At figures of speech they are features that make messages more expressive. They are subdivided into sound figures, construction figures, thought figures and word figures.
sound figures
a) alliteration: consists of the ordered repetition of the same consonant sounds.
"Waiting, stop, nailed to the port stone."
b) assonance: consists of the ordered repetition of identical vowel sounds.
"I'm a born mulatto in the broad sense
democratic mulatto of the coast.”
c) paronomasia: consists of the approximation of words with similar sounds, but with different meanings.
"I who pass, think and ask."
construction figures
a) ellipse: consists of the omission of a term easily identifiable by the context.
"In the room, only four or five guests." (omission of there was)
b) zeugma: consists of the ellipse of a term that has already appeared before.
He prefers cinema; me, theatre. (omission preferred)
c) polysyndeton: consists of the repetition of connectives linking terms of the clause or elements of the period.
“And under the rhythmic waves
and under the clouds and the winds
and under bridges and under sarcasm
and under the slime and under the vomit (...)"
d) inversion: consists of changing the natural order of terms in the sentence.
"From everything a little.
From my fear. Your disgust."
and) silepsis: it consists in the agreement not with what is expressed, but with what is implied, with what is implicit. Silepsis can be:
• Of gender
Your Excellency is concerned.
• Number
The Lusiads glorified our literature.
• Of person
"What seems inexplicable to me is that Brazilians persist in eating this soft green thing that melts in your mouth."
f) anacoluto: consists of leaving a loose term in the sentence. Usually, this is because you start a certain syntactic construction and then choose another.
Life, I don't really know if it's worth anything.
g) pleonasm: consists of a redundancy whose purpose is to reinforce the message.
"And laugh my laugh and shed my tears."
h) anaphora: consists of the repetition of the same word at the beginning of verses or sentences.
“Love is a fire that burns without being seen;
It's a wound that hurts and doesn't feel;
It is discontented contentment;
It's pain that freaks out without hurting"
thought figures
a) antithesis: it consists of the approximation of opposite terms, of words that are opposed by their meaning.
"Gardens have life and death."
b) irony: it is the figure that presents a term in the opposite sense to the usual one, thus obtaining a critical or humorous effect.
"The excellent Dona Inácia was a master in the art of treating children."
c) euphemism: it consists in substituting an expression for another less brusque one; in short, an attempt is made to soften any unpleasant statement.
He got rich by illicit means. (instead of he stole)
d) hyperbole: it is about exaggerating an idea with emphatic purpose.
I am thirsty. (instead of being very thirsty)
e) prosopopeia or personification: it consists in attributing to inanimate beings predicatives that are proper to animate beings.
The garden looked at the children without saying anything.
f) gradation or climax: is the presentation of ideas in ascending (climax) or descending (anti-climax) progression
"A heart full of desires
Throbbing, beating, strumming."
g) apostrophe: consists of the emphatic challenge to someone (or something personified).
“Lord God of the bastards!
You tell me, Lord God!”
Word pictures
a) Metaphor: consists of using a term with a meaning different from the usual one, based on a relationship of similarity between the proper sense and the figurative sense. The metaphor thus implies a comparison in which the comparative connective is implied.
"My thought is an underground river."
b) metonymy: like metaphor, it consists of a transposition of meaning, that is, a word that usually means one thing is used with another meaning. However, the transposition of meanings is no longer based on similarity traits, as in metaphor. Metonymy always explores some logical relationship between terms. Watch:
There was no roof to shelter him. (roof instead of house)
c) catachresis: occurs when, for lack of a specific term to designate a concept, another one is borrowed. However, due to continued use, it is no longer perceived that it is being used figuratively.
The table leg was broken.
d) antonomasia or periphrase: it consists of replacing a name with an expression that easily identifies it:
...the four boys from Liverpool (instead of the Beatles)
e) synesthesia: it is about mixing, in an expression, sensations perceived by different sense organs.
The raw light of dawn invaded my room.
Language vices
Grammar is a set of rules that establish a particular use of language, called a cultured norm or standard language. It turns out that the norms established by normative grammar are not always obeyed, in the case of written language. The act of deviating from the standard norm in order to achieve greater expressiveness refers to figures of speech. When the deviation is due to not knowing the cultured norm, we have the so-called language vices.
a) barbarism: consists in spelling or pronouncing a word in disagreement with the cultured norm.
search (instead of search)
prototype (instead of prototype)
b) solecism: consists in deviating from the cultured norm in syntactic construction.
He hasn't shown up for two months. (instead of does; deviation in concordance syntax)
c) ambiguity or amphibology: it is about constructing the sentence in such a way that it presents more than one meaning.
The guard detained the suspect at his home. (in whose house: the guard or the suspect?)
d) cacophate: consists of the bad sound produced by the joining of words.
I paid five thousand reais for each.
e) vicious pleonasm: consists in the unnecessary repetition of an idea.
The father ordered the girl to go inside immediately.
Note: When pleonasm is used emphatically, it is not considered vicious.
f) echo: this is the repetition of words ending with the same sound.
The boy repeatedly lies happily.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
By Marina Cabral
Specialist in Portuguese Language and Literature
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SILVA, Marina Cabral da. "Figures of Language"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/portugues/figuras-linguagem.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.