Oxymoron

1．Definition

The word “oxymoron” is from Greek “oxusmoros”, “oxus” means “sharp”, “moros” means “foolish”, so the whole word means “acutely silly” or “pointedly foolish”. It is an antique rhetoric figure in which effect is produced by the juxtaposition of contradictory terms. Since ancient time, it has been a common device, particularly popular in the later 16ths century and during the 17ths century when the western world awoke from the dark medieval age after Renaissance produced a lot of writers with acid tongues. As a figure of speech, there are different definitions of oxymoron in the different dictionary:

Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which words of opposite meaning or suggestion are used together. e.g. a wise fool , cruel kindness, to make haste slowly.  ( A Concise Chinese-English Encyclopedic Dictionary）

Oxymoron is a figure of speech which combines incongruous and apparently contradictory words and meanings for a special effect.  (J. A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory)

Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms are combined to produce an epigrammatic effect. e. g.  victorious defeat, darkly wise, open secret. (Longman Modern English Dictionary)

In a word, oxymoron is formed by the conjoining of the two contrasting, contradictory or incongruous terms with the implied complexity of descriptions and feelings for the readers to understand and appreciate fully.

2． Structure

   An oxymoron can be formed in various ways, the most common being the following:

(1)     Adj. + Noun
  It is the most common structure in the speech of oxymoron, the adjective is used to modify the noun, but the two words have opposite meaning. The following are examples of this kind of oxymoron:
 ① why was God so unkind? Why had Sam lived? Better if he had died instead of having to suffer a living death.(上帝为什么如此不仁？萨姆为什么要活下来？他不如死了更好， 免得受这种半死不活，虽生犹死得痛苦。)  ( Peter Abrahams, The Path of Thunder )

 ② …….little diving when she saw ‘the soft torments, the bitter sweets, the pleasing pains, and the agreeable distresses’ of those girls who had been wooed and won, what she heard herself was capable of in that kind. ( 当她看到受人追求并被人娶走的姑娘们沉湎于那“温柔的折磨，苦味的甜蜜，欢乐的伤痛合可爱的灾难”中时，却很少猜想自己若陷入其中会是什么样子。)                                  ( Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles )
more examples about this structure:
sick health (憔悴的健康)      true lies（真实的谎言）      loyal deceit（忠诚的欺骗）               open secret(公开的秘密)     abject arrogance(卑下的傲慢)    luxurious poverty（奢侈的贫穷）

cheerful pessimist （快乐的悲观主义者）          strenuous idleness（紧张的休闲）
careful carelessness  （小心中仍有粗心的地方）     
A damned saint, an honorable villain...  （该死的圣人，高尚的恶棍）

(2)     Adv.+Adj

In this structure, the former one is modifier, the latter one is the center. The following are examples of this kind of structure:
① He at there and watched them, so changelessly changing, so bright and dark, so grave and gay.(他坐在那儿注视着， 觉得眼前的景象，既是光彩夺目，又是朦胧黑暗， 既是庄严肃穆，又是轻松愉快。)
②It was a big squarish frame house that has once been white, decorated with cupolas, and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what once been our most select street.( 那是一幢过去漆成白色的近似方形的小木屋，坐落在当年一条最考究的街道上，还装着十九世纪七十年代风味的圆顶，尖塔和涡形花纹阳台，具有庄严而轻快的气氛。)
                             ——William Faulkner
more examples of this structure:

rudely great (拙劣的伟大)   dully bright（迟钝的聪明／暗淡的明亮） darkly wise(无知的聪明)               

wastefully thrifty(浪费的节俭)   falsely true(虚假的真实，半假半真)
terribly pleased  （极为愉快）

(3)     Noun-Noun + Noun
This structure means the Noun-Noun is used to modify the Noun. We will look at some examples:

a fire-water state （势不两立的状态）        a love-hate relationship（又爱又恨的关系）

life-death struggle（生死搏斗）

(4)     Adj.+ Adj
In this structure, the two words have opposite or nearly opposite meaning, but they are used to modify the same word.

bitter-sweet memories（苦涩又甜蜜的回忆）        a cold- warm embrace（不冷不热的拥抱）

bad good news （不好不坏的新闻）        shabby-genteel guys（穷了还摆架子地家伙）

(5)     Verb +Adv.
The verb and the adverb in this structure also have opposite meaning. The following are examples of this structure:

shine darkly (暗淡地射线)     hasten slowly（慢慢地忙着）     love harmfully（害人地爱）

die merrily(快乐地死去)

(6)     Noun + of phrase
The “of phrase” is used to modify the “noun”, and they have opposite meaning. Such as:
        Here’s much to do with hate, but more with love.
        Why, then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
        O anything, of nothing first create!
        O heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
        Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms
        Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health！
        Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is!
        This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
                     ^_________ Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
The italicized phrases all used oxymoron, Shakespeare used this figure of speech in most of his works. He is the master of it. Examples of the structure we are discussing include:
feather of lead (铅铸地羽毛 )             sickness of health(健康地疾患)

3．The semantic category of oxymoron

(1)     antonymy

Antonymy means that the words used for oxymoron have opposite meaning.

Such as:
cruel kindness残酷的善心，       silent scream无声的惊叫，                 creative destruction 创造性的破坏，            falsely true 虚伪的忠实
“cruel” and “kind”, “silent” and “scream” are all antonyms.

(2)     Quasi-antonymy

Quasi-antonymy means that the words used for oxymoron did not really have the opposite meaning. Such as:

cruel beauty残酷的美，         dangerous calm危险的平静气氛，
sweet torment 甜蜜的折磨，      virtuous lie 美丽的谎言
The antonymy of “cruel” is “kind” not “beauty”, the antonymy of “dangerous” is “safe” not “calm”, however, the conjoining of the two words also formed oxymoron.

4. The syntactic relation of oxymoron
To appreciate oxymoron, one should try to find the hidden truth, the subtle significance conflicting images or ideas. In order to find out the hidden truth, one has to make clear the syntactic relation of oxymoron. There are some basic relationships between the two words used in oxymoron:

(1)     交融     两词意义难分主从，交错融合

Juliet: Good night, good night, parting is such sweet sorrow.

(Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet)
“Sweet sorrow” is used to modify the parting, parting is both sweet and sorrow, it is the two kinds of feeling that Juliet felt, so “sweet” and “sorrow” cannot be separated.
more examples:

A desperate longing 令人绝望的渴望

A love-hate relationship 又爱又恨的关系

Bitter-sweet memories 痛苦甜蜜的回忆

(2)     反衬

修饰语从反面衬托，突出被修饰语的语义，以此烘托出人所处的某个特定环境或状态， 使人耳目一新

Audible stillness听得见得寂静，            thunderous silence 雷鸣般得静默，

bitter sweetness 苦涩得甜蜜，              inaudible uproar 听不见的喧嚣
The writer used “audible” to modify “stillness”, at first sight, they are antonyms, they cannot appear together, but after rethinking, it is easily to understand that because it is too quiet, that we can hear something, so “audible stillness” give an impression of fresh. It is a good usage of the figure of speech.

(3)     修正

修饰词一般是表示人的品行，性格等的形容词，对表示定义的修饰词进行修正，深层次地揭示既矛盾对立又辩证统一地关系.例如：

an honest thief诚实地贼， an assiduous truant勤奋好学地逃学者，
a noble-minded prostitute高尚地妓女

Using the adjective “honest” to modify the noun “thief”, it can express the meaning that although the man is a thief, his personality is honest, his appearance is bad, and his heart is good.  This kind of expression has an ironic function to those who appear to be good, but actually is bad

(4)     深化      被修饰词反映的是表层地东西，而修饰词反映的却是深层次地东西。

changeless change无变化地变化，      deathless death 虽死犹生，

helpless help无助地帮助，       expressionless expression毫无表情的表情
For this phrase “ changeless change”, it seems to describe that something has changed, however, the modifier “changeless” means it did not change at all.  “Helpless help” is the same, somebody appears to provide help, but his help is no use, so this kind of help is helpless.

(5)     主从

构成矛盾修辞的修饰词大部分是描绘性形容词或副词，对被修饰词起着描述，阐释，补充，限定的作用，意义的重心却在修饰词上，被修饰词处于从属的一方。

proud humility高傲的谦恭， reasonably fanatic理智的狂热，falsely true 似真实假，
we can analyze the first phrase in order to understand this semantic relations. “Proud humility” means the person behaves humble, but his inner heart is proud. The real meaning of this kind of phrase is in the modifier.

Reference books:

冯翠华.  英语修辞大全[M].      北京: 外语教学与研究出版社, 2005.
李亚丹,李定坤. 汉英辞格对比研究简编[M]. 武汉: 华中师范大学出版社, 2005.
陈淑华.  英汉修辞与翻译[M].  北京: 北京邮电学院出版社, 1990.
吕煦. 实用英语修辞[M].  北京: 清华大学出版社, 2004.