'Synecdoche' in English and Arabic : a comparative study

Abstract EN

The aim of the present paper is to explore the essential nature of synecdoche as one of the figures of speech in English and Arabic.

In synecdoche , a word denotes a meaning different from its literal one .

The study deals with the problem of how to understand this different meaning and how to discover the relation between it and the literal meaning of the word being used.

In this study, it can be hypothesized that there are similarities and differences of synecdoche between English and Arabic.

The present paper has shown some conclusions , the most important of which is that the concept of synecdoche is the same in English as well as Arabic.

Synecdoche means understanding something from something else through a relation between them.

Moreover, with regard to relations , types and functions of synecdoche , there are similarities and differences of synecdoche between English and Arabic.

These conclusions validate the hypothesis above .

This study is divided into three main sections.

The first main section which deals with ' synecdoche ' in English is further divided into three subsections.

The first subsection deals with the concept of 'synecdoche '.

The second subsection introduces the types of 'synecdoche ' .

The third subsection is devoted to the rhetorical functions of ' synecdoche '.

The second main section which is concerned with 'synecdoche 'in Arabic has also three subsections.

The first subsection is concerned with the concept of 'synecdoche '.

It is followed by a subsection on the types of 'synecdoche 'and another on the rhetorical functions of 'synecdoche '.

In the third main section, the similarities and dissimilarities of 'synecdoche ' in both languages are illustrated.

At last, the findings of the study are summed up in the conclusions.