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STYLISTIC DEVICE: METAPHOR
Scientific supervisor: G‘ofurova Sarvara Madaminjanovna
Student: G‘ulomjonova Dilyora
Andijan State Institute of Foreign Languages
Annotation
This article highlights the intricacies of stylistic device, particulary focusing on
metaphors , their classifications, applications, and expressive functions.
Key words: stylistics, device, metaphor, association, poetry, function, cliches.
Metaphor is not merely an artificial device making discourse; more vivid and
poetical. It is also necessary for the apprehension and communication of new ideas. It
is the way in which creative minds perceive things. Metaphors must be classified
according to three aspects: 1) the degree of expressiveness, 2) the structure i.e. in what
linguistic form it is presented or by what part of speech it is expressed, 3) the function,
i.e. the role often stylistic device in making up an image [1].
The expressiveness of a stylistic device depends on various aspects. Different
authors and literary trends or movements have different sources where they borrow the
material for images. Favourite images in oriental poetry are: nightingale, a rose, and
moon. Nature, art, war, fairy tales and myths, science etc. May also serve as sources
for metaphorical image. We distinguish genuine and trite metaphors. Metaphors which
are absolutely unexpected, i.e. quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. Trite
metaphors are generally used in newspaper articles or scientific language
(clichés).Those which are commonly used — are called trite (language) or dead
metaphors.
Genuine metaphors are also called speech metaphors. Genuine metaphors can
easily become trite if they are frequently repeated. There is an opinion that a metaphor
is a productive way of building up new meanings and new words. Language can be
called the “dictionary of faded metaphors”.Examples of genuine metaphors:
1. ‘The leaves fell sorrowfully.’
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2. A puppet government
3. He is a mule.
4. ‘The Tooth of Time, which has already dried many a tear, will let the grass
grow over this painful wound.’ The expression tooth of time implies that time, like a
greedy tooth devours everything, makes everything disappear or be forgotten.
5. He is not a man, he is just a machine!
6. a treacherous calm
Genuine metaphors are mostly to be found in poetry and emotive prose.
Metaphors, commonly used in speech are called trite /dead (stereotyped, hackneyed),
they are fixed in dictionaries.
A ray of hope, a flight of fancy, seeds of evil, roots of evil, to fish for
compliments, to bark up the wrong tree, to apple one’s eye, to burn with desire.
Examples of trite metaphor: The salt of life; a flight of imagination; the ladder of fame;
to burn with passion (anger). The following metaphors enriched English phraseology:
foot of a bed, leg of a chair, and head of a nail, to be in the same boat, blind window,
to fish for compliments. Very often trite metaphors are given new force (intensity) and
their primary dead meaning is created a new. It is achieved by introducing new
additional images. Such metaphors are called sustained or prolonged: “Our family
rivulet joined other streams and the stream was a river pouring into St. Thomas Church”
(J. Steinbeck).
Thus, trite metaphors regain freshness due to the prolongation. Metaphors may
have a sustained form in cases with genuine metaphors as well. Usually a metaphor
may be expressed by any part of speech. See the above examples. The main function
of the metaphor is to create images. Genuine metaphors create bright images in poetry
and emotive prose. Trite metaphors are widely used in newspaper and scientific style.
Here it is not a shortcoming of style. They help the author make the meaning more
concrete and brighten his writings as it is an indispensable quality of human thought
and perception. There is an opinion according to which metaphor is defined as a
compressed simile. Prof. I. R. Galperin considers this approach as misleading because
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metaphor identifies objects while simile finds some points of resemblance and by this
keeps the objects apart. He says their linguistic nature is different. When likeness
(affinity) is observed between inanimate objects and human qualities, we have the cases
of personification:
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silvery soon,
This way and that she peers and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees
(De La Mare).
In conclusion, we learnt that metaphor is not merely a decorative literary device;
it is a fundamental aspect of human thought and communication. Genuine metaphors
enrich language with creativity and imagination, while trite metaphors serve practical
purposes in various styles. Sustained metaphors often bridge the gap between the two,
bringing new life to old expressions. Ultimately, metaphor is indispensable in shaping
ideas, enhancing expression, and creating memorable imagery.
References
1. Boroditsky, L. (2000). Metaphoric structuring: Understanding time through
spatial metaphors. - C.1-75
2. Galperln I. R.Stylistics M., Higher school. 1977.- C. 460-470
3. Galperin I. R. An Essay In Stylistic Analysis. M , Higher School, 1968. - C.
3-25
4. J.Steinbeck. "Of Mice and Men" 1937- C. 130-145
