Lexical expressive means and stylistic devices

The main function of metaphor is to create images. Genuine metaphors create fresh images in poetry and emo?tive prose. Trite metaphors are used as expressive means in newspapers, articles, in oratorical style and in scientific language. They help author to make the meaning more concrete and brighten his writing.

The stylistic function of the metaphor is twofold:

1) to make the author's thought more concrete, define and clear;

2) to reveal the author's emotional attitude towards what he describes.

4. Metonymy is a stylistic device based on a different type of relation between logical and contextual meanings, a relation based upon the association of contiguity. Thus the word crown may stand for "king or queen", cup or glass for "the drink it contains".

Besides their logical meanings the words "ears" and "eyes" have contextual meanings -- that of people. The interaction of two meanings of these words is based on close relations objectively existing between the part and the body itself. In trite metonymy the transferred meaning is established in the semantic structure of the word as a se?condary meaning. In the course of time its figurativeness and emotional colouring fades away. In the result of long and widely usage they become hackneyed and lose their vividness. E.g.: "Hands are wanted at the plant". Here a hand is used for "a worker"; Nickel - the coin of the US and Canada worth 5 cent; "From the cradle to the grave". Here cradle stands for "infancy", grave stands for "death". The expressiveness of metonymy may be different. Metonymy used in emotive prose is often called contex?tual and in this case is considered to be genuine and unex?pected.

Metonymy as a genuine stylistic device is used to achieve concreteness of description. By giving a specific detail connected with the phenomenon, the author evokes a concrete and life-like image and reveals certain feelings of his own. The sources where images for metonymy are borro?wed are quite different: features of a person, .names of writers and poets, names of their books, names of some instruments, etc. Synecdoche is the case when the part of an object is called instead of the whole. It has given rise to many hraseological units: not to lift a foot (do not help when help is needed), under one's roof (in one's house). The functions of metonymy are different. The general function of metonymy is building up imagery and it main?ly deals with generalization of" concrete objects.

5. Irony is such a case of interaction between logical and contextual meanings when contextual meaning of the word becomes the opposite of its logical meaning. Thus irony is a stylistic device based on the simultaneous reali?zation of two logical meanings - dictionary and contex?tual, but these two meanings stand in opposition to each other. E.g.:

"How nice to cheat your own mother".

The dictionary meaning of the word "nice" is opposite of the contextual meaning "ugly, bad".

The word containing the irony is strongly marked by intonation. It has an emphatic stress and is supplied with a special melody. In a sentence like "How clever of you!" where, due to the intonation, the word "clever" conveys a

sense opposite to its literal signification.

In most cases the sentence suffices to make irony cle?ar, as in the examples above. In certain cases a much wi?der context is needed to understand that the word is used ironically and to perceive its stylistic effect.

Irony may be expressed by any part of speech, most often by a noun, adjective, adverb. Irony must not be confused with humour, although they have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter. In this respect irony can be likened to humour. But the function of irony is not to produce a humorous ef?fect only. In some cases the irony expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret.

Stoney smiled the sweet smile of an alligator. (Steinbeck)

Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning. Therefore only positive concepts are used to convey a ne?gative meaning. The contextual meaning always conveys the negation of the positive concepts embodies in the dictionary meaning.

Irony may be used to achieve an effect of bitter moc?kery and sarcasm as well, especially when it concerns so?me social phenomena.Sometimes irony is mixed up with sarcasm. Sar?casm is a bitter or wounding remark, especially ironically worded. Usually socially or politically aimed irony is also called sarcasm.