常用英语修辞格

1、常用英语修辞格明喻(Simile)明喻是一种最简单、最常见的修辞方法，是以两种具有共同特征的事物或现象进行比照，说明本体和喻体的关系，两者都在比照中出现，其根本格式是“A像B，常用的比喻词有as, like, as if, as though等。例如：He jumped back as if he had been stung, and the blood rushed into his wrinkled face.(他往后一跳，好似被什么东西叮了一下似的，他那张布满皱纹的脸顿时涨得通红。)The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a

2、 broken wing. (支票跌落到地上，像一只断了翅膀的小鸟。) 暗喻(Metaphor)暗喻也是一种比喻，但不用比喻词，因此被称作缩减了的明喻(a compressed simile)。它直接把一种事物名称用在另一事物上，从而更生动、更深刻地说明事理，增强语言的表现力。例如：What will parents do without the electronic baby-sitter? (如果没有这位电子保姆，父母该怎么办呢？) . while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criti

3、cism, we are somehow reluctant to give our fellows the warm sunshine of praise.(但是我们中的很多人太容易给别人批评的冷风，而不愿意给自己的同伴赞扬的阳光。)转喻(Metonymy)转喻(metonymy)是通过相近的联想，借喻体代替本体。例如：My 15 students read Emerson, Thoreau, and Huxley.(我的十五位学生读了爱默生、梭罗和赫胥黎的作品。)这是典型的转喻，以人名借代作品。Against the Oval Earth man, the first card I can

4、 play is the analogy of the sun and moon. (面对“地球卵形说者，我能打的第一张牌是，太阳和月亮的相似性。)文中作者用具体第一张牌来借代抽象的“第一个论据，更加生动形象，浅显易懂，也使语言新鲜活泼，富有表现力。拟人(Personification)拟人是把人类的特点、特性加于外界事物上，使之人格化的修辞格。例如：. four evergreen shrubs stood at each corner,swheresthey struggled to survive the dust and fumes from a busy main road.(四丛常

5、绿灌木分别位于每个角落，它们忍受着从繁忙的大街上吹来的尘烟，挣扎着活下去。)“挣扎是有生命的物体的动作，作者给自然的花草赋予了生命，使它人格化。But the houses were cold, closed, unfriendly.(可是那些房子冷漠无情，门窗紧闭，一点也不友好。)house本来是没有感情的，作者通过拟人的手法，表现房子里人的冷漠无情。夸张(Hyperbole)夸张是一种成心言过其实，或夸大或缩小事物的形象，借以突出事物的某种特征或品格，鲜明地表达思想情感的修辞方式。用于描写可以使形象更生动突出，渲染气氛，衬托意境，给读者留下深刻、鲜明的印象。例如：Vingo sat stu

6、nned, looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds.(文戈坐在那儿望着橡树惊呆了。树上挂满了黄手绢二十条，三十条，或许几百条。)此句中20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds就是运用了夸张的手法，主观地渲染了气氛。She gave me the impression ofshavingsmore teeth, white and large and even, than were necess

7、ary for any practical purpose.(她给我的印象是：她有一口洁白整齐的大牙，为数之多已超过任何实际需要。)在这里作者通过夸张的描述，使一个贪婪好吃的女性形象跃然纸上。反语(Irony)英语修辞格irony就是说反话，用反面的话来表达正面的意思。这种修辞格可用来进行挖苦，但多数是用来表达一种善意的幽默或俏皮，成心说出与本意相反的话，例如：Slowly the old lady stooped to pick it (the cheque ) up. Her present, her lovely present. With trembling fingers she t

8、ore itsintoslittle bits. (老太太慢慢地弯下腰，把支票从地上捡起来，她的礼物，她的可爱的礼物！用颤抖的手指把它撕得粉碎。)老太太八十岁寿辰那天，急迫地盼望女儿回家看望她，稍稍抚慰她那颗孤寂的心，然而盼来的却是女儿的一张冷冰冰的支票，这当然不是老人心爱的礼物。故此处her lovely present是典型的irony，是句反话。She was not so young as I expected and in appearance imposing rather than attractive.(她并不如我想象的那么年轻。她的外表与其说吸引人，不如说是令人难忘。)imp

9、osing意指因为外貌、形体而使人印象深刻，作者在此以挖苦挖苦的口吻来描述一个贪吃而肥胖的女人。仿拟(Parody)根据家喻户晓的成语或谚语，临时更换其中的某个局部，造成新的成语或谚语；或者根据古今名言警句，在保持其原句不变的情况下，更换其中局部词语，这种修辞方式叫仿拟。例如：To lie or not to lie-the doctor's dilemma(撒谎还是不撒谎医生的难题)看到这个标题，我们不禁想起莎翁戏剧Hamlet中那个永远也解不透的句子“To be or not to be, that is the question。显然，文章的题目由此模仿而来，给人印象深刻。Lad

10、y hermits who are down but not out(穷困而不潦倒的女隐士们)文中的down but not out源于down and out,原是拳击比赛的术语，后来喻指穷困潦倒的人。矛盾修辞法(Oxymoron)用两种不相调和，甚至截然相反的特征来形容一项事物，在矛盾中寻求哲理，以便收到奇警的修辞效果，这就是矛盾修辞法，用这种方法，语言精炼简洁，富有哲理，并产生强大的逻辑力量，产生一种出人意料，引人入胜的效果。例如：A miserable, merry Christmas(悲喜交加的圣诞节)。圣诞节那天，故事主人公小男孩经历了从痛苦的边缘到幸福的顶峰的过程。因此，父母精心

11、安排的圣诞节既是最糟的，又是最好的。头韵(Alliteration)与前面几种修辞方式不同，头韵是一种语音修辞方式，它指一组词、一句话或一行诗中重复出现开头字母相同的单词，常用于文章的标题、诗歌及广告语中，简明生动，起到突出重点，加深印象，平衡节奏，宣泄感情的作用。例如：A miserable, merry ChristmasProfits of praise 1.生动形象的Simile明喻    2.含而不露的Metaphor隐喻   3.无灵有灵的Personification拟人    4.结构精巧的Transferr

12、ed Epithet移就    5.蕴涵新意的Synecdoche提喻    6.明抑暗扬的Understatement低调陈述   7.闪烁其词的Euphemism委婉    8.强化语意的Hyperbole夸张    9.含蓄典雅的Allusion引喻    10.相映相衬的Antithesis对照    11.排迭匀称的Parallelism平行   12.发人深思的Paradox隽语 &#

13、160; 13.矛盾统一的Oxymoron矛盾修饰   14.妙趣横生的Anticlimax突降   15.一唱三叹的Repetition重复   16.音律优美的Alliteration头韵   17.一语两意的Pun双关    18.冷嘲热讽的Irony反语    19.趣味盎然的Parody仿拟   20.化腐为奇的Zeugma轭式搭配  英语修辞(English Rhetoric)Figures of speech (

14、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 figure

15、s 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 ex

16、ample, 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

17、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 person

18、al 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 o

19、pposite of hyperbole, or overstatement. It achieves its effect of emphasizing a fact by deliberately(成心地) 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 su

20、bstitution 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 an

21、other. 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 wi

22、th 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

23、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, refer

24、s 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 re

25、fer 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

26、 a single word which is made to modify or to govern two or more words in the same sentence, wither 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)1

27、4) 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

28、 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: (挖苦 It is a strong form of irony. It attacks in a taunting and bitter manner,

29、 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 se

30、lf-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

31、) 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; sile

32、nce 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

33、 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

34、 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

35、 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 rig

36、htly 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

37、 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),

38、 or which are associated with or suggestive(提示的) of some action or movement. 英语修辞分析 日期：2005-4-6 17:55:03     来源:   编辑：  字号选择 大 中 小 / 双击滚屏 单击停止    王冬编译英语中的修辞决非“文学语言之专利，它已渗透到各种体裁，各类文体。即使是在Internet上，我们每日也能欣赏到五光十色、美不胜收的英语修辞。如：1. U.S. stocks decline;

39、 global markets churn平行结构2. Hurricane Bonnie hammers Carolina coast比喻等。再以科技英语为例，原本一本正经、味同嚼蜡的科技英语中也经常闪现修辞的光荣，如：Electric power becomes the servant of man only after the motor was invented.只是在电动机创造之后，电力才开始造福人类。再如：Alloys belong to a half-way house between mixture and compounds.合金是介于混合物和化合物的中间物质。英语广告对于修辞

40、的运用更是“穷凶极恶。如：What is your choice when inflation is slowly eroding the value of your nest eggs? 这是一家投资公司的广告，它把你平日的积蓄比作nest eggs，比喻独到，形象鲜活。再如：Wash the big city right out of your hair. 广告里的big city即刻让人意识到the dirt of the big city，生动形象。英语的修辞可以分为消极修辞和积极修辞两大类。一、 消极修辞(Passive Rhetoric Techniques)它主要指那些没有相对固

41、定格式的修辞性写作技巧，它与语法、语言结构和词汇的关系密切，只是为了修辞和立意新颖的缘故，对之做了一些调整。举一种情况进行说明：为了增加文采，强化文章的表现力，常常防止重复使用同一个词汇，而另选他词。这种无固定格式可循的消极修辞手段被称为Elegant Variation求雅换词。如在Elizabeth Razzi写的题为10 Ways to Lose Pounds 的文章中，“减肥的表达竟有8种，文笔活泼，文采灿然：1. Try to shed a few extra pounds? 2. Studies show these efforts may shave off the pounds

42、 quickly. 3. Here are ten simple strategies that can help melt away your fat forever. 4. like a logical way to peel off a few pounds. 5. roughly the amount needed to burn off one pound. 6. You must eat less to lose weight. 7. A key obstacle to dropping extra pounds is after-dinner snacking. 8. 10 Wa

43、ys to Lose Pounds. 以上8句中的斜体字让我们欣赏了英语词汇的活力与风采。遗憾的是，大局部精彩的用词不能直译。求雅换词的手法之一是大字小用，或小词大用。如：Dont take the low-fat label as a license to eat. 句子写得精彩，最难忘的是其中license一词。它是用途很广的大词。用在这里给人一种“头小帽大的感觉，新颖别致。译文很难挽留此韵。不能因为食品标明低脂肪，而敞开食用。再如：If the term sounds unscientific to 20th-century ears, let us remember there is

44、a definite connection between marshy lands and malaria 如果这个术语对生活在20世纪的人听来不科学的话，那就让我们记住在沼泽地和疟疾之间有一定的联系。求雅换词的手法之二是科技词汇和日常用词的“错位。如：Na?ve rats and frogs are said to have reacted wildly to such proposed experimented situation. Na?ve用于现代生物学时的含义为：not previously subjected to experimentation or a particular

45、experimented situation.据说，首次用来作实验的鼠和蛙对这种设定的环境改变都有剧烈反响。再如：However, there are plenty of people who like tennis. It is the megagame. Mega的含义是兆，百万，是一个科技英语的词缀。使用在这里新义溢出。但是许许多多的人喜欢网球，这是一项十分普及的运动。二、 积极修辞(Active Rhetoric Techniques)它主要指那些有相对固定格式的修辞性写作技巧。常见分类如下：1 词义修辞格(Lexical Stylistic Devices)metaphor比喻, m

46、etonymy借代, personification拟人, irony反语, hyperbole夸张, understatement低调, euphemism委婉语, contrast对照, oxymoron矛盾修辞法, transferred epithet移就, pun双关, syllepsis异叙, zeugma粘连, parody仿拟, paradox隽语2 结构修辞格(Syntactical Stylistic Devices)repetition反复, catchword repetition联珠, chiasmus回文, parallelism平行结构, antithesis反对

47、, rhetoric question设问, anticlimax突降3 音韵修辞格(Phonetic Stylistic Devices)alliteration头韵, onomatopoeia拟声三、 英语修辞的理解与翻译马克?吐温在其著名游记A Tramp Abroad中，有这样一句：We had plenty of company in the way of wagon-loads and mule-loads of tourists-and dust. 句末的-and dust看似寻常一笔，其实是一种不可多得的妙句，使用了英语中anticlimax的修辞格。如果不能识破，那么让对照阅

48、读原文者“饮恨。如：同路的有许多旅客，有乘马车的，也有骑骡子的一路尘土飞扬。/ 我们的旅伴真不少，有乘马车的，有骑骡子的，还有滚滚尘土呢。下面就几种常见的修辞格进行讲解：1 Parody仿拟如果译者功底非凡，能知作者之所“仿，那么，理解与翻译也就“水到渠成。如：Clearly, when it comes to marriage, practicing beforehand doesnt make perfect. 可以译成：显然，在婚姻问题上，婚前同居并不能令婚姻生活趋于完美。再如：When flu hits below the belt, it can be a challenge to

49、keep down anything more nourishing than tea and water. 词典对成语hits below the belt的通常解释是：用不正当手段打人原指拳击中打对方的下身。假设是照搬，译文就会闹笑话。对待“仿拟修辞格的方法之一是复原。所谓复原，即成心撇开成语的引申义，而“硬用其字面义。如：假设流感影响到了肠胃，那就只能饮用点茶水，要吃下其他东西就非常困难了。再如：Little John was born with a silver spoon in a mouth, which was rather curly and large. 英语成语to be

50、born with a silver spoon in ones mouth的含义是“出生在富贵之家。这里，作者不用此引申义，而用字面意思。试译：小约翰嘴形弯曲，且大得出奇，好似生下来的时候嘴中含了一把银勺子似的。2 Syllepsis异叙此修辞格的特点是用一个词动词、形容词或介词同时与两个词或者更多相搭配，巧用一词多义的特点。如：He first put a club in my hand when I was about ten. I threw a lot of tantrums in the upland hills of North Carolina, and clubs too.

51、I was in such a rush to be good that he would urge me to “relax and enjoy the round. The game ends far too soon. I didnt have a clue what he meant. 试译：他第一次把高尔夫球棒放在我手里的时候，我大概十岁。在北卡罗来纳州的山中，我一次次发脾气，一次次把球棒扔掉。我急于求成，老爸总是劝我“放松点，慢慢打，比赛结束得太快了。我一点儿也不明白他的意思。再如：By days end, I had drilled 4216 holes to a depth o

52、f 18 inches, and I had lost mine pounds, my hearing, feeling in both hands and the ability to lift anything heavier than the evening paper. 试译：一天快结束的时候，我已经钻了4216个深达18英寸的洞，为此，我失去了9磅体重，失去了听力，失去了双手的感觉，还失去了举起比一张晚报更重的东西的臂力。3 metonymy借代借代一般可以保存原文的修辞方式，不会引起误会，同时让译文多了一份词趣。如：So, during any five-week shape-up

53、, focus more on the tape measure than on the bathroom scale. 译文A：因此，在此五周的减肥期内，要更多地注重自己的腰围，而不是自己的体重。译文B：因此，在此五周的减肥期内，把注意力放在量腰围的卷尺上，而不是放在浴室的磅秤上。4 pun双关有许多看似无法在译文中挽留的原文形式的神韵和风采在译文中却得以挽留。如：First gentleman: Thou art always figuring disease in me, but thou art full of error, I am sound. Lucio: Nay, not as

54、 one would say, healthy; but so sound as things that are hollow; impiety has made a feast of thee. 整个对话之谐趣尽系双关词汇sound。试译：绅士甲：你总以为我有那种病，其实你大错特错，我的身体响当当的。路奇奥：响当当的，可并不结实，就像空心的东西那样响当当的，你的骨头都空了，好色的毛病把你掏空了。5 alliteration头韵英语辞格押头韵的手法历来被认为是不可译的，但是，面对alliteration，并不意味译者就无所作为。如下的两段译文就做了成功的尝试。如：Change is part

55、of life and the making of character, hon. When the things happen that you do not like, you have two choices: You get bitter or better. 试译：变化是生活的一局部，而且也塑造了人的意志品德，亲爱的。当你不喜欢的事情发生了，你有两种选择：要么痛苦不堪；要么痛快达观。再如：Predictably, the winter will be snowy, sleety, and slushy. 试译：可以预言，今年冬天将多雪，多冻雨，多泥泞。原句当中的snowy, slee

56、ty, slushy也是非常漂亮的押头韵，译者殚精竭虑，用心可嘉。6 metaphor比喻这个metaphor并非狭隘意义上的把A比作B的不使用比喻词如as, like, as if等的暗喻，而是广义上的英语词汇的比喻义。换言之，也就是英语词汇denotation(本义)之外的connotation(转义)。Peter Newmark在A Textbook of Translation中把英语中的比喻分成四类，令人耳目一新:I have suggested elsewhere that there are four types of metaphor: fossilized, stock, r

57、ecently created and original. 第一类：有学生在作文中写出如下句子：In the middle of the picnic, it started to rain cats and dogs, and everybody got soaked. 该句子被改为：While we were busy eating a picnic, a storm cloud suddenly appeared and everybody got soaked. 在A Dictionary of American Idioms中，写道：rain cats and dogs: To ra

58、in very hard; come down in torrents-A cliché. 美国朋友说: If you use this metaphor, I will doubt if you are my grandfathers uncle! 第二类：stock(常用的)这是指已被收入词典，但并不属于cliché范畴的比喻。如：flood一词的用法。She was in a flood of tears. (她泪流如注。) The corridors were flooded with girls. (走廊里挤满了女孩子。) Strawberries flooded

59、 the market and prices dropped down. (草莓充满市场，价格下跌。) 第三类的标准应该是：至少目前商未被收入词典，同时又让人接受，并感到新意扑面。如在一篇名为Rescue of A Newborn 中有三个句子：A. I focused on a small blob in the mud amid the columns of legs and trunks. B. I suddenly came upon a wall of feeding elephants. C. grabbed their lost baby and tugged her gently into a stockade of legs. 第四类：original这种比喻并非随处可见，唾手可得。它是灵感思维的产物。这种比喻在词典上无踪影可觅，而且连参照物可能也没有。如：Jeff Rennicke在A Promise of Sp