Difference between revisions of "Paronomasia"
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:"And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts (''ayarim''), and they had thirty cities (''ayarim''), which are called Havvoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead" (Judges 10:4). The Hebrew word ''ayarim'' can mean both "ass colts" and "cities." Another more "dynamic translation" might render in English the play on words in this verse as: "He had thirty sons who rode thirty burros who had thirty boroughs." | :"And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts (''ayarim''), and they had thirty cities (''ayarim''), which are called Havvoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead" (Judges 10:4). The Hebrew word ''ayarim'' can mean both "ass colts" and "cities." Another more "dynamic translation" might render in English the play on words in this verse as: "He had thirty sons who rode thirty burros who had thirty boroughs." | ||
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| + | :"And they were both naked (''arummim''), the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25). The next verse says, "Now the serpent was more cunning (''arum'') than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made (Gen. 3:1). In one verse the term ''arum'' is used to mean "naked" and in the next verse the same basic root denotes "cunning" or "subtle." In both places the meaning includes "smooth". The serpent was "smooth-bodied" and "smooth-tongued". | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 16:27, January 20, 2018
Paronomasia is a literary device, a deliberate "play on words", also called a "pun", for the purpose of commentary, exploiting sound similarity or meanings as a serious social or political critique or as a form of ridicule, for effect.
Possible examples:
- "The numerous ill-conceived current policies of Democrats provide a liberal display of stupidity on Capitol Hill."
- "The max-Senate debates in Washington are dead-locked. This is no comedy." (Mack Sennett)
- "The need for more military intelligence is shockingly evident in the current international situation."
- "The idea of spending money to put a colony on Mars is genuine science friction, given the needs of our veterans, our children, our bridges, roads, highways and the state of govern-mental spending as a hole." (whole)
- Paronomasia in the Bible
The Bible frequently uses paronomasia; for example:
- "With the jawbone of an ass (hamor), heaps upon heaps (hamor hamortayim), with the jawbone of an ass have I smitten a thousand men" (Judges 15:16). In Hebrew, the word for both "ass" and "heap" is hamor. (See Judges 14:12).
- "And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts (ayarim), and they had thirty cities (ayarim), which are called Havvoth-jair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead" (Judges 10:4). The Hebrew word ayarim can mean both "ass colts" and "cities." Another more "dynamic translation" might render in English the play on words in this verse as: "He had thirty sons who rode thirty burros who had thirty boroughs."
- "And they were both naked (arummim), the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:25). The next verse says, "Now the serpent was more cunning (arum) than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made (Gen. 3:1). In one verse the term arum is used to mean "naked" and in the next verse the same basic root denotes "cunning" or "subtle." In both places the meaning includes "smooth". The serpent was "smooth-bodied" and "smooth-tongued".
See also
Slander
Libel
Polemic
Humor
Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)
External links
Paronomasia - Definition and examples (literarydevices.net)
Paronomasia (word play) (thoughtco.com)
Pun - from Infogalactic the Knowledge Core (infogalactic.com)
Examples of Puns in Literature (yourdictionary.com)
Shakespearean Puns - Thinkmap Visual Thesaurus (vocabulary.com)
Paronomasia or a play on words - Rules of Interpretation (biblicalresearch.info)
Biblical Puns, Russell J. Hendel (jbq.jewishbible.org) pdf
Wordplay in Genesis 2:25–3:1, Zvi Ron (jbq.jewishbible.org)
Paronomasia - Bible Dictionaries: Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament (studylight.org)