Figures playing on language
The many figures of speech that play upon language can do so for a variety of purposes. On an argumentative level, they are related to the topic of invention known as Notation and Conjugates, which invites one to consider the relationship between language and what language represents, between signifier and signified. On an ornamental level, such figures can be humorous or entertaining, or witty, which can have a positive or negative appeal through pathos, and a corresponding effect on the speaker's character or ethos.
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See adnominatio
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See polyptoton
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See paronomasia (punning)
Acknowledgement
The above information on individual rhetorical techniques is reproduced from the website “Silva Rhetoricae” (www.rhetoric.byu.edu ) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Credit for this content lies with Professor Gideon O Burton of Brigham Young University.