The Epithet

The Epithet

Epithet is a stylistic device which displays the writer's or speaker's emotional attitude.

 They are always subjective and are based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase or sentence.

 Epithets are very often evaluative.

 Semantically they can be divided into:-associated epithets,-unassociated epithets.

 Associated epithets point to a feature or a characteristic which may be essential to the object described (dreary midnight, fantastic terrors, careful attention).

 Unassociated epithets characterize the object by adding to it a feature which is not inherent in it, which is unexpected (a heart-burning smile, sullen earth, voiceless sands).

 Some linguists differentiate between genuine epithets (or speech epithets) and language (or trite) epithets (e.g.  добрый молодец, красная девица).

 According to their structure epithets are divided into compositional and distributional.

 Compositional are further represented by simple, compound and phrase epithets.

 Simple epithets are ordinary adjectives.

 Compound epithets are built like compound adjectives (curly-headed, mischief-making monkey – проказливая мартышка).

 Phrase epithets represent a phrase or a whole sentence which may be used attributively and referred to one statement.

 Distributional epithets: string of epithets and reversed epithets.

 A string of epithets represents a group of words used as a homogeneous attributes (e.g. a plump, rosy-checked, wholesome, apple-faced young woman).

 Reversed epithet is a combination of 2 nouns linked by the preposition of (e.g.  Wreck of a Ford, a brute of a brother).

 They are based on a metaphorical transfer.

 Transferred epithets (e.g. a disapproving finger, a sleepless pillow, an indifferent shoulder).