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Contents
Preface........................................................................................ 7
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics ..........................................
9
1.1. Problems of stylistic research .................................
9
1.2. Stylistics of language and speech ...........................
14
1.3. Types of stylistic research and branches of stylistics
16
1.4. Stylistics and other linguistic disciplines ................
19
1.5. Stylistic neutrality and stylistic colouring ..............
20
1.6. Stylistic function notion ......................................
24
Practice Section...............................................................
28
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language ...................
33
2.1. Expressive means and stylistic devices ...................
34
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means ....
37
2.2.1. Hellenistic Roman rhetoric system ..............
39
2.2.2. Stylistic theory and classification of expresssive
means by G. Leech .......................................
45
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Contents
Contents
2.2.3. I. R. Galperin's classification of expressive means
and stylistic devices .....................................
50
2.2.4. Classification of expressive means and
stylistic devices by Y. M. Skrebnev ...............
57
Practice Section ..............................................................
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar...................................................
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles .............................
122
4.1. The notion of style in functional stylistics ..............
122
4.2. Correlation of style, norm and function in the language
................................................................................ 124
4.3. Language varieties: regional, social, occupational .
128
76
4.4. An overview of functional style systems .................
133
87
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional
styles of English ...................................................... 145
3.1. The theory of grammatical gradation. Marked, semimarked and unmarked structures ............................
87
4.5.1. Literary colloquial style ................................ 145
3.2. Grammatical metaphor and types of grammatical
transposition............................................................
4.5.3. Publicist (media) style .................................. 150
89
4.5.2. Familiar colloquial style ............................... 148
4.5.4. The style of official documents .................... 153
3.3. Morphological stylistics. Stylistic potential of the
4.5.5. Scientific/academic style .............................. 155
parts of speech ........................................................
92
3.3.1. The noun and its stylistic potential ..............
92
3.3.2. The article and its stylistic potential.............
95
3.3.3. The stylistic power of the pronoun ..............
97
3.3.4. The adjective and its stylistic functions ...
101
3.3.5. The verb and its stylistic properties .............
103
3.3.6. Affixation and its expressiveness ..................
107
3.4. Stylistic syntax ........................................................
110
Practice Section ..............................................................
116
Practice Section .............................................................. 159
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions .
162
5.1. Stylistics of the author and of the reader. The notions of
encoding and decoding ........................................... 163
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
and types of foregrounding .................................... 166
5.2.1. Convergence ................................................ 169
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5.2.2. Defeated expectancy .................................. 171
Contents
5.2.3. Coupling .......................................................
173
5.2.4. Semantic field ............................................
176
5.2.5. Semi-marked structures ............................
179
Practice Section ..............................................................
181
Glossary for the Course of Stylistics .........................................
190
Sources.......................................................................................
202
Dictionaries.................................................................................
204
List of Authors and Publications Quoted ..................................
205
Preface
The book suggests the fundamentals of stylistic theory that outline
such basic areas of research as expressive resources of the language,
stylistic differentiation of vocabulary, varieties of the national language
and sociolinguistic and pragmatic factors that determine functional
styles.
The second chapter will take a student of English to the beginnings
of stylistics in Greek and Roman schools of rhetoric and show howmuch modern terminology and classifications of expressive means
owe to rhetoric.
An important part of the book is devoted to the new tendencies and
schools of stylistics that assimilated advancements in the linguistic
science in such trends of the 20"1 century as functional, decoding
and grammatical stylistics.
The material on the wealth of expressive means of English will help
a student of philology, a would-be teacher and a reader of literature
not only to receive orientation in how to fully decode the message of
the work of art and therefore enjoy it all the more but also to improve
their own style of expression.
he chapter on functional styles highlights the importance of «time
a
" place» m language usage. It tells how the same language differs
len used
for different purposes on different occasions in communiation with different people. It explains why we adopt different uses of
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Preface
language as we go through our day. A selection of distinctive features
of each functional style will help to identify and use it correctly
whether you deal with producing or analysing a text of a certain
functional type.
Chapters on grammar stylistics and decoding stylistics are intended
to introduce the student to the secrets of how a stylistic device works.
Modern linguistics may help to identify the nature and algorithm of
stylistic effect by showing what kind of semantic change, grammatical
transposition or lexical deviation results in various stylistic outcomes.
This book combines theoretical study and practice. Each chapter is
supplied with a special section that enables the student and the teacher
to revise and process the theoretical part by drawing conclusions and
parallels, doing comparison and critical analysis. Another type of practice involves creative tasks on stylistic analysis and interpretation, such
as identifying devices in literary texts, explaining their function and
the principle of performance, decoding the implications they create.
The knowledge of the theoretical background of stylistic research and
the experience of integrating it into one's analytical reading skills
will enhance the competence and proficiency of a future teacher of
English. Working with literary texts on this level also helps to
develop one's cultural scope and aesthetic taste. It will also enrich
the student's linguistic and stylistic thesaurus.
The author owes acknowledgements for the kindly assistance in
reading and stylistic editing of this work to a colleague from the
Shimer College of Chicago, a lecturer in English and American
literature S. Sklar.
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Chapter 1 The Object of Stylistics
Problems of stylistic research. Stylistics of language and speech.
Types of stylistic research and branches of stylistics. Stylistics
and other linguistic disciplines. Stylistic neutrality and stylistic
coloring. Stylistic function notion.
1.1. Problems of stylistic research
Units of language on different levels are studied by traditional
branches of linguistics such as phonetics that deals with speech
sounds and intonation; lexicology that treats words, their meaning
and vocabulary structure, grammar that analyses forms of words and
their function in a sentence which is studied by syntax. These areas
of linguistic study are rather clearly defined and ave a long-term
tradition of regarding language phenomena from a leve,-oriented point
of view. Thus the subject matter and the material under study of
these linguistic disciplines are more or less clear-cut.
1.1. Problems of stylistic research
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
It gets more complicated when we talk, about stylistics. Some scholars
claim that this is a comparatively new branch of linguistics, which has
only a few decades of intense linguistic interest behind it. The term
stylistics really came into existence not too long ago. In point of fact
the scope of problems and the object of stylistic study go as far back
as ancient schools of rhetoric and poetics.
The problem that makes the definition of stylistics a curious one deals
both with the object and the material of studies. When we speak of the
stylistic value of a text we cannot proceed from the level-biased
approach that is so logically described through the hierarchical system
of sounds, words and clauses. Not only may each of these linguistic
units be charged with a certain stylistic meaning but the interaction of
these elements, as well as the structure and composition of the whole
text are stylistically pertinent.
Another problem has to do with a whole set of special linguistic
means that create what we call «style». Style may be belles-letters or
scientific or neutral or low colloquial or archaic or pompous, or a
combination of those. Style may also be typical of a certain writerShakespearean style, Dickensian style, etc. There is the style of the j
press, the style of official documents, the style of social etiquette and
even an individual style of a speaker or writer—his idiolect.
Stylistics deals with styles. Different scholars have defined style
differently at different times. Out of this variety we shall quote the
most representative ones that scan the period from the 50ies to the
90ies of the 20<л century.
In 1955 the Academician V.V.Vinogradov defined style as «socially
recognized and functionally conditioned internally united totality of
the ways of using, selecting and combining the means of lingual
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ourse in the sphere of one national language or another...» /о
73) In 1971 Prof- J- R- Galperin offered his definition of style s a
system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in
communication.» (36, p. 18).
According to Prof. Y. M. Skrebnev, whose book on stylistics was
published in 1994, «style is what differentiates a group of homogeneous
texts (an individual text) from all other groups (other texts)... Style
can be roughly defined as the peculiarity, the set of specific features
of a text type or of a specific text.» (47, p. 9).
All these definitions point out the systematic and functionally determined character of the notion of style.
The authors of handbooks on German (E. Riesel, M. P. Bran-des),
French (Y. S. Stepanov, R. G. Piotrovsky, K. A. Dolinin), English (I.
R. Galperin, I. V. Arnold, Y. M. Skrebnev, V. A. Maltsev, V. A.
Kukharenko, A. N. Morokhovsky and others) and Russian (M. N.
Kozhina, I. B. Golub) stylistics published in our country over the
recent decades propose more or less analogous systems of styles
based on a broad subdivision of all styles into two classes: literary
and colloquial and their varieties. These generally include from three
to five functional styles.
Since functional styles will be further specially discussed in a separate
chapter at this stage we shall limit ourselves to only three popular
viewpoints in English language style classifications.
rof
' LR-Galperin distinguishes 5 groups of functional styles for the
written variety of language while Prof. I.V.Amold suggests only two
ajor types of styles - colloquial and literary bookish — with their
«пег division into substyles (see chapter 4.4).
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics ___________
Prof. Y. M. Skrebnev suggests a most unconventional viewpoint on
the number of styles. He maintains that the number of sublanguages
and styles is infinite (if we include individual styles, styles mentioned
in linguistic literature such as telegraphic, oratorical, reference book,
Shakespearean, short story, or the style of literature on electronics,
computer language, etc.).
1.1. Problems of stylistic research
The aesthetic function of language is an immanent part of works
of art—poetry and imaginative prose but it leaves out works of
science, diplomatic or commercial correspondence, technical
instructions and many other types of texts.
Of course the problem of style definition is not the only one stylistic
research deals with.
2 Expressive means of language are mostly employed in types of
speech that aim to affect the reader or listener: poetry, fiction,
oratory, and informal intercourse but rarely in technical texts or
business language.
Stylistics is that branch of linguistics, which studies the principles, and
effect of choice and usage of different language elements in rendering
thought and emotion under different conditions of communication.
Therefore it is concerned with such issues as
3. It is due to the possibility of choice, the possibility of using
synonymous ways of rendering ideas that styles are formed. With
the change of wording a change in meaning (however slight it
might be) takes place inevitably.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
the aesthetic function of language;
expressive means in language;
synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea;
emotional colouring in language;
a system of special devices called stylistic devices;
the splitting of the literary language into separate systems called
style;
7) the interrelation between language and thought;
8) the individual manner of an author in making use of the language
(47, p. 5).
These issues cover the overall scope of stylistic research and can only
be representative of stylistics as a discipline of linguistic study taken
as a whole. So it should be noted that each of them is concerned
with only a limited area of research:
12
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4. The emotional colouring of words and sentences creates a certain
stylistic effect and makes a text either a highly lyrical piece of
description or a satirical derision with a different stylistic value.
However not all texts eligible for stylistic study are necessarily
marked by this quality.
5. No work of art, no text or speech consists of a system of stylistic
devices but there's no doubt about the fact that the style of
anything is formed by the combination of features peculiar to it,
that whatever we say or write, hear or read is not style by itself
but has style, it demonstrates stylistic features.
Any national language contains a number of*sublanguages» or
microlanguages or varieties of language with their own specific
eatures, their own styles. Besides these functional styles that are
oted in the norm of the language there exist the so-called «substandard» types of speech such as slang, barbarisms, vulgarisms,
taboo and so on.
1.2. Stylistics of language and speech
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
8. We can hardly object to the proposition that style is also above |
other things the individual manner of expression of an author in
his use of the language. At the same time the individual manner
can only appear out of a number of elements provided by the
common background and employed and combined in a specific |
manner.
language is a mentally organised system of linguistic units. An ъ0
.. aj speaker never uses it. When we use these units we mix
m in acts of speech. As distinct from language speech is not relv
mental phenomenon, not a system but a process of combining these
linguistic elements into linear linguistic units that are called
syntagmatic.
The result of this process is the linear or syntagmatic combination of
vowels and consonants into words, words into word-combinations
and sentences and combination of sentences into texts. The word
«syntagmatic» is a purely linguistic term meaning a coherent sequence
of words (written, uttered or just remembered).
Thus speaking of stylistics as a science we have to bear in mind that
the object of its research is versatile and multi-dimensional and the
study of any of the above-mentioned problems will be a fragmentary
description. It's essential that we look at the object of stylistic study
in its totality.
StyUstics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts, not with the
system of signs or process of speech production as such. But within
these texts elements stylistically relevant are studied both
syntagmatically and paradigmatically (loosely classifying all stylistic
means paradigmatically into tropes and syntagmatically into figures
of speech).
7. Interrelation between thought and language can be described щ
terms of an inseparable whole so when the form is changed a
change in content takes place. The author's intent and the forms
he uses to render it as well as the reader's interpretation of it is
the subject of a special branch of stylistics—decoding stylistics.
1.2. Stylistics of language and speech
One of the fundamental concepts of linguistics is the dichotomy of
«language and speech» (langue—parole) introduced by F. de Saussure.
According to it language is a system of elementary and complex signsphonemes, morphemes, words, word combinations, utterances and
combinations of utterances. Language as such a system exists m
human minds only and linguistic forms or units can be systematise"
into paradigms.
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Eventually this brings us to the notions of stylistics of language and
stylistics of speech. Their difference lies in the material studied. the
stylistics of language analyses permanent or inherent stylistic
roperties of language elements while the stylistics of speech studies
stylistic properties, which appear in a context, and they are called
adherent.
WOrds ike тол
'
мач, штудировать, соизволять or English these
' comprehend, lass are bookish or archaic and of the^6 the'r
inherent
Properties. The unexpected use of any ProperT W°rdS '" 3 modem
context wil
> be an adherent stylistic
word''
prevaricate
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
Types of stylistic research and branches of stylistics
So stylistics of language describes and classifies the inherent stylistic
colouring of language units. Stylistics of speech studies the compost,
tion of the utterance—the arrangement, selection and distribution of
different words, and their adherent qualities.
. Various literary genres. ,
The writer's outlook.
Comparative stylistics
1.3. Types of stylistic research and branches of
stylistics
Comparative stylistics is connected with the contrastive study of more
than one language.
Literary and linguistic stylistics
It analyses the stylistic resources not inherent in a separate language
but at the crossroads of two languages, or two literatures and is
obviously linked to the theory of translation.
According to the type of stylistic research we can distinguish literary
stylistics and lingua-stylistics. They have some meeting points or
links in that they have common objects of research. Consequently
they have certain areas of cross-reference. Both study the common
ground of:
Decoding stylistics
1) the literary language from the point of view of its variability;
2) the idiolect (individual speech) of a writer;
3) poetic speech that has its own specific laws.
The points of difference proceed from the different points of analysis.
While lingua-stylistics studies
• Functional styles (in their development and current state).
• The linguistic nature of the expressive means of the language,
their systematic character and their functions.
Literary stylistics is focused on
• The composition of a work of art.
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A comparatively new branch of stylistics is the decoding stylistics,
which can be traced back to the works of L. V. Shcherba, B. A. Larin,
M. Riffaterre, R. Jackobson and other scholars of the Prague linguistic
circle. A serious contribution into this branch of stylistic study was
also made by Prof. I. V. Arnold (3, 4). Each act of speech has the
performer, or sender of speech and the recipient. The former does the
act of encoding and the latter the act of decoding the information.
f we analyse the text from the author's (encoding) point of view we
should consider the epoch, the historical situation, the personal
Political, social and aesthetic views of the author.
J
' we try to treat the same text from the reader's angle of view max"
haVS t0 disre ard
8 ^s background knowledge and get the sitio mUm ltlformation
from
the text itself (its vocabulary, compose ' sen,ence arrangement,
etc.). The first approach manifests -valence of the literary analysis.
The second is based almost
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
1.4. Stylistics and other linguistic disciplines
exclusively on the linguistic analysis. Decoding stylistics is an attempt
to harmoniously combine the two methods of stylistic research and
enable the scholar to interpret a work of art with a minimum loss of
its purport and message.
Functional stylistics
Special mention should be made of functional stylistics which is a
branch of lingua-stylistics that investigates functional styles, that is
special sublanguages or varieties of the national language such as
scientific, colloquial, business, publicist and so on.
However many types of stylistics may exist or spring into existence
they will all consider the same source material for stylistic analysissounds, words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and texts. That's why
any kind of stylistic research will be based on the level-forming
branches that include:
Stylistic lexicology
Stylistic Lexicology studies the semantic structure of the word and
the interrelation (or interplay) of the connotative and denotative
meanings of the word, as well as the interrelation of the stylistic
connotations of the word and the context.
Stylistic Phonetics (or Phonostylistics) is engaged in the study of styleforming phonetic features of the text. It describes the prosodic features
of prose and poetry and variants of pronunciation in different types of
speech (colloquial or oratory or recital).
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Stylistic grammar
Stylistic Morphology is interested in the stylistic potentials of specific
grammatical forms and categories, such as the number of the noun,
or the peculiar use of tense forms of the verb, etc.
Stylistic Syntax is one of the oldest branches of stylistic studies that
grew out of classical rhetoric. The material in question lends itself
readily to analysis and description. Stylistic syntax has to do with the
expressive order of words, types of syntactic links (asyndeton,
polysyndeton), figures of speech (antithesis, chiasmus, etc.). It also
deals with bigger units from paragraph onwards.
1.4. Stylistics and other linguistic disciplines
As is obvious from the names of the branches or types of stylistic
studies this science is very closely linked to the linguistic disciplines
philology students are familiar with: phonetics, lexicology and
grammar due to the common study source.
Stylistics interacts with such theoretical discipline as semasiology. This
is a branch of linguistics whose area of study is a most complicated
and enormous sphere—that of meaning. The term semantics is also
widely used in linguistics in relation to verbal meanings. Semasiology
in its turn is often related to the theory of signs in general and deals
with visual as well as verbal meanings.
Meaning is not attached to the level of the word only, or for that
matter to one level at all but correlates with all of them—morphemes,
words, phrases or texts. This is one of the most challenging areas of
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
1.5. Stylistic neutrality and stylistic colouring
research since practically all stylistic effects are based on the interplay
between different kinds of meaning on different levels. Suffice it to
say that there are numerous types of linguistic meanings attached to
linguistic units, such as grammatical, lexical, logical, denotative,
connotative, emotive, evaluative, expressive and stylistic.
Most scholars abroad and in this country giving definitions of style
come to the conclusion that style may be defined as deviation from
the lingual norm. It means that what is stylistically conspicuous,
stylistically relevant or stylistically coloured is a departure from the
norm of a given national language. (G. Leech, M. Riffaterre, M.
Halliday, R.Jacobson and others).
Onomasiology (or onomatology) is the theory of naming dealing with
the choice of words when naming or assessing some object or
phenomenon. In stylistic analysis we often have to do with a transfer
of nominal meaning in a text (antonomasia, metaphor, metonymy,
etc.)
The theory of functional styles investigates the structure of the
national linguistic space—what constitutes the literary language, the
sublanguages and dialects mentioned more than once already.
Literary stylistics will inevitably overlap with areas of literary studies
such as the theory of imagery, literary genres, the art of composition,
etc.
Decoding stylistics in many ways borders culture studies in the broad
sense of that word including the history of art, aesthetic trends and
even information theory.
1.5. Stylistic neutrality and stylistic colouring
Speaking of the notion of style and stylistic colouring we cannot
avoid the problem of the norm and neutrality and stylistic colouring in
contrast to it.
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There are authors who object to the use of the word «norm» for various
reasons. Thus Y. M. Skrebnev argues that since we acknowledge the
existence of a variety of sublanguages within a national language we
should also acknowledge that each of them has a norm of its own. So
the sentence «I haven't ever done anything» (or «I don't know
anything») as juxtaposed to the sentence «I ain't never done nothing»
(«I don't know nothing») is not the norm itself but merely conforms
to the literary norm.
The second sentence («I ain't never done nothing») most certainly
deviates from the literary norm (from standard English) but if fully
conforms to the requirements of the uncultivated part of the English
speaking population who merely have their own conception of the
norm. So Skrebnev claims there are as many norms as there are
sublanguages. Each language is subject to its own norm. To reject
this would mean admitting abnormality of everything that is not
neutral. Only ABC-books and texts for foreigners would be
considered «normal». Everything that has style, everything that
demonstrates peculiarities of whatever kind would be considered
abnormal, including works by Dickens, Twain, O'Henry, Galsworthy
and so on (47, pp. 21-22).
For all its challenging and defiant character this argument seems to
contain a grain of truth and it does stand to reason that what we
_____________ Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
1.5. Stylistic neutrality and stylistic colouring
often call «the norm» in terms of stylistics would be more appropriate
to call «neutrality».
Since style is the specificity of a sublanguage it is self-evident that
non-specific units of it do not participate in the formation of its style;
units belonging to all the sublanguages are stylistically neutral. Thus
we observe an opposition of stylistically coloured specific elements to
stylistically neutral non-specific elements.
The stylistic colouring is nothing but the knowledge where, in what
particular type of communication, the unit in question is current. On
hearing for instance the above-cited utterance «I don't know nothing»
(«I ain't never done nothing») we compare it with what we know
about standard and non-standard forms of English and this will
permit us to pass judgement on what we have heard or read.
Professor Howard M. Mims of Cleveland State University did an
accurate study of grammatical deviations found in American English
that he terms vernacular (non-standard) variants (44). He made a list
of 20 grammatical forms which he calls relatively common and some
of them are so frequent in every-day speech that you hardly register
them as deviations from the norm, e. g. They ready to go instead of
They are ready to go; Joyce has fifty cent in her bank account instead
of Joyce has fifty cents in her bank account; My brother, he's a doctor
instead of My brother is a doctor, He don't know nothing instead of He
doesn't know anything.
The majority of the words are neutral. Stylistically coloured wordsbookish, solemn, poetic, official or colloquial, rustic, dialectal,
vulgar—have each a kind of label on them showing where the unit
was «manufactured», where it generally belongs.
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Within the stylistically coloured words there is another opposition
between formal vocabulary and informal vocabulary.
These terms have many synonyms offered by different authors. Roman
Jacobson described this opposition as casual and non-casual, other
terminologies name them as bookish and colloquial or formal and
informal, correct and common.
Stylistically coloured words are limited to specific conditions of
communication. If you isolate a stylistically coloured word it will still
preserve its label or «trade-mark» and have the flavour of poetic or
artistic colouring.
You're sure to recognise words like decease, attire, decline (a proposal)
as bookish and distinguish die, clothes, refuse as neutral while such
units as snuff it, rags (togs), turn down will immediately strike you as
colloquial or informal.
In surveying the units commonly called neutral can we assert that
they only denote without connoting? That is not completely true.
If we take stylistically neutral words separately, we may call them
neutral without doubt. But occasionally in a certain context, in a
specific distribution one of many implicit meanings of a word we
normally consider neutral may prevail. Specific distribution may also
create unexpected additional colouring of a generally neutral word.
Such stylistic connotation is called occasional.
Stylistic connotations may be inherent or adherent. Stylistically
coloured words possess inherent stylistic connotations. Stylistically
neutral words will have only adherent (occasional) stylistic connotations acquired in a certain context.
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
1.6. Stylistic function notion
A luxury hotel for dogs is to be opened at Lima, Peru a city of 30.000
dogs. The furry guests will have separate hygienic kennels, top medical
care and high standard cuisine, including the best bones. (Mailer)
Accordingly stylistics is first and foremost engaged in the study of
connotative meanings.
Two examples from this passage demonstrate how both stylistically
marked and neutral words may change their colouring due to the
context:
cuisine -»inherently formal (bookish, high-flown);
-» adherent connotation in the context—lowered/humorous;
bones -» stylistically neutral;
-4 adherent connotation in the context—elevated/humorous.
In brief the semantic structure (or the meaning) of a word roughly
consists of its grammatical meaning (noun, verb, adjective) and its
lexical meaning. Lexical meaning can further on be subdivided into
denotative (linked to the logical or nominative meaning) and
connotative meanings. Connotative meaning is only connected with
extra-linguistic circumstances such as the situation of communication
and the participants of communication. Connotative meaning consists
of four components:
1) emotive;
2) evaluative;
1.6. Stylistic function notion
3) expressive;
4) stylistic.
Like other linguistic disciplines stylistics deals with the lexical,
grammatical, phonetic and phraseological data of the language.
However there is a distinctive difference between stylistics and the
other linguistic subjects. Stylistics does not study or describe separate
linguistic units like phonemes or words or clauses as such. It studies
their stylistic/unction. Stylistics is interested in the expressive potential
of these units and their interaction in a text.
Stylistics focuses on the expressive properties of linguistic units,
their functioning and interaction in conveying ideas and emotions in
a certain text or communicative context.
Stylistics interprets the opposition or clash between the contextual
meaning of a word and its denotative meaning.
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A word is always characterised by its denotative meaning but not
necessarily by connotation. The four components may be all present
at once, or in different combinations or they may not be found in the
word at all.
1. Emotive connotations express various feelings or emotions. Emotions differ from feelings. Emotions like ./ay, disappointment, pleasure,
anger, worry, surprise are more short-lived. Feelings imply a more
stable state, or attitude, such as love, hatred, respect, pride, dignity,
etc. The emotive component of meaning may be occasional or usual
(i.e. inherent and adherent).
It is important to distinguish words with emotive connotations from
words, describing or naming emotions and feelings like anger or
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
1.6. Stylistic function notion
fear, because the latter are a special vocabulary subgroup whose
denotative meanings are emotions. They do not connote the speaker's
state of mind or his emotional attitude to the subject of speech.
maintains that emotive connotation always entails expressiveness but
not vice versa. To prove her point she comments on the example by
A. Hornby and R. Fowler with the word «thing» applied to a girl (4,
p. ПЗ).
Thus if a psychiatrist were to say You should be able to control feelings
of anger, impatience and disappointment dealing with a child as a piece
of advice to young parents the sentence would have no emotive
power. It may be considered stylistically neutral.
On the other hand an apparently neutral word like big will become
charged with emotive connotation in a mother's proud description of
her baby: He is a BIG boy already!
2. The evaluative component charges the word with negative, positive,
ironic or other types of connotation conveying the speaker's attitude
in relation to the object of speech. Very often this component is a part
of the denotative meaning, which comes to the fore in a specific
context.
The verb to sneak means «to move silently and secretly, usu. for a
bad purpose» (8). This dictionary definition makes the evaluative
component bad quite explicit. Two derivatives a sneak and sneaky
have both preserved a derogatory evaluative connotation. But the
negative component disappears though in still another derivative
sneakers (shoes with a soft sole). It shows that even words of the
same root may either have or lack an evaluative component in their
inner form.
3. Expressive connotation either increases or decreases the expres
siveness of the message. Many scholars hold that emotive and
expressive components cannot be distinguished but Prof. I.A.Arnold
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When the word is used with an emotive adjective like «sweet» it
becomes emotive itself: «She was a sweet little thing». But in other
sentences like «She was a small thin delicate thing with spectacles»,
she argues, this is not true and the word «thing» is definitely expressive
but not emotive.
Another group of words that help create this expressive effect are the
so-called «intensifiers», words like «absolutely, frightfully, really,
quite», etc.
4. Finally there is stylistic connotation. A word possesses stylistic
connotation if it belongs to a certain functional style or a specific
layer of vocabulary (such as archaisms, barbarisms, slang, jargon,
etc). Stylistic connotation is usually immediately recognizable.
Yonder, slumber, thence immediately connote poetic or elevated
writing.
Words like price index or negotiate assets are indicative of business
language.
This detailed and systematic description of the connotative meaning
of a word is suggested by the Leningrad school in the works of Prof.
I. V. Arnold, Z. Y. Turayeva, and others.
Galperin operates three types of lexical meaning that are stylistically
relevant—logical, emotive and nominal. He describes the stylistic
Practice Section
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
colouring of words in terms of the interaction of these types of
lexical meaning. Skrebnev maintains that connotations only show to
what part of the national language a word belongs—one of the sublanguages (functional styles) or the neutral bulk. He only speaks
about the stylistic component of the connotative meaning.
Practice Section
1. Comment on the notions of style and sublanguages in the
national language.
2. What are the interdisciplinary links of stylistics and other linguistic subjects such as phonetics, lexicology, grammar, and
semasiology? Provide examples.
How does stylistics differ from them in its subject-matter and
fields of study?
3. Give an outline of the stylistic differentiation of the national
English vocabulary: neutral, literary, colloquial layers of words;
areas of their overlapping. Describe literary and common colloquial stratums of vocabulary, their stratification.
4. How does stylistic colouring and stylistic neutrality relate to
inherent and adherent stylistic connotation?
5. Can you distinguish neutral, formal and informal among the
following groups of words.
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A
B
C
1.
currency
money
dough
2.
to talk
to converse
to chat
3.
to chow down
to eat
to dine
4.
to start
5.
insane
nuts
6.
spouse
hubby
7.
to leave
8.
geezer
9.
veracious
10.
mushy
to commence
to kick off
mentally ill
husband
to withdraw
senior citizen
opens
emotional
to shoot off
old man
sincere
sentimental
6. What kind of adherent stylistic meaning appears in the otherwise
neutral word feeling?
I've got no feeling paying interest, provided that it's reasonable. (Shute)
I've got no feeling against small town life. I rather like it. (Shute)
7. To what stratum of vocabulary do the words in bold type in
the following sentences belong stylistically? Provide neutral or
colloquial variants for them:
/ expect you've seen my hand often enough coming out with the grub.
(Waugh)
She betrayed some embarrassment when she handed Paul the tickets,
and a hauteur which subsequently made her feel very foolish. (Cather)
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
I must be off to my digs. (Waugh)
When the old boy popped off he left Philbrick everything, except a few
books to Grade. (Waugh)
He looked her over and decided that she was not appropriately dressed
and must be a fool to sit downstairs in such togs. (Cather)
It was broken at length by the arrival of Flossie, splendidly attired in
magenta and green. (Waugh)
8. Consider the following utterances from the point of view of the
grammatical norm. What elements can be labelled as deviations
from standard English? How do they comply with the norms of
colloquial English according to Mims and Skrebnev?
Sita decided that she would lay down in the dark even if Mrs. Waldvogel
came in and bit her. (Erdrich)
Always popular with the boys, he was, even when he was so full he
couldn't hardly fight. (Waugh)
Practice Section
Make up lists of words that create this tenor in the texts given
below.
Whilst humble pilgrims lodged in hospices, a travelling knight would
normally stay with a merchant. (Rutherfurd)
Fo' what you go by dem, eh? W'y not keep to yo'self? Dey don' want
you, dey don' care fo'you. H' ain'you got no sense? (Dunbar-Nelson)
They sent me down to the aerodrome next morning in a car. I made a
check over the machine, cleaned filters, drained sumps, swept out the
cabin, and refuelled. Finally I took off at about ten thirty for the
short flight down to Batavia across the Sunda straits, and found the
aerodrome and came on to the circuit behind the Constellation of K. L.
M. (Shute)
We ask Thee, Lord, the old man cried, to look after this childt. Fatherless he is. But what does the earthly father matter before Tliee? The
childt is Thine, he is Thy childt, Lord, what father has a man but Thee?
(Lawrence)
/ wouldn't sell it not for a hundred quid, I wouldn't. (Waugh)
-We are the silver band the Lord bless and keep you, said the
stationmaster in one breath, the band that no one could beat whatever
but two indeed in the Eisteddfod that for all North Wales was look you.
There was a rapping at the bedroom door. «I'll learn that Luden Sorrels
to tomcat.» (Chappel)
I see, said the Doctor, I see. That's splendid. Well, will you please go
into your tent, the little tent over there.
...he used to earn five pound a night... (Waugh)
9. How does the choice of words in each case contribute to the
stylistic character of the following passages? How would you
define their functional colouring in terms of technical, poetic,
bookish, commercial, dialectal, religious, elevated, colloquial,
legal or other style?
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To march about you would not like us? Suggested the stationmaster, we
have a fine flaglook you that embroidered for us was in silks. (Waugh)
The evidence is perfectly clear. The deceased woman was unfaithful to
her husband during his absence overseas and gave birth to a child out
of wedlock.
Chapter 1. The Object of Stylistics
Her husband seemed to behave with commendable restraint and wrote
nothing to her which would have led her to take her life... The deceased
appears to have been the victim of her own conscience and as the time
for the return of her husband drew near she became mentally upset. Fi
find that the deceased committed suicide while the balance of her mind\
was temporarily deranged. (Shute)
/ say, I've met an awful good chap called Miles. Regular topper. You\
know, pally. That's what I like about a really decent party—you meet]
such topping fellows. I mean some chaps it takes absolutely years tot
know, but a chap like Miles I feel is a pal straight away. (Waugh)
She sang first of the birth of love in the hearts of a boy and a girl. And
on the topmost spray of the Rose-tree there blossomed a marvellous rose,
petal following petal, as song followed song. Pale was it, at first as the
mist that hangs over the river—pale as the feet of the morning. (Wilde) ;
He went slowly about the corridors, through the writing—rooms, smoking- j
rooms, reception-rooms, as though he were exploring the chambers of
an enchanted palace, built and peopled for him alone.
When he reached the dining-room he sat down at a table near a window. \
The flowers, the white linen, the many-coloured wine-glasses, the gay \
toilettes of the women, the low popping of corks, the undulating repetitions i
of the Blue Danube from the orchestra, all flooded Paul's dream with
bewildering radiance. (Cather)
Chapter 2
Expressive Resources of the Language
Expressive means and stylistic devices. Different classifications
of expressive means and stylistic devices from antique to modern
times.
In my reading of modern French novels I
had acquired the habit of underlining expressions, which struck me as aberrant from
general usage, and it often happened that the
underlined passages taken together seemed
to offer a certain consistency. I wondered if
it would be possible to establish a common
denominator for all or most of these deviations, could we find a common spiritual
etymon or the psychological root of 'several'
individual 'traits of style' in a writer.
Leo Spitzer. Linguistics and Literary History
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Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.1. Expressive means and stylistic devices
2.1. Expressive means and stylistic devices
Stylistic devices
Expressive means
A stylistic device is a literary model in which semantic and structural
features are blended so that it represents a generalised pattern.
Expressive means of a language are those linguistic forms and
properties that have the potential to make the utterance emphatic or
expressive. These can be found on all levels—phonetic, graphical,
morphological, lexical or syntactical.
Expressive means and stylistic devices have a lot in common but
they are not completely synonymous. All stylistic devices belong to
expressive means but not all expressive means are stylistic devices.
Phonetic phenomena such as vocal pitch, pauses, logical stress, and
drawling, or staccato pronunciation are all expressive without being
stylistic devices
Morphological forms like diminutive suffixes may have an expressive effect: girlie, piggy, doggy, etc. An unexpected use of the
author's nonce words like: He glasnosted his love affair with th:
movie star (People) is another example of morphological expressive
means.
Lexical expressive means may be illustrated by a special group о
intensifiers—awfully, terribly, absolutely, etc. or words that retain thei
logical meaning while being used emphatically: // was a very sped e
vening/event/gift.
There are also special grammatical forms and syntactical patterns
attributing expressiveness, such as: / do know you! I'm really angry
with that dog of у ours! That you should deceive me! If only I could help
you!
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Prof. I. R. Galperin calls a stylistic device a generative model when
through frequent use a language fact is transformed into a stylistic
device. Thus we may say that some expressive means have evolved into
stylistic devices which represent a more abstract form or set of forms.
A stylistic device combines some general semantic meaning with a certain linguistic form resulting in stylistic effect. It is like an algorithm
employed for an expressive purpose. For example, the interplay, interaction, or clash of the dictionary and contextual meanings of words
will bring about such stylistic devices as metaphor, metonymy or irony.
The nature of the interaction may be affinity (likeness by nature),
proximity (nearness in place, time, order, occurrence, relation) or
contrast (opposition).
Respectively there is metaphor based on the principle of affinity,
metonymy based on proximity and irony based on opposition.
The evolution of a stylistic device such as metaphor could be seen from
four examples that demonstrate this linguistic mechanism (interplay of
dictionary and contextual meaning based on the principle of affinity):
1. My new dress is as pink as this flower: comparison (ground for
comparison—the colour of the flower).
2. Her cheeks were as red as a tulip: simile (ground for simile—
colour/beauty/health/freshness)
3. She is a real flower: metaphor (ground for metaphor—frail/
fragrant/tender/beautifu 1/helpless...).
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
My love is a red, red rose: metaphor (ground for metaphor—
passionate/beautiful/strong...).
4. Ruby lips, hair of gold, snow-white skin: trite metaphors so
frequently employed that they hardly have any stylistic power
left because metaphor dies of overuse. Such metaphors are aiso
called hackneyed or even dead.
A famous literary example of an author's defiance against immoderate \
use of trite metaphors is W. Shakespeare's Sonnet 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
The more unexpected, the less predictable is the ground for comparison the more expressive is the metaphor which in this case got a
special name of genuine or authentic metaphor. Associations suggested by the genuine metaphor are varied, not limited to any definite
number and stimulated by the individual experience or imagination.
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2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
In spite of the belief that rhetoric is an outmoded discipline it is in
rhetoric that we find most of the terms contemporary stylistics
generally employs as its metalanguage. Rhetoric is the initial source
of information about metaphor, metonymy, epithet, antithesis, chiasmus, anaphora and many more. The classical rhetoric gave us still
widely used terms of tropes and figures of speech.
That is why before looking into the new stylistic theories and findings
it's good to look back and see what's been there for centuries. The
problems of language in antique times became a concern of scholars
because of the necessity to comment on literature and poetry. This
necessity was caused by the fact that mythology and lyrical poetry was
the study material on which the youth was brought up, taught to read
and write and generally educated. Analysis of literary texts helped to
transfer into the sphere of oratorical art the first philosophical notions
and concepts.
The first linguistic theory called sophistry appeared in the fifth century
В. С Oration played a paramount role in the social and political life
of Greece so the art of rhetoric developed into a school.
Antique tradition ascribes some of the fundamental rhetorical notions to the Greek philosopher Gorgius (483-375 В. С). Together
with another scholar named Trasimachus they created the first
school of rhetoric whose principles were later developed by Aristotle
(384-322 В. С.) in his books «Rhetoric» and «Poetics».
Aristotle differentiated literary language and colloquial language. This
first theory of style included 3 subdivisions:
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
• the choice of words;
2.2.1- Hellenistic Roman rhetoric system
• word combinations;
Tropes:
• figures.
1. The choice of words included lexical expressive means such as
foreign words, archaisms, neologisms, poetic words, nonce
words and metaphor.
2. Word combinations involved 3 things:
a) order of words;
b) word-combinations;
c) rhythm and period (in rhetoric, a complete sentence).
3. Figures of speech. This part included only 3 devices used by the
antique authors always in the same order.
a) antithesis;
b) assonance of colons;
c) equality of colons.
A colon in rhetoric means one of the sections of a rhythmical period
in Greek chorus consisting of a sequence of 2 to 6 feet.
Later contributions by other authors were made into the art of
speaking and writing so that the most complete and well developed
antique system, that came down to us is called the Hellenistic Roman
rhetoric system. It divided all expressive means into 3 large groups:
Tropes, Rhythm (Figures of Speech) and Types of Speech.
A condensed description of this system gives one an idea how much
we owe the antique tradition in modern stylistic studies.
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1. Metaphor—the application of a word (phrase) to an object
(concept) it doesn't literally denote to suggest comparison with
another object or concept.
E. g. A mighty Fortress is our God.
2. Puzzle (Riddle)—a statement that requires thinking over a confusing or difficult problem that needs to be solved.
3. Synecdoche—the mention of a part for the whole.
E. g. A fleet of 50 sail, (ships)
4. Metonymy—substitution of one word for another on the basis
of real connection.
E.g. Crown for sovereign; Homer for Homer's poems; wealth for rich
people.
5. Catachresis—misuse of a word due to the false folk etymology
or wrong application of a term in a sense that does not belong
to the word.
E. g. Alibi for excuse; mental for weak-minded; mutual for common;
disinterested for uninterested.
A later term for it is malapropism that became current due to Mrs.
Malaprop, a character from R. Sheridan's The Rivals (1775). This
sort of misuse is mostly based on similarity in sound.
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
E. g. That young violinist is certainly a child progeny (instead of
prodigy).
6. Epithet—a word or phrase used to describe someone or some-1
thing with a purpose to praise or blame.
E. g. ft was a lovely, summery evening.
7. Periphrasis—putting things in a round about way in order to]
bring out some important feature or explain more clearly the
idea or situation described.
E.g. Igot an Arab boy... and paid him twenty rupees a month, about
thirty bob, at which he was highly delighted. (Shute)
8. Hyperbole—use of exaggerated terms for emphasis.
E. g. A 1000 apologies; to wait an eternity; he is stronger than a lion.
9. Antonomasia—use of a proper name to express a general idea
or conversely a common name for a proper one.
E. g. The fron Lady; a Solomon; Don Juan.
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
E. g. Tip-top, helter-skelter, wishy-washy; oh, the dreary, dreary
moorland.
2. Epenalepsis (polysyndeton) conjunctions: use of several con
junctions.
E. g. He thought, and thought, and thought; f hadn't realized until
then how small the houses were, how small and mean the shops. (Shute)
3. Anaphora: repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two
or more clauses, sentences or verses.
E.g. No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass, not a bird or beast, not even
a fish that was not owned!
4. Enjambment: running on of one thought into the next line,
couplet or stanza without breaking the syntactical pattern.
E.g. fn Ocean's wide domains Half
buried in the sands Lie skeletons
in chains With shackled feet and
hands.
Figures of Speech that create Rhythm
(Longfellow)
These expressive means were divided into 4 large groups:
Figures that create rhythm by means of addition 1. Doubling
(reduplication, repetition) of words and sounds.
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5. Asyndeton: omission of conjunction.
E.g. He provided the poor with jobs, with opportunity, with self-respect.
_______ Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Figures based on compression
1. Zeugma (syllepsis): a figure by which a verb, adjective or other
part of speech, relating to one noun is referred to another.
E. g. He lost his hat and his temper, with weeping eyes and hearts.
2. Chiasmus—a reversal in the order of words in one of two parallel
phrases.
E. g. He went to the country, to the town went she.
3. Ellipsis—omission of words needed to complete the construction
or the sense.
E.g. Tomorrow at 1.30; The ringleader was hanged and his followers
imprisoned.
Figures based on assonance or accord
1. Equality of colons—used to have a power to segment and
arrange.
2. Proportions and harmony of colons.
Figures based on opposition
1. Antithesis—choice or arrangement of words that emphasises a
contrast.
E. g. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, wise men
use them; Give me liberty or give me death.
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2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
2. Paradiastola—the lengthening of a syllable regularly short (in
Greek poetry).
3. Anastrophe—a term of rhetoric, meaning, the upsetting for
effect of the normal order of words (inversion in contemporary
terms).
E. g. Me he restored, him he hanged.
Types of speech
Ancient authors distinguished speech for practical and aesthetic
purposes. Rhetoric dealt with the latter which was supposed to
answer certain requirements, such as a definite choice of words, their
assonance, deviation from ordinary vocabulary and employment of
special stratums like poetic diction, neologisms and archaisms,
onomatopoeia as well as appellation to tropes. One of the most
important devices to create a necessary high-flown or dramatic effect
was an elaborate rhythmical arrangement of eloquent speech that
involved the obligatory use of the so-called figures or schemes. The
quality of rhetoric as an art of speech was measured in terms of
skilful combination, convergence, abundance or absence of these
devices. Respectively all kinds of speech were labelled and represented in a kind of hierarchy including the following types: elevated:
flowery /florid/ exquisite; poetic; normal; dry; scanty; hackneyed;
tasteless.
Attempts to analyse and determine the style-forming features of prose
also began in ancient times. Demetrius of Alexandria who lived in
Greece in the 3d century ВС was an Athenian orator, statesman and
Philosopher. He used the ideas of such earlier theorists as Aristotle
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
and characterized styles by rhetoric of purpose that required certain
grammatical constructions.
Dionyssius wrote over twenty books, most famous of which are «On
Imitation», «Commentaries on the Ancient Orators» and «On the
Arrangement of Words». The latter is the only surviving ancient study
of principles of word order and euphony.
The Plain Style, he said, is simple, using many active verbs and
keeping its subjects (nouns) spare. Its purposes include lucidity,
clarity, familiarity, and the necessity to get its work done crisply and
well. So this style uses few difficult compounds, coinages or
qualifications (such as epithets or modifiers). It avoids harsh sounds,
or odd orders. It employs helpful connective terms and clear clauses
with firm endings. In every way it tries to be natural, following the
order of events themselves with moderation and repetition as in
dialogue.
The Eloquent Style in contrast changes the natural order of events to
effect control over them and give the narration expressive power
rather than sequential account. So this style may be called passive in
contrast to active.
As strong assumptions are made subjects are tremendously amplified
without the activity of predication because inherent qualities rather
than new relations are stressed. Sentences are lengthy, rounded, well
balanced, with a great deal of elaborately connected material. Words
can be unusual, coined; meanings can be implied, oblique, and
symbolic. Sounds can fill the mouth, perhaps, harshly.
Two centuries later a Greek rhetorician and historian Dionysius of
Halicarnassus who lived in Rome in the 1*' century ВС characterized
one of the Greek orators in such a way: «His harmony is natural,
stately, spacious, articulated by pauses rather than strongly polished
and joined by connectives; naturally off-balance, not rounded and
symmetrical.» (43, p. 123).
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For the Romans a recommended proportion for language units in
verse was two nouns and two adjectives to one verb, which they called
«the golden line».
Gradually the choices of certain stylistic features in different combinations settled into three types—plain, middle and high.
Nowadays there exist dozens of classifications of expressive means
of a language and all of them involve to a great measure the same
elements. They differ often only in terminology and criteria of
classification.
Three of the modern classifications of expressive means in the English
language that are commonly recognized and used in teaching stylistics
today will be discussed further in brief.
They have been offered by G. Leech, I. R Galperin and У. M. Skrebnev.
2.2.2. Stylistic theory and classification of
expresssive means by G. Leech
One of the first linguists who tried «to modernize» traditional
rhetoric system was a British scholar G. Leech. In 1967 his
contribution into stylistic theory in the book «Essays on Style a"d
Language» was published in London (39). Paying tribute to lhe
descriptive linguistics popular at the time he tried to show
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
how linguistic theory could be accommodated to the task ofj
describing such rhetorical figures as metaphor, parallelism, allit-l
eration, personification and others in the present-day study ofj
literature.
According to Leech the literary work of a particular author must be
studied with reference to both—«dialect scale» and «register scale».
Proceeding from the popular definition of literature as the creative use
of language Leech claims that this can be equated with the use of
deviant forms of language. According to his theory the] first principle
with which a linguist should approach literature isj the degree of
generality of statement about language. There are] two particularly
important ways in which the description of language entails
generalization. In the first place language operates by what may be called
descriptive generalization. For example, a grammarian may! give
descriptions of such pronouns as /, they, it, him, etc. as objective
personal pronouns with the following categories: first/third person,
singular/plural, masculine, non-reflexive, animate/inanimate.
Although they require many ways of description they are all pronouns
and each of them may be explicitly described in this fashion.
The other type of generalization is implicit and would be appropriate in
the case of such words as language and dialect. This sort of description
would be composed of individual events of speaking, writing, hearing
and reading. From these events generalization may cover the linguistic
behaviour of whole populations. In this connection Leech maintains 1
the importance of distinguishing two scales in the language. He calls
them «register scale» and «dialect scale». «Register scale» distinguishes
spoken language from written language, the language of respect from
that of condescension, advertising from science, etc. The term covers
linguistic activity within society. «Dialect scale» differentiates
language of people of different age, sex, social strata, geographical
area or individual linguistic habits (ideolect).
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The notion of generality essential to Leech's criteria of classifying
stylistic devices has to do with linguistic deviation.
He points out that it's a commonplace to say that writers and poets
use language in an unorthodox way and are allowed a certain degree
of «poetic licence». «Poetic licence» relates to the scales of descriptive
and institutional delicacy.
Words like thou, thee, thine, thy not only involve description by
number and person but in social meaning have «a strangeness value»
or connotative value because they are charged with overtones of piety,
historical period, poetics, etc.
The language of literature is on the whole marked by a number of
deviant features. Thus Leech builds his classification on the principle
of distinction between the normal and deviant features in the language
of literature.
Among deviant features he distinguishes paradigmatic and syntagmatic
deviations. All figures can be initially divided into syntagmatic or
paradigmatic. Linguistic units are connected syntagmatically when
they combine sequentially in a linear linguistic form.
Paradigmatic items enter into a system of possible selections at one
Point of the chain. Syntagmatic items can be viewed horizontally,
Paradigmatic—vertically.
Paradigmatic figures give the writer a choice from equivalent items,
which are contrasted to the normal range of choices. For instance,
certain nouns can normally be followed by certain adverbs, the choice
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
dictated by their normal lexical valency: inches/feet/yard ~r away, e.
g. He was standing only a few feet away.
However the author's choice of a noun may upset the normal system
and create a paradigmatic deviation that we come across in literary
and poetic language: farmyards away, a grief ago, all sun long.
Schematically this relationship could look like this
inches
normal away
inches
feet
yards
farmyard
feet
deviant away
normal
away
yards farmyard deviant
away
The contrast between deviation and norm may be accounted for by
metaphor which involves semantic transfer of combinatory links.
Another example of paradigmatic deviation is personification. In this
case we deal with purely grammatical oppositions of personal/
impersonal; animate/inanimate; concrete/abstract.
This type of deviation entails the use of an inanimate noun in a
context appropriate to a personal noun.
As Connie had said, she handled just like any other aeroplane, except that
she had better manners than most. (Shute). In this example she stands
for the aeroplane and makes it personified on the grammatical level.
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The deviant use of she in this passage is reinforced by the collocation
with better manners, which can only be associated with human beings.
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
aeroplane normal inanimate neuter
it
train
car
aeroplane
deviant animate female
she
aeroplane
train
normal inanimate neuter
car aeroplane
it
deviant animate female
she
This sort of paradigmatic deviation Leech calls «unique deviation»
because it comes as an unexpected and unpredictable choice that
defies the norm. He compares it with what the Prague school of
linguistics called «foregrounding».
Unlike paradigmatic figures based on the effect of gap in the expected
choice of a linguistic form syntagmatic deviant features result from
the opposite. Instead of missing the predictable choice the author
imposes the same kind of choice in the same place. A syntagmatic
chain of language units provides a choice of equivalents to be made
at different points in this chain, but the writer repeatedly makes the
same selection. Leech illustrates this by alliteration in the furrow
followed where the choice of alliterated words is not necessary but
superimposed for stylistic effect on the ordinary background.
This principle visibly stands out in some tongue-twisters due to the
deliberate overuse of the same sound in every word of the phrase. So
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instead of a sentence like "Robert turned over a hoop in a circle" we
nave the intentional redundancy of "r" in "Robert Rowley rolled a
round roll round".
Basically the difference drawn by Leech between syntagmatic and
Paradigmatic deviations comes down to the redundancy of choice in
the first case and a gap in the predicted pattern in the second.
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
This classification includes other subdivisions and details that cannot
all be covered here but may be further studied in Leech's book.
This approach was an attempt to treat stylistic devices with reference
to linguistic theory that would help to analyse the nature of stylistic
function viewed as a result of deviation from the lexical and
grammatical norm of the language.
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
3) rhyme (full, incomplete, compound or broken, eye rhyme,
internal rhyme. Also, stanza rhymes: couplets, triple, cross,
framing/ring);
4) rhythm.
2. Lexical expressive means and stylistic devices
2.2.3. I. R. Galperfn's classification of expressive means and
stylistic devices
The classification suggested by Prof. Galperin is simply organised and
very detailed. His manual «Stylistics» published in 1971 includes the
following subdivision of expressive means and stylistic devices based
on the level-oriented approach:
1. Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices.
2. Lexical expressive means and stylistic devices.
3. Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices*.
There are three big subdivisions in this class of devices and they all
deal with the semantic nature of a word or phrase. However the
criteria of selection of means for each subdivision are different and
manifest different semantic processes.
I. In the first subdivision the principle of classification is the interaction of different types of a word's meanings: dictionary, contextual,
derivative, nominal, and emotive. The stylistic effect of the lexical
means is achieved through the binary opposition of dictionary and
contextual or logical and emotive or primary and derivative meanings
of a word.
1. Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices To
A. The first group includes means based on the interplay of dictionary
and contextual meanings:
this group Galperin refers such means as:
metaphor: Dear Nature is the kindest Mother still. (Byron)
1) onomatopoeia (direct and indirect): ding-dong; silver bells... tinkle, tinkle;
2) alliteration (initial rhyme): to rob Peter to pay Paul;
' To avoid repetition in each classification definitions of all stylistic devices are
given in the glossary
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metonymy:
The camp, the pulpit and the law For
rich man's sons are free.
(Shelly)
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
irony: // must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without
a penny in one's pocket.
II. The principle for distinguishing the second big subdivision according to Galperin is entirely different from the first one and is
based on the interaction between two lexical meanings simultaneously materialised in the context. This kind of interaction helps to call
special attention to a certain feature of the object described. Here
belong:
B. The second unites means based on the interaction of primary and
derivative meanings:
polysemy: Massachusetts was hostile to the American flag, and she
would not allow it to be hoisted on her State House;
zeugma and pun: May's mother always stood on her gentility; and Dot's
mother never stood on anything but her active little feet. (Dickens)
C. The third group comprises means based on the opposition of
logical and emotive meanings:
interjections and exclamatory words:
All present life is but an interjection
An 'Oh' or 'Ah' of joy or misery,
Or a 'Ha! ha!' or 'Bah!'-a yawn or 'Pooh!'
Of which perhaps the latter is most true.
(Byron)
simile: treacherous as a snake, faithful as a dog, slow as a tortoise.
periphrasis: a gentleman of the long robe (a lawyer); the fair sex.
(women)
euphemism: In private I should call him a liar. In the Press you should
use the words: 'Reckless disregard for truth'. (Galsworthy)
hyperbole: The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in and
the sun and the moon were made to give them light. (Dickens)
Ш. The third subdivision comprises stable word combinations in
their interaction with the context:
cliches: clockwork precision, crushing defeat, the whip and carrot policy.
epithet: a well-matched, fairly-balanced give-and-take couple. (Dickens)
proverbs and sayings: Come! he said, milk's spilt. (Galsworthy)
oxymoron: peopled desert, populous solitude, proud humility. (Byron)
epigrams: A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. (Keats)
D. The fourth group is based on the interaction of logical and nominal
meanings and includes:
Quotations: Ecclesiastes said, 'that all is vanity'. (Byron)
antonomasia; Mr. Facing-Both-Ways does not get very far in this world. I
(The Times)
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allusions: Shakespeare talks of the herald Mercury. (Byron)
decomposition of set phrases: You know which side the law's buttered.
(Galsworthy)
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
3. Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices
chiasmus:
Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices are not paradigmatic
but syntagmatic or structural means. In defining syntactical devices
Galperin proceeds from the following thesis: the structural elements
have their own independent meaning and this meaning may affect
the lexical meaning. In doing so it may impart a special contextual
meaning to some of the lexical units.
The principal criteria for classifying syntactical stylistic devices are: ]
— the juxtaposition of the parts of an utterance;
— the type of connection of the parts;
— the peculiar use of colloquial constructions;
— the transference of structural meaning.
In the days of old men made manners
Manners now make men.
(Byron)
repetition: For glances beget ogles, ogles sighs, sighs wishes, wishes
words, and words a letter. (Byron)
enumeration: The principle production of these towns... appear to be
soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dock-yard men.
(Dickens)
suspense:
Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtleKnow ye the land of the cedar and vine...
Devices built on the principle of juxtaposition
inversion (several types): A tone of most extravagant comparison Miss
Tox said it in. (Dickens)
'Tis the clime of the East—'tis the land of the Sun.
(Byron)
Down dropped the breeze. (Colerigde)
detached constructions: She was lovely: all of her—delightful. (Dreiser)
parallel constructions:
The seeds ye sow—another reaps, The
robes ye weave—another wears The
arms ye forge—another bears.
(Shelley)
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climax: They looked at hundred of houses, they climbed thousands of
stairs, they inspected innumerable kitchens. (Maugham)
antithesis: Youth is lovely, age is lonely; Youth is fiery, age is frost.
(Longfellow)
Devices based on the type of connection include
Asyndeton: Soams turned away; he had an utter disinclination for talk,
''ke one standing before an open grave... (Galsworthy)
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
polysyndeton: The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could
boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. (Dickens)
deemed necessary. However other attempts have been made to classify all expressive means and stylistic devices because some principles
applied in this system do not look completely consistent and reliable.
There are two big subdivisions here that classify all devices into either
lexical or syntactical. At the same time there is a kind of mixture of
principles since some devices obviously involve both lexical and syntactical features, e. g. antithesis, climax, periphrasis, irony, and others.
gap-sentence link: It was an afternoon to dream. And she took outi
Jon's letters. (Galsworthy)
Figures united by the peculiar use of colloquial constructions
Ellipsis: Nothing so difficult as a beginning; how soft the chin which'
bears his touch. (Byron)
Aposiopesis (break-in-the-narrative): Good intentions but -; You just
come home or I'll...
Question in the narrative: Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he
did. How could it be otherwise? (Dickens)
Represented speech (uttered and unuttered or inner represented
speech):
Marshal asked the crowd to disperse and urged responsible diggers to
prevent any disturbance... (Prichard)
Over and over he was asking himself, would she receive him ?
Transferred use of structural meaning involves such figures as
Rhetorical questions: How long must we suffer? Where is the end?
(Norris)
Litotes: He was no gentle lamb (London); Mr. Bardell was no deceiver.}
(Dickens)
Since «Stylistics» by Galperin is the basic manual recommended for
this course at university level no further transposition of its content is
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According to Galperin there are structural and compositional syntactical devices, devices built on transferred structural meaning and the
type of syntactical connection and devices that involve a peculiar use
of colloquial constructions. Though very detailed this classification
provokes some questions concerning the criteria used in placing the
group 'peculiar use of colloquial constructions' among the syntactical
means and the group called 'peculiar use of set expressions' among
the lexical devices. Another criterion used for classifying lexical expressive means namely, 'intensification of a certain feature of a thing
or phenomenon' also seems rather dubious. Formulated like this it
could be equally applied to quite a number of devices placed by the
author in other subdivisions of this classification with a different
criteria of identification, such as metaphor, metonymy, epithet,
repetition, inversion, suspense, etc. It does not seem quite just to
Place all cases of ellipsis, aposiopesis or represented speech among
colloquial constructions.
2.2.4. Classification of expressive means and stylistic devices by
Y. M.Skrebnev
One of the latest classifications of expressive means and stylistic
devices is given in the book «Fundamentals of English Stylistics»
Ъ
У Y. м. Skrebnev published in 1994 (47). Skrebnev's approach
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
paradigmatic stylistics
demonstrates a combination of principles observed in Leech's system
of paradigmatic and syntagmatic subdivision and the level-oriented
approach on which Galperin's classification is founded. At the same
time it differs from both since Skrebnev managed to avoid mechanical
superposition of one system onto another and created a new consistent
method of the hierarchical arrangement of this material.
Skrebnev starts with a holistic view, constructing a kind of language
pyramid.
He doesn't pigeonhole expressive means and stylistic devices into
appropriate layers of language like Leech and Galperin. Skrebnev
first subdivides stylistics into paradigmatic stylistics (or stylistics of
units) and syntagmatic stylistics (or stylistics of sequences). Then he
explores the levels of the language and regards all stylistically relevant
phenomena according to this level principle in both paradigmatic and
syntagmatic stylistics.
He also uniquely singles out one more level. In addition to phonetics,
morphology, lexicology and syntax he adds semasiology (or
semantics).
According to Skrebnev the relationship between these five levels and
two aspects of stylistic analysis is bilateral. The same linguistic material
of these levels provides stylistic features studied by paradigmatic and
syntagmatic stylistics. The difference lies in its different arrangement.
Paradigmatic
stylistics
(Stylistics of units)
«- 1. Phonetics
«- 2. Morphology
«- 3. Lexicology
«- 4. Syntax
<- 5. Semasiology
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-> Syntagmatic
-> stylistics
-> (Stylistics of
-» sequences)
->
Looking closer into this system we'll be able to distinguish specific
units and their stylistic potentials or functions. Thus paradigmatic
stylistics (styUstics of units) is subdivided into five branches.
paradigmatic phonetics actually describes phonographical stylistic
features of a written text. Since we cannot hear written speech but in
our «mind» writers often resort to graphic means to reproduce the
phonetic peculiarities of individual speech or dialect. Such intentional
non-standard spelling is called «graphons» (a term borrowed from
V.A.Kucharenko).
/ know these Eye- talians! (Lawrence)—in this case the graphon is
used to show despise or contempt of the speaker for Italians.
In Cockney speech whose phonetic peculiarities are all too well
known you'll hear [ai] in place of [ei], [a:] instead of [au], they drop
«h's» and so on. It frequently becomes a means of speech
characterisation and often creates a humorous effect.
The author illustrates it with a story of a cockney family trying to
impress a visitor with their «correct» English:
<'Father, said one of the children at breakfast. —I want some more 'am
Phase».—You mustn't say 'am, my child, the correct form is 'am,—
retorted his father, passing the plate with sliced ham on it. «But I did
say 'am, pleaded the boy». «No, you didn't: you said 'am instead of
'am». The mother turned to the guest smiling: «Oh, don't mind them,
s
'r, pray. They are both trying to say 'am and both think it is 'am they
Q
re saying» (47, p. 41).
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Other graphic means to emphasise the «unheard» phonetic character
istics such as the pitch of voice, the stress, and other melodic feature
are italics, capitalisation, repetition of letters, onomatopoeia (soun'
imitation).
E. g. I AM sorry; «Appeeee Noooooyeeeeerr» (Happy New Year) cocka-doodle-doo.
Paradigmatic morphology observes the stylistic potentials of gram:
forms, which Leech would describe as deviant. Out of several va
rieties of morphological categorial forms the author chooses a less
predictable or unpredictable one, which renders this form some
stylistic connotation. The peculiar use of a number of grammaiical
categories for stylistic purposes may serve as an ample example of
this type of expressive means.
The use of a present tense of a verb on the background of a past-tense
narration got a special name historical present in linguistics.
E. g. What else do J remember? Let me see.
There comes out of the cloud our house... (Dickens)
Another category that helps create stylistic colouring is that of gender.
The result of its deviant use is personification and depersonification.
As Skrebnev points out although the morphological category of gender
is practically non-existent in modern English special rules concern
whole classes of nouns that are traditionally associated with feminine
or masculine gender. Thus countries are generally classed as feminine
(France sent her representative to the conference.) Abstract notions
associated with strength and fierceness are personified as masculine
while feminine is associated with beauty or gentleness (death, fear,
war, anger—he, spring, peace, kindness—she). Names of vessel
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and
other vehicles (ship, boat, carriage, coach, car) are treated as
feminine.
/Another deviant use of this category according to Skrebnev is the use
of animate nouns as inanimate ones that he terms «depersonification»
illustrated by the following passage:
«Where did you find it?» asked Mord Em'ly of Miss Gilliken with a
satirical accent.
«Who are you calling "it"?» demanded Mr. Barden aggressively. «P'raps
you'll kindly call me 'im and not it». (Partridge)
Similar cases of deviation on the morphological level are given by the
author for the categories of person, number, mood and some others.
Paradigmatic lexicology subdivides English vocabulary into stylistic
layers. In most works on this problem (cf. books by Galperin, Arnold,
Vinogradov) all words of the national language are usually described
in terms of neutral, literary and colloquial with further subdivision
into poetic, archaic, foreign, jargonisms, slang, etc.
Skrebnev uses different terms for practically the same purposes. His
terminology includes correspondingly neutral, positive (elevated) and
negative (degraded) layers.
Subdivision inside these categories is much the same with the exclusion of such groups as bookish and archaic words and special
terms that Galperin, for example, includes into the special literary
vocabulary (described as positive in Skrebnev's system) while Skrebnev claims that they may have both a positive and negative stylistic
function depending on the purpose of the utterance and the context.
The same consideration concerns the so-called barbarisms or foreign
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
words whose stylistic value (elevated or degraded) depends on the
kind of text in which they are used. To illustrate his point Skrebnee
gives two examples of barbarisms used by people of different sociajB
class and age. Used by an upper-class character from John Galsworl
thy the word chic has a tinge of elegance showing the character**
knowledge of French. He maintains that Italian words ciao and
bambina current among Russian youngsters at one time were alsol
considered stylistically 'higher' than their Russian equivalents. At the
same time it's hard to say whether they should all be classified asl
positive just because they are of foreign origin. Each instance of usee
should be considered individually.
Stylistic differentiation suggested by Skrebnev includes the following
stratification
Positive/elevated
poetic;
official;
professional.
Bookish and archaic words occupy a peculiar place among the other 1
positive words due to the fact that they can be found in any other
group (poetic, official or professional).
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
jargon;
slang;
nonce-words;
vulgar words.
Special mention is made of terms. The author maintains that the
stylistic function of terms varies in different types of speech. In nonprofessional spheres, such as literary prose, newspaper texts,
everyday speech special terms are associated with socially prestigious occupations and therefore are marked as elevated. On the other
hand the use of non-popular terms, unknown to the average speaker,
shows a pretentious manner of speech, lack of taste or tact.
Paradigmatic syntax has to do with the sentence paradigm: completeness of sentence structure, communicative types of sentences, word
order, and type of syntactical connection.
Paradigmatic syntactical means of expression arranged according to
these four types include
Completeness of sentence structure
ellipsis;
aposiopesis;
Neutral
Negative/degraded
colloquial;
neologisms;
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one-member nominative sentences.
Redundancy: repetition of sentence parts, syntactic tautology (prolepsis),
Polysyndeton.
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Word order
Inversion of sentence members.
Communicative types of sentences
Quasi-affirmative sentences: Isn't that too bad? = That is too bad.
Quasi-interrogative sentences: Here you are to write down your age and
birthplace = How old are you? Where were you born?
Quasi-negative sentences: Did I say a word about the money (Shaw) = /
did not say...
Quasi-imperative sentences: Here! Quick! — Come here! Be quick!
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
expressive means received the term based on their ability to rename:
figures of replacement.
All figures of replacement are subdivided into 2 groups: figures of
quantity and figures of quality.
Figures of quantity. In figures of quantity renaming is based on
inexactitude of measurements, in other words it's either saying too
much (overestimating, intensifying the properties) or too little
(underestimating the size, value, importance, etc.) about the object or
phenomenon. Accordingly there are two figures of this type.
Hyperbole
E.g. You couldn't hear yourself think for the noise.
In these types of sentences the syntactical formal meaning of the
structure contradicts the actual meaning implied so that negative
sentences read affirmative, questions do not require answers but are
in fact declarative sentences (rhetorical questions), etc. One communicative meaning appears in disguise of another. Skrebnev holds that
«the task of stylistic analysis is to find out to what type of speech
(and its sublanguage) the given construction belongs.» (47, p. 100).
Type of syntactic connection
detachment;
Meosis (understatement, litotes).
E. g. It's not unusual for him to come home at this hour.
According to Skrebnev this is the most primitive type of renaming.
Figures of quality comprise 3 types of renaming:
• transfer based on a real connection between the object of nomination and the object whose name it's given.
parenthetic elements;
This is called metonymy in its two forms: synecdoche and periphrasis.
asyndetic subordination and coordination.
E- g. I'm all ears; Hands wanted.
Paradigmatic semasiology deals with transfer of names or what are
traditionally known as tropes. In Skrebnev's classification these
Periphrasis and its varieties euphemism and anti-euphemism.
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Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
E. g. Ladies and the worser halves; I never call a spade a spade, I ca
it a bloody shovel.
£. g. «For somewhere», said Poirot to himself indulging an absolute riot
0f mixed metaphors «there is in the hay a needle, and among the sleeping
dogs there is one on whom I shall put my foot, and by shooting the arrow
into the air, one will come down and hit a glass-house!» (Christie)
• transfer based on affinity (similarity, not real connection
metaphor.
Skrebnev describes metaphor as an expressive renaming on the basis
of similarity of two objects. The speaker searches for associations in]
his mind's eye, the ground for comparison is not so open to view as
with metonymy. It's more complicated in nature. Metaphor has no
formal limitations Skrebnev maintains, and that is why this not a
purely lexical stylistic device as many authors describe it (s Galperin's
classification).
This is a device that can involve a word, a part of a sentence о a
whole sentence. We may add that whole works of art can be viewe as
metaphoric and an example of it is the novel by John Updike «Th
Centaur».
As for the varieties there are not just simple metaphors like She i a
flower, but sustained metaphors, also called extended, when one
metaphorical statement creating an image is followed by another
linked to the previous one: This is a day of your golden opportunity,
Sarge. Don't let it turn to brass. (Pendelton)
Often a sustained metaphor gives rise to a device called catachresis
(or mixed metaphor)—which consists in the incongruity of the parts of
a sustained metaphor. This happens when objects of the two or more
parts of a sustained metaphor belong to different semantic spheres and
the logical chain seems disconnected. The effect is' usually comical.
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A Belgian speaking English confused a number of popular proverbs
and quotations that in reality look like the following: to look for a
needle in a haystack; to let sleeping dogs lie; to put one's foot down; I
shot an arrow into the air (Longfellow); people who live in glass houses
should not throw stones.
Other varieties of metaphor according to Skrebnev also include
Allusion defined as reference to a famous historical, literary, mythological or biblical character or event, commonly known.
E.g. It's his Achilles heel (myth of vulnerability).
Personification—attributing human properties to lifeless objects.
E.g. How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stol'n on his wing
my three and twentieth year! (Milton)
Antonomasia defined as a variety of allusion, because in Skrebnev's
view it's the use of the name of a historical, literary, mythological or
biblical personage applied to a person described. Some of the most
famous ones are Brutus (traitor), Don Juan (lady's man).
It should be noted that this definition is only limited to the allusive
nature of this device. There is another approach (cf. Galperin and
others) in which antonomasia also covers instances of transference of
common nouns in place of proper names, such as Mr. Noble Knight,
Duke the Iron Heart.
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Allegory expresses abstract ideas through concrete pictures.
E. g. The scales of justice; It's time to beat your swords into ploughshar
It should be noted that allegory is not just a stylistic term, but als a
term of art in general and can be found in other artistic forms:
painting, sculpture, dance, and architecture.
• transfer by contrast when the two objects are opposed implies
irony.
Irony (meaning «concealed mockery», in Greek eironeia) is a device
based on the opposition of meaning to the sense (dictionary and
contextual). Here we observe the greatest semantic shift between the
notion named and the notion meant.
Skrebnev distinguishes 2 kinds of ironic utterances:
— obviously explicit ironical, which no one would take at their fac
value due to the situation, tune and structure.
E. g. A fine friend you are! That's a pretty kettle offish!
— and implicit, when the ironical message is communicated agaii
a wider context like in Oscar Wilde's tale «The Devoted Friend» I
where the real meaning of the title only becomes obvious after
you read the story. On the whole irony is used with the aim of
critical evaluation and the general scheme is praise stands for j
blame and extremely rarely in the reverse order. However when |
it does happen the term in the latter case is astheism.
E. g. Clever bastard! Lucky devil!
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2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
One of the powerful techniques of achieving ironic effect is the
mixture of registers of speech (social styles appropriate for the
occasion): high-flown style on socially low topics or vice versa.
Syntagmatic stylistics
Syntagmatic stylistics (stylistics of sequences) deals with the stylistic
functions of linguistic units used in syntagmatic chains, in linear
combinations, not separately but in connection with other units.
Syntagmatic stylistics falls into the same level determined branches.
Syntagmatic phonetics deals with the interaction of speech sounds
and intonation, sentence stress, tempo. All these features that characterise suprasegmental speech phonetically are sometimes also called
prosodic.
So stylistic phonetics studies such stylistic devices and expressive
means as alliteration (recurrence of the initial consonant in two or
more words in close succession). It's a typically English feature
because ancient English poetry was based more on alliteration than
on rhyme. We find a vestige of this once all-embracing literary device
in proverbs and sayings that came down to us.
E. g. Now or never; Last but not least; As good as gold.
With time its function broadened into prose and other types of texts.
It became very popular in titles, headlines and slogans.
». g. Pride and Prejudice. (Austin)
p
osthumous papers of the Pickwick Club. (Dickens)
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Work or wages/; Workers of the world, unite!
Speaking of the change of this device's role chronologically we
should make special note of its prominence in certain professional
areas of modern English that has not been mentioned by Skrebnev.
Today alliteration is one of the favourite devices of commercials and
advertising language.
E. g. New whipped cream: No mixing or measuring. No beating or
bothering.
Colgate toothpaste: The Flavor's Fresher than ever—It's New. Improved.
Fortified.
Assonance (the recurrence of stressed vowels).
E. g. ... Tell this soul with sorrow laden, if within the distant Aiden; /|
shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore. (Рое)
Paronomasia (using words similar in sound but different in meaning
with euphonic effect).
The popular example to illustrate this device is drawn from E. A. Poe's
Raven.
E.g. And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
Rhythm and meter.
The pattern of interchange of strong and weak segments is called
rhythm. It's a regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables
that make a poetic text. Various combinations of stressed and unstressed syllables determine the metre (iambus, dactyl, trochee, etc.).
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2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
Rhyme is another feature that distinguishes verse from prose and
consists in the acoustic coincidence of stressed syllables at the end of
verse lines.
Here's an example to illustrate dactylic meter and rhyme given in
Skrebnev's book
Take her up tenderly,
Lift her with care,
Fashion'd so slenderly
Young and so fair.
(Hood)
Syntagmatic morphology deals with the importance of grammar forms
used in a paragraph or text that help in creating a certain stylistic
effect.
We find much in common between Skrebnev's description of this
area and Leech's definition of syntagmatic deviant figures. Skrebnev
writes: «Varying the morphological means of expressing grammatical
notions is based... upon the general rule: monotonous repetition of
morphemes or frequent recurrence of morphological meanings
expressed differently...» (47, p. 146).
He also indicates that while it is normally considered a stylistic fault
it acquires special meaning when used on purpose. He describes the
effect achieved by the use of morphological synonyms of the genetive
with Shakespeare—the possessive case (Shakespeare's plays),
prepositional o/-phrase (the plays of Shakespeare) and an attributive
noun (Shakespeare plays) as «elegant variation» of style.
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
Syntagmatic lexicology studies the «word-and-context» juxtaposition
that presents a number of stylistic problems—especially those connected with co-occurrence of words of various stylistic colourings.
E. g. If only little Edward were twenty, old enough to marry well and
fend for himself, instead often. If only it were not necessary to provide
a dowaryforhis daughter. If only his own debts were less. (Rutherfurd)
Each of these cases must be considered individually because each
literary text is unique in its choice and combination of words. Such
phenomena as various instances of intentional and unintentional
lexical mixtures as well as varieties of lexical recurrence fall in wifl
this approach.
Epiphora (opposite of the anaphora, identical elements at the end of
sentences, paragraphs, chapters, stanzas).
E. g. For all averred, I had killed the bird.
That made the breeze to blow. Ah
wretch! Said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!
Some new more modern stylistic terms appear in this connectionstylistic irradiation, heterostylistic texts, etc. We can observe this sor of
stylistic mixture in a passage from O'Henry provided by Skrebnev:
Jeff, says Andy after a long time, quite unseldom I have seen fit to
impugn your molars when you have been chewing the rag with me about
your conscientious way of doing business... (47, p. 149).
Syntagmatic syntax deals with more familiar phenomena since it has
to do with the use of sentences in a text. Skrebnev distinguishes
purely syntactical repetition to which he refers
parallelism as structural repetition of sentences though often accompanied by the lexical repetition
E. g. The cock is crowing,
The stream is flowing...
(Wordsworth)
and lexico-syntactical devices such as
anaphora (identity of beginnings, initial elements).
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(Coleridge)
Framing (repetition of some element at the beginning and at the end
of a sentence, paragraph or stanza).
E. g. Never wonder. By means of addition, subtraction, multiplication
and division, settle everything somehow, and never wonder. (Dickens)
Anadiplosis (the final element of one sentence, paragraph, stanza is
repeated in the initial part of the next sentence, paragraph, stanza.
E.g. Three fishers went sailing out into the West. Out into
the West, as the sun went down.
(Kingsley)
Chiasmus (parallelism reversed, two parallel syntactical constructions
contain a reversed order of their members).
E. g. That he sings and he sings, and for ever sings he— I
love my Love and my Love loves me!
(Coleridge)
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
2.2. Different classifications of expressive means
Syntagmatic semasiology or semasiology of sequences deals with
semantic relationships expressed at the lengh of a whole text. As
distinct from paradigmatic semasiology which studies the stylistic
effect of renaming syntagmatic semasiology studies types of names
used for linear arrangement of meanings.
E.g. You undercut, sinful, insidious hog. (O'Henry)
Skrebnev calls these repetitions of meanings represented by sense units
in a text figures of co-occurrence. The most general types of] semantic
relationships can be described as identical, different orl opposite.
Accordingly he singles out figures of identity, figures of\ inequality and
figures of contrast.
Anti-climax (back gradation—instead of a few elements growing in
intensity without relief there unexpectedly appears a weak or
contrastive element that makes the statement humorous or ridiculous).
Figures of identity
Zeugma (combination of unequal, or incompatible words based on
the economy of syntactical units).
Climax (gradation of emphatic elements growing in strength).
E. g. What difference if it rained, hailed, blew, snowed, cycloned?
(O'Henry).
E. g. The woman who could face the very devil himself or a mouse—goes
all to pieces in front of a flash of lightning. (Twain)
Simile (an explicit statement of partial identity: affinity, likeness,
similarity of 2 objects).
E. g. She dropped a tear and her pocket handkerchief. (Dickens)
E. g. My heart is like a singing bird. (Rosetti)
Pun (play upon words based on polysemy or homonymy).
Synonymous replacement (use of synonyms or synonymous phrases
to avoid monotony or as situational substitutes).
E. g. What steps would you take if an empty tank were coming toward
you?—Long ones.
E. g. He brought home numberless prizes. He told his mother counties
stories. (Thackeray)
Disguised tautology (semantic difference in formally coincidental parts
of a sentence, repetition here does not emphasise the idea but carries
a different information in each of the two parts).
E.g. I was trembly and shaky from head to foot.
E. g. For East is East, and West is West... (Kipling)
Figures of inequality
Figures of contrast
Clarifying (specifying) synonyms (synonymous repetition used to
characterise different aspects of the same referent).
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Oxymoron (a logical collision of seemingly incompatible words).
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
E. g. His honour rooted in dishonour stood,
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.
(Tennyson)
Antithesis (anti-statement, active confrontation of notions used tol
show the contradictory nature of the subject described).
E. g. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was
the era of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of
Darkness... Hope... Despair. (Dickens)
His fees were high, his lessons were light. (O'Henry)
An overview of the classifications presented here shows rather varie
approaches to practically the same material. And even though thej
contain inconsistencies and certain contradictions they reflect tluj
scholars' attempts to overcome an inventorial description of devices,
They obviously bring stylistic study of expressive means to an advanced
level, sustained by the linguistic research of the 20'л century that
allows to explore and explain the linguistic nature of the stylistic
function. This contribution into stylistic theory made by modem'
linguistics is not contained to classifying studies only. It has inspired
exploration of other areas of research such as decoding stylistics or
stylistic grammar that will be discussed in further chapters.
Practice Section
1. What is the relationship between the denotative and connotative
meanings of a word?
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Practice Section
Can a word connote without denoting and vice versa?
What are the four components of the connotative meaning and
how are they represented in a word if at all?
2. Expound on the expressive and emotive power of the noun thing
in the following examples:
Jennie wanted to sleep with me—the sly thing/ But I told her I should
undoubtedly rest better for a night alone. (Gilman)
-/ believe, one day, I shall fall awfully in love.
-Probably you never will, said Lucille brutally. That's what most old
maids are thinking all the time.
Yvette looked at her sister from pensive but apparently insouciant eyes.
Is it? she said. Do you really think so, Lucille? How perfectly awful for
them, poor things! (Lawrence)
She was an honest little thing, but perhaps her honesty was too rational.
(Lawrence)
So they were, this queer couple, the tiny, finely formed little Jewess with
her big, resentful, reproachful eyes, and her mop of carefully-barbed
black, curly hair, an elegant little thing in her way; and the big,
pale-eyed young man, powerful and wintry, the remnant, surely of
some old uncanny Danish stock... (Lawrence)
3. How do the notions of expressive means and stylistic devices
correlate? Provide examples to illustrate your point.
4. Compare the principles of classifications given in chapter 2.
Which of them seem most logical to you? Sustain your view.
Practice Section
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Draw parallels between Leech's paradigmatic and syntagmatic
deviations and Skrebnev's classification. Apply these criteria to
the analysis of the use of brethren and married in the following
examples. Consider the grammatical category of number in A
and the nature of semantic transfer in B. Supply the kind of
tables suggested by Leech to describe the normal and deviant
features of similar character.
Comment on the kind of deviation in the nonce-word sistern in
A and the effect it produces.
A. Praise God and not the Devil, shouted one of the Maker's male shills
from the other side of the room.
The criminal lowered his eyes and muttered at his shoes:
Ah cut anybody who bruise me with Latin, goddammit.
Listen to him take the Mighty name in vain, brethren and sistern/ said
Reinhart. (Berger)
B. My father was still feisty in 1940—he was thirty years old and
restless, maybe a little wild beneath the yoke of my mother's family. He
truly had married not only my mother but my grandmother as well, and
also the mule and the two elderly horses and the cows and chickens and
the two perilous-looking barns and the whole rocky hundred acres of
Carolina mountain farm. (Chappel)
5. What kind of syntagmatic deviation (according to Leech) is
observed in the following instance? What is the term for this
device in rhetoric and other stylistic classifications? Where does
it belong according to Galperin and Skrebnev?
And in the manner of the Anglo-Saxon poetry that was its inspiration,
he ended his sermon resoundingly:
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High on the hill in sight of heaven,
Our Lord was led and lifted up.
That willing warrior came while the world wept,
And a terrible shadow shaded the sun
For us He was broken and gave His blood
King of all creation Christ on the Rood.
(Rutherfurd)
6. What types of phonographic expressive means are used in the
sentences given below? How do different classifications name
and place them?
Стоп, now. I'm not bringing this up with the idea of throwing anything
back in your teeth—my God. (Salinger)
Little Dicky strains and yaps back from the safety of Mary's arms.
(Erdrich)
Why shouldn't we all go over to the Metropole at Cwmpryddygfor dinner
one night?" (Waugh)
I hear Lionel's supposeta be runnin away. (Salinger)
Who's that dear, dim, drunk little man? (Waugh) No
chitchat please. (O'Hara)
/ prayed for the city to be cleared of people, for the gift of being
alone—a-l-o-n-e: which is the one New York prayer... (Salinger)
* Here Cwmpryddyg is an invented Welsh town, an allusion to the difficult Welsh
language.
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Sense of sin is sense of waste. (Waugh)
Colonel Logan is in the army, and presumably «the Major» was a soldier
at the time Dennis was born. (Follett)
Practice Section
lily had started to ask me about Eunice. «Really, Gentle Heart», she
said, «what in the world did you do to my poor little sister to make her
skulk away like a thief in the night?» (Shaw)
The green tumour of hate burst inside her. (Lawrence)
7. Comment on the types of transfer used in such tropes as
metaphor, metonymy, allegory, simile, allusion, personification,
antonomasia. Compare their place in Galperin's and Skrebnev's
systems. Read up on the nature of transfer in a poetic image in
terms of tenor, vehicle and ground: И. В. Арнольд Стилистика
современного английского языка. М., 1990. С. 74-82. Name
and explain the kind of semantic transfer observed in the
following passages.
The first time my father met Johnson Gibbs they fought like tomcats.
(Chappel)
/ love plants. I don't like cut flowers. Only the ones that grow in the
ground. And these water lilies... Each white petal is a great tear of milk.
Each slender stalk is a green life rope. (Erdrich)
/ think we should drink a toast to Fortune, a much-maligned lady.
(Waugh)
...the first sigh of the instruments seemed to free some hilarious and
potent spirit within him; something that struggled there like the Genius
in the bottle found by the Arab fisherman. (Cather)
But he, too, knew the necessity of keeping as clear as possible from
that poisonous many-headed serpent, the tongue of the people.
(Lawrence)
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She adjusted herself however quite rapidly to her new conception of
people. She had to live. It is useless to quarrel with your bread and butter.
(Lawrence)
...then the Tudors and the dissolution of the Church, then Lloyd George,
the temperance movement, Non-conformity and lust stalking hand in
hand through the country, wasting and ravaging. (Waugh)
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears, Did
he smile his work to see?
(Blake)
As distinct from the above devices based on some sort of affinity,
real or imaginary, there are a number of expressive means based
on contrast or incompatibility (oxymoron, antithesis, zeugma,
pun, malapropism, mixture of words from different stylistic strata
of vocabulary), Their stylistic effect depends on the message and
intent of the author and varies in emphasis and colouring. It
maybe dramatic, pathetic, elevated, etc. Sometimes the ultimate
stylistic effect is irony. Ironic, humorous or satiric effect is always
built on contrast although devices that help to achieve it may not
necessarily be based on contrast (e. g. they may be hyperbole,
litotes, allusion, periphrasis, metaphor, etc.)
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
Some of the basic techniques to achieve verbal irony are:
• praise by blame (or sham praise) which means implying the
opposite of what is said;
• minimizing the good qualities and magnifying the bad ones;
• contrast between manner and matter, i. e. inserting irrelev;
matter in presumably serious statements;
• interpolating comic interludes in tragic narration;
• mixing formal language and slang;
• making isolated instances seem typical;
• quoting authorities to fit immediate purpose;
• allusive irony: specific allusions to people, ideas, situations, etc.
that clash discordantly with the object of irony;
• connotative ambivalence: the simultaneous presence of incompatible but relevant connotations.
Practice Section
I drew a dozen or more samples of what I thought were typical examples
of American commercial art. ...I drew people in evening clothes stepping
out of limousines on opening nights—lean, erect, super-chic couples
who had obviously never in their lives inflicted suffering as a result of
underarm carelessness—couples, in fact, who perhaps didn't have any
underarms. ...I drew laughing, high-breasted girls aquaplaning without
a care in the world, as a result of being amply protected against such
national evils as bleeding gums, facial blemishes, unsightly hairs, and
faulty or inadequate life insurance. I drew housewives who, until they
reached for the right soap flakes, laid themselves wide open to straggly
hair, poor posture, unruly children, disaffected husbands, rough (but
slender) hands, untidy (but enormous) kitchens. (Salinger)
I made a Jell-0 salad.—Oh, she says, what kind?— The kind full of nuts
and bolts, I say, plus washers of all types. I raided Russel's toolbox for
the special ingredients. (Erdrich)
Was that the woman like Napoleon the Great? (Waugh)
Bearing this in mind comment on the humorous or ironic impact
of the following examples.
Explain where possible what stylistic devices effect the techniques
of verbal irony.
They always say that she poisoned her husband... there was a great
deal of talk about it at the time. Perhaps you remember the case?—No,
said Paul—Powdered glass, said Flossie shrilly,—in his coffee.—Turkish
coffee, said Dingy. (Waugh)
—Have you at any time been detained in a mental home or similar
institution? If so, give particulars.
I was at Scone College, Oxford, for two years, said Paul.
The doctor looked up for the first time.—Don't you dare to make jokes
here, my man, he said, or I'll have you in the strait-jacket in less than
no time. (Waugh)
You folks all think the coloured man hasn't got a soul. Anythin's good
enough for the poor coloured man. Beat him, put him in chains; load
him with burdens... Here Paul observed a responsive glitter in Lady
Circumference's eye. (Waugh)
I like that. Me trying to be funny. (Waugh)
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In the south they also drink a good deal of tequila, which is a spirit
"lade from the juice of the cactus. It has to be taken with a pinch of
salt. (Atkinson)
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
«They could have killed you too, he said, his teeth chattering. If you
had arrived two minutes earlier. Forgive me. Forgive all of us. Dolce
Italia. Paradise for tourists.» He laughed eerily. (Shaw)
He was talking very excitedly to me, said the Vicar... He seems deeply
interested in Church matters. Are you quite sure he is right in the head?
I have noticed again and again since I have been in the Church that lay
interest in ecclesiastical matters is often a prelude to insanity. (Waugh)
So you're the Doctor's hired assassin, eh? Well, I hope you keep a firm
hand on my toad of a son. (Waugh)
9. Explain why the following sentences fall into the category of
quasi-questions, quasi-statements or quasi-negatives in Skrebnev's classification. What's their actual meaning?
—/ wish I could go back to school all over again.—Don't we all, he
said. (Shaw)
Are all women different?
Oh, are they! (O'Hara)
/ don't think no worse of you for it, no, darned if I do. (Lawrence)
If it isn't diamonds all over his fingers! (Caldwell)
Devil if I know what to make of these people down here. (Christie)
Contact my father again and I'll strangle you. (Donleavy)
Don't you ever talk to Rose?
Rose? Not about Mildred. Rose misses Mildred as much as I do. We
don't even want to see each other. (O'Hara)
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Practice Section
10. Why are instances of repetition in the sentences given below
called disguised tautology? How does it differ from regular
tautology? What does this sort of repetition imply?
Life is life.
There are doctors and doctors.
A small town's a small town, wherever it is, I said. (Shute)
I got nothing against Joe Chapin, but he's not me. I'm me, and another
man is still another man. (O'Hara)
Well, if it can't be helped, it can't be helped, I said manfully. (Shaw)
Milan is a city, which cannot be summed up in a few words. For Dalian
speakers, the old Milanese dialect expression «Milan I'e Milam- (Milan
is just Milan) is probably the best description one can give. iPeroni)
Beer was beer, too, in those days—not the gassy staff in bottles. (Dickens)
11. Does the term anti-climax (back-gradation) imply the opposite
of climax (gradation)? What effect does each of these devices
provide? How is it achieved in the following cases:
—Philbrick, there must be champagne-cup, and will you help the men
putting up the marquee? And Flags, Diana!... No expense should be
spared... And there must be flowers, Diana, banks officers, said the
Doctor with an expensive gesture. The prizes shall stand among the
banks of flowers-Flowers, youth, wisdom, the glitter of jewels,
music, said ihe Doctor. I here must be a band.
Chapter 2. Expressive Resources of the Language
—I never heard of such a thing, said Dingy. A band indeed/ You'll be
having fireworks next.
—Andfireworks, said the Doctor, and do you think it would be a good
thing to buy Mr. Prendergast a new tie? (Waugh)
Chapter 3
We needed a kind rain, a blessing rain, that lasted a week. We needed
wafer. (Erdrich)
At first there were going to be forty guests but the invitation list grew
larger and the party plans more elaborate, until Arthur said that with
so many people they ought to hire an orchestra, and with an orchestra
there would be dancing, and with dancing there ought to be a good
sized orchestra. The original small dinner became a dinner dance at
the Lantenengo Country Club. Invitations were sent to more than three
hundred persons... (O'Hara)
Even the most hardened criminal there—he was serving his third sentence
for blackmail—remarked how the whole carriage seemed to be flooded
with the detectable savour of Champs-Elysee in early June. (Waugh)
Hullo, Prendy, old wine-skin! How are things with you?
Admirable, said Mr. Prendergast. I never have known them better. I
have just caned twenty-three boys. (Waugh)
Stylistic Grammar
The theory of grammatical gradation. Marked, semi-marked and
unmarked structures. Grammatical metaphor. Types of grammatical transposition. Morphological stylistlcs. Stylistic potential of
the parts of speech. Stylistic syntax.
3.1. The theory of grammatical gradation.
Marked, semi-marked and unmarked structures
One of the least investigated areas of stylistic research is the stylistic
potential of the morphology of the English language. There is quite a
lot of research in the field of syntagmatic stylistics connected with
syntactical structures but very little has been written about the stylistic
Properties of the parts of speech and such grammatical categories as
gender, number or person. So it seems logical to throw some light on
these problems.
An essentially different approach of modern scholars to stylistic
research is explained by a different concept that lies at the root of this
approach. If ancient rhetoric mostly dealt in registering, classifying
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Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.2. Grammatical metaphor and types of grammatical transposition
and describing stylistic expressive means, modern stylistics proceeds
from the nature of the stylistic effect and studies the mechanism 0f
the stylistic function. The major principle of the stylistic effect is the
opposition between the norm and deviation from the norm on
whatever level of the language. Roman Jacobson gave it the most
generalized definition of defeated expectancy; he claimed that it is1
the secret of any stylistic effect because the recipient is ready and
willing for anything but what he actually sees. Skrebnev describes it
as the opposition between the traditional meaning and situational
meaning, Arnold maintains that the very essence of poetic language
is the violation of the norm. These deviations may occur on any level
of the language—phonetic, graphical, morphological, lexical or
syntactical. It should be noted though that not every deviation from
the norm results in expressiveness. There are deviations that will only
create absurdity or linguistic nonsense. For example, you can't
normally use the article with an adverb or adjective.
ne me to deceive. A native speaker cannot produce such a sentence
because it disagrees with the basic rule of word order arrangement in
English. It will have to be placed at the extreme point of the pole
that opposes correct or marked structures. This sentence belongs to
what Chomsky calls unmarked structures.
Noam Chomsky, an American scholar and founder of the generative
linguistic school, formulated this rule in grammar that he called
grammatical gradation (27). He constructed a scale with two poles—j
grammatically correct structures at one extreme point of this scale
and grammatically incorrect structures at the other. The first he called
grammatically marked structures, the second—unmarked structures.
The latter ones cannot be generated by the linguistic laws of the given
language, therefore they cannot exist in it. If we take the Russian
sentence that completely agrees with the grammatical laws of this language Решил он меня обмануть and make a word for word translation
into English we'll get a grammatically incorrect structure 'Decided
* In Chomsky's theory grammatically incorrect (unmarked) structures are labeled
with an asterisk.
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Between these two poles there is space for the so-called semi-marked
structures. These are structures marked by the deviation from lexical
or grammatical valency. This means that words and grammar forms
carry an unusual grammatical or referential meaning. In other terms
this is called «transposition», a phenomenon that destroys customary
(normal, regular, standard) valences and thus creates expressiveness
of the utterance.
3.2. Grammatical metaphor and types
of grammatical transposition
Some scholars (e. g. Prof. E. I. Shendels) use the term grammatical
metaphor for this kind of phenomena (30, 31). We know that lexical
metaphor is based on the transfer of the name of one object on to
another due to some common ground. The same mechanism works
in the formation of a grammatical metaphor.
Linguistic units, such as words, possess not only lexical meanings but
also grammatical ones that are correlated with extra-linguistic reality.
Such grammatical categories as plurality and singularity reflect the
distinction between a multitude and oneness in the real world. Such
classifying grammatical meanings as the noun, the verb or the adjective
represent objects, actions and qualities that exist in this world. However this extra-linguistic reality may be represented in different languages
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.2. Grammatical metaphor and types of grammatical transposition
in a different way. The notion of definiteness or indefiniteness is grammatically expressed in English by a special class of words—the article.
In Russian it's expressed differently. Gender exists as a grammatical
category of the noun in Russian but not in English and so on.
form and meaning or deviation in the norm of use of some forms.
The stylistic effect produced is often called grammatical metaphor.
A grammatical form, as well as a lexical unit possesses a denotative
and a connotative meaning. There are at least three types of denotative
grammatical meanings. Two of these have some kind of reference with
the extra-linguistic reality and one has zero denotation, i. e. there is
no reference between the grammatical meaning and outside world.
1. The first type of grammatical denotation reflects relations o|
objects in outside reality such as singularity and plurality.
2. The second type denotes the relation of the speaker to the first
type of denotation. It shows how objective relations are perceived
by reactions to the outside world. This type of denotative meaning
is expressed by such categories as modality, voice, definiteness
and indefiniteness.
3. The third type of denotative meaning has no reference to the
extra-linguistic reality. This is an intralinguistc denotation,
conveying relations among linguistic units proper, e. g. the
formation of past tense forms of regular and irregular verbs.
Denotative meanings show what this or that grammatical form designates but they do not show how they express the same relation. However a grammatical form may carry additional expressive information,
it can evoke associations, emotions and impressions. It may connote
as well as denote. Connotations aroused by a grammatical form are adherent subjective components, such as expressive or intensified meaning, emotive or evaluative colouring. The new connotative meaning of
grammatical forms appears when we observe a certain clash between
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According to Shendels we may speak of grammatical metaphor when
there is a transposition (transfer) of a grammatical form from one
type of grammatical relation to another. In such cases we deal with a
redistribution of grammatical and lexical meanings that create new
connotations.
Types of grammatical transposition
Generally speaking we may distinguish 3 types of grammatical transposition.
1. The first deals with the transposition of a certain grammar form
into a new syntactical distribution with the resulting effect of
contrast. The so-called 'historical present' is a good illustration
of this type: a verb in the Present Indefinite form is used against
the background of the Past Indefinite narration. The effect of
vividness, an illusion of «presence», a lapse in time into the
reality of the reader is achieved.
Everything went as easy as drinking, Jimmy said. There was a garage just
round the corner behind Belgrave Square where he used to go every morning to watch them messing about with the cars. Crazy about cars the kid
was. Jimmy comes in one day with his motorbike and side-car and asks
for some petrol. He comes up and looks at it in the way he had. (Waugh)
2. The second type of transposition involves both—the lexical and
grammatical meanings. The use of the plural form with a noun
whose lexical denotative meaning is incompatible with plurality
(abstract nouns, proper names) may serve as an apt example.
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.3. Morphological stylistics
The look on her face... was full of secret resentments, and longings, and
fears. (Mitchell)
The contrary device—the use of plural instead of singular—as a rule
,nakes the description more powerful and large-scale.
3. Transposition of classifying grammatical meanings, that brings
together situationally incompatible forms—for instance, the use
of a common noun as a proper one.
The effect is personification of inanimate objects or antonomasia (a
person becomes a symbol of a quality or trait—/V/r. Know-Ail, Mr.
Truth, speaking names).
The clamour of waters, snows, winds, rains... (Hemingway)
The lone and level sands stretch far away. (Shelly)
The plural form of an abstract noun, whose lexical meaning is alien
to the notion of number makes it not only more expressive, but brings
about what Vinogradov called aesthetic semantic growth.
Lord and Lady Circumference, Mr. Parakeet, Prof. Silenus, Colonel
MacAdder. (Waugh)
Heaven remained rigidly in its proper place on the other side of death,
and on this side flourished the injustices, the cruelties, the meannesses,
that elsewhere people so cleverly hushed up. (Green)
3.3. Morphological stylistics.
Stylistic potential of the parts of speech
Thus one feeling is represented as a number of emotional states, each
with a certain connotation of a new meaning. Emotions may signify
concrete events, happenings, doings.
3.3.1. The noun and its stylistic potential
Proper names employed as plural lend the narration a unique generalizing effect:
The stylistic power of a noun is closely linked to the grammatical
categories this part of speech possesses. First of all these are the
categories of number, person and case.
The use of a singular noun instead of an appropriate plural form
creates a generalized, elevated effect often bordering on symbolization.
The faint fresh flame of the young year flushes
From leaf to flower and from flower to fruit And
fruit and leaf are as gold and fire.
(Swinbum)
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If you forget to invite somebody's Aunt Millie, I want to be able to say I
had nothing to do with it.
There were numerous Aunt Millies because of, and in spite of Arthur's
and Edith's triple checking of the list. (O'Hara)
These examples represent the second type of grammatical metaphor
formed by the transposition of the lexical and grammatical meanings.
The third type of transposition can be seen on the example of
Personification. This is a device in which grammatical metaphor
a
Ppears due to the classifying transposition of a noun, because nouns
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.3. Morphological stylistics
are divided into animate and inanimate and only animate nouns have
he category of person.
The emotive connotations in such cases may range from affection to
irony or distaste.
Personification transposes a common noun into the class of proper
names by attributing to it thoughts or qualities of a human being. As
a result the syntactical, morphological and lexical valency of this noun
changes:
go, although the English noun has fewer grammatical categories than
the Russian one, its stylistic potential in producing grammatical
metaphor is high enough.
England's mastery of the seas, too, was growing even greater. Last year
her trading rivals the Dutch had pushed out of several colonies... (Rutherford)
3.3.2. The article and its stylistic potential
The category of case (possessive case) which is typical of the proper
nouns, since it denotes possession becomes a mark of personification
in cases like the following one:
Love's first snowdrop
Virgin kiss!
(Burns)
Abstract nouns transposed into the class of personal nouns are
charged with various emotional connotations, as in the following
examples where personification appears due to the unexpected lexicogrammatical valency:
The woebegone fragment of womanhood in the corner looked a little less
terrified when she saw the wine. (Waugh)
The chubby little eccentricity, (a child)
The old oddity (an odd old person). (Arnold)
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The article may be a very expressive element of narration especially
when used with proper names.
For example, the indefinite article may convey evaluative connotations
when used with a proper name:
I'm a Marlow by birth, and we are a hot-blooded family. (Follett)
It may be charged with a negative evaluative connotation and diminish
the importance of someone's personality, make it sound insignificant.
Besides Rain, Nan and Mrs. Prewett, there was a Mrs. Kingsley, the
wife of one of the Governors. (Dolgopolova)
Л Forsyte is not an uncommon animal. (Galsworthy)
The definite article used with a proper name may become a powerful
expressive means to emphasize the person's good or bad qualities.
Well, she was married to him. And what was more she loved him. Not
'be Stanley whom everyone saw, not the everyday one; but a timid,
sensitive, innocent Stanley who knelt down every night to say his
Prayers... (Dolgopolova)
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
You are not the Andrew Manson I married. (Cronin)
In the first case the use of two different articles in relation to one
person throws into relief the contradictory features of his character. |
The second example implies that this article embodies all the good
qualities that Andrew Manson used to have and lost in the eyes of his
wife.
The definite article in the following example serves as an intensifier
of the epithet used in the character's description:
My good fellow, I said suavely, what brings me here is this: I want to
see the evening sun go down over the snow-tipped Sierra Nevada.
Within the hour he had spread this all over the town and I was pointed
out for the rest of my visit as the mad Englishman. (Atkinson)
The definite article may contribute to the devices of gradation or help
create the rhythm of the narration as in the following examples:
But then he would lose Sondra, his connections here, and his uncle—this
world! The loss! The loss! The loss! (Dreiser)
No article, or the omission of article before a common noun conveys
a maximum level of abstraction, generalization.
Tlie postmaster and postmistress, husband and wife, ...looked carefully
at every piece of mail... (Erdrich)
How infuriating it was! Land which looked like baked sand became the
Garden of Eden if only you could get water. You could draw a line with
a pencil: on one side, a waterless barren; on the other, an irrigated
luxuriance. (Michener)
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3.3. Morphological stylistics
tfot sound, not quiver as if horse and man had turned to metal.
(Dolgopolova)
They went as though car and driver were one indivisible whole. (Dolgopolova)
3.3.3. The stylistic power of the pronoun
The stylistic functions of the pronoun also depend on the disparity
between the traditional and contextual (situational) meanings. This is
the grammatical metaphor of the first type based on the transposition
of the form, when one pronoun is transposed into the action sphere
of another pronoun.
So personal pronouns We, You, They and others can be employed in
the meaning different from their dictionary meaning.
The pronoun We that means «speaking together or on behalf of other
people» can be used with reference to a single person, the speaker,
and is called the plural of majesty (Pluralis Majestatis). It is used in
Royal speech, decrees of King, etc.
And for that offence immediately do we exile him hence. (Shakespeare)
The plural of modesty or the author's we is used with the purpose to
identify oneself with the audience or society at large. Employing the
plural of modesty the author involves the reader into the action
making him a participant of the events and imparting the emotions
Prevailing in the narration to the reader.
My poor dear child, cried Miss Crawly, ...is our passion unrequited
then?
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.3. Morphological stylistics
Are we pining in secret? Tell me all, and let me console you. (Thackeray)
She maintains that it is not merely the subject of writing but the
attitude, purpose and sense of verbal tradition that establish these
distinctions in expression (41).
The pronoun you is often used as an intensifier in an expressive
address or imperative:
Just you go in and win. (Waugh)
Get out of my house, you fool, you idiot, you stupid old Briggs.
(Thackeray)
In the following sentence the personal pronoun they has a purely
expressive function because it does not substitute any real characters
but has a generalising meaning and indicates some abstract entity.
The implication is meant to oppose the speaker and his interlocutor
to this indefinite collective group of people.
All the people like us are we, and everyone else is they. (Kipling)
Such pronouns as One, You, We have two major connotations: that of
'identification' of the speaker and the audience and 'generalization'
(contrary to the individual meaning).
Note should be made of the fact that such pronouns as We, One, You
that are often used in a generalized meaning of 'a human being' may
have a different stylistic value for different authors.
Speaking of such English writers as Aldus Huxley, Bertrand Russel and
D. H. Lawrence, J. Miles writes in her book «Style and Proportion»:
The power of Huxley's general ONE is closer to Russel's WE than to
Lawrence's YOU though all are talking about human nature.
She points out that scientists like Charles Darwin, Adam Smith and
many others write using ONE much in the same way as Huxley does.
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Employed by the author as a means of speech characterisation the
overuse of the / pronoun testifies to the speaker's complacency and
egomania while you or one used in reference to oneself characterise
the speaker as a reserved, self-controlled person. At the same time
the speaker creates a closer rapport with his interlocutor and achieves
empathy.
— You can always build another image for yourself to fall in love with.
—No, you can't. That's the trouble, you lose the capacity for building.
You run short of the stuff that creates beautiful illusions. (Priestly)
When the speaker uses the third person pronoun instead of / or we he
or she sort of looks at oneself from a distance, which produces the
effect of estrangement and generalization. Here is an example from
{Catherine Mansfield's diary provided in Arnold's book Стилистика
английского языка (4, С. 187).
/ do not want to write; I want to live. What does she mean by that? It's
hard to say.
Possessive pronouns may be loaded with evaluative connotations and
devoid of any grammatical meaning of possession.
Watch what you're about, my man! (Cronin)
Your precious Charles or Frank or your stupid Ashley/ (Mitchell)
The same function is fulfilled by the absolute possessive form in
structures like Well, you tell that Herman of yours to mind his own
business. (London)
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.3. Morphological stylistics
The range of feelings they express may include irony, sarcasm, anger
contempt, resentment, irritation, etc.
(hings
Demonstrative pronouns may greatly enhance the expressive colouring
of the utterance.
In the same book he calls a huge and strong fish a he:
That wonderful girl! That beauty! That world of wealth and social
position she lived in! (London)
These lawyers! Don't you know they don't eat often? (Dreiser)
In these examples the demonstrative pronouns do not point at
anything but the excitement of the speaker.
Pronouns are a powerful means to convey the atmosphere of informal
or familiar communication or an attempt to achieve it.
// was Robert Ackly, this guy, that roomed right next to me. (Salinger)
Claws in, you cat. (Shaw)
Through the figurative use of the personal pronouns the author may
achieve metaphorical images and even create sustained compositional
metaphors.
Thus using the personal pronoun she instead of the word «sea» in
one of his best works The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway
imparts to this word the category of feminine gender that enables
him to bring the feeling of the old man to the sea to a different, more
dramatic and more human level.
He always thought of the sea as 'la mar' which is what people call her
in Spanish when they love her. Sometimes those who love her say beta
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about her but they are always said as though she were a woman.
(Hemingway)
He is a great fish and I must convince him, he thought. I must never let
flint learn his strength. (Hemingway)
Such recurrent use of these pronouns throughout the novel is charged
with the message of the old man's animating the elemental forces of
the sea and its inhabitants and the vision of himself as a part of
nature. In this case the use of the pronouns becomes a compositional
device.
All in all we can see that pronouns possess a strong stylistic potential
that is realized due to the violation of the normal links with their
object of reference.
3.3.4. The adjective and its stylistic functions
The only grammatical category of the English adjective today is that
of comparison. Comparison is only the property of qualitative and
Quantitative adjectives, but not of the relative ones.
When adjectives that are not normally used in a comparative degree
are used with this category they are charged with a strong expressive
power.
Mrs. Thompson, Old Man Fellow's housekeeper had found him deader
than a doornail... (Mangum)
This is a vivid example of a grammatical transposition of the second
1
Уре built on the incongruity of the lexical and grammatical meanings.
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.3. Morphological stylistics
In the following example the unexpected superlative adjective degree
forms lend the sentence a certain rhythm and make it even more
expressive:
•j-]ie same effect is also caused by the substantivized use of the
a(ijectives.
...fifteen millions of workers, understood to be the strangest, the cunningest, the willingest our Earth ever had. (Skrebnev)
3.3.5. The verb and its stylistic properties
The commercial functional style makes a wide use of the violation of
grammatical norms to captivate the reader's attention:
The orangemostest drink in the world.
The transposition of other parts of speech into the adjective creates
stylistically marked pieces of description as in the following sentence:
A camouflage of general suffuse and dirty-jeaned drabness covers
everybody and we merge into the background. (Marshall)
The use of comparative or superlative forms with other parts of speech
may also convey a humorous colouring:
He was the most married man I've ever met. (Arnold)
Another stylistic aspect of the adjective comes to the fore when an
adjective gets substantivized and acquires the qualities of a noun such
as «solid, firm, tangible, hard,» etc.
All Europe was in arms, and England would join. The impossible had
happened. (Aldington)
The stylistic function of the adjective is achieved through the deviant
use of the degrees of comparison that results mostly in grammatical
metaphors of the second type (lexical and grammatical incongruity).
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The verb is one of the oldest parts of speech and has a very developed
grammatical paradigm. It possesses more grammatical categories that
any other part of speech. All deviant usages of its tense, voice and
aspect forms have strong stylistic connotations and play an important
role in creating a metaphorical meaning. A vivid example of the
grammatical metaphor of the first type (form transposition) is the
use of 'historical present' that makes the description very pictorial,
almost visible.
The letter was received by a person of the royal family. While reading
it she was interrupted, had no time to hide it and was obliged to put
it open on the table. At this enters the Minister D... He sees the letter
and guesses her secret. He first talks to her on business, then takes out
a letter from his pocket, reads it, puts it down on the table near the other
letter, talks for some more minutes, then, when taking leave, takes the
royal lady's letter from the table instead of his own. The owner of the
letter saw it, was afraid to say anything for there were other people in
the room. (Рое)
The use of 'historical present' pursues the aim of joining different
time systems—that of the characters, of the author and of the reader
all of whom may belong to different epochs. This can be done by
m
aking a reader into an on-looker or a witness whose timeframe is
synchronous with the narration. The outcome is an effect of empathy
ensured by the correlation of different time and tense systems.
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
The combination and unification of different time layers may also be
achieved due to the universal character of the phenomenon described
a phenomenon that is typical of any society at any time and thus
make the reader a part of the events described.
Various shades of modality impart stylistically coloured expressiveness
to the utterance. The Imperative form and the Present Indefinite
referred to the future render determination, as in the following
example:
Edward, let there be an end of this. I go home. (Dickens)
3.3. Morphological stylistics
go continuous forms may express:
• conviction, determination, persistence:
Well, she's never coming here again, I tell you that straight; (Maugham)
• impatience, irritation:
—/ didn't mean to hurt you.
-You did. You're doing nothing else; (Shaw)
• surprise, indignation, disapproval:
The use of shall with the second or third person will denote the
speaker's emotions, intention or determination:
If there's a disputed decision, he said genially, they shall race again.
(Waugh)
Women kill me. They are always leaving their goddam bags out in the
middle of the aisle. (Salinger)
Tlie prizes shall stand among the bank of flowers. (Waugh)
Present Continuous may be used instead of the Present Indefinite
form to characterize the current emotional state or behaviour:
Similar connotations are evoked by the emphatic use of will with the
first person pronoun:
-How is Carol?
—Blooming, Charley said. She is being so brave. (Shaw)
—Adam. Are you tight again ?
—Look out of the window and see if you can see a Daimler waiting.
—Adam, what have you been doing? I will be told. (Waugh)
Likewise continuous forms do not always express continuity of the
action and are frequently used to convey the emotional state of the
speaker. Actually all 'exceptions to the rule' are not really exceptions.
They should be considered as the forms in the domain of stylistic
studies because they are used to proclaim the speaker's state of mind,
his mood, his intentions or feelings.
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You are being very absurd, Laura, he said coldly. (Mansfield)
Verbs of physical and mental perception do not regularly have
continuous forms. When they do, however, we observe a semimarked structure that is highly emphatic due to the incompatible
combination of lexical meaning and grammatical form.
Why, you must be the famous Captain Butler we have been hearing so
m
uch about—the blockade runner. (Mitchell)
r
must say you're disappointing me, my dear fellow. (Berger)
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.3. Morphological stylistics
The use of non-finite forms of the verb such as the infinitive and
participle I in place of the personal forms communicates certain
stylistic connotations to the utterance.
jhe whole thing is preposterous—preposterous! Slinging accusations like
this! (Christie)
Consider the following examples containing non-finite verb forms:
But I tell you there must be some mistake. Splendor taking dope! It's
ridiculous. He is a nonchemical physician, among other things. (Berger)
The real meaning of the sentence is It's hard to believe that Leo would
propose to her!
The passive voice of the verb when viewed from a stylistic angle may
demonstrate such functions as extreme generalisation and depersonalisation because an utterance is devoid of the doer of an action and
the action itself loses direction.
Death! To decide about death! (Galsworthy)
...he is a long-time citizen and to be trusted... (Michener)
The implication of this sentence reads Be couldn't decide about death!
Little Mexico, the area was called contemptuously, as sad and filthy
a collection of dwellings as had ever been allowed to exist in the west.
(Michener)
Expect Leo to propose to her! (Lawrence)
To take steps! How? Winifred's affair was bad enough! To have a double
dose of publicity in the family! (Galsworthy)
The meaning of this sentence could be rendered as He must take some
steps to avoid a double dose of publicity in the family!
Far be it from him to ask after Reinhart's unprecedented geiup and
environs. (Berger)
Such use of the verb be is a means of character sketching: He was not
the kind of person to ask such questions.
Since the sentences containing the infinitive have no explicit doer of
the action these sentences acquire a generalized universal character.
The world of the personage and the reader blend into one whole as if
the question is asked of the reader (what to do, how to act). This
creates empathy. The same happens when participle I is used
impersonally:
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The use of the auxiliary do in affirmative sentences is a notable
emphatic device:
/ don't want to look at Sit a. I sip my coffee as long as possible. Then
I do look at her and see that all the colour has left her face, she is
fearfully pale. (Erdrich)
So the stylistic potential of the verb is high enough. The major
mechanism of creating additional connotations is the transposition of
verb forms that brings about the appearance of metaphors of the first
and second types.
^•3.6. Affixation and its expressiveness
Unlike Russian the English language does not possess a great, variety
of word-forming resources.
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.3. Morphological stylistics
In Russian we have a very developed system of affixes, with evaluative and expressive meanings: diminutive, derogatory, endearing,
exaggerating, etc.
definitions of the adjective Dickensian: suggesting Charles Dickens or
kis writing, e. g. a the old-fashioned, unpleasant dirtiness of Victorian
England: Most deputies work two to an office in a space of Dickensian
grinmess. b the cheerfulness of Victorian amusements and customs: a
real Dickensian Christmas.
Consider such a variety of adjectives малый-маленький-махонький—малюсенький; большой—большеватый—большущий, преогромнейший; плохой— плоховатенький—плохонький. There are no
morphological equivalents for these in English.
We can find some evaluative affixes as a remnant of the former
morphological system or as a result of borrowing from other languages,
such as: weakling, piglet, rivulet, girlie, lambkin, kitchenette.
Diminutive suffixes make up words denoting small dimensions, but
also giving them a caressing, jocular or pejorative ring.
These suffixes enable the speaker to communicate his positive or
negative evaluation of a person or thing.
The suffix -ish is not merely a neutral morpheme meaning a small
degree of quality like blue—bluish, but it serves to create 'delicate or
tactful' occasional evaluative adjectives—baldish, dullish, biggish.
Another meaning is 'belonging or having characteristics of somebody
or something'.
Most dictionaries also point out that -ish may show disapproval {selfish, snobbish, raffish) and often has a derogatory meaning indicating
the bad qualities of something or qualities which are not suitable to
what it describes (e.g. mannish in relation to a woman).
The suffix -ian/-ean means 'like someone or something, especially
connected with a particular thing, place or person', e. g. the preTolstoyan novel. It also denotes someone skilled in or studying a
particular subject: a historian.
Another suffix used similarly is—esque, indicating style, manner, or
distinctive character: arabesque, Romanesque. When used with the
names of famous people it means 'in the manner or style of this
particular person'. Due to its French origin it is considered bookish
and associated with exquisite elevated style. Such connotations are
implied in adjectives like Dantesque, Turneresque, Kafkaesque.
The connotations this suffix may convey are positive and it is
frequently used with proper names, especially famous in art, literature,
music, etc. Such adjectives as Mozartean, Skakespearean, Wagnerian
mean like Mozart, Shakespeare, Wagner or in that style.
Most frequently used suffixes of the negative evaluation are: -ard, ster, -aster, -eer or half-affix -monger: drunkard, scandal-monger,
black-marketeer, mobster.
However some of these adjectives may possess connotations connected
with common associations with the work and life of famous people
that may have either positive or negative colouring. For instance The
Longman Dictionary of the English Language and Culture gives such
Considering the problem of expressive affixes differentiation should
be made between negative affixes such as in-, un~, ir-, поп-, etc.
{unbending, irregular, non-profit) and evaluative derogatory affixes.
Evaluative affixes with derogatory connotations demonstrate the
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Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.4. Stylistic syntax
speaker's attitude to the phenomenon while negative affixes normally
represent objects and phenomena that are either devoid of some
quality or do not exist at all (e. g. a non-profit organization has mostly
positive connotations).
j# The omission of the obligatory parts of a sentence results in ellipsis
of various types. An elliptical sentence is a sentence with one or more
of the parts left out. As a rule the omitted part can be reconstructed
from the context. In this case ellipsis brings into relief typical features
of colloquial English casual talk.
All these examples show that stylistic potentials of grammatical forms
are great enough. Stylistic analysis of a work of art among other
things should include the analysis of the grammatical level that
enables a student to capture the subtle shades of mood or rhythmical
arrangement or the dynamics of the composition.
3.4. Stylistic syntax
Syntactical categories have long been the object of stylistic research.
There are different syntactical means and different classifications.
The classifications discussed earlier in this book demonstrate different
categorization of expressive means connected with syntax. However
there axe a few general principles on which most of the syntactical
expressive means are built. The purpose of this paragraph is to
consider the basic techniques that create stylistic function on the
syntactical level common for most stylistic figures of this type and
illustrate them with separate devices.
The major principles at work on the sentence level are
I. The omission or absence of one or more parts of the sentence. II.
Reiteration (repetition) of some parts.
III. The inverted word order.
IV. The interaction of adjacent sentences.
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The laconic compressed character of elliptical sentences lends a
flavour of liveliness to colloquial English. In fiction elliptical
sentences have a manifold stylistic function. First of all they help
create a sense of immediacy and local colour. Besides they may add
to the character's make up, they lead to a better understanding of a
mood of a personage.
Wish I was young enough to wear that kind of thing. Older I get the
more I like colour. We're both pretty long in the tooth, eh? (Waugh)
Often elliptical sentences are used in represented speech because
syntactically it resembles direct speech. The use of elliptical sentences
in fiction is not limited to conversation. They are sometimes used in
the author's narration and in the exposition (description which opens
a chapter or a book).
/ remember now, that Sita's braid did not hurt. It was only soft and
heavy, smelling of Castile soap, but still I yelled as though something
terrible was happening. Stop! Get off! Let go! Because I couldn't stand
how strong she was. (Erdrich)
A variety of ellipsis in English are one-member nominal sentences.
They have no separate subject and predicate but one main part
instead. One-member sentences call attention to the subject named,
to its existence and even more to its interrelations with other objects.
Nominal sentences are often used in descriptive narration and in
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.4. Stylistic syntax
exposition. The economy of the construction gives a dynamic rhyth^
to the passage. One-member sentences are also common in stage
remarks and represented speech.
a highly dynamic pace of narration. Decomposition maybe combined
with ellipsis.
Him, of all things! Him! Never! (Lawrence)
Matchbooks. Coaster trays. Hotel towels and washcloths. He was sending
her the samples of whatever he was selling at the time. Fuller brushes.
Radio antennas. Cans of hair spray or special wonder-working floor
cleaners. (Erdrich)
Break-in-the narrative is a device that consists in the emotional halt
in the middle or towards the end of an utterance. Arnold
distinguishes two kinds: suppression and aposiopesis. Suppression
leaves the sentence unfinished as a result of the speaker's deliberation
to do so. The use of suppression can be accounted for by a desire not
to mention something that could be reconstructed from the context
or the situation. It is just the part that is not mentioned that attracts
the reader's attention. It's a peculiar use of emphasis that lends the
narration a certain psychological tension.
If everyone at twenty realized that half his life was to be lived after
forty... (Waugh)
II. Reiteration is never a mechanical repetition of a word or structure.
It is always accompanied by new connotations. The repetition stresses
not the denotative but the connotative meaning.
The usage area of reiteration is casual and non-casual speech, prose
and poetry.
Different types of reiteration may be classified on the compositional
principle:
Anaphora is the repetition of the same element at the beginning of
two or more successive clauses, sentences or verses.
They were poor in space, poor in light, poor in quiet, poor in repose,
and poor in the atmosphere of privacy—poor in everything that makes
a man's home his castle. (Cheever)
Aposiopesis means an involuntary halt in speech because the speaker
is too excited or overwhelmed to continue.
Framing is an arrangement of repeated elements at the beginning and
at the end of one or more sentences that creates a kind of structural
encasement.
But Mr. Meredith, Esther Silversleeves said at last, these people are
heathens! Esther was the most religious of the family.—Surly you cannot
wish... her voice trailed off. (Rutherfurd)
He had been good for me when I was a callow and an ignorant youth;
he was good for me now. (Shute)
Decomposition is also built on omission, splitting the sentences into
separate snatches. They are the result of detachment of parts of
sentences. This device helps to throw in the effect of relief or express
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Anadiplosis is such a figure in which a word or group of words
completing a sentence is repeated at the beginning of a succeeding
sentence. It often shows the interaction of different parts of a
Paragraph or text.
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
3.4. Stylistic syntax
My wife has brown hair, dark eyes, and a gentle disposition. Because
of her gentle disposition, I sometimes think that she spoils the children,
(Cheever)
Bang went Phi/brick's revolver. Off trotted the boys on another race.
(Waugh)
Epiphora consists in the repetition of certain elements at the end of
two or more successive clauses, sentences or paragraphs.
Trouble is, I don't know if I want a business or not. Or even if I can
pay for it, if I did want it. (Shute)
III. Inversion is upsetting of the normal order of words, which is an
important feature of English.
By changing the logical order this device helps to convey new shades
of meaning. The denotative meaning is the same but the emotive
colouring is different.
Galperin describes five types of inversion that are connected with the
fixed syntactical position of the sentence members. Each type of
inversion produces a specific stylistic effect: it may render an elevated
tone to the narration:
Ofbeechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.
(Keats)
/ will make my kitchen, and you will keep your room,
Where white flows the river and bright blows the broom.
(Stevenson)
— or make it quick-paced and dynamic:
In he got and away they went. (Waugh)
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Sometimes inversion may contribute to the humorous effect of the
description or speech characterisation:
To march about you would not like us? suggested the station master.
(Waugh)
IV. Interaction of adjacent sentences is a compositional syntactical
technique.
One of the major emphatic means is the use of parallel constructions.
They are similarly built and used in close succession. It is a variety
of repetition on the level of a syntactical model. Parallel
constructions more than anything else create a certain rhythmical
arrangement of speech. The sameness of the structure stresses the
difference or the similarity of the meaning. Sometimes parallel
constructions assume a peculiar form and the word order of the first
phrase is inverted in the second. The resulting device is called
chiasmus. It is often accompanied by a lexical repetition:
They had loved her, and she had loved them. (Caldwell)
Work— work—work!
From weary chime to chime/
Work— work—work As
prisoners work for crime!
Band, and gusset, and seam
Seam, and gusset, and band...
(Hood)
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
The climax is such an arrangement of a series of clauses or phrases
that form an ascending scale, in which each of the sen-1 tences is
stronger in intensity of expression than the previous one.
Practice Section
3. Consider the following sentences and comment on the function
of morphological grammatical categories and parts of speech that
create stylistic function: One night I am standing in front of Mindy's
We're nice people and there isn't going to be room for nice people any \
more. It's ended, it's all over, it's dead. (Cheever)
restaurant on Broadway, thinking of practically nothing whatever,
Another device is the anticlimax, also called back gradation, which is
a figure of speech that consists in an abrupt and often ludicrous
descent, which contrasts with the previous rise. The descent is often |
achieved by the addition of a detail that ruins the elevated tenor of J
the previous narration.
(Runyon)
Its main stylistic function is to give the thought an unexpected j
humorous or ironic twist.
/ hate and detest every bit of it, said Professor Silenus gravely. Nothing
I have ever done has caused me so much disgust. With a deep sigh he
rose from the table and walked from the room, the fork with which he
had been eating still held in his hand. (Waugh)
when all of a sudden I feel a very terrible pain in my left foot.
It's good, that, to see you again, Mr. Philip, said Jim. (Caldwell)
Earth colours are his theme. When he shows up at the door, we see that
he's even dressing in them. His pants are grey. His shin is the same
colour as his skin. Flesh colour. (Erdrich)
Now, the Andorrans were a brave, warlike people centuries ago, as
everybody was at one time or another—for example, take your Assyrians, who are now extinct; or your Swedes, who fought in the Thirty
Years' War but haven't done much since except lie in the sun and turn
brown... (Berger)
A gaunt and Halloweenish grin was plastered to her face. (Erdrich)
Practice Section
/ walked past Mrs. Shumway, who jerked her head around in a startled
woodpeckerish way... (Erdrich)
1. What are the basic principles of stylistic grammar? How does ;
grammatical metaphor correlate with lexical metaphor?
She's the Honourable Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde, you know—sister-in-law
of Lord Pastmaster—a very wealthy woman, South American. (Waugh)
2. What is the essence of the grammatical gradation theory? Describe the types of grammatical transposition and provide your
own examples to illustrate each type.
—there are two kinds of people, which we may call the hurtersand the
hurtees. The first get their satisfaction by working their will on somebody
e
he. The second like to be imposed upon. (Burger)
To hear her was to be beginning to despair. (Jarrell)
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Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
Practice Section
But they domanage the building? Mrs. Doubleday said to him. (Cheever)
They are allowed to have the train stoppedat every cross-roads... (Atkinson)
A band indeed! You' 11 be having fireworks next. (Waugh)
I stare down at the bright orange capsules... I have to listen... so we
look at each other, up and down, and up and down... Without us, they
say, without Loise, it's the state hospital. (Erdrich)
Ah! That must be Aunt Augusta. Only relatives, or creditors, ever ring
in that Wagnerian manner. (Wilde)
I got nothing against Joe Chapin, but he's not me. I'm me, and another
man is still another man. (O'Hara)
That's not the Mr. Littlejohn I used to know. (Waugh)
/ pronounce that the sentence on the defendants, Noelle Page and
Lawrence Douglas, shall be execution by a firing squad. (Sheldon)
They are all being so formal. Let's play a game to break the ice. (Bell)
That's thefoolest thing I ever heard. (Berger)
4. Arrange syntactical expressive means described in Galperin's
classification into four groups according to the major principles
of stylistic syntax in addition to the illustrations given in the
chapter above.
5. Identify syntactical stylistic devices used in the examples below
and comment on their meaning in the context:
/ should have brought down a more attractive dress. This one, with its
white petals gone dull in the shower steam, with its belt of lavender and
prickling lace at each pulse point, I don't like. (Erdrich)
/ begin my windshield-wiper wave, as instructed by our gym teacher,
who has been a contestant for Miss North Dakota. Back and forth very
slowly. Smile, smile, smile. (Erdrich)
/ wondered how the Moroccan boy... could stand meekly aside and
watch her go off with another man.
Actors, I thought. They must divide themselves into compartments.
(Shaw)
Except for the work in the quarries, life at Egdon was almost the same
as at Blackstone.
'Slops outside,' chapel, privacy. (Waugh)
Oh, J guess I love you, I do love the children, but I love myself, I love
my life, it has some value and some promise for me... (Cheever)
It was for this reason the rector had so abjectly curled up, still so abjectly
curled up before She-who-was Cynthia: because of his slave's fear of her
contempt, the contempt of a born-free nature for a base-born nature.
(Lawrence)
Let him say his piece, the darling. Isn't he divine? (Waugh)
Ft never was the individual sounds of a language, but the melodies behind
them, that Dr. Rosenbaum imitated. For these his ear was Mozartian.
(Jarrell)
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The warder rang the bell—Inside, you two! he shouted. (Waugh)
—Old man, Miles said amiably, if I may say so, I think you're missing
f
he point.
Chapter 3. Stylistic Grammar
Practice Section
—Iff may say so, sir, Philippe said, I think I am missing nothing. What
is the point? (Shaw)
A man has a right to get married and have children, and I'd earned the
right to have a wife, both in work and money. A man's got a right to live
in his own place. A man has a right to make his life where he can look
after his Dad and Mum a bit when they get old. (Shute)
You asked me what I had going this time. What I have going is wine. ',
With the way the world's drinking these days, being in wine is like
having a license to steal. (Shaw)
How kind of you, Alfred! She has asked about you, and expressed her
intention—her intention, if you please.'—to know you. (Caldwell)
When one is in town one amuses oneself. When one is in the country
one amuses other people. (Wilde)
—There are lots of things I wanted to do—I wanted to climb the
Matterhom but I wouldn't blame the fact that I haven't on anyone else.
—You. Clime the Matterhom. Ha. You couldn't even climb the
Washington Monument. (Cheever)
There was no Olga. I had no consolation. Then I felt desperate, desolate,
crushed. (Cheever)
—
You get cold, riding a bicycle? he asked.
—My hands! she said clasping them nervously. (Lawrence)
If the man had been frightening before, he was now a perfect horror.
(Berger)
My dear fellow, the way you flirt with Gwendolen is perfectly disgraceful. It is almost as bad as the way Gwendolen flirts with you.
(Wilde)
Trouble is, I don't know if I want a business or not. Or even if I can
pay for it, if I did want it. (Shute)
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...already we were operating Jive aircraft of four different types, and if
we got a Tramp we should have six aircraft of five types...
A Tramp it would have to be, and I told them of my money difficulty.
(Shute)
Damrey Phong, though healthy, is a humid place. (Shute)
He's made his declaration. He loves me. He can't live without me. He'd
walk through fire to hear the notes of my voice. (Cheever)
4.1. The notion of style in functional stylistics
Linguistic literature gives various definitions of the notion 'style' that
generally boil down to the following three meanings of this term:
Chapter 4
The Theory of Functional Styles
The notion of style in functional stylistics. Correlation of style
norm and function in the language. Language varieties: regional,
social, occupational. An overview of functional style systems.
Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles of
English
4.1. The notion of style in functional stylistics
The notion of style has to do with how we use the language under
specific circumstances for a specific purpose. The notion of using
English, for instance, involves much more than using our knowledge
of its linguistic structure. It also involves awareness of the numerous
situations in which English can be used as a special medium of com- j
munication with its own set of distinctive and recognizable features.
The various branches of linguistics that investigate the topic, such as
sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis,
textlinguistics, and stylistics present a remarkable range of methodologies and emphases. We'll be interested in how stylistic research
treats of the subject.
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• A variety of the national language traditionally used in one of
the socially identifiable spheres of life that is characterised by a
particular set of linguistic features, including vocabulary,
grammar and pronunciation. These are chiefly associated with
the social and regional varieties, such as educated, colloquial, low
colloquial, dialectal, uneducated, etc. From this point of view
the most broad and well known subdivision in many national
languages today usually describes these varieties as neutral,
literary (high) and colloquial (low): e. g. Cockney, upper-class,
educated English.
• Generally accepted linguistic identity of oral and written units
of discourse, such as public speech, a lecture, a friendly letter, a
newspaper article, etc. Such units demonstrate style not only in
a special choice of linguistic means but in their very
arrangement, i. e. composition of a speech act, that creates a
category of text marked by oratory, scientific, familiar or
publicist style.
• Individual manner of expression determined by personal factors,
such as educational background, professional experience, sense
of humour, etc.: e.g. personal style of communication, the style
of Pushkin's early poetry.
Style is our knowledge how language is used to create and interpret
texts and conversational interactions. It involves being aware of the
range of situations in which a language can be used in a distinctive
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
and predictable way and of the possibilities available ю us when we
want to produce or respond to creative uses of the language.
Stylistic features relate to constraints on language use that may be only
temporary features of our spoken or written language. We often adopt
different group uses of language as we go through our day; we may use
a different style speaking with our children in the family, reporting to
our boss at work or practicing sports. We change our speaking or
writing style to make a particular effect: imitating somebody's accent
when telling a story, giving a humorous account of events in an
informal letter and so on. Style is first and foremost the result of our
choice of content of our message and the appropriate range of
language means to deliver the message effectively.
Uses of English in numerous situations that require definite stylistic
features are studied by the theory of functional styles.
This theory involves consideration of such notions as norm and
function in their relation to style.
4.2. Correlation of style, norm and function
in the language
Any national language uses the notion of 'correct language' which
involves conformity to the grammatical, lexical and phonetic standards accepted as normative in this society. The favoured variety is
usually a version of the standard written language, especially as
encountered in literature or in the formal spoken language that most
closely reflects literary style. It is presented in dictionaries, grammars
and other official manuals. Those who speak and write in this way
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4.2. Correlation of style, norm and function in the language
are said to be using language 'correctly', those who do not are said to
be using it 'incorrectly'. Correct usage is associated with the notion of
the linguistic norm. The norm is closely related to the system of the
language as an abstract ideal system. The system provides and
determines the general rules of usage of its elements, the norm is the
actual use of these provisions by individual speakers under specific
conditions of communication.
Individual use of the language implies a personal selection of linguistic
means on all levels. When this use conforms to the general laws of
the language this use will coincide with what is called the literary
norm of the national language.
However the literary norm is not a homogeneous and calcified entity.
It varies due to a number of factors, such as regional, social,
situational, personal, etc.
The norm will be dictated by the social roles of the participants of
communication, their age and family or other relations. An important
role in the selection of this or that variety of the norm belongs to the
purpose of the utterance, or its function. Informal language on a
formal occasion is as inappropriate as formal language on an
informal occasion. To say that a usage is appropriate is only to say
that it is performing its function satisfactorily. We shall use different
'norms' speaking with elderly people and our peers, teachers and
students, giving an interview or testimony in court. This brings us to
the notion of the norm variation.
The prevailing public attitude is that certain forms of usage are
"correct" and others — "incorrect". Teachers of English are supposed
to know the difference between "right" and "wrong" in language.
The real fact about usage in natural languages is that it is diverse
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
and subject to change. Some scholars (R.I.McDavid) hold that "щ
the usage of native speakers whatever is is right; but some usages are
more appropriate than others, at least socially". What determines the
appropriateness is the speakers' age, education, sophistication, social
position (44, p. 20).
Others (J. Algeo) describe Standard English as current (neither oldfashioned nor faddishly new), widespread (not limited to a particular
locale or group) and generally accepted (suggested instead of correct)
(32, p. 23-24).
The norm of the language implies various realisations of the language
structure that are sometimes called its subsystems, registers or J
varieties.
I.V.Arnold presents these relations as a system of oppositions:
Structure : : norm : : individual use
National norm : : dialect
Neutral style : : colloquial style : : bookish style
Literary correct speech : : common colloquial
Functional styles are subsystems of the language and represent
varieties of the norm of the national language. Their evolution and
development has been determined by the specific factors of
communication in various spheres of human activity. Each of them is
characterised by its own parameters in vocabulary usage, syntactical
expression, phraseology, etc.
The term 'functional style' reflects peculiar functions of the language
in this or that type of communicative interaction. Proceeding from
the generally acknowledged language functions Prof. I. V. Arnold
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4.2. Correlation of style, norm and function in the language
'Function/
Style
oratorical
colloquial
poetic
publicist and
newspaper
official
scientific
intellectual pragmatic emotive phatic
communicative
aesthetic
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
—
—
—
+
+
+
+
+
—
—
+
+
+
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
suggested a description ot tunctionai styles oasea on tne comoinauon
of the linguistic functions they fulfil.
The table presents functional styles as a kind of hierarchy according
to the number of functions fulfilled by each style, oratorical and
scientific being almost complete opposites.
However not all texts have boundaries that are easy to identify in the
use of distinctive language. For example, the oratorical style has a lot
of common features with the publicist one, which in its turn is often
comparable with the style of humanities, such as political science,
history or philosophy.
The point of departure for discerning functional styles is the so-called
neutral style that is stylistically non-marked and reflects the norms of
the language. It serves as a kind of universal background for the
expression of stylistically marked elements in texts of any functional
type. It can be rarely observed in the individual use of the language
and as Skrebnev remarked, perhaps, only handbooks for foreigners
and primers could be qualified as stylistically neutral (47, p. 22).
__________ Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
4.3. Language varieties:
regional, social, occupational
The particular set of features, which identifies a language variety,
does not represent the features of the language as a whole. Variety
features depend on the presence of certain factors in a social situation.
Classifications of these factors vary, but we may group them into
two types according to most general dimensions: sociolinguistic and
stylistic factors.
Sociolinguistic factors are connected with very broad situational
constraints on language use. They chiefly identify the regional and
social varieties of the language. They are relatively permanent features
of the spoken and written language, over which we have comparatively
little conscious control. We tend not to change our regional or social
group way of speaking in every-day communication and usually we
are not aware of using it.
Stylistic factors relate to restrictions on language use that are much
more narrowly constrained, and identify individual preferences in
usage (phraseology, special vocabulary, language of literature) or the
varieties that are associated with occupational groups (lawyers,
journalists, scholars). These are features, over which we are able to
exercise some degree of conscious control.
As David Crystal, a famous British linguist puts it, regional language
variation of English provides a geographical answer to the question
'Where are you from, in the English-speaking world?'
English is considered mother tongue in the UK, US, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Caribbean nations. In Canada and South Africa
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4.3. Language varieties: regional, social, occupational
English is one of the two native languages. Speakers of these countries
use different kinds of English in different areas within these countries.
These are regional varieties of English that are sometimes called regional dialects. We can see some differences in the use of English on
the example of regional varieties of American English. In the speech
of educated southerners one can hear such forms as seed, seen instead
of saw or clam, dim, dome, doom, dum instead of the standard
climbed. Bostonians use cleanser instead of dry cleaner's (compare
examples from Russian — парадное used in St.-Petersburg for подъезд
or гаманок used in the rural Urals and Siberia for кошелек).
Social language variation provides an answer to a somewhat different
question 'Who are you?' or 'What are you in the eyes of the Englishspeaking society to which you belong?' (33, p. 393). Actually social
variation provides several possible answers, because people may
acquire several identities as they participate in the social structure.
One and the same person may belong to different social groups and
perform different social roles. A person may at the same time be
described as 'a parent', 'a wife', 'an architect', 'a feminist', 'a senior
citizen', 'a member of Parliament', 'an amateur sculptor', 'a theatregoer'; the possibilities may be endless.
Any of these identities can have consequences for the kind of
language we use. Language more than anything else will testify to our
permanent and temporary roles in social life.
Some features of social variation lead to particular linguistic consequences. In many ways our pronunciation, choice of words and
constructions, general strategy of communication are defined by the
age, sex and socio-economic aspects. Choice of occupation has a less
predictable influence, though in some contexts, e. g. medicine or law
it can be highly distinctive.
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles __________
4.3. Language varieties: regional, social, occupational
— --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------■ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adopting a specific social role, such as making a congratulatory
speech or conducting a panel talk, invariably entails a choice of
appropriate linguistic forms.
Differences in language choices that correlate with the subject of
discussion, the audience, the genre, the occasion and the purpose or
the medium of communication are called registers.
In other words, we identify the uses to which language is put: the
subject it treats, the circumstances in which it is used, the social relationships among its users and the purposes of its use. We adapt what
we want to say or write to the circumstances in which we are communicating. We use different words in discussing politics, sports, theology
or computer technologies. We arrange our sentences differently in
talking to babies, bosses, close friends or making announcements, etc.
Sentence structure differs between recipes, telegrams, stock-market
reports and thank-you notes. English is pronounced differently from a
pulpit or over the counter of a fast-order restaurant. The medium of
communication is also relevant: when listening on the phone we have
to make frequent responses: I see, oh, yes, well to let the person know
we are still there and paying attention. They tell little about us as
persons but a good deal about how we respond to the circumstances
of communication. Regional and social variations depend on who we
are, register depends on who we are communicating with, where,
how, and about what. Registers are functional options available to us
in social and personal communication.
We adapt our language to the occasion for which we use it. An
important dimension of variation in English is the degree of formality
of a language event stretching from the coronation of a British
sovereign to a relaxed get-together of alumni. The continuum of
formality may be arbitrarily divided into any number of subsegments
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for purposes of discussion. For example, a presidential inauguration
address may be labeled as ritual, a request to city officials for action
as formal, a discussion among members of a civic club as collegial, a
conversation between good friends as familiar, comments of husband
and wife watching TV as intimate. Hardly any aspect of language phonetic, lexical or grammatical - is the same in the five situations.
Each of these situations calls for its own kind of language. The variety
used in the intimate kind of talk would be ridiculous or even grotesque
in a ritual speech and vice versa.
Across the world attitudes to social variation differ a lot. All countries
display social stratification, though some have more clearly defined
boundaries than others and therefore more distinct features of class
dialect. Britain is usually said to be linguistically more class-conscious
than other English-speaking countries.
In Great Britain the grammar and pronunciation used by educated
people from the south of England, called Received Standard, have
informally achieved highest status. Fostered by the public schools
Winchester, Eton and the like as well as the two great universities,
Oxford and Cambridge, Received Standard became the accepted
national standard. Used normally by upper-class families RS as
taught in the public schools to children of the newly rich has been
one of the ways for the established order to accommodate the new
wealth. RS was adopted as the usual model for teaching English to
native speakers of other languages. The educational systems of the
Commonwealth in Asia and Africa have been modeled on British
practice and in Europe there still is a notion that RS is "better" or
'more elegant" than American English.
For example, in England one accent has traditionally dominated over
all others and the notion of respectable social standing is usually
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles __________
associated with Received Pronunciation (RP), considered to be the
'prestige accent'.
However today with the breakdown of rigid divisions between social
classes and the development of mass media RP is no longer the j
prerogative of social elite. Today it is best described as an 'educated'
accent which actually has several varieties. Most educated people have
developed an accent, which is a mixture of RP and various regional
features that sometimes is called 'modified RP'.
This is one example that shows a general trend in modern Englishregionally modified speech is no longer stigmatised as 'low', it can
even be an advantage, expressing such social values as solidarity and
democracy. A pure RP accent, by contrast can even evoke hostility,
especially in those parts of Britain that have their own regional norms,
e. g. Scotland and Wales.
Occupational varieties of the national language are normally associated
with a particular way of earning a living. They belong to the group of
stylistically determined varieties and differ from both regional and
social sublanguages.
Features of language that identify people's geographical or social
origins, once established can hardly change over a short period of
time. It would be very difficult to change your accent if you move
from one part of the country to another with a different regional
norm; it is equally difficult to transform the linguistic indicators of
our social background (vocabulary and structural expression).
Occupational varieties are not like that. Their linguistic features may
be just as distinctive as regional or social features, but they are only
in temporary use. They 'go with the territory'—adopted as we begin
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4.4. An overview of functional style systems
work and given up as we finish it. People who cannot stop 'talking
shop' even when they are not at work are rather an exception to the
rule.
Any professional field could serve as an illustration of occupational
linguistic identity. There are no class distinctions here. Factory
workers have to master a special glossary of technical terms and
administrative vocabulary (seniority labels, term of service, severance
pay, fringe benefits, safety regulation) in order to carry out professional
communication. To fulfil their tasks they develop jargon and
professional slang, which set them apart from outsiders. The more
specialised the occupation and the more senior or professional the
position the more technical the language. Also, if an occupation has a
long-lasting and firmly established tradition it is likely to have its
own linguistic rituals which its members accept as a criterion of
proficiency. The highly distinctive languages of law, government and
religion provide the clearest cases, with their unique grammar,
vocabulary, and patterns of discourse. Of course, all occupations are
linguistically distinctive to a certain degree. In some cases it involves
only special terms; in others it may be a combination of linguistic
features on different levels as will be shown in the last section of this
chapter.
4.4. Ал overview of functional style systems
As has been mentioned before there are a great many classifications
of language varieties that are called sublanguages, substyles, registers
and functional styles that use various criteria for their definition and
categorisation. The term generally accepted by most Russian scholars
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles __________ I
is functional styles. It is also used in this course. A few classifications of
the functional styles in modern English will be considered in thi
chapter.
Books by I. R. Galperin on English Stylistics (1958, 1971, 1977)
are among most acknowledged sources of stylistic research in this
country.
Galperin distinguishes 5 functional styles and suggests their subdivision into substyles in modern English according to the following
scheme:
1. The Belles-Lettres Style:
a) poetry;
b) emotive prose;
c) the language of the drama.
2. Publicist Style:
a) oratory and speeches;
b) the essay;
c) articles.
3. Newspaper Style:
a) brief news items;
b) headlines;
c) advertisements and announcements;
d) the editorial.
4. Scientific Prose Style.
5. The Style of Official documents:
a) business documents;
b) legal documents;
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4.4. An overview of functional style systems
c) the language of diplomacy;
d) military documents.
Prof. Galperin differs from many other scholars in his views on
functional styles because he includes in his classification only the
written variety of the language. In his opinion style is the result of
creative activity of the writer who consciously and deliberately selects
language means that create style. Colloquial speech, according to
him, by its very nature will not lend itself to careful selection of
linguistic features and there is no stylistic intention expressed on the
part of the speaker. At the same time his classification contains such
varieties of publicist style as oratory and speeches. What he actually
means is probably not so much the spoken variety of the language
but spontaneous colloquial speech, a viewpoint which nevertheless
seems to give ground for debate. As we pointed out in sections two
and three of this chapter individual speech, oral variety included, is
always marked by stylistic features that show the speaker's educational,
social and professional background. Moreover we always assume some
socially determined role and consciously choose appropriate language
means to perform it and achieve the aim of communication.
Scholars' views vary on some other items of this classification. There
is no unanimity about the belles-lettres style. In fact Galperin's
position is not shared by the majority. This notion comes under
criticism because it seems rather artificial especially in reference to
modern prose. It is certainly true that many works of fiction may
contain emotionally coloured passages of emotive writing that are
marked by special image-creating devices, such as tropes and figures
of speech. These are typically found in the author's narrative, lyrical
digressions, expositions, descriptions of nature or reflections on the
characters' emotional or mental state.
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
4.4. An overview of functional style systems
At the same time many writers give an account of external events,
social life and reproduce their characters' direct speech. Sometimes
they quote extracts from legal documents, newspapers items, advertisements, slogans, headlines, e. g. K. Vonnegut, J. Dos Passos,
etc. which do not belong to belles-lettres style in its traditional
meaning.
chapter (i. e. those that concern the notions of norm, neutrality and
function in their stylistic aspect). Speaking of functional styles,
Arnold starts with the a kind of abstract notion termed 'neutral style'.
It has no distinctive features and its function is to provide a standard
background for the other styles. The other 'real' styles can be broadly
divided into two groups according to the scholar's approach: different
varieties of colloquial styles and several types of literary bookish
styles.
As a matter of fact, in modern works of fiction we may encounter
practically any functional speech type imaginable. So most other classifications do not distinguish the language of fiction as a separate style.
In 1960 the book «Stylistics of the English Language» by M. D. Kuznetz and Y. M. Skrebnev appeared. The book was a kind of brief outline
of stylistic problems. The styles and their varieties distinguished by
these authors included:
1. Literary or Bookish Style:
a) publicist style;
b) scientific (technological) style;
c) official documents.
2. PVee («Colloquial») Style:
a) literary colloquial style;
b) familiar colloquial style.
As can be seen from this classification, both poetry and imaginative
prose have not been included (as non-homogeneous objects) although
the book is supplied with a chapter on versification.
Next comes the well-known work by I. V. Arnold «Stylistics of Modern
English» (decoding stylistics) published in 1973 and revised in 1981.
Some theses of this author have already been presented in this
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1. Colloquial Styles:
a) literary colloquial;
b) familiar colloquial;
c) common colloquial.
2. Literary Bookish Styles:
a) scientific;
b) official documents;
c) publicist (newspaper);
d) oratorical;
e) poetic.
This system presents an accurate description of the many social and
extralinguistic factors that influence the choice of specific language
for a definite communicative purpose. At the same time the inclusion
of neutral style in this classification seems rather odd since unlike the
others it's non-existent in individual use and should probably be
associated only with the structure of the language.
One type of sublanguages suggested by Arnold in her classification—
publicist or newspaper—fell under the criticism of Skrebnev who
argues that the diversity of genres in newspapers is evident to any layman: along with the «leader» (or editorial) the newspaper page gives
4.4. An overview of functional style systems
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
a column to political observers, some space is taken by sensational
reports; newspapers are often full of lengthy essays on economics,
law, morals, art, etc. Much space is also given to miscellaneous news
items, local events; some papers publish sequences of stories or
novels; and most papers sell their pages to advertising firms. This
enumeration of newspaper genres could go on and on. Therefore,
Skrebnev maintains, we can hardly speak of such functional style at
all.
Of course Arnold is quite aware of the diversity of newspaper writings.
However what she really means is the newspaper material specific of
the newspaper only: political news, police reports, press reviews,
editorials.
In a word, newspaper style should be spoken of only when the
materials that serve to inform the reader are meant. Then we can
speak of distinctive style— forming features including a special choice
of words, abundance of international words, newspaper cliches and
nonce words, etc.
It should be noted however that many scholars consider the language
of the press as a separate style and some researchers even single out
newspaper headlines as a functional style.
One of the relatively recent books on stylistics is the handbook by A.
N. Morokhovsky and his co-authors O. P. Vorobyova, N. I. Liknosherst and Z. V. Timoshenko «Stylistics of the English language»
published in Kiev in 1984. In the final chapter of the book «Stylistic
Differentiation of Modern English» a concise but exhaustive review
of factors that should be taken into account in treating the problem of
functional styles is presented. The book suggests the following style
classes:
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Official business style.
Scientific-professional style.
Publicist style.
Literary colloquial style.
Familiar colloquial style.
Each style, according to Morokhovsky has a combination of distinctive
features. Among them we find oppositions like 'artistic— non-artistic',
'presence of personality—absence of it', 'formal— informal situation',
'equal— unequal social status' (of the participants of communication),
'written or oral form'. Morokhovsky emphasizes that these five classes
of what he calls «speech activity» are abstractions rather than realities,
they can seldom be observed in their pure forms: mixing styles is the
common practice.
On the whole Morokhovsky's concept is one of the few that attempt
to differentiate and arrange the taxonomy of cardinal linguistic
notions. According to Morokhovsky's approach language as a system
includes types of thinking differentiating poetic and straightforward
language, oral and written speech, and ultimately, bookish and
colloquial functional types of language. The next problem is stylistics
of 'speech activity' connected with social stereotypes of speech
behaviour. Morokhovsky defines this in the following way:
«Stereotypes of speech behaviour or functional styles of speech
activity are norms for wide classes of texts or utterances, in which
general social roles are embodied—poet, journalist, manager,
politician, scholar, teacher, father, mother, etc.» (15, p. 234).
The number of stereotypes (functional styles) is not unlimited but
great enough. For example, texts in official business style may be
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
administrative, juridical, military, commercial, diplomatic, etc. Stjn
further differentiation deals with a division of texts into genres.
Thus military texts (official style) comprise 'commands, reports,
regulations, manuals, instructions'; diplomatic documents include
'notes, declarations, agreements, treaties', etc. In addition to all
this we may speak of 'the individual style' with regard to any kind
of text.
In the same year (1984) V. A. Maltzev published a smaller book on
stylistics entitled «Essays on English Stylistics» in Minsk.
His theory is based on the broad division of lingual material into
«informal» and «formal» varieties and adherence to Skrebnev's system
of functional styles.
4.4. An overview of functional style systems
a) private correspondence with a stranger;
b) business correspondence between representatives of commercial
or other establishments;
c) diplomatic correspondence, international treaties;
d) legal documents (civil law—testaments, settlements; criminal
law—verdicts, sentences);
e) personal documents (certificates, diplomas, etc.).
The informal colloquial sphere includes all types of colloquial
language—literary, non-literary, vulgar, ungrammatical, social dialects, the vernacular of the underworld, etc. This cannot be inventoried because of its unlimited varieties.
Prof. Skrebnev uses the term sublanguages in the meaning that
is usually attributed to functional styles. The major difference in
his use of this term is that he considers innumerable situational
communicative products as sublanguages, including each speaker's
idiolect. Each act of speech is a sublanguage. This makes the
notion of functional style somewhat vague and difficult to define.
At the same time Skrebnev recognizes the major opposition of
'formal' and 'informal' sphere of language use and suggests «a very
rough and approximate gradation of subspheres and their respective
sublanguages» (47, p. 200).
Of course formal and informal spheres do not exist in severely
separated worlds.
The formal sublanguages in Skrebnev's opinion belong exclusively
to the written variety of lingual intercourse. He avoids the claim of
inconsistency for including certain types of speeches into this sphere
by arguing that texts of some of the types can be read aloud in public
The first type of speech—'formal'—comprises the varieties that
are used in spheres of official communication, science, technology, poetry and fiction, newspaper texts, oratory, etc. It's obvious that many of these varieties can be further subdivided into
smaller classes or sublanguages. For example, in the sphere °f
science and technology almost each science has a metalan-
His rough subdivision of formal styles includes:
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The user of the first speech type is fully aware of his social responsibility. He knows the requirements he has to meet and the conventions he
must observe. But the same person may change his lingual behaviour
with the change of the environment or situation. Sometimes he is
forced to abide by laws that are very different from those he regularly
uses: speaking with children, making a speech before parliament or
during an electoral campaign.
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
guage of its own. The language of computer technology, e.g., i% not
so limited to the technological sphere as at the time of its
beginnings—'to be computer-friendly' has given rise to many other
coinages like 'media-friendly', 'market-friendly', 'environmentally
friendly', etc.
In the informal type of speech we shan't find so many varieties as in
the formal one, but it is used by a much greater number of people.
The first and most important informal variety is colloquial style. This
is the language used by educated people in informal situations. These
people may resort to jargon or slang or even vulgar language to
express their negative attitude to somebody or something.
Uneducated people speak «popular» or ungrammatical language, be
it English or Russian.
4.4. An overview of functional style systems __________
In his classification of functional styles of modern English that he calls
language varieties the famous British linguist D. Crystal suggests the
following subdivision of these styles: regional, social, occupational,
restricted and individual. (33, 34)
Regional varieties of English reflect the geographical origin of the
language used by the speaker. Lancashire variety, Canadian English,
Cockney, etc.
Social variations testify to the speaker's family, education, social
status background: upper class and non-upper class, a political
activist, a member of the proletariat, a Times reader, etc.
Occupational styles present quite a big group that includes the
following types:
There is also a problem of dialects that would require special consideration that cannot be done within this course. Dialects are not
really «ungrammatical» types of a national language, some scholars
hold, but a different language with its own laws. However it may
have been true in the last century but not now. And what Skrebnev
writes on this problem seems to be argumentative enough.
a) religious English;
«Dialects are current in the countryside; cities are nearly untouched
by them. In the 19th century England some of the aristocracy were
not ashamed of using their local dialects. Nowadays owing to the
sound media (radio, cinema and TV) non-standard English in Britain
is nearly, as in this country, a sure sign of cultural inferiority, e.g. the
status of Cockney.» (47, p. 198).
f) news media English further subdivided into:
• newsreporting;
• journalistics;
• broadcasting;
• sportscommentary;
• advertising.
b) scientific English;
c) legal English;
d) plain (official) English;
e) political English;
Restricted English includes very tightly constrained uses of language
when little or no linguistic variation is permitted. In these cases
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Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
special rules are created by man to be consciously learned and used.
These rules control everything that can be said. According to Crystal
restricted varieties appear both in domestic and occupational spheres
and include the following types:
a) knitwrite in books on knitting;
b) cookwrite in recipe books;
c) congratulatory messages;
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles
ists', 'good story-tellers', 'good letter-writers', 'good speech-makers'.
What actually makes them so is the subject of stylistic research.
There are also a number of cases where individuality in the use of
English—a personal style—is considered to be a matter of particular
importance and worthy of study in its own right. Such is the study of
the individual style of a writer or poet: Shakespeare's style, Faulkner's
style, and the like.
d) newspaper announcements;
e) newspaper headlines;
f) sportscasting scores;
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major
functional styles of English
g) airspeak, the language of air traffic control;
h) emergencyspeak, the language for the emergency services;
i) e-mail variety, etc.
Individual variation involves types of speech that arise from the speaker's personal differences meaning such features as physique, interests,
personality, experience and so on. Each individual has a different
idiolect, a variety of the language that is as personally distinctive as a
fingerprint. A particular blend of social and geographical backgrounds
may produce a distinctive accent or dialect. Educational history, oc- I
cupational experience, personal skills and tastes, hobbies or literary
preferences will foster the use of habitual words and turns of phrase, or
certain kinds of grammatical construction.
Also noticeable will be favourite discourse practices—a tendency to
develop points in an argument in a certain way, or an inclination for
certain kinds of metaphor. Some people are 'good conversational-
A description of five major functional styles given in this section is
based on their most distinctive features on each level of the language
structure: pnonetical (where possible), morphological, syntactical,
lexical and compositional. A peculiar combination of these features
and special emphasis on some of them creates the paradigm of what is
called a scientific or publicist text, a legal or other official document,
colloquial or formal speech.
4.5.1. Literary colloquial style
Phonetic features
Standard pronunciation in compliance with the national norm,
enunciation.
Phonetic compression of frequently used forms, e.g. it's, don't, I've.
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Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
Omission of unaccented elements due to the quick tempo, e. g. you
know him ?
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles
Basic stock of communicative vocabulary—stylistically neutral.
Morphological features
Use of socially accepted contracted forms and abbreviations, e. g.
fridge for refrigerator, ice for ice-cream, TV for television, CD for
compact disk, etc.
Use of regular morphological features, with interception of evaluative
suffixes e. g. deary, doggie, duckie.
Use of etiquette language and conversational formulas, such as nice
to see you, my pleasure, on behalf of, etc.
Prevalence of active and finite verb forms.
Extensive use of intensifiers and gap-fillers, e. g. absolutely, definitely,
awfully, kind of, so to speak, I mean, if I may say so.
Syntactical features
Use of simple sentences with a number of participial and infinitive
constructions and numerous parentheses.
Syntactically correct utterances compliant with the literary norm.
Use of various types of syntactical compression, simplicity of syntactical connection.
Use of grammar forms for emphatic purposes, e. g. progressive verb
forms to express emotions of irritation, anger etc.
Decomposition and ellipsis of sentences in a dialogue (easily reconstructed from the context).
Use of special colloquial phrases, e.g. that friend of yours.
Use of interjections and exclamations, e. g. Dear me, My God,
Goodness, well, why, now, oh.
Extensive use of phrasal verbs let sb down, put up with, stand sb up.
Use of words of indefinite meaning like thing, stuff.
Avoidance of slang, vulgarisms, dialect words, jargon.
Use of phraseological expressions, idioms and figures of speech.
Compositional features
Can be used in written and spoken varieties: dialogue, monologue,
personal letters, diaries, essays, articles, etc.
Lexical features
Prepared types of texts may have thought out and logical composition, to a certain extent determined by conventional forms (letters,
Presentations, articles, interviews).
Wide range of vocabulary strata in accordance with the register of
communication and participants' roles: formal and informal, neutral
and bookish, terms and foreign words.
Spontaneous types have a loose structure, relative coherence and
u
niformity of form and content.
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Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
4.5.2. Familiar colloquial style
Represented in spoken variety.
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles
Use of echo questions, parallel structures, repetitions of various
kinds.
In complex sentences asyndetic coordination is the norm.
Phonetic features
Casual and often careless pronunciation, use of deviant forms, e. g,
gonna instead of going to, whatcha instead of what do you, dunno
instead of don't know.
Use of reduced and contracted forms, e.g. you're, they've, Pd.
Omission of unaccented elements due to quick tempo, e.g. you hear
me?
Emphasis on intonation as a powerful semantic and stylistic instrument capable to render subtle nuances of thought and feeling.
Use of onomatopoeic words, e.g. whoosh, hush, stop yodelling, yum,
yak.
Morphological features
Use of evaluative suffixes, nonce words formed on morphological and
phonetic analogy with other nominal words: e.g. baldish, mawkish,
moody, hanky-panky, helter-skelter, plates of meet (feet), okeydoke.
Syntactical features
Use of simple short sentences.
Dialogues are usually of the question-answer type.
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Coordination is used more often than subordination, repeated use of
conjunction and is a sign of spontaneity rather than an expressive
device.
Extensive use of ellipsis, including the subject of the sentence e. g.
Can't say anything.
Extensive use of syntactic tautology, e. g. 77га/ girl, she was something
else!
Abundance of gap-fillers and parenthetical elements, such as sure,
indeed, to be more exact, okay, well.
Lexical features
Combination of neutral, familiar and low colloquial vocabulary,
including slang, vulgar and taboo words.
Extensive use of words of general meaning, specified in meaning by
the situation guy, job, get, do, fix, affair.
Limited vocabulary resources, use of the same word in different
meanings it may not possess, e. g. 'some' meaning good: some guy!
some game! 'nice' meaning impressive, fascinating, high quality: nice
music.
Abundance of specific colloquial interjections: boy, wow, hey, there,
ahoy.
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
Use of hyperbole, epithets, evaluative vocabulary, trite metaphors and
simile, e.g. if you say it once more I'll kill you, as old as the hills
horrid, awesome, etc.
Tautological substitution of personal pronouns and names by other
nouns, e. g. you-baby, Johnny-boy.
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles
Morphological features
Frequent use of non-finite verb forms, such as gerund, participle,
infinitive.
Use of non-perfect verb forms.
Mixture of curse words and euphemisms, e. g. damn, dash, darned,
shoot.
Omission of articles, link verbs, auxiliaries, pronouns, especially in
headlines and news items.
Extensive use of collocations and phrasal verbs instead of neutral and
literary equivalents: e. g. to turn in instead of to go to bed.
Syntactical features
Compositional features
Frequent use of rhetorical questions and interrogatives in oratory
speech.
Use of deviant language on all levels.
Strong emotional colouring.
Loose syntactical organisation of an utterance.
Frequently little coherence or adherence to the topic.
In headlines: use of impersonal sentences, elliptical constructions,
interrogative sentences, infinitive complexes and attributive groups.
In news items and articles: news items comprise one or two, rarely
three, sentences.
No special compositional patterns.
Absence of complex coordination with chain of subordinate clauses
and a number of conjunctions.
4.5.3. Publicist (media) style
Prepositional phrases are used much more than synonymous gerundial
phrases.
Phonetic features (in oratory)
Standard pronunciation, wide use of prosody as a means of conveying
the sut ; shades of meaning, overtones and emotions.
Phonetic compression.
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Absence of exclamatory sentences, break-in-the narrative, other
expressively charged constructions.
Articles demonstrate more syntactical organisation and logical arrangement of sentences.
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
Lexical features
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles
In oratory: simplicity of structural expression, clarity of message,
argumentative power.
Newspaper cliches and set phrases.
Terminological variety: scientific, sports, poUtical, technical, etc. •
Abbreviations and acronyms.
Numerous proper names, toponyms, anthroponyms, names of enterprises, institutions, international words, dates and figures.
Abstract notion words, elevated and bookish words.
In headlines: frequent use of pun, violated phraseology, vivid stylistic
devices.
In oratory speech: words of elevated and bookish character, colloquial
words and phrases, frequent use of such stylistic devices as metaphor,
alliteration, allusion, irony, etc.
In headlines: use of devices to arrest attention: rhyme, pun, puzzle,
high degree of compression, graphical means.
In news items and articles: strict arrangement of titles and subtitles,
emphasis on the headline.
Careful subdivision into paragraphs, clearly defined position of the
sections of an article: the most important information is carried in
the opening paragraph; often in the first sentence.
4.5.4. The style of official documents
Morphological features
Use of conventional forms of address and trite phases.
Adherence to the norm, sometimes outdated or even archaic, e. g. in
legal documents.
Compositional features
Syntactical features
Text arrangement is marked by precision, logic and expressive power.
Use of long complex sentences with several types of coordination and
subordination (up to 70% of the text).
Carefully selected vocabulary.
Use of passive and participial constructions, numerous connectives.
Variety of topics.
Wide use of quotations, direct speech and represented speech.
Use of objects, attributes and all sorts of modifiers in the identifying
and explanatory function.
Use of parallel constructions throughout the text.
Extensive use of detached constructions and parenthesis.
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Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
Use of participle I and participle II as openers in the initial expository
statement.
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles
Absence of tropes, no evaluative and emotive colouring of vocabulary.
Seldom use of substitute words: it, one, that.
A general syntactical mode of combining several pronouncements
into one sentence.
Information texts are based on standard normative syntax reasonably
simplified.
Compositional features
Special compositional design: coded graphical layout, clear-cut subdivision of texts into units of information; logical arrangement of these
units, order-of-priority organisation of content and information.
Lexical features
Prevalence of stylistically neutral and bookish vocabulary.
Use of terminology, e.g. legal: acquittal, testimony, aggravated iarceny;
commercial: advance payment, insurance, wholesale, etc.
Use of proper names (names of enterprises, companies, etc.) and
titles.
Conventional composition of treaties, agreements, protocols, etc.:
division into two parts, a preamble and a main part.
Use of stereotyped, official phraseology.
Accurate use of punctuation.
Generally objective, concrete, unemotional and impersonal style of
narration.
Abstraction of persons, e.g. use of party instead of the name.
Officialese vocabulary: cliches, opening and conclusive phrases.
4.5.5. Scientific/academic style
Conventional and archaic forms and words: kinsman, hereof, thereto,
thereby, ilk.
Morphological features
Foreign words, especially Latin and French: status quo, force majeure,
persona поп grata.
Terminological word building and word-derivation: neologism formation by affixation and conversion.
Abbreviations, contractions, conventional symbols: M. P. (member of
Parliament), Ltd {limited), $, etc.
Restricted use of finite verb forms.
Use of 'the author's we' instead of I.
Use of words in their primary denotative meaning.
Frequent use of impersonal constructions.
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Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
4.5. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles
Syntactical features
Lexical features
Complete and standard syntactical mode of expression.
Extensive use of bookish words e. g. presume, infer, preconception,
cognitive.
Syntactical precision to ensure the logical sequence of thought and
argumentation.
Abundance of scientific terminology and phraseology.
Direct word order.
Use of words in their primary dictionary meaning, restricted use of
connotative contextual meanings.
Use of lengthy sentences with subordinate clauses.
Extensive use of participial, gerundial and infinitive complexes.
Extensive use of adverbial and prepositional phrases.
Frequent use of parenthesis introduced by a dash.
Abundance of attributive groups with a descriptive function.
Preferential use of prepositional attributive groups instead of the
descriptive of phrase.
Avoidance of ellipsis, even usually omitted conjunctions like 'that'
and 'which'.
Use of numerous neologisms.
Abundance of proper names.
Restricted use of emotive colouring, interjections, expressive phraseology, phrasal verbs, colloquial vocabulary.
Seldom use of tropes, such as metaphor, hyperbole, simile, etc.
Compositional features
Types of texts compositionally depend on the scientific genre: monograph, article, presentation, thesis, dissertation, etc.
Prevalence of nominal constructions over the verbal ones to avoid
time reference for the sake of generalisation.
In scientific proper and technical texts e.g. mathematics: highly
formalized text with the prevalence of formulae, tables, diagrams
supplied with concise commentary phrases.
Frequent use of passive and non-finite verb forms to achieve objectivity and impersonality.
In humanitarian texts (history, philosophy): descriptive narration,
supplied with argumentation and interpretation.
Use of impersonal forms and sentences such as mention should be
made, it can be inferred, assuming that, etc.
Logical and consistent narration, sequential presentation of material
and facts.
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Practice Section
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
Extensive use of citation, references and foot-notes.
Restricted use of expressive means and stylistic devices.
Extensive use of conventional set phrases at certain points to emphasise the logical character of the narration, e. g. as we have seen, in
conclusion, finally, as mentioned above.
Use of digressions to debate or support a certain point.
Definite structural arrangement in a hierarchical order: introduction,
chapters, paragraphs, conclusion.
Special set of connective phrases and words to sustain coherence and
logic, such as consequently, on the contrary, likewise.
Extensive use of double conjunctions like as... as, either... or, both...
and, etc.
Compositionally arranged sentence patterns: postulatory (at the beginning), argumentative (in the central part), formulative (in the
conclusion).
Distinctive features described above by no means present an exhaustive
nomenclature for each type. A careful study of each functional style
requires investigation of the numerous types of texts of various genres
that represent each style. That obviously cannot be done in the
framework of this course. It is also one of the reasons why the style
of literature has not been included in this description. It is hardly
worthwhile trying to make any generalizations about the sphere of
belles-lettres style, which includes such an array of genres whether in
prose, or poetry, or drama, let alone the peculiar styles of separate
authors.
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practice Section
1. What extralinguistic factors are involved in the notion of style?
How do style and personal factors correlate? What styles exist
in any national language?
2. What is the literary norm of a language? What does the term 'a
norm variation' imply? How is each style characterised by the
function it fulfils?
3. Comment on the sociolinguistic and stylistic factors that account
for the use of regional, social, and occupational varieties of the
language.
4. Compare the classifications of functional styles in English described in this chapter.
5. Identify the functional style in each of the texts given below and
point out the distinctive features that testify to its specific
character.
It has long been known that when exposed to light under suitable
conditions of temperature and moisture, the green parts of plants use
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen to it. These
exchanges are the opposite of those, which occur in respiration. The
process is called photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, carbohydrates are
synthesized from carbon dioxide and water by the chloroplasts of plant
cells in the presence of light. Oxygen is the product of the reaction.
For each molecule of carbon dioxide used, one molecule of oxygen is
released. A summary chemical equation for photosynthesis is:
6C02 = 6H20 ------------- > С6Н12Об + 602.
Chapter 4. The Theory of Functional Styles
You was sharp, wasn't you, to catch me like that, eh? By Ga-ard
you had me fixed proper, proper you had. Darn me, you fixed me up
proper— proper, you did.
I don't think no worse of you for it, no, darned if I do. Fine pluck in
a woman's what I admire. That I do indeed.
Wefetfrom the start, we did. And, my word, you begin again quick the
minute you see me, you did. Darn me, you was too sharp for me. A darn
fine woman, puts up a darn good fight. Darn me if I could find a woman
in all the darn States as could get me down like that. Wonderful fine
woman you be, truth to say, at this minute. (Lawrence)
Wal-Mart told to raise German prices
Wal-Mart's European expansion plans suffered their second blow in
a week as the German competition authority ordered the retailer to raise
key prices in its German hypermarkets.
Prince to buy Kirch pay-TV stake
Prince Al-Valeed of Saudi Arabia plans to buy a 3.2 per cent stake in \
the pay television operation of German Leo Kirch.
Japanese debt downgraded second time
The Japanese government was struck a humiliating blow when Moody's,
the US credit rating agency, downgraded Japan's domestic currency debt
for the second time in two years.
SAP prices consultancy at top of range
SAP, Europe's largest software group, is likely to price shares in SAP
SI, its consultancy, at the top of its book-building range.
Enel subsidiary mulls Infostrada buy
Enel, Italy's main electricity utility, expressed strong interest in its
telecommunications subsidiary, Wind, buying its Italian fixed-line rival,
Infostrada.
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Practice Section
_^_^_________
In your letter of 15th ultimo you advise us of the problem of finding
skilled personnel. In this connection we wish to state that only about
12 per cent of skilled workforce is engaged in minor industrial activity
associated with servicing the city's growth.
We enclose herewith a schedule of the work and the work progress report
thereon and we wish to state that among considerations influencing the
selection of sites is the desire to maintain residential amenity.
We wish to state that several specialized industries have been established
in terms of article 3 of the said contract.
«ft certainly is great Bourbon!» said Bartlett, smacking his lips and
putting his glass back on the tray.
« You bet it is!» Greg agreed. «I mean you can't buy that kind of stuff anymore. I mean it's real stuff. You help yourself when you want another.
Mr. Bartlett is going to stay all night, sweetheart. I told him he could
get a whole lot more of a line on us that way than just interviewing me
in the office. I mean I'm tongue-tied when it comes to talking about my
work and my success. I mean it's better to see me out here as I am, in
my home, with my family.»
«But, sweetheart,» said his wife, «what about Mr. Latham?» «Gosh! I
forgot all about him! I must phone and see if I can call it off. That's
terrible!» (Lardner)
6. Find texts demonstrative of each functional type and analyse
their distinctive features on all levels as described in chapter 4.
5.1. Stylistics of the author and of the reader
5.1. Stylistics of the author and of the reader.
The notions of encoding and decoding
Chapter 5
Decoding Stylistics
and Its Fundamental Notions
Stylistics of the author and of the reader. The notions of encoding
and decoding. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
and types of foregrounding.
How often with all the theoretical experience
of method accumulated in me over the years
have I stared blankly quite similar to one of
my beginning students at a page that would
not yield its magic.
Leo Spitzer. Linguistic and Literary History
Чем рассказывать мне, что в данной веши
хотела дать — я, лучше покажи мне, что
сумел от нее взять — ты.
М. Цветаева: Поэт о критике
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Decoding stylistics is the most recent trend in stylistic research that
employs theoretical findings in such areas of science as information
theory, psychology, statistical studies in combination with linguistics,
literary theory, history of art, literary criticism, etc.
Decoding goes beyond the traditional analysis of a work of fiction
which usually gives either an evaluative explanatory commentary on
the historical, cultural, biographical or geographical background of
the work and its author or suggests a kind of stylistic analysis that
comprises an inventory of stylistic devices and expressive means found
in the text.
Neither of these approaches seems quite satisfactory. The first kind of
analysis is typically done by a literary critic and may tend to become
an arbitrary or judgmental reflection of his personal esthetic or other
preferences and tastes. Such critiques may be detached from the text
and based on the critic's inferences of what he conjectures as the
author's intention. Many authors resent critical analysis of this sort as
an attitude but not real evaluation.
The other approach tends to pursue another extreme: a formal
registration of the data of the text. It divests a work of art of its magic
and poetry by a pragmatic and statistical treatment that dissects the
text and explains but little.
Decoding stylistics makes an attempt to regard the esthetic value of a
text based on the interaction of specific textual elements, stylistic
devices and compositional structure in delivering the author's
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
5.1. Stylistics of the author and of the reader
message. This method does not consider the stylistic function of any
stylistically important feature separately but only as a part of the
whole text. So expressive means and stylistic devices are treated in
their interaction and distribution within the text as carriers of the
author's purport and creative idiom. By this the stylistic study of a
literary work acquires a new, semasiological dimension in which the
stylistic elements become signs of the author's vision of the world.
addressee who in this case is the reader. The reader is supposed to
decode the information contained in the text of a literary work.
Decoding stylistics helps the reader in his or her understanding of a
literary work by explaining or decoding the information that may be
hidden from immediate view in specific allusions, cultural or political
parallels, peculiar use of irony or euphemy, etc.
The term 'decoding stylistics' came from the application of the theory
of information to linguistics by such authors as M. Riffatrre, R. Jacobson, RGuiraud, F.Danes, Y. Lotman, I.V.Arnold and others.
In a rather simplified version this theory presents a creative process
in the following mode. The writer receives diverse information from
the outside world. Some of it becomes a source for his creative work.
He processes this information and recreates it in his own esthetic
images that become a vehicle to pass his vision to the addressee, his
readers. The process of internalizing of the outside information and
translating it into his imagery is called 'encoding'.
To encode certain information an author resorts to certain means—
meaningful units that are organized according to certain rules. The
salient feature of this information encoded by the author is called the
message.
The process of encoding will only make any sense if besides the
encoder who sends the information it includes the recipient or the
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However to encode the information does not mean to have it delivered
or passed intact to the recipient. There are more obstacles here than
meet the eye. In contrast to the writer who is always concrete the
reader who is addressed is in fact an abstract notion, he is any of the
thousands of people who may read this book. This abstract reader
may not be prepared or willing to decode the message or even take it.
The reasons are numerous and various.
A literary work on its way to the reader encounters quite a number of
hindrances of all sorts—social, historical, temporal, cultural and so
on. Many of these differences between the author and his reader are
inevitable. Readers and authors may be separated by historical
epochs, social conventions, religious and political views, cultural and
national traditions. Moreover, even if the author and the reader
belong to the same society no reader can completely identify himself
with the author either emotionally, intellectually or esthetically.
Apart from these objective and personal factors we cannot disregard
the complexity of certain works of art. Many of them are quite
sophisticated in form and content. Some are full of implications that
create more than one semantic plane and may contain
understatements, semantic accretion, or open-ended composition that
makes the reader waver about the outcome. Others require of the
reader a wide educational thesaurus and knowledge of history,
philosophy, mythology or religion.
The readers will differ not only from the author but also from each
other. They have a different life experience, educational background,
cultural level and tastes.
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
All these factors often preclude easy decoding and show how difficult
it is for the message to reach the reader and be appropriately construed
by him. The message encoded and sent may differ from the message
received after decoding.
devices that demonstrate some stylistic function but as a part of the
general pattern discernible on the background of relatively lengthy
segments of the text, from a paragraph to the level of the whole work.
The underlying idea implies that stylistic analysis can only be valid
when it takes into account the overall concept and aesthetic system
of the author reflected in his writing.
So the result may be a failure on either side. The reader may complain
that he couldn't understand what the author wanted to say, while the
author may resent being misinterpreted. A good illustration of the
problem of mutual understanding is provided in M. Tsvetaeva's essay
«Poets on Critics» in which she maintains that reading is co-creative
work on the part of the reader if he wants to understand and enjoy
a work of art. Reading is not so much a hobby done at leisure as
solving a kind of puzzle. What is reading but divining, interpreting,
unraveling the mystery, wrapped in between the lines, beyond the
words, she writes. So if the reader has no imagination no book stands
a chance (29, p. 274-296).
From the reader's point of view the important tiling is not what the
author wanted to say but what he managed to convey in the text of
his work.
That's why decoding stylistics deals with the notions of stylistics of
the author and stylistics of the reader.
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
and types of foregrounding
Decoding stylistics investigates the same levels as Iinguastylistics—
phonetic, graphical, lexical, and grammatical. The basic difference is
that it studies expressive means provided by each level not as isolated
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Ideas, events, characters, emotions and an author's attitudes are
all encoded in the text through language. The reader is expected
to perceive and decipher these things by reading and interpreting
the text. Decoding stylistics is actually the reader's stylistics that is
engaged in recreating the author's vision of the world with the help
of concrete text elements and their interaction throughout the text.
A systematic and elaborate presentation of decoding stylistics as
a branch of general stylistics can be found in the book of Prof. Arnold
Стилистика современного английского языка. (Стилистика декодирования) so here we shall limit ourselves to the description of
its most general principles and concepts.
One of the fundamental concepts of decoding stylistics is foregrounding. The notion itself was suggested by the scholars of the Prague
linguistic circle that was founded in 1926 and existed until early 50s.
Among its members were some of the most outstanding linguists of the
20<Л century, such as N. S. Trubetskoy, S. O. Kart-sevsky, R. Jacobson,
V. Matezius, B. Tmka, J. Vachek, V. Skalichka and others (20). The
Prague circle represented a trend of structural linguistics and developed a number of ideas and notions that made a valuable contribution
into modern linguistic theory, for example, phonology and the theory
of oppositions, the theory of functional sentence perspective, the notions of norm and codification, functional styles and dialectology, etc.
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
The Prague school introduced into linguistics a functional approach
to language. Their central thesis postulated that language is not a
rigorous petrified structure but a dynamic functional system. In other
words language is a system of means of expression that serve a
definite purpose in communication. Their views exerted profound
influence on stylistic research in areas of functional styles study, the
norm and its variations in the national language, as well as the study
of poetic language, i. e. the language of literature. It was for this latter
sphere that the notion of foregrounding was formulated.
Prof. Arnold has highlighted various treatments of the term by
different authors in her book on decoding stylistics but the essence of
the concept consists in the following. Foregrounding means a specific
role that some language items play in a certain context when the
reader's attention cannot but be drawn to them. In a literary text such
items become stylistically marked features that build up its stylistic
function.
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
5.2.1. Convergence
Convergence as the term implies denotes a combination or accumulation of stylistic devices promoting the same idea, emotion or motive.
Stylistic function is not the property and purpose of expressive means
of the language as such. Any type of expressive means will make
sense stylistically when treated as a part of a bigger unit, the context,
or the whole text. It means that there is no immediate dependence
between a certain stylistic device and a definite stylistic function.
A stylistic device is not attached to this or that stylistic effect.
Therefore a hyperbole, for instance, may provide any number of
effects: tragic, comical, pathetic or grotesque. Inversion may give the
narration a highly elevated tone or an ironic ring of parody.
This «chameleon» quality of a stylistic device enables the author to
apply different devices for the same purpose. The use of more than
one type of expressive means in close succession is a powerful
technique to support the idea that carries paramount importance in
the author's view. Such redundancy ensures the delivery of the
message to the reader.
Descriptive, statistical, distributional and other kinds of linguistic
analysis show that there are certain modes of language use and
arrangement to achieve the effect of foregrounding. It may be j based
on various types of deviation or redundancy or unexpected combination
of language units, etc. Arnold points out that sometimes the effect of
foregrounding can be achieved in a peculiar way by the very absence of
any expressive or distinctive features precisely because they are
expected in certain types of texts, e. g. the absence of rhythmical
arrangement in verse.
An extract from E. Waugh's novel «Decline and Fall» demonstrates
convergence of expressive means used to create an effect of the glamorous appearance of a very colorful lady character who symbolizes
the high style of living, beauty and grandeur.
However decoding stylistics laid down a few principal methods that
ensure the effect of foregrounding in a literary text. Among them we
can name convergence of expressive means, irradiation, defeated
expectancy, coupling, semantic fields, semi-marked structures.
The door opened and from the cushions within emerged a tall young man
in a clinging dove-gray coat. After him, like the first breath of spring in
'he Champs-Elysee came Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde—two lizard-skin feet,
silk legs, chinchilla body, a tight little black hat, pinned with platinum
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Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
and diamonds, and the high invariable voice that may be heard in any
Ritz Hotel from New York to Budapest.
lady's high social standing because hyphenated names in Britain
testify to the noble ancestry. So the total effect of extravagance and
glamour is achieved by the concentrated use of at least eight types of
expressive means within one paragraph.
Inversion used in both sentences (...from the cushion within emerged
a tall man; ...like the first breath of spring came Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde)
at once sets an elevated tone of the passage.
The simile that brings about a sensory image of awakening nature
together with the allusion to Paris—the symbol of the world's capital
of pleasures—sustains this impression: like the first breath of spring in
the Champs-Ely see. A few other allusions to the world capitals and
their best hotels—New York, Budapest, any Ritz Hotel all symbolize
the wealthy way of life of the lady who belongs to the international
jet-set distinguished from the rest of the world by her money, beauty
and aristocratic descent.
The use of metonymy creates the cinematographic effect of shots and
fragments of the picture as perceived by the gazing crowd and suggests
the details usually blown up in fashionable newspaper columns on
high society life: two lizard-skin feet, silk legs, chichilla body, a tight
little black hat... the invariable voice.
5.2.2. Defeated expectancy
Defeated expectancy is a principle considered by some linguists (Jacobson, Riffaterre) as the basic principle of a stylistic function. Its use
is not limited to some definite level or type of devices. The essence
of the notion is connected with the process of decoding by the reader
of the literary text.
The linear organization of the text mentally prepares the reader for
the consequential and logical development of ideas and unfolding of
the events. The normal arrangement of the text both in form and
content is based on its predictability which means that the appearance
of any element in the text is prepared by the preceding arrangement
and choice of elements, e. g. the subject of the sentence will normally
be followed by the predicate, you can supply parts of certain set
phrases or collocation after you see the first element, etc.
An example from Oscar Wilde's play «The Importance of Being
Earnest» perfectly illustrates how predictability of the structure plays
a joke on the speaker who cannot extricate himself from the grip of
the syntactical composition:
The choice of words associated with high-quality life style: exotic
materials, expensive clothes and jewelry creates a semantic field that
enhances the impression still further (lizard, silk, chinchilla, platinum
and diamonds). A special contribution to the high-flown style of
description is made by the careful choice of words that belong to the
literary bookish stratum: emerge, cushions, dove, invariable.
Miss Fairfax, ever since I met you I have admired you more than any
girl... I have met... since I met you. (Wilde)
Even the name of the character—Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde—is a device
in itself, it's the so-called speaking name, a variety of antonomasiaNot only its implication (best) but also the structure symbolizes the
The speaker is compelled to unravel the structure almost against his
will, and the pauses show he is caught in the trap of the structure
unable either to stop or say anything new. The clash between the
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Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
perfectly rounded phrase and empty content creates a humorous
effect and shows at the same time how powerful are the inherent laws
of syntagmatic arrangement.
Without predictability there would be no coherence and no decoding.
At the same time stylistically distinctive features are often based on
the deviation from the norm and predictability. An appearance of
an unpredictable element may upset the process of decoding. Even
though not completely unpredictable a stylistic device is still a low
expectancy element and it is sure to catch the reader's eye. The
decoding process meets an obstacle, which is given the full force of
the reader's attention. Such concentration on this specific feature
enables the author to effect his purpose.
Defeated expectancy may come up on any level of the language. It
may be an unusual word against the background of otherwise lexically
homogeneous text.
It may be an author's coinage with an unusual suffix; it may be a case
of semantic incongruity or grammatical transposition. Among devices
that are based on this principle we can name pun, zeugma, paradox,
oxymoron, irony, anti-climax, etc.
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
Oscar Wilde, a renowned master of paradox, introduces an unexpected
element and the phrase acquires an inverted implication Divorces are
made in Heaven. The unexpected ironic connotation is enhanced by
the fact that the substitute is actually the antonym of the original
element. The reader is forced to make an effort at interpreting the
new maxim so that it would make sense.
5.2.3. Coupling
Coupling is another technique that helps in decoding the message
implied in a literary work. While convergence and defeated expectancy
both focus the reader's attention on the particularly significant parts
of the text coupling deals with the arrangement of textual elements
(hat provide trie unity and cohesion of the whole structure. The
notion of coupling was introduced by S. Levin in his work «Linguistic
Structures in Poetry» in 1962 (40).
Coupling is more than many other devices connected with the level
of the text. This method of text analysis helps us to decode ideas,
their interaction, inner semantic and structural links and ensures
compositional integrity.
Defeated expectancy is particularly effective when the preceding
narration has a high degree of orderly organized elements that create
a maximum degree of predictability and logical arrangement of the
contextual linguistic material.
Coupling is based on the affinity of elements that occupy similar positions throughout the text. Coupling provides cohesion, consistency
and unity of the text form and content.
Paradox is a fine example of defeated expectancy. The following
example demonstrates how paradox works in such highly predictable
cases as proverbs and phraseology. Everybody knows the proverb
Marriages are made in Heaven.
Like defeated expectancy it can be found on any level of the
ianguage, so the affinity may be different in nature; it may be
phonetic, structural or semantic. Particularly prominent types of
affinity are provided by the phonetic expressive means. They are
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Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
obviously cases of alliteration, assonance, paranomasia, as well as
such prosodic features as rhyme, rhythm and meter.
servants for a family of four; The Second Thursdays, and the chickenand-waffle suppers of the English Lutheran Church. Joe Chapin and
Lloyd Williams were courthouse-corridor friends and fellow Republicans,
but Joe was a Company man and Lloyd Williams was a Union man who
was a Republican because to be anything else in Lantenengo County was
futile and foolish. (O'Hara)
Syntactical affinity is achieved by all kinds of parallelism and syntactical repetition—anadiplosis, anaphora, framing, chiasmus, epiphora
to name but a few.
Semantic coupling is demonstrated by the use of synonyms and
antonyms, both direct and contextual, root repetition, paraphrase,
sustained metaphor, semantic fields, recurrence of images, connotations or symbols.
The latter can be easily detected in the works of some poets who
create their own system of recurrent esthetic symbols for certain
ideas, notions and beliefs.
Some of the well-known symbols are seasons (cf. the symbolic
meaning of winter in Robert Frost's poetry), trees (the symbolic
meaning of a birch tree, a maple in Sergei Yesenin's poetic work, the
meaning of a moutain-ash tree for Marina Tsvetaeva), animals (the
leopard, hyena, bulls, fish in Ernest Hemingway's works) and so on.
These symbols do not only recur in a separate work by these authors
but also generally represent the typical imagery of the author's poetic
vision.
An illustration of the coupling technique is given below in the passage
from John O'Hara's novel Ten North Frederick. The main organizing
principle here is contrast.
Lloyd Williams lived in Collieryville, a mining town three or four miles
from 10 North Frederick, but separated from the Chapins' home and
their life by the accepted differences of money and prestige; the miners'
poolroom, and the Gibbsville Club; sickening poverty, and four live-in
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The central idea of the passage is to underline the difference between
two men who actually represent the class differences between the
rich upper class and the lower working class. So the social contrast
shown through the details of personal life of the two characters is the
message with a generalizing power. This passage shows how coupling
can be an effective tool to decode this message.
There is a pronounced affinity of the syntactical structure in both
sentences. The first contains a chain of parallel detached clauses
connected by and (which is an adversative conjunction here). They
contain a number of antitheses. The contrast is enhanced by the use
of contextual antonyms that occupy identical positions in the clauses:
the miners' poolroom and the Gibbseville Club; sickening poverty and four
servants for a family of four. The Second Thursdays and the Church suppers. The same device is used in the second sentence: Joe was a Company man and Lloyd Williams was a Union man. There are a few instances
of phonetic affinity, alliteration: four servants for a family of four,
courthouse-corridor, friends and fellow Republicans; futile and foolish.
The passage presents an interesting case of semantic coupling through
symbols. The details of personal and class difference chosen by the
author are all charged with symbolic value. There is a definite
connection between them all however diverse they may appear at first
sight. They are all grouped so that they symbolize either money and
prestige or poverty and social deprivation.
Chapter 5. Decoding Styllstics and Its Fundamental Notions
5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
The first group creates the semantic field of wealth and power: money,
social prestige, the Gibbsville Club (symbol of wealth, high social standing, belonging to the select society), four live-in servants for a family
of four (that only rich people can afford), The Second Thursdays (traditional reception days for people of a certain circle, formal dinner
parties for people of high standing), a Company man (a member of a
financially and socially influential group, political elite). The second
semantic field comprises words denoting and symbolizing poverty and
social inferiority: miners' poolroom (a working class kind of leisure),
sickening poverty, chicken -and-waffle suppers of, the English Lutheran
Church (implying informal gatherings where people cook together
and share food), a Union man (a representative of the working class).
This type of analysis shows how cohesion is achieved on a less
explicit level sometimes called the vertical context. Lexical elements
of this sort are charged with implications and adherent meanings that
establish invisible links throughout the text and create a kind of
semantic background so that the work is laced with certain kind of
imagery.
The similarity of these elements' positions in this text makes the
contrast all the more striking.
A minor case of coupling in the passage above is the use of zeugma in
the first sentence when the word separated is simultaneously linked to
two different objects home and life in two different meanings—direct
and figurative.
5.2.4. Semantic field
Semantic field is a method of decoding stylistics closely connected
with coupling. It identifies lexical elements in text segments and the
whole work that provide its thematic and compositional cohesion.
To reveal this sort of cohesion decoding must carefully observe not
only lexical and synonymous repetition but semantic affinity which
finds expression in cases of lexico-semantic variants, connotations
and associations aroused by a specific use or distribution of lexical
units, thematic pertinence of seemingly unrelated words.
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Lexical ties relevant to this kind of analysis will include synonymous
and antonymous relations, morphological derivation, relations of
inclusion (various types of hyponymy and entailment), common
semes in the denotative or connotative meanings of different words.
If a word manifests semantic links with one or more other words in
the text it shows thematic relevance and several links of this sort may
be considered a semantic field, an illustration of which was offered
in the previous example on coupling. Semantic ties in that example
(mostly impUcit) are based on the adherent and symbolic
connotations (Church meals, Club member, live-in servants, Union
man, etc) and create a semantic field specific to the theme and
message of this work: the contrast between wealth and poverty, upper
class and working class.
In the next example we obseive the semantic field of a less complicated
nature created by more explicit means.
Joe kept saying he did not want a fortieth birthday party. He said he
did not like parties—a palpable untruth—and particularly and especially
a large party in honor of his reaching forty...
At first there were going to be forty guests but the invitation list grew
larger and the party plans more elaborate, until Arthur said that with
so many people they ought to hire an orchestra, and with an orchestra
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
there would be dancing, and with dancing there ought to be a good-size
orchestra. The original small dinner became a dinner dance at the
Lantenengo Country Club. Invitations were sent to more than three
hundred persons... (O'Hara)
The thematic word of the passage is party. It recurs four times in
these four sentences. It is obviously related to such words used as its
substitutes as dinner and dinner dance which become contextual
synonyms within the frame of the central stylistic device of this
piece—the climax.
Semantic relations of inclusion by entailment and hyponymy are
represented by such words as birthday (party), (party) in honor, (party)
plans, invitation (list), guests, people, persons, orchestra, dancing.
The subtheme of the major theme is the scale of the celebration
connected with the importance of the date—the main character
reached the age of forty considered an important milestone in a
man's life and career. So there is a semantic field around the figure
forty—its lexical repetition and morphological derivation (forty—
forty—fortieth) and the word large amplified throughout by
contextual synonyms, morphological derivatives and relations of
entailment
(large—larger—more—many—good-size—more-three
hundred).
Another type of semantic relationship that contributes to the semantic field analysis is the use of antonyms and contrastive elements
associated with the themes in question: large—small, forty—three hundred, small dinner—dinner dance, orchestra—good-sized orchestra, did
not like—untruth. The magnitude and importance of the event are
further enhanced by the use of synonymous intensifiers particularly
and especially.
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5.2. Essential concepts of decoding stylistic analysis
5.2.5. Semi-marked structures
Semi-marked structures are a variety of defeated expectancy associated with the deviation from the grammatical and lexical norm. It's
an extreme case of defeated expectancy much stronger than low expectancy encountered in a paradox or anti-climax, the unpredictable
element is used contrary to the norm so it produces a very strong
emphatic impact.
In the following lines by G. Baker we observe a semi-marked structure
on a grammatical basis:
The stupid heart that will not learn
The everywhere of grief
The word everywhere is not a noun, but an adverb and cannot be
used with an article and a preposition, besides grief is an abstract
noun that cannot be used as an object with a noun denoting location.
However the lines make sense for the poet and the readers who
interpret them as the poetic equivalent of the author's overwhelming
feeling of sadness and dejection.
Lexical deviation from the norm usually means breaking the laws of
semantic compatibility and lexical valency. Arnold considers semimarked structures as a part of tropes based on the unexpected or
unpredictable relations established between objects and phenomena
by the author.
If you had to predict what elements would combine well with such
words and expressions as to try one's best to..., to like ... or what
epithets, you would choose for words like father or movement you
would hardly come up with such incompatible combinations that we
observe in the following sentences:
Practice Section
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
She ... tried her best to spoil the party. (Erdrich)
Montezuma and Archuleta had recently started a mock-seriousseparatisi
movement, seeking to join New Mexico. (Michener)
Would you believe it, that unnatural father wouldn't stump up. (Waugh |
He liked the ugly little college... (Waugh)
Such combination of lexical units in our normal everyday speech is
rare. However in spite of their apparent incongruity semi-marked
structures of both types are widely used in literary texts that are fuh
of sophisticated correlations which help to read sense into most
unpredictable combinations of lexical units.
This chapter contains but a brief outline of decoding stylistics and its
basic principles and notions. As has been mentioned above more
detailed and extensive description of decoding analysis and its correlation with the traditional stylistic methods and notions can be
found in the works of such Russian and foreign authors as M. Riffaterre, G. Leech, S. Levin, P. Guiraud, L. Dolezel, I. V. Arnold, Yu.
M. Lotman, Yu. S. Stepanov and others.
The role and purpose of this trend in stylistics was appropriately
summed up by I. V. Arnold in her book on decoding stylistics:
«Modern stylistics in not so much interested in the identification of
separate devices as in discovering the common mechanism of tropes
and their effect.» (4, p. 155).
Now, using the achievements of the 20*л century linguistics, scholars
try to answer the question how stylistic function works rather than
what effect it produces.
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Practice Section
1. What is implied in the separation of the author's stylistics from
the reader's? How do the processes of encoding and decoding
differ?
2. Comment on the factors that may prevent the reader from
adequately decoding the author's imagery and message?
3. Speak on the origin and importance of the notion foregrounding
for stylistic analysis.
4. There is a convergence of expressive means in the passage
below. Try to identify separate devices that contribute to the
poetic description of a beautiful young girl: types of repetition,
metaphor, sustained metaphor, catachresis, alliteration,
inversion, coupling, semantic field:
On her face was that tender look of sleep, which a nodding flower has
when it is full out. Like a mysterious early /lower, she was full out,
like a snowdrop which spreads its three white wings in a flight into the
waking sleep of its brief blossoming. The waking sleep of her full-opened
virginity, entranced like a snowdrop in the sunshine, was upon her.
(Lawrence)
The basic principle in the next passage (that describes how only
one of the two relatives became the sole heir to the old man's
money) is that of contrast and the method of convergence ensures
the ample interpretation of the author's intention. Explain the
intention and find the devices that deliver it.
From the start Philbrick was the apple of the old chap's eye, while he
couldn't stick Miss Grade at any price.
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
Practice Section
Philbrick could spout Shakespeare and Hamlet and things by the yard
before Grade could read «The cat sat on the mat». When he was
eight he had a sonnet printed in the local paper. After that Grade
wasn't in it anywhere. She lived with the servants like Cinderella.
(Waugh)
— The very thing, said the Doctor. Only fire into the ground, mind. We
must do everything we can to avoid an accident. Do you always carry
that about with you ? —Only when I'm wearing my diamonds, said
Philbrick. (Waugh)
5. How is the effect of defeated expectancy achieved in the examples
below? What are the specific devices employed in each case?
Texans, quite apart from being tall and lean, turned out to be short and
stout, hospitable, stingy to a degree, generous to a fault, even-tempered,
cantankerous, doleful, and happy as the day is long. (Atkinson)
Celestine finally turned on the bench and put her hand over Dot's.
—Honey, she said, would it kill you to say 'yes'?
— Yes, said Dot. (Erdrich)
St. Valentine's Day, I remembered, anniversary for lovers and massacre.
(Shaw)
—It's little stinkers like you, he said, who turn decent masters savage. —
Do you think that's so very complimentary?
—I think it's one of the most complimentary things I ever heard said
about a master, said Beste-Chetwynde. (Waugh)
/ think that, if anything, sports are rather worse than concerts, said
Mr. Prendergast. They at least happen indoors. (Waugh)
...the Indian burial mound this town is named for contain the things
that each Indian used in their lives. People have found stone grinders,
hunting arrows and jewelry of colored bones. So I think it's no use. Even
buried, our things survive. (Erdrich)
— Would this be of any use? Asked Philbrick, producing an enormous
service revolver. Only take care, it's loaded.
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When we visited Athens, we saw the Apocalypse. (Maleska)
6. Explain how the principle of coupling can be used in analyzing
the following passages. What types of coupling can you identify
here?
Feeding animals while men and women starve, he said bitterly. It was a
topic; a topic dry, scentless and colourless as a pressed flower, a topic
on which in the school debating society one had despaired of finding
anything new to say. (Waugh)
You asked me what I had going this time. What I have going is wine.
With the way the world's drinking these days, being in wine is like
having a license to steal. (Shaw)
7. In many cases coupling relies a lot on semantic fields analysis.
Show how these principles interact in the following passage.
The truth is that motor-cars offer a very happy illustration of the
metaphysical distinction between 'being' and 'becoming'. Some cars,
mere vehicles, with no purpose above bare locomotion, mechanical
drudges... have definite 'being' just as much as their occupants. They
are bought all screwed up and numbered and painted,
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistlcs and Its Fundamental Notions
Practice Section
and there they stay through various declensions of ownership, brightened
now and then with a lick of paint... but still maintaining their essential
identity to the scrap heap.
Not so the real cars, that become masters of men; those vital creations
of metal who exist solely for their own propulsion through space, for
whom their drivers are as important as the stenographer to a stockbroker.
These are in perpetual flux; a vortex of combining and disintegrating
units, like the confluence of traffic where many roads meet. (Waugh)
This tower of energies went away then, and there was another thrust of
lightning just outside the wall. It was a less impressive display, just an
ordinary lightning stroke, but it lifted the three of us thrashing in midair
for a long moment, then dropped us breathless and sightless on the damp
ground. (Chappell)
8. Workings in groups of two or three try to define the themes of
the following text with a description of a thunderstorm. Let
each group arrange the vocabulary of the passage into
semantically related fields, for example: storm sounds, shapes,
colors, supernatural forces, etc.
We... looked out the mucking hole to where a tower of lightning stood. It
was a broad round shaft like a great radiant auger, boring into cloud
and mud at once. Burning. Transparent. And inside this cylinder of
white-purple light swam shoals of creatures we could never have
imagined. Shapes filmy and iridescent and veined like dragonfly wings
erranded between the earth and heavens. They were moving to a music
we couldn't hear, the thunder blotting it out for us. Or maybe the
cannonade of thunder was music for them, but measure that we couldn't
understand.
We didn't know what they were.
They were storm angels. Or maybe they were natural creatures whose
natural element was storm, as the sea is natural to the squid and shark.
We couldn't make out their whole shapes. Were they mermaids or tigers?
Were they clothed in shining linen or in flashing armor? We saw what
we thought we saw, whatever they were, whatever they were in process
of becoming.
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9. Comment on the type of deviation in the following semi-marked
structures.
Did you ever see a dream walking? (Cheever)
Man in the day or wind at night
Laid the crops low, broke the grape's joy. (Thomas)
/ think cards are divine, particularly the kings. Such naughty old faces!
(Waugh)
The Maker's white coat and black visage had disappeared from the street
doorway. Reinhart got a premonition of doom when he saw the color
combination with which they had been replaced: policeman's midnight
blue and Slavic-red face, but the pace helped keep his upper lip stiff.
(Berger)
Ask Pamela; she's so brave and manly. (Waugh)
// was Granny whom she came to detest with all her soul... her Yvette
really hated, with that pure, sheer hatred which is almost a joy.
(Lawrence)
...everyone who spoke, it seemed, was but biding his time to shout the
old village street refrain which had haunted him all his life, «Nigger!—
Nigger!—White Nigger!» (Dunbar-Nelson)
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistics and Its Fundamental Notions
To hear him speak French, if you didn't try to understand what he was
saying, was as good as attending «Phedre»: he seemed a cloud that had
divorced a textbook of geometry to marry Guillaume Apollinaire... (Jarrell)
10. Read the story by Paul Jennings and try to apply some of the
principles of decoding to find out the real meaning and the implications of what the author encoded. Comment on the author's
use of such devices as sustained metaphor, allegory, allusions,
irony and phonographical means. Can you find instances of
semi-marked structures, defeated expectancy, convergence and
other means of foregrounding. Speak about the theme and the
message of this story.
Red-blooded 3Д rose
There was once an article in the Observer by Dr Bronowski in which
he said that mathematics ought to be taught as a language. At the time
I had fantasies of passages like this:
* Crib for art students, beatnita, peasants: (The
Government)2: the government squared. > 1:
more than one. =: equals.
Vour troubles: the root of our troubles. .
2: point to recurring.
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Practice Section
But of course that wasn't the idea at all. Years ago I got off the
mathematics train at Quadratic Equations—a neat, airy little station
with trellis, ivy, roses, a sunlit platform. There was just a hint of
weirdness now and then—stationmaster made clicking noises in his
throat, there was an occasional far-off harmonious humming in the sky,
strange bells rang; one knew the frontier was not far away,
Where the line crosses into the vast country of Incomprehensibility, the
jagged peaks of the Calculus Mountains standing up, a day's journey
over its illimitable plains.
The train thundered off into those no doubt exhilarating spaces, but
without me. 1 sniffed the mountainy air a little, then I crossed the line
by the footbridge and went back in a fusty suburban train to my home
town. Contemptible Ignorance. This train had no engine; it was simply
a train of carriages rolling gently down through the warm orchards of
Amnesia Hill.
The only language we speak in that town is, well, language (we're not
mad about it like those people at Oxford; we know the world is infinite
and real, language is about it, it isn't it). But we have got typewriters,
and they introduce mathematics into language in their own way.
Even without those figures on the top row, 1 to 9 (all you need) there
is something statistical about the typewriter as it sits there. It contains
instantaneously the entire alphabet, the awful pregnant potentiality of
everything. I am certain most readers of this article will have read
somewhere or other a reference to the odds against a monkey's sitting at
a typewriter and writing Hamlet.
For some reason philosophical writers about chance, design and purpose
are led irresistibly to this analogy. Nobody ever suggests the monkey's
Practice Section
Chapter 5. Decoding Stylistlcs and Its Fundamental Notions
writing Hamlet with a pen, as Shakespeare did. With a pen a monkey
would get distracted, draw funny faces, found a school of poetry of its
own. There's something about having the whole alphabet in front of it,
on a machine, that goads the monkey to go on, for millions of years (but
surely the evolution would be quicker?), persevering after heartbreaking
setbacks; think of getting the whole of King Lear right until it came to
the lines over the dead body of Cornelia, which would come out:
Thou 'It come no more
Never, never, never, never, ever or, on
my typewriter — Necer, neved, lever,
nexelm vrevney.
some V. I., y4 (on my typewriter the capital 3/4 is a '/4) * as the chief
guest—an M. J/4, or a fashionable 3/4 reacher (nothing so grand as the '/4
rime Minister, of course. Guests like that are only at real parties, given
by Top y4 eople); but at a 3/4 arty it is always difficult to get the
interesting guest to himself, to 3/4 in him down in an argument, because of
the 3/4 rattle going on all round.
Of course this isn't mathematical language in Dr Bronowski's sense. But
you've got to admit it's figurative.
The typewriter knows very well how to mix language and mathematics,
the resources between A and Zand 1 and 9, in its own sly way. Mine likes
to put 3/4 instead of the letter p. How brilliantly this introduces a nuance, a
frisson of chance and doubt into many words that begin so well with this
confident, explosive consonant! How often is one disappointed by a
watery 3/4 ale ale! How often does some much-publicized meeting of
statesmen result in the signing of something that the typists of both sides
know is just а 3/4 act! How many 3/4 apists one knows! How many
people praised for their courage are not so much plucky as just 3/4 lucky.
Most of all, is not the most common form of social occasion to-day the
cocktail 3Д arty? One always goes expecting a real party, but nine times
out of ten turns out to be a 3/4 arty; all the people there have some
sort of connection with the '3/4' arts such as advertising, films, news 3/4
apers—although there is often a real 3/4 ainter or two. After a few 3/4
ink gins one of the 3/4 ainters makes a 3/4 ass at one of those strange
silent girls, with long hair and sullen 3/4 outing lips, that one always sees
at 3/4 arties (doubtless he thinks she will be 3/4 liable). There may be
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' That's mathematics for you. I have an obscure feeling it should be either 9/i6 or
l'/2-
Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
anticlimax
n. a sudden drop from the dignified
or important in thought or expression to the commonplace or
trivial, sometimes for humorous effect
Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
antique
adj. the ancient style, esp. Greek or Roman; classical
antithesis
n. opposition or contrast of ideas, notions,
qualities in the parts of one sentenceor in different sentences
Aacoustic
adherent
j
adj. concerned with sound
adj. added shades of meaning
affinity
n. similarity, inherent likeness
allegory
n. a story, poem, painting, etc. in which the
characters and actions represent general truths, good and bad
qualities, etc.
alliteration
n. repetition of the same consonant or sound
group at the beginning of two or more words that are close to each
other
allusion
n. reference to some literary, historical, mythological, biblical, etc. character or event commonly known
anadiplosis
n. repetition of the last word or phrase in
one clause or poetic line at the beginning of the next
anaphora
n. repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning
of successive clauses or lines of verse
anastrophe
n. a term of rhetoric, which means upsetting
for effect of the normal order of a preposition before a noun or of
an object after a verb, cf. inversion
antonomasia
n. the use of a proper name in place of a
common one or vice versa to emphasise some feature or quality
apokoinu
n. a construction in which the subject of one
sentence is at the same time the subject of the second, a kind of
ellipsis
aposiopesis
n. a sudden breaking off in the midst of
a sentence as if from inability or unwillingness to proceed
argot
n. the vocabulary peculiar to a particular class of
people, esp. that of an underworld group devised for private
communication
Aristotlen. Greek philosopher, pupil of Plato (384-382
ВС)
assonance
created by the stressed vowel sounds
astheism
asyndeton
n. deprecation meant as approval
n. the omission of conjunctions
В
belles lettres
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n. 1. resemblance of sounds 2. partial rhyme
n. literature or writing about literary subjects
position and contribute to the cohesion of the text
Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
С
catachresisn. incorrect use of a word, as by misapplication
metaphor
chiasmus
01 terminology or by strained or mixed
n. inversion of the second of two parallel
phrases or clauses
cliche
n. an expression or idea that has become trite
climax
n. a rhetorical series of ideas, images, etc. arranged
progressively so that the most forceful is last
colon
n. in Greek prosody a section of a prosodic period,
consisting of a group from two to six feet forming a rhythmic unit
with a principal accent
connotation
n. idea or notion suggested by or associated
with a word, phrase, etc. in addition to its denotation
connotative
adj. having connotations
convergence
n. concentration of various devices and
expressive means in one place to support an important idea and
ensure the delivery of the message
couplet
n. two successive lines of poetry, esp. of the same
length that rhyme
coupling
n. the affinity of elements that occupy a similar
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Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
D
dactyl
n. a metrical foot that consists of one accented
syllable followed by two unaccented ones
Demetrius of Alexandria
and philosopher (b. 350 ВС)
n. Greek orator
denotative
adj. indicative of the direct
explicit meaning or reference of a word or term
detachment
n. a seemingly independent part of a
sentence that carries some additional information
device
n. a literary model intended to produce a particular
effect in a work of literature
Dionyslus of Halicarnassus
rhetorician, critic and historian (1st cent. ВС)
n. Greek
E
ellipsis
n. all sorts of omission in a sentence
emotive
emotion
adj. characterised by, expressing or producing
empathy
or feelings
n. ability to share in another's emotions, thoughts
enjambment
n. in prosody: the running on of a sentence
from one line to the next without a syntactical break
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Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
enumeration
n. a device by means of which homogeneous parts of a sentence are made semantically heterogeneous
figures of contrast*: those based on opposition (incompatibility) of
co-occurring notions
figures of co-occurrence*: devices based on interrelations of two or
more units of meaning actually following one another
epenalepsis
n. a term of rhetoric meaning repetitive
use of conjunctions in close succession, (cf. polysyndeton)
figures of identity*: co-occurrence of synonymous or similar notions
epigram
n. 1. a short poem with a witty or satirical point
2. any terse, witty, pointed statement, often with a clever twist
in thought.
figures of inequality*: those based on differentiation of co-occurring
notions
epiphora
n. repetition of words or phrases at the end of
consecutive clauses or sentences
epithet
n. an adjective or descriptive phrase used to characterise a person or object with the aim to give them subjective
evaluation
euphonic
adj. characterised by euphony
euphony
n. a harmonious combination of sounds that create
a pleasing effect to the ear
evaluative
something
explicit
adj. giving judgement about the value of
adj. clearly stated and leaving nothing implied
F
figure of speech n. a stylistic device of whatever kind, including tropes
and syntactical expressive means
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figures of quality*: renaming based on radical qualitative difference
between notion named and notion meant
figures of quantity*: renaming based on only qualitative difference
between traditional names and those actually used
figures of replacement*: tropes, 'renamings', replacing traditional
names by situational ones
G
gap-sentence link seemingly incoherent connection of two sentences
based on an unexpected semantic leap; the reader is supposed to
grasp the implied motivation for such connection
Gorgias
n. Greek philosopher (483-375 B.C.), founded
one of the first rhetoric schools
graphonn. intentional misspelling to show deviations from
received
pronunciation: individual manner,
mispronunciation, dialectal features, etc.
* These terms and their definitions belong to Prof. Skrebnev.
Glossary for the Course of Styiistics
Glossary for the Course of Stylistlcs
н
irradiation
n. the influence of a specifically coloured
word against the stylistically different tenor of the narration
Hellenistic
adj. of Greek history, language and culture
after tne death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.)
hierarchicaladj. arranged in order of rank, grade, class,
etc.
hyperbole
taken literally
J
jargon
n. the language, esp. the vocabulary, peculiar to a
particular trade, profession or group
juridical
adj. related to the law
n. exaggeration for effect not meant to be
I
iambus
n. a metrical foot, consisting of one unaccented
syllable followed by one accented
L
litotes
n. understatement for effect, esp. that in which an
affirmative is expressed by a negation of the contrary
M
idiolect
n. a particular person's use of language, individual
style of expression
malapropism
imagery
n. ideas presented in a poetical form; figurative
descriptions and figures of speech collectively
meiosis
implicit
adj. implied: suggested or to be understood though
not plainly expressed
inherent
adj. existing in something or someone as a
permanent and inseparable element, quality or attribute
inversion
n. a reversal of the normal order of words in a
sentence
irony
n. a stylistic device in which the words express
a meaning that is often the direct opposite of the intended
meaning
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n. ludicrous misuse of words, esp.
through confusion caused by resemblance in sound
n. expressive understatement, litotes
metaphor
n. the application of a word or phrase to an
object or concept it does not literally denote, in order to suggest
comparison with another object or concept
metaphor sustained/extended a chain of metaphors containing the
central image and some contributory images
meter
n. rhythm in verse; measured patterned arrangement
of syllables according to stress or length
metonymy
n. transfer of name of one object onto another
to which it is related or of which it is a part
Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
Glossary for the Course of Stylistlcs
mythology
contain
n. myths collectively and the beliefs that they
periphrasis
n. renaming of an object by a phrase that
emphasises some particular feature of the object
personage
N
normative
adj. having to do with usage norms
n. a character in a play or book, or in history
personification
n. the attribution of personal nature
or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions
polysyndeton
in close succession
О
n. the use of a number of conjunctions
onomatopoeia
n. the formation of a word by imitating the natural sound; the use of words whose sounds reinforce
their meaning or tone, esp. in poetry
prosody
n. 1. the science or art of versification, including
the study of metrical structure, stanza form, etc. 2. the stress
patterns of an utterance
oratorical
proximity [pro'ksimiti] n. nearness in place, time, order, occurrence
or relation
n. characteristic of or given to oratory
oratory
n. the art of an orator; skill or eloquence in public
speaking
oxymoron
n. a figure of speech in which opposite or
contradictory ideas are combined
P
publicist ['pAbhsist] n. referring to writing and speaking on current
public or political affairs
R
recur
paradiastola
n. in Greek poetic texts: the lengthening
of a syllable regularly short
parallelism
n. the use of identical or similar parallel
syntactical structure in two or more sentences or their parts
v. to happen or occur again, appear at intervals
recurrence
n. the instance of recurring, return, repetition
rhetoric
n. 1. the art or science of all specialized literary
uses of language in prose or verse, including the figures of speech
2. the art of using language effectively in speaking or writing 3.
artificial eloquence
paranomasia
n. using words similar in sound but
different in meaning for euphonic effect
rhetorical |
parlance
rhyme
n. a regular recurrence of corresponding sounds at the
ends of lines in verse
n. a style or manner of speaking or writing
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adj. using or characterised by rhetoric
Glossary for the Course of Stylistics
Glossary for the Course of Stylistlcs
rhythm
n. 1. a regular recurrence of elements in a system
of motion: the rhythm of speech, dancing music, etc. 2. an
effect of ordered movement in a work of art, literature, drama,
etc. attained through patterns in the timing, spacing, repetition,
accenting, etc. of the elements 3. in prosody: a metrical (feet) or
rhythmical (iambus, trochee, etc.) form
s
simile
n. a figure of speech in which two unlike things are
explicitly compared by the use of like, as, resemble, etc.
solemn
adj. arousing feelings of awe, very impressive
sophistry
n. in ancient Greece: the methods or practices
of the sophists, any group of teachers of rhetoric, politics,
philosophy, some of whom were notorious for their clever
specious arguments. 2. misleading but clever, plausible and
subtle reasoning
stanza
n. a group of lines in a repeating pattern forming a
division of a poem
suspense
n. a compositional device that consists in withholding the most important information or idea till the end of
the sentence, passage or text
syllepsis
n. a term of rhetoric: the use of a word or
expression to perform two syntactic functions, cf. zeugma
synecdoche
n. a figure of speech based on transfer by
contiguity in which a part is used for a whole, an individual for
a class, a material for a thing or the reverse of any of these; a
variety of metonymy
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T
tautology
n. needless repetition of an idea in a different
word, phrase or sentence; redundancy; pleonasm
terminology
n. the system of terms used in a specific
science, art or specialised subject
trochee
. n. in prosody: a foot of two syllables, a stressed
followed by an unstressed one
transfer
v. to convey, carry, remove or send from one
position, place or person to another
transfer
transference
a. the act of transferring
n. the act or process of transferring
Trasimachus
n. Greek philosopher, together with
Gorgius created one of the first schools of rhetoric in ancient
Greece (c. 4 ВС)
trope
n. a figure of speech based on some kind of transfer of
denomination
V
versification
n. 1. the art, practice or theory of poetic
composition 2. the form or style of a poem; metrical structure
z
zeugma
n. a figure of speech in which a single word,
usually a verb or adjective, is syntactically related to two or more
words, though having a different sense in relation to each
Sources ________________________
Sources
1. Амосова Н. Н. Речевые стили. Л.: ЛГУ, 1951.
2. Античная теория языка и стиля. М., 1936.
3. Арнольд И. В. Лексико-семантическое поле в языке и тематическая
сетка текста // Текст как объект комплексного анализа в вузе / Сб.
статей. Л., 1984. С. 3-11.
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