When polysemous, one of the meanings of a word is direct, and everyone else - portable.

Direct meaning of the word- this is its main lexical meaning. It is directly aimed at the subject (immediately evokes an idea of ​​the subject, phenomenon) and is least dependent on the context. Words denoting objects, actions, signs, quantity, most often appear in

direct meaning.

Portable meaning of the word- this is its secondary meaning that arose on the basis of the direct one. For example:

Toy, -and, and. 1. A thing used for playing. Kids toys.

2. transfer One who blindly acts according to someone else's will is an obedient instrument of someone else's will (disapproved). To be a toy in someone's hands.

The essence of polysemy lies in the fact that some name of an object or phenomenon is transferred, transferred also to another object, another phenomenon, and then one word is used as the name of several objects or phenomena simultaneously. Depending on the basis on which the name is transferred,” there are three main types of figurative meaning: 1) metaphor; 2) metonymy; 3) synecdoche.

Metaphor(from the Greek metaphora - transfer) - this is the transfer of a name by similarity, for example: ripe apple -eyeball(by form); human nose- bow of the ship(by location); chocolate bar- chocolate tan(by color); bird wing- airplane wing(by function); the dog howled- the wind howled(according to the nature of the sound), etc. yes

Metonymy(then Greek metonymia - renaming) is the transfer of a name from one object to another based on their contiguity *, for example: water is boiling- behindthe kettle is boiling; porcelain dish- tasty dish; native gold- Scythian gold etc. A type of metonymy is synecdoche.

Synecdoche(from the Greek “synekdoche” - co-implying) is the transfer of the name of the whole to its part and vice versa, for example: thick currant- ripe currants; beautiful mouth- extra mouth(about an extra person in the family); bighead- clever mind etc.

In the process of developing figurative names, a word can be enriched with new meanings as a result of narrowing or expanding its basic meaning. Over time figurative meanings may become straight.

It is possible to determine in what meaning a word is used only in context. Compare, for example, the sentences: 1) Wesat on the corner bastion, so it could go both wayssee everything (M. Lermontov). 2) In Tarakanovka, as in the deepest bearish corner, there was no place for secrets (D. Mamin-Sibiryak)

* Adjacent - located directly next to, having about border.

In the first sentence the word corner used in its literal meaning: “the place where two sides of something meet or intersect.” And in stable combinations “in a blind corner”, “bearish corner” the meaning of the word will be figurative: in a remote corner- in remote areas, bearliving corner - desolate place.

In explanatory dictionaries direct meaning of the word is given first, and figurative values ​​are numbered 2, 3, 4, 5. The value recorded as figurative recently comes with the mark "peren" For example:

Wood,-oh, -oh. 1. Made from wood, 2. trans. Motionless, unexpressive. Wooden facial expression. ABOUT Wood oil- cheap grade of olive oil.

To explain in a more accessible language, I'll start right away with an example.

Let's say you accidentally sit on a needle - you are in pain, annoyed, you are irritated. But you took a direct action - you sat on this specific object.
And here "sit on pins and needles", precisely, is used in a figurative sense. After all, you are not really sitting on them, but experiencing these feelings - anger, uncertainty, languor, excitement of the soul, irritation.

There are words and expressions that, in addition to their direct purpose (the name of a specific object, action, characteristic), also have a second lexical meaning, which refers to a completely different object, action. That is, the name, characteristics, properties, actions of one object p-e-r-e-n-o-s-i-t-s-i on another object have a different, secondary meaning.

Examples:

The word “float”: a boat, a person on water, a ship can float, and we can also say that the clouds “float”, the ruble “floats” on the stock exchange, the thoughts “float” in my head.

• The word “sit”: a person can sit on a chair, a dog on the ground, but a hat on a head or a dress on a girl can “sit”.

Basically, words in a figurative meaning are descriptive in nature and reflect the properties of objects, the characteristics of an action, or a feeling. And it appears on the basis of the similarity of objects - externally, in function, physical characteristics, properties, etc.

The word “iron” (properties - hard, not bendable) - strong, like iron - iron character.

There are words that carry several figurative meanings and meanings at once.

The same words can be used in different ways in speech, receiving different meanings. Stand out straight And portable meanings of words. Direct(or basic, main) meaning of a word is a meaning that directly correlates with the phenomena of objective reality.

Yes, words table, black, boil have the following meanings: 1. A piece of furniture in the form of a horizontal board on high supports, legs; 2. Color of soot, coal; 3. Seethe, bubble, evaporate from strong heat (about liquids). These values ​​are stable, although historically they may change. For example, the word table in the Old Russian language it meant “throne”, “reign”.

The direct meanings of words depend less than others on the context, on the nature of connections with other words.

Portable(indirect) meanings of words - those meanings that arise as a result of the conscious transfer of a name from one phenomenon of reality to another on the basis of similarity, commonality of their characteristics, functions, etc.

Yes, word table used in several figurative meanings: 1. A piece of special equipment or part of a cold-formed machine ( operating table, raise the machine table); 2. Nutrition, food ( rent a room with a table); 3. A department in an institution in charge of a special range of affairs ( information desk).

Word black has the following figurative meanings: 1. Dark, as opposed to something lighter, called white ( black bread); 2. Has taken on a dark color, darkened ( black from tan); 3. In the old days: chicken ( black hut); 4. Gloomy, desolate, heavy ( black thoughts); 5. Criminal, malicious ( black treason); 6. Not main, auxiliary ( back door in the house); 7. Physically difficult and unskilled ( dirty work).

Word boil has the following figurative meanings:

1. Manifest to a strong degree ( work is in full swing); 2. To manifest something with force, to a strong degree ( seethe with indignation); 3. Move randomly ( river was boiling with fish).

As we see, when transferring meaning, words are used to name phenomena that do not serve as a constant, usual object of designation, but are brought closer to another concept by various associations that are obvious to speakers.

Figurative meanings can retain figurativeness ( black thoughts, black betrayal). However, these figurative meanings are fixed in the language; they are given in dictionaries when interpreting words. This is how figurative meanings differ from metaphors created by writers.

In most cases, when transferring meanings, imagery is lost. For example: pipe elbow, teapot spout, carrot tail, clock ticking. In such cases, they speak of extinct imagery in the lexical meaning of the word.

The transfer of names occurs on the basis of similarities in something between objects, characteristics, and actions. The figurative meaning of a word can be attached to an object (sign, action) and become its direct meaning: teapot spout, door handle, table leg, book spine, etc.

The value transfer process goes like this : baby's foot(direct) - table leg(portable) - table leg(direct).

The primary, direct meaning can sometimes be restored only by studying the history of the word.

Let us summarize the above material in the table:

Types of portable values

Depending on what attribute the meaning is transferred from one object to another; the following types of figurative meanings of a word are distinguished.

1) Transfer of values ​​according to any similarity between objects and phenomena. Such figurative meanings are called metaphorical. Metaphor(from the Greek Metaphora - transfer) is the transfer of a name from one object, action, property, phenomenon to other actions, properties, phenomena based on the similarity of their characteristics (for example, shape, color, function, location and etc.). Examples of metaphorical meanings:
a) onion head, eyeball - transfer based on the similarity of the shape of objects;
b) the bow of a boat, the tail of a train, the head of a nail - transfer based on the similarity of the arrangement of objects;
c) wiper (meaning “a cleaning device on the glass of a car”), electric position, watchman (meaning “a device on a dish for holding boiling milk”) - transfer based on the similarity of the functions of objects.

Many metaphorical figurative meanings of the word are characterized by anthropomorphism, that is, the likening of the properties of the surrounding physical world to the properties of a person. Compare these examples: an evil wind, indifferent nature, the breath of spring, “The River is Playing” (the title of the story by V.G. Korolenko), the stream is running, the volcano has awakened, etc.

On the other hand, some properties and phenomena of inanimate matter are transferred to the human world, for example: a cold look, an iron will, a heart of stone, a golden character, a mop of hair, a ball of thoughts, etc. There are metaphors general language, when one or another metaphorical meaning of a word is used widely, as a result of which it is known to all speakers of a given language (nail head, river branch, black envy, iron will), and individual, created by a writer or poet, characterizing his stylistic style and not becoming widespread. Compare, for example, metaphors:
S.A. Yesenin: fire of red rowan, birch tongue of the grove, chintz of the sky, grains of the eyes, etc.;
B.L. Pasternak: the labyrinth of the lyre, the bloody tears of September, the buns of lanterns and the crumpets of the roofs, etc.

2) Transfer of name from one subject to another based on adjacency these items. This transfer of values ​​is called metonymy(from Greek Metonymia - renaming). Metonymic transfers of meaning are often formed according to certain regular types:
a) material - a product made from this material. For example, the words gold and crystal can denote products made from these materials (she has gold in her ears; there is solid crystal on the shelves);
b) vessel - the contents of the vessel (ate two plates, drank a cup);
c) author - the works of this author (I read Pushkin, I know Nerkasov by heart);
d) action - an object of action (actions aimed at publishing a book, an illustrated edition of a book as an object);
e) action - the result of action (construction of a monument - monumental structure);
f) action - a means or instrument of action (putty of cracks - fresh putty, fastening of gear - ski binding, transmission of movement - bicycle transmission);
g) action - place of action (exiting the house - standing at the exit, traffic stop - bus stop);
h) animal - fur or meat of an animal (a hunter caught a fox - what kind of fur is it, arctic fox or fox?).

One of the peculiar types of metonymy is synecdoche. Synecdoche(from the Greek Sinekdoche - ratio) - the ability of a word to name both a part of something and the whole. For example, the words face, mouth, head, hand designate the corresponding parts of the human body. But each of them can be used to name a person: unauthorized persons are prohibited from entering; in family five mouths; Kolya- light head.

Some characteristic features person - beard, glasses, clothes and others are often used to indicate a person.
For example:
- Hey, beard, where are you going?
- I’m standing behind the blue cloak...

“It’s true that it’s expensive,” sigh the red trousers (Ch.) Direct meaning of the word

- this is its main lexical meaning. It is directly directed to the designated object, phenomenon, action, sign, immediately evokes an idea of ​​them and is least dependent on the context. Words most often appear in their literal meaning. figurative meaning of the word

Toy, -i, f. 1. A thing used for playing. Kids toys. 2. transfer One who blindly acts according to someone else's will is an obedient instrument of someone else's will (disapproved). To be a toy in someone's hands.

The essence of the transfer of meaning is that the meaning is transferred to another object, another phenomenon, and then one word is used as the name of several objects at the same time. In this way, the polysemy of the word is formed. Depending on the basis on which the transfer of meaning occurs, there are three main types of transfer of meaning: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche.

Metaphor (from the Greek metaphora - transfer) is the transfer of a name by similarity:

ripe apple - eyeball (in shape); the nose of a person - the bow of a ship (by location); chocolate bar - chocolate tan (by color); bird wing - airplane wing (by function); the dog howled - the wind howled (according to the nature of the sound); and etc.

Metonymy (from the Greek metonymia - renaming) is the transfer of a name from one object to another based on their contiguity:

water boils - the kettle boils; a porcelain dish is a delicious dish; native gold - Scythian gold, etc.

Synecdoche (from the Greek synekdoche - co-implication) is the transfer of the name of the whole to its part and vice versa:

thick currant - ripe currant; a beautiful mouth - an extra mouth (about an extra person in the family); big head - smart head, etc.

20. Stylistic use of homonyms.

Homonyms are words that sound the same but have different meanings. As is known, within homonymy, lexical and morphological homonyms are distinguished. Lexical homonyms belong to the same part of speech and coincide in all their forms. For example: a key (from a lock) and a (icy) key.

Morphological homonymy is the homonymy of individual grammatical forms for the same word: three is a numeral and the imperative form of the verb to rub.

These are homophones, or phonetic homonyms, - words and forms of different meanings that sound the same, although they are spelled differently. flu - mushroom,

Homonyms also include homographs - words that have the same spelling but differ in emphasis: castle - castle

21. Stylistic use of synonyms.

Synonyms are words that denote the same concept, therefore, identical or similar in meaning.

Synonyms that have the same meaning, but differ in stylistic coloring. Among them, two groups are distinguished: a) synonyms belonging to different functional styles: live (neutral interstyle) - live (official business style); b) synonyms belonging to the same functional style, but having different emotional and expressive shades. smart (with a positive coloring) - brainy, big-headed (roughly familiar coloring).

semantic-stylistic. They differ in meaning and in stylistic coloring. For example: wander, wander, hang around, stagger.

Synonyms perform various functions in speech.

Synonyms are used in speech to clarify thoughts: He seemed a little lost, as if he was afraid (I. S. Turgenev).

Synonyms are used to contrast concepts, which sharply highlights their differences, especially strongly emphasizing the second synonym: He actually did not walk, but dragged along without lifting his feet from the ground

One of the most important functions of synonyms is the substitution function, which allows you to avoid repeating words.

Synonyms are used to construct a special stylistic figure

Stringing synonyms can, if handled ineptly, indicate the author’s stylistic helplessness.

Inappropriate use of synonyms gives rise to a stylistic error - pleonasm (“memorable souvenir”).

Two types of pleonasms: syntactic and semantic.

Syntactic appears when the grammar of the language makes it possible to make some function words redundant. “I know he will come” and “I know he will come.” The second example is syntactically redundant. It's not a mistake.

Positively, pleonasm can be used to prevent information loss (to be heard and remembered).

Also, pleonasm can serve as a means of stylistic design of a statement and a technique of poetic speech.

Pleonasm should be distinguished from tautology - repetition of unambiguous or the same words (which can be a special stylistic device).

Synonymy creates wide possibilities for selecting lexical means, but searching for the exact word costs the author a lot of work. Sometimes it is not easy to determine exactly how synonyms differ, what semantic or emotional-expressive shades they express. And it is not at all easy to choose from a multitude of words the only correct, necessary one.

/ Question 44

Question 44. Direct and figurative meanings of the word. Metaphor.

In the semantic structure of words with free lexical

values ​​differ direct and figurative meanings . Single digits

words, as a rule, have only direct meanings (for example,

boletus, boletus - names of varieties of mushrooms). Multiple-valued

words usually contain both direct and figurative meanings (for example,

bagel: 1) “a special type of bread product baked from choux pastry

and shaped like a ring"; 2) colloquial, portable - “steering wheel

car" (turn the steering wheel); 3) colloquial, figurative - “zero for

designation of loss in the table of sports competitions" (get

steering wheel).

Direct and figurative meanings differ in the nature of their connection with

denoted: with direct values, this connection is direct, immediate,

when figurative - indirect (through direct meaning); in other words,

if a word names something directly (not through an image), it has a direct

meaning, for example: snake - “reptile”; if he calls the word

object, sign, action through an image, then it has a figurative meaning,

for example: a snake is a “cunning person.”

The word used in its literal meaning fulfills a purely

nominative function, i.e. serves the purpose of naming certain

phenomena of reality. For example, the word field in its lines

meanings can name: 1) a zone of military operations (battlefield); 2) plot

the body on which the operation is performed (surgical field); 3)

space in which the action of any forces is detected

(magnetic field, gravitational field); 4) the area where the

mines (minefield), etc.

A word used in a figurative meaning, in addition to the nominative

functions, also contains an emotional assessment of the designated phenomenon,

brings a touch of solemnity, elation, or, on the contrary,

disapproval, neglect, irony, etc. Thus, the word field used

in a figurative sense, along with designating the area of ​​activity

person, also expresses a shade of some elation,

solemnity, acts as a synonym for the word field (to compete in

field of eloquence).

The development of multiple meanings in a word often occurs as a result

transfer of names from some objects and their characteristics to others. IN

depending on the nature and characteristics of these signs, depending on

various grounds for transferring a name from one item to

another, we can talk about several ways of this kind of transfer, and

namely: about linguistic metaphor, metonymy and synecdoche.

Metaphor.

Transferring a name from one object, action, property to another based on the similarity of their characteristics (shape, color, function, etc.) is called metaphor.

Eg: head onion, eye apple , needles pine trees– transfer based on the similarity of the shape of objects.

Many metaphorical figurative meanings are characterized by anthropomorphism, those. the use of the properties of the surrounding physical world to the properties of a person. Eg: wicked wind, indifferent nature, breath spring. On the other hand, some properties of inanimate matter are transferred to the human world: cold sight, iron will, stone heart, gold character, cargo experienced shock hair, clew thoughts and so on.

There are metaphors general language, when one or another metaphorical meaning of a word is widely used and known to all speakers of a given language ( nail head, bayou, black envy, iron will etc.), and individual, created by a writer or poet, characterizing his stylistic style and not becoming widespread; For example: metaphors of S. A. Yesenin: fire of red rowan, birch tongue of the grove etc., metaphors of B. L. Pasternak: labyrinth of the lyre, bloody tears of September and so on.

6. Polysemy (polysemy) as a systemic semantic phenomenon. Direct and figurative meaning of the word. Reflection of figurative meanings in dictionaries.

There are words, the content of which is limited by their ability to name one concept, one phenomenon of reality, one sign, etc. Such words are called unambiguous . For example, the verb “get angry” is used only in the sense of “to be in a state of irritation, anger.”

Along with unambiguous words, there are many words in the Russian language that have two, three or more meanings. So, the word sunset refers to: 1) sunset (or another luminary), 2) red lighting at sunset, 3) the end of someone’s life, career, etc. Polysemy of a word, or polysemy – this is the presence of several meanings for a word. A word, initially unambiguous, can acquire new meanings over time. Polysemy is a living phenomenon that arises from a series of words before our eyes. Polysemy is one of the inexhaustible reserves of expressive speech.

According to the method of nomination, direct and figurative meanings of words are distinguished. The direct (basic, main) meaning of a word is a meaning that directly correlates with the phenomena of objective reality. For example, black is “the color of soot, coal.” These values ​​are stable, although they may change historically. For example, the word “stol” in the Old Russian language meant “throne, reign, capital.”

Transferable (indirect) meanings arise as a result of the transfer of a name from one phenomenon of reality to another on the basis of similarity, commonality of their characteristics, functions, etc. The word “black” has the following figurative meanings:

1. “dark” - as opposed to lighter: “black bread”

2. “Gloomy, desolate”: “dark thoughts”

3. Criminal, malicious: “black treason”

Etc. Thus, indirect meanings appear in words that are not directly correlated with the concept, but are brought closer to it through various associations.

Dictionaries - for example, explanatory and etymological ones - always reflect the direct meanings of words. Figurative meanings are indicated only when they are stable, that is, the word is often used in a figurative meaning. If a word has many figurative meanings, then only some of them can be given in the dictionary.

The figurative meanings of words are often indicated in dictionaries of occasionalisms and in dictionaries of author’s vocabulary and phraseology.

7. Metaphorical type of figurative meaning of a word.

Metaphor – type of name transfer similarity .

A metaphor can be based on external similarity, for example, on the similarity of the shape of two objects: a steering wheel (a dough product) - a steering wheel (a steering wheel in the speech of drivers). The metaphor can also be based on the similarity of color: a gold bracelet is a golden coast. And also on the similarity of the functions of two or several objects: a heart valve - a jacket valve.

Many metaphors arise when transferring the name of an inanimate object, a sign, into the human world and vice versa: black earth - black melancholy, a steel knife - steel nerves.

According to the degree of expressiveness and stylistic role in speech, metaphors can be divided into three main groups:

dry (erased, petrified, dead). These metaphors are now perceived as direct, and not figurative names of things, phenomena, actions, signs. They are found in any style of speech, including scientific, official, etc. Each such metaphor is indicated as a separate independent meaning of the word. The spout of the teapot, the leg of the table.

figurative orthopoetic . Their portable nature is clearly felt. In literary studies, metaphors are precisely these cases of figurative use of words. Orthopoetical metaphors are also recorded in explanatory dictionaries (often marked “translated”, i.e. figurative use)

Copyright or individual . These are words used by a writer, a poet in an unusual, fresh meaning - they are not recorded in dictionaries. (I’m wandering through the first snow, lilies of the valley of flaring strength are in my heart. S.E.) Often found in humorous and satirical texts.

Extended metaphors are common in figurative speech. Such metaphors form words that, in the literal sense, are closely related in meaning. When used figuratively, they create a series of interdependent, interconnected links.

Direct and figurative meaning of the word. Examples:

Diana Bobrova

Examples:

but figurative is when you do not speak in the literal sense, for example, a heart of gold does not mean that it is golden, but in the sense that it is good, but direct when, for example, golden earrings, this is the literal meaning they are golden from gold
rye, golden - Gold hands

Vetuska-krasatuska samoylova

The direct meaning of a word is its basic lexical meaning. It is directly directed to the designated object, phenomenon, action, sign, immediately evokes an idea of ​​them and is least dependent on the context. Words most often appear in their literal meaning.

The figurative meaning of a word is its secondary meaning, which arose on the basis of the direct one.
Examples:
steel nail - direct meaning
nerves of steel - figurative meaning
big stone - direct meaning
big football - figurative meaning

Vadim Andronov

Portable (indirect) meanings of words are those meanings that arise as a result of the conscious transfer of a name from one phenomenon of reality to another on the basis of similarity, commonality of their characteristics, functions, etc.

Thus, the word TABLE is used in several figurative meanings:
1. A piece of special equipment or part of a cold-formed machine (operating table, raise the machine table);
2. Meals, food (rent a room with a table);
3. A department in an institution in charge of a special range of cases (help desk).

The word BLACK has the following figurative meanings:
1. Dark, as opposed to something lighter called white (brown bread);
2. Has taken on a dark color, darkened (black from tanning);
3. In the old days: Kurnoy (black hut);
4. Gloomy, desolate, heavy (black thoughts);
5. Criminal, malicious (black treason);
6. Not the main one, the auxiliary one (the back door in the house);
7. Physically difficult and unskilled (menial work).

The word BOIL has the following figurative meanings:
1. Manifest to a strong degree (work is in full swing);
2. Manifest something with force, to a strong degree (boil with indignation);
3. Move randomly (the river was boiling with fish).

As we see, when transferring meaning, words are used to name phenomena that do not serve as a constant, usual object of designation, but are brought closer to another concept by various associations that are obvious to speakers.

Figurative meanings can retain imagery (black thoughts, black betrayal). However, these figurative meanings are fixed in the language; they are given in dictionaries when interpreting words. This is how figurative meanings differ from metaphors created by writers.

In most cases, when transferring meanings, imagery is lost. For example: a pipe bend, a teapot spout, a carrot tail, a clock ticking. In such cases, they speak of extinct imagery in the lexical meaning of the word.

The transfer of names occurs on the basis of similarities in something between objects, characteristics, and actions. The figurative meaning of a word can be attached to an object (sign, action) and become its direct meaning: the spout of a teapot, a door handle, a table leg, the spine of a book, etc.

What is a figurative meaning and what is a direct meaning?

Sideropulo yanik

direct meaning.

For example:

Dikhanbaeva

In the Russian language there are unambiguous and ambiguous words. Polysemantic ones have several meanings, the first and main meaning is the direct meaning, and the remaining meanings, as a rule, are figurative, derived meanings from the direct one. For example: stone house (house made of stone) - stone is used in the literal meaning), stone heart - figuratively, i.e. the heart is not made of stone, we are talking about a cruel person. people who do not distinguish between these meanings, those who have poor humor and imaginative thinking, are often stupid and offended when the interlocutor uses words with a figurative meaning in speech. But this is their problem, let them develop their linguistic taste.

Masha Petrova

Examples:
Kolya glows with happiness
Cheeks burn in the cold.
Frost bound the river.
Our school went on a cleanup day.
The boat stuck its nose to the shore.
The artilleryman was cleaning the cannon barrel. Hole head.
Golden hands
Iron character,
END!!!

Lera Zhivina

The direct meaning of a word is its basic lexical meaning. It is directly aimed at the subject (immediately evokes an idea of ​​the subject, phenomenon) and is least dependent on the context. Words denoting objects, actions, signs, quantity, most often appear in
direct meaning.
The figurative meaning of a word is its secondary meaning that arose on the basis of the direct
For example:
Toy, -i, f. 1. A thing used for playing. Kids toys.
2. transfer One who blindly acts according to someone else's will is an obedient instrument of someone else's will (disapproved). To be a toy in someone's hands.

Lyubava Egorova

The same words can be used in different ways in speech, receiving different meanings. Direct and figurative meanings of words are distinguished. The direct (or basic, main) meaning of a word is a meaning that directly correlates with the phenomena of objective reality.
Thus, the words table, black, boil have the following basic meanings: 1. A piece of furniture in the form of a horizontal board on high supports or legs; 2. Color of soot, coal; 3. Seethe, bubble, evaporate from strong heat (about liquids). These values ​​are stable, although historically they may change. For example, the word stol in the Old Russian language meant “throne”, “reign”.
The direct meanings of words depend less than others on the context, on the nature of connections with other words.
Portable (indirect) meanings of words are those meanings that arise as a result of the conscious transfer of a name from one phenomenon of reality to another on the basis of similarity, commonality of their characteristics, functions, etc.

Many words in Russian have both direct and figurative meanings. We will talk about what this phenomenon is, how to define a word in a figurative meaning and how this transfer occurs in our article.

About the literal and figurative meaning of the word

Even from the elementary grades of school, we know that words in the Russian language have a direct meaning, that is, a basic one, directly related to any object or phenomenon. For example, for the noun " exit" it is “an opening in a wall or fence through which one can leave a confined space” (Another exit into the courtyard, hiding behind a secret door).

But in addition to the direct meaning, there is also a figurative meaning of the word. Examples of such values ​​in one lexical item often numerous. So, the same word " exit" This:

1) a way to get rid of the problem (Finally we came up with a decent exit from the situation);

2) the quantity of products produced (As a result exit details turned out to be slightly lower than expected);

3) appearance on stage ( Exit the main character was met with a standing ovation);

4) exposure rocks(In this place exit limestone made the rocks almost white).

What influences the transfer of the meaning of a word

Depending on what specific feature can be associated with the transfer of the name of one object to another, linguists distinguish three types of it:

1. Metaphor (transfer is associated with the similarity of characteristics of different objects).
2. Metonymy (based on the contiguity of objects).
3. Synecdoche (transfer general meaning for part of it).

The figurative meaning of the word based on the similarity of functions is also considered separately.

Now let's take a closer look at each of the listed types.

What is a metaphor

As mentioned above, a metaphor is a transfer of meaning based on the similarity of features. For example, if objects are similar in shape (the dome of a building - the dome of the sky) or in color (golden jewelry - golden sun).

The metaphor also implies the similarity of other meanings:

• by function ( heart human - the main organ, heart city ​​- main area);
• by the nature of the sound ( grumbles old lady - grumbles kettle on the stove);
• by location ( tail animal - tail trains);
• on other grounds ( green I am youth - not mature; deep melancholy - it is difficult to get out of it; silk hair - smooth; soft the look is pleasant).

The figurative meaning of a word in the case of a metaphor can also be based on the animation of inanimate objects, and vice versa. For example: the whisper of leaves, gentle warmth, nerves of steel, an empty look, etc.

Metaphorical rethinking is also not uncommon, based on the convergence of objects according to seemingly different characteristics: gray mouse - gray fog - gray day - gray thoughts; sharp knife - sharp mind - sharp eye - sharp corners (dangerous events) in life.

Metonymy

Another trope that uses words used figuratively is - This is metonymy. It is possible under the condition of contiguity of concepts. For example, transferring the name of the premises ( Class) to the group of children in it ( Class rose to meet the teacher) is a metonymy. The same thing happens when you transfer the name of an action to its result (do baking bread - fresh bakery) or properties on their owner (have bass- the aria was sung by the talented bass).

The same principles apply to the transfer of the author’s name to his works ( Gogol- staged in the theater Gogol; Bach- listen Bach) or the name of the container for the contents ( plate- he already two plates ate). Adjacency (proximity) is also monitored when transferring the name of a material to a product made from it ( silk- she in silks walked) or tools for the person working with him ( braid- apparently here braid walked).

Metonymy is an important way of word formation process

With the help of metonymy, any word in a figurative meaning acquires more and more new semantic loads. So, for example, the word " node" Even in ancient times it was obtained by transferring the meaning of “a rectangular piece of material into which some objects are tied” (take with you node). And today in dictionaries other meanings have been added to it, which appeared through metonymy:

• the place where the lines of roads or rivers intersect or converge;
• part of a mechanism consisting of tightly interacting parts;
• an important place where something is concentrated.

Thus, as you can see, the new figurative meaning of words, which arose with the help of metonymy, serves the development of vocabulary. By the way, this also allows you to save speech effort, since it makes it possible to replace an entire descriptive construction with just one word. For example: "early Chekhov" instead of "Chekhov in the early period of his work" or " audience” instead of “people sitting in a room listening to a lecturer.”

Synecdoche is considered one of the types of metonymy in linguistics.

What is synecdoche

Words with a figurative meaning, examples of which were given earlier, acquired a new meaning due to some similarity or proximity of concepts. And synecdoche is a way of pointing to an object through the mention of its characteristic detail or distinctive feature. That is, as mentioned above, this is a transfer of the general meaning of a word to its part.

Here are some of the most common types of this trope.

How and when is synecdoche used?

Synecdoche always depends on the context or situation, and in order to understand which words are used figuratively, the author must first describe the hero or his environment. For example, it is difficult to determine from a sentence taken out of context who we are talking about: “ Beard blew smoke from a clay pipe.” But from the previous story everything becomes clear: “Next to him, with the appearance of an experienced sailor, sat a man with a thick beard.”

Thus, synecdoche can be called an anaphoric trope, focused on subtext. The designation of an object by its characteristic detail is used in colloquial speech and in literary texts to give them a grotesque or humorous coloring.

The figurative meaning of a word: examples of transfer by similarity of functions

Some linguists also separately consider the transfer of meaning, in which the condition that phenomena have identical functions is met. For example, a janitor is a person who cleans the yard, and a janitor in a car is a device for cleaning windows.

A new meaning also appeared for the word “counter,” which was used in the sense of “a person who counts something.” Now the meter is also a device.

Depending on which words in a figurative meaning arise as a result of the named process, their associative connection with the original meaning may disappear completely over time.

How sometimes the process of transference affects the underlying meaning of a word

As already mentioned, as figurative meanings develop, a word can expand its semantic meaning. For example, the noun " the basis" meant only: "a longitudinal thread running along the fabric." But as a result of the transfer, this meaning expanded and was added to it: “the main part, the essence of something,” as well as “a part of a word without an ending.”

Yes, the emerging figurative meaning of polysemantic words leads to an increase in their expressive properties and contributes to the development of the language as a whole, but it is interesting that at the same time some meanings of the word become obsolete and are put out of use. For example, the word “ nature" has several meanings:

1. Nature ( Nature attracts me with its purity).
2. Human temperament (passionate) nature).
3. Natural conditions, environment (picture from life).
4. Replacing money with goods or products (pay in kind).

But the first of the listed meanings, with which, by the way, this word was borrowed from French, is already outdated, in dictionaries it is designated as “obsolete.” The rest, which developed with the help of transference on its basis, are actively functioning in our time.

How words are used figuratively: examples

Words in a figurative sense are often used as an expressive means of fiction, the media, and also in advertising. In the latter case, the technique of deliberately colliding different meanings of one word in the subtext is very popular. So, oh mineral water the advertisement says: “A source of cheerfulness.” The same technique is visible in the slogan for shoe polish: “Brilliant protection.”

The authors works of art To give them brightness and imagery, they use not only the already known figurative meaning of words, but also create their own versions of metaphors. For example, Blok’s “silence blooms” or Yesenin’s “birch Rus'”, which over time became very popular.

There are also words in which the transfer of meaning has become “dry”, “erased”. As a rule, we use such words not to convey an attitude towards something, but to name an action or object (go to a goal, the bow of a boat, the back of a chair, etc.). In lexicology they are called nominative metaphors, and in dictionaries, by the way, they are not designated as figurative meaning.

Incorrect use of words in a figurative meaning

In order for words in the literal and figurative meaning to always be in their place in the text and be justified, you need to follow the rules for their use.

It should be remembered that the use of metaphor requires the presence of similarities in the characteristics of the object of the name and in the meaning of the word applied to it. Meanwhile, this is not always observed, and the image used as a metaphor sometimes does not evoke the necessary associations and remains unclear. For example, a journalist, speaking about a ski race, calls it a “ski bullfight” or, reporting about inanimate objects, designates their number as a duet, trio or quartet.

Such a pursuit of “beauty” leads to the opposite result, causing the reader to be perplexed and sometimes laugh, as in the case when it was said about Tolstoy’s portrait: “Tolstoy was hanging in the office by the window.”