szóképszer

Szóképszer is a Hungarian term used in literary stylistics to denote the maker or craftsman of word pictures. It refers to a writer, speaker, or poet who skillfully creates vivid imagery and sensory impressions through language. In this sense, a szóképszer is not a single device but a practitioner whose work relies on the artful use of szókép, or figurative language.

In Hungarian rhetoric, szókép means a figure of speech that evokes an image in the reader’s or listener’s mind. The concept of a szóképszer emphasizes the process and talent of constructing such imagery, rather than the image itself. Szóképszerial work is often discussed in analyses of poets and stylists who are noted for their rich, image-driven prose or verse. The term is more common in pedagogical and stylistic discussions than as a fixed category in formal linguistics.

The craft of a szóképszer encompasses various tools of imagery, including metaphor, personification, synecdoche, and expressive descriptive phrases. A szóképszer combines vocabulary choice, syntactic arrangement, rhythm, and phrasing to shape a particular sensory or emotional effect. The result is imagery that deepens meaning, mood, and atmosphere in a text.

Etymologically, szóképszer is built from szó (word) + kép (image) with the agentive suffix -szer, indicating an actor who produces word-based images. While the term appears in Hungarian literary manuals and discussions of stylistics, it remains a descriptive label rather than a strict technical category.

See also: szókép, metafora, személyesítés, retorika, irodalomtudomány.