Metaphor is the sublimation of language art, one of the most poetic language forms, and the organic combination of information function and aesthetic function of language. There are three common metaphors in English: simile, metaphor and metonymy.
1. Simile
Simile is usually the "ontology" of comparison and the "vehicle" of metaphor at the same time, which means that the ontology is like a vehicle. The metaphor of using preposition like, conjunction as, if, as…so, verb like, sentence pattern as…to B as C…to D to express the meaning of "as if" is called simile.
People often have an illusion that figurative rhetoric is only applicable to various literary styles, but not to literary works, such as scientific and technological applied styles, and metaphors are excluded for the sake of correctness, rigor and scientificity of expression. In fact, in English scientific and technological works, metaphors are often used in order to make the things described concrete and vivid, and to make the profound truth easy to understand and simple. For example:
Bacteria are so small that a single circular bacterium of a common type is about 1/25000 of a cruciform bacterium. When bacteria are magnified 1 0,000 times, they look as big as the tip of a pencil. Bacteria are very small, and the diameter of a common round bacteria is only about 1/25000 inches. This bacterium is magnified 1000 times and looks as big as the tip of a pencil.
Now there is a kind of glass that is very sensitive to light. It can record pictures and patterns like photographic film. Now there is a kind of glass that is very sensitive to light and can record images and patterns like film.
In English, besides the simile expressions such as prepositions, conjunctions or sentence patterns mentioned above, there are many simile idioms. For example:
As long as it is broad; The result is the same.
As clear as crystal.
This simile idiom, which uses two tones to enhance the aesthetic feeling, is concise, short and pithy, with appropriate language images and metaphors, which is memorable and used properly, and can achieve vivid and vivid expression effect.
2. Metaphor (metaphor)
According to some similarities between two things, it is a figurative way to use one thing to imply another. There is no metaphor between ontology and vehicles, just a metaphor in the dark. Give a simple example: argument is war. In fact, argument and war are two different things. The former is spoken language and the latter is armed conflict. But both argum ent and war can be fierce, so this sentence uses war to imply the intensity of the argument. Another example is:
He has a heart of stone. He has a heart of stone.
(2) For me, The Pigeon of the Four Seasons is a thrilling unfinished drama. To me, the wonderful changes of the four seasons are like a touching and never-ending drama.
There are many numerical idioms and slang in English, which are mainly used as metaphors (and some as similes). In some cases, the numerical meanings represented by many numerical idioms and slang often lose their specific meanings and evolve into meanings related to or characteristic of something. For example:
Nine times out of ten, it will fail. This matter is likely to fail.
2) He has one eighth. He was as drunk as a fiddler.
There are many metaphorical idioms in English. For example:
To teach fish to swim
Sand is in vain
The biggest feature of these metaphorical idioms is to express their thoughts through concrete images that are well known to women and children. Please see: the square nail in the circular D hole uses "the square nail in the garden" to explain "the person who is not suitable for a certain position", which is very appropriate; Between the devil and the deep sea, one side is the devil and the other side is the sea, which makes people desperate and vividly expresses the realm of "dilemma".
3. Metonymy (metonymy)
Metonymy is a further metaphor than metaphor. I didn't say ontology at all, but directly replaced ontology with metaphor. For example:
American businesses are on strike. American bus drivers are on strike.
(2) The pen is more powerful than the sword. Literati are better than samurai (pen and sword refer to people who use this thing).
In English, the names of some birds, animals, fish and insects can often be translated into metaphors in addition to their original meanings, which are vivid and meaningful. For example:
(1) Mrs. Smith is very nice, but her husband is a rude person, and no one likes him.
She is a social butterfly. She is a social butterfly.
Metaphor is the most common and widely used figure of speech in English. It is necessary to demonstrate the problem, explain the reasons, and describe people, things, scenes and so on. Its basic function is to make things concrete, vivid and vivid, so that people can see, touch and understand, thus enhancing the persuasiveness and appeal of language. (synecdoche)
Metaphor must use one thing to compare with another, whether simile, metaphor or metonymy. Metonymy is a comparison between two things, although there are only figurative things on the surface, omitting the ontological things. There is only one thing in metonymy, but the real name of the thing is not given, and another name is borrowed instead. This rhetorical way of "changing the name" is metonymy. Alternatives can be people and things, parts and whole, singular instead of plural, description instead of concreteness or concreteness instead of abstraction, etc. For example:
(1) The river is crowded with experts. There are many sails in the river (part of the ship is the mast, not the ship itself).
The year after we attacked Homer. In the second year, I studied Homer's works (replacing his works with Homer).
When using metonymy rhetoric, we should choose the most prominent and obvious features to replace the names of things. If metonymy is used well, it can make the language expression concise, clear, concrete and vivid, avoid repetition and redundancy, and give people a sense of freshness. (exaggerated)
Deliberately exaggerating or narrowing the characteristics of things is called exaggeration, that is, using "exaggeration" to better present the essential characteristics of things. For example:
(1) The old man lived for a year in one minute.
The wretched man became famous overnight. The poor man became famous overnight.
Exaggerated figures of speech are often used in English. The function of exaggeration is to highlight the essential characteristics of things, thus giving people a strong impression or warning and inspiration. (personification)
The so-called personification is to describe inanimate things as living things, give inanimate things feelings and actions or personify animals. For example:
Necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity is the mother of invention.
She is the darling of luck. She is the darling of luck.
In two sentences, the nouns mother and child are usually used for people, but here they are used for inanimate noun invention and wealth respectively, which makes these two words personified.
The personification method is also widely used in English. Making good use of the language not only makes the language vivid and powerful, but also gives people a cordial and true feeling. (sarcastic)
Irony is irony, which is used to express thoughts, opinions, things and so on. For example:
(1) There is no easy job in language learning. Language learning is not an easy task.
(2) He didn't order bloodletting. He seldom does not bleed patients (in fact, he often bleeds patients).
Some simile idioms in English also appear in the form of irony. For example, "Popular as a Storm" and "Welcome to the Storm" are as popular (actually "unwelcome"); As thin as an ox, as thin as an ox.
Expressing thoughts, opinions or describing things with irony is actually a rhetorical way of emphasizing meaning over language, which often includes irony, humor or ridicule. Sixth, alliteration and onomatopoeia.
1. alliteration. Alliteration refers to the fact that several consecutive words have the same initial letter or initials, which is very common in English. For example:
(1) He is full of enthusiasm and fighting spirit. He never gives up any chance.
The voice was simple and serious. There is something simple and sincere in that voice.
2. Onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sounds of people and other living or inanimate objects. English onomatopoeia has dual functions, that is, it integrates onomatopoeia and expressive action. For example:
He plopped down the bag and ran to help us. He plopped down the bag to help us.
The door slammed shut. The door slammed shut.
The rhetoric of alliteration and onomatopoeia can make the language have phonological beauty, increase the actual sound sense of oral or written expression, and give people a sense of beauty with both sound and emotion.
The effect of rhetoric pursuit is the perfect expression of language. Rhetoric is one of the important ways to achieve this state. The correct and proper use of figures of speech involves many problems. One of the most important problems is not to forget that the perfection of language must be based on the correct and accurate use of language, so the use of figures of speech must be based not only on grammatical rules, but also on logic and correct thinking methods.