''Elocutio'' (l''exis or phrasis'' in Greek) is a Latin term for the mastery of

rhetorical device In rhetoric, a rhetorical device, persuasive device, or stylistic device is a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading them towards considering a topic from a perspective, ...

s and

figures of speech A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into '' schemes,'' which vary the ordinary ...

in Western classical

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

. ''Elocutio'' or style is the third of the five canons of classical rhetoric (the others being

inventio ''Inventio'', one of the five canons of rhetoric, is the method used for the ''discovery of arguments'' in Western rhetoric and comes from the Latin word, meaning "invention" or "discovery". ''Inventio'' is the central, indispensable canon of rh ...

dispositio Dispositio is the system used for the organization of arguments in the context of Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "organization" or "arrangement". It is the second of five canons of classical rhetoric (the ...

memoria Memoria was the term for aspects involving memory in Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "memory". It was one of five canons in classical rhetoric (the others being inventio, dispositio, elocutio, and pronunt ...

, and

pronuntiatio Pronuntiatio was the discipline of delivering speeches in Western classical rhetoric. It is one of the five canons of classical rhetoric (the others being inventio, dispositio, elocutio, and memoria) that concern the crafting and delivery of speec ...

) that concern the craft and delivery of speeches and writing.

Etymology

The word ''elocutio'' comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''loquor'', "to speak." ''Elocutio'' typically refers to rhetorical style. Similar terms are

eloquence Eloquence (from French ''eloquence'' from Latin ''eloquentia'') is fluent, elegant, persuasive, and forceful speech, persuading an audience. Eloquence is both a natural talent and improved by knowledge of language, study of a specific subject ...

and

elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

Elements

An orator or writer had a number of things to decide in developing a style for a particular discourse.

Levels of style

First, there was the level of style; plain (''attenuata'' or ''subtile''), middle (''mediocris'' or ''robusta''), or high (''florida'' or ''gravis''). Writers were instructed to match the basic style to their subject matter and audience. For instance,

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...

in his ''Institutio Oratoria'' deemed the plain style suitable for instruction, the middle for moving oration, and the high for charming discourse. Today, elocution and rhetoric are associated with the last of the styles, but for rhetoricians, each style was useful in rhetoric.

Virtues of style

The ancient authors agreed that the four ingredients necessary to achieve good style included correctness, clearness, appropriateness, and ornament. Sometimes translated as "purity", correctness meant that rhetors should use words that were current and adhered to the grammatical rules of whatever language they wrote. Correctness rules are standards of grammar and usage drawn from traditional grammar. In regard to clarity, most ancient teachers felt that clarity meant that rhetors should use words in their ordinary or everyday senses. The object of clarity was to allow meaning to "shine through" like light through a window. Appropriateness probably derives from the Greek rhetorical notion to ''prepon'', meaning to say or do whatever is fitting in a given situation. Ancient teachers taught that close attention to

Kairos Kairos ( grc, καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning 'the right, critical, or opportune moment'. In modern Greek, ''kairos'' also means 'weather' or 'time'. It is one of two words that the ancient Greeks had for 'time'; the other bei ...

will help to determine the appropriate style. The last and most important of the excellences of style is ornament, which is defined as extraordinary or unusual use of language.

Figures of style

Ornamentation was divided into three broad categories: figures of speech, figures of thought, and

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

s. Figures of speech are any artful patterning or arrangement of language. Figures of thought are artful presentations of ideas, feelings, concepts and figures of thought that depart from the ordinary patterns of argument. Tropes are any artful substitution of one term for another. A great amount of attention was paid to

, which were classified into various types and subtypes. One Renaissance writer, Henry Peacham, enumerated 184 different figures of speech, but it could be argued that it was a manifestation of the increasing overemphasis on style that began in the Renaissance. Also important to ''elocutio'' were subjects that would now be generally regarded as grammatical: the proper use of punctuation and conjunctions; the desirable order of words in a sentence (unlike English, many languages are not as dependent on word order to establish relationships between words and so choices of word order may revolve more around form than function); and the length of sentences.

References