метафора стилистика прагматика / Linguistic Stylistics - Gabriela Missikova part3 (публиц)

Chapter 10:

PHONETIC EXPRESSIVE MEANS AND STYLISTIC

DEVICES

10.1 General Notes

The stylistic approach to an utterance is not confined to its structure and sense. There is another thing to be considered which, in a certain type of communication, plays an important role. This is the way a word, a phrase or a sentence sounds. The sound of most words taken separately will have little or no aesthetic value. It is in combination with other words that a word may acquire a desired phonetic effect. The way a separate word sounds may produce a certain euphonic impression, but this is a matter of individual perception and feeling and therefore subjective.

However the sound of a word, or, perhaps, more exactly the way words sound in combination, cannot fail to contribute something to the general effect of the message, particularly when the sound effect has clearly been deliberately worked out.

10.2 Phonetic Stylistic Devices

10.2.1Onomatopoeia

A combination of speech-sounds produced in nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc.) by things (machines, tools) by people (sighing, laughter, patter of feet, etc) and by animals. A combination of speech sounds of this type will inevitably be associated with whatever produces the natural sound. Therefore the relation between onomatopoeia and the phenomenon it is supposed to represent is one of metonymy. There are two types of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect.

Direct Onomatopoeia

is contained in words that imitate natural sounds, as ding-dong, buzz, bang, cuckoo, mew, ping-pong, roar and the like. These words have different degrees of imitative quality. Some of them immediately bring to mind whatever it is that produces the sound. Others require the exercise of a certain amount of imagination to decipher it. Onomatopoeic words can be used in a transferred meaning, as: ding-dong which

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represents the sound of bells rung continuously, may mean 1. noisy, 2. strenuously contested (a ding-dong struggle, a ding-dong go at something).

Indirect Onomatopoeia

A combination of sounds the aim of which is „to make the sound of an utterance an echo of its sense“. It is sometimes called echo-writing.

‘And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain.’

(E.A.Poe)

where the repetition of the sound /s/ actually produces the sound of the rustling curtain. Indirect onomatopoeia, unlike alliteration, demands some mention of what makes the sound, as the rustling (of curtains) in the line above. The same /w/ in producing the sound of wind

‘Whenever the moon and stars are set, whenever the wind is high,

All night long in the dark and wet A man goes riding by.‘

(R.S.Stevenson)

Indirect onomatopoeia is sometimes very effectively used by repeating words which themselves are not onomatopoeic, as in Poe´s poem The Bells where the words tinkle and bells are distributed in the following manner:

‘Silver bells ... how they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle’ and further

‘To the tintinabulation that so musically wells from the bells, bells, bells, bells,

Bells, bells, bells -

From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.’

The term onomatopoeia comes from the Greek language where it meant ‘namemaking’. It can be seen as the lexical process of creating words which actually sound like their referent, e.g. bang; crash; cuckoo; sizzle; zoom.

• The name-reference relationship of these words is characteristically conventional

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and arbitrary. To some extent, onomatopoeic words are as conventional as other words, in that their phonemic shape conforms to the language system of their coiners, despite the apparent universality of their reference (e.g. ducks say quack, quack in English but coin, coin in French).

•Many noises are not easily verbalised, so that it requires considerable interpretative power to recognise the reference of iiiaaaaach as a yawn in children's comics; phut or vrach as bomb shells in the First World War poems; or krankle as the sound of a tram in Joyce's Ulysses.

•In literary language onomatopoeia is often much exploited as an expressive iconic device, along with other sound associations that can be grouped under the general heading of sound symbolism.

10.2.2 Alliteration

A phonetic stylistic device which aims at imparting a melodic effect to an utterance. The essence of this device lies in the repetition of similar sounds, in particular consonant sounds, in close succession, particularly at the beginning of successive words:

Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before.

(E. A. Poe)

When the choice of words depends primarily on the principle of alliteration, the exactitude of expression, and even sense, may suffer. But when used sparingly and with at least some slight inner connection with the sense of an utterance, alliteration heightens the general aesthetic effect. In A Dictionary of Stylistics K. Wales provides us with a detailed analysis of this phenomenon, including comments on alliteration in use (ibid., p. 18):

Alliteration

(1) Sometimes rather loosely paraphrased as ‘initial rhyme’, alliteration is

•the repetition of the initial consonant in two or more words

•used as a deliberate phonological device, which is associated mostly with literary,

especially poetic, language;

but

•it is also found in popular idioms: as dead as a doornail

•in tongue twisters: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

The foregrounding of the sounds can be used for emphasis, and to aid

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memorability. In poetry

•alliteration is also used for onomatopoeic effects, to suggest by the association of sounds what is being described, e.g.:

While melting music steals upon the sky, and soften’d sounds along the waters die.

(Pope: The Rape of the Lock)

(2) Occurrences of more than two alliterated words seem marked to the modern reader, even over-emphatic. Yet extensive alliteration was regularly used as a means of cohesion in so called alliterative verse (England before the Norman Conquest, and in the 14th century). The alliterated syllables are also the strongly accented or stressed syllables and so are related to the rhythmic pattern:

•continuous alliteration ( x x x x )

•transverse alliteration ( x y x y ), etc.

The extent to which alliteration in such poetry can also be expressive is a matter of dispute. It seems hard to deny associations in such lines as:

‘The snaw snitered ful snart, that snayed the wilde’

(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)

(i.e. ‘The snow came shivering down very bitterly, so that it nipped the wild animals’).

Alliteration as a device of form has occasionally been exploited in later literature by poets such as Hopkins and Auden. For Hopkins in particular it takes its significance from its co-occurrence with other phonological patterns such as assonance, for instance:

‘I caught this morning morning's minion, king-

dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding’

(The Windhover)

10.2.3Assonance

(1)A partial or half-rhyme much used in poetic language as an aspect of sound patterning and cohesion. The same vowel is repeated in words, but with a different final consonant (e.g. cough drop; fish n’chips).

Assonance is used for a variety of expressive effects. In the poem by Tennyson beginning

Break, break, break,

On thy cold grey stones, O Sea!

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the double assonance of the diphthongs /ei/ and / 8/ enforces the lexical links of break and grey, cold and stone; and also suggests (by the vowel length) the steady, inexorable movement of the sea, as well as the narrator's anguish.

(2) Assonance is sometimes more loosely used to refer to all kinds of phonological recurrence or juxtaposition, e.g. alliteration and rhyme.

10.2.4 Rhyme and Rhythm

Rhyme

The repetition of identical or similar terminal sound combinations of words. Rhyming words are generally placed at a regular distance from each other. In verse they are usually placed at the end of the corresponding lines. Identity and particularly the similarity of sound combinations is relative.

Full rhymes

Identity of the vowel sound and the following consonant sounds in a stressed syllable (might-right, needless-headless).

Incomplete rhymes

Great variety, e.g. vowel rhymes and consonant rhymes:

•In vowel rhymes – identical vowels in corresponding words, the consonants can be different (flesh-fresh-press).

•In consonant rhymes – concordance in consonants (worth-forth, tale-tool-Treble- trouble, flung-long).

•Compound or broken rhymes: the combination of words is made to sound like one word, i.e. colloquial and sometimes with a humorous touch. One word rhymes with a combination of words (upon her honour-won her, bottom-forgot em-shot him).

•Compound rhyme may be set against what is called eyerhyme, where the letters not the sounds are identical (love-prove, flood-brood, have-grave) Acc. to the way the rhymes are arranged within the stanza we distinguish certain models:

1.couplets – aa;

2.triple rhyme – aaa;

3.cross rhyme – abab;

4.framing or ring rhyme – abba.

Rhythm

Exists in all spheres of human activity and assumes a whole variety of forms. It is a

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mighty weapon in stirring up emotions whatever its nature or origin, whether it is musical, mechanical, or symmetrical as in architecture. In general rhythm is defined as “a flow, movement, procedure, etc., characterised by basically regular recurrence of elements or features, as beat, or accent, in alternation with opposite or different elements or features” (Webster’s New World Dictionary).

Rhythm is primarily a periodicity, a deliberate arrangement of speech into regularly occurring units. “The speaker is aware of the occurence in the utterance of a number of strong stresses or beats corresponding to those parts of the utterance to which he wishes to attach particular accentual meaning and on which he expends relatively great articulatory energy; the remaining words or syllables are weakly and rapidly articulated. ... the syllables uttered with the greatest stress constitute, for the speaker, hubs with which unstressed syllables will be associated to form rhythmic groups.” (Gimson, A. C., 1972, p. 260).

Considering the given definitions rhythm can be seen as the main factor that brings ‘order’ into an utterance by means of its demand for oppositions that alternate: long, short, stressed, unstressed, high, low, etc. contrasting segments of speech. As A. C. Gimson concludes the utterance in English “is delivered as a series of close-knit rhythmic groups, which override in importance on the phonetic level the significance of the word on the linguistic level” (ibid., p. 260). The phenomenon of rhythm in language is thus considered as an efficient phonetic expressive means which serves to foreground particular features of the utterance.

10.2.5 Phonaesthesia

Phonaesthesia is the study of the expressiveness of sounds, particularly those sounds which are felt to be appropriate to the meaning of their lexemes.

As Allan (1986) notes, in words like flail, flap, flare, flush, flick, fling, flop and flounce the initial fl- suggests sudden movement; in bash, crash, smash and trash, - ash suggests violent impact.

A poet like Hopkins, interested in both etymology and expressiveness makes great play with phonaesthetic effects:

‘And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell’

(God’s Grandeur)

10.2.6 Sound Symbolism

The fact that certain sounds or sound clusters are felt to be in some way appropriate to the meanings they express is sometimes named also sound symbolism. However, the term is regarded somewhat inaccurate, since the connection between sound (or phoneme) and meaning is more motivated, less arbitrary, than with

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symbolism proper. For example, the words like bump, crump, thump might indicate a dull sound on impact, they indicate certain connection between the sound and meaning. Considering the words with gl- as in glitter, glimmer, glint, glisten, gleam, glow, these do not actually mime the light and the term sound symbolism would be thus more appropriate here (Wales, ibid., p. 426).

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Chapter 11:

STYLISTIC CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISH

VOCABULARY

11.1 Layers of the Vocabulary

In his book on Stylistics, I. R. Galperin (1971) suggests, that in order to get a more or less clear idea of the word-stock of any language, it must be presented as a system. The elements of this system have to be seen as interconnected, interrelated and yet independent. In accordance with the division of language into literary and colloquial, I. R. Galperin (ibid.) distinguishes three main layers in the vocabulary: the literary, neutral and colloquial layer.

The fact that literary and colloquial layers contain a number of subgroups within the layer is their common property called the aspect of the layer. The aspect of the literary layer is its markedly bookish character. It is this that makes the layer more or less stable. The aspect of the colloquial layer of words is its lively spoken character, which makes it unstable and fleeting.

The aspect of the neutral layer is its universal character. That means it is unrestricted in its use. It can be employed in any style of language and in all spheres of human activity. It is this that makes the layer the most stable of all.

The literary layer of words consists of groups accepted as legitimate members of the English vocabulary. They have no local or dialectal character.

The colloquial layer of words as qualified in most English and American dictionaries is not frequently limited to a definite language community or confined to a special locality where it circulates.

I. R. Galperin (ibid.) lists the following groups of words as belonging to the literary vocabulary: common literary words, terms and learned words, poetic words, archaic words, barbarisms and foreign words and literary coinages including noncewords. The colloquial vocabulary consists of the common colloquial words, slang words, argot, jargon and professional words, dialectal words, vulgar words and colloquial coinages.

The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are grouped under the term standard English vocabulary. Other groups in the literary layer are regarded as special literary vocabulary and those in the colloquial layer are regarded as special colloquial (non-literary) vocabulary.

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11.1.1 Neutral, Common Literary and Common Colloquial Vocabulary

Neutral words are used in both literary and colloquial language. Neutral words are the main source of synonymy and polysemy. It is the neutral stock of words that is so prolific in the production of new meanings. The faculty of neutral words for assuming new meanings and generating new stylistic variants is often quite amazing. This generative power of neutral words in the English language is multiplied by the very nature of the language itself. It has been estimated that most neutral English words are of a monosyllabic character. In the process of development from Old English to Modern English most of the parts of speech lost their distinguishing suffixes. This phenomenon led to the development of conversion as the most productive means of word-building. Unlike all other groups, the neutral group of words cannot be considered as having a special stylistic colouring, whereas both literary and colloquial words have a definite stylistic colouring.

Common literary words are mainly used in writing and in polished speech. The users of language clearly perceive differences between stylistic colouring of literary and colloquial words. In fact, they often view (and perceive) literary lexis as stylistically opposite to colloquial units. I. R. Galperin discusses stylistic and ideographic synonyms pointing out that “there is a definite, though slight semantic difference between the words” (ibid., p. 65). In addition to these, less frequent types of synonyms, such as absolute, or cognitive synonyms (with identical meaning) can be considered (e.g. violin – fiddle).

Some scholars have pointed out that there is no neat way of characterising synonyms. In the field of lexical semantics usually two aspects of synonyms are studied; first, their necessary resemblances and permisible differences, and, second, consider their use in context by means of diagnostic frames (Cruse, 1989, pp. 265294). For example, truthful and honest have a significant degree of semantic overlap (they show a necessary resemblance) and thus can be labelled as synonyms. Using items in context can reveal much about their character. We can, for instance, examine candidates for absolute synonyms hide and conceal: Where have you hidden my slippers? and Where have you concealed my slippers? Apparently, the second sentence is not acceptable. In this case, the normality difference is evidence against absolute synonymy. (Cruse, ibid., p. 269).

The notion of (lexical) synonymy in stylistics is mainly significant because of a variety of stylistic markers, types and degrees of specific colouring, expressed by synonymous items. J. Mistrík (ibid., pp. 113-121) points out that there can be as many types of stylistic synonyms as the many stylistically marked classes recognised within vocabulary:

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