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Yuan, Ying and Jiang, Yan (2018) 'Rhetorical Figures: The Argumentative “Ornament”.' Linguistics and Literature Studies, 6 (5). pp. 211-218.

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Abstract

This essay attempts to demonstrate, via surveying 10 classics in the history of rhetoric, that “ornament” collocated with rhetorical figures is widely viewed as inventional or argumentative, especially from ancient Greece to the Renaissance. Further, 5 representative dictionaries illustrate that this term gives priority to useful function in and before the medieval time but turns increasingly aesthetic from the Enlightenment downwards. In a historical-linguistic perspective, the semantic change of “ornament” is discovered to involve two tendency types: “Narrowing” and “Pejoration”, which can be attributed to psychological or cognitive factors, cultural impact and language contact. This rectification of “ornament” justifies from etymology and history of rhetoric that rhetorical figures, deserving a fairer repute, are indeed our flashing argumentative equipment.

Item Type: Journal Article
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Languages, Cultures & Linguistics > Department of Linguistics
Subjects: P Language and Literature
ISSN: 2331642X
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.13189/lls.2018.060503
Date Deposited: 27 Sep 2018 12:36
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/26444
Related URLs: http://www.hrpu ... fo.php?aid=7292 (Publisher URL)

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