1.

Semasiology is a branch of linguistics which studies semantics or meaning of linguistic units

belonging to different language levels.
Lexical semasiology analyses the meaning of words and word combinations, relations
between these meanings and the changes these meanings undergo.
Stylistic semasiology is concerned only with those semantic relations and changes which form
the basis of EM and SD.
The subject-matter of stylistic semasiology is stylistic semantics, i.e. additional meanings of a
language unit which may be given rise to by:
1) the unusual denotative reference of words, word-combinations, utterances and texts (EM);
or
2) the unusual distribution of the meanings of these units (SD).
Semasiological EM are figures of substitution, i.e. different means of secondary nomination.
The latter is based on the usage of existing words and word-combinations to denote new notions
or to give a new name to the already known objects.
Secondary nomination is not completely arbitrary, it is carried out according to certain
principles or rules. Most commonly the transfer of a name occurs: 1) on the basis of similiarity
or likeness (real or imaginary) of two objects belonging to different areas of reality, which are
regarded as such due to individual or collective perception (rat-spy, rabbit- coward);
2) on the basis of contiguity or some logical (usually objective) relations or associations between
different objects (chicken food, hat man in a hat).
Figures of substitution are secondary nomination units which either exist in the language as a
system or are formed in speech on the basis of recurrent patterns. Secondary nomination units or
tropes stand in paradigmatic (synonymic, or rather homofunctional) relations to corresponding
primary nomination units. They are marked members of stylistic oppositions because they have
connotations or additional stylistic meanings. Figures of substitution in English can be presented
in the following table:
FIGURES OF SUBSTITUTION
FIGURES OF SUBSTITUTION
FiGURES OF QUALITY (QUALITY)
Metaphor
Metonymy
Antonomasia
Meiosis
Synechdoche
Hyperbole
Personification
Irony
Litotes
Periphrasis
Allegory
Euphemism
Epithet

16.

Figures of quantity

Here we refer tropes and figures of speech based on the comparison of two different objects or
phenomena having a common feature expressed with a certain degree of intensity, if this feature
characterizes the referent in a deliberately greater degree, it may be regarded as hyperbole, if this
feature is ascribed to the referent in a deliberately less degree, it is considered to be meiosis or
litotes, as a structural variety of the latter.
Hyperbole is a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration aimed at intensifying one of the
features of the object in question. An overstatement may be considered hyperbole only when the
exaggeration is deliberate and both the speaker and the listener are aware of it. 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 in oral speech is often used to intensify a statement, e.g. She was a giant of a
woman (Fl. O'Connor).

Hyperbole, as any other semasiological EM, may become trite through frequent repetition: e.g.
for ages, scared to death, I beg thousand pardons etc.
Meiosis is a figure of speech opposite to hyperbole. This is a deliberate understatement, or
underestimation of some feature of an object or phenomena with the aim of intensifying the
expressiveness of speech. The features stressed are usually size, volume, distance, time etc.
Meiosis is mainly used in oral speech where it usually emphasizes the insignificance of an
object, e.g. She wore a pink hat, the size of a button (J.Reed), a pretty penny, Tom Thumb etc.
Litotes differs from meiosis by both its contents and structure. Litotes presents a statement in
the form of negation. Like rhetorical questions, litotes can be regarded as the transposition of a
syntactical construction. Litotes has a specific semantic and syntactic structure: the usage of not
before a word with a negative prefix, e.g. Julia was not dissatisfied with herself (W.S.
Maugham).
This EM is used in oral speech to weaken positive characteristics of a thing or person; to
convey the speaker's doubts as to the exact value or significance of the object of speech, e.g. Her
face was not unpretty (K. Kesey).
In scientific prose litotes underlines carefulness of judgement or stresses the writer's
uncertainty.
18. FIGURES OF QUALIFICATION
To this group we refer tropes and figures of speech based on comparison of features and
qualities of two objects, belonging to different areas or classes, which are perceived as having a
common feature. The basic tropes in this group are metaphor, metonymy, and irony.
Metaphor and metonymy are universal means of reinterpretation and transfer of a name from
one denotate to another. The difference between them is that while in metaphor this transfer is
realized on the basis of likeness (real or imaginary) of the two objects (e.g. He is a brick, a log, a
bear), in case of metonymy it is realized on the basis of contiguity between the two objects (e.g.
I like Beethoven).
The latest linguistic investigations prove that metaphorical and metonymical transfers differ
not only semantically but syntactically and lexically as well.
Metonymy is more often found in the subject and object groups, while metaphor is commonly
found in the predicate group (e.g. The hat is still here. She is a monkey.) When metaphor is used
as a subject, it takes on an anaphoric pronoun, e.g. He is a bear. That bear broke the vase. Irony
is also a transfer of meaning, but if metaphor is based on similarity and metonymy on contiguity,
irony is based on opposition of the two meanings of a speech unit.
To the Metonymical Group we refer metonymy, synechdoche, periphrasis, and eu-phemism.
Metonymy as a secondary nomination unit is based on the real association of the object of
nomination with the object whose name is transferred. The simplest kind of metonymy is lexical
metonymy, when the name of an object (most often, a proper name) is transferred to another
object (Lewis, Makintosh, volt, amper). Such metonymies have no stylistic value as they become
common nouns. Stylistic metonymy suggests a new, unexpected association between the two
objects. In metonymy, the associations between the object named and the object implied vary.
They may bring together some features of a person and the person him/herself; an article of
clothing and the person wearing it; an instrument and the action it performs; the two objects
whose functions coincide, e.g. She was a sunny, happy sort of creature. Too fond of the bottle (A.
Christie); He made his way through the perfume and conversation (I. Shaw).
Synecdoche is a variety of metonymy in which the transfer is based on the association
between a part and the whole, the singular and the plural. This type of metonymical relationship
may be considered a quantitative one, e.g. Since I left you, mine eye is in my mind (W.
Shakespeare).
Metonymy and synecdoche as genuine EM are used to achieve concreteness of description. By
mentioning only one seemingly insignificant feature or detail connected with the object, person,
or phenomenon, the author draws the reader's attention to it and makes him/her visualize the

object or the character he describes.

Periphrasis (Greek: peri around; phraseo speak) is a stylistic figure which substitutes a
word designating an object for a word-combination which describes its most essential and
characteristic features. Periphrasis both names and describes. Every periphrasis indicates a
feature which the speaker or writer wants to stress and often conveys an individual perception of
the object or phenomenon named, e.g. 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 well-established 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,
my better half (my spouse), the minions of the law (police).
Euphemism (Greek: eupheme speaking well) is a variety of periphrasis which is used to
replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one.
Euphemisms may be divided into several groups according to the spheres of usage:
1) religious euphemisms: God may be replaced by Goodness, Lord, Jove, Heaven etc.; Devil - by
the dence, the dickens, old Nick, old Harry;
2) 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;
3) political euphemisms, widely used in mass media: undernourishment for starvation, less
fortunate elements for the poor, economic tunnel for the crisis etc.
Euphemisms as well as periphrases have no direct reference to the denotate, which is known
to both the author and the reader. 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
denotate, e.g. Jean nodded without turning and slid between two vermilion-coloured 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.
Metaphor is a secondary nomination unit based on likeness, similarity or affinity (real or
imaginary) of some features of two different objects. Metaphor is usually used in the predicate
group, because it aims at individualization and characterization of the object.
Linguists distinguish four types of metaphor, the stylistic value of each type being different:
1) nominative metaphor, i.e. one name which is substituted for by another. In this case,
nominators or identifying lexical units undergo metaphorization. The nominative metaphor gives
a new name to a class of objects. Such metaphors are a mere technical device for extracting a
new name, from the old word-stock, e.g. the apple of the eye, a leg of the table, an arm of the
clock, the foot of the hill.
2) cognitive metaphor is created as a result of the shift in the combinability of
qualifying lexical units, when their meaning becomes more abstract. In this case, objects named
are ascribed the features of quite different objects, sometimes even alien qualities, e.g. black
night (water, heat, despair etc). It may be based on implied simile, e.g. Time flies (as a bird).
3) generalizing metaphor leads to polysemy as it destroys the borderline between different
notions. In this case, predicative lexical units undergo metaphorization and transform into
identifying lexical units. This metaphor is somewhat artificial and it indicates the feelings some
artefacts can evoke in the customers rather than the qualities of some goods. Its stylistic effect is
weak, e.g. "Bocmop".
4) figurative or image-bearing metaphor presupposes that identifying lexical units are transferred
into the predicate-slot and, as a predicate, refer to other objects or a class of objects. Here,
metaphor is a means of individualization, evaluation, and discrimination of the shades of
meaning. Such metaphor appeals to the reader's intuition, giving him/her a chance to interpret the
text creatively. The stylistic effect of this metaphor is great, e.g. They walked along, two
continents of experience and feeling, unable to communicate (W.S. Gilbert).
According to its structure, metaphor may be:
a) simple or elementary, which is based on the actualization of one or several features common

for two objects;

b) prolonged or sustained, which is not confined to one feature that forms the main, central
image but also comprises other features linked with and developing this image in context, e.g.
He was surprised that the fire which flashed from his eyes did not melt the glasses of the
spectacles (A. Huxley). In this example, subsidiary images flashed and melted are connected
with the main image expressed by the word fire.
According to the peculiarities of its semantics, metaphor may be trite (traditional, language)
and genuine (speech). Stylistic functions of metaphor are twofold. By evoking images and
suggesting analogies, it:
1) makes the author's thought more concrete, definite, and clear, and
2) reveals the author's emotional attitude towards what he/she describes.
The main function of figurative metaphor is not merely communicative but aesthetic. It
appeals to imagination rather than gives information.
Antonomasia (Greek: antonomasia renaming) is a peculiar variety of metaphor. There are
two types of antonomasia:
1) the usage of a proper name for a common noun (Othello, Romeo, Hamlet);
2) the usage of common nouns or their parts as proper names (Mr.Snake, Mr.Backbite etc.), e.g.
"Don't ask me, said Mr. Owl Eyes washing his hands off the whole matter (F.Sc. Fitzgerald).
The main stylistic function of antonomasia is to characterize a person simultane-ously with
naming him/her.
Personification (Latin: persona person, facere do) is also a variety of metaphor. It is based
on ascribing some features and characteristics of a person to a thing, e.g.
Autumn comes
And trees are shedding their leaves
And Mother Nature blushes
Before disrobing
(N. West)
Unlike metaphor, personification:
1) is used only in fiction while metaphor can be found practically in every style; 2) can appear
only within context, no matter how short.
Allegory is another variety of metaphor. It differs from metaphor as it is mainly used in fiction
and it differs from personification as it appears only in a text, no matter how short it may be (e.g.
proverbs, fables or fairy tales).
Irony (Greek: eironeia concealed mockery). The difference between metaphor and
metonymy, on the one hand, and irony, on the other, can be defined as follows: in metaphor and
metonymy, the transfer is based on affinity of the objects, in irony, it is based on their opposition.
The relations of opposition here are not objective but subjective because irony always suggests
evaluation. It is positive in form but negative in meaning.
In a narrow sense, irony is the use of a word having a positive meaning to express a negative
one. In a wider sense, irony is an utterance which formally shows a positive or neutral attitude of
the speaker to the object of conversation but in fact expresses a negative evaluation of it, e.g. She
was a gentle woman, and this, of course, is a very fine thing to be; she was proud of it (in quite a
gentlewomanly way), and was in the habit of saying that gentlefolk were gentlefolk, which, if you
come to think of it, is a profound remark (W.S.Maugham).
In contrast with metaphor and metonymy, irony does not employ any particular syn-tactical
structure or lexical units. In context, there are usually some formal markers of irony pointing out
to the meaning implied.
In oral speech, a word used ironically is strongly marked by intonation and other paralinguistic
means. In written speech, such markers are not easily found.
Language irony comprises words, word-combinations and utterances which, due to regular
usage, have acquired connotative ironical meaning which does not depend on context, e.g. to
orate, a speechmaker, too clever by half, mutual admiration society.

More often, however, words or word-combinations acquire ironical meaning due to particular
syntagmatic relations between the meanings of different speech units in macrocontext (a
fragment of a text) or megacontext (the whole text), e.g. An Ideal Husband, A Devoted Friend,
The Quiet American. The ironical meaning appears, when lexical units expressing positive
evaluation in a certain context acquire a negative meaning, e.g. This naturally led to some
pleasant chat about... fevers, chills, lung diseases ... and bronchitis (J.K. Jerome).
4. FIGURES OF COMBINATION
Figures of combination are SD of semasiology. They are stylistically relevant semantic means
of combining lexical, syntactical and other units (including EM) belonging to the same or
different language levels. So, the realization of the figures of combination is possible only in
context. Frequently, these figures of speech are the result of the interaction of word meanings or
the meanings of word-combinations, seldom of paragraphs or larger text fragments. There are
three basic types of semantic relations between words, phrases, and utterances:
1) those involving similar (synonymous) meanings of such units. The speaker combines within
an utterance or text the units whose meaning he/she considers similar, thus figures of identity are
formed;
2) those based on opposite (antonymous) meanings of the units. The speaker combines within an
utterance or text two semantically contrasting units. As a result, figures of opposition are formed;
3) those comprising somewhat different meanings of the units. The speaker combines within an
utterance or text lexical units denoting different but close notions. As a result, the figures of
unequality are formed.
FIGURES OF COMBINATION
FIGURES OF IDENTITY FIGURES OF OPPOSITION FIGURES OF INEQUALITY
Climax
Simile
Antithesis
Anticlimax
Synonyms-substitutes
Oxymoron
Pun
Synonyms-specifiers
Zeugma
5. FIGURES OF IDENTITY
Relations of identity are realized in context where close or synonymous units referring to the
same object, or phenomenon are used. Here we refer simile and two kinds of synonyms
specifying and substituting ones.
Simile (Latin: simile - similar) is a partial identification of two objects belonging to different
spheres or bringing together some of their qualities. The objects compared are not identical,
though they have some resemblance, some common features. Emphasizing their partial identity
gives new characteristics to the referent.
Simile is a structure consisting of two components: the subject of comparison, and the object
of comparison which are united by formal markers: as, as as, like, as though, as if, such as
etc., e.g. Unhappiness was like a hungry animal waiting beside the track for any victim
/G.Greene/.
If formal markers are missing but the relations between the two objects are those of similarity
and identity, we have implied simile. In such similes notional or seminotional words (verbs,
nouns etc.) substitute formal markers (Cf: to resemble, to remind, to seem, resemblance etc.: e.g.
H.G.Wells reminded her of the nice paddies in her native California (A.Huxley).
We should distinguish simile which is stylistically charged from logical comparison which is
not. The latter deals with the notions belonging to the same sphere and it states the degree of
their similarity and difference. In case of comparison, all qualities of the two objects are taken
into consideration, but only one is brought to the foreground, e.g. He was a big man, as big as
Simon, but with sandy hair and blue eyes (D.G-arett).
Both simile and metaphor are based on comparison. Metaphor is often called a compressed

simile which differs from simile proper structurally. However, the difference between the two is
not only structural but semantic as well. Simile and metaphor are different in their linguistic
nature:
1) metaphor aims at identifying the objects; simile aims at finding some point of resemblance by
keeping the objects apart;
2) 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.
Synonyms-substitutes (substituting synonyms) are words used to denote objects or action,
supplementing new additional details, which helps to avoid monotonous repetitions, e.g. But he
had no words to express his feelings and to relieve them would utter an obscene jest; it was as
though his emotion was so violent that he needed vulgarity to break the tension. Mackintosh
observed this sentiment with an icy disdain /W.S.Maugham/.
Substituting synonyms are characterized by contextual similarity giving rise to emotiveevaluative meaning. That is why some synonyms can be treated as such only in context.
Synonyms-substitutes are widely used in publicist style. They are also regarded as situational
synonyms.
Synonyms-specifiers (specifying synonyms) are used as a chain of words which express
similar meanings. Such synonyms are used for a better and more detailed description of an object
or person, when every other synonym adds new information about it. There are two ways of
using specifying synonyms: 1) as paired synonyms, and 2) as synonymic variations, e.g. the
intent of which perjury being to rob a poor native widow and her helpless family of a plantationpatch, their only stay and support in their bereavement and desolation /M.Twain/.
These synonyms specify the utterance, adding some new information. Though the given
synonyms are very close in their meaning, they are different in stylistic colouring. Synonymic
variations specify the utterance, intensifying its emotional value. Such synonyms are widely used
in fiction and the publicistic style. In scientific prose and official style, their usage is limited.
6. FIGURES OF OPPOSITION
This group of semasiological SD is characterized by the combination in context of two or
more words or word-groups with opposite meanings. Their relations are either objectively
opposite or are interpreted as such by the speaker. Here we refer antithesis and oxymoron.
Antithesis (Greek - opposition) is a stylistic device which presents two contrasting ideas in
close proximity in order to stress the contrast. There are several variants of antithesis based on
different relations of the ideas expressed:
1) opposition of features possessed by the same referent, e.g. Some people have much to live on,
and little to live for (O.Wilde);
2) opposition of two or more different referents having contrasting features, e.g. Their pre-money
wives did not go together with their post-money daughters /E.Hemingway/;
3) opposition of referents having not only contrasting feature but embracing a wider range of
features, e.g. New England had a native literature, while Virginia had none; numerous
industries, while Virginia was all agricultural /Th.Dreiser/.
Antithesis often goes along with other stylistic features: anaphoric repetition, parallelism,
chiasmus, in particular. It is widely used in all kinds of speech: fiction, publicistic, scientific, and
colloquial English. It performs various stylistic functions: stressing the contrast and rhythmically
organizing the utterance. Due to the last quality antithesis is widely used in poetry in
combination with anaphora, epiphora, and alliteration.
Oxymoron (Greek: oxymoron witty foolish) is also a combination of opposite meanings
which exclude each other. But in this case, the two semantically contrasting ideas are expressed
by syntactically interdependent words (in predicative, attributive or adverbial phrases), e.g. He
was certain the whites could easily detect his adoring hatred to them /R.Wright/.
Oxymoron reveals the contradictory sides of one and the same phenomenon. One of its
elements discloses some objectively existing feature while the other serves to convey the

authors personal attitude towards this quality (pleasantly ugly, crowded loneliness,
unanswerable reply). Such semantic incompatibility does not only create unexpected
combinations of words, violating the existing norms of compatibility, but reveals some
unexpected qualities of the denotate as well.
As soon as an oxymoron gets into circulation, it loses its stylistic value, becoming trite: pretty
bad, awfully nice, terribly good.
Original oxymorons are created by the authors to make the utterance emotionally charged,
vivid, and fresh, e.g. Oh brawling love! Oh loving hate! Oh heavy lightness! Serious vanity!
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire, sick health! /W. Shakespeare/.
7. FIGURES OF UNEQUALITY
Relations of unequality are the relations of meanings of words and word-combinations with
differ in their emotive intensiveness or logical importance. To this group we refer:
1) figures based on actualizing the emotional power of the utterance (climax or anticlimax);
2) figures based on two different meanings of words and word-combinations (pun, zeugma).
Climax, or gradation, (Latin: gradatio gradualness; Greek: climax a ladder) is a structure
in which every successive word, phrase, or sentence is emotionally stronger or logically more
important than the preceding one, e.g. Like a well, like a vault, like a tomb, the prison had no
knowledge of the brightness outside /Ch.Dickens/.
There are three types of climax:
1) the arrangement of some lexical units characterizing the object in the same emotional
direction, e.g. As he wondered and wondered what to do, he first rejected a stop as impossible,
then as improbable, then as quite dreadful. /W.S.Gilbert/;
2) the arrangement of lexical units with logical widening of notions, e.g. For that one instant
there was no one else in the room, in the house, in the world, besides themselves. /M.Wilson/;
3) emphatic repetition and enumeration, e.g. Of course it is important. Incredibly, urgently,
desperately important /D.Sayers/.
Gradation is widely used in fiction and the publicistic style. It is one of the main means of
emotional and logical influence of a text upon the reader and listener.
Anticlimax presents a structure in which every successive word, phrase, or sentence is
emotionally or logically less strong than the preceding one, e.g. Fledgeby hasnt heard anything.
"No, theres not a word of news, says Lammle. "Not a particle, adds Boots. "Not an atom,
chimes in Brewer /Ch.Dickens/.
We can distinguish two types of anticlimax:
1) gradual drop in intensity;
2) sudden break in emotive power. In this case, emotive and logical importance is accumulated
only to be unexpectedly brought up to a sudden break, e.g. He was unconsolable for an
afternoon /J.Galsworthy/.
Anticlimax is mostly used as a means of achieving a humorous effect.
Pun is a device based on polisemy, homonymy, or phonetic similarity to achieve a humorous
effect.
There are several kinds of pun:
1) puns based on polysemy. They had the appearance of men to whom life had appeared as a
reversible coat seamy on both sides. /O.Henry/;
2) puns based on complete or partial homonymy:
Diner: Is it customary to tip a waiter in this restaurant?
Waiter: Why-ah-yes, sir.
Diner: Then hand me a tip. Ive waited three quarters of an hour.
3) puns based on phonetic similarity:
-Ive spent last summer in a very pretty city of Switzerland.
-Bern?
-No, I almost froze.

Pun is used for satirical and humorous purposes. Many jokes are based on puns.
Zeugma (Greek: zeugyana to join, to combine) are parallel constructions with unparallel
meaning. zeugma is a simultaneous realization within the same short context of two meanings of
a polysemantic unit, e.g. If the country doesnt go to the dogs or the Radicals, we shall have you
Prime Minister some day /O.Wilde/. The verb "to go here realizes two meanings: to go to the
dogs (to perish) and to go to the Radicals (to become politically radical).
Zeugma combines syntactical and lexical characteristics. Syntactically, it is based on similar
structures, semantically it comprises different meanings, which leads to logical and semantic
incompatibility. Zeugma is mainly a means of creating a humorous effect.

1. Stylistics is a linguistic discipline. What is the object of this science? The

object of a science is a certain phenomenon, a system of things which exist in
objective reality. For each linguistic discipline the object is language. Therefore the
object of stylistics is language too.
But language is a complex phenomenon, it has many aspects. The subject
(subject - matter) of a science is a more narrow notion, it is one or several aspects
of the given object. Before formulating the subject-matter of stylistics we will try
to describe the basic approaches to the study of language units.
There are 3 basic approaches to investigation of language units:
1) substantial, or substance-oriented;
2) structural;
3) functional.
Substantial approach is based on the study of the material form of language
units. This approach is characteristic of phonetics.
According to structural approach language units are considered from the
viewpoint of their structure and relations between these units (syntax, structural
linguistics).
Functional approach investigates the outward aspect of language units by
studying these elements in a certain wider system or environment.
The majority of linguistic disciplines make use of the first and second
approach. Stylistics differs from these sciences by its orientation to the functional
approach. What is function? Function is a role of a language unit or a subsystem of
such units in communication. That is why one of the tasks of Stylistics is studying
the role of linguistic elements in communication.
Besides, unlike other linguistic disciplines, stylistics investigates the units of
all language levels (while phonetics, for example, studies units of phonological
level, lexicology units of morphological level, or syntax units of syntactical
level).

There is no special stylistical level. Stylistics studies stylistically marked

units of different language levels:
e.g. morphemes in Johnny, H;
word combinations a while crow;
sentences In went Mr Pickwick.
But the basic tendency in stylistics today is to study the functional purpose
of all language units which belong to all language levels irrespective of the fact
that they are stylistically marked or not marked. This can be explained by the fact
that in speech any neutral word, sentence, text can acquire stylistic colouring.
If we take the word `den`, we can define its basic meaning as the hidden
home of an animal (bear, lion), a cave. But if one speaks about the secret hiding
place (of thieves or opium smokers), one can also calling it a den (= ).
Lets analyse an episode from the novel 12 Chairs:
Co .
.
, - , - .
.
.
,
. a. ,
.
, - , -
.

. ,
.
... .
,
, ;
, - .

In this context some sentences which could traditionally belong to the

official style of speech and correspond to the ceremony of burial are stylistically
marked because the situation is humorous.
Thus the subject-mather of stylistics can be defined as language units of all
levels which acquire additional meaning (are stylistically marked) in a certain
context.
There are several definitions of this science.
1) Stylistics is a linguistic discipline which studies nominative
(morphemes, words) and communicative (utterances, sentences, texts) units of
language and the principles according to which the units of language levels
(stylistically coloured or not coloured) are selected for the sake of achieving a
certain
pragmatic
aim
in
different
communicative
situations.
(O.M.Morokhovsky)
2) Stylistics is the branch of linguistics which investigates the
principles and effect of choice and use of phonetic, lexical, grammatical and
generally language means to transmit thoughts and emotions in different conditions
of communication.
(I.V. Arnold)
2. Style is one of the basic notions of stylistics. There are different
approaches and different definitions of this notion in linguistic literature.
According to the first approach, style is described as a specific form of the
work of art (the style of War and Peace by Tolstoy or the style of Shevchenkos
poems).
The second approach is based on the understanding of style as individual
style of a writer or speaker.
Buffon: Style is the man himself ( ). Chatman (USA)
Style is the product of individual choices and patterns of choices.
Thus, individual style can be defined as the unique combination of language
means, expressive means and stylistic devices peculiar to the given author or
speaker which makes that writers works (or that speakers utterances)
recognizable.
The third approach includes understanding style as functional style, style of
a certain type of communication. The given approach goes back to the well-known
Prague School of linguistics
(V. Mathesius, R. Jakobson, J.
Mukarzhovsky).

Functional stylistics which remains a very important trend in the

international style study deals with sets, paradigms of all language levels which
serve the needs of certain typified communicative situations.
We can quote the formulation of a functional style by I.V.Galperin: Style is
the system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in
communication.
Different scientists single out 4,5,6 or 7 functional styles.
I.R. Galperin:
1) belles-lettres style; 2) publicistic style; 3) newspaper style; 4) scientific
prose style; 5) the style of official documents.
The Ukrainian stylist O.D.Ponomariv singles out 5 styles; 1) belles-lettres
style; 2) publicistic style; 3) scientific style; 4) official business style, and, as
distinct from I.R.Galperins classification, the fifth-colloquial style.
Each of these styles can include elements of another style.
3. Another basic notion of stylistics is context. Context can be defined as the
environment of a language unit in which properties of this unit are realized.
We can single out linguistic and extralinguistic context. Extralinguistic
context (referring to fiction) includes the biography of the author, his surroundings,
the historic period in which he lived, etc.
The example of linguistic context the word `hand` has many meanings. Its
basic meaning is `part of human body`. But if we take the word combination `the
hand of a clock`, in this context this lexical unit has one specific meaning `pointer
on a clock! This is lexical context.
Syntactical context a) I will see your house. B) I will see you to your
house. In this context the word `see has a different meaning.
According to Prof. G.Kolshanky on the basis of the volume, context can be
divided into:
a) microcontext (one utterance or sentence);
b) macrocontext (one paragraph);
c) megacontext (thematic context) a chapter of a book or the whole work
(e.g. The White Monkey by J. Galsworthy).
Stylistic context is different from purely linguistic context. The theory of
stylistic context was developed by Michael Riffaterre, the French linguist now
living in the USA.

M. Riffaterre characterizes the stylistic context as a text segment interrupted

by the appearance of an element which is unpredictable in relation to the given
context.
As an example lets take the poem November by Thomas Hood:
No sun no moon!
No morn no noon!
No dawn no dusk-no proper time of day
No sky no earthly view
No distance looking blue
No road no street no `t`other side the way
No

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds
November.
14 lines out the 15 include only negative sentences, beginning with negative
pronoun.
They serve the aim of underlining the basic idea darkness, dull weather,
monotony, unhappy mood. The last line November , on the one hand,
summarizes the idea, on the other creates pun, changes the general mood, which
based on homonymy of the first syllable of the name of the month and the pronoun
no. The reader expected the repetition of the same types of sentence, but his
expectation is deceived. Such effect is called the effect of defeated expectancy (or
expectation). It is one of the ways of creating stylistic context.
Another device of creating such context is stylistic convergence. Lets take
an example from the story The Dress by D.Thomas:
But the mist was a mother to him
putting a coat around his shoulders

The mist made him warm; he had the food and the drink of the mist on his
lips, and he smiled through her mantle like a cat.
Here we can find 5 metaphors and one simile which characterize the mist as
a woman, a loving mother. At the same time we find the repetition of the sound [m]
in 10 words, parallel construction of sentences. This accumulation (or
combination) of different stylistic means is called stylistic convergence. It helps to
emphasize certain important elements (segments) of the text.
In the lines of Olexander Oles we can also see this combination of images
and phonetical means:
, ,
, ;

, -,
,
, ,
, .

Different types of repetition can also help create stylistic effect. In the above
examples sound repetition plays an important part. V.A.Kukharenko pays special
attention to morphemic repetition (roots, affixes) which helps to stress the
evaluative or logical meaning:
We were sitting in the chapest of all the cheap restaurants that cheapen that
very cheap and noisy street, the Rue des Petites Champs in Paris (E. Hemingway).
We are overbrave and overfearful, overfriendly and at the same frightened of
strangers, were oversentimental and realistic (P.Strevens).
The difference between the stylistic and general linguistic context lies in the
following:
linguistic context helps to reduce the polysemy of a word
(e.g.`hand` - the hand of a clock); Hands are wanted; Give me a hand, please.
Stylistic context, on the contrary, helps to add new meanings; it enables to
simultaneously realize two on more meanings of a word, create additional
connotations. (mist-mother; -).

5. Denotative & Connotative Information. The notion of context is to a great

extent connected with the notion of connotative information. Denotative
information is the neutral part of information, its features are: 1) it names the
object (or notion) directly; 2) it is not predetermined by the nature of
communicative act (attitude of the speaker).
Connotative information is additional information, it depends on different
aspects of communication act (time, interlocutors)and expresses the speakers
personal attitude to the subject-matter of communication. Connotative information
can be usual (constantly attached to a certain language unit) or occasional
(contextual) which appears in a given context.
Usual connotations reflect the attitude of the given language-speaking
community to a given object (e.g. spy-scout; -; the white crow,
, ; pussy,, ). Contextual the word `box` in the
sentence: Did you watch the box yesterday?
There are 2 types of connotative information: a) functional stylistic
information, which shows that a language unit belongs to a certain sphere of
communication (summit meeting; J.K.Jerome about illnesses); b) stylistic proper
which can have emotive, evaluative or figurative (expressive) character and reflect
the attitude of the speaker to the subject-matter of the message.

5 Image.
There are two basic approaches to the notion of image: 1) it is a picturesque
detail, a metaphor or any trope; 2) literary character (the image of Othello).
Image appears as a result of comparisons of two notions (She is a fox) or
substitution of one notion for another. (Did you read Shakespeare?)
The structure of image:
1) the signified () what is described or characterized: He is a
lion. It can be called the tenor ().
2) the signifier the thing (notion) with which the tenor is compared or
associated:
He is a lion.
It is called the vehicle (). The tenor is either
mentioned in the text or determined from the context.
3) the ground the basis of comparison, the common feature of the notions
compare ed or associated.

He is as brave as a lion.
The sun smiles on us.

,
...

....
(
, ... )
(. )
The basic unit of the phonological level is the phoneme. Its main function is
to differentiate meaningful language units. Unlike units of other language levels,
phoneme has only the plane of expression, it is not a two-sided sign.
That is why all phonemes have the same function and play the same role in
the organization of the sound side of utterance. Due to this no phoneme can be
stylistically marked in relation to another phoneme and, as a result, there are no
expressive means on the phonological level.
However, in English, Ukrainian or any other language there are certain ways
of combining sounds, some patterns of sound organization. In other, on the
phonological level stylistic devices (SD) can be created. SD in phonetics can be
defined as a special combination of sounds which, in connection with other means,
produce different stylistic effect.
It should be noted that the perception of the sound form of speech is to a
greater extent marked by `deautomatization` - in everyday communication the
listener perceives only the sense of utterance, the sound form does not attract
attention.
The models (or patterns) of sound organization can be divided into 2 groups:
versification and instrumentation.
Versification is the art of making verses according to certain rules.
Instrumentation is the totality (or combination) of ways of selecting and
combining sounds which imparts certain organization to the utterance and
therefore gives it emotional and expressive colouring.

We can single out three ways of sound organization: onomatopoeia,

alliteration, assonance.
Sometimes alongside with these devices euphony is singled out. Euphony is
understood as a harmonious (or pleasant) sounding of the utterance, primarily a
poetic text.

Onomatopeia.

Onomatopoeia is sound imitation. According to I.R.Galperin, onomatopoeia

is the combination of speech sounds which is aimed at imitating sounds produced
in nature, by people, animals, things. These are two types of onomatopeia: direct
and indirect.
Direct onomatopoeia is contained in words that imitate natural sounds:
ding-dong, bang, mew, purr, giggle; , .
Indirect onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds the aim of which is to
make the sound of the utterance an echo if its sense. Or, in other words, a writer (a
speaker) arranges sounds in such a way as to create the impression of the sound (s)
produced. The example from The Raven by Edgar Poe.
And the silken sad, uncertain
rustling of each window curtain
where the repetition of the sound [s] aims at producing the sound of
the curtain rustling. Indirect onomatopoeia demands some mentioning in the text
(utterance) of the object which makes the sounds. It is sometimes very effectively
used by repeating the words which themselves are not onomatopoeia. Many
stanzas in Poes poem The Raven end with the word Nevermore, as in:
Qnoth the Raven, Nevermore
Then the bird said, Nevermore, which is not onomatopoeic but is used
to resemble the sounds of the crow.

Alliteration

It is the repetition of the same or similar sounds, in particular

consonant sounds, in close seccussion.
In Old English alliteration was one of the basic principles of verse; each
stressed meaningful word in a line had to begin with the same sound:
First for zewat
Bat under beorge (Beowulf)

The Old Russian verse also used alliteration:

,
...
( )

The repetition of initial sounds of the stressed words in a line integrates the
utterance into a compositional unit. Unlike rhyme in Modern English verse, the
semantic function of which is to connect one line with the other, alliteration in Old
English was used to consolidate the sense within a line. Therefore alliteration is
sometimes called initial rhyme (V.M.Zhirmunsky).
There are two types of sound repetition: sound anaphora and sound
epiphora. Sound anaphora is based on the repetition of initial sounds of words
while sound epiphora is the repetition of final elements.
Anaphora:
,
!
, ,
, !
(. )
I.V.Arnold singles out a special type of repetition the Welsh type of
alliteration when in one line there are two symmetrical alliterations:

And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman;

Above the lilting house and happy as the grass was green
(D. Thomas)

Alliteration is widely used in folklore proverbs and sayings, phraseological

units:
Live and learn; Many men, many minds; blind as a bat; safe and
sound;
by hook or by crook.

The titles of literary texts often have alliteration: The Fool of the Family,
The Worst Crime in the World by G.K.Chesterton, Swan Song, The Silver
Spoon by John Galsworthy.

According to L.Timofeyev, the repetition of homogenuous sounds is neutral.

But when it is connected with other elements of the emotionally coloured speech,
it becomes the element of the general emphatic structure. In other words, sound
repetition becomes more vivid when it is combined with other stylistically
coloured units:
, ,
, .
(.)
In this example we find the combination of two similes, repetition of
syntactical constructions and assonance. So stylistic effect is created by the
convergence of different devices.
Assonance.
Assonance is the repetition of vowels in a line or a phrase:
,

(.)
The stressed vowel `a` is repeated in 5 words.
E.Poe:
I shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore?
(The Raven).
The stylistic effect here is achieved by the convergence of devices, and an
important role here is played by numerous repetition of the diphthong [ei].

Rhyme
Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar final sound combinations of
words.
Full rhymes identity of the vowel sound and the following consonant
sounds in a stressed syllable: might-right.
Incomplete rhymes have a greater variety, they can be divided into 2 groups:
vowel rhymes and consonant rhymes. In vowel rhymes the vowels are identical,
but the consonants may be different: flesh fresh press. Consonant rhymes show
concordance in consonants and difference in vowels: worth forth; tale tool.
There are also eye-rhymes where the letters and not the sounds are identical
(love - prove), it can be perceived only in the written verse.
Another variety of rhyme is internal rhyme when the rhyming words are
placed not at the end of the lines but within the line:
I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers (P. Shelley)
Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary (E. Poe)
Rhyme possesses
consolidating.

two

contradictory

Rhythm

functions

dissevering

and

Rhythm exists in all spheres of human activity, we can speak about the
rhythm of life, of heart beating, of a game; rhythm manifests itself in music, dance.
It is a wider notion than alliteration or onomatopoeia.
Rhythm in speech, in texts is often based on periodicity. In verse, in poetry
metre is the form of periodicity. Metre can be defined as steady alternation
() of stressed and unstressed syllables, it also includes the number of
stressed syllables. The basic forms of metre are trochee and iambus.
Example of trochee:
Once, upon a `midnight `dreary
while I pondered, `weak and `weary
(E.Poe)
Rhythm demands opposition long short, high low,
unstressed

stressed

Paronymy

Paronyms are words (or word combinations) identical in sound form and
partially in morphological structure but different in meaning:

West! Test it! (cigarettes)
Too Rich in Rio (title in Newsweek)
Maybelline (ad of a lipstick)
Maybe shes born with it, may be its Maybelline.
(Glamour)
Paronyms should be distinguished from alliteration (only one sound is
repeated) and homonymy (the similarity in sound form is nearly complete).

Stylistic Functions of Phonetic SD

1. To emphasize main elements of the utterance (I.V. Arnold auxiliary
function).
2. Aesthetic to make speech more beautiful, to produce musical effect.
3. Rhythmical function.
4. Semantic to create logical and semantic unity between words with
different meanings.
R. Jakobson equivalence in sound leads to equivalence in meaning.
5. Humorous effect (homonymy, paronymy).
6. Speech characteristics (often combined with graphic means).
The main unit of the syntactical level is the sentence. For stylistic syntax the main
unit is the sentence pattern, or the sentence model. The stylistically unmarked
model is Subject Predicate Object Adverbial Modifier which does not contain
any additional information. All other models are the transformations of the basic
model. These transformations make them stylistically marked sentence models, i.e.
syntactical expressive means.
So syntactical expressive means are syntactical models which carry some
logical or expressive information.
According to the transformations of the basic model all expressive means of
the syntactical level can be divided into 3 groups:
1) expressive means based on the violation of the word order, i.e. on inversion;
2) expressive means (EM)based on the reduction of the sentence model;
3) expressive means based on the redundancy (expansion) of the sentence
model.

1. Stylistic inversion.
Stylistic inversion is the violation of the fixed order of words in the
sentence. The aim of inversion is to attach logical stress to some part of the
sentence, to single out, to emphasize some components.
a)
b)
c)
d)

Types of inversion
Object at the beginning of the sentence before the subject: Talent he has
Attribute after noun: Once upon a midnight dreary (E.Poe).
Predicative before subject: A good prayer it was.
Adverbial modifier and predicate before subject:
In went Mr Pickwick (C. Dickens)

Here comes the sun (The Beatles)

Especially stylistically coloured are the sentences when adverbs or particles
are put at the beginning:
Never again, never, never again would he kill things.
In Ukrainian where the order of words is not fixed the postpositive attribute
after the noun is the feature of poetic style:
, (.)

2. Syntactical expressive means bsed on the reduction of sentence

pattern
This type includes nominative and elliptical sentences, asyndeton,
aposiopesis.
Nominative sentences
These sentences involve only one main part of the sentence the subject
expressed by a noun or a noun group:
London. Fog everywhere. Implacable November weather.

The first function is descriptive. Nominative sentences introduce the reader

to the situation., sometimes the description is dynamic:
The day passed on. Noon, afternoon, evening.
Sunset. (J.Galsworthy)
Other functions include emotional effect: Those evening bells! Those
evening bells! (T.Moore); and rhythmical effect.

Elliptical sentences
Elliptical sentences are based on the omission of one or two main parts of
the sentence, either a subject or both the subject and predicate:
See you later.

Havent seen you for ages.

The main function is to imitate colloquial speech.
The missing parts are present in the syntactical context:
Hello! Who are you? The Staff.
Where are the others? At the Front.
(B.Shaw)
Or they are implied by the situation. Elliptical sentence patterns are varied. Very
often the subject is omitted, mostly when it is the pronoun of the first person (I),
but they can also involve the omission of the verb to be:
You Chester Scott? Thats right.
Glad to know you. (Chase)
Besides producing an effect of colloquial speech, ellipsis can reflect a quick
tempo or sometimes emotional tension.
Telegrams, business letters, scientific texts can also involve ellipsis for the
sake of brevity.
No mun No fun Your son. How sad! So bad. Your dad.

Aposiopesis = Break-in-the Narrative

This term which in Greek means silence denotes unfinished sentence.

Break in the narrative reflects the emotional or psychological state of the speaker
who cant finish his utterance because emotions prevent him/her.
Another reason can be unwillingness to speak. Also break can be caused by
the uncertainty of the speaker about the information. Sometimes break can denote
threat: You just come or Ill
To make the break, in the written text dashes or dots are used. Break is used
in conditional sentences Ill do that if
Break-in-the narrative has a very high degree of implication. It focuses the
attention of the reader (listener) on what is unsaid.

1. Syntactical expressive means based on the redundancy of the sentence

model.

Redundancy (or expansion) of sentence model means the inclusion of

additional components in the sentence. The most traditional are repetitions.
Ordinary repetition is the repetition of the same word or word combination:
there must be light, light, light (D. Thomas).
Catch repetition (anadiplosis, in Ukrainian - ) takes place
when the last word or phrase of one part of the utterance is repeated at the
beginning of the next part, thus joining two parts together:
The smile extended into a laugh, the laugh into a roar, the roar became
general

(C.Dickens).

Frame (ring) repetition takes place when the initial part of a syntactical unit
(a paragraph, a poem) is repeated at the end of the unit. The article about the
American woman journalist has the title: No Star, Just a Bright Sun of Journalism
Fades Out. At the end of the article, in the last paragraph, these words are repeated:
Through it all, she was not a journalistic star but a journalistic sun (The
Washington Post). The author connects two important parts of the text,
emphasizes the main idea.
Enumeration. It is the repetition of homogenuous parts of a sentence: And
the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each window curtain (E.Poe). Here three
homogenuous adjectives are used.
Enumeration makes the utterance more expressive, underlines some
prominent features, actions or objects. In non-literary functional styles it is used to
render the logical course of events.
An interesting type of enumeration is when it includes semantically
heterogeneous parts:
He could concentrate his attention on the donkeys, priests, beggars, children,
sombreros, old high white villages, goats, olive trees,
singing birds
(J.Galsworthy). In this case when names of places, animals and people of different
professions are combined, an impression is produced of rapidly changing
impressions, of a great variety of objects, sometimes exotic ones.

Syntactical anaphora and epiphora. When the repeated word or word

combination is at the beginning of each sentence (part of a sentence), we have
anaphora. When the repeated language unit is at the end of each sentence, we have
epiphora.
Anaphora:
Victory is what we need. Victory is what we expect.
What we need in the United States is not division;
What we need in the United States is not hatred;
What we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness
Kennedy).

(R.

Epiphora:
It is natural to be scared in a case like that.
You are sure to be petrified in a case like that.
Polysyndeton. Another type of syntactical repetition is polysyndeton, the
repetition of conjunctions:
The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet could boast of the advantage
over him (C.Dickens).
A famous example is Shakespeares sonnet 66, where ten lines begin with
and:
Tired with all these, for restful death I cry.
As to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimmed in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forsworn,
And guilded honour shamefully misplaced.
The main functions of polysyndeton are: a) to logically and emotionally
emphasize the components of the utterance; b) rhythmical function according to
I.R.Galperin, prose resembles a verse; c) to express sequence of events:
Then Mr Boffin sat staring at a little bookcase, and at a window, and at an
empty blue bag, and a stick of sealing wax, and at a pen, and a box of wafers, and a

writing pad (Dickens); d) integrating function, as it combines homogenuous

elements into one whole like enumeration.
Repetition is very important in different functional styles fiction,
publicistic style (speeches), even in scientific prose. The basic function of
syntactical repetitions is to increase the expressive properties of speech. It also
reflects the exciting moments in peoples life, emotional reaction: There must be
light, light, light. Repetitions can be found in phraseological units: on, and on over
and over again, and soon and so forth.
Parallel Constructions. Parallelism is the repetition of identical or similar
structure in 2 or more sentences or parts of a sentence:
If you can keep your head,
When all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself
(R.Kipling)
Very often parallelism is combined with other syntactical repetitions.
Functions are: 1) rhythmical; 2) from semantic point of view to give equal
significance to the sentences or part of the sentences; 3) to underline important
information.
Parallel constructions are often used in poetry, in publicistic style, as in the
famous speech I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King.
1 The vocabulary (or the word stock) of a language may be represented as a
definite system in which different aspects of words may be singled out as
interdependent. The vocabulary can be divided into three main layers: neutral,
literary, colloquial.
The neutral layer has a universal character. It is unrestricted in use and can
be employed in all styles of language and in all spheres of human activity. This
makes the neutral layer of vocabulary the most stable of all. Neutral words are the
main source of synonymy and polysemy.
Unlike other groups, the neutral group of words cannot be considered as
having a special stylistic colouring, while both literary and colloquial words are
stylistically coloured.
The literary layer consists of words that have no local or dialectal character.
The feature of the literary layer is its bookish character which makes this layer

more or less stable. The feature of the colloquial layer of words is its lively, spoken
character, therefore it is rather unstable.
The literary and colloquial layers contain a number of subgroups of words.
The literary vocabulary consists of the following groups of words:
1) common literary words;
2) poetic words;
3) archaic words;
4) barbarisms and foreign words;
5) terms.

The colloquial vocabulary includes the following groups of words:

1) common colloquial words;
2) slang;
3) dialectal words;
4) vulgar words.

The relations between neutral, literary and colloquial words with similar meanings
can be represented in a lexico-stylistic paradigm:

Neutral

Literary

Colloquial

child

infant

kid

father

parent

daddy

continue

proceed

go ahead

buy

purchase

get

Types of connotative meanings

There are two aspects of lexical meanings-denotative and connotative.
Denotative refers to the primary meaning of the lexical unit, while connotative
refers to the additional, or contextual meaning.

There are 4 types of connotative meaning: evaluative (axiological),

emotional, figurative, functional stylistic.
1) Evaluative meaning reflects the attitude of a speaker to certain objects or
notions. Some words always have evaluative meaning: stupid, scoundrel, pretty,
etc. Other words receive such meaning in context: honey, brick. Ideological,
political or national background is reflected in synonyms spy (negative) scout
(positive); out-of-date (negative) time-tested (positive). Some suffixes can give
evaluative meaning:
-eer (black marketeer), -ard (drunkard), -ster (gangster, mobster), -holic, -gate,
-friendly.
2) Emotional meaning reflects the emotional state of the speaker. It can be seen in
vulgar words (hell, damn, rotten), in interjections (wow, oops, gee, alas).
3) Figurative meaning is expressed in tropes, like epithet, metaphor, simile.
Somebody can be called a lion, a wolf, an eagle, etc.
4) Functional stylistic meaning is connected with the sphere of communication.
E.g. the words maiden, behold, thou, deem are poetic words, while stroke, blood
pressure, heart belong to the medical terminology, i.e. to the style of scientific
prose.
Such words always have a denotative meaning and also another functional
stylistic meaning. Sometimes several connotative meanings can be found in one
word boot (new soldier), where we can see evaluative, figurative and functional
meaning.

2 Literary words.
Archaic Words
The vocabulary of a language is in an increasing state of change. Words
change their meanings and sometimes drop out of the language altogether, new
words appear, etc.
Archaisms are words which were once common but are now replaced by
synonyms (I.Arnold): betwixt (between), billow (wave), ere (before), even
(evening), forbears (ancestors), hapless (unlucky), hark (listen), lone (lonely),
morn, save (except), woe (sorrow); Ukrainian: , (finger),
(right hand).

In the development of a language one can find three stages in the process of
aging of words:
1) The beginning of the aging process when the words become rarely used such
words are called obsolescent [obse`lesnt]: they are in the stage of gradually
passing out of general use: pronouns thou (thee, thy, thine), ye, aforesaid, herewith,
hereby, etc.
2) Words have already gone out of the use but are still recognized by the Englishspeaking community: methinks (it seems to me), nay (no). They are called
`obsolete` words.
But in the International Herald Tribune (May 18th, 1999) an article about
China contained such phrase: anti-West, free-trade naysayers
Here an obsolete word is actually revived and used for stylistic purpose.
3) Archaic words proper words which were in use in old English and are not
recognizable in Mod. English = troth (= faith).

Stylistic functions
1) To create the realistic background (in historical poems and novels). Walter
Scott was a master in the creation of historical atmosphere. His principle was that
the writers language must not be out of date but modern words should not be used.
He never photographed the language of earlier periods and introduced only a few
more or less obsolescent words and expressions in the texture of his novels, but it
was enough to produce the desired effect: methinks, haply, repast (meal), travail
(painful effort). But we will hardly find archaic words proper.
2) To mark the text as poetic, create an elevated effect.
3) To maintain the exactness of expression in official documents, business
letters, legal and diplomatic language. We find obsolescent words hereby,
herewith, aforementioned, etc.
4) To produce a humorous effect if used in unappropriate context Ilf,
Petrov.

In Ukrainian the process of revival of many words is taking place. Some

words in 1930-s and 1970-s in the period of struggle against the so called
Ukrainian nationalism were proclaimed as obsolete or dialectal , ,
;names of religious holidays: , , . Such words are
now in use.

Historic words
They are words which denote things or notions that no longer exist, i.e.
names of transport means, ancient clothes, weapons, instruments yeoman, jester.
The Ukrainian scientist Bilodid called such words material archaisms: - ,
, , .
The stylistic function of historic words is to reproduce the coloring of the epoch in
fiction and publicistic style.

Barbarisms and Foreign Words

These groups of literary words include words of foreign origin but they
differ in the degree of assimilation of these language units in the target language.
Barbarisms are words which have not been completely assimilated in the
English language, they bear the appearance of a borrowing and are felt as
something alien to the native tongue: bon mot (=witty saying), chic (=stylish), et
cetera, alter ego. Still barbarisms have become the facts of the English language.
It is important, for stylistic purposes, to distinguish between barbarisms and
foreign words. Foreign words do not belong to the English vocabulary, they are not
registered in dictionaries, as distinct from barbarisms which are generally given in
the dictionary.
In printed works foreign words are often italicized to indicate their alien
nature or stylistic value. For example, in Agatha Christics stories and novels the
detective Hercules Poirot, Belgian by origin, uses such words and word
combinations as: Eh bien; Voila; mon ami. Or take the novel For Whom the Bell
Tolls by E. Hemingway. The scene is laid in Spain, and the author uses foreign
words (for an English reader) in the speech of the characters.
Hola; Salud, Camarada; Que va ( = Really).

The main stylistic functions of such words are: 1) to supply local coloring, to
depict local customs, conditions of life; 2) to elevate the language, to show the
educational level of a speaker; 3) to give speech characteristics to indicate that
the speaker is a foreigner.

Exotic Words
They denote objects and phenomena characteristic of some nation and some
country, i.e. fiord, spaghetti, matador.
The colloquial layer of vocabulary can be divided into the following groups:
literary colloquial words, slang, vulgar words, dialectal words.

Literary Colloquial Words

This group is the nearest to the neutral layer of vocabulary. There is nothing
ethically improper in their stylistic colouring, except that they cannot be used in
formal speech. This group of words is numerous and includes various subgroups.
a) Colloquial words proper are colloquial synonyms of neutral words chap,
guy (fellow), kid (child), molly-coddle (effeminate man or boy).
b) Diminutives of neutral words daddy, sonny, piggy, pussy. Diminutives
of proper names Bobby, Becky, etc.
) Phonetic variants of neutral words feller, baccy (tobacco). Phonetic
contractions of auxiliary and modal verbs also belong to this layer havent,
mustnt, cant.
d) Words whose primary meaning refers to neutral layer while their
figurative meaning refers them to colloquial layer: pretty (rather), terrific (fine),
cool (great), spoon (person with low mentality) like in Ukrainian (,
); hedgehog (not an animal, but unmanageable person).
e) Typical for colloquial layer is the wide use of intensifiers which have
partially or completely lost their primary meaning awfully, terribly, million,
hundred. These words are used for emphatic purpose:
I am terribly glad to see you.
Ive got a hundred things I want to ask.

f) Most interjections belong to the colloquial group: Jee! Er? Wow!

g) kind of (kinda), sort of are often used to reduce the categorical
character of utterance: Youll be sort of working for me now (Hellman).
Colloquial speech is characterized by the wide use of polysemantic words, such as
verbs do, have, get.
I got flu last month. I did not get what you said.

Slang and Jargon.

The term slang is used in a very broad and vague sense. Besides denoting
low colloquial words it is also used to denote special social jargons i.e. words
typically used by particular social groups to show that the speaker belongs to this.
Slang is a part of the vocabulary which consists of commonly understood
and widely used words and expressions of humorous or derogatory character
intentional substitutes for neutral or elevated words and expressions.
Scientists often confuse the terms of slang and jargon. In most cases the
word jargon is not used at all. Instead, expressions like students slang, soldiers
slang are employed. It seems preferable to speak about social professional jargon,
and apply the term slang only to what is in common use, to what is used by every
English-speaking person, not only by students, soldiers or criminals. Many words
and expressions which we class as slang originally appeared in narrow professional
groups and they were at first jargon words. But since they have gained wide
currency, they may be considered as slang in general. Slang is general jargon.
The psychological reason for appearance and existence of slang is the
striving for novelty of expression. This tendency is especially strong with the
younger generation. H.Bradley remarks that it is used because its the wrong word,
the different word. Later the slang word can become common and it becomes a
colloquial word, sometimes a neutral one. Here are some examples of words which
first appeared as slang, but are quite neutral today:
skyscraper, bus, taxi, piano, pub, movies, photo, dandy, mob.
Actual loss of novelty brings about constant change in slang: words come
and go, appear and are replaced by new ones. Of course, old and new words
coexist for a while, which makes slang very rich in synonyms. Lexicographers say
there are at least 30 or 40 slang words to express such everyday notions as food or
money:

food chuck, chow, grub, hash;

money jack, tin, brass, cabbage.
Various tropes participate in slang formations: upper storey = head; skirt =
girl; killing = astonishing; clear as mud = not clear.
Many slang words and expressions are used by educated, especially young,
people. Michael Mont, the baronet (in Modern Comedy by John Galsworthy)
shocks his father-in-law Soames Forsyte by using the words ripping, topping,
smell, some instead of neutral words good, excellent.
E.g. 1) Soames askes his son-in-law if he can find a job for a certain young
man. Michael: Has your man had the bird? (have the bird is slangish for be
discharged).
Soames: I know nothing about a bird. His name is Butterfield.
2) His name was Swithin What a corking name!
Slang words include evaluative connotative meaning. When we say fin
about a hand, we use a humorous way of talking about a hand. Similarly skirt is a
contemptuous way of talking about a girl, tootsie is not a kind of woman, but an
endearing way of speaking about a woman.
Some examples of general American slang: buck = dollar, john = lavatory;
top dog = boss, like a million dollars = very good!
Social jargons (cants) are words typically used by particular social groups to
show that the speaker belongs to this group as distinct from other people.
Originally jargons were used to preserve secrecy within the social group (jargon of
thieves). There is also teenagers jargon, army slang, prison slang, etc. Some
examples of American army slang Molotov cocktail; take felt (=retire from the
army), tin fish (=submarine), angel (= parachutist).
Slang
Lexical-stylistic approach to this group words: it is language of a highly
colloquial type, considered below the level of standard educated speech, and
consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special
sense.
According to the types of creating slang four devices can be singled out: 1)
lexical-semantical; 2) lexical-morphological; 3) borrowings; 4) new formations.

1. It can be metonymic or metaphoric word (s): chicken (colonel), zebra

(helicopter); amelioration of the meaning killer (excellent thing), liberate
(rob), wolf (seducer ), or degradation of the meaning.
2. It can be created by affixation (nogoodnik, biggie), abbreviation exes
(expenses), P.G. (pregnant), G. I., telescopy kidvid (kids video).
3. Borrowings gelt, shekels (money), dona (woman, sweetheart).
4. New formations, e.g. rhymed slang ham and beef (chief), dog and bone
(phone).
Some phraseological expressions may change their meaning in slang. A
guide told the tourists: Ill take you for a ride. The American tourists laughed,
because in slang (gangsters jargon) it means: Ill kidnap you.
Slang is characterized by unstable, changeable character of its vocabulary.

Vulgar words
This stylistically lowest group of colloquial layer consists of words which
are considered too offensive for public usage. Vulgar words may be divided into
two groups: lexical vulgarisms and stylistic vulgarisms.
The first group includes words which express ideas unmentionable in
civilized society.
Indecent ideas are usually expressed by different euphemistic substitutes,
abbreviations, omissions (dashes) or scientific (medical) terms. It is, so to say, the
lexical meaning of such words that is vulgar (the so-called four-letter words).
Some lexical vulgarisms are replaced by their euphemistic substitutes, as
bloody = blooming, blamed, blasted.
The second group stylistic vulgarisms are words and phrases the lexical
meanings of which have nothing indecent about them. Their impropriety in
civilized life is due to their stylistic value i.e. stylistic connotations which
express a derogatory attitude of the speaker to the object of speech. This group
consists of words which are considered as low slang by many scientists: old bean
(old man), smeller (nose).
If used too often, vulgar words lose their emotional quality: Every blessed
fool was present; you are so darn good-looking; Women love that shit (film Telma
and Louise)
The major stylistic functions of vulgar words are the expression of strong,
often negative, emotions, such as anger, irritation or fear:

God. What a bitch day I had! he said (H. Robbins); You bastard, Will
drawled the head-shaker, a tall bloke in a safari shirt and dark trousers, Youre
such a heel.

Stylistic Use of Phraseology

Phraseological expressions can be divided, from stylistic point of view, into
the same subgroups as the main vocabulary literary and colloquial expressions.
Literary groups of phraseological expressions are found in fiction,
publicistic style, in the speech of educated people, e.g. to breathe ones last; to
fiddle while Rome burns; the sword of Damocles. Many of these set phrases are in
many languages, they have Ukrainian equivalents as they originate in the Greek
and Roman mythology, the Biblical legends the Augean stables. Foreign phrases
also belong to this group mot juste (the exact word); Cest la vie (This is life).
Come on, Roy, lets go and shake the dust of this place for good (J.
Aldridge).
Colloquial groups of phraseological expressions include such words: alive
and kicking (safe and sound); a pretty kettle of fish; to be nuts (crazy) about
something (to be extremely fond of); to kick the bucket (to die).
Even what might be called stylistically neutral set phrases produce a certain
stylistic effect as opposed to non-phrasal equivalents. Idioms impart local
colouring to the text, they have not lost their metaphoric essence, hence they are
more expressive.
Different types of transformations of phraseological units are used to
produce stylistic effect. The first is expansion: He wanted to make a boast so big it
would make our hair stand and stop a wild lorry (D.Thomas). Here the additional
components increase the hyperbolic character of the expression. The second type is
reduction of the unit. We can find it in titles: A friend in need (S.Maugham);
Talk of the devil.
The third type is the change of order of words (or inversion) in the phraseological
unit, it often produces humorous effect: Better too much too early than too little
too late. (A.Huxley) Better late than ever. A very strong device is the
decomposition of phraseological unit, breaking it into components which are
understood literally (every word in its primary meaning).
In such a case a phrase becomes more vivid and concrete: Little Jon was
born with a silver spoon in a mouth which was rather curly and large (J.
Galsworthy).

Alfred, hes my nephew. My sisters child.

Sort of his guardian, I am. He wouldnt harm a fly, I assure you.
Next time Ill have a fly caught specially for him not to harm it
(R.Chandler).
The example is the idiom kick the bucket in the film This mad, mad, mad
world.

Lexical syntactical stylistic devices

Antithesis
Antithesis is the relative opposition of contrasting ideas in a sentence, a
paragraph:
Youth is lovely, age is lonely (H.Longfellow).
It is often based on antonymy and used in sentences with parallel
constructions:
Youth is full of pleasures,
Age is full of care,
Youth like summer morn,
Age like winter weather!
(W.Shakespeare)
A famous example is the poem If by R.Kipling which is built on antithesis.
The main functions of this device are: 1) comparative; 2) dividing; 3)
rhythmical.
Antithesis can be used to give opposite characteristics to the same object or
notion: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (C.Dickens). Or it may be
used to depict two objects with contrasting qualities: His fees were high; his
lessons were light (O.Henry).

But not always the opposed notions are actually contrasting they may be
opposite only from the viewpoint of a speaker or writer, like in high fees, light
lessons. High and light are not antonyms, they denote incompatible qualities. But
the writers position is clear: the price is high, but the quality is low.
Antithesis is not only a stylistic device used in poetry, fiction, publicistic
style, but it can also be found in phraseological units: from top to toe, dead or
alive, black and white.
The difference between oxymoron as a figure of contrast and antithesis is not
easy to reveal. One of the criteria can be semantic: oxymoron usually defines the
contrasting features of one object while antithesis singles out the opposite features
of two different objects: his handsome, nasty face (D.Thomas). she had a big
house and a small husband. Another criteria is revealed by substitution:
oxymoronic constructions can have implied words like at the same time,
nevertheless His face was handsome and at the same time nasty. As for
structural difference, oxymoron is usually found in word combination, like noun +
adjective, adjective + adjective, adverb + adjective, while antithesis is used in
different sentences or parts of sentences as the description of a man and a woman
in D.Thomass A Story. He was too big for everything she was small and
silk ...

Gradation (Climax)
Gradation is the arrangement of sentences or homogenuous parts of one
sentence which ensures a gradual increase in importance, or in emotional tension in
the utterance: It was a lovely city, a beautiful city, a gem of a city. Each successive
unit is perceived as stronger than the preceding one.
The Greek word climax means ladder. The first element in gradation is
the weakest in intensity or quantity, the last is the strongest. The minimum number
of elements is two, a great expressive effect is achieved by three or more units:
What difference if it rained, hailed, blew, snowed, cycloned?

Two types of gradation can be singled out: 1) emotional, as in the above

example where the word combination a gem of a city has the highest degree of
evaluation; 2) quantitative. They looked at hundreds of houses, they climbed
thousands of stairs, they inspected innumerable kitchens. (S.Maugham)
Gradation is a device by means of which the author demonstrates his
outlook, his (her) evaluation of objective facts. The function of climax is to show
the relative importance of things as seen by the author.

Opposite to gradation (climax) is anticlimax (back gradation) which

involves the arrangement of words in the decreasing order of significance:
A woman who could face the very devil himself or a mouse loses her grip
and goes all to pieces in front of a flash of lightning. (M.Twain)

Stylistics as a science. Branches of stylistics.

Stylistics is a branch of general linguistics. It has mainly with two tasks:
Stylistics is regarded as a lang-ge science which deals with the results of the act of
communication.
There are 2 basic objects of stylistics:
- stylistic devices and figures of speech
- functional styles
Branches of stylistics:
- Lexical stylistics studies functions of direct and figurative meanings, also the way
contextual meaning of a word is realized in the text. L.S. deals with various types of
connotations expressive, evaluative, emotive; neologisms, dialectal words and
their behavior in the text.
- Grammatical stylistics is subdivided into morphological and syntactical
Morphological s. views stylistic potential of grammatical categories of different parts
of speech. Potential of the number, pronouns
Syntactical s. studies syntactic, expressive means, word order and word
combinations, different types of sentences and types of syntactic connections. Also
deals with origin of the text, its division on the paragraphs, dialogs, direct and
indirect speech, the connection of the sentences, types of sentences.
- Phonostylistics phonetical organization of prose and poetic texts. Here are
included rhythm, rhythmical structure, rhyme, alliteration, assonance and
correlation of the sound form and meaning. Also studies deviation in normative
pronunciation.
- Functional S (s. of decoding) deals with all subdivisions of the language and its
possible use (newspaper, colloquial style). Its object - correlation of the message
and communicative situation.
- Individual style study studies the style of the author. It looks for correlations
between the creative concepts of the author and the language of his work.
- stylistics of encoding - The shape of the information (message) is coded and the
addressee plays the part of decoder of the information which is contained in
message. The problems which are connected with adequate reception of the
message without any loses (deformation) are the problems of stylistics of encoding.
Stylistics is not equal to linguistics science, such as phonetics, linguistics disciplines
lexicology, morphology, syntax because they are level disciplines as they treat
only one linguistic level and stylistics investigates the questions on all the levels
and different aspects of the texts in general. The smallest unit of lang-ge is the
phoneme. Several phonemes combined make a unit of a higher level morpheme
(morphemic level). One or more morphemes makes a word, a lexeme (lexical level).
One or more than one words make an utterance, a sentence (sentence level). Words
combinations are treated either on the lexical or syntactical level:
Winter .
Never!
Each level consists of units of lower level.
Read er []
Stylistics must be subdivided into separate, independent branches stylistic
phonetics, Stylistic morphology, Stylistic lexicology, Stylistic syntax

Whatever level we take, stylistics is describes not what is in common use, but what
is specific in this or that respect, what differentiates one sublanguage from others.
General (non-stylistic) phonetics investigates the whole articulatory - audial system
of language. Stylistic ph-cs describes variants of pronunciation occuring in different
types of speech. Special attention is also paid to prosodic features of prose and
poetry.
General (non-stylistic) morphology treats morphemes and grammatical meanings
expressed by them in language in general, without regard to their stylistic value.
Stylistic mor-gy is interested in grammatical forms and grammatical meanings that
are peculiar to particular sublanguages, explicity or implicity comparing them with
the neutral ones common to all the sublanguages.
Lexicology deals with stylistic classification (differentiation) of the vocabulary that
form a part of stylistics (stylistics lexicology). In stylistic lexicology each units are
studied separately, instead of as a whole text (group of words, word classification).
General syntax treats word combinations and sentences, analyzing their structures
and stating what is permissible and what is inadmissible in constructing correct
utterances in the given language.
Stylistic syntax shows what particular constructions are met with in various types of
speech, what syntactical structures are style forming (specific) in the sublanguages
in question.
Semantic level connected with meaning
2. Classifications of functional styles
Style is depth, deviations, choice, context style restricted linguistic variation, style is
the man himself (Buffon). According to Galperin the term style refers to the
following spheres:
1) the aesthetic function of language
It may be seen in works of art- poetry, imaginative prose, fiction, but works of
science, technical instruction or business correspondence have no aesthetic value.
2) synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea
The possibility of choice of using different words in similar situations is connected
with the question of style as if the form changes, the contents changes too and the
style may be different.
3) expressive means in language
- are employed mainly in the following spheres poetry, fiction, colloquial speech,
speeches but not in scientific articles, business letters and others.
4) emotional coloring in language
Very many types of texts are highly emotional declaration of love, funeral oration,
poems(verses), but a great number of texts is unemotional or non-emphatic (rules
in textbooks).
5) a system of special devices called stylistic devices
The style is formed with the help of characteristic features peculiar to it. Many texts
demonstrate various stylistic features:
She wears fashion = what she wears is fashionable or is just the fashion
methonimy.
6) the individual manner of an author in making use
the individual style of speaking, writing must be investigated with the help of
common rules and generalization.
Galperin distinguishes five styles in present-day English:
I. Belles Lettres ( )
1. Poetry
2. Emotive prose
3. The Drama
III. Publicistic Style
1. Oratory and Speeches

2. The Essay
3. Articles
IV. Newspapers
1. brief News Items ( )
2. Headlines
3. Advertisements and Announcements ()
4. The Editorial ( )
V. Scientific Prose
VI. Official Documents
He didnt single out a colloquial style. Its created by the work of the author the
result of creative activity.
Arnold classification consists of four styles:
1. Poetic style
2. Scientific style
3. Newspaper style
4. Colloquial style
Singling out a poetic and a scientific style seems valid. But Arnold insists on the
validity of the newspaper style theory. She says that the specificity of mass media
make acknowledgement of newspaper style, as one of functional style.
In the handbook by Morokhovsky, Vorobyova, Likhosherst give following
classification of style:
1. official business style
2. scientific professional style
3. publicistic style
4. literary colloquial style
5. familiar colloquial style

A phraseological unit is a stable, cohesive combination of words with a fully or partially

figurative meaning.
Phraseological units are word-groups that cannot be made in the process of speech, they exist in
the language as ready-made units. They are compiled in special dictionaries. The same as words
phraseological units express a single notion and are used in a sentence as one part of it. American
and British lexicographers call such units "idioms".
Phraseological units can be classified according to the ways they are formed, according to the
degree of the motivation of their meaning, according to their structure and according to their
part-of-speech meaning. Their constant characteristic features are:
Linguistic stability
Semantic unity
Intact syntactical structure
In other words, phraseological unit is a fixed word-combination in which the meaning of the
whole doesnt depend on the meaning of its components. Syntactically the relations in a
phraseological unit are those of a free word combination. Ex.: to be born with a silver spoon in
the mouth; to pull somebodys leg, to kick the bucket.
Phraseological units are crystallized metaphors the expressiveness of which is often intensified
by parallelism, antithesis, and alliteration.

Phraseologists no longer have to defend themselves from accusations that they are wasting their
time on trivial phenomena: phraseological units of all kinds permeate everyday language use
throughout all linguistic registers: in everyday speech, journalism, academic prose, literature,
political or diplomatic speech and writing etc. Phraseology plays important psychological and
cultural roles in language processing and social cohesiveness. The use of phraseology can be
seen to contribute to clarity of expression and ease of comprehension in formal registers, and
ease of linguistic composition in spontaneous speech. The use of phraseology contributes to a
socially convergent style of speech or writing. Pawley (1985) points out that probably the large
majority of customary institutions are denoted by phraseological expressions eg front door/back
door, go to church, leave school etc. In emotive prose phraseological units are used in author's
speech, in character's speech and in inner monologue. Phraseological units, which are used in
character's speech help to learn about the character, his manners of speech and about his
emotional state. The phraseological units which are used in inner monologue help understand his
inside qualities.
Violation (decomposition) of phraseological units. Violation of phraseological units is a
device based on the interaction between the primary and secondary meanings. The inner
mechanism of this device lies in the literal interpretation of the elements of a phraseological unit,
though the ways to achieve it are different
The expressive potentiality of a phraseological unit is increased when linguistic stability and
semantic unity are violated and syntactical relations actualized in this case. Its transformed into
a free word combination and simultaneously realizes two semantic patterns: as a phraseological
unit with a specific meaning and at the same time as a metaphor in the transformed variant of a
phraseological unit. The fixed form is broken by replacing one word for another, by altering the
whole structure or by some other changes. Ex.: The number of women who flirt with her
husband is perfectly scandalous. It looks so bad. Its simply washing dirty linen in public.
Dont cry, the milk is spilt.
Violation of phraseological units can be realized in the authors intrusion into the unit. E.g.
it took a desperate, ungovernable, frantic hold of him. (the original variant is to take hold of )
Another way of violation of a phraseological unit is its prolongation. The semantic unity is
violated by restoring primary meanings of the words in the phraseological unit. Ex.: Youre
pulling my leg- Im not pulling your leg. Nothing would make me pull or even touch your
beastly leg.
She was born with a silver spoon in the mouth, but judging by the size of her mouth it must have
been a ladle.
"Little Jon was born with a silver spoon in his mouth which was rather curly and large."
(Galsworthy) The word "mouth", with its content, is completely lost in the phraseological unit
which means "to have luck, to be born lucky". Attaching to the unit of the qualification of the
mouth, the author revives the meaning of the word and offers a very fresh, original and
expressive description.

Very often violation of a phraseological unit takes place in proverbs and sayings, most of which
are set phrases and fusions.
A false phraseological coinage occurs mainly in direct speech of personages to characterize them
through their speech. The main stylistic function of the violation of phraseological units has the
achievement of humorous effect.
Proverbs, sayings, quotations, clichs. The place of proverbs, sayings and familiar quotations
with respect to set expressions is a controversial issue though they are treated by many linguists
as set expressions on the ground that they are usually characterized by stability.
A proverb is a brief, witty phrase of generalizing nature characterized by the completeness of
the thought and generally expressing the wisdom of the people.According to I.V. Arnoldproverbs
have much in common with set expressions, because their lexical components are also constant,
their meaning is traditional and mostly figurative, and they are introduced into speech readymade. Another reason why proverbs must be taken into consideration together with set
expressions is that they often form the basis of set expressions.Ex.: He laughs best who laughs
last. Never say never. You can't get blood of a stone.
So, we may say that proverbs are expressions of culture that are passed from generation to
generation. They are words of wisdom of culture - lessons 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. Ex.: Out of sight, out of mind.
A saying is a common phrase differing from a proverb in that the thought is not completely
expressed. Ex: to kill two birds with one stone.
Proverbs and sayings are mostly used by writers in the direct speech of characters to
individualize their speech, and also as laconic, expressive and emotional ready-made phrases,
they are often used both in the speech of characters and the authors narrative to clarify and
conform the thought.
Quotationis 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. Quotations are marked graphically: by
inverted commas, dashes, italics. They come from literature and gradually become an integral
part of the language, so that many people using them do not even know that they are quoting.
The Shakespearian quotations have become and remain extremely numerous they have
contributed enormously to the store of the language. Very many come from "Hamlet", for
example: Something is rotten in the state of Denmark; Brevity is the soul of wit; The rest is
silence; Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; There are more things in heaven and
earth, Horatio.
Some quotations are so often used that they come to be considered clichs.
A clichis 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. Clich 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.
Being constantly and mechanically repeated they have lost their original expressiveness. The
following are perhaps the most generally recognised: the acid test, ample opportunities,
astronomical figures, the arms of Morpheus), to break the ice, the irony of fate, etc.
In discussing clich, it is important to note that it is a stylistic category rather than
phraseological, in spite of its inclusion in many typologies of word combinations. By definition,
clich is a reflection of language change, since the term as popularly used is a comment by the
listener on the speaker, who is unaware that the expression no longer possesses the figurative
force it once had. The term is used well beyond the boundaries of phraseology to include an
opinion expressed in any form:
The stylistic nature of clich is seen in the fact that a phrase can become almost instantly a
clich. For example, in the space of a few utterances a UK TV documentary presenter produced
the initially novel expression: explosively productive enterprise twice and then explosive
productivity. It appeared to lose force very quickly and by the third time to be used rather selfconsciously.
Allusion is an indirect reference to (a hint at) a historical or literary (mythological) fact (or
personage) contained in the text or to a fact of everyday life made in the course of speaking or
writing. The source of reference isnt mentioned in it. It presupposes the knowledge of the fact,
thing or a person alluded to by the reader or listener, so no particular explanation is given
(although this is sometimes needed by the readers). Otherwise the allusion is lost to the reader
and he will understand a contextual meaning only. Ex.: Her conversation was of a kind which
would have Helen of Troy with any handsome man.
Very often the interpretation of the fact or person is broadened, generalized or even symbolized.
Ex.: Hers was a forceful clarity and a colorful simplicity and a bold use of metaphor that
Demosthenes would have envied (W. Faulkner) (allusion to the widely-known ancient Greek
orator).
He felt as Balaam must have felt when his ass broke into speech (Maugham) (allusion to the
biblical parable of an ass that spoke the human language when its owner, the heathen prophet
Balaam, intended to punish it).
Allusion mixes with the text and if the readers are acquainted with the event eluded they will
have a more complete understanding of the phrase used in its original. The stylistic effect of an
allusion can be achieved only if the facts and personages alluded to are well known to the reader.

1. Ellipses.This is a deliberate omission of at least one member of the sentence. It is

characteristic of oral speech and is not considered a stylistic device in oral communication. But it
assumes a new quality in the written language. It becomes a stylistic device because in this case
it supplies additional information. Consider the following example: "I'llgo, Doll! I'll go!" This

from Bead, large eyes larger than usual behind the horn-rimmed glasses. (J.) The reader feels
very acutely the absence of the predicate here and realizes that it is not accidental. In this way the
writer shows us the excitement and eagerness of the character. If used in the direct speech of a
character, its function is to achieve the authenticity and plausibility of fictitious dialogue.
The extensive use of ellipsis results in the so-called telegraphic style, in which connective
elements and redundant words are left out. This can be illustrated by the gradual clipping of the
warning phrase in the drivers' directions. At first it was used in the following form: "Please drive
slowly", then the first word was left out, and after that the second, so now the warning is used in
the form "Slowly". Telegraphic style is sometimes observed in the speech of literary characters,
where it produces the impression of hurriedness, abruptness, unexpectedness. Ellipsis leads to
the emergence of the so-called apokoinu construction in which the omission of the pronominal
(adverbial) connective creates a blend of the main and the subordinate clauses. E.g. There was a
door led into the kitchen. (Sh. A.) / bring him news will raise his drooping spirits. (Jespersen) It
is used in oral speech mostly, but in emotive prose the construction produces the general
impression of clumsiness of speech and is used as a means of speech characteristics in dialogue,
in reported speech and in entrusted narrative when the author entrusts the telling of the story to
an imaginary narrator who is either an observer or a participant of the events described.
2. Asyndeton.This stylistic device is also based on the deliberate omission of some parts of the
sentence structure, namely, the conjunctions and connective elements. If the reader feels that
there is such an omission, he interprets it as a stylistic device. Consider the following example:
Soames turned away; he had an utter disinclination for talk, watching a coffin slowly lowered.
(G.) As we can see, the intentional omission of the subordinative conjunction because or for
makes the sentence "he had an utter..." almost entirely independent. It might be perceived as a
characteristic feature of Soames in general, if it were not for the comparison beginning with like,
which shows that Soames's mood was temporary.
It is maintained that asyndeton has a strong rhythmic effect. By cutting off connective words, it
helps to create the effect of terse, energetic, active prose.
3. Nominative sentences.These are one-member sentences consisting only of a nominal group,
which is semantically and communicatively self-sufficient. As for isolated words, they cannot be
considered one-member sentences because they always rely on the context for the semantic
fulfilment and are thus heavily ellipticized sentences. They are often used in emotive prose in
descriptions of nature, interior, appearance, etc. to produce an effect of a detailed but laconic
picture foregrounding its main components, and as the background of dialogue, mentioning the
emotions, attitudes, moods of the characters. E.g. Malay Camp. A row of streets crossing another
row of streets. Mostly narrow streets. Mostly dirty streets. Mostly dark streets. (P. A.) The cluster
of nominative sentences introduces the reader to the locality in which the action will be laid, thus
unfolding to him both the essential features of the place and his personal attitude to the camp.
The ellipticizing of sentences may lead to the disappearance of all sentence parts and leaving
behind only one word which acquires a strong emotional impact. The word may belong to
practically any part of speech, even a preposition or conjunction, e.g. They could keep the
Minden Street shop going until they got the notice to quit; which might not be for two years. Or
they could wait and see what kind of alternative promises were offered. If the site was good. - If.
Or. And, quite inevitably, borrowing money. (J.Br.) Here the synsemantic conjunctions receiving
the status of sentences are obviously promoted in their semantic and expressive value.
...

4. Break (aposiopesis).The smooth flow of speech may suddenly be interrupted and the sentence
is left unfinished, hanging in the air. This device is called break-in-the-narrative, and is defined
as stopping short for rhetorical effect. In oral speech it is marked by a pause, and in emotive
prose dashes and dots are used. A person may stop speaking for different reasons, so an attentive
reader must look behind the real causes of the break and try to decipher its reasons. Here are the
most common implications of break:
1. It reflects the emotional and psychological state of the speaker and shows that he is so excited
that he is unable to finish the sentence, e.g. " Well, they '11 get a chance now to show " (Hastily): "I don't mean But let's forget that. "(O.N.)
2. Break may indicate a warning or a threat, e.g. You must come home or I'll ... From the
meaningful pause after the sentence the reader understands that the speaker will take strict
measures if he disobeys him.
3. Break may be caused by the speaker's reluctance to continue the conversation due to different
reasons, e.g. And it was unlikely that anyone would trouble to look there - until - until - well.
(Dr.)
4. Sometimes break is caused by euphemistic considerations -j\. unwillingness to name a thing
on the ground of its being offensive to << the ear, e.g. "Then, Mama, I hardly like to let the
words cross my lips, but they have wicked, wicked attractions out there - like dancing girls that that charm snakes and dance without - Miss Moir, with downcast eyes, broke off significantly.
(A.C.)
When break is used, the interrelation between what is given and what is new and, consequently,
unsaid, becomes more significant and the reader's task is to decipher the implication which is
thus created.
Break is a stylistic device in which intonation plays a very important role. The pause after the
break is charged with meaning and intonation helps to decipher the communicative significance
of the utterance.
5. Repetition.It is common knowledge that repetition is widely used in oral speech, its aim being
to make a direct emotional impact on the listener. Thus, in the following example from
Galsworthy the excited state of mind of the speaker is shown:
"Stop!" she cried, "Don't tell me! I don't want to hear; I don't want to hear what you 've come
for. I don't want to hear".
When it is used by writers as a stylistic device, its function is different. In this case it aims at
logical emphasis, an emphasis necessary to fix the attention of the reader on the key-word of the
utterance. Repetition is a recurrence of the same word, word-combination, phrase or a sentence
two or more times. According to the place which the repeated unit occupies in a sentence the
following varieties of repetition can be singled out:
1. Anaphora - the repeated unit comes at the beginning of two or more consecutive sentences,
clauses or phrases. E.g. / might as well face fads: good-bye, Susan, good-bye a big car, good-bye
a big house, good-bye the silly handsome dreams. (J.Br.)
2. Epiphora - the end of successive sentences (clauses) is repeated. E.g. / wake up and I'm alone
and I walk round Warley and I'm alone; and I talk with people and I'm alone. (J.Br.) The main

stylistic function of both anaphora and epiphora is to create the background for the non-repeated
unit, which, through its novelty, becomes foregrounded. J. Framing - the initial parts of a
syntactical unit, in most cases of a , paragraph, are repeated at the end of it. Framing makes the
whole utterance more compact and more complete. E.g. Obviously - this is a streptococcal
infection. Obviously. (W.D.) Its function is to clear up the notion mentioned at the beginning of
the utterance. Between two appearances of the repeated unit stands the middle part of the
utterance which explains and clarifies what was introduced at the beginning.
4. Catch repetition - the end of one clause or sentence is repeated at the beginning of the
following one. Specification of the semantics occurs here, too, but on a more modest level. E.g.
And a great desire for peace, peace of no matter what kind, swept through her. (A.B.)
5. Chain repetition is a combination of several successive catch repetitions. E.g. To think better
of it, "returned the gallant Blandois", "would be to slight a lady, to slight a lady would be
deficient in chivalry towards the sex, and chivalry towards the sex is a part of my character"
(D.).
6. Ordinaiy repetition has no fixed place in the sentence, its function is to emphasize both the
logical and the emotional meanings of the repeated unit. E.g. / really don't see anything romantic
in proposing, ft is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite
proposal. (O.W.)
7. Successive repetition is a string of repeated units closely following each other. This variety of
repetition is the most emphatic, because it shows the peak of emotions of the speaker. E.g. /
wanted to knock over the table and hit him until my arm had no more strength in it, then give
him the boot, give him the boot, give him the boot / drew in a deep breath. (J.Br.)
Repetition requires the reader to stop and rethink the significance of the reiterated unit So it is
widely used in emotive prose to convey different feelings and emotions, such as meditation,
sadness, reminiscence and other psychological states.
There is a kind of repetition called tautology, which is the repetition of the same statement, word
or phrase in the immediate context and which is considered a fault of style. But there is another
side of this phenomenon: any seemingly unnecessary repetition of words or of ideas expressed in
different words may be justified by the aesthetic aims of the communication. From this point of
view the sentence The daylight is fading, the sun is setting, and the night is coming on may be
quite justified as an artistic example picturing the approach of night.
7. Polysyndeton.This is a special way of connecting words, phrases or sentences by means of
conjunctions and prepositions before each component part. E.g. Bella soaped his face and
rubbed his face, and soaped his hands and rubbed his hands, and splashed him, and rinsed him,
and towelled him until he was as red as beetroot. (D.) As we can see, the repetition of
conjunctions makes the utterance more rhythmical, so that prose may look like verse.
Besides, polysyndeton has a disintegrating function. Unlike enumeration, it causes each member
of a string of facts to stand out conspicuously. It also has the function of expressing sequence,
especially in the sentences where the conjunction and can be easily replaced by the conjunction
then. When polysyndeton is used, it strengthens the idea of equal logical or emotive importance
of connected syntactical units.
8. Stylistic inversion.This is a stylistic device in which the traditional direct order of the English
sentence S-P-O is changed either completely so that the predicate (predicative) precedes the

subject fully or partially or the object precedes the subject. So we distinguish complete and
partial inversion. Unlike grammatical inversion, stylistic inversion does not change the structural
meaning of the sentence. Its purpose is to attach logical stress or additional emotional colouring
to the surface meaning of the sentence. That is why inversion is accompanied by a specific
intonation pattern.
The types of inversion predominantly used in Modem English are as follows:
1. The object stands at the beginning of the sentence, e.g. Talent Mr. Micawber has; capital Mr.
Micawber has not. {L)
2. The attribute expressed by an adjective stands in post-position to the noun it modifies, e.g. But
it's a letter congratulatory. (A.C.).
3. The predicative expressed by a noun or a pronoun precedes the subject, e.g. Insolent, wilful
and singularly pretty was her aspect. (Ch.B.)
4. The adverbial modifier, usually standing at the end of the sentence, is placed at the beginning,
e.g. Eagerly I wished the morrow. (E.Poe) When the reader notices that the traditional word order
is violated, he should be aware of the author's intention to attach special importance to the
inverted part of the sentence and look for some additional information lying behind it. In Modern
English we often come across questions which are presented as affirmative sentences, the only
indication, of their
interrogative nature being the question mark at the end. E.g. Then he said: "You think so? She
was mixed up in this lousy business? (J.Br.) The inverted question presupposes the answer with
more certainty than the normative one. It is the assuredness of the speaker of the positive answer
that constitutes additional information which is brought into the question by the inverted word
order.
9. Detachment.This device is used by writers to make the reader pay special attention to some
parts of the sentence which are placed in such a position that formally they seem independent of
the words they refer to, but their semantic connection with such words is clearly perceived by the
reader. Detached parts of the sentence may be different in length - from a single word to an
extended group of words. E.g. Daylight was dying, the moon rising, gold behind the poplars.(G.)
The italicized phrase in bold type seems to be isolated, but still the connection with the primary
members of the sentence is clearly perceived, so gold behind the poplars may be interpreted as a
simile or a metaphor.
The stylistic function of detachment lies in emphasizing the meaning of the detached part,
attaching special significance to it. E.g. She was lovely: all of her - delightful. (Dr.) In this
sentence the punctuation mark plays an important role. The dash standing before the word makes
it conspicuous and, being isolated, it becomes the culminating point of the climax - lovely... delightful, i.e. the peak of the whole utterance. The phrase all of her is also isolated. The general
impression, suggested by the
implied intonation, is a strong feeling of admiration.
10. Parenthetic sentences.This stylistic device is a variant of the detached construction. These
are syntactical structures which interrupt the main sentence without affecting it and create
various stylistic effects. They are marked phonetically and are relatively independent of the
sentence they are inserted in. The syntactic isolation is shown in writing by graphical means brackets, dashes or commas.

Here are the main functions of parenthetic sentences:

1. They specify and characterize the details of the statement, give it a lively and palpable
colouring, e.g. And sometimes with the sensation a cat must feel when it purrs, he would become
conscious that Megan's eyes -those dew-gray eyes - were fixed on him with a sort of lingering
soft look. (G.)
2. They may intensify the fact contained in a message, e.g. They had not seen - no one could see
- her distress, not even her grandfather. (J.G.)
3. They may have an evaluative meaning, e.g. That phrase represented, I think, his deepest
research into the meaning of life. (Gr.Gr.)
4. They may convey some additional information specifying the utterance, e.g. By 4 o 'clock the
article was finished and Hadley - plump, timidly smiling, running as usual about his business came in with the photographs that were to go with it. (A.Cr.)
Parenthetic sentences belong to a different plane, conveying the inner speech of the character. So
the most important stylistic function of this device is to create two parallel layers of narration one of them belonging to the writer, the other to the literary character who is also the author of
the story.
11. Parallel constructions.This is the reiteration of the structure of several successive sentences
or clauses which are identical or similar in their structure. Parallel constructions may be partial
or complete. Partial parallelism is the repetition of some parts of successive sentences or clauses,
e.g. If we are Frenchmen we adore our mother; if Englishmen, we love dogs and virtue. (J.J.)
Complete parallelism maintains the principle of identical structures throughout the
corresponding sentences, e.g. / told him you were sick, I told him you were asleep. (W.Sh.)
Parallelism is often combined with other stylistic devices and is used to back them up, such as
lexical repetition, alliteration, antithesis. It is widely used in the belles-lettres style, in publicistic
and scientific prose with different functions.
1. In emotive prose the main function is to intensify the communicative and expressive
significance of the utterance, e.g. It was not a day to be without a job or cigarettes or lunch. It
was not a day in which he had no interest in it. (I.Shaw)
2. Syntactic parallelism may unite semantically different elements into complex syntactic unities,
creating a true-to-life description of the event, e.g. Shelling the peas, smelling the onions
cooking, watching the deft movements of her perfectly manicured hands, hearing the gay
murmur of her voice, he felt the depression of the last weeks lift. (D.C.)
3. In oratory and publicistic style the main function of parallel constructions is to stress the main
idea of the utterance, to convince the reader or the listener, to cause him to accept the author's
point of view, e.g. But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal - there
is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller... (H. Lee). In the
attorney's speech parallelism creates the effect of gravity and authority.
4. When used in scientific prose parallelism elucidates the scientific phenomenon and helps to
impose upon the reader the author's point of view, e.g. In some cases, a chronological or logical
sequence can in English be changed in presentational order (e.g. told backwards); when this is
done, the referential structure of the tale is unaffected, but the grammatical structure of the

telling is radically altered. Grammatical order is necessarily linear, but referential order is at
least potentially simultaneous. (K.Pk.)
A variety of parallelism is called chiasmus. Here the repeated parts of the sentence come in the
reversed order. Its main function is to attach a new additional content to the utterance, fixing the
addressee's attention on the fact, thus making it prominent, e.g. A court is only as sound as its
jury, and the jury is only as sound as the men who make it up. (H.Lee)
12. Parcellation.This is a specific device of expressive syntax consisting in the deliberate
breaking of a single syntactic structure into two or more intentionally isolated parts separated
from each other by a pause (or a full stop in writing). This device emerges because of the
influence of colloquial speech on literary language. It is common knowledge that when we speak
we don't think of what we are going to say in advance, so oral speech abounds in grammatical
deviations from the norm, deletions, gaps, associative additions of new facts and thoughts. When
they penetrate into literary speech, such constructions are employed by writers for creating
different effects, reflecting the spontaneity and ease of colloquial speech.
Here are the typical functions of parcellation in emotive prose:
1. It may specify the context of the basic part of the utterance, e.g. There was a moment of queer,
not entirely amiable silence. Of waiting to see. (C.A.)
2. It is used for characterizing the psychological state of the literary personage, e.g. They stood
around him. Talking. Poles, he reasoned, with what was left of his mind. (D.Wh.)
3. It may perform a descriptive function, depicting the environment, conditions or details of the
events described, e.g. My hubby has hung himself. In the bathroom. With the cord. (D.Wh.)
4. The parcellation of homogeneous simple predicates with the conjunction and which makes the
utterance rhythmical, conveys dynamism of the action, e.g. With that perhaps in mind, he broke
away briefly, and ran into the plating shop. And returned with a rope, or coil of little cord.
(D.Wh.)
It is obvious that parcellation gives a special rhythmical effect to prose. The reader feels involved
in the described events and is emotionally moved.
13. Rhetorical question.This is a specific interrogative construction which is a question in form,
but remains a statement semantically. The rhetorical question does not demand any information
because the answer to it is in the question itself. Rhetorical questions make an indispensable part
of oratoric speech because they successfully emphasize the orator's ideas. E.g. But who bothers
to sort out the conflicting economic, social and other motives here and to mitigate accordingly?
(Th.D.) The rhetorical question reinforces the meaning of the interrogative sentence and conveys
a stronger shade of emotive meaning.
In emotive prose rhetorical questions are used to pronounce judgements and they also express
various kinds of modal shades of meaning, such as doubt, scorn, challenge, irony and so on. This
is backed up by intonation which differs considerably from the intonation of ordinary questions.
E.g., in the following example the reader can't but feel a touch ofbitterness:
Have I not have to wrestle with my lot? Have I not suffered things to be forgiven? (B.)

Rhetorical questions in the form of negative-interrogative sentences are always charged with
emotive meaning and modality, and imply doubt, sometimes assertion, sometimes suggestion.
They are used in author's narration and represented speech as a means of reproducing the
meditations of the author or of the character, e.g. The naivete with which she pursued such
activities was part of her nature, he had his own peculiarities, why should he not indulge hers?
(A.C.)
General Notes on Styles and Stylistics
The subject of stylistics has so far not been definitely outlined. This is due to a number of
reasons.
First of all there is a confusion between the terms style and stylistics. The first concept is so
broad that it is hardly possible to regard it as a term. We speak of style in architecture, literature,
behaviour, linguistics, dress and other fields of human activity
Even in linguistics the word style is used so widely that it needs interpretation. The majority of
linguists who deal with the subject of style agree that the term applies to the following fields of
investigation.:
1) the aesthetic function of language;
2) expressive means in language;
3) synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea;
4) emotional colouring of language;
5) a system of special devices called stylistic devices;
6) the splitting of the literary language into separate subsystems called stylistic devices;
7) the interrelation between language and thought;
8) the individual manner of an author in making use of language.

The origin of the term Style and Stylistics.

Lat - stylus - a stick made of material for writing.
Stylistics - from French " Stylistique " -instrument for Writing.

1. There is a widely held view that style is the correspondence between thought and expression.
The notion is based on the assumption ; that of the two functions of language, (language is said to
have two functions: it serves as a means of communication and also as a means of shaping one's
thoughts). The first function is called communicative, the second - expressive, the latter finds its
proper materialization in strings of sentences especially arranged to convey the ideas and also to
get the desired response.

Indeed, every sentence uttered may be characterized from two sides: whether or not the string of
language forms expressed is something well-known and therefore easily understood and to some
extent predictable; whether or not the string of language forms is built anew; is, as it were, an
innovation made on the part of the listener to get at the meaning of the utterance and is therefore
unpredictable.
Many great minds have made valuable observations on the interrelation between thought and
expression. The main trend in most of these observations may be summarized as follows the
linguistic form of the idea expressed always reflects the peculiarities of the thought. And vice
versa, the character of the thought will always in a greater or lesser degree manifest itself in the
language forms chosen for the expression of the idea.
2. Another commonly accepted connotation of the term style is embellishment of language. This
concept is popular and is upheld in some of the scientific papers on literary criticism. Language
and style are regarded as separate bodies, language can easily dispense with style, which is
likened to the trimming on a dress. Moreover, style as an embellishment of language is viewed as
something that hinders understanding. In its extreme, style may dress the thought in such fancy
attire that one can hardly get at the idea hidden behind the elaborate design of tricky stylistic
devices.
This notion presupposes the use of bare language forms deprived of any stylistic devices of any
expressive means deliberately employed. Perhaps it is due to this notion that the word "style"
itself still bears a somewhat derogatory meaning. It is associated with the idea of something
pompous, showy artificial, something that is set against simplicity, truthfulness, the natural.
Shakespeare was a determined enemy of all kinds of embellishments of language.
3. A very popular notion among practical linguists, teachers of language, is that style is technique
of expression. In this sense style is generally defined as the ability to write clearly, correctly and
in a manner calculated to the interest of the reader. Style in this utilitarian sense should be taught,
but it belongs to the realm of grammar, and not to stylistics. It sets up a number of rules as to
how to speak and write and discards all kinds of deviations as being violations of the norm. The
norm itself becomes rigid, self-sustained and to a very great extent inflexible.
4. The term style also signifies a literary genre. Thus we speak of classical style or the style of
classicism; realistic style; the style of romanticism and so on. On the other hand, the term is
widely used in literature, being applied to the various kinds of literary work, the fable, novel,
ballad, story etc. Thus we speak of a story being written in the style of a fable or we speak of the
characteristic features of the epistolary style or the essay and so on.
Finally there is one more important application of the term style. We speak of the different styles
of language. A style of Language is a system of interrelated language means which serves a
definite aim in communication. The peculiar choice of language means is primarily dependent on
the aim of communication.
Thus we may distinguish the following styles within the English literary language: 1) the bellesletters style; 2) the publicistic style; 3) the newspaper style; 4} the scientific prose style; 5) the
style of official documents and presumably some others. The classification presented here is not
arbitrary, the work is still in the observational stage. The classification is not proof against
criticism, though no one will deny that the five groups of styles exist in the English literary
language.

Stylistics and its Subdivisions

1. Galperin: Stylisitics is a branch of general linguistics, which deals with the following two
interdependent tasks:
a) studies the totality of special linguistic means ( stylistic devices and expressive means ) which
secure the desirable effect of the utterance;
b) studies certain types of texts "discourse" which due to the choice and arrangement of the
language are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication (functional styles).
Depending on the school of thought there are:
1. Linguo-stylistics;
2. Literary stylistics;
3. Stylistics of decoding;
1. Linguo - stylistics is the study of literary discourse from a linguistic orientation. The
linguistics is concerned with the language codes themselves and particular messages of interest
and so far as to exemplify how the codes are constructed.
2. Literary stylistics: is to explicate the message to interprete and evaluate literary writings as the
works of art.
3. Stylistics of decoding can be presented in the following way:
sender - message - receiver speaker - book - reader.

Process of reading is decoding.

The subject of stylistics can be outlined as the study of the nature, functions and structure of
stylistic devices, on the one hand, and, on the other, the study of each style of language as
classified above, i, e, its aim, its structure, its characteristic features and the effect it produces, as
well as its interrelation with other styles of language. The task we set before ourselves is to make
an attempt to single out such, problems as are typically stylistic and cannot be treated in any
other branch of linguistic science.
Expressive Means (EM) and Stylistic Devices (SD)
In linguistics there are different terms to denote those particular means by which a writer obtains
his effect. Expressive means, stylistic means, stylistic devices and other terms are all used
indiscriminately For our purposes it is necessary to make a distinction between expressive means
and stylistic devices. All stylistic means of a language can be divided into expressive means,
which are used in some specific way, and special devices called stylistic devices. The expressive
means of a language are those phonetic means, morphological forms, means of word-building,
and lexical, phraseological and syntactical forms, all of which function in the language for
emotional or logical intensification of the utterance. These intensifying forms of the language
have been fixed in grammars and dictionaries. Some of them are normalized, and good

dictionaries label them as intensifiers. In most cases they have corresponding neutral
synonymous forms.
The most powerful expressive means of any language are phonetic. Pitch, melody, stress,
pausation, drawling, drawling out certain syllables, whispering, a sing-song manner of speech
and other ways of using the voice are more effective than any other means in intensifying the
utterance emotionally or logically. Among the morphological expressive means the use of the
Present indefinite instead of the Past Indefinite must be mentioned first. This has already been
acknowledged as a special means and is named the Historical Present. In describing some past
events the author uses the present tense, thus achieving a more vivid picturisation of what was
going on.
The use of "shall" in the second and third person may also be regarded as an expressive means.
Compare the following synonymous forms and you will not fail to observe the intensifying
element in the sentence with "shall".
He shall do it = (I shall make him do it)
He has to do it = (It is necessary for him to do it)
Among word - building means we find a great many forms which serve to make the utterance
more expressive and fresh or to intensify it. The diminutive suffixes as - (ie), - let, e. g. dear,
dearie, stream, streamlet, add some emotional colouring to the words.
Certain affixes have gained such a power of expressiveness that they begin functioning as
separate words, absorbing all of generalizing meaning they usually attach to different roots, as
for example: -ism and ologies.
At the lexical level there are a great many words which due to their inner expressiveness,
constitute a special layer There are words with emotive meaning only, like interjections, words
which have both referential and emotive meaning, like some of the qualitative adjectives, words
belonging to special groups of Literary English or of non - standard English (poetic, archaic,
slang, vulgar, etc.) and some other groups.
-The same can be said of the set expressions of the language. Proverbs and sayings as well as
catch - words for a considerable number of language units which serve to make speech more
emphatic, mainly from the emotional point of view. Their use in everyday speech can hardly be
overestimated. Some of these proverbs and sayings are so well - known that their use in the
process of communication passes almost unobserved.
The expressive means of the language are studied respectively in manuals of phonetics,
grammar, lexicology and stylistics. Stylistics, however, observes not only the nature of an
expressive means, but also its potential capacity of becoming a stylistic device.
What then is a stylistic device? It is a conscious and intentional literary use of some of the facts
of the language including EM in which the most essential features both structural and semantic
of the language forms are raised to a generalized level and thereby present a generative model.
Most stylistic devices may be regarded as aiming at the further intensification in the
corresponding EM.

This conscious transformation of a language fact into a stylistic devise has been observed by
certain linguists whose interests in scientific research have gone beyond the boundaries of
grammar.
The birth of a SD is not accidental. Language means which are used with more or less definite
aims of communication and in one and the same function in various passage of writing, begin
gradually to develop new features, a wider range of functions and become a relative means of the
language. It would perhaps be more correct to say that/unlike expressive means, stylistic devices
are patterns of the language whereas the expressive means do not form patterns. They are just
like words themselves, they are facts of the language, and as such are, or should be, registered in
dictionaries.
The interrelation between expressive means and stylistic devices can be worded in terms of the
theory of information. Expressive means have a greater degree of predictability than stylistic
devices. The latter may appear in an environment which may seem alien and therefore be only
slightly or not at all predictable. Expressive means are commonly used in language, and are
therefore easily predictable. Stylistic devices carry a greater amount of information because if
they are at all predictable they are less predictable than expressive means. It follows that stylistic
devices must be regarded as a special code which has still to be deciphered.
Not every stylistic use of a language fact will come under the term SD. There are practically
unlimited possibilities of presenting any language fact in what is vaguely called it's stylistic use.

Stylistic Classification of the English Vocabulary

1. General considerations. In order to get a more or less idea of the word stock of any language,
it must be presented as a system, the elements of which are interconnected, interrelated and yet
independent. The word stock of a language may be represented as a definite system in which
different aspects of words may be singled out as interdependent. A special branch of linguistic
science-lexicology - has done much to classify vocabulary. For our purpose, i. e. for linguistic
stylistics, a special type of classification, stylistic classification is the most important.
An accordance with the division of language into literary and colloquial, we may represent the
whole of the word stock of the English language as being divided into three main layers: the
literary layer, the neutral layer and the colloquial layer. The literary and the colloquial layers
contain a number of subgroups each of which has a property it shares with all the subgroups
within the layer. This common property, which unites the different groups of words within the
layer may be called its aspect. The aspect of the literary layer is its markedly bookish character.
It is this that makes the layer more or less stable. The aspect of the colloquial layer of words is its
lively spoken character. It is this that makes it unstable, fleeting.
The aspect of the neutral layer is its universal character. That means it is unrestricted in its use. It
can be employed in all styles of language and in all spheres of human activity. The literary layer
of words consists of groups accepted as legitimate members of the English vocabulary. They
have no local or dialectal character. The colloquial layer of words as qualified in most English or
American dictionaries is not infrequently limited to a definite language community or confine to
a special locality where it circulates. The literary vocabulary consists of the following groups of
words: 1) common literary; 2) terms and learned words; 3) poetic words; 4) archaic words; 5)
barbarisms & foreign words; 6) literary coinages including nonce words.

The colloquial vocabulary falls into the following groups: 1) common colloquial words; 2) slang;
3) jargonisms; 4) professional words; 5) dialectal words; 6) vulgar words; 7) colloquial coinages.
The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are grouped under the term standard
English vocabulary.

Phonetic Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices

The stylistic approach to the utterance is not confined to its structure and sense. There is another
thing to be taken into account which in a certain type of communication plays an important role.
This is the way a word, a phrase or a sentence sounds. The sound of most words taken separately
will have little or no aesthetic value. It is in combination with other words that a word may
acquire a desired phonetic effect. The way a separate word sounds may produce a certain
euphonic effect, but this is a matter of individual perception and feeling and therefore subjective.
The theory of sense - independence of separate sounds is based on a subjective interpretation of
sound associations and has nothing to do with objective scientific data. However, the sound of a
word, or more exactly the way words sound in combination, cannot fail to contribute something
to the general effect of the message, particularly when the sound effect has been deliberately
worked out. This can easily be recognized when analyzing alliterative word combinations or the
rhymes in certain stanzas or from more elaborate analysis of sound arrangement.

Onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is a combination of speech sounds which alms at imitating sounds produced in
nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc.) by things (machines or tools, etc.) by people (singing, laughter)
and animals. Therefore the relation between onomatopoeia and the phenomenon it is supposed to
represent is one of metonymy There are two varieties of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect.
Direct onomatopoeia is contained in words that imitate natural sounds, as ding-dong, burr,
bang, cuckoo. These words have different degrees of imitative quality. Some of them
immediately bring to mind whatever it is that produces the sound. Others require the exercise of
a certain amount of imagination to decipher it. Onomatopoetic words can be used in a transferred
meaning, as for instance, ding - dong, which represents the sound of bells rung continuously,
may mean 1) noisy, 2) strenuously contested.
Indirect onomatopoeia demands some mention of what makes the sound, as rustling of curtains
in the following line. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain. Indirect
onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds the aim of which is to make the sound of the utterance
an echo of its sense. It is sometimes called "echo writing". An example is: And the silken, sad,
uncertain rustling of each purple curtain" (E. A. Poe), where the repetition of the sound [s]
actually produces the sound of the rustling of the curtain.

Alliteration

Alliteration is a phonetic stylistic device which aims at imparting a melodic effect to the
utterance. The essence of this device lies in the repetition of similar sounds, in particular
consonant sounds, in close succession, particularly at the beginning of successive words: " The
possessive instinct never stands still (J. Galsworthy) or, "Deep into the darkness peering, long I
stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream
before" (E. A. Poe).
Alliteration, like most phonetic expressive means, does not bear any lexical or other meaning
unless we agree that a sound meaning exists as such. But even so we may not be able to specify
clearly the character of this meaning, and the term will merely suggest that a certain amount of
information is contained in the repetition of sounds, as is the case with the repetition of lexical
units.

Rhyme
Rhyme is the repetition of identical or similar terminal sound combination of words. Rhyming
words are generally placed at a regular distance from each other. In verse they are usually placed
at the end of the corresponding lines.
Identity and similarity of sound combinations may be relative. For instance, we distinguish
between full rhymes and incomplete rhymes. The full rhyme presupposes identity of the vowel
sound and the following consonant sounds in a stressed syllable, including the initial consonant
of the second syllable (in polysyllabic words), we have exact or identical rhymes.
Incomplete rhymes present a greater variety They can be divided into two main groups: vowel
rhymes and consonant rhymes. In vowel-rhymes the vowels of the syllables in corresponding
words are identical, but the consonants may be different as in flesh - fresh -press. Consonant
rhymes, on the contrary, show concordance in consonants and disparity in vowels, as in worth forth, tale - tool -treble - trouble; flung - long.
Modifications in rhyming sometimes go so far as to make one word rhyme with a combination of
words; or two or even three words rhyme with a corresponding two or three words, as in "upon
her honour - won her", "bottom forgot them- shot him". Such rhymes are called compound or
broken. The peculiarity of rhymes of this type is that the combination of words is made to sound
like one word - a device which inevitably gives a colloquial and sometimes a humorous touch to
the utterance. Compound rhyme may be set against what is called eye - rhyme, where the letters
and not the sounds are identical, as in love - prove, flood - brood, have - grave. It follows that
compound rhyme is perceived in reading aloud, eye - rhyme can only be perceived in the written
verse.

Rhythm
Rhythm exists in all spheres of human activity and assumes multifarious forms. It is a mighty
weapon in stirring up emotions whatever its nature or origin, whether it is musical, mechanical or
symmetrical as in architecture. The most general definition of rhythm may be expressed as
follows: "rhythm is a flow, movement, procedure, etc. characterized by basically regular
recurrence of elements or features, as beat, or accent, in alternation with opposite or different
elements of features" (Webster's New World Dictionary).

Rhythm can be perceived only provided that there is some kind of experience in catching the
opposite elements or features in their correlation, and, what is of paramount importance,
experience in catching regularity of alternating patterns. Rhythm is a periodicity, which requires
specification as to the type of periodicity. Inverse rhythm is regular succession of weak and
strong stress. A rhythm in language necessarily demands oppositions that alternate: long, short;
stressed, unstressed; high, low and other contrasting segments of speech.
Academician V.M. Zhirmunsky suggests that the concept of rhythm should be distinguished from
that of a metre. Metre is any form of periodicity in verse, its kind being determined by the
character and number of syllables of which it consists. The metre is a strict regularity,
consistency and unchangeability. Rhythm is flexible and sometimes an effort is required to
perceive it. In classical verse it is perceived at the background of the metre. In accented verse by the number of stresses in a line. In prose - by the alternation of similar syntactical patterns.
Rhythm in verse as a S. D. is defined as a combination of the ideal metrical scheme and the
variations of it, variations which are governed by the standard. There are the following rhythmic
patterns of verse:
iambus
dactul
umphibrach
anapaest.
Rhythm is not a mere addition to verse or emotive prose, which also has its rhythm. Rhythm
intensifies the emotions. It contributes to the general sense. Much has been said and writhen
about rhythm in prose. Some investigators, in attempting to find rhythmical patterns of prose,
superimpose metrical measures on prose. But the parametres of the rhythm in verse and in prose
are entirely different.

Lexical Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices

Words in a context may acquire additional lexical meanings not fixed in the dictionaries, what
we have called contextual meanings. The latter may sometimes deviate from the dictionary
meaning to such a degree that the new meaning even becomes the opposite of the primary
meaning. What is known in linguistics as transferred meaning is practically the interrelation
between two types of lexical meaning: dictionary and contextual.
The transferred meaning of a word may be fixe in dictionaries as a result of long and frequent
use of the word other than in its primary meaning. In this case we register a derivative meaning
of the word. Hence the term transferred should be used signifying th development of the
semantic structure of the word. In this case we do not perceive two meanings. When we perceive
two meanings of the word simultaneously, we are confronted with a stylistic device in which the
two meanings interact.

Imagery

In philosophy "image" denotes the result of reflection of the object of reality in man's
consciousness. On the sensible level our senses, ideas might be regarded as images. On a higher
level of thinking images take the form of concepts, judgements, conclusions. Depending on the
level of reflecting the objective reality ( sensual and conceptual) there are 2 types of images:
1. Art - reflects the objective reality in human life. While informing us of a phenomenon of life it
simultaneously expresses our attitude towards it.
2. Literature - deals with a specific type of artistic images, verbal - is a pen - picture of a thing,
person or idea expressed in a figurative way in their contextual meaning in music - sounds. The
overwhelming majority of Iinguists agree that a word is the smallest unit being able to create
images because it conveys the artistic reality and image. On this level the creation of images is
the result of the interaction of two meanings: direct (denotation) and indirect (figurative). Lexical
expressive meanings in which a word or word combination is used figuratively are called tropes.
The verbal meaning has the following structure:
1. Tenor (direct thought) subjective;
2. Vehicle (figurative thought) objective;
3. Ground is the common feature of T and V;
4. The relation between T and V;
5. The technique of identification (The type of trope);

T G

R V

e. g. She is sly like a fox (simile). Images may be individual, general.

a) deal with concrete thing or idea e.g. Thirsty wind.

b) embrace the whole book e. g. War and Peace.
c) visual
e. g. the cloudy lifeage of the sky
d) oral - created by sound imitations

Classification of Lexical Stylistic Devices

There are 3 groups.
1. The interaction of different types of lexical meaning.

a) dictionary and contextual (metaphor, metonymy, irony);

b) primary and derivative (zeugma and pun);
c) logical and emotive (epithet, oxymoron);
d) logical and nominative (autonomasia);

2. Intensification of a feature (simile, hyperbole, periphrasis).

3.Peculiar use of set expressions (cliches, proverbs, epigram, quotations).
I. The Interaction of Different Types of Lexical Meaning
1. Interaction of Dictionary And Contextual Logical Meaning
The relation between dictionary and contextual meanings may be maintained along different
lines: on the principle of affinity, on that of proximity, or symbol - referent relations, or on
opposition. Thus the stylistic device based on the first principle is metaphor, on the second,
metonymy and on the third, irony
A metaphor is a relation between the dictionary and contextual logical meanings based on the
affinity or similarity of certain properties or features of the two corresponding concepts.
Metaphor can be embodied in all the meaningful parts of speech, in nouns, adjectives, verbs,
adverbs and sometimes even in the auxiliary parts of speech , as in prepositions. Metaphor as any
stylistic devices can be classified according to their degree of unexpectedness. Thus metaphors
which are absolutely unexpected, are quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. e. g.
Through the open window the dust danced and was golden. Those which are commonly used in
speech and are sometimes fixed in the dictionaries as expressive means of language are trite
metaphors or dead metaphors e. g. a flight of fancy, floods of tears.
Trite metaphors are sometimes injected with new vigour, their primary meaning is re- established
alongside the new derivative meaning. This is done by supplying the central image created by the
metaphor with additional words bearing some reference to the main word. e. g. Mr. Pickwick
bottled up his vengeance and corked it down.
The verb " to bottle up " is explained as " to keep in check", to conceal, to restrain, repress. So
the metaphor can be hardly felt. But it is revived by the direct meaning of the verb "to cork
down". Such metaphors are called sustained or prolonged. Stylistic function of a metaphor is to
make the description concrete, to express the individual attitude.
Metonymy is based on a different type of relation between the dictionary and contextual
meanings, a relation based not on affinity, but on some kind of association connecting the two
concepts which these meanings represent on a proximity
The proximity may be revealed:
1) between the symbol and the thing it denotes;
2) in the relations between the instrument and the action performed with this instrument;

e.g. His pen is rather sharp.

3) in the relation between the container and the thing it contains; e.g. He drank one more cup.
4) the concrete is put for the abstract;
e. g. It was a representative gathering (science, politics).
5) a part is put for the whole;
e.g. the crown - king, a hand - worker.
Metonymy represents the events of reality in its subjective attitude. Metonymy in many cases is
trite.
e.g.:" to earn one's bread", "to keep one's mouth shut".
Irony is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings are in opposition to each other. The literal
meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning. One thing is said and the other opposite is
implied.
e.g. Nice weather, isn't it? (on a rainy day).

2. Interaction of Primary and Derivative Logical Meanings

There are special SDs which make a word materialize distinct dictionary meanings. They are
zeugma and the pun. Zeugma is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different
semantic relations to two adjacent words in the context, the semantic relations being on the one
hand literal, and on the other, transferred. e. g. Dora, plunging at once into privileged intimacy
and into the middle of the room.
Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the primary meaning when two
meanings clash. The pun is another S.D. based on the interaction of two wellknown meanings of
a word or a phrase. 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. Like any S.D. it must depend on a context. But the
context may be of a more expanded character, sometimes even as large as a whole work of
emotive prose.
e.g.- Did you miss my lecture ?
- Not at all.
Pun seems to be more varied and resembles zeugma in its humourous effect only.

3. Interaction of Logical and Emotive Meaning

Interjections and Eclamatory Words Interjections are words we use when we express our
feelings strongly and which may be said to exist in language as conventional symbols of human
emotions. In traditional grammars the interjection is regarded as a part of speech. But there is
another view which regards the interjection as a sentence.
However a close investigation proves that interjection is a word with strong emotive meaning.
e. g. Oh, where are you going to, all you Big Steamers?
The interjection oh, by itself may express various feelings such as regret, despair,
disappointment, sorrow, surprise and many others. Interjections can be divided into primary and
derivative. Primary interjections are generally devoid of any logical meaning. Interjections such
as: Heavens! Good gracious! God knows! Bless me! are exclamatory words generally used as
interjections. It must be noted that some adjectives and adverbs can also take on the function of
interjections - such as terrible! awfully! great! wonderful! splendid! These adjectives acquire
strong emotional colouring and are equal in force to interjections.
The epithet is based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word,
phrase or even sentence, used to characterize an object and pointing out to the reader some of the
properties or features of the object with the aim of giving an individual perception and evaluation
of these features or properties.

Classification of Epithets
From the point of view of their compositional structure epithets may be divided into:
1) simple (adjectives, nouns, participles): e.g. He looked at them in animal panic.
2) compound: e.g. apple - faced man;
3) sentence and phrase epithets: e.g. It is his do - it - yourself attitude.
4) reversed epithets - composed of 2 nouns linked by an ofphrase: e.g. "a shadow of a smile";
Semantically according to I. Galperin.
1) associated with the noun following it, pointing to a feature which is essential to the objects
they describe: dark forest; careful attention.
2) unassociated with the noun, epithets that add a feature which is unexpected and which strikes
the reader: smiling sun, voiceless sounds.
Oxymoron is a combination of two words in which the meaning is opposite in sense.
e. g. speaking silence, cold fire, living death.
Close to oxymoron is paradox - a statement that is absurd on the surface. e.g. War is peace. The
worse - the better.

Trite oxymoron. e.g. Awfully beautiful.

If the primary meaning of qualifying word changes the stylistic effect of oxymoron is lost. In
oxymoron the logical meaning holds fast because there is no true word combination.

4. Interaction of Logical and Nominative Meaning

Antonomasia. It is the result of interaction between logical and nominal meaning of a word.
1) When the proper name of a person, who is famous for some reasons, is put for a person having
the same feature.
e.g. Her husband is an Othello.
2) A common noun is used instead of a proper name, e. g. I agree with you Mr. Logic, e.g. My
Dear Simplicity.

XI. Intensification of a Feature

Simile. The intensification of some feature of the concept is realized in a device called simile.
Similes set one object against another regardless of the fact that they may be completely alien to
each other. The simile gives rise to a new understanding of the object. The properties of an object
maybe viewed from different angles, f. e. its state, its actions, manners Accordingly, similes may
be based on adjective - attributes, adverb - modifiers, verb - predicates etc.
Similes have formal elements in their structure: connective words such as like, as, such as, as if,
seem.
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.
Euphemism is used to avoid some unpleasant things, or taboo things.
e. g. To pass away - to die.

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.

III. Peculiar Use of Set Expressions

The Cliche
A cliche 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. Cliche 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.
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 culture- lessons 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.
Epigram is a short clever amusing saying or poem. e.g. A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
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.
Allusion is an indirect reference, by word or phrase, to a historical. literary, mythological fact or
to a fact of everyday life made in the course of speaking or writing. The use of allusion
presupposes knowledge of the fact, thing o person alluded to on the part of the reader or
listener.

Syntactical Stylistic Devices Classification of Syntactical Stylistic Devices

Groups.
I. Patterns of syntactical
arrangement

Inversion,

Detachment.

Parallelism.
Chiasmus.
Repetition.
Enumeration.
Suspense.
Climax.
Antithesis.

II. Peculiar linkage

Asyndeton.

Polysyndeton.
Gap - sentence - link.

III. Colloquial constructions

Ellipsis.

Aposiopesis.
Question - in - the narrative.
Represented speech.

IV. Stylistic use of structural

Rhetorical questions,.

meaning Litotes.

I. 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 inderpendent of the word it refers to. Being formally inderpendent this
secondary member acquires a greater degree of significance and is given prominence by
intonation. e.g. She was gone. For good.
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.
Chiasums is based on repetition of syntactical patterns, but it has a reversed order in one of the
utterances.
e.g. She was a good sport about all this, but so was he.
Suspense - is a compositional device which is realized through the separation of the Predicate
from the Subject by deliberate introduction between them of a clause or a sentence. Thus the
reader's interest is held up. This device is typical of oratoric style.
Climax (gradation) - an ascending series of words or utterances in which intensity or significance
increases step by step.
e. g. Every racing car, every racer, every mechanic, every ice - cream van was also plastered with
advertising.
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.
Enumeration is a SD which separates things, properties or actions brought together and form a
chain of grammatically and semantically homogeneous parts of the utterance.

e. g. She wasn't sure of anything and more, of him, herself, their friends, her work, her future.

II. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Linkage

Asyndeton is a deliberate avoidance of conjunctions in constructions in which they would
normally used.
e.g. He couldn't go abroad alone, the sea upset his liver, he hated hotels.
Polysyndeton - is an identical repetition of conjunctions: used to emphasize simultaneousness of
described actions, to disclose the authors subjective attitude towards the characters, to create the
rhythmical effect.
e. g. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in
only one respect.
Gap - sentence - link It presents two utterances the second is brought into the focus of the
reader's attention.
e. g. She and that fellow ought to be the sufferers, and they were in I tally.

III. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Use of Colloquial Constructions

Ellipsis, break in the narrative, represented speech.
Ellipsis - is the omition of a word necessary for the complete syntactical construction of a
sentence, but not necessary for understanding. The stylistic function of ellipsis used in author's
narration is to change its tempo, to connect its structure.
e. g. You feel all right? Anything wrong or what?
Aposiopesis (Break - in - the narrative). Sudden break in the narration has the function to reveal
agitated state of the speaker.
e. g. On the hall table there were a couple of letters addressed to her. One was the bill. The
other...
There are 3 ways of reproducing character's speech.
1) direct speech;
2) indirect speech (reported speech)
3) represented speech.
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.
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.

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

Rhetorical questions.
Rhetorical question is one that expects no answer. It is asked in order to make a statement rather
than to get a reply They are frequently used in dramatic situation and in publisistic style.
e. g. What was the good of discontented people who fitted in nowhere?
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 meanixig. 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.

Functional Styles of the English Language

According to Galperin: Functional Style is a system of interrelated language means serving a
definite aim in communication. It is the coordination of the language means and stylistic devices
which shapes the distinctive features of each style and not the language means or stylistic
devices themselves. Each style, however, can be recoquized by one or more leading features
which are especially conspicuous. For instance the use of special terminology is a lexical
characteristics of the style of scientific prose, and one by which it can easily be recognized.

Classification of Functional Styles of the English Language

3. The Newspaper Functional Style.

1. The Belles - Lettres Functional Style.

a) poetry;
b) emotive prose;

a) brief news items;

b) advertisments and
announcements;
c) headlines;

c) drama;

2. Publicistic Functional Style,

a) oratory;
b) essays;
c) articles in newspapers and magazines;

5. The Official Documents Functional Style.

a) diplomatic documents;
b) business letters;
c) military documents;
d) legal documents;

The Problem of Colloquial Style

Galperin denies the existence of this functional style. He thinks that functional style can be
singled out in the written variety of language. He defines the style as the result of a deliberate
careful selection of language means which in their correlation constitute this style.
Maltzev thinks that style is a choice but this choice is very often done unconsciously,
spontaneously He thinks that the main aim of functional style is to facilitate a communication in
a certain sphere of discourse. But the rigid lay outs of business and official letters practically
exclude the possibility of deliberate, careful selection. One more example the compression in the
newspapers headlines where there is a tendency to abbreviate language.
There's a descrepancy in Galperin's theory. One of the substyles of the publicistic style is oratory
which is its oral subdivision. Kuznetz and Skrebnev give the definitions of bookish and
colloquial styles. The bookish style is a style of a highly polished nature that reflects the norm of
the national literary language. The bookish style may be used not only in the written speech but
in oral, official talk.

Colloquial style is the type of speech which is used in situation that allows certain deviations
from the rigid pattern of literary speech used not only in a private conversation, but also in
private correspondence. So the style is applicable both to the written and oral varieties of the
terms "colloquial" and "bookish" don't exactly correspond to the oral and written forms of
speech. Maltzev suggests terms "formal" and "informal" and states that colloquial style is the
part of informal variety of English which is used orally in conversation.

The Belles - Lettres Style, its Substyles and its Peculiarities

The term "Belles - lettres" is generic for 3 substyles:
- poetry;
- emotive prose;
- drama;
The Belles-lettres style has its own specific function which is double -phoned. Besides,
iriformingthe reader, itirnpresses the reader aesthetically.
Its function is aesthetico - cognitive, cognitive on the one hand and receiving pleasure on the
other
The means of this functional style are:
- genuine imaginative means and SDs;
- the use of words in its contextual meaning;
- the individual choice of vocabulary which reflects the author's personal evaluation;
- a peculiar individual selection of syntax;
- the introduction of elements of other styles;
Poetry. Peculiarities - rhythm and rhyme. As a SD rhythm is a combination of the ideal metrical
scheme and its variations governed by the standard.
Emotive prose. Emotive prose is a combination of literary variant of the language and colloquial,
which is presented by the speech of the characters which is stylized that means it has been made
"literature like" and some elements of conversational English were made use of. Emotive prose
allows the use of elements of other styles but the author changes them and fulfils a certain
function. SDs used: in emotive prose style are represented speech, detached constructions, gap sentence link.
Drama - the language of plays mainly consists of dialogues. The author's speech is in the form
of stage remarks. Any presentation of a play is an aesthetic procedure. The language of a play
has the following peculiarities:
- it is stylized (retains the modus of literary English);

- it presents the variety of spoken language;

- it has redundancy of information caused by necessity to amplify the utterance;
- monologue is never interrupted;
- character's utterances are much longer than in ordinary conversation;

The Pubicistic Style, its Substyles, and their Peculiarities

The Pubicistic Style treats certain political, social, economic, cultural problems. The aim of this
style is to form public opinion, to convince the reader or the listener.
Substyles: The oratory essays, journalistic articles, radio and TV commentary.
Oratory. It makes use of a great hummber of expressive means to arouse and keep the public's
interest: repetition, gradation, antithesis, rhetorical questions, emotive words, elements of
colloquial speech.
Radio and TV commentary is less impersonal and more expressive and emotional.
The essay is very subjective and the most colloquial of the all substyles of the publicistic style. It
makes use of expressive means and tropes.
The journalistic articles are impersonal.
The Newspaper FS, its Ssubstyles and their Peculiarities
To understand the language peculiarities of English newspaper style it will be sufficient to
analyse the following basic newspaper features:
1) brief news items;
2) advertisements and announcements;
3) headlines;
Brief items: its function is to inform the reader. It states only facts without giving comments.
The vocabulary used is neutral and common literary. Specific features are:
a) special political and economic terms;
b) non-term political vocabulary;
c) newspaper clichms;
d) abbreviations;
e) neologisms.

Headlines. The main function is to inform the reader briefly of what the news is to follow about.
Syntactically headlines are very short sentences, interrogative sentences, nominative sentences,
elliptical sentences, sentences with articles omitted, headlines including direct speech.
Advertisements and announcements. The function of advertisements and announcements is to
inform the reader. There are two types of them: classified and non-classified. In classified the
information is arranged according to the subject matter: births, marriages, deaths, business offers,
personal etc.

The Scientific Prose Style, its Substyles and their Peculiarities

The style of scientific prose has 3 subdivisions:
1) the style of humanitarian sciences;
2) the style of "exact" sciences;
3) the style of popular scientific prose.
Its function is to work out and ground theoretically objective knowledge about reality
The aim of communication is to create new concepts, disclose the international laws of
existence.
The peculiarities are: objectiveness; logical coherence, impersonality, unemotional character,
exactness.
Vocabulary. The use of terms and words used to express a specialized concept in a given branch
of science. Terms are not necessarily. They may be borrowed from ordinary language but are
given a new meaning.
The scientific prose style consists mostly of ordinary words which tend to be used in their
primary logical meaning. Emotiveness depends on the subject of investigation but mostly
scientific prose style is unemotional.
Grammar: The logical presentation and cohesion of thought manifests itself in a developed
feature of scientific syntax is the use of established patterns.
- postulatory;
- formulative;
- argumentative;
The impersonal and objective character of scientific prose style is revealed in the frequent use of
passive constructions, impersonal sentences. Personal sentences are more frequently used in
exact sciences. In humanities we may come across constructions but few.
The parallel arrangement of sentences contributes to emphasizing certain points in the utterance.

Some features of the style in the text are:

- use of quotations and references;
- use of foot-notes helps to preserve the logical coherence of ideas.
Humanities in comparison with "exact" sciences employ more emotionally coloured words,
fewer passive constructions.
Scientific popular style has the following peculiarities: emotive words, elements of colloquial
style
The Style of Official Documents and its Substyles
1) Language of business letters;
2) Language of legal documents;
3) Language of diplomacy;
4) Language of military documents; The aim:
1. to reach agreement between two contracting parties;
2. to state the conditions binding two parties in an understanding. Each of substyles of official
documents makes use of special terms. Legal documents: military documents, diplomatic
documents. The documents use set expressions inherited from early Victorian period. This
vocabulary is conservative. Legal documents contain a large proportion of formal and archaic
words used in their dictionary meaning. In diplomatic and legal documents many words have
Latin and French origin. There are a lot of abbreviations and conventional symbols.
The most noticable feature of grammar is the compositional pattern. Every document has its own
stereotyped form. The form itself is informative and tells you with what kind of letter we deal
with.
Business letters contain: heading, addressing, salutation, the opening, the body, the closing,
complimentary clause, the signature. Syntactical features of business letters are - the
predominance of extended simple and complex sentences, wide use of participial constructions,
homogeneous members.
Morphological peculiarities are passive constructions, they make the letters impersonal. There is
a tendency to avoid pronoun reference. Its typical feature is to frame equally important factors
and to divide them by members in order to avoid ambiguity of the wrong interpretation.

Phono-graphical level Morphological level

Sound instrumenting. Graphon. Graphical
means.
Devoid of denotational or connotational meaning a
phoneme has a strong associative and soundinstrumenting power. Well-known are numerous cases of
onomatopoeia - the use of words whose sounds
imitate those of the signified object or action, such as
"hiss", "grumble", "sizzle" and many more.
Imitating the sounds of nature, man, inanimate
objects, and the acoustic form of the word foregrounds
the latter, inevitably emphasizing its meaning too. Thus
the phonemic structure of the word proves to be
important for the creation of expressive and emotive
connotations. A message, containing an onomatopoeic
word is not limited to transmitting the logical information
only, but also supplies the vivid portrayal of the situation
described.
Poetry abounds in some specific types of soundinstrumenting,
the
leading
role
belonging
to
alliteration-the repetition of consonants, usually in the
beginning ot words, and assonance-the repetition of
similar vowels, usually in stressed syllables. They both
may produce the effect of euphony (a sense of ease and
comfort in pronouncing or hearing) or cacophony (a
sense of strain and discomfort in pronouncing or
hearing).
To create additional information in a prose discourse
sound-instrumenting is seldom used. In contemporary
advertising, mass media and, above all, creative prose
sound is foregrounded mainly through the change of its

accepted graphical representation. This intentional

violation of the graphical shape of a word (or word
combination) used to reflect its authentic pronunciation is
called graphon.
Graphon proved to be an effective means of
supplying information about the speaker's origin, social
and educational background, physical or emotional condition, etc. Reader obtains not only the vivid image and
the social, cultural, educational characteristics of the
personages. On the other hand they may show the
physical defects of the speakers-the stumbling of one and
the lisping of the other.
Graphon thus individualizing the character's speech.
At the same time, graphon is very good at conveying
the atmosphere of authentic live communication, of the
informality of the speech act. Some amalgamated
forms, which are the result of strong assimilation,
became cliches in contemporary prose dialogue:
"gimme" (give me), "lemme" (let me). Graphical
changes may reflect not only the peculiarities of
pronunciation, but are also used to convey the intensity
of the stress, emphasizing and thus foregrounding the
stressed words. To such purely graphical means, not
involving the violations, we should refer all changes of
the type (italics, capitalization), spacing of graphemes
(hyphenation, multiplication) and of lines.
According to the frequency of usage, variability of
functions, the first place among graphical means of
foregrounding is occupied by italics. Intensity of speech
(often in commands) is transmitted through the
multiplication of a grapheme or capitalization of the
word, Hyphenation of a word suggests the rhymed or

clipped manner in which it is uttered as in, O'Connor's

story -"grinning like a chim-pan-zee".
Morphemic Repetition. Extension of Morphemic
Valency
One important way of promoting a morpheme is its
repetition. Both root and affixational morphemes can be
emphasized through repetition. affixational morphemes
which normally carry the main weight of the structural
and not of the denotational significance, when repeated
they come into the focus of attention and stress either
their logical meaning (e.g. that of contrast, negation,
absence of a quality as in such prefixes like a-, -anti-,
mis-; or of smallness as in suffixes -ling and -ette); their
emotive and evaluative meaning, as in suffixes forming"
degrees of comparison; or else they add to the.
rhythmical effect and text unity.
The second, even more effective way of using a
morpheme for the creation of additional information is
extension of its normative valency which results in the
formation of new words They are not neologisms in the
true sense created for special communicative situations
only, and are not used beyond these occasions. This is
why they are called occasional words and are
characterized by freshness, originality, lucidity of their
inner form and morphemic structure.
In case of repetition a morpheme gains much
independence and bears major responsibility for the
creation of additional information and stylistic effect.
Lexical level
the word which names, qualifies and evaluates the
micro- and macrocosm of the surrounding world. The

most essential feature of a word is that it expresses the

concept of a thing process phenomenon, naming them.
Concept is a logical category, its linguistic counter part
is meaning. Meaning is the unity of generalization,
communication and thinking. An entity of extreme
complexity, the meaning of a word is liable to historical
changes, which are responsible for the formation of an
expanded semantic structure of a word. This structure is
constituted of various types of lexical meanings, the
major one being denotational, which informs of the
subject
of
communication;
and
also
including
connotational, which informs about the participants and
conditions of communication.
The list and specification of connotational meanings
varies with different linguistic schools and individual
scholars and includes such entries as pragmatic
(directed at the perlocutionary effect of utterance),
associative (connected, through individual psychological
or Linguistic associations, with related and non-related
notions), ideological, or conceptual (revealing political,
social, ideological preferences of the user), evaluative
(stating the value of the indicated notion), emotive
(revealing the emotional layer of cognition and
perception), expressive (aiming at creating the image
of the object in question), stylistic (indicating "the
register", or the situation of the communication).
The number, importance and the overlapping character
of connotational meanings incorporated into the
semantic structure of- a word, are brought forth by the
context, i. e. a concrete speech act that identifies and
actualizes each one. More than that; each context does
not only specify the existing semantic (both
denotational and connotational) possibilities of a word,

but also is capable of adding new ones, or deviating

rather considerably from what is registered in the
dictionary. Because of that all contextual meanings of a
word can never be exhausted or comprehensively
enumerated.
In semantic actualization of a word the context
plays a dual role: on the one hand, it cuts off all
meanings irrelevant for the given communicative
situation. On the other, it foregrounds one of the
meaningful
options
of
a
word,
focusing
the
communicators' attention on one of the denotational or
connonational components of its semantic structure.
The significance of the context is comparatively small
in the field of stylistic connotations, because the word
is labeled stylistically before it enters some context, i.e
So there is sense to start the survey of connotational
meanings with the stylistic differentiation of the
vocabulary.
Stylistic Differentiation of the Vocabulary
Literary

Stratum

of Words.

Colloquial Words

The word-stock of any given language can be roughly

divided into three groups., differing from each other by
the sphere of its possible use. The biggest division is
made up of neutral words, possessing no stylistic
connotation and suitable for any communicative situation,
two smaller ones are literary and colloquial strata
respectively.
Literary words serve to satisfy communicative demands
of official, scientific, poetic messages, while the
colloquial ones are employed in non-official everyday
communication.

Taking for analysis printed materials we shall find

literary words in authorial speech, descriptions,
considerations, while colloquialisms will be observed
in the types of discourse, simulating (copying) everyday
oral communication-i.e., in the dialogue (or interior
monologue) of a prose work.
Each of the two named groups of words, possessing a
stylistic meaning, is not homogeneous as to the quality
of the meaning, frequency of use, sphere of application,
or the number and character of potential users. This is
why each one is further divided into the general, i. e.
known to and used by most native speakers in
generalized literary (formal) or colloquial (informal)
communication, and special bulks. among special
literary words, as a. rule, at least two major subgroups
are mentioned. They are:1. Terms, i. e. words denoting
objects, processes, phenomena of science, humanities,
technique.
2.Archaisms, i. e. words, a) denoting historical
phenomena which are no more in use (such as
"yeoman", "vassal", falconet"). These are historical
words.
b) used in poetry in the XVII-XIX cc. (such as "steed" for
"horse"; "quoth" for "said"; "woe" for "sorrow"). These are
poetic words.
c) in the course of language history ousted by newer
synonymic words (such as "whereof = of which; "to
deem" = to think; "repast" = meal; "nay" = no) or
forms ("maketh" = makes; "thou wilt" = you will;
"brethren" = brothers). These are called archaic
words(archaic forms) proper.

In colloquial words some special subgroups may

be mentioned:
1. Slang forms the biggest one. Slang words, used by
most speakers in very informal communication, are
highly emotive and expressive and as such, lose their
originality rather fast and are replaced by newer
formations.; This tendency to synonymic expansion
results in long chains of synonyms of various degrees of
expressiveness, denoting one and the same concept.
2. Jargonisms stand close to slang, also being
substandard, expressive and emotive, but, unlike slang
they are used by limited groups of people, united either
professionally (in this case we deal with professional
jargonisms, or professionalisms), or socially (here we deal
with jargonisms proper). In distinction from slang,
jargonisms of both types cover a narrow semantic field: in
the first case it is that, connected with the technical
side of some profession.
professionalisms are formed according to the
existing word-building patterns or present existing
words in new meanings, and, covering the field of special
professional knowledge, which is semantically limited,
they offer a vast variety of synonymic choices for
naming one and the same professional item
Jargonisms proper are characterized by similar
linguistic features, but differ_infunction -and sphere of
application. They originated from the thieves' jargon
(Fargo, cant) and served to conceal the actual
significance of the utterance from the uninitiated. Their
major function thus was to be cryptic, secretive. This is
why among them there are cases of conscious deformation
of the existing words.

3. Vulgarisms are coarse words with a strong emotive

meaning, mostly derogatory, normally avoided in polite
conversation.
4. Dialectal words are normative and devoid of any
stylistic meaning in regional dialects, but used outside of
them, carry a strong flavor of the locality where they
belong. In Great Britain four major dialects are
distinguished: Lowland Scotch, Northern, Midland
(Central) and Southern. In the USA three major
dialectal varieties are distinguished: New England,
Southern and Midwestern (Central, Midland). Dialects
markedly differ on the phonemic level: one and the same
phoneme is differently pronounced in each of them. They
differ also on the lexical level, having their own names for
locally existing phenomena and also supplying locally
circulating synonyms for the words, accepted by the
language in general. Some of them have entered the
general vocabulary and lost their dialectal status ("lad",
"pet", "squash", "plaid").

Lexical Stylistic Devices

Metaphor. Metonymy.
Synecdoche. Piay on
Words.
Irony.
Epithet.
Hyperbole.
Understatement. Oxymoron
Among multiple functions of the word the main one is to
denote, denotational meaning thus being the major
semantic characteristic of the word. In this paragraph we
shall deal with the foregrounding of this particular
function, i. e. with such types of denoting phenomena
that create additional
expressive,
evaluative,
subjective connotations.
transference, -the name of one object is transferred
onto another, proceeding from their similarity (of
shape, colour, function, etc.), or closeness (of material
existence, cause/ effect, instrument/ result. part / whole
relations, etc.).
Each type of intended substitution results in a
stylistic device (SD)* called also a trope. The most
frequently used, well known among them is a
metaphor - transference of names based on the
associated likeness between two objects, as in the
"pancake", or "ball", or "volcano for the "sun" ;
The expressiveness of the metaphor is promoted by the
implicit simultaneous presence of images of both
objects-the one which is actually named and the one
which supplies its own "legal" name. So that formally we
deal with the name transference based on the similarity
of one feature common to two different entities, the
more expressive-is the metaphor.
If a metaphor involves likeness between inanimate and
animate objects, we deal with personification, as in "the
face of London", or "the pain of the ocean".

Metaphor, as all other SDs, is fresh, original, genuine,

when first used, and trite, hackneyed, stale when often
repeated. In the latter case it gradually loses its
expressiveness becoming just another entry in the
dictionary, as in the "leg of a table" thus serving a very
important source of enriching the vocabulary of the
language.
Metaphor can be expressed by all notional parts of
speech, and functions in the sentence as any of its
members.
Metonomy It is use of the name of 1 thing for the
another thing, the 2 things being logically related.
Metonymy, another lexical SD,-like metaphor - on
losing its originality also becomes instrumental in
enriching the vocabulary of the language, though
metonymy is created by a different semantic process
and is based on nearness of objects or phenomena. two
objects (phenomena) have common grounds of
existence in reality.
Play of words.
Pun when one word-form is deliberately used in two
meanings. The effect of these SDs is humorous.
Contextual conditions leading to the simultaneous
realization of two meanings and to the formation of
pun may vary:it can be misinterpretation of one
speaker's utterance by the other, which results in his
remark dealing with a different meaning of the
misinterpreted word or its homonym.
Punning may be the result of the speaker's
intended violation of the listener's expectation,
as in the jocular quotation from B. Evans: "There

comes. a period in every man's life, but she is just a

semicolon in his.
Misinterpretation may be caused by the phonetic
similarity of two homonyms, such as in the crucial case of
O. Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest.

Zeugma. In very many cases polysemantic verbs that

have a practically unlimited lexical valency and can be
combined with nouns of most varying semantic groups,
are deliberately used with two or more homogeneous
members, which are not connected semantically, as in
such examples from Ch. Dickens: "He took his hat and
his leave", or "She went home in a flood of tears and a
sedan chair". This is a classical zeugma,
When the number of homogeneous members,
semantically disconnected, but attached to the same
verb, increases, we deal with semantically false
chains, which are thus a variation of zeugma. As a rule,
it is the last member of the chain that falls out of the
themantic group, defeating our expectancy and producing
humorouse effect.
Irony
The essence of irony consists in the foregrounding
not of the logical but of the evaluative meaning. The
context is arranged so that the qualifying word in
irony reverses the direction of the evaluation, and
the word positively charged is understood as a
negative qualification and (much-much rarer) vice
versa. Irony thus is a stylistic device in which the
contextual evaluative meaning o f a word is directly
opposite to its dictionary meaning . So, like all other

SDs irony does not exist outside the context, which

varies from the minimal-a word combination, as in J.
Steinbeck's "She turned with the sweet smile of an
alligator,"-to the context of a whole book, as in Ch.
Dickens, where one of the remarks of Mr. Micawber,
known for his complex, highly bookish and elaborate
style of speaking about the most trivial things, is
introduced by the author's words "...Mr. Micawber said
in his usual plain manner".
In the stylistic device of irony it is always possible
to indicate the exact word whose contextual meaning
diametrically opposes its dictionary meaning. This is
why this type of irony is called verbal irony. There
are
very many cases, though, which we regard as
irony, intuitively feeling the reversal of the
evaluation, but unable to put our finger on the exact
word in whose meaning we can trace the
contradiction between the said and the implied. The
eff ect of irony in
such
cases
is
created by a
number of statements, by the whole of the text. This
type of irony is called sustained, and it is formed
by the contradiction of the speaker's (writer's)
considerations and the generally accepted moral and
ethical codes.

Antonomasia is a lexical SD in which a proper

name is used instead of a common noun or vice
versa, i.e. a SD, in which the nominal meaning of a
proper name is suppressed by its logical meaning or
the . logical meaning acquires the new-nomirialcomponent.
The word "Mary" does not indicate

whether the denoted object refers to the class of

women, girls, boats, cats, etc., for it singles out
without denotational classification. But in Th. Dreiser
we read: "He took little satisfaction in telling each
Mary, shortly after she arrived, something...." The
attribute "each", used with the name, turns it into a
common noun denoting any woman. Here we deal
with a case of antonomasia of the first type.
Another type of antonomasia we meet when a
common noun serves as an individualizing name , as
in D. Cusack: "There are three doctors in an illness
like yours. I don't mean only myself, 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."
Still another type of antonomasia is presented by
the so-called "speaking names"-names whose origin
from common nouns is still clearly perceived such
names immediately raise associations with certain
human qualities .
Epithet expresses a characteristic of an object, both
existing and imaginary.
Our speech ontologically
being always emotionally coloured, it is possible to
say that in epithet it is the emotive meaning of the
word that is foregrounded to suppress the
denotational meaning of the latter. Epithet is the
most widely used SD Through long and repeated use
epithets become fixed.
The structure and semantics of epithets are
extremely variable which is explained by their long
and wide use. Semantically, there should be
differentiated two main groups , the biggest of them
being affective (or emotive proper). These epithets

serve to convey the emotional evaluation of the

object by the speaker. The second group figurative, or
transferred, epithets -is formed
of metaphors,
metonymies and similes expressed by adjectives. E.g.
"the smiling sun", corresponding epithets are based on
similarity of characteristics of two objects in the first
case, on nearness of the qualified objects in the
second one, and on their comparison in the third.
Epithets are used singly, in pairs, in chains, in twostep structures, and in inverted constructions, also as
phrase-attributes. All previously given examples are
single epithets. Pairs are represented by two
epithets joined by a conjunction or asyndetically as in
"wonderful and incomparable beauty Chains (also
called strings) of epithets present a group of
homogeneous attributes. E.g. "You're a scolding, unjust,
abusive, aggravating, bad old creature."
Two-step epithets are so called because the
process of qualifying seemingly passes two stages:
the qualification of the object and the qualifi cation
of the qualification itself, as in "an unnaturally mild
day" (Hut.), or "a pompously majestic female". (D.)
As you see from the examples, two-step epithets have
a fixed structure of Adv + Adj model.

Phrase-epithets
always
produce
an
original
impression. Cf.: "the sunshine-in-the-breakfast-room
smell" a semantically self-sufficient word combination or
even a whole sentence, which loses some of its
independence and self-sufficiency, becoming a member
of another sentence, A different linguistic mechanism is
responsible for the emergence of one more structural

type of epithets, namely, Inverted epithets. They are

based on the contradiction between the logical and the
syntactical "this devilish woman", "this devil of a
woman". All inverted epithets are easily transformed
into epithets of a more habitual structure where there
is no logicosyntactical contradiction. When meeting an
inverted epithet do not mix it up with an ordinary ofphrase. Here the article with the second noun will help
you in doubtful cases: "the toy of the girl"= toy
belonging to the girl); "the toy of a girl" = a small
toylike girl.
Hyperbole-a stylistic device in which emphasis is
achieved through deliberate exaggeration,-like epithet
relies on the foregrounding of the emotive meaning.
E.g.:
Marvel "My vegetable love should grow faster
than empires."
Hyperbole is one of the most common expressive
means of our everyday speech. When we describe
our admiration or anger and say "I would gladly see
this film a hundred times", or "I have told it to you
a thousand times"-we use trite language hyperboles
which, through long and repeated "use, have lost their
originality and remained signals of the speaker's
roused emotions.
Hyperbole may be the final effect of another SDmetaphor, simile, irony, as we have in the case "The
man was like the Rock of Gibraltar".
Hyperbole can be expressed by all notional parts of
speech. There are words though, which are used in this
SD more often than others. They are such pronouns as
all", "every" "everybody" and the like. Also numerical
nouns ("a million", "a thousand"), and adverbs of time

("ever", "never").Hyperbole is aimed at exaggerating

quantity or quality. When it is directed the opposite
way, when the size, shape, dimensions, characteristic
features of the object are not overrated, but
intentionally underrated, we deal with understatement. The mechanism of its creation and
functioning is identical with that of hyperbole, and it
does not signify the actual state of aff airs in reality,
but presents the latter through the emotionally
colored perception and rendering of the speaker. "I
am rather annoyed" instead of "I'm infuriated",
Some hyperboles and understatements (both used
individually and as the fi nal eff ect of some other SD)
have become fixed.
Oxymoron is stylistic device the syntactic and
semantic structures of which come to clashes.
Oxymoron is a combination of two semantically
contradictory notions, that help to emphasize
contradictory
Qualities
as
a
dialectal
unity
simultaneously
existing
in
the
described
phenomenon. As a rule, one of the two members of
oxymoron illuminates the feature which is universally
observed and acknowledged while the other one offers
a purely subjective individual perception of the
object. Thus in an oxymoron we
deal with the
foregrounding of emotive meaning, The most widely
known structure of oxymoron is attributive, But
there are also others, in which verbs are employed.
Such verbal structures as "to shout mutely" (I. Sh.)
or "to cry silently" (M. W.) seem to strengthen the idea,
which leads to the conclusion that oxymoron is a
specific type of epithet. But the peculiarity of an
oxymoron lies in the fact that the speaker's (writer's)

subjective view can be expressed through either of the

members of the word combination.
Originality and specificity of oxymoron becomes
especially evident in non-attributive structures which"
also, not infrequently, are used to express semantic
contradiction, as in "the street damaged by
improvements" (. .) or "silence was louder than
thunder" (U.)
Syntactical level
if a sentence opens with the main clause, which is
followed "by dependent units, such a structure is called
loose," it's less emphatic and is highly characteristic of
informal writing and conversation, Periodic sentences,
on the contrary, open with subordinated clauses,
absolute and participial constructions, the main clause
being withheld until the end-Such structures are
known for their emphasis and are used mainly in
creative prose. Similar structuring of the beginning of
the sentence and its end produces" balanced
sentences known for stressing the logic and
reasoning of the content and thus preferred in
publicist writing.
The intonation in written form is shown through the
word order and punctuation.
Punctuation also specifies the communicative type
of the sentence. A point of interrogation marks a
question and a full stop signals a statement. There
are cases though when a statement is crowned with
a question mark. Often this punctuation-change is
combined with the change of word-order, the latter
following the pattern of question. This peculiar

interrogative construction which semantically remains

a statement is called a rhetorical question. Unlike
an ordinary question the rhetorical question does not
demand any information but serves to express the
emotions of the speaker and also to call the
attention of listeners. The interrogative intonation
and/or punctuation draw the attention of listeners
(readers) to the focus of the utterance. Rhetorical
Questions are also often asked in "unanswerable"
cases, What have I done to deserve..."
The effect of the majority of syntactical stylistic
devices depends on either the completeness of the
structure or on the arrangement of its members. The
order, in which words (clauses) follow each other is of
extreme importance for it's connotational meanings.
RepetitionAs
a
syntactical
SD
repetition
is
recurrence of the same word, word combination,
phrase for two and more times. According to the
place which the repeated unit occupies in a sentence
(utterance), repetition is classified onto several types:
1.anaphora: the beginning of some
sentences
(clauses)Is repeated- . a.., r a..., a... . The main
stylistic function of anaphora is not so much to
emphasize the repeated unit as to create the
background for the nonrepeated unit, which, through
its novelty, becomes foregrounded. The backgroundforming function of anaphora is also evident from the
kind of words which are repeated anaphorically.
2. epiphora:
the
end of successive
sentences
(clauses) is repeated-...a- ...a, ...a. The main function
of -epiphora-is to add stress to the final words of the
sentence.

3. framing: the beginning of the sentence is

repeated in the end, thus forming the frame" for the
non-repeated part of the Sentence (utterance) a...a.
4. catch repetition (anadiplosis): the end of one
clause (sentence) is repeated in the beginning of
the following one-...a, a... .
5. chain repetition: presents several successive
anadiplosis- ...a, ...b, b...c, c... . The effect is
that of the smoothly developing logical reasoning.
6. ordinary repetition has no definite place in the
sentence and the repeated unit occurs in various
positions-...a,
...a..., a... . Ordinary repetition
emphasizes both the logical and the emotional
meanings of the reiterated word (phrase)...
7. successive repetition is a string of closely following
each Other reiterated units-...a, a, a... . This is the
most emphatic type-of repetition which-signifies the
peak of emctions of the speaker.
repetition is a powerful means of emphasis. Besides,
repetition, adds rhythm and balance to the
utterance. The latter function is the major one in
parallel constructions which may be viewed, as a
purely "syntactical type of repetition for here we deal
with the reiteration of the structure of several
successive sentences (clauses), and not of their lexical
"flesh". True enough, 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.

Reversed parallelism is called chiasmus: The second

part of a chiasmus is, in fact, inversion of the first
construction. Thus, if the first sentence (clause) has a
direct word order-SPO, the second one will have it
inverted-OPS.
Inversion which was briefly mentioned in the definition
of chiasmus" is very often used as an independent SD
in which the direct word order is changed either
completely so that the predicate (predicative)
precedes the subject, or partially so that the object
precedes the subject-predicate pair. Correspondingly,
we differentiate between a partial and a complete
inversion.
Stylistic
inversion
deals
with
the
rearrangement of the normative word order. Questions
may also be rearranged: "Your mother is at home?"
The inverted question presupposes the answer with
more certainty than the normative one. It is the
assuredness of the speaker of the positive answer
that constitutes additional information which is
brought into the question by the inverted word order.
Interrogative constructions with the direct word order
may be viewed as cases of two step (double)
inversion: direct w / o -> grammatical inversion -> direct
w / o.
Still another SD dealing with the arrangement of
members of the sentence is suspense-a deliberate
postponement of the completion of the sentence.
The theme, that which is known, and the rheme, that
which is new, of the sentence are distanced from
each other and the new information is with held,
creating the tension of expectation.
Technically,
suspense
is
organized
with
the
help
of

embedded
clauses
(homogeneous
members)
separating the predicate
from the subject and
introducing
less
important facts and details first,
while the expected information of major importance is
reserved till the end of the sentence.
A specific arrangement of sentence members is
observed in detachment, a stylistic device based on
singling out a secondary member of the sentence
with the help of punctuation (intonation). The wordorder 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: "He had been nearly killed,
ingloriously, in a jeep accident." (I. Sh.) they are
foregrounded into the focus of the reader's attention.
The completeness of sentence structure.
Ellipsis - deliberate omission of at last one member of
the sentence . usually used in dialogue.
Ellipsis is the basis of the so-called telegraphic style,
in which connectives and redundant words are left
out.
The biggest contributors to the telegraphic style are
one-member sentences, i.e. sentences consisting only
of a nominal group, which is semantically and
communicatively self-sufficient. In creative prose onemember sentences are mostly used in descriptions (of
nature, interior, appearance, etc.), where they
produce the effect of a detailed but laconic picture
foregrounding its main components; and as the

background of dialogue, mentioning the emotions,

attitudes, moods of the speakers.
In apokoinu constructions the omission of the
adverbial connective creates a blend of the main and
the subordinate clauses so that the predicative or the
object of the first one is simultaneously used as the
subject of the second one. Cf.: "There was a door led
into the kitchen." (Sh. A.) "He was the man killed that
deer."
The last SD which promotes the incompleteness of
sentence] structure is break (aposiopesis).Break is
also used mainly in the dialogue or in other forms of
narrative imitating spontaneous oral speech. It reflects
the emotional or / and the psychological state of the
speaker: a sentence may be broken because the
speaker's emotions prevent him from finishing' it.
Another cause of the break is the desire to cut shorn
the information with which the sentence began. In such
cases
there are usually special remarks by the author,
indicating the intentional abruptness of the end. In
many cases break is the result of the speaker's
uncertainty as to what exactly he
is to promise (to
threaten, to beg).To mark the break dashes and dots
are used. It is only in cast-iron structures that full
stops may also appear, as in the well-known phrases
"Good intentions, but", or "It depends".
Lexico-Syntactical Stylistic Devices
Antithesis. limax.
Periphrasis

Anticlimax, Simile. Litotes,

Syntactical stylistic devices add logical, emotive,

expressive information to the utterance regardless of

lexical meanings of sentence components. There are

certain structures though, whose emphasis depends
not only on the arrangement of sentence members but
also on their construction, with definite demands on the
lexico-semantic aspect of the utterance. They are known
as lexico-syntactical SDs.
Antithesis is a good example of them: syntactically
antithesis
is
just
another
case
of
parallel
constructions. But unlike parallelism, which is
indifferent to the semantics of its components, the two
parts of an antithesis must be semantically opposite
to each other, as in the sad maxim of O. Wilde:
"Some people have much to live on, and. little to live
for", where "much" and "little" present a pair of
antonyms, supported by the contextual opposition of
postpositions "on" and "for".
The main function of antithesis is to stress the
heterogeneity of the described phenomenon, to show
that the latter is a dialectical unity of two (or more)
opposing features.
Another type of semanticaily complicated parallelism
is presented by climax, in which each next word
combination (clause, sentence) is logically more
important or emotionally stronger and more explicit:
"Better to borrow, better to beg better to die!" (D.) in
climax we deal with, strings of synonyms or at least
semanticaily related words belonging to the same
thematic group.The negative form of the structures
participating in the formation of climax reverses the
order in which climax-components are used, as in the
following examples: "No tree, to shrub, no blade of
grass that was not owned." Proceeding from the

nature of the emphasized phenomenon it is possible to

speak of logical, emotive or quantitative types of
climax. The most widely spread model of climax is
a three-step construction, in which intensification of
logical importance, of emotion or quantity (size,
dimensions) is gradually rising from step to step In
emotive climax though, we rather often meet a twostep structure, in which the second part repeats the
first one and is further strengthened by an intensifier,
as in the following instances: "He was, so helpless, so
very helpless." (W. D.) "She felt better, immensely
better." (W. D.) "I have been so unhappy here, so very
very unhappy." (D.)Climax suddenly interrupted by an
unexpected turn of the thought which defeats
expectations of the reader (listener) and ends in
complete semantic reversal of the emphasized idea,
is called anticlimax. To stress the abruptness of the
change emphatic punctuation (dash, most often) is
used between the ascending and the descending
parts of the anticlimax. Quite a few paradoxes are
closely connected with anticlimax.
Simile is an imaginative comparison of two unlike
objects belonging to two different classes. The one
which is compared is called the tenor, the one with
which it is compared, is called the vehicle. The
tenor and the vehicle form the two semantic poles"
of the simile, which are connected by one of the
following link words: "like", "as", "as though", "as
like", "such as", "as...as", etc. different; objects
belonging to the same class are likened in a simple
comparison, while in" a simile we deal with, the
likening of objects belonging to two different classes.
So, "She is like her mother" is a simple comparison,

used to state an evident fact. "She is like a rose" is

a simile used for purposes of expressive evaluation,
emotive explanation, highly individual description.
The tenor and the vehicle may be expressed in a
brief "nucleus" manner, as in the above example, or
may be extended. This last case of sustained
expression of likeness is known as epic, or Homeric
simile.
In a simile two obiects are compared on the grounds
of similarity of some quality. This feature which is
called foundation of a simile.
Simiies in which the link between the tenor and the
vehicle is expressed by notional verbs such as "to
resemble",
"to
seem",
"torecollect",
"to
remember", "to look like", "to appear", etc. are
called disguised, because the realization of the
comparison is somewhat suspended, as the likeness
between the objects seems less evident. Cf.: "The
ball appeared to the batter to be a slow spinning
planet looming toward the earth." (. .)
Litotes is a two-component structure in which two
negations are joined to give a positive evaluation. Thus
"not unkindly" actually means "kindly", though the
positive effect is weakened and some lack of the
speaker's confidence in his statement is implied. The
first component of a litotes is always the negative
particle "not", while the second, always negative in
semantics, varies in form from a negatively affi xed
word (as above) to a negative phrase.
The function of litotes has much in common with
that of understatement-both weaken the effect of the

utterance. The uniqueness of litotes lies in its specific

"double negative" structure
and in its
weakening
only the positive evaluation.
Periphrasis is a very peculiar stylistic device which
basically consists of using a roundabout form of
expression instead of a simpler one, i.e. of using, a
more or less complicated syntactical structure instead
of a word. Depending on the mechanism of this
substitution, periphrases are classified into figurative
(metonymic and metaphoric), and logical.The first
group is made, in fact, of phrase-metonymies and
phrase-metaphors,"The hospital was crowded with the
surgically interesting products of the fighting in Africa"
(I. Sh.) where the extended metonymy stands for "the
wounded".Logical periphrases are phrases synonymic
with
the
words
which
were
substituted
by
periphrases: "Mr. Du Pont was dressed in the
conventional disguise with which Brooks Brothers cover
the shame of American millionaires." (M. St.)The main
function of periphrases is to convey a purely
individual perception of the described object. To
achieve it the generally accepted nomination of the
object is "replaced by the description of one of, its
features or qualities, which seems to the author
most important for the characteristic of the object,
and which thus becomes foregrounded.
CHAPTER IV. TYPES OF NARRATION
Author's Narrative. Dialogue. Interior Speech.
Represented Speech. Compositional Forms
The author's narrative supplies the reader with
direct information about the author's preferences and

objections, b1ieth and contradictions, i. e. serves the major

source of shaping up the author's image.
In contemporary prose, in an effort to make his writing
more plausible, to impress the reader with the effect of
authenticity of The described events, the writer entrusts
some fictitious character (who might also participate in
the narrated events)with the task of story-telling. The
writer himself thus hides behind the figure of thenarrator, presents all the events of the story from the
latter's viewpoint and only sporadically emerges in the
narrative with his own considerations which may
reinforce, or contradict those expressed by the narrator
this form of the author's speech 'is called entrusted
narrative.
Entrusted narrative may also be anonymous. The
narrator does not openly claim responsibility for the
views and evaluations but the manner of presentation,
the angle of description very strongly suggest that the
story is told not by the author himself but by some of
his factotumswhich we see, e. g., in the prose of
Fl. O'Connor, McClures, E. Hemingway, E. Caldwell.
The narrative, both the author's and the entrusted, is
not the only type of narration observed in creative
prose. A very important place here is occupied by
dialogue, where personages express their minds in the
form of uttered speech. In their exchange of remarks
the participants of the dialogue, while discussing other
people and their actions, expose themselves too. So
dialogue is one of the most significant forms of the
personage's self-characterization, which allows the
author to seemingly eliminate himself from the process.

Another form, which obtained a position of utmost

significance in contemporary prose, is interior speech
of the personage. which allows the author (and the
readers) to peep into the inner world of the character,
to observe his ideas and views in the making So the
personage's viewpoint can be realized in the uttered
(dialogue) and inner (interior speech) forms. Both are
introduced into the text by the author's remarks
containing indication of the personage (his name or the
name-substitute) and of the act of speaking (thinking)
expressed by such verbs as "to say", "to think" and
their numerous synonyms.
The last-the fourth-type of narration blend of the
viewpoints and language spheres of both the author
and the character. It was first observed and analysed
almost a hundred years ago, with the term represented
(reported) speech attached to it. Represented speech
serves to show either the mental reproduction of a
once uttered remark, or the character's thinking. The
first case is known as represented uttered speech, the
second one as represented inner speech.
The four types of narration are singled out on the
basis of the viewpoint commanding the organization of
each one. If it is semantics of the text that is taken
as the foundation of the classification then we shall
deal with the three narrative compositional forms
traditionally analyzed in poetics and stylistics. They
are: narrative proper where the unfolding of the plot is
concentrated. dynamic compositional form of the text.
Two other forms description and argumentation-are
static.

All the compositional forms can be found in each of

the types of narration but with strongly varying
frequences.
CHAPTER V. FUNCTIONAL STYLES
Colloquial vs. Literary Type of Communication.
Oral vs. Written Form of Communication
The former is observed in everyday non-official
communication which is known as colloquial speech.
Colloquial speech occupies a prominent place in our
lives, and is viewed by some linguists as a system of
language means so strongly differing from those presented in the formal (literary) communication that it
can be classified as an independent entity with its own
peculiar units and rules of their structuring,
The literary communication, most often (but not
always) materialized in the written form, is not
homogeneous, and proceeding from its function
(purpose) we speak of different functional styles. As
the whole of the language itself, functional styles are
also changeable. At present most scholars differentiate
such functional styles: scientific, official, publicist,
newspaper, belles-lettres.
Scientific style is employed in professional
communication. Its most conspicuous feature is the
abundance of terms denoting objects, phenomena and
processes characteristic of some particular field of
science and technique..
Official style, or the style of official documents, is the
most conservative one. It preserves cast-iron forms of
structuring and uses syntactical constructions and

words long known

anywhere else.

as

archaic

and

not

observed

Publicist style Nowadays political, ideological, ethical,

social beliefs and statements of the addresser are
prevailingly expressed in the written form; which was
labelled publicist in accordance with the name of the
corresponding genre and its practitioners. Publicist style
is famous for its explicit pragmatic function of
persuasion directed at influencing the reader and
shaping
his
views,
in
accordance
with
the
argumentation of the author. Correspondingly, we find
in publicist style a blend of the rigourous logical
reasoning, reflecting the objective state of things, and
a strong subjectivity reflecting the author's personal
feelings and emotions towards the discussed subject.
Newspaper style, as it is evident from its name, is
found in newspapers. When we mention "newspaper
style", we mean informative materials; characteristic of
newspaper only and not found in other publications. To
attract the reader's attention to the news, special
graphical means are used: the change of type, specific
headlines, space ordering, etc. We find here a large
proportion of dates and personal names of countries,
territories, institutions, individuals.
Belles-lettres style, or the style of creative
literature may be called the richest register of
communication: besides its own language means which
are not used in any other sphere of communication,
belles-lettres style makes ample use of other styles
too, for in numerous works of literary art we find
elements of scientific, official and other functional types
of speech. belles-lettres style has a unique task to

impress_the reader aesthetically. The form becomes

meaningful
and
carries
additional
information.
Boundless possibilities of expressing one's thoughts
and feelings make the belles-lettres style a highly
attractive field of investigation for a linguist.
The first point to remember concerns the dichotomywritten;: oral, which is not synonymous
to
the
dichotomy-literary;: colloquial, the former opposition
meaning the form of presentation, the latter the choice
of language means. There are colloquial messages in
the written form (such as personal letters, informal
notes, diaries and journals) and vice versa, we have
examples of literary discourses the oral form (as in a
recital, lecture, report, paper react at conference,
etc.).
The second point deals with the flexibility of style
boundaries: the borders within which a style
presumably functions are not rigid and allow various
degrees of overlapping and melting into each other. It is
not accidental that rather often we speak of intermediate cases such as the popular scientific style
which combines the features of scientific and belleslettres styles, or the style of new journalism which
is combination of publicist, newspaper and bellesletters styles, etc.

1. Every notional word of a natural language carries some definite information. This
information may be basic or denotativeand additional or connotative.
The majority of words of the English language possesses denotative information only. So,
they are stylistically neutral: man,house, to run, red etc. This does not mean that they
cannot be used for stylistic purposes. A word in fiction acquires new qualities depending on
its position, distribution, etc. Practically any word, depending on its context, may acquire
certain connotations (honey-bum, sugar-plum).
In the English language, there are many words which possess not only basic information
but additional information as well.
The additional information or connotative meaning may be of four types:

a) functional stylistic meaning which is the result of the constant usage of the word in
definite speech spheres or situations:foe, maiden, realm are mostly used in poetry; terms
and nomenclature words are used in scientific prose style and in official documents;
b) evaluative meaning which bears reference to things, phenomena, or ideas through the
evaluation of the denotate: out-of-date-method-time-tested method, firm-obstinate-pigheaded;
c) emotive meaning which expresses the speaker's emotional attitude to the denotate
(chit, puppet, jade). Neutral words that name emotions like anger, pleasure,
and pain should be distinguished from the above mentioned emotionally coloured words;
d) expressive meaning which does not refer directly to things or phenomena of the objective
reality, but to the feelings and emotions of the speaker, it is based on the metaphoric
transfer (speaking of a man cockerel, bully, buck).
There are no strict rules for distinguishing between functional-stylistic and other
connotative meanings. Moreover, the functional-stylistic meaning which is connected with a
certain sphere of communication may serve as a starting point for the word acquiring other
connotative meanings.
2. Stylistic classification of the vocabulary of any language is a very complicated problem.
The existing classifications are based on different criteria, which take into account common
semantic and stylistic characteristics of words in the given period of time (synchronic
approach). The two criteria used for our classification are as follows:
1) paradigmatic criterion, i.e. the absence or presence in the word semantics of the
additional information (evaluative,emotive, or expressive meaning);
2) syntagmatic criterion, i.e. the character of syntagmatic relations between the lexical or
lexical-stylistic meaning of the word and its context.
Both criteria are interconnected. Proceeding from them and using N.D.Arutyunovas ideas
of the word semantics, we may divide all words of the English vocabulary into two major
groups:
1. words having a lexico-stylistic paradigm which are characterized by:
a) an indirect reference to the object: fat cat (coll.) => a provider of money for
political uses (neutral) => denotate;
b) subjective evaluative connotations;
c) referential borders which are not strict: these words are of a qualifying character so
they may be used to characterize different referents;
d) synonyms;
e) possible antonyms.
To this group we refer poetic diction; archaisms (archaic words); barbarisms and foreign
words; stylistic neologisms; slangisms; colloquialisms; jargonisms (social and professional);
dialectal words; vulgarisms.
2. words having no lexico-stylistic paradigm are characterized by:
a) a direct reference to the object;
b) the absence of subjective evaluative connotations,
c) strict referential borders;
d) the lack of synonyms. Synonyms that they may have are purely denotative;
e) the lack of antonyms.
Here we refer stylistically neutral words; terms; nomenclature words; historical words;
lexical neologisms; and exotic words.
Words having a lexico-stylistic paradigm are not homogeneous; they may enter the
following oppositions:
vocolloquial cabulary bookish vocabulary
non-literary words literary words
general literary vocabulary social or dialectal elements special vocabulary
contemporary vocabulary archaic vocabulary.
However, the mentioned groups of words are not closed; they are intersecting one and
the same word may belong to two or more groups.
3. STYUSTIC FUNCTIONS OF THE WORDS HAVING A LEXICO-STYUSTIC PARADIGM

Lexical expressive means of the English language are words which do not only have
denotative meaning but connotative as well. Depending on their connotative meaning such
words fall into two major groups: literary (high-flown) words which are traditionally linked
with poetic, bookish, or written speech and conversational (low-flown) words that are
most often used in oral, colloquial speech. Literary words are more stable due to the
traditions of the written type of speech. Conversational words are constantly changing.
Within a period of time they can become high-flown or neutral,
e.g. bet, mob, trip, fun, chap.
3.1. STYLISTIC FUNCTIONS OF LITERARY (HIGH-FLOWN) WORDS
Literary words of the English language can be classified into the following groups: poetic
diction, archaic words, barbarisms and foreign words, bookish (learned) words.
Poetic diction
Poetic words are stylistically marked, they form a lexico-stylistic paradigm. In the 17th18th centuries they were widely used in poetry as synonyms of neutral words. In modern
poetry such a vocabulary barely exists.
Poetic words are diverse; they include:
a) archaic words (commix mix);
b) archaic forms (vale valley);
c) historic words (argosy large merchant ship);
d) poetic words proper (anarch, brine).
Their main function is to mark the text in which they are used as poetic, thus
distinguishing it from non-fiction texts. In modern poetry such words are seldom used. Their
stylistic meaning gets more vivid when they are contrasted to neutral words.
Archaic words
Archaic words, i.e. out-dated words that denote existing objects, are divided into two
groups:
a) archaic words proper: words which are no longer recognized in modern English. They
were used in Old English and have either dropped out of language use entirely or completely
changed (troth faith, losel worthless);
b) archaic forms of the words: corse instead of corpse, an instead of and, annoy instead
of nnn.
Speaking of archaic words we should distinguish "ageing/newness of the word form and
"ageing/newness of the denotate. And then, accordingly, we may correlate archaic words
and historic words on the one hand as well as lexical and stylistic neologisms on the other.
Lexical neologisms are new words that denote new objects (laser shopping, pop
promo, killer satellite). Stylistic neologisms are new names that denote already existing
objects and notions (mole a spy who successfully infiltrates an
organization; ageism discrimination of a person on the ground of age).
Historical words are associated with definite stages in the development of a society and
cannot be neglected, though the things and phenomena to which they refer no longer exist.
Historical words (yeoman, thane, baldric, goblef) have no synonyms as compared to
archaic words which may be replaced by their modern synonyms.
Historical words and lexical neologisms having no stylistic meaning, do not form lexicostylistic paradigms. But archaic words and stylistic neologisms mark the text stylistically,
distinguishing if from neutral speech.
In fiction, together with historical words, archaisms create the effect of antiquity,
providing a true-to-life historical background and reminding the reader of past habits,
customs, clothes etc. The usage of archaisms, incompatible with conversational words,
might in some cases lead to a humorous or satirical effect.
Barbarisms and foreign words
There are many borrowings in every language, some of them being assimilated. We may
distinguish four groups of such words in English: foreign words, barbarisms, exotic words,
and borrowings.
Foreign words are close to barbarisms, but they are characterised by occasional usage

only, mainly in literary speech. They do not form a lexico-stylistic paradigm, though they
may be used to create some stylistic effect.
Barbarisms are words of foreign origin which have not been entirely assimilated into the
English language preserving their former spelling and pronunciation. Most of them
(e.g. chic, chagrin, en passant) have corresponding English synonyms.
Exotic words are borrowed foreign words denoting objects characteristic of a certain
country (canzonet, matador). They have no synonyms in the language-borrower, do not
form a lexico-stylislic paradigm and therefore are not considered to be lexical EM, but
nevertheless they may be used for stylistic purposes.
Borrowings, if they are assimilated, do not differ much from native words as far as their
stylistic aspect is concerned. They are usually high-flown synonyms of neutral native words
(to commence to begin, labour work, female woman).
The stylistic functions of barbarisms and foreign words are similar, they are used to
create a local colouring, to identify a personage as a foreigner, or to show his/her
mannerism.
Bookish (learned) words are mostly used in official or high-flown style
(catenate, depicture, disimprove, dalliance). In official usage, they mark the text as
belonging to this or that style of written speech, but when used in colloquial speech or in
informal situations, they may create a comical effect.
3.2. STYLISTIC FUNCTIONS OF CONVERSATIONAL (LOW-FLOWN) WORDS
Here we refer colloquial words, general-slang words (interjargon), special slang words
(social and professional jargons), dialectal words and vulgarisms. Some linguists
differentiate slang and jargon, but the difference is vague and is practically irrelevant for
stylistics. Generally, colloquial words according to their usage may be divided into three big
groups:
1) literary colloquial;
2) familiar colloquial;
3) low colloquial.
According to the relations between their form and meaning, all colloquial words may be
divided into three subgroups:
a) words which are based on the change of their phonetic or morphological form
without changing their lexical and stylistic meaning;
b) words which are the result of the change of both their form and lexico-stylistic
meaning;
c) words which resulted from the change of their lexical and/or lexico-stylistic meaning
without changing their form.
The first subgroup comprises such varieties of word-form change as:
a) clipping (shortening): serge sergeant, caff caffeteria;
b) contamination of a word combination: leggo let's go, kinna kind of,
c'mon come on;
c) contamination of grammatical forms: I'd go, there's, we're going.
These words have no lexico-stylistic paradigms. They possess denotative meaning only.
Within the second group of colloquialisms, we may distinguish two varieties of the wordform change leading to the alteration of its lexico-stylistic meaning:
a) the change of the grammatical form which brings the change of the lexico-stylistic
meaning: heaps very many, a handful a person causing a lot of trouble;
b) the change of the word-building pattern which causes the emergence of another
lexico-stylistic meaning through;
- affixation: oldie, tenner, clippie;
- compounding: backroom boy, clip-joint;
- conversion: to bag, teach-in;
- telescopy: swellegant, flush, fruice;
- shortening and affixation: Archie (Archibald);
- compounding and affixation: strap-hanger, arty-crafty.
All these words form a lexico-stylistic paradigm as they have synonyms among neutral
and literary words and are characterised by various connotations while giving additional
characteristics to the denotate.
The third subgroup of colloquial words is the most numerous and comprises:

a) words with emotive-expressive meaning only: oh, bach, ah as well as word

combinations having a special expressive function: I never, Good (Great) heavens, God
forbid;
b) words and word combinations having both connotative and denotative meaning
where the former one prevails: terribly,you don't say so, did he really;
c) words in which denotative and connotative meanings interplay: bunny a
waitress, colt-team young team;
d) words in which denotative meaning in certain contextual conditions gives rise to a
new connotative meaning: affair business, to have an affair to be in love, beggar poor
person, lucky beggar lucky person;
e) words denotative and connotative meanings of which are completely different from
their former meanings: chanter(poetic) a singer; chanter (col.) - a person who sells
horses at the market.
Slang is composed of highly colloquial words whose expressiveness and novelty make
them emphatic and emotive as compared to their neutral synonyms.
We n distinguish two varieties of slang; general slang (interjargon) and special
slangs (social as well as professional jargons). Some of the former slangisms may enter the
colloquial or even the neutral layer of the vocabulary (phone, flu, sky-scrapei). Novelty is
the most impressive feature of slang. As it disappears, they lose their expressiveness.
Vulgarisms are the words which are not generally used in public. However, they can be
found in modern literature nowadays, though formerly they were tabooed or marked by the
initial letters only.
Dialectal words (ud would, im him, aseen have
seen, canna cannot, dinna dont, sportin sporting) are used to intensify the emotive
and expressive colouring of speech which is primarily determined by the peculiarities of
social or geographical environment.
Conversational words of all kinds are widely used for stylistic purposes. There are four
speech spheres in which they are mostly largely used: everyday speech, newspaper
language, poetry, and fiction.
In newspaper language, colloquial words and word combinations, and sometimes general
slang words, are used to give an expressive evaluation of facts and events. In modern
poetry, words of all layers are most widely used. Lyrical poetry allows the usage of various
non-poetic words to create the atmosphere of sincerity, confidence etc. Slang words in
fiction (mostly in dialogues) add to the informality and emotiveness of the characters
speech alongside with indicating social and speech peculiarities of the personages.
4. STYLISTIC FUNCTIONS OF WORDS HAVING NO LEXICO-STYLISTIC PARADIGM
To this group, we refer terms, nomenclature words, historical words, exotic words, and
lexical neologisms.
Terms are words and word combinations expressing scientific and scholarly notions in
which essential properties of the object or phenomenon are reflected. Terms are generally
associated with a definite branch of science and, therefore, with a set of other terms
belonging to that particular branch of science or humanities. For
example, language and speech may be used as synonyms in everyday usage, but in de
Saussures theory, they are opposed to each other as terms.
Nomenclature words are very close to terms: they refer to a definite branch of human
activity, mainly professional, e.g. names of minerals, chemical elements, types of cars etc.
Historical words denote objects and notions referring to the past.
Exotic words denote notions and objects unknown or rarely met in the given language
community.
Lexical neologisms are new (or old) words denoting new notions.
All the words mentioned above, being used in special texts, have no stylistic functions:
their usage is determined by their nominative function, i.e. to define the denotate. In
fiction, they may acquire connotative meaning due to their syntagmatic relations with both

stylistically marked and neutral words. For example, in Live with Lightning, Say No to
Death, The Citadel,Airport, they are used to create the life-like atmosphere of a laboratory,
hospital etc. When used in monologues or dialogues, terms become a means of the speech
characterisation. Sometimes, while incompatible with their context, terms may be used to
create a satirical or humorous effect.
5. STYLISTIC FUNCTIONS OF PHRASEOLOGY
The question of the status of phraseological units (PhU) is very complicated. There are
many phraseological units which are quite neutral: in fact, in turn, for instance, in order
that, in principle. To this group we should also refer historical PhU: the secular aim, the Blue
and the Grey, the common beam; lexical neologisms: oil crisis, energy crisis; and
terminological PhU:supersentencial units, expressive means etc.
Additional (connotative) information of PhU, as that of any word, may be of four types,
functional-stylistic, emotional, evaluative, and expressive-figurative.
Accordingly, PhU may be divided into two similar classes: PhU having a lexico-stylistic
paradigm, and those having no lexico-stylistic paradigms.
PhU having a lexico-stylistic paradigm also fall into literary (be in accord with
somebody, play upon advantage, most and least, bring to mould,; ad ovo, ad hoc, a la
carte,; a heart of oak, Achilles heel) and conversational ones (Adams ale, slit the bat, ask
me another, monkey's allowance, to get on the ball, admiral of the red, grab for
altitude, gef the bird, sell one's back,get the wind up, a bit of jam, get somebody on his
ears).
Peculiar stylistic usage of PhU is accounted for the possibility of their structural and
contextual transformations which are oriented to achieving a definite stylistic effect.
Structural transformations of PhU may be represented by:
1) expansion of PhU, e.g. When you had a weak case and knew it, Alan
thought, even straws should be grasped at firmly (from to catch at a straw);
2) reduction of PhU as the result of the compression of proverbs, sayings, quotations
etc, e.g. Howaden added severely: "Better too much too eariy than too little too late (from
better late than never);
3) inversion of the components of PhU. It implies the change of the PhU structure
while preserving its original components, e.g. Fortunately, it's only the cats head and we
still have a firm grip on the body (from to let the cat out of the bag).

Contextual transposition of PhU presupposes that a PhU may be totally reconsidered and
reinterpreted in context, e.g. Pooh goes visiting and gets into a tight place (from to be in a
tight comer).

Types and kinds of stylistics.

Types:As in modern linguistics 3
areas of language are
distinguished, namely, language
system(langue),speech
activity(performance) and speech material/speech(parole), the
notion of function has certain peculiarities applied to each of these

areas. Understanding of style is different, too, as applied to

language, speech activity and speech. Accordingly, 3 types of
stylistics may be distinguished: stylistics of language, stylistics of
activity, stylistics of speech.
Kinds: (but I'm not sure!!!)
- phonographical stylistics
-morphological stylistics
- lexical stylistics
- syntactical (stylistic syntax).
7. Basic notions of stylistics: language, speech activity, and
speech; syntagmatics and paradigmatics; marked and
unmarked members of stylistic opposition.
Languageis the system of signs, the relations between them and
the rules of their usage.
Speech activityis the process of converting the language system
into speech in accordance with fixed rules and patterns. Speechis
the materialization of language in communication.
Paradigmatics is a set of relations between the language units of
one class which are based on association. Syntagmatics is a set of
linear relations between the speech units of one level within a unit
of a higher language level.
8. Basic notions of stylistics: style, individual style; norm;
variant, context.
Style is a distinctive way of using language for some purpose and to
some effect (P. Verdonk)
Individual style a writers individual manner of using language
means to achieve the effect he desires. Can be recognized by
peculiar combination of language means and SD.
Deliberate choice must be distinguished from habitual idiosyncrasy.
Idiolect the speech of an individual, characterized by peculiarities
typical of that particular individual.
It is next to impossible to work out universal language norms
because each functional style has its own regulations: I aint got
no news is considered normal in colloquial style.

Norm set of language rules which are considered to be the most

standard and correct in a certain epoch and a certain society.
Types of norm: language norm
stylistic norm
ethic/ecological norm