ЗЧО Стилистика

happens when something in the text is placed in the foreground. Foregrounding is a synonym for centre, focal point, and focus.

Foregrounding means making an image, symbol, or language a important feature. Such disruptions in form and language help you experience fresh perspectives and responses to texts.

(А это инфа, которую в учебнике нашла)

The ability of a verbal element to obtain extra significance, to say more in a definite context was called foregrounding. When a word automatized by the long use in speech, it obtains some new, additional features. Foregrounding - the act of a background phenomenon moving into the front line.

A contextually foregrounded element carries more information than when taken in isolation. A sentence always means more than the sum total of the meanings of its component-words, or a text means more than the sum of its sentences.

22. Metaphor. Its types and stylistic functions. Personification.

Metaphor – is a stylistic device, meaning transference of some quality from one object to another. Transference of names based on the associated likeness between two objects, as in the

«ball», or «volcano» for the «sun»; «silver dust» for «stars», and so on.

Types of metaphors: metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, are quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. Metaphor, as all other SDs, is fresh, orginal, genuine, when first used. Those which are commonly used in speech and therefore even fixed in dictionaries as expressive means of language are trite or hackneyed metaphors, as in the «sunrise».

Metaphor can be expressed by all notional parts of speech, and functions in the sentence as any of its members.

Stylistic functions: Metaphors can make descriptions more vivid and engaging by comparing one thing to another. They help create a mental image that can evoke emotions and enhance understanding.

If a metaphor involves likeness between inanimate and animate objects, we deal with personification, as in «the face of London», or «the pain of the ocean».

23. Metonymy. Its types and stylistic functions. Synechdoche.

Metonymy, another lexical SD. Metonymy is created by a different semantic process and is based on contiguity (nearness) of objects or phenomena. Transference of names in metonymy does not involve a necessity for two different words to have a common component in their semantic structures. Two objects (phenomena) have common grounds of existence in reality. Such words as "cup" and "tea" have no linguistic semantic nearness, but the first one may serve the container of the second. The conversational cliche "Will you have another cup?", which is a case of metonymy, once original, but due to long use, no more accepted as a fresh SD.

As a rule, metonymy is expressed by nouns (less frequently - by substantivized numerals) and is used in syntactical functions characteristic of nouns (subject, object, predicative).

One type of metonymy - namely, the one, which is based on the relations between a part and the whole - is often viewed independently as synecdoche. Synecdoche is actually a component part, a piece, of whatever you are characterizing. For example in the sentence: "Dear father, grey beard, lonely old courage teacher" "grey beard" - is a synecdoche because by this beard we mean exactly the man, father.

Stylistic functions: Synecdoche and metonymy create symbolic connection between two concepts or objects. It adds the depth to the meaning of the text.

24. Irony. Its types and stylistic functions.

Irony is a stylistic device in which the contextual evaluative meaning of a word is directly opposite to its dictionary meaning. Irony does not exist outside the context.

Types of irony:

•verbal irony. In such irony contextual meaning diametrically opposes its dictionary meaning.

•sustained irony. It is formed by the contradiction of the speaker's (writer's) considerations and the generally accepted moral and ethical codes. Many examples of sustained irony are supplied by D. Defoe, J. Swift, O. Wilde.

Stylistic functions: The evaluation of the phenomenon named. The essence of irony consists in the foregrounding not of the logical but of the evaluative meaning. The context is arranged so that the qualifying word in irony reverses the direction of the evaluation, and the word positively charged is understood as a negative qualification and (much-much rarer) vice versa.

25. Antonomasia. Its stylistic functions.

Antonomasia is a lexical stylistic device in which a proper name is used instead of a common noun or vice versa. A common noun serves as an individualizing name, as in, for example, "Dr. Rest, Dr. Diet and Dr. Fresh Air." And also, another type of antonomasia is presented by the socalled "speaking names", such popular English surnames as Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown - are also speaking names. The double role of the speaking names, both to name and to qualify person: Mr. Backbite, Mr. Snake.

Antonomasia is created mainly by nouns, more seldom by attributive combinations (as in "Dr. Fresh Air") or phrases (as in "Mr. What's-his name").

Stylistic functions: Antonomasia serves various stylistic functions in writing and speech, including characterization, emphasis, historical or cultural reference, irony and satire. By replacing proper names with descriptive phrases or epithets, this rhetorical device adds depth and richness to the text, enhancing its impact on the audience.

26. Epithet. Its varieties and stylistic functions.

Epithet expresses characteristics of an object, both existing and imaginary. Its basic feature is its emotiveness: the characteristic attached to the object to qualify it.

Through long and repeated use epithets become fixed. Many fixed epithets are closely connected with folklore and can be traced buck to folk ballads (e.g. "true love", "merry Christmas", etc.).

Those which were first found in Homer's poetry and have been repeated since, are known as Homeric epithets (e.g. "swift-footed Achilles", "rosy-fingered dawn").

Semantically, there should be differentiated two main groups of epithets, the biggest of them being affective (or emotive proper). These epithets serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker. Most of the qualifying words found in the dictionary can be and are used as affective epithets (e.g. "gorgeous", "nasty", "magnificent", "atrocious", etc.). The second group - figurative, or transferred, epithets - is formed of metaphors, metonymies and similes expressed by adjectives. E.g. "the smiling sun". Like metaphor, metonymy and simile, corresponding epithets are also based on similarity of characteristics of - two objects in the first case, on nearness of the qualified objects in the second one, and on their comparison in the third.

Epithets also can be derived in: single, pair (wonderful and incomparable beauty), chains ("You're a scolding, unjust, abusive, aggravating, bad old creature."), two-step (two-step epithets have a fixed structure of Adv + Adj model.), phrase (written with dashes "the sunshine-in-the- breakfast-room smell").

A different linguistic mechanism is responsible for the emergence of one more structural type of epithets, namely, inverted epithets. They are based on the contradiction between the logical and the syntactical: logically defining becomes syntactically defined and vice versa. E.g. instead of "this devilish woman" author says "this devil of a woman". All inverted epithets are easily transformed into epithets of a more habitual structure where there is no logico-syntactical contradiction: "the giant of a man" (a gigantic man); "the prude of a woman" (a prudish woman), etc.

Stylistic functions: Epithets enhance the noun they modify, adding depth and imagery to the expression.

27. Oxymoron. Its structural types and stylistic functions.

Oxymoron is a stylistic device the syntactic and semantic structures of which come to clashes. Each one of them is a combination of two semantically contradictory notions. The most widely known structure of oxymoron is attributive. But there are also others, in which verbs are employed. Such verbal structures as "to cry silently".

Oxymorons rarely become trite. There are few colloquial oxymorons, all of them showing a high degree of the speaker's emotional involvement in the situation, as in "damn nice", "awfully pretty".

Stylistic functions: oxymorons help to emphasize contradictory qualities simultaneously existing in the described phenomenon as a dialectical unity.

28. Simile. Its semantic structure. Varieties of simile and their stylistic functions.

Simile is an imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two different classes. Components of simile are connected by one of the following link words "like", "as", "as though", "as like", "such as", "as...as", etc. In a simile two objects are compared on the grounds of similarity of some quality.

Simile can be simple, extended or epic, known as a Homeric simile.

A simile, often repeated, becomes trite and adds to the stock of language phraseology. Most of trite similes have the foundation mentioned and conjunctions "as", "as...as" used as connectives: "as buzy as a bee", "as strong as a horse", "as cool as a cucumber" and many many more.

Similes in which the link is expressed by notional verbs such as "to resemble", "to seem", "to recollect", "to remember", "to look like", "to appear", etc. are called disguised.

Stylistic functions: simile is used for purposes of expressive evaluation, emotive explanation and highly individual description.

29. Hyperbole. Its stylistic functions.

Hyperbole - a stylistic device in which emphasis is achieved through deliberate exaggeration.

Hyperbole is one of the most common expressive means of our everyday speech. When we describe our admiration or anger and say "I would gladly see this film a hundred times", or "I have told it to you a thousand times" - we use trite language hyperboles which, through long and repeated use, have lost their originality. Trite hyperboles and understatements, reflecting their use in everyday speech, in creative writing are observed mainly in dialogue, while the author's speech provides us with examples of original hyperboles.

Some hyperboles and understatements have become fixed, as we have in "Snow White", or "Liliput", or "Gargantua".

Hyperbole can be expressed by all notional parts of speech.

Stylistic functions: Hyperbole is aimed at exaggerating quantity or quality.

30. Periphrasis. Its varieties and stylistic functions.

Periphrasis is a very peculiar stylistic device which basically consists of using a roundabout form of expression instead of a simpler one; a more or less complicated syntactical structure instead of a word.

Periphrases are classified into: figurative (metonymic and metaphoric), and logical. The first group is made, in fact, of phrase-metonymies and phrase-metaphors. Logical periphrases are phrases synonymic with the words which were substituted by periphrases.

The often repeated periphrases become trite and serve as universally accepted periphrastic synonyms: "the gentle / soft / weak sex" (women).

Stylistic functions: The main function of periphrases is to convey a purely individual perception of the described object, which seems to the author most important for the characteristic of the object, and which thus becomes foregrounded.

31. Euphemisms. Their stylistic usage.

Euphemism is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one, for example, the word "die" has bred the following euphemisms: to pass away, to expire, to be no more, and more.

Euphemisms may be divided into several groups according to their spheres of application. The most recognized are the following: 1) religious, 2) moral, 3) medical and 4) parliamentary.

Stylistic usage: Euphemism serves several important stylistic functions, including promoting politeness and sensitivity, maintaining tact and diplomacy. By using euphemistic language, speakers can navigate sensitive topics with grace and consideration.

32. Pun. Its varieties and stylistic functions.

Pun is a stylistic device based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word or phrase. It depends on a context. In fact, the humorous effect is caused by the interplay not of two meanings of one word, but of two words. Puns are often used in riddles and jokes, for example, "nobody nose" , "make up your mind".

Types of puns:

•Homophonic. Such puns use word pairs which sound alike but they're not synonyms (the pony couldn't speak - he was a little hoarse)

•Homographic. Such puns exploit words that are spelled the same, but possess different meanings and sounds (time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana)

•Visual.

•Compound. In this case pun makes the entire statement. The statement contains two or more puns (The bakery burnt down last night, so now the business is toast)

•Recursive. Such puns consist of two parts. For a recursive pun to function properly, someone must understand the first part of the pun for the second part to make sense ("may the 4th be with you")

Stylistic functions: puns serve for creating a humorous effect.

33. Zeugma. Its varieties and stylistic functions.

Zeugma is the realization of two meanings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different subjects or objects (direct or indirect): "He opened the door and his heart"

Stylistic functions: Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the primary meaning when the two meanings clash. By making the two meanings conspicuous in this particular way, each of them stands out clearly.

The difference between pun and zeugma:

Pun is a joke or type of wordplay in which similar senses or sounds of two words or phrases, or different senses of the same word, are deliberately confused while zeugma is the act of using a word, particularly an adjective or verb, to apply more than one noun when its sense is appropriate to only one.

34. Decomposition of set phrases. Its stylistic effects.

Linguistic fusions are set phrases, the meaning of which is understood only from the combination as a whole, as "to pull a person's leg" or "to have something at one's finger tips". The meaning of the whole cannot be derived from the meanings of the component parts. The stylistic device of decomposition of fused set-phrases consists in reviving the independent meanings which make up the component parts of the fusion. In other words, it makes each word of the combination acquire its literal meaning which, of course, in many cases leads to the realization of an absurdity.

Stylistic effects: set-phrases serve several important stylistic effects, including carrying emotional impact, reflecting cultural and social context. By using set-phrases effectively, speakers and writers can enrich their communication, connect with their audience, and convey meaning with depth and originality.

35. Proverbs and sayings. Their stylistic usage.

Proverbs and sayings are collected in dictionaries. It is impossible to arrange proverbs and sayings in a form that would present a pattern. But they have some typical features: rhythm, sometimes rhyme and/or alliteration.

The proverb or a saying is a peculiar mode of utterance which is mainly characterized by its brevity. The utterance itself presents a pattern which can be successfully used for other utterances. But the main feature distinguishing proverbs and sayings from ordinary utterances remains their semantic aspect. Their literal meaning is suppressed by what may be termed their transferred meaning. Proverbs and sayings, if used appropriately, will never lose their freshness.

Stylistic usage: proverbs and sayings are stylistically rich linguistic tools that offer cultural significance, emotional impact, rhetorical effect, educational value, and timelessness. By using of these expressions effectively, speakers and writers can enhance the depth and impact of their communication.

•36. Inversion. It’s types and stylistic functions

Inversion which was briefly mentioned in the definition of chiasmus is very often used as an independent SD in which the direct word order is changed either completely so that the predicate (predicative) precedes the subject; or partially so that the object precedes the subjectpredicate pair.

Correspondingly, we differentiate between partial and a complete inversion.

The sentence with inversion gives it vividness and make it more expressive

Ex: Money he had none – partial

Love he did her surely – complete inversion

•37. Detachment as a compositional stylistic device

A specific arrangement of sentence members is observed in detachment, a stylistic device based on singling out a secondary member of the sentence with the help of punctuation (intonation). The word-order here is not violated, but secondary members obtain their own stress and intonation because they are detached from the rest of the sentence by commas, dashes or even a full stop as in the following cases:

"He had been nearly killed, ingloriously, in a jeep accident”, "I have to beg you for money. Daily."

Both "ingloriously" and "daily" remain adverbial modifiers, occupy their proper normative places, following the modified verbs, but - due to detachment and the ensuing additional pause and stress - are foregrounded into the focus of the reader's attention.

•38. Repetition. Its types and stylistic functions

Repetition is a SD where the speaker repeats some phrases, words or even sentences. This stylistic device of repetition aims at logical emphasis, an emphasis necessary to fix the attention of the reader on the key-word of the utterance.

Repetition is classified according to its compositional patterns into the following groups:

anaphora (анафора) - the repeated unit (word or phrase) comes at the beginning of 2 or more successive sentences, clauses or phrases.

Function: to emphasize the repeated unit, foregrounding the non-repeated unit. Ex: She didn’t stand. She didn’t speak. She didn’t even look up when we came.

epiphora (эпифор) - the repeated unit is placed at the end of 2 or more successive phrases, clauses or sentences.

Function: to add stress to the final words of the sentence.

Ex: I am exactly the man to be placed in a superior position in such a case as that. I am above the rest of mankind, in such a case as that. I can act with philosophy in such a case as that.

framing - the initial part of a syntactical unit (in most cases a paragraph) is repeated at the end. Function: to explain, clarify, specify the notion mentioned in the beginning.

e.g. Poor doll’s dressmaker! How often so dragged down by hands that should have raised her up; how often so misdirected when losing her way on the eternal road and asking guidance. Poor, little doll’s dressmaker! “

Framing makes the whole utterance more compact and complete. It is most effective in singling out paragraphs.

(4) anadiplosis ( сцепление/ удвоение) (linking/ reduplication)

The structure of this device is the following: the last word or phrase of one part of the utterance is repeated at the beginning of the next part, thus hooking the 2 parts together. Instead of going on with the narrative the author steps back and picks up the last word.

Function: specification of semantics. Example: I saw I girl, a girl who made me cry

Sometimes the writer can use the linking device several times in one utterance

e.g. “A smile would come into Mr. Pickwick’s face: the smile extended into a laugh: the laugh into a roar, and the roar became general”.

This pattern is called chain repetition. It creates the effect of smoothly developing logical reasoning.

There are some other types of repetition:

Ordinary/ simple repetition –repetition of the word or phrase the position of which is not fixed in the utterance.

Root repetition where it is not the same words that are repeated but the same roots. e.g. “To live again in the youth of the young” (Galsworthy)

Semantic or synonymic repetition (tautology or pleonasm) - It is the repetition of the same idea expressed by synonymous words which intensify the impact of the utterance on the reader by adding a slightly different nuance of meaning.

e.g. He was the only survivor: no one else was saved.

•39. Suspense as a compositional stylistic device. Climax

Suspense is a compositional device which consists in arranging the matter of a communication in such a way that the less important, descriptive, subordinate parts are amassed at the beginning, the main idea being put in the end of the sentence.

Ex: “I know the secret of yours, but I won’t tell you. You do everything wrong, everybody around you guess about this secret. Okay, I’ll tell: you lie him about having a lover.”

Sentences of this type are called periodic sentences, or periods. Their function is to create suspense, to keep the reader in a state of uncertainty and expectation

The device of suspense is especially favored by orators. This is apparently due to the strong influence of intonation which helps to create the desired atmosphere of expectation and emotional tension which goes with it.

Climax is an arrangement of sentences (or of the homogeneous parts of one sentence) which secures a gradual increase in significance, importance, or emotional tension in the utterance, as in:

Ex: “It was a lovely city, a beautiful city, a fair city, a veritable gem of a city”

Each successive unit is perceived as stronger than the preceding one. It is only the formal homogeneity of these component parts and the test of synonymy in the words 'lovely',

‘beautiful’, 'fair,' ‘veritable gem”

A gradual increase in significance may be maintained in three ways: logical, emotional and quantitative.

Emotive climax is based on the relative emotional tension produced by words with emotive meaning

Ex: Of course it’s important. Incredibly, urgently, desperately important

Quantitate climax is achieved by numerical increase\decrease.

Ex: they looked at hundreds of houses, they climbed thousands of stairs, they inspected innumerous kitchens

Logical climax is based on the relative importance of the component parts and concepts introduced in them.

Ex: Like a well, like a vault, like a tomb, the prison had no knowledge of the brightness outside.

40. Parallel constructions. Their types and stylistic functions

Parallel construction is a stylistic device of producing two or more syntactic structures according to the same syntactic pattern.

Ex: Mary cooked dinner, John watched TV, Peter played video games.

Parallel constructions are often backed up by repetition of words (lexical repetition) and conjunctions and prepositions

Parallel constructions may be partial or complete.

Partial parallel arrangement is the repetition of some parts of successive sentences or clauses, as in:

Ex: “It is the mob that labour in your fields and serve in your houses—that man your navy and recruit your army,—that have enabled you to defy all the world, and can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair.” (Byron)

(((“Это толпа, которая трудится на ваших полях и служит в ваших домах, которая укомплектовывает ваш флот и набирает армию, — вот что позволило вам бросить вызов всему миру, а также может бросить вызов вам, когда пренебрежение и бедствия доведут их до отчаяния”. (Байрон))))

The attributive clauses here all begin with the subordinate conjunction that which is followed by a verb in the same tense form, except the last (have enabled).

Complete parallel arrangement, also called balance, maintains the principle of identical structures throughout the corresponding sentences, as in:

“The seeds ye sow — another reaps, The robes ye weave—another wears, The arms ye forge — another bears.”

(((“Семена, которые ты сеешь, пожинает другой,, Одежды, которые ты ткешь, носит другой,, Оружие, которое ты куешь, носит другой”.)))

In some cases, parallelism emphasizes the similarity and equates the significance of the parts. n other cases parallel construction emphasizes diversity and contrast of ideas.

41. Chiasmus. It’s types and stylistic functions.

Chiasmus is a reversal in the order of words in two otherwise parallel phrases

Ex: He went to the country, to the town went she” “He loved girls. Girls didn’t love him”

This device is effective in that it helps to lay stress on the second part of the utterance, which is opposite.

This device may be classed as lexical chiasmus or chiasmatic repetition. Byron particularly favoured it.

Here is an examples: “His jokes were sermons, and his sermons jokes”

Syntactical chiasmus is sometimes used to break the monotony of parallel constructions. But whatever the purpose of chiasmus, it will always bring in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis on some portion of the second part.

42. Polysyndeton as a stylistic device of linkage. Asyndeton

Asyndeton, that is, connection between parts of a sentence or between sentences without any formal sign, becomes a stylistic device if there is a deliberate omission of the connective where it is generally expected to be according to the norms of the literary language.

Ex: “Soames turned away; he had an utter disinclination for talk, like one standing before an open grave, watching a coffin slowly lowered.”

The deliberate omission of the subordinate conjunction because or for makes the sentence ‘he had an utter...’ almost entirely independent. It might be perceived as a characteristic feature of

Soames in general, but for the comparison beginning with like, which shows that Soames’s mood was temporary.

Polysyndeton is the stylistic device of connecting sentences, or phrases, or syntagms, or words by using connectives (mostly conjunctions and prepositions) before each component part, as in:

“The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect.”

The repetition of conjunctions and other means of connection makes an utterance more rhythmical;

43. Ellipsis. Completeness and incompleteness of a sentence

Ellipsis Is a typical phenomenon in conversation, arising out of the situation.

But this typical feature of the spoken language assumes a new quality when used in the written language.

Ellipsis, when used as a stylistic device, always imitates the common features of colloquial language, where the situation predetermines not the omission of certain members of the sentence, but their absence.

It would perhaps be adequate to call sentences lacking certain members “incomplete sentences", leaving the term ellipsis to specify structures where we recognize a digression from the traditional literary sentence structure

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44. Apokoinu – a blend of the main and the subordinate clauses so that the predicative or the

object of the first one is simultaneously used as the subject of the second one. Ex: There was the door led into the kitchen

The double syntactical function played by one word produces the general impression of clumsiness of speech and is used as a means of speech characteristics in dialogue, in reported speech.

45. Break-in-the-Narrative (Aposiopesis)

In the spoken variety of the language, a break in the narrative is usually caused by unwillingness to proceed; or by the supposition that what remains to be said can be understood by the implication embodied in what has been said; or by uncertainty as to what should be said.

In the written variety, a break in the narrative is always a stylistic device used for some stylistic effect.

Ex: “You just come home or I ’ll…” the implication is a threat. The second example shows that without a context the implication can only be vague. But when one knows that the words were said by an angry father to his son over the telephone the implication becomes apparent.