Figures of Speech to Know for the AP Latin Exam
The Roman grammarian Quintilian listed 14 tropes or figures of speech [source: Patristic Studies]:
metaphor, synecdoche, metonymy, antonomasia, onomatopoeia, catachresis, metalepsis, epitheton, allegory, aenigma, irony, periphrasis, hyperbaton and hyperbblockquotee.
Not quite the same as Qunitilian's list, The College Board's AP Central page, for the 2012-2013 year, says students should know 34 terms:
| 1. allegory 2. alliteration 3. anaphora 4. aposiopesis 5. apostrophe 6. asyndeton 7. chiasmus 8. ecphrasis 9. ellipsis 10. enjambment 11. hendiadys 12. hyperbaton 13. hyperbole 14. hysteron proteron 15. irony 16. litotes 17. metaphor |
18. metonymy 19. onomatopoeia 20. oxymoron 21. personification 22. pleonasm 23. polyptoton 24. polysyndeton 25. praeteritio 26. prolepsis 27. prosopopoeia 28. simile 29. synchesis 30. synecdoche 31. tmesis 32. transferred epithet 33. tricolon crescens 34. zeugma |
Below you will find short definitions from a variety of sources. Many of the sources provide examples, but it would help you to look for examples of your own in your AP-Latin study. It would probably help you to restate these definitions in your own words. I've left extra space below each term for your notes on print-outs of this page. For specific examples from Vergil, I've used AP Latin recommended Figures of Speech.
Also see Specific Passages From the Aeneid for the AP Latin Vergil Exam and AP Latin Prose - Caesar
Allegory
"[M]etaphor continued so as to form a species of story or tale."
Fama in Aeneid 4.173-97.
Alliteration
Repetition of the sound of the initial consonant.
Anaphora
Repetition of the same word(s) at the start of successive clauses.
Aposiopesis
"[A] figure in which the feelings of the speaker induce him to interrupt the expression and leave the sentence incomplete."
Quos ego---!, Aeneid 1.135.
Apostrophe
"[T]he speaker, instead of addressing directly his proper hearer, turns himself to some other person or thing, either really or only in imagination present."
Elements of the Art of Rhetoric," by Henry Noble Day (1853)
Asyndeton
The omission of connectives -- as opposed to polysyndeton.saevus ubi Aeacidae telo iacet Hector,
ubi ingens/Sarpedon, ubi tot Simois correpta sub undis/
scuta virum..., Aeneid 1.99-100.
quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani tertium qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, Caesar Gallic War I.1
Elements of the Art of Rhetoric," by Henry Noble Day (1853)
Chiasmus
Chiasmus comes from the Greek letter Chi which is represented as an X. Chiasmus is a crossing of words, as in the word order ABBA. It's related to synchesis.
Ecphrasis
Ecphrasis is a vivid/graphic/dramatic description that allows the reader to visualize the object.
Ellipsis
Ellipsis is "the omission of one or more words"
Haec secum (dixit), Aeneid 1.37.
Enjambment
In poetry, it's the running on from one line to the next without pause.
Working with Opening Worlds and Opening Lines 2003-8 by Cooper Gregory Paule Michele Paule Steve Cooper Anna Gregory, Michele Paule, Steve Cooper, and Anna Gregory
Hendiadys
"The name Hendiadys is applied to a construction, in which two nouns are put in the same case, and connected by a copula, while in respect to sense one of them must be taken as a Gen[itive] following the other, or as an adjective qualifying the other."molemque et montes, Aeneid 1.61.
belli atque fortitudinis, Caesar Gallic War I.1.
A Grammar of the Hebrew Language, by Moses Stuart
Hyperbaton
Hyperbaton is "the transposition of words in a sentence."
Practical Composition: With Numerous Models and Exercises, by Mary J. Harper
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is "the language of exaggeration."
terram inter fluctus aperit, Aeneid 1.107.
Hysteron Proteron
Hysteron proteron is a Greek term used "when that is put in the former part of the sentence, which, according to the sense, should be in the latter"
moriamur et in media arma ruamus, Aeneid 2.353
Irony
"Irony is a figure in which the speaker represents his thought in a form that properly expresses the directly opposite of his opinion. It is employed mostly for purposes of playfulness or scorn and contempt."Iuone secunda, Aeneid 4.45 (unintentional);
scilicet
is superis labor est, Aeneid 4.379 (intentional).
Elements of the Art of Rhetoric," by Henry Noble Day (1853)
Litotes
"[D]eliberate understatement or denial of the contrary"neque abest suspicio, Caesar Gallic War I.4
[URL = faculty.nipissingu.ca/williams/figofspe.htm#Tropes] Figures of Speech
Metaphor
"By means of the verb "to be," indicates equality, resemblance, or analogy between two things when that relation is imaginatively rather than literally true. The metaphor is generally strong, vivid, and striking in its effect."remigio alarum, Aeneid 1.301.
The Study and Practice of Writing English, by Gerhard Richard Lomer and Margaret Ashmun
Metonymy
Substitution of one name for another.Cererem corruptam undis, Aeneid 1.177.
The Students Practical Grammar, by Thomas Goodwin
Onomatopoeia
"[F]orms words so that by their sound they may express their sense."
magno cum murmure montis, Aeneid 1.55.
Oxymoron
This occurs when opposed terms are joined.
The Students Practical Grammar, by Thomas Goodwin
Personification
"[A] form of expression, in which the attributes, or qualities of living beings are ascribed to inanimate objects.
Pleonism
"Consists in the use of superfluous words in a sentence. It is the opposite of ellipsis"mortales visus…reliquit,/et procul in
tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram, Aeneid 4.277-78.
Practical Composition: With Numerous Models and Exercises, by Mary J. Harper
Polyptoton
The repetition of the same word in different form."
St. Augustine, the Orator, by M. Inviolata Barry
Isidore of Seville (Etymologiae I.26.17) writes the Latin definition and cites the first century A.D. Roman satirist Persius (on nothing (nihilum) coming from nothing (ex nihilo)):
"Polyptoton est, cum diversis casibus sententia variatur, ut...Ex nihilo nihilum, ad nihilum nil posse reverti." Pers. 3.84
Polysyndeton
The repetition of connectives -- as opposed to asyndeton.Eurusque Notusque ruunt creberque…/Africus, Aeneid 1.85-86.
Rauracis et Tulingis et Latobrigis, Caesar Gallic War I.5
Elements of the Art of Rhetoric," by Henry Noble Day (1853)
Praeteritio/Preteritio
Praeteritio is "the pretense of the omission of a subject from discussion.".
A Glossary of Terms in Grammar, Rhetoric, and Prosody, by Richard U. Smith
Prolepsis
Flash forward.
submersasque obrue puppes, Aeneid 1.69.
Prosopopoeia
The speaker personates someone else.
Elements of the Art of Rhetoric: Adapted for the Use in Colleges and Academies, by Henry Noble Day (1853)
Simile
"[B]y means of the word "as" or "like" [similis, qualis, or velut] expresses a comparison or likeness between two things which have some striking point of resemblance. It is not so strong as the metaphor, and is to be preferred when the comparison is not so obvious and complete, or where emphasis is not necessary."
velut agimine facto, Aeneid 1.82.
Synchesis
Synchesis "is a confused and intricate arrangement of words" or a total verbal jumble
Adam's Latin Grammar, by Adam Fisk (1827)
Synecdoche
Substitution of part for whole, genus for species, or vice versa.
[URL = faculty.nipissingu.ca/williams/figofspe.htm#Tropes ]Figures of Speech
Tmesis
Tmesis, from a verb meaning to cut, "is the division of a compound word and the interposing of other words betwixt its parts"
circum dea fundit, Aeneid 1.412.
Transferred Epithet
(Hypallage) an attribute separated from its own substantive and transferred to another substantive.
templumque vetustum desertae/Cereris, Aeneid 2.713-14.
Tricolon Crescens
Tricolon screscens is "the accumulation of three parallel phrases or clauses, each of which is at least one syllable longer than that preceding"
Vergil's Aeneid: Selections from Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, and 12, by Barbara Weiden Boyd
Zeugma
Zeugma occurs when several subjects share the same verb or when several verbs are governed by a single subject.crudeles aras traiectaque pectora ferro nudavit, Aeneid 1.355-56.
Reference
Patristic studies, Volumes 1-5 By Catholic University of America.
Related:
1. AP Latin Prose Caesar
2. AP Latin Poetry
3. AP Latin Vergil
4. Rhetorical Terms (Grammar @ about.com)
