Saturday, January 1, 2011

Thiruvalluvar and figures of speech





THIRUVALLUVAR AND FIGURES OF SPEECH 

" Let 2012 bring peace and prosperity to the globe".
'Globe' means people of the Earth, it is a figure of speech.

All of us know , what  a figure of  speech is. ( simile, metaphor,)
Let us recall. 
Figure of speech is understanding one thing in terms of another.

" He is like a fox " means,   " he is a cunning person like a fox. " 
( Simile , because the word LIKE is used )

" Lotus eyes " means,  " the  eyes are beautiful like flower lotus." 
( Metaphor , because the word LIKE is NOT used )

" this baby weighs a tonne "  means,   " the baby is too heavy." 
( Hyperbole, because of the exaggeration . )
உவமையணி - Simile,    உருவக அணி - Metaphor,   
 உயர்வு நவிற்சியணி - Hyperbole

Thiruvalluvar uses many types of figures of speech in his Kurals. 

Mighty US entered South Vietnam in 1955 to prevent 
Communist ruled North Vietnam from capturing it. 

The US troops increased to
5,43,000 in 1969. ( most of them teenagers) 

US had difficulty in fighting offensive in foreign territory. 

58,159 US soldiers were killed along with millions of  people.

In 1973, US withdrew its  troops. 

In 1975 Communist North Vietnam captured South Vietnam

and united with it. 

US utterly failed to save S.Vietnam from falling into 
the hands of communist N. Vietnam.

US had a humiliating defeat in a war that prolonged 
for 20 years.

Thiruvalluvar gives a kural using figure speech called 
மேலை அலங்காரம்  
A mighty elephant with a fearless eyes and spear like tusks, 
If  caught in a sinking soil, even a fox can kill it. ( 500 )


கால் ஆழ களிரின் நரி அடும் கண் அஞ்சா
வேல் ஆள் முகத்த களிறு.(500)
( புதை மண்ணில் சிக்கிய மா யானையை 
சிறுநரியும் கொன்றுவிடும்) 

Mighty elephant (US) was caught in the sinking soil .
(In  Vietnam , US was placed in an unknown foreign terrain )
Great Communist USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979. 
Afghans were well versed with local terrains,  using US weapons, 
they launched surprise attacks on USSR.
Losing 15000 soldiers, USSR withdrew from 
Afghan after a ten years of unsuccessful war with 
Afgan guerrillas who knew  
in and out of the local topology.
( Monkey gorilla are different from uncoventional war group guerrillas)

Thiruvalluvar uses figure speech called 
பிறிது மொழிதல் என்னும் அலங்காரம்  
In water , mighty crocodile will win other animals.
Out of water, other animals will win the  crocodile. ( 495 )

நெடும் புனலும் வெல்லும் முதலை/ அடும்புனலின்
நீங்கின்/ அதனைப் பிற. (495 )


( நீரில் மற்ற உயிர் இனத்தை வெற்றிக்கொள்ளும் முதலை, 
அதனை, மற்றவை நிலத்தில் வெற்றிக்கொள்ளும்.)
Strong crocodile (communist USSR) was placed out of water 
( Afghanistan , where USSR faced unconventional warfare 
with Guerrillas.)

Mighty Napolean  of France  invaded Russia in 1812 and entered Moscow, Russians deserted the city and set it on fire.  
On Dec 6th , Napolean lost 80,000 soldiers in -38 degree C. 
Horses were covered with snow and frozen to death. 
Even though Napolean possessed  twice the strength of
the army of Russia, he could not win the Patriotic Russian fighters 
because of the extreme cold.  
  
Adamant Hitler of Germany committed the same blunder in 1941 , 
invaded USSR . His half starved army caught in the coldest winter 
of the century and tasted the  greatest defeat. Winter warfare was
totally unknown  to German soldiers.
Thiruvalluvar gives a kural using a figure speech of called
மேலை அலங்காரம் . 
A chariot with strong wheels can not sail in water,
A ship that can sail in sea , can not run on land. (496 )



கடல் ஓடா கால் வல் நெடுந்தேர்/ கடல் ஓடும்
நாவாயும்/  ஓடா நிலத்து.
(கடலில் ஓடாது தேர், நிலத்தில் ஓடாது கப்பல்)

Strong wheeled chariots ( Armies of Napolean and Hitler) 
failed to sail in the water ( freezing winter of USSR ).
Thiruvalluvar had successfully handled different types of 
figures of speech in many kurals.

.
The Thirukkural's immortality and universality are indisputable.
========================================                              
                                     For the use of students


Smile : The lake was like an  ocean. ( word like is used )

Metaphor : The lake is an ocean. (  'like' is not used )

Hyperbole : The lake is bigger than seven oceans. ( Exaggeration )

Irony :1)  The person involved in a multi crore corruption, 
heading  an enquiry on corruption.
          
           2) " yet Brutus says he was ambitious
                 And Brutus is an honourable man" 
               ( here calling Brutus honourable  is irony )

Pun : Open Windows to use Microsoft Word. 
( Windows has two meanings, so it is a Pun )

 Pun= a word with more than one meaning ( fun = amusement )
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1 Comments:

Blogger VikramTN said...

Happy new year!!! Nice start for 2011, thanks for these, please keep them coming!

January 4, 2011 at 10:54 AM  

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