Tropes and figures of speech (literary studies)

Metaphor

A term is used in a semantically unusual context, implying a relationship of similarity between what

this term denotes and what the context demands.

Allegory

extended metaphor, mapping one constellation onto a similar other constellation

Irony

the use of a word in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning of the word

Euphemism

an inoffensive phrase substituted for one considered offensive or taboo

Litotes

substitution by double negation

Hyperbole

the use of exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis

Antonomasia

substitution of or with a proper name (e.g. “the mother of mankind” = Eve)

Simile

an explicit comparison (both concepts are named in an explicit relationship of similarity)

Personification

the representation of a thing or abstract idea as a (human) person

Metonymy

the literal term for one thing is applied to another with which it has become closely associated because of a recurrent relationship in common experience (spatial, temporal, causal relationships of contiguity)

Synecdoche

arguably a special case of metonymy, where a part of something is used to signify the whole, or the whole is used to signify a part

Elision

omission of one or more sounds. Often used to meet the requirements of a specific metre.

Alliteration

repetition of the same sound at the beginning of several words in a sequence

Assonance

repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together

Consonance

repetition of similar consonant sounds, usually close together

Paronomasia (pun)

play upon the sounds and meanings of words

Onomatopoeia

a word or combination of words whose sound resembles the sound it denotes

Portmanteau

a neologism formed by the front part of one and the last part of another word, omitting the

other parts (e.g. brunch)

Archaism

use of a word that used to be but is no longer in common use

Anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of one line or clause at the beginning of the next

Climax

mounting by degrees through linked words or phrases, usually of increasing weight and in parallel

construction

Anaphora

repetition of the same word at the beginning of successive clauses or verses

Epiphora

repetition of a closing word or words at the end of several (usually successive) clauses, sentences, or

verses

Symploce

repetition of one word or phrase at the beginning, and of another at the end, of

successive clauses, sentences, or passages; a combination of anaphora and epiphora

Geminatio

immediate repetition of a word

Polyptoton

repetition of the same word in different grammatical inflexions

Figura etymological

use of different words stemming from the same etymological root

Polysyndeton

more conjunctions than necessary between words or phrases or clauses (opposite of asyndeton)

Pleonasm

needless or redundant repetition

Asyndeton

the omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, clauses

Ellipsis

deliberate omission of a word or words

Zeugma

a kind of ellipsis in which one word, usually a verb, governs several incongruent words or clauses

Anastrophe

inversion of grammatical order

Chiasmus

two clauses or phrases which are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the corresponding words

Isocolon/parallelism

phrases of approximately equal length and corresponding structure

Antithesis

the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, often in parallel structure

Antonym

opposing concepts

Oxymoron

paradoxical utterance which conjoins two terms that are ordinarily contraries

Apostrophe

direct and explicit address either to an absent person or to an abstract nonhuman entity

Rhetorical question

a question which already implies an answer but does not give or lead us to expect one

Aporia

uncertainty or doubt about how to proceed