Galperin I. A. Stylistics

Sing at my heart six months at least in vain?" (Byron) "Have I not had to wrestle with my lot?

Have I. not suffered things to be forgiven?" (Byron)

Negative-interrogative sentences generally have a peculiar nature. There is always an additional shade of meaning implied in them: sometimes doubt, sometimes assertion, sometimes suggestion. In other words, they are full of emotive meaning and modality. We have already stated that rhetorical questions may be looked upon as a transference of grammatical meaning. But just as in the case of the transference of lexical meaning, the stylistic effect of the transference of grammatical meaning can only be achieved if there is a simultaneous realization of the two meanings: direct and transferred. So it is with rhetorical questions. Both the question-meaning and the statement-meaning are materialized with an emotional charge, the weight of which can be judged by the intonation of the speaker.

The intonation of rhetorical questions, according to the most recent investigations, differs materially from the intonation of ordinary ques tions. This is also an additional indirect proof of the double nature of this stylistic device. In the question-sentence

"Is the poor privilege to turn the key Upon the captive, freedom?" (Byron) instead of a categorical pronouncement one can detect irony.

A more detailed analysis of the semantic aspect of different question-sentences leads to the conclusion that these structural models have various functions. Not only ordinary questions, not only categorical pronouncements are expressed in question form. In fact there are various nuances of emotive meaning embodied in question-sentences. We have already given an example of one of these meanings, viz. irony. In Shakespeare's "Who is here so vile that will not love his country?" there is a meaning of challenge openly and unequivocally declared. It is impossible to regard it as a rhetorical question making a categorical pronouncement. In the rhetorical question from Byron's maiden speech given above ('Is there not blood... ) there is a clear implication of scorn and contempt for Parliament and the laws it passes.

So rhetorical questions may also be defined as utterances in the form of questions which pronounce judgements and also express various kinds of modal shades of meaning, as doubt, challenge, scorn, irony and so on.

It has been stated elsewhere that questions are more emotional than statements. When a question is repeated, as in these lines from Poe's "The Raven":

"—Is there—is there balm in Gilead?! Tell me-— ' tell me—I implore!—"

the degree of emotiveness increases and the particular shade of meaning (in this case, despair) becomes more apparent.

The rhetorical question re-enforces this essential quality of interrogative sentences and uses it to convey a stronger shade of emotive meaning. Rhetorical questions, due to their power of expressing a variety of modal shades of meaning, are most often used in publicistic style and particularly in oratory, where the rousing of emotions is the effect generally aimed at.

Even a superfluous analysis of the litotes in the above sentences clearly shows that the negation does not merely indicate the absence of the quality mentioned but suggests the presence of the opposite quality. Charles Bally, a well-known Swiss linguist, states that negative sentences are used with the purpose of "refusing to affirm".

In sentences 5 and 6 where it is explained by the context, litotes reveals its true function. The idea of 'no gentle lamb' is further strengthened by the 'high -pitched dominance of his nature'; the function and meaning of 'no country cousin' is made clear by 'as good a fudge of dress...', 'she had style...'. Thus, like other stylistic devices, litotes displays a simultaneous materialization of two meanings: one negative, the other affir - mative. This interplay of two grammatical meanings is keenly felt, so much so indeed, that the affirmation suppresses the negation, the latter . being only the form in which the real pronouncement is moulded. According to the science of logic, negation as a category can hardly express a pronouncement. Only an assertion can do so. That is why we may say that any negation only suggests an assertion. Litotes is a means by which this natural logical and linguistic property of negation can be strength ened. The two senses of the litotic expression, negative and positive, serve a definite stylistic purpose. A variant of litotes is a construction with two negations, as in not unlike, not unpromising, not displeased and the like. Here, according to general logical and mathematical principles, two negatives make a positive. Thus in the sentence—"Soames, with his lips and his squared chin was not unlike a bull dog" (Galsworthy), the litotes may be interpreted as somewhat resembling. In spite of the fact that such constructions make the assertion more logically apparent, they lack precision. They may truly be regarded as deliberate understatements, whereas the pattern structures of litotes, i. e. those that have only one negative are much more categorical in stating the positive quality* of a person or thing.

An interesting jest at the expense'of an English statesman who overused the device of double negation was published in the Spectator, May 23, 1958. Here it is:

"Anyway, as the pre-Whitsun dog-days- barked themselves into silence, a good deal of pleasure could be obtained by a connoisseur who knew where to seek it. On Monday, for instance, from Mr. Selwyn Lloyd. His trick of seizing upon a phrase that has struck him (erroneously, as a rule) as a happy one, and doggedly

sticking to it thereafter is one typical of a speaker who lacks all confidence. On Monday it was 'not unpromising'; three times he declared that various aspects of the Summit preparations were 'not unpromising', and I was moved in the end to conclude that Mr. Lloyd is a not unpoor Foreign Secretary, and that if he should not unshortly leave that office the not unbetter it would be for all of us, not unhim included."

Litotes is used in different styles of speech, excluding those which may be called the matter-of-fact styles, like official style and scientific prose. In poetry it is sometimes used to suggest that language fails to adequately convey the poet's feelings and therefore he uses negations to express the inexpressible. Shakespeare's Sonnet No. 130 is to some extent illustrative in this respect. Here all the hackneyed phrases used by the poet to depict his beloved are negated with the purpose of showing the superiority of

the earthly qualities of "My mistress." The first line of this sonnet 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun' is a clear-cut litotes although the object to which the eyes are compared is generally perceived as having only positive qualities.

PART VI FUNCTIONAL STYLES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

We have already mentioned the problem of what is known as / и n c -tional styles (FS) of language (see p. 32—35), but only to show that FSs should be distinguished from varieties of language. The main difference, be it remembered, is that the written and oral varieties of language are merely forms of communication which depend on the situation in which the communication is maintained, i.e. on the presence or absence of an interlocutor, whereas FSs are patterns of the written variety of language calculated to secure the desired purport of the communication. Each functional style of the literary'language makes use of language means the interrelation of which is peculiar to the given FS. It is the coordination of language media and SDs which shapes the distinctive features of each style, and not the separate language media or the SDs themselves. Each FS, however, can be recognized by one or more leading, especially conspicuousfeatures. For instance, the use of special terminology is a lexical characteristic of the FS of scientific prose, and one by which it can easily be recognized. The address "Dear sirs" will be a signal to refer the message to the FS of official documents.

However, since any FS presents a system in which various features are interwoven in a particular manner, one group of language means, a leading feature though it may b e, will not suffice to determine the FS.

Now we are in a position to give a more exact definition of a functional style than the one given on p. 32—33.

An FS is a patterned variety of literary text characterized by the greater or lesser typification of its constituents, supra-phrasal units (SPU), in which the choice and arrangement of interdependent and interwoven language media are calculated to secure the purport of the communication.

Each FS is a relatively stable system at the given stage in the devel opment of the literary language, but it changes, and sometimes considerably, from one period to another. Therefore functional style of language is a historical category. There are many instances to prove this. Thus, the FS of emotive prose actually began to function as an independent style after the second half of the 16th century; the newspaper style budded off from the publicistic style; the oratorical style has undergone considerable fundamental changes, and so with other FSs,

The development of each style is predetermined by the changes in the norms of standard English.

It is also greatly influenced by changing social conditions, the progress of science and the development of cultural life in the country. For instance, the emotive elements of

language were abundantly used in scientific prose in the 18th century. This is explained by the fact that scientists in many fields used the emotional language instead of one more logically precise and convincing, because they lacked the scientific data obtainable only by deep, prolonged research. With the development of science and the accumulation of scientific data, emotive elements gave way to convincing arguments and "stubborn" facts.

The English literary language has evolved a number of FSs easily distinguishab le one from another. They are not homogeneous and fall into several variants all having some central point of resemblance, or better to say, all integrated by the invariant—i.e. the abstract ideal system.

We shall now consider each of the FSs in its ,most characteristic features.

A. THE BELLES-LETTRES STYLE

We have already pointed out that the belles -lettres style is a generic term for three substyles in which the main principles and the most general properties of the style are materialized. These three sub-styles are: '

1.The language of poetry, or simply verse.

2.Emotive p г о s e, or the language of fiction.

3.Т'he language of the dr a ma.

Each of these substyles has certain common features, typical of the general belles-lettres style, which make up the foundation of the style, by which the particular style is made recognizable and can therefore be singted out. Each of them also enjoys some individuality. This is revealed in definite features typical only of one or anot her substyle. This correlation of the general and the particular in each variant of the belles-lettres styie had manifested itself differently at different stages in its historical development.

The common features of the,substyles may be summed up as follo ws. First of all comes theVcommon function which may broadly be called "aesthetico-cognitive". This is a double function which aims at the cognitive process, which secures the gradual Enfolding of the idea to the reader and at the same time calls forth a feeling of pleasure, a pleasure which is derived from the form in which the content is wrought. The psychological element, pleasure, is not irrelevant when evaluating the effect of the communication. x This pleasure is caused not only by admiration of the selected language means and their peculiar arrangement but also (and this is perhaps the main cause) by the fact that the reader is led

to form his own conclusions as to the purport of the author. Nothing gives more pleasure and satisfaction than realizing that one has the ability to penetrate into the hidden tissue of events, phenomena and human activity, and to perceive the relation between various seemingly unconnected facts brought together by the creative mind of the writer.

Since the belles-lettres style has a cognitive function as well as an aesthetic one, it follows that it has something in common with scientific style, which will be discussed

in detail later, but which is here mentioned for the sake of comparison. The purpose of science” as a branch of human activity is to disclose by research the inner substance of things and phenomena of objective reality and find out the laws regulating them, thus enabling man to predict, control and direct their further development in order to improve the material and social life of mankind. The style of scientific prose is therefore mainly characterized by an arrangement of language means which will bring proofs to clinch a theory. Therefore we say that the main function of scientific prose is proof. The selection of language means must therefore meet this principal requirement. The purpose of the belles -lettres style is not to prove but only to suggest a possible interpretation of the phenomena of life by forcing the reader to see the viewpoint of the writer. This is the cognitive function of the belles-lettres style.

From all this it follows, therefore, that the belles -lettres style must select a system of language means which will secure the effect sought.

In showing the difference in the manner of thinking o f the man-of letters and the man-of-science, N. A. Dobrolubov writes:

"The man-of-letters... thinks concretely, never losing sight of particular phenomena and images; the other (the man-of-science) strives to generalize, to merge all particulars in one general formula." *

The belles -lettres style rests on certain indispensable linguistic features which are:

1.Genuine, not trite, imagery, achieved by purely linguistic devices.

2.The use of words in contextual and very often in more than one dictionary meaning, or at least greatly influenced by the lexical environment.

3.A vocabulary which will reflect to a greater or lesser degree the author's personal evaluation of things or phenomena.

4.A peculiar individual selection of vocabulary and syntax, a kind of lexical and

syntactical idiosyncrasy.

5. The introduction of the typical features of colloquial language to a full degree (in plays) or a lesser one (in emotive prose) or a slight degree, if any (in poems).

The belles-lettres style is individual in essence. This is one of its most distinctive properties. Individuality in selecting language means (including stylistic devices), extremely apparent in poetic style, becomes gradually less in, let us say, publicistic style, is hardly noticeable in the

style of scientific prose and is entirely lacking in newspapers and in offi cial style. The relation between the general and the particular assumes different forms in different styles and in their variants. This relation is differently materialized even within one and the same style. This is due to the strong imprint of personality on'any work of poetic style. There may be a greater or lesser volume of imagery (but not an absence of imagery); a greater or lesser number of words with contextual meaning (but not all words without contextual meaning); a greater or lesser number of colloquial elements (but not a complete absence of colloquial elements).

Less observable, although very apparent in modern versification, are all kinds of deviations from these rules, some of them going so far that classical poetry ceases to be strictly classical and becomes what is called free verse, which in extreme cases borders on prose.

English verse, like all verse, emanated from song. Verse assumes an independent existence only when it tears itself away from song. Then only does it acquire the status of a genuine poetic system, and rhythm, being the substitute for music, assumes a new significance. The unit of measure of poetic rhythm in English versification is not so much of a quantitative as of a qualitative character. The unit of measure in musical rhythm is the time allotted to its reproduction, whereas the unit of measure in English verse rhythm is the quality of the alternating element (stressed or, unstr essed). Therefore English versification, like Russian, is called qualitative, in contradistinction to the old Greek verse which, being sung, was essentially quantitative. In classic English verse, quanti-,ty is taken into consideration only when it is a matter of the number of feet in a line. Hence classic English verse is called syl I a bo -tonic. Two parameters are taken into account in defining the measure: the number of syllables (syllabo) and the distribution of stresses (tonic). The nature of the English language with its specific phonetic laws, however, is incompatible with the demand for strict regularity in the alternation of similar units, and hence there are a number of accepted deviations from established metrical schemes which we shall discuss in detail after pointing out the most recognizable English metrical pa ft e r n -s.

There are five of them:

1. Iambic metre, in which the unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one. It is graphically represented thus: (w-).

2. Trochaic metre, where the order is reversed, i.e.. a stressed syllable is followed by one unstressed (-^).

3. Dactylic me t r e—one stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed (-w).

4. Amphibrach i с metre—one stressed syllable is framed by two unstressed ^~w.

1 Many linguists hold that verse rhythm is based on alternation between stronger and weaker stresses. They maintain that four degrees of stresses are easily recognizable. But for the sake of abstraction—an indispensable process in scientific investigation — the opposition of stressed—unstressed syllables is the only authentic way of presenting tne problem of verse rhythm.

5. Anapaestic me tr e—iwo unstressed syllables are followed by one stressed (w-). These arrangements of qualitatively different syllables are the units of the metre, the repetition of which makes verse. One unit is called a foot. The number of feet in a line varies, but it has its limit; it rarely exceeds eight.

If the line consists of only one foot it is called a monometerA a line consisting of two feet is a dimeter; three—t r i т е t e /*; four-tetrameter\ five—p entdmeter\ six—h e x a m e t e r\ seven—i septameter\ eight—о с t a m e t e r. In defining the measure, that! is the kind of ideal metrical scheme of a verse, it is necessary to point out both the type of metre and the length of the line. Thus, a line that consists of four iambic feet is called

iambic tetrameter, correspondingly a line consisting of eight trochaic feet will be called trochaic octameter, and so on.

English verse is predominantly iambic. This is sometimes explained by the iambic tendency of the English language in general. Most of the English words have a trochaic tendency, that is the stress falls on the first syllable of two -syllabic words. But in actual speech these words are preceded by non-stressed articles, prepositions, conjunctions or by unstressed syllables of preceding words thus imparting an iambic char acter to English speech. As a result iambic metre is more common in English verse than any other metre.

Here are a few examples illustrating various metrical arrangements of English verse. , •

1. Iambic pentameter

Oh let me true in love but truly write 2. Trochaic tetrameter

•*.-, Would you ask-me whence these stories

3.Dactylic dimeter Cannon to right of them Cannon to' left of them

4.Amphibrachic tetrameter

O, where are you going to all you Big Steamers

5. Anapaestic tetrameter Do you ask what the birds say? The sparrow, the dove

If we make a careful study of almost any poem, we will fmd what 1 are called irregularities or modifications of its normal metrical pattern. These modifications generally have some special significance,

usually connected with the sense, though in some cases they may be due to the nature of the language material itself. This is particularly the case with the first modification when the stress is lifted from a syllable on which the language will not allow stress, and we have what is called a pyrrhicfoot instead of an iambic or a trochaic foot, for example:

So, that now to still the beating of my heart I stood repeating (Рое)

But makes surrender to some thoughtless boy (Keats)

In both examples the stress is lifted from prepositions on which the stress s eldom falls, therefore pyrrhics are very common and quite natural modifications in English verse. The second modification of the rhythm is the inverted order of stressed and unstressed syllables in one of the feet of the iambic or trochaic pattern. For exa mple, in the sonnet by Roy Campbell "The Serf" which,'like all sonnets, is written in iambic pentameter, there creeps in a foot wjiere the order, unstressed—stressed, is inverted:

His naked skin clothed in the torrid mist

That puffs in smoke around the patient hooves

Here the third foot of the first line violates the rhythmic pattern. Such modifications are called rhythmic inversions and are used to add emphasis.

pentameter these two modifications are frequently to be found, for example: The morn in russet mantle clad

Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill

Here the first foot of the second line is rhythmic inversion, and the fourth is a spondee. Rhythmic inversion and the use of the spondee may be considered deliberate devices to reinforce the semantic significance of the word-combinations. Here are other examples: Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll.

Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain.

The spondee as,a rhythmic modification, unlike the pyrrhic, is always used to give added emphasis. This may be explained by the fact that two successive syllables both under heavy stress produce a kind of clash as a result of which the juncture between the syllables becomes wider' thus making each of them conspicuous. A pyrrhic smooths and quickens the pace of the rhythm; a spondee slows it down and makes it jerky.

Pyrrhics may appear in almost any foot in a line, though they are rarely found in the last foot. This is natural as the last foot generally has a rhyming word and rhyming words are always stressed. Spondees generally appear in the first or the last foot.

These three modifications of the rhythm are the result of the clash between the requirements of the metrical scheme and the natural tendency of the language material to conform to its own phonetic laws. The more verse seeks to reflect the lively norms of colloquial English, the more frequently are modifications such as those described,to be found.

The fourth modification has to do with the number of syllables in the line. There may be either a syllable missing or there may be an extra syllable. Thus, the last syllable of a trochaic octameter is often missing, as in this line from Poe's "The Raven":

Thrilled me, filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before

This is called ahypometric line. Other lines in the poem fiave the full sixteen syllables. In iambic metre there may be an extra syllable at the end of the line. In the line from the Shakespeare sonnet:

"Then in these thoughts myself almost despising"

there are eleven syllables, whereas there should have been ten, the line being iambic pentameter, as are all the lines of a sonnet. A line with an extra syllable is called h y^p e r m e t r i c.

Such departures from the established measure also break to some extent the rhythmical structure of the verse, and are therefore to be considered modifications of the rhythm. The fifth departure from the norms of classic verse is e n j a m b -meat, or ihe run-on line. This term is used to denote the transfer of a part of a syntagrtijrom one line to the following one, as in the following lines from Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage":

1.Fair is proud Seville; let her country boast

2.Her strength, her wealth, her site of ancient days;

6.While boyish blood is mantling, who can 'scape

7.The fascination of the magic gaze?

It will be observed that here again is a violation of the requirements of the classical