7. Syntactical devices based on stylistic use of structural meaning

Here belong devices based on transposition which is placing a language sign in the surrounding that is unusual for its functioning.

Rhetorical question is based on the special interplay of two structural meanings – that of the question and that of the assertion – due to which the question is no longer a question but a statement expressed in the interrogative form. Hence, the SD consists in reshaping the grammatical meaning of the interrogative sentence.

Rhetorical question usu. pronounces a judgment with a definite emotional charge: irritation, anger, doubt, challenge, scorn, irony, suggestion, or, vice versa, joy, admiration, etc.

According to Y.M. Skrebnev the following two semantic varieties of interrogative sentences make up rhetorical questions:

- with a negative predicate but an affirmative implication:

E.g. Isn't that too bad? = That is too bad

- with an affirmative predicate but a negative implication:

E.g. My God, – what was the good of it all? (Priestley) = There was no good …

Rhetorical questions are most frequently used in dramatic narration and in the publicist style.

Litotes(laiteutiz) expresses an idea by means of negating the opposite idea.

Usu. litotes presupposes double negation which can be conveyed in different ways:

through a negative particle not or a negative pronoun no + a word with a negative affix,

E.g. It was not an unfriendly laugh, but it was not a sympathetic one either. (Priestley)

‘Why doesn’t Amy marry again? She is comparatively young, and she is not unattractive …’ (Maugham), and

through the negation of the antonym of the idea to be expressed,

E.g. Not a coward (a fool), not too bad, not overdone, not without his agreement.

Function. Litotes conveys doubts of the speaker about the exact characteristics of the object, renders his irony, and serves as a euphemistic technique.

Litotes is frequent in English and seems to be used more often than in Russian.

8. Syntactical devices based on peculiar use of colloquial constructions

Ellipsis is the omission of the word or words necessary for the complete syntactical construction of a sentence, but not necessary for understanding it.

In colloquial speech, such constructions are frequent and arise from the speed of delivery and economy of effort. Sometimes the omission of necessary words becomes an indicator of poor grammar. In works of fiction elliptical sentences are made use of to reproduce the direct speech of characters and create the atmosphere of naturalness; to show their social status; to impart brevity, immediacy and a quick tempo to the author's narrative. Besides oral speech and fiction, ellipsis is common in newspaper headlines, in papers or handbooks on technology and natural sciences.

Aposiopesis is a sudden and dramatic breaking off a thought in the middle of a sentence. Without finishing the utterance the speaker (or writer) either begins a new one or stops altogether unwilling or unable (being overwhelmed with emotions) to continue. Aposiopesis presupposes stopping for rhetorical effect with the continuation highly predictable: the missing part can be reconstructed from the context. Elliptical points and a dash may mark aposiopesis in print. Aposiopesis creates an emotional tension and invites the reader to guess what stands behind the break and unwillingness to proceed (doubt, irony, irritation, uncertainty, indecision, anger, a threat, a warning, etc.). Sometimes a break-in-the-narrative is caused by euphemistic considerations – not to name a thing being offensive to the ear.

A question-in-the-narrative is asked and answered (if the answer is not self-evident) by one and the same person, usually the author. It is mainly done for the sake of emotional impact. This variety of question may also remain unanswered to stimulate the addressee’s thinking process over the problem in question, thus performing a dialogue-or contact-establishing function. The device is also a means of verbal trickery, by which orators take over the initiative and make people believe that the thoughts imposed are their own.