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Lecture 1
Stylistics as a Branch of Linguistics.
The subject matter of the course of stylistics.
Stylistics is a branch of general linguistics, its other branches are grammar, lexicology, phonetics. Nearly every traditional branch of linguistics has definitely outlined objects and aims of research. Thus it is common knowledge that phonetics deals with speech sounds and intonation; lexicology treats separate words with their meanings and the structure of the vocabulary as a whole; grammar analyses forms of words (morphology) and forms of word-combinations (syntax).
Stylistics deals mainly with two interdependent tasks:
[The number of FSs and the principles of their differentiation change with time; we shall single out the following FSs:
Stylistics also investigates
English and American books abound in examples of stylistic variations:
Выводите машину хозяина.
Давай мотор обезьяны.
Hard study made him asleep.
My dear father has passed away.
My father has died.
My old man has kicked the bucket.
The gentleman well advanced in years attained the termination of his terrestrial existence.
The old bean he kicked the bucket.
Старик умер.
Старец скончался.
Старый хрыч подох.
Старый хрыч сыграл в ящик.
[The assumption, however, that the idea expressed by two or more synonyms remains the same, is utterly wrong. Whenever the form changes, the content (and along with it its stylistic value) is bound to change, too]
The origin of the terms “style” and “stylistics”.
Stylistics, as the term implies, deals with style. The original meaning of “style” was a writing implement. It was a short stick used by the Romans for writing on wax tablets. But already in classical Latin the word acquired a terminological tint, it came to denote one’s way of expressing oneself. In French the word acquired an evaluative tint, it came to denote a good way of expressing oneself.
Today the word “style” has a very broad meaning. We speak of style in architecture, painting, clothes, behaviour, work and so on. In fact style can be applied to any kind of human activity that may be performed in more than one way, and also to the result of such activity.
It should be pointed out, however, that our choice of different ways to achieve a goal is limited: all kinds of human activities and behaviour represent a complex interrelation of freedom and restrictions.
E.g. in our choice of clothes: we do not think merely of keeping warm or cold but in doing so within the conventions of our society.
With our language habits also, then, we must always be sensitive to our environment and use the “accepted” forms of English (Russian) just as we eat and dress in the “accepted” ways.
The word “stylistics”, however, is a newcomer to the English vocabulary: acc. to the Oxford English Dictionary it was recorded for the first time only in 1882 meaning “the science of literary style, the study of stylistic features.”
Stylistics is the most direct heir of rhetoric, the art of composition and delivery of speeches.
Stylistics and other Linguistic Disciplines.
Stylistics is connected with phonetics, morphology, lexicology and syntax and is subdivided into stylistic phonetics (phonostylistics), stylistic morphology, stylistic lexicology, stylistic syntax.
We shall now look for the difference between general morphology, lexicology, syntax, on the hand, and their stylistic counterparts, on the other.
The ultimate aim as well as the general method of stylistics is description of specific spheres of sublanguages. Therefore whatever level we take, stylistics describes not what it is common use but what is specific in this or that respect, what differentiates one sublanguage from others.
1. General (i.e. non-stylistic) phonetics investigates the whole articulatory-audial system of language.
Stylistic phonetics or phonostylistics pays attention only to style-forming features of sublanguages: it describes variants of pronunciation occurring in different types of speech (cf. recitation or oration with colloquial speech). Special attention is also paid to prosodic features of prose and poetry.
It studies how the sound form of speech makes it more expressive. It studies metre, rhythm, rhyme, alliteration, etc.
2. General morphology treats morphemes and grammatical meanings expressed by them in language in general, without regard to their stylistic value.
Stylistic morphology, on the contrary, is interested in grammatical forms and grammatical meanings that are peculiar to particular sublanguages, explicitly or implicitly comparing them with the neutral ones common to all sublanguages.
e.g. The grammatical category of number:
One I-am-sorry-for-you is worth twenty I told-you-so’s.
(The sentence sounds rather funny when the s- ending is added to the whole of it)
e.g. Peter’s sad face. vs Winter’s grim face.
3. General lexicology studies vocabulary, the development and origin of words, the meaning of words and word-building. Stylistic lexicology studies the interaction of meanings, it studies expressive, evaluative, emotive meanings of words.
e.g. (1) The hall applauded.
(2) They took measures to secure a convenient place near the river.
For stylistics it is of no importance that all the words of the sentence (but for the articles and prepositions) are of foreign origin. It is important for lexicology. But if in the text we come across such words as bouquet or billet-doux we mark them as barbarisms (foreignisms) and consider them from the point of view of stylistics.
4. 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 studies expressive potentialities of the word-order, of different communicative types of sentences. Much attention is paid to different types of rendering the speech of characters: inner speech, dialogue, a stream of consciousness.
It should be remarked here that most handbooks on phonetics and grammar, not to speak of lexicology abound in stylistic information. Whenever the sphere of currency of a unit (or of a phenomenon) is explicitly mentioned, it is pure stylistics that the author deals with. These are instance of practical stylistics which proceeds from the norms of language usage at a given period and teaches these norms to language speakers, especially the ones, dealing with the language professionally: editors, publishers, writers, journalists, teachers, etc.
Stylistics is also connected with literature, theory of information, psychology and psycho-linguistics, logic and to some extent statistics.
Types of stylistics.
Style in language. Style in imaginative literature.
With the development of the theory of language, on the one hand, and the theory of literature, on the other, the meaning of “style” came to be modified as
style in language,
style in imaginative literature.
Style in language is understood to be the whole corpus of EMs of the language. This view was first proclaimed by Charles Bally in his “Stylistique français” and later developed in numerous works on style.
(Style can be roughly defined as the peculiarity, the set of specific features of a text type or of a concrete text. Style is just what differentiates a group of homogeneous texts (an individual text) from all other groups (other texts).
The branch of linguistics that makes a study of expressive properties of linguistic units as well as the spheres of their usage is called linguo-stylistics.
Style in literature (which is studied by literary stylistics) is a branch of theory of literature and an important part of history of literature. It studies the peculiarities of a writer’s style, his individual and creative utilization (choice) of the resources of the language; the limitations which are superimposed by the writer’s period, his genre and his purpose.
[The main difference is that linguo-stylistics studies all the EMs of the language, while literary stylistics studies the peculiarities of this or that writer’s style].
The concept of the norm.
The theoretical point of departure here is the concept of the norm.
Stylistic norm is understood to be non-specific language units which belong to all the sublanguages, which do not participate in the formation of its style, (which are stylistically neutral).
The other terms for stylistic norm are “zero stylistic reference”, “stylistic neutrality”.
Some prominent scholars state that what is stylistically conspicuous, stylistically relevant, stylistically coloured is a departure from the norm of the given language.
Thus style may be defined as deviations from the lingual norm.
Style, Redundancy and Information Theory.
C. Shannon, W. Weaver, M. Riffaterre.
Stylistics and information theory have much in common: it is communication by signal, it is exchange of information.
Communication or exchange of information plays a most important role in all phenomena of the world. Human society will be impossible without a continuous exchange of information.
70% of our life time is spent in various forms of communication activities.
Men communicate with one another in various ways. The most obvious are speech and writing. Human languages [natural language] is the most powerful and elaborate of all means of communication.
[But there are many other ways: gestures with the hands, facial expressions, nods, winks, smiles; the ringing of the bells or the sounding of horns, sirens or klaxons, the waving of flags; the flashing or changing colours of lights (traffic lights); the moving of pointers over dials; carving in wood or stone or the shaping of metal or plastic, or some other material; drawings, painting, singing, dancing, acting, miming and so on]
Information and Communication.
In its most general sense information is an imprint left by one object or phenomenon on another. Communication is an activity in which some information is transferred from one system to another by means of some physical embodiment. [Literature is the medium of transmitting aesthetic information].
Communication can be represented in the form of a model [to see different aspects of the process].
Here we present a variant of the Shannon and Weaver model.
Model A.
|
Encoder |
Decoder |
|
|
Transmitter |
Signal Message Channel Noise |
Receiver |
C. Shannon and W. Weaver proposed one of the first information theory models. Shannon was an engineer and he was concerned with the accurate transmission of message over the telephone. Weaver extended Shannon’s concepts to apply to all kinds of communication.
In terms of information theory language can be regarded as a code. [The word “code” may be defined as a prearranged set of signs used for making signals. Linguistically speaking, a code is a scale of signs, ranging from the smallest units (phonemes) and then progressively, to morphemes, words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, texts]
A code must always have more than one sign and the encoder has to make a decision about which sign to use. The simplest kind of code is one that has only two signs – e.g. ringing or not ringing. In this case the choice is a binary one.
In very complicated codes, such as languages, the choice is much greater (than a simple binary one). Consequently, in language as a code there is always a potential, a stock of signs that can be used. This feature of the language code may be termed as “redundancy”. It is the redundancy of the language code that provides the opportunity of choice.
An outstanding American linguist M. Riffaterre applied the concepts and terms of Information theory to stylistics. The process of language communication can be illustrated by
Model B.
|
Encoder chooses items from the code |
Decoder interprets items of the code |
|
|
Transmitter speaks writes |
Signal sounds wave marks of a script |
Receiver listens reads |
The message is the common ground for communicants in an act of communication, in the exchange of information between two participants of the communicative act –
the addresser (the supplier of information, the speaker, the writer) and
the addressee (the receiver of the information, the listener, the reader).
Problems concerning the choice of the most appropriate language means and their organization into a message, from the viewpoint of the addresser, are the centre of attention of the individual style study.
The individual style study puts particular emphasis on the study of an individual author’s style, it looks for correlations between the creative concepts of the author and the language of his works.
In terms of information theory the author’s stylistics may be termed as the stylistics of the encoder and the supplier of the information, the addresser as the encoder.
The addressee in this case plays the part of the decoder of the information contained in the message and the problems connected with the adequate reception of the message (without any informational losses or deformations, i.e. with adequate decoding, are the concern of decoding stylistics.
M. Riffaterre states that “Stylistics will be a linguistics of the effects of the message, of the output of the act of communication, of its attention-compelling function.”
Thus language is regarded in the above quotation from a pragmatic point of view. Stylistics in that case is regarded as a language science which deals with the results of the act of communication.
The Purposes (Aims) of the Course of Stylistics and Stylistic Analysis.
The Interlude.
Every notional word of a natural language carries some definite information which may be called basic and which conveys the main idea of an object, process, action, etc. We should differ it from the so-called additional information which is present in a number of words in the language or may be created in the context in speech; it offers various additional data about the object in question.
The ability of a verbal element to obtain extra significance in a definite context was called by Prague linguists foregrounding. A contextually foreground element carries more information than when taken in isolation, so it is possible to say that in context it is loaded with basic information inherently belonging to it, plus the acquired, adherent, additional information.
So, stylistic analysis involves rather subtle procedures of finding the foregrounded element and indicating the chemistry of its contextual changes, brought about by the intentional, planned operations of the addresser, i.e. effected by the conscious stylistic use of the language.
For foreign language students stylistic analysis holds particular difficulties: linguistic intuition of a native speaker does not work; besides, difficulties may arise because of the inadequate language command in grasping the basic denotational information. Starting stylistic analysis one should bear in mind that the understanding of each separate component of the message is an indispensable condition of satisfactory work.
Lecture 2
Meaning From a Stylistic Point of View.
Stylistics is a domain where meaning assumes paramount importance. This is because of the fact that any stylistic device is mainly realized when a twofold application of meaning is apparent.
Thus e.g., irony is defined as the clash of two diametrically opposite meanings (primary dictionary and contextual).
e.g. Stoney smiled the sweet smile of an alligator. (J. Steinbeck)
1. sweet
2. disgusting
It is more or less universally recognized that word-meaning is not homogeneous, but is made up of various components. These components are usually described as types of meaning. The two main types are
• The grammatical and
• the lexical meanings.
If we consider such word-forms as girls, winters, tables, etc. we notice that they though denoting widely differing objects of reality have something in common. This common element is the grammatical meaning of plurality.
Comparing word-forms of one and the same word we observe that besides grammatical meaning, there is another component of meaning in them. Unlike the grammatical meaning this component is identical in all the forms of the word.
Thus, e.g., the word-forms go, goes, went, gone, going possess different grammatical meanings of tense, person, etc. but in each of these forms we find one and the same semantic component denoting the process of movement. This is the lexical meaning of the word.
Denotational and Connotational Meanings.
Proceeding with the semantic analysis we observe that lexical meaning is not homogeneous either and may be analysed as including denotational and connotational components.
One of the basic functions of words is to denote things, concepts, phenomena, thus the word has a denotational meaning, i.e. that component of the lexical meaning which makes communication possible. Denotation conveys the primary, basic information. It informs of the subject of communication.
But apart from their basic, conceptual meaning – denotation – words may have various additional meanings collectively known as connotation or overtone. It is also known as stylistic colouring. It informs about the participants, conditions of communication, etc.
The difference between denotation and connotation can be explained in the following way.
R.M. Eastman explains the difference between denotation and connotation in the following way: ”You might speak of the “fragrance of a certain perfume if you liked it, of its “reek” if you didn’t, or simply “odor” if you didn’t care.
These variants illustrate the principle that words refer not only to things but to the user’s own feelings (and the feelings he wishes his audience to share).
“Fragrance”, “reek”, “odor” all denote “smell”. But “fragrance” connotes the speaker’s approval of the smell, “reek” connotes his revulsion, and “odor” in this context carries no connotation at all”. We see that Eastman does not distinguish any components in connotation but merely regards it as a word’s emotional content. In Soviet stylistics, however, connotation is regarded as a complex phenomenon by most of the researchers.
Connotative Meaning of a Word.
The list of connotational meanings varies with different linguistic schools and individual scholars and includes such entries as
pragmatic (directed at the perlocutionary effect of utterance),
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) and others.
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).
Emotive Charge.
Words contain an element of emotive evaluation as part of the connotational meaning. The emotive charge of the words tremendous, worship, girlie is heavier than that of the words large, like, girl. This does not depend on the “feeling” of the individual speaker but is true for all speakers of English.
Stylistic Reference.
Words differ not only in their emotive charge but also in their stylistic reference. Verbal communication takes place in different spheres of human activity, such as everyday life, business, science, etc. Each of these spheres has a peculiar mode of linguistic expression which is generally known as a functional style.
Words that are preferably used in one functional style are said to have a stylistic reference conditioned by the respective sphere.
Consider, for example, the following groups of words
|
1) inquire obtain proceed pursue seek |
2) ask get go run after look for |
Each of these two groups represents a different stylistic layer: the first group contains words of a literary-bookish layer, the second – stylistically neutral.
The main dichotomy is between stylistically neutral versus stylistically marked words. The main opposition lies between words of literary stylistic layer (words of Standard English) and those of non-literary stylistic layer (words of sub-Standard English).
In actual practice, however, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to discriminate between emotive, evaluative, expressive and functional-stylistic components of connotation. The emotive units are meant to be expressive as well, and vice versa. The units that connote evalution, i.e. speaker’s positive or negative attitude, his approval or disapproval, are simultaneously emotive and tend to be expressive, e.g. “rascal” and “ducky” are emotive and evaluative; at the same we find, non-emotive, intellectual evaluation “good”, “bad” and at the same time, there are hundreds of expressive words which cannot be treated as emotive (take, e.g. the so-called expressive verbs which not only denote some action or process but also create their image as in “to gulp” = to swallow in big lumps, in a hurry; “to sprint” = to run fast.
It is true that this or that component of connotation may come to the fore in the context. In semantic actualization of a word the context plays a dual role: on the hand, it cuts off al 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 connotational components of its semantic structure.
Lecture 3
Lexico-phraseological Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices.
When we read a book of fiction and enjoy it we rarely notice the means employed by the author to bring forth this or that particular effect. Only when we start a thorough examination we notice not only WHAT but HOW the writer did it. One of the basic concerns of stylistics is to clarify the “hows”, to define and analyse the means and devices which help the writer.
Words and word-groups that compose a literary text are drawn from the general language. Among word-sequences that compose a literary text there occur such which seem to be specifically patterned. They are the so-called tropes and figures of speech. Their patterned nature makes them different from other word sequences and more or less recognizable.
The principle manifested in tropes – analogy: some similar feature in otherwise dissimilar things is discovered and the discovered similarity suggests an image. Units that belong to tropes are:
simile, metaphor, metonymy, epithet.
The collective term for them is imagery.
Figures of speech are:
parallel constructions, framing, anaphora, epiphora, alliteration, antithesis, and others.
The organizing axes of these are recurrence, analogy-contrast, incomplete representation.
In a literary text units of the above mentioned groups rarely represent pure cases; the bulk are of a mixed type. That’s why the terms “tropes” and “figures of speech” are sometimes used indiscriminately by some scholars of style. Tropes and figures of speech can also be called expressive means (EMs), stylistic means, stylistic devices (SDs), stylistic markers, etc.
There are three main groups of EMs and SDs:
Within each of these divisions there exist subdivisions. The main constituting feature of a SD is the binary opposition of lexical meanings of the employed unit (one which is fixed in the dictionary and does not depend on the context, while the other originates within certain context and is contextual.
When one of the meanings is suppressed by the other we speak of trite, stale, hackneyed SD.
e.g. The sun rises in the East.
When the opposition is clearly perceived and both indicated meanings are simultaneously realized within the same short context we speak of fresh, original, genuine SD.
e.g. Her manner was as soft as the summer rain.
SDs based on the binary opposition of lexical meanings regardless of the syntactical organization of the utterance are lexical stylistic devices.
Lexico-phraseological SDs are grouped into the following classes:
A. EMs and SDs based on the interaction of different lexical meanings of the word.
1. Those based on the interaction of primary and contextual meanings.
a. metaphor b. metonymy c. irony d. sarcasm e. personification
2. Those based on the interaction of primary and derivative logical meanings.
a. zeugma b. pun c. violation of a phraseological unit
B. Those based on the interaction between the logical and the nominal meanings of the word.
a. antonomasia
C. Those based on the interaction between the logical and the emotive.
a. epithet b. hyperbole c. oxymoron
D. EMs and SDs which give additional characteristics to the objects described.
a. simile b. periphrasis
E. The use of phraseological units and allusions.
A. EMs and SDs based on the interaction of different lexical meanings of the word. Metaphor, metonymy, irony, sarcasm, personification.
1. Those based on the interaction of primary and contextual meanings.
a. metaphor b. metonymy c. irony d. sarcasm e. personification
a. Metaphor
From the times of ancient Greek and Roman Rhetoric the term has been known to denote the transference of name from one word to another: words or phrase denoting one object are transferred to others in order to indicate a resemblance between them.
e.g. He smelled the ever-beautiful smell of coffee imprisoned in the can. (J. Steinbeck)
e.g. The laugh in her eyes died and was replaced by something else.
Metaphors can be classified according to the degree of unexpectedness. Those which are absolutely unexpected, i.e. are quite unpredictable, are called genuine. The genuine metaphor is the expression of a writer’s individual vision. Those which are commonly used and even fixed in dictionaries are trite or dead metaphors.
e.g. floods of tears
a flight of fancy
a shadow of a smile, etc.
Metaphors can be classified according to their structure into simple and developed. When a group of metaphors is clustered around the same image (to make it more vivid and complete) we speak of a developed (sustained, prolonged) metaphor.
e.g. The slash of sun on the wall above him slowly knifes down, cuts across his chest, becomes a coin on the floor and vanishes. (J. Updike)
The function of the metaphor is manifold: it evokes images and suggests analogies, it makes the author’s thought more concrete, definite and clear and at the same time it reveals the author’s/character’s emotional attitude towards what he describes.
b. Metonymy is the use of one word for another, that it suggests. Metonymy is based on some kind of association between the object named and the object implied.
e.g. Then a pause, as the bonnet and dress neared the top of the square.
Besides their logical meanings the words “bonnet” and “dress” have acquired a contextual logical meaning – that of people, women.
In metonymy relations between the object named and the object implied are numerous and various.
The most frequent types of relations are:
• between an instrument and an action it performs
e.g. As the sword is the worst argument that can be used, so should it be the last. (Byron)
• between an article of clothing and the person wearing it.
There are trite metonymies, they are based on very common, close relations between objects:
• the relations between the creator and his creation:
e.g. Your father would go crazy about Goya. (Galsworthy)
• between the material and the thing made of it.
e.g. to be dressed in silk, nylon
• the relations between the singular and plural. This type of metonymy is called synecdoche.
e.g. … and the god’s brow threatens like imminent thunderstorm.
Metonymy is used to achieve concreteness of description. The author mentions only one seemingly insignificant (or striking) feature and thus he draws the reader’s attention to it and makes him see the character he describes as he himself sees him.
c. Irony is a SD in which the contextual evaluative meaning of a word is directly opposed to its dictionary meaning. The context is arranged so that the word positively charged is understood as a negative qualification. So the essence of irony consists in the foregrounding of the evaluative meaning. Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning, a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret for purpose of ridicule.
e.g. … Soames and Irene were seated at dinner. The happy pair were seated, not opposite each other but rectangularly, at a handsome rosewood table. (Galsworthy)
The effect of irony largely depends on the unexpectedness and seeming lack of logic of a word used by the author in an incompetible context.
d. Bitter, socially and politically aimed irony is referred to as sarcasm it is always cutting.
e. Personification is the presentation of a phenomenon or an idea as a human being. It is attributing human properties to lifeless objects, mostly to abstract notions, such as thoughts, actions, intentions, emotions, seasons of the year, etc. Personification is used to help to visualize the description, to impart dynamic force to it or to reproduce the particular mood of the viewer.
e.g. The Face of London was non strangely altered … the Voice of Mourning was heard in every street. (D. Defoe)
A (2) EMs and SDs based on the interaction of primary and derivative logical meanings. Zeugma, pun, violation of phraseological units.
a. Zeugma b. Pun c. Violation of phraseological units
a. Zeugma is the use of a word in the same grammatical relations to two adjacent words in the context, one metaphorical and the other literal in sense. Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the primary meaning when the two meanings clash. By making the two meanings conspicuous in this particular way, each of them stands out clearly. The effect of zeugma is humorous.
e.g. “I hate poached eggs”, said Lord Caterham … “Take them away, will you, Tredwell?” Tredwell and the poached eggs withdrew as silently as they came. (A. Christie)
b. Pun is simultaneous realization within the same short context of two meanings of a polysemantic word; the word upon which the effect is based is repeated. It is a play on words used for the humorous or ludicrous effect.
e.g. Pessimist. Marriage is a three-ring circus …Engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering. (Laughs and Smiles)
c. Violation of a phraseological unit, or decomposition of set phrases. It consists in intentional violation of the use of set phrases. Its inner mechanism lies in the literal interpretation of one of the elements of a phraseolodical unit. The phrase acquires a fresh vigour and effect, it sounds more concrete and more vivid, the author revives the meaning of the word and offers a very fresh, original and expressive description; very often a humorous effect is achieved.
e.g. “It’s beastly weather we are having today.” “Why?” “Don’t you see – it’s raining cats and dogs.” (Laughs and Smiles)
B. EMs and SDs based on the interaction between the logical and the nominal meanings of the word. Antonomasia.
Antonomasia is a SD in which a proper name is used instead of a common noun or vice versa. There are two groups of antonomasia: to the first group we shall refer those cases in which a proper noun is used for a common noun. Proper names in this type of antonomasia express some quality, which was the leading passion with the character whose name is used: so that “Othello” stands for “a jealous person”, “Don Juan” for “an amorous” one. This type of antonomasia is trite for the author repeats the well-known, often mentioned facts.
In the second type of antonomasia we observe the interaction between the logical and the contextual nominal meanings. That means that any common noun can be used as a name. It is always original. In such cases the person’s name serves his first characteristics. They can be called telling names. Here are some Sheridan’s personages:
Mr Backbite – Мистер Клеветаун; Mr Credulous – Мистер Доверч; Mr Snake – Мистер Гад, etc.
Sometimes antonomasia is used to create a humorous effect.
C. SDs based on the interaction between the logical and emotive meanings. Epithet, hyperbole, understatement, oxymoron.
• Epithet is a SD which expresses a characteristic of an object, both existing and imaginary. Its basic features are emotiveness and subjectivity: the characteristic attached to the object to qualify it is always chosen by the speaker himself.
Epithet has remained over the centuries the most widely used SD.
Through long and repeated use epithets become fixed. Many fixed epithets are closely connected with folklore and can be traced back to folk ballads:
e.g. “true love, “merry Christmas”, etc.
Those which were first found in Homer’s poetry and have been repeated since, are known as Homeric epithets.
e.g. “swift-footed Achilles”, “rosy-fingered dawn”, etc.
The structure and the semantics of epithets are extremely variable.
Semantically there are 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. Most of the qualifying words found in the dictionary can be and are used as affective epithets.
e.g. “nasty”, “magnificent”, “atrocious”, etc.
The second group – figurative
e.g. “the frowning cloud”, “the smiling sun”
and transferred. Epithets transfer the quality of one object to its closest neighbour.
e.g. Most of the day she spent before the solitary fire. (A)
It was the girl who was solitary before the fire and the quality characterizing her state was transferred to the fire.
Epithets stress the existing qualities of the objects or phenomenon. Epithets help the writer to express the emotional attitude towards what he describes.
In the overwhelming majority of examples epithet is expressed by adjectives or qualitative adverbs.
Inverted epithets are based on the contradiction between the logical and the syntactical: logically defining becomes syntactically defined and vice versa as in “this devil of a woman” – “of a woman” is syntactically an attribute, i.e. the defining, and “devil” – the defined logically – “a woman” is defined by “the devil.”
Epithet reveals the author’s attitude towards the things described, his individual perception and evaluation. Epithet makes such a strong impact on the reader that he begins to see and evaluate things as the writer wants him to. Nouns come next. They are used either as exclamatory sentences (You, ostrich!) or as postpositive attributes (“Richard of the Lion Heart”).
The structure of epithets.
Epithets are used singly, in pairs, in chains, in two-step structure and in inverted constructions, also as phrase attributes.
Pairs are represented by two epithets joined by a conjunction or asyndetically as in “wonderful and incomparable beauty” or “a tired old town”.
Chains (also called strings) of epithets present a group of homogeneous attributes.
e.g. She was hopefully, sadly, vaguely, madly longing for something better. (Dreiser)
Two-step epithets are so called because the process of qualifying seemingly passes two stages: the qualification of the object and the qualification of the qualification it self as in “unnaturally mild day”.
Phrase-epithets always produce an original expression. Their originality proceeds from rare repetitions.
e.g. “a-move-if-you-dare expression”
e.g. There’s something about evening … that makes a person feel drowsy and peaceful. Sort of end-of-a-perfect-day feeling. (P.G. Wodehouse)
Note: Do not regard all attributes as epithets. Such attributes as “a round table” reflect objective features and not their subjective qualification which is the leading feature of an epithet. Those adjectives (adverbs, nouns) which offer objective representation of the features and qualities of an object form the group of logical attributes.
• Hyperbole – a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration of a feature essential to the object or phenomenon. Hyperbole shows the overflow of emotions in the speaker. The feelings and emotions of the speaker are so ruffled that he resorts in his speech to intensifying the quantitative or qualitative aspect of the mentioned object. Hyperbole is used to create humorous, satirical, etc. effect and so to reveal the writer’s/character’s attitude to the described.
e.g. I haven’t seen for ages!
e.g. Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. (Shakespeare, Macbeth)
There is one more SD with the same inner mechanism-understatement – hyperbole enlarges, while understatement deliberately diminishes the described object, phenomenon, etc. Understatement is the logical and psychological opposite of hyperbole. It is lessening, reducing, weakening of the real characteristics of the objects. It is an expression of an idea in an excessively restrained language. Understatement serves to underline the insignificance of what we speak about.
e.g. “The little woman, for she was of pocket size, crossed her hands solemnly on her middle.” (Galsworthy)
• Oxymoron presents a combination of two contrasting ideas. Oxymoron is a structure in which one of its components discloses some objectively existing feature or quality, while the other one offers a purely subjective individual perception of the object – thus oxymoron is a combination of two semantically contradictory notions.
With the help of oxymoron the speaker emphasizes the complex nature of the thing spoken about, thus he reveals his two-fold attitude towards the object.
e.g. “It was you, who made a liar”, she cried silently.
English colloquial speech abounds in oxymoron of the type:
awfully nice, pretty bad, etc. where the first component has lost its independent meaning and become a synonym to “very”.
D. Stylistic Devices which Give Additional Characteristics to the Objects Described. Simile. Periphrasis.
Simile is an imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two different classes. A structure of three components is presented in a stylistic device extremely popular at all times – simile. 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 are connected by one of the following link words: “like”, “as”, “as though”, “as like”, “such as”, “as … as”, etc.
The tenor and the vehicle may be expressed in a brief “nucleus” manner, as in “she like a rose”, or may be extended. This case of sustained expression of likeness is known as epic, or Homerian simile.
The feature which is called foundation of a simile, may be explicitly mentioned as in:
e.g. “He stood immovable like a rock.
When the foundation is not explicitly named the simile is considered to be richer in possible associations. So “the rose” allows to simultaneously foreground such features as “fresh, beautiful, fragrant, attractive”, etc.
Similes in which the link between the tenor and the vehicle is expressed by notional verbs such as “to resemble”, “to seem”, “to remember”, “to recollect”, etc. are called disguised or hidden, because the realization of the comparison is somewhat suspended.
e.g. He reminded James of a hungry cat.
Simile usually serves as a means to clearer meaning; the writer makes his description concrete, familiar, picturesque. It help the author to reveal certain feeling of his own.
• Periphrasis is a word combination which is used instead of the word designating an object; it is a roundabout form of expression instead of a simple one. Periphrasis is a description of what could be named directly; it is naming the characteristic features of the object instead of naming the object itself.
The main function of periphrasis is to convey a purely individual perception of the described object. Sometimes the speaker gives a mild, delicate expression instead of one which seems to be rude, or unpleasant, or impolite, etc. (euphemistic periphrasis)
e.g. “I expect you’d like a wash,” Mrs Thomson said. “The bathroom’s to the right, and the usual offices next to it.”
Periphrasis can be logical when it is based on logical notions.
e.g. Mr Snodgrass bore under his arm the instruments of destruction. (Dickens)
Figurative periphrasis may be based on metaphor or metonymy.
e.g. Back foolish tears, back to your native spring! (Shakespeare)
Periphrasis can be trite and original.
e.g. the better sex, the man in the street
E. The use of phraseological units and allusions.
Allusion is reference to well-known historical literary or mythological sources. The stylistic effect of an allusion can be achieved only if the facts and personages alluded to are well-known to the reader.
e.g. He walked as slowly as the Ghost in “Hamlet” and more slowly.
Allusion hinting at well known situations help the writer to be more explicit and clear without expanding on the subject too much.
Lecture 4
Syntactical Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices.
While in lexical SDs the desired effect is achieved through the interaction of lexical meanings of words, syntactical SDs deal with the syntactical arrangement of the utterance (irrespective of the lexical meanings of the employed units).
Stylistic study of the syntax begins with the study of the length and the structure of a sentence, for the length of any language unit is a very important factor in information exchange, for the human brain can receive and transmit information only if the latter is punctuated by pauses.
The study of the sentence and its types and especially the relations between different parts of the sentence has had a long history. Rhetoric was mainly engaged in the observation of the juxtaposition of the members of the sentence, in finding ways and means of impressing the audience.
The problem of syntactical SDs is closely connected with the problem of the word-order in English. The English affirmative sentence is regarded as neutral if it maintains the regular word-order,
i.e. subject – predicate – object (or other secondary members of the sentence).
In oral speech (which is more emphatic than the written type of speech) various syntactical structures are used automatically as a norm of oral intercourse and are not to be considered SDs.
Within the written type of speech even a slight change in the word-order of a sentence, or in the order of the sentences will add something to the volume of the information contained in the original sentence.
Unlike the syntactical EMs of the language, syntactical SDs are perceived as elaborate designs aimed at having a definite impact on the reader.
Syntactical EMs and SDs may be divided into:
I. Those used within a sentence:
1. Those based on a juxtaposition of different parts of the sentence: inversion, detachment
2. Those based on stylistical use of peculiarities of oral speech. (Particular use of colloquial constructions): ellipsis, aposiopesis, represented speech
3. Stylistical use of interrogative and negative constructions: rhetorical questions, litotes
II. Syntactical EMs and SPs used within an utterance.
III. Syntactical EMs and SDs based on a special use of connection of words, sentences, phrases: asyndeton, polysyndeton
I. Syntactical EMs and SDs used within a sentence.
1. Those based on the juxtaposition of different parts of the utterance.
• Inversion deals with the displacement of the predicate (predicative) – complete inversion – or the displacement of secondary members of the sentence – partial inversion – and their shift into the front opening position in the sentence. It is used to single out some part (parts) of the sentence and thus it attaches logical stress or additional emotional colouring (or both) to the surface meaning of the sentence.
The following patterns of stylistic inversion are most frequently used:
1. The object is placed before the subject:
e.g. Talent Mr Micawber has, capital Mr Micawber has not. (Dickens)
2. The post position of the attribute:
e.g. “Once upon a midnight dreary … “. (E.A. Poe)
3. The predicative stands before the link – verb and both are placed before the subject:
e.g. “Rude am I in speech …” (Shakespeare)
4. The adverbial modifier is placed at the beg of the sentence:
e.g. “… eagerly I wished the morrow …” (E.A. Poe)
5. Both modifier and predicate stand before the subject:
e.g. “In went Mr Pickwick.” (Dickens)
• Detachment (detached construction or isolated members of the sentence)
Detachment is regarded as a special kind of inversion, it is based on the violation of the traditional means of connection between different members of a sentence, though logical ties between them always exist.
Detachment is syntactically separated from other members of a sentence with which it is grammatically and logically connected. The word-order is not violated but secondary members obtain their own stress because they are detached from the rest of the sentence by commas, dashes and even a full stop – detached words, phrases, etc. are foregrounded into the focus of the reader’s attention, they help the writer to laconically draw the reader’s attention to a certain detail or circumstance.
In the English language detachment is generally used with words that have some explanatory function.
e.g. “Sir Pitt came in first, very much flushed and rather unsteady in his gait.” (Thackeray)
The functions of inversion and detachment are almost the same, but the latter produces a much stronger effect: it gives prominence to some words and helps the writer emphasize his emotional attitude towards what he describes.
2. Syntactical EMs and SDs based on the stylistical use of the peculiarities of oral speech. (particular use of colloquial constructions)
• Ellipsis is a typical phenomenon in conversation but it assumes a new quality when used in the written language. It is an omission from a construction of one or both principle parts (the subject, the predicate) which are obviously understood. Ellipsis is made use of to impart brevity, a quick tempo, emotional tension, also to create the effect of implication.
e.g. I went to Oxford as one goes into exile; she to London.
e.g. The open door was a dark, blank screen, the curtained windows blind whiteness.
• Aposiopesis (break-in-the-narrative) is the sudden breaking off in speech, without completing a thought; it reflects the emotional or/and psychological state of the speaker: he is either unable or/and unwilling to state what was in his mind. Aposiopesis conveys to the reader a very strong upsurge of emotions. Aposiopesis creates an effect of implication – a sudden break in the narrative inevitably focuses the attention on what is left unsaid.
e.g. You just come home, or I’ll … (the implication is a threat)
e.g. Good intentions, but – (the implication is that nothing has come of what it was planned to accomplish)
Aposiopesis is a SD in which the role of intonation cannot be overestimated – the pause after the break is generally charged with meaning.
3. Stylistical use of Interrogative and Negative constructions.
• Rhetorical question is a peculiar interrogative construction which semantically remains a statement. It appeals to the reader for an answer, it sounds emphatic, it mobilizes the attention of the reader even when the latter is not supposed to answer anything, when the only possible answer is implied within the boundaries of the question. Rhetorical question is full of emotive meaning and modality. It serves to express all kinds of modal shades of meaning as doubt, challenge, anger, irony, etc.
e.g. She took a vase of roses and left the room. Soames remained seated. Was it for this that he had sighed the contract? Was it for this that he was going to spend some ten thousand pounds? (J. Galsworthy)
• Litotes is a type of ironical understatement made for emphasis, where an affirmation is expressed by denying its contrary. Litotes is used to weaken the positive characteristics of a thing or phenomenon. The statement sounds less categorical, it conveys certain doubts of the speaker as to quality he mentions.
e.g. The outward relations between James and his son were marked by a lack of sentiment peculiarly Forsytean, but for all that the two were by no means unattached. (J. Galsworthy)
The analysis of the examples shows that the negation does not merely indicate the absence of the quality mentioned but suggests the presence of the opposite quality.
e.g. It’s not a bad thing = It’s a good thing.
e.g. He is no coward = He’s a brave man.
e.g. He was not without taste, etc.
Syntactical EMs and SDs used in utterances.
• Parallel constructions or parallelism are constructions formed by the same syntactical pattern closely following one another.
Parallelism is complete when the construction of the second sentence fully copies that of the first one; parallelism is partial when only the beginning or the end of several sentences are structurally similar.
Parallelism carries an emotive function; in some cases it emphasizes the similarity and equates the significance of the parts; in other cases parallelism emphasizes diversity and contrast of ideas. 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.
e.g. As if by magic silence fell. Arms were folded, tongues stilled, faces became angelic and demure, and feet were placed decorously side by side.
• Reversed parallelism is called chiasmus.
Chiasmus or reversed parallelism is a structure of two successive sentences ort parts of a sentence where the word-order of one of the sentences is inverted as compared with that of the other. It is used to break the monotony of parallel constructions; to lay stress on the part of the utterance which is opposite in structure, to bring in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis.
e.g. Soon the young professor was telling Roy how much he liked his books, and Roy was modestly telling him what in this one and the other his aim had been and how conscious he was that he had come far short of achieving it. (W.S. Maugham)
Syntactical EMs and SDs based on a special arrangement of the parts of the utterance.
• Climax presents a structure in which every successive sentence or phrase is emotionally more expressive or logically more important or more explicit than the preceding one. It is frequently accompanied by lexical and syntactical repetitions.
The stylistic function of climax is to show the relative importance of things as seen by the author: he discloses his world outlook, his evaluation of objective facts and phenomena.
e.g. In spite of himself, something swelled in his breast.
e.g. To live here in sight of all this, to be able to point it out to his friend, to talk of it, to possess it! His cheek flushed.
Such an organization of the utterance creates a gradual intensification of its significance both logical and emotive, it absorbs the reader’s attention more completely.
Climax may be of three main types:
• Quantitative when it is the quality or size that increases with the unfolding of the utterance.
e.g. They looked at hundreds of houses; they climbed thousands of stairs; they inspected innumerable kitchens.
• Qualitative or emotive when intensification in achieved through the introduction of emphatic words into the utterance, which fact increases its emotive force.
e.g. He was helpless, so very helpless.
e.g. That’s a nice girl, that’s a very nice girl!
Usually in this type of climax the word most important semantically is repeated and intensified by the introduction of such emotionally coloured adverbs as “terribly”, “especially”, “immensely”, etc.
• Logical, the most frequent type, in which every new concept is stronger, more important and valid.
e.g. Silence fell upon Closter place, peace, oblivion. (Maurier)
Very often every successive member of a climax is a natural logical consequence of the preceding one:
e.g. I swear to God I never saw the beat of this winter. More snow, more cold, more sickness, more death. (M. Wilson)
A peculiar variety is presented in those cases when a negative structure undergoes intensification:
e.g. “No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass … that was not owned.” (J. Galsworthy)
• Anticlimax (Bathos) is counterpart to climax, it presents a structure where emotion or logical importance is accumulated only to be suddenly broken or/and brought to a sudden cadence, it is the sudden reversal of roused expectations; it consists in adding one weaker element to one or several strong ones, mentioned before. Anticlimax brings forth a humorous or ironic effect.
e.g. Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything expect the obvious. (O. Wilde)
• Suspense is the deliberate slowing down of the thought postponing its completion till the very end of the utterance. Suspense prepares the reader for the only logical conclusion of the utterance and the reader awaits the completion of the utterance with an ever increasing tension; the reader is kept in a state of uncertainty usually with anxiety and expectation.
e.g. Yes, despite the drawback of Miss Anderson’s village school, the dark old-fashioned building, the primitive sanitation, the scarcity of stock which made Anna’s Christmas cards all the more welcome, and the great range of age in each class, still Miss Anderson had one priceless advantage. (Miss Read)
• Antithesis is a structure presenting two contrasting ideas in a close neighborhood. The two parts of an antithesis are semantically opposite to each other. It is used to demonstrate the contradictory nature of the object or, when two different objects are opposed to each other, to underline their incompatibility.
e.g. They speak like saints and act like devils.
Syntactical EMs and SDs based on repetition.
Repetition is recurrence of the same word, word combination, phrase for two or more times. Repetition is a powerful means of emphasis: it aims at logical emphasis, it fixes the attention of the reader on the key-word of the utterance; in a way repetition imparts additional sense to the whole of the utterance. Repetition adds rhythm and balance to the utterance.
e.g. … the photograph of Lotta Lind beck he tore into small bits across and across and across.
As to the position occupied by the repeated unit in a sentence or (in an) utterance, we shall mention four main types, most frequently occurring in English literature: anaphora, epiphora, anadiplosis, framing.
• Anaphora is the repetition of one or more initial words of several succeeding sentences. The main stylistic function of anaphora, is not so much to emphasize the repeated unit as to create the background for the unrepeated unit, which, through its novelty, becomes foregrounded.
e.g. Out of his other property, out of all the things he had collected, his silver, his pictures, his houses, his investments, he got a secret and intimate feeling; out of her he got none. (J. Galsworthy)
• Epiphora is recurrence of the same word, word combination, phrase for two or more times in the end of successive sentences (clauses). The main function of epiphora is to add stress to the final words of the sentence.
e.g. He had never before seen such an expression on her face. And since it is always the unusual which alarms, Soames was alarmed. (J. Galsworthy)
• Anadiplosis or catch repetition is the repetition of the same unit (word or phrase) at the end of the preceding and at the beginning of the following sentence. the writer, instead of moving on, seems to double back on his tracks and pick up his last word. It is a powerful means of emphasis.
e.g. He (old Jolyon) would not run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, and so to his son he said good-bye. That good-bye lasted until now. (J. Galsworthy)
e.g. I wake up and I am alone and I walk round warless and I’m alone and I talk with people and I’m alone. (J. Wane)
• Framing or ring repetition is repetition which is arranged in the form of a frame: it is recurrence of the word or word combination in the beginning of the sentence (or paragraph) and at the end. It makes the whole utterance more compact and more complete.
e.g. He sat, still and silent, until his future landlord accepted his proposals and brought writing materials to complete the business. He sat, still and silent, while the landlord wrote.
One more type of stylistic repetition should be mentioned – morphological repetition. It presents not an independent lexical unit but a morpheme, usually the [-ing] suffix.
e.g. And still from all the cross streets they were hurrying and rattling towards the converging point at full speech, and hurling themselves into straggling mass, locking wheels and adding their driver’s imprecations to the clamor. (O. Henry)
Repetition should not be mixed up with pleonasm – an excessive uneconomic use of unnecessary, extra words which either shows the inability of the writer to express his ideas in a precise and clear manner or a device purposely used for special force or clearness.
e.g. This volume contains all the short stories which Melville is known to be written and collects them for the first time in one volume. (Observer)
e.g. Троя пылала, объятая пламенем огня.
III. Particular ways of combining parts of the utterance. (Linkage)
Words, phrases, clauses and sentences are connected with one another in speech. Words and phrases are mostly combined with their environment semantically, sometimes by auxiliary elements (prepositions and conjunctions). Clauses and independent sentences can be joined to one another asyndetically (in this case the connection is pure semantical); more often conjunctions or other connectors are employed.
• Asyndeton is a connection of sentences, phrases or words without any conjunctions, their deliberate omission. Asyndeton helps the author make each phrase or word sound independent and significant, it helps create the effect of energetic, active prose.
e.g. Secretly after the night fall, he visited the home of Prime Minister. He examined it from top to bottom. He measured all the doors and windows. He took up the flooring. He inspected the plumbing. He examined the furniture. He found nothing.
• Polysyndeton is an insistent repetition of a connective (the conjunction “and” in most cases) between words, phrases and clauses in an utterance. Polysendeton underlines the simultaneity of actions or close connection of properties enumerated on the one hand, and sometimes causes each member of a string of facts to stand out conspicuously, on the other.
Quite often the excessive use of the conjunction “and” betrays the poverty of the speaker’s syntax, showing the primitiveness of the character.
e.g. Presently, over James came a change, … a sense of being caressed, and praised, and petted, and all without the bestowal of a single caress or word of praise. (J. Galsworthy)
Not infrequently, polysyndeton promotes a high-flown tonality of narrative.
The elevated tonality of polysyndeton is very probably explained by associations with the style of the Bible, in which nearly every sentence, or at least every paragraph begins with and.
e.g. “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon the house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it.” (Mathew, VII)
Lecture 5
Phonetic Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices.
Phonetic expressive means and devices are used for several purposes:
• to produce a certain acoustic effect;
• to give emphasis to the utterance;
• to arouse emotions in the reader or the listener.
Intonation and stress are very important means in oral speech where they are expressed directly by the speaker. In written speech they are conveyed indirectly by graphical expressive means and by a special syntactical arrangement of utterance (such as inversion, isolated members, parallel constructions and other syntactical stylistic devices).
Graphical means include punctuation, different types of print (italics, bold type) and a specific arrangement of printed material. Such marks of punctuation as a series of dots (…), a dash (-), exclamation and question marks and some others may be used not only to show the logical arrangement of speech but also to convey the information of the uttered speech and to express emphasis.
There is another thing to be taken into account – 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 desined phonetic effect. The way a separate word sounds may produce a certain euphonic impression, but this is a matter of individual perception and feeling and therefore subjective.
Thus Verier, a specialist on English versification says that each of the sounds expresses a definite feeling or state of mind. He maintains that the sound [u:] generally expresses sorrow or seriousness; [l] produces the feeling of joy, etc.
The theory of sound symbolism is based on the assumption that separate sounds due to their articulatory and acoustic properties may awake certain ideas, perceptions, feelings, images, vague though they might be.
In poetry we feel that the arrangement of sounds carries a definite aesthetic function. Such sounds phenomena as harmony, euphony, rhythm contribute greatly to the expressiveness of poetic lines.
Euphony is such a combination of words and such an arrangement of utterance which produces a pleasing acoustic effect, i.e. a pleasing effect on the ear. Euphony is generally achieved by such phonetic stylistic devices as alliteration, onomatopoeia rhythm, rhyme.
Alliteration – is the repetition of similar consonant in close succession, particularly at the beginning of successive words.
Phonetic expressive means deal with the sound with the sound instrumenting of the utterance and are mainly found in poetry.
e.g. Deep into the darkness peering, long and stood there wondering fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before. (E.A. Poe)
Взор застыл во тьме стесненный, и стоял я изумленный,
Снам отдавшись, недоступным на земле ни для кого …
Alliteration aims at imparting a melodic effect to the utterance; alliteration is generally regarded as a musical accompaniment of the author’s idea, it creates some vague emotional atmosphere, which each reader interprets for himself. Thus the repetition of the sound [d] in the lines quoted from Poe’s poem “The Raven” prompts the feeling of anxiety, fear, horror, anguish or all these feelings simultaneously.
Alliteration in the English language is deeply rooted in the traditions of English folklore. The laws of phonetic arrangement in Anglo-Saxon poetry differed greatly from those of present-day English poetry. In Old English poetry alliteration was one of the basic principles of verse and considered, along with rhythm to be its main characteristic. Thus, in Beowulf:
Fyrst forð zewát: flota wæs un yðum,
bat under beorze. Beornas zearwe
on stefħ stizon: strēamas wundon,
sund wið sande; seczas bæron
on bearm nacan beorhte frætwe…
In Old English alliteration was used to consolidate the sense within the line, leaving the relation between the lines rather loose. [Rhyme – it’s semantic function is to chain one line to another].
Assonance – a phonetic stylistic device; it is the agreement of vowel sounds (sometimes combined with likeness in consonants).
e.g. One’s upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary …
Как то в полночь, в час угрюмый, полный тягостною думой …
e.g. … and the Raven never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting …
… и сидит, сидит зловещий ворон черный, ворон вещий …
Onomatopoeia is a combination of speech-sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature;
by things (machines or tools, etc.)
by people (sighing, laughter, patter of feet, etc.)
by animals.
There are two varieties of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect
Direct onomatopoeia is contained in words that imitate natural sounds as
e.g. ding-dong, buzz, bang, cuckoo, mew, ping-pong, etc.
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”.
e.g. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain … (E.A.Poe)
… и завес пурпурных трепет издавал как будто лепет …
Indirect onomatopoeia, unlike alliteration, demands some mention of what makes the sound, a rustling (of curtains), etc.
The same can be said of the sound [w] if it aims at reproducing, let us say, the sound of wind. The word “wind’ must be mentioned as in.
e.g. “Whenever the moon and stars are set,
Whenever the wind is high,
All night long in the dark and wet
A man goes riding by.” (R.S. Stevenson)
Indirect onomatopoeia is sometimes very effectively used by repeating words which themselves are not onomatopoetic, as in Poe’s poem “The Bells”
e.g. Silver bells… how they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle
“To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells –
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
The words “tintinnabulation”, tinkle, “jingling” are obviously onomatopoetic; the word “bells” begins to display such properties through the repetition.
• 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.
We distinguish between full rhymes and incomplete rhymes.
The full rhyme presupposes identity of the vowel sound and the following consonant sounds.
e.g. might – right
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.
e.g. flesh – fresh –press
Consonant rhymes, on the contrary, show concordance in consonants.
e.g. worth – forth
e.g. tale – tool
There are rhymes that are called compound or broken. Their peculiarity is that the combination of words sounds like one word.
e.g. bottom – forgot’em – shot him
There are rhymes that are called eye-rhymes (the letters and not the sounds are identical)
e.g. love – prove; etc.
Many eye-rhymes are the result of historical changes in the vowel sounds in certain positions.
There is still another variety of rhyme which is called internal rhyme. The rhyming words are placed not at the ends of the lines, but within the line, as in:
e.g. Once upon a midnight dreary while I pondered weak and weary …(E. A. Poe)
• Rhythm – is a term applied to both verse and prose.
Rhythm is primarily a periodicity. According to some investigations, rhythmical periodicity in verse “requires intervals of about three quarters of a second between successive peaks of periods”.
It is a deliberate arrangement of speech into regularly recurring units, which are intended to be grasped as a definite periodicity. This periodicity makes rhythm a stylistic device.
Rhythm intensifies the emotions; it reveals itself most conspicuously in music, dance and verse.
Rhythm can also be found in prose; it is based on the repetition of similar structural units, following one another. The peculiar property of prose-rhythm particularly in 20th century prose is that it occurs only in relatively short spans of text.
The most observable rhythmical patterns in prose are based on the use of certain stylistic syntactical devices, namely, enumeration, repetition, parallel construction and chiasmus.
e.g. The high-sloping roof, of a fine sooty pink was almost Danish, and two ‘ducky’ little windows looked out of, giving an impression that very tall servants lived up there.