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Diction

Diction (Latin: dictionem (nom. dictio), "a saying, expression, word"),[1] in its original meaning, is a writer's or speaker's distinctive vocabulary choices and style of expression in a piece of writing such as a poem or story.[2][3] In its common meaning, it is the distinctiveness of speech:[3][4][5] the art of speaking so that each word is clearly heard and understood to its fullest complexity and extremity, and concerns pronunciation and tone, rather than word choice and style. This is more precisely and commonly expressed with the term enunciation or with its synonym, articulation.[6]

Diction has multiple concerns, of which register, the adaptation of style and formality to the social context, is foremost. Literary diction analysis reveals how a passage establishes tone and characterization, e.g. a preponderance of verbs relating physical movement suggests an active character, while a preponderance of verbs relating states of mind portrays an introspective character. Diction also has an impact upon word choice and syntax.

Aristotle, in The Poetics (20), defines the parts of diction (λέξις)[7] as the letter, the syllable, the conjunction, the article, the noun, the verb, the case, and the speech (λόγος),[8] though one commentator remarks that "the text is so confused and some of the words have such a variety of meanings that one cannot always be certain what the Greek says, much less what Aristotle means."[9]

  1. ^ "Diction" Archived 2011-09-15 at the Wayback Machine, Online Etymology Dictionary
  2. ^ "diction". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b Crannell (1997) Glossary, p. 406
  4. ^ Littré - Diction.
  5. ^ Georges Le Roy, Traité pratique de la diction française, 1911.
  6. ^ Crannell (1997) Part II, Speech, p. 84
  7. ^ The Cambridge Greek Lexicon. Cambridge University Press. 2021. p. 865. ISBN 978110-8836982.
  8. ^ Barnes, Jonathan, ed. (1984). The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation. Vol. 2. Princeton University Press. p. 2331.
  9. ^ Preston H. Epps. (1967). The Poetics of Aristotle: A translation and Commentary. Univ. of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0807840177. Archived from the original on 2004-06-07.

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