The periphrase is a stylistic device of rhetoric that can be encountered in all literary genres. Periphrase is the widening description of a thing, a concept, or a person. This means that the Stilfgur describes a concept by its characteristics, activities or effects. It has a reinforcing effect and is related to euphemism.
The word can be derived from the Greek (περί ~ peri, around ‘, φράζειν’ phrazein, reden ‘) and can therefore be translated around with it. Consequently, translation already shows us what is at stake: the rewriting of a thing without naming it. Let’s look at an example.
Yesterday it burned with you! Are you all right?
We were saved by the gods in white!
The above example includes a question and a response that brings a periphrase into play. Here is the phrase gods in white, which is an expansive description for a doctor or physician. The periphrase uses a well-known feature of those who are circumscribed: here, it is the fact that doctors wear white coats and sometimes save lives.
Periphrase describes something that is not specifically named. The effect is quite clear, as the stylistic figure, through the transcription, glosses over the simple conceptual doctor and thus elevates it. In this case, there are similarities to euphemism. Let us look at another example.
I refreshed myself by the foaming blood of the wine-cellar.
Also in this sentence a thing is described: namely the wine. Periphrase serves less as a means of enfolding, but rather as a poetized representation of an object. The effect is, therefore, that the crude concept of wine is transported into a poetic language.
In addition to enlightenment and poeticization, the periphrase can be used to avoid constant word repetitions. Who writes, for example, an article about the god Zeus could use a periphrase instead of his name, and tell the father of the gods and lord of lightnings. This use would also be a special form of the stylistic figure – the Antonomasy – which instead of the proper name used a characteristic or apposition for the concept.
Further examples of the use of a periphrase
the bird of Jupiter instead of eagle
Friend Hein instead of death
the country where the lemons blossomed instead of Italy
the Almighty instead of God
the eye of the law instead of the police
the father of the economic miracle instead of Ludwig Erhard
the land where milk and honey flow instead of Canaan
Note: As shown, the periphrase is mainly compared with a euphemism, in order not to clearly identify controversial topics or to conceal a statement. It is also used for poeticization. Moreover, it is a form of amplification (more information than is necessary for understanding), and is therefore also related to enumeratio and accumulation.
The counterpart of periphrase is certainly denotation. Denotation in linguistics is the core of a word or a word sequence. According to this, physicians or physicians would be the denotation of the exemplary word sequence God in white.
Effect and function of the periphrase
Obviously, it is not always useful to attribute a unique function or effect to a style figure. So we run the risk of reducing the stylistic means to exactly these characteristics and no longer to see whether it is really true. Nevertheless, we would like to give you some information about the periphrase.
Brief overview of the effect and function of the stylist
Periphrase is a stylistic device that describes things, concepts or even persons, instead of naming them directly. Thus, it can certainly exert a reinforcing effect or even a decorative effect.
If the stylistic figure is used as a glamor, it has a disguising character and is usually used in the form of taboo or unpleasant themes. In this form, it can strongly affect the receiver (listener, reader).
The periphrase belongs to the tropics when it replaces an expression by a transcription (for example, to avoid the repetition of a word). Tropus is a style figure that replaces one expression with another. In this form the periphrase is usually found in the form of a synekdoche.