Hyperbole

Definition of Hyperbole

Hyperbole is the use of obvious and deliberate exaggeration. Hyperbolic statements are often extravagant and not meant to be taken literally. These statements are used to create a strong impression and add emphasis. We use hyperbole frequently in everyday language, saying things like “I’m so hungry I could eat a cow,” or “We had to wait forever for the bus.” Hyperbole sometimes makes use simile or metaphor to create the effect of exaggeration, such as “He’s as strong as an ox.”

The definition of hyperbole comes from the Greek for “to throw beyond” or “exaggeration.”

Common Examples of Hyperbole

As noted above, there are many examples of hyperbole in common speech. One of the most frequently used hyperboles in English is the word “literally”—many people in contemporary speech use this word when they actually mean the opposite, i.e., figuratively. An example would be “I was literally starving.” In this case, the speaker is probably not suffering from malnutrition, but instead was merely quite hungry, and thus was only figuratively starving. There was some controversy recently when definition of the word “literally” was updated to include the definition “to acknowledge that something is not literally true but is used for emphasis or to express strong feeling.” Thus, “literally” has become one of the primary ways to exaggerate and hyperbolize a certain statement.

Here are some more common examples of hyperbole:

• The suitcase weighed a ton.
• I’m so angry, I could kill him!
• I’ve asked you not to do that a thousand times.
• If he doesn’t call by tonight, I will absolutely die.
• She’s as skinny as a toothpick.

Some jokes also take advantage of hyperbole, like the “Your Mama” jokes. For example:

• Your mama is so lazy she got a remote controller to operate her remote.
• Your mama is so old her social security number is 1.
• Your mama is so ugly they didn’t give her a costume when she auditioned for Star Wars.

http://www.literarydevices.com/hyperbole/

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Metonymy

Metonymies are frequently used in literature and in everyday speech. A metonymy is a word or phrase that is used to stand in for another word. Sometimes a metonymy is chosen because it is a well-known characteristic of the word.

One famous example of metonymy is the saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword," which originally came from Edward Bulwer Lytton's play Richelieu. This sentence has two examples of metonymy:

• The "pen" stands in for "the written word."
• The "sword" stands in for "military aggression and force."

Metonymy: Stand-Ins for Other Words

A Word Functioning as a Metonymy

Understanding the context of a metonymy is important. For example, the word "pen" is not always standing in for the written word; often, it just refers to the physical object of a pen.

The examples below include both the metonymy and the possible words for which the metonymy would fill in:

• Crown - in place of a royal person
• The White House - in place of the President or others who work there
• The suits - in place of business people
• Dish - for an entire plate of food
• Cup - for a mug
• The Pentagon - to refer to the staff
• The restaurant - to refer to the staff
• Ears - for giving attention ("Lend me your ears!" from Mark Antony in Julius Caesar)
• Eyes - for sight
• The library - for the staff or the books
• Pen - for the written word
• Sword - for military might
• Silver fox - for an attractive older man
• Hand - for help
• The name of a country - used in place of the government, economy, etc.
• The name of a church - used in place of its individual members
• The name of a sports team - used in place of its individual members

While these word examples provide a good example of what a metonymy is and how it functions, sentence examples will further help to explain the use of this figure of speech.

Sentences Using a Metonymy

These sentences will further enhance your appreciation and understanding of metonymies. The metonymy is underlined.

• We must wait to hear from the crown until we make any further decisions.
• The White House will be announcing the decision around noon today.
• If we do not fill out the forms properly, the suits will be after us shortly.
• She's planning to serve the dish early in the evening.
• The cup is quite tasty.
• The Pentagon will be revealing the decision later on in the morning.
• The restaurant has been acting quite rude lately.
• Learn how to use your eyes properly!
• The library has been very helpful to the students this morning.
• That individual is quite the silver fox.
• Can you please give me a hand carrying this box up the stairs?
• The United States will be delivering the new product to us very soon.
• Saint Thomas will be coming to the soup kitchen to help out next Sunday after Mass.
• The Yankees have been throwing the ball really well, and they have been hitting better than they have been in the past few seasons.

Purpose of a Metonymy

As with other literary devices, one of the main purposes of using a metonymy is to add flavor to the writing. Instead of just repeatedly saying, "the staff at the restaurant" or naming all of the elements of a dinner each time you want to refer to the meal, one word breaks up some of that awkwardness.

Using a metonymy serves a double purpose - it breaks up any awkwardness of repeating the same phrase over and over and it changes the wording to make the sentence more interesting.

Synecdoche

Synecdoche Definition

Synecdoche is a literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part.

Synecdoche may also use larger groups to refer to smaller groups or vice versa. It may also call a thing by the name of the material it is made of or it may refer to a thing in a container or packing by the name of that container or packing.

Difference between Synecdoche and Metonymy

Synecdoche examples are often misidentified as metonymy (another literary device). Both may resemble each other to some extent but they are not the same. Synecdoche refers to the whole of a thing by the name of any one of its parts. For example, calling a car “wheels” is a synecdoche because a part of a car “wheels” stands for the whole car. However, in metonymy, the word we use to describe another thing is closely linked to that particular thing, but is not necessarily a part of it. For example, “crown” that refers to power or authority is a metonymy used to replace the word “king” or “queen”.

Synecdoche Examples from Everyday Life

It is very common to refer to a thing by the name of its parts. Let us look at some of the examples of synecdoche that we can hear from casual conversations:

• The word “bread” refers to food or money as in “Writing is my bread and butter” or “sole breadwinner”.
• The phrase “gray beard” refers to an old man.
• The word “sails” refers to a whole ship.
• The word “suits” refers to businessmen.
• The word “boots” usually refers to soldiers.
• The term “coke” is a common synecdoche for all carbonated drinks.
• “Pentagon” is a synecdoche when it refers to a few decision makers.
• The word “glasses” refers to spectacles.
• “Coppers” often refers to coins.

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-metonymy.html

http://literarydevices.net/synecdoche/

Compounding and Clipping

Compounding

Compounding is the process where two or more roots combine to produce a new word, for example: horse + cat = horse-cart; rail + way = railway. Compounds are from all classes of words, including minor classes.

Tipe Penulisan Compound Noun

Tipe Penulisan	Detail	Contoh Compound Noun
Solid/Closed	digabung menjadi satu kata	raincoat, waterfall, toothbrush
Hyphenated	disambung dengan tanda baca hyphen ( – )	check-in, mother-in-law, twenty-year-old
Oped/Spaced	ditulis menjadi dua kata terpisah	full moon, human rights, upper class

Kombinasi Compound Noun

Kombinasi noun dengan noun atau part of speech lain untuk membentuk kata benda majemuk ini antara lain sebagai berikut.

Kombinasi Antara		Contoh Hasil Kombinasi
Noun	Noun	newspaper, toothpaste, bed cover
Noun	Verb	roadshow, rainfall, milkshake
Noun	Adjective	snow white
Noun	Prepositional Phrase	mother-in-law, hanger on, passer-by
Verb	Noun	dance floor, swimming pool, break water
Verb	Verb	freeze-dry
Verb	Adjective	Tumbledown
Adjective	Noun	blackboard, software
Adjective	Verb	dry-cleaning, highlight,
Adjective	Adjective	blue-green
Adjective	Preposition	Forthwith
Preposition	Noun	in house, on time, offline
Preposition	Verb	output, undercut, outlook
Preposition	Adjective	over-ripe
Preposition	Preposition	Without

Clipping

This process occurs when a multisyllabic word is shortened, as in the examples:

Examination à exam

Dormitory à dorm

Laboratory à lab

Professor à prof

Telephone à phone

Delicatessen à deli

References :

http://www.wordsmile.com/pengertian-dan-contoh-compound-nouns

Baskaran, Loga Mahesan. 2005. A Lingustic Primer for Malaysian. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press.