An epithet is expressed. What is an epithet in Russian? Types of epithets from a genetic point of view

The term "epithet" comes from the ancient Greek word meaning "adjective", "application". This is an emotionally expressive, figurative characteristic of an event, person, phenomenon or object, expressed mainly by an adjective that has an allegorical meaning. After reading this article, you will learn what an epithet is in literature. We will tell you about its varieties and features of use. We will also present examples of epithets from fiction.

The meaning of epithets

Without them, our speech would be inexpressive and poor. After all, the perception of information simplifies figurative speech. It is not only possible to convey a message about a fact in one apt word, but also to describe the emotions that it evokes and its meaning.

Epithets may differ in the degree of expression of a certain characteristic and in the strength of conveyed emotions. For example, if we say “the water is cold,” we will only convey approximate information about its temperature. And if you use the phrase “icy water,” you can convey, along with basic information, emotions, sensations, associations with piercing, prickly cold.

Typically, an epithet in a sentence performs the syntactic function of definition. It can therefore be considered a figurative definition.

Epithets in artistic descriptions

Epithets are especially important in artistic descriptions, since they not only record the objective properties and phenomena of objects. The main goal is to express the author's attitude towards what is depicted. Defining an epithet in literature is an important task for school students. This is one of the tasks included in the Unified State Exam. To better understand this topic, let's look at examples. Thus, in Tyutchev’s poem “There is in the primordial autumn” the following epithets are used: “wonderful time”, “radiant evenings”, “crystal day”, “cheerful sickle”, “fine hair of the cobweb”, “idle furrow”.

In it, seemingly objective, ordinary definitions, such as “thin hair”, “short season”, are epithets, since they convey the poet’s emotional perception of early autumn. They are accompanied by metaphorical, bright ones: “radiant evenings”, “crystal day”, “on an idle furrow”, “cheerful sickle”. This is what an epithet is in literature using the example of Tyutchev’s poem.

The difference between epithets and ordinary definitions

Various parts of speech can be epithets, but at the same time they must perform the functions of definitions in a sentence (participles, adjectives), circumstances of the manner of action (adverbs, adverbs) or be appendix nouns.

Unlike conventional definitions, epithets always express the individuality of their author. Finding a bright, successful figurative definition for a prose writer or poet means precisely determining your unique, inimitable view of a person, phenomenon, or object.

Constant epithets

In folk poetry alien to personal authorship, the so-called constant epithets are widespread: “clean field”, “black clouds”, “good horse”, “straight road”, “silk stirrup”, “blue sea”, “fair maiden”, “companion” “good”, etc. They indicate a typical feature of some object. Often, constant epithets do not take into account the situation in which they appear: a horse is not always “kind”, and the sea, for example, is not always “blue”. But for a storyteller or singer, semantic contradictions like these are not a hindrance.

In the works of various writers who relied on the traditions of folklore, various constant epithets are certainly used. For example, a lot of them can be found in the poems “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by N. A. Nekrasov and “Song about the Merchant Kalashnikov” by M. Yu. Lermontov, as well as in Yesenin’s poems. Lermontov is especially consistent in the use of constant epithets.

They are present in almost every line of his poem: above the “golden-domed”, “great” Moscow, the “white-stone” Kremlin wall, “behind the blue mountains”, “behind the distant forests”, “gray clouds”, “dawn scarlet" and others. All these figurative definitions were taken by Mikhail Yuryevich from the dictionary of folk poetry.

Commonly used and author's epithets

In addition, epithets are divided into commonly used ones, familiar and understandable to everyone, and author’s ones (unique ones, which are usually found among different writers). An example of a commonly used one is almost any descriptive definition taken from everyday life: “a boring book,” “a dress of cheerful colors,” etc. We will find author’s definitions in fiction, most of them in poetry. V. Khlebnikov, for example, has the “fiery sail of the tail” of a fox. V. Mayakovsky has the “thousand-eyed trust”.

Examples of epithets from fiction

Emotional epithets and other means of expression are used in literature much more widely and more often than in everyday speech. After all, it is important for poets and writers to stimulate the empathy of readers and listeners. This is one of the components necessary for co-creation. This, of course, is the creation and then reading by the reader of any talented work of art. Epithets are often used not only in poetry, but also in prose.

Examples from literature can be given by opening the novel “Fathers and Sons.”

The following epithets are found in it (at the end of the work): “dry leaf”, “sad and dead”, “cheerful and alive”, heart “rebellious”, “sinful”, “passionate”, “look serenely”, “eternal peace” , “great tranquility”, “indifferent nature”, “eternal reconciliation”.

Poetry shows us many examples of how various epithets set the tone of a story and create a mood. They are used more often than all other tropes. For example, in the poem “The Forest King” by Zhukovsky: “pearl streams”, “turquoise flowers”, “cast from gold” and other epithets. Examples from literature presented in the works of A. A. Fet: “golden and clear” evening, “all-victorious spring”, “my beautiful friend”, about “timid and poor” love. For A. Akhmatova: the taste is “bitter and intoxicating”, peace “lasts many weeks”.

Epithets are part of a complex syntactic structure

In prose and poetry, the role of epithets can be realized in the following way: when they are part of some complex syntactic structure. The whole thing should also not only convey the author’s idea to the reader, but also enrich it emotionally. For example, in the work “The Master and Margarita” by Bulgakov, the writer, depicting how the procurator Pontius Pilate leaves Herod’s palace, strings epithets on each other, setting the rhythm of this segment of the text. At the same time, he uses figurative definitions that not only describe gait and color, but also convey information behind the text. Symbolically bloody, and not just the red lining of the cloak. And the epithets used to describe the gait indicate the past of its owner, the fact that today he has retained the bearing of a military man. Others are descriptions of the circumstances of time and place.

Other examples can be given from various episodes of this work.

Territorial features of epithets

We found out what an epithet is in literature. Let us now note some features of this means of expression. Culturally and historically, epithets have undergone changes over time. They were also influenced by the geography of the people who created them. The conditions in which we live, the experiences we receive throughout our lives - all this influences the feelings and meanings encoded in images of speech.

For example, it is widely known that residents of the Far North have dozens of epithets to define the word “white.” The peoples of tropical islands are unlikely to be able to come up with one or two.

Or the color black, which has diametrically opposite meanings in different cultures. So, it symbolizes grief and mourning in Europe, and joy in Japan. Therefore, Europeans traditionally wear black clothes for funerals, and the Japanese - for weddings. The role of epithets used in the speech of Japanese and Europeans is changing accordingly.

Evolution

It is also curious that in the early stages of the development of folklore and literature, figurative definitions did not so much express various emotions as they literally described objects and phenomena in terms of key features and physical properties. There were also epic exaggerations. Enemy armies in Russian epics, for example, are always “countless”, monsters are “filthy”, forests are “dense”, and when describing heroes, such an epithet from fiction and folklore as “good fellows” is certainly used.

Epithets change with the development of literature, and their role in works also changes. As a result of evolution, they became more complex semantically and structurally. Particularly interesting examples are found in postmodern prose and poetry of the Silver Age.

So, we talked about what an epithet means in literature. Examples from poetry and prose were presented. We hope the meaning of the word “epithet” in literature is now clear to you.

What is an epithet in literature?

Epithets: examples from literature

Along with colloquial speech, epithets are used in literature, most likely more often than in interpersonal communication. Here is an example of an epithet in literature:

"On an evening like this golden And clear,
In this breath of spring all-victorious
Don't remember me, oh my friend beautiful,
You are about our love timid And poor».

At all, epithet- this is a word that gives the subsequent word expressiveness and imagery. It is, as it were, the definition of this word. Often this word is an adjective, less often an adverb, but it can also be a verb or even a noun. For example, the phrase " winged swing“contains the epithet “winged,” which helps the reader imagine the swing not just as a piece of iron moving back and forth, but as some kind of bird soaring in the air. Now you can object that epithets are simple adjectives. But no! In order for a simple adjective to become an epithet, you need to “award” it with a deep meaning, and at the same time have a imaginative imagination. Here are some more examples of epithets:

• “The grass was blooming so merrily all around” (I. Turgenev).
• “What if I, enchanted, return home humiliated, can you forgive me?” (Alexander Blok).
• “In saucers - lifebuoy glasses” (V. Mayakovsky).
• “Ghostly Reigns” (I. Brodsky).
• “Sneaking, playing hide and seek, the sky descends” (B. Pasternak).

Epithets in the age of information technology.

Unfortunately, epithets are gradually disappearing from our lives. Nowadays people are so busy that they try to speak briefly and only to the point. By avoiding unnecessary phrases, we eliminate epithets from our speech.

Please note that our speech is becoming more and more rough, angular and abbreviated. Modern people spend more and more time sitting at the computer on social networks. Emoticons and pictures replace epithets for us.

• An epithet (from ancient Greek ἐπίθετον - “attached”) is a definition of a word that affects its expressiveness and beauty of pronunciation. It is expressed mainly by an adjective, but also by an adverb (“to love dearly”), a noun (“fun noise”), and a numeral (“second life”).

  Without having a definite position in the theory of literature, the name “epithet” is applied approximately to those phenomena that are called a definition in syntax, and an adjective in etymology; but the coincidence is only partial.

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

  Alexander Veselovsky described several moments in the history of the epithet, which, however, is only an artificially isolated fragment of the general history of the style.

  Literary theory deals only with the so-called decorative epithet (epitheton ornans). This name originates from the old theory, which saw in the techniques of poetic thinking a means for decorating poetic speech, however, only the phenomena designated by this name represent a category distinguished by the theory of literature in the term “epithet.”

  Just as not every epithet has the form of a grammatical definition, so not every grammatical definition is an epithet: a definition that narrows the scope of the concept being defined is not an epithet.

  Logic distinguishes between synthetic judgments - those in which the predicate names a feature that is not contained in the subject (this mountain is high) and analytical - those in which the predicate only reveals a feature that is already present in the subject (people are mortal).

  Transferring this difference to grammatical definitions, we can say that the name of the epithet is only analytical definitions: “scattered storm”, “crimson beret” are not epithets, but “clear azure”, “long spear”, “Scrupulous London” are epithets, because clarity is a constant sign of azure, scrupulousness is a sign obtained from the analysis of the poet’s idea of ​​London.

  An epithet - the beginning of the decomposition of a fused complex of ideas - highlights a feature already given in the word being defined, since this is necessary for consciousness understanding phenomena; the feature he highlights may seem insignificant, random, but it is not like that for the author’s creative thought.

  The epic constantly calls the saddle Cherkassy, ​​not in order to distinguish this saddle from others, not Cherkassy, ​​but because it is the saddle of a hero, the best that a people-poet can imagine: this is not a simple definition, but a method of stylistic idealization. Like other techniques - conventional phrases, typical formulas - the epithet in ancient songwriting easily became constant, invariably repeated with a well-known word (white hands, red maiden) and so closely attached to it that even contradictions and absurdities do not overcome this constancy (“ white hands" end up with the "Arapin", Tsar Kalin is a "dog" not only in the mouths of his enemies, but also in the speech of his ambassador to Prince Vladimir).

  This “oblivion of real meaning,” in the terminology of A. N. Veselovsky, is already a secondary phenomenon, but the very appearance of a constant 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 (syncretistic, lyric-epic) song creativity this constancy did not yet exist: “only later did it become a sign of that typically conventional - and class - worldview and style, which we consider, somewhat one-sidedly, to be characteristic of 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; without them it is difficult to imagine a work of art.

With a word, influencing its expressiveness, the beauty of pronunciation. It is expressed primarily by an adjective, but also by an adverb (“to love dearly”), a noun (“fun noise”), and a numeral (“second life”).

Without having a definite position in the theory of literature, the name “epithet” is applied approximately to those phenomena that are called a definition in syntax, and an adjective in etymology; but the coincidence is only partial.

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

This “oblivion of real meaning,” in the terminology of A. N. Veselovsky, is already a secondary phenomenon, but the very appearance of a constant 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 (syncretistic, lyric-epic) song creativity this constancy did not yet exist: “only later did it become a sign of that typically conventional - and class - worldview and style, which we consider, somewhat one-sidedly, to be characteristic of 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; without them it is difficult to imagine a work of art.

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✪ What is an epithet? [Lectures on literature]

✪ Russian language | Preparation for the OGE | Task 3. Means of speech expression

✪ Unified State Exam 2017. Literature. Epithet

Subtitles

Dictionaries of Epithets

Epithets of Literary Russian Speech. A. Zelenetsky. 1913

There are many words in the Russian language that cannot always be given an exact definition, although you hear them almost every day. These words include Epithet. What does Epithet mean?? Before continuing, let me suggest you read a few more articles, for example, what does Townhouse mean, what is Sovereign Debt, what does the expression Middle Class mean? This word was borrowed from the Greek language" Epithetos" and is translated into Russian as "attached", "added". In fact, it is often used instead of the term "adjective", although not in all cases it has a similar meaning to an epithet. As a rule, epithets are intended to be more colorful describe an object or person from the point of view of the narrator, as well as highlight certain properties that the author wants to emphasize.

Epithet- this term in fiction, as a rule, lyrical, poetic, contains special expressive properties, highlighting in the object of the narrative something that is initially inherent only to it, allowing you to look at it from an unusual point of view

"Plague spring" - means excellent spring weather, which one has been waiting for so long all winter; this phrase was invented by famous performers Nastya Kamenskikh and Senor Potap.

"Beautiful maiden" - this epithet emphasizes that the girl is very attractive, since the word “krasna” means “beautiful.”

"Good fellow" - this expression means "strong guy", that is, it characterizes a man as healthy, pleasant in appearance and positive in all respects.

"To love dearly" - means passionate and selfless love, although not always on a mutual basis.

"Second Life" - this means starting life from scratch, or repairing a broken thing and using it again.

"Moscow golden-domed" - this epithet appeared during the Russian Empire, when Orthodox churches were actively built and put into operation throughout the country, the domes of which were covered with gold leaf.

"Wild West" - this epithet was assigned to the United States during the Migration of Peoples, when many people decided to start a “second life” in a new place. However, this place was completely wild and not suitable for life; everything had to be “wrested” from nature with a fight.

Epithets are necessary in a literary text for:

To achieve with their help special depth, expressiveness and sensitivity.

Usually the epithet in the text is located after the word being defined in postposition.

As a rule, the structure of the epithet itself is quite simple. It consists of a noun and an adjective.

If you place epithets in a literary text, separated from each other, so that they take a vertical position, then such an arrangement will only have their sensual meaning and will give the sound an unusual depth.
(reklama3)
Sometimes reflecting on the narrator's epithet, we will gradually comprehend the idea and the complexity of constructing the expression. For example, analyzing the epithets of the great poet Mayakovsky, we can discern a carefully hidden semantic depth, which is filled with bewilderment, irony, sarcasm and bitterness.

All this variety of meanings and lexical subtext is achieved with the help of the author’s expressive and artistic assistant - epithet.