9. Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices

9.1. General considerations

Within the language-as-a-system there establish themselves certain definite types of relations between words, word-combinations, sentences and also between larger spans of utterances. The branch of language science which studies the types of relations between the units enumerated is called syntax.

Stylistics takes as the object of its analysis the expressive means and stylistic devices of the language which are based on some significant struc­tural point in an utterance, whether it consists of one sentence or a string of sentences.

It is necessary to find the elements into which any text may fall. In other words, there must be certain constituent units of which any text is composed.

Phonemes, the smallest language units, function within morphemes and are dependent on them, morphemes function within words, words — within sentences, and sentences function in larger structural frames which we shall call "supra-phrasal units". Consequently, neither words nor separate sentences can be regarded as the basic constituents of a text. They are the basic units of lower levels of language-as-a-system.

9.1.1. Supra-Phrasal Units

The term supra-phrasal unit (SPU) (1) is used to denote a larger unit than a sentence. It generally comprises a number of sentences interdependent structurally (usually by means of pronouns, connectives, tense-forms) and semantically (one definite thought is dealt with). Thus the sentence: "Guy glanced at his wife's untouched plate", if taken out of the context, will be perceived as a part of a larger span of utterance where the situation will be made clear and the purport of verbal expression more complete.

Here is the complete SPU.

Guy glanced at his wife's untouched plate.

"If you've finished, we might stroll down. I think you ought to be starting."

She did not answer. She rose from the table. She went into her room to see that nothing had been forgotten and then side by side with him walked down the steps.

So a supra-phrasal unit may be defined as a combination of sentences presenting a structural and semantic unity backed up by rhythmic and melodic unity. Any SPU

will lose its unity if it suffers breaking.

One of the principle on which the singling out of an SPU can be maintained is utterance. Utterance denotes a certain span of speech (language-in-action) in which we may observe coherence, interdepend­ence of the elements, one definite idea, the pur­port of the writer.

The purport is the aim that the writer sets before himself, which is to make the desired impact on the reader. So the aim of any utterance is a carefully thought-out impact. Syntactical units are connected to achieve the desired effect and it is often by the manner they are connected that the desired effect is secured.

Let us take the following paragraph for analysis:

"1. But a day or two later the doctor was not feeling well. 2. He had an internal malady that troubled him now and then, but h£ was used to it and disinclined to talk about it. 3. When he had one of his attacks, he only wanted to be left alone. 4. His cabin was small and stuffy, so he settled himself on a long chair on deck and lay with his eyes closed. 5. Miss Reid was walking up and down to get the half hour's exercise she took morning and evening. 6. He thought that if he pre­tended to be asleep she would not disturb him. 7. But when she had passed him half a dozen times she stopped in front of him and stood quite still. 8. Though he kept his eyes closed he knew that she was looking at him."

This paragraph consists of eight sentences, all more or less independ­ent. The first three sentences show a considerable degree of semantic interdependence. This can be inferred from the use of the following cluster of concepts associated with each other: 'not feeling well', 'internal malady', 'one of his attacks'. Each phrase is the key to the sentence in which it occurs. There are no formal connectives, the con­nection is made by purely semantic means. These three senten­ces constitute an SPU built within the larger framework of the paragraph. The fourth sentence is semantically independent of the preceding three. It seems not to belong to the paragraph at all. The fact that the doctor's 'cabin was small and stuffy' and that 'he settled himself... on deck' does not seem to be necessarily connected with the thought ex­pressed in the preceding SPU. But on a more careful analysis one can see how all four sentences are interconnected.

SPU can be embodied in a sentence if the sentence meets the requirements of this compositional unit. SPU may occupy the whole of the paragraph. Here SPU coincide with the paragraph.

9.1.2. The Paragraph

A paragraph (2) is a 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. But this graphical term has come to mean a distinct portion of a written discourse showing an internal unity. 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 scrupulous analysis of the morphological aspect and meaning of the component parts.

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. In the building of paragraphs in newspaper style psychological principles play an important role.

Paragraph building in the style of official documents is mainly governed by the particular conventional forms of documents (charters, pacts, diplomatic documents, business letters, legal documents and the like). 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 is strongly affected by the purport of the author.

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 most para­graphs consist of one or perhaps two or three sentences.

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 composition.

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 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 to facilitate understanding but also for emphasis. That is why paragraphs in the belles-lettres prose are sometimes built on contrast or on climax.