In order to diversify our speech and artistic abilities, to strengthen imagery, we all often use rhetorical figures. Among these so-called paths, perhaps the most actively used language in speech is called “periphrase”.
Etymology and meaning
The word "periphras" is formed from several ancient Greek words with the meanings of "allegory", "utterance", "about". Thus, by paraphrasing, we call something not directly, but on the basis of the allocation of any of its signs. Sometimes - using an idiom, that is, a stable statement. It is also important here that the word-object is often replaced by an expanded phrase consisting of several (at least two) words.
You can understand what a periphrase is by the following examples: Earth is called the blue planet, animals are called our smaller brothers. They will say about work that he is the father of all virtues, about fear - that he is the father of all vices, etc.
But other examples of periphrase are from the literature. A.S. Pushkin about the fall:
Sad time! Eye charm!
Or the statement of K. G. Paustovsky in the “Letter from Tarusa”:
The last thing you should not talk about, but just shout, is about the ugly treatment of the Oka - the wonderful, second Russian river after the Volga, the cradle of our culture, the birthplace of many great people, the names of which our entire nation is proud of.
Education
Periphrase can be formed by the main metaphorical, that is, allegorical, component for such an expression, or by metonymy — by highlighting one attribute.
When they say "clerical rat," they mean the official. “Rat” in this expression is a case with the use of such an indirect, figurative meaning.
But they will tell you - “people in white coats”, and you will immediately understand that this is about doctors. But as the main one, a common feature is taken here - a medical uniform. And there is already nothing metaphorical in this periphery. This is a case of metonymic education.
There are many periphrases that have entered our language, thanks to the statements of writers, poets, critics, famous personalities.
The expression of A. S. Pushkin from The Bronze Horseman has become so popular that few people today will already say: “Monument to Peter I on Senate Square”. Well, perhaps the guides. And, by the way, this is the rare case when the periphrase is shorter than the direct name.
Widely known and recognizable, for example, such periphrases as:
- leader of the world proletariat (about V. I. Lenin);
- petrel of the revolution (about the writer M. Gorky);
- the iron lady of British politics (about British Prime Minister M. Thatcher);
- perestroika architect (about M. S. Gorbachev).
Area of ​​use
We found out what a periphrase is in colloquial and literary speech. But the scope of this technique extends to business style. And in general, it is indispensable for the competent construction of the text - in particular, so as not to be repeated.
We show by examples that this is a peripheral:
The work of I. Nikiforov presented at the conference was highly appreciated. The young scientist convincingly proves that ... The author was able to disclose to the audience ... etc.
Periphrase may well be a positive (lauding) or downgrading (dismissive) replacement statement. This technique is widely used in journalism.
In these cases, what is periphrase can be considered in the following examples. The bear can be called neutral - a large mammal from the canine family. Or, depending on the objectives of the article, we can say this dangerous unpredictable predator.
It can be expressed in a neutral way: he put himself in the worst (not the best) light, but it can be dismissive - he was disgraced (colloquially - "got into a puddle"), etc.
It should be noted that creating peripherals, authors sometimes build completely inconceivable language constructions. For example, instead of saying - “one should know if this official did not take bribes”, today one can hear the following statement: “it would be nice to check it at the time of the corruption component”.
By the way, this phrase would be quite appropriate if it was said with irony or in a humorous text that mimics the business style of speech. But, of course, not in the official chronicle.
note
The words "periphrase" and "periphrase" are one and the same. This is reported to us by the dictionaries of the Russian language - both spelling and explanatory. That is, this word can be used both in masculine and feminine gender. Although more often they still say “periphras”.
Another nuance. A similar word forms the verb "to peripheralize." It means saying something in the form of a periphrase (periphrase). Example: to paraphrase an aphorism.
It is easy to confuse this verb with a similar one - “rephrase”. Although the meanings of these words may seem similar. Rephrase - retell someone’s words, thought, etc. Example: rephrasing Dostoevsky’s words that ...
But that is not all. There is still paraphrase. This word means, as a rule, concise presentation, retelling. Briefly and in your own words you can convey books, comedies, scripts of operas, films, poems and poems - that is, rather voluminous works.
Sometimes this is not only a retelling, but also an alteration of a complex text in order to adapt it for any audience. For example, such are the "Myths of Ancient Greece" set forth for children. Or there is a Children's Bible (published in Stockholm in 1990) - the name of the book speaks for itself. Paraphrases of poetry and music are also known.
That's all. We talked about what is periphrase.