Pragmatic semasiology. Figures of quality.

Transfer based on contrast – 3 kinds of irony:

1. verbal irony;

2. dramatic irony;

3. irony of situation.

Verbal irony is based on the simultaneous realization of 2 logical meanings: the contextual meaning of a word is directly opposite to its dictionary meaning. You are so early (addressed to a late-comer).There is discrepancy what is sent and what is ment.

e.g. You are so early (addressed to a latecomer) . It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny to the beach.

It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one’s pocket.

According to Skrebnev, there are 2 kinds of utterances:

1. utterances having only an ironical message – obviously explicit ironical utterances. These are mostly set phrases. E.g. A fine friend you are! That’s a pretty kettle of fish!

2. utterances which can be understood either literally or ironically – ironical sense is made prominent by intonation, by inverted commas of italics and by the context of the situation. But, of course, we know he’s a rich man, a millionaire.

When it is possible to indicate the exact word who’s contextual meaning diametrically opposes its dictionary meaning we deal with antiphrasis (a one-word irony).

E.g.: “Come here, Tiny”, - he said to a fat man. It was a cool 115 degrees in the shade.

Sustained irony – the ironical effect is created by a number of statements throughout the whole text. Irony as a general manner of narration is observed in the following examples: W.M.Thackeray “Vanity Fair”, Maugham’s stories.

The general scheme of irony is “praise stands for blame”. A much rare case of verbal irony is opposite – astheism. Astheism – curse, rude, accusing words are used approvingly. The scheme is “blame stands for praise”. E.g. Clever bastard! Lucky devil!These are the baddest shoes I have ever seen(=the best).

Ironic effect can also be achieved as a result of mixture of registers of speech. It is a stylistic incongruity which implies the use of high-flown elevated linguistic units with reference to insignificant, socially low topics. I’ll inform you that you have the pleasure of meeting the best burglar.

Lecture 7.

Syntagmatic semasiology.

Semantic figures of co-occurrence:

1. figures of identity (simile, synonymous replacement);

2. figures of contrast (oxymoron, antithesis);

3. figures of inequality (pun, zeugma, semantically false chain, decomposition of phrasal units).

Simile – an imaginative explicit comparison of 2 unlike objects belonging to 2 different classes but possessing some feature in common.

E.g. She sings like a nightingale. Darkness fell like a stone.

Simile should not be confused with logical comparison. (She sings like a professional soloist. The boy is as clever as his mother).

In case of comparison, 2 objects belong to one class of things. Comparison takes into consideration all the properties of the two objects stressing the one which is compared. Such statements have no stylistic value. In case of simile, objects belong to entirely different classes of things. Simile excludes all the properties of the 2 objects except one which is made common to them. (Reform is as slow as a snail. – The changes are as slow as they were last year).

The formal elements of the simile are:

1. a pair of objects (the tenor (what is compared), the vehicle (to what is compared);

2. connective:

   • conjunction (like, as, as if, as though, such as);

   • affix (-wise, -like);

   • notional words and verbal phrases (to seem, to resemble, to remind, to be similar to, to have a look of) – a disguised simile: She seemed nothing more than a doll.

All the above mentioned elements make the simile an easily recognizable unit of speech.

As any stylistic device, simile is subdivided into original and trite. There is a great number of trite similes that have become clichés (as strong as a horse, as steady as time, as free as air).

Synonymous replacement (repetition) – synonyms are used to:

1. avoid monotonous repetition (a boy, a child, a kid). Such interchange of denominations in speech and in writing is called “elegant variation”. Situational synonyms – not language synonyms which we understand from the context (neighbor, student, brother);

2. make the description more exhaustive, to provide additional shades of meaning (It’s very weak and silly of me to be so trembly and shaky).

Figures of Contrast.

Oxymoron – a combination of 2 words in which their meanings clash being opposite in sense. The function is to show the complexity of the situation where 2 apparently opposite things are true simultaneously. Oxymoron can be considered a paradox reduced to 2 words. (sweet sorrow, low skyscraper, perfect idiot).

Typical structures:

• adjective + noun (wise fool);

• adverb + adjective (strangely familiar);

• verb + adjective (to shout mutely).

There are numerous examples of trite oxymoron (never again, plastic glasses, ill health, rock wool).

As a result of frequent usage the primary meaning is lost and oxymoronic combinations become combinations with intensifiers.

Antithesis – an active confrontation of ideas, notions, and qualities in the parts of one sentence and in different sentences used to demonstrate the contradictory nature of the referent (A saint abroad and a devil at home). According to Kuharenko, there are 3 types:

1. morphological antithesis expressed by morphemes (It’s no secret that teachers are overworked and underpaid);

2. lexical proper – expressed by antonyms as well as by contextual antonyms. (History: truth about lies). That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. N.Armstrong.

3. developed antithesis – created by completed statements or pictures semantically opposite to one another. (It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness – Ch. Dickens).

Antithesis should be distinguished from opposition (a literary principle based on logical opposition between the phenomena set one against another).

1. Pun - play upon words – stylistic device based on the interaction of 2 well-known meanings of a word or phrase (free and phraseological, 2 meanings of homonyms, 2 meanings of polysemantic word). Puns are often used in riddles and jokes.

3. According to Skrebnev, 2 types of pun:

• calembour – linguistic word is not repeated, there is only 1 utterance which has 2 meanings. (One swallow does not make a summer – ласточка и глоток. Is life worth living? – It depends on the liver).

• Quibble (play on words) – 2 contiguous utterances in which 2 completely different meanings of the same unit are actualized. (- Have you ever been seeing spirits? – Or taking any?; -Do you serve crabs here? – We serve anyone. Sit down).

Semantic essence of pun can be based on various linguistic phenomena:

1. polysemy (-I would like a book, please. –Something light? – That doesn’t matter. I have my car with me.)

2. homonymy (Time wounds all heels. –Darling, what is a female sheep? – Ewe (you).)

3. paronymy (Coffee every Thirst-day morning! You are a waif and he if a husband; J. Lennon – In his own write, the awful – the author, I was bored – I was born).

4. spoonerism – transposition of initial letters of adjacent words. E.g. queer old dean = dear old queen, a well-boiled icycle, go and shake a tower (go and take a shower).

5. Folk/false/children’s etymology (-Why were hurricanes once named after women? –Because they are not him-icanes).

6. Synonymy – a result of shifted reference. (My dad has a beard and whiskers (=moustache).

7. Double actualization of a set phrase or a proverb (Cat got your tongue? My little shooting star. (Chicago, the main heroine was like shooting star - good luck; she shot a man with a gun) –Shall I stew both cooks? – Better not. One is enough. Too many cooks spoil the broth.)

Stylistic phraseology.

Stylistic phraseology deals with the non-standart use of phraseological units and set expressions. As a result of decomposition of set phrases (violation of phraseological units) each component of the combination acquires its literal meaning, which provides a humorous effect. Decomposition is used in headlines of articles, in titles of films, in advertising slogans, in logos and brand-names, in order to impress and attract the audience. There are 2 ways of breaking up a set expression. They are:

• quantitative decomposition which implies changing the quantity of components;

• qualitative decomposition.

The problem is with the number of components.

1. Quantitative decomposition presupposes structural changes within phraseological unit. 3 types:

• clipping – omitting this or that element of a phraseological unit in reproducing only a part of it. E.g. Sheep or wolf?(=a wolf in a sheep’s clothing) All that glitters…(all that glitters is not gold)

• insertion (extension) – adding other components into a set expression. E.g. What we lose in the swings of pain, pointlessness, and evil, we gain on a variety of aesthetic, sensuous, intellectual and moral roundabouts (Huxley). It was raining cats and dogs… and two kittens and a puppy landed on my window-sill. (Webster). Reality exit.

• contamination – consists in combining 2 or more phraseological expressions in blending them into one new phrase. E.g. He never spared the rod and spoiled the broth (Walker).

2. Qualitative decomposition implies semantic changes in phraseological units:

• substitution may be expressed by:

• a contextually more appropriate word (Every cloud has a satin lining (silver lining); in Gates (God) we trust; fishification (Shark’s tale) – pop-culture in the underwater environment);

• by a synonym (Guilded Age = Golden Age);

• by a paronym (The Taming of the Queue (of the Shrew); shell-phone (Shark’s tale); Coral-Cola, Tuna Turner (Tina Turner); Sofa! So good (=so far, so good);

• by an antonym (Hello to Arms (=farewell to Arms), Divorces (marriages) are made in heaven); Eyes wide shut (open);

• misplacement of key-words (Gain without pain (=no pain, no gain);

• double actualization – the set phrase is used in its conventional form and simultaneously possesses not only transferred meaning but also the literal meaning. The interaction of 2 semantic planes is achieved by the context. (More human interest). There’s been the grave misunderstanding.

Лекция № 8