S TYLISTICS AS A BRANCH OF LINGUISTIC SCIENCE

1. The notion of style

2. Stylistics as a science

3. Connection of Stylistics to the other sciences

1. T he notion of style

The term stylistics is derived from the word «style». The word style goes back to the Latin word «stilos». The Ro­mans called thus a sharp stick used for writing on wax tab­lets. It was already in Latin that the meaning of the word «stilos» came to denote not only the tool of writing, but also the manner of writing. With this new meaning the word was borrowed into Euro­pean languages.

Match the style/ strata of the language with the statement

Super-standard	The old man is dead.
Substandard	The old bean has kicked the bucket.
Standard	Тhе gentleman well advanced in years has attained the termination of his terrestrial existence.

Read different definitions of style and underline the key word in each of them

• S

  Style causes effect

  tyle is a trend.

• Style is deviation.

• Style is a means of your speech behavior.

• Style is additional information in the text that reflects its main contents.

• Style is a product of individual choices and patterns of choices among linguistic possibilities.

Style is a complex of lexical, grammatical, etc. peculiarities by which a certain type of speech is characterized.

2. S tylistics as a science

Stylistics is a branch of linguistics dealing with variants, varieties of linguistic expression and, hence, with the sub-systems making up the general system of language.

…. investigates

functional styles (in their development and current state),

the linguistic nature of the expressive means of the language, their systematic character and their functions.

The ultimate aim of stylistics is to establish the objective laws and practical rules of using proper linguistic forms in proper situations.

According to the type of stylistic research we can distinguish

• L

  …. studies

  the composition of a work of art;

  Various literary genre;

  the writer’s outlook.

  iterary stylistics

• Lingua-stylistics

• Comparative stylistics

• Decoding stylistics

• Functional stylistics

….. is connected with the contrastive study of more than one language.

…. is an attempt to harmoniously combine the two types of stylistic research and enable the scholar to interpret a work of art with a minimum loss of its purport and message.

….. is a branch of lingua-stylistics that investigates functional styles.

Connection of Stylistics to the other sciences

Stylistics and Lexicology

My mind was once the true survey

Of all these meadows fresh and gay,

And in the greenness of the grass

Did see its thoughts as in a glass

When Juliana came, and she,

What I do to the grass, does to my thoughts and me.

Stylistics and Phonetics

• I never promised you a rose garden.

• I never promised you a rose garden.

• I never promised you a rose garden.

• I never promised you a rose garden.

• I never promised you a rose garden.

• I never promised you a rose garden.

I saw a peacock with a fiery tail

I saw a blazing comet drop down hail

I saw a cloud with ivy circled round

I saw a sturdy oak creep on the ground

I saw a pismire swallow up a whale

I saw a raging sea brim full of ale

I saw a Venice glass sixteen foot deep

I saw a well full of men’s tears that weep

I saw their eyes all in a flame of fire

I saw a house as big as the moon and higher

I saw the sun even in the midst of night

I saw the man who saw this wondrous sight

Stylistics and Grammar

I t is an ancient Mariner

And he stoppeth one of three.

- ‘By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?

The bridegroom’s doors are opened wide,

And I am the next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May’st hear the merry din.’

I saw a peacock

with a fiery tail I saw a blazing comet

drop down hail I saw a cloud

with ivy circled round I saw a sturdy oak

creep on the ground I saw a pismire

swallow up a whale I saw a raging sea

brim full of ale I saw a Venice glass

sixteen foot deep I saw a well full of men’s tears that weep

I saw their eyes

all in a flame of fire I saw a house

as big as the moon and higher I saw the sun

even in the midst of night

I saw the man who saw this wondrous sight

REVIEW

1. What is style?

2. Why can style cause effect?

3. Why is style a deviation?

4. What stylistics investigates the expressive means?

5. What stylistics investigates the functional styles?

6. What stylistics is used when we want to interpret the message of the poem or story?

7. What other linguistic sciences are connected to the stylistics?