Міністерство освіти і науки України
Національний технічний університет
«Дніпровська політехніка»
COMPARATIVE STYLISTICS
Виконала:
Студентка гр.035-20з-1
Гордієвська Ірена Сергіївна
Прийняла:
Введенська Тетяна Юріївна
Дніпро
2022
COMPARATIVE STYLISTICS - Module paper
1. What are the two objectives of stylistics?
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Investigation of special language media which secure the desirable effect of the utterance –
they are called stylistic devices(SD) and expressive means(EM). Stylistics studies the
nature, functions and structure of SDs and EMs
The second field of investigation is concerned with certain types of texts which due to the
choice and arrangement of language means are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of
communication. These types are called functional styles of language.
2. Give definition of STYLE
The correspondence between thought and language expression. An individual manner of making use
of language. The set of rules how to write a composition. The aesthetic function of language.
Expressive means in language. Synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea. Emotional
coloring in language. A system of special devices called stylistic devices. The splitting of the literary
language into separate systems called styles. The individual manner of an author in making use of
language.
3. What is IDIOLECT?
The speech of any individual, which is characterized by particular elements, is called an idiolect that
reveals his breeding and education
4. Name functional styles and substyles
The object of linguostylistics as the study of the nature, functions and structure of SDs and EMs and
the study of the functional styles of language.
Functional style (FS) may be defined as a system of interrelated language means which serves a
definite aim of communication
FSs are sometimes called registers or discourses:
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the language of belles-lettres
the language of publicistic literature
the language of press/media
the language of scientific prose
the language of official documents
5. What are the main functions of the language?
The functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative
expression, and emotional release.
6. Name units of the language and their corresponding levels
1) Phonetics, Phonology This is the level of sounds. One must distinguish here between the set of
possible human sounds, which constitutes the area of phonetics proper, and the set of system sounds
used in a given human language, which constitutes the area of phonology. Phonology is concerned
with classifying the sounds of language and with saying how the subset used in a particular language
is utilised, for instance what distinctions in meaning can be made on the basis of what sounds.
2) Morphology This is the level of words and endings, to put it in simplified terms. It is what one
normally understands by grammar (along with syntax). The term morphology refers to the analysis
of minimal forms in language which are, however, themselves comprised of sounds and which are
used to construct words which have either a grammatical or a lexical function.
Lexicology is concerned with the study of the lexicon from a formal point of view and is thus
closely linked to (derivational) morphology.
3) Syntax This is the level of sentences. It is concerned with the meanings of words in combination
with each other to form phrases or sentences. In particular, it involves differences in meaning
arrived at by changes in word order, the addition or subtraction of words from sentences or changes
in the form of sentences. It furthermore deals with the relatedness of different sentence types and
with the analysis of ambiguous sentences.
Language typology attempts to classify languages according to high-order principles of morphology
and syntax and to make sets of generalisations across different languages irrespective of their
genetic affiliations, i.e. of what language family they belong to.
4) Semantics This is the area of meaning. It might be thought that semantics is covered by the areas
of morphology and syntax, but it is quickly seen that this level needs to be studied on its own to
have a proper perspective on meaning in language. Here one touches, however, on practically every
other level of language as well as there exists lexical, grammatical, sentence and utterance meaning.
5) Pragmatics The concern here is with the use of language in specific situations. The meaning of
sentences need not be the same in an abstract form and in practical use. In the latter case one speaks
of utterance meaning. The area of pragmatics relies strongly for its analyses on the notion of speech
act which is concerned with the actual performance of language. This involves the notion of
proposition – roughly the content of a sentence – and the intent and effect of an utterance.
7. Rank from the broadest to the narrowest notion: language-in-action, norm, language-as-a-system
language-as-a-system, norm, language-in-action
8. What is the difference between EXPRESSIVE MEANS and STYLISTIC DEVICES
Stylistic device is a conscious and intentional intensification of some typical structural and/or
semantic property of a language unit (neutral or expressive) promoted to a generalized status thus
becoming a generative model.
Expressive means are those phonetic, morphological, word-building, lexical, phraseological,
syntactical forms, which exist in language-as-a-system for the purpose of logical or emotional
intensification of the utterance.
9. What are the main constituents of the English Vocabulary?
Inaccordance with the division of language into literary and colloquial, we may represent the whole
of the word stock of the English language as being divided into three main layers:
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the literary layer (super-neutral words)
consists of the following groups of words:
1. Common literary (The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are grouped
under the term standard English vocabulary. Common literary words are chiefly used in
writing and in polished speech.)
2. Terms
3. Bookish and Poetic words
4. Archaic words
5. Barbarisms and Foreign words
6. Neologisms
- the neutral layer
Neutral words comprise the overwhelming majority of lexis, used in all spheres of human activity
and being the main source of synonyms and polysemantic words. They are used in both literary and
colloquial language. It is the neutral stock of words that is so prolific in the production of new
meanings.
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the colloquial layer (sub-neutral words)
Among the sub-neutral words the following groups are distinguished:
1. Words used in informal speech only - the colloquial words
2. Jargon words and slang, as well as individual creations (nonce-words)
3. Vulgar words.
10. Rank from the oldest to the youngest: obsolete, archaic, obsolescent words.
- archaic
- obsolescent words
- obsolete
11. Slang belongs to a) specific literary b) common literary c) neutral d)specific colloquial
e)common colloquial vocabulary
12. Terms belong to a) specific literary b) common literary c) neutral d)specific colloquial
e)common colloquial vocabulary
13. Neologisms belong to a) specific literary b) common literary c) neutral d)specific colloquial
e)common colloquial vocabulary
14. Metaphor is based on a) identification b)substitution c)opposition d)communication
15. Metonymy is based on a) identification b)substitution c)opposition d)communication
16. Irony is based on a) identification b)substitution c)opposition d)communication
17. Oxymoron represents interaction between a)primary and derivative meanings b)denotational and
emotive meanings c)nominal and contextual meanings
18. Metaphor, metonymy and irony represent interaction between a)primary and derivative
meanings b)denotational and emotive meanings c)nominal and contextual meanings
19. Name different groups of epithets and the criteria of their classification
 Epithets are used singly, in pairs, in chains, in two-step structures, and in inverted
constructions, also as phrase-attributes. All previously given examples demonstrated single
epithets. Pairs are represented by two epithets joined by a conjunction or asyndetically as in
"wonderful and incomparable beauty“ or "a tired old town”. Chains (also called strings) of
epithets present a group of homogeneous attributes varying in number from three up to
sometimes twenty and even more. E.g. "You're a scolding, unjust, abusive, aggravating, bad
old creature.“
 Two-step epithets - the process of qualifying passes two stages: the qualification of the
object and the qualification of the qualification itself, as in "an unnaturally mild day”, or "a
pompously majestic female".
 Phrase-epithets always produce an original impression : "the sunshine-in-the-breakfast-room
smell”, or "a move-if-you-dare expression“, a little man with a Say-nothing-to-me, or —
I'll- contradict- you expression on his face
 inverted (syntactical, reversed) epithets - based on the contradiction between the logical and
the syntactical: logically defining becomes syntactically defined and vice versa. E.g. instead
of "this devilish woman", W. Thackeray says "this devil of a woman“, "the giant of a man"
(a gigantic man), "the toy of a girl" (a small, toylike girl), "the kitten of a woman" (a
kittenlike woman), Just a ghost of a smile appeared on his face; she is a doll of a baby.
20. “Devil of a job” is an example of a)reverse b)phrase c)dead epithet