Q. What is 'Syncope? A. A letter or syllable withdrawn from the middle of a word, as, "audiit" for "audivit," "dixti" 66 A. The cutting off from the end, as, "die" for dice," "fac for face," "Pol" for " Pollux." Q. What is Diæresis? A. The dissolution of one syllable into two, as, "auläi" for "aulæ," "evoluisse" for "evolvisse." Q. What is Synæresis? A. The contraction of two vowels into a diphthong, as, "Thesei" into " Thesei," "Aureis" into A. Contraction, by the elision of one of the vowels, as "Alvária" for "Alvearia." Q. What is the Hiatus? A. The opening of the mouth in pronouncing two 66 vowels, when the first is not cut off, as, "μéya A. A transposition of letters, as "accerso" for "ar cesso." Q. What is 'Euphony? A. The change of a letter for the improvement of the sound, as, "eundem" for "eumdem." Q. What is Tmesis? A. The division of one word into two parts by the interposition of another word, as, “septem subjecta Trioni" for "Septentrioni." FIGURES OF SYNTAX. Q. What is Ellipsis? A. The omission of words necessary to the Grammar, but not to the sense of a passage; such words therefore are said to be understood, as "the thing I love," for "the thing which I love." A. A redundant expression, as "the most highest." Q. What is Enallǎgè? 5 A. A change in the mode of expression, without any alteration of the sense, as "frigus opacum," for the cool shade. 1 2 εὖ, bene; and φωνὴ, νοκ. * τμάω, scindo. 8 · ἐλλείπω, deficio. * πλεονάζω, redundo. ¿v, in pro invicem; and drλágow, muto. A. Where the sense, and not the word, is to be consulted, as "duo millia crucibus affixi," understand "homines ad duo millia.” Q. What is Asyndeton? A. The omission of the copulative, as Cæsar describes his speedy subjugation of Pharnaces,"I came, I saw, I conquered;" not, I came, and I saw, and I conquered, lest the expression of its swiftness be retarded. Q. What is Polysyndeton? A. The redundant copulative, much used by Demosthenes, as, "Now you have ships, and men, and money, and stores." 1 3 rov, con; and λnßw, capio, conjectura assequor. a, non; and σuydew, copulo. πολύς, multus; and συνδέω, copulo. A. The art of speaking and writing with elegance. Q. What is a Figure or 2 Trope? A. The poetical use, or change of the word from its original meaning, as "the clouds foretell rain." A. A Trope, or Figure of Speech, as "a wise counsellor is the pillar of the state." Q. What is a Simile ? A. A more distinct form of comparison, as "a wise counsellor, like a pillar, supports the state." 4 Q. What is Allegory? A. The continuation of a Metaphor through one or more sentences, as, "wealth is the daughter of diligence and the parent of authority;" or, as in the following passage of Shakspeare, "There is a tide in the affairs of men, “Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life "Is bound in shallows, and in miseries." pew, dico. * τρέπω, verto. * μerà, trans; and pέpw, fero. Q. What are 'Parables and Fables? A. Instructive Allegories; as the Vision of Mirza A. One name put for another, on account of the resemblance there is between them; thus, a humane prince is called a Titus, a cruel one, a Nero. 8 Q. What is Synecdoche? A. A part taken for the whole, or the whole for a part; as, "While all its throats the gallery extends, "And all the thunder of the pit ascends." Q. What is Hyperbole ? A. A strong expression exceeding the precise limits of truth; as when Cassius says of Cæsar, 66 Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world, "Walk under his huge legs, and peep about, A. The strange and novel use of a word in a sense hitherto unsuited to it; as, "his pleased ear drank the sound." |