Transferred Epithet D efinition Transferred epithet is a

Transferred Epithet( 移就)

• （一）D efinition • Transferred epithet is a figure of speech where an epithet(an adjective or descriptive phrase) is transferred from noun it should rightly modify to another to which it does not really belong. • • （二）The classification of transferred epithet • Group 1: adj. + sb. →adj. + sth. • A knife used by a murderous villain A murderous（杀气） knife • Those days when I felt purposeless Those purposeless days • The big man crashed down on a protesting chair. • 这个大个子一屁股坐了下来，椅子吱嘎噶地响，好像发出抗议 声。 • The sailors swarmed into a laughing and cheering around the two man. • 水手们蜂拥而至，汇成欢笑与欢呼的一圈，把那两人围在中间。 • The sailors，laughing and cheering ，surrounded the two man in a ring.

Group 2: adj. + sth. →adj. +another thing The white silence seemed to sneer, and a great fear came upon him. 寂静的茫茫雪野好像在冷笑，一阵恐惧朝他袭来。 The white silence—the boundless fields covered with snow was silent White fox/ shoes/silk/clouds His stories achieved nothing but cheap laughs. Letting that goal in was an expensive mistake. It cost us the championship. Group 3: adj. + sth. →adj. + sb. He is not an easy writer. The child was noisy in the morning. Peaceful people are not violent.

(三)The characteristics of Transferred Epithet 1 It relies on the deep structure of the sentence. It is illogical and unreasonable in surface structure but reasonable and just in deep structure. Eg. The thief made a trembling confession of his wrong doing. 2 There is a close relationship between the transferred epithet and the modified word. Eg. The big man crashed down on a protesting chair. 3 Transferred epithet is suitable for the new context. Eg. After several acid years. She broke up with the man.

The logic relations between the transferred epithet and modified words. （1）Causal relation(因果) Puzzled frown 因困惑而皱眉 Delighted smile 因高兴而微笑 Terrified despair 由于恐惧而感到绝望 Thoughtful silence 因沉思而沉默 Ignorant nonsense 由于无知而胡说 （2）Coordinate or parallel relation(平行或并列关系) She sat there with embarrassed delight. 她坐在那里，即尴尬又高兴。 We listened with smiling attention. 我们一边笑一边注意地听着。 （3）disjunctive relation（纯修饰关系） Laughing eyes 笑眼 Sleepy corner 沉静的角落 A passionate throat 热情的歌喉

• • • • • （四）Exercise Identify the figures of speech: 1 he was handicapped by his age metaphor 2 The patient lay all night on his sleepless pillow. Transferred epithet 3 Religion is thus treated like Lear. simile 4 His witty remarks kept the table highly amused. metonymy 5 We received another smiling year. synecdoche 6 The thirsty soil drank in the rain. personification 7 He closed his busy life at the age of 80. Transferred epithet