The Equivoque of Proportion in Vertical Axis of Text With a Look at the Evolution of Equivoque in Persian Rhetoric

The present study has been accomplished to answer the question of whether the equivoque of proportion is represented only at the level of "one distich" or "one sentence" (horizontal axis) as an assumption comes from the works of the classic writers, or it can also be detected on the vertical axis of the text? To answer this question, the course of the Persian rhetoric evolution has been studied, and then, the ones who have initially proposed the concepts such as equivoque, equivoque of proportion, equivoque of translation, equivoque of contradiction, equivoque of overtaking, etc. have been introduced. Their various definitions and evidences have been also examined and criticized alongside a comparison between the opinions of the classic scholars with the views of contemporaries, and finally, "the equivoque of proportion on vertical axis of text" has been studied, referring to Hafiz's Divan, Naftha al-Masudur and the works of others. Mentioning textual evidence in this section, the meanings of the phrasal terms have been pursued in the Persian dictionaries, attempting as much as possible not to cite from contemporary dictionaries. As it will be seen, such a use of equivoque is fully consistent with structural stylistics and worthy of consideration.