11. Syntactical stylistic devices, particular use of colloquial constructions (ellipsis, aposiopesis, rhetorical question)

Ellipsisrefers to any omitted part of speech that is understood, i.e. the omission is intentional. In writing and printing this intentional omission is indicated by the row of three dots (…) or asterisks (***). Ellipsis always imitates the common features of colloquial language. This punctuation mark is called a suspension point or dot-dot-dot.E.g.: "There's somebody wants to speak to you."

Break-in-the-Narrative (Aposiopesis)is an unfinished thought or broken sentence.

“Aposiopesis can stimulate the impression of a speaker so overwhelmed by emotions that he or she is unable to continue speaking. Aposiopesis can also convey a certain pretended shyness toward obvious expressions or even an everyday casualness.” E.g.:Good intentions but-; You just come home or I’ll…

A rhetorical question is asked just for effect or to lay emphasis on some point discussed when no real answer is expected. A rhetorical question may have an obvious answer but the questioner asks rhetorical questions to lay emphasis to the point. In literature, a rhetorical question is self-evident and used for style as an impressive persuasive device.

Broadly speaking, a rhetorical question is asked when the questioner himself knows the answer already or an answer is not actually demanded. So, an answer is not expected from the audience. Such a question is used to emphasize a point or draw the audience’s attention.

12. Syntactical stylistic devices, stylistic use of structural meaning and linkage (apokoinu construction, asyndeton, polysyndeton)

Apokoinu construction is the construction in which the omission of a connective word results in blending of the main and subordinate clauses, so that the predicative or the object of the first one is simultaneously used as the subject of the second one. Ex.: “What has happened to that swell-looking babe in the fur coat used to come over?” There is one thing bothers me. There is no law forbids it.

"There was a door led into the kitchen." (Sh. Anderson) "He was the man killed that deer." (R.P. Warren) The double syntactical function played by one word produces the general impression of clumsiness of speech and is used as a means of speech characteristics in dialogue, in reported speech and the type of narrative known as "entrusted" in which the author entrusts the telling of the story to an imaginary narrator who is either an observer or participant of the described events.

Asyndeton is derived from a Greek word asyndeton which means unconnected. It is a stylistic device used in literature and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases and in the sentence, yet maintain the grammatical accuracy. This literary tool helps in reducing the indirect meaning of the phrase and presents it in a concise form. It started to be seen in Greek and Latin literature.

The function of asyndeton is usually to accelerate a passage and emphasize the significance of the relation between these clauses. One famous example is Julius Caesar’s comment “Veni, vidi, vici” after a swift victory in battle, translated into English as “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Polysyndeton is a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect. For example, consider the following sentence: “The dinner was so good; I ate the chicken, and the salad, and the turkey, and the wild rice, and the bread, and the mashed potatoes, and the cranberry sauce.” In this sentence, the repetition of “and” is not necessary and could be omitted. However, the use of polysyndeton in this example adds a sense of the amazing abundance of the dinner and that the speaker could not stop from eating or describing all of these dishes.

Both polysyndeton and asyndeton are more noticeable because they slightly change the normal pattern of speech. The definition of polysyndeton is opposite that of asyndeton. While polysyndeton refers to a statement that has more conjunctions than necessary, asyndeton refers to a sentence or group of sentences that omits all conjunctions where they could be appropriate. Thus, an example of polysyndeton would be, “I wore a sweater, and a hat, and a scarf, and a pair of boots, and mittens,” while an example of asyndeton would be, “I wore a sweater. A hat. A scarf. Mittens.” The effect is noticeably different between these two figures of speech.