THE ROLE OF FIGURES OF SPEECH IN CONTEMPORARY COLLOQUIAL FRENCH

Abstract

This article mainly deals with the figures of speech, which are nowadays widely used in French spoken language. The article points out that the figures of speech, found mainly in examples from literary materials, are often used during dialogues to give speech specificity and to make ordinary colloquial speech more expressive. During a discourse, it is unavoidable to use descriptive means to convey emotions and feelings to the other party. In order to develop this factor in detail, this article explains some examples of the use of metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, comparison, personification and other figures of speech from a number of novels by the 21st century French writer Faïza Guène. From the article we can see that figurative language is in most cases necessary for humans to express themselves clearly. However, it concludes that much research will be needed in the future to analyze the unique place of each figure of speech in modern colloquial French. Because, as the French linguist Ruth Amossy says, the importance of reflection on figures cannot fail to raise fruitful questions about the complex relationship between style and argumentation. Indeed, one may ask to what extent style contributes to the impact of speech.