We explain what a synecdoche is, what types exist and examples of each. Also, what are metaphor and metonymy?
What is synecdoche?
The synecdoche is a figure poetic or trope, widely used both in literary language and in speaks colloquial, which consists of the substitution of a part of the thing for the whole thing, or on the contrary of the whole of the thing instead of a portion of it.
However, the borders of the synecdoche with the metonymy and the metaphor, two of his sister figures, are not always perfectly defined. Thus, it is possible that the term is also applied to metaphors that take the genus for the species (or vice versa) or the material of the thing for the thing itself.
Although in the abstract the description of the synecdoche can be complicated, in reality it is not so complicated, and we use it very often in everyday speech.
When journalists say, for example, that "Casa Banca responded to Venezuela's statements," we are taking part of the United States (the physical headquarters of the government) for the entire country, and at the same time the entire country of Venezuela. by the regime that governs it. That is, we are taking a part for the whole, and the whole for the part.
Types of synecdoche
We can classify the synecdoche according to the type of metaphorical turn it implies, having thus:
- The whole for the part.
- The part for the whole.
- The species by genus.
- The genus by the species.
- The material for the thing of which it is made.
We will see examples of each one below.
Examples of synecdoche
The following are examples of synecdoche:
- "The crown decided to increase taxes" (the part: the monarch's crown, for the whole: the kingdom he heads).
- "Argentina played very well, but not as well as Brazil" (the whole: the country, for the part: the team).
- "The soldier raised the steel and dealt him a mortal blow" (the material: the metal, for the thing: the sword).
- "Do you have money?" (the material: the metal with which the coins were once made, for the thing: the money).
- "Thanks to technology, man reached the stars" (the genus: man, for the whole species: humanity; and then the whole: the stars, for the part: the Moon).
Metaphor and metonymy
As we said before, the boundaries that separate synecdoche from metonymy they are not always too clear. Metonymy, also called transnomination, is a form of semantic change similar to that proposed in the synecdoche, but much broader.
Thus, metonymy allows the exchange of any two referents that are linked by some type of sense, such as cause for effect, effect for cause, the symbol for the thing symbolized, the trademark for the object itself, the name of the author for the work he did, the container for the content, etc. For example: "In the museum we saw several Picasso" or "We went out for a drink"
Similarly, the metaphor it is an even broader category, in which the name or description or features of one thing are used to name another and thus partially transfer its properties to it. The metaphor is so broad that in a sense it encompasses both metonymy and synecdoche, which would become specific types or forms of metaphor, among many others.