Metonymy, Synecdoche, Paralipsis, Adophasis, Periphrasis And Personification

By Author: Arsenalo
Total Articles: 116
Comment this article

Metonymy and synecdoche occur when people refer to something by using a word that is associated with whatever is being named. For example, Volde-mort's name appropriately translates into "running from death," while the name of Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic who is constantly obscuring the truth, might remind readers of the scrims that are used in theaters to partially obscure scenes from the audience's view. Dolores Umbridge, who is temporarily appointed to be the headmistress at Hogwarts, has a first name that means "sad or doleful." Her surname a href="http://www.bestwatches4u.com/tag-heuer-c-444.html">Tag Heuer Replica is just two letters away from umbrage, which is related to the idea of "shade" as seen literally in umbrella and metaphorically in "taking umbrage" or suspecting someone of shady dealings.

Geographical allusions often serve as the basis for associations. For example, the German-sounding name that Rowling gave to the Wizengemot has different connotations from the Middle Eastern-sounding name that she gave to the Azkaban prison. Rowling gives several of her characters names that communicate ...
... their ethnicity as with the Chinese student Cho Chang, the Indian student Padma Patil, and the Bulgarian quidditch player Viktor Krum. Synecdoche is a type of metonymy in which a part of whatever is being named stands for the whole as when Rowling names Hagrid's dog Fang, Hermi-one's cat Crookshanks, the werewolf who bit Remus Lupin Greyhack, and a goblin who holds onto the Gringotts Bank treasures Griphook. The names of Neville Longbottom and Alas-tor "Mad-Eye" Moody are especially memorable because of the imagery.

Paralipsis or adophasis is the technique of invoking an idea by denying its invocation, that is, drawing attention to something while pretending to pass over it. There could hardly be a better example of this than the way Rowling has almost everyone, with the exception of Harry, show their fear and respect for Lord Voldemort by refusing to say his name. Instead they refer to him as He-who-must-not-be-named, You-know-who, and The Dark Lord. Rowling hints that Harry is in some ways an equal to Lord Voldemort by having some people avoid using Harry's name. Those who are on the side of good refer to him with respect as The boy who lived and The chosen one, while those on the side of evil refer to him as Undesirable Number One.

Periphrasis, the Latinate form of our English word paraphrase, refers to substituting a word or phrase for someone's proper name. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the resident ghost of Gryffmdor Tower, is called Nearly Headless Nick because he died in a botched beheading where the sword did not cut all the way through. As a result, he must hold his head straight and wear high collars to keep his head from dangling. The Gray Lady is an alternate way to refer to Rowena Ravenclaw, the daughter of the founder of Ravenclaw House, while Moaning Myrtle is a descriptive way to refer to the ghost who haunts the bathrooms at Hogwarts.

Personification is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena. Without personification, Rowling could not have created her fantasy world in which she gives human-sounding names, as well as human emotions, to such animals as Aragog, a member of a species of giant spiders called acromantula, and to Norbert, a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon Tag Heuer Replica Watches whose name is changed to Norberta when she turns out to be female. A docile and helpful house elf is named Dobby, perhaps because he is always "daubing up" messes, while one who is temperamental and a troublemaker is named Kreacher, perhaps to remind readers that he isn't quite human.

Rowling takes personification a step further when she begins giving human-like emotions and actions to plants as she does with the Whomping Willow tree that guards the entrance to the secret tunnel and with the Devil's Snare that is brought into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries disguised as "an innocent Flitterbloom." Even though plants are not sentient beings, they are living, so this isn't quite the stretch as it is when Rowling gives names, which in effect equals personification, to magicians' wands as with an especially powerful one called The Death Stick, Wand of Destiny, and Elder Wand.