英语修辞手法
英语修辞手法
Rhetorical Devices
1. 比喻 (metaphor)
比喻就是打比方。可分为明喻和暗喻:
明喻 (simile):
A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared.
明喻:一种修辞手法，把两种基本不相像的东西进行比较.
用like, as, as...as, as if(though) 或用其他词语指出两个不同事物的相似之处。
O my love's like a red, red rose. 我的爱人像一朵红红的玫瑰花。
The man can't be trusted. He is as slippery as an eel. 那个人不可信赖。他像鳗鱼一样狡猾。
He jumped as if he had been stung.他像被蜇了似的跳了起来。
Childhood is like a swiftly passing dream. 童年就像一场疾逝的梦。
暗喻 (metaphor): 缩写 met.， metaph.
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to
designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.
用一个词来指代与该词所指事物有相似特点的另外一个事物。例如:
He has a heart of stone. 他有一颗铁石心肠。
The world is a stage. 世界是一个大舞台。
“A sea of troubles”“忧愁之海”
“All the world's a stage”(Shakespeare)
“整个世界一台戏”(莎士比亚) 隐喻(the metaphor)
它是根据两个事物间的某些共同的特征，用一事物去暗示另一事物的比喻方式。本体和喻体之间不用比喻词，只是在暗中打比方。举一个简单的例
子:Argument is war. 实际上argument和 war是两种不同的事物，前者是口头争论，后者是武装冲突。但argument和war都可能十分激烈，因此该句用战争(war)来暗指辨论(argum ent)的激烈程度。再如:
(1)He has a heart of stone.他铁石心肠。
(2)To me, the pageant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama.
对于我来说，四季的奇妙变幻犹如一出动人心弦、永不完结的戏。
英语中有许多数词习语和俚语，主要用作隐喻(也有个别用作明喻)。许多数词习语和俚语本身所代表的数字意思，在某种情况下往往失去具体的含义，引申演变为与某一事物相关或具有某一事物特征的含义。例如:
(1)A hundred to one it will be a failure.这件事极可能失败。
2. 换喻(metonymy)
用某一事物的名称代替另外一个与它关系密切的事物的名称，只要一提到其中一种事物，就会使人联想到另一种。比如用the White House 代替美国政府或者
总统，用the bottle来代替wine 或者alcohol，用the bar 来代替the legal profession，用 crown代替 king等。例如:
His purse would not allow him that luxury. 他的经济条件不允许他享受
那种奢华。
The mother did her best to take care of the cradle. 母亲尽最大努力照看孩子。
He succeeded to the crown in 1848. 他在1848年继承了王位。
转喻是比隐喻更进一步的比喻，它根本不说出本体事物，直接用比喻事物代替本体事物。例如:
(1)The buses in America are on strike now. 美国的公共汽车司机正在罢工(这里buses 喻指司机drivers)。
(2)The pen is mightier than the sword. 文人胜于武士(以pen, sword喻指使用这物的人)。
3. 举隅，提喻 (synecdoche)
以局部代表整体(如用手代表水手 )，以整体代表局部(如用法律代表警官 )，以特殊代表一般(如用直柄剃刀代表杀人者 )，以一般代表特殊(如用贼代表扒手 )，或用原材料代表用该材料制造的东西(如用钢代表剑 ) 例如: He earns his bread by writing. 他靠写作挣钱谋生。
The farms were short of hands during the harvest season. 在收获季节里农场缺乏劳动力。
Australia beat Canada at cricket. 澳大利亚队在板球比赛中击败了加拿大队。
He is the Newton of this century. 他是这个世纪的牛顿。
4. 拟人 (personification)
拟人，人格化:给无生命的东西或者抽象的东西赋予人的个性或绘以人的形象，把事物或者概念当作人或者具备人的品质的写法。例如:
Hunger sat shivering on the road 饥饿站在路上颤抖
Flowers danced about the lawn花儿在草地上翩翩起舞
My heart was singing. 我的心在歌唱。
This time fate was smiling to him. 这一次命运朝他微笑了。
The flowers nodded to her while she passed. 当她经过的时候花儿向她点头致意。
The wind whistled through the trees. 风穿过树丛，树叶哗哗作响。
5. 委婉 (euphemism)
用温和的、间接的词语代替生硬的、粗俗的词语，以免直接说出不愉快的事实冒犯别人或者造成令人窘迫、沮丧的局面。例如:
用to fall asleep; to cease thinking; to pass away; to go to heaven; to leave us 代替 to die
用senior citizens代替old people
用 a slow learner或者an under achiever代替a stupid pupil
用weight watcher代替 fat people
用mental hospital 代替 madhouse或者 asylum
用emotionally disturbed代替mad
用washroom, men's / women's room代替 lavatory
用 handicapped代替 crippled
用low income brackets; underprivileged; disadvantaged 代替 poor people
6. 双关 (pun)
用同音异义或者一词二义来达到诙谐幽默的效果:表面上是一个意思，而实际
上却暗含另一个意思，这种暗含的意思才是句子真正的目的所在。例如:
A cannonball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. (arms可指
手臂或者武器)
一发炮弹打断了他的腿，所以他缴械投降了。
“Can I try on that gown in the window?” asked a would-be customer.
“Certainly not, madam!” replied the salesman. 我可以试穿一下橱窗里的那件睡袍吗,或
者:我可以在橱窗里试穿那件睡袍吗,
Seven days without water make one weak (week). 七天没有水使一个人虚弱。或者:七天没有水就是一周没有水。
7. 反语 (irony)
使用与真正意义相反的词，正话反说或者反话正说，从对立的角度运用词义来产生特殊的效果。下面就是莎士比亚的戏剧 Julius Caesar 中的一个运用反语的很好的例子，Brutus出于野心刺杀了 Caesar, Caesar 的好友Antony 讥讽Brutus 说:
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—
For Brutus is an honorable man;
So are they all, all honorable men—
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.
在 Antony 的话里反复使用 honorable这个词就是一个反语的例子。反语(the irony)
反语就是说反话，用反话来表达思想、观点、事物等等。例如:
(1)There is no easy job in language learning. 语言学习不是一件容易事(no easy job,difficult job)。
(2)He seldom failed to order a bleeding. 他很少不给病人放血(实际上他常常给病人放血)。
英语中有些明喻习语在使用时也是以反语的形式出现的。如:as welcome as a storm 象暴风雨一样受欢迎(实则“不得人心”);as slender in the middle as a cow in the waist 腰细如牛(实际是“腰粗如牛”)。
8. 矛盾修饰 (oxymoron)
把相互矛盾的两个词用在一起的修辞方法。它利用词义表面的相互矛盾使表层的不和谐统一在思想内容的深层，从而揭示事物对立统一的本质特征，达到加深印象的目的。例如:
deafening silence震耳欲聋的沉默
a mournful optimist. 悲伤的乐观
She read the long-awaited letter with a tearful smile. 她带着含泪的
微笑读那封盼望已久的信。
The coach had to be cruel to be kind to his trainees.教练为了对他的
受训者仁慈就要对他们残酷。
During his useful life he often felt he was useless. 在他大有作为的
一生中他老是感到自己无用。
其他还有sweet pain; thunderous silence; luxurious poverty; heavy lightness; living death;
impossible hope 等等。
9. 轭式搭配 (zeugma)
把适用于某一事物的词语顺势用到另外一事物上的方法。在同一个句子里一个词可以修饰或者控制两个或更多的词，它可以使语言活泼，富有幽默感。例如: She opened the door and her heart to the homeless boy. 她对那无家可
归的男孩打开了房门，也敞开了胸怀。
As I left home after breakfast, I shivered inwardly as well as outwardly. 早餐之后我离开家的时候，我的里里外外都在颤抖。
I would my horse had the speed of your tongue. 我希望我的马能有你的舌头的速度。但是要和syllepsis一语双叙法区分
一语双叙法(如He took a bath and a cold. He lost the game and his temper.)
10. 移位修饰或叫转类形容词(transferred epithet)
将本应该用来修饰某一类名词的修饰语用来修饰另一类名词。例如:
There was a short, thoughtful silence. 出现了一阵短暂的、令人沉思的寂静。
The old man put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. 老人把一只令人安心的手放在我的肩膀上。 6
He closed his busy life at the age of sixty. 在六十岁时他结束了他那忙碌的一生。
This is the cheapest market in this country. 这是这个国家最便宜的市场了。 (价格便宜)
11. 头韵 (alliteration)
两个或者更多的词以相同的音韵或者字母开头就构成头韵。例如:
proud as a peacock
blind as a bat
safe and sound
“on scrolls of silver snowy sentences”(Hart Crane)
“写满银色雪般句子的卷轴上”(哈特?克兰)
Long and loudly little Lily laughed. 小莉莉长时间地、大声地笑着。
The windows waved violently in the wind. 窗户在风中剧烈地摇动。
The sun sank slowly. 太阳慢慢地下沉。
12. 渐进 (climax)
根据事物的逻辑关系，由小到大，由轻到重，由浅到深，由低到高，由少到多依次渐进地进行描述或论述。这种整齐的结构可以使人们的思想认识一层层深化提高，增强语言的感染力和说服力。例如:
I came; I saw; I conquer. 我来了;我看到了;我征服。
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. 读书使人充实;交谈使人机智;写作使人精确。
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and
digested. 书有可浅尝者，有可吞咽者，更有少数须消化咀嚼者。
Lincoln recognized worth in the common people; he loved the common people; he fought for
the common people; and he died for the common people. 林肯认识到平民大众的价值;他热爱平民大众;他为平民大众而斗争;他为平民大众而献身。
13.Hyperbaton or Inversion倒装
A figure of speech, such as anastrophe or hysteron proteron, using deviation from normal or
logical word order to produce an effect. 倒装，倒置法:一种象倒装法或逆序法的修辞方法，使用与正常或逻辑的语序相偏离的方法，从而产生一种效果
E.g: Then come the climax of the trial.
14.Repetitive 重复
E.g:From this nothing will turn us,nothing.
15.Symbol 象征
Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.
象征，标志:通过联系、类似或传统来代表其它事物的某件东西，尤指代表抽
象东西的实体
16.Antithesis 对偶
A figure of speech in which sharply contrasting ideas are juxtaposed in a balanced or parallel phrase or grammatical structure, as in 对偶:一种将强烈对立的想法并列于稳定、对等的短语或语法结构中的修辞方法，如在:
“Hee for God only, shee for God in him”(John Milton)
“他只为上帝，她则为他心中的上帝”(约翰?米尔顿)
17.Hyperbole 夸张
A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or
effect
夸张法:一种比喻，使用夸张来强调或产生某种效果，比如:
I could sleep for a year
我能睡一年
This book weighs a ton.
这书有一吨重
18.Rhetorical Question 反问
A question to which no answer is expected, often used for rhetorical effect. 反问:一种无需回答的问题，常为说服效果而使用。
E.g
“Did you help me when I needed help? Did you once offer to intercede in my behalf? Did you do anything to lessen my load?”
英语常见的修辞格
Figures of speech (修辞)are ways of making our language figurative. When we use words in other than their ordinary or literal sense to lend force to an idea, to heighten effect, or to create suggestive imagery, we are said to be speaking or writing figuratively. Now we are going to talk about some common forms of figures of speech.
1) Simile:(明喻)It is a figure of speech which makes a comparison between two unlike elements having at least one quality or characteristic (特性)in common. To make the comparison, words like as, as...as, as if and like are used to transfer the quality we associate with one to the other. For example, As cold waters to a
thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
2) Metaphor:(暗喻)It is like a simile, also makes a comparison between two unlike elements, but
unlike a simile, this comparison is implied rather than stated. For example, the world is a stage.
3) Analogy: (类比)It is also a form of comparison, but unlike simile or metaphor which usually uses comparison on one point of resemblance, analogy draws a parallel between two unlike things that have several common qualities or points of resemblance.
4) Personification: (拟人)It gives human form of feelings to animals, or life and personal
attributes(赋予) to inanimate(无生命的) objects, or to ideas and abstractions(抽象). For example,
the wind whistled through the trees.
5) Hyperbole: (夸张) It is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis. For instance, he almost died laughing.
6) Understatement: (含蓄陈述) It is the opposite of hyperbole, or overstatement. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately(故意地) understating it, impressing the listener or the reader more by what is merely implied or left unsaid than by bare statement. For instance, It is no laughing matter.
7) Euphemism: (委婉) It is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive(无冒犯) expression for
one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. For instance,
we refer to "die" as " pass away".
8) Metonymy (转喻) It is a figure of speech that has to do with the substitution of the mane of one thing for that of another. For instance, the pen (words) is mightier than the sword (forces).
9) Synecdoche (提喻) It is involves the substitution of the part for the whole, or the whole for the part. For instance, they say there's bread and work for all. She was dressed in silks.
10) Antonomasia (换喻)It has also to do with substitution. It is not often mentioned now, though it is still in frequent use. For example,
Solomon for a wise man. Daniel for a wise and fair judge. Judas for a traitor.
11) Pun: (双关语) It is a play on words, or rather a play on the
form and meaning of words. For instance, a cannon-ball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. (Here "arms" has two meanings: a person's body; weapons carried by a soldier.)
12) Syllepsis: (一语双叙) It has two connotations.
In the first case, it is a figure by which a word, or a particular
form or inflection of a word, refers to two or more words in the same sentence, while properly applying to or agreeing with only on of them in grammar or syntax(句法). For example, He addressed you and me, and
desired
us to follow him. (Here us is used to refer to you and me.)
In the second case, it a word may refer to two or more words in the same sentence. For example, while he was fighting , and losing limb and mind, and dying, others stayed behind to pursue education and career. (Here to losing one's limbs in literal; to lose one's mind is figurative, and means to go mad.)
13) Zeugma: (轭式搭配) It is a single word which is made to modify
or to govern two or more words in the same sentence, whether properly applying in sense to only one of them, or applying to them in different senses. For example, The sun shall not burn you by day, nor the moon by night. (Here noon is not strong enough to burn)
14) Irony: (反语) It is a figure of speech that achieves emphasis by saying the opposite of what is meant, the intended meaning of the words being the opposite of their usual sense. For instance, we are lucky,
what you said makes me feel real good.
15) Innuendo: (暗讽) It is a mild form of irony, hinting in a rather roundabout (曲折)way at
something disparaging(不一致) or uncomplimentary(不赞美) to the
person or subject mentioned.
For example, the weatherman said it would be worm. He must take his readings in a bathroom.
16) Sarcasm: (讽刺) It Sarcasm is a strong form of irony. It attacks
in a taunting and bitter manner, and its aim is to disparage, ridicule
and wound the feelings of the subject attacked. For example, laws are
like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps break through.
17) Paradox: (似非而是的隽语) It is a figure of speech consisting of
a statement or proposition which on the face of it seems self-contradictory, absurd or contrary to established fact or practice, but which on further thinking and study may prove to be true, well-founded, and even to contain a succinct point. For example more haste, less speed.
18) Oxymoron: (矛盾修饰) It is a compressed paradox, formed by the conjoining(结合) of two
contrasting, contradictory or incongruous(不协调) terms as in
bitter-sweet memories, orderly
chaos(混乱) and proud humility(侮辱).
19) Antithesis: (对照) It is the deliberate arrangement of contrasting words or ideas in balanced structural forms to achieve emphasis. For example, speech is silver; silence is golden.
20) Epigram: (警句) It states a simple truth pithily(有利地) and pungently(强烈地). It is usually
terse and arouses interest and surprise by its deep insight into certain aspects of human behavior or feeling. For instance, Few, save the poor, feel for the poor.
21) Climax: (渐进) It is derived from the Greek word for "ladder" and implies the progression of thought at a uniform or almost uniform rate of significance or intensity, like the steps of a ladder ascending evenly. For example, I came, I saw, I conquered.
22) Anti-climax or bathos: (突降)It is the opposite of Climax. It involves stating one's thoughts in a descending order of significance or intensity, from strong to weak, from weighty to light or frivolous. For instance, But thousands die, without or this or that, die, and endow(赋予) a college,
or a cat.
23) Apostrophe: (顿呼) In this figure of speech, a thing, place,
idea or person (dead or absent) is addressed as if present, listening and understanding what is being said. For instance, England!
awake! awake! awake!
24) Transferred Epithet: (转类形容词) It is a figure of speech where an epithet (an adjective or descriptive phrase) is transferred from the noun it should rightly modify(修饰) to another to which
it does not really apply or belong. For instance, I spent sleepless nights on my project.
25) Alliteration: (头韵) It has to do with the sound rather than the sense of words for effect. It is a device that repeats the same sound at frequent intervals(间隔) and since the sound repeated is
usually the initial consonant sound, it is also called "front rhyme". For instance, the fair breeze
blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free.
26) Onomatopoeia: (拟声) It is a device that uses words which
imitate the sounds made by an object (animate or inanimate), or which
are associated with or suggestive(提示的) of some action
or movement. (1)He flopped down the bag and ran to help us. 他噗地一
声放下袋子，赶来帮
助我们。
(2)The door banged shut. 门砰地一声关上了。
常见的英语用as...as表示的明喻形式
as absurd(荒唐) as putting together the pieces of vase
as bare as the back of one hand/a picked bone
as bald(秃) as a coot
as black as coal/ink/jet/midnight/pitch/soot/Styx/
as blind as a bat/beetle/mole
as bold as brass/a lion
as brave as a lion
as bright as a day/noonday/silver
as brittle as glass
as brown as berry
as busy as a bee
as changeable as weather/a clock/the moon
as cheerful as a lark
as clear as a bell/a day/crystal/ daylight/the nose on your face as close as a clam/an oyster
as common as dirty
as cold as ice/marble/a stone/a cucumber/a key/charity/frog
as cool as a cucumber
as cross as a bear
as cunning(狡猾) as a fox
as dark as pitch
as dead as a door nail/mutton as deaf as a post/a beetle/an adder as deep as a wall
as different as chalk from cheese as distinct as a day and night as dry as dust/a stick/a bone/a biscuit as drunk as a lord/a mouth/a sane as dumb as a statue/an oyster/a fish as dull as sawdust/cold dish water as easy as ABC/lying/milking/shelling peas/my eye/an old shoe/going down the river/chasing a
cow out of a meadow/pie/anything as empty as a drum
as fair as a rose
as far as the eye could see
as fat as a pit/butter
as fierce as a tiger
as firm as rock
as fit as a flea/a fiddle
as flat as a pancake/a board as free as a bird/air
as fleet (swift) as a deer
as fresh as a rose/a daisy
as gay as a lark
as gaudy(华丽) as a butterfly/a peacock as gentle as a lamb
as good as gold/a play
as graceful as a swan
as grave as a judge
as greedy as a dog/a wolf/a pig as green as grass
as gruff(粗暴) as a bear
as happy as a lark/the day is long/a king as hard as flint/marble/a stone/iron/nails as harmless as a dove
as heavy as a lead
as healthy as the fresh wind as hoarse(嘶哑) as a crow
as hot as fire/pepper
as hungry as a wolf/a hunter as innocent(天真) as a dove
as keen as mustard(芥母)
as large as life
as light as air/a butterfly/a feather/a cork/thistledown/
as like as two peas/two drops of water/two pees/chalk and cheese as loose as a rope of sand as loud as thunder
as mad as a March hare/a hatter(帽商)
as mean(卑鄙) as Scrooge
as merry as a cricket
as motionless as statue as mute as a fish/mice
as nimble(灵巧) as a squirrel
as noise as a mynah
as obstinate as a mule
as old as the hills
as pale as death/wax/a ghost as patient as an ox
as plain as the nose on one's face/a pikestaff
as pleased as Punch
as playful as a kitten
as plentiful as blackberries as plump(胖)as a partridge(鹌鹑)
as poor as a church mouse/a beggar
as pretty as a picture
as proud as a peacock
as pure as the world of all as quick as lightning/thought as quiet
as a lamb/a mouse as rapid as lightning
as red as fire/a rose/a cheery/blood/beetroot
as regular as clockwork as rich as Jesus/Croesus as rigid as a stone as ripe as a cherry
as round as an apple /a glob/a barrel
as salty as a herring
as sharp as a needle/razor as silent as a dead/the stars/the
grave/sphinx/a morgue
as silly as a goose/a sheep as slender as a gossamer(蜘蛛)
as slippery as an eel
as sly as a fox
as slow as a tortoise
as smooth as butter/oil/glass/velvet
as sober(严肃) as a judge
as soft as butter/silk/wax/down(绒毛)
as sound as a bell
as sour as a crab/vinegar
as steady as a rock
as stiff as a poke/a post/death/ a grave as tough as leather /nails as straight as an arrow
as tricky(聪明) as a monkey
as strong as a horse/a lion
as true as steel
as stubborn(固执) as a mule
as stupid as a donkey
as sure as death
as surely as the night follows the day as sweet as honey/sugar
as swift as an arrow/lightning/the wind as tall as a maypole/a steeple/a poplar as tame(驯服) as a cat
as tender as chicken
as thick as cable/hail/a stone/ porridge/a wall as thin as rake/ water/shipping post/a bag of bones/a lath
as timid as a hare/a rabbit/mice as tough as leather/bulls
as tricky as a monkey
as true as steel
as ugly as scare/a crow/a toad
as unstable as the very devil
as vain as water/a peacock
as warm as taost
as watchful as a hawk
as weak as baby/a cat/kitten
as wet as water/a drowned cat
as white as snow/sheet/wool/flour as wise as Solomon/a serpent/an owl as yielding(服从) as wax
据说马克?吐温有一次应邀前往一所大学演讲，内容是关于学生到底该不该听从父母的管教，演讲的第一句话就是:
1(Always obey your parents — when they are present.
语音未落，掌声四起。
试比较:
When your parents are present, always obey them.
其中的奥妙想必聪明的你已经心领神会了吧。