Pjaee, 17 (7) (2020) a pragmatic Study of Synecdoche in Shakespeare's Hamlet

particular synecdoche the singularity sometimes is used to refer to plurality as 
the next section reveals.
3.2.2 The Singular Stands for the Plural 
‘The singular stands for the plural’ is the second subtype of the 
particularizing synecdoche. In this type “The singular stands for the plural 
forms a ‘collective singular’” (Mey, 2009, p. 888). So, this type of 
particularizing synecdoche is the practice of referring to many individuals by 
a singular term instead of a plural one (Fahnestock, 2011, p. 101). To clarify 
the idea, the two excerpts from Hamlet’s tragedy may clarify more. 
9- “Oh, there be players that I have seen play and heard others praise (and 
that highly), not to speak it profanely, that, neither having the accent of 

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PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020) 
A Pragmatic Study of Synecdoche in Shakespeare's Hamlet
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Christians nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man” (Shakespeare, 2011, 3. 
2. 34).
The ‘singular for plural’ synecdoche can be seen in the words 
“Christian”, “pagan” and “man” that refer to only one person for each of them 
(Soanes & Stevenson, 2006). Indifference, the figurative meaning of these 
synecdoches is that each singular noun (Christians, pagans and man 
respectively) represents the community to which an individual belongs. 
Abdul-Raof (2006) stated that the use of his kind is existed in the Holy Quran, 
as in: “My Lord, indeed my bone has weakened, and my head has filled with 
white,” (The Quran 19: 04) (Translated by Pickthall,2010). This verse 
includes the words of the Prophet Zachariah’s supplicant while invoking God, 
in which “the bone” is used in its singular form to signify the whole bones. 
Correspondingly, “Christian”, “pagan” and “man” are used to refer to their 
plural forms. The reason behind using singular to stand for the plural is that 
each community has its own characteristics and the individuals within mostly 
follow these characteristics. This pyramidal order of the communities 
reflected by the synecdoches which started with “Christian” then “pagan” and 
ended with merely “man” was not a random order; the intended meaning 
might as Curran (2006) stated when he talked about saints and pagan in 
literary Elizabethan text that “later we learn of the superiority of Christian 
patience over that of the pagans, and how it makes the saints ….” (p. 177). So, 
the order was hierarchical from, what Hamlet regarded, top to down. 
On another occasion, synecdoche was used when Hamlet showed up at 
Ophelia’s funeral, Laertes attacked him. Laertes attacked hamlet believing 
that he was the one responsible for her death. Then, these lines were said by 
Hamlet to Laertes. However, the ‘singular stands for the plural’ synecdoche 
is found in the word “hand” which refers literally to singularity i.e. one hand 
(Waite & Hawker, 2009), but the next quotation shows something else.