7. Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices

Phonetic expressive means and devices are used for the purpose of producing a certain acoustic effect, giving emphasis to the utterance and arousing emotions in the reader or the listener.

Intonation and stress are very important means in oral speech where they are expressed directly by the speaker. In written speech they are conveyed indirectly by graphical expressive means and by a special syntactical arrangement of utterance (such as inversion, isolated members, parallel construction, etc.).

Graphical means include punctuation, different types of print (italics, bold type) and a specific arrangement of printed material. Such marks of punctuation (a series of dots, a dash, exclamation, question marks, etc.) may be used not only to show the logical arrangement of speech but also to convey the intonation of the uttered speech and to express emphasis.

Euphony is such a combination of words and such an arrangement of utterance which produces a pleasing acoustic effect, that is a pleasing effect on the ear. Euphony is generally achieved by such phonetic stylistic devices as alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme.

Alliteration is a deliberate use of similar sounds in close succession to achieve a euphonic effect. It is widely used in folklore, in proverbs, sayings, traditional pairs of words. In English belle-letters style it is regarded as an emphatic phonetic means that aims at producing a strong melodical and emotional effect.

Onomatopoeia is a deliberate use of words or combinations of words whose sounds produce an imitation of a natural sound. It is often based on and combined with alliteration.

Rhythm is a regular alteration of similar or equal units of speech. It is sometimes used by the author to produce the desired stylistic effect, whereas in poetry rhythmical arrangement is a constant organic element, a natural outcome of poetic emotion. Poetic rhythm is created by the regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables or equal poetic lines. The regular alternations of stressed and unstressed syllables form a unit – the foot. There are 5 basic feet: iambus(a foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable), trochee(a foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable), dactyl(a foot consisting of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables), anapest(a foot consisting of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable) and amphibrach(a foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed and one unstressed syllable).

Rhyme is a characteristic feature of poetry but in prose euphony final sound (ending). Such recurrence takes place at the end of a poetic line. With regard to the similarity of sounds we distinguish: full rhymes, imperfect rhymes. With regard to the structure of rhymes we distinguish: masculine (or single) rhyme, feminine (or double) rhyme, dactylic (or triple) rhyme, full double or broken rhyme. The arrangements of rhymes may assume different schemes: couplet rhyme, cross rhyme, frame rhyme. The functions of rhyme in poetry are very important: it signalizes the end of a line and marks the arrangement of lines into stanzas.

As Stylistics deals with the emphatic and emotional function of the language, it singles out meaningful combinations in all the levels of the linguistic system which are called stylistic devices.

A stylistic device is a conscious and intentional intensification of sense of some typical structural and/or semantic property of a language unit (neutral or expressive) promoted to a generalized status and thus becoming a generative model.

The stylistic approach to the utterance takes into account the way a word, a phrase or a sentence sounds. The sound of most words taken separately will have little or no aesthetic value. It is in the combination with other words that a unit may acquire a desired phonetic effect, a certain euphonic impression.

1. Onomatopoeia is a combination of phonetic units which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc,), by things (machines, tools, etc.), by people (singing, crying, pattering, etc.) and by animals.

There are two variants of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect.

Direct onomatopoeia is found in the phonetically motivated words, for example, ding-dong, bang, cuckoo, roar and the like.

Indirect onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds to make the sentence an echo of its sense. Indirect onomatopoeia demands some mention of the thing that produces the sound. For example: And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain (Poe). The phonetic unit “s” reminds the natural sound produced by silk when touched or torn. Thus the acoustic effect of hearing the sounds produced by silk curtains is achieved.

The onomatopoetic effect may be the result of repetition. For example: Mostly he moved in urgent, precise, clipped movements – go, go, go – and talked in the same way – staccato sentences. (Poe) The words “clipped, staccato” prompt the manner of moving – short, abrupt, quick and the pronunciation of the word “go” seems to imitate the sound of footsteps.

2. Alliteration is a phonetic stylistic device which aims at imparting a melodic effect to the utterance. The essence of the device lies in the repetition of similar sounds (usually consonants) in close succession especially at the beginning of the lexical units. For example: The possessive instinct never stands still. Through florescence and feud, frosts and fires it follows the laws of progression. (Galsworthy)

Alliteration does not bear any lexical or other meaning unless one agrees with the theory of sound symbolism. Alliteration is regarded as a musical accompaniment of the author’s idea, supporting it with some vague emotional atmosphere which each reader (listener) interprets for himself.

3. Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar terminal sounds combinations of words.

Rhyming words are generally placed at a regular distance from each other. Rhymes can be complete (full), for example, might – right, and incomplete.

Incomplete rhymes fall into vowel (flesh – fresh – press) and consonant (worth – forth, tale – tool – treble – trouble).

Compound, or broken rhyme, is observed when a word rhymes with a word-combination, for example, (bottom – forgot’em – shot him). Compound rhyme may be set against eye-rhyme, where the letter and not the sounds are identical, for example, love – prove, flood – brood.

The function of rhyme is to catch the reader’s (listener’s) attention, to formulate ideas and thoughts in an unusual way, to produce the positive and satisfying feeling of the matter in question.

4. Rhythm is primarily a periodicity, a deliberate arrangement of speech into regularly recurring units, the main factor which brings order into the utterance.

Rhythm in language necessarily demands oppositions that alternate: long – short; stressed – unstressed, high – low, etc. Deviations from the regularity of alternations make the rhythmic pattern of the utterance broken. This is immediately caught by the ear of the listener (reader) as the sign of emotional change.