Lecture
Paronomasia, paronomasy or annomination (from Ancient Greek παρονομασία, paronomasía: παρά — beside and ὀνομάζω — to name) is a stylistic figure of speech, a figurative convergence of words similar in sound with a partial coincidence of morphemic composition, used in speech for punning effect. Such words are called paronyms. Paronyms are words with different roots that sound alike but differ in meaning. For example: приятно поласкать собаку, но ещё приятнее полоскать рот (lit. "it is pleasant to pet [poласkat'] a dog, but even more pleasant to rinse [poloskat'] one's mouth" — a pun on the paronyms poласkat'/poloskat'). Another example, the Russian saying «муж по дрова, жена со двора» (lit. "husband off for firewood [po drova], wife off from the yard [so dvora]" — a pun on similarly sounding phrases), or the French «apprendre n’est pas comprendre» — "to learn is not to understand".
While the confusion of paronyms is a gross lexical error, the deliberate use of two paronymous words in a single sentence constitutes a stylistic figure called paronomasia.
Paronomasia is called a binary figure of style, since both paronyms take part in it. This figure is widespread, and for short it may be called binary.
«И без того жёсткий порядок… стал жестоким» (lit. "The already strict [zhyostkiy] order… became cruel [zhestokim]" — a pun on the paronyms zhyostkiy/zhestokiy).
«Что же ты не подтягиваешь, да и не потягиваешь?» (lit. "Why don't you tighten up [podtyagivaesh'], nor even stretch [potyagivaesh']?" — a pun on podtyagivat'/potyagivat') (A. S. Pushkin. Boris Godunov)
«Нечего их ни жалеть, ни жаловать!» (lit. "No cause to pity [zhalet'] them, nor to favor [zhalovat'] them!" — a pun on zhalet'/zhalovat') (A. S. Pushkin. The Captain's Daughter. Chapter XI).
Paronomasia is widely used as a rhetorical device in classical Chinese literature. It is linked to the principle of logographic representation of words: an expanding and evolving lexicon dictated variation in the use of existing graphic characters. The subsequent standardization of the script displaced many instances of paronomasia found in pre-imperial texts (see Chinese writing).
Analyzing paronomasia in classical Chinese is a complex problem, since it is not always clear whether one is dealing with a deliberate literary pun or simply a standard usage of the language (道 — way/to speak; 樂 — music/joy). Variation in character usage further complicates the analysis (joy 樂 yuè can also be written as 悦 yuè; likewise interchangeable pairs such as 是/氏, 魚/吾): it is often difficult to tell whether a lexical paronomasia is intended or merely a graphic variant of writing the same word (e.g. 冬 winter / 終 end, death). The extraordinary prevalence of paronomasia is attributable to the monosyllabic nature of classical Chinese.
Besides the famous opening line of the «Dao De Jing» (道可道，非常道。名可名，非常名。 ), a classic example of paronomasia is Confucius’s remark 觚不觚，觚哉！觚哉！(Analects, 6.25). Its interpretation remains disputed, since 觚 gū denotes both a wine vessel and «corner» .
| Figures of Speech | |
|---|---|
| Figures |
Adynaton • Allusion • Amplification • Anadiplosis • Anacoluthon • Anaphora • Antithesis • Antitheton • Apocope • Apostrophe • Attraction • Asyndeton • Hyperbaton • Homeoteleuton • Gradation (Climax, Anticlimax) • Distinctio • Zeugma • Isocolon • Nominativus pendens • Inversion • Correctio • Mesarchia • Polyptoton • Polysyndeton • Oxymoron • Parallelism • Paronomasia • Parcellation • Periphrasis • Pleonasm • Prolepsis • Retardation • Rhetorical question • Rhetorical exclamation • Rhetorical address • Symploce • Solecism • Tautology • Exact repetition • Aposiopesis • Chiasmus • Exergasia • Ellipsis • Emphasis • Epiphora |
| Tropes |
Allegory • Antiphrasis • Asteism • Antonomasia • Hyperbole • Dysphemism • Irony • Pun • Catachresis • Litotes • Meiosis • Metaphor • Metonymy • Personification • Pathos • Periphrasis • Sarcasm • Synecdoche • Simile • Euphemism • Epithet |
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