Permanent epithet

a word-definition that is stably combined with one or another word-defined. Denotes a characteristic, always present feature.

Example:

red girl, desperate little head,

kalena arrow, the field is clean,

forests are dark

“Some constant epithets are widely used in all types of folklore: “good fellow”, “clean field”, “blue sea”. Others are found mainly in certain genres of folk poetry, while performing specific ideological and artistic functions. For example, in fairy tales constant epithets of a fantastic nature are widely used: "golden palace", "crystal bridge" (S. Lazutin).

“A special group of epithets includes permanent epithets that are used only in combination with one specific word: “living water”, “good fellow”. Permanent epithets are characteristic of works of oral folk art” (L. Krupchanov).

Terminological dictionary-thesaurus on literary criticism. From allegory to iambic. - M.: Flinta, Nauka. N.Yu. Rusova. 2004

See what a "permanent epithet" is in other dictionaries:

permanent epithet- noun, number of synonyms: 1 epithet (4) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

Permanent epithet- one of the tropes of folk poetry: the word definition, which is stably combined with one or another defined word and denoting in the subject some kind of characteristic, always present generic feature (pole track, red girl, well done ... ... Pedagogical speech science

permanent epithet- PERMANENT EPI´THET see epithet ... Poetic dictionary

permanent epithet- s. In lexical style: an epithet that is stably associated with a noun or verb and indicates a normative sign of an object or action in a given picture of the world; found mostly in folklore texts. * The winds are violent, the sea ... ... Educational dictionary of stylistic terms

permanent epithet- kind of trail: a definition that is steadily combined with the word being defined and, in combination with it, forms a figuratively poetic expression: blue sea, good fellow, red maiden, red-hot arrow, sugar lips, burning tears, wide steppe, white ... Dictionary of literary terms

epithet- Cm … Synonym dictionary

epithet- a, m. epithete f. gr. epithetos attached. simplest form poetic trope, which is a definition that characterizes what l. property, feature of an object, concept, phenomenon. ALS 1. Often from a change, omission, or ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

epithet- EPI'TET (Greek ἐπίθετον application) in the proper sense, a figurative characteristic of a person, phenomenon or object through an expressive metaphorical adjective. As an artistic detail, E. must not be confused with determinants ... ... Poetic dictionary

Epithet- (from the Greek epitheton application) an artistic, figurative definition of an object, that is, one that does not just indicate any of its quality, but creates a picture, an image based on the transfer of meaning. So, in Pushkin's lines: "On the winter road ... Pedagogical speech science

epithet- a, m. 1) lit. A word that defines an object or phenomenon and emphasizes what l. its properties, qualities or characteristics. Pushkin meant by the name of the mob approximately the same as we do. He often added a secular epithet to this noun, ... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language

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 such an evening golden and clear,
In this breath of spring all-victorious
Remember me not my friend beautiful,
You are about our love timid and poor».

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

• “All around the grass bloomed so merrily” (I. Turgenev).
• "What if I, spellbound, Return home humiliated, can you forgive me?" (Alexander Blok).
• “In saucers - glasses of lifebuoys” (V. Mayakovsky).
• “Ghostly reigns” (I. Brodsky).
• “Sneaking, playing hide and seek, the sky is descending” (B. Pasternak).

Epithets in the age of information technology.

Unfortunately, epithets are gradually disappearing from our lives. Now people are so busy that they try to speak briefly and only to the point. Avoiding unnecessary phrases, we throw out epithets from our speech.

Notice how our speech is getting more and more rough and abbreviated. Modern people more and more time is spent sitting at the computer in social networks. Emoticons and pictures replace epithets for us.

Russian language

What is an epithet and how to find it?

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An epithet is a poetic device that gives a word a definition or expression. It is used in artistic texts, sometimes in poetic and lyrical works.

The purpose of the epithet will be to emphasize something special, its special expressiveness, which the author wants to draw attention to.

The use of such an artistic technique allows the author to add subtlety, depth and expressiveness to the text. With the help of an epithet, the author's creative intent is indicated (see).

Simple and fused epithets

• simple - there is one adjective, an epithet for the word, for example: silk curls, deep eyes;
• fused - they have two or more roots, are perceived as one whole, for example: wonderfully mixed noise.

There is such a thing as the epithet of authorship, which is less common than others. Gives the sentence a unique meaning and additional expressiveness. When you have such texts in front of you, you begin to understand how complex and wide the worldview of the writer is.

The presence of epithets in the presentation gives a sense of a special semantic depth, which is filled with irony, bitterness, sarcasm and bewilderment.

Epithets help to give brightness to images

Types of epithets

In Russian, the epithet is divided into three types:

general language

Norm of literary phrases. There are about 210 epithets for the word “silence”: deaf, exciting, grave, sensitive.
Common language epithets are:

• comparative. They are used to compare and liken one object to another (dog barking, bear look, cat purring);
• anthropomorphic. It is based on the transfer of human properties and signs of objects to a natural phenomenon, for example: a gentle breeze, a smiling sun, a dull birch;
• amplifying tautological. Repeat and intensify the signs of the object: soft cotton wool, soundlessly in silence, serious danger;

folk poetic

Such epithets appeared due to oral folk art. Basically, the folklore flavor has been preserved. Unlike others, they are limited in compatibility: blue river, orange sun, brown bear.

Individual-author's

A rare semantic association. Basically, they are not reproduced, but they have an occasional character, for example: chocolate mood, chamomile laughter, stone thunder.

Such combinations do not fit into the framework of general literary norms, but the effect of animation is created, expressiveness is enhanced.

Constant

When techniques are used in set phrases, for example: far away kingdom, good fellow. When writing fiction, authors use:

• evaluative epithets (unbearable heat, lost feelings);
• descriptive (tired heart);
• emotional (dull autumn, sad time).

Thanks to epithets, the artistic phrase becomes more expressive.

How to find epithets in a text?

Let's try to figure out what epithets are in Russian and how to recognize them in writing? They are placed immediately after the word being defined.

In order to achieve depth in the story and enhance the specificity of the sound, the authors arrange the epithets in a vertical position, that is, they are separated from each other. Famous Russian poets, when writing poems, placed them at the end of the line. When reading such creations, the reader felt a sense of mystery.
To identify them in a work of art, you need to remember that they are different parts of speech. They are used as an adjective: the golden laughter of bells, the mysterious sounds of the violin.

It can also be found in the form of an adverb, for example: fervently prayed. Often have the form of a noun (evening of disobedience); numeral (third hands).
For conciseness, statements can be used as participles and verbal adjectives (what if I, thoughtful, can you return?), gerunds.

Epithets in literature

What is an epithet in literature? An important element, without which it is impossible to do when writing artwork. In order to write a captivating story that will attract the reader, it is important to resort to such techniques. When there are a lot of them in the text, this is also bad.

When a certain image, object or phenomenon is described by epithets, they will become more expressive. They also have other purposes, namely:

• emphasize feature or a property of an object that is described in the presentation, for example: blue sky, wild animal;
• explain and clarify the sign that will help to distinguish one or another object, for example: purple, crimson, gold leaves;
• be used as the basis for creating something comical, for example. The authors combine words that are contrasting in meaning: light brunette, bright night;
• allow the writer to express his opinion on the described phenomenon;
• to help inspire the subject, for example: the first spring bell rumbles, rumbles in the dark blue sky;
• create an atmosphere and evoke the necessary emotions, for example: alien and lonely to everything;
• form readers' opinions on what is happening, for example: a small scientist, but a pedant;

Often use epithets in poems, stories, novels and short stories. They make them alive and exciting. They evoke their emotions in readers about what is happening.

It is safe to say that without epithets, literature would not fully exist.

epithets in metaphor

In addition to the forms of epithets, they are divided according to signs:

• metaphorical. The epithet is based on such an artistic device as a metaphor, for example: light winter drawing, autumn gold, barren birches;
• metonymic. Their goal is to create a metonymic essence of the subject, for example: birch, cheerful language, its hot, scratchy silence.

If you use such techniques in your story, then the reader will be able to perceive the described objects and phenomena more strongly and more vividly. In everyday life, art and fiction, epithets play an important role.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. This article is devoted to one of the most common techniques in literature, which makes any text more vivid and interesting. It's about epithets.

Today you will find answers to the following questions:

1. - what it is
2. What parts of speech can act as epithets
3. - What types are they?
4. - and, of course, you will see just a sea of ​​examples of epithets from literature and poetry.

What is an epithet - examples and definition

It's always worth starting with a definition of a term, in my opinion:

But to better explain what it is, it is best to immediately give an example. Here is a famous poem by Athanasius Fet:

In the evening so GOLDEN and CLEAR,
In this breath of the ALL-VICTORIOUS spring
Do not remember me, O my BEAUTIFUL friend,
You are about our love timid and poor.

See the six highlighted words? Now imagine what the same quatrain would look like, but without them:

In the evening like this
In this breath of spring
Do not remember me, my friend,
You are about our love.

The essence of the message has not changed much. All the same, the author is sad about past feelings. But the feeling, you see, we already have others. And the picture as a whole is not so bright, and the depth of feelings is not the same. And all because those very epithets were removed from the text.

It is the epithets make each image more complete:

1. the evening is GOLDEN AND CLEAR - a picture of a sunset immediately appears before your eyes, and there is not a cloud in the sky;
2. spring ALL-VICTORIOUS - the beginning of something new, a change for the better, a sign that old disappointments will soon be in the past;
3. friend BEAUTIFUL - emphasizing that the author has maintained a good attitude towards the one to whom the message is addressed;
4. love is timid and POOR - the understanding that feelings were initially doomed to failure due to some reason, and this makes the relationship even sadder.

And now, after such an analysis, I hope the definition of "epithet" will sound more clear.

An epithet is a word that has ancient Greek roots, which literally translates as "application". Its purpose is to emphasize the words adjacent to it, to give them an emotional coloring, reinforce their meaning, emphasize figurativeness. But most importantly - more beautiful.

Constructions of epithets

Most often, adjectives act as epithets., with which to decorate a noun. Here are the simplest examples:

1. dead night - not just night, but very dark, impenetrable;
2. black melancholy - the most sad state;
3. sugar lips - lips that are impossible not to kiss;
4. hot kiss - a kiss full of passion;
5. nerves of steel - a person cannot be unbalanced.

By the way, some mistakenly believe that any adjective can be considered an epithet. This is not true! It all depends on what context and what noun they refer to, and whether they perform main function- enhancement of the image.

Judge for yourself - the difference between the expressions "warm home" and "warm attitude". In the first case, it is simply a statement of the fact that there is heating in the room, and in the second case, it is an underlining that there are good relations between people.

Or compare "red felt-tip pen" and "red sunrise". In both cases we are talking about color. But in the first it is just a statement of fact, and in the second the sunrise is more vividly conveyed.

However, not only adjectives, but also other parts of speech can act as epithets. For example, adverbs:

Grass bloomed FUN. (Turgenev)
And BITTERLY complain, and BITTERLY shed tears. (Pushkin)

Or nouns. Example:

A golden cloud spent the night on the chest of a GIANT cliff (Lermontov)
SPRING of honor, our idol. (Pushkin)
As if the Volga-MATUSHKA ran backwards. (Tolstoy)

Or pronouns, with which you can give words an excellent form. For example:

Do you remember the fights? Yes, they say, WHAT MORE! (Lermontov)

Or participial phrases. Example:

What if I, bewitched, BROKEN THE THREAD OF CONSCIOUSNESS ... (Block)
A leaf RINGING AND DANCING IN THE SILENCE OF THE AGES. (Krasko)

PLAYING Hide and Seek, the sky descends from the attic. (Parsnip)
As if PLAYING AND PLAYING, it rumbles in the blue sky. (Tyutchev)

See epithets can be absolutely any part of the sentence except, perhaps, only for verbs. But they all serve the same purpose - to make the text more figurative and rich.

Types of epithets - decorating, permanent, copyright

Despite the common goals, all epithets can be divided into several categories:

1. decorating (they are also called common language);
2. permanent (folk poetic);
3. copyright (individual).

Decorating epithets is the largest group. This includes any combination that describes the characteristics of something. Many of the expressions can be found not only in literary works, we regularly use them in everyday life:

Deathly silence, TENDERING sea, LEAD clouds, piercing wind, Crackling frost, GENIUS solution, Merry colors and many others.

Category constant epithets include phrases that, after many years, are firmly entrenched in the minds of people. They even became, and individually the words are no longer pronounced (or extremely rarely):

GOOD fellow, RED maiden, CLEAN field, CLEAR month, Gold autumn, WHITE ruchenki, DENSE forest, INCREDIBLE riches and so on.

By the way, if you noticed, many of the constant epithets immediately - or with songs. That is why their second name is folk-poetic.

JUMMY mood. (Chekhov)
CLEAR flattery NECKLACES, GOLDEN ROSARY of wisdom. (Pushkin)
The face of the THOUSAND-EYED Trust. (Mayakovsky)
STUNNING indifference. (Pisarev)

The meaning of epithets for literature and language in general

Not a single literary work can do without epithets (and). If they are not, then the text will be dry and lifeless, and he certainly will not be able to captivate the reader. Therefore, the more the author uses them, the better.

But in our daily speech, we should not forget about such techniques. For example, by exchanging SMS or messages on social networks. After all, the simple question “How are you?” you can simply answer “Fine”, or you can also “Fine, it was a hot day, but tired like a dog.”

In the first case, it will be just dry information, and in the second case, the interlocutor will also find out your emotional state, which is much more important.

Good luck to you! See you soon on the blog pages site

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The term "epithet" comes from the ancient Greek word for "adjective", "appendix". 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 talk about its varieties, features of use. Examples of epithets from fiction will also be presented by us.

The meaning of epithets

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

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

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

Epithets in artistic descriptions

Epithets are especially important in artistic descriptions, since they not only fix the objective properties and phenomena of objects. The main goal is to express the author's attitude to what is depicted. The definition of an epithet in literature is an important task for school students. This is one of the tasks included in the exam. To better understand this topic, let's look at some examples. So, in Tyutchev's poem "There is in the original autumn" the following epithets are used: "wonderful time", "radiant evenings", "crystal day", "peppy sickle", "thin cobweb hair", "idle furrow".

In it, seemingly substantive, ordinary definitions, such as "thin hair", "short time", are epithets, since they convey the poet's emotional perception early autumn. They accompany with metaphorical, bright ones: "radiant evenings", "crystal day", "on an idle furrow", "cheerful sickle". This is what an epithet is in literature using Tyutchev's poem as an example.

The difference between epithets and ordinary definitions

Various parts of speech can be epithets, but at the same time they must serve as definitions in a sentence (participles, adjectives), circumstances of the mode of action (germs, adverbs) or be nouns-applications.

Unlike ordinary definitions, epithets always express the individuality of their author. To find a bright, successful figurative definition for a prose writer or a poet means to accurately define one's own unique, inimitable view of a person, phenomenon, object.

Permanent 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”, “beautiful maiden”, “team good", etc. They point to a typical feature of some object. Often, constant epithets do not take into account the situation in which they appear: the horse is not always "kind", and the sea, for example, is not always "blue". But for a storyteller or a 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 "To whom it is good to live in Russia" by N. A. Nekrasov and "The 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: over the "golden-domed", "great" Moscow, the "white-stone" Kremlin wall, "because of the blue mountains", "because of the distant forests", "gray clouds", "dawn scarlet" and others. All these figurative definitions were taken by Mikhail Yuryevich from the dictionary of folk poetry.

Common and author's epithets

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

Examples of epithets from fiction

Experience-inspiring 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. It is one of the components necessary for co-creation. It, of course, is the creation and reading then by the reader of any talented work of art. Not only in poetry, but also in prose, epithets are often used.

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

It contains the following epithets (at the end of the work): "dry leaf", "sad and dead", "cheerful and alive", the heart is "rebellious", "sinful", "passionate", "peacefully looking", "eternal calm" , "great tranquility", "indifferent nature", "eternal reconciliation".

Poetry shows us many examples of how various epithets set the tone for the narrative, create a mood. They are used more often than all other tropes. For example, in the poem "Forest Tsar" by Zhukovsky: "pearl jets", "turquoise flowers", "merged from gold" and other epithets. Examples from the literature presented in the work of A. A. Fet: "golden and clear" evening, "victorious spring", "my beautiful friend", about love "timid and poor". In A. Akhmatova: the taste is "bitter and hoppy", peace is "many weeks".

Epithets are part of a complex syntactic construction

In prose and poetry, the role of epithets can also be realized in the following way: when they are part of some complex syntactic construction. All of it as a whole should also not only convey the author's idea to the reader, but also enrich it emotionally. For example, in the work "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 for this segment of the text. At the same time, he uses figurative definitions that not only describe the gait and color, but also transmit information behind the text. Symbolically bloody, and not just a red lining of the cloak. And the epithets used to describe the gait point to the past of its owner, to the fact that even 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

What is an epithet in literature, we found out. Let us now note some features of this means of expression. Culturally and historically, epithets have changed over time. They were also influenced by the geography of residence of the people who created them. The conditions in which we live, the experience we receive during our life - all this affects the feelings and meanings encoded in the images of speech.

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

Or black, which has a diametrically opposite meaning in different cultures. So, it symbolizes sorrow and mourning in Europe, and in Japan - joy. Europeans therefore traditionally wear black clothes for funerals, and the Japanese for weddings. The role of epithets used in the speech of the Japanese and Europeans also changes 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 literally described objects and phenomena in terms of key features and physical properties. There were also epic exaggerations. Enemy ratis 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, their role in works also changes. As a result of evolution, they became more complex semantically and structurally. Especially interesting examples found in postmodern prose and poetry of the Silver Age.

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