<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper introduces rhetorical meaning to semantic theory; we use the term by analogy to tropes like metonymy in classical rhetoric, which yields ‘the American president’ from <italic>the White House</italic>—that is, it substitutes one referential meaning for another. Here we focus on two rhetorical meanings: <italic>intensification</italic> and <italic>attenuation</italic>. Intensification is expressed in English and many other languages by total reduplication (<italic>an old old man</italic>); attenuation is exemplified by Spanish ‘synthetic’ diminutive forms (<italic>hombrecito</italic> ‘little man’; cf. <italic>hombre</italic> ‘man’) and English and French ‘analytic’ formations (<italic>My Little Chickadee</italic> (film); <italic>petit caporal</italic> ‘Little Corporal’ (Napoléon Bonaparte)). Formally, a rhetorical meaning is a <italic>relation</italic> with one referential meaning as its domain and, as its codomain, a set of related referential meanings, the particular set specified by the rhetorical meaning at hand. The selection from among elements of the codomain, which can even seem contradictory out of context, is in fact highly context-dependent and indicates a critical role for pragmatics in an overall account of this meaning type.</p></abstract>

This paper introduces rhetorical meaning to semantic theory; we use the term by analogy to tropes like metonymy in classical rhetoric, which yields ‘the American president’ from the White House—that is, it substitutes one referential meaning for another. Here we focus on two rhetorical meanings: intensification and attenuation. Intensification is expressed in English and many other languages by total reduplication (an old old man); attenuation is exemplified by Spanish ‘synthetic’ diminutive forms (hombrecito ‘little man’; cf. hombre ‘man’) and English and French ‘analytic’ formations (My Little Chickadee (film); petit caporal ‘Little Corporal’ (Napoléon Bonaparte)). Formally, a rhetorical meaning is a relation with one referential meaning as its domain and, as its codomain, a set of related referential meanings, the particular set specified by the rhetorical meaning at hand. The selection from among elements of the codomain, which can even seem contradictory out of context, is in fact highly context-dependent and indicates a critical role for pragmatics in an overall account of this meaning type.

Rhetorical meaning

Linguistic Frontiers

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Rhetorical meaning"}

This paper introduces rhetorical meaning to semantic theory; we use the term by analogy to tropes like metonymy in classical rhetoric, which yields ‘the...

Rhetorical meaning

Publié en ligne: 24 avr. 2019

Pages: 55 - 64

Reçu: 13 juin 2018

Accepté: 29 août 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2018-0001

Mots clés
rhetorical meaning, English, French, Spanish, reduplication, diminutives, intensity, attenuation

© 2018 Susan F. Schmerling, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Rhetorical meaning

Publié en ligne: 24 avr. 2019

Pages: 55 - 64

Reçu: 13 juin 2018

Accepté: 29 août 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2018-0001

Mots clésrhetorical meaning, English, French, Spanish, reduplication, diminutives, intensity, attenuation

© 2018 Susan F. Schmerling, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
rhetorical meaning, English, French, Spanish, reduplication, diminutives, intensity, attenuation