Metonymy and Synecdoche?

Question

I don't really understand what Metonymies and Synecdoches are. I've looked them up and even on wikipedia, I don't understand them.

I have to find one of each in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so if anyone knows any that are in there or can just explain what these terms are, I'd appreciate it!

Answer 1

A metonymy is very similar to a euphamism. A euphamism is simply replacing a word with another word (simple explanation). However, in a metonymy the word substitution must be related to the term in question.

For example, when I refer to British Royalty as "The Crown" it's a metonymy because crowns are regularly associated with royalty. Or replacing the President of the US as "the White House."

A synecdoche is a type of metonymy, where the word substitution must be a part of the the word being substituted. For example when you say "hired Hands' it's a synecdoche, because the hands are a part of the "person" which is the word that is being substituted.

Just use the following sentences to make the determination:

"Does *word* have *substituted word*?"
If not "Is *word* related to *substituted word*?"

So using the previous examples:

Do "people" have "hands"? Yes, it's a Synecdoche.

Does "the Crown" have "British Royalty"? No.
-- "Is "the Crown" related to "British Royalty"? Yes, it's a Metonymy.

If both end up being no, it's probably a euphamism.

Answer 2

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RE:
Metonymy and Synecdoche?
I don't really understand what Metonymies and Synecdoches are. I've looked them up and even on wikipedia, I don't understand them.

I have to find one of each in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, so if anyone knows any that are in there or can just explain what these terms are,...

Answer 3

Wikipedia: synecdoche

"Synecdoche is a figure of speech that presents a kind of metaphor in which:

* a part of something is used for the whole,
* The whole is used for a part;
* The species is used for the genus,
* The genus is used for the species, or
* The stuff of which something is made is used for the thing."

Wikipedia: metonymy

Metonymy is using a single characteristic to identify a more complex entity.

They're pretty similar, aren't they? :-(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy Back to metonymy.

"When the distinction is made, it is the following: when A is used to refer to B, it is a synecdoche if A is a part of B and a metonym if A is commonly associated with B but not a part of it.

"Thus, 'The White House said' would be a metonymy for the president and his staff, because the White House (A) is not part of the president or his staff (B) but is closely associated with them. On the other hand, asking for 'All hands on deck' is a synecdoche because hands (A) are actually a part of the men (B) to whom they refer."

Answer 4

Metonymy and Synecdoche! oy boy! ok, so both are literary devices which replace one word for another. by that i mean- if i say "he plunged his iron into gerald's heart", "iron" is replacing "sword", the word that really fits the sentence.
That's the kind of word substitution I'm talking about. Now, Metonymy and Synecdoche have differences (obviously - actually synechdoche is a form of metonymy).

the way i remember what synechdoche is is by saying: "substituting part for a whole", meaning that you are substituting a word for PART of the object to represent the WHOLE object. As in - iron is part of a sword so, the above example is synechdoche. I am using iron, part of the sword, to represent the whole sword. other examples: using "roof" when you mean the whole house (happens in the Aeneid, don't ask), using "mast" when you mean the whole ship (also the Aeneid).

Metonymy is any form of substitution that isn't synechdoche - as in, the substituted word is not part of the original object. I like the examples Wikipedia gives. people saying "the white house" when the mean "the president". In the Aeneid: people saying "Bacchus" (the god of wine) when they were talking about an actual barrel of wine. "this bacchus is great!"(heh).

I hope this clears things up a bit, but it seems confusing even to me, and the wikipedia entry was probably better than this. oh well. good luck!

Answer 5

When part of something is used to describe the whole, it s a synedoche. "I bought new wheels" means that I bought a new car, engine, body and wheels.
Does Huck refer to any other character by describing a specific physical trait?
According to Wikipedia, when linguists make a distinction between the two, they usually mean that metonymy is not a part used to describe the whole, but rather something closely related to the subject is used to describe the subject. "The office of the mayor" is a metonymy for everyone who works for the mayor.
Off the top of my head, I don't have an example of a metonymy for you.