Synecdoche

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A synekdoche ( ancient Greek συνεκδοχή synekdoché , German 'understanding' ) is a rhetorical figure from the group of the tropics . It denotes the replacement of a word by a term from the same concept field. A word can be replaced by a term with a narrower or broader meaning, a general or sub-concept. This distinguishes it from the metaphor (in which a word is replaced by an unrelated term from another field of terms). Seen in this way, it represents a sub-area of metonymy (in which there is a spiritual or factual relationship between the terms). However, the boundaries between metonymy and synecdoche are fluid. Example: "Peace to you and our brother France ..." (Shakespeare).

The synecdoche is often wrongly equated with the figure pars pro toto (Latin "a part for the whole"), which is only a special case of the synecdoche.

Subspecies of the Synekdoche

Depending on the type of numerical ratio, a distinction must be made between:

  1. Part-whole relationship:
    1. A part stands for the whole; this subspecies of the Synekdoche is also called pars pro toto (lat. "a part for the whole"). Example (see more there):
      • pro nose - nose stands for people
    2. Conversely: the whole stands for a part; this subspecies of the Synekdoche is also called totum pro parte . Examples:
      • run a house - run the household for one or more people
  2. Genus-species relationship:
    1. The particular, the species, stands for the general, the genus. Examples:
      • Bread for food
      • Men for people , three men for three people
      • with the sword for by force of arms
      • The ring as a sign of marriage
    2. The general, the genus, stands for the special, the kind. Examples:
      • The big cat as a synonym for the tiger
  3. Temporal relationship:
    1. The earlier stands for the later. Examples:
      • Grape juice for wine .
    2. The later stands for the earlier.
      • The hero of Troy was born in ...
  4. Grammatical-numerical relationship:
    1. Singular stands for plural . Examples:
      • the German for the Germans or the majority of German citizens
    2. Plural stands for singular. Examples:

Examples

from everyday life

  • "They all live under one roof" [house / apartment]
  • "Eat your plate [meal]!"

country names

  • “England” means the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
  • "Holland" (a region of the Netherlands) for the Netherlands
  • “America” (name of the continent) for only one confederation in it, namely the USA

See also

  • Accumulatio (accumulation): Often several exemplary sub-terms replace the generic term.
  • Synonymy denotes the equality or similarity of the meaning of different linguistic or lexical expressions or signs.

literature

  • Heinrich Lausberg: Handbook of literary rhetoric . 3. Edition. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-515-05503-7 , §§ 572-577.
  • Gert Ueding , Bernd Steinbrink: Outline of the rhetoric. History, technology, method. 4th, revised edition. Metzler, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-476-02057-6 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Synekdoche  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Werner Habicht, Wolf-Dieter Lange a. a. (Ed.): The Brockhaus Literature: in eight volumes . Volume 8, p. 22. Fundamentally revised and expanded paperback edition. BI-Taschenbuchverlag, Mannheim / Leipzig / Vienna / Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-411-11881-4 .
  2. ^ Andreas Blank: Introduction to lexical semantics for Romanists . Walter de Gruyter, 2013, ISBN 978-3-11-095736-5 ( google.de [accessed on February 12, 2019]).