Figures of speech

The previous three chapters have laid the ground for an exploration of spoken creativity by examining theoretical issues, procedures for data collection and classification, and the kinds of frameworks considered appropriate for the analysis of spoken discourse.This chapter takes the discussion further by adopting a sharper linguistic focus. The main aim is to consider some further resources for spoken creativity which speakers and listeners have at their disposal, with an emphasis on figures of ‘speech’, a topic, as we have noted, which is often analysed only with reference to written examples. The previous chapter considered figures of speech such as puns and wordplay, repetition and neologisms. This chapter considers further resources open to speakers, including figures such as metaphors, idioms and hyperbole. There is a particular emphasis on the need to describe creative uses of language with reference to clines and continua of meaning and function, especially with reference to the expression of feelings and identities. Throughout there is an emphasis not simply on particular linguistic forms but also on the speakers and listeners who use and negotiate the use of such creative language.