• What are figures of speech?
• What are the figures of speech?
• Examples of figures of speech
• Types of rhetorical figures

We explain what figures of speech are and what they are for. Also, the types that exist and some examples.

Figures of speech are often used in literature.

What are figures of speech?

Rhetorical figures or literary figures are resources of the language who use words in an original or infrequent way to enhance their meaning or enhance their beauty inside. Their purpose is to highlight an idea, persuade, embellish a text or awaken an emotion in the reader, and they are widely used in the literary field for the creation of original writings.

These resources move away from the effective communicative form, that is, the conventional way in which a specific idea is communicated, and pursue more expressive, elaborate, artistic or powerful ways of transmitting a message. There are many types of rhetorical figures, which differ from each other according to their structure and the way they use language. Some of the most representative are the metaphor, the simile, the hyperbole and the personification.

Although figures of speech are extremely common in the literary language (in works such as poetry and the dramaturgy), it is also possible to use them in everyday speech as they give a certain style and originality to the communication.

What are the figures of speech?

There are two types of literary figures, those of diction and those of thought.

• Metaphor. A concept is named to refer to another with which it has a relationship. For example: Her angelic face gave me good omens.
• Hyperbole. An idea or concept is exaggerated. For example: The whole world surrendered at your feet.
• Synecdoche. Allusion is made to a part naming the whole or vice versa. For example: The country he hopes you give him some explanation. In this case the term “country” is used instead of “the citizens / inhabitants of the country”.
• Irony. It seeks to convey the opposite of what it states. For example: What great news to know that I have failed the exam!
• Synesthesia. The perceptions of one sense are associated with another. For example: His words smelled of betrayal.
• Simile. An element is compared with others or others. For example: He felt defeated like a soldier after a bloody battle.
• Personification. Human traits are attributed to animals or inanimate objects. For example: The sea was raging.
• Apocope. One or more sounds are lost at the end of the word. For example: I am able to distinguish your car on any avenue. In this case the term "car" is used instead of "automobile".
• Anaphora. One or more words are repeated at the beginning of a verse or statement. For example: Went brothers we went
• Parallelism. A certain structure is repeated. For example: look and think, smile and love.
• Polysyndeton. Many conjunctions are used within one prayer. For example: We were going to love and hate each other and save and defeat us.
• Alliteration. Certain repeats sounds in the same sentence. For example: I want to revive and breathe re
• Concatenation. The words or phrases of two consecutive verses are chained. For example: Tempting destiny, destiny imposed, imposed by the day, tomorrow.
• Pleonasm. The same idea is repeated to give greater strength. For example: We will search searching someone to help us.
• Polipote. The same word is repeated within a verse or phrase, but changing its morphemes (such as gender, number or verbal). For example: For giving you the desired delivery tonight, we were delivered to nothing.
• Asyndeton. Conjunctions or links of an enumeration. For example: We were going to love each other, hate each other, save ourselves, defeat each other.
• Ellipse. Parts of speech that are not critical to understanding the message are removed. For example: His son's name is Salvador and my daughter's Lucila. In this case, the term “the” is replaced by “the name”.
• Paralysis Some of the text is omitted, but the reader's attention is drawn to what is omitted. For example: I will make an effort not to hint about the sadness that invades me.
• Hyperbaton. The usual syntax of the sentence is altered to affect its metric or draw attention to something. For example: We saw the autumn rain fall that afternoon. In this case, the usual order of prayer would be: We saw the autumn rain fall that afternoon.
• Paraphrase. Own words are used to explain an idea already expressed. For example: The paraphrase of the following phrase by Winston Churchill: "An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity, a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity," could be: For Winston Churchill, former UK minister, an optimistic person, that is, one who judges things from their most positive aspects, will see opportunities even in unfavorable situations, while a pessimistic person, that is, one who judges things things from their most negative aspects, you will see something unfavorable even in the opportunities.
• Rhetorical question. Questions are used that do not seek to be answered, but rather express an idea. For example: What is the meaning of all this?
• Enumeration. Several elements are named that are related to an idea already said. For example: I shared that time at sea with shells, crabs, seagulls and albatrosses.
• Epiphrasis. A series of secondary ideas is added to a main idea that complement it. For example: I will stay thinking about the past, the lived and the forgotten, the said and the unsaid.
• Epithet. Add to adjectives to emphasize the message. For example: White snow spilled onto the roofs.
• Oxymoron. Two words with contradictory meanings are used together. For example: Dark light.
• Antithesis. Two irreconcilable ideas are opposed. For example: The night is too short for a day that has become eternal.
• Paradox. An idea apparently without logic is raised, but that has a meaning. For example: He was poorer when he had the most.
• Etopeia. An individual or character is described based on their moral traits. For example: He had clear objectives, he knew that in order to fight for the position of mayor, he had to demonstrate the values ​​that characterized him: his tolerance, his temperance and his dedication.
• Chronography It is described to a time or a temporary event. For example: There was no news of her son until the afternoon, when the sun sank behind the moutains, the birds hid in their nests and the clocks sang their song in unison.
• Prosopography. A character is physically described. For example: Everyone remembers his tired look, his eyes like burning lanterns, his long legs and his generous hands.
• Periphrasis or circumlocution. More words are used than necessary to describe an issue. For example: If you have patience you will be able to observe the king of jungle. In this case the term "king of the jungle" is used to refer to the Lion.
• Batches or attenuation. A trait is affirmed by attenuating or denying its opposite. For example: It's not too late to go to the party.
• Exclamation or ecphonesis. Words are used that predispose the receiver to an admiring emotion and that usually go between exclamation marks. For example: Oh! I wasn't expecting you so early around here.
• Dubitatio or aporesis. Doubt is expressed about what is said or done. For example: I'm not sure, you may have to wait a lifetime for it.
• Corrected. A correction is added with respect to what was previously said. For example: She lost you or, sorry, she wanted to lose you.
• Expolitio. An idea is said and then developed more extensively. For example: The concert was great. The artists shone on stage and the orchestra dazzled the audience. Criticism in the media has been very positive, and the concert will be on the bill until the end of the year.
• Idolopoeia. Something said is attributed to a deceased person. For example: We visited that museum because my father had requested it.
• Prosthesis. A phoneme is added to the beginning of a word. In this figure the meaning of the word is not altered and it is usually used to adapt terms from other languages ​​to Spanish. For example: We must come up with a slogan for the brand. In this case, a prosthesis is included in the word slogan, adapted from the English term “slogan”.
• Epenthesis. One or more phonemes are added inside the word. For example: I can't forget what you told me at the airport. In this case, the term “airport” is used instead of “airport”.

Examples of figures of speech

1. Pa, can you lend me your bike to go to school? (apocope).
2. The soldiers arrived. The soldiers were there (anaphora).
3. When I sleep, night comes, when I wake up, day comes (parallelism).
4. We will have time to talk about this and that and something and that (polysyndeton).
5. Feel the sound of silence in your sky (alliteration).
6. Fulfill a wish, a wish first and forget you first (concatenation).
7. She kissed him with her mouth and the crush was immediate (pleonasm).
8. Singing a song will make them sing (polypot).
9. In his cave he hides dreams, mysteries, memories, truths (asyndeton).
10. She was captivated by his gaze and he by his calm (ellipsis).
11. The bars walking the poet (hyperbaton) walked.
12. Walking through these streets you will see passersby, open shops, cats and street vendors (enumeration).
13. For you I feel a platonic love, it is pure, unique, well, impossible (epiphrase).
14. The salty water of the sea healed his wounds (epithet).
15. You had inside a cold fire that pierced my skin (oxymoron).
16. Before receiving the guests he passed a broom across the floor of the hall (periphrasis). In this case "swept a broom" is used instead of "swept".
17. With no little effort I am here (attenuation).
18. How long have we gone without seeing each other! (exclamation).
19. Will this be our mission? (rhetorical question).
20. Perhaps it is the only possible solution (dubitatio).
21. Your indecision is going to kill me! (hyperbole).
22. Thank you for keeping your promise! (irony)
23. I could feel the noise of the black of your eyes going through my pupils (synesthesia).
24. Its temper is soft like a spring breeze (simile).
25. The night came stealthily and woke the girl with its silence (personification).

Types of rhetorical figures

There are two main types of figures of speech: figures of speech of speech and figures of speech of thought.

• Rhetorical figures of diction. They are figures that affect the shape of sentences or words (both their writing and their sounds), which often also affects their meaning. They can be of four types:
• • Figures of transformation or metaplasms. They are figures that use words in a way that would be commonly incorrect, because their writing or pronunciation, although its meaning does not change. Some are: prosthesis, epenthesis, apocope.
  • Figures of repetition. They are rhetorical figures in which a certain sound is repeated twice or more, which can be a word, syllable or phoneme.Some are: anaphora, parallelism, polysyndeton, alliteration, concatenation, pleonasm, polypot.
  • Figures of omission. They are rhetorical figures in which elements of the sentence or phrase are eliminated. Some are: asyndeton, ellipsis, paralipsis.
  • Figures of position. They are rhetorical figures that consist of the alteration of the normal order of the elements of a sentence. The most representative is the hyperbaton.
• Rhetorical figures of thought. They are those figures that affect the meaning of words. They may be:
• • Tropes. They are rhetorical figures that give words a figurative meaning. Some are: metaphor, hyperbole, synecdoche, irony, synesthesia, simile.
  • Logical figures. They are rhetorical figures that are linked to the logical or meaningful relationship between the ideas presented, thus generating contrasts and oppositions. Some are: oxymoron, antithesis, paradox.
  • Fictional figures. They are rhetorical figures that present imaginary events as real. Some are: personification and idolpoeia.
  • Amplification figures. They are figures that highlight certain content or ideas in a text. Some are: expolitolio, paraphrase.
  • Accumulation figures. They are figures that add elements that complement what has already been said. Some are: enumeration, epiphrase, epithet.
  • Figures of definition or description. They are figures that reflect in language the properties or characteristics of what they describe. Some are: ethopeia, chronography, prosopography.
  • Oblique figures. They are rhetorical figures that address reality indirectly. Some are: periphrasis or circumloquy, lithotes or attenuation.
  • Dialogue or pathetic figures. They are rhetorical figures that appeal to the emotionality of the receiver. Some are: exclamation, rhetorical question.
  • Dialectical figures. They are rhetorical figures of an argumentative nature, which seek to convince the receiver of something. Some are: dubitatio or aporesis, correctio.