Here you will learn what is an epithet where it is applied and what is its role in the modern world.
Speaking about epithets, it is worth saying that this word is of Greek origin and means “turn of speech” or “turn of speech”. It is formed from the word "trope", which can otherwise be described as a form of thinking.
An epithet is a definition of a word that affects its expressiveness and beauty of pronunciation.
They are used in figurative and literary speech to give it color, to create a visual image. Most often, an epithet is an adjective, but it can be an adverb, a noun, and even a numeral.
It has no clear place in literary theory. In etymology it is called an adjective, in syntax it is called a definition. 
Epithet- this is an artistic and figurative definition, emphasizing the most significant feature of an object or phenomenon in a given context; is used to evoke in the reader a visible image of a person, thing, nature, etc.
What is an epithet in Russian, examples
Usually writers and poets use well-established words as epithets, but sometimes they come up with their own. For example, what is Chekhov's "marmalade mood" worth. Try it, find out what it means.
Open any book of the classics of Russian prose and poetry, old fairy tales and epics to find for yourself:
- white little hands;
- good fellow;
- red girl;
- a lonely sail turns white.
Epithets today
Now the literary language is gradually disappearing. The books use simple expressions, descriptions give way to dialogues, which loses the beauty of speech. In the world of computers literary language almost no space. Popular seo copywriting requires conciseness and brevity, so it is almost impossible to find adjectives in modern texts like this. There are even services like Glavred that remove words that do not carry value, which include epithets.
Now incomprehensible words appear more often, slang like, which are borrowed from foreign languages, forgetting native.
To understand what an epithet is, you need to open the classics of Russian literature, you can poets, you can writers, and immerse yourself in reading without missing a single line. Choose books to your liking, let it be Pushkin, Yesenin or Tolstoy, but only there you will understand the real beauty and richness of the Russian language and the beauty of epithets and other turns of speech.
Epithet- this is a word that endows the subsequent word with expressiveness, figurativeness. It is like a definition of the word. Most often, the epithet is an adjective, less often an adverb, but it can also be a verb or even a noun. As a prime example, consider the phrase « winged swing» containing the epithet "winged". This epithet helps the reader to imagine a swing in front of him not only as simple pieces of iron moving forward and backward, but also as a kind of bird, which, waving its large beautiful wings, soars in the air.
The word "epithet" comes from the ancient Greek "attached". As we have already understood, it is a kind of addition to the main word or concept and is intended to give the main word expressiveness and brightness.
Epithets are widely used in the literature. Most often they are found in various poetic works, but they are saturated with prose, and even everyday speech can not do without this powerful speech tool.
Along with other figurative means, epithets underwent some changes over time, becoming more and more perfect, which can be seen if we analyze literary works taken from the past and modern ones.
In folk art, as well as in the earliest literary works, epithets are usually used to describe the properties of objects and phenomena, their key features are highlighted, but the emotional, personal component remains intact: red maiden, pure gold.
The development of literature led to the complication of the role and structure of epithets, they began to acquire new properties and functional content. Most clearly, such changes were reflected in the work of poets. Silver Age and coming after the time period: the edge of the limit, lazy-passionate wild rose etc.
Modern literature, and especially postmodern works, have made the structures of epithets and their semantic content even more complex. Today you can find such rather unusual expressive techniques as, for example: diathesis bloomed, diapers were golden.
Why are epithets needed in literature?
Epithets are a very important element of speech, giving it expressiveness, convexity and emotionality. They help the author of the work to express their own attitude to the objects described, or to present them to readers in a new, very unusual light.
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At the word, affecting its expressiveness, the beauty of pronunciation. It is expressed mainly by an adjective, but also by an adverb (“love passionately”), a noun (“fun noise”), a numeral (“second life”).
Having no definite position in the theory of literature, the name "epithet" is applied approximately to those phenomena that are called definitions in syntax, and adjectives in etymology; but the coincidence is only partial.
There is no established view of the epithet in the theory of literature: some attribute it to figures of speech, others consider it, along with figures and tropes, an independent means of poetic representation; some consider the epithet an element of exclusively poetic speech, others find it in prose as well.
This “forgetfulness of real meaning”, in the terminology of A. H. Veselovsky, is already a secondary phenomenon, but the very appearance of a permanent epithet cannot be considered primary: its constancy, which is usually considered a sign of epic, epic worldview, is the result of selection after some diversity.
It is possible that in the era of the most ancient (syncretic, lyrical-epic) song creativity this constancy did not yet exist: “only later did it become a sign of that typically conditional - and estate - worldview and style, which we consider to be somewhat one-sided, characteristic of the epic and folk poetry" [ ] .
Epithets can be expressed by different parts of speech (mother-Volga, wind-tramp, bright eyes, damp earth). Epithets are a very common concept in literature, without them it is difficult to imagine a work of art.
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✪ What is an epithet? [Lectures on Literature]
✪ Russian language | Preparation for the OGE | Task 3. Means of speech expressiveness
✪ USE 2017. Literature. Epithet
Subtitles
Dictionaries of Epithets
Epithets of Literary Russian Speech. A. Zelenetsky. 1913
- Epithet (from other Greek ἐπίθετον - “attached”) is a definition of a word that affects its expressiveness, the beauty of pronunciation. It is expressed mainly by an adjective, but also by an adverb (“to love passionately”), a noun (“fun noise”), a numeral (“second life”).
Having no definite position in the theory of literature, the name "epithet" is applied approximately to those phenomena that are called definitions in syntax, and adjectives in etymology; but the coincidence is only partial.
There is no established view of the epithet in the theory of literature: some attribute it to figures of speech, others consider it, along with figures and tropes, an independent means of poetic representation; some consider the epithet an element of exclusively poetic speech, others find it in prose as well.
Alexander Veselovsky characterized several moments in the history of the epithet, which, however, is only an artificially selected fragment common history style.
Literary theory deals only with the so-called embellishing epithet (epitheton ornans). This name originates from the old theory, which saw in the methods of poetic thinking the means to decorate poetic speech, however, only the phenomena designated by this name represent a category distinguished by the theory of literature in the term "epithet".
Just as not every epithet has the form of a grammatical definition, so not every grammatical definition is an epithet: a definition that narrows the scope of the concept being defined is not an epithet.
Logic distinguishes between synthetic judgments - those in which the predicate names a sign that is not included in the subject (this mountain is high) and analytical - those in which the predicate only reveals a sign that is already in the subject (people are mortal).
Transferring this difference to grammatical definitions, we can say that only analytical definitions bear the name of the epithet: “scattered storm”, “crimson beret” are not epithets, but “clear azure”, “long-length spear”, “London scrupulous” - epithets, because clarity is a constant sign of azure, scrupulousness is a sign extracted from the analysis of the poet's idea of London.
The epithet - the beginning of the decomposition of a fused complex of ideas - highlights a sign already given in the word being defined, since this is necessary for consciousness that understands phenomena; the sign he singles out may seem insignificant, accidental, but it is not so for the creative thought of the author.
Bylina constantly calls the saddle Cherkassy, not in order to distinguish this saddle from others, not Cherkasy, but because this is the saddle of a hero, the best that a people-poet can imagine: this is not a simple definition, but a technique of stylistic idealization. Like other techniques - conditional turns, typical formulas - the epithet in ancient songwriting easily became constant, invariably repeated with a well-known word (hands are white, a beautiful girl) and so closely bonded with it that even contradictions and absurdities do not overcome this constancy (“ hands are white" are at the "Arapin", Tsar Kalin is a "dog" not only in the mouths of his enemies, but also in the speech of his ambassador to Prince Vladimir).
This “forgetfulness of real meaning”, in the terminology of A. H. Veselovsky, is already a secondary phenomenon, but the very appearance of a permanent epithet cannot be considered primary: its constancy, which is usually considered a sign of epic, epic worldview, is the result of selection after some diversity.
It is possible that in the era of the most ancient (syncretic, lyrical-epic) song creativity this constancy did not yet exist: “only later did it become a sign of that typically conditional - and estate - worldview and style, which we consider to be somewhat one-sided, characteristic of the epic and folk poetry."
Epithets can be expressed by different parts of speech (mother-Volga, wind-tramp, bright eyes, damp earth). Epithets are a very common concept in literature, without them it is difficult to imagine a work of art.
Epithet- this is a figurative definition that gives an artistic description of a phenomenon or object. An epithet is a comparison and can be expressed as an adjective, as well as a noun, verb or adverb.
Golden autumn, blue sea, snow-white winter, velvet leather, crystal ringing
The epithet is one of the main terms of the theory of literature, which is a definition of a word and affects its expressiveness. Basically, when writing epithets, adjectives are used. But adverbs are also widely used, for example " hot kiss". Nouns are used to write epithets (example: joy cry), numerals (example: first friend), as well as verbs (example: volunteer help). An epithet is a single word or a whole phrase that acquires a new semantic connotation and meaning due to its location in the text and the corresponding context. No specific view of the epithet still exists. Some are sure that epithets refer to figures, others boldly put them on a par with tropes and figures, in the role independent means for poetic expression.
An epithet is a word or expression (syntactic whole) in a literary text, usually poetic, lyrical, which carries in itself especially expressive properties and emphasizes something in the image object that is inherent only to it alone. With the help of epithets, a special subtlety, expressiveness, and depth are achieved. The construction of the epithet is usually simple. It's an adjective + noun. The epithet in the text most often appears in postposition, after the word being defined. If the epithets are located vertically in the text, that is, separated from each other, then this only enhances their specific sound and gives a special depth to the text. Here, for example, in A. Blok's poem, epithets end the line:
Everything is as it was. Only strange
reigned silence.
And in your window foggy
Only street scary.
epithet " strange" creates the effect of breaking silence, and after the word " foggy The reader has a feeling of mystery, a booming echo. There are simple epithets, which include one adjective, for example: " dove clouds"(S. A. Yesenin). Or fused, consisting of two or even three roots, but perceived by ear as one whole, for example: “ convincing false story". (A. K. Tolstoy)
There are author's epithets, which are quite rare, carrying an additional expressive load, conveying a special meaning not just of a word, but often of a whole group of words: In saucers - lifebuoy goggles"(V. Mayakovsky). By reading and thinking about such an epithet, we can gradually understand the complexity and breadth of the author's view of familiar things. There is also a lexical subtext in the epithet of V. Mayakovsky, a special semantic depth filled with irony, bitterness, sarcasm, bewilderment ...
And all this is achieved with the help of just one artistic and expressive means of language - the epithet.
The role of epithets can be defined in one formulation: when epithets are part of a complex syntactic construction, which, as a whole, should also not only convey the author's idea to the reader, but also emotionally enrich it. Thanks to a successful combination of epithets, personifications, comparisons, metaphors, writers create non-standard images.
« In the early morning of the fourteenth day of the spring month of Nisan, in a white cloak with a bloody lining, shuffling with a cavalry gait, the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, entered the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great ...» M. Bulgakov, "Master and Margarita".
The author strings epithets on top of each other, and uses epithets that not only outline color or gait, but also convey information. The lining of the cloak is not just red, but symbolically bloody. And the epithets for describing the gait give an idea of the past of its owner and the fact that he retained the bearing of a military man. Other epithets are descriptions of circumstances of place and time.
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