Definition

1. Verb:
   • To personify: To attribute human characteristics, emotions, or behaviors to non-human entities such as animals, objects, ideas, or natural forces. This is a core technique in literature and rhetoric.
   • To embody / to exemplify: To represent a quality or idea in a perfect human form; to be a perfect example of a particular quality.

Usage Examples

• Verb (to attribute human traits):
  • Nhà thơ thường nhân cách hóa mặt trời và gió. (Poets often personify the sun and the wind.)
  • Truyện ngụ ngôn nhân cách hóa các con vật để dạy bài học đạo đức. (Fables personify animals to teach moral lessons.)
• Verb (to embody a quality):
  • Cô ấy chính là hiện thân nhân cách hóa của lòng dũng cảm. (She is the very personification of courage.)

Advanced Usage

• Literary Device: Personification is a fundamental literary device. It is not merely using a metaphor like "the angry storm," but creating a sustained representation where the non-human entity acts like a person.
  • Việc nhân cách hóa "Tử Thần" như một người gặt hái là một hình ảnh phổ biến. (Personifying "Death" as a reaper is a common image.)

Variants and Related Words

• Sự nhân cách hóa (n): Personification. The act of personifying or the resulting figure of speech.
  • Sự nhân cách hóa trong bài thơ này rất sinh động. (The personification in this poem is very vivid.)

Synonyms

• Personify: To attribute a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human.
• Anthropomorphize: To attribute human form or characteristics to (a god, animal, or object). This is a more technical synonym.
• Embodiment: A tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling.

Related Concepts

• Apostrophe: A related rhetorical device where the speaker addresses an absent person, an abstract idea, or a thing as if it were present and capable of understanding.
• Allegory: A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, often employing personified characters.

1. Personify