24. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Stylistic Use of Structural Meaning.

Litotes - is a device - an affirmation is expressed by denying its contrary. Usually litotes presupposes double negation. One through a negative particle (no, not) the other - through a word with negative meaning. Its function is to convey doubts of the speaker concerning the exact characteristics of the object or a feeling.

e.g. It's not a bad thing - It's a good thing.

e.g. He is no coward. He is a brave man.

e.g. He was not without taste.

Litotes presents a statement in the form of a negation.

The stylistic device of litotes is used to weaken the positive characteristics of a thing or phenomenon. It is based upon discrepancy between the syntactical form, which is negative and the meaning which is positive. E.g. “She said it, but not impatiently” We have here an assertion of a certain positive fact but its form is negative. The obligatory presence of the particle “not” makes the statement less categorical and conveys certain doubts of the speaker as to the quality he mentions.

The structure of litotes is rather rigid: its first element is always the negative particle “not” and its second element is, too, always negative in meaning, if not in form.

If the second element of litotes is expressed by an adjective or adverb, it has as a rule a negative affix.

If the form of a noun or a word-combination, presenting the second component of litotes is not negative, its negative meaning is implied.

The final result of litotes is always the assertion of a positive, though weakened quality or characteristics.

e.g. She said it, but not impatiently.

Irony is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous reali­zation of two logical meanings—dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings stand in opposition to each other. For example: "It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one's pocket." Word “delightful” acquires a meaning quite the opposite to its primary dictionary meaning, that is, 'unpleasant', 'not delightful'. The word containing the irony is strongly marked by intonation. Irony must not be confused with humour, although they have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter. What is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and the negative. In this respect irony can be likened to humour. But the function of irony is not confined to producing a humorous effect. In a sentence like "How clever of you!" where, due to the intonation pattern, the word 'clever' conveys a sense opposite to its literal signification, the irony does not cause a ludicrous effect. It rather expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret. A word used ironically may sometimes express very subtle, almost im­perceptible nuances of meaning.

Irony is such a case of interaction between logical and contextual logical meanings when the contextual logical meaning of the word becomes the opposite of its logical meaning.

In most cases the sentence suffices to make irony clear. In certain cases, though, a much wider context is needed to understand that the word is used ironically and to perceive its stylistic effect.

Irony may be expressed by any part of speech, most often by a noun, adjective and adverb.

The effect of irony largely depends on the unexpectedness and seeming lack of logic of a word used by the author in an incompatible context. The reader is fully aware of the contrast between what is logically expected and what is said. This contrast, this interaction of the contextual logical and logical meanings of the word often produces a humorous effect.

Irony may be used to achieve an effect of bitter mockery and sarcasm as well, especially when it concerns some social phenomena.

e.g. “Perhaps you had a grand passion”. Soames looked at her intently. “Yes – if you want to know – and much good it did me.”

Hyperbole is deliberate overstatement or exaggeration, the aim of which is to intensify one of the features of the object in question to such a degree as to show its utter absurdity. Like many SDs, hyperbole may lose its quality as a SD through frequent repetition and become a unit of the language as a system, reproduced in speech in its unaltered from. Here there are some examples:

e. g. A thousand pardons, scared to death, immensely obliged.

Hyperbole is a device which sharpens the reader's ability to make a logical assessment of the utterance. This is achieved, as in case with other devices, by awakening the dichotomy of thought and feeling where thought takes the upper hand though not to the detriment of feeling.

Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which statements are exaggerated. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression. Ex. "I tried a thousand times." Like many stylistic devices, hyperbole may lose its quality as a sty­listic device through frequent repetition and become a unit of the language-as-a-system, reproduced -in speech in its unaltered form. Ex. 'scared to death’.

Hyperbole is a stylistic device based on the interaction between the logical and emotive meanings of a word. It is a deliberate over statement. Both the writer and the reader (or the speaker and the listener) are fully aware of the deliberateness of the exaggeration. The use of hyperbole shows the overflow of emotions in the speaker, and the listener is carried away by the flood.

Very often the hyperbole is used to create humorous or satirical effect and so to express the author’s attitude towards the described.

Through continuous usage hyperbole may lose its originality and become trite.

A kind of hyperbole with the same inner mechanism of the device is presented by understatement which is, too, based on the interaction between the logical and emotive meaning and shows the overflow of the speaker’s sentiments.

The specific feature of this kind of hyperbole is the direction of the exaggeration: hyperbole enlarges, while understatement deliberately diminishes the described object, phenomenon, etc.

e.g. “The little woman, for she was of pocket size, crossed her hands solemnly on her middle.”

25. Periphrasis - is a round - about way of speaking used to name some object or phenomenon. Longer-phrase is used instead of a shorter one. Some periphrasis are traditional.

e. g. The fair sex.

My better half.

Periphrasis are divided into:

1. Logical - based on inherent properties of a thing.

e. g. Instrument of destruction, the object of administration.

2. Figurative - based on imagery: metaphor, metonymy

e. g. To tie a knot - to get married; in disgrace of fortune - bad luck.

Periphrasis is a device which, according to Webster's diction­ary, denotes the use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter and plainer form of expression. It is also called circumlocution due to the round-about or indirect way used to name a familiar object or phenomenon. One and the same object may be identified in different ways and accordingly acquire different appellations. Thus, in different situations a certain person can be denoted, for instance, as either 'his benefactor', or 'this bore', or 'the narrator', or 'the wretched witness', etc. These names will be his only in a short fragment of the dis­course, the criterion of their choice being furnished by the context. Such naming units may be called secondary, textually-confined designations and are generally composed of a word-combination. This device has a long history. It was widely used in the Bible and in Homer's Iliad. As a poetic device it was very popular in Latin poetry. Ex. The cap and gown (student body); a gentleman of the long robe (a lawyer); the fair sex (women); my better half (my wife). Periphrasis as a stylistic device is a new, genuine nomination of an object, a process which realizes the power of language to coin new names for objects by disclosing some quality of the object, even though it may be transitory, and making it alone represent the ob­ject.

Periphrasis is a word-combination which is used instead of the word designating an object.

Every periphrasis indicates the feature of a notion which impressed the writer and conveys a purely individual perception of a given phenomenon.

As a result of frequent repetition periphrasis may become well established in the language as a synonymous expression for the word generally used to signify the object. Such word-combinations are called periphrastic synonyms.

In contrast to periphrastic synonyms genuine periphrasis is created in the process of writing and is an element of the individual style of a writer.

Periphrasis may be logical and figurative. Logical periphrases are based on logical notions. Figurative periphrasis may be based on metaphor and on metonymy.

Euphemistic periphrasis is a variety of periphrasis which substitutes a mild, delicate expression for one which seems to be rude or unpleasant. Euphemistic periphrasis has some features in common with euphemisms.

Periphrasis is used for various stylistic purposes, usually to achieve a humorous or satirical effect.

e.g. He bore under his arm the instruments of destruction.

Allegory is generally treated as a figure of rhetoric. Though it is similar to other rhetorical comparisons, an allegory is sustained longer and more fully in its details than a metaphor, and appeals to imagination, while an analogy appeals to reason or logic.

Euphemism is used to avoid some unpleasant things, or taboo things. e. g. To pass away - to die.

Euphemism, as is known, is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one, for example, the word 'to die' has bred the following euphemisms: to pass away, to expire, to be no more, to depart, to join the majority, to be gone, and the more facetious ones: to kick the bucket, to give up the ghost. So euphemisms are synonyms which aim at producing a deliberately mild effect. Euphemism is sometimes figuratively called "a whitewashing device". The linguistic peculiarity of euphemism lies in the fact that every euphemism must call up a definite synonym in the mind of the reader or listener. Euphemisms may be divided into several groups according to their spheres of application. The most recognized are the following: religious, moral, medical and parliamentary.

The life of euphemisms is short. They very soon become closely associated with the referent (the object named) and give way to a newly coined word or combination of words, which, being the sign of a sign, throws another veil over an unpleasant or indelicate concept. This becomes particularly noticeable in connection with what are called political euphemisms. These are really understatements, the aim of which is to mislead public opinion and to express what is unpleasant in a more delicate manner. Sometimes disagreeable facts are even distorted with the help of a euphemistic expression.

A personification is a figure of speech that gives an inanimate object or abstract idea human traits and qualities, such as emotions, desires, sensations, physical gestures and speech. In business and political news reportage, personification is commonly used to convey a sense of agency for otherwise abstract entities like nations, machines or corporations: US Defends Sale of Ports Company to Arab Nation. In English literature, personification is oft-used as a literary device: In John Keats's To Autumn, the fall season is personified as "sitting careless on a granary floor" and "drowsed with the fume of poppies".

Personification is a stylistic device closely related to metaphor.

Personification is the presentation of a phenomenon or an idea as a human being. This device is usually achieved by ascribing actions and qualities characteristic of people to the idea or the thing described.

The weak form of personification is the so-called apostrophe. It usually has the form of an address.

The poetical tradition of writing nouns denoting feelings or abstract phenomena with the capital letter may also be regarded as a form of personification.

e.g. Oh Rome! My country! City of the soul.

27. The Paragraph. A paragraph is graphical term used to name a group of sen­tences marked off by indentation at the beginning and a break in the line at the end. As a linguistic category the paragraph is a unit of utterance marked off by purely linguistic means: intonation, pauses of various lengths, semantic ties which can be disclosed by analysis of the morphological aspect and meaning of the component parts, etc. The paragraph is a linguistic expression of a logical, pragmatic and aesthet­ic arrangement of thought.

Paragraph structure is not always built on logical principles alone, as is generally the case in the style of scientific prose. In the building of paragraphs in newspaper style, other requirements are taken into consideration, for instance, psychological principles, in particular the sensational effect of the communication and the grasping capacity of the reader for quick reading. Considerations of space also play an im­portant part.

Paragraph building in the style of official documents is mainly governed by the particular conventional forms of documents. Here paragraphs may sometimes embody what are grammati­cally called a number of parallel clauses, which for the sake of the wholeness of the entire document are made formally subordinate, whereas in reality they are independent items.

Paragraph structure in the belles-lettres and publicistic styles is strongly affected by the purport of the author. To secure the desired impact, a writer finds it necessary to give details and illustrations, to introduce comparisons and contrasts, to give additional reasons and to expand the topic by looking at it from different angles and paraphrasing the idea. He may intro­duce the testimony of some authority on the subject and even deviate from the main topic by recounting an anecdote or even a short story to ease mental effort and facilitate understanding of the communication. The length of a paragraph normally varies from eight to twelve sentences. The longer the paragraph is, the more difficult it is to fol­low the purport of the writer. In newspaper style, however, most para­graphs consist of one or perhaps two or three sentences.

Paragraphs of a purely logical type may be analysed from the way the thought of the writer develops. In manuals on the art of composition there are models of paragraphs built on different principles:

1) from the general to the particular, or from the particular to the general;

2) on the inductive or deductive principle

3) from cause to effect, or from effect to cause

4) on contrast, or comparison

The paragraph is a compositional device aimed either at facilitat­ing the process of apprehending of what is written, or inducing a certain reaction on the reader. That’s why the paragraph, from a mere compo­sitional device, turnes into a stylistic one. It discloses the writer's man­ner of depicting the features of the object or phenomenon described. It is in the paragiaph that the main function of the belles-lettres style becomes most apparent – aesthetico-cognitive and pragmatic.

The paragraph in some styles generally has a topic sentence, i. e. a sentence which embodies the main idea of the paragraph or which may be inter­preted as a key sentence disclosing the chief thought of the writer. In logi­cal prose the topic sentence is, as a rule, placed either at the beginning or at the end of the paragraph, depending on the logical pattern on which the paragraph is built. In the belles-lettres style the topic sentence may be placed in any part of the paragraph.

The requirements to belles-lettres style are emotiveness and a natural representation of the situation depicted. Each Supra Phrasal Unit of sever­al combined into one paragraph may have its own topic sentence or be a topic sentence. In other words, there are no topic sentences in emotive prose as a rule, though there may be some paragraphs with one due to the prevalence of the logical element over the emotional or the aesthetic.

A paragraph in certain styles is a dialogue (with the reader) in the form of a monologue. The breaking-up of a piece of writing into paragraphs can be regarded as an expression of consideration for the reader on the part of the author. It manifests itself in the author's being aware of limits in the reader's capacity for perceiving and absorbing informa­tion. Therefore paragraphs in matter-of-fact styles, as in scientific prose, official documents and so on, are clear, precise, logically coherent, and possess unity, i. e. express one main thought. Paragraphs in emotive prose are combinations of the logical and the emotional. The aim of the author in breaking up the narrative into paragraphs is not only lo facilitate understanding but also for emphasis. That is why paragraphs in the belles-lettres prose are sometimes built on contrast or on climax.

28. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Syntactical Arrangement

They include: stylistic inversion, detached constructions, parallel constructions , chiasmus, suspense, climax, antithesis.

Stylistic Inversion. The English word order is fixed. Any change which doesn't influence the meaning but is only aimed at emphasis is called a stylistic inversion. Stylistic inversion aims at attaching logical stress or additional emotional colouring to the surface meaning of the utterance. Therefore a specific intonation pattern is the inevitable satellite of inversion.

The following patterns of stylistic inversion are most frequently met in both English prose and English poetry.

1. The object is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

2. The attribute is placed after the word it modifies, e. g. With fingers weary and worn.

3. The predicate is placed before the subject, e.g. A good generous prayer it was.

4. The adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

e.g. My dearest daughter, at your feet I fall.

5. Both modifier and predicate stand before the subject, e. g. In went Mr. Pickwick.

Detached constructions. Sometimes one of the secondary members of the sentence is placed so that it seems formally independent of the word it refers to. Being formally independent this secondary member acquires a greater degree of significance and is given prominence by intonation. e.g. She was gone. For good.

Isolated members of the sentence (detachment). Isolated members of the sentence are regarded as a special kind of inversion. Isolated members are syntactically separated from other members of a sentence with which they are grammatically and logically connected.

The violation of the traditional word order and connections between the members of the sentence make isolated words more independent and give them greater prominence. Only secondary parts of the sentence, generally attributes, adverbial modifiers and apposition, may be used in isolation. In written speech isolated members are separated from the words they modify by graphic means: by a comma, brackets, dash, and even a full stop.

Isolated members of the sentence give prominence to some words and help the author to laconically draw the reader’s attention to a certain detail or circumstance or help the author to emphasize his emotional attitude toward what he describes. e.g. I have to beg you for money. Daily!

Parallel construction is a device which may be encountered not so much in the sentence as in the macro - structures dealt with the syntactical whole and the paragraph. The necessary condition in parallel construction is identical or similar, syntactical structure in two or more sentences or parts of sentence.

Antithesis is a SD based on the author's desire to stress certain qualities of the thing by appointing it to another thing possessing antagonistic features. e. g. They speak like saints and act like devils. Antithesis- a figure of speech based on parallel constructions with contrasted words (usually antonyms). It is based on relative opposition which arises out of the context through the expansion of objectively contrasting pairs, as in: "Youth is lovely, age is lonely, Youth is fiery, age is frosty." Here the objectively contrasted pair is 'youth' and 'age'. 'Lovely' and 'lonely' cannot be regarded as objectively opposite concepts, but being drawn into the scheme contrasting 'youth' and 'age', they display certain features which may be counted as antonymical. It is not only the semantic aspect which explains the linguistic nature of antithesis, the structural pattern also plays an important role. Antith­esis is generally moulded in parallel construction. The antagonistic features of the two objects or phenomena are more easily perceived when they stand out in similar structures. This is particularly advantageous when the antagonistic features are not inherent in the objects in question but imposed on them. The structural design of antithesis is so important that unless it is conspicuously marked in the utterance, the effect might be lost. Antithesis is a device bordering between stylistics and logic. The extremes are easily discernible but most of the cases are intermediate. However, it is essential to distinguish between antithesis arid what is termed contrast. Contrast is a literary (not a linguistic) device based on logical opposition between the phenomena set one against an­other.

Antithesis is a stylistic device presenting two contrasting ideas in a close neighborhood.

The phenomena opposed to one another can be pictured in an extended way. Or else the contradictory ideas may intermingle, thus creating the effect of not only the contrast, but also of the close unity of the contrasting features. E.g. The smell of life and richness, of death and digestion, of decay and birth, burden the air.

e.g. The smell of life and richness, of death and digestion, of decay and birth, burden the air.

29. Represented speech There is also a device which coveys to the reader the unuttered or inner speech of the character, his thoughts and feelings. This device is also termed represented speech. To distinguish between the two varieties of represented speech we call the representation of the actual utterance through the author's language "uttered represented speech", and the representation of the thoughts and feelings of the character unuttered or inner represented speech.

Represented, or reported speech, is a stylistic device peculiarly combining characteristic features of direct and indirect speech. It is a comparatively “young” stylistic device dating its increasing popularity from the end of the last century. Introducing represented speech into his narration the author creates the effect of the hero’s immediate presence and participation.

The morphological structure is that of indirect speech: the hero is referred to in the third person singular the verbs and pronouns are, too, of the same form. But though the quotation marks are absent and though the structure of the passage does not indicate the hero’s interference into the writer’s narration, still there are certain features which enable us to distinguish it from the author’s indirect speech proper. The exclamatory sentences help to reflect the emotional state of the hero. Parallel constructions, repetitions – all take part in bringing in the character himself with his ideas, dreams and sentiments. The writer does not eliminate himself completely from the narration as it happens with the introduction of direct speech but coexist with the personage.

“So” at the beginning of the sentence has the function of summing up certain preceding meditations and arguments.

Turning from the structure of affirmative sentences to that of interrogative and exclamatory the writer marks off the introduction of an emotive passage, which more often than not represents reported speech.

Represented speech can be divided into 2 uneven groups: represented inner speech and represented uttered speech.

The first group is incomparably larger, it enables the writer to give a fuller and more complete picture of the hero’s state of mind as if from within.

Represented uttered speech is a mental reproduction of a once uttered remark or even a whole dialogue.

“You know” serves the same purpose of intermixing elements of direct and indirect speech, which creates represented speech, so narrowing the distance between the character and the reader.

Close to represented speech stands the effect of immediate presence. Its function is similar to that of represented speech: to show a certain picture through the eyes of immediate direct participant, and in this way to involve the reader into proceedings.

e.g. “… he was telling her of his prospective art studies, and talking of Paris. What a wonderful thing!”

Question in the narrative. Changes the real nature of a question and turns it into a stylistic device. A question in the narrative is asked and answered by one and the same person, usually the author. It becomes akin to a parenthetical statement with strong emotional implications. e. g. For what is left the poet here? For Greeks a blush - for Greece a tear.

As is seen from these examples the questions asked, unlike rhetorical questions do not contain statements.

Question in the narrative is very often used in oratory. This is explained by one of the leading features of oratorical style - to induce the desired reaction to the content of the speech.

33. Slang. The term slang is ambiguous and obscure. The “New Oxford English Dictionary” defines slang as follows: 1) the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type…; 2) the cant or jargon of a certain class or period; 3) language of highly colloquial type considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or current words employed in some special sense.

In England and USA slang is regarded as the quintessence of colloquial speech and therefore stands above all the laws of grammar.

S. seems to mean everything that is below the standard of usage of present-day English. S is language peculiar to a particular group, as a: the special and often secret vocabulary used by a class (thieves, beggars) and felt to be vulgar or inferior: argot; b: the jargon used by or associated with a particular trade, profession or field of activity.

Galperin: S – both a special voc and a special language. S – forms of the English vocabulary which are either mispronounced or distorted in some way. S. is used to specify some elements which may be called over-colloquial. It is the most extended & vastly developed sub-group of colloquial vocabulary. Besides separate words, it also includes highly figurative phraseology.

There are many kinds of slang: Cockney, public-house, commercial, society, military, theatrical, etc.=>there is also a standard S., that is common to all those who use an informal language, which is, in fact, no language, but merely a way of speaking, using special words and phrases in special sense. E.g. to take stock in – to be interested in; bread-basket – stomach; rot – nonsense!.

Stylistic functions of S.: to create special characteristics of person; to turn a passage from an unemotional into a vividly drawn picture.

The Dictionary of American Slang says that S. is used to escape the dull familiarity of standard words, to suggest the escape from the established routine of everyday life, to make life fresher and more personal, also for pure joy of making sounds or to attract attention by making noise.