous commentary
271
Meaning
from authors. Montherlant, for example, wrote several 'afterwords' to

his play Le Maitre de Santiago, taking readers to task for their interpreta-
tions. More recently, exponents of 'reader-response' criticism (Stanley
Fish, for example) have posited meanings attributable to specific
hermeneutic communities. And Frank Kermode has asked whether we
'can ... say absolutely anything we like' about literary texts (see his
Essays on Fiction, pp. 156-67).
One interesting manifestation of the coupling of complementary
notions is the opposition between the obvious and intended meanings of
a text. The opposition surfaces very clearly in texts whose content is to
be interpreted in a single more or less obligatory way, as in a discourse
of command or instruction, such as the teaching or indoctrination of
disciples, for example, in which liberty of interpretation is reduced to a
few fleeting connotations, or is limited by the whole culture of a
period. The intended meaning is in that case 'what the text means, its
expressive intention, which supplies its motive force, above and be-
yond the current meaning of the words used' (J.-P. Audet in a private
communication to B. Dupriez).
We might say that the subjective meaning is an intentional meaning
that is not at all manifest. We become better able to perceive it by
familiarizing ourselves with the whole of an author's work. This is the
cross-checking method. Ex: 'Cela s'est passe / Je sais aujourd'hui saluer
la beaute' ('That did happen / Today I know how to salute beauty')
(A. Rimbaud, Une Saison en enfer). Rimbaud seems to mean, not that he
has acquired respect for beauty, but that he has just learned to resist
the excessive ecstasy beauty had previously caused him, and is now
able simply to 'hail' or 'salute' it from a distance.
On the reader's side, subjective meaning is also a fairly frequent
phenomenon (more frequent than might appear), even one to be
recommended. In such a case, we speak of extrapolation, and if there is
a deliberate attempt made to pass off a reader's subjective meaning for
the author's, we speak of distortion of the text.
Besides intended and subjective meanings, we distinguish, on the
author's side, a meaning we might call subjectal, that is, one lived by
the subject: it is the author's manner of existence and self-expression,
the author's style in the word's strict sense. Research into the markers
of personal style appears easier thanks to the literary method of sub-
stitution, that is to say, by the establishment of variants which the
analyst considers appropriate. Other techniques include: the study of
stylemes or pairs between which the author had to make choices; the
interpretation of these choices, that is, the offering of hypotheses as to
the author's motives; and the integration of overlapping hypotheses.
Details concerning this method, which is able to preserve its objectivity
even in the case of research into a subjective phenomenon, is presented
in B. Dupriez, L'Etude des styles.
272
Meiosis
9. Attention should be given to:

- forced meaning, which presses the text to say more than it does, or
which shows something other than the natural meaning.
- equivocal meaning, a double meaning based upon the polysemic
nature of words. Ex: The Broken Window, by Eva Brick.
- the double or ambiguous meaning, which is equivocal because of some
mistake of syntax or grammar. Ex: It was said that Cluny rivaled Saint
Peter's in Rome until it was rebuilt in the sixteenth century ...' (John
James, The Traveller's Key to Medieval France, p. 201). Only knowledge of
the context allows identification of the church to which the second 'it'
refers.
- the principal meaning, which Fontanier contrasts with the accessory
meaning; the exemplifying meaning (Mr Smith / a certain someone);
etc.
MEIOSIS A figure which uses ironic understatement to represent

something as in some way less than it is: a form of ironic emphasis (see
Grambs). See also Abrams, Beckson, Corbett, Cuddon, Gray, Joseph,
Lanham, Preminger, and Puttenham.
Ex: The final statement in Dante's Paola and Francesca episode - 'quel
giorno piu non vi leggemmo avante' ('That day we read no more') -
understates the importance of the lovers' interruption.
Ex (ironic meiosis produces the following 'epitaph'):
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be
One against whom there was no official complaint
He worked in a factory and never got fired
And our Social Psychology workers found

That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink.
W.H. Auden, The Unknown Citizen'
Rl: Group MU demonstrate (pp. 132-8) that as a metalogism or 'figure
of thought,' meiosis functions, like hyperbole*, litotes*, irony*, and
paradox*, by implicit reference to an ostensive situation; that is, to an
utterance's extra-linguistic, pragmatic context. In order to understand
understatement, some reference to a 'norm,' such as faithful description
or veridical language or 'truth mirror,' must be invoked. Meiosis differs
from litotes*, which functions by negating the contrary, as in expres-
sions like 'not bad' [= 'very good'], 'modesty is not her strong point,'
etc.
R2: Recently, meiosis in English prose (and therefore a fortiori in
poetry) has come under attack from some authorities, as in the follow-
273
Metabole
ing historical summary (which confuses meiosis with litotes): 'What

was a rhetorical device in the Classical schools of oratory - meiosis or
under-emphasis - and came into facetious use in Victorian times (e.g.,
"Pedestrianism in November is a matter of not a little unpleasantness")
is now second nature to most Englishmen, and has lost its original
ironic purpose. It now means modesty ... Conversationally this style
can be charming, but in prose it makes for irrelevancy, material omis-
sion, faulty connexion, logical weakness, and, eventually, boredom'
(Robert Graves and Alan Hodge, The Reader over Your Shoulder,
pp. 27-8).
METABOLE An accumulation of several synonymous expressions in

order to depict with greater force the same thing or idea (see Fontanier,
p. 332). See also Quillet and Robert (meaning 2).
Exx: 'At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay down: at her feet he bowed,
he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead' (Judges 5:27); To dig
down deep enough to find the truth, / To penetrate and check, balance
and sift' (Howard Nemerov, The Private Eye,' in Collected Poems of
Howard Nemerov).
Other definitions: 1. 'Repeating the same words, but in a different
order' (Robert, meaning 1). See antimetabole*.
2. According to Quintilian and Longinus, a change in a (syntactic) turn
of phrase, figure, or rhythm* (see tempo*, R3). The OED, Littre, Laus-
berg, and Group MU give the term an even wider meaning: 'any kind
of change of whatever aspect of language' (Group MU, p. 18). We
would prefer to distinguish changes in the paradigmatic axis (not includ-
ing repetition*), which are synonymous with stylistic deviation, from
metaboles in the narrow sense, in which two states (the second being
the transformation of the first) are expressed (successively) along the
syntagmatic axis.
Rl: Metaboles differ from synonymy* in that, rather than affecting
single words, they affect word groups (while still employing synonyms
or equivalents). They are the opposite of mistakes* like redundancy*
and battology*, because rather than being pointless repetition*, they
attach new content to the same general idea. They are not figures of
words or of style, but of 'thought.' They satisfy the concern for clarity
in communication, sometimes expressing a speaker's change of mind.
Ex: 'MA UBU: But I'd like to know what has become of my fat Punch, I
mean my most respectable husband' (A. Jarry, Ubu roi, 5.1). See also
epanorthosis*, 'accumulation by negation' (Quinn, p. 68).
R2: Excessive use of metaboles is (obviously) a mistake* (see paras-
tasis*).
274
Metanalysis
METALEPSIS The expression of one thing by means of another

which precedes, accompanies or follows it, or which is ... attendant
upon or attached or related to it, in such a way as to recall it
immediately to mind' (Fontanier, pp. 127-8).
Ex: In Measure for Measure Shakespeare has a character say "My
father's grave / Did utter forth a voice." It was not the grave, nor the
body within the grave, but something that was once within the body
that did the uttering' (Quinn, p. 54).
Ex: 'The morning I was to undergo the knife, word came that Beryl
was as one with Nineveh and Tyre. I hurried home to Tulsa, where Beryl
was to be interred' (Gore Vidal, Duluth, p. 43). By means of this com-
plex figure combining simile* with an allusion* to Kipling's poem
'Recessional' (1897), the narrator reports the character's death.
Analogous definition: 'A figure which signifies a present effect by a
remote cause: 'The ship is sinking: damn the wood where the mast
grew"' (Joseph, p. 336; cf. Lanham, p. 66). This restricted sense, to
which Willem (p. 40), Lausberg (sect. 570), and Morier also refer, seems
to preponderate in Anglo-Saxon definitions of metalepsis.
Rl: Metalepsis resembles metonymy* (see Fontanier, p. 127) and
allusion*; it may also be a kind of euphemism*.
R2: Quinn (p. 54) describes metalepsis as 'double metonymy' and
explains the figure as follows: 'At times the connection between two
nouns in a metonymy might seem so remote that we are inclined to
think that a double substitution has occurred, a metonymic two-step.
For instance in Genesis it is written "they came under the shadow of
my roof." Roof stands for house, but house stands for protection.'
Quinn illustrates by a modern example the problems such a notion of
metalepsis presents, particularly when it involves substitutions of parts
of speech (verbs, for example) other than nouns. 'And when someone
shouts "Thank you!" from one country club tennis court to another, he
usually means "Please get my ball," and also "Every member of this
club is polite."'
METANALYSIS An accident of communication: language units are

divided up and analysed by listeners in ways other than the speaker
intends. Term proposed by Jespersen.
Exx: The words a napron were metanalysed to an apron, with the result
that the word napron became apron (see OEDS); 1 scream, you scream,
everybody wants ice cream' (jazz vocal).
Other name: affix-clipping (Grambs)
Rl: Metanalysis explains several linguistic phenomena such as
275
Metaphor
agglutination (sometimes called proclisis); and aphesis, by which, for

instance, esquire became squire.
R2: Metanalysis also forms the basis of many figures, most often
humorous ones: puns*, equivoque*, allographs*, etc. Some examples of
word-play* are obtained by metanalysis and mixing (see telescoping*).
Exx: faction (i.e., fact + fiction); 'MORE NETWORK LESS NET WORK' (caption
for computer ad selling communications software).
R3: Metanalytic stratagems produced hieroglyphic writing, which is
composed of phonograms, signs which, like the rebus, sketch in outline
the object whose name figures within the succession of sounds to be
transcribed (and whose meaning is quite different). Redfern writes (p.
82): Tuns may be pictorialized in the rebus, as in the one over the
entrance to Blenheim House (a lion rending a little cock: gallus = cock,
or Frenchman).' For a discussion of chronograms, hieroglyphic writing,
and their use in cryptography*, see U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 165.
R4: Metanalytic intervention allows the creation of riddles* when
spoken aloud. Ex: Can you define wise? It's what kids are always
asking, as in 'Wise the sky blue?'
METAPHOR The most elaborate of the tropes (see image*, 2). A

transfer from one meaning to another through a personal operation
based on an impression or interpretation which readers must discover
or experience for themselves. See Dumarsais (ch. 10), Fontanier (pp.
99-104), Frye, Lanham, and Morier.
Although also used in a broader sense, the word metaphor is not,
strictly speaking, a synonym for the literary image*, of which it is the
most condensed form, being reduced to a single term. In fact, unlike
allegory*, it has only one phore, or vehicle, although this may be
evoked by several words. Unlike comparison* or simile*, the phore is
dispersed syntactically throughout the sentence, in which the theme, or
tenor, is enunciated.
Exx: 'A London taxi is a flying bomb ... The clatter as it barges into the
crescent, the metric tick-tick as the bass notes die. The cut-off: where
has it stopped, which house, when all of us in the street are waiting in
the dark, crouching under tables or clutching pieces of string, which
house? Then the slam of the door, the explosive anticlimax: if you can
hear it, it's not for you' (John Le Carre, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, p. 295);
'Money is a language I speak better than you do. But you must learn
something of the grammar of money ... Money illiteracy is as bad as
any other illiteracy' (Robertson Davies, What's Bred in the Bone, p. 275);
'The psychoanalysts who are the great magicians of our day' (ibid.,
p. 401).
276
Metaphor
Rl: Mallarme: 1 am crossing the word like out of the dictionary.' In

other words, 1 prefer metaphor to simile.' He tried to go even further,
reducing the tenor almost to nothing, even trying to suppress it
altogether. For instance, in TJrise marine/ birds, drunk, foam, skies, seas,
steamer, masts, anchor, storms, shipwrecks, and fertile islands all belong to
the phore; only a few words - books, heart, and empty paper - refer to
the theme. There is no sign to mark the analogy, and most of the
elements in the vehicle have no particular link with the tenor. Ex: 'But,
oh my heart, hear the song of the sailors.'
The deliberate suppression of the tenor risks a hermeticism some-
times achieved by the surrealists. Ex: '... the moment in which man, in
order to concentrate upon himself all male pride and female desire, has
only to hold on the tip of his sword the bronze mass with the bright
crescent which really, and suddenly marks time' (A. Breton, L'Amour
fou, p. 79). For the benefit of readers who have not solved this meta-
phorical riddle, Breton does supply the answer: 'the bull.'
Mallarme dreamed of going all the way, of suppressing the vehicle
as well. It was to have been the culminating quintessence, a poem
which would say absolutely everything, using nothing, a book of blank,
virgin pages ...
R2: Metaphors lose their power with use, evoking ever more imme-
diately their tenor, until they lose their meaning* and become cliches*.
Exx: green with envy; the scourge of war; etc. A literary example:
Happy he, who can on vigorous wing
Fly to bright and peaceful fields.
Baudelaire, 'Elevation'
Sublime or lofty style can accommodate conventional or stock meta-
phor quite well. To prove that one ought to prefer the ordinary term,
Dumarsais recounts in chapter 10 of Des Tropes ('About Tropes') the
case of the foreigner writing to his protector: 'You have for me the guts
(boyaux) of a father.' He meant 'entrails' (entrailles, in French, metaphor-
ically stand for 'affection').
R3: Metaphor and simile* may commingle, with tenor suddenly
appearing in vehicle, and vehicle in tenor. Ex:
POLONIUS: In few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers,
Not of that dye which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds
The better to beguile.
Ex: ' "Exactly!" said Arthur. "That's exactly what we've been. As good
277
Metaphor
as gold. We've been the gold at the bottom of the whole thing. " "Gold
isn't really a bad part to play," said Dancourt... "You and Maria are
just gold - pure gold"' (Robertson Da vies, The Lyre of Orpheus, p. 427).
The incoherence resulting from a clash of conventional metaphors
should also be avoided. Ex: "The Crusaders entered Constantinople,
overturned the throne, and occupied it' [an uncomfortable seat!] (Jean-
Charles, Hardi! les cancres, p. 27). Taking such metaphors literally can
lead to some curious effects as well: "He disappeared into the kitchen
at the same time as a gust of icy wind. He always arrives like a gust of
wind' (Guevremont, Le Survenant, p. 99). 'Arriver en coup de vent'
means to arrive, stay a moment, and then immediately leave again.
Here the author is playing on the literal and figurative meanings of the
expression.
Metaphor's degree of novelty is, then, one of its essential characteris-
tics (see image*, R4).
R4: But a really new metaphor can be disconcerting. Working it out,
however, consists merely in defining the tenor. Ex: 'I dip my pen not in
an inkwell, but in life' (Blaise Cendrars, L'Homme foudroyg, p. 91). The
tenor is life not pen. Ex: 'And the rain suddenly pours down the mes-
sage's white oats on isles bathed in a pale golden light' (Saint-Jean
Perse, Amers, p. 201). Message seems to be the tenor despite its abstract-
ness; after all, abstract metaphors do exist. Message might evoke the
shower's freshness. When asked by Pierre Van Rutten, the author
confirmed that he was describing a spectacle he actually saw. Rain and
isles are therefore to be taken literally.
R5: Personification* constantly relies on metaphors of action denoting
persons. In the case of personification, however, the metaphoric entity
is sufficiently complex to form allegory* or prosopopoeia*. Ex:
Bugles sang, saddening the evening air,
And bugles answered, sorrowful to hear
The monstrous anger of our taciturn guns.

The majesty of the insults of their mouths.
W. Owen, 'Bugles Sang'
Ex:
Thirty-six-hundred times an hour,
The Second whispers: Remember.
Baudelaire, 'L'Horloge'
R6: A brand-new metaphor frequently spreads over several words,
remaining a metaphor so long as they remain part of a field of associa-
tion, contributing elements to the evocation of a phore. Ex:
278
Metastasis
He began then, bewilderingly, to talk about something called en-

tropy... there were two distinct kinds of entropy. One having to do
with heat-engines, the other to do with communication. The equa-
tion for one, back in the '30's, had looked very like the equation for
the other. It was a coincidence. The two fields were entirely uncon-
nected, except at one point: Maxwell's Demon. As the Demon sat
and sorted his molecules into hot and cold, the system was said to
lose entropy. But somehow the loss was offset by the information
the Demon gained about what molecules were where. (Thomas
Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49, p. 77)
The Demon personifies the metaphor connecting 'the world of ther-
modynamics to the world of information flow' (ibid. ).
R7: The semes on which an analogy is founded (see simile*, R3) are
common both to the vehicle and the tenor. Consequently when meta-
phors accumulate, the area of intersection covered by the sememes is
reduced. The result of such an analogy is to bring the expression into
sharper focus. Ex: 'No, no, I saw him here in the cemetery, he was
moving among the graves, a ghost among ghosts... his face was a
corpse's, his eyes already beheld the eternal punishment... even at that
moment I realised that there was a damned soul before me' (U. Eco,
The Name of the Rose, p. 115).
METAPLASM The generic term for any alteration of a word by

adjunction*, suppression, or inversion* of sounds or letters. See Dumar-
sais (ch. 2 and ch. 11), Group MU, Lanham, Lausberg (sect. 479-95),
Marouzeau, OED, and Robert.
Other definition: Quinn (p. 19): metaplasmus, 'effective misspelling'
Rl: Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, Marouzeau, OED, and Robert distinguish
the following metaplasms:
1. By addition: at the beginning of a word: prosthesis*
in the middle " " " epenthesis*
at the end " " " paragoge*
2. By suppression: at the beginning " " " aphaeresis*
in the middle " " " syncope*
at the end " " " apocope*
3. By transposition metathesis*
4. By dividing a syllable diaeresis*
5. By fusion synaeresis (see crasis*)
METASTASIS After an opponent has solidly established the facts, a

speaker responds by placing the blame elsewhere. See Joseph, Lanham,
Lausberg, Littre, and Robert.
279
Metathesis
Ex: 'It's not my fault, it's his. '

Ex [the arbitrarily banished Kent turns Lear's judgment against the
king]: Tare thee well, King. Since thus thou wilt appear, / Freedom
lives hence, and banishment is here' (Shakespeare, King Lear, 1. 1. 183-4).
Other definitions: 'passing over an issue quickly' (Lanham); 'a rapid
transition from one point to another' (OED); 'change of tenses' (Legras,
cited by Le Hir). The latter meaning designates more properly metas-
tasia, 'a kind of hypotyposis* evoking past actions as if they were
actually happening' (J. Morel, xvne siecle, nos. 80-1 [1968], p. 145
[glossary]). See enallage*.
Rl: Fabri (2: 155) presents the rejection, which consists of an excuse* for
having spoken too long, by saying that 'it is my opponent's fault and
he must answer for it. ' This is semi-metastasis.
R2: See also intonation*, R2, and recrimination*.
METATHESIS Altering a word by transposing or rearranging letters

or phonetic elements. See Robert.
Exx: morden for modern; revelant for relevant; 'A craving for carvings'
[advertisement]
Ex: 'If Shakespeare's name for his ignoble savage, Caliban, is really a
play on Cannibal, then perhaps we have syncopic metathesis' (Quinn,
p. 23).
Synonyms: transposition (Lanham, Marouzeau); antisthecon (Lanham);
transliteration (Dubois, p. 113). In linguistics, a transliteration is a 'letter-
by-letter transcription of a word from a foreign language' (Dubois et
al., Dictionnaire de linguistic/He).
Other definition: 'reminding listeners of past facts, introducing future
facts, anticipating objections' (Larousse du xxe siecle)
Rl: As a term of ancient grammar, metathesis could designate stam-
mered words like 'insluter, Rebenice, Nomitauref [i. e., insult, Berenice,
Minotaur] (R. Ducharme, L'AvaUe des avales, p. 205).
R2: More frequent are metatheses within a syntagm* or sentence, that
is, spoonerisms*.
R3: Applying the definition systematically, Queneau amused himself,
writing: TJn juor vres miid, sru la palte-frome aierre d'un aubutos... '
['Noe dya aobut dimday on teh rera platform of a sub'] (Exercises in
Style, p. 154). This is lexical scrambling*.
METONYMY A trope which allows the designation of one thing
280
Metonymy
by the name of some element belonging to the same whole, on the

strength of some sufficiently obvious relationship.
Exx: 'A traveller from the cradle to the grave' (Shelley, Prometheus
Unbound, 4. 551) for 'from birth to death'; The pen is mightier than the
sword' (E. G. Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu, 2. 2) for Tersuasion achieves
more than violence'; 'The kettle is boiling; the buses are on strike' (see
G. Lakoff and M. Johnson, Metaphors We Live By, pp. 35^0). See also
euphemism*, R6.
Analogous definitions: Bary (p. 297), K. Burke (A Grammar of Motives,
pp. 503f)/ Corbett, Fontanier, Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, Morier, OED,
Preminger, and Robert
Rl: Classical rhetoricians listed a variety of metonymies:
1. Cause for effect. A divine cause: Bacchus for wine; an active cause: a
Virgil for a work by Virgil; a passive cause or instrument: from his
eloquent pen for 'in his eloquent way'; an objective cause: a marble Diana
for a marble statue representing Diana; a physical cause: his star for his
destiny; an abstract cause: her many kindnesses for acts resulting from
her kindness.
2. Instrument for user: the second violin for the second violinist.
3. Effect for cause: to swallow death for 'to drink hemlock'; 'And cuckoo-
buds of yellow hue / Do paint the meadows with delight' (Shakespeare,
'Spring').
4. Container for contained: take a glass; Bless this house.
5. Place for a thing associated with it: a fine Burgundy; the White House;
Paris is carefully reviewing the accords proposed by London.
6. Sign for thing associated with it: the throne, sceptre, or crown for royal
power or dignity; laurels for glory; 'Why should I accept the Garter
from his Majesty when his people have just given me the boot' (W.
Churchill, after losing the 1945 election).
7. Physical for moral phenomena: 'You've gotta have heart [or balls]' for
'You must have courage'; a rat with a small brain for one with little
intelligence.
8. The master for the subject: penates for house; St Clair for the lake
placed under her patronage. The same applies to place names like St
Andrews, St Margaret's Bay, etc.
9. Appropriate things for persons: graybeards for old men; '... doublet and
hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat' (Shakespeare, As You
Like It, 2. 4. 6).
R2: The 'master tropes' (Burke), including metaphor*, metonymy, and
synecdoche*, have been discussed and taught for some twenty-five
centuries. They may once have formed a logical whole, but they are
nowadays more easily defined extensionally than intensionally. Group
MU, Le Guern, and Morier have noted that some semes are excluded
281
Metonymy
from a metaphor* because they evoke an isotopy* incompatible with

the one in the text. But distinctions between metonymy and synec-
doche are harder to sustain. Le Guern (S&nantique de la m&aphore et de
la m&onymie, p. 32) and Preminger attribute the confusion to Quintilian.
Lakoff and Johnson, like Dumarsais, see synecdoche as 'a species of
metonymy/ Most, however, consider the relationship between the lit-
eral term and the figurative term to be closer in the case of synecdoche
than in that of metonymy. Fontanier speaks of connection, Genette of
'contiguity/ Morier of inclusion* (see inclusion, other def., 2).
In their General Rhetoric (pp. 120if)/ Group MU redefined synecdoche
in broader but more useful terms. According to them, synecdoche is
the minimal trope which takes the figurative term at a node in the
semic tree on a different level from that (either more general or par-
ticular) of the literal term. A sword may be called either a weapon or a
point; wolves may be called either animals or furs.
R3: It is possible to define metonymy (and some other tropes) without
invoking logic or semic analysis. A trope's essential characteristic is the
choice it makes of the most relevant lexeme (relevant because of its
expressivity or popularity, or because it summarizes a situation in the
briefest way, etc. ). It also installs the lexeme with maximum terseness
into the sentence, despite ellipsis* of some of the usual articulating
factors of the idea in question, and relies on the context to ensure
communication. (This definition excludes metonymies which have
become conventional within a language; see catachresis*. ) Ex: 'Watergate
changed American politics. ' This kind of political metonymy uses
popular allusions* in a kind of ideological 'shorthand,' usually in order
to manipulate public opinion. Metonymy may be foregrounded:
'Who is there in the house!' said Sam, in whose mind the inmates
were always represented by that particular article of their costume,
which came under his immediate superintendence. "There's a
wooden leg in number six; there's a pair of Hessians in thirteen;
there's two pairs of halves in the commercial; there's these here
painted tops in the snuggery inside the bar; and five more tops in
the coffee-room. ' (Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, ch. 10)
The ellipsis* which accompanies any metonymy is evident in the
following extract frm Ulysses (pp. 210, 211), in which Joyce takes up
again at the end of the page the opening sentence of chapter 11, name-
ly, 'Bronze by gold heard the hoofirons steelyringing/ and, by explain-
ing the idea articulated in it, cancels out the metonymy: 'Bronze by
gold, miss Douce's head by miss Kennedy's head, over the cross-blind
of the Ormond bar heard the viceregal hoofs go by, ringing steel. '
R4: When one of the terms forming the metonymy is a proper name,
the figure is called antonomasia*.
282
Mimology
R5: Tropes which usage has made conventional are frequently called
symbols*. Lausberg (sect. 568, 5) defines a symbol as 'a trope by which
the name of a sign chosen by usage to designate a thing is substituted
for the thing's name. ' His example is: "to give up robes for a sword' [to
abandon the magistrature for the army].
It should be noted that metonymies which replace an idea or
institution by some relatively trivial object become humorous devices.
Exx: 'Gas and Gaiters/ a TV comedy series about gossipy Anglican
clergymen; in French, 'le sabre et le goupillon' ('the sabre and the
sprinkler') stand for the Army and the Church.
R6: As is well known, Jakobson extended the field of application of the
complementary figures, metaphor and metonymy, to encompass more
diverse categories: dreams, myths, psychoanalysis, various types of
aphasia, tests, and so on. Even the original shapes of alphabet letters
are metonymical (see graphism*, Rl). Ordinal numbers are metonymic
in relationship to cardinal numbers. From earliest antiquity metaphors
exist in mathematics, where they are called the proportional relationship
or simply proportion (a is to b as c is to rf). As logical categories, meta-
phor and metonymy are in constant use.
Part of metonymy's function as a logical category is to attribute to
leaders the credit or responsibility for national events, but the device
becomes literary when the name of a prominent figure designates a his-
torical period, or place, etc. Exx: the age of Pericles, or of Elizabeth/-
Cape Kennedy, Vancouver. This device has a special name: eponymy
(see Cyril L. Beeching, A Dictionary of Eponyms).
MIMOLOGY (neol. ) An imitation* of the human voice or of speech

habits, or of a person's pronunciation. See Lausberg.
Exx: 'Grand Ole Opry'; 'Get on wi' t' turn!' (K. Waterhouse, Billy Liar,
p. 120); To a speaker of Strine, "Air Fridge" is "something not ex-
treme" as in "the air fridge person"; "Baked necks" is a popular break-
fast dish; "Egg Jelly" is "in fact"; "Egg Nisher" is a mechanical device
for cooling a room; "Flares" are blossoms; and "Furry Tiles" are stories
beginning, "One Spawner time... "' (Espy, 1971, p. 233); '- Now, baby,
Cissy Caffrey said. Say out big, big. I want a drink of water. And baby
prattled after her: - A jink a jink a jawbo' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 284).
Rl: Mimologies are produced by voicing or unvoicing consonants; by
phonemic lengthening*; and by transcription of noises*. Joyce mixes in
the text sounds of eating to evoke a conversation in a restaurant: 'I
munched hum un thu Unchester Bunk un Munchday' (Ulysses, p. 139).
R2: Mimologies are also produced by diphthongization ([usually] tonic
vowels become diphthongs by the addition in pronunciation of post-
tonic semi-consonants). Ex: In Shaw's Pygmalion (act 1), the flower girl
283
Mirror
pronounces the interjection Owl as 'Ah-ah-ow-ow-ow-oo!' and the by-

stander remarks: It's aw rawt: e's a genleman: look at his bd-oots. '
Mimology serves also to foreground non-native pronunciation: 'No
wonder the thousands of Roman extras cried "LEEZ! LEEZ!" instead of
"Cleopatra!" when she did her triumphant entry7 (M. Bragg, Rich: The
Life of Richard Burton, p. 162).
R3: The specific meaning of mimology (according to the OED) is
'recitation of mimes. ' The meaning indicated here is a 'derived' one.
MIRROR Two words possessing the same lexeme are subordinated

one to another.
Exx: 'Who polices the police?'; Tart of the new security force's function
will be to spy on the spies. '
Other name: Paul Valery, drawing his inspiration from mathematics,
speaks of exponentiation (a x a = a 2 ). See also R5 below.
Rl: Lexical mirroring is a kind of isolexism*. Sometimes it simply has a
superlative effect. Exx: king of kings; the finest of the fine; la creme de la
creme. Or it may simply be verbal extravagance: 'Who shaves the razor
... will erase the eraser' (Michaux, Face aux verrous, p. 60). Sometimes it
reverses meanings: 'One short sleep past, we wake eternally, / And
death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die' (John Donne, Holy
Sonnets, no. 10).
R2: It may reflect its opposite, in which case it becomes a reversing
mirror. Exx: The presence of absence' (the title of a collection of poems
by Rina Lasnier); 'What to do in order to do nothing?' Valery wonders
(Oeuvres, 2: 201); and Sartre offers: "The terrible thing is, said Daniel,
that nothing is ever very terrible. There are no extreme cases' (Le Sursis,
p. 153). Reversing mirrors of this type are not isolexisms but examples
of oxymoron* or of oxymoric* sentences.
R3: Valery enjoys the lexical mirroring device because it is an image* of
his own characteristic procedure, which consists in becoming conscious
of his own consciousness: 'I am since I exist, and since I see myself;
since I see myself see myself, and so on' (Nouveau Dictionnaire de
citations frangaises, no. 13412).
As in the logical or mathematical phenomenon of recursion, the
mirroring process may multiply images endlessly and the images so re-
flected stretch off to infinity. A common visual case involves a picture
of, for example, Mickey Mouse looking at himself in a picture of
Mickey Mouse looking at himself in a picture of...
A literary example:
There are born beginnings...
which repeat
284
Mirror
and ceaselessly repeat that I repeat that 'it repeats'

and that I repeat that I repeat that I repeat that 'it repeats'
echo of an echo of a never ending echo
H. Michaux, Taix dans les brisements'
Double mirrors reduce the complexity of the recursive mirroring
device. Exx:
What, reduced to their simplest reciprocal form, were Bloom's
thoughts about Stephen's thoughts about Bloom and about Stephen's
thoughts about Bloom's thoughts about Stephen?
He thought that he thought that he was a jew whereas he knew
that he knew that he knew that he was not. (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 558)
'Well, um, thinking back on what I said, and what you said, and what
I said you said, or what they may say I said you said, or what they
may have thought I said I thought you thought, or they may say I
said I thought you said I thought... I think I said you thought you
were above the law. ' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, Yes Prime Minister, p. 66)
R4: The subordinating conjunction (that) is not expressed in parataxis*,
resulting in a kind of semi-mirror. Ex: 1 will know you know' (M.
Duras, Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein, p. 189). False mirroring also exists,
as in the French expression 'blanc de blanc/ white wine made from
white grapes.
R5: Lexical mirroring may resemble mise en abime. (See Gide, Journal
1889-1939, p. 41, where he uses the spelling abyme; we have chosen the
current spelling. ) Group MU's translators call the device 'disappearing
repetition' (General Rhetoric, p. 206). In Gide's usage, abime refers to 'the
heraldic image of an escutcheon bearing in its centre a miniature
replica of itself (L. Hutcheon, Narcissistic Narrative, p. 55). When
Hamlet, for example, has the players mime the murder of his father,
the king, the actors play the role of actors playing a different role. Tom
Stoppard increased the complexity of the device in Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead, a play which takes place, as it were, in the wings
of Hamlet, and whose action foregrounds the situation of the epony-
mous lords asked to spy on the prince.
Stories with a similar function may be inserted into a narrative* (see
narrative, R4), like the story of Marcella and Chrysostom in chapter 12
of Don Quixote. This kind of mirroring device, in which a fictional
story-teller tells a story about one of the fictional characters in the
frame-narrative, has been called second-degree narrative. See G. Genette,
Narrative Discourse, and L. Dallenbach, Le R£cit speculaire.
In second-degree narrative, embedding, by which the inserted story
remains subordinate to the primary narrative, differs from dovetailing,
by which the two are co-ordinated. In a film, narrative montage may
alternate (shots and reverse-shots of a conversation, for example,
285
Mistake
succeed one another in the same temporal sequence) or may present a

staggered series of shots within a broken temporal sequence. The
narrative representation of a chase, for example, may focus alterna-
tively on hunter and hunted. See James Monaco, How to Read a Film.
MISTAKE Mistakes occur in the text when the author - through

ignorance or oversight - fails to recognize firmly established customs
or structures, whether in content or form.
Exx: 'A friend of mine attributes to his gardener the remark that "She
don't like me and I don't like her, so it's neutral"' (Espy, 1971, p. 160);
'But [Richard] Burton was not British, he was Welsh' (K. Turan, TV
Guide, 25 Nov. 1989, p. 27) [presumably the author intends to distin-
guish between 'English' and 'Welsh']. See also lapsus* and blunder*.
Synonyms: error, howler, boo-boo (Amer. slang), faux pas, gem (a
funny mistake, one worth 'treasuring')
Rl: Numerous types of mistakes have been given specific names;
notably the following:
- the spelling mistake or cacography, used to good effect in realistic
literature. Ex: 'Dear sir... while we was throwing a ten pence for luck
onto back of Allergater corcodile... it must have fell from my purse...
faithly, Viv' (Peter Reading, Ukelele Music, p. 16).
- printing errors, for which the technical terms include: misprints, or
literals (see paragram*); doubles, or repetitions of a letter, syllable, or
word; blanks, omissions, or outs; transpositions, or pies; and friars,
blanks due to faulty inking.
- mistakes in pronunciation, transliteration of syllables, substitutions of
phonemes. Ex: Mrs. Veller passed a very good night, but is uncommon
perwerse, and unpleasant this mornin'' (Dickens, The Pickwick Papers,
ch. 33). For mistakes in pronunciation, see below, R2.
- barbarisms* or mistakes in vocabulary.
- solecisms* or grammatical mistakes.
- cacologies* or mistakes in usage or in logical expression.
Discourse* must be free of such errors. For mistakes in translation,
Valery Larbaud proposed the name Jhon-le-tore"ador in which the h of
ohn is misplaced, and the word toreador is misused in place of torero
(Sous I'invocation de Saint ]&rdme, p. 220).
R2: Many mistakes are not serious, being simply clumsy, involuntarily
ambiguous, unharmonious, or obstructive to easy communication: these
are textual deficiencies, infelicities, or weaknesses.
The occasional mistake in pronunciation is a matter of performance.
Such mistakes include stammering*, mumbling (rapid, indistinct
articulation), spluttering (uttering incoherent sounds), stuttering (weak,
hesitant diction), and muttering (incomprehensible words spoken
between clenched teeth). Other mistakes of pronunciation are constants.
286
Mistake
Sigmatism deforms [s] and other fricatives; rhotacism is the use of the
phoneme [r] instead of another, usually [1] or [s] (Pei and Gaynor);
lambdaism is substitution of [1] (usually) for [r] (ibid. ). Lisping is caused
by the tongue being kept between the teeth during speech.
Unvoicing, which makes [b], [d], and [g] similar in sound to [p], [t],
[k], and [z] and [v] similar to [s] and [f], derives from excessive muscle
tension. Closed rhinolalia, which makes a speaker sound as if the nose is
blocked, is the opposite of open rhinolalia, which affects sounds other
than [n], [m], and [gn]. A nasal twang, or nasalization characteristic of
the pronunciation of vowels in certain regions (Pei and Gaynor), occurs
because the nasal cavity acts as a resonator. Hoarseness is caused by too
much shouting.
Among psycholinguistic disorders: aphasia is a 'loss of speech, partial
or total, or loss of the power to understand written or spoken lan-
guage, as a result of disorder of the cerebral speech centres' (OED);
agrammatism is a 'form of aphasia marked by an inability to form
sentences grammatically' (OED); ataxism (neol. ) fails to indicate the
function of syntagms. Amelodia and arhyihmia affect sound and rhythm
of pronunciation, although such modification or amplification is often
said to produce merely a 'strange' or 'foreign' accent. Mutism, a refusal
to speak, contrasts with tachylalia or uncontrollable speech (see ver-
bigeration*); paragraphia is substitution of letters, paraphasia is substitu-
tion of words, and paragrammatism of constructions. (See Ducrot and
Todorov, pp. 161-6. )
When a text is read aloud, diction is seldom as natural as one might
wish: too slow a delivery produces a drone. Professorial delivery consists
in separating words one from another.
R3: Colloquial style, which consists of writing in a free-and-easy
fashion, almost avoids being a mistake. Ex: In fact she had. Told
Leonard what she was going to do. She was going to stay. Not "stay"
precisely. "Not leave" is more like it' (Joan Didion, A Book of Common
Prayer, p. 256).
R4: The mistake is a difficult concept to deal with. Novelists must
allow their characters to speak 'in character/ and so they have them
make typical mistakes (see epiphany* and mimology*). Besides correct
usage, there exist long-accepted regional expressions, tricks of speech,
professional and social sub-codes or parlances, various kinds of jargon*
spoken or written by different coteries, idioms, and purely individual
linguistic customs. So the notion of usage is itself not clearly defined.
Even cases like the hapax legomenon ('word of which only one instance
is recorded ["hugger-mugger" is hapax-legomenon in Shakespeare]'
[Concise Oxford Dictionary]) are not without interest. Some texts re-
semble Princess Bolkowsky, whose 'little imperfection - the shortness
of the upper lip and her half-open mouth - seemed to be a special
form of beauty peculiarly her own' (Tolstoy, War and Peace, 1: 9).
287
Monody
We may suppose nevertheless that the choice of a term, construction,

or graphic form brings with it obscurity or even misunderstanding, or
in other words that the graphic, syntactic, or lexical structure is
impaired. The concept of the mistake, evocative of the schoolmaster's
cane, springs immediately to mind. But it is of greater relevance to
point to the distinction between performance (the act itself, performed
hie et nunc) and competence (knowledge of the language-system). Ex: the
use of the adverb hopefully to mean 'we hope,' which TJsage Panels' in
two editions of the Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage have de-
clared barely acceptable in speech and unacceptable in writing. How-
ever, this form of 'hanging adverb' (Harper Dictionary, 1985 ed., p. 289)
seems to be a rising structure; 'thankfully, ' for instance, having been
recorded in New York Times movie reviews.
We may conclude that it will always be dangerous to underline a
'mistake' out of school, where the relationship between master and
pupil involves an attempt by the latter to acquire greater competence,
in terms of the socio-cultural criteria of the day.
R5: Mistakes, defects, and cases of lapsus*, unless voluntary, may be
forms, but they are not devices. Does that mean that admitted mistakes
are impossible in literature? Writing presupposes so many interdepen-
dent choices that it is impossible sometimes not to sacrifice some
regions to get to others, as surgeons say. Automatic writing forms the
most obvious example of this. Thus the surrealist Louis Aragon de-
clared: 'I no longer wish to avoid the mistakes which my eyes or
fingers make. I know now that they are not crude traps but curious
byways towards a goal which only they can reveal' (Aragon, Le Paysan
de Paris, p. 15). The validity of a mistake which makes possible the
expression of something new has always been recognized as poetic
licence. It was natural that the surrealists would extend it through
automatic writing and writing dictated by the unconscious.
R6: See also flip-flop*, R2; foregrounding*, R2; enunciation*, R2; and
truism*, R2.
MONODY Stanzas* sung or chanted on the same tune (see Verest,

sect. 350). Preminger adds that monody was originally, in Greek
tragedy, an ode* sung by a single voice. In English poetry, monody is
frequently called 'elegy,' as is the case in critical works about Lycidas,
for example, although Milton spoke in his epigraph* of a 'monody. ' See
Fowler, under 'Elegy. '
MONOLOGUE One person speaks aloud, normally in exclamatory

fashion, without an addressee. In literature, this kind of discourse* is
frequently simulated and might be described as a dialogue* with an
imaginary addressee who sits in the audience.
288
Monologue
Ex: 'TYRONE: Whose play is it? A stinking old miser. Well, maybe
you're right. Maybe I can't help being, although all my life since I had
anything I've thrown money over the bar for everyone in the house, or
loaned money to sponges I knew would never pay it back' (Eugene
O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night, act 4).
In the above example, double articulation is admitted: the character
even addresses the audience as 'you/ while seeming to think aloud.
On the other hand, since Edouard Dujardin's Les Lauriers sont coupes
and particularly since Joyce's Ulysses, attempts have been made to
transcribe pure interior monologues at the stage of endophasia (the
internal verbal expression of unspoken thought), or what William
James named the 'stream of consciousness' (Principles of Psychology,
1890) and what Michel Butor calls the 'internal tape recorder' (Inter-
valle, p. 60). Ex: 'now garters that much I have the violet pair I wore
today thats all he bought me out of the cheque he got on the first O no
there was the face lotion I finished the last of yesterday' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 618). Since the words are pronounced only in thought, the sentence
is barely sketched in, and many of the nuances remain in the tone
used. (See also sentence* [types of], 5; interjection*; and nominal
sentence*. ) In literature, authors have striven to render this kind of
expression in its original state by erasing all signs of a referential
situation and all punctuation*. Ex: Virginia Woolf's Jacob's Room. The
following is an extract from Beckett's How It Is (p. 10), in which we
have inserted several caesuras* (see caesura, R4): 'life / life / the other
/ in the light / said to have been mine / on and off / no going back
up there. '
Thus the presence of holophrastic (OEDS) textual segments becomes
evident: syntagms* hardly integrated one with another and capable of
subsisting alone. We hesitate to use in this sense the word monorheme
(Bally, Cressot, Gray, Marouzeau, Morier, OED), whose meaning is
controversial, but word-sentence exists (syntagm-sentence would be
more accurate) and so why not say holophrase ('a single word used
instead of a phrase, or to express a combination of ideas' [OEDS])?
The specificity of the holophrase or embryonic sentence is im-
mediately obvious if one reads aloud Beckett's text, with its added
caesuras and concluding melody. As an utterance (in direct discourse*;
see narrative*), the same propositional content might become some-
thing like: Real life, refused to me, living in the light, said to have been mine,
off and on at least, there's no question of my going back to it.
Rl: Holophrases themselves rely on gestures*, pre-linguistic forms (i. e.,
non-codified inarticulate sounds; see noise*), and sign-language. With
the development of the cinema and television, the study of such sign
systems has made great progress, under various names: kinesics or non-
verbal communication, formerly physiognomy (the study of facial expres-
289
Motif
sions) and chirology (the study of speaking with the hands). J. Tardieu
gives the following account of such phenomena: 'Don't forget the many
meanings of lip movements, nor lowering the eyelids to denote scep-
ticism, rubbing the hands together to denote satisfaction or malice,
loosening the collar as if it were too tight (to suggest a short meditation
before an important response)' (Un Mot pour un autre, pp. 15-16).
All the same, such gestures display conscious thought, whose
moments of passivity may be invaded by real noises*, a fact that texts
attempt to transcribe. Or thoughts may be disturbed by real images*,
which some reproduce in photographs, paintings, or drawings. How
may consciousness and perception be discovered at their point of
origin? Is not such a phenomenon too individual to allow for com-
munication as such? Can literary communication occur without re-
course to the 'words of the tribe' and generalization?
R2: From primitive chaos first emerged gestures*, then lexemes (agram-
matism; see ellipsis*, R3), then actualizers (morphemes which situate
the lexeme in an environment: articles, pronouns, indefinite adjectives,
etc.), and finally taxemes (syntactic markers). An example of the
passage from holophrase to sentence:
Music which leaves me hanging
its snares
its snares
which holds me in its snares.
Michaux, Connaissance par les gouffres, p. 7
R3: A monologue which occurs during a dialogue* is an aside. See in
petto*, Rl. Ex:
ESTRAGON: Here we go. Be seated, Sir, I beg of you.
POZZO: No, no I wouldn't think of it! (Pause. Aside) Ask me again.
S. Beckett, Waiting for Godot, act 1
R4: In a soliloquy, the speaker is really alone, saying thoughts aloud as
though the speaker were the real addressee. The text thus has a finish-
ed appearance (unlike internal monologue), but is without the double
articulation characteristic of monologue.
R5: See also dubitatio*, R2; dialogue*, R3 (interior dialogue); nominaliza-
tion*, Rl; and coq-a-l'dne, R4.
MOTIF A unit of meaning* which may have a discursive function.

Analogous terms: lexia (Barthes): 'sometimes a few words, sometimes
several sentences ... with an observable meaning' (lexia by analogy,
apparently, with lecture: 'reading'); narrative predicate (Todorov)
Ex: Tyger! tyger! burning bright.' Blake employs the motif of the
290
Musication
'tyger' to suggest a number of deeper meanings, which a reader must

interpret intuitively.
Other definitions: 1. theme*; archetype
2. 'A dynamic pattern imposing form and impulse on a whole poem.
Victor Hugo's "A Villequier," for example, is constructed on these two
movements: "Maintenant que ..." ["Now that..."] and "Considerez ..."
["Consider ..."]' (P. Claudel, Oeuvres en prose, p. 14). This definition is
akin to the definition of the motif in music (see also reprise* and
anaphora*).
Rl: The theme of a work is more general and often more abstract than
a motif. Exx: the difference between Time (the theme) and the clock-
motif in Foe's works; the white whale in Melville's Moby Dick is the
motif for the theme of obsession. The same theme may have several
motifs; the same motif may serve several different themes. The distinc-
tion resembles the one linking plot and action.
R2: TVIotifs ... which may be omitted without disturbing the whole
causal-chronological course of events are free motifs' (B. Tomachevsky,
Thematics/ in Lemon and Reis, eds., Russian Formalist Criticism: Four
Essays, p. 68). Motifs which may not be so omitted Tomachevsky calls
bound motifs, and Barthes functions.
MUSICATION (neol.) The accordance of priority to the text's sound

patterns accompanied by a concomitant neglect of its other aspects,
notably its meaning*.
A land that is lonelier than ruin,
A sea that is stranger than death:
Far fields that a rose never blew in,
Wan waste where the winds lack breath.
A. Swinburne, 'By the North Sea'
Frances Stillman comments: 'One sometimes suspects, no doubt unfair-
ly, that [Swinburne] did not care what he said, so long as it alliterated!
For example, this quatrain from "By the North Sea" sounds very
lovely, but means little' (The Poet's Manual and Rhyming Dictionary,
p. 84). Clearly musication is often a matter of literary judgment.
Rl: Musication may be described as multiple, compound alliteration*.
But with alliteration, as with imitative harmony*, sounds remain
secondary; they add emphasis*. In the case of musication, however,
they play the primary role.
R2: Musication is left far behind by the French lettrists, who accord an
absolute priority to sound over sense. ('Lettrism: Applied to a move-
ment in French art and literature [c. 1945-57], characterized by a
291
Myth
repudiation of meaning, and the use of letters [sometimes invented] as

isolated units' [OEDS].) See noise*.
R3: Pseudo-language* goes further than musication, although incor-
porating it to prolong sentences. Ex: Tuesday will be the longest day.
Of all the glad new year, mother, the rum turn tiddledy turn' (Joyce,
Ulysses, p. 42).
R4: The systematic practice of paronomasia* results in musication.
Tongue twisters, for example, give preference to sound-repetition over
meaning. Ex:
Moses supposes his toeses are roses,
But Moses supposes erroneously;
For Moses he knowses his toeses aren't roses
As Moses supposes his toeses to be.
Quoted by Augarde, pp. 168-9
MYTH A symbolic narrative* (see symbol*, 1) in which characters,

speeches, and action aim to establish a balance in spiritual and social
values in which there is room for everyone and which offers an inter-
pretation of human existence.
Ex: '[The ashes of a wicked couple] which flew away through the
smoke-hole [of their tepee] turned into mosquitoes' (Cl. Melanqon,
Legendes indiennes du Canada, p. 92). The story-teller thus explains both
the nastiness of mosquitoes and what happens to the wicked.
Ex [modern literature may treat classical or traditional myth allusively
and ironically]:
SATAN, n. One of the Creator's lamentable mistakes, repented in
sackcloth and ashes. Being instated as an archangel, Satan made
himself multifariously objectionable and was finally expelled from
Heaven. Half-way in his descent he paused, bent his head in thought
a moment and at last went back. "There is one favor I would like to
ask,' said he.
'Name it.'
'Man, I understand, is about to be created. He will need laws.'
'What, wretch! you his appointed adversary, charged from the
dawn of eternity with hatred of his soul - you ask for the right to
make his laws?'
'Pardon; what I have to ask is that he be permitted to make them
for himself.'
It was so ordered. (Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary)
Not all narratives whose symbolic meaning simply illustrates some
philosophical truth are myths (see apologue*). Ex: Baudelaire's
292
Myth
Albatross symbolizes the poet, but his Swan 'offers a symbol ... in
which the hero is seen to come to grips with a god: [this is] a myth' (P.
Clarac, Le Xixe siecle, p. 506). The specific social function of myth gives
it two characteristics of its own. First, it defines a cultural area and
gives it a shared legacy of allusion* (e.g. Homeric epics, the Old Testa-
ment) ... Second, [myths] link with one another to form a mythology, an
interconnected body of stories that verbalizes a society's major con-
cerns in religion and history particularly' (Frye et al., The Harper Hand-
book to Literature, under 'myth'). Bierce defines 'mythology' as 'the body
of a primitive people's beliefs concerning its origin, early history,
heroes, deities and so forth, as distinguished from the true accounts
which it invents later' (The Devil's Dictionary).
Originally, in Greek, myth simply meant 'narrative,' but more recent-
ly the term's meaning has become more specific. In modern English
and French definitions, the word's accidental meaning or virtueme ('the
set of connotational semes, characteristic of an individual, social group
or society' [Greimas, Semiotique: dictionnaire raisonne, 1: 421]) has be-
come the essential one: myth is a 'traditional narrative usually involv-
ing supernatural or fancied persons etc. and embodying popular ideas
on natural or social phenomena' (Concise Oxford Dictionary); and it is a
'[narrative] which presents dramatically beings who embody ... forces
of nature, aspects of genius or of the human condition' (Robert, mean-
ing 1). 'Myth' has even supplanted and replaced the classeme 'nar-
rative' and acquired a pejorative connotation. Thus 'myth' also desig-
nates 'simplified, sometimes illusory images which some human
groups elaborate or accept concerning an individual or a fact; such
images play a determining role in their conduct or judgment' (Robert,
meaning 5). Exx: the cowboy; the vamp; the Jaguar, Citroen DS (i.e.,
deesse, 'goddess'), or Mustang automobiles. See R. Barthes, Mythologies.
Rl: The functions fulfilled by ancient myths were partially taken over
by later oral literatures: "The whole of this considerable body of fables,
apologues*, tales, legends, and jokes takes up once again, on their own
level, the function of myth. Like myths, each example from oral litera-
ture reveals a typical situation and also constitutes both an explanation
of some real situation or pattern of behaviour and provides a model for
imitation' (Raymond Queneau, Histoire des literatures, 1:9).
R2: The cosmogonic or creation myth concerns the origin of the world.
Ex: 'Although the creation myths are numerous, a few basic types may
be distinguished. One of these, found in almost all parts of the world,
is the belief in a supreme creator deity, usually characterized as omnis-
cient and omnipotent, as having existed alone prior to the world's
creation, and having had a plan in creating the world, etc.'
(Encyclopaedia Britannica [15th ed. 1974], under 'creation myth'). Like
Genesis such myths frequently begin: '[In the beginning], there was ...'
293
Narrative
Ex: 'There was nothing but myself. I hung in a timeless, spaceless,

formless void that was neither light nor dark ... But, somehow, time-
lessness ceased. I became aware that there was a force: that I was being
moved, and that spacelessness had, therefore, ceased, too. There was
nothing to show that I moved; I knew simply that I was being drawn'
(John Wyndham, 'Consider Her Ways/ in Sometime, Never, p. 63). Paul
Eluard shows that personal cosmogonies also exist: To begin with, I
will list the elements: / Your voice, your eyes, your hands, your lips'
(quoted by R. Jean, Eluard, p. 59).
R3: Modern publicity finds the device of myth-creation an indispen-
sable tool. A brand name sets in motion a 'halo of images, of ideas,
sentiments, attitudes, beliefs, some deeper than others, some more
conscious than others, and all having emotional content' (Denner,
quoted in Page and Pagano, eds., Le Dictionnaire des media). See also
response*, R2.
N
NARRATIVE We create narrative (a generic term) by separating the
action from the receiver, who can only learn about it by courtesy of the
narrator and thanks to the act of narrating. Descriptions*, dialogues*,
speeches, interior monologues*, etc. may reduce this separation, which
is usually temporal in nature.
Narratives may be fictional, therefore, even though situated in the
past, as is usually the case. In addition, narratives are frequently very
elaborate kinds of texts since they present detailed accounts of actions
involving characters, places, objects, circumstances, conversations, time-
periods, and so on.
From earliest times, various kinds of narratives have existed: myths*,
fairy-tales, fables, apologues*, epics. And narrative, which includes
novels of all kinds, short stories, biographies, historical reconstructions,
newspaper stories, etc., is still one of the most diverse genres.
Narrative's primary marker is dual temporal actualization created by
the fact that the receiver was not present at the moment of the action.
The present time of the action (also called story, fabula, fiction, or the
narrated action) bears, superimposed upon it at least implicitly, the
present time of the narration. The two temporal processes may occur
without reference one to another or they may come together (see G.
Genette, Narrative Discourse), but they may not be confused without the
risk of narrative incoherence occurring when the reader slips out of the
narrative into his or her own present time. Ex: At the beginning of The
Plague, we encounter sentences such as 'Our citizens work hard, but
294
Narrative
solely with the object of getting rich' (A. Camus, The Plague, p. 5). The
narrative proper begins some four pages further on with a precise
indication of the time, which clearly marks off action from narration:
'When leaving his surgery on the morning of 16 April, Dr. Bernard
Rieux felt something soft under his foot. It was a dead rat, lying in the
middle of the landing' (ibid., p. 9). The citizens of Oran may well have
had the right to express indignation concerning Camus's views about
their city in the preamble, but they could not challenge the events
within the narrative since these relate to a different kind of time, dis-
DIRECT UTTERANCE NARRATIVE
VERB TENSES
1
anchor: the nunegocentric anchor: the allocentric preterite
present
simple anteriority: the imperfect simultaneity with the allocentric
anchor: the imperfect
anterior to the allocentric anchor:
the pluperfect
the result of an anterior action the result of an anterior action
within the nunegocentric anchor: within the allocentric anchor:
the perfect past anterior
PRONOUNS
speaker: I/we characters: he/she, they
addressee: you
TEMPORAL ADVERBS
today April 16 (for example)
tomorrow/yesterday the following day / the previous
day
in a year's time / two years ago a year later / two years
previously
next Monday / last Monday the following Monday / the
previous Monday
ADVERBS OF PLACE
here elsewhere
1
The tense centred in the self and the here and now, as opposed to the
other-centred (other person, time, and place) preterite.
295
Narrative
tinct from time present, and consequently, in some cases, from reality.
This peculiar double temporality most frequently entails a second
narrative marker: the use of the past tense. J. Dubois (Grammaire struc-
turale du fran$ais, 2:209f) offers a diagrammatic representation of some
of the markers which distinguish direct utterances from narratives (see
table, p. 295).
The device called 'dialogism' (see dialogue*) reintroduces direct
utterances into narrative as dialogues. Also, when narratives contain
descriptions* or explanations*, they may lose their narrative form and
become direct utterances or 'discourses.' Ex: 'The winter of 1879-80
was exceptionally cold. Flaubert's housekeeper made Julio a coat out of
an old pair of trousers. They got through the winter together. Flaubert
died in the Spring. What happened to the dog [Julio] is not recorded' (Julian
Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot, pp. 62-3).
The action itself may even appear to occur in the present, called the
'historical present'; this temporal relocation may confer a greater
feeling of reality on what happened. This type of present must how-
ever be structured more carefully than in the following example: He
[the shoemaker] began [se mit] to hammer very hard on a sole and the
other guy leaves [s'en va]' (Raymond Queneau, Zazie dans le metro,
p. 83). Significantly, the published English translation contains 'de-
parted.' (See Queneau, Zazie in the Metro, trans. Barbara Wright, p. 92.)
On the other hand, the simple construction of an utterance in
'indirect discourse' produces a narrative. Ex: Tet into this charming
retreat York strode one evening a month after the quarrel, and, behold-
ing Scott sitting there turned to the fair hostess with the query, "Do
you love this man?" The young woman thus addressed returned that answer
- at once spirited and evasive which would occur to most of my fair readers in
such an emergency' (Bret Harte, 'The Iliad of Sandy Bar').
Dropping the main verb of expression ('he/she said,' for example)
produces free indirect narrative, which repeats an utterance almost
verbatim, retaining even exclamations* and intonation*, but modifying
two markers: the pronouns and tenses. (See Brian McHale, 'Free In-
direct Discourse: A Survey of Recent Accounts,' PTL 3:249-88.) Ex:
'Gabriel's warm trembling fingers tapped the cold pane of the window.
How cool it must be outside! How pleasant it would be to walk out alone, first
along the river and then through the park! The snow would be lying on the
branches of the trees and forming a bright cap on the top of the Wellington
Monument. How much more pleasant it would be there than at the supper-
table!' (Joyce, 'The Dead,' in Dubliners, p. 224). Free indirect style (free,
that is, from the introductory syntagm*) possesses a flexibility that
almost confuses it with direct discourse, but its form reveals the pres-
ence of a narrator 'behind' the character. In the interior monologue*, or
in dialogue, the narrator disappears.
The importance of these forms in the modern novel, where the use
296
Narrative
of the narrative present is frequent, may be explained by the modern

reader's enhanced awareness of the nature of literary texts, which
always remain in any case at some distance from reality. Such texts
cannot coincide with the action they narrate, but aspire rather to
reproduce it more or less completely and indirectly, in some deferred
fashion, with a different, subsequent temporality. Ex: 'Cordelia and I
are riding on the streetcar, going downtown, as we do on winter
Saturdays' (M. Atwood, Cat's Eye, p. 4). In fact, the middle-aged
narrator in this example is recalling events which took place long
before the epic moment of narration.
Writers naturally take pleasure in foregrounding the artificiality of
such narrative conventions. Ex: 'Gabriel ... pronounced these words:
"Being or nothingness, that is the question ... Gabriel is but a reverie (a
charming one), Zazie the dream of a reverie (or of a nightmare) and all this
story the dream of a dream, the reveries of a reverie, scarcely more than the
typewritten delivery of an idiotic novelist (oh! sorry)" ... Some travellers
were standing in a circle round him, having taken him for a sup-
plementary guide' (Raymond Queneau, Zazie in the Metro, trans.
Barbara Wright, p. 100).
Thus, as long as typography makes possible distinctions between
speakers, there is no real danger in switching the markers of narrative
and direct utterance, in addressing one's characters as 'you,' for in-
stance, as does Michel Butor in La Modification, or in making a charac-
ter address the narrator as 'you.' CYou are the murderer,' says Poirot
to the narrator of Agatha Christie's, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.) The
reader will be only more aware of his or her own activity: in the final
analysis, what is being read is a literary text, and so the device of
defamiliarization may simply encourage the reader to make even
greater efforts at decoding.
Rl: Just as the present is the unmarked tense in the nunegocentric
system, the imperfect, the past tense of direct utterance, serves as an
unmarked tense in narrative. Hence the usefulness of having a specific
tense, the preterite, to mark the allocentric anchoring of narrative in the
past. This explains why narrative in French, for instance, possesses a
tense missing from direct utterance (the preterite or 'passe simple').
The distribution of pronouns may also seem surprising. Third-
person pronouns have no specific role in direct utterances that unite
third parties either to the speaker (the exclusive you) or to the addres-
see (the exclusive we). The use of they for people produces some dis-
tancing*, and the utterance begins to be narrative. On the other hand,
first- and second-person pronouns have no specific function in narra-
tive. When they appear, the narrative is tending to imitate a direct
utterance. Ex: 'Catherine said they were asking too much. A sort of
rage rose in her. "It could have been so easy between us." "I'm tired," said
Catherine' (Anne Hebert, Les Chambres de bois, p. 171).
297
Narrative
R2: A long narrative is made up of several episodes linked together to

form a plot. The motive power for the plot is frequently the evolution
of the characters' attitudes, called the action. Thus, the monolithic
nature of characters like those of Hemingway, for instance, means that
the psychological events take place outside the action, between 'takes/
as they say in the cinema. Narrative rhythm (see rhythm* [of the
action]) is determined by the duration of the episodes: 'in plays, then,
the episodes are short; in epic poetry they serve to lengthen out the
poem' (Aristotle, Poetics, 1455b 16). The peripetia reverses the action of a
previous episode. The rebound is an added peripetia which puts off the
resolution (the denouement in French). Diversions are incidents which
change the course of the action. Coups de theatre are sudden, unex-
pected, and spectacular modifications of the action. Ex: the resolution
of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. The 'happy end' is a resolution
favourable to the 'sympathetic' characters. Epilogues recount what has
occurred since, or will occur after, the resolution.
From a functional viewpoint, narratologists distinguish between
episodes (or sequences) necessary to intelligibility, and which have a
cardinal function, and those with satellite functions which 'fill in the
space between nodes' (Gerald Prince, A Dictionary of Narratology, p. 11).
R3: Either narrative is of the objective type, as in historiography, in
which a narrator, although recounting events from his or her view-
point, nonetheless remains outside the action; or else, there is Jocaliz-
ation' (Genette) on some character whose perspective shapes what is
recounted. This character is frequently the hero (as in Salinger's The
Catcher in the Rye, where Holden Caulfield is at the same time the
focalized character, the hero, and the figurative narrator). In autobio-
graphical narrative, the author recounts his or her own life, thereby
playing the roles of author, narrator, and hero, and assuming respon-
sibility for both the narrative and the perspective from which it is
recounted. (Genette makes possible a distinction between observer and
narrator by differentiating the person 'who speaks' from the one 'who
sees'; see Narrative Discourse.)
Focalization may be seen in all its artificiality as a device in August
1914, where Solzhenitsyn situates a narrative, for which he himself
assumes the ultimate responsibility, successively in the perspectives of
a young man, Sania (chapters 1 and 2), a young woman, Irene (3 and
9) a young girl, Xenia (4 and 5), a kulak, Zakhar (8), General Samsonov
(10,11, etc.), a young dashing colonel, Vorotyntsev (12,13, etc.), and so
on. In order to give the reader a broad overview of military operations,
he also from time to time introduces summaries, of an official kind,
printed in small type (chapters 32 and 41, in particular).
R4: Nothing prevents one narrative from begetting another at some
distance from itself, and so doubling the distance between it and a
298
Narrative
direct utterance: all that is required is that the first narrative be the
narration of the second. For the second, Genette proposes the term
'metadiegesis' (and then quite correctly criticizes the term in Narrative
Discourse). In fact, 'meta' is usually taken to mean 'about/ so that a
'metanarrative' would be a second-level narrative about the frame-
narrative in which it is situated. This is clearly not always the case.
Thus The Arabian Nights tells the story of Scheherezade telling the story
of ... The process repeats itself when Haroun-al-Raschid, the hero of
one of her stories, has someone else tell him the story of Sidi Numan.
See mirror*, R5.
Even third-degree narratives may be turned into direct utterances.
Thus in Les Conquerants (pp. 134-7), Malraux shows Garine telling a
story about Tcheng-Dai, who in his own narrative quotes his own
words from twenty years earlier: 'Mr. Garine, he says (Garine almost
imitates the old man's weak, measured, slightly learned voice) ... I
know that a life of honour may not escape calumny, which I disdain.
But I once said to men worthy of respect and consideration, who had
given me their confidence: "I hope you will believe that I am a just man
ti i
Another way of producing two narrative levels is to foreground an
implied process of enunciation*, which then becomes a first-degree
utterance (with the other becoming a second-degree utterance). This is
what Gide does throughout Paludes, and what John Fowles does in The
French Lieutenant's Woman by asking the reader to choose between two
possible endings.
R5: Several current short genres exist at the intersection of narrative
and discourse*: newspaper stories, circulars, reports of proceedings,
memoranda. Film scripts shorten narrative, partially suppressing
mimesis (the attempt to reproduce the temporality of an action). They
also summarize the diegesis (the story of past events). A film script
(unless it is an original work) usually comes after the writing of a
novel but (usually) precedes the making of a film. (Not by much when
a director encourages improvisation or when, as in the case of Michael
Curtiz's Casablanca, no finished script exists at the moment of filming.)
R6: As to the arrangement of narrative sequences, there exist various
devices whose identification has begun:
EMBEDDING. A combination of narrative sequences (recounted in the
same narrating instance or in different ones) such that one sequence
is embedded (set within) another one ... Manon Lescaut can be said to
result from the embedding of Des Grieux's narrative into the one
recounted by M. de Renoncourt.
ALTERNATION. A combination of narrative sequences (recounted in
the same narrating instance or in different ones) such that units of
one sequence are made to alternate with units of another sequence;
299
Negation
an interweaving of sequences. (Gerald Prince, A Dictionary of

Narratology) [The celebrated murder scenes in Alfred Hitchcock's
film Psycho intercut shots of the victim and killer (the shower and
staircase sequences, for example).]
R7: See actant*, Rl; allusion*, R4; anachronism*, Rl; apocalypse*, Rl;
apostrophe*, Rl; attenuation*, R3; definition*, R4; description*, R4;
ellipsis*, R5; embedding*, other def.; enunciation*, Rl; final* word, R2;
flashback*; flash-forward*, Rl; generalization*, R4; hiatus*, other def.;
incoherence*; myth*; portrait*, R3; prophecy*, Rl; prosopopoeia*, R2
and R4; repetition*, R5; reprise*, other def.; riddle*, 2; and symbol*, R3.
NEGATION A form of assertion* (see assertion, Rl) in which the

speaker's statement of a position includes a refusal of the asserted
predicate or of a part of it. See Crystal, 1987, p. 243; OED; and Dubois
et al., Dictionnaire de linguistique.
Ex: 'I am not aware that any community has a right to force another to
be civilized' (J.S. Mill, On Liberty, ch. 4).
The attitude of refusal or disapproval manifests itself also in the choice
of the appropriate lexemes which may be distinguished from negation
in that they do not modify the form of an assertion*. Ex: 'The duty of
an Opposition is to oppose' (Lord Randolph Churchill, 1830, quoted by
W.S. Churchill, Lord Randolph Churchill, 1: 233).
Formal negation of the whole predicate affects the verbal syntagm*
through the adverbial expressions no, not, (n't), nothing, no one, never, no
more, etc. A part of the predicate may be denied: nominal syntagms
may be negated by indefinite pronouns like not one; adjectival or
adverbial qualifiers by no and never; sentences by no, nay, not at all, by
no means, not in the least, never!, etc.
Negation may affect certain syntagmatic elements like prepositions
(e.g., without) and conjunctions (e.g., for fear that). Nominal lexemes are
negated by the use of privative prefixes such as un-, ir-, a-, dis-, il-, non-
, and ex- (e.g., unreal, irreducible, amorphous, dishonest, illegible, non-
compliance, ex-friend). Verbal lexemes are negated by the use of mis- and
dis- (e.g., misappropriate, disembark). As may be seen, negation is also a
form of adjacent, or even implicit, assertion* (see assertion, R3).
Rl: It is important to distinguish the part of the sentence affected by
negation, which tends to be placed in or near the verbal node even if
the negative particle affects some other segment. Ex: It is not impor-
tant that you leave' for 'It is important that you do not leave.' Such
idiomatic ambiguity* may have a surprising effect, since the reader
may understand the opposite of what is being said, until the rest of the
text corrects the error. Ex: 'We shall not accept your invitation / / t o
come at three o'clock; we shall come at two.' Negation may even affect
300
Negation
only virtual semes of the verbal lexeme. Ex: 'I shall not drink your
brandy / / I shall sip it.'
This type of surprise appears in antithesis*. Ex: 'She was never to
have this dream again. / / I t was to become real, invading her whole
life.' This is how Marie-Claire Blais announces Heloise's passage from
convent to brothel in line Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel (p. 88). This
kind of pseudo-negation is easily produced before any lexeme. Exx: 'I
wouldn't call these works mediocre // they're the pits'; 'Did you like
my performance?' 'Good is not the word for it.' This is the most
artificial, so the most rhetorical, form of negation.
R2: Rather than being a sentence modality (see assertion*, R2), negation
is only a grammatical form, which may therefore combine with any
kind of sentence or assertion: exclamations*, injunctions*, and so on.
The case of negated questions* (see question, Rl) produces curious
results. When the negative interrogative form can change into a simple
affirmative assertion* followed by no?, or Isn't that so? without the
meaning changing, the negation is affecting not the utterance but only
its interrogative form. In other words, one expects a positive response
because the question is denied even as it is being asked. Ex: 'Haven't
we just been out for a walk?' becomes 'Have we just been out for a
walk, or not?' and both sentences imply a positive meaning* and the
expectation of a positive response from the addressee.
That also explains the positive meaning which attaches to an ex-
clamation like 'How much progress haven't we made since then!' We
have already seen the morphological proximity between some ques-
tions and exclamations*. In this case, negation merely introduces into
the verbal node a denied question (Isn't that so?) that predisposes the
addressee to agree. As may be readily seen, all such exclamations may
be transformed immediately into questions.
But if one answers no to a negative question, the result is am-
biguity*. Exx:
Did you forget to feed the cat?
No.
You didn't feed it?
No, I didn't forget.
LEO: And this number three? Is it a myth? I mean it doesn't exist?
MADELEINE: No.
LEO: It does exist?
MADELEINE: No, Madame. It doesn't exist.
J. Cocteau, Les Parents terribles, p. 128
R3: Refusals may be expressed positively by means of negative
lexemes. Ex: T oppose the use of violence to solve this dispute.'
301
Negation
Conversely, lexemes negative in meaning, if accompanied by gram-

matical negation, express agreement, albeit in a rather special way (see
attenuation* and litotes*). In short, double negation occurs, which - in
the absence of some perceptible intention in the context - expresses
only slight commitment. Ex: 1 shouldn't wonder if it didn't rain.'
It is only a step from such equivocal statements to the non-
committal reponse de normand or 'Norman answer.' (The Norman
peasant is notorious for his canniness, a fact exploited by, among
others, Maupassant in stories like 'La Ficelle' ['The Piece of String'].)
The Norman answer combines double negation with negation of an
affirmation. Ex:
ANCESTOR: Do you recognize ... her? [Is she the one] we are waiting
for?
PEASANT: I'm not saying no but I can't say yes.
H. Maeterlinck, Les Fiangailles, seventh tableau
The device may give access to some blurred, metaphysical other-world
widely used by 'negative way' mystics. Ex:
Neither Non-Being existed then, nor Being.
...
There existed at that time neither death nor non-death.
...
The One breathed at his own impulse, without there being breath.
Beyond That, nothing else existed.
Speculative Hymns of Veda, 30: 1-2
No lexeme can resist such all-embracing negativity, the basic mystical
proposition being that the known must be left behind. Even language
itself is denied. Ex: The blurb on Marguerite Duras's novel Le Ravisse-
ment de Lol V. Stein affirmed: "This, which has no name.' Such procla-
mations of nothingness may result from oxymoron* or oxymoric*
sentences in which contraries both become identical and cancel each
other out. Ex:
FOURTH TEMPTER
You know and do not know, what it is to act or suffer.

You know and do not know, that action is suffering,
And suffering action. Neither does the agent suffer,
Nor the patient act. But both are fixed
In an eternal action, an eternal patience
To which all must consent that it may be willed
And which all must suffer that they may will it,
That the pattern may subsist, that the wheel may turn and still
Be forever still.
T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral, part 1
302
Neologism
The cancelling of contraries resembles dubitatio*. Ex: 'This creation,

wherever it comes from, whether it represents an institution or not, -
only the one who overlooks [this world] from the highest firmament
knows, - unless he doesn't know?' (Speculative Hymns of Veda, 30: 7). Both
of the negative markers may also be grammatical. If they are sufficient-
ly far removed in the sentence from one another, they may cause
surprise (see above, Rl). Ex: T have no intention of passing your
request for time off to the President // without informing him that I
approve it totally.' (Sadistic office managers write this carefully on a
little card, making sure that the second part is on the back.)
In the case of more than two negative markers, clarity may suffer.
Exx: 'Were it not for its liking for game eggs, the badger could not but
be considered other than a harmless animal'; 'No rival is too small to be
overlooked, no device is too infamous not to be practised, if it will ...'
(Fowler, under 'negative mishandling').
R4: Semi-negation corresponds to semi-refusal (e.g., scarcely ...; no longer
...; not yet ...; not so much ...; etc.).
R5: A rhetorically interesting kind of negation is no / none / no one ...
but, equivalent to only. Ex: 'No one but he really cares.' The form
denies every subject except the one asserted, so conferring upon the
latter an exclusive status, and is therefore the opposite of negating it.
No ... but might be justly named counter-negation.
R6: If applied systematically, negation becomes an obvious device
characteristic of 'contrariness.' But, as used by the surrealists, it is also
a means of creating new meanings by modifying existing forms. Thus,
in Notes sur la poesie, for example, Eluard and Breton seize upon some
of Paul Valery's reflections in Literature and deny them systematically,
thus turning them around. Ex: Valery: Thought is bisexual; it both
fertilizes and gives birth to itself (Oeuvres completes, 2:546). Eluard:
'Thought has no sex; [it] cannot reproduce' (Oeuvres completes, 1:474).
For the function of negativity, see response*, R4.
R7: When disapproval is overstated, it turns into execration, or vitupera-
tion, since the anger expressed emphasizes the initial refusal. When the
grounds for complaint remain unformulated, whether relating to the
whole situation or to precise persons or objects, the result is contestation
(see epigram*, R2).
R8: A disavowal is a refusal of something one has previously approved.
A palinode is a work in which one attacks what one had previously
praised (or vice versa).
NEOLOGISM A recently created word, often formed in conformity

with existing lexical structures. In literature, neologisms are frequently
303
Neologism (Semantic)
hapax legomenon, nonce-words (coined and used only once for a par-
ticular text) which the language does not ratify. See OED, Lausberg
(sect. 547-51), and Leech (pp. 42-4).
Exx: 'conversationmanship' (R. Ebert, Two Weeks in the Midday Sun,
p. 41); 'slithy' [< lithe + slimy] (Lewis Carroll, 'Jabberwocky')
Other names: neology (OED, Lausberg, Littre); nonce-formation (Leech,
p. 42). Lausberg calls derived terms and compound* words created in
conformity with a language's existing structures (even though the latter
may no longer be current) 'invented [or] artificial words/ Ex (quoted
by Leech): 'And I Tiresias have foresuffered all' (T.S. Eliot, The Waste
Land, part 3).
Rl: Neologisms are produced by derivation*, by compounding (see
compound* word), by imitation of noises* or natural sounds (see
onomatopoeia*), by gratuitous invention (see coinage*), or by blending
or amalgamation (see portmanteau* word). It is not always possible,
however, to determine which of these procedures was used, particular-
ly in a text like Joyce's Finnegans Wake, which exploits all of them and
more (see pun*). (W. Redfern describes as follows Joyce's foreground-
ing of neologisms: The whole of Finnegans Wake is a vast neologism
born of the desire to make new, to make strange' [Puns, p. 167].) Ex:
'Sansglorians ... Jungfraud's Messonge book ... commodius vicus of
recirculation ... gobbledydumped turkery ... Etruscan stabletalk ...
prepronominal funferal, engraved and retouched and edgewiped and
puddenpadded ...' (Joyce, Finnegans Wake, passim).
R2: Normally, an original meaning* corresponds to a lexical neologism.
Leech (p. 44) calls this the ' "concept-making" power of neologism': 'If
a new word is coined it implies the wish to recognize a concept or
property which the language can so far only express by phrasal or
clausal description. Eliot's foresuffered is not just a new word but the
encapsulation of a newly formulated idea: that it is possible to
anticipate mystically the suffering of the future, just as it is possible to
foresee, foretell or have foreknowledge of future events' (ibid.).
NEOLOGISM (SEMANTIC) A new meaning given to an existing

word.
Exx: 'No plant in the world has shown that it can recuperate plutonium
on an industrial scale from oxide-bearing fuel' (Guardian Weekly, 7 Aug.
1977, p. 11) [example quoted in OEDS under 'recuperate']; 'bug' ('a
concealed microphone' [OEDS]) - hence 'bugged' and 'bugger' (one
who bugs); 'The best bugger in the business' (in Francis Ford Coppola's
film The Conversation [1974]).
304
Noise
Rl: Inevitable semantic neologisms resemble catachresis*. Catachresis

seems often to be metaphorical in nature, whereas semantic neologisms
are metonymical, which may increase their chance of survival.
R2: The meaning* of any word evolves, a fact making the consultation
of specialized dictionaries indispensable to the reading of ancient (and
not so ancient) texts. Ex: 'JULIET: O happy dagger / This is thy sheath,
there rust and let me die' (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 5.3.169-70). Of
the double meaning possessed by the verb to die in Elizabethan
England (to expire and to achieve orgasm), Mahood comments: '[In
Juliet's final cry] happy implies not only "fortunate to me in being
ready to my hand" but also "successful, fortunate in itself" and so
suggests a further quibble on die. Death has long been Romeo's rival
and enjoys Juliet at the last' (Shakespeare's Wordplay, p. 58).
NOISE The attempt to transcribe ambient or background sounds,

even metaphorical ones, becomes onomatopoeia* if lexicalization*
occurs. Otherwise, there is only transcription of noises.
Exx: 'Rtststr. A rattle of pebbles' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 94); Tisten: a
fourworded wavespeech: seesoo, hrss, rsseeiss, ooos' (ibid., p. 41). See
also R. Benayoun, Le Ballon dans la bande dessinfe: Vroom, Tchac, Zowie.
G. Jean published in Poesie, no. 66 (July 1979), pp. 194-9, a list of noises
and screams used in cartoon strips; he also included 'translations.'
The problem is to provide, using vowels and consonants, an equivalent
of noises having only a very tenuous connection with coded sounds.
There is a kind of s sound in hissing, of p in explosions (Pow!); the i
sound lends stridency ('Aye! Aye! What's all this then!'); r vibration,
and so on. But dead wood, when dry, does not 'crack'; it goes zpiessats
or Ptkeeiett or whatever. A sneeze makes a noise like: chtzsm or
eiettschtuuf (English atishoo and French atchoum are literary renderings).
Noise becomes onomatopoeia* when it enters the lexical system, in
which case it receives a spelling. In French, the noise made by a clock
is spelled tic-tac, not tique-taque; in the same way, 'gurgle' has an ac-
cepted spelling in English. Onomatopoeia may be inserted into a nom-
inal syntagm* (their tick-tock) or a verbal one (to gurgle), and the link
with the original noise may become blurred. See also monologue*, Rl.
Other definitions: a concurrent acoustic event; unwanted information
(white noise, a mixture of various frequencies, is used in experiments in
the masking of communication; see H. Hermann, Introduction a la
psycholinguistique, p. 69). This might also be called sonic scrambling, a
procedure used currently in radio transmissions and in the literary
context of the theatre: the hubbub of crowds, or guests covering the
hero's voice, and creating ambience, what the Dictionnaire des media
calls 'the unity of place, of material or moral atmosphere.'
305
Nominalization
Background noises due to amplifiers include such crackling noises as

oom and ssch, and hi-fi enthusiasts employ devices like 'woofers' and
'tweeters' to overcome them. Other bits of static interference, coming
from electric sparks for instance, may disturb radiophonic reception.
Rl: In onomatopoeia*, the noise is obliterated by the word. The simple
device of changing the usual word causes the noise to reappear. Thus
cock-a-doodle-doo was revived by Joyce as 'keekeereekee' (Ulysses,
p. 420), and French cocorico as 'cou cjue li cou (\ue. li' (M.-C1. Blais,
Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel, p. 99).
R2: Noises intervene in other figures: see imitative harmony* and
alliteration*.
R3: Other noises include the whole range of human, non-buccal
sounds: the finger-snapping of the student who wants to answer a
question; the different ways of knocking on or scratching at a door;
applause; foot stamping; the tapping of pencils on desks; etc. To
concrete sounds we must add musical sounds, either pure or synthetic
ones. Whether concrete or musical, sounds may be generated electroni-
cally, recorded, modified by filters and reverberators, extended or
condensed, harmonically displaced, and combined with others in
synthesizers. This is the process of sound-effects, supplying the action
with active sound, productive of effects. See Crystal, 1987, chapters
24-6; and Page and Pagano, eds., Dictionnaire des media.
R4: Lettrism, the French literary and artistic movement founded in 1945
by Isidore Isou, extolled verse composed of noise (which does not
necessarily exclude meaning*) rather than that which uses language.
See pseudo-language*, glossolalia*, and musication*.
R5: The context confers a host of meanings on noises (see, for instance,
injunction* and mimology*, Rl).
NOMINALIZATION Substitution of a noun or noun phrase for an

assertion*. An assertion* reduced to a simple notation*, in which the
embedded predicate is identified with the subject, thus giving the text
an appearance of irrefutability.
Ex: 'The man in the street enjoys television plays' becomes "The man in
the street's enjoyment of television plays [is on the increase]' (G. Leech,
Semantics, p. 186).
Ex: 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, / Close bosom-friend of
the maturing sun' (J. Keats, To Autumn').
Rl: The device differs from holophrases, in which a single word
expresses an entire sentence or idea, and which are also frequently
substantival (e.g., 'Silence!') but exclamatory and/or imperative in
306
Nonsense
nature. Nominalization is not the spontaneous expression of feelings,

ideas, or impressions by the use of nouns or other grammatical forms
of reduced or implied syntax; rather, nominalization is a false kind of
notation* whose function is referential but whose form corresponds to
that of utterances which simply specify situations. Ex: 'Misfit in any
space. And never on time. / A wrench in clocks and the solar system'
(John F. Nims, Tove Poem/ in The Iron Pastoral). See enunciation*.
R2: The word nominalization is borrowed from structural grammar,
where it designates the corresponding grammatical phenomenon: the
transformation of a proposition into a nominal syntagm*. The present
definition deals with assertions*.
R3: The device differs from the use of substantivized forms, which is a
form of transference*. Ex: 'It's all the young can do for the old to shock
them and keep them up to date' (G.B. Shaw, Fanny's First Play [1911],
introduction).
R4: The creation of new substantives from existing adjectives, verbs,
etc. is a form of derivation* much favoured by recent structuralist and
post-structuralist critics and ridiculed by their opponents. Exx: nar-
rativity, interdiscursivity, transcodification, intertextuality, etc.
NONSENSE Assertions* or situations which communicate to readers

their inability to make sense of them.
Ex:
He thought he saw a Rattlesnake
That questioned him in Greek:
He looked again and found it was
The Middle of Next Week.
'The one thing I regret,' he said
'Is that it cannot speak!'
Lewis Carroll, 'The Mad Gardener's Song'
Ex: Tit from the neck up: Facial Yoga for all. This remarkable art was
developed by the Guru in Korea from a technique evolved over thou-
sands of pounds of enrolment fees. It uses only the muscles of the part
of the body above the tie, and can be practised anywhere with hardly
any discomfort... But be warned, watch out for sloppy (or worse,
dangerous) misuse of the technique by so-called "experts" ' (Hardie and
Lloyd, eds., Not! the Nine o'clock News, p. 52).
Analogous term: absurdity
Rl: Nonsense is a kind of wit*, not unlike that found in conceits*, with
the absence of sense being seen as a roundabout demand for a kind of
meaning* at once logical and impossible. What is there to say about a
307
Notation
bald soprano except to agree with lonesco that she always does her
hair the same way? It was doubtless the impossible probability of the
following sentence from Lewis Carroll that led Eluard and Breton to
quote it, under the rubric 'Smile/ in their Dictionnaire abre"g(> du surreal-
isme: 'If he smiles a little more, the ends of his mouth will join up at
the back ... and then what will become of his head? I am very much
afraid that it will fall off.'
R2: Other figures made comical by a nonsensical or semi-nonsensical
context: oxymoron*, allograph*, antilogy*, dissociation*, coq-a-l'ane*', and
erasure* (of subject).
R3: For the relationship between nonsense and onomatopoeia*, see
Crystal, 1987, p. 175.
NOTATION Scarcely actualized textual segments, isolated and

having no predicative or syntactic function (see monologue*, R2), but
without ellipsis* or brachylogia*. This is the type of sentence which
corresponds to the function called by linguists 'situational' (see enun-
ciation*, 4).
Exx: 'Wednesday March 30th 3 p.m. Watford Gap Service Station. Ml
Motorway' (Sue Townsend, The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, p. 179);
'Wagon Number 477047, First Class Compartment Number Seven'
(Tony Foster, Rue du Bac, p. 185).
Letters* begin with a short notation of place and time. Titles* of works
and names of persons, when enunciated as such in an appropriate tone
of voice, are notations. Exx: Tristram Shandy; Mr George Brown.
Rl: Notations referring to the subject: Designations of the person(s)
performing an act of communication may accompany notation of its
situation. Signatures and superscriptions (the address, the postal code
on envelopes) are formal notations. (Subscriptions are signatures
appended at the end of official documents; metonymically, subscrip-
tions also refer to money, etc., subscribed.) The same is true of visiting
cards, and of the call signs of radio or television stations (e.g, This is
the CBC Network'), announcements* often followed by the time ('It's
nine o'clock in Toronto, nine-thirty in Newfoundland'). References that
follow quotations* are also notations of the author, title, edition, editor,
place and date of publication, volume, page, and so on. Similarly,
epitaphs, inscriptions on tombstones ('Here lies [followed by first
name, then surname], born in [birthplace], on the [date], deceased the
[date]') accompanied by an address to the dead person (To the
memory of our much regretted ...'; see apostrophe*), or by good wishes
CR.I.P/).
R2: Notations of distinctions: These are almost always laudatory
308
Oblique Stroke
remarks added to certificates, degrees, or testimonials; their use in

publicity is widespread. Exx: '[This record won the] Charles Cros
Award for Best Recording in 1990'; 'Academy Award for Best Actor in
a Supporting Role.' A parodic notation of a distinction: 'B.A. Oxon.
(failed).'
R3: Amplified notations figure before signatures at the end of notarized
documents. Ex: 'Signed, under my hand, in Ottawa, this twenty-first
day of October nineteen hundred and ninety-nine/
R4: Notations appear in literary texts. Ex: 'A hackneycar, number three
hundred and twenty four, with a gallantbuttocked mare, driven by James
Barton, Harmony Avenue, Donnybrook, drives past' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 460). In the margin to the same text, the notation 3730 appears,
which refers to the number of lines since the beginning of the chapter
[i.e., chapter 15].
R5: Lists, calendars, maps, nomenclatures, glossaries, telephone direc-
tories, catalogues, indexes, tables, bibliographies, etc., are collections of
some possible notations. Necrologies are lists of the dead, notices of
death and obituaries giving biographical details of persons recently
deceased.
R6: Introductions made by a third party when strangers meet are not,
despite their appearance, notations. Ex: Ted, Bill.' The first word is an
apostrophe* having a phatic function, the second an ellipsis* of a
predicative sentence ("This is Bill.'). In introducing oneself (particularly
when speaking into a microphone), frequently I am is elided.
o
OBLIQUE STROKE A punctuation* mark signalling a break; for
example, the end of a line in the text quoted.
Ex: 'Descend from Heaven Urania, by that name / If rightly thou art
called ... / ... for thou / Nor of the Muses Nine, nor on the top / ...'
(Preminger, under 'Muse,' quoting Milton's Paradise Lost, 7.1ff).
Rl: The French structuralists assigned a specific usage to this device;
they made it the equivalent of the English abbreviation* v. (versus,
against). Ex: 'signifer/signified, spoken/written, writing/reading,
author/work, etc. ("External /internal, image/reality, representation/presence,
this is the old pattern to which we entrust the task of outlining the field of a
certain science")' (M. Pleynet, in Tel Quel: th&orie d'ensemble, p. 98; the
internal quotation comes from J. Derrida, De la Grammatologie).
30 9
Onomatopoeia
R2: Obliques are also often used as situational* signs (see situational
signs, R7). They may indicate pauses* (see 'vers libre/ R2, under line*
[of poetry or verse]) and occasionally caesura* (see caesura, R4). See
also seriation*, Rl.
R3: See double* reading. Obliques are not infrequently confused with
hyphens* despite their different usages. This may be because obliques
still remain little used. Ex: 'the dialectics of violence-tenderness in Yves
Theriault's works/
ODE 'Lyric, usually rhymed, often in the form of an address, usually

of exalted style, often in varied or irregular metre, and usually between
about 50 and 200 lines in length' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). John D.
Jump adds: 'In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the word has
been used to refer to lyrical poems which, originating in personal
impulses, rise to the presentation of general ideas of some gravity and
substance. Most of these poems are of moderate length and are fairly
elaborate in structure and in style. Many of them take the form of
addresses, although this is less common than it was when the Classical
influence was more potent' (The Ode, p. 59).
The Greek ode was sung but had no rhyme* scheme since Greek
poetry was not rhymed. The Pindaric ode had a set, triadic progression
of stanzas, called the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode (Premin-
ger, Stillman).
ONOMATOPOEIA The formation of a word whose sound imitates

the thing signified. See Crystal, 1987, pp. 174-5, Frye, Lanham, Laus-
berg, Littre, Morier, OED, Preminger, and Robert.
Exx: 'cuckoo'; 'The crooked skirt swinging, whack by whack by whack'
Ex:
Hark, hark!
Bow-wow.
The watch-dogs bark!
Bow-wow.
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, 'Cock-a-doodle-doo!'
Shakespeare, The Tempest, 1.2.382-6
Synonyms: imitative or echoic word; phonic symbolism (Dubois et al.,
Dictionnaire de linguistique)
A partial list of onomatopoeic words: atishoo, bang, biff, blare, boom,
brr, buzz, caw, cheep, chirrup, click, click-clack, clickety-click, cock-a-
310
Oxymoric Sentences
doodle-do, coo, crack, crash, ding-dong, flop, froufrou, glug-glug,

gobble-gobble (of a turkey), grr, growl, gurgle, hee-haw, hum, knock-
knock, mew, miaow, moo, pit-a-pat, plop, pom pom pom, puff-puff,
purr, quack, rataplan, rat-tat, rustle, sizzle, slap, smack, snap, sniff,
snore, splash, squeak, swish, thud, tick-tock, ting-a-ling, tinkle, vroom-
vroom, wallop, whack, yum-yum.
Rl: Onomatopoeic words are indeed words (and not noises*) just like
any others since they involve codification of pronunciation and graph-
isms*, as well as of grammatical form and meaning*. But the line
between onomatopoeic lexemes and noises is difficult to draw. Accord-
ing to Grammont (in his Traite de phonetique, p. 395) there are many
words whose phonic motivation may cause them to resemble onomato-
poeia. And Laurence Perrine points to 'phonetic intensives' as a class of
words 'whose sound, by a process as yet obscure, to some degree
suggests their meaning. An initial fl- sound, for instance, is oftenc
associated with the idea of moving light, as in flame, flare, flash, flicker,
flimmef (Sound and Sense, pp. 204-5). But do we all experience sound
phenomena in the same way, even when constrained by meaning? Both
Grammont (loc. cit.) and Perrine (in Preminger, under 'onomatopoeia')
point to the device's subjective nature, even though there may exist a
fairly wide consensus on some examples. The device is important in
both poetry and prose for it may influence the choice of words
or suffixes (glug-glug or gurgle, for example). The above list is very
limited and many words could be added (murmur, tittle-tattle, etc.).
R2: Counter-onomatopoeia consists in turning words into sound-effects.
Ex: In some strip cartoons, storms are represented by threatening
graphisms*; that is, words like GROWL or CRACK are written in
enormous and distorted characters.
OXYMORIC SENTENCES The figure consists in making two suc-

cessive assertions* contrary to, but not incompatible with, one another.
Ex: 'I believe in them [the dead people] and I don't believe in them,
both at the same time' (M. Atwood, Cat's Eye, p. 80).
The assertions may be adjacent (contained in distinct syntagms* not
necessarily in distinct sentences), co-ordinated one with other, indeed
even subordinated one to another. Exx: '[What an author actually
writes, compared to what he thinks] is richer and less rich. Longer and
shorter. Clearer and more obscure' (P. Valery, Oeuvres, 2: 569); 'It's not
important, there are doubtless better things to do or not to do'
(A. Breton, Manifestes du surrealisme, p. 43).
Rl: Oxymoric combinations of contradictory words or sentences differ
from other contradictory combinations of signifieds because the opposi-
311
Oxymoric Sentiments
tions created are only apparent and remain confined to the level of sig-
nifiers. (See oxymoron*, Rl.) Ex: 'If he is cold, he does not feel cold. He
is hot without feeling the heat' (H. Michaux, L'Espace du dedans, p. 150).
Here the poet is describing a state of almost ascetic indifference. Com-
pare this with: 'But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth
that those that have wives be as though they had none; And they that
weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they
rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; And
they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world
passeth away' (1 Corinthians 7: 29-31). Extreme positions thus neutral-
ize one another in a new and unique 'reality.' (See also negation*, R3.)
In the previously quoted examples, 'reality' is non-oxymoric, dual or
alternating (see alternative*), or multi-levelled, as in the case of asser-
tions suborindated one to another.
OXYMORIC SENTIMENTS A clash of two contrary sentiments in

the same character.
Ex: 'Gargantua ... seeing on the one hand his wife Badebec lying dead,
and on the other his new-born son Pantagruel ... wept like a heifer, and
then suddenly guffawed life a calf (Rabelais, Pantagruel, ch. 3).
Rl: Oxymoric sentiments sometimes take the form of contrasting
images*. Ex: 'During the whole day's journey, the situation remained
unchanged, she was beside me but separate from me, at once a gulf of
loneliness and my soul sister' (M. Duras, Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein,
p. 192).
R2: Compensatio*, whose only purpose is to redress effects made by
certain connotations, is a 'false' example of oxymoric sentiments.
R3: A similar device alternates assertions concerning oxymoric actions,
the general theory of which may be illustrated by the following ex-
ample: 'Solange had satisfied both Costals' carnal appetite and his
"rigorism." She had displayed herself to him both as whore and as
society-woman, and only such alternations interested him' (Mon-
therlant, Romans, p. 1245).
OXYMORON The combinatin of two words whose meanings seem to

be mutually contradictory. See Group MU, Jacobs (pp. 113-14), Laus-
berg (sect. 807), and Preminger.
Le Clerc (p. 240) cites Agamemnon's 'haughty weakness' in Racine's
Iphigenie with the comment that the oxymoron expresses "two ideas
which seem incoherent but which in fact complement each other pre-
cisely.' Ducrot and Todorov (p. 278) describe oxymoron as the 'estab-
lishment of a syntactic relationship (co-ordination, determination)
between two antonyms. E.g.: "Eternity, thou pleasing, dreadful thought"
(Addison).'
312
Palindrome
Exx: Warren S. Blumenfeld quotes such examples as: working vacation,

planned serendipity, gourmet hamburger, acid rock, loyal opposition,
and a metal wood (golf club) (Jumbo Shrimp and Other Almost Perfect
Oxymorons).
Exx: 'A Clockwork Orange'; 'A dungeon horrible, on all sides round /
As one great furnace flam'd; yet from those flames / No light, but
rather darkness visible' (Milton, Paradise Lost, 1.60-2); 'Cette obscure clarte
qui tombe des etoiles' ("This dark light which falls from the stars')
(Pierre Corneille, Le Cid, 4.3).
Rl: The two contradictory words must refer to opposing qualities
belonging to one definite object. This property distinguishes oxymoron
from dissociation*.
R2: The words conjoined oppose their meanings one to another with-
out reference to context. The result is that the paradox* remains latent,
and there is therefore no antilogy* because, in reality, the meanings are
not incompatible with one another. Gerard de Nerval's 'Black melan-
cholic sun' is a figurative, not an existential star. Walter Redfern,
discussing puns about death, remarks: 'Related terms to gallows
humour are: black comedy, sick humour, rire jaune. In all, pain and
pleasure are mixed, perhaps the definitive recipe for all punning' (Puns,
p. 127). The same might be said of oxymoron.
When oxymoron accompanies an opposition of contextual meaning*
there occurs a combination of contradictory ideas. Exx: real artificial
turf; tulips in natural plastic. See mirror*, R2.
PALINDROME A word, sentence, or verse that reads the same

backwards as forward (Concise Oxford Dictionary). See also Espy,
Preminger, and Robert.
Ex: According to Noah Jacobs, our first parents introduced themselves
to each other by means of palindromes: ' "Madam I'm Adam," he said,
and she replied, "Eve"' (Naming Day in Eden, pp. 46, 54).
Exx: 'Able was I ere I saw Elba'; 'A man, a plan, a canal - Panama.' For
these and many other see Augarde, pp. 97-104.
Rl: We may name false those palindromes which reorder words rather
than letters. Ex: 'Girl, bathing on Bikini, eyeing boy, finds boy eyeing
bikini on bathing girl' (J.A. Lindon, quoted by Augarde, p. 103).
313
Parabasis
R2: In his 'glossary for palindromists/ Frye (pp. 332-3) distinguishes

between 'symmetrical' palindromes such as the ones quoted above, and
'asymmetrical' ones, which, when read backwards, do form a word,
but not the same one. Exx: gnat, pin, remit, etc.
R3: To produce successful sentences or verses, palindromists ignore
capitals* and punctuation*. Georges Perec made one lasting one hun-
dred lines (see Oulipo, A Primer of Potential Literature). See also boustro-
phedon*, anagram*, and antimetathesis*.
PARABASIS In ancient Greek comedy, a speech made by the chorus,

a sort of digression* which revealed to the spectators the author's
intentions, personal opinions, etc. See Beckson and Ganz, Cuddon,
Frye, and Littre.
Other definition: There is no reason to restrict the definition to Greek
comedy. The word parabasis appropriately designates authorial
intrusions: the device by which some modern authors step outside their
chosen literary fictions to address readers directly. Ex: 'Reader, I think
proper, before we proceed any farther together, to acquaint thee that I
intend to digress, through this whole history, as often as I see occasion,
of which I am myself a better judge than any pitiful critic whatever'
(Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, ch. 2). Thackeray, at the end of Vanity Fair,
indicates clearly the status he accords to readers: 'Ah! Vanitas Vanita-
tum! Which of us is happy in this world? Which of us has his desire?
or, having it, is satisfied? - Come children, let us shut up the box and
the puppets, for our play is played out.'
Rl: Parabasis is a figure of enunciation*. See excuse*; authorism*, R2;
and intonation*. Semi-parabasis also exists: see epiphonema*, Rl, and
epiphrasis*, Rl.
PARADOX An assertion* which runs counter to received opinion,

and whose very formulation contradicts current ideas. See Lanham,
Lausberg, Littre, and OED.
Exx: 'All you ever wanted in a beer, and less' (ad for low-calory beer;
see implication*); 'Nothing succeeds like excess'; "The primary purpose
of our arms is peace' (John F. Kennedy, speech); 'Plus qa change, plus
c'est la meme chose' (The more things change, the more they remain
the same').
Literary texts contextualize paradox by attributing it to different
speakers. Ex: In Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (ch. 1), the following
paradoxes represent the official slogans* of 'Big Brother's' regime: 'War
is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.'
Synonyms: oxymoron* CG[reek] "a witty paradoxical saying"; lit.
"pointedly foolish," Synaeceosis. A condensed paradox, Milton's "dark-
314
Paradox
ness visible" for example' [Lanham]); paradoxism (Fontanier, p. 137)

Rl: It is oxymoron which permits one to consider paradox as a literary
device and not as a mental quality, namely, originality. The two con-
tradictory words joined together must nonetheless form respectively
the subject and the psychological predicate for there to be an oxymoric
assertion. A 'wise fool' needs at least to become 'Here is a wise fool.'
R2: Successful paradoxes appear true, upon reflection, and must
therefore be carefully constructed. Ex: '[English poets visiting America
find themselves] up against the barrier of a common language' (D.
Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 146). False paradoxes are those
which convince no one. Ex: 'A one-eyed man is even more incomplete
than a blind man. The former knows what he lacks' (V. Hugo, Notre-
Dame de Paris, ch. 5). If, however, such paradoxes parade their false-
ness, they produce surreal effects akin to those of antilogy*. Ex (the
'Catch-22' situation): '[According to doc Daneeka] "[Pilot] Orr was
crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as
he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more
missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he
didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was
crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had
to"' (Jospeh Heller, Catch-22, p. 46).
Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest also presents a world
reversed in which the asylum inhabitants appear to behave more
rationally than the doctors and nurses responsible for them. For his
transgressions against official unreason, the leader of the patients is
lobotomized.
R3: Paradox produces outrageous ideas by creating oppositions be-
tween certain elements in an effort to force the public to reflect upon
them. Ex: 'Instead of saying, for example: Every member of society must
do what (s)he is best at, one says: In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise
to his level of incompetence' (L.J. Peter, The Peter Principle, p. 27).
The opposition between the terms may remain implicit as in the
common aporia There are no words to describe ...' followed by a more
or less detailed description. The more paradox is founded on reality,
the less it needs to be formalized. Ex: 'It was all very well for Napoleon
to write a code of laws protecting human life and property!' (A. Allais,
Plaisir d'humour, p. 179).
R4: Paradox seems to spring spontaneously from any contact with the
absolute and appears frequently in the words attributed to Christ and
in popular piety. Exx: The meek shall inherit the earth' ('But the
brazen shall contest the will' [W. Redfern, Puns, p. 138]); The first shall
be last'; etc.
R5: The simplest way to create a successful paradox is to overturn a
315
Paragoge
truism*. Ex: 'LORD DARLINGTON: I couldn't help it. I can resist every-
thing except temptation' (Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan, act 1).
The effect rapidly becomes humorous. Ex: line up alphabetically
according to height' (Blumenfeld, Jumbo Shrimp, p. 69).
PARAGOGE Adding a letter or syllable to the end of a word (Lan-

ham). See also Frye, Jacobs (p. 123), Lausberg (sect. 484), and Robert.
Exx: 'against' from Middle English ageines; to 'dampen' for to 'damp';
The vasty hall of death' (M. Arnold, 'Requiescat')
Rl: Paragoge is a term taken from antique grammar, serving only to
designate a trick used by classical poets who needed an extra foot in a
line of verse, as in the following chiasmus* by James Thomson: 'Oh!
Sophonisba! Sophonisba! Oh!' (Sophonisba, 1730, 3.2). See apocope*, R2,
echolalia*, and metaplasm*.
PARAGRAM 'A play on words involving the alteration of one or

more letters - one of the commonest forms of punning' (Redfern, p. 18).
Ex: 'People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones.'
Rl: Some so-called printer's errors are in reality paragrams. Exx:
'Master of Ars'; 'Sa Majeste la rwine [reine; i.e., 'ruin' v. 'queen']
d'Angleterre.'
R2: Pons (p. 11) calls Swift's complex paragrams (e.g., 'rettle' for 'letter'
and lole' for 'love') 'consonantal substitution.' The following is an
example of vocalic substitution: "Ma palate maman' for 'petite' (lonesco,
Jacques ou la soumission, in Theatre, 1:115).
R3: International paragrams are related to cryptography* (see cryptog-
raphy, R2), portmanteau* words, approximations*, and lexical scram-
bling*. Unintentional paragrams are examples of lapsus*. The following
paragram from Joyce is an example of verbigeration*: 'Sinbad the Sailor
and Tinbad the Tailor and Jinbad the Jailer and Whinbad the Whaler
and Niribad the Nailer and Finbad the Failer' (Ulysses, p. 607).
R4: Semioticians have taken up the paragram in a very positive way.
Julia Kristeva, in Semeiotike, generalized Saussure's hypotheses about
the role played by anagrams* (see anagram, R4) in poetic texts and
proposed a tabular (rather than a linear) reading of the text's para-
grammatic network or system of letters: ' "We call paragrammatic
network the tabular (not linear) model of elaboration" of textual lan-
guage. "The term network replaces univocity (linearity) by encompass-
ing it, and suggests that each set (sequence) is both end-point and
beginning of a multivalent relationship." The term "paragram" indi-
cates that each element functions "as a dynamic mark, as a moving
gram which makes a meaning rather than expressing it" ' (J. Kristeva,
316
Parallel
quoted by Ducrot and Todorov, p. 359). Many words might be written

with the letters which form the words in a given text! Beneath the
surface a kind of 'poly-graph/ begins to take shape which psychoan-
alysis deciphers quite freely. In such a case, paragram acquires the
meaning of a disposition of letters in accordance with some uncon-
scious principle, capable of sustaining a plurality of readings.
PARAGRAPH A textual unit comprising several sentences separated

from the previous and subsequent units by two extended pauses*
consisting of one or more blank lines, or sometimes of special signs
(asterisks, for example).
Rl: Paragraphs are often confused with the device of the first indented
line, their first distinguishing mark.
Like chapters (units made up of paragraphs), which form superior
units along the combinatory axis, paragraphs may be numbered,
indexed (alphabetically, for instance), or given titles* (or rather, sub-
titles). Capitalized titles form chapter headings, whereas the titles
placed on paragraphs (more accurately, subtitles or inter-titles) are
usually in lower case and end with a period, like accentuated sentences
rather than inscriptions on display. See also punctuation*, Rl. When a
subtitle is a secondary element in a title, it is presented in the same
way as the title, but in smaller, more distinct characters.
In poetry, which condenses the message, paragraphs are reduced to
stanzas*, and the first indented line is made the same length as the
other lines*.
In the theatre, a paragraph, or set of lines exchanged by the different
characters, is a scene or tableau, with each separate intervention cor-
responding to an indented line.
R2: According to G. Genette (Figures, 2:38), the paragraph is the 'rhetor-
ical cell' out of which essays are constructed, a unit defined by its
function in the overall plan*.
R3: Journalists use the term subtitle to refer to titles within fairly long
texts introduced more often than not by editors rather than by authors.
A caption may be a short introductory paragraph at the beginning of an
article.
R4: See situational* signs, 2; successive approximations*, R2; epanalep-
sis*, R4; interruption*, R3; pause*; point*; and plan*, R4.
PARALLEL The comparison* of the physical or moral relationship

between two objects in order to show their similarities or differences
(see Fontanier, p. 429). See also Benac, OED, Quillet, and Robert.
Ex: 'The most obvious division of society is into rich and poor, and it is
no less obvious that the number of the former bear a great dispropor-
317
Parallelism
tion to those of the latter. The whole business of the poor is to

administer to the idleness, folly and luxury of the rich, and that of the
rich, in return, is to find the best methods of confirming the slavery
and increasing the burdens of the poor. In a state of nature it is an
invariable law that a man's acquisitions are in proportion to his la-
bours. In a state of artificial society it is a law as constant and as
invariable that those who labour must enjoy the fewest things, and that
those that labour not at all have the greatest number of enjoyments'
(Edmund Burke, 'A Vindication of Natural Society7 [1756]).
Other names: comparison (OED, Robert); compensatio (Lanham);
antisagoge ('1 Contrasting evaluatons ... 2 Stating first one side of a
proposition, and then the other, with equal vigor' [Lanham]); similitude
(OED: 'talk in similitudes') when points held in common are discussed;
dissimilitude (OED). Littre also speaks of dissimilitude when discus-
sion centres upon 'the differences between two objects at first thought
analogous.' Ex: 'The great Swiss novelist [Charles-Ferdinand] Ramuz
devoted a whole book to the description of a storm approaching
through the mountains. But a poet's storms, when compared to those
of a painter, suffer from one great inferiority: they pass over. A paint-
er's storms do not pass over. They last forever, they are eternally
contemporary. The painter stops time, for his own benefit' (P. Claudel,
Oeuvres en prose, p. 252).
Rl: Parallels frequently take the form of parallelisms*. Dissimilitude is
useful for refutation*.
PARALLELISM Correspondences* between two parts of an utterance

are emphasized by means of syntactic and rhythmic repetition. (See
rhythmic echo*, R3.) The device produces binary sentences or groups of
sentences and used to be particularly recommended for the construc-
tion of periods*. See Cuddon, Leech (pp. 62-9), OED, Robert, and Turco.
Ex:
Was it cowardice, that I dared not kill him?
Was it perversity, that I longed to talk to him?
Was it humility, to feel so honoured?
I felt so honoured.
D.H. Lawrence, 'Snake'
Other names: antapodosis (Lausberg, sect. 735). Turco (pp. 8-11)
speaks of grammatical, synthetic (the second half of a sentence gives the
consequence of the first), and antithetical parallelisms. He also lists (pp.
71-3) seventeen 'repetitional schemas' or 'reiterative constructions'
useful in creating parallelism: anadiplosis*, anaphora*, antanaclasis*,
antimetabole*, antistrophe, echoics (see rhythmic echo*), emphasis*,
318
Paralogism
epanalepsis*, epanodis, epimone, epiphora*, epizeuxis, hypozeuxis,

ploce, polyptoton, polysyndeton*, and symploce*. See also antimeta-
thesis*.
Rl: A reprise* is an elaborate but purely formal parallelism. For paral-
lelism to occur, there needs to be made between two objects (or beings)
a comparison* in which some syntactic or rhythmic elements are
repeated. Ex: 'On our right is the house of the Duke of Wellington, on
our left a statue of Achilles, both reminders of the importance of boots'
(Tom Stoppard, Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon, p. 154).
R2: Oppositions between two kinds of content also produce paral-
lelisms. Ex: 'As love, if love be perfect, casts out fear, / So hate, if hate
be perfect, casts out fear' (Tennyson, 'Merlin and Vivien').
R3: Anaphora* may reinforce a purely gratuitous binary structure. Ex
[a description of an amusement park]: 'Here you are turned around
and there you fall a long way down, here you go very fast and there
you go completely the wrong way round, here you are jostled and
there you are knocked about, everywhere your stomach turns over and
you laugh ...' (R. Queneau, Pierrot mon ami, p. 20).
R4: See also disjunction*, R3; regrouped* members; paronomasia*, R6;
and period*.
PARALOGISM Illogical reasoning*, especially of which the reasoner

is unconscious (see OED). See also Quillet, Robert, and C.H. Green-
stein, Dictionary of Logical Terms and Symbols, p. 159: 'any type of
fallacious reasoning.'
Ex: 'I asked him [Salvatore, a simpleton], however, whether it was not
also true that lords and bishops accumulated possessions through
tithes, so that the Shepherds were not fighting their true enemies. He
replied that when your true enemies are too strong, you have to choose
weaker enemies' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 192).
Analogous terms: sophism, paralogia
Rl: Paralogism is unintentional sophistry*. Ex: 'I could no more be
grateful to "God" for creating me than I could hold a grudge against
Him for not doing so, - if I did not exist' (Gide, Romans, p. 168). The
author seems convinced that his argument* is solid, not realizing that
the reason given, although final in the non-existence hypothesis, is
weaker in the other case: anyone thinking about one's own existence
may have whatever ideas and feelings one pleases.
R2: Aristotle, for whom a conclusion's truth is a function not only of
the validity of the arguments used but also of their logic, described
several kinds of fallacies that remain current:
319
Paralogism
- the illicit or undistributed major. Ex: '... exiles can live wherever they
please ... such privileges are at the disposal of those we account happy;
and therefore every one might be regarded as happy if only he had
these privileges' (Aristotle, Rhetoric, 2: 24). Wherever they like ... except
in their own country. The major premise is not universally true.
- converse accident (or hasty generalization), which consists in applying
an assertion* generally true to a particular (or 'accidental') case that
contradicts it. Exx: To imprison a man is cruel; therefore, murderers
should be allowed to run free' (Lanham, p. 90); 'Some readers may find
that Musidora gave herself to Fortunio very quickly ... Let's just say ...
that passion is prodigal, and that loving is giving' (Th. Gautier,
Fortunio, ch. 17).
- false cause (post hoc ergo propter hoc), which consists in thinking that it
is the smoke that moves the train. Ex: 'There was a book of secrets
written, I believe, by Albertus Magnus ... I read some pages about how
you can grease the wick of an oil lamp, and the fumes produced then
provoke visions' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 90). On this general
'causal' basis, the speaker, Nicholas of Morimondo, makes a specific
prediction: 'You know, if you take the wax from a dog's ear and grease
a wick, anyone breathing the smoke of that lamp will believe he has a
dog's head' (ibid.). Any criticism of causal links leads back to con-
sideration of facts and to the possibility that there may exist more
immedite, or more remote, 'first' causes.
- denying the antecedent. Ex: 'If Carl embezzled the college funds, then
Carl is guilty of a felony. Carl did not embezzle the college funds.
Therefore Carl is not guilty of a felony' (Irving M. Copi, Introduction to
Logic, p. 226).
- conjunction of irreconcilable arguments. Ex: '... two and three be even
and odde, but five maketh two and three, therefore five is both even
and odd' (Thomas Blundeville, quoted by Joseph, p. 369). Joseph also
comments as follows on a literary example: This fallacy seems to
underlie Malvolio's attitude in wanting to bind his Puritanical ideas
on all. Sir Toby objects: "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous,
there shall be no more cakes and ale?" (Shakespeare, Twelfth Night,
2.3.123).'
- the vicious circle, in which arguments, instead of justifying facts,
merely restate them. Saint-Exupery provides a flagrant example in the
conversation between the Little Prince and the drunkard: 'Why do you
drink? - To forget. - To forget what? - To forget that I'm ashamed. -
Ashamed of what? - Ashamed of drinking' (Saint-Exupery, The Little
Prince, p. 43).
The vicious circle is a form of tautological reasoning*. Ex: The poet
George Barker, in his short novel The Dead Seagull, has the following
real or pretended quotation: "They cut down elms to build asylums for
320
Paralogism
people driven mad by the cutting down of elms" ' (Espy, 1983, p. 43).
Synonyms: diallelon, diallelus (OED).
- begging the question (petitio principii), which is closely related to the
vicious circle and consists of a proof that uses as a premise the argu-
ment intended to serve as conclusion and upon which the latter de-
pends. So, for Nietzsche, all metaphysics rests on a petitio principii: the
only way of defining being demands the use of 'it is' (see Rey, L'Enjeu
des signes, p. 92). Reasoning* based on hypothetical deductions (see
supposition*, R2) is also founded upon such an assumption until
experiments justify (or modify) it. In the absence of such verification,
the conclusion is only an artefact that remains presupposed by the
method used.
- tautology* pure and simple, in which the demonstration is merely a
metabole* of the thesis. The following example foregrounds the device
by restating the thesis in exactly the same words: 'The more people
buy Honda, the more people buy Honda.' C. Saint-Laurent taxes Sartre
with tautology in the following summary of a page of the latter's What
Is Literature?: 'Only actions count; since only actions count, the proof is
that the rest doesn't count, or very little, at any rate; which is quite
normal since only actions count; therefore only actions count' (C. Saint-
Laurent, Paul et Jean-Paul, p. 27).
But is it not common practice, not to say only natural, to dress up as
ideas and arguments what are only intuitions and convictions based on
personal experience? And so we may quite willingly accept semi-
tautology, which is a kind of truism*. Co pi argues: 'There is an impor-
tant relationship between tautologies and valid arguments. To every
argument there corresponds a hypothetical statement whose antecedent
is the conjunction of the argument's premisses and whose consequent
is the argument's conclusion ... Thus for every valid argument of the
truth-functional variety ... the statement that its premisses imply its
conclusion is a tautology7 (Copi, Introduction to Logic, p. 268).
- complex ('loaded' or 'rigged') questions: a hidden presupposition by
means of which confessions are obtained implicitly, without one's
opponent clearly realizing what is happening. Ex: 'When did you stop
beating your wife?' Or, to a witness claiming not to know the accused:
'Would you swear that you never saw him again from that time on?'
(Whether the witness answers yes or no, self-contradiction is still the
result.)
-the 'kettle/ a case of paralogism in which the contradictory presup-
positions of various propositions produce the same conclusion. Freud
discusses the following typical example: 'A. had borrowed a copper
kettle from B., and upon returning it, was sued by B. because it had a
large hole which rendered it unserviceable. His defense was this: "In
the first place, I never borrowed any kettle from B., secondly, the kettle
321
Paraphrase
had a hole in it when I received it from B., thirdly, the kettle was in
perfect condition when I returned it"' (S. Freud, The Technique of
Wit/ in The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud, p. 667).
R3: Fallacies of ambiguity* or equivocation, when too obvious, are
treated as comic devices. Exx:
- shifts in the principal meaning. Boris Vian foregrounds the device: 1
like sleeping with the shutters open because it prevents me sleeping
and I don't like to sleep' (N. Arnauld, Les Vies parallelles de Boris Vian,
p. 130). As may be seen, discussion of the point at issue is resolved by
modification of the thesis.
- the red herring or ignoratio elenchi, a diversionary tactic, a device for
avoiding or ignoring the issue (Corbett, p. 92). Ex: The traditional
'whodunnit' functions by introducing a number of characters all of
whom may have had a motive and an opportunity to kill the victim.
Red herrings function as the principal technique by distracting the
attention of the detective and reader away from the guilty and towards
the innocent. One enigmatic set of clues succeeds another, pointing in
each case to a different character. See Hutchinson, pp. 111-14.
- the (false) analogy (see reasoning*, R3). Exx: 'I caught a cold in the
park. The gate was open' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. Ill) [as if the park were a
house]; The proof that Shakespeare did not write his plays is that [his
friends] called him Willy' (A. Allais) [as if the normal familiarity exist-
ing between ordinary people did not apply to the great]. The absurdity
of such analogies is even clearer when the thing compared and the
comparing expression are amalgamated. Exx: 'My beard is a living
thing, because it is growing, and if I cutut, it doesn't cry out. Neither
does a plant. My beard is a plant' (Boris Vian, Les Bdtisseurs d'empire, in
Theatre, pp. 84-5); 'A woman without a man is like a fish without a
bicycle.'
- logic-chopping: an excess of logic in the terms used produces error. Ex:
'Besides, you admit the disadvantage without searching for a solution,
and how right you are! A disadvantage removed no longer is one'
(A. Allais, Plaisir d'humour, p. 29).
- the logical illogicality: despite its logical form, the proposition is
illogical. Ex: 'ROSENCRANTZ: And a syllogism: One, he had never known
anything like it. Two, he has never known anything to write home
about. Three, it is nothing to write home about...' (Tom Stoppard,
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, act 1).
PARAPHRASE Rewording or recapitulating to express the same

meaning*; a restatement in different words, as to clarify the meaning.
See Grambs.
Ex: 'In the course of the book old Mr Dupret dies and his son succeeds
him as head of the business. Young Mr Dupret falls in love with a girl
322
Para stasis
in London society but fails to make any impression on her; she in turns
falls in love with a genial bounder called Tyler and fails to make any
lasting impression on him' (E. Waugh, review [published 14 June 1930]
of Living, by Henry Green, in The Essays, Articles and Reviews of E. Waugh,
p. 81).
Analogous: gloss (Frye, Morier); annotation (Grambs, Robert); mar-
ginalia (Beckson and Ganz, Souriau, p. 187); scholium, 'an explanatory
note or comment' (OED)
Other definitions: 1. 'Free rendering or amplification of a passage,
expression of its sense in other words' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). In
The Well Wrought Urn (pp. 176-238), Cleanth Brooks condemns what he
calls the 'heresy of paraphrase/ the belief that a poem's meaning may
be stated in other words. This pejorative connotation seems to us non-
essential since other terms (perissology*, battology*) exist to emphasize
such abuses. A bad paraphrase adds no new clarity to the original,
agreed; but neither do ironic or baroque (etc.) paraphrases clarify it. Ex:
'In Dr. Johnson's famous dictionary patriotism is defined as the last
resort of a scoundrel. With all respect to an enlightened but inferior
lexicographer I beg to submit that it is the first' (A. Bierce, The Devil's
Dictionary).
2. 'A kind of oratorical amplification* by which [a speaker] develops
and accumulates several secondary ideas in the same sentence'
(Fontanier, p. 396). This view considers only paraphrases which appear
within the primary text, rather than those added by other commen-
tators. See also periphrasis*, other def.
Rl: Lausberg distinguishes paraphrases from metaphrases. The latter
constitute a form of rewriting by which texts are not extended but
merely modified (sometimes shortened, but not reduced to summary
form) in order to make them clearer or more accessible to a specific
audience. Ex: short versions of classic texts (particularly adventure
novels) rewritten in simple vocabulary for young readers.
R2: Paraphrases occupy separate sections within a work, along with
references. They appear either at the bottom of the page with the
footnotes, or in parentheses* or square brackets. If they do form part of
the text itself, they begin with some introductory syntagm* like i.e., that
is to say, in other words, etc.
PARASTASIS An accumulation* of sentences repeating the same

idea.
Ex: T could have been a judge but I never had the Latin. I just never
had the Latin for the judging. I just never had it, so I'd had it as far as
being a judge was concerned. I hadn't got enough of it to get through
323
Parataxis
the rigorous judging exams. They're very rigorous, the judging exams,
very rigorous indeed. They're noted for their rigour. People come out
of them saying, //My god, what a rigorous exam!" And so I became a
miner, instead. I managed to get through the mining exams, they're not
very rigorous. There's no rigour involved really. There's a complete
absence of rigour involved in the mining exams ...' (A. Bennett,
P. Cook, J. Miller, and D. Moore, 'Sitting on the Bench/ in Beyond
the Fringe, Capitol Records W-1792,1961).
Synonyms: commoration (Scaliger, 3: 46; Joseph [commoratio], pp. 220,
383; Lausberg); epimone (Fabri, 2: 160; Joseph, pp. 220, 384; Lanham;
Lausberg)
Analogous: rambling, maundering (Concise Oxford Dictionary); anec-
dotage (Marchais); epexergasia, gorgious (Lanham); expolitio (Fontanier,
p. 420; Lanham; Lausberg; Morier). In his definition, however, Morier
compares expolitio to metabole*: 'a clearer, more vivid repetition of an
idea.'
Rl: When unconscious or superfluous, parastasis is a defect of style.
Ex: Tolstoy, War and Peace, volume 2, part 2, chapters 1-12. Most of the
passages devoted to developing the single idea that historical events
occur as a result of the collective will of peoples rather than because of
'geniuses' like Napoleon seem tautological to us. Sometimes parastasis
has a purpose, as in the parody* quoted above, or in Beckett's novels
(Molloy, for instance), where its function is to reveal the hero's state of
mental stupor.
PARATAXIS Tlacing of clauses, etc., one after another, without

words to indicate co-ordination or subordination, as Tell me, how are
you?' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). See also Lanham (e.g., 'I came, I saw, I
conquered') and Morier. Frye points out (under 'hypotaxis') that 'Erich
Auerbach proposes a crucial and historic distinction between paratactic
style (and ... and ... and) and hypotactic style (although ... after ... because ...
if) in his Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature
(1946)'.
Rl: The use of parataxis involves the erasure of taxemes, a term which
designates discursive segments (prepositions, conjunctions, copula
verbs, etc.) whose function is to indicate relationships between syn-
tagms*. The sentence Tou will come, I hope' omits the conjunction that
of hypotactic style: 1 hope that you will come.' See also ellipsis*,
syntactic juxtaposition*, and mirror*, R4.
R2: However, parataxis possesses other means as well as syntactic
erasure*. It has recourse to morphological erasure (see ellipsis*), dis-
location*, and adjunction*. Ex: '[Mr Jingle]: "Terrible place - dangerous
324
Parenthesis
work - other day - five children - mother - tall lady, eating sand-
wiches - forgot the arch - crash - knock - children look round -
mother's head off - sandwich in her hand - no mouth to put it in -
head of a family off - shocking!"' (Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, ch. 2).
Parataxis even uses lexical erasure*. When a word is lacking in spoken
language, gestures, interjections*, or stereotyped sentences* may come
into play.
location*, and adjunction*. Ex: '[Mr Jingle]: "Terrible place - dangerouscsame sound are placed side by side, as dorica
same sound are placed side by side, as dorica castra, ansd fortunatasm
natam' (Lausberg).
This term does not exist in English, where parechesis includes both
meliorative and pejorative senses of such syllabic juxtapositions.
Rl: Parechema is a kind of cacophony*.
R2: In French, parechema at the end of a line was used by the Grands
Rhetoriqueurs to form rimes couronnees or 'crowned rhymes.' Ex: TVIon
astre m'endort d'or1 (Alain Grandbois, quoted in Brault, ed., Alain
Grandbois, p. 94).
R3: Change of construction, or occasionally haplology*, 'cures' pare-
chema.
PARECHESIS 'The repetition* of the same sound in words in close

or immediate succession' (Smyth, Greek Grammar, p. 680).
Ex: 'Gaunt as the ghostliest of glimpses that gleam through the gloom
of the gloaming when ghosts go aghast' (Swinburne, Nephelidia, quoted
by Lanham).
Ex: Jacobs, Naming Day in Eden, p. 51, suggests: 'Madam, I am Adam.'
That is, changing I'm to 7 am converts an example of a palindrome* into
one of parechesis.
PARENTHESIS The insertion of a segment, complete in meaning*,

and relevant or irrelevant to the subject under discussion, into another
segment whose flow it interrupts. See Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, and
OED.
Ex: 'Furthermore, this is his first flight over water (yes, Morris Zapp
has never before left the protection of the North American landmass, a
proud record unique among the faculty of his university) and he
cannot swim' (David Lodge, Changing Places, p. 11).
Synonym: dialysis (Le Clerc, p. 271). See also hyperbaton*, Rl.
Rl: The graphic signs, [()], which open and close a parenthesis are
situational* signs. They may be replaced by hyphens* or even by
325
Parenthesis
commas. Ex: 'If it made any real sense - and it doesn't even begin to -
I think I might be inclined to dedicate this account, for whatever it's
worth, especially if it's the least bit ribald in parts, to the memory of
my late, ribald stepfather, Robert Agadganian Jr. Bobby - as everyone,
even I called him - died in 1947, surely with a few regrets, but without
a single gripe, of thrombosis' (J.D. Salinger, T>e Daumier-Smith's Blue
Period,' in Nine Stories, p. 96).
R2: Fontanier, Lausberg, and the OED point out that a parenthesis re-
lating to the subject used to be called a parembole. The distinction has
not survived, probably because even epiphonema*, parabasis*, and
digressions* always bear some relationship to the subject. The word
parembole might be reclaimed as meaning a parenthesis which is syntac-
tically bound to the rest of the sentence. In contradistinction, Marou-
zeau proposes that we define the parenthesis as an 'insertion into the
course of a sentence of an element not syntactically attached to it.' To
make the distinction clearer, one might say that, in the case of a paren-
thesis, the element in question must be removable without loss or
change to the remainder's grammaticality or specific meaning*. In the
case of parembole, on the other hand, removal would affect gram-
maticality and specific meaning. This criterion may be verified in the
case of any parenthesis.
When, by means of this criterion, we examine, not the rest of the
sentence, but the segment inside the parenthesis, we see that it is
sometimes independent, sometimes not. If it, too, may be isolated
without changing its grammaticality or specific meaning, we can speak
properly of a parenthesis. Ex: 'But she was splendid at the moment,
walking in the schoolyard with her attendants (it was actually Donna
with the pale oval face, the fair frizzy hair, who came closest to being
pretty), arms linked, seriously talking' (Alice Munro, VWio Do You Think
You Are?, p. 23). On the other hand, if the parenthetical segment
depends syntactically upon the rest of the sentence, we have a parem-
bole (a syntactically dependent parenthesis). Ex: 'Flo came to the school
to raise Cain (her stated intention) and heard witnesses swear Rose had
torn it on a nail' (ibid., p. 29). For syntagma tic paremboles, commas
may suffice. Other paremboles may be lexemes, syllables, or even
single letters. See double* reading.
R3: In reading aloud, the marks of parenthesis are two pauses*.
R4: Very long, dry parentheses, like references for example, or those
which would be out of place in the main text, are banished to the
footnotes. 'Second-degree' notes are possible, necessary even, in some
critical editions. The following literary example appears in Hubert
Aquin's Trou de memoire (p. 49):
The decayed piers created by Bernini1 ...
...
326
Parody
1. Bernini was a great baroque architect ... Editor's note2.

2. This note reveals the editor's lack of culture ... This note is by RR.
RR is the heroine. Aquin thus produces a kind of mise en abime (see
mirror*) within the primary process of enunciation*, plus a loop*: as
author, he invented both RR, the character, and the editor whose
cultural shortcomings RR points out. We may assume that this example
expresses more than a joke; it provides a paradoxical way of pointing
out that every statement in the text derives from its author.
R5: Parentheses opened and forgotten are digressions, as are second-
level parentheses, or sentences divided by hyphens, parentheses, and
commas. Ex: Torick was this parson's name, and what is very remark-
able in it (as appears from a most ancient account of the family, wrote
upon strong vellum, and now in perfect preservation), it had been
exactly so spelt for near, - I was within an inch of saying nine hun-
dred years; - but I would not shake my credit in telling an improbable
truth, however indisputable in itself; - and therefore I shall content
myself with only saying, - It had been exactly so spelt, without the
least variation or transposition of a single letter, for I do not know how
long; which is more than I would venture to say of one half of the best
surnames in the country; which in the course of years ...' (Laurence
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. 1, ch. 11).
The interior monologue* contains many parentheses not even indi-
cated, because in this type of discourse* the character 'understands' his
or her own thought processes without the necessity of such situational*
signs. Ex: 'my dearest Doggerina she wrote on it she was very nice
whats this her other name was just a p c to tell you I sent' (Joyce,
Ulysses, p. 621).
R6: Parenthetical remarks constitute adjacent assertions* whose values
are sometimes quite curious. See assertion*, R3; quotation*, R7; epi-
phonema*, other def.; epiphrasis*, Rl; explanation*, R2 and R4; excuse*,
Rl; irony*, R2; paraphrase*, R2; and expressive punctuation*.
PARODY Conscious and deliberate imitation, either of content or

form, which intends to achieve a mocking, or simply a comic, effect.
See Cuddon, Frye, and Preminger. For a more complete discussion of
the definitions of parody, see Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Parody
(1985).
Exx: The way to a man's heart is through his ears' (Xerxes, in Herodo-
tus, 7.39); The way to a man's heart is through his stomach' (proverb);
'In the beginning, California was without freeways and water covered
the land' (Northern California, ed. J. Carroll and T. Johnston, p. 11); The
history of Catholicism shows that you can't make an omelette without
breaking eggheads' (Ken Tynan, in Brett, ed., The Faber Book of Parodies,
pp. 179-80).
327
Paronomasia
Exx:
When lovely woman stoops to folly
And finds too late that men betray,
What charm can sooth her melancholy,
What art can wash her guilt away?
O. Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield, ch. 29
When lovely woman stoops to folly and
Paces about her room again, alone,
She smoothes her hair with automatic hand,
And puts a record on the gramophone.
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land, part 3 (The Fire Sermon')
When lovely woman stoops to folly
The evening can be awfully jolly.
Mary Demetriadis, in Brett, ed., The Faber Book of Parodies, p. 174
Analogous: satire ('a poem in which wickedness or folly is censured'
[Dr Johnson]); pastiche (entertaining compilations or imitations);
caricature* (in the broad sense); skit; revue (a satirical set of sketches
on contemporary themes)
Rl: Literary parody (see burlesque*, Rl) employs various devices from
the parodied text, which it exaggerates or misuses. Parody is therefore
a genre rather than a device. Examples of parodies of works: the Battle
of the Frogs and Mice, a parody, attributed in antiquity to Homer, of an
epic poem; the Satyricon of Petronius, which contains a long poem in
hexameters parodying Lucan; Scarron's Le Virgile travesti; Fielding's
Shamela; and the poems making up The Faber Book of Parodies. Fore-
grounding* the devices parodied defamiliarizes them. See particularly
epitheton*, other def. Parody forms an effective kind of 'applied' or
second-level rhetoric (see false -*, Rl) which reveals itself by its tone
(see intonation* and irony*, Rl).
R2: Parody is only perceptible to those who know the model; hence the
need to parody celebrities, notably politicians who invite caricature*.
There are also many parodies of texts and styles. See Hutcheon and The
Faber Book of Parodies. See also macaronicism*, Rl; translation*, R2; and
insult*, R3.
R3: Parody may be affectionate or biting. See persiflage*, Rl.
PARONOMASIA 'A playing on words which sound alike; a word-

play; a [type of] pun' (OED); 'playing on the sound and meaning of
words: punning' (W. Taylor, Tudor Figures of Rhetoric, p. 117). See also
Frye, Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, Morier, Preminger (who includes
paronomasia under 'pun'), and Redfern (pp. 18, 49, 101-2).
328
Paronomasia
Ex: "They went and told the sexton and / The sexton tolled the bell'
(Thomas Hood, 'Faithless Sally Brown').
Synonyms: paranomasia (Espy, 1983, p. 120); agnominatio* (Lanham,
Lausberg, Marouzeau, Scaliger); allusio and prosonomasia (Sonnino)
Rl: It is easy to confuse paronomasia with isolexism*, which brings
together words belonging to the same lexeme. Ex: To say unpleasant
things unpleasantly.' As Marouzeau explains, however, we may accept
as examples of paronomasia words etymologically similar. Ex: *Man
proposes but God disposes' (Proverbs 19:21).
R2: Paronyms (words which are practically homonyms) naturally
provide the best examples of paronomasia, but not the only valid ones
since paronomasia extends to the (fairly fluid) borders it shares with
alliteration*. Ex: 'The end of the plain plane, explained' (ad for Braniff
International, quoted by Corbett, p. 483).
R3: Morier proposes a subtle variation of paronomasia which he calls
'apophony' ('variation in vowel quality in the formation of grammati-
cally related words, as in English gz've, gave, G. sprechen, sprach. Also
called ablaut and vowel gradation' [OEDS]).
R4: Paronomasia leads to word-play*, which is why Preminger, Ma-
hood (pp. 92,141), and Redfern (pp. 17-18) classify it as a kind of
pun*. Ex: 'a pornographer is one who offers a vice to the lovelorn'
(J. Crosbie, Dictionary of Puns, p. 245).
R5: Involuntary paronomasia exists and may turn into cacophony*. Ex:
'In the inn, we went into dinner.'
R6: In general, the terms are coupled together, that is, they form
examples of syntactic parallelism* which draw attention to the device.
Ex: 'Not Angles, but Angels' (attributed to Pope Gregory at the sight of
English slaves brought to Rome).
R7: When pushed to extremes, paronomasia (like antimetabole*, mir-
ror*, etymology*, etc.) becomes a way of creating new meanings*, or at
least of creating ambiguity* (see musication*). Ex: 'No worst, there is
none. Pitched past pitch of grief / More pangs will, schooled at fore-
pangs, wilder wring' (G. Manley Hopkins, 'No Worst, There Is None').
R8: Modern thinkers have not disdained the use of paronomasia. Exx:
'While I am engaged upon the formation and formulation of the idea of
the subject and of the object ...' (Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenologie de la
perception, p. 253); 'What [Bergson] believed to be coincidence is coexis-
tence' (Merleau-Ponty, Eloge de la philosophic, p. 31).
R9: Examples of paronomasia involving proper names are easily
constructed and are therefore very common. Not all are as clever as the
329
Partition
following which also involves metanalysis*: Tailor to man who brings

in torn pants: "Euripides?" Man: "Yes; Eumenides?"' (Espy, 1983,
p. 121). See also assonance*, R2; distinction*, R4; echo* effect, Rl;
musication*, R4; pun*; antimetathesis*, Rl; and antanaclasis*, other def.
PARTITION A word is given not only in its entirety but also syllable
by syllable and in its possible syllabic groups.
Ex: 'Constantinople: C with an O and with an N spells CON, S with a
T, with an A and an N spells STAN, T with an I spells TI, N and O, P,
L and E spell NOPLE, CONSTANTINOPLE.' See lona and Peter Opie,
Children's Games in Street and Playground (1969) and The Lore and Lan-
guage of Schoolchildren (1959).
Rl: Partition plays on the signifer and possibly on the signified as well
when the elements are presented as so many distinct objects (not the
case in the above example).
PAUSE In oral speech, pauses occur as we inhale (which intervals

mark the limits of breath-groups), or at momentary breath-stoppages, or,
at the least, at interruptions in the sentence's melodic curve, or, of
course, at periods of silence, of whatever duration. Graphically, pauses
are shown by semicolons, periods, or blanks, so as to separate detach-
able parts (finished or not) from the spoken or written chain.
Varying amounts of blank space surround titles* and separate para-
graphs*: for example, one or more blank lines between paragraphs.
Blanks between elements within a sentence are rarer but form a prin-
cipal device in the creation of the rebus. Ex:
rebellion rebellion
In 1789
FRA NCE laws
monarchy uoiSipj
thrown
rebellion rebellion
'This means: "In 1789 France was divided, monarchy overthrown, laws
set aside, religion turned upside down, and rebellion at every corner'
(Augarde, p. 88).
Rl: Pauses play analogous roles in poetry and prose. In poetry, pauses
should occur at rhythmic divisions like the caesura*. They may occur
within the line* (see below), are more usual at the end of a line, and
always appear at the end of a stanza*. In prose, pauses may appear
within sentences, where they determine the length of rhythmic groups;
they usually occur at the end of a sentence, and almost always between
paragraphs.
330
Pause
Rhythmic pauses: In music, as is well known, the duration of pauses

is exactly defined. A crochet rest is twice as long as a quaver rest.
Ricardo Gui'raldes proposed the insertion into literary texts of the mu-
sical signs for crochet and quaver, in order better to define rhythms*.
Very rhythmic texts possess an exact duration for each pause (see line*
[of poetry], 1, R2; 2, R2; 3). It should be possible to transcribe each
duration. We might, for example, borrow the conventions used by
phoneticians: one, two, or three vertical or horizontal lines, according
to the length of a pause, or the signs T, -i- accompanied or not by the
figures 1 to 4 placed above the line, as in Hockett's system outlined in
the Dictionnaire de linguistique; or again, we might indicate where
pauses occur with w for 'short' or ~ for 'long/ according to the
approximate duration of each.
Procephalous pauses before the line are called anacrusis. Morier
named pauses after lines of poetry 'sighs' [soupirs]. See also
enjamb(e)ment*, R2.
Pauses in prose: Their duration is unpredictable and all the more
variable as a speaker loses control of the means of communication. Ex:
'Well then, I... Er ... In the beginning ...' Periods disappear with the
result that in such 'sentences' pauses become slips from one kind of
duration to another. We abandon the text's duration as we search for
the kind of duration appropriate to the speaker, whom we see strug-
gling to work out how to think and speak at the same time. The pres-
ence of this actual, subjective background underlying verbal expression
explains why pauses almost disappear when we adopt the text's view-
point: texts in prose seem constantly to be beginning again from zero.
See paragraph*, Rl; sentence* (types of), 1. Interruptions* are the oppo-
site of pauses because two people talk very briefly at the same time,
but the device of reticentia (or aposiopesis*), by which we halt volun-
tarily, is a kind of expressive pause, whose silence is amplified by what
listeners might be expecting in its place. See also reactualization*, 7.
Hyphens or dashes (see situational* signs, 3[a], and caesura*, R4)
may transcribe special pauses, during which the speaker seems to be
gaining confidence, and so help to emphasize the segment that follows.
See also emphasis*, Rl.
R2: Morier proposes the term ligature, or binding, to designate the
suppression of a pause at the end of a sentence or paragraph which
aims to keep the listeners' attention. Here is his definition: 'A strategy
in eloquence by which the orator, once he has arrived at the end of a
period, at the moment when his voice is dropping and slowing, sud-
denly carries on speaking, uttering quickly and emphatically the first
word or phrase of the next sentence. E.g.: "Maupassant denounces
ironically the atmosphere of depravity, the political and financial
thieving and ... inflation."' The pause carries over after the second and,
331
Peregrinism
and is prolonged. Rhythmically speaking, arsis accompanies the word

thus bound and the ictus occurs during the suspensive silence that
follows. (Arsis: 'stress of a syllable or part of a metrical foot' [Concise
Oxford Dictionary]; ictus: 'rhythmical or metrical stress' [ibid.].)
R3: There is usually a pause before appositions* (see apposition, R2),
parentheses* (see parenthesis, R3), reminders*, and hyphens* (see
assertion, R3).
PEREGRINISM The use of linguistic elements borrowed from a

foreign language. Elements include: the sound system, graphy*, and
sentence-melodies as well as grammatical, lexical, or syntactic forms,
and even meanings* and connotations. See Pei and Gaynor.
Analogous definition: Fontanier, under 'imitation' (p. 288)
Synonyms: 'foreignism' (Pei and Gaynor); garble; interference
Rl: We may distinguish, by the country of origin, between:
(a) Gallicisms*: French forms introduced into English.
(b) Anglicisms*: English forms introduced into French.
(c) Italianisms: 'Sacrifizio incruento, Stephen said smiling, swaying his
ashplant in slow swingswong from its midpoint, lightly' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 188).
(c) Latinisms: Then this description, passing from auctoritas to auc-
toritas, was transformed through successive imaginative exercises, and
unicorns became fanciful animals, white and gentle' (U. Eco, The Name
of the Rose, p. 316).
(e) Hebraisms: 'Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg' (Allen Ginsberg).
(0 Germanisms: 'Ehrebung without motion, concentration / Without
elimination ...' (T.S. Eliot, 'Burnt Norton').
R2: Peregrinisms become a literary device when foregrounded. In The
Name of the Rose, for example, Eco constructs a character, Salvatore, on
the device: '... he said: "Penitenziagite! Watch out for the draco who
cometh in futurum to gnaw your anima! Death is super nos! Pray the
Santo Pater come to liberar nos a malo and all our sin! Ha ha, you like
this negromanzia de Domini Nostri Jesu Christi! Et anco jois m'es dols
e plazer m'es dolors ... Cave il diabolo! Semper lying in wait for me in
some angulum to snap at my heels' (p. 46). Adso, the narrator, goes on
to explain the device: '... I could never understand what language he
spoke. It was not Latin ... I realized Salvatore spoke all languages, and
no language. Or rather, he had invented for himself a language which
used the sinews of the languages to which he had been exposed ... I
also noticed afterwards that he might refer to something first in Latin
and later in Provenqal, and I realized that he was not so much invent-
ing his own sentences as using the disiecta membra of other sentences,
heard some time in the past' (ibid., pp. 46-7). See pseudo-language*.
332
Peregrinism
R3: Peregrinisms can be more or less complete (see anglicism*, Rl).

Many gallicisms used by anglophones (just like many anglicisms used
by francophones) without respect to number, gender, grammar, or
morphology betray the snobbery behind the device. Ex: 'Each balcony
is equipped with chaise loungers' (ad for condominium). Gallicisms
may be parodied: '... Sergeant Bird, so wittily nicknamed / Oiseau'
(D. Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 50). The game of Tractured
French' consists in deliberately mistranslating French words and
expressions: 'coup de grace: lawn-mower; c'est-a-dire: she's a honey'
(Espy, 1971, p. 112).
R4: Pidgins are combinations of two languages; they are also referred to
as creolized languages. Pei and Gaynor (p. 50) define the latter term as
'a trade language or "contact vernacular" which has become the only
language used for daily speech and communication by an economical-
ly, socially or politically subject group, class or race; characterized by
extreme morphological simplification of the language of colonization
from which it is derived.' Their definition of pidgin makes it a general-
ized use of the more specific form, pidgin English: 'a creolized version
of the English language, used by traders for communication with the
Chinese and other Orientals. The word pidgin (a corruption of the
English word business) is often used popularly as an adjective to
designate hybrid forms of other languages' (p. 170). Ex: "There are said
to be more than 700 linguistic groups in Papua New Guinea ... Pidgin
is the common tongue, the passport between tribes. It is a marvelous
melange of English, Australian slang, onomatopoeia, and local lore.
The word "piano," for example, is Bigfellabockus, teeth alia same shark,
you hitim he cry out - a big box, with teeth all the same size, and if you
hit it, it makes a noise' (P. Benchley, 'Ghosts of War in the South
Pacific/ National Geographic, April 1988, p. 451).
Similarly, Anglo-Indian, the vernacular used by British soldiers,
government officials, and civilians in India, became known as Hobson-
Jobson. Noah Jacobs explains the derivation of the term and gives
examples indicating the term's generalized application to other lan-
guage mixtures: When [the] association of sounds is confused in the
popular mind from one language to another and unfamiliar words are
rendered meaningful by being melted into familiar ones, it is known as
Hobson-Jobson. This name is a mishearing of Ja Hasan, Ja Hasan, the cry
of the Mohammedans in religious processions, as heard by the English
ear, and although now used in a technical sense only, is itself an
example of many such words that have been assimilated into language
- e.g., hoosegow from the Sp. juzgado, tribunal; sponge cake (originally
Spanish cake) is in Jap. kasuteira (which is clearly Castile); ... Russ. voksal,
railroad station, from Eng. Vauxhall ...' (N. Jacobs, Naming Day in Eden,
pp. 114-15).
R5: Regionalisms and provincialisms, expressions borrowed from local
dialects, are not true peregrinisms. Ex:
333
Period
Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,

O what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
R. Burns, To a Mouse'
R6: The successful use of peregrinisms or provincialisms in literature
depends on the desired effect. Aristotle recommended them: the
Athenians appreciated them (as do Londoners today) as long as they
are clearly marked, which means intentional. They produce curious
textual effects of which only the narrow-minded are afraid. Ex:
The bellula?'
'Oc! Parvissimum animal, just a bit plus longue than the rat, and
also called the musk-rat. And so the serpe and the botta. And when
they bite it, the bellula runs to the fenicula or to the cicerbita and
chews it, and comes back to the battaglia. And they say it generates
through the oculi.' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 308)
PERIOD A well-rounded, well-articulated, and harmonious sentence.

The parts group connected ideas in balanced clauses whose grammati-
cal shape and rhythmic structure emphasize their meaning*.
Ex: 'As the happiness of the future life is the great object of religion, we
may hear without surprise or scandal that the introduction, or at least
the abuse, of Christianity had some influence on the fall of the Roman
empire. The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience and
pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the
last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister' (Edward
Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, as quoted in G. Seldes,
The Great Thoughts, p. 159).
Synonym: hypotactic style (hypotaxis is the opposite of parataxis*; see
also hyperhypotaxis*)
Analogous definition: The word 7iep(o8o<; in Greek meant a going-
around, a circuit, and thus came to mean a well-rounded sentence, an
extensive survey, and one with shape' (R. Lanham, Style: An Anti-
Textbook, p. 123).
Other definition: 'Periodic sentence: in rhetoric, a sentence in which
the most significant element or part occupies the final position' (Pei
and Gaynor, p. 164).
Rl: Periods have a protasis, or first part, and an apodosis or second part,
divided by a peak, or a kind of median caesura*. Intonation* and
sometimes meaning* mount in the protasis and descend in the apodo-
sis (see assertion*). Periods may be binary or ternary (composed, that
334
Period
is, of two or three parts; see sentence*). An antapodosis is a phrase or

clause which may be paired with the protasis in the middle of the
period. The final proposition is called a 'clausula' (Lanham). See
punch* line. Ex: 'Socialism is bound sooner or later to ripen into
Communism [protasis] whose banner bears the motto [antapodosis]:
"From each according to his ability [apodosis], to each according to his
needs [clausula]' (V.I. Lenin, The Task of the Proletariat [1917], as quoted
in G. Seldes, The Great Thoughts, p. 240).
R2: Benac makes an analogical distinction between what he calls
'square' periods, composed of four parts, and 'round' periods, 'whose
parts are tightly bound together producing a harmonious impression'
(sometimes at the expense of relevance; hence the pejorative sense of
the expression 'well-rounded periods'), and 'crossed' periods, 'whose
clauses are opposed in pairs of antitheses.'
'Well-rounded' periods are frequently binary, with parallel clauses
and repetition*. 'The art of making the parts of a sentence equal in
length and similar in form' used to be called parisosis (Chaignet, p. 19).
Ex: the sentence by Lenin just quoted. In such sentences, the parts of
equal length are isocolons (Lausberg, Littre, Peacham, Joseph, OED,
Quinn), and the rhythm* is concordant, whereas lack of balance between
protasis and apodosis produces discordant rhythm. However, rhopalic
periods, in which the members gradually increase in length, form an
exception (from the Greek ponaXot), a club or bludgeon; because this
kind of club widens from handle to tip).
As Joseph points out (p. 297), Peacham, in showing how the figure
isocolon can be used to emphasize the topics of logic, introduces a
possible source of confusion in the term's definition. Thus 'isocolon'
means for Peacham both clauses of equal length and a means of
'coupling] contraries' (The Garden of Eloquence [1593], p. 58). Quinn (pp.
77-9) shows how its "repeatedly balanced phrases' may be both 'stuffy
... the port-and-oak-panelled-study style of an Edward Gibbon' and
also suitable for a boxer's verbal fisticuffs, as in the boast: The bigger
they are, the harder they fall.'
Mestre makes a distinction between different parts of a period:
members being clauses which 'end with a partial rest' and interpolated
phrases, 'member-segments without meaning except in liaison with the
rest of the member' (p. 93). Jerky or incisive style is one in which inter-
polated elements abound.
R3: Theoretically, the meaning* of each period is complete in itself. In
practice, periodic sentences come in groups which form paragraphs*
complete in meaning. (See Churchill's speeches, for example.)
R4: Periods represented the ideal form of writing in antiquity (atticism)
because they constitute a victory over the incoherence of spontaneous
335
Periphrasis
thought and expression (see baroquism*, Rl). '[Periods] are oratorical

stanzas. We see the point at which they begin; we feel in advance their
endings; our ears follow both the suspensive, climactic, and the falling,
resolved melodies, and also the intermediate partial movements lead-
ing gradually to the end ... [Periods] are harmonious' (Chaignet, p. 441).
R5: Periods employ parallelism* (see cadence*, and anacoluthon*, other
def.), epiphora*, hypotaxis, epitheton* (see epitheton, Rl), antepiphora*,
similes* (see simile, R2), gradatio* (see gradatio, R4), and suspension*.
They avoid homoioteleuton* (see homoioteleuton, R4). See also gran-
diloquence*, Rl, and sentence* (types of). For periods intended to be
read aloud, see hyperhypotaxis*, Rl and R4.
PERIPHRASIS The replacement of a single word by several which

together have the same meaning*. See Lanham ('circumlocution'),
Lausberg (sect. 589), Morier, Preminger, and Quinn.
Exx: the 'bird of night' for the 'owl'; the fourth estate; the gentlemen of
the press; 'the love that dare not speak its name' (Oscar Wilde)
Exx: Winston Churchill is said to have replied to a question he judged
impertinent: The answer to your question, sir, is in the plural, and
they bounce'; '... they will suffer death before they give Information
of any of their Accomplices: and when brought to the fatal tree, will
deny their guilt with their last breath' (Reverend Samuel Marsden,
quoted by R. Hughes, in The Fatal Shore, p. 352); 'Wondrous machines
are now made ... with which the course of nature can be predicted ... I
am told that in Cathay a sage has compounded a powder that, on con-
tact with fire, can produce a great rumble and a great flame, destroying
everything for many yards around' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 88).
Other definitions: Corbett (p. 485) identifies periphrasis with
antonomasia*; 'substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a
proper name or of a proper name for a quality associated with the
name. [E.g.:] 'Pale young men with larded and Valentino-black side
whiskers' (D. Thomas, 'Holiday Memory' [in Quite Early One Morning,
p. 27]).' Fontanier, on the other hand, introduced (pp. 326, 361, 396) a
distinction between pronomination (the designation of a noun, or thing,
by a complex expression in several words), periphrasis (the more
extended expression of an idea in a sentence), and paraphrase*. For
him, the T>ird of night' would thus be an example of pronomination;
Wilde's euphemism* would be periphrasis.
Rl: Some of the uses of periphrasis: the avoidance of too precise a
term; the designation of a person by his or her qualities; the creation of
metaphors* (see abstraction* and baroquism*, R2); the replacement of
something unpleasant (euphemism*) or neutral by a description*, a
riddle*, or intellectual game (see pun*, Rl). Ex:
336
Perissology
- And how is Dick, the solid man?

- Nothing between himself and heaven, Ned Lambert answered.
- By the holy Paul! Mr Dedalus said in subdued wonder. Dick Tivy
bald? (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 84)
It should be added that a speaker may have recourse to periphrasis
quite naturally when the proper word either does not come to mind or
does not exist. Ex: 'There is no word to describe the feeling of march-
ing on the enemy, and yet it is as specific, as strong as sexual desire or
anguish' (A. Malraux, Antime'moires, p. 312). See description*, R5.
R2: Examples of periphrasis may involve mythology, allusions*, or
definitions*. Lausberg considers anthorism ('a counter-definition; a
description or definition differing from that given by one's opponent'
[OED]) as an example of aggressive periphrasis. Ex:
IAGO: You would be satisfied?
OTHELLO: Would? Nay, I will.
Shakespeare, Othello, 3.3.391-2
See epanorthosis* and self-correction*. Ex: 'Give me chastity, but not
yet' (Augustine).
R3: See litotes*; self-correction*, R4; circumlocution*, Rl; compensatio*,
Rl; denomination*, Rl; epitheton*, R3; phoebus*, R4; meaning* (im-
plicit); translation*, R3; hyperbole*, R3; remotivation*, Rl; and title* (of
work), R5.
PERISSOLOGY Redundance or superfluity of speech; use of more

words than are necessary; pleonasm (see OED). See also Fabri (3:126),
Fontanier (p. 299), Grambs, Lausberg, and Pei and Gaynor. These
authors all consider perissology to be a stylistic defect. Some make a
distinction between it and pleonasm*, the corresponding stylistic figure.
See also etymology* and paraphrase*, other def. 1.
Ex: 'as sure as eggs are eggs' ('a corruption of the logical formula,
x = x' [N. Jacobs, Naming Day in Eden, p. 130]).
Synonyms: redundance (Fontanier, p. 302; Pei and Gaynor); incorrect,
corrupt pleonasm (Fontanier; Robert)
Rl: Although perissology is a defect of style, it has its uses in litera-
ture; for example, as a source of comedy: 'the voracious have complete-
ly eaten and devoured the coriaceous' (A. Jarry, Ubu roi, p. 156).
R2: Grammatical perissology exists. Ex: 'the grass you should keep off
of (D. Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 54).
R3: Perissology is one of the principal devices used by the media in
their production of filler or padding. Henry Peacham, the sixteenth-
century English rhetor and logician, quotes Quintilian on the subject:
337
Permissio
'Perissologia, like unto Pleonasmus, when a clause of no weight is thrust

into a construction. Quintilian taketh this example out of Livius: "The
Ambassadors, peace not having been obtained, returned home again
from whence they came." Here the latter clause is superfluous, for it
had been sufficient to have said, "The Ambassadors, peace not having
been obtained, returned home again"' (The Garden of Eloquence [1593],
quoted by Espy, 1983, p. 198).
PERMISSIO Pretending to allow what we would prefer to prevent,

or to request what will be refused. See Girard, p. 285; the OED gives
this sense of reluctant permission as rare in English.
Exx: 'Go ahead!, if you must...'; Tou may laugh, but../
Ex:
PARIS: You know that if you kiss Helen, I will kill you!
HELEN: He doesn't mind dying, several times over even.
PARIS: What's wrong with him? Is he getting ready to leap upon
you? He's too polite for that ... Troilus, give Helen a kiss, you have
my permission.
J. Giraudoux, La Guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu, 2.2
Synonyms: epitrope ('ironical permission' [Peacham, The Garden of
Eloquence, in Espy, 1983, p. 174]; Joseph, p. 325; Fontanier, p. 149);
concessio (Lanham). The figures licence* and parrhesia include a request
for permission to speak candidly of unpleasant things.
Rl: The device is sometimes a form of simulation*, sometimes of
pseudo-simulation*, like irony*, to which it is related. See false -*.
R2: The device has its own intonation*. It usually takes the imperative
form. Ex:
Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.
George Herbert, The Pulley' (from The Temple)
PERMUTATION The device consists in varying the order, not of

words, as in the flip-flop*, nor of functions, as in hypallage*, nor pho-
nemes*, as in spoonerisms*, but of syllables, which, in most cases,
produces nothing more than a kind of scrambling*.
Exx: Tvla vie est serdame' for 'Madame est servie' (B. Vac, Saint-Pfyin
P.Q., p. 226) [an unintentional slip of the tongue caused by nervous-
ness]. However, Andre Breton's 'Ecusette de Noireuil' in L'Amour fou is
338
Persiflage
an intentional permutation by means of which he raises his grand-

daughter to the peerage by permuting the syllables of ecureuil (squirrel)
and noisette (hazel nut). Similarly, Raymond Queneau permutes groups
of letters of increasing length, some of them syllables in one of his
Exercises in Style.
Rl: We here use the word permutation in a special, restricted sense
produced by ellipsis* of the more comprehensible phrase 'permutation
of syllables between two words/ See also cryptography*, R2.
PERSIFLAGE Tight banter or raillery; a frivolous manner of treating

any subject' (OED).
Ex:
George the Third
Ought never to have occurred.
One can only wonder
At so grotesque a blunder.
E.G. Bentley, More Biographies,
as quoted in Espy, The Game of Words, p. 74
This is a clerihew (see poem*). See also graphy*, R2; and etymology*,
Rl.
Analogous: raillery; mockery; derision; diasyrmus ('disparagement of
opponent's argument through a base similitude' [Lanham]; 'sarcastic
irony' [Morier]); banter (Grambs); repartee (Redfern, p. 123)
Antonym: charientismus: 1. witty irony aiming to flatter; 2. 'clothing a
disagreeable sense with agreeable expressions; soothing over a diffi-
culty, or turning aside antagonism with a joke' (Lanham). Ex:
KING: Have you heard the argument? Is there no offence in't?
HAMLET: No, no, they do but jest, poison in jest; no offence i' the
world.
Rl: Sarcasm* is bitter or virulent and therefore an obvious form of
mockery*, whereas persiflage is less direct, closer to irony* in that it
frequently takes a witty form. Exx: 'Full-frontal nudity - and there's as
catch-penny an opening as you'll ever see - has now become accepted
by every branch of the theatrical profession with the possible exception
of female accordion players. There is, however, one group of per-
formers whom it threatens to relegate to the status of an endangered
species. Conjurors' (Fr. Muir and D. Norden, The 'My Word!' Stories,
p. 80); 'He [Bernard Shaw] hasn't an enemy in the world, and none of
his friends like him' (quoted in Shaw, Sixteen Self Sketches, p. 117). This
is chleuasmos*.
339
Personification
Persiflage may include antiphrasis*. Ex: Tou're looking well, this

morning' (to someone suffering from a hangover). It may also take the
form of grandiloquence* or parody*, or be concentrated in a sobriquet
or nickname. See also caricature*, R2, and intonation*.
PERSONIFICATION Endowing inanimate objects or abstractions

with life and human characteristics (see Preminger). See also Fontanier
(p. Ill), Lanham, Lausberg, OED, and Robert.
Ex: 'As every hammerer at a typewriter knows, QWERTYUIOP is the
blazon on the second bank of the keyboard from the top ... Without
Qwert Yuiop's willingness to submit to my punishing fingers I doubt if
I could have sustained the profession of author ... Qwert Yuiop in his
traditional form, which is not much different from the way he was in
the pioneering Remington days ... not only relates authorship to
artisanship; he separates the written from the writer ...' (A. Burgess, Bui
Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen? Homage to QWERTYUIOP and Other Writings,
pp. xii-xiii).
Synonym: animism (OED)
Rl: Fontanier adds that the device may take the form of metonymy*,
metaphor* (see metaphor, R4), or synecdoche*. It has a (nonpersonal)
tenor and a (personal) vehicle, linked by analogy, logic, or contiguity. If
the tenor is a person, the device is antonomasia*. If the vehicles are
multiple, it is allegory* (see allegory, R3). Fontanier also mentions
(p. 118) subjectification, synecdoche of persons ('my pen' for 'myself as
author'; 'your arms will fight' for 'you will fight'; he may be invoked
'by our tears' for 'by our grief). In our view, the word subjectification
would be better employed to describe speaking personifications which
are introduced as subjects into things or ideas, which they then repre-
sent 'from the inside,' as it were. Henri Michaux constantly uses the
device in his poetry. Ex: 'In the tepid breath of a young girl have I
taken my place' (L'Espace du dedans, p. 102). Thus, a thing or idea may
not only be personified but made identical with the enunciating 7. The
result is a negative isotopy*, and the effect hallucinatory. Ex: Through
suffering, I lost consciousness of my body's limits and grew irresistibly
larger. I became everything: ants particularly ... Frequently I turned
into a boa constrictor and, although somewhat embarrassed by my new
length, I would prepare for sleep, or else I was a bison and getting
ready to browse, but soon from my shoulder came a typhoon'
(H. Michaux, Encore des changements, in L'Espace du dedans, pp. 48-9).
R2: Personification markers vary, with the only indisputable ones being
identification with the person of the speaker (see prosopopoeia*) or
receiver (see apostrophe*). Capital letters, which stand as markers for
proper names or as signals of the beginnings of sentences*, may play a
role in emphasizing personifications (see emphasis*, R2). But in Que-
340
Phoebus
neau's sentence "The Ideal is the Family, the Homeland, Art' (Le Chien-
dent, p. 193), there is only emphasis without personification. When, on
the other hand, Hilaire Belloc writes, 'Strong Brother in God, and last
Companion: Wine' ('Heroic Poem in Praise of Wine,' in Complete Verse,
p. 86), the capitals personify because the context invites personification.
They emphasize as well, of course, and that is possibly their principal
function because personification does not need capital letters. Ex:
'Canada the wide-eyed farm boy was becoming street-wise, though not
truly wise' (Robertson Davies, What's Bred in the Bone, p. 495).
Another personification marker, syntactic in this case, is the subjec-
tive function of verbs requiring an animate, or human, subject. But this
makes an uncertain marker because it is used particularly for abstract
terms without personification. See dialogue*, R4. Ex: '[Sir Philip
Sydney's sonnets] are about love, they are not in love; they address love,
they do not speak out of it' (D. Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 91).
The metaphor* (see metaphor, R4) here is verbal. It is sometimes
sufficient merely to add a more reliable marker, or to multiply such
verbs, for the isotopy* to be inverted, which results in the noun appear-
ing to be a personification. Compare, for instance, 'Ingratitude, more
strong than traitors' arms, / Quite vanquished him' (Shakespeare,
Julius Caesar, 3.2.188-9) with 'Mischief, thou art afoot, / Take thou
what course thou wilt' (ibid., 3.2.265-6).
R3: Classical and neo-classical authors exploited decorative Olympian
personification. Fontanier (p. 120) calls the device 'mythologism,'
offering the following example from La Fontaine: 'Once Thetis had
chased away golden-haired Phoebus.' He goes on to explain: 'Now,
who can be unaware that ... Thetis is the goddess of the sea? that
Phoebus, otherwise known as Apollo, is the sun, the god of light? that
the sun, when it sets, goes to rest in the depths of the sea, next to
Thetis? and that, when Apollo rises, he is chased away by Thetis so
that day may return to the wordl?' The device of mythologism is now
considered archaic.
R4: Identification (see definition*, R2), which raises persons to the level
of ideas, is the opposite of personification, which animates ideas by per-
sonalizing them. See also denomination*, R3, and title* (of work), R3.
PHOEBUS ('An epithet of Apollo, particularly in his quality as the

god of light. The name often stands for the sun personified' [Benet's
Reader's Encyclopedia, 1987, 3rd ed.]. The name of the character be-
comes, metonymically, that of the device.) A text rendered barely
intelligible by the brilliant but incomprehensible presentation of simple
ideas. The closest term used by the English rhetors seems to be bom-
philogia (Joseph, Lanham). However, where the French term emphasizes
brilliance, the English discerns only boasting.
341
Phoebus
Ex (of bomphilogia, quoted by Joseph, p. 71): 'FALSTAFF: I am a rogue if

I were not at half-sword with a dozen of them two hours together. I
have scap'd by miracle. I am eight times thrust through the doublet,
four through the hose; my buckler cut through and through; my sword
hack'd like a handsaw - ecce signum! I have never felt better since I
was a man ... if I fought not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish!
If there were not two and fifty upon poor old Jack, then am I no two-
legg'd creature' (Shakespeare, Henry iv, Ft 1, 2.4.182-208).
Analogous terms: rodomontade (from a character called Rodomonte, a
boastful Saracen king in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso); amphigouri (a term
less archaic than phoebus but also more pejorative); nonsense* (pejo-
rative); gibberish* (pejorative)
Same definition (emphasizing brilliance, rather than boasting, in
French): Girard, pp. 132, 244 CExcess ornamentation produces obscure
ideas').
Other definitions: See literary* games.
Rl: Phoebus is a form of baroquism* (see baroquism, R3). If the text's
difficulty springs from meaning* (see abstract, analogical meaning*,
etc.), hermeticism replaces phoebus. Properly speaking, hermetic
philosophy goes back to the sacred texts of ancient Egypt.
R2: If the hidden sense does not in fact exist, we have verbigeration*.
R3: The term gibberish should be reserved for the kind of frequently
encountered obscurity which is involuntary. Ex: These love affairs
seem more or less normal to us.' (Does this mean that they are fairly
normal, or fairly abnormal?)
R4: The phoebus exploits tropes, ellipsis*, periphrasis*, litotes* (see
litotes, R4), and riddles* (see riddle, R4). One easy way to produce
phoebus is to use double figuration (figures within figures). Puns* are a
type of phoebus because they are composed of equivoque* combined
with concomitant periphrasis* (see pun*, R3). Other devices placed one
upon another produce phoebus. Ex: 'No pity for the Marly maze.' In
order to decode this, one has to refer to the slogan* (considered typical
of middle-class sentimentality): 'Pity the Marly horses [les chevaux de
Marly].' The muddled middle-class mind may also call up the notion of
'maze' [echeveau]. The expression's obscurity springs initially from its
superposition of an allusion* (to the slogan) onto an equivoque*. Less
obscure is the following ad in a dentist's office: 'Ignore your teeth and
they'll go away.' The axiom combines irony* with a possible allusion*
to such optimistic proverbial saws as Ignorance is bliss' and Ignore a
problem and it will go away.'
342
Plan
PICTOGRAM 'A written symbol* which denotes a definite object, of

which it is a complete or simplified picture' (Pei and Gaynor).
Exx (used in publicity):
In literature, the term might be applied to drawings accompanying the

text, to graphisms* (see graphism, Rl) whose shapes evoke the thing
referred to. Ex: Old S0L
Ex: Eco uses pictograms in The Name of the Rose for cryptographic
purposes ('Second Day: Compline') and also to enable readers to follow
William of Baskerville's topographical analysis of the monastery
library's cataloguing system ('Fourth Day: After Compline').
Analogous terms: drawing, picture, icon (Peirce), ideogram. See also
graphy*, R5.
Other definitions: In its more restricted sense, the pictogram is a
drawing which transcribes a sentence*, whereas a drawing of a single
word is an ideogram (see Crystal [1987] and Dubois et al., Dictionnaire
de linguistique). But the possible opposition between these two words is
sometimes used differently. According to Etiemble (L'Art d'gcrire, pp.
32-3), pictograms are figurative, whereas ideograms are coded (see
symbol*, 3).
Rl: Calligrammes* resemble pictograms, as does the rebus (see
allograph*, Rl).
R2: Vignettes, 'ornament(s) round capital letter etc. or in blank space,'
complete a printer's font or 'set of type of same face and size' (Concise
Oxford Dictionary).
PLAN The arrangement of the parts of a work.

The plan, when there is one, varies according to literary genre. But
long, complex genres usually require an introduction or exposition, a
development - logical, chronological, or organic - and a conclusion,
peroration, or denouement, according to whether the genre used is
essayistic, oratorical, or dramatic. That is the 'natural order' (Lausberg,
sect. 446).
Rhetoric, which came into being with democracy, gave particular at-
tention to the production of detailed plans for public discourse*, in the
forensic, deliberative, and ceremonial genres (e.g., academic addresses
or those made on special occasions), and later in religious eloquence.
The following are the parts outlined by ancient and modern rhetors.
The exordium, often supported by a text, consists of the proposition
343
Plan
or enunciation of the thesis to be defended (Corbett, p. 303). (When

pleading at the bar, barristers may have a narratio precede the introduc-
tion.) A divisio follows which outlines the different points to be devel-
oped. An invocation, addressed to some human, divine, or mythological
person, may be inserted at this point.
The main body of the discourse includes the proofs of the proposi-
tion; that is, after a skilful narratio, the arguments*. The positive argu-
ments forming the confirmatio come first (Corbett, Lanham); then comes
the defensive strategy: the confutation or refutation* of the opponent's
arguments by pointing out objections to them. See Lausberg, sect. 430,
and Suberville, pp. 406—10.
The peroratio contains a recapitulation of the proposition and its
parts, or communicates the emotions aroused by it: indignation, pity,
hope, resolve, etc.
Rl: We need still to consider what these discursive subdivisions
become in literary genres, where they are not codified. The divisio is to
be found in any scientific treatise; the final emotional appeal appears at
the end of personal correspondence. The absence of any kind of sub-
division makes of a work a monobloc.
R2: Even if its chapters are preceded by an introduction, a book may
begin with a preface (or set of introductory remarks, sometimes ad-
dressed to an authority in the field), or foreword (a short discourse*), or
a short notice from the editor. It may end with a postface, even though
there is already a conclusion.
R3: Transitions between the different parts are presented in order to
ensure a better texture, or liaison between them (Lausberg). Ex: 'What
were the consequences, and what was Yorick's catastrophe thereupon,
you will read in the next chapter' (L. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. 1,
ch. 11).
R4: Balance and naturalness are the two qualities of a plan, but they
are difficult to reconcile. Michelet quite justly denounces the speech
made by Jean Petit after the assassination of the Duke of Orleans in
1408: 'Exordium: twelve qualities of the Duke of Burgundy; syllogism:
major subdivided into three "truths," each in six parts, with eight
corollaries, all to say that covetousness deserves death; then the minor:
the sin of Orleans was covetousness, which deserves death because
covetousness caused four cases of apostasy (plus narratives). Then
twelve "proofs" drawn from authorities going from Saint Thomas to
the noble Tullius [Cicero]' (Payen, p. 41). This kind of plan has been
compared to Gothic architecture; in both, artifice reigns triumphant.
If we wish to avoid an imbalance between parts which are logically
articulated but which call for subdivisions and presentations of un-
equal lengths, the numbering of sections (1, 2 ...), subsections (1.1, 1.2
...), and so on (1.1.1,1.1.2 ...) offers greater flexibility than the labelling
344
Pleonasm
of chapters by Roman numerals (I, n ...)/ paragraphs by Arabic numer-

als (§1, §2 ...), points covered by letters (A, B ...), and other divisions by
smaller or less bold letters and numerals. Harmony of proportion in
architecture or in a discourse* is called eurhythmy (OED).
R5: See also amplification*; imitation*, R8; letter*; and paragraph*, R2.
PLEONASM 1. A superabundance of words which strengthen what

is expressed. See Espy, 1983, p. 124; Fontanier, p. 302; Marouzeau;
OED; and Quinn, pp. 61-3.
Ex (of double pleonasm): 'I saw with my own eyes, I heard with my
own ears.'
2. Redundancy*, using useless words, a defect tending towards battol-
ogy*. See Lanham, Quinn ('pleonasmus'), Marouzeau, and OED.
Ex: 'To be inundated is to be overwhelmed by a wave, and to be
redundant is to be overflowing, unnecessarily wordy, tautologous,
overabundant, excessive, or using too many synonyms in a single
definition' (William Safire, 'On Language,' New York Times, 12 Nov.
1983). See also punch* line.
Analogous: perissology* (incorrect pleonasm), tautology*, redundancy*,
battology*, asterismos (Quinn, p. 63)
Rl: Confusion reigns concerning the terms pleonasm, perissology*,
redundance (or redundancy*), and battology*. The following distinctions
are possible:
1. Pleonasm: repetition* of an idea by the use of two or more different
words within the same member of a sentence.
2. Perissology: an (involuntary) pleonasm which produces a mistake*.
3. Redundance/redundancy: repetition of an idea in two separate
sentences or two separate members of the same sentence.
4. Battology: excessive, unjustified redundance.
Only pleonasms and redundancy are considered stylistic devices;
perissologies and battologies are mistakes* and can only be used as
such (in ironical or comic texts).
Strictly speaking, pleonasms presuppose repetition of the signified
without isolexism*. They are one of the most natural forms of em-
phasis* (e.g., 'He added several supplementary details') which only
seems wrong (see perissology*) when blatant (e.g., 'progressively better
and better' or 'to foresee in advance'). An example from contemporary
literature [from a review of The Holy Blood, the Holy Grail, by M. Bai-
gent, R. Leigh, and H. Lincoln]: 'Alternatively, there was no grail: the
sangraal is the sang royal: the title of the book is a pleonasm' (A. Bur-
gess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 33).
R2: Both Morier and Quinn criticize pleonasm 'phobia/ Morier distin-
345
Poem (Forms of)
guishes the 'semi-pleonasm' (e.g., 'a pool of water/ since pool alone
evokes water despite the fact that pools of oil or blood exist) from
'false pleonasm' (e.g., 'to light a fire,' 'to go up to the attic'). A fire
must be lit in order to burn, and despite the fact that an attic is an
upstairs room, it is not the only one. In either case precision is needed:
we can light other things than fires (candles, passions, etc.) and go
upstairs to bed. See also etymology*, other def.
R3: In poetry, enallage* permits one to 'cure' pleonasm. Otherwise,
pleonasm seems best avoided. See epitheton*, Rl.
POEM (FORMS OF) In antiquity poems were classified in most

cases by their content or tone: epic was legendary; eclogue, pastoral;
elegy, plaintive; satire, critical; and so on.
In the fourteenth century, the Grands Rhetoriqueurs defined fixed-
form poems in French by length of line* and stanza*, rhyme* scheme,
and other formal elements. English and North American prosody
adopted and adapted antique and modern forms from around the
world and originated as well their own in accordance with their own
demands and constraints.
Descriptions and examples of all the following poetic forms may be
found in Lewis Turco's The New Book of Forms: A Handbook of Poetics,
Henri Morier's Dictionnaire de po&ique et de rh&orique, Miller Williams's
Patterns of Poetry, Frances Stillman's The Poet's Manual and Rhyming
Dictionary, Philip Da vies Roberts's How Poetry Works, and Alex Premin-
ger's Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: alba, ballade*, ballade
royale, blues, calligramme*, cancione, canso, carol, catalog poem, chant royal,
chantey, cinquain, clerihew, complaint, double ballade, eclogue, elegy, englyn,
epithalamium, hymn, kyrielle, lay (or lai, virelay or virelai, plus virelai
nouveau), limerick, Little Willie, madrigal, ode* (Pindaric, Horatian,
irregular), rhyme royal, rondeau (of 10 or 15 lines), rondeau redouble,
roundel (French or Chaucerian), rondelet, sapphic, sestina (rhymed or
unrhymed), sonnet* (Italian or Petrarchan, English or Shakespearian,
Spenserian, Miltonic), terza rima, triolet, villanelle.
From the Orient have come the pantoum of Malay origin, the haiku, a
Japanese form in three lines (of 5, 7, and 5 syllables) counting 17
syllables in all, and the tanka, also Japanese (5 lines containing 31
syllables: arranged 5,7,5,7,7). From Persia came the rubai or 'Omar
Khayyam Quatrain' (Preminger).
The progressive disappearance of fixed forms, a process begun in the
nineteenth century, has accompanied the replacement of regular verse
forms by free verse. The form chosen no longer predetermines, by
convention, versification, spatialization, and theme* (and vice versa).
Each poem nowadays possesses its own structure. The task of the
stylistic analyst is by no means made easier by the new freedom, and
we have much to learn in this field.
346
Point
In prose poetry (or poemes en prose) too, the finished quality of some
overall structures, which are being continually renewed, remains
scarcely more than intuitively accessible. Observations concerning free-
form poetry may be found under rhythm*; line* (of poetry or verse);
dialogue*, Rl; accumulation*, R4; noise*; calligramme*- correspond-
ences*; echo* effect, R3; graphic juxtaposition*; letter*, Rl; metaphor*,
Rl; prosopopoeia*, R3; stanza*, R5; and tempo*, R3.
Rl: See also acrostic*; epanalepsis*, R3; epanorthosis*, R4; inclusion*;
motif*, 2; rhyme*, 2; well-wishing*, R4; metrical verse (under line* of
poetry); adynaton*, Rl; assonance*; maxim*; tempo*; and harmony*.
POINT 'Subtle ideas (generally very short and witty presented in

antithetical form) aiming to challenge the reader's wit' (M.W. Croll,
Style, Rhetoric and Rhythm, p. 29).
Exx: "What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed' (A. Pope, An
Essay on Criticism, 1. 298); 'In this abbey something has happened that
requires the attention and counsel of an acute and prudent man such
as you are. Acute in uncovering, and prudent (if necessary) in cover-
ing' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 29).
Other definition: Lanham (p. 78) speaks of the 'pointed style,' adding
that the expression was used in discussions of seventeenth-century
prose style to refer to 'a style usually Senecan [curt, paratactic sentences
expressing sententiae or aphorisms] in which rhetorical figures (often
schemes, especially those of balance and antithesis*, of word- and
sound-play) are used to clarify, reinforce, "point" a meaning. The effect
is often epigrammatic ... The noun "point" often means the Sententia, or
meaning, which was thus epigrammatically expressed.'
Rl: In its purest form, the point is an irresistible quip used for ending a
paragraph* (just as the hit completes a series of passes in fencing). Ex:
'Interpreter, n. One who enables two persons of different languages to
understand each other by repeating to each what it would have been to
the interpreter's advantage for the other to have said' (Ambrose Bierce,
The Devil's Dictionary). Points may take the form of aporia (see riddle*,
Rl). They presuppose wit* in both producer and receiver.
R2: Modern points quite readily replace reasoning* with word-play*,
antimetabole*, etc. Ex: The weapon of criticism certainly cannot replace
the criticism of weapons' (K. Marx, Critique of Hegel's 'Philosophy of
Right', p. 137). Bierce's stories and short pieces frequently end with a
formal point of this kind. Ex: 'Christianity in Action. On last Monday
two little Christians (with a big C) were up before his Honor (with a
big H) for pelting a Chinaman with rocks. On account of their youth,
good character, color, nationality, religion and the politics of their
347
Polysyndeton
fathers, they were let off with a reprimand' (The Devil's Advocate: An
Ambrose Bierce Reader, p. 109).
R3: Like conceits*, which they resemble, points may combine meta-
phor* with antimetabole*. Ex: 'And he answered that the beauty of the
cosmos derives not so much from unity in variety, but also from
variety in unity' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 16).
POLYSYNDETON The repetition* of conjunctions more frequently

than grammatical order demands (see Littre). See also Lanham, Laus-
berg, and Preminger.
Ex: 'And the basement kitchen in nipping February, with napkins on
the line slung across from door to chockablock corner, and a bicycle by
the larder very much down at wheels, and hats and toy engines and
bottles and spanners on the broken rocking chair, and billowing papers
and half-finished crosswords stacked on the radio always turned full
tilt, and the fire smoking, and onions peeling, and chips always spit-
ting on the stove, and small men in their overcoats talking of self-
discipline and the ascetic life until the air grew woodbine-blue and the
clock choked and the traffic died' (Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One
Morning, pp. 40-1).
Other name: polysyntheton (Lausberg)
Antonym: asyndeton*
Rl: According to Quintilian (9.3), polysyndeton and asyndeton* are
complementary: the two figures are no more than an accumulation* of
words or sentences piled one upon another; the only difference is that
conjunctions are sometimes added and sometimes omitted. In 'normal'
accumulations, in both English and French, a single and or et suffices
(e.g., 'The tailor, his son, and the dog'). This practice is intermediate
between the two figures.
R2: According to Corbett (pp. 470-1) and Quinn (p. 13), polysyndeton,
by slowing down a sentence, may add 'dignity' to it, produce an
incantatory effect, or 'produce the flow and continuity of experience'
(Corbett, p. 470). According to Cressot (see Le Franqais moderne 9 [1941],
pp. 82-3), the repetition of et has rather a disjunctive than a conjunctive
function. The example from Dylan Thomas quoted above seems equally
to illustrate that the English and, when used in enumerations, tends to
produce a catalogue or inventory of discrete items, be they objects,
persons, or actions.
R3: Polysyndeton produces binary or ternary structures by using and,
or, etc. to group elements in pairs, triplets, and so on. Other conjunc-
tions may be repeated: 'After the sunsets and the dooryards and the
sprinkled streets, / After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts
348
Portmanteau Word
that trail along the floor' (T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Pru-
frock/ 11. 101-2).
R4: We speak of polysyndeton in the case of co-ordinating conjunc-
tions, but it seems also to exist in that of subordinating conjunctions,
and even in that of connecting adverbs. Ex: '// both of the lines A and
C are parallel to the line B, then the lines A and C are parallel to one
another/
PORTMANTEAU WORD The amalgamation of two words on the

basis of partial homophony, with the result that each retains enough of
its original lexical physiognomy to remain recognizable.
Exx: 'brunch' (< breakfast + lunch); 'steakwiches' (< steak + sand-
wiches); 'smog' (< smoke + fog)
Ex: 'When a man fell into his anecdotage it was a sign for him to retire
from the world' (B. Disraeli, Lothair, ch. 28) (< anecdote + dotage). See
also 'conversationmanship' (R. Ebert, Two Weeks in the Midday Sun,
p. 41) (< conversation + one-upmanship, an allusion* to Stephen
Potter's OneUpmanship [1952]).
Synonyms: blend, lexical interlocking, centaur-word (Redfern, p. 88),
telescope word, semantic conflation
Antonyms: etymology*; deportmanteau word ('the division of a port-
manteau word into its original constitutive elements' [Oulipo, A Primer
of Potential Literature, p. 198])
Rl: The device usually aims at creating semantic syllepsis*. Ex: 'Time
magazine and theatrical columnists are well known for the technique of
intentionally combining two words to form the new blend: slanguage,
sextraordinary, and alcoholidays' (Peter Farb, Word Play, p. 307).
R2: Michaux indicates one of the device's psychic origins: 'Some insane
people for whom there are impressions ... which impose themselves
uncontrollably, which attain consciousness impetuously and all at the
same time ... create, out of necessity, new words ... Thus, a mentally sick
person may repeat endlessly "penetraversed," i.e., penetrated at the
same time as traversed' (H. Michaux, Connaissance par les gouffres,
p. 128). Michaux himself experimented with the phenomenon, creating
among others the word monstruellement (< monstrueusement/Monstrous-
ly + cruellement/cruelly) in Paix dans les brisements. See also lapsus*.
R3: If a word invented in this way enters the language, linguists speak
of a blend word, or one obtained by blending (Adams, Bauer), or by
contamination (Pei and Gay nor). The phenomenon also exists in nature:
crossing a horse with a donkey produces a mule.
R4: Modelled on children's counting-out rhymes (e.g., 'Eeny, meeny,
349
Portrait
myny, mo')/ there is a game which consists of inventing potential

portmanteau words or telescoped sentences (see telescoping*).
R5: Portmanteau words are not far removed from coinages* and
paragrams.
PORTRAIT 'A physical and moral description* of an animate being,

either real or fictional' (Fontanier, p. 428). See also Lausberg, Littre,
Quillet, and Robert. In English, definitions of portrait refer more specifi-
cally to graphic representation than to written descriptions; nor do they
usually make the distinction between physical and moral traits; see
OED.
Ex: 'Her nose must once have been what was called cute but now was
too small for her face. Her face was not fat but it was large. Two lines
led downwards from the corners of her mouth; between them was her
chin, clenched like a fist' (Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, p. 15).
Analogous: prosopographia, physical description (Fontanier, Joseph,
Lanham, Lausberg); effictio or blazon ('the head-to-toe itemization of a
heroine's charms' [Lanham]); ethopoeia, moral description (Fontanier,
Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg); character-study. The French term portrait-
charge indicates an unkind character sketch or caricature*.
Rl: Like any form of description, portraits may be drawn from a
character's viewpoint, with or without identification occurring between
author/narrator and character, or between reader and character. The
narrator of Robertson Davies's What's Bred in the Bone comments on the
subjective use of portrait-making made by creator, sitter, and receiver:
'... Francis [an artist] learned ... that a portrait is, among other things, a
statement of opinion by the artist, as well as a "likeness," which was
what everybody wanted it to be' (p. 107).
R2: The physical and moral portrait has long had the dignity of a
literary genre and, as a principal means of representing character, has
often been used as a criterion for judging fiction. See R. Fowler, 'Char-
acter,' in A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms (1987). Joyce's Portrait of
the Artist as a Young Man, as well as Dylan Thomas's Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Dog, might be taken as incorporating exemplary
modern forms of the humorous portrait. The following displays a
dramatic shift of viewpoint: 'One minute I was small and cold, skulk-
ing dead-scared down a black passage in my stiff, best suit, with my
hollow belly thumping and my heart like a time bomb, clutching my
grammar school cap, unfamiliar to myself, a snub-nosed storyteller lost
in his own adventures and longing to be home; the next I was a royal
nephew in smart town clothes, embraced and welcomed, standing in
the snug centre of my stories and listening to the clock announcing me'
(D. Thomas, The Peaches,' in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, p. 4).
350
Prayer
R3: Portraits may also be 'dramatic' in another sense: produced, that is,
by 'showing' rather than 'telling/ The change in perspective in the
previous example might have been achieved by a narrative* of action
or through dialogue*. See hypotyposis*, R4.
PRAEMUNITIO (L. 'strengthening beforehand') Preparing one's

hearers to receive some proposition that might offend them, if it were
introduced too abruptly. See Littre.
Exx: Tor the most wild, yet most homely narrative which I am about
to pen, I neither expect nor solicit belief. Mad indeed would I be to
expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their evidence ... Here-
after, perhaps, some intellect may be found which will reduce my
phantasm to the common-place ...' (E.A. Poe, opening lines of The
Black Cat'); 'Let me light another Schimmelpenninck and be coarse. A
friend of mine slept with one of these exquisite dream figures [i.e.,
mannequins] and said it was like going to bed with a bicycle'
(A. Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 86).
Analogous: 'procatasceue (G. "prepares beforehand"): giving an audi-
ence a gradual preparation and buildup before telling them about
something done; diorthosis; prodiorthosis; praecedens correctio' (Lanham).
See also response*, R2.
Rl: The praemunitio frequently forms part of the preface or 'notice' to
the reader.
PRAYER Texts, either private or officially recognized by some reli-

gious denomination, by means of which one addresses some transcen-
dental or immanent being, greater and more powerful than oneself.
Exx:
Now I lay me down to sleep;
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Anon. First printed in the New England Primer, 1781
O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul!
Anon. Prayer of a common soldier before the battle of Blenheim.
Quoted in Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua, 1864
O Death, where is thy sting-a-ling-a-ling,
O Grave, thy victoree?
The bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you but not for me.
Anon. Song popular in the British Army in France, 1914-18
351
Prayer
Analogous: orison (archaic), meditation (reflection rather than adora-

tion), paternoster, rosary
Rl: Prayers generally begin with an invocation in the form of an
apostrophe* which performs the phatic function of establishing 'con-
tact' (see enunciation*). Ex: At the beginning of the psalms, we read
formulas like 'How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts!'
(Psalm 84). The formula of address has become fixed, an interjection*
almost devoid of meaning*, as in current forms like 'My God, how
she's changed!'
After the apostrophe*, there may follow one of the many forms of
entreaty (see supplication*, Rl, and exorcism*) or a benediction (see
celebration*), a curse (see well-wishing*), or a dialogue*. Ex:
Glory be to God for dappled things.
...
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, 'Pied Beauty'
Protests are not ruled out, though they may be softened, as in
Milton's sonnet 'On His Blindness':
'Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?'
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, 'God does not need
Either man's work or his own gifts.'
The ending of a prayer has a marker: Amen. See punch* line, R2.
R2: The Being, of whatever nature, addressed by what are called the
'religious' figures of speech, need be only very broadly identified as
something or someone greater and more powerful than the speaker.
Such a Being must be thought to be more capable of bringing to
fruition some plan involving either the world, in general, or merely the
speaker. The transcendental nature of such a Being, to which we will
refer simply as the source of Power, becomes particularly clear in re-
quests made for victory over an enemy, or for the turning aside of
some disaster, etc. The immanence, or innate power of such a Being,
seems to be some form of inner strength. Ex: 'Blessed be He in homo-
sexuality! Blessed be He in Paranoia! Blessed be He in the city! Blessed
be He in the Book! Blessed be He who dwells in the shadow!' (Allen
Ginsberg, 'Hymmnn,' in Ellmann, ed., The Oxford Book of American
Verse, p. 928).
352
Preterition
R3: According to J. Ladriere ('La Performativite du langage liturgique/

Concilium 82, nos. 7-8 [Feb. 1973], p. 58f), liturgical language, par-
ticularly in the Christian variety, is performative from three points of
view. (1) It 'arouses a certain affective disposition' [in the listener],
such as 'confidence, veneration, gratitude, submission, contrition, etc.'
(2) It creates a community of speakers, who speak of themselves as
'we' and 'us,' and who, as they participate in the communion service,
become 'members of Christ's body.' (3) By repeating the historical
words uttered by Christ, by testifying in unison to the accomplishment
of the mystery, and by accomplishing again the sacrament of the Last
Supper, speakers cause a particular eschatological event from the past
to recur in the present.
PRETERITION 'A figure by which summary mention is made of a

thing, in professing to omit it' (OED). See also Lanham, Lausberg,
Littre, and Morier. Both Quinn (pp. 70-1) and Fontanier (p. 143) add
that such a declaration of omission is in fact a way of emphasizing the
allegedly omitted material.
Exx: 'If I were to call any figure inherently disreputable (which, of
course, I will not), this would be the one. Nor will I mention that the
only American president who repeatedly used the praeteritio was also
the only one who had to resign' (Quinn, p. 71); The giant rat of Sumat-
ra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared' (Conan Doyle, The
Sussex Vampire,' in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes).
Ex:
He won't talk any more of the distant days
Of his childhood in the coalface and the tavern
And all his cronies who had left him behind
In the ragged little hut by the river
W.H. Davies, The Angry Summer,' in Collected Poems
Synonyms: paralipsis (Corbett, p. 490, Joseph, p. 325, Lausberg, Morier,
Robert); paralepsis (Lanham); pretermission (Fontanier, Lausberg,
Littre, Morier, OED, Robert). Lanham also gives: occupatio, occultatio,
and parasiopesis.
Rl: As already pointed out, the device is eminently rhetorical (see false-"
Rl). It draws attention to the interplay between enunciation* (uttering)
and utterance (content, lexis, or dictum; in logic, the latter two terms
indicate what is said independently of a thing's truth or 'virtual value').
When enunciation ceases to be implicit (an utterance being preceded by
'I say'), it becomes possible for it to contradict itself ('I am not saying
that ...'), which may shake its authority, reducing the force of an af-
firmation to that of an uncertain idea. The device may begin with at-
353
Preterition
tenuation*, though not with litotes*. Ex: 'I'm not saying that you get a
load of riffraff down the mine, I'm just saying that we had a load of
riffraff down my mine' (A. Bennett, P. Cook, J. Miller, and D. Moore,
'Sitting on the Bench,' in The Complete Beyond the Fringe, p. 97). Or else
the expression conceals an apodioxis (see argument*, R2): It would
take too long to demonstrate here that .../ (the conclusion of which
statement implies nonetheless that the demonstration has indeed taken
place).
Apparent preterition is sometimes only a summary: 'I will not say
that he is the author of twelve books ...' In other words, 1 will not
spend much time on this fact, important though it may be.' Expressions
like T don't need to tell you that ...,' 'I won't remind you how ...,' as
well as 'not to mention ...' and 'to say nothing of ...' (Quinn, p. 71) are
also semi-preteritions which hardly emphasize an utterance, except in
certain contexts. Others draw attention to the speaker's hesitation: Tvlr
Sicaro, without wishing to name him.' The expression is normally a kind
of excuse* which means the person in question must be named, or that
some (disagreeable) words must be used. Ex: 'I have said these things
to you, Brother William, obviously not to gossip about the abbot or
other brothers. God save me, fortunately I do not have the nasty habit
of gossiping' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 125). Semi-preteritions
may also foregound euphemisms*. Ex: '... the morgue (a not very entic-
ing locality, not to say gruesome to a degree, more especially at night)'
(Joyce, Ulysses, p. 502). True preterition is a form of pseudo-simulation,
concealing the better to display. This is particularly useful in discus-
sion, but the reason may also lie in a lack of the appropriate term. Ex:
'O charms of love, who could describe you!' (Constant, Adolphe).
Alphonse Allais foregrounds preterition in order to ridicule the de-
vice: Trofessional ethics prevent me from revealing my patient's iden-
tity, and so I will not name him in this letter. However, not wishing to
seem a joker, I will simply say that the said sick man is called A. L...,
a grocer in St H... on S... (Hautes-Alpes), who should be contacted for
information. (All the proper names contained in parentheses are given
fully. The editors of Sourire decided, however, that the initials alone
would be amply sufficient)' (A. Allais, La Barbe et autres conies, p. 109).
R2: Another kind of preterition consists in the pretence that one has no
wish to do what one then proceeds to do. Ex: 1 am not trying to
discourage (or offend, disillusion, bore) you, but ...' Compare the
expression 'Allow me to play devil's advocate.' Whether such expres-
sions are made sincerely or whether, on the contrary, speakers are
simply using litotes* makes no great difference to their effect. Ex: 'FIRST
FURY: I have no ulterior motive, nor any wish to influence you ... But if
a word such as this one [i.e., "yours"] were to kill your sister, we
would be very happy!' (Jean Giraudoux, Electre, 1.12). See also aposio-
pesis*, R2.
354
Prolepsis
R3: We might call the opposite device, namely, reminding the reader
that one has already said something before repeating it, counter-
preterition. Ex: 'But I remember, I think, that I have already offered this
description; I have already told you of the high wall of hedges which
end by imprisoning you, this path ...' (Goethe, The Sorrows of Young
Werther, trans. E. Mayer and L. Bogan, p. 83).
R4: Preterition may be compared to dubitatio*. Ex: 'Dare I speak of
Chronology ... Dare I disturb your youthful notion of causality ... Will I
tell you that the passing years ...' (P. Valery, Oeuvres, 1:1131). See also
transition*.
R5: Umberto Eco points out the use made of preterition by narrators of
historical novels: the device serves to communicate the 'background'
information necessary to the reader's understanding of the action:
'Adso's narrative style is based on that rhetorical device called preteri-
tion or paralepsis, or "passing over" ... The speaker, in other words,
claims he will not speak of something that everyone knows perfectly
well, and as he is saying this, he speaks of the thing. This is more or
less the way Adso mentions people and events as being well known
but still does speak of them' (U. Eco, Postscript to 'The Name of the Rose,'
p. 39).
PRETEXT An irrefutable argument* whose only defect, one difficult

to denounce flatly, is that it is false or irrelevant to the point at issue.
Ex: a political party claiming to rise above party politics. See abstrac-
tion*, R6.
Ex: 'By being so long in the lowest form [at Harrow] I gained an
immense advantage over the cleverer boys ... I got into my bones the
essential structure of the ordinary English sentence - which is a noble
thing' (W.S. Churchill, My Early Life, ch. 2). In order to prove his point
(that is, that being a dunce is no bad thing), he shifts the question. See
also concession*, R3.
Synonym: pareuresis
Rl: In riddles* or conundrums, word-play* supplies pretexts as solu-
tions. Ex: 'What has four legs and flies? A dead horse.'
PROLEPSIS 'A figure in which objections or arguments* are anti-

cipated in order to preclude their use, answer them in advance, or pre-
pare them for an unfavourable reaction: = Procatalepsis' (OED). See also
Fontanier (p. 410), Grambs, Lanham, Lausberg, and Morier (sense 2).
Exx: 'I know it will be said, continued my father (availing himself of
the Prolepsis), that [sex] in itself, and simply taken - like hunger, or
355
Prophecy
thirst, or sleep - 'tis an affair neither good or bad - or shameful or

otherwise' (Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. 9, ch. 33); 'I must
declare an interest. Jeffrey Cook's book on Romantic drama sets out to
refute (most courteously) one of the central proposals in The Death of
Tragedy. In that book I argued ...' (George Steiner, TLS, 12-18 Feb. 1988,
p. 168).
Synonymous: procatalepsis (Peacham); 'anticipation and answering of
an opposing argument or objection' (Grambs); 'pre-emptive strike in
argument' (Cuddon); anticipated refutation* or prevention; anticipation
(Lanham [anticipatio], Scaliger, Bary, 1:426); praeoccupatio (Lanham,
Fontanier); praeceptio, praesumptio, presumptuous (Lanham); ante occupatio
(Fontanier, Lanham, Littre)
Other definitions: anticipation in the term's several senses, including
narrative flash-forward* (Cuddon, Genette, OED, Littre); dislocation*;
pregnant meaning (Marouzeau, Morier; see meaning*, 5)
Rl: Prolepsis has two parts. The first puts words into the opponent's
mouth by expressions like 'You will say .../ Tou will object ...,' etc.
According to Lamy (see Le Hir, p. 136), this is the prolepsis proper.
The second part refutes the putative objection. Lamy calls this the
upobola.
A more detailed scenario includes anticipated dialogue*. But we
should distinguish clearly between prolepsis and subjectio (responding
in the place of an accused person; see question*, R3) since prolepsis is
not concerned with an opponent's real objection.
The second part may take any form of refutation*, including apodi-
oxis and disqualification (see argument*, R2), or excuses*. Ex: 'I apolo-
gize in advance for the weakness of my case, to which you will object ...
PROPHECY The confident announcement* of some future event by

an individual vouchsafed knowledge of it by some transcendental
Being on whom the future may depend.
Ex [An eagle passes overhead; Helen stands up and says]: 'Listen,
while with such inspiration as I have I explain this omen and what I
feel sure it portends. Just as this eagle came down from his native
mountains and pounced on our home-fed goose, so shall Odysseus,
after many hardships and many wanderings, reach his home and have
his revenge' (Homer, The Odyssey, trans. E.V. Rieu, book 15).
Ex (from modern publicity): Try brand X, and you'll find it will reduce
the work by half.'
Synonymous: foretelling, oracle (see riddle*), vaticination, prognostica-
tion, diabole (Lanham)
356
Prosopopoeia
Rl: The temporality of the utterance coincides with that of its enun-
ciation* thus conferring upon the device its considerable illocutionary
power. Prophecies simulate or postulate future accomplishment. Such
power is impossible in narrative* save by the introduction of some
second-degree utterance. A similar reduction of illocutionary force
occurs when prophecy becomes merely the announcement* of some
future consensus. Ex: 'Those who love beauty of language will continue
to denigrate such neologisms' (Greimas). Michaux's striking paradoxes*
are too universal in scope to be prophecies: Tn the darkness we shall
see clearly, my brothers / In the labyrinth, we shall find the true path'
(L'Espace du dedans, p. 152). But the use of the future tense with precise,
unique temporal actualization is sufficient to make the most banal of
texts into a prophecy. Ex: Tou will see him a little later ... A friend will
be with him, and you will hear these words' (Queneau, 'Prognosti-
cation/ in Exercises in Style, p. 15). The only thing missing is the claim
to be divinely inspired. It is the making of such a claim which distin-
guishes prophecy from mere forecasts, declarations of intent or convic-
tion, and promises. See flash-forward*, Rl.
Future time is sometimes only implied, as in the following title* of a
report on pollution: The Final Thirty Years of the Earth.'
R2: Curses are prophecies of disaster. Ex [The Lord will say on the
seventh day after the coming of the Antichrist]: 'Far from me, ye
accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for you by the
Devil and his ministers! You yourselves have earned it and now enjoy
it! Go ye from me, descending into the eternal darkness and into the
unquenchable fire!' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 405). As the ex-
ample shows, prophecies may take apocalyptic form. See apocalypse*
and supplication*, Rl.
R3: Different from prophecy is kerygma, evangelical proclamation or
preaching (OED), in which what is proclaimed in the name of the Deity
is some quasi-present event. Ex: 'You know the word which he [God]
sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace, preaching good news of
peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), the word which was pro-
claimed throughout all Judea ...' (Acts of the Apostles, 10:36-7).
R4: Unlike prophecies proclaimed to all hearers, premonitions are
confused glimpses of what may occur at some future time.
PROSOPOPOEIA The 'presentation of absent, dead, or supernatural

beings, or even inanimate objects, with the ability to act, speak, and
respond' (Fontanier, p. 404). See also Espy (1983), Lanham, Lausberg,
Littre, Morier, OED, and Preminger.
Ex (quoted by Fontanier): 'O Fabricius! What would your great soul
have said ...? Gods! what would you have said, what have they be-
357
Prosopopoeia
come, these thatched cottages and rustic hearths where used to live
moderation and virtue?' (J.-J. Rousseau, Discours sur les Sciences et les
Arts).
Rl: Prosopopoeia is a figure of elevated or 'sublime' style (see gran-
diloquence*, Rl). Fontanier adds (as do many other collectors of
rhetorical tropes and figures) that prosopopoeia should not be confused
with personification*, apostrophe*, or dialogism (see dialogue*). But the
three figures often go together. Ex: With how sad steps, O Moon, thou
climb'st the skies' (Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophel and Stella, 1. 31). Dialog-
ism involves giving speech to an absent being or to a personified
inanimate object who then converses; apostrophe involves an address
to the being or object; and personification only occurs if the being
presented is not already a person.
R2: Prosopopoeia is an odd figure. A narrative* figure, since that is
where one usually finds it, it nonetheless rejects the double actualiza-
tion implicit in narrative (what is told in the past being lived in the
present by characters and readers). It does so by striving to present as
direct enunciation* what is being recounted at second hand. Characters
become real speakers; hence the use of apostrophe* and dialogism.
Absent persons or objects take their place in the present. The following
examples show the figure's capacity to suggest effects close to hallucina-
tion, as the personifying details produce liuman' figures from an
inanimate object, and then from an abstraction*:
Thou still unravished bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme.
Keats, 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Keats, 'Ode to Autumn'
Unexpected or unconventional (see false -*, Rl) prosopopoeia may
produce delirious exaltation (see reactualization*, 7).
358
Prosthesis
R3: Does prosopopoeia share with other figures, hypotyposis* for

example, the characteristic of making present what is absent? Besides
characters, might not places, scenes, and events be made present? But
hypotyposis, by describing things as if we could see them, remains
within a narrative* framework, whereas Keats's personification* of
Autumn dramatizes the absent abstraction* in a present setting by the
use of the present tense. See also metaphor*, R4.
We call evocation the general device which takes some element of a
distant or past content and installs it in a present enunciation*. Hypo-
typosis* is purely formal or rhetorical evocation, whereas evocation in
the strong sense possesses a surrealistic or obsessive nature. Ex:
Michaux's poem entitled Trojection' (L'Espace du dedans, pp. 58-9).
Delirious exaltation is an evocation of imaginary things. Evocation also
occurs when we see a past event for a second time. Ex: ' "There's the
saucepan that the gruel was in!" cried Scrooge, starting off again, and
frisking round the fire-place. "There's the door, by which the Ghost of
Jacob Marley entered! There's the corner, where the Ghost of Christmas
Present, sat! There's the window where I saw the wandering spirits! It's
all right, it's all true, it all happened" ' (Dickens, A Christmas Carol,
stave five).
In the cinema, special effects are means used to make the fantastic*
seem true (the hero 'climbs' a cliff-face, which in reality is a horizontal
mock-up). In the same way, we might identify in literature the (false*)
means serving to 'authenticate' a narrative*. One example is the letter
to the editor declaring that the text was "found' among the papers of a
dead character (e.g., Benjamin Constant's Adolphe) or in a bottle rescued
from the sea (e.g., Poe's 'MS. Found in a Bottle').
R4: The use of prosopopoeia as a rhetorical argument* is risky. When
L. Pauwels, in his 'Lettre ouverte aux gens heureux' ('Open Letter to
the Fortunate'), puts words into Lenin's mouth, the style remains that
of Pauwels.
PROSTHESIS The addition of a letter or syllable at the beginning of

a word (see OED), without changing the latter's meaning* (see Littre).
See also Jacobs (p. 123), Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg, and Thomas
Wilson (The Arte of Rhetorique).
Exx: grudge/begrudge; weep/beweep (Quinn)
Synonym: prothesis (OED, Marouzeau, Robert)
Rl: As the definition reveals, English and French usages differ. English
does not insist that the additional element bring no change to the
word's meaning or value. Thus Lanham quotes, for example, the word
irregardless, in which the addition of the redundant prefix ir- makes the
term grammatically incorrect.
359
Proverb
R2: Prosthesis is a term from ancient grammar corresponding nowa-

days to a device classified among metaplasms*. Exx: 'yestereve';
'Horhot ho hray ho rhother's hest' (Joyce; see Group MU, p. 51).
R3: Gemination* is a form of prosthesis. Exx: geegee; ack-ack.
PROVERB A maxim* in common use, applicable in various contexts.

Ex:
POLONIUS: Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
...
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy
...
For the apparel oft proclaims the man
...
Neither a borrower nor a lender be
...
This above all: To thine own self be true
Here the use of proverbs, although it may be ironic, does not turn
cliches* into 'perverbs/ or perverted proverbs. Jacobs lists the follow-
ing: 'Familiarity breeds children; Time wounds all heels; Flatulence is
an ill wind that blows good to nobody; She is every yard a queen; He
is every other inch a gentleman; A straight line is the shortest distance
between two joints; Many are called but few get the right number;
Scratch a Russian and he'll appreciate the favour; Hitch your wagon to
a movie star' (Naming Day in Eden, p. 132).
Analogous: adage, dictum, tag
Other definition: See riddle*, 5.
Rl: We may consider proverbs to be well-known expressions, about the
length of a simple sentence*, which function in conversation as do
cliches*, other fixed expressions shorter than proverbs. Indeed,
although proverbs may seem to have a fixed meaning*, they may in
fact take on meanings which depend on their context; and texts may be
adapted and substitutions* made, as Jacobs's list clearly shows. See also
simile*, R3.
R2: Expressions become proverbial through quotation*. They come
from ancient collections of wise sayings (e.g., 'Man does not live by
bread alone') or from celebrated statements, which may be of recent
date (e.g., 1 shall return' [General MacArthur]). Paroemiologists study
them and paroegraphers prepare collections of them. Turco (p. 59)
360
Pseudo-Language
defines parimia as 'speak[ing] by means of proverbs ("An apple a day

keeps the doctor away." That's true - he'd rather have money as pay).'
See The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs (1970).
R3: As a form sedimented by diverse cultures, proverbs cannot refer to
any single coherent or non-contradictory system of thought. Exx (two
French proverbs): 'Father a miser, son a waster' versus 'Like father like
son.' And John Ferguson reminds us, by means of a pun*: 'Proverbial
saws, for example, make dangerous major premises: many hands make
light work, but too many cooks spoil the broth. And many arguments
have fallen apart because the disputants, as Mark Pattison said of the
cleaning-women shouting at one another from opposite doorways, have
been arguing from different premises' (John Ferguson, Aristotle, p. 40).
R4: See also semantic syllepsis*, R4, and literary* games.
PSEUDO-LANGUAGE Pseudo-language occurs in a segment of a

text which possesses clarity of form from the viewpoints of sound,
rhythm*, and melody, and even from a graphic perspective, and thus
seems to be made up of words, but which has no lexeme in current
use, no accepted grammatical form, nor any clear syntactic function.
Pseudo-language imitates regularly constituted and officially recog-
nized language. It transmits, for example, a sung melody (e.g., 'hi ho';
'la lalala la'), notably in children's counting-out rhymes.
Exx: Tan, tan tethera, pethera, pimp, sethera, lethera, hovera ...'
(Lincolnshire rhyme quoted by Augarde, p. 168); '... Tuesday will be
the longest day. Of all the glad new year mother, the rum turn tiddledy
turn' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 42).
Synonymous: sounds without meaning; a string of meaningless syl-
lables; metalalia (neol.)
Rl: Pseudo-language is the privileged mode for emphasizing the phatic
function of communication (see enunciation*, 2). Here, for example, is
the preamble by which the story-teller, during an evening spent around
the fire in French-Canadian homes long ago, would get the attention of
a noisy group: 'Cric, crac, les enfants! Parli, parlo, parlons! Pour en
savoir le court et le long, passez 1'crachoir a Jos Violon. Sacatabi, sac-a-
tabac! A la porte les ceuses qu'ecouteront pas!' ('Snap, crack, children!
Parla, parly, let's palaver! To know the long and short of it, give an ear
to Violon Joe. Sackbacky, backysack! Outside them as won't listen!')
(L. Frechette, Tom Caribou/ in Contes de Jos Violon, p. 35).
The function of the interjection nuhh nuhh nuhh (frequently accom-
panied by a discouraging gesture*) is to prevent a speaker from con-
tinuing.
361
Pseudo-Simulation
R2: Pseudo-language may separate itself from regular language, thus

prolonging it, or slip back into it. See musication*, R3. It may derive
from some mental disturbance (see mistake*, R2).
R3: Lallation ('childish utterance' [OED]), a vocalic emission made
without expressive intent by a baby at the breast, is the first form of
pseudo-language. Glossomania or imitation* of the sounds of language
is the final stage, which interjections* (see interjection, R4) may ap-
proach. Glossolalia* differs from lallation and glossomania because it
possesses a definite intended meaning.
PSEUDO-SIMULATION Pretence which is foregrounded or ex-

plained in the text in which it appears. The simulation* thus becomes
obvious, since it makes no attempt to conceal itself. It would be redun-
dant to 'expose' it as such since it cancels itself out, while still remain-
ing effective.
Exx:
HITLER ARRESTED IN TORQUAY
Neighbours of the Hitlers in exclusive Brazilia Drive, were shocked
to learn that the quietly-spoken, retiring man who they knew simply
as 'Der Fuehrer,' was a wanted criminal. (Richard Ingrams, ed., The
Life and Times of Private Eye, 1961-1971, p. 212)
- 'Are you a strict t.t.?' says Joe.
- 'Not taking anything between drinks,' says I. (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 241)
Other name: counter-simulation. Any defamiliarizing device of narra-
tive* or pictorial representation which exposes the mimetic illusion is a
form of counter-simulation. Thus Rene Magritte's picture of a pipe en-
titled Ceci n'est pas une pipe ("This is not a pipe') reminds us that it is a
picture of one. Similarly, Nabokov's short story 'The Vane Sisters' came
accompanied with a note suggesting that 'puzzle-minded readers may
be interested in looking for the coded message [an acrostic*] that oc-
curs in the last page of the story' (example cited by Hutchinson, p. 36).
Rl: The theory of pseudo-simulation was outlined by Jean Simeray
('Erreur simulee et logique differentielle,' Communications, no. 16, pp.
36-59), who upheld that the device is important in all forms of litera-
ture, including poetry, where it takes the form of metaphor*. Clearly,
any kind of theatrical performance routinely employs pseudo-
simulation.
In order that the examples quoted remain brief, we need to take
them from among fairly obvious deliberate mistakes. Thus the 'yelling
of a toothless baby' (R. Queneau, Le Chiendent, p. 119) gives us to
362
Psittacism
understand that the reason for the newborn child's lack of teeth comes
from its having lost them. Also expressions like 'I was receiving con-
gratulations from the four corners of the circular globe' or 'Stop those
carefully rehearsed and written ad libs' (Tales of Old Dartmoor/ in Best
of the Goon Shows, BBC recording, 7 Feb. 1956 [Parlophone Records]) call
attention, by means of a contradiction in terms, to much-used but
illogical or misused cliches*.
R2: A particularly indirect form of pseudo-simulation involves the
speaker's pretending to believe that the receiver will imagine some-
thing incorrect, or even impossible, and that the receiver therefore
needs to have his or her eyes opened. Ex: 'Bombs do not have homes
to go to. They are always in a hurry all the same' (H. Michaux, L'Espace
du dedans, p. 278). The pretended mistake involves the presupposition
that the receiver will try to understand bombs in terms of selfish
people. Singularization* simulates ignorance of certain prejudices.
R3: Preterition*, permissio*, and truisms* are almost always cases of
pseudo-simulation. Morier mentions a figure, paryponoian (a French
form of the Greek par 'uponoian), by means of which we 'pretend to
believe that an idea springs from its opposite (e.g.: his eyes sparkled
with stupidity)'. See blunder*, R3.
R4: Jokes may incorporate pseudo-simulation. Ex: Malaises have been
sighted in different parts of the country ... almost all described as
"deep-seated" ... One man said "I have seen no Malaise, matey. Deep-
seated or the other. Malays, yes, quite a lot of them about" ' (R.
Ingrams, ed., The Life and Times of Private Eye, 1961-1971, p. 161).
R5: See also humour*, R2 and R5; blunder*, R3; and false -*, R2.
PSITTACISM The mechanical repetition* of previously received

ideas or images* that reflects neither true reasoning* nor feeling;
repetition of words or phrases parrot-fashion, without reflection,
automatically' (OEDS).
Exx:
He accepted everything. The past was alterable. The past never had
been altered. Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always
been at war with Eastasia. Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford were
guilty of the crimes they were charged with. He had never seen the
photograph that disproved their guilt. It had never existed; he had
invented it. (George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, p. 228)
'I and the Government of which I am a member want you to regard
us as friends. Yes, friends. We have put you right, yes? You are
363
Psittacism
getting the best of treatment. We never wished you harm, but there
are some who did and do. And I think you know who those are.'
'Yes, yes, yes,' he said, 'there are certain men who wanted to use
you, yes, use you for political ends. They would have been glad, yes,
glad for you to be dead, for they thought they could blame it all on
the Government.' (A. Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, p. 138)
Synonymous: knee-jerk verbosity; the parroting (hence the word psit-
tacism) of ill-assimilated, practically rote-learned terms for the purpose
of terrorizing the uninitiated rather than of communicating with them.
Rl: Psittacisms are imitations* (see imitation, R7) rather than quota-
tions*, and they have their own more or less automatic intonation*. See
also slogan*, Rl.
PUN A play on words which resemble each other in sound but differ
in meaning*. See also Empson (Seven Types of Ambiguity, ch. 3), Joseph,
Littre, Robert, Lausberg (sect. 1244), Preminger, Mahood (Shakespeare's
Wordplay), and Redfern (Puns).
Ex [spoken by the dying Mercutio]: 'ask for me tomorrow, you shall
find me a grave man' (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 3.1.101). The same
pun in a modern context: 'Drinking and driving is a grave mistake.'
Ex:
Even the bright extremes of joy
Bring on conclusions of disgust,
Like the sweet blossoms of the May,
Whose fragrance ends in must.
Thomas Hood, 'Ode to Melancholy'
Other definitions: 'Pun' is often used in the broader sense to designate
an example of ambiguity* and so may refer to a number of devices
such as approximation*, syllepsis*, blend or portmanteau* word, etc.
Both Preminger and Joseph also classify among 'puns,' antanaclasis*,
paronomasia*, syllepsis*, and asteismus* because they may serve a
comic function.
Rl: In one precise meaning of the term given by Littre, a pun is a
periphrasis*, which at first sight seems hermetic, but which may be
clarified by considering it to be an allusion* to an ambiguous or homo-
phonic referent (see homonymy*, R3); or sometimes to a case of metan-
alysis* (see metanalysis, R2).
R2: Puns occur more frequently in colloquial language, where the
situation renders decoding easier than in literature. Ex: 'Garcpn, ce
steak est innocent' (i.e., innocent, instead of pas coupable, which is both
364
Punch Line
'not guilty' and 'uncuttable'). They are also found in definitions given
as clues in crossword puzzles and in charades. Ex:
Execration perhaps - though it seems very wrong
On request to the dog to oblige with a song.
Answer: cur-sing.
Hubert Phillips, quoted in Espy, 1971, p. 70
R3: When combined with allographs*, puns make good cryptograms.
Ex: 'La societe des amis de 1'ABC' (V. Hugo, Les Mise'rables, part 3,
book 4) refers to a revolutionary group, since 'the ABC' designates
phonetically the people, abaisse (downtrodden) by the bourgeois. The
pun here derives from phonetic ambiguity*. See also phoebus*, R4. It is
the principal device in the charade. Ex:
My first wears my second; my third might be
What my first would acquire if he went to sea.
Put together my one, two, three
And the belle of New York is the girl for me.
Answer: Manhattan.
Hubert Phillips, quoted in Espy, 1971, p. 70
R4: Most puns have a comic effect decodable by reference to their
context. For example, a court jester is said to have remarked of Arch-
bishop Laud: 'Great praise to God, and little laud to the devil/ More
recently, an opponent of Britain's entry into the European Economic
Community coined the following, which Redfern (p. 24) calls 'an
example of splitting, of fission, and near the knuckle: "Britons never
shall be slaves, only Europe peons." ' Other modern examples: 'In
Canada, the left is more gauche than sinister' (a trilingual pun if
etymology* is taken into account). The legend on a publicity poster for
a photocopier: 'Bye Canon. Bye Xerox. Buy Gestetner Copiers.' During
the 'Irangate' hearings in 1987, the two following puns appeared on the
cover of People magazine (July 27): 'Oliver North: True or just Mag-
netic.' Puns may serve as vehicles of irony*.
R5: See also denomination*, R2, and etymology*.
PUNCH LINE We propose to extend this term to cover any kind of

conclusion or clausula, including the rounding-off of a sentence. Like
the ancients, some modern writers have lavished particular care on the
endings of sentences* or paragraphs*. Far from allowing a thought to
end conventionally, they emphasize some aspect of it through the use
of metaphor* or paradox* and draw attention to the ending by a
special rhythm*: the result is a punch line.
365
Punch Line
Exx:
ORONTE: Beautiful Philis, one despairs
Yet one still hopes.
PHILINTE: The ending is pretty, loving, admirable.
ALCESTE: A plague on your ending, poisoner, to the devil with it.
Moliere, Le Misanthrope, 1.2
No ups and downs my pretty,
A mermaid, not a punk;
A drunkard is a dead man,
And all dead men are drunk.
W.B. Yeats, 'A Drunken Man's Praise of Sobriety'
Antonym: epanorthosis* (see epanorthosis, R4)
Synonyms: chute (Fr.); clausula (L); clausule (OED; see 'period'); 'apoth-
esis' (Lausberg). A cadence*, the 'fall of voice, esp. at end of sentence'
(Concise Oxford Dictionary), represents a conventional type of finale; see
Littre; Verest, sect. 92; and Robert.
Analogous terms: explicit ('word used by scribes in indicating the end
of a book, or of one of the separate pieces contained in a MS ... "Here
ends" ' [OED; see also Littre]); cursus ('a Latin word designating the
clausule from the viewpoint of rhythm [cursus planus, velox, tardus,
etc.]' [Lausberg, sect. 1052])
Rl: A short final clausule, or minor cadence*, differs from a long major
cadence. Ex (of a minor cadence): 'The sea changed, the fields changed,
the rivers, the villages, and the people changed, yet Egden remained'
(Th. Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, ch. 1). Ex (of a major cadence):
'And all her shining keys will be took from her, and her cupboards
opened, and things a' didn't wish seen, any body will see; and her little
wishes and ways will all be as nothing' (Th. Hardy, The Mayor of
Casterbridge, ch. 18). See sentence* (types of), 2.
R2: According to Philippe Hamon ('Clausules/ Po&ique, no. 24, p. 509),
clausules (he extends the term's meaning to include not only the final
member of a period* but also the finale of any work) may or may not
be predictable, emphatic, stereotyped, anticlimactic, in conformity with
the genre of the work in question, open (i.e., provoking either the
reader's expectation of a sequel, or leaving the work open to diverse
interpretations), or, in the case of a part of a work, internal. Exx
(Hamon, ibid., p. 501): They lived happy ever after and had lots of
children' (fairy story); Tours sincerely' (letter*); 'Remove and serve
hot' (recipe*). The moral of a fable, the ballad's envoi, the charade's 'My
whole is ...,' the etymological tale's 'And it was from that time that...,'
366
Punctuation (Expressive)
the prayer*'s 'Amen/ the news item's The victim was taken to hospital
where he died soon after/ the serial's happy end, the song's 'Bis/
repeat/da capo,' etc.: all are examples of clausules in Ramon's view. See
also final* word.
PUNCTUATION We may divide punctuation marks into three

categories.
1. Commas, semicolons, periods, colons*, dashes, and oblique* strokes
usually mark pauses*; in all cases, they are articulating devices within
texts. See syntagm*, assertion*, and caesura*.
2. Question* marks, exclamation* marks, and points of suspension*, or
lines of (three or more) dots, indicate affective variants of periods or
form very approximate markers of enunciation*. See expressive punctu-
ation.
3. The remaining signs 'of punctuation' indicate a sentence's position
within its context and real environment; we call them 'situational*
signs.'
Rl: The typographical characters used for display (in posters, for
example), which are free and varied in shape, create their own norms
for punctuation. Hyphens may be round in shape; final periods, if used
at all, may look like hyphens, and so on.
R2: See adjunction*, R3.
R3: In the following anecdote, punctuation marks function as a short-
hand code:
In 1861, [Victor Hugo] completed Les Misfrables. There is a famous
story that, after publication of the first volume, Hugo sent a tele-
gram to his publisher. It said, simply:
'?'
The answer came back by return:
'!'
His publisher made more than half a million francs out of the first
six years' sales. (Les Mislrables, souvenir brochure to the musical
version)
PUNCTUATION (EXPRESSIVE) Affective variables of periods

(such as ?, ! and ...) guide the reader to one of the three types of
enunciation* whose melody alone (see intonation*) would otherwise
permit identification.
Ex: 'She knows?'; 'She knows!'; 'She knows ...' See question*, exclama-
tion*, interjection*, interruption*, and aposiopesis*.
Expressive punctuation is the graphic marking of intensity by means of
367
Punctuation (Expressive)
more than one graphic sign. Exx: 'When we've finished burning all the
books!!!' (A. Gide, Romans, p. 164); 'CARR: Silly place to put it, really ...
(sips) Is this the Perrier-Jouet, Brut, '89???!!!' (Torn Stoppard, Travesties,
act 2).
Some combinations are quite usual: ! ... ? ... ?! When placed in
parentheses*, question marks express doubt (?); exclamation marks in
parentheses express irony* (!); suspension points indicate passages
omitted (...).
Rl: Melodies that correspond to graphic signs: Of all the different
types of intonation*, written language conserves almost nothing. To the
period or full stop corresponds a simple kind of intonation that Delat-
tre (French Review, 1966, p. 6) calls 'finality,' extending from the medi-
um (an individual's static average tone) to low. From medium to sharp
or extra-sharp, we have minor or major continuations* (i.e., commas,
suspension points), which indicate that the sentence is not finished. Th<
mark of an exclamation* is a rise in the voice during the syntagm*
concerned; the rise marking a question* is steeper but briefer.
R2: Affective variants of a final period, because they combine with it,
are always graphic markers that appear at the end of the sentence*.
This fixed position prevents their use to indicate which particular
segment is interrogatory or exclamatory. To the written sentence Jane
stayed all afternoon?' there really correspond four spoken sentences,
each with a different meaning. In the first, the voice rises on 7ane,'
thereby posing a question about the subject; in another, the voice may
rise on 'stayed'; in another, on 'all'; and so on. Intonation* makes all
these meanings* quite clear, whereas the written form confuses them,
unless its syntax is altered for each one. In order to make written
expression more similar to oral, we might invent interrogative and
exdamative commas. Such commas would take their appropriate place
after each speech act. It would be even more accurate to print in bold
the lexeme stated or emphasized. See assertion*.
R3: Although they transcribe a suspensive melody, points of suspen-
sion* merely indicate that everything is not being said. They may occui
in the course of a sentence to announce the unfinished nature of the
thought expressed and that the speaker is offering it in some other
form. They may also indicate prevarication or evasion. Ex (of the
latter): 'As I was saying, I'm glad you asked me that question. Because
... well, because it's a question that a lot of people are asking. And
Why? Because ... well, because a lot of people want to know the
answer to it' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes Minister,' p. 81). See
interruption*, R4, and counter-interruption*.
R4: Queneau suggests (in Le Chiendent, p. 240) the introduction of an
'indignation mark/ to be represented by a reversed question mark.
368
Question
R5: In linguistics and in logic, sentences* which are untrue or invalid

are preceded by an asterisk, and sentences represented as being of
'doubtful' accuracy or veracity by a question mark.
Q
QUESTION An assertion* whose predicate seeks completion or
confirmation from the addressee.
Exx: 'Who's there?'; 'Is that you, John?'
Other definition: 'subject being discussed or for discussion' (Concise
Oxford Dictionary). Common expressions: 'that is not the question'; 'the
question is ...'; 'out of the question'; 'there is no question that ...' See
pretext*; ambiguity*, 3; and flashback*, Rl.
Rl: The melodic marker for the interrogative form is a steeply rising
tone of voice at the end of the phonetic word to which the question
may reduce. (See expressive punctuation*.) The graphic marker is
almost universal: ?
Total' interrogation applies to the whole verbal node and is marked
by the inversion* of the subject, noun or pronoun, and the verb or even
by intonation* alone. Ex: 'Is he leaving?'; Is John leaving?'; John's
leaving?' In this case, it is the accomplishment of the action (or effec-
tivity of the state) expressed by the verb which is called in question.
Interrogation is 'partial' when some part of the assertion* is tacit,
that is, implied without being stated: an interrogative morpheme
('how?'; 'for whom?' etc.) suffices in such a case.
The same assertion*, in reversed or completed form, forms the
response*. Both questions and answers may be elliptical Ex: 'You?'
'No!' 'Who?' 'Him.'
R2: Questions do not only have a referential function. They may serve
the emotive, phatic (concerned with establishment of contact), and
injunctive functions of communication, as dialogue* reveals.
The injunctive function is predominant in an interrogation session,
during which a speaker seeks, by a barrage of questions, to gain the
upper hand and to force the person being interrogated to reveal infor-
mation he or she seems anxious to hide. Ex: ' "Who gave you the
message for Jim about Tinker, Tailor? Did you know what it meant?
Did you have it straight from Polyakov, was that it?" ' (John Le Carre,
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, p. 275). The victim may attempt to evade the
questions. One of the best methods of evasion is to reply with a ques-
tion. Ex: ' "All right, come on, so what happened to the networks? ...
369
Question
Why didn't you come and see me at home when you got back? You
could have done. You tried to see me before you left, so why not when
you got back? Wasn't just the rules that kept you away?" "Didn't
anyone get out?" Jim said' (ibid., pp. 240-1). See also injunction*, Rl.
On the other hand, questions addressed to no one in particular
indicate, by their betrayal of the speaker's distress, that the emotive or
expressive function is predominant. Ex:
'Who called?' I said, and the words
Through the whispering glades,
Hither, thither, baffled the birds -
'Who called? Who called?'
Walter de la Mare, 'Echo'
The speaker goes on to reveal his frustration, or loneliness, by a further
emotionally charged question that comes back to haunt him:
'Who cares?' I bawled through my tears;
The wind fell low:
In the silence, 'Who cares? Who cares?'
Wailed to and fro.
But we may ask ourselves real questions. Ex: 'If he [Mr. Kauderer]
had come back, why could we not meet as we had every day? And if
he had not come back, whom was I on my way to meet at the ceme-
tery?' (Italo Calvino, If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, trans. W. Weaver,
p. 65). See also interior dialogue*.
R3: The most manipulative interrogatory form is really a disguised
assertion*, and is justly called a rhetorical question. Fontanier (along with
many other rhetorical theorists) sees it as an interrogative figure which
challenges the addressee to dare to deny anything or even to reply at
all (p. 368). He also calls our attention to the affirmative value pos-
sessed by negative expressions, and vice versa. Ex: 'What is the pur-
pose of the holy cleansing of confession, if not to unload the weight of
sin, and the remorse it involves, into the very bosom of our Lord,
obtaining with absolution a new and airy lightness of soul, such as to
make us forget the body tormented with wickedness?' (U. Eco, The
Name of the Rose, p. 277).
Rhetorical questions, or pseudo-interrogations, appear frequently
in literary discourse* when the need arises to communicate impres-
sions. Ex: 'O Wind, / If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?' (P.B.
Shelley, 'Ode to the West Wind'). Or they may have a disguised cona-
tive function, inviting the hearers to action. Ex: 'Will no one revenge
me of the injuries I have sustained from one turbulent priest [i.e.,
Thomas Becket]?' (King Henry II, quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of
370
Question
Quotations, 3rd ed., p. 246). The interrogative form may even appropri-
ately communicate physical sensation. Ex: 'Can't you see how still and
beautiful it is this evening?' (J. Hebert, Le Temps sauvage, p. 45).
Another function of pseudo-questions is to undermine a position by
casting doubt upon it; naturally, such a procedure is subject to abuse.
Ex: 'Soft contact lenses? Should PRICE be your major concern?' (ad-
vertisement, which Bausch and Lomb, makers of lenses, describe in one
of their publicity brochures as 'a public service message'). Ex: 'In The
Plug-In Drug, author Marie Winn asks: "Is it merely a coincidence that
the entry of television into American homes brought in its wake one of
the worst epidemics of juvenile violence in the nation's history?" One
of that book's critics was tempted to reply: "Is it not possible that these
kinds of disguised assertions [accusations made by means of rhetorical
questions] are poor substitutes for research?"' (TV Guide, 21-7 May
1983, p. 5).
Such oratorical questions come with their own intonation*, which
seems to imply the answer. Classical rhetoric recommends a kind of
pseudo-interrogation procedure, consisting in presenting several
assertions in the alternating forms of question and answer, and since
the speaker responds for the opponent, the pretence is that the latter's
confession or agreement has been obtained. This is subjectio (Fontanier,
p. 374; Lanham; Lausberg) or hypophora (Lanham). Ex: 'FALSTAFF: What
is honour? a word. What is that word, honour? Air. A trim reckoning!
Who hath it? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he
hear it? No ... [etc.]' (Shakespeare, Henry IV, Ft 1, 5.1.135)
Another form of pseudo-interrogation is deliberative, when we
pretend to question the listeners, whereas in reality we are pressing
them to make a decision (see deliberatio*). Or we pretend to ask our-
selves questions, although we are really proposing objections in so
doing. (This is a particularly useful figure in learned discussions; see
dubitatio*.) When trying to get a student to think of what we wish to
teach, we may use the Socratic method, also called the maieutic method.
To summarize: questions offer a form by which we may express
almost anything, including:
- suppositions*. Ex: 'FIRST VOICE: In Mirador school he learned to read
and count. Who made the worst raffia dollies? Who put water in
Joyce's galoshes, every morning prompt as prompt?' (Dylan Thomas,
Quite Early One Morning, p. 53).
- word-play*. Ex: When is a door not a door? When it's ajar.'
- simple-minded blunders*. Ex: What must a soldier put in his gun?
Complete confidence' (Jean-Charles, Les Perles du facteur, p. 205).
- even part of the action of a novel (see Joyce, Ulysses, pp. 544-607). Ex:
'How was the irritation allayed? He removed his collar' (p. 583).
R4: A question may fill a whole paragraph* and necessitate many sepa-
371
Quibble
rate assertions* as answers: in such a case, we speak also of problems.

Problematics is the art or manner of posing a set of problems; dialectics,
the art or manner of discussing them. Thus, in Plato's works, dialectical
discussion takes the form of question and answer. More accurately, we
call dialectical an exposition (of facts, for instance) which is articulated
so as to form a proof, an objection, a discussion, or conclusion and
which pretends to be the dialogue* it would only become if the op-
ponent faced the speaker. See also deliberatio*.
The mere calling in question of one of the opponent's propositions is
sufficient to arouse suspicion. The simplest of questions is charged with
all kinds of perlocutionary values, and possibly of hidden presupposi-
tions. (See enunciation*, R3; paralogism*, R2; and refutation*, R4.)
R5: For complex (or 'loaded') questions, see finesse* and paralogism*,
R2. For negative questions, see negation*, R2. For an accumulation of
short questions, see epitrochasmus*.
QUIBBLE An insubstantial or merely verbal argument* by which a

speaker attempts desperately to prove that he or she is right. See OED
and Robert.
Ex: 'PLAYER: We keep to our usual stuff, more or less, only inside out.
We do on stage the things that are supposed to happen off. Which is a
kind of integrity, if you look on every exit being an entrance some-
where else' (Tom Stoppard, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, act 1).
Synonyms: cavil, hair-splitting, logic chopping
Rl: Quibbles may be detected by their intonation*.
QUOTATION 'A passage taken from an author who may be an

authority' (Littre). See also Grambs, Lausberg (sect. 1244), Quillet, and
Robert.
Ex: 'If we turn to Flaubert's letters, we discover him ... writing to his
mother ... "And to think that I had specially brought that card all the
way from Croisset and didn't even get to put it in place" ' (Julian
Barnes, Flaubert's Parrot, p. 70).
Other names: quote, extract, pericope (an extract chosen for a public or
liturgical reading). In English, citation has come to mean a citing, or
mention in an official dispatch, or the descriptive note accompanying
the announcement of an award (Concise Oxford Dictionary). See also
epigraph*.
The art of introducing maxims* into a speech was so much studied
in the past that it received a name, gnomology ('the collecting of
gnomes, sayings, maxims' [OED]). The cento (L. 'patchwork') was a
372
Quotation
work entirely composed of quotations. Modern examples: Eluard,

Premieres vues anciennes; Alvarez, The New Poetry (1962), cited by
Cuddon (p. 107). See Dumarsais, Des Tropes, p. 275. Recent (and not so
recent) collections of quotations arranged alphabetically include those
by Dupre, P. Oster, John Bartlett, and the compilers of The Oxford
Dictionary of Quotations.
Anthologies, morceaux choisis, analects (Robert, Concise Oxford Diction-
ary), and catalects (Littre, Cuddon) reproduce extensive quotations from
authors and may offer them as models for imitation*. Indeed, quotation
was a principal figure in oratorical amplification*.
Other definitions: Littre's definition of quotation has been extended in
more recent times. Authorities, spiritual or not, no longer form the only
source of quotations; rather, adduced documents of all kinds give
objectivity to a text.
Jakobson (p. 177) gives maximal extension to the quotation by
defining it structurally: M/M; that is, 'a message inside the message,'
even 'a message about the message.' He explains the latter meaning
thus: We quote others, or our own past words, and we are even in-
clined to present certain of our experiences in the form of self-
quotation.' Self-quotation is natural in current speech (e.g., 'As I said
before ...'; 'so I says, says I'; 'que j'dis'). In a published text, self-
quotation is a form of autism* and risks appearing out of place, except
in certain cases, when, for example, it is a matter of justifying one's
intentions (see the notes Montherlant appended to his play Le Maitre de
Santiago). In scientific texts, it is current practice to give references to
one's previous publications.
Rl: The signs of quotation are the separation of quoted matter from the
text, and/or quotation marks (see situational* signs, 5), and the refer-
ence to the work quoted (see notation*, Rl). Oral quotation has a
special kind of intonation*. The expression 'so they say' points out a
quotation without a direct reference (or transforms an utterance into a
false quotation).
The text quoted must correspond to the original; or, at a pinch, be in
free indirect style. In indirect discourse*, it is no longer a quotation but
a summary or resume. 'I am quoting from memory' draws attention to
one's uncertainty concerning a quotation's accuracy.
R2: When the text quoted is in another language, a translation* is
usually given, possibly with the original in a footnote. Quotation in a
foreign language (real or invented) allows for all kinds of translations.
Ex [taking his inspiration from Moliere's Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, 5.1,
Alfred Jarry caricatures an official visit to North Africa]:
MR. LOUBET (in the language of the country): Ha la ba, ba la chou, ba
la ba, ba la da.
373
Quotation
Which means: France protects all those, French or native, who live
on her soil; but, in return, she expects from them absolute devotion.
(A. Jarry, La Chandelle verte, p. 371)
This is false translation, almost pseudo-language*.
R3: Snobbery in quotation exists, which involves larding one's speeches
with trendy names, often unnecessarily. Ex: A linguist quotes Jakobson
merely to say that 'the decoding goes from sound to meaning.' Words
attributed to a recognized authority may also be used to cut short a
discussion: this is the argument* from authority.
R4: Quotation receives from simulation, change of context, or merely
from present reality a different, adapted meaning* (see meaning, 7).
The occasion confers intensity and force on certain liturgical texts,
patriotic anthems, etc., however threadbare and formulaic. Ex [Malraux
is recounting events in France in 1944; double quotation marks identify
extracts from the French national anthem]: 'La Marseillaise rediscovered
the force of its prophetic outcry: the "day of glory" was the Liberation,
the "tyranny" in question, we knew it well, "do you hear in our
country places" the tanks which were perhaps getting closer'
(A. Malraux, Antimemoires, p. 257).
If need be, quotations are modified or adapted (see substitution* R2).
A text may be quoted, however, without the secondary narrator or
speaker assuming responsibility for its message. In such a case, the
quotation is a pure signifier, which may form the basis for a discussion
or a vote, for example. Such a quoting procedure contains no inter-
pretation; there is only autonymy or self-reference (see short* circuit).
R5: The false quotation (e.g., under R2, above) differs from the half-
quotation, which is given without acknowledgment or reference (see
imitation*, R8), and from the unconscious quotation, which is the
presence in any discourse* of many previously consumed texts, that is,
of intertextuality. Ex: In Eco's The Name of the Rose, the 'detective/
William of Baskerville, reconstructs intertextually the lost' section of
Aristotle's Poetics on 'Comedy,' as his opponent, Jorge of Burgos,
deduces: '[William:] "Truth reached by depicting men and the world as
worse than they are or than we believe them to be, worse in any case
than the epics, the tragedies, lives of the saints have shown them to us.
Is that it?" [Jorge:] "Fairly close. You reconstructed it by reading other
books?"' (p. 472). For pseudo-quotations, see situational* signs, 5. See
also psittacism*, Rl.
R6: Relayed or displaced words (Bloomfield, quoted by Jakobson, p. 177)
are texts torn from their context, without being inserted in another (not
to be confused with 'out of place or unwarranted comments'). Out of
context, the meaning* of a quotation becomes more general.
374
Reactualization
R7: Quotation is motivated, and the quoter sometimes feels the need to
underline certain passages (as in the present work, where such pas-
sages appear in italics). It is then usual to warn the reader parentheti-
cally that the emphasis is not in the original. See also end* positioning,
other def., 2; and counter-interruption*, Rl.
R
REACTUALIZATION Actualization of a syntagm*, which the use of
pronouns achieves unproblematically, establishes for each sentence* the
relationship between speaker and addressee, and more exactly that
between the diverse factors in communication. (See enunciation*.)
While it is normal, in a single set of sentences, to have the same
actualizing process, we may sometimes observe changes in one or more
of these factors. In such a case, reactualization occurs.
1. A change of speaker. This is the case in plagiarisms, psittacisms*,
and adapted quotations* (see meaning*, 7). It occurs within the sen-
tence itself when another person's words are reported in indirect
speech (when, that is, we pass from the process of enunciation* to the
utterance itself). Changes of speaker occur naturally in dialogue*, in
which the addressee 'replies/ thus becoming the speaker, and so on.
This kind of reactualization may occur within a sentence. Ex:
CARR: It's worth fifty tanks
JOYCE: Or twenty-five francs
Authorisms*, in which the speaker is at the same time character and
author's representative, are examples of double actualization.
2. A change of addressee. Ex:
JOYCE: Top o' the morning - James Joyce!
I hope you'll allow me to voice
my regrets in advance ...
CARR: I... sorry ... would you say that again?
JOYCE: Begob - I'd better explain
I'm told that you are a -
TZARA Miss Carr!
GWEN: Mr. Tzara!
JOYCE: (seeing Tzara for the first time) B'jasus'. Joyce is the name.
Stoppard, Travesties, act 1
375
Reactualization
Markers of reactualization include changes of pronoun; stage directions

emphasize the process (as do gestures*, during a performance).
3. A change in the contact. This factor, corresponding to the phatic
function of communication, establishes attitudes (of superiority,
equality, distance, intimacy, etc.) and is modified by changes in tone of
voice. Ex:
LADY BRACKNELL [who has just voiced opposition to her nephew
Algernon's desire to marry Miss Cardew]: As a matter of form, Mr.
Worthing, I had better ask you if Miss Cardew has any little for-
tune?
JACK: Oh! about a hundred and fifty thousand pounds in the Funds ...
LADY BRACKNELL (sitting down again): A moment Mr. Worthing. A
hundred and fifty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss
Cardew seems to me a most attractive young lady, now that I look
at her.
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, act 4
4. A change of referent. Usually, discourse passes from subject to sub-
ject by means of transitions*, banal or otherwise. Ex: 'LENIN: You must
disappear from Geneva for at least two or three weeks, until you re-
ceive a telegram from me in Scandinavia ... Your Lenin. P.S. ... I write
to you because I am convinced that everything between us will remain
absolutely secret' (Stoppard, Travesties, act 2). The transition occurs
when the character says 'P.S./ which indicates a change of subject.
Reactualization occurs when such changes are made suddenly. See coq-
a-l'ane*.
5. A change of code. The speaker goes from one language to another.
Ex: 'TZARA: I began, "Bourn bourn bourn il deshabille sa chair quand les
grenouilles humides commencerent a bruler." Hulsenbeck began, "Ahoi ahoi
des admirals gwirktes Beinkleid schnell zerfallt"' (Stoppard, Travesties, act 1).
Reactualization also occurs when the change involves only grammar.
(See correction*.) Ex: TDoes he drink a lot, your dad? - Did he drink,
you mean. He's dead' (R. Queneau, Zazie dans le me'tro, p. 51).
6. A change of form. This can involve a change of prose for poetry, for
example, or vice versa. Stoppard's characters, James Joyce and Tzara,
frequently switch to poetry in Travesties, either reciting Shakespearian
sonnets and limericks, or satirical verses of their 'own' devising.
7. A change of situation (in time or space). The time and place of
communication, as well as its referents, may change when a speaker, in
the throes of delirium, or some form of exaltation or anamnesis*, is
projected into an imaginary world. In Travesties, Stoppard employs
what he calls 'time slips,' since 'most of the action takes place within
[Henry] Carr's memory' (p. 17). This allows movement between Carr's
376
Reasoning
apartment in Zurich in March 1918, where Joyce, Lenin, and Tzara

meet during the preparations for a performance of Wilde's The Impor-
tance of Being Earnest, and the same apartment many years later, where
Carr still lives as an old man. Ex:
BENNETT: The war continues to dominate the newspapers, sir.
CARR: Ah yes ... the war, always the war ... I was in Saville Row
when I heard the news, talking to the head cutter at Drewitt and
Madge in a hounds-tooth check slightly flared behind the knee, quite
unusual ...
Stoppard, Travesties, act 1
Without any transition, Carr's 'not notably reliable' (Stoppard, Traves-
ties, p. 27) memory slips back to relive nostalgically pre-World War I
life.
REASONING A set of arguments* arranged so as to lead to a

conclusion. See OED and Robert.
Ex: 'The man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his
house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and such
an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the
house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's fondness for
photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! That
was the end of this tangled clue' (Conan Doyle, The Red-Headed
League,' in The Complete Sherlock Holmes, 1:190).
Analogous: argumentation; syllogism; formal, regular argument*;
ratiocination
Rl: The syllogism or process of formal reasoning in ancient logic
included two arguments* (the major and minor premises) entailing a
conclusion. The three assertions* must logically follow: Ex: 'A sense of
timing was at work, almost an instinct [the minor]. But then, timing is
made by the man, I think [the major], and therefore man creates his
own destiny [conclusion]' (Laurence Olivier, On Acting, p. 113).
In practice, even in formal argument, we rarely give the syllogism in
its full form, so as to avoid clumsy repetition*. One of the premises
(the premises are the arguments* forming the syllogism) or even the
conclusion remains understood. This type of reasoning process with
apparently only one argument is an enthymeme (redditio causae, etio-
logia). Ex: 'And besides, if it is evil to handle certain books, why should
the Devil distract a monk from committing evil?' (U. Eco, The Name of
the Rose, p. 89). Enthymemes occur constantly in philosophy (e.g., 'I
think, therefore I exist') as they do in literature. Ex: 'Where there are
horses there must be smiths' (Robertson Davies, What's Bred in the Bone,
p. 108). See truism*, R2.
377
Reasoning
Fontanier (pp. 382-4) names enthymemism the particularly lively and

striking formulation of enthymemes. Ex: 'If you haven't the vitality,
don't act. If you can't do it, don't do it' (L. Olivier, On Acting, p. 327).
This figure frequently comes concealed in an illogical form. Ex: 'A little
is really quite a lot.' This is only an apparent contradiction (or anti-
logy*), which we can sort out by positing a major premise such as 'It is
sometimes impossible to succeed fully' and a minor such as 'Well, we
succeeded in part at least.'
Enthymemes lose their effectiveness when the implied argument* is
not immediately clear. Ex: 'Carnivorous plants exist because flies are
animals.' It would have been better to imply the major and express the
minor premise: There exist plants which eat flies.'
The sorites or polysyllogism is a chain of arguments whose con-
clusion repeats one term from the first syllogism and one from the last.
Ex: 'In reality, however, England owed its superiority to its old maids,
as a distinguished British biologist has pointed out. For good English
beef, his argument runs, depends upon the industrious bumblebee
which pollinates red clover eaten by cattle, and the number of bumble-
bees in turn is determined by the number of cats, since the mice rob
the nests of the bumblebees, and mice are killed by cats. Hence, few
cats mean many mice, few bumblebees, little clover and bad meat.
Because old maids are fond of cats as pets, ergo England's power
depends on the number of its old maids' (Noah Jacobs, Naming Day in
Eden, p. 10). As this example shows, sorites may, even more easily than
enthymemism, produce unexpected conclusions.
But arguments usually need the support of some proof which may
be presented contiguously: this is the epicheireme. Ex (analysed by
Barthes in his article 'L'Ancienne Rhetorique' ['Ancient Rhetoric'],
Communications, no. 16 [1970], p. 205): the Soviet note sent to the
Chinese government, who had protested following the suppression by
the Russian police force of a demonstration by Chinese students in
front of the American embassy in Moscow. Major. There exist diploma-
tic norms respected by all countries. Proof of the major. In their own
country, the Chinese themselves respect these norms. Minor. But the
Chinese students in Moscow violated the norms. Proofs of the minor: the
narrative* incorporating details of the demonstration (insults, acts of
violence, and the like liable to penalties under the law). The conclusion,
though left unstated (the form is therefore enthymematic), is clear.
R2: The premises, particularly the major, are frequently general laws.
In such cases, whether the conclusion is a categorical proposition (true
de jure) or an assertorical proposition (true de facto), the reasoning is
deductive. An inference drawn from a general principle is a deduction,
whereas one drawn from particular observation is an induction. Indeed,
the 'facts' may serve as the strongest argument of all (as Sherlock
378
Reasoning
Holmes and police-sergeant Joe Friday [of TV's 'Dragnet'] never tired of
reminding us). Ex:
The only real beauty is useless; whatever has a function is ugly,
because it expresses some need, and man's needs are ignoble and
disgusting, as is his poor, weak nature. - The most functional place
in a house is the latrine. (Th. Gautier, Mile de Maupin, preface)
But that does not immediately make for an induction: we need to see
what role facts play in this reasoning process. Do they form the con-
clusion or the argument? In the latter case, we may feel unsure because
the 'art for art's sake' principle which Gautier is here expounding is not
drawn from the observation concerning the functional value of latrines!
Nor is this observation drawn from the general principle except 'for the
sake of argument' and as an example, as we say. Exempla do not then
form part of a logically constructed argument; as proofs, they are only
illustrations, capable only of showing rather than demonstrating. Ex:
' "Marginal images often provoke smiles, but to edifying ends," he re-
plied. "As in sermons, to touch the imagination of devout throngs it is
necessary to introduce exempla, not infrequently, jocular, so also the
discourse of images must indulge in these trivia. For every virtue and
for every sin there is an example drawn from the bestiaries, and ani-
mals exemplify the human world" ' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 79).
In the case of a single assertion and many examples, we have a vivid
type of amplification*. Ex:
The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
Five sovreign fingers taxed the breath,
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
These five fingers did a king to death
Dylan Thomas, The Hand That Signed the Paper'
The whole poem develops the idea that absolute power is invested in
one person. Concretization* offers an (extravagant) way of replacing
this type of argument.
R3: Conclusions obtained by deduction will only be as true as their
most general premise, and it is rare that such generalities are complete-
ly reliable. When obtained by induction, they depend upon the number
of facts it was possible to observe. When such a procedure offers
insufficient evidence to serve as proof, we have recourse to argumenta-
tive transposition, or analogical reasoning, argument from comparison*,
from similarity and assimilation. Ex:
Sometimes ... I thought that the idea that one person's mind is
accessible to another's is just a conversational illusion, just a figure
of speech, an assumption that makes some kind of exchange be-
tween basically alien creatures seem plausible, and that really the
379
Reasoning
relationship of one person to another is ultimately unknowable.

(Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, p. 269)
Because of the difficulty inherent in any attempt to formulate axioms to
explain the functioning of the brain, the speaker compares such ex-
planations to other figurative uses of language. From there the induc-
tion follows: such explanations depend on the previously accepted
convention that all communication is mysterious and unsure. Such
analogical reasoning functions as does metaphor*, using the same kind
of transposition. Because of their double movement, from position to
transposition, demonstrative comparisons* are more flexible than more
simple types of reasoning.
But such transfers of meaning* can be dangerous. Ex: 'MR SMITH: A
conscientious doctor must die with his patient if they can't get well
together. The captain of a ship goes down with his ship into the briny
deep, he does not survive alone' (Eugene lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in
Four Plays, trans. D.M. Allen, p. 11). Even more obvious are cases
involving paralogism* (see paralogism, R3) which present as arguments
simple metaphors*, rather than comparisons* permitting one to ex-
amine at leisure the proposed equivalences. Morier suggests that such
metaphorical 'arguments' should be called 'epitropes.' He gives an
example from the nineteenth-century French thinker Ernest Renan:
'Catholicism? Catholicism is an iron bar; you don't try to reason with
an iron bar.' (According to Lanham, epitrope is a type of concession:
'permission or submission to an opponent or disputant, either earnest
or not'; Lausberg agrees [sect. 856-7]: 'concession' or 'permission.' See
permissio* and concession*.)
Distrust of the argument by analogy appears in the adage 'Analogic
is not logic.' And yet, in certain cases there is nothing more expressive
or convincing than a comparison*. Ex: 'A meal without wine is like a
day without sunshine.'
R4: For other forms of reasoning, see paralogism*; refutation*; supposi-
tion*; alternative*, R2; and wit*.
R5: To Aristotle and other writers in the classical tradition, the truth of
a conclusion depends upon that possessed by the arguments and upon
the logic of their articulation. The modern age has witnessed a progres-
sive development of formal logic. Modern symbolic logic has incor-
porated mathematical set theory, while abandoning classical logic. In
the sciences (including some social sciences like economics and sociol-
ogy), automated logic reigns. In everyday political, judicial, or literary
reasoning, there is deep distrust of 'logic': reasoning is frequently
considered to be an a posteriori arrangement of material, able to conceal
as well as to confirm; an artificial tool, and therefore not as true as
direct testimony, organized, like 'oral history,' for example, so as to
offer a microcosm of an entire situation or set of events.
380
Recipe
Testimony differs from reasoning in somewhat the same way as

facts differ from explanations*. See remotivation*, R2.
RECAPITULATION The repetition* in condensed form of the

different points made in a report or exposition of facts.
Ex: ' "You're kidding," said Hartwood, disbelief in his voice. "A major
United States businessman commits suicide and less than forty-eight
hours later his personal aide is killed under mysterious circumstances.
It turns out that the aide was once in the C.I.A. and all you do is leave
the file open?"' (Christopher Hyde, Whisperland, p. 99).
Analogous: anacephalaeosis (Morier). Lanham believes this to be
synonymous with enumeration*, whether repeated at the end of a
discourse* or not.
Rl: Recapitulation is one of the essential parts of classical discourse;
see plan*. (Cicero even advises recapitulation of the arguments* making
up the proof*, albeit in a different style.) Ex: 'In summary, I have
argued that ...' But literary texts also present the device in their con-
clusions. Limited to a single sentence*, recapitulation is the opposite of
regression*.
R2: Recapitulation differs from both division and summary. The first two
are attached to the body of the discourse*: division precedes and
recapitulation follows it. The summary remains independent of it.
If a summary covers a whole work, it is called an abridgement*, a
precis, memorandum, digest, or condensation of a book. An even briefer
summary simply lists, in the form of an enumeration*, the topics
treated in a chapter. The argument or synopsis of a film script, opera,
essay, or speech is a brief analysis of the essential points.
R3: Because recapitulations bring together several elements, they often
become enumerations*. The elements themselves lead normally to a
general conclusion or synthesis.
RECIPE A summary of the ingredients and actions by means of

which something is made.
Ex: 'EGGS BERCY: 4 eggs; 2 tablesp. tomato sauce; 1/2 teasp. salt; 4 small
pork sausages cooked; 1/4 teasp. freshly ground pepper. Butter a pie
dish. Break eggs in dish. Add salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees F.
for 15 minutes. Arrange tomato sauce and sausages between yolks.
Continue baking for 5 minutes. Serve hot in baking dish. Serves 4'
(Fernande Garvin, The Art of French Cooking, pp. 48-9).
Ex: 'TO PAINT A PORTRAIT OF A BIRD: First paint a cage / with an open
door ...' (Jacques Prevert, Paroles, p. 151).
381
Recrimination
Rl: The list of dishes or courses is the menu, which accords them titles*:
poulet chasseur (literally 'hunter['s] chicken') is chicken with green peas;
truite meuniere ('millert's] trout') is trout fried in butter and garnished
with parsley. The qualifier indicates the garnish or sauce.
R2: Recipes have a marker at the end (see punch* line, R2): 'Serve hot'
or some similar form.
RECRIMINATION The resort to counter-charges against an

opponent, rather than to an attempt to clear oneself. See OED and
Robert.
Ex: 'He did it to me first!' See also excuse*, Rl.
Other definitions: Lausberg and Littre define recrimination as 'meta-
stasis*.' However, English rhetors, at least since Tudor times, consider
metastasis to be a 'rapid transition from one point to another' (OED).
Synonym: antanagoge: 'when, not being able to answer the Adver-
sary's accusation*, we return the charge, by loading him with the same
crimes' (OED).
Rl: Recriminations have their own intonation*.
REDUNDANCY Repetition* of an idea in two or more closely

rephrased forms.
Ex: 'Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole / Unequal laws upon a
savage race' (Tennyson, TJlysses').
Same definition: Several parts of the message transmit the same thing
(information theory).
Synonym: duplication (OED)
Other definitions: For the ancients, and for Webster and Lausberg, the
word has a broader meaning: 'exceeding what is natural, usual, or
necessary; superfluous; as, a redundant foot in a verse; redundant
words in a statement' (Webster). See battology*; baroquism*; grandilo-
quence*; metabole*, Rl; sentence* (types of), 5; and verbiage*.
Fontanier also considers it a mistake*. 'Redundancy, an incorrect
pleonasm* or perissology*: all three are the same thing' (p. 302).
Rl: If redundancy involves the use of the same terms, we have homio-
logia (Lanham); if it involves different terms, macrologia (Fabri,
Lanham).
R2: Redundancy seems justified when we wish to emphasize the
strangeness of, for example, an assertion*. Ex: The greater part of the
fearful night had worn away, and she who had been dead, once again
382
Reduplication
stirred - and now more vigorously than hitherto ... The corpse, I re-
peat, stirred, and now more vigorously than before' (E.A. Poe, Tigeia').
R3: Redundancy may take antithetical form. Ex: '... part three after Pirn
not before not with' (S. Beckett, How It Is, p. 21).
REDUPLICATION Consecutive repetitions*, in the same clause of a

sentence*, of words having a particular interest (see Littre). See also
Fontanier (p. 330), Marouzeau, Quillet, and Robert.
Ex: Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean' (Tennyson, The
Princess, 1.21).
Other names: redoublement (Marouzeau, Quillet, Robert); conduplicatio
(Fabri, 2:175; Lanham); epizeuxis (Morier, Quinn); palillology (Morier,
OED). See also gemination*, other def.
Other definitions: Reduplication is another term on which French and
English rhetorical usage seems to differ. The OED lists the following
two rhetorically significant meanings: '1. The action of doubling or
folding. 1589 PUTTENHAM Eng. Poesie IE, xix: "The Greeks call this figure
Symploche, the Latin Complexio perchaunce for that he seemes to hold in
and to wrap up the verses by reduplication, so as nothing can fall out'
... 3. The repetition of a term with a limiting or defining force; hence,
the addition of some limiting term to one already used, or the sense of
a term as thus limited. Obsolete [e.g.: "Every good thing is to be de-
sired, as it is good"].' Ex: 'He [the professional golfer] not only makes
your golf game better, he makes golf a better game' (ad by the US
Professional Golfers' Association).
In 1521, Pierre Fabri (2:73) defined reduplication as: 'Saying twice
what one has to say, in two different ways as: "Toby was a young man
and not an old one."' This is redundancy* in antithetical form. See also
polysyndeton*.
Rl: Reduplication is a kind of repetition*. When a term is repeated for
emphasis*, but not immediately, we have semi-reduplication or diacope
(Quinn, pp. 81-2). Ex: 'And then a small, dry voice, like the voice of
someone who has not spoken for a long time, joined our singing: a
small, dry eggshell voice from the other side of the door: a small, dry
voice through the keyhole' (Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning,
p. 20).
If syntax demands repetition, the effect almost disappears and we
have false reduplication. Ex: This committee is called the Organizing
Committee.' Immediate repetition is not always syntactically possible,
particularly in the case of pronouns. See isolexism*, R4.
R2: If the repeated syntagm* can be isolated as a separate but complete
syntagm, we have epanalepsis* (see epanalepsis, Rl).
383
Refrain
R3: Reduplication may easily become an abuse. Ex: 'This program will
show viewers the beauty, the beauty of the flora, of the flora in the
tundra, in the tundra of James Bay.'
REFRAIN 'Recurring phrase or line especially at end of stanzas'

(Concise Oxford Dictionary). See also Abrams, Cuddon, Frye, Preminger,
and Turco.
Exx: In his poem The Raven,' Foe repeats as a refrain the single word
'Nevermore'; Tennyson repeats the refrain 'The Lady of Shalott' after
twelve of the nineteen stanzas* of his poem of the same title.
Other names: ritornello (Preminger); kyrielle (OED; 'archaic'
[Harrap's]); rebriche (Morier)
Rl: A litany is a type of refrain in which the subject changes and the
predicate remains the same. Ex: Through the open window of the
church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names
of her who was conceived without stain of original sin, spiritual vessel,
pray for us, honourable vessel, pray for us, vessel of singular devotion, pray
for us, mystical rose' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 292 [emphasis added]). See
insult*, R3; and title* (conferring of), R4. Cantillation is 'chanting, inton-
ing, musical recitation; spec, that used in Jewish synagogues' (OED).
R2: In his poem 'And Death Shall Have No Dominion,' Dylan Thomas
uses the title* as the first and last line of each stanza*.
R3: Refrains may achieve comic effects as choruses in comic songs.
Chaucer, as well as Gilbert and Sullivan, used comic refrains, as in his
'Complaint to His Purse/ which repeats the line 'Be heavy again, other-
wise I may die!' At least seven of the songs in Gilbert and Sullivan's
comic operetta The Mikado employ refrains of varying lengths, includ-
ing: 'And I am right / And you are right...'; They'd none of them be
missed!'; 'Three little maids from school'; To his daughter-in-law elect';
'My object all sublime / I shall achieve in time - / To let the punish-
ment fit the crime ...'; 'Oh willow, titwillow, titwillow!'; and so on.
R4: A leitmotif is a sentence* or idea, usually associated with a character
in narrative* or Wagnerian opera, which is repeated constantly. Ex: In
Dickens's novel David Copperfield, at least four characters are provided
with such tags which recur in their conversation and in fact serve to
identify them. Barkis constantly repeats, 'Barkis is willin''; the word
'humble' (or, more properly, 'umble') identifies Uriah Heep; and Mr
and Mrs Micawber are determined respectively to wait for 'something
to turn up' and never to 'desert Mr Micawber.'
R5: See epanalepsis*, R5; inclusion*, Rl; and rhyme*, R3.
384
Refutation
REFUTATION A line of reasoning*, or set of arguments*, whose

function is to overturn an adversary's conclusion by undermining his
or her arguments.
Ex: "But the argument that, because the government believes a man has
committed a crime, it must prosecute him is much weaker than it
seems. Society "cannot endure" if it tolerates all disobedience; it does
not follow, however, nor is there evidence, that it will collapse if it
tolerates some' (Steve Dworkin, 'On Not Prosecuting Civil Dis-
obedience/ quoted by Corbett, p. 5).
Rl: Thomas Kuhn explains the relationship he finds between the
notions of 'proof/ 'refutation/ and 'falsification' in the following
response to Popper's criticisms of his theory concerning revolutions in
science: 'But Sir Karl [Popper] describes as "falsification" or "refu-
tation" what happens when a theory fails in an attempted application,
and these are the first of a series of related locutions that again strike
me as extremely odd. Both "falsification" and "refutation" are an-
tonyms of "proof." They are drawn principally from logic and from
formal mathematics; the chains of argument to which they apply end
with a "Q.E.D."; invoking these terms implies the ability to compel
assent from any member of the relevant professional community. No
member of this audience, however, still needs to be told that, where a
whole theory or often even a scientific law is at stake, arguments are
seldom so apodictic. All experiments can be challenged, either as to
their relevance or their accuracy. All theories can be modified by a
variety of ad hoc adjustments without ceasing to be, in their main lines,
the same theories' (Thomas Kuhn, in Criticism and the Growth of Knowl-
edge, ed. I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave, p. 13).
R2: Le Clerc proposes a form of refutation based on a search for the
weaknesses of the antagonist's arguments: 'If he proved something
irrelevant to the matter in hand, if he abused the ambiguity of words,
if he drew an absolute, unrestricted conclusion from something true
only accidentally or in certain respects, if he declared clear what is
doubtful, confessed what is contested, declared relevant to the case
what is merely idle speech' (Nouvelle Rhetorique, p. 137). But the prin-
cipal topics of refutation belong among the 'commonplaces' (see
argument*). Angenot specifies some additional ones:
- contradiction (Perelman, 1:262), by which we show that our adversary
did not remain within his or her own logic
- incompatibility, by which we say that our adversary is trying to prove
two irreconcilable things (one cannot at the same time be a have and a
have-not)
- dilemma (Kibedi-Varga, pp. 65-6; Lanham), by which we oblige our
opponent to choose between two equally disadvantageous options
(you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't)
385
Regression
- pseudo-dilemma, by which we reconstruct two contrary sets of argu-

ments both of which, we claim, were advanced alternately by our
opponent and tend to support the same conclusion (Perelman, 1:319)
- dissimilitude, by which we show that our opponent confuses quite
distinct cases, by practising amalgamation of opposites, for example
- counter-example, whose aim is to reduce a general truth to an
occasional one
- redefinition of the question, with quotation* of supporting authorities.
Ex: 'I define a Republic, said Rousseau, as any State ruled by laws
under any form of administration, because only then does the public
interest rule and does the public good count for anything' (quoted by
R. de Jouvenel, La Republic}ue des camarades, p. 265).
- probable partiality, by which we show that no one can fairly judge a
dispute in which one is involved. Ex: 'The servant of received opinion
(alias the professor) defends himself against the charge that his ideas
are controlled by his social superiors: no one likes to admit to his role
in the thought-police' (Paul Nizan, Les Chiens de garde, p. 96).
- absence of proof in support of some affirmation. Ex: 'All these things -
let's admit their importance - are proposed without a shred of proof.
And it is upon them that the whole edifice rests' (J. Benda, Le Bergson-
isme, p. 22).
For the refutation of a dilemma, see alternative*, R2.
R3: Apodioxis, evasion, and other less reputable types of refutation are
described under argument*, R2. See also sophistry*, R3, antiparastasis*,
Rl; concession*, R3; counter-litotes*, R2; and excuse*, Rl.
R4: Traditionally, refutation has its place in the second part of the
development of a speech (see plan*). It helps to characterize the rela-
tionship between speaker and addressee (see enunciation*, Rl). It has
its own intonation*. It takes the form of dissimilitude (see parallel*, Rl)
and may be simulated (see false -*, Rl). An anticipated refutation is a
prolepsis*.
R5: Counter-refutation consists in refuting a refutation. If an argument*
which opposes a line of reasoning* is presented ahead of time as being
susceptible of possible refutation, it is no more than an objection. Ob-
jections are characteristic of honest discussion in which speakers seek
to understand rather than to refute. Objections are therefore usually
made in the form of questions*. Ex: 'What about the workers!' They too
may be simulated (the ab absurdo argument). See supposition*, Rl.
REGRESSION 'Return to a subject ... recurrence or repetition* (of a

word or statement)' (OED); repetition of words from the beginning of a
sentence, with detailed explanation of them (see Littre). For the latter
definition, see also Lausberg (sect. 798), Morier (sense 2), and Quillet.
386
Regrouped Members
Ex:
Treason doth never prosper! what's the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.
John Harington (1561-1612), Epigrams, books 4, no. 5
Ex: 'For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are
saved, and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of death
unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life' (2 Corinthians
2:15-16).
Other name: epanodos (Espy, 1983; Jacobs, p. 131; Lanham; Peacham)
Other definition: 'repetition in inverse order of ... the words at the
beginning of a sentence' (Littre; see also Morier [sense 1]). See reversio*.
Rl: Regressions are examples of anticipated recapitulations*.
REGROUPED MEMBERS Analogous functions (for example,

subjects on the one hand and verbs on the other) are regrouped (within
a sentence) into a set of consecutive, syntactically parallel clauses,
despite the confusions in meaning which may result. See Morier.
Ex:
Ever the hard unsunk ground,
Ever the eaters and drinkers, ever the upward and downward sun,
ever the air and the ceaseless tides,
Ever myself and my neighbours, refreshing, wicked, real.
Walt Whitman, 'Song of Myself,' 11. 42-4
Ex: '... and in administrative committee rooms, assemblies of Jesuit
fathers, of illiterate aristocrats and of bankers from the City of London
... represent in equal parts the indispensable contribution made by the
common herd, by the landed gentry and by capitalism' (Claude Simon,
Histoire, p. 165).
Other names: respective enumeration* (H.R. Diwekar); parallelism*
(Fowler)
Rl: The device, which may admittedly reduce clarity, seems to be
unknown in classical rhetoric. It nevertheless occurs frequently in the
Buddhist poetry of India and occasionally in sixteenth-century French
texts when they are both poetic and abstract.
R2: A simple regrouping of functions will not do; they must require
parallel decoding. Thus, the following example is a disjunction* in
which the members are not regrouped since the verbs fit all the sub-
jects:
387
Reminder
French, English, Lorrainers, in a furious muster

Advanced, fought, struck and died together.
Voltaire, Henriade, VI
R3: The device denotes a type of thought which is at the same time
both synthetic and analytic. Ex: 'In the case of both spiritualism and
materialism, through excess of admiration or through lack of esteem
for them, Man remains floating above, or stranded upon, the margins
of the Universe - without roots, a mere accessory' (P. Teilhard de
Chardin, Oeuvres, 6:26).
REMINDER In response to a listener's unasked question*, whether

real or merely supposed, the speaker inserts between two pauses* an
explanatory segment which repeats an idea or word already uttered or
left implicit.
Ex: It will (the air) do you good ...' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 539).
Other meaning: see flashback*, R2; and repetition*, R4.
Rl: Syntactic reminders also exist. See restart*.
R2: Reminders are a feature of spoken language. In serious written
language they may appear careless or have a comic effect. They may
draw attention to enunciation*. Exx: Tm sure (at least I think I'm sure)';
'I couldn't tell as I read this (and tonight I still can't) if Humphrey
were playing a practical joke' (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The Complete 'Yes
Minister/ pp. 144, 192).
R3: Reminders are effective if their content has already been indicated;
otherwise, they are simulated.
REMOTIVATION In linguistics, motivation is the relationship

which the mind establishes between a form and its meaning*. Remotiv-
ation consists in changing the relationship.
Ex: Concrete poetry as well as such French forms as the calligramme*
produce poems whose meaning is revealed by their shape rather than
(or as well as) by what the words mean (see p. 389).
Rl: Motivation is often unconscious. It compensates for the sign's
arbitrary nature, because the relationship established between signifier
and signified is never characterized by absolute necessity. As Saussure
showed, there is no reason why a particular signified receives its
signifier (proof: the differences between languages). Motivation is a
psychic phenomenon which attaches itself onto some pre-existing link
between signifier and signified.
388
Remotivation
au pair girl
pairg*
ri au pair
jairgirlau
aupairgiri
ju pair girl a.
«rlau pairgiria
âirgirlau pair gin
jirlau pair girl au pair
jairgirlau pair girl au pa
air girl au pair girl au pair
pair girl au pair girl au pa
\u pair girl au pair girl ai
îrlau pair girl au pair
-Mrlau pair girl-
Ian Hamilton Finlay, in Twentieth-Century Poetry

and Poetics, ed. Gary Geddes, p. 398
It is achieved in different ways: onomatopoeia*, tricks of sound (see
word-play*), graphisms*, associations within a family of words, etymol-
ogy*, and metanalysis* in the case of longer segments. Sometimes it is
the general shape of the word we associate with the thing, which ex-
plains, incidentally, the evocative power of some portmanteau* words.
The opposite, the deportmanteau word, is more subtle since we sup-
pose that in reality an ordinary word results from the contraction of
several words which form its periphrastic equivalent. Ex: The Spectator
of 9 April 1887 (see OEDS) spoke of the ' "Torrible Zone" [i.e., torrid +
horrible] which is one of the most beautiful of portmantologisms/
thereby positing for those wishing to understand its neologism* the
periphrasis 'data studied by portmantologists, i.e., by those who study
portmanteau words.'
Not so difficult to bring off is syntactic remotivation which restores
a grammatical category to what it was in the past, or throughout its
history, that is, diachronically. (Diachronic comparison* of a phonemo-
non through its different historical stages is opposed to synchronic
comparisons of a phenomenon with other similar ones in the same time
period.) Adjectives or nouns which derive from present or past par-
389
Repetition
ticiples may be restored to their previous verbal forms. Ex: 'a student
of revolution.' Use of the direct object revives the notion of study (as in
'[s]he studies revolutions'), whereas use of the noun as subject some-
times implies a young person who may or may not do much studying.
(The pejorative kind of semantic change has always been commoner
than the meliorative, human nature being what it is, and Mr. Howard
shows how student is coming to mean irresponsible young layabout,
just as research can signify the looking up of telephone numbers and the
riffling through of old press cuttings' [Anthony Burgess, But Do Blondes
Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 207].)
Remotivation also occurs when we go back from the generally
accepted figurative meaning* of a term to its literal meaning, if the
latter still exists. Ex: 'A moment ago ... I had been struck (what an
astonishing word. How many words seem to have been invented by
neurotics!) by the awful chair (in the shower room of a lunatic asylum)'
(H. Michaux, Connaissance par les gouffres, p. 78). See also simile*, R3;
and denomination*, R3.
R2: When a specific meaning* attaches to a term because of a process
of reasoning*, its motivation may be uncertain. In statistics, for ex-
ample, there is the case of objective and subjective averages. The objec-
tive average is the average based on different measurements of the
same thing; the subjective average is that of the measurements of sev-
eral analogous things. Objective seems to have been taken to refer to the
unique character of an object, but a different argument would be just as
plausible: in the case of a single object, the average relates to differ-
ences between estimates (their subjective aspect); in the case of several
objects, calculations cover each variable as 'objectively' (!) unchange-
able. In such a case, we would get two specifically opposite meanings.
REPETITION Using the same terms several times (see Fontanier,

p. 329). See also Lausberg, Littre, and Preminger.
Fontanier's definition, although a narrow one in that it involves only
'terms/ nonetheless includes several specific figures. See reduplication*,
triplication*, and tautology*. For other types of repetition, see allitera-
tion*, antimetathesis*, assonance*, chiasmus*, echo* effect, gemination*,
pleonasm*, verbigeration* and the double (a type of printing error; see
mistake*).
Rl: If several terms are involved, they may be repeated in a different
order. Ex:
POLONIUS: That he is mad, 'tis true: 'tis true 'tis pity;
And pity 'tis 'tis true. A foolish figure!
390
Repetition (Hackneyed)
R2: Repetition without purpose is usually judged to be careless.

R3: Figures of repetition for purposes of emphasis* include: amplifica-
tion* (see amplification, R3); anaphora*; antepiphora*; and epiphora*.
See emphasis*, Rl.
R4: Victims of palillalia, a type of pathological repetition, say the same
word over and over again; those suffering from palimphrasia repeat the
same phrase or sentence. See also epanalepsis* and echolalia*. In Pierre
Marchais's glossary of psychiatric terms, the quasi-mechanical repeti-
tion of an action is called iteration. In the Middle Ages, people used to
make the sign of the cross before counting 1, 2, 3, 4 ... because they
feared some (diabolical) automatism might force them to continue.
R5: In narrative*, episodes may be repeated as announcements of what
will occur later, as reminders*, or as variations* of events recounted.
Such narrative is 'repetitive' and is the opposite of the 'singulative'
variety, in Genette's terminology (see Narrative Discourse, ch. 3). See
also loop*.
REPETITION (HACKNEYED) Repetition of the same words a

great many times.
Exx:
... the title of Daniel Hoffman's book (1972) is beyond satire. It is Poe,
Poe, Poe, Pee, Poe, Poe, Poe. The rhythm, of course, is that of Poe's
own The Bells' ... but there is a defiance there, like William Pitt in
the House of Commons crying 'Sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar,
sugar. Who will dare to laugh at sugar now?' (A. Burgess, But Do
Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 295)
So when Humphrey brought me up-to-date this morning, I was
appalled. I could hardly believe it at first. I told Humphrey I was
appalled.
'You're appalled?' he said Tm appalled.'
Bernard said he was appalled too. (J. Lynn and A. Jay, The
Complete 'Yes Minister/ p. 114)
Analogous idiom: to harp on the same theme or topic
Rl: Such constant repetition has an emphatic or insistent function, but
it may also signal mental aberration. Ex: 'MR. MARTIN: Well then, well
then, well then, well then, perhaps we have seen each other in that
house, dear lady?' (Eugene lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in Four Plays,
trans. D.M. Allen, p. 17). See also Andre Breton's poem 'Piece fausse' in
Clair de terre. A prototypical example of hyperbolic repetition is David's
lamentation on the death of Absalom: 'O my son Absalom, my son, my
391
Reprise (Grammatical)
son Absalom! my son, my son! ... O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my

son, my son!' (2 Samuel 18:33; 19:4).
R2: Queneau identified one type of hackneyed morpho-syntactic
repetition which consists of constructing all the sentences in a text in
the same way. Ex: Then the bus arrived. Then I got on. Then I saw ...'
(Exercises de style, p. 61).
REPRISE (GRAMMATICAL) We propose to restrict the meaning

of this term to repetition*, not of lexemes, but of their grammatical
environment, both formal and functional. This will therefore include
articles, endings, prepositions, subordinating conjunctions, and so on.
Ex: 'What seas what shores what grey rocks and what islands / What
water lapping the bow7 (T.S. Eliot, 'Marina'). See also synonymy*, Rl,
and triplication*, Rl.
Other definitions (more general meanings): 1. In music, a repeated
passage or song in a musical program.
2. Semi-variation. In a narrative* or description*, a return to the same
point using different but not incompatible terms. See variation*. Ex: 'If
from the ginkgo tree a single little yellow leaf falls and rests on the
lawn, the sensation felt in looking at it is that of a single yellow leaf. If
two leaves descend from the tree, the eye follows the twirling of the
two leaves as they move closer, then separate in the air, like two
butterflies chasing each other, then glide finally to the grass, one here,
one there. And so with three, with four, even with five; as the number
of leaves in the air increases further, the sensations corresponding to
each of them are summed up, creating a general sensation like that of
silent rain, and - if the slightest breath of wind slows their descent -
that of wings suspended in the air, and then that of a scattering of little
luminous spots, when you lower your gaze to the lawn' (Italo Calvino,
If on a Winter's Night a Traveller, trans. W. Weaver, p. 199).
Rl: As a figure, it seems to be close to homoioptoton, in which identical
declension allows comparison of lexemes having the same function (see
homoioteleuton*, Rl). See also parallelism*, Rl, and period*, R2.
R2: If the lexeme is modified, but not its affixes, it is a semi-reprise,
frequently accompanied by homoioteleuton*. See also isolexism*, Rl.
R3: Because of the substitutions* it makes when lexemes are replaced
arbitrarily, grammatical reprise is one of the devices of collage* recom-
mended by Eluard (Oeuvres completes, 1:991). If we were to take as
model the children's song: 'If there were no soup, there would be no
spoons. If there were no more sons, there would be no more mothers .../
we would get by arbitrary lexical substitution: 'If there were no
dreams, there would be no dark glasses. If there were no darkness,
there would be no poets ...' See also sedation*, R2, and anaphora*, Rl.
392
Response
RESPONSE An utterance whose function is to complete, confirm, or

weaken a question*.
Ex:
GWEN: Do you know Mr. Tzara, the poet?
JOYCE: By sight and reputation; but I am a martyr to glaucoma and
inflation.
Responses may begin by reformulating the question (i.e., by adapting
the actualizers). They may also turn back the question on the speaker,
or repeat the same words (if they change the terms' meaning*, we have
antanaclasis*).
Idioms: to 'field questions'; 'to give an actor cues'; 'to play straight-
man'; 'to feed a comedian lead-in lines to allow witty retorts.' Ex:
[Mark] Twain and ... William Dean Ho wells were leaving church
one morning as it started to rain heavily.
'Do you think [the rain] will stop?' asked Howells.
It always has,' answered Twain. (Leonard Rossiter, The Lowest
Form of Wit, p. 92)
Analogous: answer, rejoinder, retort, give tit for tat. Ex:
FLORA: He wasn't worth it.
AGNES (Sighs): I don't know. There never was another for me.
FLORA: Plenty of fish in the sea, I say.
AGNES: Different kettle altogether.
Tom Stoppard, Teeth, in
The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays, p. 71
- repartee: 'making of witty retorts' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). Ex:
(Young woman): There are two things I don't like about you, Mr.
Churchill.'
'Yes, and what are they?' he asked.
Tour politics and your moustache.'
'Madam, from your appearance you are hardly likely to come in
contact with either.' (Rossiter, The Lowest Form of Wit, p. 70)
- retortion*: an answer made to an argument* by converting it against
the person using it (see OED). Ex:
'I think you look pretty nifty.'
Thank you, I wish I could say the same about you, but I don't lie.'
'Why not, I did.' (Bob Hope, in A Masterpiece of Murder [TV film,
1987])
- responses: 'responsary; any part of the liturgy said or sung in answer
to a priest' (Concise Oxford Dictionary)
393
Response
- traverse: in a lawsuit, a formal denial especially of an allegation

concerning factual matters. See tautology*, Rl.
Rl: The alternating set question I answer (see dialogue*) is present in
segments both shorter and longer than a sentence and is fundamental
to simple asseveration. The latter is, after all, divided between presup-
positions, on the one hand, and statements, on the other. Presuppositions
form the more or less implicit content of questions (which usually
specify also which piece of the answer is missing). Statements serve to
answer the questions. In longer texts, the posing of a question may
require several paragraphs*, while the answer will be expressed as
multiple arguments*, hypotheses, remarks, and conclusions.
We should also mention collections of brief exchanges, such as
catechisms, 'collections of doctrinal verities/ which take question/
answer form and which have to be learned by heart. Our own period
has produced another way of collecting brief exchanges of this nature:
the opinion poll, to which the addressee supplies the answers. In more
didactic form, the test allows only for choices between ready-made
responses. This is a kind of examination in which the answers are
marked so as to permit a tabulation of results as a basis for rating
candidates.
R2: Most texts participate in the self's dialogue* with the world. We
ask questions of ourselves and of others, and we provide answers to
both types. Responses always form the most impersonal kind of texts
and may be understood better if they are replaced in their context.
According to Andre Jolles (Formes simples, p. 104f), the primitive
literary genre, myth*, is a response to an audience's implied questions,
as opposed to riddles* or conundrums, which imply responses. Suc-
cessful writers know how to guide their readers, how to lead them to
ask those questions they will enjoy answering. Ex: lie tried to read. It
was evening. The lamplight lit up his book, his hands, the divan. But it
was becoming difficult to read. Something somewhere was different.
He glanced up from the text. The room had become bigger, remarkably
so. It ... was in a big house he had sometimes gone to, a great lady's
house. She might come in' (Michaux, Les Grandes Epreuves de I'esprit,
p. 93). Even clearer is the key word kept back until the last line, as in
Ambrose Bierce's story 'A Horseman in the Sky' or in Eluard's poem
'Liberte.'
In the theatre, the function of some sentences is to reveal to the
audience data necessary to comprehension of the plot: the characters
speak each other's names and exteriorize their preoccupations, for
instance. This is expository dialogue (see explanation*, Rl). Ex:
ESTRAGON: Nothing to be done.
VLADIMIR: I'm beginning to come round to that opinion. All my life
I've tried to put it from me, saying, Vladimir, be reasonable, you
394
Response
haven't yet tried everything. And I resumed the struggle. So there

you are again.
ESTRAGON: Am I?
VLADIMIR: I'm glad to see you back. I thought you were gone forever.
ESTRAGON: Me too.
VLADIMIR: May one enquire where his Majesty spent the night?
ESTRAGON: In a ditch.
VLADIMIR: And they didn't beat you?
ESTRAGON: Beat me? Certainly they beat me.
VLADIMIR: The same lot as usual?
ESTRAGON: The same? I don't know.
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, act 1
R3: Responses convey the markers of the different types of contact
between speakers. Sometimes such contacts change during a conver-
sation (see reactualization*, 3). The identity of the public addressed
becomes clear in the tone used, the 'most important thing/ according
to Paul Valery. The three kinds of style (grand, middle, low or plain
[Lanham, p. 113]) offer little help in categorizing addressees, who in
the past were classified socially. (See level* of language.) Nowadays,
however, we distinguish between tones which are oratorical, intellec-
tual, affective, and so on. When Valery was preoccupied with the
question of his readers' silent responses to his works, he invented
categories for them: '...a group of people, a superficial youth who
must be dazzled, stunned to be moved - or a distrustful individual,
difficult of access - or one of those apparently deep types who allow
you to say anything, actually welcome it; they grasp what you're
saying, run on ahead even, but soon cancel out what you in fact wrote'
(P. Valery, Oeuvres, 2:577).
Some unavowed portion of a response is to be understood outside
the utterance proper, particularly the way it serves to identify the
speaker. For example, French people will speak French in Denmark,
even though they may speak English, and even though they know
English is more likely to be understood, simply because they prefer not
to be taken for English. (This is an example of the perlocutionary value of
an utterance.) The tone used also identifies the speaker's mood (threat-
ening, discouraging, etc.).
R4: Another kind of response, not always expected (or welcome), is the
objection, which we may make against our own arguments: this is the
negative function of argumentation. Simply repeating some of the
words of the question in the right tone is enough. Ex: ' "It was bound
to happen." "Bound! ... bound? One never knows." '
Objections cannot be avoided, but a speaker may try to respond to
them in advance by means of prolepsis* and subjectio (see question*,
395
Restart
R3). Prefaces, forewords, and afterwords may be proleptic or analeptic

responses to possible objections from readers. In discussions, academic
or otherwise, objections may take the form of questions*.
For evasive responses, see argument*, R2. For the exploitation of
presuppositions, see finesse*, Rl. For both responses expected to be
positive and also the 'Norman' answer, see negation*. See also interjec-
tion*; literary* games; persiflage*; reminder*; tautology*, Rl; and well-
wishing*, R2.
RESTART (neol.) In order to reattach several groups of words to a

segment central to the sentence's syntax, the speaker repeats it, at least
in part.
Ex: 'The few - by which we mean those who think, in contradistinction
from the many who think they think - the few who think at first hand,
and thus twice before speaking at all - these received the play with a
commendation somewhat less prononcee — somewhat more guardedly
qualified - than Professor Longfellow might have desired, or may have
been taught to expect' (E.A. Poe, The American Drama,' in E.A. Poe:
Selected Writings, p. 464).
Synonym: syntactic reminder
Rl: Restarts do not necessarily employ epanalepsis*. The repetition* in
other terms of the pivotal syntagm* is more elegant. This is the device
recommended by the ancient rhetors, who named it anapodoton (see
anacoluthon*, R2). Ex: 'He is a mimetic man: unconfident, eager to
please, infinitely suggestible' (David Lodge, Changing Places, p. 10).
R2: The pivotal syntagm* may change its grammatical form, but it
retains the same function. If it does change its form, there is a type of
anacoluthon*, as Marouzeau points out. Exx: 'Why don't I - but no,
you should do it yourself; 'He couldn't go, how could he?' Restarts are
common in spoken language and give a very natural effect in mimetic
reproduction of speech or interior monologue*. Ex: 'yes imagine Im
him think of him can you feel him trying to make a whore out of me'
(Joyce, Ulysses, p. 610). There may also be a syntactic stop and restart.
Ex: 'I have seen the plain waiting; waiting for a little rain' (Gide,
Romans, p. 161). See self-correction*, R2.
RETORTION 'An answer made to an argument* by converting it

against the person using it' (OED). See also Lalande and Robert.
Ex: '...I am one of the writers rebuked by Mr. Howard of The Times for
using gibberish ... [Mr. Howard writes,] "It is a paradox that it [the
word gay] has been expropriated by one of the sadder groups of
society" (does not Mr. Howard mean "appropriated") ...' (Anthony
Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, pp. 206-7).
396
Rewriting
Other definition: metastasis (Joseph, Lanham, Peacham)

Rl: Another, quite current, type of retortion is the ad hominem (or ad
feminam) retort that one's opponent does not apply his or her principles
to his or her own conduct. Perelman (pp. 274-5) gives the following
comic example: 'In a provincial theatre a policeman went on the stage,
when the audience was standing to sing the Marseillaise, to announce
that anything not mentioned in the poster outside the theatre was
prohibited. "Are you mentioned in the poster?" interrupted a spec-
tator.' Another example: 'A missionary blamed his African flock for
walking undressed. "And what about yourself?" they pointed to his
visage, "are not you, too, somewhat naked?" "Well, but that is my
face." "Yet in us," retorted the natives, "everywhere it is face"'
(Roman Jakobson, 'Closing Statement: Linguistics and Poetics/ in Style
in Language, ed. Th. Sebeok, p. 377).
R2: A purely rhetorical form, false retortion, consists in countering with
one of the opponent's own sentences by drawing attention to the
opponent's failure to live up to his or her own expressed intention. Ex:
Tvlr. [John] Simon is the first to admit that he is capable, like the rest of
us, of bad writing, but he should not write badly when he is writing of
bad writing' (A. Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 214).
Antanaclasis* offers a more anodyne, and more astute, way of taking
one's opponent at his or her word.
REVERSIO A troublesome term which is presented by Lanham as a

synonym of anastrophe*, by Littre, Morier, Quillet, and Robert as a
synonym of regression*, and by Fontanier and Lausberg as a synonym
of antimetabole*. Reversio may reduce to the common denominator of
the two latter figures: repetition* of a group of successive terms in
reverse order.
Ex: 'Grossbooted draymen rolled barrels dullthudding out of Prince's
stores and bumped them up on the brewery float. On the brewery float
bumped dullthudding barrels rolled by grossbooted draymen out of
Prince's stores' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 96).
Rl: Unlike antimetabole*, reversio does not create new meaning.
R2: The figure is easier to achieve in Latin, where word order is freer.
In English and French, we reverse the order of syntagms* more easily
than that of words.
R3: Reversion is 'translation back into the original language' (OED).
REWRITING Readers may receive various successive versions of the

same text, versions which differ not simply because of a few variants,
but because of occasionally quite considerable differences in content
and form, even in intent and length.
397
Rewriting
Exx: John Fowles published a revised version of his novel The Magus in
1977 (the first version was published in 1966). Fowles also provided
alternative ('happy' and 'unhappy') endings for his novel The French
Lieutenant's Woman (1969). Flaubert produced (but did not publish) two
versions of L'Education sentimentale (1843-5,1869). In his edition Wifred
Owen: The Poems (Penguin Books, 1985), John Silkin reproduces two
versions of 'Strange Meeting' and also a photograph of the manuscript
because of its 'ambiguity' (p. 143). Francois Hebert presents in Hotyoke
four versions or revisions of an unfinished text. Francis Ponge offers
two successive versions of L'Appareil du telephone (Le Grand Recueil, 3:1).
Analogous: recasting
Rl: Interlineation and marginalia (OED) are written units added either
between the lines or in the margins of a text. The devices are some-
times used in advertisements where appropriately manipulative hand-
written adjectives or adverbs are added for emphasis. Cancelling marks
cross out words or syntagms*. Ex: In the edition of Wilfred Owen's
poems already referred to, Silkin reproduces (p. 140) the following
cancelled line from 'Strange Meeting':
Yet slumber droned all down that sullen hall.
R2: Alterations or second thoughts are short modified passages an author
adds or withdraws from a text before publication. (The French word is
repentir - something repented and corrected; Morier found it among
terms relating to painting.) If the changes involve correction of imper-
fections, we speak of touching up (a term from painting) or retouching
(from photography). Morier writes: 'The study of alterations ... shows
the author's craftsmanship, linguistic scruples, care for logic, [ter-
minological] accuracy, coherence, precision, delicacy, reticence [pudeur]
... Sometimes loss of clarity is the result: dark grottoes become unknown
(the change blurs the expression); often it becomes clearer, as in Baude-
laire's basaltic grottoes (the change makes it needle-sharp)' (see 're-
pentir/ in Morier, Dictionnaire de poetique et de rh&orique).
R3: Interpolations are changes to an original text made by someone else,
with the result that the meaning* is obscured by error or deception.
R4: In palaeography, to mark a letter for removal, a point is pricked
below (or sometimes above) it; surrounding a word with points marks
it for removal. This is called expunging (OED).
R5: A metaphrase is rewriting in summary form (see paraphrase*, Rl).
R6: Complete texts are frequently rewritten in a different genre (e.g.,
novels adapted for the stage or cinema), or for a different public
(children's editions, vulgarizations, digests, etc.). 'Remakes' in the
cinema are newer versions of motion pictures already made. Ex: Lewis
398
Rhyme
Milestone's Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), starring Marlon Brando, is a

remake of Frank Lloyd's Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), which starred
Clark Gable.
RHYME Identity of a certain number of phonemes at the end of two

or more lines* of poetry.
1. Rhyme quality. Imperfect rhyme (also called 'partial/ 'slant,' 'half/
'approximate/ 'oblique/ 'off/ or 'near' rhyme) includes assonance* (the
vowels of two stressed syllables sound alike; e.g., 'seem'/'clear') and
consonance (agreement between the [esp. final] consonants of stressed
syllables; e.g., 'dive'/'dove'). Ex:
It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which Titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned.
Wilfred Owen, 'Strange Meeting'
See assonance*, R3.
Exact rhyme (also called 'complete/ 'perfect,' 'whole/ 'true/ or 'full'
rhyme) is identity between the monosyllables (vowel and supporting
consonant) or final stressed syllables of two or more words.
Leonine rhyme: 'Strictly used, the term means a disyllabic rhyme of
the last syllable of the second foot and the first syllable of the third
foot, with the two syllables of the sixth foot of a Latin hexameter. More
commonly it indicates the rhyme of the word preceding the caesura*
with the final word in both hexameters and pentameters' (Preminger).
Rich rhyme: repeating sounds with two senses. Ex: 'two'/'too'.
Holorhymes are rhymes so rich that the French call them 'millionaire'
rhymes; they appear mainly in punning combinations like 'On
demande une panacee universelle / Pour guerir une panne universelle'
('Required a universal panacea to repair a fairly common breakdown';
example cited by Redfern, p. 100). If too rich, rhyme tends to become
word-play*. See equivoque*. Ex:
Then I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform,
And tell you every detail of Caractacus's uniform;
In short, in matters vegetable, animal and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General.
W.S. Gilbert, The Pirates of Penzance
For a detailed discussion of rhyme, see Frances Stillman, The Poet's
Manual and Rhyming Dictionary, and Philip Davies Roberts, How Poetry
Works.
2. Rhyme schemes. Rhymed couplets are two successive lines rhyming
with each other (aabb); alternate rhymes are made up of two couplets,
399
Rhyme
one of which may be masculine and the other feminine (see below, 3),
which are interwoven (abab). Introverted or enclosing rhymes have one
rhyming couplet inserted within another (abba). Rhyme may also occur
randomly.
End-rhyme may combine with in-rhyme, repetitions* of identical
sounds at the end of a line and at the hemistich, so that the hemistiches
rhyme with one another. Or, as in cross-rhyme, the end of one line is
matched with the middle of the next, or vice versa.
The game may be pursued further: poems may still retain meaning*
when only the first hemistiches (which may rhyme, thanks to in-
rhymes) are read. The device received a name in Greek, asynartete,
although the definitions (OED, Cuddon) point out that the hemistiches
differ rhythmically, with a single line being composed of 'two members
of different rhythms ... combinations of dactyl, trochee and iambus'
(OED).
3. Masculine and feminine rhymes. Masculine rhymes involve only
one stressed syllable, as in 'fail'/'wail' and 'mine'/'thine'. Feminine
rhymes consist of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syl-
lable; for example, 'landing'/'standing'. In French prosody between the
fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, custom established alternation of
what constitute sexed rhymes in that language: a feminine rhyme ends
in a so-called mute e. However, since the e gradually lost its value in
non-poetic pronunciation, a new kind of rhyme in which masculine
endings were allowed to rhyme with feminine became possible. This is
especially noticeable in the poems of the late nineteenth-century sym-
bolist Paul Verlaine and in those of the surrealist Louis Aragon (who
makes rue rhyme with disparu, for instance). The rule prescribing
alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes is now only respected in
fixed-form poems*.
Rl: Adoption of a traditional, or fixed, form (see poem*) involves
acceptance of a predetermined rhyme scheme. If stanzas* are hetero-
metric (see syllabic line*), lines of the same length usually rhyme with
each other, but the opposite system is, of course, possible.
R2: For rhymes in prose texts, see homoioteleuton*.
R3: The word rhyme has the same origin as rhythm* (the Greek word
rythmos), and its meaning only became separated from rhythm over
time. In England and France the separation was already occurring in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and was completed by the
seventeenth (Cuddon).
R4: Modern experiments with rhyme generally involve near-rhyme in
English, where non-rhyme ('the total absence of rhyme found in blank
verse and free verse' [Stillman, p. 83]) is more important than in
400
Rhythm
modern French poetry. This despite the surrealist poetic endeavour,

which affected both form and content and reopened the way to the
universal devices of poetry. In surrealist poems, syllable counting and
rhyme are succeeded by a greater rhythmic diversity, and rhyme itself
is replaced by echo* effects in undefined, nuanced combinations.
RHYTHM In the broad sense, rhythm involves the respective dura-

tion of segments of discourse* of whatever dimensions. We may just as
easily speak of the rhythm* of the action of a narrative as of the binary
or ternary rhythm of a sentence*.
In the strict sense, prose rhythm is the organization of phonetic
words into rhythmic groups. Prose poetry, or poetic prose, is charac-
terized by some degree of regularity in its accents*.
Rhythm in poetry is more elaborate.
Rl: Poetry is to prose what dancing is to walking: it has a particular
rhythm which we can understand by beating time. Morier points out
that this may be done "by making circular hand-movements' and that
'this was perhaps how verses were scanned in ancient times.' To
confirm his hypothesis, Morier proposes a new etymology* for versus
(verse), which in his view is related, by the circular movement which
may have accompanied diction, to the Latin vertere (to turn). By recall-
ing that verse was spoken before it was written down, he has no
difficulty in refuting traditional etymology, which sees verse deriving
from versus, meaning a line, row, or furrow. In this more flexible
manner of beating time/ Morier continues [more flexible, that is, than
raising and lowering the hand or foot, for instance], 'the ictus or stress
is indicated by arrival at point zero, the nadir of the circle made'
(Grammont, Le Vers franqais, p. 86). Binary rhythm is divided into weak
and strong time (arsis and thesis; that is, rise and fall in stress: yi ts'ing
yi tchouo in Chinese). The nadir of the circle corresponds to strong time.
The advantages of this method of marking rhythm are obvious: spon-
taneity, naturalness, rapidity, and flexibility.
This method is particularly appropriate for scanning rhythmic verse
in which the rhythmic divisions may not be entirely tied to accent*. We
thus preserve the interplay of long syllables placed either at the begin-
ning or end of a measure, and also that of expressive accents. Beating
time in this circular fashion allows one to feel regular, measured
duration even in the case of changes to the number and duration of
syllables, or silences. The ictus may also be displaced onto the arsis by
a kind of change of step, as in dancing. Rene Char achieves this in both
La Sorgue and Jaccjuemar et Julia.
If rhythmic divisions are made to coincide too frequently with the
ictus, the result is military marches rather than lines of poetry.
R2: Francis Poulenc, who set many poems* to music, explained in an
interview on French radio on 10 November 1968 how he went about
401
Rhythm (of the Action)
establishing rhythm: 'When I have chosen a poem, whose musical

transposition I may accomplish only months later, I examine it from all
angles. If it is by Apollinaire or Eluard, I attach the greatest importance
to the way the poem is laid out on the page, to the blank spaces and
margins. I recite the poem to myself frequently, listen to it, look for the
traps ... I note down the breathing periods, and try to discover its
internal rhythm from one of its lines, not necessarily the first one ...
When some detail of prosody slows me down, I never try to rush it.
Occasionally I wait for days on end, trying to forget the word, until I
see it in a new light.'
R3: See also apocope*, R5; cadence*, Rl and R2; typographical caesura*;
rhythmic echo*; enjamb(e)ment*, Rl; imitative harmony*; mistake*, R2;
ode*; parallelism*, Rl; pause*, Rl; period*; punch* line; stanza*;
tempo*, R3; and triplication*, Rl.
RHYTHM (OF THE ACTION) Because it lacks a standard meas-

ure, the tempo* of events has scarcely been analysed. In the mystery
novel, for example, periods of slow searching for clues alternate with
sequences of rapid action. How may one gauge acceleration and
deceleration of the plot-rhythms? The most natural intrinsic criterion
remains the work's first episode, to which we may successively com-
pare the later ones. In novels of action, general tempo usually increases
in speed. Conversely, in the final volumes of Proust's A la recherche du
temps perdu, the action dissolves into a series of meditations.
Rl: Narrative* rhythm has been studied in comparison with story or
narrated time and with telling or narrator's time. G. Genette (Narrative
Discourse, ch. 2) distinguishes among: scene, in which narrative duration
seems to coincide with story time; summary, in which action is re-
counted briefly; pause, either descriptive or explanatory, in which
telling and action are suspended; and ellipsis, when narrative elements
are skipped over while the action continues.
Ellipsis* is implicit when narrative stops and then takes up again
without revealing what happened in the interim. The duration of an
ellipsis may be clearly or obscurely defined (e.g., 'two years passed' or
'a few years went by'), and it may be qualified (e.g., 'after several years
of happiness').
There are several intermediate stages between summary and scene.
In a single chapter of War and Peace, Tolstoy's narrator gives a general
overview of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, summarizes the acti-
vities of a military squadron, describes the morning spent by one of the
heroes, and transcribes a conversation before finally returning to the
development of his own ideas and to the explanation of his feelings.
It seem difficult, as well, not to consider some pauses as parts of the
action's narration. Descriptions* often occur when a character is con-
402
Rhythmic Measures
templating the person or place in question because the character's

thoughts and impressions are important at that particular moment in
the action. In Nathalie Sarraute's novel Le Planetarium, for instance, the
hero's slightest impressions receive developments in the form of
imaginary descriptions, explanations, and particularly dialogues*, all of
which make the duration of the narration longer than that of the action
narrated. The same is true in William Golding's Pincher Martin and
Horace McCoy's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Rather than speaking of
deceleration, which would concern the action itself, we will call this
process dilatation or expansion. Dilatation resembles amplification* and
lengthening*, which involve expression rather than content. Action
becomes drawn out and slowed down in opera, in which singing
causes a libretto that can be read in a few minutes to last several hours.
Although desirable in lyric passages, increased duration seems awk-
ward when the action speeds up; hence the presence in grand opera of
dramatic vocal crescendos with musical accompaniment. The solution
in operetta or modern musicals, staged or filmed, is spoken passages.
See also accumulation*, R5; definition*, R4; generalization*, R4; and
narrative*, R2.
RHYTHMIC MEASURES Units for measuring rhythm* in classical

prosody. See metric verse under line* (of poetry or verse).
Synonym: 'metric foot: a division of a verse, consisting of a number of
syllables one of which has the ictus or principal stress' (OED)
Rl: Commonly, feet have two syllables. Calling the French alexandrine,
for instance, a line of twelve feet confuses metric measure with syl-
lables, units of intonation*. The only case in which measure and syl-
lable may be equated is that of catalectic lines. These lack a syllable
(usually) in the last foot but may include silences at the beginning of a
line (anacrusis), or at the caesura*.
R2: Preminger (pp. 285-6) offers the elements listed in the following
table of feet:
x /
IAMB (iambus); iambic x / destroy
x x /
ANAPEST (anapaest); anapestic x x / intervene
I x
TROCHEE (choree); trochaic / x topsy
I xx
DACTYL; dactylic / x x -merrily
SPONDEE; spondaic / / amen
PYRRHIC (dibrach) x x the season of mists
TRIBRACH X X X
MOLOSSUS / / /
403
Riddle
ANTIBACCHIUS / / X
/ /,
AMPHIBRACHIC / / / There was a young lady in Spain
APHIMACER (cretic) / x /
BACCHIUS X / /
Longer feet are more complex and fairly rare:
DIPYRRHIC X X X X
DISPONDEE / / / /
PAEON 4 X X X / EPITRITE 4 / / / X
PAEON 3 X X / X EPITRITE 3 / / X /
LESSER IONIC X X / / GREATER IONIC / / X X
PAEON 2 X / X X EPITRITE 2 / X / /
X / X /
DIAMB (iambic dimeter) x / x / And so to bed
ANTISPAST / X X /
/ X X / /X X /
CHORIAMB / x x / h'/z'es without, roses within (Marvell)
EPITRITE 1 X / / / PAEON 1 / X X X
(IMPURE) CRETIC x x x x x (2 long replaced by 2 short)
RIDDLE 1. In the past, the Pythian sibyls gave their oracles (see
prophecy*) in the form of allegories* whose meaning* remained hid-
den. As a result, the riddle is an obscure allegory, according to Quin-
tilian.
Ex: '[Croesus consulted the oracle at Delphi about a war he intended to
undertake against Cyrus.] Pythia replied: "When a Mule is King of the
Medes, then ... flee ... do not stay where you are and do not be
ashamed to be a coward" ... Croesus was overjoyed ... thinking that it
was impossible for a Mule to rule over the Medes ... And that conse-
quently neither he nor his descendants would cease to be masters
there. [After his defeat, Croesus sent a messenger] to lay his chains on
the threshold of the temple and to ask the gods whether they did not
blush at having encouraged him. [Pythia replied that his recriminations
were without reason]: "Cyrus was the Mule; because he was born of
parents belonging to two different races; while his mother was noble,
his father was of more modest lineage" ' (Herodotus, Histories,
1.55.90-1).
2. The riddle, which is no longer short, has invaded narrative* and
dramatic action, flourishing nowadays in the detective novel.
Ex: the riddle of the closed room, invented by Edgar Allen Poe in "The
Murders in the Rue Morgue': 'The closed room is the place which is
guarded, forbidden, where the killer could not enter and where, de-
spite all, he kills. The closed room is a problem par excellence' (Boileau
and Narcejac, Le Roman policier, p. 48).
404
Riddle
3. Composing and deciphering riddles also form literary or 'parlour'

games: 'The riddle is scarcely more than a conundrum. Unlike logo-
griphs, charades and the rebus, in which symbols* and definitions*
help the searcher, the riddle must be solved from a text providing clues
as obscure and bizarre as possible' (Claude Aveline, Le Code des jeux,
p. 303).
Ex: 'A gentleman with a neck, and no head, two arms, but no legs? A
shirt' (Paul Eluard, Poesie involontaire et Poesie intentionnelle, in Oeuvres,
1:1168).
Aveline (pp. 303-4) distinguishes between riddles which are comical, or
double, or homonymous, etc. For riddles based on sound, see metanal-
ysis*, R4.
Mention should also be made of false riddles, which are intended to
be easily solved and are a kind of emphasis*. Ex: They are in full
swing and will last for a few weeks yet. What? The holidays' (from a
French weekly).
A charade is 'a kind of riddle, in which each syllable of the word to
be guessed, and sometimes the word itself also, is enigmatically de-
scribed, or (more recently) dramatically represented' (OED). 'I am a
word of twelve letters. My 12, 4, 7, 2, 5 is an Eastern beast of burden.
My 1, 8,10, 9 is a street made famous by Sinclair Lewis. My 11, 3, 6 is
past. My whole is a person suffering from delusions of greatness.
Solution: Camel, Main, ago: megalomaniac' (Espy, The Game of Words,
pp. 69-70).
Charades are a form of logogriph, riddles in which one is asked to
guess a word, frequently from a process of 'acting out.' Ex: 'See blank
tee what domestic animal? Tee dash ar most courageous mariner'
(Joyce, Ulysses, p. 233; i.e., cat, tar). Crossword puzzles are often collec-
tions of comic logogriphs. Ex: 'Honeyed tones from Labour Leader -
I'm no less useful (15 letters).' Solution: mellifluousness: anagram* of
the fourteen letters forming the second half of the clue, plus the
'leader,' namely, the first letter of the word 'Labour.' Ex: 'Heureuse-
ment il ne manque pas de tact' ('Fortunately he does not lack tact'; 7
letters). Solution: aveugle (the blind man): a pun* on the sense of touch
and politeness. See A.J. Greimas, 'L'Ecriture cruciverbiste/ in Du Sens,
p. 290. See also semantic syllepsis*, R2.
The solving of riddles is a characteristic narrative device in the plots
of folktales. As Queneau explains (Histoire des litteratures, 1:8): TRiddles
appeal to a hero's intelligence and skill, and intelligence, like physical
courage, is a means of passing tests of initiation.'
Dramatized proverbs*, which Musset raised to the dignity of a
literary genre, were originally riddles presented in the form of im-
provised comedy. Spectators were expected to guess the proverb which
the comedy illustrated.
405
Riddle
4. Literary riddles, serving to attenuate, underline, or singularize, are

similar to phoebus*. Ex: The sky moved back by at least ten metres'
[the character has jumped down from the prison wall] (beginning of
A. Sarrazin's L'Astragale).
Rl: Aporia, the unsolvable problem, refutes one hypothesis by absurd-
ity, pointing out the opposite. Ex: Would Buridan's ass, if placed
between two identical bundles of hay, die of indecision? (This aporia
serves to prove that the will is not exclusively prompted by external
considertions.) Ex: 'The earth is blue like an orange.' This line by
Eluard proves, in our view, that commas may not be suppressed with-
out penalty. Indeed, the surrealistic image of a blue orange would lose
all its force if one were merely to suppose that a comma has been sup-
pressed after 'blue/ The earth is blue, like an orange' = 'it is blue and
it is like an orange (i.e., round)'. Only by retention of commas in 'nor-
mal' usage can one indicate that a comma is not wanted in this case.
It is advisable to place the aporia either at the beginning or end of a
text (see point*). A didactic example: 'In contemporary views of the
unconscious, the father is castrated by the mother' (G. Mendel, La Crise
des generations, p. 193). This example strikingly presents the idea that,
in the view of a new generation, technical omnipotence has changed
social power, once essentially paternalistic, by attaching to it maternal
images of childhood.
R2: The creation of riddles involves a double displacement: abstraction*
followed, conversely, by concretization*; this process causes them to
resemble tropes.
R3: The shibboleth is a 'test word or principle or behaviour or opinion,
the use of or the inability to use which reveals one's party, nationality,
orthodoxy, etc.' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). For instance, during the
'Bruges matins' on 17 May 1302, the Flemish people massacred their
French occupiers, whom they identified by their inability to pronounce
the Flemish words schild and vriend.
R4: Some conundrums are deceptive (see anticlimax*, R4). The enig-
matic nature of any utterance marks the existence of an intended
meaning*. See symbol*, 1, Rl. Riddles have their own intonation*.
R5: Like any other genre, riddles are open to parody*. One common
form of riddle - 'What's the difference between X and Y?' - was
reduced to a nonsense in Robert Altaian's film Images (1972): What's
the difference between a rabbit? Nothing, it's both the same.'
406
S
SARCASM Aggressive, frequently cruel, mockery.

Ex: 'Sarcastic references to other nationalities are common: German
humour in Rumanian is a lack of humour (humor nemtesc), a German
joke in Spanish means stale wit (chiste alemari) ... A petty quarrel over
nothing is in French a German quarrel (querelle d'Allemand); inefficient
management in German is Polish economy (polnische Wirtschaft); inept
diplomacy in Rumanian is Bulgarian diplomacy (diplomatie bulgareasca),
and empty threats are characterized by the proverb 'Beware the Bul-
garian fleet and the Greek cavalry' (Ferestete de flota bulgara si de cavale-
ria greceasca). The funny bone is in French le petit Juif. The Lat[in]
Teutonici sunt nati venerunt de culo Pilati (The Teutons were born coming
out of Pilate's fundament) is perhaps the unkindest cut of all' (Noah
Jacobs, Naming Day in Eden, pp. 62-3).
Analogous definitions: Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, OED, and Scaliger,
3:86
Other names: diatribe, satire, libel (short, false, and defamatory written
statement [Benac]), pamphlet (brochure attacking an institution). These
parasynonyms designate more fully developed examples of sarcasm,
sometimes even literary genres. See also irony*.
Rl: Among attitudes towards the addressee, those which destroy trust
and mutual understanding through unfair treatment are persiflage*,
sarcasm, and insults*. The rhetorical type of reproach is objurgation
(Jacobs, p. 101, Littre, OED, Robert).
Such attitudes provoke ripostes in the same vein. Ex:
Tou know very well that charity, not poverty, is the principle of
the perfect life!'
That is what your glutton Thomas said!'
'Mind your words, villain! The man you call "glutton" is a saint of
the holy Roman church!'
'Saint, my foot! Canonized by John to spite the Franciscans!' (U.
Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 347)
Another even more radical way of destroying mutual understanding is
the curse, or anathema, which excommunicates a person or condemns a
doctrine or intellectual attitude. In this case, as in those exemplified by
judicial condemnation, or by blows and wounds, we have left rhetoric
far behind.
R2: Sarcasm may combine with apostrophe* and exclamations*. Ex:
407
Scesis Onomaton
'Ah! Malraux! How many stupid, empty sentences you are responsible
for - not to mention those you wrote' (J.-Fr. Revel, Contrecensures, p.
40). In fact, this is a rhetorical apostrophe because the real addressee
was the reading public. A speaker may wish to instruct such a public
rather than to accuse the victim, who, in such a case, has even less
connection with the subject under debate and is sometimes designated
merely by allusion*.
Other sarcastic remarks resemble wisecracks, which Dorothy Parker
differentiated from wit*: 'Wit has truth in it, wisecracking is simply
calisthenics with words' (quoted in L. Rossiter, The Lowest Form of Wit,
p. 62). Parker made one of the many sarcastic jibes for which she re-
mains famous on being told of the death of the not over-energetic ex-
President Calvin Coolidge: '"How can they tell?" ' (ibid., p. 48). The
same source recounts (p. 19) a similar throwaway sneer: 'And Somerset
Maugham, watching Spencer Tracy on set during the filming of Dr
Jekyll and Mr Hyde asked a friend behind him: "Which is he playing
now?"'
R3: Sarcasm has its own intonation*. Epigrams* are frequently sarcastic.
See also chleuasmos* and ambiguity*, 1.
R4: The opposite of sarcasm is praise. See celebration*, R2, and false -*,
Rl.
SCESIS ONOMATON (Gr. 'relation of words') Leaving the sen-

tence without a verb. See Joseph, Lanham, and Quinn.
Ex: When a sentence or saying doth consist altogether of nouns, yet
when to every substantive an adjective is joined, thus: A man faithful
in friendship, prudent in counsels, virtuous in conversation, gentle in
communication, learned in all learned sciences, eloquent in utterance,
comely in gesture, pitiful to the poor, an enemy to naughtiness, a lover
of all virtue and godliness' (Henry Peacham, The Garden of Eloquence
[1593], quoted by Espy, 1983, p. 203).
Rl: As well as pointing out (p. 33) that scesis onomaton represents a
form of absolute ellipsis*, Quinn emphasizes that far from being an
antiquated, forgotten figure in the twentieth century, it has become a
'conventional way to indicate either the apprehension of immediate
particulars or the flow of consciousness/ Ex (quoted by Quinn):
Hog butcher of the world
Tool maker, stacker of wheat,
Player with railroads and the nation's freight handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of the big shoulders.
Carl Sandburg, 'Chicago'
408
Scrambling (Lexical)
SCHEMATIZATION Instead of recounting, describing, or represent-

ing an action dramatically, we give a schema or outline of a work.
Ex: '1885. The eyes of the world are fixed on France. An obscure,
Jewish artillery officer is accused of selling military secrets to Germany.
Convicted by court martial, he is degraded by his regiment and de-
ported, vilified by the press and condemned to a living death on the
notorious lie du Diable ... A desperate message is delivered to "the
court of final appeal" at a famous address in London's Baker Street ...'
(Michael Hardwick, Prisoner of the Devil, 'blurb' on the book jacket).
Ex: 'Captain de Courcy Foulenough, the well known clubman, has
succeeded, by using the names of prominent London hostesses, in
obtaining credit at some of the more shady whelk stalls at Brighton'
(J.B. Morton [Beachcomber], quoted in The Best of Modern Humor, ed.
Mordecai Richler, p. 101).
Rl: In most novels, some episodes are recounted rapidly, in indirect
style. They are summaries of part of the action (see rhythm*, Rl)
without being necessarily schematizations. Ex: 'So off they started
about Irish sports and shoneen games ... and building up a nation and
all to that' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 260). In order for schematization to occur,
the text must present itself as a blueprint or diagram of some other text
which is the true one and which it is replacing. Its author must also be
presented as a commentator of a work already completed or still to be
written. The device is part of the movement to dissolve, distort, or
displace a work in order to destroy its resistance as a perfected, totally
finished object, and to open the imaginary world to a plurality of
readings.
R2: Too schematic a summary risks banality. The opposite is hypo-
typosis* (see hypotyposis, R2).
R3: Summaries may take the form of notations*. Ex: 'Cut to: Whole
luxurious office, Mott a man of fifty-five, Frost thirty' (J.P. Donleavy,
The Interview' in The Beat Generation and the Angry "Young Men, ed. G.
Feldman and G. Gartenberg, p. 272).
SCRAMBLING (LEXICAL) Replacing a letter to distort the mean-

ing of a word. See para gram*.
Exx: dangir for danger (R. Ducharme, L'Avalee des avalees, p. 265);
There's a vas deferens between children and no children' (W.A.
Redfern, Puns, p. 18).
Rl: If the result is an equivoque*, lexical scrambling is an approxima-
tion*. See also spoonerism*, R3.
R2: Letters may be reversed rather than replaced. See metathesis*, R3.
409
Scrambling (Syntactic)
SCRAMBLING (SYNTACTIC) Syntactic disruption rendering the

sentence unintelligible.
Ex: 'Arrogant and snivelling in tone [1], who happened to be next to
him [2], with the man to remonstrate [3], he started [4]' (R. Queneau,
Exercises in Style, p. 16). Reading the syntagms* in the order 1/4/3/2,
and reversing pronoun and verb in syntagm 3, make the meaning clear.
Other names: synchisis ('a figure of construction or defect of style
which makes a sentence difficult to understand by reversing the
natural order of words' [Lausberg, p. 951]); 'mixtura verborum' (ibid.;
'deliberately jumbled word order to indicate a confused state of mind'
[Grambs])
Rl: For semi-scrambling, see hyperbaton*, other def.
SELF-CORRECTION The speaker appears to retract purposely

what he has just said in favour of something stronger, more decisive or
appropriate' (Fontanier, p. 366, under 'correction'). See also Littre.
Exx: 'Of Mice and Men is, I think, a fine novella (or play with extended
stage directions) ...' (A. Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p.
376); '[An enormous head] nourished on itself, or rather on my im-
mense grief, yes, yes, grief about I'm not sure what, but in which a
whole age collaborated, no, three ages. And all of them bad' (H.
Michaux, 'Tetes/ in Peintures); 1 once had a girl, / Or should I say /
She once had me' (J. Lennon, 'Norwegian Wood' [MacLen Music Inc.
BMI]).
Other names: correctio (Lanham). See also epanorthosis*.
Other definition: a correction which the receiver of the message makes
unaided (information theory)
Rl: Self-correction is obviously a species of the genus, correction, which
may be addressed to others as well as to oneself. Ex: 'An accident. You
mean an attempt on your life' (Herge, Tintin [cartoon strip]). Correc-
tions may be made purely as a matter of form. Ex: 'The officer con-
sulted his list and said: "Ter-ro-rist." The next man in line ... took one
step forward, raised a philological index-finger and said respectfully:
"Not a terro-rist: a fou-rist"' (A. Malraux, Antimemoires, p. 247). Simu-
lated correction is a form of emphasis*. Ex: 'I'm told it [Irish] is a grand
language by them that knows. - Grand is no name for it, said Buck
Mulligan. Wonderful entirely' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 13). So there are
pseudo-corrections. See also periphrasis*, R3.
R2: The marks of self-correction are expressions like 'What am I say-
ing/ 'I mean,' 'or rather,' 'but/ 'no/ and 'yes'; or a restart*; or simply a
stop followed by a new beginning. Ex: 'Just like before, he thought, like
410
Self-Correction
being in a prison - no, security in a prison is nothing compared to this' (Tom

Clancy, Patriot Games, p. 215). Some new beginnings are purely syntac-
tic. Ex: 'I, I have, I am / Elsewhere' (H. Michaux, Epreuves, exorcismes,
p. 11). They are, nonetheless, forms of self-correction to the extent that
they return to a just enunciated text in order to correct it. It is, more-
over, this type of readjustment which serves to define the device
because disavowal of what was said is not essential; revision is suffi-
cient, if for no other reason than merely to approve the original ver-
sion. That is the meaning* of certain forms of reduplication* or of
apparently gratuitous insertions of the word yes or the syntagm* 1
mean' into the process of enunciation.
If self-correction applies only to the signifier (see lapsus*, R3), the
speaker may add 'I should say.' Ex: '[The name] of the island, or of the
town, I should say ...'
R3: Although rhetorical self-corrections do exist, the device in itself
forms a sign of sincerity. Ex: 'What does it mean, the kind looks she
often gave me (often, no, but sometimes)?' (Goethe, The Sorrows of
"Young Werther, p. 126). In written texts, where authors have always
been at liberty to make changes, self-correction is a deliberate device
and must therefore have a perlocutionary value. (The author pursues a
goal beyond that of enunciation. See Ducrot and Todorov, p. 343.) It
might, for instance, be used to make a character reveal his true feelings.
Ex [Alun muses about his daughters]: The girl was even worse in this
respect than her elder sister, now safely married, or rather safely out of
the way most of the time on that account' (Kingsley Amis, The Old
Devils, pp. 101-2). It may also be a matter of indicating that the text is
a spontaneous transcription of spoken language and not a written
composition. Ex: 'She knows the twelve parts of the may-bug. She's a
botany freak. A zoology freak if you prefer' (R. Ducharme, L'AvaUe des
avales, p. 147). The incorrect word (botany) is both displayed and
corrected.
R4: Other uses: Self-correction serves:
1. to limit an assertion* (see assertion, R3) without modifying it. Ex: 'A
certain number of affairs, complicated in appearance - but only in
appearance' (G. Bernanos, Oeuvres romanes(\ues, p. 768);
2. to insert a distinction*. Ex: 'His glass was empty and he poured
himself a treble, or another treble' (K. Amis, The Old Devils, p. 341);
3. to juxtapose two lexemes. Exx: 'His unprejudiced outsider's perspec-
tive had worked before and it might work again, he thought - hoped'
(T. Clancy, Patriot Games, p. 323); '[the fleeing General Staff invites its
leader to take off his insignia so as to hide his rank] My epaulettes? -
growled, no, roared Samsonov' (A. Solzhenitsyn, August 1914, p. 381).
Joyce might have preferred a lexical juxtaposition*: something like
growlroared;
411
Sentence (Types of)
4. to translate a simile* or metaphor*. Ex: 'It's a bird? It's a plane! No ...

it's Superman!';
5. to emphasize a word. Ex: 'With all this lightness I do not rise, I
descend. Or rather I am dragged downward, into the layers of this
place as into liquefied mud' (M. Atwood, Cat's Eye, p. 13).
R5: Self-correction has its own intonation*. It is similar to the restart*
(see restart, R3); it may lead to extravagant* comparisons (see ex-
travagant comparison, R4) and serve as a transition*. In more devel-
oped form, it become epanorthosis* (see epanorthosis, Rl).
SENTENCE (TYPES OF) Most long sentences possess a complex

rhythmical structure and are only typical in some of their parts. We are
considering in the present instance relatively simple models. A more
advanced study might begin with an analysis of the constituent mem-
bers, separated by square brackets, etc. (see syntagm*).
1. We might call sentences composed of a single member unary (a
neologism* common in logic and formed by analogy with binary). We
would also be conforming to etymology* if we used the term mono-
rheme to refer to them, but Marouzeau uses it to refer to one-word
sentences (e.g., 'Come.') and so identifies monorhemes with holo-
phrases (see monologue*). Wartburg and Zumthor, on the other hand,
taking as their criterion the assertion*, call monorhemes those sentences
whose theme* (or psychological subject) is implicit, despite the fact that
there also exist short sentences in which the predicate is implied.
A sentence may be considered unary when it progresses without
interruption by any factor articulating meaning* (such as a comma, or a
fortiori a pause*), whatever the length of the single member. Ex:
'Modern writers show greater freedom than was once customary in
what they place in that position [i.e., between one full stop and an-
other]. And what of the will to power? Finally on one small point. So far so
good. So then. Now for his other arguments' (Fowler, under 'sentence').
2. Binary sentences have two members. Ex: 'If the flights of Dryden
therefore are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing. If of Dryden's
fire the blaze is brighter, of Pope's the heat is more regular and con-
stant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below
it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual
delight' (Samuel Johnson, Lives of the English Poets, 3:223). Johnson's
sentence also contains parallels* in structure and in the thoughts
expressed. Neither is necessary to make a sentence binary. Ex: 'He
went away, she came back/ According to the lengths of the respective
members, we have minor or major cadences* (see punch* line, Rl).
Parallelisms* facilitate the production of binary sentences, particularly
in the case of periods*.
Binary sentences are sometimes called dirhemes, but Marouzeau and
412
Seriation
Wartburg and Zumthor take dirheme to mean a sentence in which both

subject and predicate are expressed.
3. Ternary sentences have three members. Ex: The question, "What is
the purpose of human life?" has been asked times without number; it
has never received a satisfactory answer; perhaps it does not admit of
such an answer' (Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents, p. 26).
(The first member of Freud's sentence is itself ternary.) We find the
same elementary structures within the members themselves. If a
member does not include repetition*, tmesis*, inversion*, apposition*,
etc., it is unary. Binary members are quite common. Ex: 'When I was a
soldier I was taught: "If it moves, salute it; if it doesn't move, white-
wash it." Today's militant, if unsoldierly, extremists have a simpler
philosophy: whether it moves or not, kidnap it' (A. Burgess, But Do
Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 17).
4. In most sentences, there is an irregular alternation of long members
(or colons) and short (commas). In the period, which was for long the
model sentence for finished prose, an excess of short members or
commatism (Lausberg, sect. 939) was not recommended. The result was
that the period* tended towards redundancy* (every nominal syntagm*
received its own epithet, for example). Ex (of commatism): 'But the real
source of the depression, as the conferees gathered for the sherry, and
squinted at the little white lapel badges on which each person's name,
and university, was neatly printed, was the paucity and, it must be
said, the generally undistinguished quality of their numbers' (David
Lodge, Small World, p. 4).
Absence of organization in the ideas expressed in some modern texts
produces sentences christened in French 'invertebrate' or unarticulated.
Ex: 'The Elizabethan translation uses a pleonasm trample them under
their feet which the modern translation cleans up to trample. Is the
modern translation better prose? Better prose for the purpose?' (R.
Lanham, Style: An Anti-Textbook, p. 36). The next logical step, albeit a
long one, is interior monologue*: T wonder is he awake thinking of me
or dreaming am Tin it who gave him that flower he said he bought he
smelt of some kind of drink not whisky or stout' (Joyce, Ulysses, pp.
610-11). For other types of sentences, see hyperhypotaxis*, R3, and
macaronicism*, other def.
Rl: For sentence modalities, see enunciation*.
SERIATION 'Succession in series; serial succession; formation of or

into a series' (OED).
Ex: 'A French philosophe recently pointed out that, while the French
love triplets (Liberte", Egalite, Fraternity, for instance), the British prefer
pairs - eggs and bacon, Fortnum and Mason, Crosse and Blackwell,
413
Sexism
Dieu et Mon Droit, Burgess and Maclean, Gilbert and Sullivan' (A.
Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 569).
Rl: Such classifications may be marked by juxtaposition (of series of
co-ordinated elements) or by co-ordination (of series of juxtaposed
elements). Ex: 'Han Suyin speaks of France and China, of women and
love.' Disjunctions* accompanied by antinomic, or paradoxical, terms
often serve to introduce each series. Ex: 'Over here, flower, sugar,
pasta, jam, ready made sauces; over there, fresh fruit, vegetables in
season, citrus fruits.' A change of tone serves to mark the two different
series; in writing, oblique* strokes might be used.
R2: Like the reprise*, which is similar in form, seriation may simply be
a pretext* ('an absurd formal justification'; see image*, Rl) for stringing
together inconsequential elements. Ex:
MR. MARTIN: Paper is for writing, the cat's for the rat. Cheese is for
scratching.
MRS. SMITH: The car goes very fast but the cook beats batter better.
Eugene lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in Four Plays, p. 39
SEXISM A term which implies or states that one sex is superior to

the other and which thus perpetuates the discrimination practised
against the members of the supposed inferior sex. Such terms en-
courage conformity with the traditional stereotyping of social roles on
the basis of sex. See OEDS.
Ex: During 1985-6 expressions of public concern caused the name of
the new Canadian anthropological museum to be changed from "The
Canadian Museum of Man' to The Canadian Museum of Civilization.'
Rl: Awareness of sexual discrimination in a male-oriented view of the
world has affected both the vocabulary and grammar of English.
'Neutral' or non-sexually specific substitutes for 'male' words include:
'business executive' for 'businessman/ 'artisan' for 'craftsman,' 'super-
visor' for 'foreman,' 'representative' for 'spokesman/ and 'worker' for
'workman.' Among verbs, to 'staff replaces to 'man/ and among
adjectives 'diplomatic' replaces 'statesmanlike.' The realization that the
use of sexually neutral language has become a requirement in business
as well as in social intercourse has produced a series of handbooks.
See, for instance, The McGraw-Hill Style Manual: A Concise Guide for
Writers and Editors, ed. Marie M. Longyear; and Casey Miller and Kate
Swift, The Handbook of Non-Sexist Writing for Writers, Editors and
Speakers.
Perhaps the most difficult grammatical problem derives from the
absence in English of a sex-neutral third-person singular pronoun when
414
Short Circuit
used in combination with sex-neutral nouns or indefinite pronouns.

Exx: 'A teacher who owns his own computer'; 'Anyone may come if he
buys a ticket/ Use of the plural solves the first problem: 'teachers who
own their own computers.' However, the use of a third-person plural
pronoun, they, is grammatically incorrect after 'anyone.' Recasting the
sentence in the plural produces: 'All those who buy tickets may come.'
Another frequent device involves the use of doublets such as Tie or she,'
as in 'The reader, when he or she must decide upon the merits of the
case ...' Still another uses double* reading: The reader, when (s)he ...'
R2: The problem identified by the term sexism is far from resolution,
but the trend away from the linguistic reductionism implicit in the use
of 'male' pronouns, etc., to refer to groups composed of men and
women is likely to continue. David Crystal distinguishes between the
relative ease with which publishers may exercise control over sexism in
written language, and the absence of such control in speech: 'If I inad-
vertently introduce a sexist pronoun into the draft of this book, I (or a
sub-editor) will doubtless spot it and replace it. But there are no such
controls available in the rush of conversational speech. How long it
takes for spoken language to respond to fresh social pressures so that a
new usage becomes automatic throughout a community, no one
knows' (David Crystal, The English Language, p. 257).
SHORT CIRCUIT Language, being a subset of the universe which it

must express, possesses the faculty of self-designation, not only in
abstract terms, by means of appropriate lexemes (metalanguage,
linguistic jargon*), but also directly, by autonomy (neol.). Ex: 'Word is a
word. I say word and not whirred ...' Autonymy is marked, orally, by a
pause* (or a glottal stop) and by special intonation*; graphically, by
italics and sometimes by quotation* marks (see situational* signs, 2).
In any case, we should note that when names form the predicate of
a verb of appellation, they are autonymical, needing no distinguishing
mark. Ex: 'She was called Agnes.' The same is true if the name forms
the subject of an appellative predicate. Ex: 'Agnes was her baptismal
name.'
The faculty of self-designation, that is, of turning language's denota-
tive aim from the signified to the signifier, holds true even for more
extended segments (see quotation* and reported speech or indirect
discourse*). See also J. Rey-Debove, 'Autonymie et metalangage/ Les
Cahiers de lexicologie 11 (1967).
In literature, comic, ironic, or absurd effects derive from this peculi-
arity which inheres in the very nature of language. Examples always
involve play on the distance which can be established between signifier
and signified, either when the one replaces the other, or when they are
made identical (in which case the sentence has two meanings* depend-
415
Simile
ing on the decision to read the terms as having an autonymical func-

tion or not), or when they are mutually contradictory. A spark jumps
between the poles of the sign; hence the name, short circuit, which
might be used to designate such devices.
Exx: 'This character was also reading a journal, The Journal' (R.
Queneau, Le Chiendent, p. 25); 'Four months later, they started another
operation, which they called The Other Operation' (Chapman et al.,
Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1:186).
Transphrastic examples (i.e., 'referring to a text longer than a single
sentence'): Some chapters of Gide's The Coiners are pages from a novel
written by one of the characters, Edouard; naturally his novel is also
called The Coiners.
Rl: Short circuits also occur between what is said and what is done.
Ex: 'FIRE CHIEF: I should like to remove my helmet, but I haven't time to
sit down. [He sits down, without removing his helmet]' (lonesco, The
Bald Soprano, in Four Plays, p. 27). This type of short circuit may be
simply accidental, or 'false'; that is, rhetorical. Ex:
GARCIN: Let's carry on then.
(The curtain falls)
J.-P. Sartre, the ending of Huis-clos [No Exit]
R2: Contradictions between a character's signifiers and signifieds are
subtler. A character may represent someone (among others the author,
indeed even the author in the role of novelist) or merely be himself (or
herself). Ex:
'I see a man.'
'What? A novelist?'
'No. A character.' (Queneau, Le Chiendent, p. 25)
R3: Andre Morel is neither the first nor only editor to have extended
the short circuit to include a complete work, as he did when he pub-
lished a celebration of silence, containing only blank pages. Also extant
are the Memoires d'un amne'siaque and the (frequently untitled) books of
blank pages meant to be completed by their readers.
R4: Autonymy cancels out tautology* (see tautology, R2).
SIMILE A comparison* in which the comparing element (the phore or

vehicle) is joined to the explicit or implicit notion being compared (the
theme or tenor) by 'like' or 'as.' See Fontanier, p. 337, Frye, Morier, and
Preminger.
Exx: 'When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient
etherized upon a table' (T.S. Eliot, 'Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock');
416
Simile
'And then to wake, and the farm, like a wanderer white / With the
dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder' (Dylan Thomas, 'Fern Hill').
See also allegory* and apologue*.
Rl: The presence of the vehicle constitutes the literary image*. Similes
are images in which both tenor and vehicle are expressed (the latter by
a syntagm*) and separated syntactically by a mark of analogy. The
marks of analogy include like, as, such, similar, better than, more than,
seem(s) like, resemble(s), and simulate(s), as well as apposition* (see
apposition, R3) or what Group MU calls 'pairing' (see A General Rheto-
ric, 4.3.2.2). Pairing consists in replacing like by a lexical word having
the same effect: sister, cousin, etc. Exx (quoted by Group MU): 'He is
made one with nature' (Shelley); The earth and I make a pair1 (Audi-
berti). If tenor and vehicle fulfil functions like those of noun comple-
ment / noun or subject/verb, they no longer oppose one another
syntactically and the result is metaphor*.
R2: Simile may be extended throughout a proposition so as to form the
protasis of a period*. Ex:
As those black granite pillars, once high-reared
By Jemshid in Persepolis, to bear
His house, now 'mid their broken flights of steps
Lie prone, enormous, down the mountain side -
So in the sand lay Rustum by his son.
Matthew Arnold, 'Sohrab and Rustum'
This very ample type is called 'Homeric' or epic simile. It easily gives
way to baroquism* (see baroquism, R2). Or else, in more developed
conversational form, it may become the basis of dramatic action. (See
apologue*.)
But 'merely ornamental' (Benac) simile has become exceptional. Most
similes seek to clarify some aspect of the text's meaning(s)*, or to
substitute for the absence of established terminology, or to moderate
the novelty of the concepts introduced; in short, to improve com-
munication. Ex: ' "If the animals leading the herd change, this happens
because the collective will of all the cattle is transferred from one
leader to another, according to whether the leader leads them in the
direction chosen by the whole herd." Such is the reply of the historians
who assume that the collective will of the masses is delegated to rulers
on terms which they regard as shown' (L. Tolstoy, War and Peace,
2:1417).
If the comparing elements become confused with the entity being
compared, the result is allegory* (see allegory, R4). If the former
replace the latter, there is metaphor*.
R3: In English certain similes are cliches*: 'clear as a bell'; 'deaf as a
417
Similitude
post'; 'strong as an ox'; 'quick as a flash'; etc. Similarly, in French, more

than a hundred similes have become cliches (see cliche, R4) which
function as a means of emphasis*: 'vif comme la poudre' ('fiery-
tempered'); 'battre comme la platre' Cheat someone to a pulp or jelly');
etc. (See M. Rat, Dictionnaire des locutions franqaises, under 'vif'.) The
Similes Dictionary, ed. E. and M. Sommer, lists more than sixteen
thousand similes and comparisons* from some three thousand authors.
Remotivated and foregrounded proverbs* and cliches* possess the
power held by familiar, and therefore already 'true,' texts (already true
in a 'false' sense of that term, but that is the trickery inherent in the
device). Ex:
Our love remains
As stubborn as a donkey
As sharp as desire
As cruel as memory
As stupid as regret
As tender as a souvenir
As cold as marble
As beautiful as daylight
As fragile as a child
It smiles as it watches us.
Jacques Prevert, Paroles, p. 137
SIMILITUDE A comparison* drawn between two things or facts and

based on qualities held in common.
Ex: 'What special affinities appeared to him to exist between the moon
and woman? ... her nocturnal predominance; her satellitic dependence
... her power to enamour, to mortify, to invest with beauty, to render
insane ... her splendour, when visible; her attraction, when invisible'
Other meanings: 'likeness'; 'parable/ 'allegory*' (OED). See parono-
masia*, Rl.
Rl: Similitudes are a type of parallel* which may be used in a process
of reasoning* (see reasoning, R3).
SIMULATION An attitude or declaration that tends to deceive the

victim, addressee, or reader concerning what we are, or what we think,
want, or feel, etc.
The following example saves readers from falling victim to the charac-
ter's attempts to escape detection: Tirst Jim described the recruitment
of Max and the manoeuvres he went through in order to disguise his
mission from the rest of the Circus. He let it leak that he had a tenta-
418
Singularization
tive lead to a high-stepping Soviet cypher clerk in Stockholm, and

booked himself to Copenhagen in his old workname, Ellis. Instead, he
flew to Paris, switched to his Hajek papers and landed by scheduled
flight at Prague airport at ten on Saturday morning' (J. Le Carre, Tinker
Tailor Soldier Spy, p. 246).
Analogous: feint, sham, pretence, hoax, mystification, quackery, play-
acting, posing (as opposed to naturalness)
Rl: Simulation which deceives no one, because it is too obvious, is
pseudo-simulation. All devices, even the least false* or rhetorical in
that term's pejorative sense, ultimately belong under the heading of
simulation or pseudo-simulation*, which are extremely widespread
attitudes. Neither diplomacy nor even simple politeness escapes some
degree of simulation. See ambiguity*.
R2: Verbigeration* pretends to be language; assimulation, a type of
pretence (OED), is, according to Quillet, a type of sham ignorance used
to get attention and is therefore similar to communicatio*; an excessive
or simulated enthusiasm is called parenthyrsis (Theodorus of Gadara, a
rhetorician [fl. 30 BC], cited by Longinus, On the Sublime, ch. 3).
R3: Wit* may take the form of simulated error. Ex: 'BLAISE: If you live
here, you will end up by catching medicine. Whereas I will be cured of
it by the sick' (Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 233). The doctor is here
treating medicine as a disease.
R4: Wit* itself can be simulated, as in the following anecdote concern-
ing Gounod and Mme Strauss, noted for her wit. Gounod is said to
have whispered to her at a premiere, 'Don't you find this music a bit ...
octagonal?' ' "That's just what I was going to say," she retorted, scent-
ing that he was teasing her' (Ch. Lalo, 'Le Comique et le spirituel,' La
Revue d'esthttique [1950], p. 313).
R5: See also chleuasmos*, Rl; quotation*, R4; dubitatio*; enunciation*,
Rl; blunder*, R3; and permissio*, R3.
SINGULARIZATION The presentation of an episode in a narrative*

from a particular, unusual point of view, as seen by some uncom-
prehending third party, a child, for instance. The result is that the
reader perceives details and values in an unfamiliar light.
Ex [Natasha's first visit to the Opera]: "The third act took place in a
palace ... At the front of the stage stood a man and woman - the king
and queen, no doubt. The king was gesticulating with his right arm ...
The damsel ... sang something dolefully, addressing the queen, but the
king peremptorily waved his hand, and the men and women with bare
legs emerged from the wings on both sides and began dancing to-
419
Situational Signs
gether. Next the violins played very shrilly and merrily. One of the
women, with thick bare legs and thin arms ... walked into the middle
of the stage and began skipping into the air and kicking one foot
rapidly against the other. Everyone in the stalls clapped, and roared
"Bravo!"' (L. Tolstoy, War and Peace, 1:666-7).
Analogous: ostranenie; 'defamiliarization' (Victor Shklovsky, 'Art as
Device' [1917])
Rl: Shklovsky writes: The purpose of art is to impart the sensation of
things as they are perceived and not as they are known. The technique
of art is to make objects "unfamiliar," to make forms difficult, to
increase the difficulty and length of perception because the process of
perception is an aesthetic end in itself and must be prolonged. Art is a
way of experiencing the artfulness of an object; the object is not important'
('Formalism/ in A Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms, ed. Roger Fowler,
p. 101). The device belongs among those we have grouped under
pseudo-simulation*.
Singularization offers a means of clearing away received ideas so as
to get to the things that matter. Ex: The Elizabethans were very Ameri-
can in some ways, particularly in their phonemes and the vague ebul-
lience of their speech ...' (A. Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?,
p. 261).
R2: The device occurs diffusedly in many novels, when characters view
events. Exx: Henry James, What Maisie Knew (1897); William Faulkner,
The Sound and the Fury (1929); L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between (1953);
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose (1980).
SITUATIONAL SIGNS (neol.) Signs which transcribe the par-

ticular tone of a quotation*, a response*, the title* (of a work), etc., and
which thus indicate the situation of a segment within its syntagmatic
context or within the real context which it evokes.
In the text, such marks are additional to the usual signs of punctua-
tion*, which shows that they form a category apart.
1. Emphasis* may be applied to a segment of the text by the use of
signs existing on a sliding scale going from small capitals and bold
type to large type. Ex: See graphy*, R5. Outside the text itself, such
signs indicate its title, and the size of the characters used marks their
relative importance and organization.
Michel Butor (in Illustrations) uses different typesettings and place-
ments independently of the linear reading process to define poetic
forms.
2. Italics form a separate case. In the text they serve to connote a
meaning determined by the context. Ex: 'Elisa found [a euphemism* for
420
Situational Signs
'stole'] a $10 sweater the other day' (M.-C1. Blais, Les Apparences, p. 57).
They indicate titles of books. Exx: 'Propaganda' is an article by Steve
Neale in Screen; 'Enigmes de Perse' is an article by Jean Paulhan in La
Nouvelle Revue franqaise. (The use of quotation marks to indicate titles
of articles or parts of books, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin, has now
spread to francophone countries.) Italics point out the use of foreign
words. In a general way, they designate autonymical segments (see
short* circuit). They may also serve to separate a paragraph*, a sen-
tence*, or a word from the rest of a text set in roman type. In a text in
italics, roman type serves the same function. Ex: 'One might think one
was reading human articles on great living men' (Villiers de 1'Isle-Adam,
Contes cruels, p. 73). In a hand- or typewritten text, continuous under-
lining indicates the use of italics (see emphasis*, Rl and R2).
3. (a) A dash is used to set off one element of a text from the rest. (The
dash, typed as two hyphens, differs from the [single] hyphen.) Ex: 'Not
sympathy, Nathanael, - love' (Gide, Romans, p. 156). The dash cor-
responds to the silence used in spoken language to increase anticipa-
tion.
Syntagms* may also be displayed by detaching them, using dashes,
from the surrounding syntactic construction. (Dashes play a similar
role to that assumed by parentheses*, but they have a contrary effect.)
Exx: 'We're using a lot of closeups - something we haven't done before
- and mixing them with middle and long shots' (Talk of the Town,'
New Yorker, 14 Feb. 1983); 'We're using only moving cameras - no fixed
angles, and no zoom-lens shots' (ibid.).
(b) At the beginning of a French sentence, the dash may indicate
the passage to the next point in a series. Ex: 'Avenues. - Moors, but
not rough ones. - Cliffs. - Forests. - An icy stream' (Gide, Romans,
p. 209).
If quotation marks indicate quotations* (see quotation, 5), a dash
announces, in French, the speech of a character. Ex: TVlais, dit Angele,
cela ne suffit pas pour faire une poesie ... - Alors, laissons cela,
repondis-je' (Gide, Romans, p. 207).
4. The refusal to integrate into the surrounding text one of the seg-
ments mentioned leads to the use of parentheses*; this convention con-
trasts with the use of dashes to set apart a segment (see 3[a] above).
Such a segment may be placed outside the text in marginal notes or
footnotes, attached to the rest only by an asterisk or footnote number.
On the other hand, a parenthesis* included in the text signals a digres-
sion* or a double* reading. When Queneau decided to insert one paren-
thesis in another he used square brackets, as in algebra. '- [ ... ( ... ) . . . ] .
See Batons, chiffres et lettres, p. 130. Common usage in English reverses
this procedure: ( ... [ ... ] ...). Gerard Bessette's use of double brackets
for the transcription of a character's secret thoughts remains a
421
Situational Signs
mannerism: '((constant fear of showing a petticoat))' (Le Cycle, p. 204).

See also paraphrase*, R2, and syntagm*, Rl.
5. Quotation* marks ('') indicate the limits of a segment from a dif-
ferent source. There is the case of a text drawn from another work (see
quotation*) or of a set of terms whose signified only is referred to. Ex:
'It's awesome means "it's very impressive."' See also dialogue*, R3.
Quotation marks exist even in conversation, as Proust noticed:
'When [Swann] used an expression which seemed to imply an opinion
on a subject of importance, he was careful to isolate it by means of a
special kind of mechanical and ironic intonation, as if he had placed it
in quotation marks, seeming not to wish to take responsibility for it,
saying: "the hierarchy (of the arts), you know, as ridiculous people
say" ' (A la recherche du temps perdu, 1:93). This example forms a pseudo-
quotation and so quotation marks are particularly appropriate. Very
common now in speech is the locution 'quote, unquote' at the begin-
ning of a passage. Such warnings may be classified with formulas like
'so it is said/ 'so-called,' or 'alleged,' by which speakers distance
themselves from a text, refusing to take full responsibility for it. Fre-
quently, they permit a narrator to comment ironically upon over-
emphasis or lack of insight in a character's discourse*. Exx: ' "So this -
this is the kind of slough into which our democracy has declined," he
said with much bitterness and gigantic quotation-marks where needed'
(K. Amis, The Old Devils, p. 327); ' "Sorry," said Malcolm. He had
forgotten to include sonic inverted commas in his run-through of
Gwen's special voice-effects' (ibid., p. 383).
Jakobson isolated the phenomenon in his study of shifters, words
whose meaning changes following the enunciation*'s co-ordinates. We
prefer Dubois's more precise statement that such terms are modal
agents, that is, marks specifying the speaker's manner of viewing his or
her own discourse* (see Dubois et al., Dictionnaire de linguisticjue). See
also end* positioning.
Jakobson calls this kind of modal agent a testimonial; it might also be
named an attestation. It is sometimes transcribed by italics rather than
by parentheses*, since these two situational signs are frequently con-
fused (see above, 2).
Outside the text, the sign of a quotation* is its position, as an ex-
tratext, epigraph*, etc. This kind of distancing* or spatial highlighting
occurs in the case of an introductory paragraph*, or sentence* of
several lines, or single line* of poetry. The device calls for smaller type
and format changes such as reduced justification (wider margins) and
reduced line spacing.
6. Points of suspension between round or square brackets indicate in
French the omission of text (a segment or segments, for instance). In
English, brackets are not necessary. These are the conventions followed
in critical editions. But Damourette proposes (Traiii moderne de ponctua-
422
Slang
tiori) a new convention to replace the use of brackets in French: five

points, which, as a convention, is less marked. Three points would be
enough as long as they are preceded and followed by a single space in
order to distinguish them from points of suspension (which are not
preceded and followed by a space).
In English, the standard set by the Style Sheet of the Modern Lan-
guage Association of America (2d ed., p. 6) calls for 'three spaced
periods [and] a space before the first period' to mark ellipsis* within a
sentence*. Ellipsis after the conclusion of a sentence demands four
periods (the sentence period plus three spaced periods). An omission of
significant length may either be shown by a 'single typed line of
spaced periods' or by 'three spaced periods after the last word before
the ellipsis.'
A cut excises whole sentences and is marked in French by one or
several lines of spaced periods. The cut may have expressivity. Ex: At
the end of the fifth book of his Nourritures terrestres, Gide replaces a
possible description by a line of periods, but the subject of the develop-
ment is a plain, whose immensity is thus evoked (see also counter-
interruption*).
7. The sciences also have their special situational signs. Square brackets
serve to announce a transcription in the phonetic alphabet; oblique*
strokes (//), the transcription of a seme; quotation marks mean that
only the signified is being referred to; small capitals represent the
referent or real thing referred to.
SLANG Cant or argot of a class or group, formerly especially of

thieves.
Exx: "front the gaff for calling at the entrance of a large house; 'sham'
for a gentleman (Cuddon); 'snow' for cocain; 'angel dust'; etc.
Synonyms: argot, cant, billingsgate (slang that pretends to be linguisti-
cally daring, crude, or vigorous). There are also regional argots like
mourme (used by masons in Haute-Savoie), brusseleer, cockney rhyming
slang ('apples and pears' for stairs, 'trouble and strife' for wife, etc.).
Robert Hughes says of nineteenth-century Australian convict slang: 'A
woman was a bat, a crack, a bunter, a case fro, cattle, a mort, a burick, or a
convenient. If she had a regular man, she was his natural or peculiar. If
married, she was an autem mott; if blonde, a bleached mott, etc.' (The
Fatal Shore, p. 258). See response*, R2.
Other definition: By extension slang also designates any jargon*
restricted to a small group of initiates.
Rl: Slang has its secret code words (see cryptography*, R2), but it
always contains popular language (see level* of language) and often
racy jokes. Exx: 'A tosheroon (25p) for the coat, two 'ogs (20p) for the
423
Slogan
trousers, one and a tanner (15p) for the boots, and a 'og (lOp) for the
cap and scarf. That's seven bob (35p)' (G. Orwell, Down and Out in
Paris and London, p. 141); T'as de la merde dans les chasses [eyes] /
Vous n'y voyez pas clair.' Thieves' and soldiers' slang, as well as more
snobbish varieties, are based on popular language with added jargon*.
R2: Slang uses abridgement* and is readily caricatural (see caricature*,
Rl).
R3: Mixing slang and 'high' or 'lofty7 style creates dissonance*.
SLOGAN "Statement or expression adopted to bespeak a position,

attitude or goal or to characterize or represent' (Grambs); 'short catchy
phrase used in publicity' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). In other words,
slogans employ formulas (see maxim*) considered to be rich in mean-
ing* and in various connotative values, but which in reality are banal
because of the triviality of their meaning (as in publicity) or because
over-use makes them threadbare.
Exx: 'Players please'; 'I like Ike.'
Ex: 'FIRE CHIEF: I speak only from my own experience. Truth, nothing
but the truth' (Eugene lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in Pour Plays, p. 29).
Analogous: motto, watchword, rallying cry
Rl: Slogans share banality of content with commonplaces (see cliche*);
like cliches, they are a kind of psittacism* which gives a definite and
unique meaning to syntagmatic segments longer than a word. Eco
writes: ' "Down with moonlight" - a futurist slogan - is a platform
typical of every avant-garde; you have only to replace "moonlight"
with whatever noun is suitable' (Postscript to the 'Name of the Rose,'
p. 66).
R2: Originally, slogans were battle cries shouted by leaders and taken
up by attackers. Ex: 'God for Harry! England and Saint George!'
(Shakespeare, Henry v, 3.1.34). They still occur in sporting competi-
tions, where they serve to encourage the participants. See also epi-
gram*, R2.
R3: Slogans have as intonation* the high intensity characteristic of
publicity hype.
SOLECISM 'Offence against grammar or idiom' (Concise Oxford

Dictionary); 'misused word, impropriety or illiteracy' (Grambs);
'ignorant misuse of cases, genders, tenses' (Joseph, p. 300). See also
Crystal, Lausberg, Pei and Gaynor, and Robert.
Ex: 'People must not say "Between you and I" or use like as a conjunc-
424
Sophistry
tion or make hopefully do the job of the German hoffentlich. They must
learn that media is a Latin and criteria a Greek plural and neither may
be used as an English singular' (A. Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer
Gentlemen?, p. 212).
Other names: faulty concord (OED). Antiptosis, which Dumarsais gives
(4:148) as a synonym of solecism in French, means in English simply
the 'substitution of a prepositional phrase for an adjective: tower of
strength' (Quinn, pp. 51-2). See also barbarism*, other def.
Rl: See mistake*, R2, and grammatical syllepsis*, Rl. Discussion of
solecisms in English poetry tends to become confused with discussion
of poetic licence. Geoffrey Leech (pp. 42-57), for example, in examining
various types of 'deviation' (formal, grammatical, lexical, semantic,
syntactic, etc.), acquits poets like Dylan Thomas of falling under the
prescriptive term 'solecism.' He praises them rather for their success in
escaping 'banality' by 'renewing' the language. Anthony Burgess makes
the same point: namely, that today's 'solecism' is tomorrow's accepted
usage and that writers are naturally among the first to sense the shift.
R2: In prose, few authors totally avoid censure, as Burgess again
admits. His definition of language as (in part) 'deliberate lexical abuse
for aesthetic ends' (But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 208) clearly is
intended to remove blame from writers who refuse to submit to a
prescriptive theory of grammar. For intended solecisms, see enuncia-
tion*, R2.
SONNET The principal fixed form in English Elizabethan poetry,

adapted from the Italian model. The change in versification gives the
English sonnet six alternate rhymes* divided into three Sicilian quat-
rains and one heroic couplet (abab, cdcd
,efef, gg). The French sonnet
usually had two quatrains, which used only two rhymes, followed by a
couplet and then by four lines employing alternate rhymes (abba, abba,
cc, dede).
Rl: See punch* line; imitation*, R3; and point*.
SOPHISTRY 'Specious but fallacious reasoning*; employment of

arguments* which are intentionally deceptive' (OED). See also Corbett,
Dumarsais, Joseph, Littre, and Perelman.
Ex: 'If you look at her because she is beautiful, and you are upset by
her ... if you look at her and feel desire, that alone makes here a witch'
Ex [Francis has painted a fake picture which is to be sold as authentic.
Saraceni, his teacher, quells his doubts thus]: 'Drollig Hansel is a student
exercise, undertaken in the style of an earlier day ... If an expert...
425
Spelling Out
cannot tell that it is modern, what greater proof can you have of my
achievement. But you are blameless. You did not paint to deceive, you
signed nobody else's name to it, and you did not yourself send it to
England' (Robertson Da vies, What's Bred in the Bone, p. 392).
Analogous: sophism, paralogism*, captious argument*
Rl: Sophisms are intended paralogisms, meant to deceive. The term,
which derives from the Greek word for wisdom, sophia, acquired its
pejorative meaning* from Socrates, who denounced the hypocrisy of
the sages (or Sophists), logicians who, he claimed, were both mercenary
and pretentious. The truly wise know that wisdom, like truth, is an
ideal to be sought constantly; they are therefore friends of wisdom
(philo-sophers).
R2: Sophistry employs the same forms as does paralogism* (see para-
logism, R2) and may even extend to antilogy*.
R3: Revealing the sophistic arguments of an adversary is an excellent
form of refutation*. So effective is it, that even a valid conclusion may
not stand up to it. Ex:
For example: a substance exists that blackens the fingers of those
who touch it ...
Triumphantly, I completed the syllogism: 'Venantius and Berengar
have blackened fingers, ergo they touched this substance!'
'Good, Adso,' William said, 'a pity that your syllogism is not valid,
because ... the middle term never appears as general.' (U. Eco, The
Name of the Rose, p. 261)
Events later prove that Adso's conclusion was correct, although his
formulation of it was illogical.
R4: If foregrounded, sophistry may turn into witty repartee.
SPELLING OUT Separate pronunciation, one after another, of the

letters composing a word.
Ex: 'It's a note from Mr Boris. He can't come. - Mr Maurice? says the
voice. - No, not Maurice: Boris. B as in Bernard, O as in Octave' (J.-P.
Sartre, L'Age de raison, p. 225).
Rl: Rapid spelling (a kind of oral scrambling) is a means of com-
municating secret information despite the presence of a third party.
R2: Spelling out may be accompanied by syllabification which consists
in 'articulation by syllables' (Concise Oxford Dictionary). The device
serves to emphasize. Ex: 'in fin i ty.' Dictation also contains various
exploitable devices: 'An infantile epistle, dated, small em monday,
reading: capital pee Papli comma capital aitch How are you note of
426
Spoonerism
interrogation capital eye I am very well full stop new paragraph ...'
SPOONERISM A metathesis* suggested by two elements belonging

in a syntagm* which would produce a new syntagm, often represent-
ing some gauloiserie*. See Cuddon, Frye, and Grambs; and under
'contrepeterie,' Angenot (p. 157), Marouzeau, and Robert.
Exx: 'a right mucking fuddle' (R. McCrum, W. Cran, and R. MacNeil,
The Story of English, p. 281). A classical example comes from Rabelais's
Pantagruel (ch. 17): 11 disait qu'il n'y avait qu'une antistrophe entre
femme folle a la messe et femme molle a la fesse' (i.e., consonantal
inversion* between a woman crazy at mass and one soft in the ass).
In English, the device bears the name of the Rev. William Archibald
Spooner, Warden of New College in Oxford from 1903 to 1924, who is
supposed to have suffered from the habit of transposing letters at the
beginning of words. Tony Augarde, however, in The Oxford Book of
Word Games (p. 173), suggests that most of the well-known spooner-
isms, like the later parallel group of semantic infelicities attributed to
Sam Goldwyn, were in fact coined by others. Among the examples
Augarde lists are: 'a well-boiled icicle'; 'our queer Dean'; 'the Lord is a
shoving leopard'; 'please sew me to another sheet'; 'noble tons of soil';
and so on.
Other names: In French contrepret (verb: contrepeter). Robert, relying on
Rabelais, also gives antistrophe, but wrongly, it would appear.
Rl: The spoonerism involves ambiguity* and a subtle kind of ap-
proximation*. The permutations* may affect numerous sounds or
sound groups. See L. Etienne, L'Art du contrepet; Augarde; and Espy,
1971.
R2: The surrealists abandoned the device's trivial aspect and adapted it
to their needs. Exx: 'Martyr, c'est pourrir un peu' (To be martyred is to
rot a little'), a deliberate distortion of the cliche* Tartir, c'est mourir un
peu' ('Going away is a little death'); 'Clanche de Bastille' (J. Prevert,
Paroles, pp. 3, 27).
R3: When the new syntagm is unintelligible, there is only a pseudo-
spoonerism, which is close to mere mumbling, as is metathesis*. Exx:
'damn dever, Lenehan said' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 113); 'Le boeme de
Panville intilutee: Ma Lere' (R. Ducharme, LAvalee des avales, p. 83).
This might also be termed lexical scrambling*.
R4: The involuntary spoonerism, of the sort attributed in English to the
Rev. Oxfordian, is a comic form of blunder*. An actor supposed to say,
'Sonnez trompettes' ('Blow trumpets'), cried: 'Trompez sonnettes' (i.e.,
427
Squib
'Deceive bells'). Spooner, dismissing an idle undergraduate: Tou have

hissed my mystery lectures; you have tasted a whole worm. You will
leave Oxford on the next town drain' (Augarde, p. 174). Littre and the
Grand Larousse Encydopedique make no distinction between the per-
mutation* of whole syllables, as in the last French example quoted, and
the subtler permutation of two letters.
SQUIB A very short editorial, either paradoxical or humorous, on a

contemporary news event.
Ex: 'After having welcomed American table tennis players to China,
Communist China is now organizing a great Afro-Asiatic ping-pong
tournament. The Chinese believe that, in inventing ping-pong diplo-
macy, they are innovators; in fact such diplomacy bears a striking re-
semblance to the traditional kind: settled around a green table, the par-
ticipants continue to return the ball until the moment when one of them
is eliminated by a backhand' (L.-M. Tard, in Montreal's Le Devoir).
Other meanings: See letter*.
Rl: The genre has its rules, which L.-M. Tard defines as follows. Take a
subject from the headlines. Invent a comic comparison with a dazzling
punch* line. Centre the text on a single idea. First paragraph: exposi-
tion of the subject. Second: transition and punch line. Rework the text
to produce concision and variety of terms and expressions.
SQUINT (SYNTACTIC) (neol.) A lack of clarity in the linking

together of segments of the discourse*. A sentence* or syntagm* seems
to refer to the preceding segment, whereas it refers to some other.
Generally, reference to the global meaning* solves the equivoque*.
Ex:
Caesar entered on his head
his helmet on his feet
his sandals in his hand
his good sword in his eye
a furious glare
P. Thierrin, Toute La Correspondance, p. 321
The original text, which is not written as poetry, has commas after
entra [entered], casque [helmet], sandales, and fyee [sword].
Other names: squinting construction (Dumarsais); Janotisme' or
'jeannotisme' (Robert). A 'jeannot' is a simpleton to whom are
attributed sentences such as: T put a stain on the jacket of grease which
my woollen grandfather had had dyed before dying purple.'
Rl: The term describes syntactic ambiguity*. A squinting construction
428
Staircase
is one in which a syntagm* seems to look in two directions at once.

R2: Overlong suspensions* and approximations* risk breaking the
connections between syntagms and thus producing syntagmatic
squints. Ex: 'A firm sent its bill with the following letter: Dear Sir, We
beg to enclose herewith statement of your account for goods supplied, and
being desirous of clearing our Books to end May will you kindly favour us
with a cheque in settlement per return, and much oblige. The reply ran: Sirs,
You have been misinformed, I have no wish to clear your books' (Fowler,
under 'unattached participles'). The syntagm Toeing desirous' squints
backward to 'We' and forward to 'you.'
R3: The Grands Rhetoriqueurs used the syntactic squint at the hemi-
stich to form ambiguous lines which, by incorporating equivoque*,
could be read in two ways. They could thus attack their victims while
seeming to praise them. See Morier, under 'rimes brisees.'
STAIRCASE The text reproduces several times a subordinating

syntactic link. The simplest case is that of a noun governed by a
relative pronoun, which in its turn is governed by a second relative
pronoun, and so on.
Ex: "On his father's side, my brother-in-law had a first cousin whose
uncle on his mother's side had a father-in-law whose grandfather on
his father's side had taken as second wife a young native girl whose
brother had met, on one of his journeys, a girl he fell in love with and
by whom he had a son who married an intrepid pharmacist who was
none other than the niece of an unknown quartermaster in the British
Navy whose adopted brother ...' (E. lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in Four
Plays, p. 51).
Other name: embedding (J. Dubois, Grammaire structurale du frangais,
3:14-15)
Rl: Left alone, the figure might continue indefinitely. However, it must
stop somewhere, unless it returns back to the beginning, in which case
it becomes a loop*.
R2: Some small staircases are purely formal. Ex: 'The left hand trans-
fers the fork to the right hand, which stabs the piece of meat, which
approaches the mouth, which begins to masticate using contracting and
extending movements which affect the whole face' (Robbe-Grillet, La
Jalousie, p. 111).
R3: When the second link in the series undermines the character of the
one preceding it (as an exception to an exception, is this the return to
the rule?), the result is a shaky staircase. This is the case in sentences
which feature many buts. Ex: 'But he did not follow up his threats by
429
Stammering
any prompt action against the young king, but went off to Germany to
conclude the campaign against his brother Lewis of Bavaria. But on
arriving in Bavaria he did not strike down his enemy, but made a six
months' truce with him' (quoted by Fowler, under 'but').
R4: In the 'staircase plot/ the narrative* branches off at each succeeding
episode, abandoning in the process the various plots already begun. Ex:
Bunuel's film The Phantom of Liberty.
STAMMERING A mistake* (see mistake, R2) in pronunciation in

which one syllable is repeated several times.
KEN: You wwwant mmme to ggget a bbb ...
Otto is staring. Ken's stutter gets worse.
Bbbig ... cccar ... ffffor ... the ... ggg ... gggetaway?
John Cleese and Charles Crighton,
A Fish Called Wanda: A Screenplay, p. 7
Ex: 'Fafafafafafamous, stammered Pradonet' (R. Queneau, Pierrot mon
ami, p. 37).
Approximate reproduction of the words of a stammerer is a form of
mimology*. In French automatic poetry, it receives literary value. Ex: 11
peut ppppeut! ppp eu peu!!' (C. Gauvreau,'Ravage cicatrice,' in Oeuvres
creatrices complies, p. 220).
Rl: Stammering is distinguished from prosthesis* and from gemina-
tion* in which the added syllables are lexicalized. Stammering belongs
only to the domain of performance (contingent production) and cannot
affect the language. Its principal characteristic is less the redoubling of
a syllable than a halt at any part of an utterance accompanied with
staccato repetition*. If linked to psychological problems (see Crystal,
1987, p. 278), it becomes a sign of them, or of deep emotion. Ex: 'He
had to punch me in the face because you had punched him. Otherwise,
there was no equality and I wouldn't have been able to fra ... fra ...
fratern ... fra ... ternize. I answered. He wants to fra ... fraternize'
(W. Gombrowicz, Ferdydurke, pp. 252, 264).
STANZA A group of lines* of verse whose limits are marked by two

extended pauses* of silence or blank space.
Ex:
The grass is half-covered with snow.
It was the sort of snowfall that starts in late afternoon,
And now the little houses of the grass are growing dark.
It is the morning. The country has slept the whole winter.
Window seats were covered with fur skins, the yard was full
430
Stanza
Of stiff dogs, and hands that clumsily held heavy books.

Robert Ely, 'Snowfall in the Afternoon/ in Silence in the Snowy Fields
Stanzas may contain anything from three to twelve lines; they may
bear the following names: tercet, quatrain, quintain (or cinquain or
quintilla), sextain (or sestet), septet, and octave (or octet). French adds:
neuvain, dixain, onzain, and douzain for stanzas of nine, ten, eleven, and
twelve lines. We should not forget the short, or the split, or the heroic
couplet. Exx:
Watching the birds, I think of Bach,
each of the distant wheeling flock
John Stone, January: A Flight of Birds' (short couplet),
quoted in M. Williams, Patterns of Poetry, p. 23
A book is coming out I wrote somehow.
I could not now.
Clement Long, Tines at Four in the Morning' (split couplet),
quoted in ibid., p. 24
A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
Alexander Pope, 'A Little Learning' (heroic couplet)
The monostich, or poem (and therefore stanza) one line long, is not
unknown. Both Preminger and Turco list the Spanish form called a
'mote' or 'glose': a poem consisting of a single line containing a com-
plete thought. See paragraph*, Rl, and period*, R4.
Synonyms: strophe (Preminger, Turco). In French a group of four lines
linked by rhyme* and metre is also called a quartier (see Morier).
Rl: Preminger comments (under 'stanza') upon some of the distinctions
between current stanza forms and French neo-classical or 'regular'
variety: 'Although the essence of stanzaic composition lies in the
regular repetition of the pattern, stanzaic verse often employs variation,
not only by means of metrical substitution but also by introducing
irregularities into the stanza's form.'
R2: In the Old French epics or chansons de geste, the stanza was called a
laisse, which could contain any number of assonanced lines.
R3: The structure of the modern stanza, like that of vers libre and of the
poem* itself, remains fluid (see 'vers libre' under line* [of poetry or
verse]). It may be quite regular, as in Dylan Thomas's 'Fern Hill' (six
stanzas of nine lines each), for example, or extremely varied both in
length and rhyme, as in Peter Readings' Ukelele Music (1985), one of
whose (untitled) poems contains stanzas of 19, 3,10, 8, 8, 6, 5, 7, 8, 5,
and 11 lines.
431
Substitution
R4: See also acrostic*; antepiphora*; ballad*; celebration*; epiphrasis*,

R3; inclusion*, Rl; ode*; and refrain*.
SUBSTITUTION The replacement, within some hackneyed phrase,

cliche*, fixed syntagm*, proverb*, quotation*, or received idea, of cer-
tain lexemes by others opposite in meaning* or likely to cause surprise.
Exx: 'She heard her butler say, "What name did you say, sir?" and
then a loud voice replied, "A Foulenough by any other name would
smell as sweet. He droppeth as the gentle dew from Heaven"' (J.B.
Morton [Beachcomber], in Richler, ed., The Best of Modern Humor, p. 95);
'The duplicate forms which denote contempt, like fancy-shmancy, and
Oedipus-shmoedipus and data-shmata, are perhaps unique in their attach-
ing so much semantic weight to a mere bound morpheme (excuse the
expression; your response should be morpheme-shmorphemeY (Anthony
Burgess, But Do Blondes Prefer Gentlemen?, p. 183).
Rl: The uncontrolled substitution of lexemes is a form of paraphasia, a
language disorder, since the substituted lexeme is sometimes a coin-
age*. In such a case, the effect of the substitution is to erase the mean-
ing*. See verbigeration*, R2.
On the other hand, substitutions in literature, when they are not
simply examples of word-play*, pursue specific ends. The French poet
and dramatist Jean Tardieu, when he wrote Un Mot pour un autre ('One
word for another'), tried to show that lexemes do not have priority in
communication: 'What, you here, my dear count? What a nice tulip!
You've come to replenish your cherished pittance? ... But how did you
come aboard then?' (p. 61). The place and sound of tulip call more or less
consciously to mind a different word, namely surprise', come aboard
might recall get in. See mistake*, R2, and humour*, Rl.
Such substitutions became systematic with the surrealists, for whom
they represented a creative or even recreational device. Ex: 'When
reason is away, the mice dance' (152 proverbs adapted to modern
tastes, in Eluard, Oeuvres, l:153f). English has 'perverbs' or perverted
proverbs* such as 'Familiarity breeds children,' etc. See also anaphora*,
Rl; false -*, R4; and reprise*, R3.
R2: Arbitrary substitutions may cause surprise, but there is another
very common form of substitution which is content simply to rejuve-
nate cliches* and adapt quotations* to new contexts. One finds it in the
most serious texts. Paul Valery studied the process (see L'Idee fixe, in
Oeuvres, 2:237-40) under the curious name parrot. 'Shooting down
parrots' means taking up well-known phrases or expressions and
bending them to some new meaning. 'Yes I am able to make distinc-
tions ... I am the distinguishing animal' [adapted from the French cliche
'Man is the laughing animal'] (Valery, Oeuvres, 2:238). The following is
a 'plucked' parrot (see foregrounding*): 'Pascal said something very
432
Substitution
true: "continuous eloquence is boring." I would be tempted to modify that

by saying: "Continuous music is boring ... Continuous poetry is
boring"' (Paul Claudel, Oeuvres en prose, p. 152). For examples of the
parrot in English, see parody*.
The power of natural substitutions derives from the presence, in the
listeners' collective unconscious, of an almost identical signifying
structure, so that the speaker's discourse* contains both new and
already familiar material, plus the tacit invitation that listeners work
out the trick. A clever literary example is the title of a work by Robert
Desnos: 'Deuil pour deuil' ('A death for a death'), which comes from
'Oeil pour oeil et dent pour dent' ('An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth'). The extreme form of substitution is alteration. Ex: I'd rather lay
an egg in a box than go and steal an ox' (lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in
Four Plays, p. 40). In this example, there is more than a mere parrot: the
proverb* 'Who steals an egg today will steal an ox tomorrow' is re-
called but in quite a different context, that of personal preferences, and
also in a different mode, in the absurd one in which people lay' eggs.
This alteration is really a case of the subversion of meaning.
R3: For graphic substitution, see paragram*. For substitutions of
sounds, see mistake*, Rl and R2. For substitutions of proper names, see
anachronism*, Rl. Constructions may also be substituted; see mistake*,
R2.
R4: Valery also practised what he called 'rhumbs,' by which he meant
substitutions of ideas or thoughts which 'present certain definite
deviations in contrast to some constancy in the mind's deep and
essential intentionality' (Rhumbs, p. 11).
R5: Substitutions of characters form one of the plot devices of classical
drama, the mistake* or false inference. Ex: Jack and Algernon, in
Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, each encounter identity prob-
lems because of misunderstandings arising out of their 'inventions':
'ALGERNON: You have invented a very useful younger brother called
Ernest, in order that you may be able to come up to town as often as
you like. I have invented an invaluable permanent invalid called
Bunbury, in order that I may be able to go down into the country
whenever I choose' (act 1). Tom Stoppard's Travesties (1974) presents
rehearsals for a March 1918 production of Wilde's play in Zurich, in
which roles are played or discussed by James Joyce, Tristan Tzara, and
Lenin, all of whom lived in Zurich at the time. Substitutions occur at
the level of both dramatic productions: at that of Stoppard's play and
at that of the 'play within a play,' Wilde's Earnest. The false inference is
traditionally resolved by the recognition scene (or anagnorisis), whose
importance in classical or neo-classical drama probably derives from
that accorded to it by Aristotle. False inferences produce misunder-
standings, whether deliberately contrived or not, concerning a charac-
433
Supplication
ter's identity. Misunderstandings in the proper sense concern situations.

Ex: (taken from act 3 of Georges Feydeau's Occupe-toi d'Amdie, adapted
by Noel Coward as Look After Lulu [1959]): The godfather thinks he is
at a real marriage ceremony; the other characters present, except
Etienne and the mayor, think they are involved in a fake marriage and
that the whole thing is a joke. Etienne and the mayor know that the
ceremony is in fact a real one. Compare also the misunderstandings in
Camus's play Le Malentendu (The Misunderstanding'), in which a
mother and daughter murder their son/ brother returned after many
years' absence and whom they do not recognize.
R6: In the novel there may be sequences of substituted action we might
call 'narrative relays.' Thus in one of his stories, Maupassant leaves the
lovers, Henri and Henriette, at their love-making beneath a tree to
describe the song of a finch, which is first langorous, then ardent, then
shrill, and finally calm again.
R7: One modern way of making 'surrealistic'-type substitutions would
be to submit the text to a process of automatic translation and re-
translation by a computer. An aphorism like 'The spirit is willing but
the flesh is weak/ having been passed through a Russian computer,
apparently came back as: 'Spirits are quick, but meat is soft' (C'est-a-
dire: Bulletin du Comite de linguistique de Radio-Canada 6, no. 3, p. 13).
SUPPLICATION A humble but insistent petition or request.

PENELOPE: Darling ... play with me ...
BONE: I can't ... I'm so behind ...
PENELOPE: Oh, play with me.
Tom Stoppard, Another Moon Called Earth, scene 2,
in The Dog It Was That Died and Other Plays
Analogous: deprecation, an 'entreaty or earnest desire that something
may be averted or removed' (OED). In English, deprecation, just like its
French equivalent, deprecation, was a figure in judicial rhetoric by
means of which counsel implored the judge's indulgence (see Verest,
sect. 454). It later took on the broader sense of a 'figure of passion' (see
Fontanier, p. 440, Lausberg, Littre, and Morier).
Rl: Epidesis (or epiklesis) is an impetratory prayer, one made to obtain
something for which an individual or group feels a need. Ex: the
decades of the rosary recited at the bedside of a sick person. To implore
is to accompany a request with weeping. A memorandum may contain a
request of a very general nature on behalf of someone else. The grant-
ing authority is requested to 'remember' some living or deceased
person.
Obsecrations are 'earnest entreaties' (Lausberg, Littre, OED) by means
434
Supposition
of which we assume the invoked authority's power or strength. Ex:

'Domine ad adjuvandum me festina/ a liturgical leitmotif.
Imprecations are curses (see well-wishing*, R4) in the form of sup-
plications. Ex: 'But thou, O God, wilt cast them down into the lowest
pit; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days'
(Psalms 55:23). This is close to prophecy*.
R2: It only needs the addition of apostrophe* for well-wishing* to
become supplication. Ex: 'If only to my law, O Love, you could make
her subject' (Racine, Andromaque, 2.1). See also blasphemy*, Rl; celebra-
tion*, R4; exclamation*, Rl; exhortation*, Rl; injunction*, R2; and
intonation*.
SUPPOSITION A modality of the assertion* consisting in positing

something as possible. An idea introduced for consideration and
subsequent verification; a pure possibility put forward by the imagina-
tion.
Ex: 'It may be that in the attenuation, desiccation, and death of reli-
gions the world over, a new religion is being formed in the indistinct
hearts of men, a religion without a God, without prohibitions and
compensatory assurances, a religion whose antipodes are motion and
stasis, whose one rite is the exercise of energy, and in which exhausted
forms like the quest, the vow, the expiation, and the attainment
through suffering of wisdom are emptied of content, put in the service
of a pervasive expenditure whose ultimate purpose is entropy' (John
Updike, The Coup, p. 103).
Ex: 'Pause. If we were all suddenly somebody else' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 91).
Synonym: hypothesis
Rl: Even imagined suppositions relate to something real; there is,
however, a kind of gratuitous, purely expressive supposition: the
pseudo-supposition. Ex: 'If pigs could fly ...'
The type of reasoning* "by means of familiarization' (Angenot)
which invites the audience to put itself in the place of someone so as
better to understand is half-way to a pseudo-supposition. Ex: What
would we say if it were up to us ...'
Very different is ab absurdo or apagogical (OED) reasoning, which,
although it takes the same route, in fact results in the refutation* of a
hypothesis. Having pretended to accept it, the speaker, using deductive
logic, draws from it the most ridiculous consequences possible. Ex: If
my heart has been enticed to a woman, and I have lain in wait at my
neighbour's door; then let my wife grind for another, and let others
bow down upon her' (Job 31:9). Job expresses indignation at his mis-
435
Supposition
fortunes by supposing that he has committed certain sins. He then

pours down upon his own head curses which in fact prove his in-
nocence.
R2: Hypothetico-deductive reasoning, widely used in the sciences,
consists in examining the consequences of a hypothesis with a view to
its better verification by means of experiments. Ex: Things seem to
happen as if ...' (and then the deductions follow). Ex:
The walrus and the carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantitites of sand.
...
'If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year,
Do you suppose,' the Walrus said,
That they could get it clear?'
Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-glass, ch. 4
R3: In literature suppositions open the door to flights of fancy, which
Audiberti named the 'Glapion Effect' and which Blaise explains to
Monique as follows:
BLAISE: You ... There's someone at the door.
MONIQUE: At the door? Usually I hear everything ...
BLAISE: Calm down. I am supposing that someone is there. You open
the door. You find a person about whom something strikes you as
being unexpected, curious. From that impression you imagine a
whole novel, enormous, instant, frenetic. That's the Glapion Effect!
Audiberti, L'Effet Glapion, p. 141
Hypotheses may bear upon any subject; they may accumulate, create
antitheses*, or be rejected, and so on. Ex: 'What was his frank judge-
ment of so much of [his antenatal history's] ugliness, he asked himself,
but a part of the cultivation of humility? What was this so important
step he had just taken but the desire for some new history that should,
so far as possible, contradict, and even if need be, flatly dishonour, the
old? If what had come to him wouldn't do, he must make something
different' (Henry James, The Golden Bowl, ch. 1).
Nothing remains more hypothetical than the intentions of others, a
fact Henry James exploited to the full: 'Neither his speech nor his
silence struck her as signifying more, or less, under this pressure, than
they had seemed to signify for weeks past; yet if her sense hadn't been
absolutely closed to the possibility in him of any thought of wounding
her, she might have taken his undisturbed manner, the perfection of his
appearance of having recovered himself, for one of those intentions of
436
Suspension
high impertinence by the aid of which great people, les grands seigneurs,
persons of her husband's class and type, always know how to re-
establish a violated order' (James, The Golden Bowl, ch. 35).
R4: Suppositions may take the form of questions* (see question, R3).
For the argument* which proceeds by denying a supposition, see
paralogism*, R2.
SUSPENSE Waiting anxiously for some dramatic outcome; 'state of

usually anxious uncertainty or expectation or waiting for information'
(Concise Oxford Dictionary). The state is closer to fear in the thriller, for
example.
Ex: 'A curious person goes into someone else's room and begins to
search through the drawers. Now, you show the person who lives in
that room coming up the stairs. Then you go back to the person who is
searching, and the public feels like warning him, "Be careful, watch
out. Someone's coming up the stairs." Therefore, even if the snooper is
not a likable character, the audience will still feel anxiety for him. Of
course, when the person is attractive, as for instance Grace Kelly in
Rear Window, the public's emotion is greatly intensified' (Alfred Hitch-
cock quoted in Franqois Truffaut, Hitchcock, p. 51).
Rl: Suspense has its own intonation*, which promises resolution of
tension. It forms one sure way of keeping the reader's or spectator's
attention in detective novels and adventure or mystery films. See also
flashback*, Rl.
SUSPENSION Instead of presenting straight away some expressive

trait by which we aim to produce great surprise or a powerful impres-
sion, we make the listener wait until the end of the sentence or period
to hear it' (Fontanier, p. 364). See also Dumarsais (5:286), Lausberg,
Littre, Morier, Quillet, Robert, Willem (p. 36), and OED: 'The action of
keeping or state of being kept in suspense (spec, in Rhet). [E.g.:] 1728
Chambers Cycl s.v., In Rhetoricke, suspension is a keeping the hearer
attentive and doubtful. 2795 Edgeworth Practical] Education] (1811) I,
123: You may exercise his attention by your manner of telling this
story: you may employ with advantage the beautiful figure of speech
called suspension.'
Exx: 'At the termination of this sentence I started, and, for a moment,
paused; for it appeared to me (although I at once concluded that my
excited fancy had deceived me) - it appeared to me that, from some
very remote portion of the mansion, there came, indistinctly to my
ears, what might have been, in its exact similarity of character, the echo
(but a stifled and dull one certainly) of the very cracking and ripping
sound which Sir Launcelot had so particularly described' (E.A. Poe,
437
Swear-Word
'The Fall of the House of Usher'); 'Suddenly a corner was turned, a

blaze of light burst upon our sight, and we stood before one of the
huge suburban temples of Intemperance - one of the palaces of the
fiend, Gin' (E.A. Poe, The Man in the Crowd').
Other meaning: interruption* (see interruption, R5). See also the
expression 'points of suspension.'
Rl: Morier has examined various forms of suspension: the insertion of
one or more subordinate phrases or clauses; reticentia, followed by an
address to the reader in which 'we tease him about his having to wait';
cryptic words or expressions intended to cause a listener to ask ques-
tions; the introduction of some independent phrase or clause which
serves to announce the delayed dramatic element. We would like to
add: digressions* (see digression, R2); accumulations*; and end* posi-
tioning (see end positioning, Rl).
R2: Suspension may cause a syntactic squint* (see syntactic squint, R2).
SWEAR-WORD A coarse or obscene word or imprecation intended

to shock.
Ex: 'Good. Let's not fuck around any more, Charles' (Eric Wright,
Death in the Old Country, p. 146).
Analogous terms: crudity, curse, obscenity, expletive
Rl: Swear-words are frequently not spelled out. Ex: If Byron f-d his
sister he f-d her and there an end' (D.G. Rossetti, letter of 15 Sept.
1869, in Letters of D.G. Rossetti, 2:743). See abridgement*, R4.
R2: Swear-words may have an injunctive function (see injunction*) at
once performative and anti-social. Michaux notes that in French 'the
word m... [i.e., "merde," literally, "shit"] still expresses demoralization
and moral collapse' (Passages, p. 171). In English, as examples in OEDS
may be said to illustrate, phrases like 'in the shit' expressing 'mis-
fortune, unpleasantness' seem to share the same function. Barthes
began his Le Degrt zero de la litterature as follows: 'Hebert [the journalist
and politician] never wrote an opening article for a number of the
[Revolutionary newspaper] Le Pere Duch&ne without introducing a few
examples of fuck and bugger. These obscenities had no meaning in
themselves, but they were signals. Signals of what? A whole revolu-
tionary situation.'
The obscenity is indeed intended to shock, to challenge the social
system which is founded on an at least apparent respect for others. It
breaks the link with the person addressed (see insult*) and loudly
voices an indignant cry that special attention be given to the speaker or
438
Syllepsis (Grammatical)
the group the speaker represents (see interjection*, R5). Ex: To hell
with the bloody brutal Sassenachs and their patois' (Joyce, Ulysses,
p. 266).
SWEET TALK The use of one or more meliorative lexemes which,

by means of apostrophe*, form the predicate of an implicit assertion
whose object is the addressee.
Exx: 'Come on up, honey' (Alice Munro, 'Privilege/ in Who Do You
Think You Are?, p. 33); 'You're such a lovely audience we'd like to take
you home with us' (J. Lennon and P. McCartney, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band').
Analogous: soft or fond words; billing and cooing; honeyed phrases;
pet names; flattery
Antonym: insult*
Rl: Sweet talk may be lexicalized in the form of diminutives (see
gemination*, Rl) or of 'hypocoristic' derivatives. Ex: 'My grandmother,
too, used to put other people's ailments into the diminutive: stroke lets
were what her friends had. Aldo said he was bored to tearsies by my
grandmother's diminutives' (Renata Adler, Speedboat, quoted by
Grambs under 'diminutive'). A hypocoristic name is a 'pet' name, one
whose function is 'to express an intention to caress' (Marouzeau).
R2: Modesty transforms sweet talk by means of antiphrasis* or some
other trope. So my 'old love' is a hypallage* if said to a young girl or
wife; it is the relationship that is old.
R3: In intimate correspondence, pet names replace titles in apostro-
phes*. Exx: 'My love'; 'Darling'; 'My treasure'; etc.
SYLLEPSIS (GRAMMATICAL) "The use of a single word, which

has grammatical congruence in only one syntactic construction, in more
than one' (Preminger).
Exx: 'My ladie laughs for joy, and I for wo' (George Puttenham, The
Arte of English Poesie [1589], ed. of 1970, p. 165); The captain and the
platoon was taken prisoner.'
Other name: synthesis (Fontanier, p. 308)
Other definitions: Most authorities (OED, Littre, Morier, Preminger)
define the phenomenon by opposing grammatical congruence to se-
mantic accord, a distinction we find forced, given that the grammatical
accord is not intrinsically contrary to the sylleptic meaning*, but simply
involves a different way of conceptualizing it. In addition, speaking of
439
Syllepsis (Semantic)
the absence of agreement between two terms conforms more accurately

with the Greek etymology* of syllepsis, 'a taking together.'
Rl: If the absence of agreement is not justified, either by usage, evoca-
tion (as in 'none of us are getting any younger'), or meaning (as in the
above example in which captain and platoon are seen as members of a
single captured group), the result is a solecism*.
R2: Attraction (see lapsus*, R2) is the opposite of grammatical syllepsis.
R3: Syntactic syllepsis may perhaps exist. It consists in giving to a
single syntagm* two simultaneous but distinct functions in relationship
to the verbal node. Ex: In chapter 8 of Puns, Redfern intends to follow
in Hemingway's footsteps ' "across the river[s] and into the trees."'
The title of Hemingway's novel, with one small change, as well as
supplying that of Redfern's chapter, also refers to the decision to follow
the pun into the 'real' world outside the library. It is thus an adverbial
phrase both in the two titles* and in the sentence quoted.
SYLLEPSIS (SEMANTIC) A figure by which a word or expression

is used simultaneously in its literal and figurative senses. See Dumar-
sais (2:11), Fontanier (p. 105), Lausberg, and Preminger.
Exx: 'We go a long way to please you' (advertisement for a public
transport system); 'Toshiba: We Mean Business'; 'At a word, hang no
more about me. I am no gibbet for you' (Shakespeare, The Merry Wives
of Windsor, 2.2.17).
Rl: There is little agreement among rhetoricians on the difference
between syllepsis and zeugma*. Corbett (p. 483), for example, classified
the well-known lines from Pope's The Rape of the Lock' - 'Or stain
her honour or her new brocade' and 'Or lose her heart, or necklace, at
a ball' - as syllepsis, while admitting that they 'are often classified as
zeugma.' We believe them to be cases of zeugma. Both Group MU (pp.
75-7) and Espy (1983, p. 134) differentiate the two figures solely on the
basis of grammatical congruence. According to them, zeugma is gram-
matically incorrect syllepsis; in other words, they reduce all syllepsis to
grammatical syllepsis*, which in our view is not a figure.
Synonym: oratorical syllepsis. Brian Vickers tells a 'cautionary tale'
about the confusions between syllepsis and zeugma and correctly
concludes that many of the reference works we rely upon today were
produced in the nineteenth century when rhetoric was 'in eclipse/ and
so prove unreliable when subjected to critical scrutiny. See Brian
Vickers, Classical Rhetoric in English Poetry, p. vi.
R2: Syllepsis is one of the forms used in word-play*. Many riddles*,
including some difficult crossword clues, involve passing from figura-
440
Symbol
tive to literal meanings* or vice versa. Ex: Why is a cat longer at night
than in the morning? Because he is let out at night and taken in in the
morning' (Espy, The Game of Words, p. 208).
R3: Fontanier distinguishes metonymical syllepsis, in which the container
is given for the contained (e.g., 'hearts' for 'emotions'), synecdochic
syUepsis (e.g., 'to out-Nero Nero'), and metaphorical syllepsis. Ex:
PYRRHUS: I suffer all the evil deeds I committed at Troy
Conquered, loaded with chains, consumed with regret,
Burned by more fires than I set there.
Racine, Andromaque, 1.4
Peter France (Racine's Rhetoric, p. 67) describes this example of syllepsis
as point*. We would say that syllepsis is the finest form of point.
Spitzer (Etudes de style, p. 266), who picks out numerous examples of
this kind in Racine's plays, presents them as features of mannerism.
See baroquism*. The following example, taken from Quinn (p. 31), is a
sylleptic simile*: 'Bad prose, like cholera, is a communicable disease.'
R4: Some involuntary examples of syllepsis may be ridiculous; they
create incoherence* because their figurative meaning, though dormant,
springs too easily to life. Ex: 'He died on the guillotine but with his
head held high.'
SYMBOL Symbols come in three forms.

1. They may be texts to which their authors attach meanings* within
the framework of some more general isotopy*. Two isotopic levels are
established in such a case; the first one obvious, the second symbolic
(see meaning*, 6). The former is defined by a word or by one of the
sentences used; the latter, by the set of sentences forming the whole
work. Ex: The single word Tyger' as opposed to the whole of Blake's
poem. The literal meaning* of Blake's poem is conveyed by a vivid
physical image of the beauty, strength, and potential for destruction
possessed by the tiger. Another probable meaning is suggested by the
line: 'Did he who made the Lamb make thee?' This symbolic meaning,
introduced by means of an apostrophe* to the animal, clearly concerns
the moral problems implied by the co-existence of good and evil in the
world, and also the believer's dilemma when asked to approve the
Deity's partial responsibility for the latter. The symbol therefore calls
attention to the resultant conflict between the theological notions of
free will and moral determinism. Thus the symbol of the tiger serves to
introduce at least some of these questions or meanings which the poem
leaves unsolved.
Rl: We distinguish between the meaning or value of a symbol and its
interpretation. (See meaning*, 4 and 7.) We generally interpret literary
441
Symbol
works by searching in them for one or more symbolic meanings. We

may, if we have recourse to psychoanalysis, literary sociology, or
numerology, confer on a work diverse symbolic values. Even if the
author did not seek them, such values are perhaps no less real than
those the author did have in mind. But they remain posterior, perhaps
even exterior, to the created work. A particular symbolic interpretation
depends entirely upon its fabricator, the reader, whereas the symbol as
a device depends upon the author of the text and has to be perceived
by the reader.
Factors which reveal the presence of an intended symbolic meaning
include:
(a) The inadequacy of the literal meaning within the context in ques-
tion. Ex: 'The lion roars in the bush' (a Bantu proverb* quoted by M.
Maloux, Dictionnaire des proverbes, sentences et maximes, p. 248). Native
speakers, who use the proverb to speak of courage, immediately grasp
the intended meaning: the hero achieves recognition on the field of
battle.
(b) The hermetic, enigmatic, or absurd nature of the literal meaning.
Ex: 'And death shall have no dominion' (Dylan Thomas). The poet has
acquired immunity to death? (See meaning*.)
R2: The tropes which replace one signifier with another (see image*, 2)
may produce symbolic relationships between the corresponding sig-
nifieds. See metonymy*, R4.
R3: For symbolic narrative*, see myth* and apologue*. In the modern
novel, symbols acquire the status of interiorized objective correlatives, a
status they have enjoyed for a much longer period in poetry. T.S. Eliot
explained the process by which such symbols may configure a charac-
ter's subjectivity, the support, that is, for sensations, feelings, and
memories onto which, in the course of the action, are projected the
character's criminal or sexual obsessions: The only way of expressing
emotion in the form of art is by finding an "objective correlative"; in
other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall
be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external
facts ... are given, the emotion is immediately evoked' (T.S. Eliot
'Hamlet' [1919], in Selected Essays [3rd ed., 1951], p. 145). Exx: Proust's
A la recherche du temps perdu, which presents a narrative of Marcel's
past life of 'lost' or 'wasted' time, but also configures his quest for
redemption through art, the subject of which is his past life and its
artistic meaning; Eco's The Name of the Rose, a metasymbolic narrative*
which, by means of a medieval detective story, examines the nature of
the signifying process itself and its relationship to onomastics.
R4: We distinguish symbols from correspondences*.
2. Also symbolic are gestures* or objects to which cultural traditions
442
Symbol
attach a particular meaning* within some more general isotopy*. Exx:

military salutes; the exchange of rings in the marriage ceremony; the
'Sign of the Cross'; the language of flowers; the symbolic system of
numbers; etc. Morier lists objects which have such symbolic values
under symbole in his Dictionnaire de poetique et de rhetorique. See also J,E.
Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols.
In the case of this type of symbol, passage from one term to another
occurs not only by means of analogy but also by means of metonymy*
(see metonymy, R5) or synecdoche*, even by pure convention. Ex:
Turtle-doves may 'stand for' fidelity in love. If the symbolic object
represents a set of values, we speak of an emblem; if it indicates mem-
bership in some institution, we call it a badge.
3. Also symbolic are graphic signs to which specialists attach a mean-
ing within the isotopy formed by their particular science or area of
technical expertise. Exx: the signs of the zodiac; the code formed by
road signs; the geographical legends on maps; o* for male and $
female; etc.
When the graphic sign reproduces, in a more or less schematized
form but without codification, the shape of the signified, the result is a
drawing not a symbol; in Peirce's terminology, it is an icon. But if an
icon becomes part of a set of analogous signs, or if it is used frequent-
ly, the sign becomes simplified and turns into an iconic symbol. Ex: ^
meaning a battle. When the shape of the signified is no longer clearly
perceived, we have a purely graphic symbol. Exx: 0 or a trade mark,
or shop sign, etc.
Not all symbols are iconic in origin. Scientists create symbols, as the
need occurs, in order to shorten transcription and to write formulas. In
so doing, they frequently use the first letter(s) of the technical term.
Exx: H for hydrogen; kg for kilogram; db for decibel; Q for the set of
fractional numbers (from the word quotient). The origin of these sym-
bols is lexical. The absence of a period distinguishes them from ab-
breviations* (see abbreviation, Rl).
Rl: The word sign, which is the generic term in the series which also
includes index, symbol, etc., acquires a restricted meaning in opposition
to the others. Erasure of the iconic relationship makes for a passage
from symbols to simple signs. Ex: V/ the bull's head, when stylized as
an inverted capital A, loses its signified as it is used increasingly to
designate a sound and as it is no longer inverted; this proves that the
symbol has disappeared.
Letters are signs, as are numbers. In algebra, a, b, x, and y are not
symbols but signs because they may represent any value.
The opposition between icon and sign is clearly evident in the sym-
bol c from Cartesian mathematics, which means 'is included in/ It is to
be deciphered iconically (the open end indicates possible inclusion); on
443
Symploce
the other hand, if used as a sign, namely, if it is considered as referring

to c, the first letter in contains, we have the opposite meaning.
R2: Two types of icon are frequently distinguished. The first forms a
message and replaces a sentence (the pictogram* or 'phraseogram'; see
Dubois et al., Dictionnaire de linguistique). Exx: primitive Indian writing;
the x at the bottom of a letter or card which means a 'kiss.' The second
type of icon seeks to reproduce the content of a single word, as in
Chinese writing (ideograms or logograms). Exx: the iconic symbols
mentioned above under meaning (3).
R3: Peirce's legisigns include all kinds of signs, as opposed to realities,
or 'documents/ which may also frequently take on signifying value
from their context. (A real thing which habitually occurs at the same
time as another to whose meaning it offers clues is not a sign but an
index or symptom.) This distinction appears in the opposition between
semiology and semiotics. Semiology is the science of signs in the broad
sense, that is, of signifiers in relationship to their signifieds. Semiotics is
the science of real things that have meaning*, of signifieds in their
relationship to human society.
R4: See acronym*, R4.
SYMPLOCE A combination of anaphora* and epiphora*. See Joseph,

Lanham, Lausberg (pp. 663-4), Leech, Morier, Preminger, Quinn, and
Turco.
Exx:
I will recruit for myself and you as I go;
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go.
Walt Whitman, 'Song of the Open Road'
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes.
T.S. Eliot, 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock'
Other names: complexio (Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, Preminger); varia-
tion (Bary). The following example uses symploce to form a sorites:
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost
For want of a horse, the rider was lost
For want of a rider, the battle was lost
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.
Attributed variously to George Herbert (1593-1633) or Benjamin
Franklin (1706-90) by James Gleick, Chaos: Making a New Science,
p. 322, and the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (3rd ed.) respectively
444
Synecdoche
Rl: See also antepiphora*, Rl, and epanalepsis*, R6.
SYNCHISIS 'Confused word order in a sentence' (Lanham). See also

Lausberg and Robert.
Ex:
Thine, O then, said the gentle Redcrosse knight,
Next to that Ladies loue, shalbe the place,
O fairest virgin, full of heauenly light.
Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene, 1.9.17, cited by Lanham, p. 97
Other name: synchysis (OED)
Rl: In classical rhetoric, synchisis consists in breaking the syntactic
development by parenthetical additions which leave the sentence
structure unresolved. For French examples of synchisis, see Lautrea-
mont's Les Chants de Maldoror, 4.3.
Synchisis may be defined as faulty hyperhypotaxis*.
SYNCOPE The omission of letters or syllables from the middle of a

word or expression. See Espy (1983), and Group MU, Lanham, Laus-
berg (sect. 489), Leech, Littre, and Oulipo.
Exx: 'Halloween' for 'all hallow even'; ma'am; bos'n; 'Ne'er cast a clout
till May is out' (old English proverb*); 'Tronno' for 'Toronto'; Thou thy
worldly task hast done, / Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages' (Shake-
speare, Cymbeline, 4.2.258-9).
Other name: abscisio de media (Group MU)
Rl: Syncope is a term from ancient grammar corresponding to what is
now a device. Ex: 'Yrfmstbyes. Blmstup' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 235; which
probably stands for: 'Yes, right, first must say the goodbyes. Bloom
stood up').
R2: The device is not as artificial as it may appear. It occurs frequently
in spoken language. Exx: missus (from mistress); Barbra.
R3: Syncope is a metaplasm*. See also caesura*, R5.
SYNECDOCHE A trope (see meaning*, 4) that permits the designa-

tion of something by a term whose meaning includes (or is included
by) that of the literal term. (See inclusion*.)
Exx: 'hands' for 'men' or 'sailors'; 'Time Magazine says ...' for 'a reporter
writes in Time Magazine.'
Exx: 'Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, / And burnt the
topless towers of Ilium?' (Christopher Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, 11. 1328-9);
445
Synecdoche
'... at an age when many of our young poets are running away to
Broadcasting House' (Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 123).
Analogous definitions: See Abrams, Burke (A Grammar of Motives, pp.
503f), Corbett, Dumarsais (2:4), Fontanier, Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg,
Littre, Morier, OED, and Preminger.
Synonyms: The type of synecdoche exemplified by twenty 'head' of
cattle or 'a set of wheels' (the part for the whole) might be called a
close-up on a detail. But close-ups are not always tropological. Exx: 'His
lips sought her breast'; Tvly eyes are weeping but I am not' (i.e., from
peeling onions rather than from grief).
Rl: Rhetoricians list various kinds of synecdoche:
1. Part for the whole. Exx: Among animate beings: 'vicious tongues' for
detractors; 'Heart cries, "No" ' (W.B. Yeats, The Folly of Being Com-
forted'). Among objects: 'The broken wall, the burning roof and tower
/ And Agamemnon dead' (W.B. Yeats, 'Leda and the Swan'). Among
countries: 'Canada beat Russia at hockey.' Among human groups:
'Israel' for 'the Jewish people'; 'Ignatius' for 'the Jesuits.' Among
abstractions*: 'one of the great minds of our day.' Among spiritual
beings: 'Providence' for 'God.'
2. Matter for beings or objects made from it. Exx: 'You are the blood of
Atreus' for 'his son'; 'Rome is in irons' for 'Rome is in slavery'; This is
a good hotel, but they don't take plastic [i.e., credit cards].'
3. Number. Exx: Singular for plural: 'the enemy' for 'our enemies.'
Plural for singular: 'wheels' for 'car' (an emphatic plural).
4. Genus for species. Exx: 'I saw her upon nearer view, / ... A creature
not too bright or good' (W. Wordsworth, 'She Was a Phantom of
Delight'); '... the vessel puffs her sail' (Tennyson, IJlysses').
5. Species for genus. Exx: 'Give us this day our daily bread'; 'Own the
sword that crowned 25 kings' (ad for replicas of the sword of Char-
lemagne).
6. Abstract for concrete. Exx: The weaker sex, to piety more prone' (Sir
William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, Doomsday, Hour v, Iv); 'Crabbed
age and youth cannot live together: / Youth is full of pleasance, age is
full of care' (Shakespeare, The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 12).
7. Common noun for proper name. Ex: the little tramp' for Charlie Chap-
lin. Or vice versa. Ex: a little Hitler' for a petty dictator. Also one
proper name for another, etc. See antonomasia*.
R2: For the distinction between synecdoche and metonymy, see meto-
nymy*, R2.
R3: Synecdoche introduces distance that allows for various effects.
Diplomats use and abuse it to say what may not be said. Ex: 'Paris
denies all knowledge of the sinking of Greenpeace.' However, the effect
446
Synonymy
is sometimes the opposite of the one intended, as the example shows,

for such official disclaimers are rarely believed. For synecdoche in
periphrases* employed by the French seventeenth-century precieuses,
see baroquism*, R2. Synecdoche has its own isotopy* (see image*, 2),
may make abstractions* concrete (see concretization*, R3), or personify
them (see personification*, Rl). See also definition*, Rl; title* (of work),
Rl; and apposition*, R4.
SYNONYMY There is synonymy when several terms designate the

same thing and when, in theory, we may use one of them in place of
another. See also Crystal, Fontanier (p. 332), Lausberg (sect. 649-56),
OED, and Robert.
Exx: kingly/royal/regal; pavement/sidewalk
Exx: "Then you have a beautiful calm without a cloud, smooth sea,
placid ... moon looking down so peaceful' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 310); '[This
parrot has] passed on! This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's a
stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace - if you hadn't nailed him to the
perch, it would be pushing up the daisies! It's rung down the curtain
and joined the choir invisible! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT!' ('Parrot Sketch'
[from Monty Python TV show], quoted in R. Wilmut, From Fringe to
Flying Circus, p. 205).
Synonyms: dittoism (OED); dittology (according to Lausberg, who cites
Vossler, but both the OED and Marouzeau use dittology in a different
sense; see gemination*)
Rl: Synonymy is a type of amplification* which does not involve the
use of a single synonym. It is a figure of expression which places in
juxtaposition to a term several others, all having the same function, all
appropriate also to the discursive theme, and all calling attention to
various aspects of it. Ex: 'In trickery, evasion, procrastination, spolia-
tion, botheration, under false pretences of all sorts, there are influences
that can never come to good' (Dickens, Bleak House, ch. 1). We thus
have accumulations of lexemes, plus reprise*. Ex: 'Teflon had a camera:
Leica, procured half-legally overseas by a Navy friend' (Th. Pynchon,
V, p. 9).
R2: If the sememes are identical (perfectly synonymous), the figure
becomes gratuitous, useless, as we see more clearly from cases of co-
ordination than from juxtaposition*. The result is perissology*. Ex: 'He
is with and in the company of a friend and pal' (R. Queneau, 'Double
Entry/ in Exercises in Style, p. 22). In any case, perfect synonymy is
rarer than the imperfect kind called parasynonymy. Ex: prosperity/hap-
piness. See meaning*, 5. Some terms have many synonyms. Ex: see
mistake*.
447
Synonymy
R3: If the sememes are widely separated (i.e., analogous only), we can
no longer speak of synonymy, but enumeration*, even accumulation*.
Ex: 'English, let alone American, has no word that simply expresses
sexual intercourse without implying an attitude. Screw is lewd, make
love euphemistic, fornicate biblical, copulate clinical, fuck vulgar' (Richard
Lanham, Style: An Anti-Textbook, p. 90). This is what Bary (1:369; 2:31)
called polysynonymy. See also successive approximations*.
R4: Synonyms which appear within the same sentence or in different
propositions may not only signal a desire for expressivity but for
elegance: they represent an attempt to avoid repetition*. Ex:
Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland lass!
Reaping and singing by herself.
W. Wordsworth, 'The Solitary Reaper'
See counter-pleonasm*, R2.
R5: When they appear with different functions in the same sentence,
synonyms form pleonasms*, even perissologies*. Ex:
Will no one tell me what she sings? -
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
Or is it some more humble lay.

Wordsworth, ibid.
The French word datisme ('datism: broken or barbarous speech; a fault
in speaking such as would be made by one not fully acquainted with
the language' [OED]) means a 'fondness for the accumulation of syno-
nyms where one word would suffice' (Harrap's New Standard French and
English Dictionary).
R6: Literary texts sometimes employ inverted synonymy which in-
volves grammatical categories. Ex: 'O filthy greatness! sublime
ignominy!' The first adjective is synonymous with the second noun and
vice versa. Sometimes inverted synonymy involves meaning* (e.g.,
'very simple, unmysterious grief), which produces antithesis* or
oxymoron*. Synonymy may also involve syntagms* and employ
metaphor*. Ex: The light from her pale eyes, bright lanterns, living
opals' (Baudelaire, 'Le Chat').
R7: False synonymy consists in opposing a word's meaning in the
langue (what Benveniste calls its significance) to the meaning expected in
the context. (On this subject, see the different senses of the notion
fundamental meaning*. When a term has no synonym, we have recourse
to periphrasis*.) 'Insecure' has one meaning in a psychological novel,
448
Syntagm
another perhaps in a spy novel; only experience teaches the reader

which meaning the word invokes.
R8: Some synonyms are intensive. See interjection*, Rl. For synonymy
which involves syntagms* or sentences*, see metabole*. Synonymy may
also disguise tautology* (see tautology, Rl). Synonyms may replace
proper names; see conferring of titles*, R5. Tropes produce multiple
synonyms. See meaning*, 4.
SYNTAGM A group of written words characterized by the fact that

they play some role with respect to a verbal node, or that they have
some function in a sentence. When we envisage the way speech prog-
resses through time (the linearity of language or music differs from the
spatiality of the plastic arts), a process which linear chains of written
signs reproduce, the syntagm is intermediate between the word, an
indivisible segment (into which no other segments] can be introduced),
and the sentence*, or unit of expression.
We distinguish nominal syntagms (NS) from verbal syntagms (vs), also
called clauses or propositions, and qualifying syntagms (QS). The latter is
the least developed of the three categories, containing only adverbs and
adjectives. The VS is the most fully developed, with its numerous
grammatical morphemes (number, person, mood, tense) and its nomi-
nal, verbal, and qualifying expansions.
Rl: Syntagmatic analysis begins with a division into syntagms and
continues with the marking, by means of parentheses, tree diagrams, or
square brackets, of their organizational hierarchy. We will show here
the method which employs square brackets.
We proceed as for any analysis of immediate constituents, that is, by
choosing to unite, among neighbouring terms, those most closely
related by mutual dependence. We rewrite the syntagms on separate
lines so that a single straight line in the margin unites them. We close
the line with a right-pointing square bracket wherever the text, if
spoken aloud, might stop or begin. Ex:
Anne Hebert, —. . They insisted —.
she, h L that he stay L
is there, F L as long J
motionless, P L as politeness I
passive. J L demanded. _j
(a) (b)
In the second example, the square brackets produce an ambiguity. We
can attach 'as long ...' either to 'that he stay' (a) or to the whole formed
by the first two previously united syntagms (b), which gives a very
different meaning (they are happy to see him leave).
449
Tautogram
Left-pointing brackets indicate the possiblity of excluding one

syntagm without modifying the meaning of the rest of the sentence.
They almost always correspond to a comma. The relative rareness of
excluded syntagms is one of the characteristics of Proust's style. They
are remarkably frequent in Marie-Claire Blais's sentences, which are
occasionally just as long as their Proustian counterparts.
R2: See abridgement*, R3; amphibol(og)y*; anastrophe*, Rl; typo-
graphic caesura*, Rl; colon*; compensatio*; denomination*, R2; disjunc-
tion*, R2; dubitatio*, R4; rhythmic echo*, R2; embedding*; en-
jamb(e)ment*, R2, R3, and R5; epanalepsis*, Rl; erosion*, Rl; head-to-
tail*, Rl; hendiadys*, Rl and R2; homonymy*, R2; hyphen*; graphic
juxtaposition*, Rl; lexical juxtaposition*; metanalysis*, Rl; metathesis*,
R2; mistake*, R2; monologue*; oxymoric* sentences; parataxis*, Rl;
parenthesis*, R2; psittacism*, R2; expressive punctuation*, Rl; reac-
tualization*, R3; regression*, R2; syntactic scrambling*; situational*
signs, 3 (a); slogan*, Rl; spoonerism*; syntactic squint*; grammatical
syllepsis*, R3; synonymy*, R6; translation*, R2; and word-play*. For
different types of syntagm, see the Index.
T
TAUTOGRAM A syntagm*, line* of verse or sentence* the words of
which begin with the same letter.
Ex: "These muttering, miserable, mutton-hating, manavoiding, misogy-
nic, morose and merriment-marring, monotoning, mournful, minced-
fish and marmalade masticating Monx' (Edward Lear, quoted by
Hesbois, p. 69).
Synonyms: tongue-twister (Augarde, pp. 160-5); paronomeon (Fabri,
3:128)
Rl: Joyce adapted as follows the best-known of these alliterative
tongue-twisters: 'Peter Piper pecked a peck of pick of peck of pickled
pepper' (Ulysses, p. 157).
R2: The device usually involves excessive alliteration*; hence its comic
effect. It may also seem allusive if it involves the initial letter of some-
one's first name. If the effect fails, we have tautophony (see caco-
phony*).
R3: In late fifteenth-century France, the ludic possibilities of the device
delighted the Grands Rhetoriqueurs. Fabri proposed names for tauto-
grams beginning with /, m, s ... and so on.
450
Tautology
TAUTOLOGY 'A logical error consisting in presenting as meaningful

a proposition whose predicate says no more than its subject' (Robert).
Exx: That's the way things are'; 'Boys will be boys and our two twins
were no exception to this golden rule' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 285).
Synonym: identical proposition (in logic)
Antonym: antilogy*
Other definitions: 'a statement form which has only true substitution
instances' (Copi, p. 265); 'a repetition of the same statement' (OED); 'a
false demonstration in which the thesis is repeated in different words'
(Robert); 'the repetition of traditional terms in legal language [as in] "a
sale made and completed"' (Marouzeau)
Rl: Tautology does not necessarily take the form of a proposition with
a grammatical predicate: all that is needed is that the psychological
subject and predicate coincide. Exx: 'Ah! I was young too, in my youth,
me too' (A. Maillet, La Sagouine, p. 53); 'I bought it where one buys
such things' (a refusal to answer the question). Synonymy* disguises
tautology but does not put an end to it. Ex: 'When three hens go into
the fields, the first goes first, the second follows the first, the third
comes along behind' (a child's counting-out rhyme in French).
R2: In theory, tautology is a mistake* (see paralogism*, R2). But some
tautologies may be true. The existentialist philosopher V. Jankelevich
(Trait^ des vertus, p. 108) has shown that tautological truth is a victory
for existence over essence. Gertrude Stein's famous tautological axiom,
'A rose is a rose is a rose,' thus becomes, in Jankelevich's terms, 'a form
of virtuous rather than vicious circle.' In the same way, the World War
I soldiers' song 'We're here because we're here because we're here ...'
forms a pertinent comment upon the futility of the conflict. And a
commercial advertisement like The more people buy Hondas, the more
people buy Hondas' may have a conative effect. The opposite form to
this one is paradox*, as in 'Plus qa change, plus c'est la meme chose'
(The more things change, the more they stay the same').
Tautological forms are also meaningful when one of the terms is
autonymical, or self-designating (see short* circuit, R4). Ex: 'We must
call things by their right name / a dog is a dog' (J. Prevert, Paroles,
p. 111). Or again, when one of the terms is elliptical. Ex: 'Monday is a
Monday' for 'Next Monday, we'll have the usual Monday schedule.'
('Monday is a Thursday' would be false antilogy*.)
Finally, almost all tautologies include a more or less clearly marked
case of diaphora*, which is used to justify them. Thus when Paul
Valery (Oeuvres, 2:258) challenged the validity of Freudian psychoana-
lytical theory, he declared: 'I am not afraid to go so far as to think that
a dream ... is a dream' (i.e., and no more than that). The following ad is
451
Telescoping
designed to allay investors' fears of being turned away because they do

not belong to the 'in house' group: 'You don't have to bank with us to
bank with us.' The predicate's additional semes may be supplied by
intonation* or by intensives. Exx: Thirty thousand, it's a number' (or
'it's just a number'); When I'm bored, I'm bored' (or Tm really bored').
It is also sometimes an advantage not to have to explain things too
clearly. Ex: Things being what they are ...' (de Gaulle). On the other
hand, tautologies may introduce explanations* (see explanation, R3), as
is the case with truisms*, of which they form part. Tautology may fulfil
a desire for attenuation* or understatement and come in the form of
litotes*. Ex: The past is the past and the present the present.' This
double tautology emphasizes the truism that the present differs from
the past, which in litotic form becomes: The way things were done in
the past is no longer valid today.' Such forms are pseudo-tautologies.
R3: While obvious tautologies are frequently false (they do not mean
what they say), the worst ones, because they are true, are hidden. Ex:
'[The city of] Florence is Florence because she corresponds to our
expectations about her and because she behaves exactly as she should.'
Scientists have a soft spot for such semi-tautologies. Ex: The poppy puts
you to sleep because of its soporific properties.' Abstractions* (see
abstraction, R2) encourage such cases. Ex: 'My sharp mind enabled me
to find my thinking cap.'
R4: See intonation*; pleonasm*; and extravagant* comparison, R4.
TELESCOPING Condensing into a single sentence two others that

have one identical syntagm*.
Ex: 'The cub-reporter, instructed to be concise, telescoped thus the
escape of a mental inmate who raped a woman: "Nut bolts and
screws" ' (Redfern, Puns, p. 120).
Redfern comments that the 'Surrealistic game of 'Tun dans I'autre"
["The one is in the other, or in both"] suggests both the superimposing
and telescoping found in all punning' and thereby indicates the de-
vice's rhetorical importance. Turco (pp. 49-53) mentions telescoped
metaphor*'s role in producing obscurity in conceits* which may spread
over several sentences.
Other names: sentence-mixing; the French term 'phrase-valise' or 'port-
manteau-sentence' derives from an analogy with mot-valise or 'port-
manteau word.' Telescoping offers an effective means for renewing
cliches*. Ex: 'Plain as the nose on your pikestaff (Kingsley Amis, The
Old Devils, p. 246). Telescoping here renews two frequently heard
similes*: 'plain as the nose on your face' and 'plain as a pikestaff.'
Rl: French surrealist poets like Paul Eluard showed that telescoping
452
Theme
may produce dissociations*. Ex: 'La pendule sonne deux coups de

couteaux/ which, translated literally, becomes: 'The clock strikes two
knife-strokes' (P. Eluard, Oeuvres, 1:297). Frequent telescoping may
cause meaning to drift into obscurity (see verbigeration*, R3).
TEMPO Frequency of rhythmic divisions; 'usually means "speed" '

(P.A. Scholes, The Oxford Companion to Music); 'relative rate of speech'
(Crystal, 1987). See also Marouzeau, Morier, OED, and Robert.
Synonyms: movement (in the musical sense); cadence*
Rl: To measure the different tempi for reading aloud literary texts in
French, Morier proposed a scale similar to the musical one, but much
less extensive (from 50 to 98 beats a minute as against from 40 to 120),
with the same general divisions: (1) largo; (2) larghetto; (3) adagio; (4)
andante; (5) allegro; and (6) presto. That is: (1) 'slow and dignified'; (2)
'slow and dignified but less so than largo'; (3) 'not so slow as largo'; (4)
'flowing, slowish but not slow7; (5) ' "merry," i.e. quick, lively, bright';
and (6) 'quick' (Scholes, The Oxford Companion to Music). We would add
agitato ('agitated' [Scholes]).
R2: Souriau emphasized the importance of tempo in poetry: 'I am quite
willing to believe that one of the first considerations conditioning, from
a musical viewpoint, the choice of a particular poetic form is the fact
that the poem itself suggests a given tempo which may bear some
relationship to certain forms: sentimental, idyllic, or others more rapid
or energetic, still others solemn and declamatory, and so on' (E.
Souriau, in Musique et poesie au xvie siecle, p. 349).
R3: The general movement of a text may contain more or less sudden
intervening modifications. Ex: In his 'semi-' or 'dramatic' opera King
Arthur (1691), Henry Purcell exploited the panting rhythm* of a line* of
verse, 'Let me, let me freeze again to death/ to suggest the cold in the
'Frost' scene (act 3). Similarly, in Michaux's poem 'L'Avenir,' the same
panting rhythm becomes evident: 'Quand les mahahahaha.' We can
speak in such cases of 'changes of speed' (Grammont, p. 103) or meta-
bole* (Quintilian) and specify either sudden or gradual acceleration or
deceleration.
Singers and composers possess great freedom in this respect. They
may spread some syllables over several notes of varying lengths, as is
frequently the case both in Handel's oratorios and in some modern
folk-songs. The device occurs constantly on the final syllable, tightly
uniting effect to effusion.
THEME Within a work, the theme is an idea repeated frequently

(motif*, leitmotif)/ or a basic idea (thesis, obsessive image*), or an
essential one (formal structure). Within a paragraph*, it is the topic
453
Thread (Discursive)
treated (see isotopy*). In an assertion*, it is the subject predicated (the

matter, or psychological subject). In a comparison*, it is the thing
compared (see image*, 2).
Rl: From the Greek thema, literally 'the thing posed.' In Ducrot's
terminology (see assertion*, R5), 'the thing posed' figures in the predi-
cate, whereas its complement, 'the thing presupposed/ is in the theme.
Thus, there is a possibility of terminological confusion, which derives
from semantic evolution.
R2: The idea of a 'theme' is associated with the idea of a 'starting-
point which remains subjacent'; hence the meaning it still retains, that
of an initial basis for subsequent variations*. See also allegory*, Rl.
R3: To isolate the theme from the predicate, we have dislocation* (see
dislocation, R2) and emphasis*. The theme is often implicit (see sen-
tence*, 1), but it may also occupy half of the sentence (see sentence*, 2).
In tautologies*, predicate and theme are identical.
R4: For the theme of a work, see also apocalypse*; apologue*; motif*;
poem*; spoonerism*, R2; and lamentation*. For the theme of a para-
graph*, see also ambiguity*; cliche*, Rl; echo* effect, R3; reactualiza-
tion*, 4; response*, R2; meaning*, 6; and variation*, Rl. For the theme
of an assertion*, see also apposition*; colon*; correspondences*; defini-
tion*; dislocation*, R2; enunciation*, 6; insult*; interjection*, Rl; inver-
sion*, R2; sweet* talk; negation*; nominalization*; paradox*, Rl; sen-
tence*; refrain*, Rl; tautology*, Rl; and truism*, Rl. For the theme of a
comparison*, see also allegory*; short* circuit; simile*; image*, 2; in-
coherence*, Rl; metaphor*; and personification*, "Rl.
THREAD (DISCURSIVE) The unidimensional progress of a text,

whether from a graphic perspective (see haplography*), from the point
of view of sounds (see interruption* and in petto*), from a grammatical
viewpoint (see anacoluthon*), or from that of the utterance (see flash-
back*) or of its enunciation*.
Analogous terms: syntagmatic axis; combinatory axis (the combination
of elements seen from one of the enumerated perspectives)
THREAT Anything which tends to create in the person addressed the

fear that the speaker may harm him or her in some way.
Ex: ' "Watch that," I said ... "Do watch that, O Dim, if to continue to be
on live thou dost wish" ' (A. Burgess, A Clockwork Orange, p. 26).
Analogous terms: commination (Morier, OED), adj. minatory; intimida-
tion
Rl: Common forms: 'What did you say!?'; 'Say that again!'; 'Watch it!';
454
Timbre
etc. See injunction*, R5. Aposiopesis* (see aposiopesis, R2) is a useful

figure in this context, since threats are the stronger for being imprecise:
they allow the addressee to imagine the worst. This is the famous Quos
ego ... ('I ought to ...') uttered by the angry Venus in the Aeneid. In the
Barber of Seville we find: 'THE COUNT: "If you say a word ..." ' (Beaumar-
chais).
Threats may be expressed ironically and indirectly, as in Theodore
Roosevelt's 'Speak softly and carry a big stick' (speech, 2 Sept. 1901). A
literary example: 'Listen, my little man, we may be soft, but there are
two of us' (Sauvageau, Wouf Wow/, p. 17). See implication*, Rl,
allusion*, and antiphrasis*.
R2: Fabri (2:13) recommends the false threat or admonition: Trom the
adversary's argument, we show that there may follow a most perilous
disadvantage.' Increpation (chiding, reproach [OED]) is a kind of half-
threat, which attaches acrimony to anything said. Bary presents it
(apparently without irony*) as follows: 'Speaking to someone using
exclamations, brusque movements and with an air of insult ... This
figure is suitable for superiors, the old and the virtuous' (Bary, Rh&ori-
que franqaise, p. 342).
Literary criticism used threateningly produces 'intellectual terrorism'
(see J. Paulhan, Les Fleurs de Tarbe) and its natural consequence, con-
formism.
R3: The ad verecundiam argument plays on an opponent's reverence for
authority or respect for traditional human values. Ex: In War and Peace
the nobles dare not refuse to pay the emperor extra taxes for fear of
seeming to be lacking patriotism and generosity.
TIMBRE 'A sound's tonal quality, or "colour," which differentiates

sounds of the same pitch, loudness, and duration (Crystal, 1987,
p. 432).
Rl: The printed word retains none of the markers which allow us to
recognize an individual voice by its timbre. The only individual mark-
ers possible in the printed text would be the author's handwriting, if
Lumitype were employed during the printing process to print special
characters taken from each handwritten letter. See graphy*, Rl. See also
typographical variation*, R3.
R2: A list of adjectives used to describe the human voice: low-/high-
pitched; strong/weak; sonorous/quiet; toneless; powerful/feeble;
piercing/choking; full-throated, warm, rich, full, resounding, ringing /
hollow, thin, fluting, cracked, faint, faraway; vibrant/shrill; brassy,
thundering, booming, resounding, stentorian / cracked, quavering,
trembling, hesitating, tremulous; male/senile; firm, rasping, dry, harsh,
abrupt, curt, imperious, authoritarian, peremptory, sarcastic, ironic,
455
Title (Conferring of)
mocking / soft, tender, coaxing, flattering, insinuating, unctuous; low,

deep, guttural, hollow, sepulchral / high-pitched, over-shrill, screechy,
sour; crystal, clear, cool, distinct, pure / metallic, corn-crake, falsetto,
nasal, ventriloquial.
R3: See dialogue*, Rl. A change of timbre accompanies and indicates
exaltation or delirium (see reactualization*, 7). See also mistake*, R2.
TITLE (CONFERRING OF) The attribution to persons (sometimes

to institutions, or places, etc.) of superior or characteristic qualities
which situate them, in a more or less durable way, within a social
group.
Exx: Mr, Mrs, Miss, Sir, Your Excellency, Sire, the Honourable N.,
Reverend N., etc.
Exx: 'Amongst the clergy present were the very rev. William Delany,
S.J., L.L.D.; the rt rev. Gerald Molloy, D.D.; the very rev. P.J. Kava-
naugh, C.S. Sp. ...' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 260); The chaste spouse of Leo-
pold is she: Marion of the bountiful bosoms' (ibid., p. 262).
Nowadays, a title is often that of some social function (secretary,
manager, attorney, etc.). That was also the case in the Middle Ages for
noble titles whose meaning has more or less disappeared (e.g., Prince,
Duke, Chief) to be replaced by military ranks. See also recipe*, Rl.
Rl: Titles form a special kind of qualification and may even take the
qualifying forms of adjective or noun, epithet, attribute or appositional
phrase, or of an apostrophe* (see insult* and sweet* talk, R3). Compare
the following: 'Curious George'; 'George is curiosity personified';
'George the curious'; 'Oh Curious One.' Titles may also characterize or
define, even constitute in themselves an identity (see definition*, R2).
They may be concrete or abstract; they may occasionally employ
images* by means of synecdoche*, metonymy*, or metaphor*. Ex
[Cedric is searching for a title for the new periodical he has founded]:
'Can you hear Cedric's mind churning away? "Vacuum," "Volcano,"
"Limbo," "Milestone," "Need," "Eruption," "Schism," "Data,"
"Arson." Yes, he's got it: "Chiaroscuro"' (Dylan Thomas, Quite Early
One Morning, pp. 130-1). Finally, like any image*, titles may fit a
complex, usually positive isotopy*, one 'in equilibrium' if identification
is involved, and even a negative one in the case of reincarnation which
is common in Hinduism.
R2: Although titles possess a social function, that does not prevent
them from originating very subjectively in some individual's mind. We
may even replace a proper name with some more or less gratuitous
title as does the Citizen when he expresses his opinion of Bloom: 'Virag
from Hungary! Ahasuerus I call him. Cursed by God' (Joyce, Ulysses,
456
Title (of Work)
p. 277). The conferring of titles may thus become confused with

naming. Ex: 'What's your name, trouble?' 'Trouble is his middle name.'
R3: Surnames too are proper names derived from titles. Lautreamont
and the French surrealists liked sarcastic nicknames: Chateaubriand,
the Melancholic-Mohican; Theophile Gautier, the Incomparable-Grocer;
Lamartine, the Doleful Stork; etc. See also agnominatio*, R3.
Capitalization of initial letters authenticates the device by attaching
it to an ancient tradition. Livia, the wife of Augustus, for example, was
venerated as the incarnation of Justice, Salvation, or Piety, and she was
represented on imperial coins with the attributes of these allegorical
abstractions*. In this case, we see the convergence of two devices: the
personification* of an idea and the identification of a real person with
the idea so personified.
R4: In the Middle Ages, the signifying nature of names was underlined
by a mystical theory: the name's effusion. Saying a person's name
aloud was thought to communicate his or her personal qualities to the
hearers, which explains the reason for the recitation of litanies, decades
of the rosary, and invocations to supernatural beings. Divine names
were thought to provoke some immediate intuitive comprehension of
the qualities they represent. Ex: Tor example, the name of God becomes
liquid to mingle with that other name: God with us (Matthew 1:23). The
Admirable fuses with the Counsellor- God and Strength (Isaiah 9:5) with
Father of future Ages and Prince of Peace; and the Lord our Justice joins
with the Merciful One and with the God of Compassion (Psalms 111:4)'
(Bernard de Clairvaux, Sermon XV on the Song of Songs, sect. 1).
R5: Conferring titles is a simple way of adding synonyms to a proper
name by means of antonomasia*, which may incorporate images* or
employ periphrasis*. Ex: See Joyce, Ulysses, pp. 261-2, where Bennett is
called successively 'Percy/ 'the welterweight sergeantmajor,' 'the
artilleryman/ 'the soldier/ 'the redcoat/ 'the bulkier man/ 'the Eng-
lishman/ Tucking Percy/ 'the military man/ 'Battling Bennett/ and
'the Portobello Bruiser.' See also letter*.
TITLE (OF WORK) Most titles attempt to give some indication of a

work's content, either abstractly (e.g., The Plays of..., The Complete Works
of ...), or more concretely (e.g., Man and Music [A. Burgess], Alice in
Wonderland [Carroll]), or metaphorically (e.g., The Grapes of Wrath
[Steinbeck], Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy [Le Carre]).
The title may simply be an incipit, taken, that is, from the work's
first words ('And Death Shall Have No Dominion' [Dylan Thomas]). In
such a case the title does not always appear above the text.
In the modern age of commercial labels, a title is more frequently
'consumed' than the rest of a work. (It is mentioned in conversations,
catalogues, reviews, bibliographies, etc.) This very practical considera-
457
Tmesis
tion explains the modern shortening of titles right down to a single

word or even a single letter (e.g., Maurice [E.M. Forster], V [Thomas
Pynchon]). Despite this, however, authors strive in their titles for
maximum denotation and connotation; hence titles which are finely
crafted from the point of view of rhythm*, or for evocative or affective
effect: A Clockwork Orange [A. Burgess], Portrait of the Artist as a Young
Dog [D. Thomas], Life before Man [Margaret Atwood], Flaubert's Parrot
[J. Barnes].
Peter Weiss evoked lengthy titles from the past with The Persecution
and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the
Asylum of Charenton under the Direction of the Marc/uis de Sade (1965),
which soon became shortened to Marat-Sade.
Rl: In the press, titles attempt to summarize collections of facts and
specific ideas. Thus they are longer than literary titles, being frequently
split into two parts. Ex: Taking the Pledge. The mudslinging begins as
the candidates argue about patriotism.'
R2: Joyce, who did not append titles to the chapters of Ulysses, did
entitle, however, each paragraph or section for about thirty pages (pp.
92-123). The titles of chapters in Robbe-Grillet's novel La Jalousie are
incipits with variations*. The end of a text may also provide its title, as
in Thomas Pynchon's novel The Crying of Lot 49.
R3: Titles in large capitals (see capital*, Rl) at the top of the first page
of a newspaper are headlines. Half (or bastard) titles are very short
summaries of a book's title, printed in the centre of a blank page,
before the complete title page. Running titles are summaries of up to a
line, printed at the top of each page, with, on the left-hand page, the
book's title, and on the right, that of the chapter (or of the entry in the
case of a dictionary). In word processing, titles are called headers.
R4: Headlines, which are more often read than newspapers, come in
various forms. An article's title, in the proper sense, appears in the
largest capitals and is followed by a subtitle or sometimes preceded by
a surtitle in smaller characters, which may, however, be underlined.
There may also be sub-subtitles. See also paragraph*, R3.
R5: See also situational* signs, 1 and 2; pause*; echo* effect, R3; epana-
lepsis*, R3; interjection*, R2; final* word, Rl; notation*; and schematiza-
tion*, Rl.
TMESIS 'The separation of the elements of a compound word by the

interpolation of another word or words' (OED). See also Espy (1983),
Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, Morier, Quinn, and Turco.
Exx: 'Oh so loverly sitting abso-blooming-lutely still' (A. Lerner and
F. Loewe, My Fair Lady, a musical adaptation of G.B. Shaw's play,
458
Transference
Pygmalion); That man - how dearly ever parted' (Shakespeare, Troilus

and Cressida, 3.3.96); 'See his wind - lilycocks - laced' (G.M. Hopkins,
'Harry Ploughman'); The most jammed-up boree I ever went to, and a
houseful of chattering little boxes' (F. Packard, quoted in Espy, 1983,
p. 142).
Other name: See hyperbaton*, Rl.
Rl: Normally interpolation is only possible between written words.
Hyphens* serve to tie a word and its intercalation(s) together. See also
embedding*, Rl; and sentence* (types of), 4.
TRANSFERENCE A change of grammatical category, with or

without a marker.
Ex: 'Five tallwhitehatted sandwichmen ... eeled themselves ... and
plodded back ...' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 188).
Addition of an article suffices to turn adjectives or verbs into nouns.
Exx: 'in the pink'; "The Naked and the Dead' (title); "The Greening of
America' (title); 'our goodbyes.' Nouns, even composites, once trans-
formed into verbs, conjugate. Ex: 'He propositioned me.' Proper names
used with the French prepositional form a la become adverbial phrases,
possibly by analogy with phrases like 'a la mode' or 'a la carte.' Exx:
'fashion a la Princess Di'; ice cream a la mode.' See gallicism*.
When its foundation is not a lexical one, a possible transference is
preceded by lexicalization* or by simple nominalization*. Syntagms*
and even whole sentences may become adjectives. W.S. Gilbert, for
instance, wrote of his 'aesthete' hero in Patience: 'A blue-and-white
young man, / Francesca da Rimini, miminy, piminy, / Je-ne-sais-quoi
young man!' (When I go out of door,' act 2). Joyce writes: '... went
Bloom, soft Bloom, I feel so lonely Bloom' (Ulysses, p. 235). Joyce also
uses graphic juxtaposition*: 'Silent, each contemplating the other in
both mirrors of the reciprocal flesh of theirhisnothis fellowfaces' (ibid.,
p. 577). In the expression 'a couldn't-care-less attitude,' there is trans-
ference derived from lexicalization*. See also hyphen*, R2.
Other names: hypostatization (Jacobs, p. 36); improper derivation
(Robert). However, transfer [transfert], which Dubois's Dictionnaire de
linguistic/lie uses to describe the device, would complicate unnecessarily
that word's usage in English, where it already means: 'the influence of
a foreign speaker's mother tongue upon the target language' (Crystal,
1987, p. 432). See also Dumarsais, p. 227.
Rl: In French, the credit goes to Lucien Tesniere (p. 361 f.) for showing
the importance of transference in the functioning of the language.
R2: Transference is a type of verbigeration* (see verbigeration, R5).
459
Transition
TRANSITION Specific turns of phrase used to link together different

parts of a discourse*. '[They resemble] bridges between ideas and serve
to unify a work' (Mestre, pp. 108-9).
Exx: See below, Rl; reactualization*, R4; and squib*, Rl.
Analogous: interlude (in broadcasting, a short transition, usually
musical)
Rl: Complete transitions repeat what has already been said and an-
nounce what is to follow. See plan*, R3. Ex: 'Those were my crimes.
Here now is my reward' (Racine, Britannicus, 4.2). Mestre advises the
disguising of transitions, both complete and incomplete, by the use of
questions*, apostrophe*, concessions*, preterition*, gradatio*, or correc-
tions*.
R2: Transitions may be artificial; they may even disguise a coq-a Vane.
Ex:
So you have two sponsors [for the Jockey-Club] who take you by the
arm and 'relieve' you. 'Relieve' is the word. Let's talk about some
other word.
[New paragraph] The Count of Cambronne ... (Alfred Jarry, La
Chandelle verte, p. 375)
TRANSLATION The introduction into the language of a work

(called the target language) of a text or textual fragment in another
language (called the source language).
Ex: 'Bentivenga urged others to touch a body's naked limbs; he de-
clared this was the only way to freedom from the dominion of the
senses, homo nudus cum nuda iacebat, "naked they lay together, man and
woman" ... Et non commiscebantur ad invicem, "but there was no con-
junction" ' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 57).
Other definitions: See isolexism*, other names. '[Traductio], that is the
transference of the meaning of one word to another' (Quintilian,
9.3.71), from which Fabri derives his definition: 'repetition, except that
the word must remain equivocal and is repeated at the beginning of
successive clauses ... E.g. "Cures are achieved by doctors, cures are
[ad]ministered by priests"' (Pleine Rhetorique, 2:161). (Note that 'pleinef
[or 'full'] rhetoric refers to the study of both prosodic and rhetorical
figures.) See diaphora*.
Rl: In War and Peace Tolstoy recounts that speaking French was one of
the snobberies of Russian high society before Napoleon's Moscow
campaign. The French translator resolved the problem of the two
different languages used by aristocratic characters as opposed to
speakers of Russian in the novel by italicizing dialogues* which were
460
Translation
'in French in the text.' Another constant danger is mistranslation (see

mistake*, Rl, and anglicism*, Rl). But mistranslations aside, there
remains the problem of connotation. Can one be content with word-
by-word translation, as was the case with texts by Saint-Jean Perse,
which their author refused to elucidate? Translators of texts must, in
any case, most frequently produce adaptations that constitute
equivalents in the ethos of the target language, or even in the new
public's cultural world. Word-play* (see word-play, Rl) falls victim to
translation even more swiftly than does poetry. 'Humour is the first of
the gifts to perish in a foreign tongue' (Virginia Woolf, The Common
Reader, p. 57). However, translation may permit new word-play in the
form of double translation. Ex:
PASQUIN. - ... the Conclave, proceeding in camera ...
MARFORIO. - Yes, in [the word] Conclave, we find cave.
Alfred Jarry, La Chandelle verte, p. 424
Translation may even inspire poets. Ex: 'Thou fill'st from the winged
chalice of the soul / Thy lamp, O Memory, fire-winged to its goal'
(Dante Gabriel Rossetti, "Mnemosyne').
R2: Juxtalinear translations present the words in parallel columns with
the translation of each one opposite (even if such a presentation entails
subsequent repetition with greater clarity of style and syntax). Jarry
parodies this scholarly method as follows: 'Omnis a Deo scientia, which
means: omnis, all; a Deo, science; scientia, comes from God' (Ubu roi,
p. 163). The juxtaposition of syntagms* reduces these disadvantages. Ex:
quaedam animi incitatio: and what natural vivacity
innata omnibus: innate in all men
Claude Simon, Histoire, p. 119
R3: Translation may take the opposite form, starting from a definitional
periphrasis* and arriving at the foreign term. Ex: 'That red, faintly
murmuring liquid called "blood," elsewhere "blut," or "sang," or even
described proudly as "sangre"'' (H. Michaux, Vigies sur les cibles, p. 16).
The recourse to definition* also permits intralingual translation: the
name follows a description* of the thing defined. Onomasiology, the
science which studies this procedure, remains largely undeveloped.
Intralingual translation becomes necessary when we coin neolog-
isms*. Ex: '... what, in Proust's text, is not only "readerty" ([i.e.,] classi-
cal) but "writerly" (we translate that broadly as "modern")' (G. Genette,
Figures in, p. 271). In the case of semantic neologisms 'translated' by
means of a periphrasis*, what we have in reality is a purely rhetorical
manipulation of the device: false translations intended to transmit
explanations*. The latter may become interpretations. Desnos, for
instance, makes of translation one of the surrealists' poetic devices. Ex:
'Louis means a throw of the dice / Andre means a reef ('Rencontres').
461
Triangle
R4: For false translation, see quotation*, R2. See also celebration*, R4;
flip-flop*; discourse*; and lapsus*, Rl. Translation offers a new means
of playing on the signifier. Allographic translations also exist, like the
two volumes of nursery rhymes N'Heures Souris Rames and Mots
d'Heures: Gousses, Rames [i.e., Mother Goose Rhymes], published by
Ormonde de Kay (1983) and Luis d'An tin van Rooten (1967) respec-
tively. Exx: 'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall' / IJn petit d'un petit
s'etonne aux Halles'; There was a little man and he had a little gun' /
'Des rois elus dolmen, Hunyadi lit d'elegant' (Luis d'Antin van Rooten,
nos. 1,5).
R5: Are not quotations in a foreign language the opposite of transla-
tions? We might then call them counter-translations.
TRIANGLE The 'eternal triangle' is a ternary structure in dramas or

comedies involving three characters: a husband, wife, and lover.
Etienne Souriau made a particular study of it in Les Deux cent mille
situations dramatiques (1950).
Ex: Tom Stoppard, Another Moon Called Earth (1967)
TRIPLICATION Threefold repetition*.

Ex: '... a strange, strange, strange hat ...' (R. Queneau, Exercises in Style,
p. 35).
Other definitions: Greimas (Du Sens, p. 240) showed the importance of
ternary narrative structure in folk-tales and short stories: the fearless
hero must spend three successive nights in a place and undergo three
trials. He adds that 'the device of triplication - with its paradigmatic
meaning of totality and its syntax of achievement - clearly indicates
that the final test will subsume the preceding two and will bring a
decisive solution.' In his turn, Gerald Prince (Dictionary of Narratology
[1987]) writes: 'Triplication. The double repetition, at the level of the
narrated, of one or more (sequences of) events; trebling. A character
may, for instance, violate three interdictions or perform three difficult
tasks. Triplication is common in folk literature.' Triplication is also
common in jokes involving implicit or explicit competitions between
national stereotypes: 'An Englishman, Irishman, and Scotsman went to
play golf ...'
Rl: Besides triple lexical repetition*, syntactic and rhythmic triplica-
tions exist (see sentence*, R4; reprise*; and rhythmic echo*). Ex: T came,
I saw, I conquered' (Julius Caesar).
TRUISM A proposition that states nothing not already implied in one

of its terms. See Grambs, Littre, and Robert.
462
Truism
Exx: ' "I don't like my tea too hot" = "I don't like it hotter than I like
it"' (Concise Oxford Dictionary); 'If there were no Poland, there would
be no Polish people' (Alfred Jarry, Ubu roi, p. 180).
Synonyms: self-evident truth, obvious remark. Common expression:
That goes without saying.'
Rl: Truisms differ from cliches*, which are figures of words, and from
commonplaces, which express current, but not necessarily obvious,
ideas. Like metabole*, the truism is a figure of thought, but it need not
include repetition* because the cultural or real context makes it ob-
vious. If this obviousness is due to the theme* of the assertion, we have
a tautology*. Extenuation* (see extenuation, R3) is an even more
pronounced expression of the self-evident.
R2: The truism is a mistake* caused by carelessness or attenuation*
(see also litotes*, R4). Ex: 'Milton uses the word thing to refer to
many things.' Truisms may serve to create both emphasis* and anti-
climax* (see anticlimax, R3). They coexist quite happily with pseudo-
simulation. Ex: 'Ah! My Lord the Russian Dragoon, be careful, don't
fire in this direction, there are people here' (Alfred Jarry, Ubu roi,
p. 147). Some truisms are, or are presented as being, poetic. Ex: There
are days and still other days. There are mornings and evenings' (Gide,
Romans, p. 205). They may take on the role of natural epithets, serving
to show or 'paint' a scene. Ex: 'I cover my withered face with a piece of
black velvet, like the soot which fills chimneys' (Lautreamont, Les Chants
deMaldoror,l.8).
Truisms appear frequently in scientific treatises, particularly in those
parts presenting the most important line of reasoning*. Ex: 'CHARAC-
TERISTICS OF FINGERPRINTS. The hands represented may be either right
hands or left hands' (magazine article). The kind of humour* (see
humour, R5) favoured by mathematicians frequently takes this form.
Ex [concerning Gauss's Law]: 'for Gauss was only three years old when
Laplace discovered the law (1780) ... Despite Gauss's well-known
precocity, it is improbable that he too made the same discovery at that
age' (Frechet, quoted by H. Guitton, Statistique, p. 173). Comic use of
truisms may be effective. Ex: 'Money can't buy friends, but you got a
better class of enemy' (Spike Milligan, Puckoon, p. 71).
R3: Like tautologies*, truisms often permit the expression, in the form
of some irrefutable utterance, of sentiments which one might not
otherwise make known. Exx: lie/she will never see seventeen again';
'It is my view that the revolver was a long way off and that it did not
get back on its own' (G. Bernanos, Oeuvres romanesques, p. 781).
R4: Banalities are semi-truisms. For inverted truisms, see paradox*, R5.
Some truisms are truisms in appearance only (see image*, 2). Ex:
463
Variation
'... most of history's greatest transgressions and atrocities have been

perpetrated by people acting with what they believed to be the best of
intentions' (M. Baigent et al., The Messianic Legacy, p. 451). Others may
be revived (see paralogism*, R2).
V
VARIATION A narrative* or description* starts over, presenting
certain differences or even oppositions of detail. (See repetition*, R5).
Exx: 'In the beginning of the last chapter, I informed you exactly when I
was born; - but I did not inform you how. No, that particular was
reserved entirely for a chapter by itself (L. Sterne, Tristram Shandy,
vol. 1, ch. 6); 'They say they are not thirsty; they say that it's not a
spring; they say it's not water; they say that it's not their idea of a
spring or of water; they say water does not exist' (Paul Claudel,
Theatre, 2:524).
Other definitions: See reprise*, other def. 2; symploce*, epanalepsis*,
R6; and intonation*, Rl and R5.
Rl: The term is borrowed from music, in which variations operate
upon a theme* (see theme, R2) and so cannot be a purely formal
matter, as is the case with epanalepsis*.
R2: The French 'New Novelists' counted variation among their favour-
ite techniques, and more recent novelists have parodied it. Ex:
You have now read about thirty pages and you're becoming caught
up in the story. At a certain point you remark: "This sentence sounds
somehow familiar. In fact, this whole passage reads like something
I've read before.' Of course, there are themes that recur, the text is
interwoven with these reprises, which serve to express the fluctua-
tion of time ...
Wait a minute! Look at the page number. Damn! From page 32
you've gone back to page 17! What you thought was a stylistic
subtlety on the author's part is simply a printer's mistake: they have
inserted the same pages twice. (Italo Calvino, // on a Winter's Night a
Traveller, trans. W. Weaver, p. 25)
See also title* (of work), R2.
Variations have various causes: hesitation (see dubitatio*); gradatio*;
foregrounding* the act of writing. In the latter case, the author seems to
be saying to the reader: 'You choose; it makes no difference to me!' Exx:
the two endings of John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman and
464
Variation (Typographical)
the two different endings in Harold Pinter's screenplay drawn from the
novel.
VARIATION (TYPOGRAPHICAL) Changes in the form, place, or

disposition of the typographical characters used.
Ex: In Conversation-sinfonietta, Jean Tardieu prints a 'cry in six voices' in
the following type-faces:
soprano: antique;
tenor: 'didot';
first contralto: 'plantin';
second contralto: antique italic;
first bass: cooper black;
second bass: antique bold.
See also graphy*, R5.
Rl: Among variations in the place of characters: superposition (charac-
ters placed above the line are more legible when different in size); the
arrangement of characters in a cross (made easier if, as in crossword
puzzles or printed games of Scrabble, the two words share a common
letter); inversion (characters are turned upside down); the turning around
of characters (from left to right, to be deciphered in a mirror); irregular
alignment (the text is multi-columned with margins of different widths
or with columns crossing each other); insets or scroll-work (characters
have an ornate framework); speech balloons or bubbles (spaces in which
the words spoken by cartoon characters are inscribed). Exx (of crossed
characters):
R
E E
i B ir R
GLACE
E ALOU L TTL
Modern typesetting techniques (Lumitype in particular) have made
typographical variations a means of expression equal in some instances
to images in publicity. The spatialists, an almost pictorial school of
printers, use them in a wide range of applications (see graphic line* [of
verse]). Contemporary poets are increasingly sensitive to the visual
semiotics of texts (Ian Hamilton Finlay, Emmett Williams, bp Nichol,
etc.).
R2: Other variations include the placing of characters closer together or
spacing them out. Two characters are 'closer together' when their serifs
(or 'feet') touch (the set is the distance between the face of a character
and its 'beard'). In order to create a space between characters, we
introduce a blank, of varying widths, but no wider than a single letter
('em quadrat' or 'em quad'). We may distinguish this type of variation
465
Verbiage
from the type which consists in reducing or increasing characters'

overrun, without changing their body. Letters are condensed or ex-
tended when their shape is made narrower or is dilated in width only,
which produces bolding, semi-bold (in both of which thickening of the
down-strokes and up-strokes usually accompanies dilation), thin-
narrow, and thin-close-set (see Stanley Morison, Tally of Types, rev. ed.
[1973]; and John N.C. Lewis, Typography: Design and Practice [1978]).
R3: We can draw analogies between some characteristics of sounds and
type:
SOUND TYPO
duration spacing
timbre typeset
intensity thickness
pitch body
We can justify the last of these, which may seem somewhat arbitrary,
by pointing to its coherence with the others in the two series, in which
it fills a vacant space. Making a larger-bodied character correspond to a
melodic rise in the voice in a continuous text is perhaps as plausible,
and more practical, than displacing the text into some imaginary range.
These four correspondences, when used to transcribe speech, make
possible reproduction of sounds of the kind most frequently found in
the speech balloons of certain cartoon strips (see R.P. Nelson, Comic Art
and Caricature [1978]; and W. Hewison, Cartoon Connection: The Art of
Pictorial Humour [1977]). See also intonation*.
R4: A useful summary of the principal Western typesettings may be
found in Rookledge's International Type-Finder: The Essential Handbook of
Typeface Recognition and Selection (1983).
VERBIAGE TSTeedless accumulation of words' (Concise Oxford Dic-

tionary).
Ex:
MR. SMITH: The heart is ageless. [Silence.]
MR. MARTIN: That's true. [Silence.]
MRS. SMITH: So they say. [Silence.]
MRS. MARTIN: They also say the opposite. [Silence.]
MR. SMITH: The truth lies somewhere between the two. [Silence.]
Eugene lonesco, The Bald Soprano, in Four Plays, pp. 20-1
Analogous terms: empty speeches; verbosity; garrulousness;
'Duckspeak' (Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, cited by Grambs, p. 105)
Rl: The OED defines verbiage as: 'wording of a superabundant or
superfluous character; abundance of words without necessity or with-
466
Verbiage
out much meaning; excessive wordiness/ We shall distinguish verbiage

from verbigeration*, which the OED defines simply as a mental
disease. In our view, verbigeration, or the production of a text without
overall meaning*, presents greater difficulty than does mere talking for
talking's sake, or producing a text with some vague meaning deriving
from repetition* of commonplaces. What constitutes verbiage is the
absence of a denotatum (an intended real object), which confines the
subject to the realm of the undefined.
R2: Verbiage resembles battology* and redundancy*. Ex:
Not to speak of hostels, leperyards, sweating chambers, plague-
graves, their greatest doctors, the O'Shiels, the CXHickeys, the
O'Lees, have sedulously set down the divers methods by which the
sick and the relapsed found again health whether the malady had
been the trembling withering or loose boyconnell flux. Certainly in
every public work which in it anything of gravity contains prepara-
tion should be with importance commensurate and therefore a plan
was by them adopted (whether by having preconsidered or as the
maturation of experience it is difficult in being said which the
discrepant opinions of subsequent enquirers are not up to the
present congrued to render manifest) whereby maternity was so far
from all accident possibility removed that whatever care the patient
in that allhardest of woman hour chiefly required and not solely for
the copiously opulent but also for her who not being sufficiently
moneyed scarcely and not even scarcely could subsist valiantly and
for an inconsiderable emolument was provided. (Joyce, Ulysses,
pp. 314-15)
R3: Semi-verbiage is called prolixity, loquaciousness, glibness, facundity
(i.e., 'eloquence' or the 'gift of the gab,' depending on level* and
connotation), or volubility. The number of non-pejorative terms in the
list indicates that the phenomenon is fairly common. Exx: see ac-
cumulation* and oratorical amplification*.
R4: Verbosity 'achieved' by imitation* of so-called 'sublime' style soon
turns into grandiloquence*.
R5: Another common type of verbomania is the digression*. Ex:
... and this leads me to the affair of Whiskers - but by what chain of
ideas - I leave as a legacy in mortmain to Prudes and Tartuffes, to
enjoy and make the most of.
Upon Whiskers
I'm sorry I made it - 'twas as inconsiderate a promise as ever
entered a man's head - A chapter upon whiskers! alas! the world
will not bear it - 'tis a delicate world - but I knew not of what
467
Verbigeration
mettle it was made - nor had I ever seen the underwritten fragment;
otherwise, as surely as noses are noses, and whiskers are whiskers
still (let the world say what it will to the contrary), so surely would I
have steered clear of this dangerous chapter.
The Fragment ... (Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, vol. 5, ch. 1)
VERBIGERATION The production of a text without overall mean-

ing*, notwithstanding that some of its syntagms*, if taken in isolation,
may often be intelligible and may appear normally constructed. See
Robert and Marchais. Like the OED, they emphasize the device's reli-
ance on repetition*, which in our view, although common, is not essen-
tial. Both the OED and Grambs insist that in English the term desig-
nates a mental illness. We are using it as a device able to suggest such
illness in a literary character.
Ex: 'LUCKY: Given the existence as uttered forth in the public works of
Puncher and Wattman of a personal God quaquaquaqua with white
beard quaquaquaqua outside time without extension who from the
heights of divine apathia divine aphasia loves us dearly with some
exceptions for reasons unknown but time will tell and suffers like the
divine Miranda with those who for reasons unknown but time will tell
are plunged in torment plunged in fire whose fire flames if that con-
tinues ...' (Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, act 1).
Analogous terms: logorrhoea (pejorative); pure verbal fantasy (melior-
ative); ectopy (we might thus name a text without an isotopy*); verbal
salad
Rl: The word verbigeration is borrowed, as is logorrhoea, from psychia-
try. We are therefore speaking of verbigeration chiefly as a psychologi-
cal phenomenon rather than as a device. That does not mean, however,
that the phenomenon is new to literature. On the contrary: 'A long
tradition of irrational poetry has its source in the adynata* of late Latin
poetry. From the fatras and fatrasie [medleys, hotchpotches, "irrational
or obscure piece(s) of verse" (Preminger)], through soties de menus-
propos [farcical farragoes of small talk], coq-a-l'dne*, gibberish verses and
nonsense rhymes, to eighteenth-century nonsense-verse, never did the
tradition of pure verbal fantasy cease' (Marc Angenot, Rh&orique du
surrealisme, p. 63).
R2: Verbigeration differs from paragraphia, paraphasia, and paragram-
matism, which are language disorders (see mistake*, R2) characterized
respectively by substitution* or deformation of letters, words, or
constructions. Such disorders are due to cerebral lesions which interfere
with the natural functioning of language but not with that of the in-
468
Verset
telligence. Although unable to express themselves, sufferers know what

they want to say. Ex: see paragram*, R3. In literature, verbigeration is a
device rather than a mental disorder. (See simulation*, R2.)
R3: Since the minimal syntagmatic linking device is accumulation*, this
appears frequently in verbigerations. Ex: 'LUCKY: ... the practice of
sports such as tennis football running cycling swimming flying float-
ing riding gliding conating camogie skating ...' (Beckett, Waiting for
Godot, act 1). Spitzer identified verbigeration in his discussion of
'chaotic enumeration'; and Garapon spotted it in inventories of incon-
gruous elements. The fatrasie elevated dissociation* and coq-a-l'ane* to
the status of a literary genre (see Paul Zumthor, Essai de poetique
medievale, p. 141). We also find chaotic, but not absurd, enumeration* in
verbiage*. See also the surrealist image, under image*, Rl.
R4: Propositions may be linked together on the basis of sounds alone.
Ex: see musication*, R4. In such a case, meaning* may drift about,
changing direction on the basis of chance encounters between words.
Ex: Margaret Schlausch (The Gift of Language, p. 237) collected, and pro-
vided the gloss of, the following examples of blends and distortions in
Joyce's Finnegans Wake:
erigenating = originating; also Erigena-ting (from Duns Scotus
Erigena, the 'Erin-born philosopher');
eroscope = horoscope; Eros-scope; hero-scope;
Champs de Mors = Champ de Mars; Field of Death (Mors);
herodotary = hereditary; hero-doter; Herodotus?;
pigmaid = made like a pig; pigmied.
And Umberto Eco (The Aesthetics of Chaosmos, trans. E. Esrock, pp. 64,
65-6) discovers in the same text the following examples in which
sound dominates sense or plays with allusion*: '[Joyce's] language is
primitive and barbaric because it is basically onomatopoeic ... it is
[also] built upon linguistic fragments of previous languages by jux-
taposing different foreign synonyms for the word "thunder": "baba-
babadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntro-
varrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk!' (Finnegans Wake, p. 1) ...
In "Jungfraud's Messonge book" (Ibid., p. 460) we detect, contem-
poraneously, Jung + Freud + young + fraud + Jungfrau + message +
songe [i.e., dream] + mensonge [lie].' See also word-play*.
VERSET Although the word may be a diminutive form of vers, a line*

of poetry or verse (i.e., Fr. vers + the diminutive suffix -et), it designates
a line which is frequently longer, more irregular, and of a more subtle
rhythm* than conventional verses.
469
Verset
Ex:
The figs fall from the trees, they are good and sweet; and in falling
the red skins of them break. A north wind am I to ripe figs.
Thus, like figs, do these doctrines fall for you, my friends: imbibe
now their juice and their sweet substance! It is autumn all around,
and clear sky, and afternoon. (Friedrich Nietzsche, In the Happy
Isles/ in Thus Spake Zarathustra, trans. T. Common, p. 90)
Analogous: antiphon, a liturgical term, 'a dialogue between choirs, one
choir singing the verside, the other singing the response' (Turco, p. 171).
Ex:
'Canst Thou Draw?' (Job xu: 1-7)
Canst thou draw out Leviathan with an hook, or his tongue with a
cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hook in his nose?
or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
Vain attempt!
Will he make many supplications unto thee?
Terrible words!
Manoah Bodman, quoted by Turco, p. 171
Rl: Turco (see 'Forensics/ pp. 154-5) links the French verset to the
hitauta ('a Japanese form of question and answer') and also to lines of
'breath-length.' He quotes William Carlos Williams's concepts of the
'breath-pause' and of Variable accentuals' in which 'two to four
stresses are approximately equal to an utterance, and six to twelve
accents are as many as can be uttered in a short breath.' Ex:
The world of the spirits that comes afterward
is the same as our own, just like you sitting
there they come and talk to me, just the same.
William Carlos Williams, The Horse Show'
Turco concludes: Thus, in Williams' prosody, each line is a phrase of
about two to four stresses, and three lines equal a clause of about six to
twelves stresses. Williams' system, however, does not necessarily have
anything to do with questions and answers.'
R2: See paragraph*, Rl, and reactualization*, 6. The versets of Paul
Claudel also seem to imitate the rhythm of breathing: '... just as the
range of respiratory rhythms varies with the quality of emotion,
[Claudel's versets] swell and contract in turn' (Jacques Riviere, Etudes,
p. 69). Ex: 'Again! once again the sea returns to seek me out like a bark,
/ The sea again which returns to me like a spring tide and raises me
up and launches me like an unburdened galley' (Paul Claudel, 'Quatri-
eme Ode').
470
Weil-Wishing
VULGARISM 'A word or form of expression which violates the

purity of diction; a debased form of colloquialism' (Pei and Gaynor).
Ex [a description of epitaphs in a graveyard]: 'Glittery gilt lists the
names and dates and the bullshit about them' (Peter Reading, Ukelele
Music, p. 13).
Other names: coarseness, obscenity
Rl: Vulgarisms belong with coarse expressions (see swear-word*). They
may be distinguished from gauloiserie*, which adds a comic tone to an
utterance, and from scatological texts, which are preoccupied with
excremental and sexual matters. Ex: Tvlarkings on a shitter wall' (R.
Fernandez in A. Chapman, New Black Voices, p. 380).
w
WELL-WISHING The attitude of an author or character who ex-
presses an ardent desire that someone profit from something.
Ex:
CHORUS OF ISRAELITES:
Live, live for ever, pious David's son;
Live, live for ever, mighty Solomon.
G.F. Handel, Solomon, 2.1
Analogous: 'a wish exclaimed' (Lanham); optatio (Joseph, p. 249), an
'ardent wish or prayer.' Ex: 'A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a
horse!' (Shakespeare, Richard ill, 5.4.7). See also: optation (Fontanier,
p. 438, Littre, Quillet, and Robert). In traditional rhetoric, optatio figures
among arguments* appropriate for winning the jury's goodwill. It was
customary to end one's plea by wishing for a happy outcome. A less
official form is: 'best wishes,' 'warmest regards,' etc.; see letter*.
Rl: Good wishes may be expressed by the subjunctive, as in the
example quoted from Handel's Solomon, or by the use of exclamations*
as in 'Happy Birthday!' and 'Happy New Year!' or by the use of a
gallicism* such as 'Bon voyage!' Ex: 'MR. MARTIN (to the Fire Chief as he
leaves): Good luck, and a good fire!' (Eugene lonesco, The Bald Soprano,
in Four Plays, p. 37). In indirect speech, the exclamation mark disap-
pears, as does the emotion. Well-wishing has its own intonation*.
R2: Old expressions, like 'God grant that' and 'God forbid,' took into
account our lack of control over our own destiny. When we address
such wishes to the being we believe to be capable of answering them,
471
Whisper
we make a request (see supplication*), a prayer*, or exhortation*. But

some accepted formulas lend themselves to hypocrisy. Ex: R.I.P., the
abbreviation* found in epitaphs CMay he/she rest in peace'). It used to
express forgiveness to both parties, both the quick and the dead, and
urged the deceased to abandon any remorse or resentment which
might have resulted in ghostly visitations. See notation*, Rl.
R3: Supplications* addressed to no one in particular are merely a kind
of wish. Ex: 'Ah! let it come then, the great crisis, I begged, illness,
sharp pain!' (A. Gide, Romans, p. 159). On the other hand, strong
wishes soon turn into supplications*. Ex:
Yes there's the orderly. He'll change the sheets
When I'm lugged out. Oh, couldn't I do that?
I'd love to be a sweep's boy, black as Town;

Yes, or a muck-man. Must I be his load?
Wilfred Owen, 'Wild with All Regrets'
R4: Hi-wishing is also called malediction or cursing. Ex:
PANDULPH: Then, by the lawful power that I have,
Thou shalt stand cursed and excommunicate.
And blessed shall he be that doth revolt
From his allegiance to an heretic
That takes away by any secret course

Thy hateful life.
Shakespeare, King John, 3.1.172-9
Ex: ' "I don't care whether he dies, damn the monster!" William cried'
The formulas used recall ancient imprecations, a religious form of
malediction, by which we call upon the Deity to punish someone.
WHISPER A noise* made by voices speaking quietly, without vibra-

tion of the vocal chords, so as to be heard as little as possible.
Ex: 'Confession ... Woman dying to. And I schschschschschsch. And
did you chachachachacha?' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 68).
Analogous: whispering ('chuchotis,' which is meliorative in Fr.)
WIT Being witty involves provoking others to use their wits by

exercising one's own. In order to do this, one leaves aside, or refuses,
the ordinary, the true, or at least the desirable structures of reality or
language. Wit is an implicit means of recognizing such a refusal.
Witty devices may be classified into eight non-exclusive categories.
472
Word-Play
The witticism (see conceit*), a process of reasoning* whose logic is

gratuitous or even false, makes a game of intelligence as it grapples
with its object.
Nonsense* is an obscure form of witticism which replaces the rea-
soning process with feelings.
Simulation* leads into error, and pseudo-simulation* has a comic
effect because it deceives no one.
Persiflage*, raillery or banter, consists of mocking or ridiculing
someone as a joke.
Word-play* over-exploits language because of the different mean-
ings* which attach to spoken syntagms*, whether modified or not.
Irony* and point* challenge the reader's shrewdness.
Humour* emphasizes the mind's limits and weaknesses and recog-
nizes the supremacy of reality.
The burlesque* is a kind of vulgar, excessive comedy.
Rl: Wit's aim is often simply to make people laugh, in which case it is
called a joke or jest. But laughter may have various functions and may
be triggered without funny remarks. One may wish to:
(a) show that one has seen the trick, the mistake*, the absurdity, play
on words, or allusion*;
(b) defend oneself against a veiled attack without being led to counter-
attack. Such is the case when one is the butt of irony*, persiflage*, or
even of insults* or threats* which one in such a case takes to be merely
simulated, teasing, or made 'as a joke';
(c) repress one's 'true' reaction. Contradiction liberates the ego since it
is not responsible for it. 'Laughter causes one to abandon positions
which are too restricting' (H. Michaux, Connaissance par les gouffres,
p. 24);
(d) have the pleasure or satisfaction of discovering that other people
think as oneself does, that an idea or expression is correct, that a quip,
oral or written, succeeded in 'settling someone's hash';
(e) show surprise;
(f) make a showing in society (see literary* games); etc.
R2: See gauloiserie* for Gallic humour. For other examples of wit, see
lipogram*, Rl, and metanalysis*, R2.
WORD-PLAY Written or spoken wit* or jokes based on certain

elements of language: various forms of play on the signifier or sig-
nified.
Ex: a drug store, a source of orifice supplies
Here are two quite general forms not entirely covered by the previous
definition*.
473
Word-Play
The rhyming lead-in plays on homophones to produce remotivation*

of a syntagm*. Ex:
So each one upwards in the air
His shot he did expend.
And may all other duels have
That upshot at the end.
Thomas Hood (1799-1845), quoted by Augarde, p. 208
See also Joyce's Finnegans Wake for examples like dontelleries, which,
constructed on the French word dentelleries (linen edged in lace),
suggests intimate garments that discreetly 'don't tell.' In such examples
discrete elements of a syntagm* combine to form a single word. Ex:
Tvlany people give punning names to their children or their homes (e.g.
"Kutyurbelyakin," which I took globally for a possibly Armenian
word, until I broke it down into its constituent sounds)' (W. Redfern,
Puns, p. 132). The opposite also occurs. Ex: Thomas Hood protested
against the unwelcome attentions of an officious undertaker by saying
that he wanted to 'urn a lively Hood' (Redfern, Puns, p. 125).
Lead-ins which employ diaphora* develop an utterance by introduc-
ing a second meaning for a term already used. Ex: '[Queen Elizabeth I
is said to have remarked]: "You may be burly, my Lord of Burleigh,
but ye shall make less stir in my realm than the Lord of Leicester" '
(quoted by Augarde, p. 205). But word-play in any form triumphs
when wit* manages to entrap language in its own contradictions. Ex:
'Assumed dongiovannism will not save him. No later undoing will
undo the first undoing' (Joyce, Ulysses, p. 161).
Rl: Word-play rarely survives translation. Ex: 'He went off towards his
hometown as the master of the gods goes to heaven' comes from
'yayan puram svam svam ivamaresah' (Ramayana, 2.72.27), in which sva
means both lus' (hometown understood) and 'heaven' (H.R. Diwekar,
Les Fleurs de rhetorique de I'lnde, p. 39). However, some translators, like
those who turned Joyce's Ulysses into French, for instance, can work
miracles.
R2: Rhyming lead-ins may serve as mnemonic devices. Ex (to remem-
ber the distinction between stalactites and stalagmites): 'The tights hang
down, the mites grow up.'
474
Z
ZEUGMA A figure of syntax which consists in uniting several parts

of a sentence* by means of some common, non-repeated element.
Zeugma includes both adjunction* and disjunction*. See Fabri (2:156),
Fontanier (p. 313), Joseph, Lanham, Lausberg, Littre, and OED. How-
ever, all these definitions emphasize the ellipsis* rather than the syntac-
tic union the device creates. See also brachylogia*.
Other definition: 'the word understood is not in grammatical agree-
ment with the one expressed' (Morier). Fontanier and Littre call this
compound zeugma. Ex: 'INSPECTOR: The head is warm, the hands cold,
the legs icy7 (Jean Giraudoux, Intermezzo, 3.5).
Rl: Some examples of zeugma (like the previous one) entail anacolu-
thon*. Preminger speaks of faulty grammatical congruence. Such
examples may also revive stereotyped expressions, and Cressot and
Morier recall that zeugos in Greek means a 'yoke,' suggesting the
example: To the sound of slaps and drums.'
R2: In English, zeugma frequently unites an abstract with a concrete
term. Lausberg (sect. 707) calls this semantic zeugma, and Morier yoking
(sense 2). The young Dickens seems particularly fond of this type of
zeugma. Exx: 'Miss Bolo ... went straight home, in a flood of tears and
a sedan-chair'; 'with this permission and the front-door key, Sam
Weller issued forth'; 'to dinner they went with good digestion waiting
on appetite, and health on both, and a waiter on all three' (Dickens,
Pickwick Papers, chs. 35, 38, 51). This type seems particularly well suited
to humour*. Exx: 'LIGHTHOUSE. A tall building on the seashore in which
the government maintains a lamp and the friend of a politician'
(Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary); 'On the floor was broken glass
and Mr. Weazeley' (Dylan Thomas, Quite Early One Morning, p. 34).
Combined with irony*, zeugma may produce antithesis*: 'In which
William and Adso enjoy the jolly hospitality of the abbot and the angry
conversation of Jorge' (U. Eco, The Name of the Rose, p. 93). This trick is
also particularly appropriate for presenting metaphors* involving a
complex isotopy* which is 'in equilibrium' (see image*, 5). Exx: *My
long manuscript hair mingles with the aquatic plants and the invariable
adverbs'; 'I had just missed my rendezvous and my entire life' (Hubert
Aquin, Prochain Episode, trans. P. Williams, pp. 19,121).
475
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499
Index
Terms in bold-face are the titles of the main entries in the dictionary. The page
reference for each main entry is also in bold-face.
a contrario (argument) 67 444; false 13

a fortiori (argument) xviii, 17, 65, 89, acrostic xv, 14-15, 76, 255, 261, 347,
158, 225, 273, 412 362, 432; double 15
ab absurdo (argument) xv, 386, 435 actant xvii, 15-16, 104, 300
abbreviation 3-4, 5, 12,170, 253, 309, actantial indices 16
443, 472 action 6, 16, 150, 160,199, 219, 278,
abjuration xv, 165 285, 291, 292, 294, 295, 296, 298,
ablaut 329 299, 302, 306, 355, 371, 376, 402,
Abrams, M. 24,215,243,262,273, 403, 404, 409, 434
384, 446 Acts of the Apostles 357
abridgement xvi, 3, 4-5, 54, 126, 150, actualizing terms 197
381, 424, 438, 450 actualization xvi, 59, 130, 131, 134,
abruption xv, 151 142,162, 245, 294, 357, 358, 375
absdsio de media 445 ad hominem (argument) 16-17
abstraction xvi, 5-7, 78, 111, 208, 336, ad ignorantiam (argument) 68
355, 358, 359, 406, 452 ad personam (argument) 17
absurdity 307, 322, 406, 473 ad populum (argument) 68, 104
accent xvi, 7-9, 23, 51, 70, 71,179, ad verecundiam (argument) 69, 455
195, 241, 255, 257, 258, 259, 287, adage 360,380
. 401; acute 8; affective 8, 9, 23; Adams, V. 100,107,125, 349
antithetical 8, 9, 51, 70; circumflex Addison,J. 47,312
8; emotional 8; emphasizing 8; address 47, 59, 72, 73, 130,136,137,
energetic 8; grave 8; oratorical 8; 160, 245, 252, 271, 310, 352, 358
tonic 258 addressee 59, 60,104, 130,132,135,
accumulatio 10 146,160, 232, 252, 288, 290, 295,
accumulation xvi, 9-12, 32, 33, 78, 297, 301, 369, 370, 375, 386, 394,
158,159,170, 171, 172, 201, 274, 407, 408, 418, 439, 455; implied 130
323, 347, 348, 372, 403, 448, 466, adjective 5, 6, 7, 40, 104,126, 140,
467, 469 170,171, 208, 266, 448; predicative
accusation 12, 65,137, 227, 228, 382 170; substitution of 154
achrony or atemporality 34 adjunction xvi, xvii, 17-18, 30, 71,
acronym xv, 3, 5, 12-13, 24, 126, 261, 139, 215, 279, 324, 367, 475
501
Index
adjuncts 10, 70 allusio 329

adjuration xv, 181 allusion xvi, 20, 24-6, 38, 51, 85,109,
Adler, M. 439 117,137,138, 147,170, 174, 205,
admonition 67,137, 455 228, 245, 269, 275, 293, 300, 342,
adnominatio. See agnominatio 349, 364, 408, 455, 469, 473
adverb 71,104,126,140, 162,191, alluvion xvi, 175
208, 237, 288; of place 295 alphabet 13,14, 38,120,149, 204, 252,
adverbial phrase 440 253, 260, 283, 423
adversary 12,16,17,32,43,49,68, alphabet soup 13
110, 292, 382, 385, 426, 455 alpha betism 12
advertising xviii, 159, 229, 241, 371, alphametics 120
440, 451 alteration 37, 271, 279, 316, 433
advice 30, 134, 137, 233 altercation 132
adynaton xv, 18-19,141,186, 347 alternation 117,259,299,400,413
Aeneid 221,455 alternative xvi, 26-8, 35, 66, 74, 398;
aesthetic form 160 false 27
affective effect 458 Airman, R. 406
affirmation 70, 162, 189, 302, 353, 386 altruization 104
affix 121,275 Alvarez, A. 373
affix-clipping 121,275 amalgam xvi, 5, 28, 67
affixation 125 amalgam (syntagmatic) 28
afterword 272, 396 amalgamation xx, 112, 304, 349, 386
agglutination 276 amas 10
aggressor 15, 16 ambiguity xvi, 28-31, 32, 44, 64,123,
agnominatio 19-20, 26, 125, 174, 177, 133,172, 247, 270, 300, 301, 322,
329, 457 329, 364, 365, 369, 385, 398, 408,
agrammatism xvi, 142, 150, 287, 290 419, 427, 428, 449, 454; deliberate
agreement 399, 440, 475 28; involuntary 28
alba 346 amelodia 287
Albalat, A. 51 Amis, K. 41,195, 217, 263, 365, 411,
Alcanter de Brahm 244 422, 452
Alexander, Sir William 446 amoebean verses 132
alexandrine 55, 88, 90, 157, 256, 258, amphibol(og)y 28, 31-2,141, 144, 450
403; romantic or ternary 257 amphibrach 258
Allais, A. 70,187,194, 315, 322, 354 amphigouri 342
allegation 64, 394 amplification xvi, xviii, 10, 32-3, 60,
allegorism 21 69, 99, 105,112,128,153,158, 201,
allegory xv, xvii, 21-3, 29, 53, 56, 202, 287, 323, 345, 373, 379, 391,
134, 202, 220, 222, 276, 278, 340, 403, 447, 467; oratorical 33, 323,
404,417,418,454 373, 467
Allen, W. 34,163, 200, 221, 332, 352, anacephalaeosis 381
380, 391, 404 anachronism 33-4,300,433
alliteration xv, xviii, 20, 23-4, 26, 72, anaclasis 43
85, 86, 87,147, 208, 291, 306, 329, anacoenosis 103, 145
390, 450 anacoluthon xv, 34-6, 336, 396, 454,
allocentric anchor 189,191,295,297 475
allocentric discourse xvi anacrusis 331, 403
allocution 136 anadiplosis xv, xvii, 36-7, 43,108,
allograph 24, 26, 62, 82,172, 308, 343 164, 203, 318
502
Index
anagnorisis 21, 433 anthroponymy 125

anagram xv, 26, 37-8, 48, 101, 314, anti-Ciceronian movement 78
316, 405 antidpatio 356
anagrammatic readings 38 anticipation xvii, 42, 139,189,191,
analect 373 356, 421
analepsis 189,191 anticlimax xvi, 10, 45-6, 79, 80, 105,
analogy xvi, 21, 92,115,128, 189, 222, 154, 185, 201, 225, 242, 276, 406,
277, 279, 290, 322, 340, 380, 412, 463
417,443,452,459 antilogy 46, 308, 313, 315, 378, 426,
analysis 16, 66, 105, 267, 268, 269, 449 451; false 46,451
anamnesis 38-9, 94, 190, 376 antimetabole xvii, xx, 16, 46-8, 95,
anantapodoton 35 169,197, 274, 318, 329, 347, 348,
anapaest xv, 259, 403 397; false 48
anaphora xv, xvii, 39-40, 102, 164, antimetalepsis xvii, 47, 48
169, 202, 207, 291, 318, 319, 391, antimetathesis xvii, 37, 47, 48, 96,
392, 432, 444 173, 314, 319, 330, 390
anapodoton 35, 396 antiparastasis xv, 12, 48-9, 94, 242,
anastrophe 40-1, 83, 214, 397, 450 386
anathema 407 antiphon 470
Anderson, M. 127 antiphony 130
anecdotage 56, 82, 324, 349 antiphrasis xvi, 29, 49-50, 73, 178,
anecdote xvi, 56,185, 349, 367, 419 228, 240, 244, 263, 340, 439, 455
anemographia 127 antiptosis 425
Angenot, M. 65, 67, 69,105,139,140, antisagoge 106, 318
143, 206, 385, 427, 435, 468 antisthecon 280
Anglicism 41-2,195, 205, 333, 461 antistrophe 48,169,170, 310, 318, 427
Anglo-Indian 333 antithesis 26, 39, 47, 48, 50-2, 95,
animism 340 143, 210, 301, 347, 448, 475; implicit
annotation xvi, 323 51
announcement 42-3, 45, 192, 271, antitrope 244
356, 357, 372 Antoine, G. 39, 108
annunciation 42 antonomasia 52-3, 93, 111, 125, 269,
Anouilh, J. 64 282, 336, 340, 446, 457
answer 68,122,132, 183, 236, 296, antonym 79,385
302, 371, 372, 393, 394, 396 apagogical reasoning 485
antagonist 15, 385 apagoge xv
antanaclasis xv, xvii, 28, 29, 30, 43-5, aphaeresis xvi, 53, 196, 209, 279
68, 113,116, 133,162, 318, 330, 364, aphasia 150,174,283,287,468
393, 397 aphesis 276
antanagoge xv, 106, 382 aphorism 221, 266, 434
antapodosis xvi, 318, 335 apocalypse xvii, 21, 53-4, 133, 163,
ante occupatio 356 300, 357, 454
antecedent 10, 35, 65, 320, 321 apocope xvi, 4, 53, 54-5,149, 257,
antepiphora 45,255,336,391,432, 279, 316, 402
445 apodioxis xv, 68, 155, 354, 356, 386
anteriority 295 apodosis 35, 334, 335
anthem 24, 250 Apollinaire, G. 72, 90,122, 196, 258,
anthology 156 402
anthorism 337 apologia pro vita sua 76, 96, 351
503
Index
apologue 23, 33, 55-7, 66, 292, 417, argumentative evasion 44

442, 454 arhythmia 287
apology xvi, 49,137,165, 242, 254 Ariosto, L. 342
apophasis 70 Aristotle xv, 64, 65, 66, 70,176, 226,
apophony 329 246, 298, 319, 320, 334, 361, 374,
apophtegm 266 380, 433
aporia 144, 145, 315, 347, 406 Arnauld, A. 322
aposiopesis xvii, 57-8, 66, 138, 153, Arnold, M. 316,417
238, 242, 331, 354, 367, 455; implied Aron, R. 183
57 Arp, H. 214
apostrophe xvi, 33, 58-60, 62, 76,133, arrangement 32, 87, 95, 299, 343, 380,
138,146,148,149,160, 186, 203, 465
233, 234, 242, 252, 300, 308, 309, arsis 332,401
340, 352, 358, 407, 408, 435, 439, Artaud, A. 75
441, 456, 460; graphic 149 article 7, 39, 61,124,125,157, 209,
apothegm 266 245, 459
apotheosis 54, 58 articulation 89, 90,100,102,137, 139,
apothesis 366 156,157,166, 286, 289, 290, 380,
applause 179, 306 426
application ix, x, xvi, 22, 104, 137, articulo 74
213, 283, 333, 385 artifice 109,130, 186, 187, 193, 219,
apposition 60, 61-2, 74,103, 151, 159, 344
173, 218, 243, 248, 332, 413, 417, ascendus 201
447, 454 Ashton, J. 91
appropriation 123, 124, 125, 178 Asianism 78
approximation xvi, xvii, 28, 62, 141, aside xvi, 290
173, 205, 212, 218, 242, 364, 409, assertion x, 9, 18, 50, 61, 64, 67,
427 69-71, 88,102,103,117,121,122,
approximations (successive) 62, 317, 145, 151, 152,160,161, 163,174,
448 179, 186,189, 214, 228, 229, 234,
Aquin, H. 3, 23, 107, 117, 118, 119, 235, 242, 265, 270, 300, 301, 306,
174, 248, 326, 327, 475 314, 315, 320, 327, 332, 334, 367,
Arabian Nights, The 299 368, 369, 370, 379, 382, 411, 412,
Aragon, L. 25, 48,102,157,158, 209, 435, 439, 454, 463; adjacent 61, 103,
225, 259, 262, 288, 400 214
arbiter 15 assertorical proposition 378
archaism xvi, 63-4, 142,176, 226; assimilation 67, 246, 379
graphic 63 assimulation 419
argot 253, 423 association 103,139,140, 278, 333
argument xvi, 16, 17, 27, 45, 49, 57, assonance 9, 23, 72, 210, 330, 347,
64-9, 71, 98, 103,104,105,116, 122, 390, 399
123,136,138,144,155, 161,176, Assoucy, C.P., Sieur d' 85
180, 183,186, 222, 226, 242, 319, asteismus 49, 72-3, 97, 186, 235, 242,
321, 339, 354, 355, 356, 359, 372, 244, 364
374, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 385, asterisk xiii, 4, 369, 421
386, 390, 393, 396, 426, 437, 455; by asterismos 345
analogy 380; from authority 69, asynartete 400
374; from comparison 379 asynateton 74
argumentation 17,69,136,377,395 asyndeton 61,73-4,138,218,249,348
504
Index
ataxism xvi, 287 baby-talk 151

attack 17,259,473 back-handed compliment 235
atemporality or achrony 34 backslang 120
athroisme xvi, 10 badge 205,443
attenuation xvi, 28, 74-5, 138, 177, badinage 73,226
178,183,186,198, 238, 262, 263, Badiou, A. 71
300, 302, 354, 435, 452, 463; false Bagnall, N. 98
186, 262 Baigent, M. 228,345,464
attestation 422 bait 192
atticism 78, 335 balance 47, 106, 335, 344, 347
attitude 103, 162, 233, 248, 300, 407, ballad 15, 58, 76, 167, 197, 263, 366,
418, 448, 471 432
attitudinal figures 254 ballade 15, 76, 346; grande 76; royale
Attlee, C 16 346
attraction 176,251,440 Bally, Ch. 99,139, 253, 267, 268, 289
Atwood, M. 57,128,130,167, 220, banter 73,339,473
297, 311, 350, 412 Banville, Th. de 103
Aubert de Gaspe, P. 52 barbarism 76-7, 86, 425
Auden, W.H. 61, 74, 209, 214, 263, Bardeche, M. 65, 144
273 Barnes, J. 146, 243, 266, 296, 372
Audet,J.-P. 94,272 baroquism 10, 77-9, 85, 105, 109, 133,
Audiberti, J. 56, 70, 105, 110, 113, 115, 159,185,187, 212, 262, 336, 342,
121,266,417,419,436 382,417,441,447
audience 65, 68, 85,137, 141, 145, Barres, M. 76, 130
288, 289, 323, 351, 385, 394, 435, Barth,J. 193,194
437 Barthes, R. 52, 66, 74,129, 215, 263,
Auerbach, E. 324 290, 291, 293, 378, 438
Augarde, T. 38, 48, 85, 97,120, 172, Bartlett,J. 253,373
231, 251, 260, 261, 265, 292, 313, Bary, R. 168,229,281,356,444,448,
330, 361, 427, 428, 450, 474 455
Augustine, Saint 25, 51, 337 bathos xvi, 46, 79-80, 201
Austen,J. 188 battology 80,164,177, 274, 323, 345,
Austin,]. 161 382, 467
author (implied) 130 Baudelaire, Ch. 45, 59, 115, 122, 135,
authorial intrusions 75, 314 171, 277, 278, 292, 398, 448
authorism 75, 271, 314 Bauer, L. 100,107, 125,126, 349
autism xvi, 75-6, 225, 242, 373 Beachcomber (J.B. Morton) 409, 432
autograph 204 beard (of a typographical character)
automatic writing 200, 288 465
autonymy xvi, 160, 374, 415, 416, 421, beatitude 93
451 Beaumarchais, P.A.C. de 177, 455
auxesis 215 Beauzee, N. 61,108, 267, 268
Aveline, C. 405 Beckett, S. 139, 183, 200, 254, 262,
avowal 96, 110 265, 289, 290, 324, 383, 395, 468,
axiom 174,266,342,451 469
axis xvi, 37, 45, 48, 274, 454; Beckson, K. 37, 262, 273, 314, 323
syntagmatic xvi, 37, 45, 48, 274, Beeching, C. 283
454 begging the question (petitio principii)
321
505
Index
beginning of sentence 18, 35, 386, 387 blazon 93,167,340,350

Belisle, L.-A. 24 blend word 349, 364
Belloc, H. 341 blending 106,304,349
Benac, H. 92, 98,109,112,113,114, Blinkenberg, A. 40
132,166,187, 215, 226, 244, 265, Bloom, H. 35, 36, 54, 58,131,135,
317,335,417 174, 285, 445, 456, 459
Benayoun, R. 305 bloomer 81
Benchley, P. 333 Bloomfield, L. 266,374
benedictio 93 blooper 81
benediction 94,352 Bloy, L. 122
Bennett, A. 19, 63, 220, 227, 231, 324, blues 346
354, 377, 457 Blumenfeld, W. 313,316
Ben-Porat, Z. 24 blunder 81-2,185, 286, 339, 363, 419,
Bentley, E.G. 339 427
Benveniste, E. 136,191, 448 Blundeville, T. 320
Bergson, H. 201 blurb 302,409
Berle, M. 133 Ely, R. 431
Berliner, D. 25, 175 boast 25,184,335
Bernanos,G. 150,217,411,463 Boileau,P. 404
Berry, W.T. 204 Boileau-Despreaux, N. 21, 55, 85, 88,
Berryman, J. 59 219, 226, 404
Bertin, J. 206 Bellinger, D. 239
Bessette, G. 45,125,178,182, 421 bombast xvii, 202, 203
Beyle, Henri [pseud. Stendhal] 36, 76, bomphilogia 341, 342
112, 262 boner 81
'Beyond the Fringe' group xii, 63, bons 109
220,227,231,324,354 Booth, W. 50,128,243,244
Bible 54,161, 178 Borges,J. 159,229
biblical language 232 borrowing (linguistic) 41
bibliography xiii, 160, 239, 309, 457 Bos, C. du 62
Bierce, A. 47, 159, 214, 292, 293, 323, Bossuet, J.-B. 36, 59,137, 271
347, 348, 394, 475 Boulay de la Meurthe, A. 185
billet doux 252 boustrophedon 82, 314
billingsgate 423 bouts-rimes 261
binary period 334, 335 Boyd, W. 10
binary rhythm 401 brachygraphy 4
binary sentence 318, 412 brachylogia xvii, 74, 82-4,150, 249,
Birdwhistell, R. 199 308, 475
Birney, E. 156 Bradley, M.Z. 234
Blair, H. 72,73,203 Bragg, M. 96,284
Blais, M.-C. 58, 74, 209, 217, 301, 306, brainstorming 133
421, 450 brand name 294
black humour 313 Brando, M. 399
Blake, W. 223,290,441 Brassard, A. 118
Blanche, R. 74,122,269 Breal, MJ.A. 269
blank space 259, 330, 343, 402, 430 breath-length line 470
blank verse 257,400 breath-pause 470
blasphemy xvii, 80-1, 179, 237, 435 Brel,J. 90
blather 81 Bremond, Cl. 16
506
Index
Breton, A. xii, 21, 42, 53, 60, 69, 79, lyric 89; overflow 90, 187;
102, 111, 127,140,193, 215, 225, strophic or stanzaic 90;
249, 277, 303, 308, 311, 338, 391 typographical 13, 121, 218, 219,
brevity 78,82,83,150 402
bricolage x Caillois, R. 101
briefing 137 calendar 309
Bright, F. 115,179,185, 222, 277, 290, call sign 308
296, 364, 446, 448, 453 calligramme 90, 259, 346, 347, 388
Britten, B. 23 caique 41
Brochu, A. 118 Calverley, C.S. 58
bromide 148 Calvino, I. 188,189, 370, 392, 464
Brooke-Rose, C. 28 Camus, A. 36, 38, 67, 75, 111, 119,
Brooks, C. 169,323 132,150,152, 227, 254, 263, 295,
Browning, E. 11 434
Browning, R. 174 cancelling marks 398
Brunot, C 50 condone 346
brusseleer 423 canso 346
Bulwer-Lytton, E.G. 281 cant 423
Bunner, H.C. 76 cantillation 384
Bunuel, L. 430 capital letters 52, 82, 90-1, 123, 124,
Bunyan,]. 22, 173 152,153,159, 205, 314, 340, 341,
Bureau, C. 150,273 343, 420, 423, 458; small 91,152,
Burgess, A. 76,100,175,183, 231, 420, 423
234, 340, 345, 351, 364, 390, 391, Capote,!. 134
396, 397, 410, 413, 414, 420, 425, captatio malevolentiae 32
432, 454 caption 276, 317
Burke, K. 281,318,446 captious argument 426
burlesque 79, 84-5, 91, 94, 265, 328, caricature 91-2, 94,127,177, 235, 328,
473 340, 350, 424, 466
Burns, R. 174,219,334 carol 346
Butler, H. 81,432 Carrier, R. 3, 42
Butor, M. 97,104,128, 289, 297, 420 Carroll, L. 38, 101,174, 179, 261, 304,
Buttery, A. 248 307, 308, 327, 436
Byron, G.G., Lord 27, 166, 173, 438 cartoon 91,192, 208, 305, 465, 466
cartoon serials 192
cacemphaton 28, 85, 173 cartoon strips 208, 305, 466
cacography 286 case 210
cacology 77, 85-6, 141 catachresis 92-3, 136, 232, 267, 282,
cacophemism 91 305
cacophony 86-7, 142, 208, 209, 325, cataglottism 78
329, 450 catalect 373
cadavre exquis 261 catalectic line 403
cadence 87-8,146,201,207,336,366, catalog poem 346
402, 453 catalogue 160, 348
caesura 13, 71, 88-90,121,147,149, cataphase 70
155,156,157, 209, 217, 218, 219, categorical proposition 378
243, 256, 258, 259, 289, 310, 330, causerie 137
331, 334, 367, 399, 402, 403, 445, cavil 372
450; epic 89; for the eye 90, 157; celebration 38, 60, 85, 91, 93-5, 138,
507
Index
159,167, 177,199, 255, 352, 408, chleuasmos 73, 96-7 106, 212, 242,
416, 432, 435, 462 244, 339, 408, 419
Celine, L.-F. 18 Chopin, Fr. 17
Cellier, L. 106 choral ode 250
Cendrars, B. xii, 125, 278 chorus 314, 471
centaur-word 349 chria 266
cento 372 Christie, A. 195,297
Cesbron, G. 163 chronogram 97
cession 110 chronographia 127
Chaignet, A. 145, 186, 335, 336 chronography 97
chain rhymes 173 chronology 97,190, 355
change 40,126,134,162,168,198, Churchill, R. 300
213, 241, 269, 274, 280, 298, 351, Churchill, W. 16, 48, 52, 80,136, 281,
359, 374, 375, 376, 390, 398, 401, 300, 335, 336, 355, 393
414, 456, 459 chute 366
changeling 213 Cicero 33, 51, 66, 201, 202, 381
chansons de geste 431 cinquain 346, 431
chant royal 76, 346 circumlocution 5, 97-8, 336, 337
chantey 346 circulars 299
Chaplin, Ch. 267,446 Cirlot,]. 443
chapter 7, 59, 135,164,167,180, 200, citation 372
247, 270, 277, 282, 285, 309, 317, civill jest 73
344, 381, 402, 440, 458, 464, 467, Clairvaux, Bernard de 457
468 Clancy,!. 411
Char, R. 61,121,259,401 Clarac, P. 79,293
character 15, 16, 32, 38, 112, 121, 124, classeme 266, 267, 293
125, 190, 204, 220, 234, 239; literary classification xv, xix, 121, 122, 217
468 Claudel, P. 7, 44, 48,108, 110,180,
character-function 16 192, 291, 318, 433, 464, 470
character-study 350 clause 17, 35, 88, 108, 154,155,162,
charade 24,365,366,405 164,170, 208, 233, 335, 338, 383,
charientismus 339 438, 470; interpolated 170;
Charles, J.-L. [pseud. Jean-Charles] subordinate 154
30, 31, 32, 230, 278, 371 clausula 335, 365, 366
Charles d'Orleans 89 clausule 366
chass£-crois£ 193 Cleese,I. 184,430
Chateaubriand, Rene de 87, 457 clerihew 339,346
Chaucer, G. 165,384 clevelandism 109, 226
Chenevieres, Henry de 261 cliche 33, 64, 98-100, 153,194, 223,
cheretema 131,132 230, 245, 269, 418, 424, 427, 432,
Chesterton, G. 119 454
Chevalier, J.-C. 139 click 100,236,310
Cheyney, P. 190,192 climax 10,108,159,185, 201
chiasmus xx, 47, 48, 95-6, 316, 390; climbing figure 201
acoustic 48, 96 close-up 446
chiding 65, 137, 455 closed rhinolalia 287
Chinese 151, 205, 333, 378, 401, 428, coacervatio 171
444; written 151 coarseness 471
chirology 290 cock-and-bull story 18,113
508
Index
cockney 423 contpensatio 96,105-6, 268, 312, 318,

Cocteau, J. 24, 132,187, 221, 301 337, 450
code ix, 9, 30, 95, 139, 235, 308, 315, competence 34,150, 288
367, 376, 405, 423, 443 compilation 112
codification 199, 236, 237, 311, 443 complaint 48,106, 266, 273, 303, 346,
cognates (false) 41, 195 384
Cohen,]. 113 complement 6, 31, 69,154, 177, 208,
coherence 19, 21, 113, 114,136, 192, 268, 270, 312, 417, 454; defining 6;
398, 466; isotopic 19 internal 177
coinage 100-1, 304, 432 complex (i.e., loaded or rigged)
Coleridge, S. 18,202 questions 321
Colbert, J.-B. 64 complexio 383, 444
Colette, S.-G. 163 compliment 177, 235
collage 101-2, 140, 141, 392 composite nouns 217, 459
Colletet,G. 44,167 composition ix, xvi, 27, 77, 89, 107,
colloquialism 471 176,186, 204, 261, 411, 431
colon 61, 102-3, 130, 151, 158, 163, compound word 107-8, 458
265, 450, 454; as long member of a comptine 19
sentence 413 Conan Doyle, Sir A. 42, 165, 238, 353,
coloratura 251 377
Colpron, G. 41 conative function 160,180, 232, 233,
combinatory axis 317, 454 370, 451
Comeau, M. 51 concatenation 37,108
comedy xii, 82, 84, 112, 210, 239, 262, conceit 30, 78, 79,109-10, 473
283, 313, 314, 337, 374, 405, 473 conceptism 109
comma 18, 69, 71,102, 214, 406, 412, concessio 338
426, 450; interrogative and concession 71,110-11, 181,186, 242,
exclamative 368; as short member 355, 380, 386
of sentence 413 concetti xvi, 109
command 233, 272 concinnity 202
comma tism 413 Concise Oxford Dictionary 54, 83, 97,
comminatio xvi 113,166,182,199, 205, 213, 233,
commination 454 247, 251, 262, 265, 293, 310, 313,
commiseration 103, 104, 197 323, 324, 343, 366, 369, 372, 373,
common noun 20, 52, 124, 125, 446 384, 393, 406, 424, 426, 437, 463,
commonplace 42, 98,129, 223 466
commoration 324 conclusion 27, 43, 66, 68, 264, 319,
contmunicatio 67, 103-4, 123, 136, 321, 343, 344, 354, 365, 372, 377,
145, 242, 419 378, 379, 381, 385, 386, 423, 426
communication model 159 concrete poetry 90, 388
communion ix, 103, 353 concretization xvi, 33, 52,111-12,
commutatio 47 198, 208, 379, 406, 447
comparison 21, 22, 33, 46, 56, 66, 79, condensation 33, 381
94, 98,104-5,136,141, 175,183, conditional tense 191
184,185,186, 203, 219, 222, 225, conduplicatio 383
270, 276, 317, 318, 319, 379, 380, confession 110, 181, 370, 371, 472
389, 392, 402, 412, 416, 418, 428, confirmatio 344
452, 454; emphatic 46; extended confusion xvi, xx, 8, 35, 62, 77,
56 97,105,115, 118,119,148,149,
509
Index
152, 218, 221, 267, 282, 335, 345, 380, 421, 423, 443
454 converse accident or hasty
confutation 344 generalization 320
congeries xvi, 10 conversion 19,126,169
conglobatio xvi, 10 Cook, P. 13, 63, 227, 231, 324, 354,
conglobation 10 356, 414
congratulation 137 coordination 39
congruence. See grammatical Copi, I. 229, 320, 321, 451
congruence cop-out 45
conjugates 126, 246 Coppola, F. 304
conjunction 18, 30, 73, 74,138,141, copula verb 61,103,151, 324
146,151,155, 208, 245, 285, 300, coq-a-l'ane 44, 71,113-14,133,135,
320, 321, 324, 348, 349, 392, 425, 138,140, 230, 231, 290, 308, 376,
460; co-ordinating 349; 468,469
subordinating 349, 392 corax xv, 67
conjunction of irreconcilable Corbett, E.P.J. 51, 87, 95, 116,150,
arguments 320 214, 215, 243, 249, 262, 273, 281,
conjunctive disjunction 27 322, 329, 336, 344, 348, 353, 385,
conjuration 181,182 425, 440, 446
connotation 42, 91, 92,106,162,183, Corneille, P. 65,137, 263, 313
196, 205, 232, 267, 268, 269, 293, correctio 165, 254, 351, 410
323, 458, 461, 467; pejorative 91, correction xiii, 32,143,165,185, 242,
183, 293, 323 251, 337, 376, 396, 398, 410, 411,
consequence 30,114, 318, 455 412
consequent 35, 65, 321 correspondences 105, 114-15, 207,
consolatio 250 252, 318, 347, 442, 454, 466
consonance 210, 399 counter-assonance 72
consonant 8, 9, 23, 82, 119,129,149, counter-elision 149
196, 241, 256, 399; initial 23; liquid counter-euphemism 178
55, 258 counter-example 386
constant 85, 88, 239, 248, 283, 318, counter-factual 50
354, 359, 391, 412, 422, 461 counter-gibberish 200
contact 60, 83,103,151, 159,160, 233, counter-interruption xvi, 115-16,
252, 315, 333, 336, 352, 369, 371, 239, 368, 375, 423
376, 393, 395 counter-litotes 44, 69,116,153, 215,
contamination 86,112, 349 386
contestation 303 counter-negation 303
contiguity 282,340 counter-onomatopoeia 311
continuation 112, 179, 241 counter-pleonasm 26,116-17,194,
contour 239,240,241 448
contraction xvii, 33, 83,119, 389 counter-preterition 355
contradiction 46, 50, 65,114, 225, 321, counter-refutation 386
363,378,385,473 counter-translation 462
contrast 9,17, 47,105,124,133,140, counterchange 47
179, 232, 260, 433 countercrasis 119
contre-rejet 156 counterfactual statement 50
contrefision 244 counterfeit language 199
conundrum 194, 405 counterpoint 117-19, 120
convention 41, 71,192, 228, 265, 346, counting-out rhyme 451
510
Index
couplet 400, 425, 431; heroic 425, Darbelnet,]. 193

431; short 431; split 431 Darmesteter, A. 269
Courault, M. 237 dash 7,130, 153, 265, 331, 367, 405,
Cowper,W. 216 421
crasis xvi, 119,149, 207, 209, 279 datism 448
creolized languages 333 Daudet, A. 25,169
crescendo 201 Daumal, R. 159
Cressot,M. 289,348,475 Dauzat 9
Crighton, M. 430 Davies, R. 22, 26, 34, 36, 44, 60, 96,
crochet 331 128,149,168,187, 202, 215, 276,
Croll, M. 347 278, 341, 346, 350, 353, 377, 399,
Crosbie,J. 213,329 426
crossed period 335 de Gaulle, C. 452
crossword puzzles 123, 261, 365, 405, DelaMare,W. 370
465 decasyllable 88
crowned rhyme 148 declamation 137
crudity 438 declaration 42, 43, 70,137,192, 353,
cryptanalysis 119 418
cryptarithm 120 declarations of intent 191, 357
cryptogram 120 declension 246, 392
cryptography 15, 38,119-20, 276, decompounded word 107
316, 339, 423 decoupage 121-3, 264
cryptonyms 124 decrescendo 201
Crystal, D. 7, 12, 86,107,138, 148, dedicatee 14
151,153, 205, 236, 240, 242, 300, dedication 59
306, 308, 310, 343, 415, 424, 430, deduction 378,379
447, 453, 455, 456, 459 defamiliarization 297, 420
Cuddon, J. 19, 21, 23, 24, 34, 39, 49, defect 32, 46, 99, 105,171, 230, 324,
54, 58, 63, 86, 87, 88, 91, 92, 98,109, 325, 337, 345, 355, 410
112,120,129,132,135, 150,156, defence 49, 55, 98, 137, 210
165,177, 209, 213, 226, 243, 250, definition 3,121-3; comic 216;
254, 262, 265, 273, 314, 318, 327, descriptive 122; lexical 121, 160;
356, 373, 384, 400, 423, 427 operational 122; oratorical 122
cultism 109,226 Delattre, P. 112, 179, 368
cummings, e.e. 83, 222 Deleuze, G. 100, 174
curses 80,179, 207, 352, 357, 407, 435, deliberatio 123 144, 371, 372
436, 438, 472 deliberation 69, 103
cursus 366 delimitation 121
Curtius, E. 183, 184, 250 Deloffre, F. 89, 90, 208, 256, 257
Curtiz, M. 299 Demetriadis, M. 328
cuts 88 demonstration 27, 71, 321, 354, 378,
451
da capo 264,265,367 demonstratives 139, 142,174, 245, 380
dactyl 258,400,403 dendographia 127
dactylic hexameter 66, 258 denied question 301
Dali, S. 174 Denner,]. 294
Damourette, J. 422 denomination 13, 20, 33, 53, 123-5,
dangling participles 31 151, 337, 341, 351, 365, 390, 450;
Daninos, P. 41 tropological 92
511
Index
denotation 92, 106,160, 205, 267, 269, expositional 132, 182; expository
415, 458 394; interior 131, 290, 370; of the
denotatum 70, 467 deaf 132; of the illustrious dead
denouement 298,343 34; oratorical 132; tonal 132
density 171 dialogue-verbs 83
denying the antecedent 320 dialysis 325
deportmanteau word xvi, 349, 389 dialyton 74
deprecation 434 diaphora xvii, 28, 43, 44, 78, 133-4,
Dereme, T. 22 143,211,451,460,474
derision 339 diasyrmus 339
derivation xvi, 38, 77, 100,125-6, diatribe 137,407
245, 246, 266, 304, 307, 333, 459 diatyposis 23,126,134-5, 220, 222
derivatives 13,126, 248, 439 Dickens, C. 3, 11, 39, 81, 98,121,125,
Derrida,J. 177,309 126,138,165,191,197, 198, 202,
Deschamps, E. 90 205, 209, 282, 286, 325, 359, 384,
description x, 6, 33, 92, 97, 122, 447, 475
126-9, 134,192, 193,198, 219, 221, dictation 239, 426
223, 242, 247, 260, 273, 300, 304, diction 83, 86, 94, 226, 286, 287, 401,
315, 318, 319, 332, 336, 337, 350, 471
355,392,423,461,464,471; Dictionnaire de linguistique 62,130,
realistic 16; subjective 128 160, 166, 208, 267, 280, 300, 310,
desideratum 206 331, 343, 422, 444, 459
designation 85, 98, 280, 336, 415, 445 Dictionnaire des media 34,128,133,
Desnos, R. 13,117,188,433,461 209, 294, 305, 306
Desportes, P. 55 dictum 353, 360
detective fiction 190, 192, 404, 442 Didion,]. 287
determinant 214 diegesis 299
deviation xviii, 25,186, 214, 239, 241, diegetic universe 163
274, 425; of meaning 25 digest 381
device-mania 79 digression 113,135-6, 314, 421, 438,
devocalization 4 467
diabole 356 dilatation 403
diachrony 123, 389 dilation 466
diacope 383 dilemma 27,192, 195, 385, 386, 441
diaeresis 63,119,129,153,255,279 diminutio 262
diagram 127,241,409 diminution 183
dialectics 310, 372 diminutive 439, 469
dialects 333 diorthosis 254, 351
dialelumenon 74 diphthongization 119,283
diallage 66 direct discourse 60,151, 289, 296
diallelon 321 direct utterance 295, 297, 299
diallelus 321 dirge 250
dialogism 130,131, 296, 358 dirheme 413
dialogismus 186 disappearing repetition 285
dialogue 34, 43, 44, 54, 58, 59, 83, disappointment 46, 225
113,114,129-33, 137,138,152,160, disarticulation 217
182,183, 255, 288, 290, 296, 341, disavowal 303, 411
347, 351, 352, 356, 358, 369, 370, disclaimers 447
372, 375, 394, 422, 456, 470; discontinuity 140,209
512
Index
discordance 140, 214 divisio 344

discourse xi, xiii, xvi, xviii, xx, 4, 22, Diwekar, H.-R. 108,174, 219, 387, 474
26, 29, 33, 34, 42, 58, 59, 60, 66, 75, dixain 431
91, 93, 94,105,113,114,117, 123, Dolet, E. 78,202
130,136-8,141,151,160,171,174, Donleavy, J.P. 409
181.182, 200, 201, 202, 225, 233, Donne, J. 109, 172,284
238, 239, 247, 272, 285, 286, 288, donor 15, 16
289, 294, 295, 296, 298, 299, 327, Dor, G. 4,22
343, 344, 345, 370, 373, 374, 376, double actualization 59, 130, 131, 162,
379, 381, 391, 401, 402, 415, 422, 358, 375
428, 433, 460, 462; universe of 247 double articulation 289, 290
discursive pragmatics 71 double ballade 346
discussion x, 29, 33, 68, 69, 71,103, double dutch 120
162.183, 228, 276, 318, 322, 325, double entendre 85
327, 354, 369, 372, 374, 386, 399, double figuration 342
425, 469 double meaning 62, 172, 273, 305
disjunction xvii, 17, 27, 74,138-9, double metonymy 275
159, 319, 387, 450, 475 double negation 178,302
dislocation 139, 153, 217, 246, 324, double pleonasm 345
356, 454 double reading 144
dispatcher 15,16 double temporality 296
disqualification 69, 356 doubles 145,286
Disraeli, B. 349 doublet 211,281,342
dissimilitude 318, 386 douzain 431
dissimulatio 244 dovetailing 285
dissociation 19, 32, 34, 86, 101, 102, doxology 94
113,139-41,143, 173, 225, 230, 247, Drabble, M. 226
308, 313, 469; false 102,141, 230 dramatization 34, 194
dissolution 74, 141 drie mock 244
dissonance 86, 140, 142-3, 209, 253, DuBellay,]. 219
424 dubitatio 60, 70, 103, 123,144-6, 240,
disyllabic 264 242, 290, 303, 355, 371, 419, 450,
distancing 142, 143, 154, 197, 297, 464
422 Dubois, J. 13, 62,130, 208, 233, 236,
distinction ix, 9, 17, 21, 50, 51, 69, 79, 267, 280, 296, 300, 310, 343, 422,
90, 95, 97,101,107,108,114, 134, 429, 444, 459
140,143-4,150,158,171,189, 201, Dubois, P. 22
202, 210, 223, 229, 254, 288, 291, Ducasse, Isidore [pseud. Lautreamont,
298, 309, 324, 326, 330, 335, 336, comte de] 5, 46, 54, 60, 108, 445,
337, 350, 411, 428, 439, 444, 446, 457, 463
474; oratorical or false 143 Ducharme, R. 13,19,34,45,71,79,
distinguo 143 80,104,125, 164,166, 214, 280, 409,
distortion 272, 427 411,427
distribution 159,297 duckspeak 466
dithyramb 94 Ducrot, O. 7, 20, 70, 71,114,152,161,
dittography 196,206 162,189, 215, 228, 229, 270, 287,
dittoism 447 312,317,411,454
dittology 196, 447 Duguay, R. 82,251
diversions 298 Dujardin, E. 289
513
Index
Dumarsais, C. 43, 57, 61, 92,103,163, 300, 308, 309, 324, 339, 342, 402,
177,179, 210, 219, 268, 269, 271, 408, 423, 475; locutive 70;
276, 277, 279, 282, 373, 425, 428, narrative 151
437, 440, 446, 459 elocution 82, 83, 86
dumb show 199 eloquence 226, 331, 335, 338, 343, 408,
duplication 382 433, 467
Dupre, P. 373 Eluard, P. 25, 94,101,102,106, 116,
Dupriez, B. xi, xii, xiii, xviii, 16, 272 120,174, 175, 184, 208, 209, 230,
Durand, G. 51 249, 294, 303, 308, 373, 392, 394,
Duras, M. 5, 6, 25, 152, 285, 302, 312 402, 405, 406, 432, 452, 453
Dworkin, S. 385 embedding 152, 285, 299, 300, 429,
dyad 207 450, 459
dysphemism 91,177 embellishment 52, 202, 203
emblem 13, 443
Ebert, R. 99,304,349 embololalia 166
Ecclesiastes 271 emphasis 6, 9, 51, 70, 71, 91, 100, 105,
echo effect xvii, 24, 26,146-7, 148, 129,133,139,152-4,159,163,164,
207, 256, 330, 347, 390, 454, 458 175,177,178,180,196, 197, 215,
echo (rhythmic) 87,146, 255, 318, 238, 239, 246, 251, 255, 263, 264,
402, 450, 462 273, 274, 291, 318, 331, 340, 341,
echoic word 310 345, 375, 383, 391, 398, 405, 410,
echolalia 148 418, 420, 421, 422, 454, 463; graphic
eclogue 346 70; lexematic 177
Eco, U. 6,14,15, 22, 47, 53, 55, 78, 82, emphasis added 384
97, 111, 120, 127,162,168,176,180, emphatic transformation 69
182,188, 243, 244, 271, 276, 279, Empson, W. 28,106,133, 266, 268,
319, 320, 332, 334, 336, 343, 347, 270, 364
348, 354, 355, 357, 370, 374, 377, em quadrat 465
379, 407, 420, 424, 425, 426, 442, enallage xvii, 151,154-5, 213, 280,
460, 469, 472, 475 346
ecthlipse 54 enantiodromia 51
ectopy (absence of isotopy) 223, 468 enantiomorph 51
Edgeworth, M. 437 enantiosis 51, 67, 244
Edouard, R. 235,289,416 enargia 219
effective misspelling 279 encoding 120,218
effictio 350 encomium 93,137
effusion 453, 457 Encyclopaedia Britannica 123,133,197,
egressio 135 293
ejaculation 81 Encyclopedic 49, 93
elegance (desire for) 448 end of sentence 366
elegy 52,111,288,346 end positioning 90, 155, 256, 375,
Eliot, T.S. 25, 40, 101,109,132,175, 422, 438
207, 213, 222, 302, 304, 328, 332, end rhyme 147,210
349, 392, 416, 442, 444 endophasia 289
elision 28, 54, 58, 70, 89,119,148-9, enjamb(e)ment 89, 90, 144,155,
209 156-8, 256, 331, 402, 450
Elkhadem,S. 43,119,177,209,210 energia 219
ellipsis xvii, 5, 17, 43, 61, 62, 70, 73, enthymeme 377
83,149-52, 153,154,178, 282, 290, enthymemism 378
514
Index
entreaty 352,434 273, 298, 402, 419, 430, 475

enumeration 10, 33, 61, 78,102, 138, epistle 252, 426
153,158-9, 201, 381, 387, 448, 469; epistolary novel 252
false 159 epistrophe 169
enunciation xvii, 44, 54, 59, 70, 71, epitaph 273
74, 92,102,103,121,133,136,155, epithalamium 346
159-63,179,180, 200, 229, 232, 233, epithet xvii, 154,170,171, 208, 213,
236, 239, 246, 252, 262, 288, 299, 341, 413, 456; characteristic v.
300, 307, 308, 314, 327, 344, 352, unnecessary 171; Homeric 171;
353, 357, 358, 359, 361, 367, 372, natural v. circumstantial 171;
375, 386, 388, 411, 413, 419, 422, transferred 208,213
425, 454 epithetism 171
envoi 14, 366 epitheton 11, 26, 128,170-1, 202, 328,
envoy 76 336, 337, 346
epanadiplosis 153,163, 164, 229 epitrochasmus xvii, 7, 12,171-2, 255,
epanados 95 372
epanalepsis xvii, 37, 39, 80,163-5, epitrope 110,338,380
169, 317, 319, 347, 383, 384, 391, epizeuxis 117,319,383
396, 445, 450, 458, 464 epode 170, 310
epanorthosis 165, 274, 337, 347, 366, eponymy 52, 76, 193, 283, 285
410, 412 equivoque 20, 28, 48, 61, 62, 85,141,
epanaphora 39 172-4, 205, 212, 276, 342, 399, 409,
epanastrophe 163 428, 429; retrograde 173
epanodos 387 Erasmus, D. 78, 94
epenthesis 166,279 erasure 26,151,167,174, 178,184,
epergesis 61, 214 308, 324, 325, 443; lexical 26,167,
epexegesis 61 174-5, 178, 325; morphological
epexergasia 324 151, 324; of subject 174-5, 184
Ephron, N. 152 Ernst, M. 102
epic 84, 89,167, 256, 297, 298, 328, erosion 175, 450
346,417 Escarpit, R. 109
epic moment 297 Esnault, G. 120
epicheireme 378 esoteric word 100
epiclesis 434 Esparbes, G.-T. d' 227
Epicurus 245 Espy, W. 15, 37, 92,147,166, 211,
epideictic genre 94 212, 260, 261, 283, 286, 313, 321,
epigram 166-7,303,424 329, 330, 333, 338, 339, 345, 357,
epigraph 167,174,288,372,422 365, 387, 405, 408, 427, 440, 441,
epilogue 298 445, 458, 459
epimone 319, 324 estimates 390
epinicion 93 ethic dative 153
epiphany 168,287 ethnonymy 123
epiphonema xvii, 168-9,182,197, ethopoeia 350
242, 314, 326, 327 ethos 65, 461
epiphora 39, 40, 48,164,169, 319, ethymologia 176
336, 391, 444 Etiemble, R. 41,343
epiphrasis xvii, 169-70, 215, 314, 327, Etienne, L. 15, 20, 202, 258, 259, 427,
432 434, 462
episode 23,135,150,163,187,190, etiologia 377
515
Index
etymological graphy 205 extenuation 74,177,183,463

etymology 19, 29, 63, 69, 80,119, 124, extrapolation 272
153,175-7,186, 218, 246, 329, 337, extravagant comparison 183-5, 412
339, 346, 349, 365, 389, 401, 412,
440; popular 176 fable 56,366
Euathlus 27 Fabri, P. 17, 68,132,133,146,169,
eucharist xvii 177, 215, 280, 324, 337, 382, 383,
eulogy 137 450, 455, 460, 475
euphemism 26, 49, 74, 83, 91, 94,107, fabula 294
152, 154,166, 174,177-9, 183,199, facial verbs 83
202, 228, 232, 242, 244, 263, 275, facundity 467
281, 336, 420 fairy story 187,188, 366
euphony 86 false - xix, 13,15, 16, 27, 41, 44, 46,
Euphuism 226 48, 57, 59, 69, 70, 73, 78, 79,102,
eurhythmy 345 105, 124,134,135,141, 143,157,
Evans, R.O. 243,251 159,176,177,180,186-7,192,193,
evocative effect 32 195, 230, 235, 244, 246, 251, 262,
exaggeration 215 285, 307, 312, 313, 315, 320, 322,
exclamation xvii, 7, 59, 81, 94,154, 328, 338, 346, 353, 355, 358, 359,
160,168,179-SO, 181, 217, 233, 237, 363, 373, 374, 383, 386, 397, 405,
241, 242, 244, 301, 367, 368, 435, 407, 408, 416, 418, 419, 432, 433,
471; familiar 80 447, 448, 451, 452, 455, 461, 462,
exclamation mark 179, 181, 471 473; analogy 322; cause (post hoc
excluded middle 65 ergo propter hoc) 320; cognates 41,
excursus 135 195; pleonasm 346; quotation 373,
excuse 110,161, 163,180-1, 189, 199, 374; reduplication 383; retorsion
242, 255, 280, 314, 327, 354, 382, 44; riddle 405; threat 455;
386, 432 translation 374, 462
execration 303, 365 falsification 385
exemplum 56, 111, 158, 379 familiarization 435
exhaustion 66 fantastic, the 18, 19, 28, 53,187-8,
exhaustiviry (law of) 228 225, 359
exhortation 137,181-2, 435, 472 Farb, P. 349
exorcism 182, 199, 352 farrago 468
exordium 343, 344 fatrasie 18,19, 140, 468, 469
explanation 21, 28, 33, 39, 49, 50, 51, Faulkner, W. 420
65,132,160,182-3, 236, 293, 327, faulty concord 425
386, 394, 402, 452 faux-amis (false friends) 41,195
expletion 153 faux pas 81,286
expletive 148,438 fawning 94
expolitio 165, 324 feint 419
exponentiation 284 Fenelon, F. de 87
exposition 130, 343, 372, 381, 428 Ferguson, J. 361
expressive function 236, 237, 370 Perron, J. 162
expressive pause 331 Feydeau, G. 434
expressiveness 155 fiction x, 34, 53,127,132,174,187,
expressivity 105,111,117,170,183, 192,193,194, 197, 272, 276, 294,
282, 423, 448 350
expunging 398 Fielding, H. 59,165, 314, 328
516
Index
figurative poetry 90 439, 440, 441, 446, 447, 471, 475

figurative sense 223 footnote 13,373,421
figure xvii, xix, xx, 22, 31,170,171, Forcellini, E. 214
172, 213, 335, 379, 408, 410, 429, forecast 191
434, 437, 440, 447, 455, 463, 475; of foreground 194,284,299
passion 434; of style 35,165; of foregrounding 68,100,110,117,185,
thought 165,273,463; of 187,193^1, 213, 226, 262, 288, 297,
vehemence 65; of words 274 304, 328, 432, 464
filler 166,337 foreignism 332
film scripts 299 foretelling 356
final word 148, 188-9, 252, 300, 367, foreword 128, 344
399, 458 form of address 252
finale 22,23,366 Forster, E.M. 458
finesse 71, 181,189, 372, 396 Foster,!. 308,358
Finlay, I.H. 260,389,465 Foucault, M. 6, 82,127,159
fiorarura 251 Fouche, P. 129
first name 204,308,450 Fournel, P. 261
Fish, S. 19,140, 207, 272, 322, 393, Fournier,]. 50,57,104
430, 450 Fowler, R. 3, 27, 31, 34, 35, 63, 76, 77,
five points 423 97, 98,102,103,129, 148, 196, 206,
fixed-form poems 256, 346, 400 208, 230, 231, 249, 288, 303, 350,
flamboyance (verbal) 5 387, 412, 420, 429, 430
flashback 189-91, 221, 300, 369, 388, Fowles,J. 145,299,398,464
437, 454 fractured French 212, 333
flash-forward 42, 189,191-2, 221, frame-narrative 285, 299
300, 356, 357 framing device 128
flattery 94,104,184,216,235,439 France, P. 441
Flaubert, G. 97,102, 146, 266, 296, Franklin, B. 133,444
372, 398, 458 Fraunce, A. 246
Fletcher, A. 22 Frechet, G. 463
flip-flop 16,193, 212, 214, 288, 338, free indirect narrative 296
462 free indirect style 36, 180, 296, 373
focalization 16, 104,128,151, 298 free verse 146, 147, 255, 256, 259, 346,
Foclin, A. 117 400
folk-tale 15 free-form poetry 347
Folliet,J. 103 Freud, S. 176, 250, 251, 321, 322, 413,
font 343 469
Fontanier, P. xi, 10, 17, 21, 23, 24, 43, friars 286
44, 47, 49, 52, 57, 58, 61, 64, 73, 74, Frost, R. 7,130,163, 228, 409, 453
83, 92, 97,103,110,123,127, 130, Frye, N. 21, 31, 37, 39, 40, 43, 49, 52,
144,149,151, 153,154, 161,165, 53, 54, 57, 58, 61, 72, 86, 91, 95, 98,
168,169,170,171,172, 179, 200, 101,109, 110,135,156, 177, 209,
207, 208, 210, 219, 226, 238, 242, 215, 254, 265, 276, 293, 294, 310,
243, 244, 246, 254, 262, 269, 270, 314, 316, 323, 324, 327, 328, 384,
273, 274, 275, 276, 281, 282, 315, 416, 427
317, 323, 324, 326, 332, 336, 337, Fuentes, C. 52
338, 340, 341, 345, 350, 353, 355, full stop 368,412,427
356, 357, 358, 370, 371, 378, 382, function: cardinal 298; conative 232,
383, 390, 397, 410, 416, 434, 437, 233, 370; conative/injunctive 160;
517
Index
emotive 160; metalinguistic 121, Germanism 332

160,162; phatic 59,160,233,235, Gerold, T. 251
236, 252, 309, 352, 361, 369, 376; Gershwin, G. 209
poetic 158, 160; referential 70, Gersovitz, D. 3
160, 235, 236, 369; satellite 298; gesture xviii, 94, 96, 180, 182,198-9,
siruational 160 361, 408
funeral oration 137 Ghaneur, G. 79
Fussell, P. 7 gibberish 199-200,247,342,396,468
fustian 203 Gibbon, E. 87,334,335
future in the past 191 Gibbons, S. 153
Gide, A. 18, 88,116, 125,181, 227,
gab 184,467 230,269,285,299,319,368,396,
Gable, C. 399 416,421,423,463,472
gaffe 81 gift of the gab 467
Gallicism 41,195-6,205,459,471 Gilbert, W.S. 23,84,210,384,399,
gallows humour 213, 313 414, 459
game 13,15,19,25,28,37,44,110, Ginsberg, A. 200,332,352
147,166,173, 211, 231, 261, 262, Girard (1'abbe) 21, 39, 73, 74,103,
303, 333, 336, 339, 350, 383, 400, 135,168,169, 338, 342
405, 441, 452, 473 Giraudoux, J. 123, 264, 338, 354, 475
Ganz, A. 37,314,323 Gleick, J. 444
Garapon, J. 469 glibness 467
garble 332 glose 431
Garcia Marquez, G. 19 gloss 323, 469
Garde, P. 9,67,68,205,386,424 glossaries 248,309
garrulousness 466 glossolalia 200-1, 306, 362
Garvin, F. 381 glossomania 362
gauloiserie 196, 242, 427, 471, 473 glottal stop 415
Gautier, Th. 55, 59, 66, 116, 237, 320, gnomic poetry 266
379, 457 gnomology 372
Gauvreau, C. 37, 430 Goethe, J.W. von 110, 355, 411
gemination 5, 126, 153,196-7, 205, Golding, W. 403
360, 383, 390, 430, 439, 447 Goldsmith, O. 328
genealogy 108 Goldstein, F. 204
generalization 75,111,143,154,168, Goldwyn, S. 56,427
197-8, 222, 290, 300, 320, 403 Gombrowicz, W. 7, 49,109, 216, 430
Genesis 245,275,293 Goncourt, E. 6
Genet,]. 80 Goncourt,]. 6
Genette, G. 34, 73,123, 128,189,190, Gongora, Luis de 226
191,198,282,285,294,298,299, Gongorism 226
317,356,391,402,461 Goon Show, The 363
genitive 31; subjective, objective 31 Gorgianic figures 51
genre 28,34,38,49,54,84,85,94, Gorgias 51
113, 160, 167,184,192, 233, 252, gorgious 324
328, 343, 350, 366, 394, 398, 405, gothic novel 188
406,428,469 Gounod, C. 419
genus 230, 262, 410, 446 Gourmont, R. de 98
geographia 127 gradatio 10, 33, 46, 80, 87,138,159,
Georgin, R. 249 185,200-1,202,244,336,460,464
518
Index
graffiti 167 Griffin, B. 36, 108

Grambs, D. 24, 61, 63, 68, 72, 83, 86, Groucho Marx 183, 223
92, 109, 121, 148, 166, 215, 250, 261, Group MU 47, 90, 119, 129, 148, 166,
262, 265, 273, 275, 322, 323, 337, 207, 244, 249, 273, 274, 279, 281,
339, 355, 356, 372, 424, 427, 439, 282, 285, 312, 360, 417, 440, 445
462, 466, 468 Guesde, J. 103
grammar xiii, 31, 63, 70, 160, 166, Guevremont, G. 278
270, 273, 276, 280, 281, 307, 316, Guiraides, R. 331
325, 333, 350, 360, 376, 414, 424, Guiraud, P. 70, 72, 208, 214, 269
425, 445, 446
grammatical congruence 439, 440, 475 haiku 346
grammaticality 326 hair-splitting 216, 372
Grammont, M. 7, 55, 156, 157, 207, half-quotation 374
256, 311, 401, 453 hallucination 190, 358
grand guignol 215 Hammerstein, O. 239
Grandbois, A. 325 Hamon, P. 16, 366, 367
grandiloquence 23, 33, 36, 40, 105, Handel, F. 251, 453, 471
136, 171, 177, 201, 202-3, 216, 230, handwriting 204, 205, 455
253, 336, 340, 358, 382, 467 hanging adverb 288
Grands Rhetoriqueurs 173, 325, 346, hapax legomenon 287, 304
429, 450 haplography 206, 454
graph 217 haplology 206-7, 325
grapheme 13, 205 harangue 137
graphic elision 28 Harding, W. D. 87
graphic line 90, 255, 465 Hardwick, M. 409
graphic mark 89, 116, 129, 130 Hardy, T. 26, 366
graphic marker 233, 369 Harington, J. 387
graphic prosody 206, 259 harmonics 207
graphic signs 131, 206, 244, 325, 368, harmonism 208
443 harmony 24, 87, 90, 101, 147, 207-8,
graphic verse 256, 260 255, 291, 306, 309, 345, 347, 402;
graphics 90, 208 imitative 24, 87, 90, 147, 291, 306,
graphism 91, 203-5, 248, 252, 283, 402
343 Harper Dictionary of Contemporary
graphy 26, 53, 205-6, 217, 317, 332, Usage 63, 288
339, 343, 420, 455, 465; literary 205 Harrap's New Standard French and
gratuity 44, 225 English Dictionary 126, 196, 448
Graves, R. 274, 279 Harris, Z. S. 7
Gray, T. 6, 52, 92, 111, 262, 273, 289 Hart, Gary 17
Greco, ]. 263 Harte, B. 296
Greenstein, C. 319 Hartley, L. P. 64, 420
Greenwood, L. B. 12 Harvey, P. 250
Greer, G. 47 Hawthorne, N. 199
greeting 59, 160, 180 head-rhyme 23
Gregoire de Blois 252 head-to-tail 208, 450
Gregory (pope) 329 headers 458
Greimas, A. J. 15, 16, 33, 223, 224, 246, headlines 250, 428, 458
247, 357, 405, 462 Hebert, A. 18, 33, 73, 125, 190, 191,
Grevisse, M. 83 217, 297, 371, 398, 438, 449
519
Index
Hebraisms 332 homoioteleuton 51, 72, 159, 206,

Heidegger, M. 176 209-10, 246, 255, 336, 392, 400
Heller, ]. 153, 315 homonym 62, 134, 211
helper 15, 16 homonymy 44, 78, 133, 177, 205,
Hemingway, E. 127, 171, 298, 440 211-12, 255, 364, 450
hemistich 88, 89, 90, 155, 156, 157, homophone 211
400, 429 homophony 20, 44, 211, 212, 349
Hemon, L. 159, 164, 228 Hood, T. 329, 364, 474
hendiadys 208-9, 214, 450 hook 192, 358, 470
Henley, W. E. 76 Hopkins, G. M. 23, 42, 94, 257, 329,
Henry n 370 352, 459
Heraclitus 51 Hermann, H. 151, 305
Herbert, G. 27, 90, 338, 444 Housman, A. E. 181
heresy of paraphrase 323 howler 81, 172, 242, 286
hermeticism 54, 225, 277, 342 Hughes, R. 25, 61, 167, 336, 423
hero 4, 5, 15, 16, 34, 37, 54, 58, 104, Hugo, V. 27, 51, 79, 122, 125, 156,
118, 124, 168, 171, 182, 188, 190, 157, 256, 271, 291, 315, 365, 367
193, 194, 293, 298, 299, 305, 324, humour xii, 53, 96, 109, 153, 163, 180,
359, 403, 405, 442, 459, 462, 469; 193, 197, 212-13, 225, 244, 265, 313,
false 15, 16 315, 322, 363, 407, 432, 461, 463,
Herodotus 80, 327, 404, 469 466, 473, 475
heroic couplet 425, 431 Hutcheon, L. 285, 327, 328
Hesbois, L. 211, 261, 450 Hutchinson, P. 26, 84, 261, 322, 362
hesitation (rhetorical) 181 Huysmans, J. -K. 127, 182
hesitation-form 166 hybridization 199
heterometric verse 256, 400 Hyde, C. 381, 408
heteronym 211 hydrographia 127
hiatus xvi, 87, 148, 209, 218, 256, 300 hydronymy 123
hieroglyphic writing 276 hymn 346
Hilts, P.J. 105 hypallage 154, 193, 208, 213-14, 338,
historical present 296 439; double 154
historical sayings 266 hype 241, 424
historiography 298 hyperbaton xvii, 18, 40, 71, 154, 155,
Hitchcock, A. 300, 437 170, 214-15, 325, 410, 459
hoarseness 287 hyperbole 18, 65, 67, 74, 91, 105, 116,
hoax 419 138, 183, 186, 187, 194, 202, 212,
Hobson-Jobson 333 215-16, 226, 244, 273, 337
Hodge, A. 274 hyperchleuasmos 96
hodonymy 123 hypercorrection 185, 232
Hoffnung, G. 251 hyperhypotaxis 216-17, 334, 336, 413,
Hollander, ]. 90 445
holophrase 289, 290 hyperparataxis 139, 153, 217
holorhyme 173 hyphen 61, 217-18, 253, 421, 450, 459
Homer 61, 328, 356 hyphenation 218-19
Homeric or epic simile 417 hypobole 183
homily 137 hypocoristic name 126, 439
homiologia 382 hypogram 38
homograph 211 hypophora 371
homoioptoton 210, 246, 392 hypostatization 459
520
Index
hypotaxis xvii, 217, 324, 334, 336 inclusion xi, 45, 161, 163, 164, 188,
hypothesis 27, 30, 52, 66, 79, 117, 272, 229-30, 264, 282, 347, 384, 432, 443,
316, 319, 394, 401, 406, 435, 436 445
hypothetico-deductive 436 incoherence xvii, 21, 35, 100, 102,
hypotyposis 34, 56, 105, 126, 134, 141, 203, 223, 230-1, 278, 294, 300,
186, 219-20, 222, 225, 280, 351, 359, 335, 441, 454
409 incompatibility 46, 86, 218, 230, 385
hypozeugma 18 incongruity 101, 262, 469
hysterology 214, 220-1 inconsequence 113, 231
hysteron proton 214, 221 incorrect word 231-2, 411
increpation 455
iambic verse 242, 257, 258, 403, 404 indecision 145, 406
iambus 242, 400, 403 indentation 159
icon 343, 443, 444 indetermination 270
iconicity 205 index xii, xv, 239, 410, 443, 444, 450
ictus 258, 259, 332, 401, 403 indices (actantial) 16
idealization 203 indictment 137
identification 20, 43, 61, 122, 242, 273, indignation mark 368
299, 340, 341, 350, 367, 456, 457 indirect discourse 296, 373, 415
ideogram xvii, 343; lyrical 90 indirect speech 375, 471
ideological shorthand 282 induction 197, 378, 379, 380
ideology 6 inference 378, 433
idiographeme 204 infinitive 154, 208
idiography 204, 205 inflections 210, 246, 251
idiom x, 391, 424 information theory 382, 410
idyll 184 Ingrams, R. 362, 363
ignoratio elenchi 43, 68, 322 initials 3, 5, 12, 13, 204, 265, 354
illicit or undistributed major 320 injunction 59, 112, 232-3, 235, 306,
illocution 71, 161, 357 370, 435, 438, 455
illusio 244 injunctive function 70, 136, 160, 233,
ill-wishing 472 235, 236, 369, 438
image 21, 22, 51, 76, 109, 140, 141, inner cinema 128
188, 220, 221-5, 309; dead 223; in petto xvi, 233-4, 290, 454
revived 223; surreal 225 in-rhyme 400
imagery 6, 21, 144, 221, 223, 226, 227 inscriptions 3, 82, 167, 308, 317
imitation 51, 64, 78, 98, 109, 167, 179, insets 465
186, 202, 226-7, 237, 242, 244, 283, insight ix, 228, 422
293, 304, 327, 332, 345, 362, 364, insinuation 12, 111
373, 374, 425, 467 insult 92, 186, 234-5, 242, 280, 328,
imitative word 310 384, 438, 439, 454, 455, 456
imperative 49, 232, 233, 306, 338 intellectual terrorism 455
imperfect tense 198 intensity 8, 33, 74, 89, 152, 201, 239,
impetration 434 241, 367, 374, 424, 466
implication 26, 43, 44, 50, 106, 112, inter-titles 317
161, 162, 178, 227-9, 245, 314, 455 interference 306, 332
imprecation 438 interior dialogue 131, 290, 370
improvisation 136, 299 interior monologue 35, 58, 145, 148,
incantation 182 151, 290, 296, 327, 396, 413
incipit 165, 457 interjection 74, 80, 81, 85, 154, 160,
521
Index
183, 205, 235-8, 242, 256, 284, 289, isochrony 259

352, 361, 362, 367, 396, 439, 449, isocolon xvi, 51, 335
454, 458 Isocrates 209
interlineation 398 isolexism xvi, 117, 126, 139, 144, 154,
interlocutor 43, 129 245-6, 284, 329, 345, 383, 392, 460
interlude 460 isometric verse 256
interpolated phrases 335 isotopy 29, 30, 79, 102, 117, 118, 119,
interpolation 170, 458, 459 120, 140, 141, 222, 223, 224, 225,
interpretation 161, 240, 256, 272, 276, 231, 246-7, 270, 282, 340, 341, 441,
292, 374, 441, 442 443, 447, 454, 456, 468, 475; absence
interrogation 132, 244, 369, 371, 427; of 223, 224; balanced complex
partial 369; total 369 224; complex 223, 224, 475; double
interruption xvi, 26, 57, 115, 116, 138, 140, 247; negative 340; negative
238-9, 273, 317, 367, 368, 375, 412, complex 224; positive complex
423, 438, 454 223
intertextuality 227, 307, 374 Isou, F. 306
intimidation 454 Italianism 332
intonation xvii, 7, 9, 46, 49, 50, 58, italics 70, 152, 178, 204, 375, 415, 420,
60, 62, 70, 71, 73, 76, 92, 96, 104, 421, 422, 465
110, 111, 112, 145, 150, 161, 162, itemization 350
170, 179, 180, 181, 183, 196, 236, iteration 391
239-42, 258, 263, 280, 296, 314, 328,
334, 338, 340, 364, 367, 368, 369, Jacobs, N. 72, 223, 312, 313, 316, 325,
371, 372, 373, 382, 386, 403, 406, 333, 337, 359, 360, 378, 387, 407,
408, 412, 415, 422, 424, 435, 437, 459
452, 464, 466, 471 Jakobson, R. 158, 160, 161, 269, 283,
intralingual translation 461 373, 374, 397, 422
intrasonance 24 James, H. 28, 56, 98, 168, 219, 232,
invective 171, 235 273, 286, 289, 309, 316, 375, 376,
invented witness 67, 104 384, 420, 433, 436, 437, 444
inventory 158, 348 Jankelevich, V. 142, 451
inversion xx, 5, 40, 47, 48, 61, 96, janotisme 428
112, 120, 153, 208, 214, 221, 242-3, Japanese poetry 147
279, 369, 413, 427, 454, 465; jargon 4, 92, 151, 199, 247-8, 287,
lexematic 5, 112, 208; syllabic 120 415, 423, 424
invocation 49, 182, 263, 286, 344, 352 Jarry, A. 42, 68, 119, 142, 166, 193,
lonesco, E. 45, 50, 114, 141, 188, 264, 220, 227, 274, 337, 373, 374, 460,
308, 316, 380, 391, 414, 416, 424, 461, 463
429, 433, 466, 471 Jay, A. 43, 98, 99, 153, 170, 196, 216,
iotacism 87 238, 239, 251, 261, 285, 368, 388,
irony xvii, 20, 49, 50, 51, 73, 80, 83, 391
96, 100, 162, 177, 185, 194, 212, 229, Jean, R. 116, 144, 294
242, 243-5, 262, 273, 327, 328, 338, Jespersen, O. 121, 161, 270, 275
339, 342, 365, 368, 407, 455, 473, jibe 408
475; of reconciliation 244; of Johnson, S. 201, 204, 212, 281, 282,
self-betrayal 243; of situation 50; 323, 412
of utterance 50 joke xii, 20, 36, 133, 243, 263, 293,
irresolution 145 327, 339, 363, 388, 407, 423, 434,
Isidore of Seville 176, 266 462, 473
522
Index
Jolles, A. 194, 394 Kelly, L. G. 173, 437

Jolson, A. 18 Kennedy, J. F. 47, 183, 217, 249, 282,
Jonson, B. 59, 91 ' 283, 314
Joseph, M. 27, 32, 43, 65, 68, 72, 94, Kermode, F. 272
103, 130, 134, 154, 166, 168, 169, kerygma xvi, 43, 357
170, 172, 179, 201, 210, 213, 215, Kesey, K. 315
219, 221, 246, 254, 266, 273, 275, kettle, the (fallacy of) 321-2
279, 320, 324, 335, 338, 341, 342, key word xix, 91, 394
350, 353, 359, 364, 397, 408, 424, Kibedi-Varga, A. 385
425, 444, 446, 471, 475 kinesics 199, 289
joual 28 King, S. 54, 82, 195
Jouvenel, R. de 386 Kingsley, C. 119, 217, 263, 411,
Joyce, ], xix, 4, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 20, 25, 452
35, 36, 41, 48, 54, 58, 60, 62, 64, 81, Kington, M. 41, 42, 195
82, 92, 99, 125, 126, 128, 131, 135, Kipling, R. 47, 93, 131, 142, 227, 245,
138, 139, 142, 146, 150, 151, 152, 275
158, 159, 166, 168, 171, 174, 175, kitsch 187
187, 193, 196, 197, 203, 208, 220, Knight, J. 63, 192, 196, 219, 445
230, 236, 237, 239, 242, 246, 248, Koestler, A. 197
265, 268, 282, 283, 285, 289, 292, Koran 27, 54, 55, 167, 260
296, 304, 305, 306, 309, 310, 316, Kristeva, J. 38, 70, 316
322, 327, 332, 337, 350, 354, 360, Kubrick, S. 175
361, 362, 371, 375, 376, 377, 384, Kuhn, T. 385
388, 393, 396, 397, 405, 409, 410, kyrielle 346, 384
411, 413, 418, 427, 433, 435, 439,
445, 447, 450, 451, 456, 457, 458, La Bern, A. 181
459, 467, 469, 472, 474 La Fontaine, J. de 56, 63, 154, 156,
Judges 274 158, 341
Julius Caesar 33, 142, 143, 233, 341, Labiche, E. 125
462 Lacan, J. 46
Jump, J. 196, 310 laconicism 78, 202, 263
Jung, J. 264, 469 Lacroix, J. 37
justification 33, 49, 180, 218, 225, 243, Ladriere, J. 353
414, 422; typographical 218 Laforgue, J. 211, 212
Justus Lipsius 78, 202 laisse 431
juxtaposition 28, 39, 61, 74, 84, 102, Lakoff, G. 281, 282
205, 206, 218, 248, 249, 324, 347, Lalande, A. 16, 68, 143, 267, 396
411, 414, 447, 450, 459, 461; graphic lallation 362
205, 206, 248, 347, 450, 459; lexical Lalo, C. 419
61, 248-9, 411, 450; syntactic 84, Lamartine, A. de 55, 457
249, 324 lambdacism 87
juxtalinear translation 461 lamentation 83, 93, 94, 249-50, 391,
454
Kafka, F. 4, 187 lampoon 167
karanamala 108 Lamy, B. xx, 58, 165, 356
katauta 470 langage paralloidre 200
Kaufman, G. F. 153 language: colloquial 54, 364;
Kay, O. de 24, 462 everyday xvi, xviii, 141, 174;
Keats, J. 306, 358, 359 familiar 20; informal 253; neutral
523
Index
414; popular 253, 423, 424; spoken 242, 243, 246, 262, 265, 266, 274,
9, 18, 35, 55, 62, 70, 142, 150, 159, 275, 279, 281, 283, 304, 310, 312,
205, 257, 287, 325, 388, 396, 411, 314, 316, 318, 323, 324, 325, 326,
415, 421, 445; sustained 253 328, 329, 335, 336, 337, 340, 343,
langue 17, 37, 50, 64, 98, 448 344, 348, 350, 353, 355, 357, 359,
Lanham, R. 6, 10, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 364, 366, 371, 372, 380, 382, 386,
23, 31, 36, 39, 40, 43, 47, 52, 53, 54, 390, 397, 407, 413, 424, 434, 437,
57, 61, 66, 72, 73, 74, 80, 83, 85, 92, 440, 444, 445, 446, 447, 458, 475
93, 95, 96, 98, 103, 106, 108, 110, Lautreamont, comte de. See Ducasse,
117, 127, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, Isidore
135, 137, 143, 144, 150, 154, 155, Lawrence, D. H. 318
159, 163, 165, 166, 168, 169, 170, Le Carre, J. 124, 247, 276, 369, 419
171, 179, 183, 201, 210, 213, 214, Le Clerc, M. 73, 74, 92, 122, 171, 183,
215, 219, 221, 238, 244, 246, 247, 207, 228, 246, 312, 325, 385
249, 254, 262, 273, 275, 276, 279, LeGuern, Y. 281, 282
280, 281, 310, 314, 316, 318, 320, Le Hir, Y. 62, 110, 117, 168, 229, 280,
324, 325, 328, 329, 334, 335, 336, 356
338, 339, 340, 341, 344, 345, 347, Leacock, S. 111, 162
348, 350, 351, 353, 355, 356, 357, lead-inline 393, 474
359, 371, 380, 381, 382, 383, 385, Lear, E. 57, 58, 140, 172, 208, 212, 280,
387, 397, 407, 408, 410, 413, 444, 450
445, 446, 448, 458, 471, 475 Leavis, F. R. x
Lapointe, G. xix Lebrun, P. -A. 227
lapse of memory 148 Lee, D. 39, 156, 195, 203
lapsus 172, 173, 250-1, 286, 288, 316, Leech, G. N. 107, 210, 304, 306, 318,
349, 411, 440, 462 425, 444, 445
lapsus calami 250 Lefranqais, G. -A. 178
lapsus linguae 250 legisign 444
lapsus loquendi 250 legend 365
lapsus pennae 250 Legras, G. 280
Larbaud, V. 41, 49, 139, 263, 286 Leigh, R. 228, 345
Larkin, P. 87 Leiris, M. 22, 75
Larousse (dictionaries) 83, 139, 172, leitmotif xvi, 384, 435, 453
193, 280, 428 lemma 91
Lasnier, R. 284 lengthening 8, 153, 251-2, 283, 403;
last word 36, 147, 173, 188, 189, 213, phonemic 8, 251, 283
423 Lenin, V. 335, 359, 376, 377, 433
Latinism 64, 332 Lennon, J. 194, 410, 439
laudation 94 Leon, P. 7, 112, 240, 241, 242
Laurent, J. 321 Lerner, A.J. 8, 57, 458
Lausberg, H. 10, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, lesson 137, 169
31, 35, 36, 40, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 50, Letraset 204
52, 53, 54, 57, 66, 73, 74, 85, 86, 91, letter 3, 4, 8, 12, 14, 31, 37, 38, 52, 53,
92, 95, 96, 97, 100, 107, 108, 109, 54, 57, 69, 72, 91, 115, 119, 123, 124,
110, 122, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 128, 149, 159, 166, 186, 196, 204,
135, 139, 142, 144, 154, 158, 159, 218, 241, 252, 260, 261, 262, 264,
163, 164, 166, 168, 169, 170, 171, 280, 286, 316, 327, 343, 345, 347,
172, 177, 179, 183, 185, 201, 210, 354, 359, 366, 398, 405, 409, 428,
213, 214, 215, 219, 220, 230, 231, 429, 438, 443, 444, 450, 455, 457,
524
Index
458, 465, 471; final 3, 54; initial 244, 262-4, 273, 274, 302, 337, 342,
91, 450; uppercase 204 354, 386, 452, 463
Lettrism 260, 291, 306 Little Willie 3 4 6 .
level (of language) 253 Littlewood, J. 91, 251
Levy, J. 102 Littre, E. 10, 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 31, 36,
Lewino, G. 101 37, 48, 49, 50, 61, 63, 70, 72, 73, 74,
Lewis, C. S. ix, xiii, 38, 101, 174, 179, 77, 78, 80, 82, 83, 84, 91, 92, 95, 97,
212, 261, 304, 307, 308, 346, 398, 103, 108, 110, 119, 134, 135, 142,
405, 430, 436, 466 144, 150, 154, 163, 166, 169, 170,
lexeme 6, 13, 30, 33, 47, 105, 106, 117, 171, 172, 179, 183, 200, 214, 219,
123, 125, 138, 143, 150, 182, 208, 220, 243, 244, 274, 279, 281, 304,
238, 245, 246, 248, 269, 270, 282, 310, 314, 318, 325, 328, 335, 348,
284, 290, 301, 302, 329, 361, 368, 350, 351, 353, 356, 357, 359, 364,
392, 432; appropriated 123; 366, 372, 373, 382, 383, 386, 387,
negative 301; onomatopoeic 311; 390, 397, 407, 410, 425, 428, 434,
pejorative 234, 235 437, 439, 444, 445, 446, 458, 462,
lexia 126, 290 471, 475
lexical interlocking 349 liturgical language 353
lexicalization 4, 12, 62, 217, 253-4, Lloyd, F. 307, 399
305, 459 locutionary acts 161
lexicon x, 30, 92, 176, 204, 211, 214 Lodge, D. 102, 325, 396, 413
liaison 36, 164, 184, 335, 344; Loew, F. 57
emphatic 36 logatom 121, 264
libel 407 logic 85, 86, 319, 372, 377, 380, 385,
libretto 210, 403 398, 412, 435, 451, 473; symbolic
licence 103, 181, 186, 242, 254-5, 288, 380
338, 425 logic-chopping 322
Lichtenberg, G. -C 174 logical illogicality 322
Lieberman, P. 9 logo 205
ligature 331 logogram 444
limerick 346 logogriph 405
limited point of view 128 logorrhoea 468
Lincoln, A. 72, 73, 228, 245 logos 65
line of poetry or verse 72, 255-9, logotype 205
347; monosyllabic 172; rhopalic Longinus 79, 274, 419
90 look-alike 212
linearity 316, 449 loop 264-5, 267, 327, 391, 429
linguistics xi, xvi, 7, 71, 112, 136, 173, loophole 68
202, 280, 369, 388, 397 loose language 74
linotype 260 loquaciousness 467
lipogram 128, 260-1, 473 'loud Iyer2 215
liponomy 261 loudness 455
Lipsius 78, 202 lower case 90, 317
lisping 287 lowering the bass register 241
litany 235, 384 lubricum linguae 250
literals 286 Lucan [Marcus Annaeus Lucanus] 328
literary games 261-2 Lucas, G. 243
litotes xvi, 44, 50, 69, 74, 75, 78, 84, Luke, Gospel according to 42
116, 153, 154, 161, 186, 215, 228, Lumet, S. 66
525
Index
lure 192 92, 95, 98, 107, 125, 129, 150, 154,
Lyly, J. 226 155, 156, 163, 164, 166, 169, 171,
Lynn, J. 43, 98, 99, 153, 170, 196, 216, 172, 176, 177, 179, 196, 200, 207,
238, 239, 251, 261, 285, 368, 388, 209, 213, 214, 215, 221, 229, 242,
391 247, 249, 262, 279, 280, 289, 326,
329, 345, 356, 359, 383, 396, 412,
macarism 93 427, 439, 447, 451, 453
macanmicism 212, 265, 328, 413 Martel, A. 200
MacArthur, Gen. D. 360 Martin, Sir T. 45, 114, 179, 239, 391,
Macneil, R. 427 403, 414, 466, 471
macrologia 382 Martinet, A. 4, 41, 69
macrology 203 Martinon, P. 156, 256
madrigal 167, 346 Marvell, A. 19, 404
Maeterlinck, M. 302 Marx, C 24
Magritte, R. 362 Marx, K. 347
Mahood, M. 95, 176, 305, 329, 364 masculine rhyme 258
maieutic method 371 Masefield, J. 61
major premise 27, 320, 378 masking 161, 305
majuscule 91 Masters, E. L. 39, 110, 214, 263, 404
malapropism 29 master tropes 281
Makkai, A. 254 matronymic 124
Malcolm X 163 Matthew, Gospel according to 417,
malediction 472 457
Mallarme, S. 90, 147, 154, 186, 259, Maugham, W. Somerset 408
260, 277 maundering 324
Maloux, M. 442 Maupassant, H. de 6, 128, 302, 331,
Malraux, A. 299, 337, 374, 408, 410 434
Manchester Guardian Weekly 8, 97, 105, Mauriac, F. 227
126 maxim 102, 122, 255, 265-6, 347, 360,
mandate 233 424
Mandiargues, P. de 170 Mazaleyrat, J. 72
manifesto 137 Mazarin (Cardinal) 85
mannerism 78, 166, 185, 421, 441 mazarinades 85
mantra 182 McCartney, P. 439
map 45, 158 McCoy, H. 403
Maranda, P. 193 McCrum, R. 427
Marchais, P. 58, 75, 324, 391, 468 McKellen, I. 63
marching figure 201 meaning xvi, xvii, xix, 3, 9, 17, 20,
Marcuse, H. 71, 198 21, 37, 47, 53, 80, 88, 113, 116, 117,
marginalia 323, 398 126, 155, 161, 172, 179, 180, 197,
Marinism 78, 109, 226 266-73, 382; abstract 269;
Marivaux, P. C. de C. de 84 accessory 273;. accidental 267, 268,
mark (graphic) 89, 116, 129, 130 293; accommodated/adapted 271;
Marlowe, C. 445 allegorical 270; anagogical 270;
Marmontel, J. -F. 210 analogical 342; broad or extended
Marot, C. 64, 113, 226 268; central 266; collective 269;
Marotism 226 compound 268; concrete 161;
Marouzeau, J. 3, 4, 8, 9, 20, 23, 34, 35, defined/determined 269; derived
53, 54, 61, 63, 70, 76, 80, 83, 85, 86, 268; distributive 269; divided 268;
526
Index
double 62, 172, 273, 305; metadiegesis 299

double/ambiguous 273; equivocal metagram 37
273; exemplifying 273; expressive metalalia 361
267; extended 98, 199, 230, 268, metalanguage x, 415
269; figurative/tropological 269; metalepsis xvii, 25, 26, 178, 275
forced 273; fundamental 266, 267, metalogism 273
448; fundamental/specific 266; metanalysis 19, 24, 28, 121, 124, 154,
global 30, 248, 428; head 266; 173, 275-6, 330, 364, 389, 405, 450,
idiomatic 30; implicit 70; 473
impressive 267; intended 272, 362, metanarrative 299
406, 442; limited 269; literal 100, metaphor xviii, 21, 22, 60, 61, 86, 95,
223, 269, 390, 441, 442; main 266; 99, 102, 109, 122, 134, 178, 208, 214,
manifest 271; meliorative 268; 220, 222, 225, 230, 268, 269, 276-9,
natural 273; obvious 272; original 281, 282, 283, 340, 341, 347, 348,
64, 304; plenary 271; pregnant 359, 362, 365, 380, 412, 417, 448,
270, 356; primary 227, 266; 452, 454, 456; dead 86; extended
primitive 268; principal 273, 322; 21; mixed 230
probable 268, 441; proleptic 270; mttaphore filte 21, 22
secondary 29; single 46; special metaphrase 398
53, 63; specific 17, 29, 85, 266, 267, metaplasm xviii, 3, 5, 37, 53, 54, 119,
268, 269, 284, 326, 390; 129, 149, 166, 178, 279, 316, 445
spiritual/moral 270; strict or metastasia 280
restricted 268; subjectal xviii, 272; metastasis xvii, 242, 279-80, 382, 397
subjective 271, 272; symbolic 270, metasymbolic narrative 442
292, 441, 442; topical 268; meta taxes 249
undefined/indeterminate 269 metathesis 279, 280, 409, 427, 450
meaning effect 161 methalemsis 201
meditation 290, 352 metonymy xviii, 6, 22, 52, 53, 61, 102,
medium of expression 241 151, 178, 220, 222, 225, 269, 275,
meiosis 178, 262, 273-4 280-3, 340, 442, 443, 446, 456
Melancon, C. 292 metre 7, 93, 142, 258, 310, 431
melisma 251 metrical feet 55, 88, 129, 172, 201,
melody 236, 239, 240, 242, 251, 258, 242, 243, 257, 258, 259, 316, 332,
289, 361, 367, 368 382, 399, 403-4
Melville, H. 291 metrics 207
member 142, 400, 413 MHRA Style Book 218
mementos 94 Michaux, H. xii, 4, 46, 51, 58, 65, 113,
memorandum 299, 381, 434 114, 115, 122, 141, 145, 147, 151,
Mendel, G. 406 175, 181, 216, 220, 224, 225, 249,
merismus 159 284, 285, 290, 312, 340, 349, 357,
Merleau-Ponty, M. 176, 329 359, 363, 390, 394, 410, 411, 438,
merry scoffe 73 453, 461, 473
Meschonnic, H. 38 Michelet, J. 344
mesostich 15 middle of sentence 18
mesozeugma 18 Milestone, L. 399
message 160 Mill, J. S. 300
Mestre (le Pere) 111, 122, 335, 460 Miller, J. 63, 72, 76, 227, 231, 256, 259,
metabole 47, 80, 274, 321, 324, 382, 324, 346, 354, 414
449, 453, 463 Milligan, S. 251, 463
527
Index
Milton, J. 52, 58, 77, 133, 242, 288, monostich 431

309, 313, 314, 352, 463 Monsarrat, N. 171
mime 199, 285 montage 285
mimesis 130, 131, 238, 299, 324 Montaigne, M. de 51
mimetic illusion 362 Montherlant, H. de 16, 49, 50, 63,
mimology 237, 242, 283-4, 287, 306, 109, 149, 170, 184, 205, 215, 237,
430 272, 312, 373
Mingogram 241, 258 Monty Python xii, 44, 146, 184, 213,
mirage 188 416, 447
mirror 51, 60, 82, 152, 184, 200, 246, Moore, D. 13, 63, 227, 231, 324, 354
273, 284-6, 299, 313, 324, 327, 329, Moore, F. 24
465 morceaux choisis 373
mise en abtme 285, 327 Morel, ]. 94, 280, 416
misinterpretation 178 Morier, H. 8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 21, 22,
misprint 286 23, 24, 35, 36, 39, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49,
missive 135, 252 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 68, 72, 73, 87, 89,
mistake 8, 33, 76, 77, 81, 86, 111, 117, 90, 95, 96, 97, 103, 106, 108, 110,
168, 193, 194, 206, 213, 214, 221, 115, 129, 133, 135, 142, 144, 147,
254, 273, 274, 286-8, 345, 362, 363, 148, 150, 154, 154, 156, 157, 163,
364, 382, 390, 402, 425, 430, 432, 164, 165, 166, 169, 170, 171, 177,
433, 447, 450, 451, 456, 461, 463, 200, 201, 207, 209, 210, 214, 240,
464, 468, 473 241, 242, 243, 244, 246, 258, 259,
mistranslation 461 262, 275, 276, 281, 282, 289, 310,
misunderstanding 178, 433, 434 323, 324, 328, 329, 331, 336, 345,
mixtura verborum 410 346, 353, 355, 356, 357, 363, 380,
MLA Style Sheet 218 381, 383, 384, 386, 387, 397, 398,
mock-heroic poem 84 401, 416, 429, 431, 434, 437, 438,
mock-up 359 439, 443, 444, 446, 453, 454, 458,
mockery 79, 96, 242, 244, 245, 339, 475
407 Morison, S. 466
modal agents 422 morpheme 9, 254, 369, 432
modality 70, 160, 161, 266, 301, 413, Morreal, ]. 212
435 Morris, D. 199
modalizing terms 44, 162 Morris, W. 148
modifier 208 Mortimer, ]. 97, 181, 232
Moliere, J. B. P. 20, 59, 96, 103, 123, mote 431
131, 366, 373 mot juste 231
Monaco, J. 286 motif 290-1, 347, 453, 454
Monaghan, D. 247 motivation 6, 20, 44, 176, 311, 388,
monobloc 344 390; phonic 311
monody 250, 288 Motteville, Mme F. de 137
monogram 204 motto 133, 335, 424
monologue 35, 44, 58, 60, 89, 113, mourme' 423
138, 139, 145, 148, 151, 160, 162, Muecke, D. C. $0, 243, 244
197, 199, 217, 234, 242, 252, 265, Muir, F. 173, 212, 339
288-90, 296, 305, 308, 327, 396, 412, multisonance 24
413, 450; interior 35, 58, 145, 148, mumbling 286, 427
151, 296, 327, 396, 413 Munro, A. 103, 177, 326, 439
monorheme 289, 412 musicals 403
528
Index
musication 23, 207, 225, 291-2, 306, 396, 454; double 178, 302
329, 330, 362, 469 negative question 301
Musset, A. de 79, 257, 405 Nelson, R. P. 466
mute e 8, 54, 55, 129, 258, 400 Nemerov, H. 88, 274
mutism 287 neniae 250
muttering 286, 450 neo-Platonism 185
mystery novel 402 neologism xiii, 93, 100, 107, 126,
mystery stories 15, 67 303-4, 389, 412; semantic 93, 304-5
mystification 247, 419 neology 122, 304
mytacism 87 Nerval, G. de 106, 144, 313
myth xix, 56, 95, 292-4, 300, 301, 394, neuvain 431
442 New Novelists 464
mythologism 341 new novels 4
Newman, P. C 24, 96, 192, 219, 351
Nabokov, V. 362 news item 367
name 14; Christian 33; family 124; newspaper stories 294, 299
middle 124, 457 niaiserie 81
Narcejac, T. 404 nickname 124, 340
narrating 198, 294, 299 Nietzsche, F. 321, 470
narratio 137, 344 nigauderie 81
narration 104, 160, 191, 237, 294, 295, Nims, J. F. 307
297, 299, 402, 403; frequentative Nizan, P. 67, 68, 386
198; second-person 104 noble word 253
narrative xii, xvii, xx, 3, 16, 26, 28, node 208, 282, 300, 301, 369, 440, 449
34, 38, 42, 53, 55, 56, 59, 75, 94, 104, noema 56
123, 128, 129, 131, 132, 137, 138, nomenclature 310
150, 151, 152, 155, 160, 162, 163, Noguez, D. 96
168, 184, 187, 189, 190, 192, 193, noise 100, 152, 207, 208, 215, 216,
194, 198, 209, 219, 220, 230, 237, 253, 256, 289, 292, 305-6, 333, 347,
238, 266, 285, 286, 289, 290, 292, 472
293, 294-300, 351, 355, 356, 359, Nokes, D. 168
362, 378, 384, 391, 392, 401, 402, nominalization 71, 126, 163, 248, 290,
403, 404, 405, 419, 430, 434, 442, 306-7, 454, 459
462, 464; iterative 198; second- nominativus pendens 35
degree 152, 162, 285 non-rhyme 400
narrative predicate 290 non sequitur xvii, 231
narrator 3, 21, 26, 58, 118, 130, 145, nonce-formation 304
151, 162, 168, 187, 190, 191, 195, nonce-word 202
234, 275, 294, 296, 297, 298, 332, nonsense 46, 75, 81, 110, 140, 141,
350, 374, 402, 422; intermediate 170, 175, 261, 264, 307-8, 342, 406,
190 468, 473
nasal twang 287 nonsense syllables 264
naturalness 185, 344, 401, 419 nonsense verse 140, 261
Neale, S. 421 Norden, D. 173, 212, 339
Neaman, J. S. 177, 178 TMorman' answer 302, 3%
near-rhyme 400 notation xvi, 43, 60, 151, 160, 240,
necrologies 309 252, 255, 259, 306, 307, 308-9, 373,
negation 28, 51, 70, 74, 135, 146, 167, 458, 472
178, 225, 263, 274, 300-3, 312, 372, note 362, 460; marginal 182
529
Index
notebook style 150 365, 371, 372, 374, 380, 382, 385,
Tsfot! the Nine O'clock News' 262, 386, 397, 455
307 opposition 9, 46
notice ix, 42, 344, 351 optatio 242, 471
noun complement 31, 417 optation 471
noun phrase 140, 249, 306 oracle 130, 356, 404
nouveau roman 127, 129 oral history 380
numbering 344 oral literature 56, 188, 293
numerology 442 oration 137
nunegocentric present 295, 297 orator 58, 66, 111, 145, 148, 230, 331
oratorical questions 371
O'Neill, E. 289 oratorical syllepsis 225, 260, 440
oath 161, 181 oratory 10, 33, 43, 47, 64, 65, 201, 217,
Obaldia, R. de 23 274; forensic 10
objection 145, 161, 237, 356, 372, 386, order of the day 137
395 ordinary language x, xviii, 148
objective xix, 442 orison 352
objective correlative 442 ornamentation 78, 226, 342
objurgation 137, 407 oronymy 123
oblique stroke 4, 89, 144, 218, 256, Orwell, G. 21, 23, 78, 153, 314, 363,
309^10, 367, 399, 414, 423 424, 466
obscenity 175, 438, 471 Osborne, }. 137
obscurity 50, 82, 83, 149, 216, 231, ostensive situation 273
288, 342, 452, 453 Oster, P. 170, 373
obsecration 435 ostranenie 420
observation 79, 128, 197, 378, 379 Oulipo 166, 314, 445
occultatio 353 outline 252, 276, 409
occupatio 353, 356 outs 131, 286
octave 170, 426, 431 ovation 179
octet 431 'overreacher' 215
octosyllable 256 overrun (of typographical character)
ode 60, 93, 210, 250, 288, 310, 346, 466
358, 364, 370, 402, 432, 470 overstatement 116
Olivier, L. 150, 232, 377, 378 Owen, W. 222, 250, 278, 398, 399, 472
omission 190 Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs
onomasiology 461 361
onomastics 442 Oxford Dictionary of Quotations 373,
onomatopoeia 124, 147, 205, 208, 237, 444
304, 305, 306, 308, 310-11, 333, Oxford English Dictionary (OED) xiii,
389 xiv, 4, 20, 27, 33, 35, 37, 46, 48, 63,
onzain 431 64, 68, 70, 75, 78, 80, 82, 83, 97, 107,
open letter 186, 359 109, 110, 129, 130, 134, 135, 136,
opera 5, 13, 84, 85, 381, 384, 403, 453 158, 170, 172, 183, 196, 202, 206,
operetta 193, 384, 403 215, 219, 232, 242, 250, 252, 254,
Opie, I. 330 264, 274, 275, 279, 280, 281, 284,
Opie, P. 330 287, 289, 300, 304, 310, 314, 317,
opinion poll 394 318, 319, 321, 323, 325, 326, 328,
opponent 68, 96, 162, 189, 242, 243, 335, 337, 338, 339, 340, 345, 350,
279, 280, 321, 337, 339, 344, 356, 353, 355, 356, 357, 359, 363, 366,
530
Index
372, 377, 382, 383, 384, 386, 389, paralepsis 353, 355
393, 396, 397, 398, 400, 403, 405, paralexeme 107
407, 413, 414, 418, 419, 425, 434, paralipsis xvi, 190, 353
435, 437, 438, 439, 445, 446, 447, parallel 17, 36, 46, 104, 106, 138, 139,
451, 453, 454, 458, 466, 467, 468, 207, 317-18, 335, 349, 386, 387, 418,
475 427, 461
oxymoric ideas 231 parallelism xx, 40, 48, 127, 146,
oxymoric sentences 311-12 318-19, 329, 336, 387, 392, 402;
oxymoric sentiments 312 acoustic 48; rhythmic 146
oxymoron xvi, 46, 78, 140, 151, 284, paralog 264
302, 308, 312-13, 448 paralogia 319
paralogism 46, 69, 319-22, 372, 380,
Packard, V. 459 426, 437, 451, 464
padding 171, 337 paraphasia 287, 432, 468
paean 93 paraphrase 33, 80, 182, 322-3, 327,
paeon fourth 259, 404 336, 337, 398, 422
pairing 417 parapraxis 250
palillalia 391 parasiopesis 353
palillology 383 parastasis 11, 49, 165, 274, 323-4
palimphrasia 148, 391 parasynonym 329
palindrome 37, 48, 82, 101, 313-14, parasynonymy 447
325; asymmetrical 314; false 313 parataxis 18, 61, 139, 150, 174, 199,
palinode 165, 242, 303 217, 249, 285, 324-5, 334, 450
Palmier, J. -M. 198 parechema 86, 325
pamphlet 407 parechesis 207, 255, 325
panegyric 93, 94, 137, 184 parembole 326
pantomime 199 paremptosis 166
pantoum 346 parenthesis 71, 112, 163, 170, 214,
parabasis 75, 162, 169, 170, 180, 242, 234, 264, 325-7, 332, 421, 450
314, 326 parenthyrsis 419
parable 45, 56, 418 pareuresis 355
parachresis 23 parimia 361
parachronic dialogue 34 parisosis 335
paradiastole 143 Parker, D. 237, 242, 408
paradigm 158 Parkinson, CM. 158, 265
paradigmatic axis 274 purler sans ambages 98
paradox 46, 71, 225, 242, 273, 313, parody 19, 40, 41, 84, 85, 91, 99, 137,
314-16, 365, 396, 451, 454, 463; false 171, 184, 186, 187, 194, 195, 216,
315 226, 232, 242, 244, 261, 265, 324,
paraenesis 137 327-8, 340, 406, 433
paragoge 54, 148, 279, 316 paromoeon 23
paragram 37, 38, 206, 286, 316-17, paromologie 110
409, 433, 469 paronomasia 20, 24, 44, 48, 72, 87,
paragrammatism 23, 287, 468 144, 147, 212, 292, 319, 328-30, 364,
paragraph xvi, 45, 63, 91, 93, 98, 159, 418
218, 219, 255, 271, 317, 331, 345, paronomeon 450
347, 371, 421, 422, 427, 428, 431, paronymic attraction 176
453, 454, 458, 470 paroxysmal comparison 184
paragraphia 287, 468 parrhesia 254, 338
531
Index
parrosia 254 78, 154, 169, 171, 201, 203, 207, 210,
parrot 432, 433 217, 319, 331, 334-6, 402, 413, 417,
parroting 148, 242, 364 431, 437
Parsons, T. 6 peripeteia 41
particula pendens 35 periphrasis 26, 78, 98, 106, 110, 121,
particularize tions 197 128, 171, 262, 270, 323, 336-7, 342,
partition 330 364, 389, 410, 448, 457, 461
paryponoian 363 perissology 80, 177, 323, 337-8, 345,
Pascal, B. 133, 229, 239, 248, 432 382, 447
pasquinade 167 perlocution 161
passt simple (past historic) 192, 297 permissio 110, 186, 242, 244, 338, 363,
past tense 191, 198, 295, 297 380, 419
pastiche 101, 194, 244, 328 permission 110, 186, 254, 338, 380,
paternoster 352 475
pathos 57, 65, 202 permutatia 47
patronym 37 permutation xvi, 151, 193, 338-9, 428
patronymic 124 peroratio 344
patter 137, 210 peroration 136, 343
Paul, A. 73, 74, 92, 155, 183 Perrault, P. 106
Paul of Tarsus 200 Perrin, P. 63
Paul VI, Pope 245 Perrine, L. 311
Paulhan, J. xvi, 176, 421, 455 persiflage 49, 85, 92, 96, 110, 177,
pause 61, 88, 89, 90, 152, 156, 157, 203, 235, 242, 244, 328, 339-40, 396,
290, 317, 330-2, 402, 412, 415, 435, 407, 473
458, 470 personalization 59
Pauwels, L. 359 personification xvii, xix, 7, 12, 21, 22,
Payen, F. 344 53, 60, 125, 131, 163, 186, 278,
Peacham, H. 83, 85, 134, 154, 165, 340-1, 358, 359, 447, 454, 457
219, 221, 335, 337, 356, 387, 397, persuasion 78
408 perverbs 360, 432
Pei, M. 112, 287, 332, 333, 334, 337, Peter, L. J. 315
343, 349, 424, 471 Petit, J. 20, 41, 103, 199, 227, 247, 344,
Peignot, ]. 204 407, 462
Peirce, C.S. 343, 443, 444 petition 137, 434
pejoration 178 Petrarch, F. 226
pen-names 124 Petrarchism 51, 226
pensee 266 Petronius 328
pentameter 257, 258 Philippic oration 137
Perec, G. 128, 260, 261, 314 Phillips, G. D. 175, 365
peregrinism 41, 64, 77, 195, 199, 226, phoebus 79, 152, 174, 199, 264, 337,
332-4 341-2, 365, 406
Perelman, C. 143, 183, 385, 386, 397, phoneme 7, 166, 251, 252, 287;
425 non-etymological 166
Peret, B. 120, 140 phonetic graphy 205
performance 286, 288, 430 phonetic intensives 311
pericope 372 phonetic word 28, 121, 259, 369
period (full stop) 3, 5, 102, 368, 423, phonetics 241
443 phonograms 276
period (sentence) xvii, 35, 45, 51, 71, phonometaphor 208
532
Index
phore 276, 278, 416 poem 10, 14, 20, 37, 44, 90, 102, 115
photograph 127, 363, 398 poem (forms of) 346-7
phraseogram 444 poetic licence 103, 288, 425
phrase-valise 452 poetics xi, xviii, xix, xx, 24, 127, 186,
physiognomy 83, 289, 349 225, 298, 346, 374, 389, 397
physiognomy-speak 83 point 110, 347-8, 473
phytonymy 123 point of view 15, 16, 22, 31, 49, 75,
Picasso, P. 4, 71 104, 128, 155, 162, 200, 208, 223,
pictogram xvii, 90, 205, 206, 343, 444 419, 454, 458; syntactic 31
pidgin English 333 points of suspension 367, 368, 422,
pidgins 333 423, 438
pies 286 polemic xii
Pike, K. L. 7 polite formula 252
Pinchon, ]. 155, 236 polygraphy 206
Pindar 226 polymorphia 117
Pindaric ode 310 polyptoton xvi, 246, 319
Pindarism 226 polysemia 117
Pingaud, B. 128 polysemic syntagms 29
Pinter, H. 262, 465 polysemic words 28, 29
Pinterism 226 polysemy 121, 211
Pirsig, R. 197, 215, 380 polysyndeton 74, 108, 207, 319,
pitch 112, 216, 267, 466 348-9, 383
place names 124, 140, 281 polysynonymy 448
plagiarism 112, 227 polysyntheton 348
plainchant 251 poncaif 98
plain style xi, 202 Ponge, R 166, 183, 398
plan 33, 34, 42, 135, 136, 138, 188, Pons, E. 4, 166, 316
227, 252, 293, 313, 317, 343-4, 352, Pope, A. 51
381, 386, 403, 460, 467 Popper, K. 385
Plath, S. 224 Porter, K. A. 42, 63, 80, 137, 140, 246
Plato 84, 176, 202, 372 Porter, W. S. [pseud. O. Henry] 193
Platonism 185 portmanteau word 101, 349-50, 452
plausibility x, 65, 244 portmanteau-sentence 452
play-acting 419 portrait 41, 60, 62, 92, 115, 126, 128,
plea 137, 471 133, 140, 168, 212, 222, 237, 300,
Pleiade 126, 258 350-1, 381, 458
pleonasm 26, 80, 116, 117, 154, 171, portrait-charge 350
177, 194, 337, 345-6, 382, 390, 413, posing 419
448, 452 position-paper 137
pleonasmus 338 possessive puzzles 148
Pleynet, M. 309 postface 145, 344
plot 15, 16, 34, 38, 163, 291, 298, 433 postulate 266, 357
plot-analysis 16 Potter, S. 189, 190, 349
plot-dialectic 16 Pettier, B. 267
plot-rhythms 402 Pouillon, J. 128
ploy 189 Poulenc, R 401
Poe, E. A. 89, 127, 168, 199, 216, 270, Poulet, G. 104, 382
291, 351, 359, 383, 384, 391, 396, Pound, E. 101, 255, 263
404, 437, 438 praecedens correctio 254, 351
533
Index
praeceptio 356 Prince, G. 298, 300, 462

praentunitio 67, 351 princess (or person desired) 16
praeoccupatio 356 printing error 390
praesumptio 356 probable partiality 386
praise 73, 172, 429 problematics 372
prayer 48, 59, 133, 137, 200, 287, procatalepsis 355, 356
351-3, 367, 434, 471, 472 procatasceue 351
preamble 136, 295, 361 proclamation 42, 357
precept 266 proclisis 276
prtcieuses 6, 78, 79, 447 prodiorthosis 254, 351
preciosity 78, 109, 185, 212 profanity 81, 237
precis 33, 381 professorial delivery 287
predicate 61, 69, 70, 104, 121, 122, prognostication 356, 357
139, 151, 234, 236, 243, 246, 269, progression 310
290, 300, 306, 315, 369, 384, 412, prohibition 209
413, 415, 439, 451, 452, 454 prolepsis xvi, 133, 181, 189, 191, 192,
predication 70 242, 270, 355-6, 386, 395
pre-emptive strike in argument 356 prolixity 171, 467
preface ix, 6, 66, 116, 128, 182, 237, promise 161, 182, 467
344, 351, 379 pronomination 336
prefix 5, 107, 359 pronoun 59, 61, 173, 246, 270, 369,
Preminger, A. 10, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 376, 410, 414, 415, 429; neuter 142;
34, 36, 39, 40, 43, 46, 52, 53, 54, 57, sex-neutral 414
58, 73, 79, 86, 92, 95, 109, 113, 114, pronunciation 12, 53, 54, 55, 63, 81,
119, 132, 142, 147, 150, 156, 163, 85, 86, 129, 152, 173, 199, 205, 211,
164, 172, 183, 200, 201, 209, 213, 253, 283, 284, 286, 287, 311, 400,
214, 215, 242, 243, 244, 254, 256, 426, 430; disjunctive 12; integrated
257, 262, 273, 281, 282, 288, 309, 12
310, 311, 312, 313, 327, 328, 329, proof 379, 381, 385, 386, 389, 426;
336, 340, 346, 348, 357, 364, 384, absence of 386
390, 399, 403, 416, 431, 439, 440, proper name 19, 20, 52, 91, 123, 124,
444, 446, 468, 475 125, 204, 246, 282, 336, 446, 456,
premise 27, 320, 321, 378, 379 457; motivated, remotivated 125;
premonition 358 plural of 123
preposition 31, 40, 138, 221 proper word 36, 231, 337
prepostera locutio 221 prophecy 32, 43, 54, 163, 183, 191,
presumption 26, 145 200, 300, 356-7, 404, 435
presupposition 71, 114, 189, 229, 321, proposition 17, 27, 197, 244, 269, 307,
363; hidden 189, 321 451, 462; complex 17
pretence 123, 354, 362, 371, 419 prepositional content 289
preterite 295, 296, 297 Propp, V. 15, 16
preterition xvi, 57, 74, 146, 163, 178, prose poetry 87, 255, 347, 401
181, 186, 190, 242, 244, 353-5, 363, prose-rhyme 210
460 prosody 155, 206, 226, 242, 256,
pretermission 353 257, 258, 259, 346, 400, 402, 403,
pretext 57, 68, 110, 129, 186, 355, 369, 470
414 prosonomasia 329
Prevert, J. 84, 193, 239, 381, 418, 427, prosopographia 127, 350
451 prosopopoeia 59, 69, 131, 163, 186,
534
Index
187, 188, 222, 242, 278, 300, 340, purism 232

347, 357-9 Pushkin, A. S. 59
prosthesis 279, 359-60, 430 Puttenham, G. 31, 92, 122, 170, 171,
protasis 35, 334, 335, 417 213, 215, 238, 244, 273, 383, 439
prothesis 359 puzzle 37, 362
protocol 138 Pynchon, T. 5, 6, 61, 248, 279, 447,
protozeugma 18 458
Proust, M. 34, 99, 155, 168, 191, 198, Pythagoras 51
402, 422, 442, 450, 461
proverb 65, 100, 271, 327, 360-1, 405, quackery 419
407, 432, 433, 442, 445 qualifier 61, 92, 104, 382
provignement 126 quasi-homonym 62
provincialisms 333, 334 quasi-interjection 100, 237
Psalms 38, 62, 81, 94, 352, 435, 457 quatrain 76, 291, 346, 431
pseudo-correction 410 quaver 331
pseudo-definition 122 Queneau, R. xii, 4, 18, 22, 24, 40, 46,
pseudo-dilemma 386 51, 53, 55, 60, 75, 76, 97, 107, 119,
pseudo-generalization 197 120, 129, 131, 139, 143, 165, 194,
pseudo-interrogation 371 199, 205, 248, 262, 280, 293, 296,
pseudo-justification 180 297, 319, 339, 341, 357, 362, 368,
pseudo-language xvi, 160, 200, 237, 376, 392, 405, 410, 416, 421, 430,
292, 306, 332, 361-2, 374 447, 462
pseudo-negation 301 question xi, 12, 19, 24, 29, 56, 60, 66,
pseudo-prophecy 191 68, 70, 71, 81, 84, 98, 103, 106, 111,
pseudo-quotation 422 112, 122, 123, 132, 138, 141, 145,
pseudo-retraction 165 153, 179, 183, 186, 192, 203, 210,
pseudo-simulation 82, 110, 186, 212, 222, 225, 233, 239, 242, 244,
212, 338, 354, 362-3, 419, 420, 270, 282, 289, 297, 301, 306, 321,
463, 473 326, 336, 354, 355, 356, 366, 367,
pseudo-spoonerism 427 368, 369-72, 374, 386, 388, 393, 394,
pseudo-supposition 435 395, 403, 413, 437, 442, 451, 470;
pseudo-tautology 452 complex or loaded 321; rhetorical
pseudonym 37, 124 123, 242, 370; trick 189
psittacism xvii, 242, 363-4, 374, 424, question mark 244, 368, 369
450 quibble 242, 305, 372
psychological predicate 69, 315 Quillet, A. 8, 10, 53, 61, 73, 74, 86, 95,
publicity 59, 175, 260, 294, 309, 343, 98, 103, 106, 109, 110, 119, 129, 135,
356, 365, 371, 424, 465 143, 144, 150, 154, 165, 166, 169,
puff 137, 238, 311 177, 183, 201, 207, 213, 214, 219,
pun 26, 29, 43, 172, 225, 242, 304, 328, 220, 243, 254, 262, 274, 317, 319,
329, 330, 336, 342, 361, 364-5, 405, 350, 372, 383, 386, 397, 419, 437,
440; homonymic 43 471
punch line 54, 365-7, 428 Quinn, A. 10, 95, 154, 163, 209, 213,
punctuation 8, 18, 58, 71, 83, 88, 89, 214, 215, 229, 246, 249, 274, 275,
102, 112, 179, 218, 240, 289, 309, 279, 280, 335, 336, 345, 348, 353,
314, 317, 327, 367, 369, 420, 450; 354, 359, 383, 408, 425, 441, 444,
expressive 58, 71, 89, 112, 179, 458
240, 327, 367-9, 450 quintain 431
Purcell, H. 453 Quintilian xi, 33, 43, 47, 49, 51, 52, 92,
535
Index
133, 201, 214, 219, 266, 274, 282, 159, 344, 381; syntactic xvi
337, 338, 348, 404, 453, 460 recasting 398, 415
quintilla 431 receiver 16, 24, 30, 38, 50, 59, 71, 135,
quip 347, 473 160, 161, 186, 233, 294, 340, 347,
quotation 18, 49, 66, 69, 116, 131, 350, 363, 410
138, 154, 155, 162, 167, 227, 242, recipe 313, 366, 381-2, 456
260, 271, 309, 320, 327, 360, 372-5, recognition scene 433
386, 415, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, recovery xvi
432, 462; oral 373; unconscious recrimination xvii, 242, 280, 382
374 recto tono 239
quotation marks 131, 155, 162, 227, recursion 284
373, 374, 421, 422, 423 red herring (or ignoratio elenchi) 322
redditio causae 377
Rabelais, F. 37, 90, 200, 271, 312, 427 redefinition of the question 386
Racine, J. 17, 23, 66, 83, 89, 132, 142, Redfern, W. 24, 51, 91, 172, 173, 176,
145, 154, 201, 257, 312, 435, 441, 211, 250, 276, 304, 313, 315, 316,
460 328, 329, 339, 349, 364, 365, 399,
raillery 339, 473 409, 440, 452, 474
rallying cry 424 redoublement 383
Ramayana 174, 219, 474 reduction 3, 12, 16, 47, 75, 205, 263,
rambling 324 357; graphic 3
rant 203 reductionism 197, 415
Rat, M. 418 redundancy 51, 80, 114, 382-3, 467
ratiocination 377 reduplicatio 164
reactualization 75, 127, 130, 190, 199, reduplication 36, 152, 164, 170, 246,
271, 331, 358, 375-7, 395, 450, 454, 383-4, 390, 411
456, 460, 470 Reed, H. 45, 158
reader xix, 3, 20, 26, 28, 29, 34, 38, 45, reference x, xx, 18, 24, 25, 29, 34, 70,
54, 59, 74, 75, 79, 87, 102, 118, 128, 165, 200, 440; in footnotes 323; to
133, 144, 147, 150, 151, 156, 159, publishing information 308
160, 167, 170, 176, 180, 188, 189, referent 19, 25, 31, 44, 91, 160, 246,
190, 191, 192, 194, 195, 199, 201, 267, 269, 364, 376, 423; homophonic
220, 222, 224, 227, 228, 239, 244, 364
256, 262, 266, 267, 271, 272, 274, referential function x, 59, 70, 124, 141,
291, 294, 297, 298, 299, 300, 314, 160, 201, 235, 236, 289, 307, 369
322, 341, 347, 348, 350, 351, 355, reflexio 44
366, 367, 375, 415, 418, 419, 437, refrain 40, 76, 164, 255, 384, 432, 454
438, 442, 449, 461, 464, 473; refusal 180
intermediate 190 refutation 27, 48, 66, 67, 69, 70, 116,
reader-response criticism 272 161, 242, 318, 344, 356, 372, 380,
reality effect 129 385-6, 426, 435
reasoning 33, 46, 57, 64, 65, 69, 104, regionalisms 333
105, 112, 183, 201, 319, 320, 321, register 241, 242
322, 347, 363, 377-81, 385, 386, 390, Regnier, H. de 20
418, 425, 435, 436, 463, 473 regression 165, 381, 386-7, 397, 450
rebound 23, 298 regret 180; false 180
rebriche 384 regrouped members 387-8
rebus 24, 276, 330, 343, 405 reincarnation 456
recapitulation xvi, 33, 38, 64, 138, rejection 27, 280
536
Index
rejet 155, 156, 157 retort 12, 242, 393, 397

rejoinder 229, 393 retortion 17, 44, 48, 393, 396-7
rejuvenated cliche 223 retouching 398
religious poetry 256 retraction 165
remakes 398 retroaction 165
Remi, G. [pseud. Herge] 410 Reuter, PJ. 134
reminder 163, 189, 190, 205, 388, 396 Revel, J. -F. 67, 408
reminiscence 190 Reverdy, P. 224, 225
remotivation 19, 20, 29, 177, 206, 337, reversal 242
381, 388-90, 474 reversio 47, 48, 387, 397
Renan, E. 380 revived image 223
reonymy 123 rewriting xx, 154, 323, 397-9
repartee 339, 393, 426 Rey, J. M. 321, 415
repentir 398 Rey-Debove, J. 415
repetition xx, 23, 33, 36, 39, 42, 43, rhetoric ix, xi, xiii, xvi, xviii, xix, xx,
44, 45, 48, 72, 80, 83, 86, 95, 123, 17, 18, 28, 33, 34, 47, 51, 64, 65, 66,
133, 136, 138, 147, 148, 150, 152, 67, 90, 111, 116, 119, 127, 129, 136,
163, 164, 169, 175, 196, 203, 207, 148, 176, 183, 186, 197, 203, 207,
210, 215, 237, 239, 245, 246, 257, 210, 242, 243, 249, 269, 282, 285,
264, 274, 285, 292, 300, 318, 324, 320, 328, 334, 343, 347, 371, 378,
325, 335, 345, 348, 363, 377, 381, 387, 407, 417, 434, 437, 440, 441,
382, 383, 386, 387, 388, 390-2, 396, 445, 460, 471; artificial 219; empty
397, 413, 430, 431, 448, 451, 460, 33; pejorative 186, 419; pure xix,
461, 462, 463, 464, 467, 468; 18; second-level 328
hackneyed 391-2; justified 80; rhetorical question 123, 242, 370
lexical 36, 462 rhotacism 87, 287
repetitional schemas 318 rhumbs 433
report 180, 381 rhyme 19, 23, 24, 72, 106, 147, 148,
reported or indirect speech 375, 471 157, 158, 173, 210, 211, 246, 255,
reports of proceedings 299 256, 257, 258, 259, 261, 264, 310,
reprehension 65 325, 346, 347, 349, 358, 361, 384,
reprimand 137, 348 399-400, 401, 425, 431, 451;
reprise 40, 101, 102, 139, 246, 291, apophonic 72; disyllabic or
300, 319, 392, 414, 432, 447, 462, leonine 399; exact 399; expected
464; grammatical 246, 392 157; imperfect 399;
reproach 73, 180, 407, 455 masculine/feminine 400; rich 399
request 181, 338, 434, 472 rhyme schemes 399
reserve 57, 58, 183, 360 rhymed prose 210
resolution 437 rhyming couplets 93, 399
respective enumeration 387 rhythm xvii, 33, 55, 76, 87, 88, 89,
responsary 393 123, 133, 146, 151, 156, 157, 182,
response 8, 31, 71, 133, 182, 183, 237, 198, 207, 208, 217, 236, 239, 255,
272, 290, 294, 301, 303, 351, 369, 256, 257, 258, 259, 274, 287, 298,
385, 388, 393-6, 420, 423, 432, 454, 335, 347, 361, 365, 366, 391, 400,
470 401-2, 403, 409, 453, 458, 469, 470;
restart xvi, 35, 164, 388, 396, 410, 412 imitative 208
restatement 322 rhythm (of the action) 402-3
reticence 57, 58, 186, 238, 398 rhythmic measures 258, 403-4
reticentia xvii, 58, 331, 438 rhythmic verse 88, 255, 256, 257, 401
537
Index
rhythmical accent 259 Rossiter, L. 393, 408

Ricci, P. M. 205 Rostand, E. 134, 135, 137
Richard, J. -P. 35, 47, 95, 96, 124, 134, round periods 335
140, 147, 221, 246, 247, 284, 362, roundel 346
448, 471 Roure, F. 248
Richelieu (Cardinal) 44, 281 Rousseau, J. -J. 183, 358, 386
Richler, M. 152, 153, 196, 229, 409, Roy, G. 81, 191
432 rubai 346
riddle 5, 21, 23, 43, 46, 112, 153, 224, rubric 83, 91, 244, 308
242, 262, 277, 300, 336, 342, 347, rule of justice 65
356, 360, 404-6 run on 248, 395
Rimbaud, A. 72, 115, 180, 223, 272 Ruskin, J. 210
rime brisee 429 Ruthven, K. K. 109
rise in register 241
risque stories 196 Sabatier, R. 227
ritornello 384 Safire, W. 345
Riviere, J. 470 Saint-Exupery, A. de 320
roast 235 Saint-Leger, Alexis [pseud. Saint-Jean
Robbe-Grillet, A. 4, 127, 145, 239, 248, Perse] 215, 226, 278, 461
429, 458 Saklatvala, B. 15
Robert, P. 17, 21, 24, 34, 37, 46, 49, Salinger, J. 82, 178, 298, 326
50, 54, 58, 66, 70, 73, 76, 87, 90, 91, Samuel, Book of 392
92, 95, 98, 101, 107, 110, 125, 132, Sandburg, C. 408
135, 150, 154, 155, 158, 166, 168, sapphic 346
177, 179, 196, 200, 203, 207, 215, sarcasm 26, 60, 77, 92, 94, 96, 125,
219, 233, 249, 250, 265, 279, 280, 167, 179, 186, 235, 242, 244, 339,
281, 293, 310, 313, 316, 317, 318, 407-8
319, 323, 337, 340, 350, 353, 359, Sarraute, N. 41, 62, 403
364, 366, 372, 373, 377, 382, 383, Sarrazin, A. 406
396, 397, 407, 424, 427, 428, 437, Sartre, J. -P. 27, 57, 73, 118, 122, 134,
445, 447, 451, 453, 459, 462, 468, 188, 244, 249, 284, 321, 416, 426
471 Sassoon, S. 4
Robinson, E. A. 129 Satan xix 187, 292
Rochefort, H. 29 satire xii, 91, 328, 346, 391, 407
Rodin, A. 102, 110 saupoudrage 166
rodomontade 342 Saussure, F. de xviii, 37, 38, 117, 316,
Rogers, H. 27, 98 388
Roget, P. M. 32 Sauvageau, Y. 455
Remains, ]. 242 saying 372, 408
romance 63 Scaliger, J. -C. 20, 66, 103, 110, 131,
rondeau 346 163, 183, 243, 324, 329, 356, 407
rondeau redouble 346 scansion 129, 259
rondelet 346 Scarron, P. 85, 328
Ronsard, P. de 55, 110 scatological texts 471
Roosevelt, F. D. 43, 228, 245, 455 scene 187, 188, 220, 238, 251, 317, 402,
Rooten, L. d'Antin van 24, 462 463
rosary 352, 434, 457 scesis onomaton 408
Rose, R. 66 schemata xviii
Rossetri, G. Dante 438, 461 schematization xvi, 220, 409, 458
538
Index
Scholes, R. 251, 453 septet 431

scholium 182, 323 sequence 286, 299, 316
Schopenhauer, A. 75 seriation 138, 159, 310, 392, 413-14
science fiction 34 serif 465
Scobie, S. 14 sermocinatio 131
Scott, Sir Walter 63, 296 sermon 54, 137, 328, 457
scrambling (lexical) 409 Serres, M. 252
scrambling (semantic) 118 sestet 431
scrambling (sonic) 305 sestina 346
scrambling (syntactic) xvi, 410 set (of a typographical character) 465
screams 238 set theory 380
scrollwork 465 sexism 17, 414-15
Searle, ]. 81, 176, 265 sextain 431
second-degree narrative 152, 162, 285 Shakespeare, W. xi, 12, 29, 33, 34, 35,
second thoughts 165, 398 40, 44, 47, 58, 63, 65, 66, 92, 95, 110,
segment 241, 253, 449 123, 133, 134, 135, 137, 142, 143,
segmented sentence 139 154, 163, 172, 176, 177, 181, 201,
self-censorship 234 203, 208, 210, 229, 233, 242, 246,
self-correction 143, 165, 185, 242, 251, 253, 275, 277, 280, 281, 305, 310,
337, 396, 410-12 320, 322, 337, 339, 341, 342, 360,
self-designation 415 364, 371, 390, 424, 440, 445, 446,
self-quotation 373 459, 471, 472
Sellars, P. 199 sham 186, 262, 419, 423
semanteme 267 Sharpe, T. 58, 253
semantic conflation 349 Shaw, G. B. 8, 57, 86, 121, 283, 307,
seme 267, 269, 423 339, 458
sememe 248, 249, 267, 268, 269 Shelley, P. B. 60, 281, 370, 417
semi-adjunction 18 Sheridan, R. 29
semi-allegory 21 shibboleth 406
semi-ambiguity 31 shift in meaning 21, 95, 269, 322
semicolon 102 shifters 161, 422
semi-consonant 129 Shklovsky, V. 420
semi-epanalepsis 164 short circuit 415-16
semi-negation 303 shorthand 4, 282
semi-parabasis 314 showing 129
semi-preterition 354 Sicilia amissa 208
semi-tautology 321 sick humour 313
semiology xviii, 269, 444 Sidney, Sir Philip 50, 66, 358
semiotics xi, 196, 267, 444, 465 Sight and Sound 134
sender 43 siglum 13
sense x, 20; broad 62, 69, 136, 199, sigmatism 87, 287
211, 268, 328, 401, 444; strict 136, sign xviii, 8, 9, 21, 32, 58, 63, 70, 73,
179, 244, 268, 272, 401 91, 102, 117, 173, 185, 188, 236, 244,
sentence 32, 73, 289, 331, 336, 366, 251, 277, 281, 283, 289, 349, 368,
382, 459 388, 391, 411, 416, 422, 430, 443,
sentence (types of) 412-13 444; graphic 8, 58, 91, 251, 368, 443
sentence-melodies 332 sign-language 289
sentence-mixing 452 signature 204
sententia 347 significance 70, 168, 222, 225, 448
539
Index
signified 62, 116, 201, 248, 269, 309, Sonnino, L. A. 329

310, 330, 345, 388, 415, 422, 423, sonority 23, 115
443, 473 sophism 319, 426
signifier 46, 125, 127, 201, 269, 374, sophistry 46, 69, 186, 319, 386, 425-6
388, 411, 415, 442, 462, 473 sorites 201, 378, 444
silence 23, 330, 358, 370, 416, 421, sortilege 182
430, 431, 436 sottise 81
Silkin, J. 398 sound-effects 306, 311
Silver, C. G. 177, 178 sound patterns 291
Simeray, J. 362 sound symbolism 242
simile 21, 56, 61, 100, 104, 109, 131, source language 460
153, 165, 275, 276, 277, 279, 336, Souriau, E. 15, 16, 20, 120, 125, 200,
360, 390, 412, 416-18, 441, 454 226, 258, 259, 323, 453, 462
similitude 318, 339, 418 spatialism 260
Simon, C 79, 134, 144, 148, 387, 397, spatialists 465
461 spatiality 449
simulation 56, 82, 94, 96, 103, 110, special effects 359
145, 161, 186, 212, 338, 354, 362, spectograph 239
363, 374, 418-19, 420, 463, 469, 473 speech: direct 151, 198; forms of xix;
simultaneity 194, 295 indirect 375, 471; noble 142; parts
singularization 363, 419-20 of 31, 136, 262, 275
situational signs 91, 116, 130, 152, speech act xviii, 69, 368
153, 163, 206, 218, 234, 255, 260, speech balloon 465, 466
310, 317, 325, 327, 331, 367, 373, speech-bubbles 208
374, 415, 420-3, 450, 458 speechifying 33
Sitwell, E. 114, 115 spell (magic) 182
sketch 44, 276, 350, 447 spelling 55, 173, 205, 211, 217, 285,
skit 91, 328 286, 305, 426
slang xvi, 4, 85, 92, 120, 142, 196, 247, spelling mistake 286
253, 286, 333, 423-4 spelling out 426-7
slogan 100, 167, 242, 342, 364, 424, Spender, S. 95
450 Spenser, E. 445
small capitals 91, 152, 420, 423 spiel 137
smut 196 Spitzer, L. 11, 74, 83, 142, 143, 201,
Smyth, H. W. 325 217, 441, 469
snowball 201 spluttering 286
sobriquet 124, 340 Spooner, W. A. 427, 428
Socrates 269, 426 spoonerism 28, 62, 173, 196, 409,
Socratic method 371 427-8, 450, 454
solecism 29, 76, 86, 154, 254, 424-5, sprung rhythm 257
440 spy novel 449
soliloquy 242, 290 square brackets 116, 323, 412, 421,
solipsism 75 422, 423, 449
Solomon 30, 471 squib 428, 460
Solzhenitsyn, A. 43, 91, 174, 185, 213, squint (syntactic) 428-9
298, 411 stage directions 376, 410
Somaize, A. B. 78 staircase 152, 156, 264, 300, 429-30
Sommer, E. 418 staircase plot 430
sonnet 47, 346, 352, 425 stammering 80, 286, 430
540
Index
stanza 45, 72, 76, 90, 93, 255, 256, subjunctive mood 63, 471
330, 346, 347, 384, 402, 430-2 subordination 155, 209, 324; converse
stanza (oratorical) 336 155
Starobinski, J. 38 subscription 308
steganography 120 substantive 3, 5, 6, 61, 119, 171, 270,
Stein, G. 5, 6, 152, 254, 285, 302, 312, 408
451 substitution 4, 22, 34, 52, 100, 101,
Steinbeck, ]. 77 117, 118, 120, 154, 183, 187, 194,
Steiner, G. 356 208, 212, 272, 275, 287, 306, 316,
Stendhal. See Beyle, Henri 336, 374, 392, 425, 431, 432-4, 451,
stenography 4 468; consonantal 316; vocalic 316
stereotype 98 subtitle 207, 317, 458
Stern, J. P. 174 subversion 433
Sterne, L. 135, 180, 217, 327, 344, 356, suffix 5, 41, 92, 125, 126, 215, 226,
464, 468 469; French 41; pejorative 92
stesichorus 165 suggestions 233
Stevenson, R. L. 63, 201 Sullivan, A. 193, 210, 384, 414
Stillman, F. 257, 291, 310, 346, 399 summary 33, 66, 192, 402, 409, 466
Stone, J. 35, 87, 98, 168, 264, 431 summons 233
Stoppard, T. 73, 113, 132, 144, 182, superlatio 215
198, 199, 233, 234, 251, 265, 285, superlatives 216
319, 322, 368, 372, 375, 376, 377, superposition 342, 465
393, 433, 434, 462 superscription 308
story 18, 262, 362 supplication 60, 81, 94, 233, 242, 352,
straight-man 393 357, 434-5, 472
Straka, G. 100 supposition 52, 116, 321, 380, 386,
stream of consciousness 114, 289 435-7
stress 7, 8, 9, 332, 401, 403 suppression 5, 53, 277, 378
stress regularity 255, 256 surname 124, 204, 226
strophe 170, 310, 431 surprise 45, 63, 334, 432, 437,
structuralism 117, 194 473
structuralists x, 309 Surrealism xii, 69
stuttering 250, 286 suspense 35, 155, 190, 242, 437
style: anti-Ciceronian 202; colloquial suspension 11, 135, 155, 336, 367,
287; epithetical 11, 170; figure of 368, 422, 423, 437-8
35, 165; high 23; Homeric 131; suspension points 368
hypotactic 324, 334; indirect 36, swear-word 5, 234, 438-9, 471
180, 296, 373, 409; middle 203; sweet talk 439
oratorical 203; paratactic 324; Swift, J. 4, 22, 38, 94, 166, 167, 168,
periodic 169; Senecan 347; sub- 171, 222, 316, 352, 414
lime 8, 23, 40, 79, 136, 171, 177, Swinburne, A. 76, 85, 291, 325
201, 253, 277, 358, 384, 419, 448, styleme 272
467; sustained 142, 232; syllabic poetry 256; verse 89, 256
telegraphic 150 syllabification 152, 217, 256, 426
Suberville, J. 145, 344 syllabism 129
subject 10, 14, 467; psychological 69, syllable(s): final 53, 148, 209, 453;
412, 451, 454 first 13, 196, 399; intermediate 9;
subjectification 340 long 401; pretonic 257; several 7;
subjectio 132, 183, 186, 356, 371, 395 short 7, 258; sixth 88, 90; stressed
541
Index
399; two 53, 119, 129, 264, 399, syntagm-sentence 289

403; unstressed 7, 87, 242 syntagma tic flow 102, 236
syllepsis xiii, 25, 28, 30, 32, 78, 141, syntagmatic axis 37, 45, 48, 274, 454
172, 225, 260, 349, 361, 364, 405, syntax x, 31, 32, 41, 95, 99, 139, 195,
425, 439, 440, 441, 450; 226, 236, 249, 273, 307, 368, 383,
grammatical 439-40; semantic 396, 461, 462, 475
440-1 synthesis 381, 439
syllogism 322, 344, 377, 378, 426 systrophe 10
symbol xx, 13, 56, 151, 168, 199, 202,
204, 205, 244, 252, 270, 283, 292, tableau 220, 302, 317
293, 300, 319, 343, 405, 406, 441-4 tachylalia 287
symbolism (phonic) 310 tag 360
symbolist image 222 Tailhade, L. 29, 122
symploce 39, 40, 45, 164, 319, 444-5, tanka 346
464 tapinosis 183
symptom 444 Tard, L. -M. 8, 22, 138, 428
synaeceosis 314 Tardieu, J. 236, 290, 432, 465
synaeresis 119, 129, 279 target language 459, 460, 461
synaesthesia 114, 115 taunts 65
synaloephe 209 tautegorical 202
synathroesmus xvi, 10 tautogram 24, 26, 87, 255, 450
synathroisme 10 tautology 46, 74, 134, 182, 194, 242,
synchisis xvi, xvii, 214, 217, 410, 445 321, 345, 390, 394, 396, 416, 449,
synchoresis 110 451-2, 454, 463
synchysis 445 tautophony 86, 87, 246, 450
syncope 89, 279, 445 taxeme 61
synecdoche 52, 53, 61, 78, 122, 222, Taylor, W. 96, 328
230, 269, 281, 282, 340, 443, 445-7, telephone directories 160, 309
456 telescope word 112, 349
synonymy 11, 52, 117, 159, 274, 392, telescoping 140, 159, 276, 350, 452-3
447-9; inverted 448 telestich 15
synopsis 64, 381 Tempel, E. 250
syntactic ambiguity 31, 428 tempo 87, 208, 255, 274, 347, 402, 453
syntactic arrangement of sentences 32 temporal adverbs 295
syntactic reminder 396 temporal displacement 192
syntactic transfer 155 Tennyson, A., Lord 23, 58, 61, 63, 86,
syntagm xvii, 5, 6, 7, 9, 18, 28, 29, 30, 87, 106, 146, 147, 200, 208, 229, 319,
40, 54, 62, 69, 70, 88, 89, 92, 98, 102, 382, 383, 384, 446
105, 112, 121, 125, 134, 136, 146, tenor 21, 22, 114, 115, 276, 277, 278,
150, 152, 155, 156, 157, 164, 171, 279, 340, 416, 417, 465
175, 189, 208, 209, 211, 214, 217, tenses (verb) 295, 296
222, 241, 245, 248, 253, 254, 270, tercet 431
280, 287, 289, 296, 300, 305, 307, term: abstract 6, 22, 123, 341, 415;
311, 323, 324, 367, 368, 375, 383, concrete 22, 475; first 9, 151;
396, 397, 398, 410, 411, 412, 413, proper 92, 93, 137
417, 421, 422, 427, 428, 429, 432, terminology xv, xvi, 171, 231, 245,
440, 448, 449-50, 452, 459, 461, 468, 391, 417, 443, 454
473, 474; nominal 69, 245, 305, 307, ternary sentence 413
413 terza rima 346
542
Index
Tesniere, L. 236, 459 tone 49, 70, 112, 152, 168, 234, 236,
test 462 239, 308, 328, 346, 368, 369, 376,
testimonial 422 395, 410, 414, 420, 471
testimony 162, 380, 381 tongue twisters 292, 450
tetragram 252 tonic accents 258
text (dictated) 150 tonic vowel 179
Thackeray, W. M. 314 tool-words 117, 151; grammatical
Thanksgiving 95 117, 151
theme 22, 30, 53, 56, 98, 139, 147, 160, topic 65, 69, 70, 98, 391, 453
222, 229, 250, 270, 276, 277, 291, topographia 127
346, 391, 412, 416, 447, 453-4, 463, toponymy 125
464 topos 98, 246
Theodorus of Gadara 419 Townsend, S. 81, 176, 308
Theriault, Y. 18, 48, 310 Tracy, S. xiii, 408
Therive, A. 217 trademark 13
thesis 51, 321, 322, 344, 401, 451, 453 traductio 133, 246
Thiebault, 110 traduction 246
Thierrin, P. 104, 428 tragedy 288, 356
Thomas, D. 10, 82, 101, 107, 164, 165, traiectio in alium 155
196, 212, 213, 214, 219, 315, 333, trailer 192
336, 337, 341, 348, 350, 371, 379, transaddition 262
383, 384, 417, 425, 431, 442, 446, transfer 62, 155, 208, 276, 459
456, 457, 458, 474 transferred epithet 208, 213
Thomson, James 316 transference 126, 133, 254, 307,
thread (discursive) 454 459
threat xvi, 26, 49, 50, 57, 67, 69, 118, transgressio 214
154, 242, 454-5; veiled 50 transition 42, 60, 111, 114, 118, 201,
three dots 367 280, 355, 376, 377, 382, 412, 428,
three spaced periods 423 460
threnody 250 translation xi, xii, 19, 41, 92, 95, 120,
thriller 437 138, 158, 183, 193, 196, 218, 286,
Thurber, J. 56 296, 328, 337, 373, 374, 397, 413,
timbre 7, 8, 455-6, 466 434, 450, 460-2, 474; automatic 434
Time (magazine) 40, 133, 349, 445 transliteration 280, 286
tirade 137 transposition 37, 119, 213, 279, 280,
tit for tat 393 327, 379, 380, 402
title (conferring of) 456-7 transumption 177
title (of work) 60, 62, 102, 164, 249, treatise 72, 79, 176, 221, 344
337, 384, 457-8 trebling 462
titles (half or bastard) 458 Tremblay, M. 118
titles (running) 458 tremolo 251
tmesis 108, 214, 218, 413, 458-9 Trisor de la langue frangiise 17, 64
Todorov, T. 7, 20, 28, 70, 152, 161, Trtvoux, Dictionnaire de 154
162, 193, 215, 287, 290, 312, 317, triad 174, 207
411 triangle 46, 462
Tolstoy, L. 36, 122, 182, 185, 287, 324, tribrach 258, 403
402, 417, 420, 460 trigram 264
Tomachevsky, B. 193, 194, 291 triliteral word 252
tombeau 93 triolet 147, 346
543
Index
triplication 146, 185, 390, 392, 402, 286, 303, 311, 355, 395, 432, 433,
462 451
trochee 172, 242, 258, 400, 403 Van Gogh, V. 227
trope 22, 92, 221, 280, 282, 283, 439, Van Rutten, P. 278
445 variable accentuals 470
Truchet, J. 137 variants xviii, 13, 176, 261, 272, 367,
Trudgill, P. 253 368, 397
truism 46, 75, 98, 154, 183, 212, variation xvi, 146, 164, 201, 206, 241,
264, 288, 316, 321, 377, 452, 454, 243, 259, 327, 329, 392, 431, 444,
462-4 454, 455, 464-5; typographical xvi,
truth value 65, 66 465-6
Turco, L. 57, 257, 258, 318, 346, 360, vaticination 356
384, 431, 444, 452, 458, 470 Vedas 302, 303
tushery 63 vehicle 21, 26, 114, 115, 276, 277, 279,
TV Guide 286, 371 416, 417
Twain, M. 223, 393 verb 5, 35, 151, 154; declarative 131,
two-tailed rhetoric 148 151; performative 161
Tynan, K. 327 verb tenses 154, 162, 190, 192, 280,
type 152, 153, 204, 205, 298, 343, 420, 295, 296, 424
421, 422, 465, 466; bold 152, 153, verbiage xvii, 11, 33, 80, 109, 113,
420, 466; large 420; Roman 421; 135, 203, 382, 466-8, 469
semi-bold 466 verbigeration xvii, 10, 11, 19, 113,
type-casting 130 133, 140, 159, 200, 225, 287, 316,
Tzara, T. 140, 234, 375, 376, 377, 393, 342, 390, 419, 432, 453, 459, 467,
433 468-9
verbomania 467
uchrony 34 verbosity 364, 466, 467
unary sentence 412 Verest, J. 43, 68, 73, 288, 366, 434
under-emphasis 274 Verhaeren, E. 259
underlining 91, 152, 421; double 152 verisimilitude x, 34, 270
underrating 183 Verlaine, P. 115, 157, 400
understatement xvi, 262, 273, 452 vers ajoure' 55
undertone 234 vers libre 255, 310, 431
universe of discourse 247 vers plein 55
univocalics 260 verse xvii, 14, 19, 200, 306, 382, 468,
univocity 316 469; final 14; metric xvii, 89, 255,
unvoicing 283, 287 258, 259, 347, 403; octosyllabic 113;
Updike, ]. 167, 435 rhopalic 256; syllabic 89, 256
upobola 356 verset 93, 255, 469-70
urbanitas 73 versification 33, 129, 346, 425
usage xvi, xvii, xix, 51, 63, 123, 149, Vian, B. 68, 75, 78, 84, 105, 322
231, 406, 415, 440, 459; familiar 195 vicious circle 320, 321, 451
utterance 23, 50, 162, 168, 430, 454, Vickers, B. 210, 440
463, 470, 474 Victoria, Queen 143
Vidal, G. 29, 34, 61, 76, 194, 275
Vac, B. 338 Vigneault, G. 24, 26, 106
Valery, P. 20, 22, 24, 30, 41, 49, 83, vignette 343
111, 122, 129, 137, 139, 144, 180, villain 15, 134, 407
186, 193, 227, 235, 259, 264, 284, villanelle 346
544
Index
Villiers de 1'Isle-Adam, Auguste, Wilde, O. 76, 91, 98, 143, 197, 232,
comte de 421 251, 316, 336, 376, 377, 433
Villon, F. 14, 15, 76 Willans, G. 176, 265
Vinay, J. -P. 193, 253 Willem, W. 275, 437
vindication 137, 318 Williams, W. Carlos 72, 76, 152, 238,
Virgil 154, 184, 221, 258, 281 256, 258, 259, 260, 346, 431, 465,
virtueme 267, 293 470, 475
'vision avec' 128 Wilmut, R. 447
vituperation 303 Wilson, !. 246, 359
vocative 59 Winner, M. 174
vocero 250 wisecracks 408
Voiture, V. 73 wit 26, 62, 109, 110, 184, 194, 197,
Voltaire, F. -M. Arouet 25, 69, 107, 212, 307, 322, 347, 380, 393, 407,
140, 142, 151, 228, 388 408, 419, 472-3, 474
volubility 467 witness 104
voussoiement 104 witticism 110, 242, 473
vowel 4, 8, 9, 23, 54, 55, 72, 129, 147, Wolfe, T. 17
148, 149, 179, 241, 255, 259, 260, Woolf, V. xii, 108, 143, 145, 289, 461
264, 283, 329, 399; mute 8 word chase 262
vowel gradation 329 word deletion 262
Vuillaume, M. -J. 43, 66, 68 word-family 126
vulgarism 196, 471 word order 40, 153, 155, 214, 397,
vulgarization 398 410, 445
word-play 95, 176, 305, 364, 473-4
Wagner, R. 155, 236 word processor 152, 218
Walker, A. 105 word-sentence 139, 235, 289
want ads 150 Wordsworth, W. 156, 210, 446, 448
Wartburg, W. von 412, 413 Wright, B. 120, 260, 296, 297, 438
Wasserman, D. 11 writing-system 205
watchword 424 Wyndham, J. 294
Waterhouse, K. 233, 234, 238, 283
Watson, P. 34, 141 Xerxes 327
Waugh, E. 67, 323
Weil, S. 138, 139 Yeats, W. B. xix, 53, 74, 89, 106, 132,
Weiss, P. 458 245, 366, 446
well-rounded periods 335 Yee, C 205
well-wishing 100, 179, 181, 347, 352,
396, 435, 471-2 zero-degree writing 74, 263
West, Mae 48 zero derivation 126
whisper 128, 472 zero variant xviii
whistling 179 zero suffix 126
white (or blank) writing 74, 263 zeugma 17, 83, 138, 150, 440, 475
white noise 305 Zimmerman, E. xiii
Whitemore, H. 9 Zipf's law 121
Whitman, Walt 39, 164, 165, 169, 387, Zola, E. 182, 271
444 zoonymy 123
whodunnit 195, 322 Zumrhor, P. 139, 173, 412, 413, 469
Wilbur, R. 221
545

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A DICTIONARY OF LITERARY DEVICES

ABC or gradus ad Pamassum [stairway to Parnassus, the seat of

Ezra Pound, ABC of Reading

Translated and adapted by

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

Toronto and Buffalo

ISBN 0-8020-2756-3 (cloth)

Originally published in French as

Printed on acid-free paper

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Dupriez, Bernard, 1933-

Translation of: Gradus: les precedes litteraires.

I. Rhetoric - Dictionaries. 2. Poetics -

PN172.D813 1991 808'.003 C91-093568-8

Extracts from the Original Introduction xv

Rhetoric is the greatest barrier between us and our ancestors. If the

The remarkable resurgence of rhetoric in recent years and the

In addition, readers who themselves aspire to become authors

held (1) that a non-problematic relationship exists between 'the'

The principal problem involved Professor Dupriez's preference

contributed to what for me has proved an enormously enriching

OEDS Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary. Compact

The following pages contain an alphabetical listing of traditional

[Gradus aims to encourage the personal involvement that readers

The two thousand-odd terms listed in the Index belong, neolog-

podosis, anticlimax*, etc. The most natural source is everyday lan-

Semantic evolution has caused the loss of meanings that I have

The Rhetorical Phenomenon

When the definitions are compared to the rhetorical phenomena

In reality, figures abound not only in literature but in everyday

object are joined by language and which is itself forgotten, only

Alphabetical "disorder' helps the user to establish the key word

Readers choose their own meanings, or they try to discover how

draws a face by joining a profile onto a semi-profile, and the result is

ABRIDGEMENT In the case of a word, the substitution of a reduced

ABSTRACTION As a literary device, abstraction consists in replac-

seventeenth-century 'precieuses,' or blue stockings. Maupassant speaks

ACCENT A phoneme or group of phonemes is articulated with

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

Other definitions: 1. A tone expressing feelings (a pathetic, oratorical,

ACCENT (AFFECTIVE) This is broadly synonymous with the

ACCENT (ANTITHETICAL) Some accents stress the beginning of

ACCUMULATION (L. 'heaping up') A combination of terms or

communications, health and sanitation ...' (William Boyd, The New

Smiles, tears of all my life - and if God choose,

cream. That to me made up our week' (L.B. Greenwood, Sherlock

ACCUSATION To represent someone as being guilty of a crime.

ACRONYM A group of abbreviatory initials, more or less lexicalized,

ACROSTIC A poem whose subject, or the author's name, or that of

Lordly knights will show cowardice.

ACTANT A function of plot-development sometimes or 'usually'

AD HOMINEM (Argument) An argument that is valid only against

Ex: 'Forever! ah my Lord, think of yourself / How terribly cruel that

ADJUNCTION A kind of ellipsis* by which a word used in one part

Adjunction may occur at the beginning (protozeugma), in the middle

ADYNATON Hyperbole involving magnification of an event by

AGNOMINATIO (alt. sp. adnominatio) Remotivation* of a proper

ALLEGORY A literary image in which the relationship between

Travels; G. Orwell, Animal Farm; R. de Obaldia, Le Tamerlan des coeurs;

ALLITERATION Multiple repetitions of an identical sound. See

echo* effect, Rl; imitative harmony, Rl; paronomasia, R2; tautogram*,

hypotheses (see supposition, R4); and depends upon synonymy (see

R4: See also denomination, R3; metonymy, R4; personification*, Rl;