43.Ellipsis

The deliberate omission of one or more words in the sentence for definite stylistic purpose is called the stylistic device of ellipsis.

The omission of some parts of the sentence is an ordinary and typical feature of the oral type of speech. In belle-letters style the peculiarities of the structure of the oral type of speech are partially reflected in the speech of characters (for example, the informal and careless character of speech).

Some parts of the sentence may be omitted due to the excitement of the speaker.

The stylistic device of ellipsis is sometimes used in the author’s narration but more frequently it is used in represented speech.

The stylistic device of ellipsis used in represented inner speech creates a stylistic effect of the natural abruptness and the fragmentary character of the process of thinking.

It is difficult to draw a line of demarcation between elliptical sentences and one-member sentences.

One-member sentences may be used to heighten the emotional tension of the narration or to single out the character’s or the author’s attitude towards what is happening.

e.g. A dark gentleman… A very bad manner.In the last degree constrained, reserved, diffident, troubled.

44.TheApokoinu Construction

The Apokoinu Construction is a blend of two sentences through a word which has two syntactical functions, one in each of the blended sentences.

Usually the word common for both sentences is a predicative or an object in the first sentence and subject in the second one. So far as such construction does not make part of the grammatically correct modern English, it almost does not occur in the author’s speech, having for its main stylistic function the characteristic of a personage through his speech. Apokoinu testifies as a rule the slovenly, careless or uneducated speech

e.g. There was no breeze came through the door.

45. Aposiopesis is a device which dictionaries define as "A stop¬ping short for rhetorical effect." This is true. But this definition is too general to' disclose the stylistic functions of the device.

In the spoken variety of the language, a break in the narrative is usually caused by unwillingness to proceed; or by the supposition that what remains to be said can be understood by the implication embodied in what has been said; or by uncertainty as to what should be said.

In the written variety, a break in the narrative is always a stylistic device used for some stylistic effect. It is difficult, however, to draw a hard and fast distinction between break-in-the-narrative as a typical feature of lively colloquial language and as a specific stylistic device. The only criterion which may serve as a guide is that in conversation the implica¬tion can be conveyed by an adequate gesture. In writing it is the context, which suggests the adequate intonation that is the only key to de¬coding the aposiopesis.

Aposiopesis is a stylistic syntactical device to convey to the reader a very strong upsurge of emotions. The idea of this stylistic device is that the speaker cannot proceed, his feelings depriving him of the ability to express himself in terms of language.

Break-in-the-narrative is a device which, on the one hand, offers a number of variants in deciphering the implication and, on the other, is highly predictable. The problem of implication is, as it were, a crucial one in stylistics. What is implied sometimes outweighs what is expressed. In other stylistic devices the degree of implication is not so high as in break-in-the-narrative. A sudden 'break in the narrative will inevitably focus the attention on what is left unsaid. Therefore the interrelation between what is given and what is new becomes more significant, inasmuch as the given is what is said and the new—what is left unsaid. There is a phrase in colloquial English which has become very familiar: "Good intentions but—"

The implication here is that nothing has come of what it was planned to accomplish.

Aposiopesis is a stylistic device 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

46.Rhetorical questions. Its usage and stylistic functions.To the fourth group of syntactical SD based on stylistic use of structural meaning belong rhetorical questions and litotes.

Rhetorical question is one that expects no answer. It is asked in order to make a statement rather than to get a reply. It frequently used in dramatic situation and in publicistic style. What was the good of discontented people who fitted in nowhere?

A question appealing to the reader for an answer, is emphatic and mobilizes the attention of the reader. The form of a rhetorical question is often negative. Rhetorical question preserves the intonation of a question.

Rhetorical question is an indispensable element of oratorical style. So it is widely employed in modern fiction for depicting the inner state of a personage, his meditations and reflections.

Through frequent usage some rhetorical questions became traditional (What business is it of yours? What have I to do with him?) Can anybody answer for all the grievances of the poor in this wicked world?

48. Alliteration is the repetition of the same construction at the beginning of words. It’s often used in newspaper headlines, proverbs, set expressions. (As blind as bat; Pride and prejudice. Sense and sensibility. The school of scandal) Assonance is the repetition of similar vowels usually in stressed syllables. (Nor soul flesh now more than flesh helps soul).

They both produce the effect of euphony (афония) – a sense of ease and comfort, a pleasing effect of pronouncing and hearing. The opposite process is cacophony – a sense of strain and discomfort in pronouncing and hearing