Enallage

The Enallage is a special form of hypallage and a linguistic stylistic means, which means a shift of the word relations within one sentence. This means that a word within a sentence does not refer to the logical relationship word, but to another. Very often adjectives are grammatically assigned to a word or word component to which they do not belong. The Enallage is therefore usually used to decorate the language.

The term is derived from the Greek (ἐναλλαγή) and can be roughly interchanged. Accordingly, this translation already refers to what is at issue here: namely, the interchange (or shifting) of the word relationships within a sentence. Let’s look at some examples:

I love the blue laughter of her eyes.
In the above example, the property word (adjective) refers blue to the governing noun laughter. Logically, however, it should refer to the eyes, which could have quite different colors (blue, brown, green, etc.). Consequently, the logical order of the word relationships was broken, the adjective being assigned to a word to which it does not belong. Another example:

In anticipation of her reply.
This example sentence is similar to the previous one and could come from a thoughtless language. The adjective will soon be assigned to the noun expectation, which occurs in about a short time. However, only the answer can be made in a short time, while the word does not fit into the expectation. Here, too, the logical word relation was broken. A final example:

I bought the house and
is now three-storey house owner.
In this example, an adjective is also referred to a noun that does not fit into the content. Logically and following the content, the property word should refer to the house itself and not to the owner. This could not have four floors. Since this break of the word relations is, however, carried out, this is also referred to as an enallage.

Short overview: The most important thing about the Stilfigur at a glance
Enallage is a stylistic device of rhetoric. This means the fact that, within a sentence or in neighboring sentences, individual words, mostly adjectives, refer to a different noun, not to their relation word, but to a substantive reference.
Enallage is a form of hypallage. It means (1) the change of the word relations (revolutionary spirit instead of the spirit of revolution), (2) a metonymy, or (3) an enallage. The Enallage is a special form of the Hypallage and a linguistic stylistic means, which means a shift of the word relations within a sentence. This means that a word within a sentence does not refer to the logical relationship word, but to another. Very often, adjectives are assigned grammatically to a word or word component to which they do not belong. The Enallage is therefore usually used to decorate the language.