Stylistic Syntax of the

English Language.
Stylistic Devices of the Syntax.
 Syntactical stylistic devices add logical,
emotive and expressive information to the
utterance regardless of lexical meanings of
sentence components. Syntactical stylistic
devices are realized in the context of a supra-
phrasal unit, paragraph and the whole text.
 Unlike the syntactical expressive means
of the language, which are naturally used in
discourse in a straight-forward natural
manner, syntactical stylistic devices are
perceived as eleborate designs aimed at
having a definite impact on the reader.
 Stylistic Devices of the Syntax

interaction of syntactic interaction of types transposition of

constructions of and forms of meaning of a syntactic
several contact connections between structure in the given
clauses or sentences clauses and context
sentences
parallel parcellation, rhetoric question,
constructions, coordination reported speech
chiasmus, instead of
anaphora, subordination
epiphora
 SD based on the interaction of syntactic
constructions of several contact clauses or
sentences

 Parallel construction is a stylistic device

based on the use of the similar syntactic
pattern in one or more sentences or
syntagms.
 Parallelism can be complete, incomplete
and partial:
 e.g. I told him you were sick,
I told him you were asleep (W. Shakespeare).
- complete parallelism
 e.g. If we are Frenchmen we adore our
mother; if Englishmen we love dogs and
virtue (J.Jerome). - incomplete parallelism
 e.g. The wind blew faster. It dragged now at
his coat, it blew its space about him, it
echoed silently a lonely spaciousness (W.
Sansom). - partial parallelism
 Parallel constructions may be encountered
not so much in the sentence as in the macro-
structures (supra-phrasal units, paragraphs).
The necessary condition in parallel
construction is identical, or similar, syntactical
structure in two or more sentences or parts of
a sentence in close succession.
 Parallel constructions are used in different styles of
writing.
 When used in the matter-of-fact styles, it carries, in
the main, the idea of semantic equality of the
parts, as in scientific prose, where the logical
principle of arranging ideas predominates.
 In the belles-lettres style parallel construction carries
an emotive function. That is why it is mainly used
as a technical means in building up other stylistic
devices, but securing their unity
 Chiasmus (reversed parallel construction) is a
stylistic device based on the repetition of a syntactical
pattern with a reverse word-order.
 e.g. It was a shock to me that while I observed
Thompson, Thompson observed me (V.Pritchett).
 Chiasmus can appear only when there are two
successive sentences or coordinate parts of a
sentence (the distribution, here close succession, is
the factor which predetermines the birth of the
device.)
 Stylistic effect of chiasmus – to break the
monotony of parallel constructions;
 it always brings in some new shade of
meaning or additional emphasis on some
portion of the second part of the sentence;
 the first part in chiasmus is somewhat
incomplete, it calls for continuation, and the
anticipation is rewarded by the second part
of the construction, which is the completion
of the idea.
 Anaphora is a stylistic device of beginning
successive sentences, syntagms, lines, etc. with the
same sounds, morphemes, words or word-
combinations.
 e.g. There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There
is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep Sea, and music in its roar;
(G. Byron)
 Stylistic effect of anaphoric recurrence of
words or word combinations is that it helps
the reader to fix the recurring segment in his
memory. It also imparts a certain rhythmical
regularity to the prosodic system of the text.
 Epiphora is a stylistic device consisting in
the repetition of the final element or two or
several successive sentences (clauses). e.g.
“I’m a Pepper, he’s a Pepper, she’s a
Pepper, we’re a Pepper. Wouldn’t you like to
be a Pepper, too? Dr. Pepper.”

 Epiphora regularizes the rhythm of the

text and makes prose resemble poetry.
 A combination of anaphora and epiphora in
two or more adjacent utterances ( or stanzas,
paragraphs, etc.) is sometimes termed
symploca:
 e.g. "If he wishes to float into fairyland, he
reads a book; if he wishes to dash into the
thick of battle, he reads a book; if he
wishes to soar into heaven, he reads a
book. (Chesterton).
 SD based on the interaction of types and
forms of connections between clauses and
sentences

 Parcellation is a stylistic device which

consists in deliberate division of one syntactic
structure into two or more intonationally
isolated parts that are separated from one
another by means of a pause and dot.
 e.g. They would appear with soup. Thin and
watery. A steam of cabbage (D. White).
 Parcellation is typical of spontaneous
speech.
 In writing it reflects the atmosphere of
unofficial communication, renders the
speaker's inner state of mind, emotions, such
as nervousness, irritation, excitement,
confusion, etc.
 It may also serve as a means of making
information more concrete and more detailed.
 Coordination instead of subordination is a
stylistic device consisting in unusual
combination of clauses of the sentence which
destroys the logic of syntactic relations.
 e.g. The day was clear and we decided
to climb the mountain.

Using coordination instead of

subordination, destroying logical connection
between utterances, the author tries to
create multi-layered narration.
 SD based on the transposition of meaning
of a syntactic structure in the given
context

 Rhetoric question is a stylistic device

based on an emotional statement or
negation expressed in an interrogative form.
 e.g. "Pigeons haven't troubled us so far,
have they?" said Michael to Patchway. "Why
should they?" said Patchway (I. Murdoch).
 A rhetoric question needs no answer,
because the answer to it is quite obvious.
 A rhetoric question enhances
the expressiveness of speech.
 Used in oratory style, rhetoric questions
aim at catching the attention of the
audience, making the sequential sentences
sound persuasive and significant
 Reported speech (represented speech) is
representation of the actual utterance by a second
person, usually by the author, as if it had been
spoken, whereas it has not really been spoken but is
only represented in the author's words.
 Represented speech conveys more adequately the
actual utterances of characters in emotive prose
than indirect or even sometimes direct speech.
Represented speech is that form of utterance which
conveys the actual words of the speaker through the
mouth of the writer but retains the peculiarities of the
speaker's mode of expression.
 The representation of the actual utterance
through the author's language is called
uttered represented speech, and the
representation of the thoughts and feelings of
the character is called unuttered or inner
represented speech.
An example of uttered represented speech:

 e.g. "Old Jolyon was on the alert at once. Wasn't

the "man of property" going to live in his new house,
then? He never alluded to Soames now but under
this title.
 'No' - June said - 'he was not; she knew that he
was not!'
 how did she know?
 She could not tell him, but she knew. She knew
nearly for certain. It was most unlikely;
circumstances had changed!" (J. Galsworthy)
 As for its structure, uttered represented
speech usually demands that the tense
should be changed from 1st and 2nd person
to 3rd person as in indirect speech, but the
syntactical structure of the utterance does
not change.
 e.g. "Could he bring a reference from where
he now was? He could. (Th. Dreiser)
 Uttered represented speech was widely used by
writers in the 18th century. This was a means by
which what was considered vulgar might be excluded
from literature, i.e. expletives, vivid colloquial words,
expressions and syntactical structures typical of the
lively colloquial speech of the period.
 The device of uttered represented speech enables
the writer to reshape the utterance according to the
normal polite literary usage.
 In the modern belles-lettres prose style, the speech
of the characters is modeled on natural colloquial
patterns. Nowadays, this device is used not only in
the belles-lettres style. It is also efficiently used in
newspaper style.
 Inner speech is a psychological
phenomenon. But when it is brought into full
utterance, it ceases to be inner speech,
acquires a communicative function and
becomes a phenomenon of language.
 The expressive function of language is
suppressed by its communicative function,
and the reader is presented with a complete
language unit capable of carrying
information. This device is called inner
represented speech.
 Inner represented speech, unlike uttered
represented speech, expresses feelings and
thoughts of the character which were not
materialized in spoken or written language by
the character. That is why it abounds in
exclamatory words and phrases, elliptical
constructions, breaks, and other means of
conveying feelings and psychological states.
 Inner represented speech is usually
introduced by verbs of mental perception, as
think, feel, occur, wonder, ask, tell oneself,
understand, etc.:
 e.g. "Over and over he was asking himself:
would she receive him? Would she
recognize him? What should he say to her?"
"Why weren't things going well
between them? he wondered."