Файл: imoyak_Koksharova_lekcii_po_stilistike.pdf

Close to oxymoron is paradox – a statement that is absurd on the surface. e.g. War is peace. The worse - the better.

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto reveal the contradictory sides of one and the same phenomenon;

Øto reveal some unexpected qualities of the denotatum;

Øto create an original, emotionally charged utterance.

üInteraction of Primary and Derivative Logical Meanings (zuegma, pun)

1.Zeugma – from Greek means to join/ to combine. It is a simultaneous realisation of two meanings of a polysemantic unit.

It is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations to the adjacent word in the context, the semantic relations being on the one hand literal, and on the other, transferred. The primary and derivative meanings clash. By making the two meanings conspicuous in this particular way, each of them stands out clearly.

e.g. If the country doesn't go to the dogs or the Radicals, we shall have you Prime Minister some day (O.Wilde). The verb "to go" here realises two meanings: to go to the dogs (to perish) and to go to the Radicals (to become politically radical).

e. g. Dora plunged at once into privileged intimacy and into the middle of the room. (Ch. Dickens)

e.g. Everything was short including tobacco and people's tempers. (E. Hemingway)

e.g. It was my older brother - her darling - who was to inherit her resoluteness, her stubbornness, her table silver and some of her eccentricities. (J. Cheever)

Polysemantic verbs that have a practically unlimited lexical valency can be combined with nouns of most varying semantic groups, homogeneous members that are not connected semantically. Thus it combines syntactical and lexical characteristics. Syntactically it is based on the similar structures; semantically it comprises different meanings, which leads to logical and semantic incompatibility.

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto create a humorous effect.

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2. Pun/ paronomasia/ play on words is a device based on polysemy, homonymy or phonetic similarity used to achieve a humorous effect.

The use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more meanings, or the use of two or more words of the same or nearly the same sound with different meanings, so as to produce a humorous effect.

Many jokes and funny stories are based on pun.

e.g. – I wonder if I can see your mother, little boy. Is she engaged?

- Engaged?! She's married.

There are several kinds of pun:

·pun based on polysemy:

e.g. - What is the meaning of the word "matrimony"? - Father says it isn't a word, it's a sentence

"Sentence": 1) предложение, 2) приговор.

e.g. The quickest way to break a bad habit is to drop it. "Break": 1) разбивать,

2) бросать (привычку), "Drop": ронять, бросать.

e.g. They had the appearance of men to whom life had appeared as a reversible coat - seamy on both sides. (O.Henry)

"seamy" – 1) изнанка,

2)тёмная, неприглядная сторона.

·pun based on complete or partial homonymy:

e.g. Professor: What kept you out of class yesterday - acute indigestion (острое расстройство)?

Student: No, a cute engineer (симпатичный инженер).

·pun based on phonetic similarity:

e.g. A cynic was standing in front of an exhibition of modern picture labelled "Art Objects".

"Well", he announced to the attendant in charge, "I should think Art would object, and I can't say that I blame it."

e.g. -I've spent last summer in a very pretty city of Switzerland.

-Bernel

-No, I almost froze.

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto achieve a humorous effect;

Øto add originality to the nomination of the object.

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It is difficult to draw a hard and fast distinction between zeugma and pun. The only reliable distinguishing feature is a structural one: zeugma is the realization of two meanings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different subjects or objects (direct and indirect). The pun is more independent. It is not obligatory to have one word in the sentence to which the pun-word refers. It is more dependent on the context.

e.g. - Did you miss my lecture? - Not at all.

Pun seems to be more varied and resembles zeugma in its humourous effect only.

üInteraction of Logical and Nominal Meanings (antonomasia)

Antonomasia is a lexical stylistic device in which a proper name is used instead of a common noun or vice versa, i.e. It is renaming for giving an additional information about the bearer of the name. There are two types:

·When the proper name of a person, who is famous for some reasons, is put for a person having the same features.

e.g. Her husband is an Othello. He is the Napoleon of crime (C. Doyle).

·A common noun is used instead of a proper name (speaking/token/telling names):

e. g. I agree with you Mr. Logic. My Dear Simplicity. Lady Teazle or Mr. Surface.

"There are three doctors in an illness like yours. I don't mean only inyself, my partner and the radiologist who does your X-rays, the three I'm referring to are Dr. Rest, Dr. Diet and Dr. Fresh Air." (D. Cusack).

Such names immediately raise associations with certain human qualities due to the denotational meaning of a common noun.

7.2.The interaction between two lexical meanings simultaneously materialised

in the context (simile, hyperbole, understatement/ meiosis, periphrasis, euphemism)

1. Simile is a stylistic device based on comparison of two objects or notions belonging to different spheres of life. This is an explicit statement of partial identity of two objects. The objects compared are not identical, though they have some resemblance, some common features. Emphasising their partial identity gives new characteristics to the referent.

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e.g. Unhappiness was like a hungry animal waiting beside the track for any victim (G. Greene).

As a stylistic device, simile shouldn't be mixed with a grammatical comparison. Simile is based on a certain image while in grammatical comparison two objects belonging to the same class are likened.

e.g. She was as tall as her father (gr. comp.) She was as tall as an elm.

(simile)

Simile may be trite and original. Original similes are created by the writers. A fresh simile, especially an elaborate one, discovering unexpected and striking similarities, is one of the best image-creating devices.

e.g. Drunk as a lord (trite). Her eyes were no warmer than an iceberg

(original).

Structurally, simile may be simple and sustained (in which the author finds it necessary to explain the image introduced by the simile)

e.g. The soldier cried like a child. He cried like a boy. . . but a boy suddenly overwhelmed by middle age...

Formally, the simile is manifested:

·grammatically, with the help of conjunctions (as if; as thought, like, than, as. . .as): e.g. She looked at him as uncomprehendingly as a mouse might look as a gravestone.

·lexically, by means of the words expressing likeness (remind, resemble, seem, appear). It is called disguised simile. e.g. He reminded me of a hungry cat.

Similes shouldn't be mixed with metaphors, which are implicit/ hidden comparison. However, the difference between the two is not only structural but semantic as well. Simile and metaphor are different in their linguistic nature:

·metaphor aims at identifying the objects; simile aims at finding some point of resemblance by keeping the objects apart;

·metaphor only implies the feature which serves as the ground for comparison, simile, more often than not, indicates this feature, so it is semantically more definite.

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto emphasise a partial identity of two objects;

Øto give new characteristics to the referent;

Øto deepen our knowledge of the object described;

Øto create imagery.

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2. Hyperbole is created in case one common quantitative feature characterises an object in a greater degree. It is a deliberate overstatement, exaggeration that is used to intensify one of the features of the object. It is an expression of emotional evaluation of reality by a speaker who is either unrestrained by ethical conventions or knows that exaggeration would be welcome.

e.g. The coffee shop smell was strong enough to build a garage on. (R. Chandler)

e.g. His grey face was so long that he could wind it twice round his neck (R. Chandler)

e.g. One after another those people lay down on the ground to laugh – and two of them died.

Hyperbole is mainly used to intensify physical qualities of objects or people: size, colour, quantity, age etc.,

e.g. Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old (F.Sc. Fitzgerald).

The use of hyperbole may show the overflow of emotions,

e.g. I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum (W. Shakespeare).

Hyperbole differs from mere exaggeration in that it is intended to be understood as an exaggeration. It is intended to sharpen the reader's ability to make a logical assessment of the utterance.

Hyperbole, as any other semasiological expressive means, may become trite through frequent repetition: e.g. for ages, scared to death, I beg thousand pardons, etc.

Genuine hyperbole is original and fresh.

e.g. He was one of those guys that think they 're being pansy if they don't break around 40 of your fingers when they shake hands with you. (J.Salinger)

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto express the intensity of strong feelings;

Øto show an overflow of emotions;

Øto intensify one of the features of an object;

Øto suggest the presence of the opposite quality;

Øto create a humorous effect.

3.Understatement/ Meiosis is lessening, weakening, underrating, reducing the real characteristics of the object of speech. It serves to underline the insignificance of what we speak about,

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e.g. She wore a pink hat, the size of a button. (J. Reed). I was half-afraid that you have forgotten me. It will cost you a pretty penny.

English is well known for its preference for understatement in everyday speech: e.g. "I am rather annoyed" instead of "I'm infuriated", "The wind is rather strong" instead of "There's a gale blowing outside" are typical of British polite speech, but are less characteristic of American English.

4. Periphrasis is a word combination which is used instead of one word, designating an object. Periphrasis indicates the feature of the notion which impresses the writer most of all, and it conveys a purely individual perception. Its stylistic effect varies from evaluation to humor.

e.g. alterations and improvements of truth – lies.

two hundred pages of blood-curdling narrative - thriller.

Under his arm he bore the instruments of destruction – guns/revolver. The hospital was crowded with the surgically interesting products (the

wounded) of the fighting in Africa (I. Shaw).

As a result of frequent repetition, periphrasis can become wellestablished as a synonymous expression for the word generally used to designate the object. It is called traditional, dictionary or language periphrasis,

e.g. gentlemen of the long robe (lawyers), the better (fair, gentle) sex (women), my better half (my spouse), the minions of the law (police).

Functions and stylistic effects

Øto convey an individual perception of an object;

Øto foreground a feature the writer wants to stress;

Øto intensify the noticeable property of an object by naming the object by the property.

5.Euphemism - a variant of periphrasis which is used to replace an unpleasant, hush or blunt word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable, mild or vague one.

e.g. Он находился в местах не столь отдалённых (в тюрьме).

Euphemisms may be divided into several groups according to the spheres of usage:

·religious euphemisms: God may be replaced by Goodness, Lord, Jove, Heaven etc.; Devil -by the deuce, the dickens, old Nick, old Harry;

·euphemisms connected with death: to join the majority, to pass away, to go the way of all flesh, to go west, to breathe one's last, to expire, to depart etc;

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·political euphemisms, widely used in mass media: undernourishment for starvation, less fortunate elements for the poor, economic runnel for the crisis etc.

The euphemistic transfer of a name is often based on metaphor or metonymy. In fiction, euphemisms are used to give more positive characteristics to the denotatum,

e.g. Jean nodded without turning and slid between two vermilioncoloured buses so that two drivers simultaneously used the same qualitative word (J.Galsworthy).

In colloquial speech euphemisms are typical of more cultured and educated people.

Euphemism is sometimes figuratively called "a whitewashing device" as it offers a more polite qualification instead of a coarser one.

e.g. They think we have come by this horse in some dishonest manner = we stole the horse. (Ch. Dickens)

In Modern English euphemisms are widely known as politically correct language.

person with an alternative body image – fat, hair disadvantaged – bald,

incomplete success – failure, person of differing sobriety – drunk, vertically challenged – short.

Functions and stylistic effects:

Øto give a more positive characterisation of the object described;

Øto soften the reader's perception of events;

Øto cover up what the real situation is.

7.3.The interaction of stable word combinations with the context (decomposition of set phrases, clichés, proverbs, epigrams, quotations)

For greater emphasis expressive means based on peculiarities of idiomatic English are widely used by the writers.

1. Decomposition (violation) of set phrases is a means widely used in literature. A very effective stylistic device often used by writers consists in intentionally violating the traditional norms of the use of set phrases. The writer discloses the inner form of the phrase; he either pretends to understand the phrase literally (every word in its primary sense), or reminds the reader of

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the additional meanings of the words, of which the idiom is made, or else inserts additional components, thus making the phrase more concrete and vivid. The ways a set phrase may be decomposed are various:

·the author's intrusion - an insertion of a word into a set phrase, e.g.

She took a desperate ungovernable hold of him.

·prolongation e.g. Little John was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, which was rather curly and large.

·fusion of two phrases into one e.g. Fluer had the pick of youth at the beck of her smile, ("the pick of the basket" – самое отборное, сливки общества; "to be at someone's beck and call" – быть всецело в чьёмлибо распоряжении

·changes of proverbs and sayings e.g. She was born with a golden spoon. The silver spoon in his mouth stayed without spoiling it. Southerners were born with guns at their hands.

2.A cliché is generally defined as an expression that has become hackneyed and trite. It has lost its precise meaning by constant reiteration: in other words it has become stereotyped. Cliché is a kind of stable word combination which has become familiar and which has been accepted as a unit of a language

e. g. rosy dreams of youth, growing awareness.

3.Proverbs are short, well-known, supposedly wise sayings, usually in simple language,

e.g. Never say never. You can't get blood of a stone.

Proverbs are expressions of culture that are passed from generation to generation. They are words of wisdom of culturelessons that people of that culture want their children to learn and to live by. They are served as some symbols, abstract ideas. Proverbs are usually dedicated and involve imagery,

e.g. Out of sight, out of mind.

4.Epigram is a short clever amusing saying or poem. e.g. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

5.Quotation is a phrase or sentence taken from a work of literature or other piece of writing and repeated in order to prove a point or support an idea. They are marked graphically: by inverted commas, dashes, italics.

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Lecture 8: Syntactical Stylistic Devices and Expressive Means

8.1.Syntactical stylistic devices based on the juxtaposition of the parts of an utterance.

8.2.Syntactical stylistic devices based on the type of connection of the parts.

8.3.Syntactical stylistic devices based on the peculiar use of colloquial constructions.

8.4.Syntactical stylistic devices based on the transference of structural meaning.

8.1.Syntactical stylistic devices based on the juxtaposition of the parts of an utterance (inversion, detached constructions,

parallel constructions, chiasmus, repetition,enumeration, suspense, climax, anticlimax, antithesis)

1.Inversion is the violation of the fixed word order within an English sentence. There are two major kinds of inversion:

·that one which results in the change of the grammatical meaning of a syntactic structure, i.e. grammatical inversion (exclamatory and interrogative sentences), and

·that one which results in adding to a sentence an emotive and emphatic colouring or logical stress, i.e. stylistic inversion, e.g. And the palmtrees I like them not (A. Christie).

Inversion may be of two types:

·complete, i.e. comprising the principal parts of the sentence, e.g. From behind me came Andrew's voice (S. Chaplin);

·partial, i.e. influencing the secondary parts of the sentence, e.g. Straight into the arms of the police they mil go (A. Christie).

2.Detached constructions are to be regarded as a special kind of inversion, when some parts of the sentence are syntactically separated from its other members with which they are grammatically and logically connected.

e.g. Formidable and ponderous, counsel for the defense arose (A. Christie). She was gone. For good.

The word-order here is not violated, but secondary members obtain their own stress and intonation because they are detached from the rest of the sentence by commas, dashes or even a full stop as in the following cases:

e.g. "He had been nearly killed, ingloriously, in a jeep accident." (I.Sh.) "I have to beg you for money. Daily." (S.L.) Both "ingloriously" and "daily" due to detachment and the ensuing additional pause and stress – are foregrounded into the focus of the reader's attention.

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3. Parallel constructions as a figure of speech are based upon a recurrence of syntactically identical sequences which lexically are completely or partially different.

e. g. "She was a good servant, she walked softly, she was a determined woman, she walked precisely." (G. Greene)

e.g. "They were all three from Milan, and one of them was to be a lawyer, and one was to be a painter, and one had intended to be a soldier..." (E. Hemingway)

Parallel constructions almost always include some type of lexical repetition too, and such a convergence produces a very strong effect, foregrounding at one go logical, rhythmic, emotive and expressive aspects of the utterance, so it is imminent in oratory art as well as in impassioned poetry:

You've hit no traitor on the hip.

You 've dashed no cup from perjured lip, You 've never turned the wrong to right,

You've been a coward in the fight. (Ch. Mackay)

Like inversion, parallelism may be complete and partial:

·Complete parallelism is observed when the syntactical pattern of the sentence that follows is completely similar to the proceeding one, e.g.

His door-bell didn't ring. His telephone bell didn't ring (D. Hammett).

·Parallelism is considered to be partial when either the beginning or the end of several neighbouring sentences are structurally similar, e.g. I want to see the Gorgensens together at home, I want to see Macawlay, and I want to see Studsy Burke (D.Hammett).

4.Chiasmus (reversed parallel construction) is based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern, but it has an inverted order of words and phrases.

e.g. Down dropped the breeze, The sails dropped down. (Coleridge) e.g. His jokes were sermons, and his sermons jokes. (Byron)

e.g. He sat and watched me, I sat and watched him. (D.Hammett)

The main stylistic function of chiasmus is to emphasise this or that part of the utterance, to break the rhythm and monotony of parallelism,

e.g. Guild waited for me to say something, 1 waited for him (D. Hammett).

5.Repetition is recurrence of the same word, word combination, or phrase for two and more times.

e.g. You cannot, sir, take from me anything I will more willingly part with all except my life, except my life, except my life. (W. Shakespeare)

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