What are epithets used for? Epithets and Russian folk art

What is one of the main charms of interaction between people? Of course, in communication, exchanging your thoughts, emotions, feelings with each other through language. Now imagine if all our conversations were reduced solely to the transfer of this or that information, bare data without any figurative characteristics and additional meanings that reflect our attitude to what was said. It would be reminiscent of this communication of machines exchanging various combinations of zeros and ones, only instead of numbers - words that do not carry any emotional coloring. The expressiveness of speech is important not only in everyday communication, but also in literature (and here it is "vital"). Agree, it is difficult to imagine a novel, a poem or a fairy tale that does not use figurative definitions and others. That is why epithets are important in our speech, both oral and written. What it is? That is what helps to make the words and phrases used more colorful, more accurately convey their essential features and express our attitude towards them. Next, we will take a closer look at this concept, we will determine the role and meaning of epithets in speech, and also try to classify them depending on the purposes and features of the application.

The concept of the epithet and the types of its constructions

Let's start by presenting a complete and deeper understanding of the word "epithet": what it is, what structure it has, how it is used in certain situations.

Adjectives as epithets

From the ancient Greek "epithet" is translated as something "attached" or "added" to the main one. And there is. These special expressive words always go as a supplement to others denoting some kind of object (object or subject). Usually this is a "definition + noun" construction, where the epithet is a definition, usually an adjective (but not necessarily). Here are simple examples: black melancholy, dead night, mighty shoulders, sugar lips, hot kiss, cheerful colors, etc.

In this case, adjectives are epithets that allow us to draw a more complete picture of a particular subject: not just melancholy, but "black", oppressive, impenetrable; not just a kiss, but "hot", passionate, giving pleasure - such a description makes you feel deeper what the author wants to convey, experience some sensations and emotions.

Use of other parts of speech as epithets

However, not only an adjective can play the role of epithets, often adverbs, nouns, pronouns, and even participles and participles (that is, not one word, but a combination of them) act in this "role". Often it is these parts of speech that allow you to more accurately and vividly convey the image and create the right atmosphere than adjectives would do.

Consider examples of using various parts of speech as epithets:

Adverbs. In a sentence, they are circumstances. Examples: "The grass bloomed merrily" (Turgenev); "And I bitterly complain, and bitterly shed tears" (Pushkin).
Nouns. They give a figurative description of the subject. They act as applications or predicates. Examples: "Oh, cab Mother Volga ran back!" (Tolstoy); "Spring of honor, our idol!" (Pushkin).
Pronouns. They are used as epithets when they express the superlative degree of a phenomenon. Example: "... combat fights ... they say, what else!" (Lermontov).
Communions. Example: "... I, spellbound, breaking the thread of consciousness ..." (Block).
Participle turns. Examples: "Leaf, ringing and dancing in the silence of centuries" (Krasko); "... writers ... who have nothing in their language, except for words that do not remember kinship" (Saltykov-Shchedrin).
Participles and participles. Examples: "... playing hide and seek, the sky comes down from the attic" (Pasternak); "... frolicking and playing, rumbles ..." (Tyutchev).

Thus, epithets in speech can be not only adjectives, but also other parts of speech, if they help convey the image and more accurately express the properties of the described object.

Independent epithets

Rarely, but there are cases when expressive means are used in the text without the main word, epithets act as independent definitions without defined ones. Example: "I am looking for strange and new things on the pages of old written books" (Block). Here the epithets "strange" and "new" simultaneously play two roles - both defining and being defined. This technique is typical for the literature of the era of symbolism.

Methods for classifying epithets

So, now we have a fairly clear idea of such an important term in literary theory as epithets. What it is and how it is used, we examined. However, for a better understanding of this phenomenon, it is important to be able to distinguish and classify epithets according to certain criteria. Despite the fact that the main and most important purpose of using these expressive means always comes down to one thing - to describe, to give an artistic definition to an object or phenomenon, all epithets can be classified. They are divided into groups according to different parameters, which we will consider below.

Types of epithets in terms of genetics

The first group divides epithets into types depending on the genetic origin:

general language (decorating);
folk-poetic (permanent);
individually-author's.

General language, they are also called decorating, are any characteristics that describe objects and phenomena and their properties. Examples: gentle sea, deathly silence, leaden clouds, ringing silence, etc. We usually use them in everyday speech in order to better convey the atmosphere of the event / object being described and our feelings to the interlocutor.

Folk-poetic, or permanent, epithets are such words or whole expressions that for many years have been firmly entrenched in the minds of people for some specific words. Examples: good fellow, red maiden, clear moon, open field and others.

Individually-author's epithets are a product of the creative thought of the author himself. That is, previously these words or phrases were not used in speech in this sense, and therefore were not epithets. There are a lot of them in fiction, especially in poetry. Examples: "the face of a thousand-eyed trust..." (Mayakovsky); "transparent flattery necklace", "golden rosary of wisdom" (Pushkin); "... an eternal motive in the middle of life" (Brodsky).

Epithets based on metaphor and metonymy

It is possible to divide epithets into groups on another basis. Since figurative epithets are often associated with the use of words in a figurative sense, then, depending on the type of this figurative word (which is an epithet), we can distinguish:

metaphorical;
metonymic.

Metaphorical epithets, as the name already implies, are based on "light patterns", "winter silver" (Pushkin); "dismal, sad friendship", "sad, mournful reflection" (Herzen); "barren fields" (Lermontov).

Metonymic epithets are based on the figurative metonymic meaning of the word. Examples: "her hot, scratchy whisper" (Bitter); "birch, cheerful language" (Yesenin).

In addition, epithets based on a metaphorical or metonymic meaning can incorporate the properties of other tropes: combined with hyperbole, personification and other

Examples: "Loudly winged arrows, beating behind the shoulders, sounded / In the procession of an angry god: he walked, like the night" (Homer); “He cursed, begged, cut / climbed after someone to bite into his sides. / Red in the sky, like the Marseillaise / shuddered, round, the sunset” (Mayakovsky).

Such use of epithets makes it possible to express the perception of some phenomena/objects by the author even brighter, stronger, more accurately and convey these feelings to readers or listeners.

Epithets from the point of view of the author's assessment

Epithets can be divided into groups depending on how the author's assessment is expressed in the work:

pictorial;
expressive.

The former are used to express features and focus on some significant differences, properties of the subject without expressing the author's assessment of it. Examples: "... in the autumn half-light, how ghostly the transparency of the garden reigns" (Brodsky); "Your fences have a cast-iron pattern / And a blue punch flame" (Pushkin).

Expressive epithets (as the name already implies) give readers the opportunity to hear the author's attitude, his clearly expressed assessment of the described object or phenomenon. Examples: "meaningless and dim light" (Block); "the heart is a cold piece of iron" (Mayakovsky).

However, it should be noted that such a division is very conditional, since often pictorial epithets also have emotional color and are a consequence of the author's perception of certain objects.

The evolution of the use of epithets in literature

Arguing about what epithets are in literature, one cannot help but touch on the topic of their evolution over time. They are constantly undergoing changes both historically and culturally. In addition, epithets differ depending on the geography (place of residence) of the people who created them. Our upbringing, the features and conditions of life, the events and phenomena experienced, the experience gained - all this affects the images created in speech, as well as the meaning that is embedded in them.

Epithets and Russian folk art

Epithets - what are these images in oral folk art? At an early stage in the development of literature, epithets, as a rule, described any physical properties objects and singled out their essential, key features. The emotional component and the expression of attitude towards the described object faded into the background or were completely absent. In addition, folk epithets were distinguished by exaggeration of the properties of objects and phenomena. Examples: good fellow, untold wealth, etc.

Epithets of the Silver Age and postmodernism

With the passage of time and the development of literature, epithets became more complex, their constructions changed, and their role in works changed. The novelty of the poetic language, and hence the use of epithets, is especially well seen in literary works. Silver Age. Wars, stormy scientific and technical progress and the associated changes in the world led to changes in the worldview of man. Writers and poets set off in search of new literary forms. Hence - the appearance of a large number of "own" (that is, author's) words due to the violation of the usual morphemes, stem connections, new forms of words and new ways of combining them.

Examples: "Curls sleep on the shoulders of snowy whiteness" (Ants); "Laughers ... who laugh with laughter, who laugh with laughter, oh, laugh with laughter!" (Khlebnikov).

A lot of interesting examples in the use of words and the unusual depiction of objects can be found in Mayakovsky's work. What is the poem "Violin and a little tenderly" worth, in which "the drum ... darted at the burning Kuznetsky and left", "the silly cymbal clanged out", "the helikon-copper-faced" shouted something to the violin, etc.

Notable in terms of the use of epithets is the literature of postmodernism. This trend (which arose in the 1940s and received its greatest dawn in the 1980s) opposes itself to realism (especially socialist realism), which dominated Russia until the end of the 1970s. Representatives of postmodernism reject the rules and norms developed by cultural traditions. In their work, the boundaries between reality and fiction, reality and art are erased. Hence - a large number of new verbal forms and techniques, a curious and very interesting use of epithets.

Examples: "Diathesis bloomed / Diapers were golden" (Kibrov); "An acacia branch ... smells of creosote, tambour dust ... in the evening it tiptoes back into the garden and listens to the movement of electric trains" (Sokolov).

The works of the era of postmodernism are replete with examples of what epithets are in the literature of our time. One has only to read such authors as Sokolov (an example is presented above), Strochkov, Levin, Sorokin, and others.

Fairy tales and their characteristic epithets

A special place is occupied by epithets in fairy tales. Folklore works of different times and different peoples of the world contain a lot of examples of the use of epithets. So, for example, for Russian folk tales characteristic is the frequent use of distance epithets, as well as definitions describing the surrounding nature. Examples: "clear field, dark forest, high mountains"; "to distant lands, in a distant state" ("Finist - a clear falcon", Russian folk tale).

But Iranian fairy tales, for example, are characterized by oriental imagery, rich in various epithets ornate speech. Examples: "... a pious and wise sultan, delving into state affairs with extraordinary care ..." ("The History of Sultan Sanjar").

So, on the example of epithets used in folk art, one can trace cultural characteristics belonging to one or another people.

Epithets in epics and myths of different peoples of the world

At the same time for folklore works different countries world is characterized by common features of the use of epithets that serve a specific purpose. This is easy to follow on the example of ancient Greek myths, Celtic legends and Russian epics. All these works are united by the metaphorical and fantastic nature of events; epithets with a negative connotation are used to describe frightening places, events or phenomena.

Examples: "limitless dark Chaos" ( ancient greek myths), "wild cries, monstrous laughter" (Celtic legends), "a filthy idol" (Russian epics). Such epithets serve not only for a vivid description of places and phenomena, but also for the formation of a special perception, the reader's attitude to what he has read.

How rich is the Russian language? Epithets and their role in colloquial and artistic speech

Let's start with a simple example. Short two-sentence dialogue: "Hi son. I'm on my way home. How are you? What are you doing?" - "Hi, mom. Good. I ate the soup." This conversation is a dry exchange of information: mother is going home, the child has eaten soup. Such communication does not carry any emotions, does not create a mood, and, one might say, does not give us any information about the feelings and the real state of affairs of the interlocutors.

Another thing is if epithets "intervene" in the process of communication. What does it change? Example: "Hi, my sweet son. I'm going home tired and exhausted like a dog. How are you? What are you doing?" - "Hello, dear mommy. I had a hot day today, in a good way! I ate the soup, it was great." This example answers very well the question of why epithets are so important in modern speech, even if this is an ordinary everyday conversation. Agree, from such a conversation it is much easier to understand what mood each of the interlocutors is in: the mother will be glad that her son is doing well, and pleased that he liked the soup; the son, in turn, will understand that mom is tired, and will warm up dinner for her arrival, or do something else useful. And all this thanks to epithets!

Epithet in Russian: the role and examples of use in artistic speech

Let's move on from the simple to the complex. In artistic speech, epithets are no less, and perhaps even more important. None literary work will not be interesting and will not be able to captivate the reader if there are few epithets in it (with rare exceptions, of course). In addition to the fact that they allow you to make the image of the depicted phenomena, objects brighter and more expressive, epithets also play other roles in:

Emphasize some characteristic features and properties of the described object. Examples: "yellow beam", "wild cave", "smooth skull" (Lermontov).
Explain, clarify the features that distinguish the object (for example, color, size, etc.). Example: "Forest ... purple, gold, crimson ..." (Bunin).
They are used as a basis for creating an oxymoron by combining words that are contrasting in meaning. Examples: "brilliant shadow", "wretched luxury".
They allow the author to express his attitude to the described phenomenon, give his assessment and convey this perception to readers. Example: "We value the prophetic word, and we honor the Russian word" (Sergeev-Tsensky).
Helps create a vivid representation of the subject. Example: "... spring, the first ringing ... rumbles in the blue sky" (Tyutchev).
They create a certain atmosphere, cause the desired emotional state. Example: "... lonely and alien to everything, walking alone along an abandoned high road" (Tolstoy).
They form in readers a certain attitude towards a phenomenon, object or character. Examples: "A rustic peasant is riding, and a peasant is sitting on a good horse" (Russian epic); "Onegin was in the opinion of many ... / A small scientist, but a pedant" (Pushkin).

Thus, the role of epithets in fiction is priceless. It is these expressive words that make works, whether it be a poem, a poem, a story or a novel, lively, fascinating, capable of evoking certain emotions, moods, and assessments. We can safely say that there would be no epithets, the very possibility of the existence of literature as an art would be called into question.

Conclusion

In this article, we tried to most fully answer the question of whether, and considered various ways of classifying these expressive means, and also talked about the role of epithets in life and work. We hope this helped you expand your understanding of such an important term in literary theory as epithet.

You might be interested:

We use epithets every day, sometimes without even knowing it. In simple terms, epithets are a decoration or refinement of a word or phrase. Suppose a boy confesses his love to a girl, how should he show his love in words? Saying: “Your eyes are driving me crazy, and I can’t help thinking about you and so on,” he will express his feelings, but if he confesses ...

Dictionary of synonyms and antonyms of the Russian language At the lessons of the Russian language and literature, our dear and beloved teachers told us in detail about what antonyms are. However, over the years, much is forgotten and erased from memory. Today we will try to fill the gap in this issue. Words that refer to the same part of speech but have opposite meanings are called antonyms. The basis of this concept was two Greek words - ...

A pig in a poke Every intelligent person should know and understand what a phraseologism is. Phraseologism (it is also called a phraseological turn) is a stable combination of words that acts as a single lexical unit, and which can be replaced with one word. The words included in phraseological units, as a rule, partially or completely lose their own lexical meaning. Therefore, the lexical meaning of the entire phraseological phrase is a combination of the meanings of its constituent words. By studying…

The Russian language borrowed a lot of words from Greek. Especially many "Greeks" settled in scientific literature and medicine. Yes, and in everyday life, without noticing it ourselves, we, no, no, yes, and we will say an ancient Greek word (for example, tragedy, laurel or space). In fact, it turns out that the ancient Greeks made a huge contribution to the formation of our great and powerful language. However, not only whole words migrated into the Russian language from ...

An epithet is a definition that creates an image. Academician A. N. Veselovsky highly appreciated him in his “Historical Poetics”: “The history of the epithet is the history of poetic style in an abridged edition”, that is, according to the scientist, every period in the development of literature, every change in literary styles and trends has found its own reflected in the development of the epithet. Since the epithet singles out the “essential feature” in a certain concept, and the choice of the most important, essential feature among the “insignificant” is a characteristic of the literary consciousness of the era, the features of the writer’s work, then this very epithet determines the nature of the poetic style.

For example, a well-known concept is in use, but it does not make an impression, does not affect thoughts. But here the artist highlights in this phenomenon an essential feature, but not previously noticed, he seems to recommend it to the reader's attention, and the phenomenon acquires an immeasurably deeper meaning.

Such epithets as Pushkin's "innocent slander" or Lermontov's "incomplete earthly joys" immediately, like a flash of lightning, illuminate for us the content of a phenomenon that we had not thought about before, they bring into consciousness something that was previously only vaguely felt somewhere beyond outside of it.

The epithet carries a great burden of psychological characteristics; it compresses the content down to one word. The fundamental difference between an epithet as an artistic definition and a logical definition is that the logical definition shows how one object differs from another; the epithet evokes a holistic view of the subject considered by the writer from a certain perspective.
From Lermontov:

I enter the dark alley; through the bushes
The evening beam looks, and yellow sheets
Noisy under timid steps.

The word "yellow" is an epithet, because it does not differentiate leaves by color, but gives us an idea of autumn. Sometimes it enhances one or another sign (deep silence, terrible storm). To amplifying epithets one can also include the so-called idealizing epithets(for example, the words of Lensky from "Eugene Onegin" by Pushkin "golden days of my spring").

You can talk about embellishing epithets, which were widely used by classicists and especially romantics. They believed that using a noun without an epithet was unpoetic; it must be raised up with it. Therefore, the use of epithets in the phrases "running ship", "rapid wave", giving the words a poetic flavor, transferred them from the prosaic category to the poetic one.

For many works of ancient literature (especially its Homeric period) and for works of oral folk art, the so-called permanent epithet. A significant number of examples can be cited when a constant, stable epithet is “fixed” to a certain life phenomenon: “red maiden”, “clean field”, “steep coast”, “gloomy oak forest”, “good fellow”, “damp land” , "white swan", "blue sea".

A. N. Veselovsky, speaking of the epithets of the epic, also uses the expression “ tautological epithets».

The so-called compound epithets. These include "Homer's epithets" ("fluffy", "silver-shining", "long-suffering", "cunning", "lileino-ramen" and others). Compound epithets are often found in the poems of G. R. Derzhavin (“sweet-stringed”, “white-colored”, “black-fiery”).

Epithets always convincingly characterize the individuality of a writer (every significant writer has a set of favorite epithets specific to his literary manner and style). To a certain extent, they characterize literary trends and even entire eras in the development of literature.

Stable, repeatedly repeated epithets characterize the poetry of N. Tikhonov; they are distinguished by tension, pathos, intensity: “a thunderous whirlwind”, “violent roads”, “cruel dawn”, “burning field”, “deep delight”. He also has epithets that express unlimitedness in space and time and include the negation of “not”: “unfading surf”, “endless rumble”. Finally, there are many colorful epithets in his poems: “green heat”, “green awe”, “green air”, “green fairy tale”, “blue frost whistle”, “blue lava”.

In his excellent essay “Ode to an Epithet” (Questions of Literature. 1972. No. 4), L. Ozerov writes: “In guidebooks and reference books, statues are defined as follows: marble, copper, bronze. In the books of art historians, they add dimensions, the history of creation, style features, and manners. Akhmatova defines the statue as follows: “Look, it’s fun for her to be sad, so elegantly naked.” Just think of the statue of a naked woman to say that she is smart. This is a paradox! But how he makes you see! And how this vision renews objects. One is "pretty". Quite another - "naked". Anna Akhmatova, on the other hand, offers the combination "smartly naked." Mixing two colors gives a third - unexpected and sharp. The epithet "smartly naked" speaks of the beauty of the body. The double epithet blows up from the inside both “dressy” and “naked” and gives a third definition - possible only with a strong, elevated artistic vision of the world. The complex epithet here is supported by the contrasting phrase "happily sad."

The epithet reveals new qualities in the depicted object and phenomenon, renews the meaning, destroys the established, traditional concepts of the depicted.

L. Ozerov is right when he writes that the epithet is thought, paint, sound, light, that it is depth, horizons, intuition, vigilance. The epithet is the power of the artist over the depicted object or life phenomenon.

In the task it is necessary to reveal the definition of the term "epithet" and give examples.

Definition of an epithet

Epithets are bright colorful definitions of an object, action or phenomenon. Most often, epithets are adjectives (what? what? what? what?), but they can also be other parts of speech. Epithets are a means of expression, and not a single literary text can do without them. Epithets are used in poems, prose, are found in all forms of literature.

Most often, epithets are used to describe something or someone. Without epithets, our speech would be dry, primitive.

But even here one must be careful not to confuse the epithet with a simple adjective. For example, "green (grass)" - "emerald (grass)". In the first case

The epithet, as it were, embellishes, makes the described object brighter.

In order not to confuse the epithet and a simple adjective, you can cheat a little. For example, let's take the phrases "yellow autumn" and "golden autumn". In the first phrase "yellow autumn" there is no epithet, but in the second, autumn is compared with gold. " gold autumn- autumn is like gold. "Thus, the epithet is a figurative comparison. For example, an affectionate child is a child who knows how to express affection, bitter truth - bitter truth, deathly silence - silence, like in a coffin, velvet skin - skin that looks like velvet , beautiful girl - a girl with beauty... And it is impossible to find a comparative turn for phrases like "big house", "red ribbon", "crumpled paper", respectively, they will not be epithets.

examples of epithets. How to find an epithet in a text

For example, let's take a small excerpt from a poem by F. Tyutchev.

Is in the autumn of the original
Short but wonderful time -
The whole day stands as if crystal,
And radiant evenings...

Find epithets:

marvelous time (time is compared with a diva);
crystal day (the day is compared with crystal);
radiant evenings (evenings are compared with the rays of dawn).

It should also be remembered that adjectives in the expressions "red sun", "red girl", "good fellow" will also be epithets.

At the word, affecting its expressiveness, the beauty of pronunciation. It is expressed mainly by an adjective, but also by an adverb (“love passionately”), a noun (“fun noise”), a numeral (“second life”).

Having no definite position in the theory of literature, the name "epithet" is applied approximately to those phenomena that are called definitions in syntax, and adjectives in etymology; but the coincidence is only partial.

There is no established view of the epithet in the theory of literature: some attribute it to figures of speech, others consider it, along with figures and tropes, an independent means of poetic representation; some consider the epithet an element of exclusively poetic speech, others find it in prose as well.

This “forgetfulness of real meaning”, in the terminology of A. H. Veselovsky, is already a secondary phenomenon, but the very appearance of a permanent epithet cannot be considered primary: its constancy, which is usually considered a sign of epic, epic worldview, is the result of selection after some diversity.

It is possible that in the era of the most ancient (syncretic, lyrical-epic) song creativity this constancy did not yet exist: “only later did it become a sign of that typically conditional - and estate - worldview and style, which we consider to be somewhat one-sided, characteristic of the epic and folk poetry" [ ] .

Epithets can be expressed by different parts of speech (mother-Volga, wind-tramp, bright eyes, damp earth). Epithets are a very common concept in literature; it is difficult to imagine a work of art without them.