24. Lexical and lexical-syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices (cliches, proverbs and sayings, quotation, allusion).

Allusion (аллюзия) is an indirect reference, by a word or phrase, to a literary, historic or mythological fact in the course of speaking or writing. The use of allusion presupposes knowledge of the fact alluded to on the part of the reader. As a rule no indication of the source is given. Very often the interpretation of the fact alluded to is generalized or symbolized.

E.g. The ironic philosopher reflects with a smile that Sir Walter Raleigh is more safely enshrined in the memory of mankind because he set his cloak for the Virgin Queen to walk on than because he carried the English name to undiscovered countries [W.S. Maugham].

In the sentence above the author gives an allusion to the well-known incident that took place during the reign of Elizabeth I (Virgin Queen): the Queen wanted to cross the road but there was a puddle under her feet. Sir Walter set his expensive coat over the puddle and Elizabeth stepped on it. The fact is half-legendary, but known to any Englishman. It is considered to be an example of courtesy and it inspired many artistic people to creating their works. Several years later Sir Walter traveled to America and founded there the colony that he called Virginia after his Queen. He was a traveler, a poet and a diplomat, but when his name is mentioned people remember his relationship with the queen first and often forget his real feats.

E.g. He felt as Balaam must have felt when his ass broke into speech [W.S. Maugham].

Here we find an allusion to the Bible, in which there is a parable of an ass that started speaking when its master, Balaam, decided to punish it.

Clichés (клише) are expressions which become trite and lose their originality, e.g. clockwork precision, the whip and carrot policy. Clichés are often found in the media style. Newspaper articles of all genres can sometimes be filled with such traditional expressions.

Proverbs and sayings (пословицы и поговорки) presuppose a simultaneous application of two meanings, the primary one and the extended meaning drawn from the context. They can be decomposed for stylistic purposes. Sometimes they even speak about a separate device called  decomposition of set phrases.  It consists in reviving the independent meanings or the inner form of a set expression.

E.g. The waters will remain sufficiently troubled for somebody`s fishing to be profitable [Economist]. The original proverb is «It is good fishing in troubled waters».

E.g. «Come!» he said, «milk`spilt» [J. Galsworthy]. The original proverb is «It is no use crying over spilt milk».

It often leads to the absurdity of this meaning.

E.g. It was raining cats and dogs and two kittens and a puppy [G. Chesterton]

A quotation (цитата) is a repetition of a phrase from a book, speech etc, used by way of authority, illustration or proof for further speculation on the matter. Quotations are used as stylistic devices in the text with the aim of expanding the meaning of the sentence quoted and setting two meanings against each other. They are also used in epigraphs.

E.g. Shakespeare said, «All the world is the stage…»

25. Syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices (apocoinu, stylistic inversion, detached construction, parallel construction, chiasmus).

Apocoinu (конструкция апокойну) is a device that consists in the omission of pronominal or adverbial connectives. It creates a blend of the principal and the subordinate clause. It produces the impression of clumsiness in speech. Normally it is used as a means of speech characteristic in dialogue or represented speech.

E.g. We had a missionary come over the first Sunday, and to preach [F. Oppenheim].

Stylistic inversion (инверсия) is an unusual word order which aims at attaching logical stress or additional emotional coloring to the surface meaning of the utterance. The notion of stylistic inversion is broader than the notion of inversion in grammar. The most conspicuous places in the sentence are considered to be the first and the last: the first place because the full force of the stress can be felt at the beginning of an utterance and the last place because there is a pause after it. Inverted word-order is one of the forms of what are known as emphatic constructions.

E.g. On and on, now east now west, wound the poor thread that once had been our drive [D. du Maurier].

In poetry inversion is often used for rhythmical consideration.

I. Galperin gives five cases of inversion in English:

1) the object is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

E.g. Talent he has; capital he has not [Ch. Dickens].

2) the attribute is placed after the word it modifies.

E.g. Once upon a midnight dreary [E. Poe]

3) the predicative is placed before the subject.

E.g. A good, generous prayer it was [M. Twain]

4) The adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

E.g. At your feet I fall [J. Dryden]

5) Both adverbial modifier and predicate are before the subject.

E.g. In went Mr. Pickwick [Ch. Dickens].

Detached Construction (обособленная конструкция) is a part of the sentence which is placed so that it seems isolated and independent of the word it refers to. It assumes a greater degree of significance and is given prominence by intonation. It makes the written variety of language close to spoken. It makes the utterance sound more emotional.

E.g. «I want to go», he said, miserable [J. Galsworthy].

Parallel construction (параллельная конструкция) is a device, which consists in the similarity of the syntactical structure of successive phrases or sentences. It is often backed up by repetition of words, conjunctions or prepositions. Parallel constructions may be partial or complete. Complete parallel construction is called balance. Parallel construction is often used together with other devices: enumeration, antithesis  etc. In literary texts parallel construction carries an emotive function.

E.g. Wherever I walked in Manderley, wherever I sat, even in my thoughts and my dreams I met Rebecca. I knew her figure now, the long slim legs,…the capable clever hands. Hands that could steer a boat, could hold a horse. Hands that arranged flowers, made the models of ships… . I knew her face too, small and oval, the clear white skin, the cloud of dark hair. I knew the scent she wore, I could guess her laughter and her smile [D. du Maurier]. 

In the example above the parallel constructions help to express the feelings of the narrator, living in the house, which is haunted by the presence of a deceased person. 

Chiasmus (хиазм) is a type of parallel construction which has a cross order of words or phrases. It is also called a reversed version of syntactic parallelism.

E.g. I love my Love and my Love loves me [S. Coleridge].