Синтаксис английского языка от слова к тексту = A Students’ Guide to English Syntax from Word to Discourse. Учебное пособие

Chapter V. Text as a syntactic unit

There was a door led to the kitchen.

There’s no one enjoys good food more than he does.

Usually the word common for both sentences is a predicative in the first and the subject in the second. Apokoinou was widely used in Old and Middle English, when it was quite the norm. Nowadays it is used in belles-lettres style for speech characterization: to show that somebody’s speech is hurried, uneducated, slovenly, careless. Sometimes it may occur in poetic style as an archaic element. You may find it in folk songs and nursery rhymes:

e.g. There was an old woman Lived under a hill,

She put a mouse in a bag,

And sent it to the mill (Mother Goose Rhymes).

There was a monkey climbed a tree When he fell down, then down fell he. There was a crow sat on a stone

When he was gone, then there was none. There was a butcher cut his thumb,

When it did bleed, then blood did come, etc. (Ibid.)

ASYNDETON (in Greek “disconnected”). This is a deliberate omission of conjunctions or other connectors between parts of the sentence. It may be used in the description of a group of events connected in time if these events take place simultaneously or in succession. In this case the absence of conjunction corresponds to the meaning of a conjunction and:

e.g. He was distressed, impatient, angry (Galsworthy). There was peace among the nations;

Unmolested roved the hunters, Built the birch-canoe for sailing, Caught the fish in lake and river, Shot the deer, trapped the beaver; Unmolested worked the women, Made their sugar from the maple, Gathered wild rice in the meadows,

Dressed the skins of deer and beaver (Longfellow).

Asyndeton may also express other logical connections between parts of the sentence, thus corresponding to various connectors:

e.g. You want anything, you pay for it (Osborne) – conjunction if is missing.

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

“There’s no use in talking to him, he’s perfectly idiotic” said Alice desperately (Carroll) – conjunction because is missing.

Youth is full of pleasance, Age is full of care;

Youth like summer morn,

Age like winter weather (Shakespeare) – conjunction whereas is missing

The functions of asyndeton are manifold:

a)If used with homogeneous parts of a sentence it shows that enumeration is not completed yet;

b)It may create a certain rhythmical effect, making the narration measured and energetic;

c)It may create dynamics and tension in the narration.

5.3.2. Syntactical expressive means based on the presence of extra-elements (on the principle of redundancy)

Syntactical expressive means based on the presence of extraelements are as follows: a) repetition of different kinds; b) parallel constructions; c) polysyndeton; d) syntactic tautology; e) parenthesis.

REPETITION is the reiteration of the same lexical or syntactic element (word or phrase). Its functions in the text are:

a)to increase the degree of emotion;

b)to emphasize the presented idea;

c)to make the utterance rhythmical and harmonious;

d)to show durability, exhaustiveness of the action or process.

Usually they are all intervened in the same context:

e.g. Scrooge went to bed again, and thought, and thought and thought it over and over and over (Dickens).

According to the position of a repeated element in the utterance we distinguish four basic types of repetition:

1) Anaphora is the use of the same elements at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences or lines:

When hungry, it is good to eat; When thirsty, sweet to drink; When tired, to bathe the weary feet;

When solitary, to think (Walter de la Mare).

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Chapter V. Text as a syntactic unit

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; For want of the shoe, the horse was lost; For want of the horse, the rider was lost; For want of the rider, the battle was lost;

For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost;

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail (Mother Goose Rhymes).

Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow, Farewell to the straths and green valleys below, Farewell to the forests and wild-hanging woods,

Farewell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods! (Burns).

If you want a servant, take one; if you wish to be badly served, take two; if you wish to serve yourself, take three; if you wish to be well served, serve yourself (Swift).

2) Epiphora is the repetition of the final element at the end of several sentences:

e.g. Only I don’t go. I’m too worried to go. I don’t want to interrupt my worrying to go (Salinger).

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

Where are you going to, my pretty maid? I’m going a-milking, sir, she said.

May I go with you, my pretty maid?

You are kindly welcome, sir, she said, etc. (folk-song).

Consider the combination of anaphora and epiphora in the following lines:

Down, down, down, Red, yellow, brown

Autumn leaves tumble down, Autumn leaves crumble down, Autumn leaves bumble down, Flaking and shaking

Tumbledown leaves (Eve Merriam).

3) Anadiplosis (catch repetition) is the repetition of the final element of an utterance at the very beginning of the following utterance. It’s used to show the complexity of the process of thinking: e.g. We were talking how bad we were – bad from the medical point

of view (Jerome).

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

Then how come I don’t see him over there? Over there in the Territories? (King).

There was a naughty boy, A naughty boy was he,

He would not stop at home, He could not quiet be (Keats).

The more we study, the more we know. The more we know, the more we forget. The more we forget, the less we know. The less we know, the less we forget. The less we forget, the more we know. Why study?

4) Framing (ring repetition) is the repetition of the same unit at the beginning and the end of the same sentence or paragraph or stanza:

e.g. What good was it? That was the question she would like to know. What the hell good was it? (Plain).

How beautiful is the rain! After the dust and heat,

In the broad and fiery street, In the narrow lane,

How beautiful is the rain! (Longfellow).

Repetition may exist even within a phrase; here it concerns mostly qualifying words – adverbs and adjectives. It’s typical for colloquial speech, because its main function here is intensification of the meaning: very, very good; forever and ever.

e.g. Yeah, uh, you’ve been busy busy busy, haven’t you? (Pendelton).

On the other hand there exists repetition in a longer space of a text, not in a sentence or a paragraph. If some lingual element reappears through the whole story or novel we deal with distant repetition. As a result the repeated element acquires a symbolic meaning, a great emotional force; it becomes a key element of the narration expressing the main idea of the whole literary work.Thus,cases of distant repetition can be observed in such works of fiction as “Farewell to Arms” by E. Hemingway – rain; “The Raven” by E.A. Poe – nevermore which is a refrain at the end of each stanza; “Jane Eire” by Ch. Bronte – fire; “The old man and the sea” by E. Hemingway – fish, and many other similar cases.

In the following nursery rhyme the key word is used not only for fun, but also as the basis of the whole narration:

There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;

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Chapter V. Text as a syntactic unit

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house (Mother Goose Rhymes)

PARALLEL CONSTRUCTIONS or SYNTACTIC PARALLELISM is the repetition of similar syntactical elements, of the same syntactical patterns. They are used in order to strengthen the emotional impact of the description or narration, to make it more expressive:

e.g. There were real silver spoons to stir the tea with, and real china cups to drink it out of, and plates of the same quality to hold the cakes and toast in (Dickens).

As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him; but as he was ambitious, I slew him. There’s tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition (Shakespeare).

The moon on the one hand, the dawn on the other; The moon is my sister, the dawn is my brother. The moon is on my left and the dawn on my right. My brother, good morning:

My sister, good night (Bellog).

Lots of folk songs, folk ballads, nursery rhymes and fairy tales are based on syntactic parallelism:

“Ten little nigger boys went out to dine;/One choked his little self, and then there were nine; …”

“This is the key of the kingdom. In that kingdom there is a city, …” “That is the house, that Jack built…”, etc.

A special type of syntactic parallelism, a reversed version of it is called chiasmus. It is the repetition of the same structure but with the opposite order of elements:

In the days of old men made the manners; Manners now make men (Byron).

The sea is but another sky,

The sky a sea as well (Longfellow).

That he sings and he sings and forever sings he – “I love my Love, and my Love loves me!”

‘Tis no wonder that he’s full of joy to the brim,

When he loves his Love and his Love loves him (Coleridge). When water turns ice, does it remember one time it was water?

When ice turns back into water, does it remember it was ice? (Sandburg).

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YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

There are so many sons who won’t have to do with their fathers and so many fathers who won’t have to do with their sons (Wilde).

In case of chiasmus the predicate of the sentence remains intact, but the subject of the first part becomes the object of the second and vice versa. Its functions are:

a)to reveal the complexity of the phenomenon or object described;

b)to serve the basis for paradoxes and aphorisms;

c)to help create rhythmical arrangement of the utterances.

POLYSYNDETON is a device opposite to asyndeton; it is a repetition of connectors (conjunctions, prepositions) before several parts of the sentence. Its functions are manifold:

a)As well as any other repetition it increases the emotional impact of the text;

b)It is used to lay a stress on each repeated element;

c)It is used to retard the action, to create the effect of suspense;

d)It underlines the simultaneity of actions or close connection of the properties enumerated;

e)It creates a high-flown tonality and pathos in the narration;

f)It is applied for the sake of rhythm.

Polysyndeton is widely used in poetry and prose of old days and of nowadays. Many examples of it are found in the Bible where nearly every sentence or at least paragraph begins with and:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it (Matthew VII).

I always been a good girl; and I never offered to say a word to him; and I don’t owe him nothing; and I don’t care; and I won’t be put upon; and I have my feelings the same as anyone else (Shaw)

“I’ve seen all I want in England,” she said. “I’ve seen Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament and His Majesty’s Theater and the Savoy and Cheshire Cheese,and I developed a frightful homesickness.” (Wodehouse).

And when I found the door was locked,

I pulled and pushed and kicked and knocked (Carroll).

And is the most frequently repeated conjunction, but not the only one. Consider some more examples with other connectors:

e.g. Should you ask me, whence these stories? Whence these legends and traditions,

With the odors of the forest,

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With the dew, and damp of meadows,

With the curling smoke of wigwams,

With the rushing of great rivers,

With their frequent repetitions (Longfellow).

Hurt no living thing; Ladybird, nor butterfly, Nor moth with dusty wing,

Nor cricket chirping cheerily, Nor grasshopper so light of leap, Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat,

Nor harmless worms that creep (Christina Rossetti).

SYNTACTIC TAUTOLOGY is the repetition of the subject of the sentence. It’s typical of English folklore and is mostly found in songs, ballads and nursery rhymes:

e.g. The hart he loves the high wood, The hare she loves the hill;

The knight he loves his bright sword,

The lady she loves her will (Mother Goose Rhymes).

The Queen of Hearts She made some tarts, All on a summer day; The Knave of Hearts He stole the tarts,

And took them clean away (Mother Goose Rhymes).

It may be found in later stylizations of the ballad character; it is used here for the sake of elevation and rhythmical purposes as well:

The skipper he blew a whiff from his pipe And a scornful laugh laughed he (Longfellow). Ellen Adair she loved me well

Against her father’s and mother’s will (Tennison).

Syntactic tautology may be used in literary works to represent the speech of uneducated persons. And in this case not only the subject but also the predicate verb can be reduplicated:

e.g. Well, Judge Thatcher, he took it and put it in the bank… (Twain). I came to him twice, I did. I am a good girl, I am (Shaw).

Repetition of the subject may also be combined with giving it some more specific additional information:

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

e.g. She has developed power, this woman – this wife of his! (Galsworthy).

Oh, it’s a fine life, the life of the gutter (Shaw).

PARENTHESIS is an explanatory or qualifying sentence, phrase or word, which is inserted in an utterance without being grammatically connected with it. Parenthesis can be easily omitted and the structure of the sentence won’t be violated, but the meaning will be slightly changed. It is usually marked with brackets, dashes or commas.

Its functions in the text are manifold:

a)It creates the atmosphere of intimacy between the reader and the author as it somehow involves the reader in the narration;

b)It makes the speech emotionally colored as it shows the author’s personal attitude to the facts described;

c)It gives the utterance a colloquial tinge;

d)Sometimes it creates a comical effect.

e.g. To make matters worse, it began to rain and soon we soaked to the skin.

Secrets, generally speaking, are not very well kept nowadays. They have learnt already, no doubt, about our disgrace.

Here is a long passage – what an enormous prospective I make of it! – leading from the kitchen to the front door (Dickens).

I had (what nurse hasn’t?) come across many cases of hypochondriacs whose delight is to keep a whole household dancing attendance.

Before he went down – patent leather was his final choice – he looked at himself critically (Huxley).

5.3.3. Syntactical expressive means based on the unusual arrangement of syntactic elements

Syntactical expressive means based on the unusual arrangement of syntactic elements are as follows: a) stylistic inversion; b) rhetorical questions; c) quasi-negative sentences;

d)detachment; e) parcellation; f) represented speech. STYLISTIC INVERSION is a reversed word order chosen for

emphatic purposes (see 2.9.). It means a change in the standard position of the sentence parts (S – P – O – AM). There are several patterns of stylistic inversion:

1. The predicative may precede the subject: e.g. Poles apart we were, he and I.

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Chapter V. Text as a syntactic unit

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God… (Matthew “The Sermon on the Mount”).

“Very unpleasant it’s been” she went on. “Having the poor auntie murdered and the police and all that …A piece of sheer bad luck that was (Christie).

2. The predicate may precede the subject: e.g. On goes the river

And out past the mill (Stevenson).

The cloud-like rocks, the rock-like clouds Dissolved in glory float,

And midway in the radiant flood Hangs silently the boat (Longfellow).

Came frightful days of snow and rain. He didn’t know when he made camp, when he broke camp (London).

3.Adverbial particles are placed at the beginning of the sentence: e.g. This is the kind of English up with which I cannot put (Churchill). Down came the storm, and smote again

The vessel in its strength … (Longfellow).

4.The object is placed before the predicate:

e.g. Little did I suppose that he was a deadly enemy. The sun that sets upon the sea

We follow in his flight (Byron).

5.The attribute stands after the word it modifies: e.g. Have ye souls in heaven too

Double-lived in regions new (Keats). He had moccasins enchanted,

Magic moccasins of deer-skin (Longfellow). Adieu, adieu! My native shore

Fades o’er the waters blue (Byron).

A passionate ballad gallant and gay … (Tennyson).

6.The adverbial modifier occupies the initial position: e.g. Ah, distinctly I remember

It was in the bleak December … (Poe). At your feet I fall (Dryden).

From a big house to our left came a blaze of light and music.

The functions of inversion are:

a) to lay stress on a certain part of the utterance,to single out the rheme;

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Ю. М. СЕРГЕЕВА, И. О. СЫРЕСИНА. СИНТАКСИС АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА: ОТ СЛОВА К ТЕКСТУ

YULIA SERGEEVA, IRINA SYRESINA. A STUDENTS’ GUIDE TO ENGLISH SYNTAX: FROM WORD TO DISCOURSE

b)to give emotional coloring to what is said;

c)In colloquial speech inversion is used to show spontaneous and informal character of it;

d)In poetry it is used for the sake of rhythm and melody.

Inversion is typical not only of belles-lettres style but also of publicist, of oratory style. It is a characteristic feature of any public speech.

RHETORICAL QUESTIONS are statements expressed in the form of interrogative sentences (see 1.3).

There are two structural types of them: a negative-interrogative sentence and an affirmative-interrogative sentence. In both cases the implied statement is opposite to what is openly asked or claimed: e.g. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?

(“The Old Testament”; the implication is that they cannot). For who has sight so swift and strong,

That it can follow the flight of a song? (Longfellow; the implication is that nobody has).

Is there not blood enough… that more must be poured forth? (Byron; There certainly is enough).

This king, Shakespeare, does not he shine over us all, as the noblest, gentlest, yet strongest? (Carlyle; Yes, he does shine over us all).

Rhetorical questions are common in colloquial speech, every-day communication where they often have an ironical coloring:

Since when are you interested in such things? (You have never been interested in them).

What business is it of yours? (It is none of your business). Who does not know Pushkin? (Everybody does).

They are commonly used in oratory, in public speeches to create a link, a feedback between the audience and the speaker. In all cases their function is to create emphasis, because such statements have greater assertive or negative force than mere declarative sentences.

QUASI-NEGATIVE SENTENCES are formally affirmative, but semantically negative statements. Most of them are rhetorical questions with affirmative predicates:

e.g. Did I say a word about the money? (= I didn’t).

Hidden negation may also be expressed by a clause of unreal comparison beginning with as if:

e.g. As if I ever stop thinking about the girl and her confounded vowels and consonants. I am worn out thinking about her, and watching her lips and her teeth and her tongue (Shaw).

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