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Traditional branches of linguistics are clearly defined: phonetics deals with speech
sounds and intonation, lexicology treats words, their meaning and vocabulary
structure, syntax analyses forms of words and their function in a sentence
Stylistics it is a comparatively new branch of linguistics, the term stylistics came into
existence not too long ago (the object of stylistic study go as far back as ancient
schools or rhetoric and poetics rhetoric and dialectics = stylistics. Poetics literary
criticism
Stylistics has not been definitely defined because of the following reasons: the
object and the material it studies. Stylistic value of a text is not the level-biased
approach (system of sounds, words and clauses) there is a various stylistic meaning
of linguistic units and also the interaction of these elements v tylistike je vetko
poprepjan. Stylistics deals with style, which is also defined differently by scholars
and it is hardly possible to regard it as a term
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
c. Synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea it is the possibility of
choice, with the change or wording and change in meaning.
peculiar to it. Whatever we say or write, hear or read is not style by itself but has style,
it demonstrates stylistic features.
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F. The splitting of the literary language into separate systems called style any
national language contains a number of sublanguages or micro languages or varieties
of language with their own specific features, their own style. Besides these functional
styles that are rooted in the norm of the language there exist so called substandard
types of speech such as slang, barbarism, vulgarisms, taboo and so on..
G. The interrelation between language and though when the form is changed a
change in content takes place ke zmenm slovosled, mem tomu da in vznam.
Speech is not a purely mental phenomenon, not a system but a process of combining
these linguistic elements into linear linguistic units that are called syntagmatic. The
result is the linear or syntagmatic combination of vowels and consonants into words,
sentences and texts. Otec je dobry syntagma ocovi, otec .. ke skloujem je to
paradigm..
Stylistics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts, not with the system of signs
or process or speech production as such. The elements stylistically relevant are studied
both syntagmatically and paradigmatically (paradigmatically classifying all stylistic
means into tropes and syntagmatically into figures of speech)
Stylistics of speech studies stylistic properties, which appear in a context they are
called adherent.
English words prevaricate (vykrca sa), comprehend, lass, are bookish or archaic and
these are their inherent properties the unexpected use of any of these words in a
modern context will be adherent stylistic property. stylistics of language describes
and classifies the inherent stylistic colouring of language units. Stylistics of speech
studies the composition of the utterance the arrangement, selection and distribution
of different words, and their adherent qualities. Ak ich poujeme v modernom texte,
dame mu in hodnotu-
The linguistic nature of the expressive means of the language, their systematic
character and their functions
Stylistic subdisciplines:
Functional stylistics is a branch of linguistic stylistics, investigates functional styles.
Stylistic lexicology studies the semantic structure of the word and the interrelation
interplay of the connotative and denotative meanings of the word and the interrelation of the
stylistic connotations of the word and the context.
Stylistic phonetics phonostylistics studies style-forming phonetic features of the text, it
describes prosodic features of prose and poetry and variants of pronunciation in different
types of speech colloquial or oratory.
Stylistic morphology is interested in the specific grammatical forms and categories, such as
the number of the noun, or the peculiar use of tense forms of the verb.
Stylistic syntax is one of the oldest branches of stylistic studies, it studies the expressive
order of words, types of syntactic links (asyndeton, polysyndeton, figures) of speech
(antithesis, chiasmus). It also deals with bigger units from paragraph onwards.
Example:
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 kennel, top medical care and high standard suisine, including the
best bones.
Suisine inherently formal bookish, high-flown
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Stylistic function
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Stylistics deals with the lexical, grammatical, phontetic and phraseological data of
language, but it does not study separate linguistic units like phonemes or words or
clauses, but their stylistic function their expressive potential and their interaction in a
text. Stylistics interprets the opposition or clash between the contextual meaning of a
word and its denotative meaning. Stylistics is engaged in the study of connotative
meaning.
2. prednka
Style
-
Style refers to the way in which language is used ina given context, by a given person,
for a given purpose
To what or whom do we attribute style? in the broadest sense, style can be applied
to both spoken and written, literary and every-day varieties of language.
The term style is applied to the linguistic habits of a particular writer (the style of
Dickens, ets.. )
Style is a relational term? We talk about the style of x, referring through style to
characteristics of language use, and correlating these with some extralinguistic x,
which we may call the stylistic domain. The x (writer, period, etc.) defines some
corpus of writings in which he characteristics of language use are to be found
The word style is derived from the Latin word stilus a short stick sharp at one
end and flat at the other used by the Romans for writing on wax tablets.
The term style is ambiguous it has a number of senses: it is applied to the teaching
how to write a composition, it is used to reveal the correspondence between thought
and expressions, or abstract notions as: style is deviation, style is choice. Etc.
The most frequent definition of style (S. Chatman In: Galpering, 1997): style is a
product of individual choices and patterns of choices (emphasis added) among
linguistic possibilities
There are too many other definitions of style, but they all have something in common
style is a set of characteristics by which we distinguish one author from another or
members of one subclass from members of other subclasses, all of which are members
of the same general class. What are these sets of characteristics typical of writer or of
subclass of the literary language will be seen in the analysis of the language means of
a given writer and of the subclasses of the general literary standard.
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Individual style should be applied to that sphere of linguistic and literary science
which deals with peculiarities of a writers individual manner of using language means
to achieve the effect he desires.
The idiolect should be distinguished from individual style as the word style
presupposes a deliberate choice. But idiolect those qualities of speech which are
inherent and reveal mans breeding, education, social status, etc. These factors will
always affect his turn of mind and will naturally be revealed in his speech and writing.
Individual style is marked by its uniqueness it can be recognized by the specific
and peculiar combination of language media and stylistic devices which in their
interaction present a certain system. Naturally, the individual style of a writer will
never be interily celkom - independent of that literary norm and canons of the given
period.
The style of a writer can be ascertained only by analysis of the form, i. e. language
media the individuality can be seen in the analysis of:
3. System of imagery
4. Preferences for definite stylistic devices and their co-relation with neutral
language media.
The language of some ultra-modern writers to some extent reflects the rapidly
increasing tempo of the present industrial and technical revolution. The authors
experiment with language means as to mirror the vibration of extralinguistic reality.
Stylistics must take into consideration the output of the act of communication
People communicate with one another in various ways. The most obvious means of
communication are speech and writing. Human language (natural language) is the
most powerful means of communication: gestures, facial expressions, words, smiles,
the ringing of the bells, the sounding of horns it is all communication
2. Its transmission
3. The realization
5. Its reception
6. Its decoding.
The message is what the speaker wants to tell the listener. In order to be able to utter
the message the speaker has to select from a number of words of the language, those
which will convey the message and not any other
In terms of information theory language can be regarded as a code- The code consists
in making signs. A sign of the language may be small as a phoneme and as large as an
epic. Where there is a code there is a choice. E.g. we can present number 5 in quite a
number of ways: 6 1 = 5. 10 : 2 = 5.. Or a word cup can be written or drawn. In
semantics we distinguish the following information:
The reader may be of quite different social, political, educational background. The
reader may have or have not life experience that is why the reader decodes the text
form his/her point of view. The reader decodes not only the factual material but its
emotional and aesthetic content. The reader cannot be passive while reading, he/she
can explain information received, compare it with the information received earlier and
form his/her own attitude towards the next evaluates it.
3. Prednka
The essence of stylistic perception consists in mental confrontation of what one hears
or reads with ones previous linguistic experience: to understand a verbal message
means not only to decipher the sense of each linguistic unit, but at the same time to
evaluate the units and the total from the viewpoint of their appurtenance dodatok
to either the neutral sphere of language or to the stylistically coloured sphere
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Norm norm may be defined as a set of language rules, which are considered to be
most standard and correct in a certain epoch and in a certain society. It is impossible to
work out universal language norm because functional style has its own regularities.
The sentence: I aint got no news from nobody should be treated a ????
Form it is a term which refers to the recognizable shape of a text or a speech act.
This shape can be either physical or abstract. Physical is in writing and abstract in
spoken communication. Written forms are novels, stories, articles, poems, letters,
posters, menus, etc. Spoken forms are conversations, tv, radio commentaries,
announcements, sermons, jokes, etc. The term form is used in linguistics and in
literary criticism as a technical term. It is used when considering the shape, the
construction, or type of speech or writing.
Text it literally means a piece of writing Charles Dickens Bleak House is a text.
A letter form a friend is a text. A caption popisok to a picture is a text. A painting by
Picasso can also be a text. Te term text is most used in linguistics and literary studies,
where it was originally used as a synonym for book, but it can be a poem, a letter, a
diary, etc. This term is now in general use in other branches of the humanities such as
cultural studies and film studies its meaning is the thing being studied. The text is
then a video film, an advertisement, a painting, etc. Also a bus ticket canbe called a
text. the term text is used to concentrate attention on the object being studied, rather
than its author.
Speech speech and writing are two different systems they are closelc related but not the
same
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Speech quite commonly includes false starts, repetition, hesitation, fillers ahm, hm..,
with no lexical or grammatical meaning or nonsense words.
People employ a wide range of speech varieties of functional styles in their everyday
conversation
Language changes take place far more rapidly in speech than in writing
Writing is the use of visual symbols which act as a code for communication between
individuals or groups
Writing is a language variety and should be regarded as entirely separate from speech
Writing cannot include any non-verbal gestures or the communication features which
accompany spoken language such as facial expressions, physical gestures, or tone of
voice
The written word has to rely on choice of vocabulary, punctuation and printed
emphasis (italics, capital letters) to produce such effects.
Images are created to produce an immediate impression to human sight, hearing, sense
of touch or taste
Expressive means are those phonetic, lexical, morphological and syntactic units and
forms which make speech emphatic. EM introduce connotational stylistic, non
denotative meanings into utterances
A chain of expressive synonymic words always contains at least one neutral synonym,
for example: the neutral word money has the following stylistically coloured
equivalents ackers (slang), cly (jargon), cole (jargon), pelf (bookisch), rhino
(conversational), ..
The neutral sentence: John went away may be replaced by the following expressive
variants: Away wend john stylistic inversion John went away, he did emphatic
confirmation pattern)
Stylistic devices tropes, figures of speech unlike expressive means are not
language phenomena
They are formed in speech and most of them do not exist out of context
Figures of speech are also known as images they re regarded as a code which should
be decoded.
Expressive means
Stylistic devices
1. Are language units of different
1. Are the way of combination of
levels which are stylistically
speech unit of a lower level in the
marked within the limits of the
limits the units of a higher level
given language level
2. The given EM always has its
3. meaning of a SD appears in the
stylistic meaning
context of some speech unit
4. The given EM is conditioned by
2. Stylistic meaning is connected by
paradigmatics of one level
syntagmatic between the unit of
one or different level
The seasonal metaphor is extended into the second line where better conditions
become summer
But sun is here also a pun on the term son which refers to the son of the King
pun is a form of word play that suggest two or more meanings, by exploiting
SA: 10 steps
1. Generally what it is poem, prose, menu, drama, bus ticket.. identification of
the text
2. To write down the content short in 2 or 3 sentences
3. Intention and the purpose why it was written to inform, entertain..
4. Audience written for children, middle aged,..women, men..
5. Form what we can find on first sight some specific letters italics, headlines,
paragraphs, length of paragraphs
6. Structure whether the content is logically organized, or chronological order
7. Style formal, informal, colloquial, what words are used vulgar, archaism..
8. Cohesive and coherent kohezia to co drzi text po hromade, koherencia
logicka suvislost
9. Identification of the figures stylistic devices..
10. To make assessment evaluation the aim why we are doing the analysis
Lecture 7.11.2013
the repetition of the sound d from Poe`s poem the Raven prompts the feeling of
anxiety, fear , horror
alliteration is generally regarded as a musical accompaniment of the author`s idea,
supporting it with some vague emotional atmosphere which reader interprets for
himself
alliteration primarily involves the repetition of the same or similar consonants
-Here , the m alliteration in the first half of the second line binds together the concepts of
mistiness and mildness and brings out the contrast with the second half of the line, which in
turn exhibits alliteration, binding the words cold and clear. The next example shows that
alliteration primarily involves sound and not spelling:
2. These fruitful fields, these numerous flocks I see,
Are others` gains, but killing cares to me?
tvrt prednka
Killing and cares alliterate, and bind the same meanings of words together in spite of the fact
that their initial sounds are represented by different letters. Alliteration can occur when there
is no spelling alliteration.
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The difference is because g is voiced and K is not voiced. = they are somehow alike
Is the tem traditionally reserved for patterns of repetition between vowel sounds.
Assonance, like alliteration, connects important words together and helps the reader
notice the meaning connection between them and you can stuff your YURD,
GURD, TURD, or whatever it is up your bum!
Rhyme
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Rhyming words are generally placed at a regular distance from each other. In verse
they are usually placed at the end of the corresponding lines
We distinguish
a) Full rhyme : ( identity of the vowel sound and the following consonant sounds in a
stressed syllable , might-right
b) Incomplete rhymes; vowel rhyme- the vowels of the syllable in corresponding words
are identical, but the consonants may be different. Flesh- fresh- press.
c) Consonant rhyme concordance in consonants and disparity in vowels : tale tool
d) Compound rhyme : the letters and not the sound are identical : love-prove, havegrave compound rhyme is perceived in reading aloud
e) Eye rhyme the letters and not the sound are identical , but it can be only perceived
in the written texts
-critics do sometimes point out eye rhyme bough/cough, that is group of words where there is
no phonetic rhyme but where there is graphological parallelism involving more than one letter
in each sequence.
According to the way rhymes are arranged within the stanza, certain models exist:
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Internal rhyme the rhyming words are placed not at the end of the lines but withing
the line: I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers.
According to the way the rhymes are arranged within the stanza , certain models exist:
a) Couplets the last words of 2 successive lines are rhymed ( aa)
b) Triple rhymes (aaa)
c) Cross rhymes (abab)
d) Framing /ring rhymes (abba)
e) Internal rhyme the rhyming words are placed not at the ends of the lines but within
the line.
Rhythm
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Rhythm is the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables, more or les regular
In prose rhythm is closely connected with the metre, i.e. different metrical patterns.
The rhythm of prose is based on the succession of images, themes and other big
elements of the text: repetition, parallel constructions, chiasmus, similar syntactical
patterns. The unit of measure here is not a syllable but a structure, a wordcombination, a sequence of phrases, sentences and supra-phrasal units.
Onomatopoeia
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It sounds that are associated with whatever producing the natural sound
MS deals with morphological EM and SD. Words being placed in an unusual syntagmatic
environment which changes their canonized grammatical characteristics and combination
acquire stylistic significance.
TRANSPOSITION = a divergence between the traditional usage of a neutral word and its
situational usage
Morphology implies the study of grammatical changes of isolated words by means of
affrication.
English have very few inflexions grammatical meanings are expressed mostly analytically
(by auxiliaries, word order).
In morphological stylistics significant is: synonymy and variability of use of morphological
categorical forms
Synonymy - is not very well developed (or nearly lost due to the loss of inflexions): brother s / breth-r-en (neutral/archaic). The latter one is used in clerical literature or poetry and
oratory of past centuries. (he has/he hath; you have/thou hast; you do /thou doest)
The localization of forms of the past participle of the verb - to get. In Britain - got, in the
USA gotten.
Inflexions proper - formal English - whom , informal colloquial speech requires using the
form without inflexion who.
A strong tendency in modern colloquial English (British and American) to abolish the
morphological differentiation between subjective - If I was instead of I were.
Subjective mood forms: It is time for me to go. /It is time that I went. The first sentence is
stylistically neutral, the second one is bookish.
Passive verbal forms: in many contexts are more expressive than active counterparts: A
round table occupied the centre of the room. /The centre of the room was occupied by a round
table.
Ungrammatical and showing the low social status of the speaker are the forms: we, you,
they was, he dont, says I
Regularizing irregular verbs by analogy: he come, he seed (he came, he saw)
Variability of categorical forms - it means neutralization of grammatical meanings:
historical present - the present tense forms are often used with reference to past or future
action:
What else do I remember? Let me see.
There comes out of the cloud our house, our house not new to me, but quite familiar, in its
earliest remembrance. On the ground floor is Pegottys kitchen, opening into a back yard.
(Dickens)
The extract is the authors narrative. Dickens depicts past events as if they were in the present.
The present continuous tense denotes an action which takes place at the moment of
speaking, but it may also denote a habitual action (John is constantly cheating) the
negative connotations of irritations, regret, sadness
The verbs of sense perception and mental activity are not used in the continuous tense forms when the rule is broken, it conveys additional stylistic meanings of subjective modality (I am
seeing you = I am not blind)
Adjectives: qualitative adjective are always estimative - they are used in epithets: crazy,
bicycle, picturesque view, relative adjective do not form degrees of comparison - they are
logical attributes, but can be occasionally transposed into qualitative: This is the reddest
colour Ive ever seen in my life. Garry was the deadest man ever present in that ambitious
society.
The category of determination expressed by the articles: the absence of articles is typical of
headlines to newspaper columns, sometimes they are omitted in careless colloquial speech.
The category of gender: is practically non-existent in modern EN, inanimate objects - it.
When talking about personification - the name of vessels - feminine; sometines other vehicles
(carriage, coach, car) = feminine, earth, moon = feminine, sun = masculine, countries =
feminine.
France sent her representative to the conference.
Abstract notions suggesting such ideas as strength or fierceness are personified as nouns of
masculine gender (anger, death, fear, war); the feminine is associated with gentleness or
beauty (spring, peace, kindness, dawn).
depersonification - is opposite to personification = treating a person as a thing, an inanimate
object
grammatical category of person: expressing the idea of indefinite person is the pronouns
one. One can be replaced by definite personal pronoun we, you (expressing the same idea of
indefinite reference): we never know, you never know.
The plural of majesty: (mostly in royal rescripts: By the grace of Our Lord, We, Charles the
Second)
The plural of modesty: (In scholarly texts, implying the author and his imaginary reader:
Now, we come to the conclusion that)
The plural of humility: (in the speech of uneducated people, e.g. in Pygmalion: Oh we are
proud)
Archaic pronouns : thou (2 person singular) its objective form thee, the possessive pronoun
thy, its absolute form thine, the reflexive pronoun thyself - these obsolete pronouns create the
atmosphere of solemnity (vnos, slvnos) and elevation, or bring us back to ancient times.
Lexical EM and SD
1. INTERACTION OF PRIMARY DICTIONARY AND CONTEXTUALLY IMPOSED
(spsoben) MEANINGS.
a) The author identifies 2 objects which have nothing in common, but in which he
subjectively sees a function, or a property, or feature, or a quality that may make the reader
perceive these 2 objects as identical = metaphor.
METAPHOR
- means transference of some quality from one object to another
- it denotes the transference of meaning from one word to another, a word acquires a
derivative meaning
- it is due to the metaphor that each thing seems to have its name in language
- language as a whole has been figuratively defined as a dictionary of faded metaphors.
- a metaphor become a SD when 2 different phenomena (thing, events, ideas, actions)
are simultaneously brought to mind by the imposition (uloenie) of some or all of the
inherent properties of one object on the other which by nature is deprived (zbaven) of
these properties.
- metaphor is the power of realizing 2 lexical meanings simultaneously
- metaphor is one of the most potent means of creating images
- the identification of metaphor is most clearly observed when the metaphor is
embodied either in an attributive word: pearly teeth or in a predicative wordcombination: Dear Nature is the kindness Mother still. (Byron)
In the slanting beams (le) that streamed (prdi) through the open window the dust danced
and wa s golden. (O. Wilde)
The movement of dust particles seem to the eye of the writer to be regular and orderly like the
movements in dancing. What happens practically is that our mind runs in 2 parallel lines: the
abstract and the concrete, i.e. movement (of any kind) and dancing (a definite kind).
Metaphor can be classified according to their degree of unexpectedness:
Genuine metaphors - metaphor that are absolutely unexpected, unpredictable.
Trite/dead metaphors - metaphor commonly used in speech and sometimes even fixed in
dictionaries as EM of language, their predictability is apparent
Example of trite metaphors: a ray of hole, floods of tears
Genuine M: mostly in poetry, and emotive prose
Trite M: in newspaper articles, in oratorical style and in scientific language
b) The author finds it possible to substitute one object for another on the grounds that there is
some kind of interdependence (vzjomn previazanos) or interrelation between the 2
corresponding objects.
METONYMY
- the word crown may stand for king or queen, cup or glass for the drink it contains, a
hand stand for a worker
Then they came in. Two of them, a man with long fair moustaches and silent dark man
Definitely, the moustache and I had nothing in common.
This is a feature of a man which catches the example, in this case his facial appearance: the
moustache stand for the man himself. The function of metonymy here is to indicate that the
speaker knows nothing of the man in question, moreover, there is a definite implication that
this is the 1st time the speaker has seen him.
Metonyms and Metaphors differ also in the way they are deciphered. In metaphor one images
excludes the other, the metaphor lamp in the the sky lamp of the nigh when deciphered,
means the moon and here we perceive only one object, the moon.
This is not the case witch metonymy - while presenting one object out our mind, it does not
exclude the other .
Metonymy as a means of building up imagery, generally concerns concrete objects, which are
generalized.
The process of generalization is easily carried out which the help of the definite article.
c)A certain property or quality of an object is used in a opposite or contradictor sense
IRONY
- is a SD also based on the simultaneous realization of 2 logical meanings - dictionary
and contextual, but the 2 meanings stand in opposition to each other.
It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in ones pocket.
The underlined word here means quite the opposite to its primary dictionary meaning, that is
unpleasant, not delightful. The word contains in the irony is strongly marked by intonation.
Irony must not be confuse with humour, although they have very much in common, humour
always cause laughter.
What is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and the negative - in this respect
irony can be likened to humour, but the function of irony is not to produce a humours effect. It
rather expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret.
The effect of irony lied in the striking disparity roiled between what is said and what is meant.
Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning.
Only positive concepts may be used in their logical dictionary meanings.
The contextual meaning always conveys the negation of the positive concepts embodied in the
dictionary meaning: How clever of you!
The intonation in the word clever = irony
THE PUN
- SD based on the interaction of 2 well-known meaning of a word or phrase
- the distinguishing feature between zeugma and the pun is a structural one: zeugma is the
realization of 2 meetings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different subjects or
objects (direct or indirect ), the pun is more independent, these need not to be a word in the
sentence to which the pun-word refers. The pun depend on a context, but context may be of a
more expanded character, sometimes even as large as a whole work of emotive prose:
Bow to the board, said Bumble. Oliver brushed away two or three tears that were lingering in
his eyes, and seeing no board but the table, fortunately bowed to that. (Dickens)
The humorous effect is caused by the interplay not of 2 meaning of one word, but of 2 words.
Board as a group of officials with functions of administration and management and board as a
piece of furniture (a table) = two distinct words
- puns are often used in riddles and jokes.
3. INTERACTION OF LOGICAL AND EMOTIVE MEANINGS
- the emotional elements of the language have a tendency to wear out (opotrebovat sa) and
are constantly replaced by new ones. Almost any word may required a greater or a lesser
degree of emotiveness
- there are words the function of which is to arouse (vyburcova) emotion in the reader or
listener. In such words emotiveness prevails over intellectuality
- we shall distinguish between the elements of language which have emotive meaning in their
semantic structure and those which acquired this meaning in the context under the influence
of a stylistic device or some other more expressive means in the utterance
- the most highly emotive words are words changed with emotive meaning to the extent that
the logical meaning can hardly be registered = interjections and all kinds of exclamations
The emotional elements of the language have a tendency to wear out (opotrebova sa)
and are constantly replaced by new ones. Almost any word may acquire a greater or a
lesser degree of emotiveness
There are words the function of which is to arouse (vyburcova) emotion in the reader
or listener. In such words emotiveness prevails
We shall distinguish between the elements of language which have emotive meaning
in their semantic structure
Interjections are words we use when we express our feelings strongly and which may
be said to exist in language as conventional symbols of human emotions
Oh, where are you going to, all you Big Steamers?
The interjection oh by itself may express various feelings, such as regret, despair,
disappointment, sorrow, surprise, astonishment, lamentatnion, and many others..
Primary interj. are devoid (zbaven) of any logical meaning: oh!ah, pooh, hus..
They are not interjections as such. A better name for them would be exclamatory
words and word-combinations generally used as interjections.
Adjectives and adverbs and nouns can also take on the function of interjections
terrible!awful!fine!
They always attach a definite modal nuance to the utterance. But it is impossible to
define exactly the shade of meaning contained in a given interjection, though the
context may suggest one: joy, delight, admiration, approval, regret..
The Epithet
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The epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning
in an attributive word (privlastok), phrase or even sentence used to characterize an
object and pointing out the the reader, and frequently imposing on him, some of the
properties or features, of the object with the aim of giving an individual perception and
evaluation ofthese features of the object with the aim of giving an individual
perception and evaluation of these features or properties.
Oxymoron
-
If the primary meaning of the qualifying word changes or weakens, the stylistic effect
of oxymoron is lost, for example awfully nice, terribly sorry o
The tendency to use oxymoron is the mark of certain literary trends and tastes. There
are poets in search of new shades of meaning.
Antonomasia
-
The interplay between the logical and nominal meanings of a word is called
antonomasia
This device is mainly realized in the written language, because generally capital letters
are the only signals to denote the presence of the stylistic device:
Society is now one polished horde
Fromd of two mghty tribes, the Bores and Bored.
Most proper names are built on some law of analogy, many of them end in son, or er
(Fletcher, Johnson)
Token symbolick or telling names give information to the reader about the
bearer or the name Miss Blue-Eyes, Scrooge Skup
Is intendedto pint out the leading, most characteristic feature of a person or event, at
the same time pinning this leading trait as a proper name to the person or event
concerned.
Simile
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Ordinary comparison and simile must not be confused the represent two
diverseprocesses
Comparison means weighing two objects belonging to one class of things with the
purpose of establishing the degree of their sameness or diference. Comparison takes
into consideration all the properties of the all the properties of the two object, stressing
one that is compared. the boy seems to be as clever as his mother
Simile one object is characterized by bringing it into contact with another object,
belonging to an entirely different class of things, simile excludes all the properties of
the two objects except one which is made common to them: maidens, like moths, are
ever caught by glare lesk.
Maidens devy and moths mole belong to heterogeneous classes of objects and the
author has found the concept month to indicate one of the secondary features of the
concept maiden, i.e. being easily lured (zveden)
Simile forcibly (nsilne) sets one object against another regardless of the fact that they
may be completely alien to each other. The simile gives rise to a new understanding of
the object characterizing as well as the object characterized.
-
Similes have formal elements in their structure, connective words such as like, as,
such, as if, ets..
Periphrasis
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Is a device which denotes the use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter
and plainer form of expression
Periphrasis represents the renaming of an object, one and the same object may be
identified in different ways.
Euphemism
-
The life of euphemisms is very short, they very soon become closely associated with
the referent (the object named) and give name to a newly coined words: idiots,
imbecils, and the feeble-minded became patients of severly subnormal personality
Hyperbole
Like many stylistic devices, hyperbole may lose its quality as a stylistic device trhough
frequent repetition and become a unit of the language-as-a-system, for example, a
thousand pardons, scared to death, I d give the world to see him, I have told You fifty
times
They may be handled not in their fixed from (the traditional model) but with
modifications
This device is used not only in the belles-lettres style, but also in the newspaper,
magazines, advertisements:
Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. No use unless you
advertise
Epigrams
It is stylistic device akin( podobny) to a proverb , the only difference being that
epigrams are coined by individuals whose names we know, while proverbs are the
coinage of the people
Epigrams are terse( strohy), witty, pointed statement, showing ingenious (sikovny)
turn of mind of the originator
Epigrams possess a great degree of independence and therefore , if taken out of
context, will retain the wholeness of the idea they express
They have a generalizing function and are self-sufficient
The most characteristic feature is that the sentence gets accepted as a word
combination and often becomes part of the language as a whole
Brevity is the essential quality of epigram
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Failure is the foundation of success and success is the lurking (skryty) place of failure
Mighty (mocny) is who conquers himself
Quotations
It is a repetition of a phrase or statement from a book, speech and the like used by the
way of authority , illustration, proof or as basis for further speculation on the matter
What is quoted must be worth quoting, since a quotation will inevitably acquire some
degree of generalization
If repeated frequently , it may be recognized as an epigram, if , of course , it has at
least some of the linguistic properties of it
Quotations are usually marked off in the text by inverted commas ,dashed, italics or
graphical means
They are mostly used accompanied by a reference to the author of the quotation ,
unless he is well known to the reader or audience
The reference is made either in the text or in a foot-note
A quotation is the exact reproduction of an actual utterance made by a certain author
The work containing the utterance quoted must have been published or at least spoken
in public; quotations are echoes of somebody else`s words.
A quotations is always set against the other sentences in the text by its greater volume
of sense and significance
The use of quotations presupposes a good knowledge of the past experience of the
nation , its literature and culture
The stylistic value of quotation lies mainly in the fact that it comprises 2 meanings: the
primary meaning, the one which it has in its original surroundings, and the
applicative meaning- the one which it acquires in the new context
Quotations, unlike epigrams , need not necessarily be short : a whole paragraph or a
long passage may be quoted if it suits the purpose
Ecclesiastes said, that all is vanity ( marnivost )
Most modern preachers say the same , or show it
By their examples of the Christianity (Byron)
Quotations are used as a SD with the aim of expanding the meaning of the sentence
quoted and setting 2 meanings one against the other- in this quality they are used
mostly in belles-lettres style; in other styles they do not allow any modification of
meanings
Allusion
Is an indirect reference, by word or phrase , to a historical , literary, mythological,
biblical fact or to a fact of everyday life made in the course of speaking or writing
The use of allusion presupposes knowledge of the fact , thing or person alluded to on
the part of the reader or listener
No indication of the source is given this is one of the notable differences between
quotation and allusion
Another difference between quotation and allusion : a quotation must repeat the exact
wording of the original even through the meaning may be modified by the new
context; an allusion is only a mention of a word or a phrase which may be regarded as
the key word of the utterance
Allusions are based on the accumulated experience and the knowledge of the writer
who presupposes a similar experience and knowledge in the reader
Allusion and quotations may be termed nonce-text expressions because they are
used only for the occasion
Are made to facts with which the general reader should be familiar
They are sometimes made to things and facts which need commentary before they are
understood
Are used in different styles , but their function is everywhere the same, deciphering
allusion is not always easy
The newspaper headlines they may be decoded at first glance:
(Pie in the sky for Railmen)
Most people in the USA and Britain know the refrain of the worker`s song: You will
get a pie in the sky when you die. The use of the sentence-refrain implies that the
railmen had been given promises but nothing at the present moment. Linguistically the
allusion pie in the sky assumes a new meaning, viz. nothing but promises.
Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices
The branch of language science which studies the types of relations between the units
enumerated is called syntax
Stylistics takes as the object if its analysis the expressive means and SD of the
language which are based on some significant structural point in the utterance ,
whether it consist of one sentence or a string of sentences
Compositional patterns of syntactical arrangement
The structural syntactical aspect is sometimes regarded as the crucial issue in stylistic
analysis
The English affirmative sentence is regarded as neutral if it maintains the regular
word- order, i. e.g. Subject predicate- object ( or the other secondary members of
the sentence)
Any other order may also carry the necessary information , but the impact on the
reader will be different
when viewing the stylist functions of different syntactical designs we must first of all
take into consideration these aspects
1.The juxtaposition of different parts of the utterance
2.The way the parts are connected with each other
3.Those based on the peculiar use of colloquial construction
4. Those based on the stylistic use of structural meaning.
Analysis
Authorial style we see his style at first sight (lodge pastiches.. one of his typical
feautues he uses a lot)
style can be perceived in any consistent writin, literary or otherwise, or, indeed, in any
consistent behaviour.. individual novelists can be said to have styles, but so can
weather forecasters, singers or runers a running style is just running style, which will
help you to recognise a particular runner ina race an equivalent of this in terms or
writing style is what is called fingerprinting
in fingerprinting studies scholars examine linguistic features such as average sentencelength, the average number of morpehemes or syllables per word, or the average
instance of grammatical words like of per thousand words.
To isolate style of any kind must involve some statistical work, because style can only
be isolated by examining typical choices and therefore frequencies
Just as authors can be said to have style, so can texts. Even the positioning of
something as apparently insignificant as a comma can sometimes be very important in
interpretative terms.
PROSE STYLE
Authorial style
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this way of writing distinguishes one authors writing from that of others, and is felt to
be recognisable across a range of text written by the same writer
in The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge writes various passages in
the style of other novelists, usually for humorous effect, part of the enjoyment in
reading this novel is to spot the pastiches (a pastiche is a work of visual art, literature,
or music that imitates the style or characters of the work of one or more other artists.
Unlike parody, pastiche celebrates, rather than mocks, the work it imitates.)
-
style can be perceived in any consistent writing literary or otherwise, or, indeed, in any
consistent behaviours
individual novelist can be said to have styles, but so can weather forecasters, singers or
runners, a running style is just a running style, which will help you to recognise
a particular runner in a race an equivalent of this in term of writing style is what is
called fingerprinting.
in fingerprint studied scholars examine linguist feature such as average sentencelength, the average number o morphemes or syllables per word or the average instance
of grammatical word like of per thousand words
to isolate style of any kind must involve some statistical work, because style can only
be isolated by examining typical choices and therefore frequencies
just as authors can be said to have style, so can texts. Even the positioning of
something as apparently insight as a comma can sometimes be very important in
interpretative terms.
Statistics
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It is need to have a properly balanced view of what statistics can and cannot do
Statistics appear at first sight to be precise and objective, but when we remember that
analysists choose what they will count, which brings in one element of subjectivity
and the interpretation of the statistics can vary from one person to another
We can not count everything that is countable, but the quantitative analysis does not
lead to automatic conclusions. The conclusions always have to be interpreted, and we
need to take into account as many kinds of evidence as we can have doing stylistic
analysis, both quantitave and non-quantitatve
Statistical work is esential comparative e.g. we are analysing a prose text then we need
other prose comparators. In prose analysis we can compare figures with equivalent
passages from other works or by other writers, or general statistical norms for prose
writing produced by other researchers.
It is important to examine how much internal variation from the average there is
Let us assume that we have compared two passages and find that the average sentencelengths for them are 28 words and 30 word. Although the second passages average is
higher htan the first it is unlikely that we can base any findings on the difference. This
is because of the difference overe these sorts is unlikely to be significant.
Nick Carraway I narrator describes the series of large society parties which Gatsty
throws at his mansion in the hope that the young woman he is in love with , but who is
married now to someone else, will come to one of them. Nick in a near neighbor living
ina small house from which he can observe
General remarks
-
Most of the description appears to be from a viewpoint outside the party itself,
apporpiate o Nicks viewing position from his own house next door. Only external
generalities are described
The first paragraph describes the food and drink, in the second and third paragraphs
we see..
The average sentence length for the passage is approximately twice as the Ellegard norm
Paragraph 1 is. .
The overall pattern for the major word classes is close to the Ellegard norm, but the
proportion of adjectives is higher than the norm, because this is a descriptive passage.
Lexis
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There is specialized vocabulary for the musical instruments and food in particular, and
a number of words have foreign, and thus exotic connotations (horsdveures,
harlequin, castile..)
There is relatively little lexical repetition, and this suggests that a large number of
different things are being referred to - Fitzgerald gives the feeling of an exciting, everchanging scene
As there is not much repetition, those lexical items which are repeated will stand out.
They relate to vision, drink, musing and social interaction:colour, bar, cordials,
orchestra, chatter, ..
Most of the vocabulary ar the beginning of the passage refers to concrete things the
food, the drink, and the instruments of the orchestra, but later therer are more abstract
nouns, mainly describing social interaction
Many of the words in the passage have visual properties coloured lights, glistening,
harlequin designs, dark gold, yellow cocktail music
The party seems to be mainly peopled by women. The party takes place at Gatsbys
house,but Gatsby does not appear. The orchestra leader is the only male specifically
referred to, and many nouns referring or alluding to people are non-gender-specific
(caterers, swimmers). There are female quests in the sentence 3, women in 6, girls in
9. And the extendend description of the girl who dances out on the canvas platform in
10. Nick the narrator is a young male,and so may be expected to notice the opposite
sex more than his own, and we also know that his purpose organizing the parties is to
attract a particular woman
Verbs the vast majority of main verbs are dynmic, helping to give a sense of
continual movement and change to the passage (69.6 of the main verbs are dynamic,
21..7 stative and 8.7 per cent relate to cogniction of perception. If we concentrate on
the dynamic verbs we find that extremely high proportion of the (68.8) are intransitive.
Because transitive verbs take object and intransitive do not, there s a tendency..
Adverbs are the least represented for the major word classes: the large majority of the
adverbs relate to three major semantic areas: place, time, manner
Grammar: sentence structure
-
The dominant pattern of clauses would appear to be a series of main clauses coordinated
together, or juxtaposed paratactically, woth the occasional subordinate clause the passage is
easy to read, the predominant grammatical style is loose
Readers feel that Fitzgeralds style of writing is rather more demanding that that of Stainback
of Lawrence, because his sentences are typically twice as long, but less difficult than Virgina
Woolf or Henry James. Fitzgerald makes consistent use of trailing structures
This shows interesting things about Fitzgeralds style
The first paragraph, describing the preparations for the party, in past tense, but at the
beginning of the secong paragraph, which describes the prelude to the party, as the
quests arrive and get ready, the tense switches to the present perfect
In the last three paragraphs nearly 15 per cent of the nouns chatter, laugher, are
derived from verbs, this helps to increase the feeling of continual movement and
change in the description
There is relatively little lexical repetition to link parts of the text together
There is little use of pronouns to create patterns of linked reference to one person or
thing
There is a little use of elegant variation where alternative expressions are used to
refer to the same individual or thing
These infrequencies are all connected with the effect of constant change and
movement.
Poetic features alliteration and metaphor can be found here corps of caterers--Christmas tree of Gatsvy enormous garden garnished with glistening hors deuvres..
Metaphor the turkeys are bewitched to a dark gold zakliate, spiced baked hams
crowed agains.
There is no thought presentation in the scene, ther is some rereference to speech, but
what individual characters asay or wat words they use to say it is never revealed
The pardy described is large, opulent.. but nicks description of it is also imbued
nasteny with irony throughout.
Parallel construction
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Parallel construction are often backed you by repetition of words (lexical repetition)
and conjunction and preposition (polysyndeton)
Pure parallel construction does not depend on any other kind of repetition by the
repetition of the syntactical design of the sentence.
Parallel construction is used in different styles of writing with different function e.g.
in the belles-letters style it carries and emotive function it is mainly used as a
technical means in building up other stylistic devices.
This device is effective in that it helps to lay stress on the second part of the utterance,
which is opposite in structure. This is due to the sudden change in the structure which
by its very unexpectedness linguistically requires a slight pause before it
Chiasmus is a syntactical, not a lexical device it is only the arrangement of the parts
of the utterance which constitutes this stylistic device
There exists lexical chiasmus or chiasmatic repetition both parts of the parallel
construction have the same, the normal word order: in the day of old men made the
manners. Manners now make men (Byron)
The first part in chiasmus is somewhat incomplete, it calls for combination, and the
anticipation is rewarded by the second part of the construction, which is the
completion of the idea. stylistic device = acquired quite different function it does not
aim what making a direct emotional impact, the SD of repetition aims at logical
emphasis necessary to fix the attention of the reader on the heavy word
Repetition
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Repetition is an expressive means of language used when speaker is under the stress of
strong emotion: Stop! she cried, do not tell me! I do not want to hear, I do not want
to hear what you have come for, I do not want to hear
The repetition I do not want to hear is not a stylistic device, it is a means by which the
excited state of mind of the speaker is shown it is manifested through intonation
Anaphora
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If the repeated word (or phrase) comes at the beginning of two or more consecutive
sentences, clauses or phrases
Epiphora
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If the repeated unit is placed at the end of consecutive sentences, clauses or phrases
Framing the initial parts of a syntactical unit, in most cases of a paragraph, are repeated at
the end of it:
Poor dools dressmaker! How often so dragged down by hands that should have raised her
up.. Poor little dolls dressmaker (dickens)
Anadiplosis the structure of anadiplosis: the last word or phrase of one part of an utterance
is repeated at the befinning of the next part, thus hooking the two parts together: Freeman ans
slave.. carried on an uninterrupted,now hiden, now open fight, a fight that each time ended..
Chain repetition linking device used several times in one utterance: a smile would come
into Mr. Pickwicks face, the smile extended into a laugh: the laugh into a roar, and the roar
became general (dickens)
Synonymical repetition
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Is a variety of repetition, this is the repetition of the same idea by using synonymous
words and phrases which by adding a slightly different nuance of meaning intensify
the impact of the utterance
A. Pleanasm expresses the negative attitude of the critic. It is the use of more
words in a sentence thatn are necessary to express the meaning- redundancy of
expression
B.- It is the repetition of the same statement. The repetition of the same word or phrase
or the same idea or statement in other words, usually as a fault of style
Enumeration (vymenvanie)
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remote through it may seen it is frequently used to depict scenery through a tourists
eyes: donkey, priests, patios.
-
youth lovely / age lovely .here the obj. contrast pair is youth and age cannot be
regarded as objectively opposite concept but being drewn into the scheme.
Climax gradation
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1. Logical climax is based on the relative importance of the component parts looked
at from the point of view of the concepts embodied in them
The concrete stylistic function of this device is to show the relative importance of
things as seen by the author
Antithesis
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The repetition of conjunctions and other means of connection makes an utterance more
rhythmical . so much so that prose may even seem like verse
Aposiopesis break-in-the-narrative
-
In writin it is the context, which suggests the adequate information, that is the only key
to decode the aposiopesis: you just come or or Ill . implication here is a threat.
However, without the context the implication can be vague. But when one knows
It is stylistic syntactical device to convey to the reader a very strong upsurge vzostup
of emotions
Question-in-the-narrative
-
Is asked and answered by one and the same person,usually the author
For what is lef the poet here? For Greeks a blush for Greece a tear
Sometimes it gives the impression of an intimate talk between the writer and the
reader: Scrooge knoew he was dead? Of course..
Is used in oratory often,. Here they chain the attention of the listeners to the matter the
orator is dealing.. with, they also gives the listeners time to absorb what has been said
and prepared for the next point
remain unanswered
Rhetorical question
-
There is an interplay of two structural meanins:1 that of the question and 2. That of the
statement both are materialized simultaneously: are there the remedies riesenia
for a starving and desperate populace?
Can be embodied in complex sentences with the subordinate clause containing the
pronouncement: shall the sons of Chimary who never forgive the fault of a friend bid
an enemy live?
Can be also based on negation, too: did not the Italian Mosico Cazzani sing at my
heart six months at least in vain?
with, they also gives the listeners time to absorb what has been said and prepared for
the next point
remain unanswered
Litotes
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Wecan speak about transparence of meaning- a device with help of which two
meanings are materialized simultaneously: the direct (negative) and transferred
(affirmative)
Litotes is used in different styles of speech, excluding those which may be called the
matter-of-fact styles, like official style and scientific prose