英语修辞.docx

1、英语修辞1、生动形象的Simile （明喻） 英语辞格simile （明喻）是一种最简单、最常用的修辞方法，也是运用最为广泛的一种修辞手段。在文学作品中尤其如此。文学词汇词典（A Dictionary of Literary Terms）对明喻是这样定义的：A figure of speech in which one thing is likened to another, in such a way as to clarify and enhance an image. It is explicit comparison (as opposed to the metaphor where

2、comparison is implicit) recognizable by the use of words “like” or “as”.这个定义对明喻的界定既有权威性又有普遍性，许多论述英语修辞的书籍或文章在讲到明喻时，其叙述都没有超出这个概念。根据定义，明喻是一种表现一事物像另一事物的修辞格。说得通俗点，也就是打比方，即把要描述的事物本体（A）用比喻词与另一种具有鲜明的同一特征的事物喻体（B）联系起来。常用的比喻词有 as（如）， like（像）， seem（似乎）， as if（好像）， as though（好像）， such as（像一样）等。其基本格式是“A is like B

3、”或“A is asas B”。 Simile在英语中应用得很广泛，用以状物、写景、抒情、喻理，可收到生动形象，简单明了，新鲜有趣的修辞效果。先看引自大学英语精读（笔者按：系指董亚芬总主编的大学英语系列教材(College English)中的精读（Intensive Reading 1-6册）修订本，上海外语教育出版社，1997。下同）中的几个例子。The cheque fluttered to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. （Book 1, Unit 3）支票像只断了翅膀的小鸟似的飘落在地板上。一位孤苦伶仃的老人在生日那天，满心欢喜地期

4、待她的女儿来给她祝寿，至少给她寄一份生日礼物，最终等到的却是一张冷冰冰的支票。此句形象地描述了老人收到支票后的心情她多么失望，就让那张令她伤心的支票随它去吧！这个明喻的比喻词是like。Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit we cannot flower and grow without it. (Book 2, Unit 10)对于人的精神来说，赞扬就像阳光一样：没有它我们便不能开花生长。作者借助明喻形象地说明了赞扬的作用，赞扬对于人的精神如阳光对于生命一样重要，对于我们来说是不可或缺的。此句的比喻词也是like。He looked at

5、me with an air of surprised disappointed, as a colonel might look at a private whose bootlace were undone. (Book 2, Unit 4)他带着一种吃惊的，不以为然的神态看着我，就像一位上校看着一名没系好靴带的列兵一样。这句话传神地刻画出校长对于“我”这位求职者傲慢自大，不屑一顾的神气。这句用的比喻词是as。英语中有许多谚语包含着美妙的明喻，闪烁着语言艺术的光彩。这些谚语多数以like和 as作比喻词。例如：Wit without learning is like a tree with

6、out fruit. 有天资而无学识，好比树木不结果实。Choose an author as you choose a friend. 择书如择友。Credit lost is like a Venice-glass broke. 信誉丧失，犹如破镜难圆。Use a book as a bee does flowers. 读书如蜜蜂采花。明喻通常表示本体和喻体之间的相似性，从而道出两种事物之间的关联。由于这个原因明喻常用于广告语言中，能使我们了解商品，给我们具体、形象的概念，读来颇感亲切，易于为大众所接受。如下面这则衣服广告：Light as a breeze, soft as a clou

7、d.轻盈如微风，柔软似白云。这则广告中两个明喻的运用，把衣服的质地感和穿着的舒适感体现出来了，使广告的魅力倍增，谁会不为之慷慨解囊呢？Cool as a mountain streamcool fresh Consulate. 凉爽如山间清泉清凉甘爽的Consulate香烟。这是Consulate 牌香烟的广告。广告将该香烟比作山间溪流，言下之意是，Consulate 牌香烟犹如山间溪流那样清新、甘爽、提神、醒脑通过比喻把该烟的特点表现的淋漓尽致，使人难以忘怀。另外，值得注意的是英语中有许多成语含有明喻，其结构为as + 形容词+ as +名词（第一个as可省略）。例如：(as) blind

8、as a bat 目光如豆(as) cool as cucumber 泰然自若(as) cold as a marble 冷若冰霜(as) busy as a bee 像蜜蜂一样忙(as) firm as a rock 坚如磐石(as) light as a feather 轻如鸿毛(as) mute as an oyster 噤若寒蝉(as) strong as horse 健壮如牛用些含明喻的成语用like构成。例如：like a duck to water 如鱼得水like a hen on a hot griddle 像热锅上的蚂蚁like a cat in a hole 瓮中之鳖以上

9、是明喻最典型的体现格式：A is like B. 和A is asas B.英语中的明喻可以多种格式体现，其他的格式或句型还有：1、虚拟句型 最常见的是用as if或as though作比喻词，另外还有其他一些形式。例如：My handwriting looks as if a swarm of ants, escaping from an ink bottle, had walked over a sheet of paper without wiping their legs. (Sydney Smith )我的笔迹，看来就像一大群蚂蚁从墨水里逃出来，没有把脚抹干净就在纸上四散奔跑过似的。

10、笔迹像蚂蚁爬的痕迹，比喻得恰如其分。and the fattest woman I have ever seen in my life dozing in a straight-backed chair. It was as if a sack of grain was supported by a matchbox. 还有一位我生平所未曾见过最胖的女人坐在一把直背椅子上打瞌睡，那简直就像一口袋粮食放在一个火柴盒上一样。“一口袋粮食放在一个火柴盒上”比喻（含夸张）得多么生动。The dogs were in full cry, their noses down, their tails up,

11、 so close together that they might have been one great yellow and white moving carpet. 那群狗吠叫着追猎，低着头，翘着尾巴，一条挨着一条，看上去就像一块黄白交织的活动的大地毯。本句也是虚拟句型的明喻，词组sothat起比喻词的作用，连接本体和喻体。She looked both young and aging, as if she had just emerged from an illness of some crisis.(Isacca Bashevis Singer: The Briefcase)她看上

12、去既老又年轻，好像是新病初愈或是刚遭了一场灾难的样子。He was a beautiful horse that looked as though he had come out of a painting by Velasquez.(Ernest Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls)那匹马很漂亮，像是维拉斯凯兹油画上的马变活了。2、what型 常见的句式有两种：A is to B what C is to D和 What C is to D, A is to B。例如：Carlos Lehder was to cocaine transportation w

13、hat Henry Ford was to cars. 卡洛斯雷德与可卡因的贩运的关系，正如亨利福特与汽车的关系。卡洛斯雷德是著名的哥伦比亚毒枭（Colombian drug lord），亨利福特是美国汽车大王，本句通过喻体（福特）说明本体（雷德）。此明喻起说明的作用。Judicious praise is to children what the sun is to flowers. (Bovee)明智的表扬对于孩子的作用，就像阳光对于花朵的作用。The pen is to a writer what the gun is to a fighter. 作家的笔犹如战士的枪。Intellect

14、 is to the mind what sight is to the body. 智力对思想犹如视力对于身体一样重要。在这个明喻句式中，系动词可以改用实义动词do，介词to改为 for，而成为 A does for B what C does for D 。这里what引导的是一个宾语从句。例如： Marx did for the development of society what Darwin did for the development of the biology. 马克思对社会发展的贡献和达尔文对生物学发展的贡献一样。第二个句式是把what从句提到句首而形成的。例如： Wha

15、t the blueprint is to the builder the outline is to the writer. 提纲对于作家犹如蓝图对于建筑师一样重要。What blood vessels are to a mans body, that railways are to the country. 铁路对于一个国家的作用正如血管对于人体的作用。What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul. 教育之于心灵，犹如雕刻之于大理石。What salt is to food, that wit and hu

16、mour are to conversation and literature. 妙语与幽默之于会话与文学，恰似盐对于食物一样。以上两例中what置于句首，后面的主句一般由that连接，但也可以省去。3、than型 Lear: that she may feelHow sharper than a serpents tooth it isTo have a thankless child! Away, away! ( William Shakespeare: King Lear ) 李尔：让她也感觉到一个负心的孩子比毒蛇的牙齿还要多么使人痛入骨髓！去，去！A fool can no more

17、see his own folly than he can see his ears. (William M. Thackeray)愚人之不知其愚，犹如其不能自视其耳。We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it. (Bernard Shaw)我们不创造幸福便无权享受幸福，正如不创造财富也就无权享用财富一样。Man cannot help craving for expression any more than birds c

18、an help singing. 人之不能不舒其胸襟，犹鸟之不能不啭其歌喉。So she shows she seems the budding rose,Yet sweeter far than is earthly flower(Robert Burns: A Red, Red Rose)当她出现，看来犹如含苞的玫瑰，但却远比尘世的花儿馥郁4、And 型 这是一种特殊的明喻句，常见于英语谚语。其中and的作用相当于like，不可把它理解为“和”、“与”等义。例如：A word and a stone let go cannot be recalled. 说出的话犹如抛出的石，是收不回来的。

19、Love and cough can not be hid. 恋爱如同咳嗽，难逃他人耳目。Words and feather are tossed by the wind. 语言如羽毛，风刮到处飘。Truth and roses have thorns about them. 真理如玫瑰，全身都带刺。Kings and bears often worry their keepers. 国王和熊一样，总使照料的人坐立不安。5、动词型I compare his genius to a lightning flash. 我将他的天才比作闪电。He treats his daughter as the

20、 apple in the eye. 他把女儿当作掌上明珠。Samuel Johnson regarded a dictionary as a watch. 塞缪尔约翰逊把词典看作钟表。Passions are likend best to floods and streams;The shallow murmur, but the deep are dumb激情最像洪水与溪流：水面喧声淙淙，水底无语无声Sitting still, he might have been taken for a very pretty girl masquerading in male attire, but

21、when he moved, his little agility suggested a tame panther without the claws. (Ethel Lilian Voynich: The Gadfly) 要是静静地坐在那儿，人家准会当他是一个女扮男装的很美的姑娘；可是一行动起来，他那柔软而敏捷的姿态，就要使人联想到一只驯服的没有利爪的豹子了。Clan in his nightshirt, his neck poked forward, his back rounded, he resembled some long white bird. (John Galsworthy

22、: The Man of Property)他穿了一身睡衣，脖子向前伸出来，伛着背，那样子活像一只长身白鸟。可引导明喻的动词还有to be similar to, consideras, serveas, honouras, respectas等。与英语simile相对应的汉语修辞格是“明喻”。汉语“明喻” 是比喻（包括明喻、隐喻和借喻）中的一种，也是最平易的一种。基本格式和英语simile完全相同，即“甲事物像乙事物”。需要加以描写刻画的事物（本体），用以比喻的事物（喻体）和比喻词都出现，明白地表示出本体和喻体的比喻关系，所以称“明喻”。常用的比喻词有：像、好像、如、犹如、仿佛。例如：还似旧

23、时游上苑，车如流水马如龙。 （李煜：忆江南）客有吹萧者，倚歌而和之。其声呜呜然，如怨，如慕，如泣，如诉，余音袅袅，不绝如缕，舞幽壑之蛟龙，泣孤舟之嫠妇。（苏轼：前赤壁赋）我们容易伤风和妒忌，我们烦腻，心薄得像嘴唇，而嘴唇又薄又阔，像一张拍卖行长开的旧唱片。 （王佐良：诗）于是夜晚的松花江，像一条嵌花的闪光的银链，静静地垂挂在这一片浩瀚的沙滩裸露的胸前。 （张抗抗：夏）看了卡拉玛姐妹的舞蹈，使人深深地体会到印度的优美悠久的文化艺术：舞蹈、音乐、雕刻、图画都如同一条条的大榕树上的树枝，枝枝下垂，入地生根。（冰心：观舞记）饮食店里的职工们当然不知女经理的这番挫折，只见她第二天早晨起来眼睛肿得和水蜜桃

24、一样，看什么都不顺眼，看见馒头、花卷、包子、面条都有气。（古华：芙蓉镇）值得注意的是，有些句子中虽然有“像”，“好像”这类比喻词，但这个句子不一定是明喻。例如：人总是有感情的，不爱别人就是因为太爱自己，要我像他那样只爱自己，对旁人都没有感情，我会僵了，活不成了。（莫应丰：将军吟）这个句子中的“我像他”不是明喻，因为“我”和“他”系同类，不能设喻。构成明喻必须要有本体、喻体和比喻词，并且本体和喻体之间是“相类”的关系，在本质上是不同的事物。2、含而不露的Metaphor（隐喻） Metaphor（汉译名为“隐喻”或“暗喻”），也是一种比喻，它不用比喻词，直接把甲事物（喻体）当作乙事物（本体）来描

25、述，其比喻关系隐含在句意中，从而更生动、更深刻地说明事理，增强语言的表现力。Websters New World Dictionary的解释是：“a figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another”这个解释的意思是说，隐喻是一种隐含着比喻的修辞格，他通常的基本用法是，表述某一事物的词或短语被用来表述另外的一种事物。由于比喻是隐含的，决定了它的本体与喻体的关系必然

26、十分紧密。与simile相比较，不但不需要as, like之类的比喻词，有时甚至可以连本体也不出现。基于这种情况，有些词典或著作常常对metaphor和simile同时论述，称之为“浓缩的明喻（a compressed or condensed simile）”。如A Dictionary of Literary Terms对Metaphor的定义就是如此，“Metaphor: A figure of speech in which one thing is described in terms of another. The basic figure in poetry. A compari

27、son is usually implicit; whereas in simile it is explicit.” 下面用实例对这两种修辞格做一比较：1a. Life is like an isthmus between two eternities. (simile)生活像永恒的生死两端之间的峡道。 （明喻）1b. Life is an isthmus between two eternities. (metaphor)生活是永恒的生死两端之间的峡道。（隐喻）2a. Happiness is like sunshine: it is made up of very little beam

28、s. (simile)幸福像阳光，它由非常细小的光速构成。（明喻）2b. The sunshine of life is made up of very little beams. (metaphor)幸福的阳光由非常细小的光速构成。（隐喻）Metaphor在英语里运用极为广泛、频繁。请看下面几例：Police work on inner city streets is a domestic Vietnam, a dangerous no-win struggle fought by confused, misdirected and unappreciated troops. ( Gordo

29、n Witkin )市中心贫民区的治安工作是一场国内的越南战争，有一支思想混乱、指挥失灵、无人赏识的部队进行的一场危险的，只输不赢的斗争。这是一例典型的隐喻。人们对警方的工作（本体）可能了解不深，但在美国人们对越南战争（喻体）则是体会的既具体又痛切。本体，喻体同时出现，通过三个相似点（confused, misdirected，unappreciated），痛陈警察的不平和苦衷，可望引起公众对警察的同情和理解。文中Vietnam指the Vietnam War。For years her cries of “fish for sale” were in vain. She had no hom

30、e, no family, no friends and her life was a basket of unsold fish. ( Humphrey Hawksley )多年来，她“卖鱼啦”的叫喊声全然白费。她无家可归，无夫无子，无亲无友她的生活就是一篮没卖出去的鱼。把卖鱼妇的生活比喻成一篮没有卖出的鱼，激起人们对卖鱼妇的无限同情。This centuryman has started to look into the working of that other universe which is inside himself the human brain. (Isaac Asimov

31、: What Is Intelligence, Anyway) 本世纪人类已经开始研究自身内部的的另外一个宇宙的活动了，这另外一个宇宙就是人脑。作者用隐喻向读者表明：“人脑”就是一个“宇宙”，它奥秘无穷，有待人类进一步研究探索。While most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somewhat reluctant to give our fellow the warm sunshine of praise. （Janet Grham: The Profits of Praise） 我们大多数人动不动就对别人刮起批评的寒风，不知为什么却不愿意把表扬的温暖阳光给予我们的同伴。 此句把太多的批评比喻为“冷风”，把表扬比喻为“温暖的阳光”，本体和喻体的关系由of含蓄表达，都是喻体在前，本体在后。Benedick: Would you buy her, that you inquire after her?Claudio: Can the world buy such a jewel?(William Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing)