1明喻(simile)明喻是用来表达两种不同事物之间的相似关系,一般用like或as连接。
如:(1) O my luve is like a red,red roseThat’s newly sprung in June,O my luve is like a melodyThat’s sweetly played in tune.(Robert Burns)(2) The young hunter was as strong as a lion and as keen-eycd as an eagle.类似as…as的用法很普遍,有的成了习惯用语,如:as timid as a mouseas white as snowas black as pitchas busy as a beeEg.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。
1>.He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow.2>.I wandered lonely as a cloud.3>.Einstein only had a blanket on, as if he had just walked out of a fairy tale.2暗喻(metaphor)又称隐喻,暗喻的结构不同于明喻,没有as或like之类的比较关系词,它是隐含的比较。
英语词义通过暗喻方式可以产生转义:When the curtain fell,there was a storm of applause.He was so angry that he stormed about the house.暗喻多用to be结构来联系相比较的两个不同事物的:The society was his college.The guest is God of us.He is one of the dogs of the rich.Children are flowers of the motherland.Eg.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。
3拟人(personification)比喻可以使无生命的事物具有生命,或者赋予动物以人性,从而造成某种意象或抒发某种情感。
如:an angry sky;the grave yawned;killinghalf-an-hour;the shoulder of the hill;the foot of the mountain;the dancing daffodils; the thirsty crops.Money talked as sweetly in Athens as it had in Chicago in the old days.(John Dos Passos)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。
1>.The night gently lays her hand at our fevered heads.（把夜拟人化）2>.I was very happy and could hear the birds singing in the woods.（把鸟拟人化）转喻(metonymy) 转喻反映两个密切相关的事物的现实关系,转喻与明喻、暗喻不同,不需要两个事物相比,而是借用一个相关的事物代表本体。
因此,转喻是一种用另外一种事物的名称来代替某种事物名称的修辞手段。
如:The village rejoiced, 这里的village实际上喻指the people in the village.“转喻”的表现形式是很多的,在英语中常见的转喻有以下几种: 用一个事物来象征人或另一事物:to defy the crown(反抗君王)to be promoted to the bench(升为法官)用工具或器官来代替本体:The pen has more influence than the sword.He has an eye for beauty.Give every man thine ear,but few thy voice.用容器的各称来代替所盛的东西:They serve Chinese dishes.(中餐)The baby was brought up on the bottle.(喝牛奶或羊奶长大的)They chatted over a bottle.(边喝酒边聊天)The whole village came out to welcome the singers.(全村的人)用制造者的名字代表制成品:Do you like Schubert?I’ve never read Shakespeare.用地方代替事物:Kremlin(苏联政府)White House(美国政府)转喻可以收到言简意骇的修辞效果,给人以耳目一新的感觉,因而在诗歌中常常得以运用,从如下的诗句中我们可以感受到转喻的魅力:Sceptre and crown must tumble downAnd in the dust be equal madeWith the poor crooked scythe and spade.(J•Shirley)When from the cradle to the grave I look,Mine I conceive a melancholy book.(George Crabble,The Parish Register)Beneath the rule of men entirely greatThe pen is mightier than the sword.(Edward George Bulwer-Lytton,Richelieu)The camp,the pulpt and the lawFor rich men’s sons are free.(Percy Bysshe Shelley)在诗歌中,还有一种转喻式的“转换形容词”,这是维吉尔、斯宾塞、弥尔顿、格雷等古典派艺术诗人作品中一种文体上的特色:“Sansfoys dead dowry”(意为“死去的圣斯伏依的嫁妆”)中将形容词的dead从占有者(Sansfoys)转到被占有的东西上(dowry—嫁妆)。
在格雷的“dro wsy tinkling”(“昏昏欲睡的叮铃声”)和弥尔顿的“merry bells”(“欢乐的铃”)中,形容的实际上分别指佩铃的人和敲铃的人。
在弥尔顿的牛绳在“吹着她闷热的号角”(“winding her sultry hern”)一句中,形容词形容的是闷热的夏季黄昏,这种情形乃是由牛绳发出的嗡嗡声联想而来的。
所有这些从上下文中摘出的例子,似乎都可以从万物有灵论的角度去阅读,关键是联想的逻辑是否起作用。
虔诚的宗教诗多采用隐喻式的比喻。
但新古典主义赞美诗的作者瓦茨(I.Watts)博士则采用转喻而获得了感人的、庄严的效果:When I survey the wondrous crossOn which the Prince of Glory died,My richest gain I count but lossAnd pour contempt on all my pride.See,form his head, his hands,his sideSorrow and love flow mingled down;Did ever such love and sorrow meetOr thorns compose so rich a crown?(当我审视这奇妙的十字架光荣的王子死在那上边,我把最丰富的收获只当做损失用轻蔑浇灭我全部的傲慢。
看吧,从他的头,他的手,他的两侧混合流下的是哀愁和哀怜;这种爱和哀愁从前可曾合流或者荆棘曾编织过如此华美的皇冠?)“sorrow”与“love”等用于“water”和“blood”, 他为爱而死,他的爱是因,流血是果。
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。
提喻(synecdche)提喻也是不直接说某一事物的名称,而是借事物本身所呈现的各种对应的现象来表现。
提喻与转喻不同,转喻主要借助于密切的关系与联想,而提喻则是借助于部分相似。
转喻通常是借助于密切的关系与联想,而提喻则是借助于部分相似。
提喻通常是局部来代替整体,间或也用整体来代替局部,局部与整体之间总有相似之处。
英语词义的扩大也有通过提喻这一演变方式的,如有些词从特指扩大到一般:journal从“日报”发展到指一切“期刊”;有些词义从具体扩大到抽象,或从抽象扩大到具体:grasp从具体的“用手抓住”发展扩大为抽象的“用头脑去掌握、领会”;youth不只是抽象名词表示“年轻、青春(状态或阶段)”,在古英语中就已经可以作集合名词指“青年人”这一整体。
有的词义从专有名词扩大到普通名词:用科学家的名字watt来命名物理学的单位;此外象paper 来自papyrus(纸草,做纸的原料)也是词义通过提喻方式演变的例子。
常见的提喻有如下几种:1. 用局部代替整体:Many hands make light work. (用hand表示干活的人)The case was defended by eloquent lips.(用lips表示有辩才的人)They came to live under the same roof.(用roof表示整个房子)2. 用整体代替局部:China won the volleyball match.(用China代表中国队)3>.The fox goes very well with your cap.（整体代部分）这狐皮围脖与你的帽子很相配.3. 用个体代替整个一类:She is another Madam Curie.4. 用具体代替抽象:The father yearns in the p rince’s breast.(Dryden)5. 用抽象代替具体:The authorities(当局)6. 用材料代替事物:a piggy-bank full of coppersEg.He earns his bread by writing. 他靠写作挣钱谋生。