4. Теоретико-методологические основы курса

Lecture 1.

Introduction into Stylistics.

Stylistics, sometimes called linguo-stylistics, is a branch of general linguistics. It deals with 2 tasks: a) the investigation of the inventory of special lg media which by their ontological features secure the desirable effect of the utterance and b) certain types of texts which due to the choice .

The types of texts that are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication are called functional styles of lg (FS); the special media of lg which secure the desirable effect of the utterance are called expressive means (EM).

The authors of handbooks:

German - E. Riesel, M.P. Brandes;

French – Y.S. Stepanov, R. G. Piotrovsy, K.A. Dolinin;

English – I.R. Galperin, I.V. Arnold, T.A. Znamenskaya, Y.M. Skrebnev, V.A. Maltsev, V.A. Kukharenko, A. N. Morokhovsky and others;

Russian – M.N. Kozhina, I.B. Golub.

The position of stylistics in relation to linguistics, is best put by Nils Erik Enkvist in his book Linguistic Stylistics (p. 27):

We may... regard stylistics as a subdepartment of linguistics, and give it a special subsection dealing with the peculiarities of literary texts. We may choose to make stylistics a subdepartment of literary study which may on occasion draw on linguistic methods. Or we may regard stylistics as an autonomous discipline which draws freely, and eclectically, on methods both from linguistics and literary study.

Seventy per cent of our lifetime is spent in various forms of communication activities – oral (speaking, listening) or written (reading, writing), so it is self-evident how important it is for a philologist to know the mechanics of relations between the non-verbal, extralinguistic denotational essence of the communicative act and its verbal, linguistic presentation. It is no surprise, then, that many linguists follow their famous French colleague Charles Bally, claiming that stylistics is primarily the study of synonymic language resources.

Representatives of the not less well-know Prague school – V.Mathesius, T.Vachek, J.Havranek and others focused their attention on the priority of the situational appropriateness in the choice of language varieties for their adequate functioning. [Kukharenko – 1986]

As a general rule, the subject matter of any science is that the reader is expected first simply to take on faith what the author says.

One could have attempted formulating a “universal” definition of stylistics that would not be exhaustive. Having the last word should never be anyone’s aim. Another way seem preferable: to renounce all claims to universality, compensating for the absence of a general definition by providing a series of statements, each characterizing certain properties of stylistics from different viewpoints. Seeing all the different statements, comparing and correlating them will enable the reader to better understand the contents of stylistics, and the place it occupies among the numerous branches of linguistics.

1. Viewed in its relation to language as a system, stylistics is based on the theory of sublanguages. All speech activity is divided by researchers into a number of spheres assumed to be discrete. A sublanguage is the set of lingual units actually used in a given sphere. The overlapping part of sublanguages is made up of units that are ‘neutral’, since they are not associated with a definite sphere. The peripheral parts of sublanguages constitute their respective “styles” (the basic concept of stylistics).

2. Viewed in its relation to language as a set of signs and their sequence patterns, stylistics may be regarded as a l i n g u i s t i c d i s c i p l i n e concentrating on connotations. The latter are those parts of the semantic structure of lingual elements and their sequences (combinations) which are not carriers of lexical or grammatical information, but mere indicators of what class the elements (sequences) belong to either the specific part (style) of a sublanguage, or the central (neutral) field.

3. Viewed in search for a general evaluation of the character of its object, stylistics studies information often unaccounted for by an ordinary language user. It presents in verbal form what a layman perceives very vaguely or ignores altogether, being led by intuition or semi-cognized experience in his speech activity.

4. Viewed as a linguistic branch having its own substance, stylistics appears as a description of types of specific lingual elements and combinations of elements – a description creating the system of concepts to be used in analysis of material.

5. Viewed with the aim of establishing its ultimate goals or prospects, stylistics may be defined as a branch of linguistics elaborating a system of tests to ensure correct text attribution. The data accumulated in the course of stylistic research should help to find out the individual properties of concrete texts or at least of text types. In certain professional spheres, stylistics must provide the means of extracting from texts enough information about the writer to facilitate his identification.

6. Viewed pragmatically, i.e. as reflecting the interrelation between language and its users’ behavior, stylistics investigates the highest stages of linguistic competence, i.e. the ability to differentiate subsystems (sublanguages) in the general structure of language. The mastery of sublanguages is akin to speaking several languages.

7. Viewed as regards its place among other branches of linguistics (describing a national language in terms of phonetics, morphology, vocabulary, syntax, and semantics), stylistics turns out to be a more precise, more detailed and, hence, the most reliable description of the linguistic object. Non-stylistic descriptions merely state the existence in a given language of certain units or combinations of units. An impression is thus created that variants of phonemes and morphemes, synonymous words, homofunctional syntactical constructions, semantically varying denominations of the same object of reality are of equal value, mutually exchangeable, and universally applicable. Stylistic description, on the other hand, takes into account the comparative connotational potential of such units, points out their place in the system of sublanguages, and typical spheres of use. Then, and then only, will there arise an undistorted picture of the way language functions. After all, any linguistic description, claiming the utmost adequacy, has to be a stylistic description. Grammarians, phoneticians, and compilers of dictionaries usually, though not always consistently, take this into consideration, providing some of the units with indices of their stylistic class and expressive properties. [Skrebnev –2000]

I.V. Arnold distinguishes the following types of stylistics: 1) stylistics of language (researches functional styles from one hand, and expressive, emotional and appraising means of different language means); 2) stylistics of speech (studies separate real texts analyzing the way they reveal contents).

There are two types of information in the text, according to Arnold: 1) not connected with an atmosphere of an act of communication, but performing the very subject of a massage; 2) an additional information connected with the conditions and participants of an act of communication.

Stylistics is usually subdivided into linguastylistics, which studies the elements of the language from the point of view of their ability to express and cause emotions, additional associations and evaluation, and literary stylistics studying the totality of artistic expressiveness means, which are characteristic for a literary work, for an author, literary trend or a whole epoch, and factors from which the artistic expressiveness depends.

Some authors differentiate also comparative stylistics (regards stylistic possibilities of two or more languages at the same time and has tough links with the artistic translation) and poetics, which is a part of stylistics dealing with the language usage specifics in various spheres of communication along with the specifics of the scientific language, the language of compositions, newspapers, advertisement etc.

Stylistics is in the close intercommunication with other sciences and some linguists suggest giving the following classification of stylistics:

1. lexical stylistics;

2. grammatical stylistics with two subdivisions: morphological and syntactical;

3. phonostylistics. [Arnold – 1990]

As stylistics deals with language phenomena from the point of view of their expressive function, it operates several specific notions. These notions are representational and expressive language means.

Representational means are the usage of the words, word combinations and sentences in a figural (evocative) meaning, various types of transference of meanings – tropes (from the Greek “tropos” – ‘turn’, ‘use’) or stylistic devices.

To the expressive means of language we shall ascribe such techniques of speech that are connected with the transference of meanings of words or word combinations, but are used for intensification of the expressiveness of an utterance or for making the utterance more emotionally colourful. Among these means are, for instance, enumerations, parallel constructions, antithesis and other forms of structural speech organization.

Different phonetic devices also belong to the expressive means as well as lexical ones: archaic words, coinages, so called bookish words.

Representational and expressive language means are usually called the figures of speech. Following the classification of Kuznets, stylistic figures are divided into two types by their certain aims: the figures of quality (metaphorical, metonymical and mixed groups) and figures of relations (relations of identity (synonyms, euphemisms, periphrasis), relations of opposition (antithesis, oxymoron, irony), relations of inequality).

Lecture 2.

Sublanguages and styles.

Samuel Wesley defines style as “the dress of thought”. I.R. Galperin’s definition is restricted by the term individual style. He considers the individual style is a unique combination of language units, expressive means, and stylistic devices peculiar to a given writer.

More profound and deep definition is given in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English language. According to it, style is seen as the (conscious and unconscious) selection of a set of linguistic features from all possibilities in a language [The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English language. – 2002]

The effect these features convey can be understood only by intuitively sensing the choices that have been made (as when we react to the linguistic impact of a religious archaism, a poetic rhyme scheme, etc.), and it is usually enough simply to respond to the effect in this way. But there are often occasions when we have to develop a more analytical approach, as when we are asked our opinion about a particular use of language. Here, when we need to explain our responses to others, or even advise others how to respond (as in the teaching of literature); our intuition needs to be supplemented by a more objective account of style. It is this approach which is known as stylistics.

There are different definitions given by various linguists: for example J. Middleton Murry gives the following interpretation of the style: "Style is a quality of language which communicates precisely emotion or thought, or a system of emotions or thoughts, peculiar to the author" [Quote in Galperin-1977].

The most frequent definition of style is one expressed by Seymour Chatman "Style is a product, of individual choices and patterns of choices among linguistic possibilities" [Chatman -1967]. A somewhat broader view of style is expressed by Werner Winter who maintains that "A style may be said to be characterized by a pattern of recurrent selections from the inventory of optional features of a language^” [Winter-1969].

M. Riffattere defines style as "any individual written form where the style of an author or a piece is embodied. The style is an emphasis that is added to the information expressed by the linguistic structure without any changes in the meaning. In other words, what the language expresses, the style underlines" [Riffattere -1980].

“Style is the man himself” (Buffon)

“Style is depth” (Darbyshire)

“Style is deviations” (Enkvist)

“Style is choice”

“Style is socially recognized and functionally conditioned internally united totality of the ways of using, selecting and combining the means of lingual intercourse in the sphere of one national lg or another” (V.V. Vinogradov (1955))

“Style is a system of interrelated lg means which serves a definite aim in communication” (I.R.Galperin (1971))

“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 a specific text” (Y.M. Skrebnev (1994))

There is no point in quoting other definitions of style. They are too many and too heterogeneous to fall under one more or less satisfactory unified notion. "'All of them point to some integral significance, namely that style is a set of characteristics by which we distinguish one speaker from another or members of one subclass from members of other subclasses, all of which are members of the same general class" [ Sebeok -1960].

Lecture 3.

The structure of stylistics

The CONTENT associated by most people with the form of a linguistic unit is its MEANING

Meanings are studied by - The theory of naming -

SEMASIOLIGY (SEMANTICS) ---- ONOMASIOLOGY (ONOMATOLOGY)

if we proceed FROM FORM TO MEANING if we proceed FROM MEANING TO FORM

we follow the semasiologist’s act searching for the wording of an idea,

our follow the principles of onomasiology

treats semantic structures of linguistic units treats problems of choice of linguistic units for

naming extralingual objects (things, relations, situations)

the choice cannot go on without the data of semasiology

they are dialectically interwoven

semasiological approach fits for: onomasiology deals with:

a) analyzing words (historical development) 1) the problem of what word, phrase, sentence was

b) degradation/elevation of meanings chosen and used to characterize a certain object in the text

c) extension/narrowing 2) what transfer of the name occurred in using it with

d)metaphoric/metonymic changes of words reference to an unusual object

PARADIGMATICS ---- SYNTAGMATICS

denotes the totality of units denotes a totality, or a certain number of sequences of units,

of which language has at its disposal of chain of units following one another

(units taken together make a paradigm)

What is a paradigm?

Word combinations

Sentences (sentence patterns)

Paragraphs

Types of texts

If arranged together as possibilities from which

one selects the necessary form

make up their own paradigms

LG itself, LG-AS-A-SYSTEM has both paradigmatic and syntagmatic aspects

LG as a whole is a multitude of paradigms

Syntagmatics and Paradigmatics are non-existent without each other

SYNTAGMATA as well as its constituents (elements) are presented PARADIGMATICALLY

Paradigmatic choice of units make up - PARADIGMATIC STYLISTICS

Types of co-occurrence of units in syntagmata (sequence) make up – SYNTAGMATIC STYLISTICS

PARADIGMATIC ONOMASIOLOGY SYNTAGMATIC SEMASIOLOGY

treats manifold problems of choice of nomination deals with stylistic functions of relationship of names in texts

studies tropes studies types of linear arrangement of meanings, singling out,

classifying, and describing what is called ‘figures of co-crrurance’

Lecture 4.

Paradimatic semasiology.

The questions are based on Y.M. Skrebnev’s “Fundamentals of English Stylistics”, 2000.

1. Explain the meaning of the following terms:

‘trope’

‘image’

‘etymological trope’ (Y. M. Skrebnev p. 99)

Why ‘epithet’ doesn’t match the system of paradigmatic onomasiology? (Y. M. Skrebnev p. 100)

2. What is a quantitative deviation?

What is a qualitative difference? Explain the scheme on p. 102.

What are the types of metaphor, according to Screbnev? Specify them.

3. Why hyperbole has to be illogical? Bring examples. (p. 103)

What words are called ‘downtoners’? What effect do they produce when co-occur with offensive words in the same utterance? Bring examples (p. 105)

4. What are the types of synecdoche? (p. 110) Bring examples.

In what way is this device different from metonymy? On what types of relations is metonymy based?

5. Particularize implicit and explicit types of irony. (p. 118-121) Bring examples.

Lecture 5.

Semasiology of sequences.

The questions are based on Y.M. Skrebnev’s “Fundamentals of English Stylistics”, 2000.

1. What is the basis for distinguishing the figures of : Identity, Inequality, Contrast?

Specify the term “equalizers” (Y.M. Skrebnev p. 153)

2. What are the types of simile? (p. 145-149) Bring examples.

3. Quasi-Identity. What makes it deferent from metaphor? Bring examples. (pp.149-151)

4. Define the difference between: Synonymous replacements and Specifying synonyms. (pp. 151-154)

5. What is Climax? Anti-climax? (pp.155-156). Bring Examples.

6. What constitute the difference between tautology pretended and tautology disguised? Bring Examples. (p. 160)

7. What are the types of Oxymoron and Antithesis? What makes them different? Bring examples. (pp. 161 – 165).

Lecture 6.

Different classifications of expressive means and stylistic devices.

STYLISTIC DEVICES

Phonetic SD and expressive means. Phono-graphical and morphological levels:

Onomatopoeia

Alliteration, Assonance

Rhythm and meter, rhyme

Graphon

Morphemic repetition

Occasional words

Lexical SD:

Metaphor

Personification Metonymy

Synecdoche Pun

Irony Epithet

Hyperbole Understatement (Meiosis)

Oxymoron Antonomasia

Zeugma Euphemism

Allusions Interjections

Simile Periphrasis

Tautology Paradox

Syntactical SD:

Antithesis Climax, Anticlimax

Litotes Inversion

Detachment Attachment

Parallelism Chiasmus

Repetition (anaphora, epiphora, framing, reduplication (anadiplosis), chain repetition)

Enumeration Suspense

Asyndeton Polysyndeton

Gap-sentence link Ellipsis

Break-in-the-narrative Rhetorical question

One-member sentence Apokoinu Constructions

Prolepsis Paranthesis

Stylistic Devices

A SD (trope) is a literary model in which semantic and structural features are blended so that it represents a generalized pattern.

Lexical SD are classified according to the nature of lexical meanings participating in their formation.

Metaphor - transference of meaning on the basis of similarity and association. Metaphor is the power of realizing 2 lexical meanings simultaneously. Metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, i.e. are quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. Eg. - Time was bleeding

Those which are commonly used in speech and therefore are sometimes even fixed in dictionaries as expressive means of language are trite metaphors, or dead metaphors (Eg.: ‘a ray of hope’, ‘floods of teas’, ‘a storm of indignation’, ‘a flight of fancy’, ‘a shadow of a smile’).

The context can refresh the almost dead metaphor. Such metaphors are called sustained or prolonged.

“Mr Dombey’s cup of satisfaction was so full at this moment, however, that he felt he could afford a drop or two of its contents even to sprinkle on the dust in the by-path of his little daughter” (Dickens, “Dombey and Son”).

The central image of the sustained metaphor is called – the principal metaphor (cup (of satisfaction)), the other words (full, drop, contents, sprinkle) which bear reference to the central image – contributory images.

Personification – a kind of metaphor that involves likeness between inanimate and animate objects. E.g. – The Night – a great loving mother – lays her hands at our fevered head… and, though she does not speak, we know what she would say.

Metonymy - transference of meaning on the basis of contiguity. Eg. - "For several days he took an hour after his work to make inquiry taking with him some examples of his pen and, inks". The hero certainly took with him not his pen and inks but the examples of his work written with the help of pen and ink. This metonymy may sound either sad, solemn or ironical it all depends on the context.

Original metonymy presents mostly relations between part and the whole and is called synecdoche. ( E.g.: ‘We should teach a student punctuality’)

Irony - the clash of 2 opposite meanings within the same context. It can be also realized through the medium of situation, which in written speech may extend as far as a paragraph, chapter or even the whole book. E. g.: “It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one’s pocket”. The italicized word acquires a meaning quite the opposite to its primary dictionary meaning, that is, ‘unpleasant’, ‘not delightful’. The word containing the irony is strongly marked by intonation. Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning. Bitter, socially or politi­cally aimed Irony is referred to as sarcasm.

Zeugma - the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations to two adjacent words in the context , For example: He took his hat and his leave . The context allows to realize 2 meanings of the verb to take (to take one's hat and to take one's leave) without the repetition of the word itself.

E.g.: “Dora, plunging at once into privileged intimacy and into the middle of the room”

‘To plunge’ materializes the meaning ‘to rush into’ or ‘enter impetuously’. Here it is used in its concrete, primary, literal meaning; in ‘to plunge into privileged intimacy’ the word ‘plunge’ is used in its derivative meaning.

Рun is also based on the interaction of 2 well-known meanings of a word or phrase. For ex.:"'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) In fact, the humorous effect is caused by the interplay not of two meanings of one word, but of two words. 'Board' as a group of officials with functions of administration and management and 'board' as a piece of furniture (a table) have become two distinct words.

Hyperbole - a deliberate exaggeration of some quantity, quality, size. etc. E.g. “The girls were dressed to kill.” This deliberate exaggeration produces ironic effect. E. g.: “Stoney smiled the sweet smile of alligator ”. Hyperbole is a device which sharpens the reader’s ability to make a logical assessment of the utterance. Like many stylistic devices, hyperbole may lose its quality as a stylistic device through frequent repetition and become a unit of the language-as-a-system, reproduced in speech in its unaltered form. Here are some examples of language hyperbole: ‘'A thousand pardons'; 'scared to death', 'immensely obliged;' 'I'd give the world to see him.'

Epithet - a word or phrase expressing some quality of a person, thing or idea. It serves to emphasize a certain property or feature. Epithets in their attributive use disclose the emotional­ly colored individual attitude of the writer to the object described". E.g. dry look, happy summer; the brute of a boy, a devil of a job (reversed epithet –based on noun +of+noun stucture)

The string (chain) of epithet - "Such was the background of the wonderful, cruel, enchanting, bewildering, fatal, great city."

Transferred epithets are ordinary logical attributes generally describing the state of a human being, but made to refer to an inanimate object, for example: sick chamber, sleepless pillow, restless pace, breathless eagerness, unbreakfasted morning, merry hours, a disapproving finger, Isabel shrugged an indifferent shoulder.

Oxymoron - a combination of 2 antonymous words (mostly an adjective and a noun or an adverb with an adjective) in one syntagma . E.g. adoring hatred, shouted silently; doomed to liberty, peopled desert, proud humility, lowest skyscrapers, poorest millionaires. Trite oxymorons (awfully nice, for example) have lost their semantic discrepancy and are used in oral speech as indication of roused emotions.

Euphemism - a word or phrase used to "replace an un­pleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one. E.g. instead of the word ‘to die’ following euphemisms may be used to pass away, to be no more, to depart, to join the majority, to kick the bucket, to go west. So euphemisms are synonyms which aim at producing a deliberately mild effect.

Paradox - a statement which though it appears to be self-contradictory, nevertheless involves truth or at least an element of truth. E.g. More haste, less speed.

Interjections – are words we use when we express our feelings strongly and which may be said to exist in lg as conversational symbols of human emotions. The role of interjections is in creating emotive meanings. Interjections can be primary (devoid of any logical meaning, E.g.: Oh! Ah! Bah! Pooh! Gosh! Alas! ) and derivative ( retain a modicum of logical meaning: exclamatory words, E. g.: Come on! Look here! Bless me! God knows!), bookish (alas, egad, lo), neutral (oh, ah, Bah), colloquial (gosh, well).

Antonomasia – the interplay between the logical and nominal meanings of a word, the two kinds of meaning must be materialized in the context simultaneously. So-called token or telling names give information to the reader about the bearer of the name. E.g: “I suspect that the Noes and Don’t Knows would far outnumber the Yesses.

Allusions – 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.

When the size , shape, dimensions, characteristic features of the object are intentionally underrated we deal with understatement. Eg. – The train was moving at a snail pace.

II Syntactical SD - deal with the syntactical arrangement of the utterance.

Inversion - the displacement of the predicate (complete inver­sion) or of secondary members of the sentence (partial inversion) and their shift into the front, opening position in the sentence. E.g. Calm and quiet below me in the sun and shade lay the old house. - Here the inversion creates the lyrical mood and expresses the tender feelings of the narrator towards the old house.

Detached Constructions – are such parts of structures (secondary parts of a sentence) by some specific consideration of writer placed so that it seemed formally independent of the word they logically refer to. E.g.: “Sir Pitt came in first, very much flushed, and rather unsteady in his gait.” The essential quality of detached construction lies in the fact that the isolated parts represent a kind of independent whole thrust into the sentence or placed in a position which will make the phrase seem independent.

Rhetorical question - a statement in the form of a question which presupposes the possible answer. The positive form of the rhetorical question predicts the negative answer, the negative form the positive answer. E.g. What courage can withstand the terrors of a woman's tongue? This rhetorical question produces a humorous effect.

Repetition is classified according to compositional design. If the repeated word comes at the beginning of 2 or more sentences or phrases we have anaphora – “Supposing his head had been held under water for a while. Supposing he had been shot. Supposing he had been strangled”;

if the repeated unit is placed at the end of consecutive sentences or phrases we have epiphora – “She seemed to catch the distant sound of knocking. She hurried towards the parlour and heard knocking, angry and impatient knocking.”;

when the initial parts of a paragraph are repeated at the end of it we have framing. E.g. “He ran away from the battle. He was an ordinary human being that didn't want to kill or be killed, so he ran away from the battle.”

One more compositional model of repetition is reduplication or linking or anadiplosis. The structure of this device is the following the last word or phrase of one part of an utterance is repeated at the beginning of the next part, thus hooking the two parts together. E.g. That. brought us to our essential difference, the difference of Evolutionary collectivist and Marxist.

Synonymical 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. Here is another example from Keats' sonnet "The Grasshopper and the Cricket."

"The poetry of earth is never dead... The poetry of earth is ceasing never..."

Tautology – the repetition of the same statement; the repetition of the same word or phrase or of the same idea or statement in other words; usually as a fault style. Eg. – “He was the only survivor; no one else was saved”.

Parallelism - repetition involving the whole structure of the sentence (structures should be identical). Parallel construction carries an emotive function is in the following example: You know I am very grateful to him, don' t you? You know I feel a true respect for him...don't you?

Chiasmus – the structure of 2 successive sentences or parts of a sentence represented as reversed parallel construction, the word order of the sentences being inverted as compared with that of the other. Eg. – “Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down”;

Polysyndeton - the -repetition of conjunctions or connecting words. The repetition of "and" creates the atmosphere of bustling activity; the repetition of "or" either stresses equal importance of enumerated factors or emphasizes the validity of the indicated phenomenon. E.g. And they wore their best and more colorful clo­thes. Red shirts and green shirts and yellow shirts and pink shirts.

Asyndeton offers no conjunctions or connecting words. Asyndeton is used mostly to indicate tense, energetic, organized activities or to show a succession of immediately following each other ac­tions. Opening the story (the passage, the chapter) asyndeton helps to give a laconic and at the same time a detailed introduction into the action proper. E.g. Through his brain slowly sifted the things they had done together. Walking together. Dancing together. Sitting silent together. Watching people together.

Епитеratiоп is a stylistic device by which separate things, objects, phenomena, properties, actions are named one by one so that they produce a chain, the links of which, being syntactically in the same position (homogeneous parts of speech), are forced to display some kind of semantic homogeneity, remote though it may seem. Most of our notions are associated with other notions due to some kind of relation between them: dependence, cause and result, likeness, dissimilarity, sequence, experience (personal and/or social), proximity, etc. E.g.:"The principal product ion of these towns... appear to be soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers and dock-yard men." (Dickens, "Pickwick Papers")

Parenthesis – words, phrases or clauses disconnected grammatically with their syntactical surroundings. It performs the following stylistic functions: 1) it reproduces two parallel lines of thought, two different planes of narration (in the author’s speech); 2) it makes the sentence or clause more conspicuous, more emphatic. Eg. –The main entrance (he had never ventured to look beyond that) was a splendiferous combination of a glass and iron awning.

Ellipsis – deliberate omission of at least one member of the sentence. Eg. – “Light black. From pole to pole”.

Apokoinu constructions – the omission of the pronominal (adverbial) connective that creates a blend of the main and the subordinate clauses so that the predicative or the object of the first one simultaneously used as the subject of the second one. Eg. – “The was a door led into the kitchen”, “He was the man killed that deer”.

One-member sentences (nominal sentences) - sentences consisting only of a nominal group, witch is semantically and communicatively self-sufficient. Eg. – “A solemn silence”.

Break-in-the-Narrative (Aposiopesis) – a stopping short for rhetorical effect. E.g.: “You just come home or I’ll …” Break-in-the-Narrative is a SD in which the role of the intonation implied cannot be over-estimated. The pause after the break is generally charged with meaning and it is the intonation only that will decode the communicative significance of the utterance.

Suspense – a deliberate postponement of members of the sentence, i.e. is a compositional device which consists in arranging the matter of a communication in such a way that the less important, descriptive, subordinate parts are amassed at the beginning, the main idea being withheld till the end of the sentence. Thus the reader’s attention is held and his interest kept up. Eg. – “Mankind, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M. was obliging enough to read and explain to me, for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw”. Sentences of this type are called periods.

Attachment (gap-sentence link) – in the attachment the second part of the utterance is separated from the first one by a full stop though their semantic and grammatical ties remain very strong. The second part appears as an afterthought and is often connected with the beginning of the utterance with the help of a conjunction. Eg. – “It wasn’t his fault. It was yours. And mine. And do remember it”.

Prolepsis – is a repetition of the noun subject in the form of a personal pronoun. The stylistic purpose of this device is to emphasize the subject, to make it more conspicuous. Eg. – “Miss Webster; she slept forty days and nights without waking up”.

III Lexico-syntactical devices are based on both the interaction of lexical meanings of words and the syntactical arrangement of the elements of the utterance.

Antithesis - a structure consisting of two steps, the lexical meanings of which are opposite to each other. E.g. Don't use big words. They mean so little. Here the opposition of 2 antonyms "big" and “little^” is strengthened by the context (big words in fact mean very little) and produces the effect of irony. E.g.: “Youth is lovely, age is lonely, Youth is fiery, age is frosty.” Antithesis is generally molded in parallel construction. The structural design of antithesis is so important that unless it is conspicuously marked in the utterance, the effect might be lost. Antithesis is a device bordering between stylistics and logic. The extremes are easily discernible but most of the cases are intermediate. However, it is essential to distinguish between antithesis and what is termed contrast. Contrast is a literary (not a linguistic) device based on logical opposition between the phenomena set one against another.

Simile - a structure of 2 components joined by link--adverbs like, аs, as - as. as - though. Ordinary comparison and simile must not be confused. Comparison weighs 2 objects belonging to one class of things while simile characterizes one object by bringing it into contact with another object belonging to an entirely different class of things. She sty­listic effect of a simile is that of giving a developed image of a person or a thing. E.g. She has always been as live as a bird. Here a human being is characterized by means of bringing the person into contact with a bird, that is an object belonging to an entire­ly different class of things. The image of a very lively person is created.

Similes in which the link between the tenor (which is compared) and the vehicle (with which smth is compared) is expressed by notional verbs such as ‘to resemble’, ‘to seem’, ‘to recollect’, ‘to remember’, ‘to look like’, ‘to appear’, etc are called disguised. Eg. – “His strange grin made his large teeth resemble a dazzling miniature piano keyboard.”

Periphrasis - the re-naming of an object by a phrase that brings out some particular feature of the object. The main stylistic function of periphrasis is to convey the author's subjective percep­tion, thus illuminating the described entity with the new, added light and understanding. E.g. The hospital was .crowded with the surgically interesting products of the fighting in Africa the wounded soldiers are re-named into "surgically interesting pro­ducts of the fighting", thus the writer's attitude to the descri­bed war is illuminated and the effect of bitter irony is achieved.

Litotes – is a SD consisting of a peculiar use of negative constructions. The negation plus noun or adjective serves to establish a positive feature in a person or thing. Litotes displays a simultaneous materialization of two meanings: one negative, the other affirmative. E.g.: “It’s not a bad thing.”, “He is no coward”, “This was no easy task”.

Climax (gradation) – is an arrangement of sentences (or of the homogeneous parts of one sentence) which secures a gradual increase in significance, importance, or emotional tension in the utterance, as in: “It was a lovely city, a beautiful city, a fair city, a veritable gem of a city.” There is a device which is called anticlimax. The ideas expressed may be arranged in ascending order of significance, or they may be poetical or elevated, but the final one, which the reader expects to be the culminating one, as in climax, is trifling or farcical. For example: "This war-like speech, received with many a cheer, Had filled them with desire of fame, and beer" (Byron)

IV Graphical and Phonetic Expressive means and SD.

The changed type (italics, bold type, etc) or spelling (multiplication -"laaarge", “rrruin"), hyphenation - "des-pice", "g-irl", etc.) are used to indicate the additional stress on the emphasized word or part of the word.

Phonetic expressive means - alliteration, onomatopoeia - deal with the sound instrumenting of the utterance.

Onomatopoeia is a combination of speech-sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc), by things (machines or tools, etc.), by people (singing, laughter, patter of feet, etc.) and by animals. There are two varieties of onomatopoeia: Direct and indirect. Direct – is contained in words that imitate natural sounds, as ding-dong, buzz, cuckoo, mew, roar, ping-pong, etc. Indirect – is a combination of sounds the aim of which is to make the sound of the utterance an echo of its sense. It is sometimes called “echo-writing”. E.g.: ‘And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain’(E.A.Poe), where the repetition of the sound [s] actually produces the sound of the rustling of the curtain.

Alliteration - is a phonetic stylistic device which aims at imparting a melodic effect to the utterance. The essence of this device lies in the repetition of similar sounds, in particular consonant sounds, in close succession, particularly at the beginnings of successive words. E.g. “The possessive instinct never stands still. Through florescence and feud, frosts and fires it follows the laws of progression”. Here a certain amount of information about J.Galsworthy’s ironic attitude towards the possessive instinct of the Forsytes is contained in the repetition of sounds “s”, and “f”.

Graphon - the intentional violation of the graphical shape of a word used to reflect its authentic pronunciation. Eg. – “You don’t mean to thay that thith ith your firth time”.

Occasional words – words, created by writers for special occasions , formed, usually, by morphemic repetitions. Eg. – “There was a balconyful of gentlemen”.

Lecture 7.

Paradigmatic lexicology.

PARADIGMATIC LEXICOLOGY

• The branch of stylistics thus named deals with the principles of stylistic description of lexical and phraseological units of lg in abstraction from the context in which they function.

Indispensable words, those in use everywhere, are stylistically neutral.

Words used only in special spheres are stylistically coloured.

Since it is stylistically relevant to distinguish between what is obsolete, i.e. practically dead, what is normal, habitual, unconditionally acceptable, and what is new, i.e. only born, we can establish a system comprising 3 classes:

1. archaisms;

2. current words of the epoch;

3. new creations, or neologisms.

Word-classes:

Poetic words Archaic words (Archaisms)

Bookish words Official words

Barbarisms (Foreign Words) Special terms

Professionalisms Colloquial words

Neologisms (new creations) Jargon words

Dialect words Slang

Nonce-words Vulgar words

Stylistics is expected to give recommendations as to the use of words:

1. Whether a word suits the sphere of speech, or

2. whether it is too high-flown,

3. Whether it is too coarse, low to be used at all.

The stylistic classification of the vocabulary takes into account the social prestige of the word.

Not being neutral the words are either better or worse.

POSITIVE (elevated) connotations

NEUTRAL

NEGATIVE (degraded) connotations

The notions of elevation and degradation are correlative, in the sphere of morals, with the biblical concepts of good and evil; logically, they represent:

the opposition of the positive to the negative.

Theoretically, no 2 synonyms stand at the same level stylistically: one of them is either higher or lower, or stronger, or weaker, or implies additional meaning.

Ex. – answer – reply – response – rejoinder – retort – return

Practically, it is not always possible to give an unbiased opinion upon the merits and demerits of a word.

T he scheme that follows divides both the superneutral (elevated) and subneutral (degraded) parts of the diagram into 3 gradations: minimal, medial, maximal.

Maximal

Medial ELEVATION (bookish, barbarisms, archaisms, poetic words, special (official, popular) terms

Minimal

Neutral

M inimal

Medial DEGRADATION (colloq., profession., neologisms, jargon, nonce-words, slang, vulgarisms)

Maximal

Lecture 8.

Functional styles.

Each style of the literary language makes use of a group of language means the interrelation of which is peculiar to the given style. It is the coordination of the language means and stylistic devices that shapes the distinctive features of each style, and not the language means or stylistic devices themselves. Each style can be recognized by one or more leading features, which are especially conspicuous. For instance, the use of special terminology is a lexical characteristic of the style of scientific prose, and one by which it can easily be recognized.The definition of a functional style resembles very much the one given in the first chapter of the present manual.

A functional style can be defined as a system of coordinated, interrelated and interconditioned language means intended to fulfill a specific function of communication and aiming at a definite effect.

The English language has evolved a number of functional styles easily distinguishable one from another. They are not homogeneous and fall into several variants all having some central point of resemblance. Thus, I.R.Galperin distinguishes five classes:

1. The BeIles-Lettres Style

1) Poetry; 2) Emotive Prose; 3) The Drama.

2. Publicistic Style

1) Oratory and Speeches; 2) The Essay; 3) Articles.

3. Newspapers

1) Brief News Items; 2) Headlines; 3) Advertisements and Announcements; 4) The Editorial.

4. Scientific Prose 5. Official Documents.

The BeIles-Lettres Style

• Poetry • Emotive Prose • The Drama

Each of these substyles has certain common features, typical of the general belles-lettres style.

The common features of the substyles may be summed up as follows. First of all, comes the common function, which may broadly be called «aesthetical-cognitive». Since the belles-lettres style has a cognitive function as well as an aesthetic one, it follows that it has something in common with scientific style, but the style of scientific prose is mainly characterized by an arrangement of language means which will bring proofs to clinch a theory. Therefore we say that the main function of scientific prose is proof. The purpose of the belles-lettres style is not to prove but only to suggest a possible interpretation of the phenomena of life by forcing the reader to see the viewpoint of the writer.

The belles-lettres style rests on certain indispensable linguistic features, which are:

1. Genuine, not trite, imagery achieved by purely linguistic devices.

2. The use of words in contextual and very often in more than one dictionary meaning, or at least greatly influenced by the lexical environment.

3. A vocabulary which will reflect to a greater or lesser degree the author's personal evaluation of things or phenomena.

4. A peculiar individual selection of vocabulary and syntax, a kind of lexical and syntactical idiosyncrasy.

5. The introduction of the typical features of colloquial language to a full degree or a lesser one or a slight degree, if any.

Poetry

The first differentiating property of poetry is its orderly form, which is based mainly on the rhythmic and phonetic arrangement of the utterances. The rhythmic aspect calls forth syntactical and semantic peculiarities which also fall into more or less strict orderly arrangement. Both the syntactical and semantic aspects of the poetic substyle may be defined as compact, for they are held in check by rhythmic patterns. Both syntax and semantics comply with the restrictions imposed by the rhythmic pattern, and the result is brevity of expression, epigram-like utterances, and fresh, unexpected imagery. Syntactically this brevity is shown in elliptical and fragmentary sentences, in detached constructions, in inversion, asyndeton and other syntactical peculiarities.

Rhythm and rhyme are distinguishable properties of the poetic substyle provided they are wrought into compositional patterns. They are typical only of this one variety of the belles-lettres style.

Emotive Prose

Emotive prose has the same features as have been pointed out for the belles-lettres style in general; but all these features are correlated differently in emotive prose. The imagery is not so rich as it is in poetry, the percentage of words with contextual meaning is not so high as in poetry, the idiosyncrasy of the author is not so clearly discernible. Apart from metre and rhyme, what most of all distinguishes emotive prose from the poetic style is the combination of the literary variant of the language, both in words and syntax, with the colloquial variant. It would perhaps be more exact to define this as a combination of the spoken and written varieties of the language. Present-day emotive prose is to a large extent characterized by the breaking-up of traditional syntactical designs of the preceding periods. Not only detached constructions, but also fragmentation of syntactical models, peculiar, unexpected ways of combining sentences are freely introduced into present-day emotive prose.

The Drama

The third subdivision of the belles-lettres style is the language of plays. Unlike poetry, which, except for ballads, in essence excludes direct speech and therefore dialogue, and unlike emotive prose, which is a combination of monologue and dialogue, the language of plays is entirely dialogue. The author's speech is almost entirely excluded except for the playwright's remarks and stage directions, significant though they may be.

Publicistic Style

Publicistic style also falls into three varieties, each having its own distinctive features. Unlike other styles, the publicistic style has spoken varieties, in particular, the oratorical substyle. The development of radio and television has brought into being a new spoken variety, namely, the radio commentary. The other two are the essay (moral, philosophical, literary) and articles (political, social, economic) in newspapers, journals and magazines. Book reviews in journals and magazines and also pamphlets are generally included among essays.

The general aim of the publicistic style, which makes it stand out as a separate style, is to exert a constant and deep influence on public opinion, to convince the reader or the listener that the interpretation given by the writer or the speaker is the only correct

one and to cause him to accept the point of view expressed in the speech, essays or article not merely by logical argumentation, but by emotional appeal as well. Due to its characteristic combination of logical argumentation and emotional appeal, the publicistic style has features common with the style of scientific prose, on the one hand, and that of emotive prose, on the other. Its coherent and logical syntactical structure, with the expanded system of connectives, and its careful paragraphing, makes it similar to scientific prose. Its emotional appeal is generally achieved by the use of words with emotive meaning, the use of imagery and other stylistic devices as in emotive prose. But the stylistic devices used in the publicistic style are not fresh or genuine.

Publicistic style is also characterized by brevity of expression. In some varieties of this style it becomes a leading feature, an important linguistic means. In essays brevity sometimes becomes epigrammatic.

Oratory and Speeches

Oratorical style is the oral subdivision of the publicistic style. Direct contact with the listeners permits the combination of the syntactical, lexical and phonetic peculiarities of both the written and spoken varieties of language. In its leading features, however, oratorical style belongs to the written variety of language, though it is modified by the oral form of the utterance and the use of gestures. Certain typical features of the spoken variety of speech present in this style are: direct address to the audience («ladies and gentlemen», «honorable members», the use of the 2^nd person pronoun «you»), sometimes contractions (/'//, won't, haven't, isn't) and the use of colloquial words.

This style is evident in speeches on political and social problems of the day, in orations and addresses on solemn occasions as public weddings, funerals and jubilees, in sermons and debates and also in the speeches of counsel and judges in courts of law.

he Essay

The essay is a literary composition of moderate length on philosophical, social, aesthetic or literary subjects. Personality in the treatment of theme and naturalness of expression are two of the most obvious characteristics of the essay. This literary genre has definite linguistic traits which shape the essay as a variety of the publicistic style.

The most characteristic language features of the essay are:

1. Brevity of expression, reaching in a good writer a degree of epigrammaticalness.

2. The use of the first person singular.

3. A rather expanded use of connectives, which facilitate the process of grasping the correlation of ideas.

4. The abundant use of emotive words.

5. The use of similes and metaphors as one of media for the cognitive process.

Articles

Irrespective of the character of the magazine and the divergence of subject matter - whether it is political, literary, popular-scientific or satirical - all the already mentioned features of the publicistic style are to be found in any article. The character of the magazine as well as the subject chosen affects the choice and use of stylistic devices. Words of emotive meaning, for example, are few, if any, in popular scientific articles. Their exposition is more consistent and the system of connectives more expanded than, say, in a satirical style.

The language of political magazines articles differs little from that of newspaper articles. But such elements of the publicistic style as rare and bookish words, neologisms (which sometimes require explanation in the text), traditional words combinations and parenthesis are more frequent here than in newspaper articles.

Literary reviews stand closer to essays both by their content and by their linguistic form. More abstract words of logical meaning are used in them, they more often resort to emotional language and less frequently to traditional set expressions.

Newspaper Style

English newspaper style may be defined as a system of interrelated lexical, phraseological and grammatical means which is perceived by the community speaking the language as a separate unity that basically serves the purpose of informing and instructing the leader.

Since the primary function of the newspaper style is to impart information the four basic newspaper features are:

1. Brief news items and communiques; 2. Advertisements and announcement;

3. The headline; 4. The editorial.

Brief News Items

The function of a brief news is to inform the reader. It states only facts without giving comments. This accounts for the total absence of any individuality of expression and the almost complete lack of emotional coloring. It is essentially matter-of-fact, and stereotyped forms of expression prevail.

The newspaper style has its specific features and is characterized by an extensive use of:

1. Special political and economic terms.

2. Non-term political vocabulary.

3. Newspapers cliches.

4. Abbreviations.

5. Neologisms.

Besides, some grammatical peculiarities may characterize the style:

1. Complex sentences with a developed system of clauses.

2. Verbal constructions.

3. Syntactical complexes.

4. Attributive noun groups.

5. Specific word order.

The Headline

The headline is the title given to a news item or a newspaper article. The main function of the headline is to inform the reader briefly of what the news that follows is about. Sometimes headlines contain elements of appraisal, i.e. they show the reporter's or paper's attitude to the facts reported.

The basic language peculiarities of headlines lie in their structure. Syntactically headlines are very short sentences or phrases of a variety of patterns:

1. Full declarative sentences.

2. Interrogative sentences.

3. Nominative sentences.

4. Elliptical sentences.

5. Sentences with articles omitted.

6. Phrases with verbals.

7. Questions in the form of statements.

8. Complex sentences.

9. Headlines including direct speech.

Advertisements and Announcements

The function of advertisements and announcements, like that of brief news, is to inform the reader. There are two basic types of advertisements and announcements in the modem English newspaper: classified and non-classified.

In classified advertisements and announcements various kinds of information are arranged according to subject-matter into sections, each bearing an appropriate name. As for non-classified advertisements and announcements, the variety of language form and subject-matter is so great that hardly any essential features common to all may be pointed out. The reader's attention is attracted by every possible means: typographical, graphical and stylistic, both lexical and syntactical. Here there is no call for brevity, as the advertiser may buy as much space as he chooses.

The Editorial

Editorials are intermediate phenomenon bearing the stamp of both the newspaper style and the publicistic style.

The function of the editorial is to influence the reader by giving an interpretation of certain facts. Editorials comments on the political and other events of the day. Their purpose is to give the editor's opinion and interpretation of news published and suggest to the reader that it is the correct one. Like any publicistic writing, editorials appeal not only to the reader's mind but to his feelings as well.

Scientific Prose

The language of science is governed by the aim of the functional style of scientific prose, which is to prove a hypothesis, to create new concepts, to disclose the internal laws of existence, development, relations between phenomena, etc. The language means used, therefore, tend to be objective, precise, unemotional, devoid of any individuality; there is a striving for the most generalized form of expression.

The first and most noticeable feature of the style in question is the logical sequence of utterances with clear indication of their interrelation and interdependence. The second and no less important one is the use of terms specific to a certain branch of science. The third characteristic feature is sentence pattern of three types: postulatory, argumentative, and formulative. The fourth observable feature is the use of quotations and references. The fifth one is the frequent use of foot-notes of digressive character. The impersonality of scientific writing can also be considered a typical feature of this style.

The characteristic features enumerated above do not cover all the peculiarities of scientific prose, but they are the most essential ones.

Official Documents

The style of official documents, like other styles, is not homogeneous and is represented by the following substyles or variants:

1. The language of business document;

2. The language of legal documents;

3. That of diplomacy;

4. That of military documents.

This style has a definite communicative aim and accordingly has its own system of interrelated language and stylistic means. The main aim of this type of communication is to state the condition binding two parties in an undertaking.

In other words the aim of communication in this style of language is to reach argument between two contracting parties. Even protest against violations of statutes, contracts, regulations, etc., can also be regarded as a form by which normal cooperation is sought on the basis of previously attained concordance.

As in the case with the above varieties this style also has some peculiarities:

1. The use of abbreviations, conventional symbols, contractions;

2. The use of words in their logical dictionary meaning;

3. Compositional patterns of the variants of the style.

4. Absence of any emotiveness.

Lecture 9.

The most general (binary) division of language.

The questions are based on Y.M. Skrebnev’s “Fundamentals of English Stylistics”, 2000.

1. Specify the following binary divisions (p. 180):

1. ‘informal’ – ‘formal’

2. ‘colloquial’ – ‘literary’

3. ‘oral’ – written’

4. ‘written’ – ‘colloquial’

5. ‘written’ – ‘oral’

What is the common/different feature of these oppositions?

2. What sublanguages are referred to the socially regulated ones? (p.183)

3. What are the peculiar characteristics of the business letters? (pp. 185-186)

4. Specify the major features of the language and style of the diplomatic and legal spheres. (pp. 187-194)

Development of the Rhetoric

Communication is a vital part of human existence. It is generally accepted that the best way to preserve or create a free democratic society which guarantees its members' rights and privileges is to learn to communicate effectively in public and in private. Stipulating the aim of this graduation dissertation that is to decode argumentative and persuasive means in public speaking let us first dwell upon what public speaking is.

According to R. Vicar “public speaking refers to presentation of a speech to an audience of more than one. It is characterized by one person's holding central attention for a period of time. No matter how many variations in public speaking there might be effective public speaking is based on conscious planning and psychological impact to an audience, and can thus be described as rhetorical talk” [Vicar -1994].

Doubtless, rhetoric is a very helpful instrument in terms of mastering effective speaking technology. "The golden rule of public speaking is that a person should always keep his audience in mind" [Nash -1989].

In other words, every speech must meet the expectations of the audience, it must be tailored to suit their needs, interests and level. Address the audience's needs and engage their interest, using language they will understand.

To get more profound insight in persuasive public speaking, let us have, first of all, a look on rhetorical theory, its name, survey the development of the theory of persuasion and rhetoric from its origins in ancient Greece to its contemporary contributors.

The overview of rhetoric spans nearly two and half millennia, unable to represent everything we will only touch the highlights in the development of rhetorical theory and components of rhetorical effectiveness. First, let us dwell upon what the term rhetoric means. James Benjamin in his work "Principles, Elements and types of persuasion" determines rhetoric as "the science of speaking well on civil questions, eloquence, a flow of words, designed to persuade people to the just and the good. The name rhetoric is Creek, from the word "retoresin" that is to say a flow of expression. For the Greeks, they call expressions - "rests", and an orator - "retor" [Benjamin - 1991].

Taking into account the definition of the rhetoric suggested by Benjamin James we can say that rhetoric is the art of persuasion, the art of using symbols to adjust ideas to people. If we look back we will see that historically rhetoric has been a fundamental part of civilization. It was one of the original seven liberal arts (rhetoric, dialectic, grammar, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy) that formed the basis for higher education for centuries. "There were five major parts to the study of rhetoric: invention (the systematic discovery of ideas for speaking or writing), arrangement (that is, organization), style, memory (how to memorize in the age before writing was common), and delivery" [Hochschield -1995].

The rocky soil of the Mediterranean country we call Greece rise to the core of Western civilization, the ancient rhetoric. “An important area of education for the ancient Greeks was the study of persuasion. They emphasized this study, called rhetoric, because success in Athenian society was based on the ability to convince other people in the courts, in political settings, and in social settings. Because citizens in legal disputes were expected to plead their own cases, the ability to use rhetoric effectively was crucial if justice was to prevail. Because citizens were expected to participate in their governments, the skill of using rhetoric was necessary if government was to follow the best course of action. Because effective discourse encompassed both intellectual development and entertainment, rhetoric also came to be associated with the social functions of persuasion" [Benjamin -1991].

In brief, rhetoric flourished for very practical purposes. In the following extracts we shall consider the main contributions of rhetorical theory to persuasion, beginning with ancient Athens: "Socrates was a central figure in ancient Athens because his ideas and his skills as a teacher heavily influenced his student Plato, who in turn influenced his student, Aristotle, and later generations. But Socrates was also a central figure in the early development of the study of persuasion. Prior to Socrates, the practice of rhetoric was emphasized in the earliest writings of the Greeks, and we classify these earliest rhetoricians as Pre-Socratics.

The work of W. Nash gave us one interesting fact chat in Homer's famous work the "Odyssey and Iliad", composed around 890 B.C., there are many examples of the importance of effective rhetoric. The rhetorical speeches in these works served not only as examples of persuasion but also as sources of the cultural heritage to be passed down through the generations of listeners. Skill in the art of rhetoric was given as much respect as skill in the art of war. Consider, for example, the defined not only by their physical ability but also by heir eloquence" [Nash – 1989].

Protagoras, one more contributor of the Pre-Socratic period, who lived from 481 to 511 B.C. Protagoras made two main contributions to the rhetoric: One was the concept that "man is the measure of all things" [Davy -1985], this is important because it places an emphasis on human decision making. In a court case, for example, it is the jury who decides guilt or innocence. In a legislative assembly, it is the members who decide what form of action will be taken. In the marketplace, it is the customer who determines the success of a product or service.

To finalize this opinion one may say that, how human beings decide and what motivates them make up the central concern of rhetoric. Protagoras also suggested that in any rhetorical encounter there are at least two sides. "This is important because rhetoric is an art that can be used by either party in a dispute – it can be used by the barriers to advocate stricter gun control and it can be used by the National Rifle Association to advocate the right to bear arms" [Quote Nash - 1989]. Protagoras is often called the father of debate because he advanced this rhetorical principle.

Another indisputably important figure in the history of the rhetoric is Socrates who appeared as a central character in the dialogues written by Plato (428-348 B.C.). To Plato: "the art of persuasion as a part of rhetoric was a sham art that could make the good appear bad, the important seem unimportant, the guilty appear innocent" .

In later dialogues, Plato offered a more moderate position. He also placed an emphasis on audience psychology and organizing ideas to meet the type of audience. In the dialogue Plato had Socrates say: "Until a man knows the truth of the several particulars of which he is writing or speaking, and is able to define them as they are, and having defined them again to divide them until they can be no longer divided, and until in like manner he is able to discern the nature of the soul, and discover the different modes of discourse which are adapted to different natures, and to arrange and dispose them in such a way that the simple form of speech may be addressed to the simpler nature, and the complex and composite to the more complex nature until he has accomplished all this, he will be unable to handle arguments according to rules of art, as far as their nature allows them to be subjected to art, either for the purpose of teaching or persuading" [Davy - 1985].

In other words, acceptable rhetoric is based on truth and is adapted to the specific nature of the audience.

Among the other historical and worldwide known historic people is Aristotle. "Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was more tolerant of the art of rhetoric. Aristotle suggested that far from being a sham art, it was a useful art that had four important values:

• first, he argued that truth will prevail if given an equal chance;

• second, he claimed that rhetoric could teach people who are not trained;

• third, he suggested that rhetoric is valuable because it does not judge a case-it is an art that can be used by both sides in a dispute.

• Finally, he argued that rhetoric is useful in defending yourself against attack^” [Quote Vicar - 1994:158].

Aristotle also suggested the following broad classification of persuasive means which are artistic proof and can be used in a dispute, during the writing the political speeches, defending yourself and in other cases. This consisted of three types: 1. '"investigate the character of the source; 2. analyse the emotions of the audience; 3. and enquire about the logic of the case.

Aristotle dabbed rhetoric as "the art of discovering, in any given case, the available means of persuasion. In Aristotle's view, argument by example is a particularly useful and unique mean for persuasion because it provides a sense of specificity to the case"" [See Wright -1987].

If we follow the lead of the Greeks, we will see that the Romans adopted and adapted the basis on rhetoric as a central part of both education and public life. While there are many examples of Roman rhetoricians, the most famous is Cicero (106 B.C.-43 B.C.).

Cicero is recognized both for his theoretical works on persuasion for his ability to practice the art of rhetoric in speeches that studied as examples of excellence in oratory. Roman rhetoricians are credited with having organized concepts of rhetoric into four "canons" or bodies of principles:

"'organization (think about the issue), style (generate the ideas), delivery (provide special techniques for the ideas into effective words), and memory (to make a persuasive speech)".

The next stage in the development of rhetoric belongs to the medieval rhetoric.

The Middle Ages is a period of Western history that extended from roughly 500 A.D. to about 1500 A.D. "During this period, the art of rhetoric flourished in four forms: the continuation of the classical tradition, the art of preaching, the practical art of letter writing, and the art of poetics" [Freeburn -1995].

Rhetoric is an art of persuasive discourse continued throughout the middle Ages. A prime example of this tradition can be found in the works of Alcuin (735-804), advisor to the Emperor Charlemagne. "The work is largely an interpretation of Cicero-it closely followed the concepts typically discussed in Roman rhetoric".

During this period of time A. Wright pointes out that rhetoric consists of three genres: "deliberative rhetoric aimed at politics; forensic rhetoric concerned with legal pleading; and epideictic rhetoric aimed at praise or blame^” [Wright -1987].

The expansion of this period brought a considerable significance to the whole world since there has been a second tradition introduced what has become known as the art of preaching. "The most influential figure in this genre of medieval rhetoric was St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.). Augustine is recognized as extending classical precepts of rhetoric into new areas essential to the church".

Invention became a matter of interpreting and expressing sacred works. Letter writing was the third genre of rhetoric adapted to the demands of medieval society. To communicate over long distances required extensive use of written communication. To meet this demand the art of rhetoric was expanded from speeches to written forms of communication. The final area of rhetoric influential in the Middle Ages was the art of verse writing.

While we consider the term "grammar" to mean the study of syntax, for medieval rhetoricians the term was much broader and included what we now refer to as the study of literature as well as sentence structures. This "grammatical" genre of medieval rhetoric placed an emphasis on studying both the traditional Latin rules of syntax and the composition of Latin verse.

The next stage is to turn to the following integral part of the rhetoric’s growth - the modern rhetoric. The modern period of rhetorical theory extends from the Renaissance to the turn of the twentieth century. Generally this was a period that witnessed new developments in rhetorical theory with an emphasis on the psychology of the receivers.

“Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the English philosopher credited with developing the modern scientific method, is also a pivotal figure in the re-emergence of rhetoric and psychology. In Bacon’s view rhetoric was defined as the application of reason to imagination for the better moving of the will [Freeburn - 1995:97]. Francis Bacon advocated a faculty psychology, a belief that the mind is composed of aspects or faculties that operate in different areas. George Campbell (1719-1796) was another key figure, in modern rhetoric. His Philosophy of Rhetoric revised the classical concept of rhetoric as deliberative, forensic, or epideictic in favour of a classification based on psychological effects:

• common knowledge - which may be defined as what is generally known that it can safely be asserted without the support of examples or statistical data;

• another type of specific evidence is analogy - it is used for clarification and emphasis;

• and the third sort of evidence is statistical - it is often used in the political speeches in order to make them more believable, acceptable and less criticized" [Ibid.: 100-101]

It is necessary to point out that in our graduation dissertation we will try to investigate the political speeches with a strong concern, paying special attention to the facts mentioned above and apply them to the practical part of our work.

To embrace larger horizons of contemporary rhetoric let us switch to another important figure, - and namely to the Belgian philosopher Chaim Perelman (1912-1984). In Perelman's view, "rhetoric aims at gaining the adherence of the listeners minds" [Hockschild - 1996:359], and all of the elements of rhetoric are designed to accomplish that end. Chaim Perelman suggested that the interaction of arguments is a powerful technique of rhetoric. Chaim Perelman recognized that persuaders do not rely on a single argument in seeking to gain the adherence of the receiver. As a result, arguments interact to influence the audience. He recommended carefully ordering the arguments so as to maximize the acceptance of the thesis.

Thus, summarizing the data regarding the rhetoric's development it is necessary to say that we undertook the daunting task of condensing 2500 years of Western rhetoric into a few pages. From the ancient theorists, we discovered the origins of Western rhetoric and derived the important principles of rhetoric as a science and an art that deals with practical matters of persuasion; we also found out that Socrates defined the art of persuasion as a sham art that make an important seem unimportant, Cicero is recognized both for his theoretical works on persuasion for his ability to practice the art of rhetoric in speeches that studied as examples of excellence in oratory. Plato placed an emphasis on the audience psychology, while Aristotle paid special attention to the character source, emotions and logic. He also determined argumentation as one of the available means of persuasion, the same case we can observe in the contemporary rhetoric, since such representatives of this period as Kennern Burke, Chaim Perelman also suggested that the interaction of argument is a powerful and persuasive mean of the rhetoric. Rhetoric was applied to practical matters involved in politics, law, and the society.

From the medieval area we discovered that rhetoric was not limited to the three traditional genres, but was expanded to include the art of preaching. Medieval studies also contributed the recognition that rhetoric employs aspects of both logic and poetics to accomplish these practical ends.

Finally, the varieties of medieval rhetoric showed that rhetoric is not limited to the spoken word, but that persuaders employ writing and other symbolic means as well as speeches in their efforts to influence others.

Modern rhetoric also acknowledges the importance of psychology in creating effective persuasion. A deeper understanding of how audiences think and react gives persuaders better insight into how to make persuasion effective for a particular audience. Contemporary rhetoricians like Kennern Burke and Chaim Perelman employed the social, cultural, and ethical aspects of persuasion. We should see persuasion as an interaction through symbolization that seeks to link the speaker with the receiver.

Components of Rhetorical Effectiveness and Persuasion

Expertise in communication can hardly be achieved without the awareness of the basic principles of communication, its nature, structure and forms. Traditionally four basic components of communication are singled out: “communication situations, consideration for others, how communication operates and effective performance” [Quasthoff -1994].

A communication situation can be denned as any contact between people, in whom it is possible to accomplish goals. According to Mandel, every communication act has a particular goal or goals, which can be roughly outlined in the following way:

• “people communicate to give or to get information;

• people communicate to offer ideas, to express opinions, to change minds;

• people communicate to change other people's behavior;

• people communicate to create a mood.

With regard to the subject, audience and occasion, in other words depending on the particular speech situation, it is always possible to single out one primary goal and secondary objectives.

“The second component of effective communication, consideration for others, consists in the ability to discover the needs and concerns of others in order to adapt to them. It is important to be able to give the other person a good reason to listen to you” [Mandel -1997].

It is also essential in terms of effective speaking to be aware of how communication operates. Communication means sharing ideas and information. In fact the actual process of communication is fairly complicated. It is hardly possible to transmit your ideas directly into other people's minds:

“First of all the speaker must be very clear about what information he wants to get across and what language to use with regard to the speech situation and the participants involved. In any event there is always a chance that he will be misunderstood because of various communication barriers.

The speaker must remember that communication is not a one-way process and that the feedback from the listener will show how his message was interpreted”. Thus, it is important to understand that communication is not static and rigid, that it is a dynamic, flexible process, in which one has to be alert, adaptable and considerate.

“The fourth basic component of effective communication is effective performance which has got to do with organizing and presenting information. It follows from the outline of effective communication components that communication is a fairly sophisticated process that involves an interrelated and interdependent group of elements working together as a whole to achieve a desired outcome of goal”.

Traditionally rhetoric is defined as the art of finding in the given case all the available means of persuasion. In other words, rhetoric refers to intentional, purposeful speech, designed to achieve a goal. Presumably, most of our speeches are rhetorical, because they are characterized by a certain purpose, but in certain forms of communication, in public speaking, for instance, the component of persuasion is especially marked.

Since rhetoric both as a science and as an art is highly utilitarian, its ideas and approaches appear to be quite applicable to public speaking. In fact to acquire expertise in public speaking one should become rhetorically effective.

According to W. R. Janney in practical terms rhetorical effectiveness is based on the following requirements: "a speaker must be able to get attention; to hold attention, be clear; support your ideas with proof; use appropriate language; give his listener a chance to respond; be able to access your effectiveness accurately" [ Janney -1996]. To understand how persuasion works and how to make persuasive, effective communication it requires the study of the various definitions of the word "persuasion", where we will try to understand the essence of this process and determine what goals it has in the communication process and give our own definition.

"Definitions are like diamonds - the greater the clarity, the greater the value" [Skyum - 1994]. Definitions give us starting points for understanding, so it is important that we begin by clearly defining key terms in our study of persuasion.

Like all central aspects of human life, persuasion has been variously denned; the following definition belongs to James Benjamin. He defines "persuasion as a transactional process among two or more persons whereby the management of symbolic meaning reconstructs reality, resulting in voluntary change in beliefs, attitudes, and/or behaviours" [Benjamin-1991].

W. R. Janney proposes another clarification, he emphasizes that "persuasibility refers to situations in which a source gives his position on an issue and ... presents various arguments, based on emotional or rational considerations, why this position is correct" [ Janney - 1996].

P. Skyum elucidates "persuasion as "the co-creation of a state of identification or alignment between a source and a receiver that results from the use of symbols" [Skyum - 1994], while Stanely Deetz specifies persuasion as "communication intended to influence choice" [Deetz -1989].

According to M. Alvin persuasion is also defined as a "process of communication designed to modify the judgments of others, and ... success at modifying the judgments of others in intended directions" [Alvin -1996].

Robert Freeburn formulates the definition in the following way: persuasion is considered to be "a change process resulting mostly from shared, symbolic thinking activity" [Freeburn -1995].

At this point we want to suggest our own definition: we consider that persuasion as a powerful tool in communicative process intended to influence people physiologically, to motivate them; the appeal to their hearts and emotions produces a strong hypnotic reaction in a way that the message of a speech is fixed, the directives are followed and acted on.

Thus, we have given and covered a number of definitions and at this point we would also agree with the clarifications suggested by Deetz and Alvin, or with any other linguists but here a question may arise what do these diverse, yet related, definitions have in common? There seems to be general agreement that, however persuasion is defined, it involves the strategic construction of symbols designed to influence others. Exactly what that means requires further elaboration and in order to understand this point, we suggest to scrutinize the works of such scientists as: N. McNaughton - "Biology and emotion", A. Nacss – "Communicatiion and argument", J. Benjamin - "Principles, Elements and types of persuasion".

First, it is clear that persuasion is a communication process. Process means that persuaders are engaged in an activity. Persuasion is not static. It is dynamic and can be shaped by a variety of forces. It is of primary importance to point out the following aspects of human communication that can be involved in such communication process as:

• "Intrapersonal communication canters on internal communication activities such as the role of communication in thinking and listening. Clearly, persuasion plays a role in our communication to ourselves when we are getting ready for a test or a job interview, for example, we will psych ourselves up. 'To do that is to engage in self-persuasion, convincing ourselves that we can do well or that we are the best candidate for the job. Such self-persuasion is the basis of a modem approach to personal problem solving called Rational Emotive Therapy. We engage in self-persuasion in creating and in changing our emotional reactions to events" [McNaughton -1989].

As noted psychologist Dr. David Bums, "If you want to feel better, you must realize that your thoughts and attitudes - not external events - -create your feelings. You can learn to change the way you think, feel and behave in the here and now. That simple but revolutionary principle can help you change your life" [Quote Naess - 1989].

What goes on within us as we are persuaded is also a topic of interest for intrapersonal communication. Concepts like attitude, belief, and value are central to an understanding of persuasion. Such concepts describe intrapersonal dimensions of human persuasion. Psychological factors such as attention, cognition, and emotional response are all intrapersonal elements of persuasion. Our interactions with others are directed toward goals and to accomplish those goals we must persuade and be persuaded.

• "Group communication, where several people interact and here again persuasion is omnipresent. In problem-solving groups, for example, we must advocate a specific solution we believe best meets the criteria for the optimal course" [McNaughton -1989].

Lleadership in groups or organizations also requires persuasion. In Presidential Power Richard Neustadt wrote: "That of all of the powers, the ultimate power of the president is "the power to persuade" [See Benjamin -1991]. Whether one is the president of the United States, the chief executive officer of a corporation, or the leader of a discussion up, effective leadership is a matter of persuasive communication.

It goes without saying that persuasion is also vital to public communication. Preachers, teachers, and politicians influence us through public speaking. Architects propose designs; sports figures pitch products and ideas in public appearances; lawyers address judges and juries.

According to James Benjamin "mass communication also provides paradigms of persuasion. Whether we use electronic media like radio or television; print media like newspapers, magazines, or direct mail; or newer technologies like the fax or computer networks, persuasion pervades the media. Advertising agencies and public relations firms are clearly groups that attempt to persuade using mass communication channels.

Moreover, he considers that persuasion involves symbolism because a defining characteristic of human beings is the ability to manipulate symbols. We use the concept of symbols rather than words because the process of persuasion is not carried out by words alone. Tone of voice, appearance of typeface, photographs, icons and images - all can play a part in persuasion" [Benjamin -1991].

Persuasion is deliberate and influences. We intentionally manipulate symbols to accomplish our persuasive goals. While it is true that we may, from time to time, unintentionally influence others, persuasion has connotations of a conscious effort.

Thus, we have examined various definitions of such notion as persuasion suggested by different scientists: W. R. Janney, P. Skyum, M. Alvin, and Robert Freeburn, S. Deetz and assigned our own definition. We believe that persuasion is not coercion; influence is not control. Persuasion may influence our decision to marry but it does not make for a shotgun wedding. All that a persuader really does is to try to influence the decisions of the receiver. Persuasion may influence us to vote for a politician and namely that is why let us switch to the next point of our graduation dissertation: how to write a persuasive speech.

Structural aspects of persuasive speech

The preparation of a speech is very important, crucial that is why at this point we pay special to the structure of a speech. Now let us pass to the discussion of the structure suggested by the linguists R. Vicar and D. Arnold. Thus, R.Vicar contemplates that it must be focused on an audience response, be effective and meet all the requirements of an audience. He suggests that the steps are the following: choose the topic; select the main points; organize ideas into an interesting and understandable speech; develop the points of the speech; invent openings; create conclusions; choose words to use.

Indisputably, the initial step in preparing a persuasive speech is often the most difficult-selecting the topic. A speaker should focus his topic by identifying a goal. "Goal setting, wrote Stephen Covey, a professor of business management and author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, is obviously a powerful process.... Ifs a common denominator of successful individuals and organizations" [Vicar -1994].

There are three qualities that make an effective specific purpose. A good specific purpose is: "focused on an audience response; operationally defined; realistic".

At this point we would agree that it is a critical key to persuasive speech because the goal in speaking, the specific purpose, should always focus on what a speaker wants to accomplish with his audience.

An operationally denned specific purpose makes goal clear and objective. Using operational definitions, makes purposes explicit, and a speaker can objectively determine whether we achieved his stated objective.

The third quality of an effective specific purpose statement is that it must be realistic. While public speaking is a very powerful tool, it is not omnipotent.

The next step, according to R. Vicar is selecting the main points: "once you have selected a topic and identified a specific purpose for your audience, your next step is to determine the main points in the body of the speech. The average adult attention span is roughly fifteen minutes, so a speaker cannot count on covering twenty or thirty ideas with any hope of success. It is interesting to point out that we forget nearly 75 percent of what we hear, so a speaker cannot expect his audience to remember long lists of ideas" [Vicar -1994].

A presenter may recall a few important ideas, but do not recall everything he or she knew when took the final examination.

Organize the ideas is the following step:

"Humans are organizing creatures, due to this fact it is important to organize organizational patterns, the most useful for persuasive speech is the motivated sequence. Consequently, a speaker may wish to organize his speech by providing these steps: gain attention through an interesting anecdote or similar device; provide a clear picture of the need for taking action; offer a straightforward resolution of the need in the satisfaction step; use vivid and expressive depictions to help the listeners visualize the consequences of doing nothing or the benefits of accepting proposal; and finally, urge them to action" .

R. Vicar suggests that once me main ideas of the speech have been selected and ordered, the next crucial way is consider ways to develop those ideas. To make a speech memorable, or to make the idea appealing, it is necessary to offer supporting material that impresses listeners.

Common forms of support include the following: "examples that illustrate a particular point; descriptions that create mental pictures of your ideas; testimony that cites the words of an expert or witness; numerical data that quantify the concept; audio or visual aids that help your audience hear or see the material more clearly” [Vicar -1994].

A good rule of thumb, writes D. Arnold is to “tell your audience what you are going to say, say it, then tell the audience what you have said” [Vicar – 1994]. Try to develop your key points in an interesting and varied way, drawing on relevant examples, figures etc.

"The application of numerical data and audiovisual aids is another type of supporting material", - said R. Vicar. There is no need to say that we live in an age of numbers, and quantifying ideas can make them more understandable. Most visual aids are used to clarify the meaning of verbal discourse.

Having structured and developed the main ideas of a talk, the next task is to devise an introduction. The introduction is critical. It must grab the attention of an audience and establish rapport, a feeling of unity, with a speaker. Common opening means include humorous anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and startling statements that grab the audience's attention.

Taking everything into account it may be said any composition, including a speech has a beginning, middle and an end. Thus, the traditional and generally accepted structure of a speech (according to R. Vicar) contains the following elements:

• Introduction, in which the speaker grabs the attention of the audience, introduces the subject, his purpose and himself to the audience;

• The body of the speech, which contains the outline of the major ideas and information that supports and clarifies the ideas;

• Conclusion (close), which contains a summary or a conclusion from the information presented and which helps the speaker to end his speech gracefully.

Basically, the conclusion of any speech is very important, because it consolidates all the information presented and reinforces the speeches purposes. The strategy of the conclusion may be fairly varied and depends on the duration of the speech and its complexity.

Above all it is important that the speaker should finish confidently, the audience should be conscious that he is going to close. Such closing words as "Well, that’s all I have to say..." or "I guess, I will stop..." should be avoided. They are too straightforward. It is better to stop without - talking about stopping. Anecdotes, jokes, quotations, rhetorical questions are good ways to end.

Thus, having covered the schemes of writing of convincing speech, proposed by R. Vicar and D. Arnold we believe that it is a time to suggest you our own plan of an effective speech. It goes without saying that we agree with some aspects in the classification of Vicar, for example that the traditional and generally accepted structure of a speech contains the following elements: introduction, the body of the speech, conclusion. But we do not agree with the order of writing, and some certain elements which fall out but are very crucial and significant for a memorable and persuasive speech.

On top of that, to make an effective body of a speech a speaker should use various forms of support:

1. Employing Audiovisual Aids - as it was suggested by R. Vicar - here we follow his stand because photographs, slides, graphs, recordings, audiotapes, videotapes, and models all offer sights and sounds that can reinforce speakers words;

b) Such elements as ethos - refers to the moral sphere: a speaker influences an audience because they trust him and his judgment; logos - consists in persuading the audience by being reasonable and referring to the believable facts; pathos - consists in persuading an audience by emotional arguments are an integral elements in a speech; all these elements have to be combined not to be primitive and straightforward;

c) Special attention should be paid to the style and the language of a speech, lexical and especially to the syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices; And in order to keep the listeners attention different kinds of repetitions have to be applied in order to increase the expressiveness.

d) The next crucial step is to discover the goals, motives and expectations of the audience, to establish contact with an audience. Body can be described as planning which is an indispensable stage in effective public speaking. And in order to keep the listeners attention different kinds of repetitions, definitions, examples, numerical data, citations, quotations have to be applied.

To be an effective public speaker, he must understand public opinion, why people have opinions, and how to affect those opinions. This gives rise to the view that a presenter is to bear in mind the idea of relating to people most effectively and build his own personal style.

Lecture 10.

The colloquial sphere.

The questions are based on Y.M. Skrebnev’s “Fundamentals of English Stylistics”, 2000.

1. Prove that informality overshadows every other characteristic of the colloquial sphere. (pp. 195-197)

2. Specify the difference between: “implication” and “explication”. (pp. 197-199)

3. What are the phonetic and morphemic specifics in English colloquial sphere? (pp. 199-201)

4. Particularize colloquial vocabulary. (pp. 201-203)

5. What are the manifestations of the syntactical implication? (pp. 203-206)

6. Speak on the syntactical explications. (pp. 206-209)

7. Speak on the semantical implicatory and explicatory features. (pp. 209-212)

Lecture 11.

Decoding stylistics.

The stylistics has its own technique of interpretation of the text and the aim of it is the identification of the stylistic effects appearing in the text, their depiction and elucidation from the point of view of the dependence on the message. Such stylistic method of deciphering the text is called the decoding stylistics.

The development of the text theory that we observe nowadays testifies a great interest to text as an object of linguistic research. This multifarious interest to text studying can be explained by the following: to study the text means to study its creator, i.e. personality, for any text is a product of its sender’s mind, his way of thinking. This view has been well propounded by Russian Decoding Stylistic School represented by such well-known linguists as M. Riffaterre, I.V. Arnold, V.A. Kuharenko, etc. As the term suggests “the focus is on the receiving end, on decoding and the addressee’s response” [Arnold – 1990].

This approach to text interpretation stems from the works of Russian linguists L.V. Scherba, M.M. Bakhtin, V.V. Vinogradov, B. Tomashevsky, R. Jakobson, B.A. Larin and others.

According to Hornby’s Oxford Student’s Dictionary of Current English the verb “to decode” is classified as “to decipher a code” [Hornby – 1984].

Decoding stylistics is the latest trend in stylistic analysis that makes use of 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. [Znamenskaya – 2004]

The term “decoding stylistics” came from the application of the theory of information to linguistics by such authors as M. Riffatrre, P. Guiraud, J. Jacobson, Y. Lotman, I.V. Arnold, F. Danes and others.

In order to understand the nature of the decoding stylistics, let us rely on T.A. Znamenskaya work “Stylistics of the English language”, in which she devoted the whole chapter to this problem.

T.A. Znamenskaya suggests that “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” [Znamenskaya – 2004]. In other words, decoding stylistics concerns not only stylistics, but also other disciplines, such as history, geography, culture and others.

This theory presents a creative process in the following manner: “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’” [Znamenskaya – 2004].

She supposes that neither of these approaches seems sufficient, because such kind of analysis is usually made by a literary critic and expresses only his personal comprehension of a literary work. That is why many authors show antipathy towards critical analysis of this sort as an attitude but not real evaluation.

Decoding stylistics attempts to view the esthetic value of a text, which is “based on the interaction of specific textual elements, stylistic devices and compositional structure in delivering the author's 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” [Znamenskaya - 2004].

Decoding stylistics assists the reader to comprehend a literary work by deciphering the data that may be concealed from immediate view in peculiar use of irony, simile, allusion, etc.

The term “decoding stylistics” came from the application of the theory of information to linguistics by such scholars as R. Jakobson, M. Riffatrre, P. Guiraud, Y. Lotman, I.V. Arnold and others.

The creative process of this theory can be briefly presented 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'” [Znamenskaya – 2004].

The process of encoding will only make any sense if besides the encoder who sends the information it includes the recipient or the addressee who in this case s the reader. “The reader is supposed to decode the information contained in the text of a literary work” [Arnold - 1990].

The author of the following lines, M.P. Brandes, has no doubt that every literary work has its own author. “The image of the author functions as the cementing power, which connects all stylistic means in the integral artistic system” [Brandes - 2004]. M.P. Brandes also admits that one cannot separate the work from its author.

A.I. Domashnev shares with M.P. Brandes the same idea: “Any literary work is a reflection of its creator in respect of the totality of ideas and their linguo-stylistic realization. It means that depicting a situation, the writer demonstrates in it his own perception of the world, his thoughts and feelings” [Domashnev – 1989].

However the encoding of the information does not mean to have it delivered intact to the recipient. On its way to the reader a literary work meets a great number of various impediments, such as temporal, historical, cultural, etc. Mostly these differences between the author and his reader are unavoidable. Authors and their readers may be separated by historical epochs, social conventions, political views, cultural traditions, etc.

Nevertheless “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” [Znamenskaya – 2004].

T.A. Znamenskaya suggests that “from the reader’s point of view the important thing 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” [Znamenskaya - 2004].

V.A. Kukharenko in her work “the Interpretation of text” suggests that “literary work is the means of man’s cognition and mastering of the reality” [Kukharenko – 1978]. Developing this idea, V.A. Kukharenko claims that writer chooses this or that part of reality and reflects the individual process of his cognition. The writer’s choice is not chaotic. It is influenced by some factors such as social, ideological, emotional, psychological aspects.

All these factors often preclude straightforward decoding and demonstrate how complicated it is for the message to reach the reader and be correctly interpreted by him. In other words, “the message encoded and sent may differ from the message received after decoding” [Arnold – 1990].

Thus the result may be a failure on either side. “The reader may complain that he could not understand what the author wanted to say, while the author may resent being misinterpreted [Znamenskaya – 2004].

Incontrovertibly, any reader distinguishes between the stage of perceptiveness and understanding of a text at large and the stage of its linguistic analysis. “At the stage of pure text perception, unburdened by any peculiar type of analysis, we have a consecutive change of the following operations: synthesis – analysis – synthesis” [Popovskaya – 2006].

The reader first perceives a literary text as a whole, as a unity of forms, meanings and functions of language units, for, text is given to the reader in so-called a synthesized type (synthesis). After that he tries to understand its contents and sense, which is much influenced by the reader’s own cognitive basis, social experience, temperament, erudition, etc, i.e. it is influenced, according to A.J. Agaphonov, by “four sense spheres” – biosphere, cognitive, social and spiritual. Or, it is possible to say, that, the understanding comes under the influence of the reader’s own word picture - he in his own way mentally structures text (analysis). Then, again, following his own pattern, he conjoins all those parts of text into one and realizes the sense he has got in the process of this conjoinment (synthesis) [Agaphonov - 2000].

The sufficiency of text understanding by the reader depends on “the coincidence of the writer’s “sense spheres” or world picture, who synthesized language forms together with their meanings and forms into an organized whole – text, with the reader’s one, who analyzed and resynthesized these very language forms together with their meanings and functions by means of his own consciousness, using it as an instrument of analysis and synthesis. These “sense spheres” as well as world pictures will never coincide, because of differences in life experience, educational background, cultural levels, tastes, etc.” [Popovskaya – 2006].

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” [Quote by Znamenskaya – 2004].

Summarizing the idea of the above information we can formulate a conclusion that from the reader's point of view the important thing is not what the author wanted to say but what he managed to convey in the text of his work. That is why decoding stylistics deals with the notions of stylistics of the author and stylistics of the reader.

Lecture 12.

Cognitive linguistics and hermeneutics.

Cognitive linguistics studies the lg as an integral part, tool and product of human cognitive activity. Lg is viewed as a “spatial model of the real world that bears a relationship between “the real”, “The linguistic” and “The mental”.

Thus, a lg is approached as a map or a mental model of the world.

Learning a lg comes to mean learning the ways to represent the real world and human behavior in it with a foreign lg. Mental models of the world consist of the concepts that enable lg users to encode reality. Frames function as stereotypes of perceiving real-world situations, living beings, objects and processes.

Scripts are successions of acts both lingual and extra linguistic in situational settings. Another term to convey the same idea is scenario.

Schemata (schema) is an active organization of prior knowledge and cognitive processes that make a person ready to learn and to know. It consists of “slots and fillers” in the individual mind and the connections between them.

This enables cognitive processes to develop in a certain direction, in other words, schemata channel the way people perceive the world and learn to live in it.

On a less global scale, one’s individual set of beliefs channels the perception of novel situations and the behavior in them. Schemata are essential in lg comprehension and lg production for communicative purposes.

Hermeneutics is a philosophical technique concerned with the interpretation and understanding of texts. It may be described as the theory of the interpretation and understanding of a text on the basis of the text itself. The term hermeneutics, in its most common usage, denotes the science and craft of denotation, that is, the investigation of the nature of meaning, and the application of those conclusions to practical pursuits. Because of the broad nature and diverse methods of the field, its formal scholarly investigation or study is usually confined to a particular subdivision; it is rare to find a scholar or student of hermeneutics in general. An interpretive agent is sometimes referred to as a hermeneut. The concept of "text" has recently been extended beyond written documents to include, for example, speech, performances, works of art, and even events. Thus, one might speak of and interpret a "social text". Now hermeneutics is about symbolic communication, human life and existence as such. It is in this form, as an interrogation into the deepest conditions for symbolic interaction and culture in general.

The word hermeneutics is a term derived from , the Greek verb 'to interpret'. This, in turn, is derived from the Greek god Hermes in his role as the interpreter of the gods and the syncretic Ptolemaic deity Hermes Trismegistus, in his role as representing hidden or secret knowledge. The interpretation of text started quite early in ancient Greece, particularly focused on poetry, particularly that of Homer. By the time of Plato, familiarity with the Greek poets was regarded as one of the foundations of education.

A common use of the word hermeneutics refers a process of Biblical interpretation. Throughout Jewish and Christian history scholars and students of the Bible have sought to mine the wealth of its meanings by developing a variety of different systems of hermeneutics.

Hermeneutics in the Western world, as a general science of text interpretation, can be traced back to two separate sources. One source was the ancient Greek rhetoricians' study of literature, which came to fruition in Alexandria. The other source has been the Midrashic and Patristic traditions of Biblical exegesis, which were contemporary with Hellenistic culture. Scholars in antiquity expected a text to be coherent, consistent in grammar, style and outlook, and they amended obscure or "decadent" readings to comply with their codified rules. By extending the perception of inherent logic of texts, Greeks were able to attribute works with uncertain origin. One new front was opened by the sociology of science in the seventies and eighties. This re-interpretation of science often included social scientists trained in phenomenologically oriented "social construction! st" theories or the "strong program" traditions which saw that not only are scientific products historically, but socially "constituted." I shall not rehearse the full history of this set of arguments, some of which have been rather highly contested by more traditional modernist philosophers of science, but merely point out that the current generation of science interpreters seems no longer to deny that the products of science are socially constructed, rather they argue over whether these products are only social constructions implying at least that they are both/and rather than either/or.

In sociology, hermeneutics means the interpretation and understanding of social events by analysing their meanings to the human participants and their culture. It enjoyed prominence during the sixties and seventies, and differs from other interpretative schools of sociology in that it emphasizes the importance of the content as well as the form of any given social behaviour. The central principle of hermeneutics is that it is only possible to grasp the meaning of an action or statement by relating it to the whole discourse or world-view from which it originates: for instance, putting a piece of paper in a box might be considered a meaningless action unless put in the context of democratic elections, and the action of putting a ballot paper in a box. One can frequently find reference to the 'hermeneutic circle': that is, relating the whole to the part and the part to the whole. Hermeneutics in sociology was most heavily influenced by German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer. Hermeneutics, the 'study of interpretation, especially the

process of coming to understand text' provides an ideal framework for analyzing and understanding the activities and significance of online places inhabited by communities of writers and readers of the shared texts that form the basis of their interaction. The mechanisms of interpretation are the means through which online places are able to create robust cultural environments.

Hermeneutics as applied to sociology can be traced to the work of Max Weber who coined the term "action" to denote behavior to which the individual attaches subjective meaning. The subdiscipline in sociology, the sociology of knowledge, seeks to understand how one's position in the social structure relates to how one sees the world, so hermeneutics must be seen in the context of such variables as social class, group and subgroup memberships. Karl Marx, by postulating that the economic organization of society, its "substructure," determines its "superstructure," that contains the dominant ideas of that society, also contributed to our understanding of hermeneutics within sociology. So, in a capitalist society we have "capitalist art," "capitalist education," "capitalist philosophy," etc. As he put it: "The ruling class has the ruling ideas." One's social class position, according to Marx, largely determines his or her view of the world; his or her values and ideologies. Also, the subdiscipline of symbolic interaction utilizes hermeneutics by emphasizing how one perceives the world through his or her construction of reality, most notably promulgated by W.I Thomas' "definition of the situation," which states that if people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. That is, we relate to each other and to the world largely based on our perceptions, rather than merely the objective features of a given situation. The interpretative nature of our social relations is a crucial area of study and may be seen to define hermeneutics within the discipline of sociology.

The hermeneutic technique is an interpretive approach concentrates on the historical meaning of human experiences and its developmental and cumulative effects on the individual and social levels; Hermeneutics is the science of understanding and interpretation. It is a formal systematic method to assist researchers in understanding and correctly interpreting human experience. Hermeneutics attempts to analyze and understand the overall perception of the individual human experience from different angles. The hermeneutic approach focuses on the linguistic and the non-linguistic actions in order to interpret the meaning of the human event. The purpose of hermeneutics inquiry is to provide a deeper understanding of a human experience. It is to provide a contextual awareness and perspective to the event. For example, the attitude of the dying individual can be better understood not by the description and meaning of the dying process but by the interpretations that the individual have regarding his/her impending death. An individual's interpretations about dying and death can be effected by his/her experiential, social, and spiritual history. Hermeneutic research design attempts to obtain a complete understanding of human event/phenomena by focusing on the entire event from all perspectives and expressions. It is a multi-level, multi-dimensional understanding of the event. It also seeks to identify the differentiation of the event. The design of the hermeneutic research model for the investigation of dying would focus on the interpretation of the meanings that are found in the dying process. Specific focus would be placed upon the dying person's definition of dying and death and any type of experiences that are related but different from the dying and death of an individual, such as the death of another individual, loss of a job, loss of physical capabilities, etc. Hermeneutic research usually concludes with an interpretative text of the about the human experience rather than a specific conclusion regarding the phenomena. Hermeneutic data collection comes from various sources and/or texts. To begin the hermeneutic review of a human experience, the researcher must make an educated guess as to the meaning of the experience and/or related text. Possible research sources or texts about dying and death may be dying individuals, and texts with various religious, social, and psychological perceptions of hematology.

Human being is a being in language. It is through language that the world is opened up for us. We learn to know the world by learning to master a language. Hence we cannot really understand ourselves unless we understand ourselves as situated in a linguistically mediated, historical culture. Language is our second nature. We never know a historical work as it originally appeared to its contemporaries. We have no access to its original context of production or to the intentions of its author. Tradition is always alive. It is not passive and stifling, but productive and in constant development. Trying, as the earlier hermeneuticians did, to locate the (scientific) value of the humanities in their capacity for objective reconstruction is bound to be a wasted effort. The past is handed over to us through the complex and ever-changing fabric of interpretations, which gets richer and more complex as decades and centuries pass. The meaning of the text is not something we can grasp once and for all. It is something that exists in the complex dialogical interplay between past and present. Just as we can never master the texts of the past, so do we fail—necessarily and constitutively—to obtain conclusive self-knowledge. Hermeneutics is about interpretation, which is about meaning, which is about what is understood.