修辞手法(figure of speech)修辞手法是通过修饰、调整语句,运用特定的表达形式以提高语言表达作用的方式和方法。修辞不仅仅在中文里很常见,在英文里也是多种多样。这篇文章里,我们就来谈一谈英文中常见的修辞手法。
1.simile明喻
A simile is a figure of speech in which two fundamentally unlike things are explicitly compared, usually in a phrase introduced by like or as.
明喻是常用as或like等词将两种不同事物通过比较而连接起来的一种修辞手法。
让我们看几个例子:
Good coffee is like friendship: rich and warm and strong.
好的咖啡如同友谊,丰厚,温暖,热烈。
Life is rather like opening a tin of sardines. We're all of us looking for the key.
人生就像一罐沙丁鱼,我们大家都在找开启的起子。
He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen from him to crow.
他这人就像一只骄傲的公鸡,以为太阳升起是为了它的啼叫。
2.metaphor暗喻
A metaphor is a trope or figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common.
暗喻是将两种有共同点的不同事物进行隐晦比较的修辞手法。
明喻与暗喻的不同点就在于是否有出现like或者as(像)这一类比喻词,下面这几个句子都是暗喻:
Humor is the shock absorber of life; it helps us take action.
幽默是生活的减震器,它可以鼓舞人们付诸于行动。
Time, you thief.
时间,你这个小偷。
But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill.
可是我的心是孤独的猎手,在孤独的小山上狩猎。
3.personification拟人
Personifiation is a figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.
拟人是一种为无生命或抽象物体赋予人类特质与能力的修辞手法。
Oreo: Milk’s favorite cookie.
奥利奥:牛奶喜爱的曲奇。
The wind stood up and gave a shout.
大风凛冽,发出怒吼。
The only monster here is the gambling monster that has enslaved your mother! I call him Gamblor, and it's time to snatch your mother from his neon claws!
这里唯一的怪物就是赌博怪物,它将你母亲沦为奴隶!我叫它赌棍,该把你母亲从他的霓虹灯魔爪下救出来的时候了!
4.alliteration头韵
Alliteration is the repetition of an initial consonant sound.
押头韵是指重复单词第一个辅音的修辞方式。
头韵是英语语音修辞的一种,体现了语言的音乐美和整齐美。广为熟知的一本名著《傲慢与偏见》(Pride and Prejudice)的书名就体现了头韵。常见的例子还有:
first and foremost首先
with might and main 尽全力地
saints and sinners 圣人与罪人
in weal and (or) woe无论是福是祸
5.hyperbole夸张
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect; an extravagant statement.
夸张是对事物着意夸大的修辞方式。
我们在口语中常常会夸大自己的情绪,比如:
I was scared to death
我吓死了。
男男女女在表达爱意的时候经常也很夸张:
You are the whole world to me, and the moon and the stars….
你是我的全世界,是我的月亮,我的星星……
另外,值得一提的是,你知道这个单词怎么发音吗?不知道的话就动动手指查一查吧。