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101
Chapter 4. The Belles-Lettres Style
voices of his caste and world cried out loudly to him to let her go. What
should follow –”
Miss LORE (looking up with a start). “I’m sure I can’t say, Mr. Penne.
Unless (with a giggle) you would want to add “Gallegher.”
Mr. PENNE (coldly). “Pardon me. I was not seeking to impose upon
you the task of a collaborator. Kindly consider the question a part of the
text.”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates) – “On one side was love and Kate; on the other
side his heritage of social position and family pride. Would love win?
Love, that the poets tell us will last forever! (Perceives that Miss Lore
looks fatigued, and looks at his watch.) That’s a good long stretch. Perhaps
we’d better knock off a bit.”
(Miss Lore does not reply.)
Mr. PENNE. “I said, Miss Lore, we’ve been at it quite a long time –
wouldn’t you like to knock off for a while?”
Miss LORE. “Oh! Were you addressing me before? I put what you
said down. I thought it belonged in the story. It seemed to fit in all right.
Oh, no; I’m not tired.”
Mr. PENNE. “Very well, then, we will continue. (Dictates.) “In spite of
these qualms and doubts, Cortland was a happy man. That night at the
club he silently toasted Kate’s bright eyes in a bumper of the rarest
vintage. Afterward he set out for a stroll with, as Kate on – ”
Miss LORE. “Excuse me, Mr. Penne, for venturing a suggestion; but
don’t you think you might state that in a less coarse manner?”
Mr. PENNE (astounded). “Wh-wh – I’m afraid I fail to understand
you.”
Miss LORE. “His condition. Why not say he was “full” or
“intoxicated”? It would sound much more elegant than the way you
express it.”
Mr. PENNE (still darkly wandering). “Will you kindly point out, Miss
Lore, where I have intimated that Cortland was “full,” if you prefer that
word?”
Miss LORE (calmly consulting her stenographic notes). “It is right here,
word for word. (Reads.) “Afterward he set out for a stroll with a skate on.”
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
Mr. PENNE (with peculiar emphasis). “Ah! And now will you kindly
take down the expurgated phrase? (Dictates.) “Afterward he set out for a
stroll with, as Kate on one occasion had fancifully told him, her spirit
leaning upon his arm.”
MISS LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “Chapter thirty-four. Heading – “What Kate
Found in the Garden.” That fragrant summer morning brought gracious
tasks to all. The bees were at the honeysuckle blossoms on the porch.
Kate, singing a little song, was training the riotous branches of her favorite
woodbine. The sun, himself, had rows –”
Miss LORE. “Shall I say “had risen”?”
Mr. PENNE (very slowly and with desperate deliberation). “The – sun –
himself – had – rows – of – blushing – pinks – and – bollyhocks – and –
hyacinths – waiting – that – he – might – dry – their – dew – drenched –
cups.”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “The earliest trolley, scattering the birds from
its pathway like some marauding cat, brought Cortland over from Oldport.
He had forgotten his fair –”
Miss LORE. “Hm! Wonder how he got the conductor to –”
Mr. PENNE (very loudly). “Forgotten his fair and roseate visions of the
night in the practical light of the sober morn.”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “He greeted her with his usual smile and
manner. ‘See the waves,’ he cried, pointing to the heaving waters of the
sea, ‘ever wooing and returning to the rockbound shore.’” “’Ready to
break,’ Kate said, with – ”
Miss LORE. “My! One evening he has his arm around her, and the
next morning he’s ready to break her head! Just like a man!”
Mr. PENNE (with suspicious calmness). “There are times, Miss Lore,
when a man becomes so far exasperated that even a woman – But suppose
we finish the sentence. (Dictates.) ‘Ready to break,’ Kate said, with the
thrilling look of a soul-awakened woman, ‘into foam and spray, destroying
themselves upon the shore they love so well.’”
Miss LORE. “Oh!”
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Chapter 4. The Belles-Lettres Style
Mr. PENNE (dictates). “Cortland, in Kate’s presence heard faintly the
voice of caution. Thirty years had not cooled his ardor. It was in his power
to bestow great gifts upon this girl. He still retained the beliefs that he
had at twenty. (To Miss Lore, wearily) I think that will be enough for the
present.”
Miss LORE (wisely). “Well, if he had the twenty that he believed he
had, it might buy her a rather nice one.”
Mr. PENNE (faintly). “The last sentence was my own. We will
discontinue for the day, Miss Lore.”
Miss LORE. “Shall I come again to-morrow?”
Mr. PENNE (helpless under the spell). “If you will be so good.”
(Exit Miss Lore.)
ASBESTOS CURTAIN
SELF-STUDY: TEXTS / EXTRACTS FOR STYLISTIC ANALYSIS
Assignment 4. Using the plan from Appendix 1, prepare in writing com-
plex stylistic analysis of the texts given under Assignment 1–3. Make your
own choice.
REFERENCES
Арнольд, И.В. Стилистика. Современный английский язык : учеб. /
И.В. Арнольд. 9-е изд. М. : Флинта ; Наука, 2009. – 384 с.
Борисова, Л.В. Интерпретация текста (проза) / Л.В. Борисова. 2-е изд.,
перераб. и доп. Минск : Выш. шк., 1999. – 174 с.
Гальперин, И.Р. Стилистика английского языка = English Stylistics /
И.Р. Галь перин. 5-е изд. М. : Книжный дом «Либроком», 2013. – 336 с.
Кошевая, И.Г. Стилистика современного английского языка /
И.Г. Кошевая. М. : Изд. центр «Академия», 2011. – 352 с.
Кухаренко, В.А. Практикум по стилистике английского языка =
Seminars in Stylistics / В.А. Кухаренко. 3-е изд., испр. М. : Флинта ; Наука,
2009. – 184 с.
Лапшина, М.Н. Стилистика современного английского языка = English
Stylistics : учеб. пособие / М.Н. Лапшина. СПб. : Филологический факультет
СПбГУ ; М. : Изд. центр «Академия», 2013. – 272 с.
Скребнев, Ю.М. Основы стилистики английского языка : учеб. /
Ю.М. Скребнев. 2-е изд., испр. М. : Астрель ; АСТ, 2003. – 221 с.
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
CHAPTER 5. THE CoLLoQuIAL STYLE
THEORY
According to Professor Arnold I.V., the colloquial style falls into three
substyles: and .
The described style performs such f u n c t i o n s a s co m m u n i c a t i v e , i n f o r m a t i v e and em o t iv e and exists in both written and
spoken varieties. In its written variety the colloquial speech is presented
mainly in the belles-lettres style in the personages’ dialogues, inner
speech and monologues. The spoken variety is typical of everyday
communication. It should also be stressed that the colloquial speech in
the belles-lettres style differs from live spontaneous speech. The author
chooses the components of the speech deliberately, making it
“literaturelike” (stylized). Such speech is subjected to the author’s
personal perception of the described reality and his own message of the
work of art.
Since colloquial speech is spontaneous and unprepared it has certain
peculiarities, such as c o m p r e s s i o n , r e d u n d a n c y,
p r e f a b r i c a t i o n and c r e a t i v i t y .
C o m p r e s s i o n manifests itself in the economy of speech means
and may be observed at different language levels. At the phonetic level it
is presented through reduced forms: we’ll have one; he’d eaten truffles
before; don’t care what you do really.
At the lexical level compression is reflected in the use of phrasal verbs:
Why don’t you come over this evening? instead of Why don’t you call at
my house to see me for a short period of time?; I’ve run out of cheques
instead of I have no more cheques left; Will old pensioners be thrown out
of their homes? instead of Will old pensioners be forced to leave their
homes?
Lexical compression may also be identified in lots of clipped words
(doc, lab, sec, prof, fridge) and words of general semantics (get, fix, thing,
stuff, business).
At the syntactical level compression manifests itself in simplicity of
syntax and abundant use of elliptical sentences: Exactly; Another cognac?;
Report to the police station every day?
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Chapter 5. The colloquial style
R e d u n d a n c y can also be seen at different language levels. Lexical
redundancy (or pleonasm) is revealed through gap fillers (sort of, you
know, like, well, I mean, you see, actually, indeed), interjections,
exclamations (Oh, man, boy, uh, eh) and semantically “empty” words
(and all: how my parents were occupied and all before they had me; he’s
my brother and all).
At the morphological level the following subcolloquial grammatical
structures may be observed: pleonastic use of personal pronouns in
imperative sentences: Don’t you forget it! and multiple negation: I don’t
never get wrong ideas. Syntactical pleonasm is presented by means of
tautology: Mary, she went to Oxford; repetitions, exclamations which
may express irony, indignation or mocking: Thank you for listening! –
Listening? There was nothing to listen to; disjunctive questions: You like
it, don’t you?
Prefabrication is revealed through a great amount of ready-
made formulae, clichés, all kinds of stereotyped units, which facilitate
spontaneous conversation. One can mention among them the so-called
social phrases such as greetings: Good morning!, Cheerio!), thanks and
responses: That’s very nice of you, not at all, that’s all right, words of
parting: Good-bye!, So long!, See you soon! and so on.
Conversation manoeuvres are also easier if you use signals of direction,
also stereotyped, such as:
openings: •• Lovely day! Sorry to trouble you… Guess what…;
ongoing checks: •• Do you see? Are you with me? Don’t get me
wrong…;
signals of changing the topic: •• This reminds me…, By the way…,
Where was I?, etc.;
the usual endings: •• Well, I must get back to work; Sorry, but I have
to go now; I mustn’t keep you, etc.
C r e a t i v i t y is also a result of spontaneous speech production. We
make our conversation as we go along. We have no time to polish it
deliberately, but one can do corrections, thus there are many hesitations,
false starts, loose ends in grammar.
Speaking about different substyles it is important to point out differences in vocabulary. In the literary colloquial substyle there is a wide
range of vocabulary strata compliant with the communicative situation
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
and participants’ roles: formal and informal, neutral and bookish, terms
and foreign words. In the familiar and low colloquial substyles there is a
combination of neutral, familiar and low colloquial vocabulary, including
slang (booze, grotty, jerk), vulgar and taboo words (damn, hell, bloody,
son of a bitch).
Self-control questions
1. What is the aim of the colloquial style?
2. What are the subdivisions of the described style?
3. What do you understand by the concept of the stylized variant of
colloquial speech?
4. What are the main peculiarities of colloquial speech?
5. What lexical means are used to convey compression, redundancy
and prefabrication?
6. How is redundancy expressed grammatically (by morphological
and syntactical means)?
PRACTICE
ASSIGNMENTS FOR CLASS WORK
Assignment 1. Consider the following conversation between two sisters,
Jane and Clare, and their brother Nick. Point out different language markers of
the colloquial style and classify them into four groups under corresponding
headlines: a) compression, b) redundancy, c) prefabrication and d) creativity.
A live conversation between Jane, Clare and Nick
from “Listening and speaking skills. Teacher’s book” by V. Evans and
J. Milton
Jane: Hello Clare. Hi Nick. Sit down. D’you fancy a drink?
Clare: I’ll just have some water, thanks.
Nick: Nothing for me, thanks.
Jane: I’m really glad we got the chance to talk about the arrangements
for Mum and Dad’s party – it’s been difficult to find a time when we’re
all free.
Clare: Yeah… look, is it definite we can’t hire the assembly rooms,
because I thought it would be brilliant to have it there.
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Chapter 5. The colloquial style
Jane: Look, I know how much you wanted to do it there, but we just
can’t afford it. The village hall will have to do.
Clare: Fair enough… anyway I’ve been thinking you remember
I suggested a buffet originally, but I’m not so sure now, I think a sit-down
meal may be a better idea because….
Nick: (interrupts) Yes, well I preferred the idea of a buffet, but I don’t
think either of you has listened to any of my suggestions at any stage in
this whole thing and I’m absolutely fed up.
Jane: Alright, alright calm down… Look, I’m sorry if you feel we
haven’t taken your ideas into account… what do you want to do Nick?
Nick: Well I thought we could hire Allen’s jazz band to play after the
meal. They did such a good job at Louise and Tom’s wedding. Do you
remember?
Jane: I do, they were excellent. What a day that was – what about
when the wedding car broke down and Louise had to come to church in
Uncle Peter’s van!
Clare: What an entrance!
Jane: And she was so late by that time that Tom was panicking,
thinking she wasn’t coming.
Clare: Poor bloke!
Jane: Anyway, back to the arrangements – what on earth are we going
to give them? It is their 40th anniversary after all.
Nick: How about a framed photograph of all of us and the kids.
Clare: Good idea – if we can get the children to sit still that is!
Nick: Yeah… you know there’s not much left. Are we going to be able
to get all organized? It’d be such a shame if it doesn’t come off.
Jane: Of course we will. We’ve almost sorted everything out.
Clare: Yeah… I think it’s going to be great.
Jane: Oh Clare, I forgot to tell you that Richard phoned for you just
before you arrived – something about the bank manager I think.
Clare: Oh no, I forgot! We’ve got an appointment with her at 3:30.
Look, give me a ring if there’s anything else we need to… (fade).
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
Assignment 2. Identify colloquial words and expressions in the extract from
the novel “The Ñatcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger, look up their meanings in
the dictionary and paraphrase them using neutral vocabulary.
“If I am not mistaken, I believe you also had some difficulty at the
Whooton School and at Elkton Hills.” He didn’t say it just sarcastic, but
sort of nasty, too.
“I didn’t have too much difficulty at Elkton Hills,” I told him. “I didn’t
exactly flunk out or anything. I just quit, sort of.”
“Why, may I ask?”
“Why? Oh, well it’s a long story, sir. I mean it’s pretty complicated.”
I didn’t feel like going into the whole thing with him. He wouldn’t have
understood it anyway. It wasn’t up his alley at all. One of the biggest
reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.
That’s all. They were coming in the goddam window. For instance, they
had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met
in my life. Ten times worse than old Thurmer. On Sundays, for instance,
old Haas went around shaking hands with everybody’s parents when they
drove up to school. He’d be charming as hell and all. Except if some boy
had little old funny-looking parents. You should’ve seen the way he did
with my roommate’s parents. I mean if a boy’s mother was sort of fat or
corny-looking or something, and if somebody’s father was one of those
guys that wear those suits with very big shoulders and corny black-andwhite shoes, then old Haas would just shake hands with them and give
them a phony smile and then he’d go talk, for may be a half an hour, with
somebody else’s parents. I can’t stand that stuff. It drives me crazy. It
makes me so depressed I go crazy. I hated that goddam Elkton Hills.
Assignment 3. Compare the colloquial and the official modes of expression
of the same information in the following letters.
We are sorry that our computer ordering system went on the blink last
week. Don’t worry, the system is now up and running again, but we think
goods will arrive 2 or 3 days late. I’d guess the goods you’ve just ordered
should arrive round Thursday. Thanks a lot for telling us about the
problem with the ZP200. You’ll be pleased to know the problem’s been
put right now. Regarding the exhibition you’re organizing, it seems you
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Chapter 5. The colloquial style
want to return any goods you don’t sell. We’re certainly interested, yes,
but could I ask for more details before I let you know. Finally, just to tell
you, as of 1st May our warehouse is now open 24 hours a day!
Dear Mrs. Henderson,
We would like to apologize for the failure of our computer ordering
system last week. Please be reassured that the system is now fully
functional again. It is anticipated that the goods ordered will be delayed
by two or three working days. The estimated arrival time for latest order
is Thursday.
We are grateful to you for reporting the defect in the ZP200 model.
We are happy to announce that the defect has now been remedied.
You mention the possibility of taking goods from us ‘on sale or return’
at an exhibition you are organizing. We can certainly confirm our interest,
but we would like to request further information before we commit
ourselves to a decision.
Please be advised that as of 1 May our warehouse is now open
24 hours a day.
Yours sincerely,
David Smith
SELF-STUDY: TEXTS / EXTRACTS FOR STYLISTIC ANALYSIS
Assignment 4. Compare the stylized variant of colloquial speech with
the colloquial speech in a live conversation.
Martina and George are talking about their university life
from “The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS for academic and
general training.
Student’s book with answers” by P. Cullen, A. French and
V. Jakeman
Martina: Oh hi George, how’s it going?
George: Hi Martina, it’s going well. How about you? How’s university
life?
Martina: Well it’s great – apart from the studying of course.
George: Yeah – me too! What are you studying? I seem to remember
that you were going to do Art. That was your best subject, wasn’t it?
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Part II. FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS
Martina: No not really – I just like the teacher. He was French and had
an amazing accent. My favourite subject was History but I couldn’t see
what career that would give me.
George: Ah, right. So what did you choose?
Martina: I found it really difficult to decide. I was really good at
Science but I must admit I never really enjoyed studying it. So, in the end
I decided to opt for English which was my second favourite subject and
I thought it would be more useful to me than studying anything else. So –
that’s what I’m doing. Um – how are you finding university?
George: Well – it’s a bit of a challenge I suppose.
Martina: Are you finding it difficult?
George: Well, some of it. I’m doing Mechanical Engineering which is
really interesting but it covers a lot of areas like materials science, machine
design, physics, and of course mechanics – they’re all fine. But it’s maths
that I’m struggling with. It’s a lot harder than it was at school.
Martina: I can believe it. It all sounds very difficult to me. But then
I never was very good at mechanical things. I suppose it must involve
some practical work?
George: Well – not at the moment. Currently, it’s nearly all theory, so
it’s a bit heavy-going.
Martina: I guess you need to start with that so that you can get a grasp
of the concepts and learn a few facts before you start putting it into
practice. It must be a lot different to the course I’m taking.
George: Yes – but in a few weeks we’ll be having a lot more practical
experience. In fact, I’ve got a great assignment this term working on jet
engines which means I’ll be going on a few field trips to a nearby airport.
Martina: Oh – that’s great. It sounds like you’re going to be very
busy.
George: Yes I’m not sure how I’m going to cope with the work. We
have a lot of lectures – and that’s fine.
Martina: Yes – it’s the same for me. [pause] Um – how are the students
at your place?
George: Well I haven’t really met anyone yet. They all seem a bit
quiet.
Martina: Perhaps they’re working hard – they don’t appear to be very
studious here, but they are very friendly.
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