Graphic expressive means

Graphic expressive means serve to convey in writing the emotions that are expressed in oral speech by intonation and stress.

Punctuation The use of punctuation marks (colon, semicolon, comma, dash, suspension marks /dots/, exclamation mark, question mark, brackets, inverted commas) gives the text additional emotional colouring.

Question mark and exclamation mark have very special meaning. They denote ironic attitude of the speaker to the idea expressed or to show his irritation and indignation.

“Father! Please – not that!”

“Well! And you think it doesn’t matter?”

Emotional pauses are marked by a dash or suspension marks. They show the uncertainty, embarrassment, nervousness of the character. They may also be used together with a time-filler (er, ugh, well, so).

“Who is he? – Oh, he’s a…kind of acquaintance, that is to say, you understand…”

“You come here after dark, and you go after dark. It’s so – so ignoble.” (G.Green)

The inverted commas usually indicate the direct speech or the quotation. They may also indicate the represented speech. Sometimes they are used when a word is used in an unusual meaning.

The peculiarities of the print

Bald print and spacing are used instead of usual print to give prominence to some part of the text.

The use of capital letters instead of small letters to place special emphasis on the idea or in case of address or personification.

“If way to the Better there be, it exacts a full look at the Worst” (Th.Hardy)

“O Music! Sphere-descended maid,

Friend of Pleasure, Wisdom’s aid!” (W.Collins)

The use of italics. The writers italicize epigraphs, quotations, the words of some other language, the titles of the mentioned books. Many auxiliaries and pronouns that are usually unstressed are italicized if special emphasis is placed on them.

”…his liver was a little constricted, and his nerves rather on edge. His wife was always out when she was in Town, and his daughter would flibberty-gibbet all over the place.”(J.Galsworthy)

Changes in spelling are used to emphasize a word or its part (repetition of a letter “laaarge”, “rrruin”; hyphenated spelling of a word “des-pise”, “g-irl”) or to indicate the peculiarities in the pronunciation of a character when he violates the phonetic norms.

Morphological expressive means

The use of the Present Indefinite instead of the Past Indefinite – the Historical Present.

In describing some past events the author uses the present tense, thus achieving a more vivid picturisation of what was going on.

The use of shall in the second and third person may also be regarded as an expressive means. Compare:

“He shall do it”(= I shall make him do it) In such cases shall always gets emphatic stress.

He has to do it (= It is necessary for him to do it).

Word-building expressive means

Connotational potential of an affix.

Suffix ‘-ish’ -

Added to adjectives: brown – brownish (emotionally neutral variant – shows the presence of a small amount of some quality);

baldish, biggish, dullish (‘tactful’ words, occasionalisms);

Added to noun: childish, doggish, goatish, sheepish (adjectives with a negative, sometimes contemptuous, connotation); girlish, boyish – exceptions;

Added to compound words: stand-offish, honey-moonish (strengthens the negative attitude of the speaker or writer);

Added to names; Dickenish, Mark Twainish (adds scornful shade of meaning);

But suffix ‘-ian’ can give some elevation characteristic of bookish style: Darwinian, Dickensian , Shakespearian.

The most important noun suffixes giving negative connotation are:

‘-a rd ‘ - drunkard, coward;

‘-ster’ - gangster, hipster, oldster;

‘-eer’ - profiteer, black-marketeer.

Some negative affixes are expressive, their expressiveness being based on imagery. The negation can be looked upon as a compressed one-member antithesis.

unbending - rigid

unerring - accurate (The synonyms have no negative affixes.)

unmask - reveal

“Blow, blow thou winter wind

Thou art not so unkind

As man’s ingratitude.” (W.Shakespeare)

The diminutive suffixes add some emotional colouring to the words. They indicate not only small dimensions of the object but also the attitude of the speaker or writer (tenderness, scorn, joke).

-y(ie) - daddy, lassie, dearie, oldie;

-let - chicklet, streamlet, starlet;

-kin - lambkin.

Word-building models

Models of compound words where humorous impression is produced by unusual valence of the words.

boy-friend-in- chief (compare: Commander In –Chief)

Сompound words (blackleg, cutthroat, sawbones).

Compound words built according to the phrase models (Miss what’s her name) usually have negative connotation.

Words with ‘lad’, ‘boy’,’ lass’ sound affectionately and have positive connotation. They belong to the colloquial style (Johnny-lad, Johnny-boy, Katy-lass).

Phrasal verbs are expressive and often have colloquial colouring, but they do not have emotional colouring. Their derivatives have attitudinal connotation (a pin-up, a pick-up).