In Search for Interlingual Equivalence: “Rouge Comme …” Versus “Czerwony Jak …”

Abstract

Comparison, a rhetorical device, most often referred to as a figure of thought, is associated with those stylistic conventions that are willingly and pervasively used in discourse. Its double-element structure, also containing an obligatory comparison word (e.g., comme, like, jak, etc.), provides an opportunity to juxtapose concepts which are often very distant from each other and constitutes a crucial instrument for the categorization of phenomena of the world. It is a key to our understanding and conceptualization. The article investigates how the French and Polish languages use comparisons containing the adjective of an exceptionally rich connotative value: red (rouge /czerwony).