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Gurevich English Stylistics
Gurevich English Stylistics
intervocal position (belter, letter, closer); a slight nasalisation of vowels before or after nasal consonants (can't, stand).
There are also differences in vocabulary, e.g. fall (British autumn), guess (= think), baggage (= luggage), drug (== medicine), store ( = shop), can ( =
tin), elevator ( = lift), hardware ( = ironmongery), grades (= marks), mail( =post), bill (= banknote), to pay a check ( = to pay a bill), gas (=petrol),
hog(=pig), to line (= to queue up), movies (= pictures, cinema film), stocks ( = shares), information desk (= enquiry-office), sidewalk ( = pavement),
carousal [karu'sel] ( = merry-go-round), vacation ( = holiday), class (= form; the boy is now in his first class at school), closet (= cupboard), candy (=
sweets), sick (= ill), ten minutes after five ( = past five), etc. As for grammar forms, American English uses gotten instead of got, and the future auxiliary
will with all the persons. It also prefers simplified variants of spelling: color(=colour), favorite (= favourite), theater( = theatre), center (=centre), telegram (=
telegramme), etc.
b) English Vocabulary in the Aspect of Time
Besides the vocabulary that is in current (present-day) use, we also find archaic or obsolete () words, which belong to some previous
stage of language development but can still be found in works of fiction (especially in the works of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Swift or other classical
authors). Cf. the archaic words Behold! (= Look!), Hark! (= Listen!), methinks ( = I think), Nay( = no), Wither are you going? (= Where are you going
to ?), hither and thither ( here and there), thou/to thee (= you/to you), whilst (= while), awhile (=for some time), yon (= this, that), yonder (= there), etc.
Archaic words are frequently used in poetry and thus belong also to poetic vocabulary (potic diction): cf. quoth ( said), woe (= sorrow), swain (=
shepherd), foe (= enemy), steed/charger (= horse), realm (= kingdom), nought/naught (= nothing), ere (= before), albeit (= although); here also belong
certain shortened variants of the currently used words, e.g. oft ( = often), eve (= evening), morn (= morning), etc.
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The vocabulary that has gone out of use also includes the so called 'historisms' () words which reflect some phenomena belonging to
the past limes, e.g. knight (), yeomen (, independent peasants in old England), archer (), sling (), ram (); cf. also
Russian historisms like , , .
On the other hand, we can also find in English vocabulary the so-called 'neologisms', i.e. words that have recently come into the language and are
still felt as rather new: allergy, computer, astronaut, isotope, quasar, laser, aliens, supermarket, chain-stores, bikini, mini/maxi/midi (of clothes),
paperbacks, etc.
Comparatively new borrowings from other languages, which are not yet completely assimilated in the language (phonetically or grammatically), are
stylistically marked as 'foreign' words (sometimes, as barbarisms); they usually belong to a lofty (bookish) style: e.g. protege, a propos, bonjour, idee
fixe, chic (= of very good taste, fashionable), alter ego (= one's second self), de facto (= in point of fact), status quo (= the existing state of things),
ibid/ibidem (= by the same author), etc., viz. (= videlicet) (namely).
Part 2
Functional Styles of Speech in Greater Detail
The Colloquial Style
This is the style of informal, friendly oral communication. The vocabulary of colloquial style is usually lower than that of the formal or neutral
styles, it is often emotionally coloured and characterized by connotations (cf. the endearing connotation in the words daddy, kid or the evaluating
components in 'trash', etc. in the examples of connotations above).
Colloquial speech is characterized by the frequent use of words with a broad meaning ( ): speakers
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too much); (Shall I open it'?) Don 't.'; May I?(= May I ask a
question/do this?).
The syntax of colloquial speech is also characterized by the
preferable use of simple sentences or by asyndetic connection
(= absence of conjunctions, ) between the
parts of composite sentences or between separate sentences.
Complex constructions with non-finite forms are rarely used.
Note the neutral style in the following extract:
When I saw him there, I asked him, 'Where are you going?',
but he started running away from me. I followed him. When he
turned round the corner, I also turned round it after him, but
then noticed that he was not there. I could not imagine where
he was...
and the possible more colloquial version of the same: / saw him
there, I say 'Where'ye going?' He runs off, 1 run after him. He
turns the comer, me too. He isn 't there. Where's he now?/can't
think.... (note also the rather frequent change from the Past
tense to the Present, in addition to the absence of conjunctions
or other syntactic means of connection).
Familiar-Colloquial Style and Slang
(- , )
Besides the standard, literary-colloquial (
-) speech, there is also a nonstandard
(or substandard) style of speech, mostly represented by a special
vocabulary. Such is the familiar-colloquial style (a 'lower'
variant of colloquial style) used in very free, friendly, informal
situations of communication (between close friends, members
of one family, etc.). Here we find emotionally coloured words,
low-colloquial vocabulary ( ) and slang
words. This style admits also of the use of rude and vulgar
vocabulary, including expletives/obscene words/four-letter
words/swearwords ( ).
See some examples of familiar-colloquial/low-colloquial
words (also called 'slang'):
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cakes with cream and using a pipe); see also some professional
slang words for a 'blow' in boxing: an outer (= a knock-out
blow), a right-hander (=one made with the right hand); an
uppercut (); a clinch (position of boxing very close,
with body pressed to body).
The Formal (Lofty, Bookish) Style
(, )
A formal (lofty, bookish) style is required in situations of
official or restrained relations between the interlocutors, who
try to avoid any personal and emotional colouring or familiarity,
and at the same time to achieve clarity of expression (to avoid
any ambiguity and misunderstanding). This style is used in
various genres of speech, such as in official (legal, diplomatic,
~? etc.) documents, scientific works, publicist works or public
\ speeches, etc.
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The genre of scientific works exists for the most part within
the bounds of the written form of language (scientific articles,
monographs or textbooks), but it may also manifest itself in its
oral form (in scientific reports, lectures, discussions at
conferences, etc.); in the latter case this style already has some
features of colloquial speech.
The aim of scientific speech is to present precise
information, therefore it requires the use of special terminology
which does not admit of polysemy or of figurative meanings, of
emotional connotations (all of which is typical of colloquial
and publicist styles). The author of scientific works tends to
sound impersonal, hence the use of the pronoun "WE" instead
of "I", of impersonal constructions, of the Passive Voice (which
allows the author not to mention himself or any other subjective
participants of the events described).
The syntax of scientific speech is characterized by the use
of complete (non-elliptical) sentences (unlike the syntax of
colloquial speech), the use of extended complex and compound
sentences without omission of conjunctions, as these connectors
enable the author to express the relations between the parts more
precisely (as different from the asyndetic connection typical of
colloquial speech); the use of bookish syntactic constructions,
such as complexes with non-finite forms of the verb; the use of
extended attributive phrases, often with a number of nouns used
as attributes to the following head-noun (Noun + Noun
construction). See some examples of grammar structures typical
of scientific language:
Noun + Noun constructions:
the sea level; the time and space relativity theory; the World
peace conference; a high level consensus; the greenhouse effect
(); carbon dioxide emissions ( ): fossil fuel burning (
); deforestation problems (= problems related to the
disappearance of forests on the earth).
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Part3
Expressive Means of Language
(Stylistic Devices)
As expressive means, language uses various stylistic devices
which make use either of the meaning or of the structure of
language units.
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One more example of zeugma (or decomposition of a setphrase) is represented in the humorous story about two duellists
who fired at each other and both missed, so when one of the
seconds said, after the duel, 'Now, please, shake your hands!',
the other answered 'There is no need for that. Their hands must
have been shaking since morning'.
Oxymoron ()
This is a device which combines, in one phrase, two words
(usually: noun + adjective) whose meanings are opposite and
incompatible ():
a living corpse; sweet sorrow; a nice rascal; awfully (terribly)
nice; a deafening silence; a low skyscraper.
Hyperbole and Litotes
These are stylistic devices aimed at intensification of
meaning. Hyperbole (, ) denotes a
deliberate extreme exaggeration of the quality of the object: He
was so tall that I was not sure he had a face. (O. Henry); All the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. (Shakespeare);
a car as big as a house; the man-mountain (-, ); a thousand pardons; I've told you a million times; He was
scared to death; I'd give anything to see it.
Litotes (understatement; , ) is a
device based on a peculiar use of negative constructions in the
positive meaning, so that, on the face of it, the quality seems to
be underestimated (diminished), but in fact it is shown as
something very positive or intensified: Not bad (= very good);
He is no coward (= very brave); It was no easy task (= very
difficult); There are not a few people who think so ( = very many);
I was not a little surprised (= very much surprised); It was done
not without taste (= in very good taste).
Epithet ()
This is a word or phrase containing an expressive
characteristic of the object, based on some metaphor and thus
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creating an image:
dreamy, gloomy, friendly trees! (Trench)
Note that in phrases like an iron (silver) spoon, the adjective
is just a grammatical attribute to noun, not an epithet, as no
figurative meaning is implied; on the other hand, in a man of
iron will the adjective is already an epithet, as this is an expressive
description, based on covert comparison (metaphor).
An epithet may be used in the sentence as an attribute: a
silvery laugh; a thrilling story/film; Alexander the Great; a cutting
smile (, ), or as an adverbial modifier: to smile
cuttingly. It may also be expressed by a syntactic construction
(a syntactic epithet): Just a ghost of a smile appeared on his face;
she is a doll of a baby; a little man with a Say-nothing-to-me, or
I'll- contradict- you expression on his face.
Fixed epithets () are often found in folklore:
my true love; a sweet heart; the green wood; a dark forest; brave
cavaliers; merry old England.
Periphrasis (, )
This is a device by which a longer phrase is used instead of
a shorter and plainer one; it is a case of circumlocution (a roundabout way of description), which is used in literary descriptions
for greater expressiveness:
The little boy has been deprived of what can never be replaced
(Dickens) (= deprived of his mother);
An addition to the little party now made its appearance (=
another person came in).
The notion of king may be poetically represented as the
protector of earls; the victor lord; the giver of lands; a battle may
be called a play of swords; a saddle = a battle-seat; a soldier = a
shield-bearer, God = Our Lord, Almighty, Goodness, Heavens,
the Skies.
Periphrasis .may have a poetic colouring:
a pensive warbler of the ruddy breast (= a bullfinch, :
A. Pope); The sightless couriers of the air (= the winds:
Shakespeare),
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any animals that act like human beings in the tale (The Cat who
walked by himself), forstrong, active phenomena (Death, Ocean.
River) or feelings (Fear, Love). The pronoun She is used for
what is regarded as rather gentle (the Moon, Nature, Silence,
Beauty, Hope, Mercy: cf. Fair Science frowned not on his humble
birth, But Melancholy marked him for her own Gray) or in
some way woman-like (in Aesop's fable about The Crow and
the Fox, the pronoun She is used for the Crow, whose behaviour
is coquettish and light-minded, whereas He is used for the Fox).
Allusion ()
This is indirect reference to (a hint at) some historical or
literary fact (or personage) expressed in the text. Allusion
presupposes the knowledge of such a fact on the part of the
reader or listener, so no particular explanation is given (although
this is sometimes really needed). Very often the interpretation
of the fact or person alluded to is generalised or even symbolised.
See the following examples:
Hers was a forceful clarity and a colourful simplicity and a bold
use of metaphor that Demosphenes would have envied. (Faulkner)
(allusion to the widely-known ancient Greek orator).
He felt as Balaam must gave felt when his ass broke into speech
(Maugham) (allusion to the biblical parable of an ass that spoke
the human language when its master, the heathen prophet
Balaam, intended to punish it).
In B. Shaw's play "Pygmalion", the following remark of Mr.
Higgins " Eliza: you are an idiot. I waste the treasures of my
Mi/tonic mind by spreading them before you alludes to the English
poet of the 17"' century John Milton, the author of the poem
"Paradise Lost"; apart from that, the words spreading the
treasures of my mind before you contain an allusion to the biblical
expression to cast pearls before swine { ). In A. Christie's book ol'stories' The Labours of Hercules'
the name of the famous detective Hercule Poirot is an allusion to
the name of Hercules and the twelve heroic deeds (labours) of
this hero of the ancient Greek myths.
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Irony
Irony, like the stylistic device of zeugma, is based on the
simultaneous realisation of two opposite meanings: the
permanent, "direct" meaning (the dictionary meaning) of words
and their contextual (covert, implied) meaning. Usually the
direct meaning in such cases expresses a positive evaluation of
the situation, while the context contains the opposite, negative
evaluation:
How delightful to find yourself in a foreign country without
a penny in your pocket!
Aren 't you a hero running away from a mouse!
I like a parliamentary debate,
Particularly when it is not too late. (Byron)
The Holy Alliance (Russia, Prussia, Austria) was minded to
stretch the arm of its Christian charity across the Atlantic and put
republicanism down in the western hemisphere as well as in its
own. (Goldwin Smith).
I do not consult physicians, for I hope to die without their help.
(W. Temple).
Rhetorical Questions
Having the form of an interrogative sentence, a rhetorical
question contains not a question but a covert statement of the
opposite: Who does not know Shakespeare? (the implication is
"everybody knows "); Is there not blood enough ... that more must
be poured forth ? (Byron) (= there certainly is enough blood). This
king, Shakespeare, does not he shine over us all, as the noblest,
gentlest, yet strongest, indestructible? (Carlyle) (= he certainly
does).
The most common structural type of rhetorical question is a
negative-interrogative sentence, as in the examples above. But it
may also be without an open negation: Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, or the leopard his spots? (a phrase from "The
Old Testament") (the implication is that they cannot); For who
has sight so swift and strong, That it can follow the flight of a song ?
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/ love your hills and I love your dales, And I love your flocks ableating (Keats) (the sound [1] repeated)
O, my love is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my love is like the melodie,
That's sweetly played in tune. (R. Burns) ((r, 1| repeated)
Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple,
Who have faith in God and Nature,
Who believe, that in all ages
Every human heart is human. (Longfellow) (fh| repeated)
Darkness there, and nothing more.
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering,
fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream
before. (Edgar ) (|d| repeated)
A variant of alliteration is assonance, i.e. repetition of the
same or similar vowels only, as in the phrase wear and tear (My
shoes show signs of wear and tear, the wear and tear of city life).
This device is sometimes found in poetic speech; see the
repetition of the vowel [e] in the line
Tenderly bury the fair young dead. (M. La Costa) or
the repetition of the diphthong [ei] in the lines
Tell this soul, with sorrow laden, if within the distant Aiden,
I shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name
Lenor?(E. )
The term "assonance" is also used to denote an imperfect
rhyme (= ), when only vowels are rhymed:
number blunder, same cane.
Onomatopoeia (, )
This term denotes sound imitation, i.e. the use of words
which denote some phenomenon by imitating its real sounding.
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Types of Stanza ( , )
The most common stanza, one consisting of four lines, is
called a quatrain (, ); the more seldom
one, consisting of two, is called a couplet ().
There is also a ballad stanza, typical of poetic folklore,
especially that of the 14th15th centuries. A ballad is a poem
with a plot (), which tells some story. The ballad stanza
usually has four lines, of which the first and third lines contain
four feet, while the second and fourth three or two.
The first word that Sir Patrick read, (4 feet)
Sae loud, loud laughed he; (3)
The neist word that Sir Patrick read, (4)
The tear blinded his .
(3)
This type of stanza is also found in later poetry:
The fairest one shall be my love's, (4 feet)
The fairest castle of the nine!
(3)
Wait only till the stars peep out, (4)
The fairest shall be thine.
(3) (Coleridge)
In R. Kipling's ballad cited below, the quatrains are
combined into couplets, within which, however, is preserved
the alternation of four-foot and three-foot metres:
Oh, East is East, and West is West, (4) and never the twain
shall meet (3)
Till Earth and Sky stand presently (4) at God's great
Judgement Seat (3).
A specific type of stanza is used in a sonnet. There we usually
find twelve lines (three quatrains, i.e. three stanzas with four
lines), followed by two final lines (a couplet), which contain a
kind of summary of the whole verse:
O, lest the world should ask you to recite
What merit lived in me, that you should love,
After my death, dear love, forget me quite,
For you in me can nothing worthy prove;
Unless you would devise some virtuous lie, To
do more for me than mine own desert,
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Part 4
Some Practical Assignments for Stylistic
Analysis
I. Stylistic Connotations in Vocabulary
Point out stylistic differences within the groups of synonyms:
face visage mug deadpan
nose snout beak nasal cavity
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Joe Clegg also looked surprised and possibly not too pleased.
(Christie)
Her family is one aunt about a thousand years old. (Fitzgerald)
6. Comment on the peculiarities of antonomasia
Every Caesar has his Brutus. (O. Henry) There are three
doctors in an illness like yours... Dr. Rest, Dr. Diet and Dr. Fresh
air. (D. Cusack)
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.. . , 197.1
.. . :
. 7- . ., 2005.
IU. . ., 1961.
.., ..
. ., 1961.
.. . ., 1990.
.. . ., 1984.
.. - :
. ., 1982.
.. , . .
, 1963.
. . ., 1966. ..
. , 1968.
. . // . , 1997.
.., .. . .,
1960.
B.JI. . ., 1981.
.. . ,
1997.
.. .
., 1989.
.. . .,
1968.
.. . ., 1967.
.. : . 6- . .,
2000.
.. . ., 1965.
.. // .
., 1990.
.. . ,
, 1975.
.. . ., 2000.
.., . . ., 1974.
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.. . ., 1959.
Akfimanova . (Ed.) Linguostylistics. MGU, ML, 1972. Bridgeman
Richard. The Colloquial Style in America. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1966. Coupland N. Towards the Stylistics of
Discourse // Styles of Discourse. N. Coupland (Ed.) London: Groom
Helm, 1988. Crystal D., Davy D. Investigating English Style.
Longman, London, ' 1969.
Darbisjire A.E. A Grammar of Style. London, 1991.
Deutschbein M. Englische Stilistik. Leipzig, 1932.
Ellis J., Ure J.N. Language Varieties: Register // Encyclopedia of
Linguistics. London: Pergamon Press, 1969.
Enkwist N., Linguistic Stylistics. The Hague. Paris, Mouton, 1973.
Galperin l.R. Stylistics. M., 1981.
Kukharenko V. Seminars in Style. M., 1971.
Nesfield J.C. Manual of English Grammar and Composition. London,
1928.
RieselE., Schendels E. Deutsche Stilistik. M., 1975.
Screbnev Y.M. Fundamentals of English Stylistics. M., 1994.