Em Based on the Redundancy of the Elements of the Sentence.

EM of this type are the result of the syntactical process of the expansion and complication of the sentence model.

Repetition, enumeration, polysyndeton are the result of the process of expansion of the structure.

Here we refer emphatic constructions and parenthetic sentences as well.

Thus under the redundancy of elements we understand different types of repetition of the element in question or additional complication of the syntactical structure.

Repetition – is an EM which serve to emphasize certain statements of the speaker, so it possesses considerable emotive force.

There are 4 types of repetition:

1. Ordinary repetition – is the repetition of one and the same member of the sentence, word combinations or whole sentences immediately following each other.

E.g. Scroodge went to bed again, and thought, and thought, and thought it over and over and over… (Ch. Dickens. Christmas Carols).

2. Framing or ring repetition – is the repetition of the same unit at the beginning and at the end of the same sentence.

E.g. I cooled off where Frank was concerned he didn’t notice, but I cooled off. (V. Pritchett. The Sailor).

A special type of repetition which is typical of English colloquial speech is the repetition of the subject expressed by a personal pronoun and the predicate or its part at the end of a sentence – the so called appended statements.

E.g. I’m old fashioned, I am. (A. Sillitoe. A Star in Life).

3. Anadiplosis (catch repetition) – is the repetition of the same unit at the end of the preceding and at the beginning of the following sentence.

E.g. Poirot was shaken; shaken and embittered. (A. Christie, The Nemean Lion).

Supposing father had wanted to say something – something private to them (K. Mansfield).

4. Chain repetition – is the combination of several catch repetitions.

E. g. A smile would come into Mr. Pickwick face. Smile extended into laugh, the laugh into roar, and the roar became general. (Ch. Dickens. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club).

The next EM is:

Enumeration – is the EM made by the repetition of the homogeneous words or word combinations in the same syntactical position. Enumeration may be used to emphasize the whole utterance.

E.g. Miss Matfield liked her fiction to be full of jungles, coral reefs, plantations, lagoons, hibiscus flowers, the scent of vanilla, schooners on the wide pacific, tropical nights. (J. Priestly. Angel Pavement).

Syntactical Tautology – is the repetition of semantically and grammatically identical elements of the sentence (usually the subject expressed by a noun and by a pronoun).

E.g. Miss Tillie Wesber, she slept forty days and nights without waking up. (O. Henry).

The main stylistic function of this EM is the emphatic stress of a certain part of the sentence. It is commonly used in colloquial speech and aims at the emotional impact on the reader.

Polysyndeton – is a specific type of connection between the components of the sentence, based on the repetition of the same conjunction, that is on polysyndetic coordination.

E.g. She had herself a rich ruby look, for what with eating, and drinking, and shouting and laughing and singing her face was crimson and almost steaming. (J. Priestly. Angel Pavement).

E.g. He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. (E. Hemingway).

The main function of polysyndeton is emphasis. The repetition of conjunctions and other means of connection makes an utterance more rhythmical. The conjunctions being generally unstressed elements, when placed before each meaningful member will cause the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables – the essential requirement of rhythm in verse.

Emphatic Constructions (“it is he who”; emphatic construction with the verb “to do”).

The usage of the construction “it is he who” helps to emphasize any part of the sentence but the predicate.

E.g. That evening it was Dave, who read to the boys their bed-time story. (D. Carter Fatherless Sons).

This construction has developed within the framework of colloquial speech, where it aims at making the direct emotional impact on the interlocutor. It may be used in different styles of written literary language with slightly different functions.

In scientific prose, where the logical principle of arranging ideas predominates, it aims at logical emphasis with the purpose to fix the attention of the reader on the key-word of the utterance.

In the newspaper language, which seeks to influence the public opinion, this construction fully realizes its emphatic value.

Emphatic construction with the verb “to do” is used as an intensifier.

I like – I do like!

Take it! – Do take it!

These constructions are synonymous of the unemphatic ones. The same is true of the emphatic constructions with the verb-intensifier “to go”.

E.g. Why do you go and say such things?

Parenthetic Sentences – are sentences, which are syntactically independent from the sentence they are included into. They are characterized by phonetic peculiarities and positional independence from the main sentence. Usually parenthetic sentences are marked out (italicized) by dashes. The usage of these sentences may produce different stylistic effects:

1. They may create two layers of narration by conveying the inner speech of the characters.

2. They may achieve the emphatic effect.

3. They are used to give an additional information.

E.g. But – and this was impossible to understand at all – my mother didn’t seem to like Henry. (G. Golding. The Lord of the Flies).

E.g. Then she began – the smoke making her eyes blink and run as she bent down – to put me into the correct position for playing the violin. (G. Golding. The Lord of the Flies).