What is periphrasis, examples of its use in colloquial speech and works of art

The expressiveness and beauty of the Russian language was admired by Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy and many other writers, poets, whose life and creative activity were directly connected with the word. They noted his euphony, rich, diverse vocabulary, extended semantics, allowing them to use all the art expressive means so skilfully.

Familiarity with the concept

What is a linguistic phenomenon like a periphrasis? Examples of it we meet often enough in everyday communication, and in artistic speech. If you hear someone saying "the queen of the night" or "the night star" instead of the word "moon", and instead of "the star" - "guiding lights", "pearls" and "precious placers," then you know that they collided exactly With the above concept. In art he was identified by the ancient Greeks, they also gave him the definition: "an expression that describes one phenomenon with the help of another." That is, the allegory, "one instead of the other" - so literally in Greek "perifraz" sounds. Examples of such "around and around" (another translation-interpretation) can be found quite easily. Yes, at least the famous Pushkin appeal to the sea: "Farewell, free element!"

Paraphrase - Paraphrase

The means of speech expressiveness, which is discussed in the article, people who are ignorant of art trails, are often confused with paraphrase - in a word, very close in sound, but having a completely different meaning. This term denotes different types of retelling of the text: detailed, abbreviated, adapted, transpositions from verses to prose and vice versa. Various comments, including scientific texts, also apply to him. Peripheral has a completely different purpose. His examples in speech are similar in many respects to the role of pronouns in grammar. Both linguistic phenomena do not name objects, signs, but point to them: "he" instead of "man" and "one-armed bandit" instead of "slot machine".

Speech expressiveness

Tropes, descriptively expressing some concepts with the help of others, literary scholarship is quite a lot. This is metaphors and puns, and comparisons. A special place among them is occupied by a paraphrase. Examples, revealed in colloquial speech and artistic texts, make it possible to classify the phenomenon into logical subgroups and figurative ones. In logical, the descriptive moment is based on the obvious, visible, easily identifiable connections between objects, phenomena, events. And in figurative - on the system of associations and hidden unifying links. What is a logical paraphrase? Examples in Russian are quite easy. This and the author of the "Hero of Our Time" instead of "Lermontov", and "green plantations" instead of "plants". Their distinctive feature is widespread, transparency of lexical meaning, stereotyped reproduction.

Art of the word

A somewhat different kind of figurative paraphrase. Examples from fiction help to reveal its essence as accurately as possible. If someone is named Oblomov, it becomes clear that such qualities of a person as laziness, lack of desire to do something, idle dreaminess are meant. Plyushkin has long been synonymous with stinginess in its highest manifestation, Moscow's native speakers of the Russian language are often called "White Stone", and St. Petersburg - Pushkin's words: "Peter the creation." In this case, we are not dealing with a paraphrase in its pure form, but with its fusion with other paths: a metaphor and a comparison. Often they are realized (that is, they have lost their clearly expressed portable meaning), deployed or hidden.

Two in one

What else is interesting about periphrasis? Examples from literature and colloquial speech prove his connection with another linguistic phenomenon - a euphemism, more precisely, the imposition of one concept on another. In what cases is this happening? If you need a rough, stylistically lowered word, replace it with another, more "noble" word. For example, instead of "coughing" they say "clean the throat", instead of "fart" - "spoil the air." The prostitute is called "the woman of easy behavior", "hetera", "the representative of the ancient profession", "Messalina". The process of cleansing the nasal sinuses - a beautiful expression "to use a handkerchief", etc. Euphemisms appeared and became fixed in the language at a time when its literary norms were actively formed, the struggle for purity and correctness was in progress. Another Lomonosov his theory of the "three calm" has a sharp boundary between "high", "medium" and "low" vocabulary. It was believed that the refined and educated nobility should not be used in rude speech. And although Lomonosov's teaching primarily concerned Literature, genera and genres, it has found the widest application in society.

There is another reason for the appearance of euphemisms: the periphrasis is subjective and is determined by religious and cult factors. For example, instead of "devil" in Russia, especially in the people's environment, it was customary to say "unclean" or "evil". It was believed that such names would not attract undue attention to otherworldly forces to people, and they, in turn, would not annoy "God's souls". Similarly, the peasants did not pronounce out loud the words "house", calling it "master," "grandfather," "assistant." Quite often the word "Sam" was found. They believed that otherwise the housekeeper would be offended and begin to mess with them. And if you call it "right", then this way you can appease the spirit, which will certainly bring good luck to the house.