Стилистика английского языка

Учебное пособие для студентов и аспирантов

Stylistics of the English Language

Рекомендовано к печати

Ученым советом

факультета международных отношений УрГУ

Автор:

О.Л.Кочева

Краткое пособие по стилистике английского языка предназначено для слушателей курсов «Переводчик в сфере профессиональной коммуникации», но также может оказаться полезным и для студентов и аспирантов, обучающихся по другим направлениям.

© Факультет международных отношений Уральского государственного университета, 2005

© Уральский государственный университет, 2005

‘The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.’

Socrates

The object of stylistics

Stylistics of language and speech. Branches of stylistics. Stylistic function notion.

Some scholars claim that stylistics is a comparatively new branch of linguistics, which has only a few decades of intense linguistic interest behind it. The term stylistics really came into existence not too long ago.

The problem that makes the definition of stylistics a curious one deals both with the object and material of studies. Another problem has to do with a whole set of special linguistic means that create what we call ‘style’. Style may be belles–letters or scientific or neutral or low colloquial or archaic or pompous, or a combination of those. Style may also be typical of a certain writer – Shakespearean style, Dickensian style, etc. There is the style of the press, the style of official documents, the style of social etiquette and even an individual style of a speaker or writer – his idiolect.

Some linguists consider that the word “style” and the subject of linguistic stylistics are confined to the study of the effects of the message, its impact on the reader. Stylistics in this case is regarded as a language science which deals with the results of the act of communication.

Stylistics deals with styles. Different scholars have defined style differently at different times. Out of this variety we shall quote the most representative ones.

In 1971 Prof. I.R. Galperin offered his definition of style ‘as a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication.’

According to Prof. Y.M. Skrebnev, whose book on stylistics was published in 1994, ‘style is what differentiates a group of homogeneous texts (an individual text) from all groups (other texts) … Style can be roughly defined as the peculiarity, the set of specific features of a text type or of a specific text.’

All these definitions point out the systematic and functionally determined character of the notion of style.

The authors of handbooks on German, English and Russian stylistics published in our country over the recent decades propose more or less analogous system of styles based on a broad subdivision of all styles into two classes: literary and colloquial and their varieties. These generally include from three to five functional styles.

Some functional styles will be further specially discussed in a separate lecture. At this stage I shall limit to only three popular viewpoints in English language style classifications.

Prof. Galperin suggests 5 styles for the English language.

1) belles–lettres style: poetry, emotive prose, and drama;

2) publicist style: oratory and speeches, essay, articles;

3) newspaper style; brief news items, headlines, advertisements, editorial;

4) scientific prose style;

5) official documents style.

Prof. Arnold distinguishes 4 styles:

1) poetic style;

2) scientific style;

3) newspaper style;

4) colloquial style.

Prof. Skrebnev suggests a most unconventional viewpoint on the number of styles. He maintains that the number of sublanguages and styles is infinite (if we include individual styles, styles mentioned in linguistic literature such as telegraphic, oratorical, reference book, Shakespearean, short story, or the style of literature on electronics, computer language, etc.).

Of course, the problem of style definition is not the only one stylistic research deals with.

Stylistics is that branch of linguistics, which studies the principles, and effect of choice and usage of different language elements in rendering thought and emotion under different conditions of communication. Therefore, it is concerned with such issues as

1) aesthetic function of language (inherent in poetry and prose);

2) expressive means in language (with the purpose of effecting the reader: poetry, fiction, oratory, rarely in technical texts);

3) synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea;

4) emotional colouring in language (with the aim to make a text a highly lyrical or satirical piece of description);

5) a system of special devices called stylistic devices;

6) splitting of the literary language into separate systems called style (also with sub–standard speech as slang, barbarisms, vulgarisms, taboo, etc.);

7) interrelation between language and thought (this is the subject of decoding stylistics);

8) individual manner of an author in making use of the language (a unique combination of language units, expressive means and stylistic devices peculiar to a given writer, which makes the writer’s works or even utterances easily recognizable).

Let’s look at the object of stylistic study in its totality.

One of the fundamental concepts of linguistics is the dichotomy of ‘language and speech’, introduced by F. de Saussure. So, language is a mentally organized system of linguistic units. When we use these units we mix them in acts of speech. As distinct from language speech is not a purely mental phenomenon, not a system but a process of combining these linguistic elements into linear linguistic units that are called syntagmatic. The word ‘syntagmatic’ is a purely linguistic term meaning a coherent sequence of words (written, uttered or just remembered). Stylistics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts, not with the system of signs or process of speech production as such. But within these texts elements stylistically relevant are studied both syntagmatically and paradigmatically (loosely classifying all stylistic means paradigmatically into tropes and syntagmatically into figures of speech).

So, how the notion of stylistics of language and stylistics of speech are separated?

The stylistics of language analyses permanent or inherent stylistic properties of language elements while the stylistics of speech studies stylistic properties, which appear in a context, and they are called adherent.

Thus, the unexpected use of any of bookish or archaic words (these are their inherent properties) such as соблаговолить or comprehend in a modern context will be an adherent stylistic property.

So, stylistics of language describes and classifies the inherent stylistic colouring of language units. Stylistics of speech studies the composition of the utterance – the arrangement, selection and distribution of different words, and their adherent qualities.