As an eloquence, as well as language skills, the ability to express one’s thoughts beautiful, effective and following the rules of grammar. Whoever is eloquent, can speak confidentially and knows how to express himself. The term can be used in the mother tongue, foreign languages, as well as in the written and spoken language. Eloquence is characterized by the correct application of the grammar and vocabulary of the language as well as its language and stylistic means.
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The term goes back to the Latin noun eloquentia, which can be translated with eloquence or redecut. The word is composed of the preposition ex and the verb loqui. The former means, where loqui can be translated with speak. So it is about the [skillful] utterance.
This translation shows the affinity to rhetoric, which is the art of eloquence. The task of the rhetorician is to convince the listener of a statement or to move to a specific action. Whoever is eloquent can achieve these goals through language skills.
It is important that eloquence does not mean the pure ability to speak, that is, the basic ability to communicate and interact, but the artful and effective use of language and its safe and fluid use. The term can also be used for a secure and therefore eloquent written expression.
Eloquence is based on the natural systems of a person, but it is also possible to learn. It is also useful for the teachers of rhetorical skills, a comprehensive knowledge of the language as well as a knowledge of the philosophy, including general knowledge, the study of stylistics, pragmatics, rhetoric and trainings.
However, a very high or pronounced eloquence can not only be developed by learning the correct syntax and semantics of a language, but also requires a high degree of other, even physical, characteristics (voice, body, mimic, gesture). Nevertheless, the language skills of a person are often used, albeit indirectly, to judge their level of education. This derivation, however, is not justified and can only give hints.
The effect of an eloquent orator on the audience
Detail from The Effects of Trim’s Eloquence, 1906, George Cruikshank, Editing: Wortwuchs
This image of Cruikshank, a British cartoonist, is titled The Effects of Trim’s Eloquence and is a work that the artist made for Laurence Stern’s novel Tristram Shandy. It illustrates the effect an eloquent speaker can have on his or her audience. The bystanders listen intently to the speaker and can be convinced of his views.
Calliope as an allegory of eloquence
Ancient Greece knew a multitude of gods and fabulous creatures that populated mythology. These are often allegories or personifications of certain properties, events or states. This means that something abstract is represented as a figure.
The Muses play a special role. The Muses are the paternal gods of the arts, nine of which are known to us by the Greek poet Hesiod. One of them is Calliope, who is one of the nine daughters of Zeus and his beloved Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.
Kalliope, whose name can be translated with the most beautiful, is the muse of epic poetry, philosophy and science as well as the string play, the elegy and also the eloquence. Their attribute is the writing board, which can be seen in many presentations. Sometimes it also carries a book or is represented with a writing board.
Shows in the middle the muse of eloquence, elegy, science, poetry and philosophy
Detail from The Muses Urania and Kalliope (center), c. 1634, Simon Vouet, adaptation: Wortwuchs
Short overview: The most important part of the term at a glance
As eloquence, also language skills, eloquence as well as idiocy, is the ability to express itself artfully, effectively, but also surely in a language. The term can be used for the literary language, the verbal exchange and the sign language, and is similar in many aspects of rhetoric.
Eloquence speakers can influence their audience better or take a spell as an untrained speaker and through the use of targeted language and stylistic means to hide the content of their emotions. Through the schools of rhetorical abilities, eloquence is learnable, though not by any person to an equal extent.
The Muse Kalliope, who also watches over other arts, is regarded as the guardian god of eloquence. The fact that the eloquence had its own goddess of protection points to the importance of this art, which had already been used in antiquity as a means of argument and debate.
