25. Functional styles systems

Functional style is a variety of language based on the aim of communication. According to Galperin, functional style is a system of language consisting of units which serve a definite aim of communication.

Each functional style is a relatively stable system at a given stage in the development of the language. But it changes, and sometimes considerably, from one period to another. Therefore, functional style of language is a historical category.

The development of each style is predetermined by the changes in the norms of Standard English. It is also greatly influenced by changing social conditions, the progress of science and the development of cultural life in the country. For example, the emotive elements of language were frequently used in scientific prose of the 18^th century. This is explained by the fact that scientists in many fields used the emotional language instead of one more logically precise and convincing, because they lacked scientific data obtainable only by deep research. With the development of science and the accumulation of scientific data emotive elements gave way to convincing arguments and facts.

The English literary language has developed a number of 1easily distinguishable one from another. They are not homogenous and fall into several variants, all having some central point of resemblance or all integrated by the invariant. The number of functional styles is more or less fixed. We’re going to treat some classifications of functional styles.

Galperin’s classification is one of the more recognized in the scientific world. It presupposes a two-level hierarchy of styles and substyles in the written variety of English. According to this classification, we distinguish:

1. belles-lettres styles:

1. poetry;

2. emotive prose;

3. drama;

2. publicist style:

1. oratory;

2. essay;

3. feature article in newspapers and magazines;

3. newspaper style:

1. brief news items;

2. headlines;

3. notices and ads;

4. scientific prose:

1. humanitarian sciences;

2. exact sciences;

3. popular scientific works;

5. style of official documents:

1. legal documents;

2. business documents;

3. diplomatic documents;

4. military documents.

The belles-lettres style has something in common with the scientific style. In that it has a cognitive function. But the purpose of science is to disclose by research the inner characteristics of things and phenomena of objective reality and to find out the laws regulating them. The style of scientific prose is characterized by the arrangement of language means which bring evidence to some theory. The main function 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. This is the cognitive function of the belles-lettres style.

So, the belles-lettres style must select language means which will secure the desirable effect. Main features of the belles-lettres style:

1. genuine stylistic devices and expressive means which are achieved by linguistic devices;

2. contextual use of words often presupposing more than one dictionary meaning;

3. vocabulary reflects the author’s personal evaluation of things and phenomena;

4. an individual selection of vocabulary and syntax;

5. introduction of the typical features of colloquial language to a full degree (in plays) or a lesser one (in emotive prose).

The belles-letters style is individual in essence. This is one of its most distinctive properties.

The publicist style of language became a separate style in the middle of the 18^th century. The varieties of this style have their own distinctive features. The publicist style has a spoken variety (the oratorical substyle). The development of radio and television has brought into life another new spoken variety, i. e. TV and radio commentaries.

The general aim of publicist style is to produce 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 by the means of speech, essay, article. This influence is achieved not merely through logical argumentation, but through emotional appeal as well.

The brainwashing function is more effective in oratory, because the most powerful instrument of persuasion – the human voice – is used.

Due to the characteristic combination of logical argumentation and emotional appeal, it has some features in common with the scientific style and with emotive prose.

It is similar to scientific style due to logical syntactic structures, an expanded system of connectives and careful paragraphing. It is similar to emotive prose due to the use of stylistic devices and expressive means.

The manner of presentation brings this style closer to that of the belles-lettres style.

The newspaper style was the last of the styles of written literary English to be recognized as a specific form of writing, standing apart from other forms. English newspaper writing goes back to the 17^th century.

At the close of the 16^th century short news pamphlets began to appear. The first of any series of English regular newspapers was the Weekly News which appeared on May 23, 1622. It lasted for some 20 years. The 17^th century saw the rise of a number of other newspapers.

With the introduction of a strict licensing system many of such papers disappeared. The government set before the public eye its own paper – The London Gazette. The paper carried official information, royal decrees, news from abroad and advertisements.

The first English daily newspaper was brought out in March 1702. The paper carried news, mainly foreign, and no comment, because the latter was against the principals of the publishers. Commentaries as a regular feature were introduced into the paper later. In the middle of the 18^th century the British newspaper was very much what it is today.

The rise of the American newspaper, which was brought to America by British settlers, dates back to the late 17^th – early 18^th century.

It took the English newspaper more than a century to establish a style and standard of its own. It is only by the 19^th century that the English newspaper may be said to have developed a system of language media forming a separate functional style.

Not all the printed matter found in newspapers comes under newspaper style. The modern newspaper carries material of an extremely diverse character. On the pages of a newspaper one finds not only news and comment on it, press reports and articles, advertisements and announcements, but also stories and poems, crossword puzzles, chess problems and the like. Since the latter serve the purpose of entertaining the reader, they cannot be considered specimens of newspaper style. It is newspaper printed matter that performs the function of informing the reader and providing him with an evaluation of the information published that can be regarded as belonging to newspaper style.

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

Information and evaluation co-exist in the modern English newspaper. In fact, all kinds of newspaper writing are to a greater or lesser degree both informative and evaluative.

Editorials are basically evaluative. The emotional force of expression in the editorial is often enhanced by the use of various syntactic stylistic devices, such as parallel constructions, repetition, rhetorical questions and others. However, the role of expressive language means and stylistic devices in the editorial should not be overestimated. They stand out against neutral background. Whatever stylistic devices one comes across in editorial, they are mostly trite.

Broadly speaking, the language of newspaper style is governed by tradition. However, although all editorials have common distinguishing features, the editorials in different papers vary in degree of emotional coloring and stylistic originality of expression. Such features are typical of the “popular” newspapers, such as The Daily Mail. The so-called “quality” papers, such as The Times, The Guardian, seldom use the stylistic devices and expressive means of the language. The latter preserve the essentially traditional mode of expression characteristic of the English newspaper.

The main function of scientific prose is to prove a hypothesis, to create new concepts, to disclose the internal laws of existence, development, relations between different phenomena. The language means of scientific style tend to be objective, precise, unemotional, devoid of any individuality.

The first and most noticeable feature of this style is the logical sequence of utterances with clear indication of their interrelations and interdependence.

The second and no less important feature, and perhaps the most conspicuous, is the use of terms specific to each given branch of science.

The third characteristic feature of scientific style is what we may call sentence-patterns. They are of three types: postulatory, argumentative and formulative. A reference to these facts is only preliminary to the exposition of the writer’s ideas and is therefore summed up in precisely formulated statements accompanied by references to sources. The writer’s own ideas are also shaped in formulas which are the enumeration of a theory, a principle and argument, the result of investigation, etc.

The fourth feature is the use of quotations and references. The references also have a definite compositional pattern, namely the name of the writer referred to, the title of the work quoted, the publishing house, the place and year it was published and the page of the fragment quoted or referred to.

The fifth feature is the frequent use of footnotes, note of the reference kind and digressive in manner. Anything that could violate the logical coherence of expressed ideas, but may serve indirectly to back up the idea, is placed in a footnote.

The sixth typical feature of the scientific style is the impersonality of scientific writings. This may be visible in the frequent use of the passive voice.

However, emotiveness is not entirely or categorically excluded from scientific prose. There may be hypothesis, conclusion which, being packed up by strong belief, use some emotionally colored words. Our emotional reaction to facts and ideas may bear valuable information, because it originates from the inner qualities of these facts and ideas. We depend in no small degree upon our emotional reactions for knowledge of the outer word.

Like other styles of language, the style of official documents has a definite communicative purpose and, accordingly, has its own system of interrelated language and stylistic means.

The main aim of this style is to state the conditions binding two parties in an undertaking. These parties may be: the state and the citizen, or citizen and citizen; a society and its members, two or more enterprises or bodies, two or more governments, a person in authority and a subordinate, a board or general meeting.

The aim of communication in this style of language is to reach agreement between two contracting parties. This most general function of the style of official documents predetermines the peculiarities of the style. The most striking, though not the most essential feature, is a special system of clichés, terms and set expressions. Besides, the use of abbreviations, conventional symbols and contractions are common.

Another feature of this style is the use of words in their logical dictionary meaning. The distinctive features of this style appear as a system.

Yuri Skrebnev, giving his classification of functional styles, distinguishes the following styles and their varieties:

1. literary (bookish):

1. publicist;

2. scientific;

3. official documents;

2. colloquial:

1. literary colloquial;

2. familiar colloquial.