Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

What is the animal form of personification? For example, the phrase “the car purred” gives an animalistic quality to an inanimate object?

Answer
VerifiedVerified
510k+ views
Hint: The attribution of human nature or human attributes to something non-human, or the depiction of an abstract attribute in human form, is known as personification. Non-human beings are given human characteristics, feelings, or intentions.

Complete answer:
As an anthropomorphic metaphor, personification happens when a thing or abstraction is portrayed as a person in literature or art. The form of personification discussed here includes cases where a personification occurs as a character in literature or a human figure in art and excludes passing literary effects like "Shadows hold their breath."

The assigning of human characteristics, feelings, or intentions to non-human beings is known as anthropomorphism. It is thought to be an unconscious psychological trait.

The attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as states, feelings, and natural forces such as seasons and weather is known as personification.

Both have ancient origins as storytelling and creative instruments, and typical fables with anthropomorphized animals as protagonists can be found in almost every community. People also often ascribed human feelings and behavioural characteristics to both wild and domesticated animals.

The phrase “the car purred” is an example of anthropomorphism because it gives an inanimate object ‘car’ animal-like quality of purring.

Note: Anthropomorphism, also known as personification, has been used in literature since ancient times. Hesiod's Works and Days tale "The Hawk and the Nightingale" predates Aesop's fables by decades. The Jataka Tales and Panchatantra, two collections of related fables from India, also use anthropomorphized animals to explain life concepts. Many of the modern animal myths, such as the cunning fox and the proud lion, can be found in these sets.