Oxymoron

The term is first recorded as Latinized Greek oxymōrum, in Maurus Servius Honoratus (c. AD
400);[4] it is derived from the Greek oksús "sharp, keen, pointed"[5] and mōros "dull, stupid,
foolish"; as it were, "sharp-dull", "keenly stupid", or "pointedly foolish".[7] The word oxymoron
is autological, i.e., it is itself an example of an oxymoron.
It is a lexical-syntactic stylistic device presenting a combination of two contrasting ideas. The
tenor and vehicle in oxymoron are antonymous. There are plenty of formal and colloquial
oxymoronic expressions such as “old news”, “speaking silence”, “deafening silence”, “civil war”,
“dumb confession”. (дорослі діти, сухе вино, живий портрет)
The most widely used structural type of oxymoron is attributive (a combination of an adjective
and a noun) Attribute in such a phrase is similar to am emotively-charged epithet in its stylistic
function: sweet sorrow.

Metaphor: types and functions

Metaphor is a transference of names based on the associated likeness between two objects.
It is based on an imaginative identification of two different objects, it is a trope which realizes 2
lexical meanings (logical and contextual logical) simultaneously. Its function is to achieve a
striking conceptual and aesthetic effect.
She looks like a bright star. (The scheme is T is like V – an imaginative comparison) – For him
she is a bright star. (General scheme is T is V – a metaphor)
Metaphors are very complicated for analysis: the metaphorical renaming can be based on any
property – colour, form, motion, speed, dimensions, value, etc; they can be expressed by any
part of speech; they function as any member of the sentence.
Brooke-Rose grouped metaphors according to the part of speech they are expressed and their
syntactic functions. She differentiates between noun metaphors and non-noun (adj, verb,
adverb) metaphors.
Language (T) is the dress of thought (V). (T is V)
The steps of the sun. (V) (T= hours)
The human tide (V) was rolling westward. (T- crowds of people).
According to the structure of metaphors they are divided into 2 large groups: simple (one
vehicle) and sustained (main central vehicle is supported by a number of other, contributing
vehicles, which might be subordinated to (a) or coordinated with (b) the central image).
degree of unexpectedness:
Genuine, stylistic, fresh, original, poetic, speech, imaginative metaphors
Trite, dead, stale, hackneyed, language