1.

The notion of expressive means and stylistic devices on the phonetical level

Expressive means of a language are those linguistic forms and properties that have the potential to
make the utterance emphatic or expressive.

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.

Expressive means and stylistic devices have a lot in common but they are not completely synonymous.
All stylistic devices belong to expressive means but not all expressive means are stylistic devices.

Among phonetic expressive means we distinguish such as pitch, melody, stress, pausation, whispering.

The stylistic devices of phonetics subdivided into such types:

 Onomatopoeia - is a combination of speech sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in

nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc.) by things (machines or tools, etc.) by people (singing, laughter)
and animals.

 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. " The possessive instinct never stands still (J. Galsworthy)

 Assonance – 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 …

 Rhyme - is the repetition of identical or similar terminal sound combinations 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.
e.g. might – right/ flesh – fresh –press

 Rhythm - is a deliberate arrangement of speech into regularly recurring units, which are
intended to be grasped as a definite periodicity.
 2. The system of English Instrumentations

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 organization of English sounds subdivided into: versification and instrumentation.

Versification - the art of creating verses according to certain rules, elaborated on the basis of the laws of
the given language and the poets practice. (rhyme, rhythm, meter)

Instrumentation – the unity of the means of the selection and combination of sounds, which give to the
text the definite emotional and expressive colouring. It Is subdivided into 3 groups:

 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.
Alliteration, like most phonetic expressive means, does not bear any lexical or other meaning
unless we agree that a sound meaning exists as such.

" The possessive instinct never stands still (J. Galsworthy)

“Seldom seen soon forgotten”

 Assonance - is a literary device in which the repetition of similar vowel sounds takes place in
two or more words in proximity to each other within a line of poetry or prose. Assonance most
often refers to the repetition of internal vowel sounds in words that do not end the same.

“he fell asleep under the cherry tree”

One’s upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary

 Onomatopoeia - is a combination of speech sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in

nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc.) by things (machines or tools, etc.) by people (singing, laughter)
and animals.
There are two types of it:
 direct, which is imitation of sounds produced by animate objects or animals (cuckoo,
buzz)
 indirect, which is a combination of sounds, aimed at making the sound of the utterance
an echo of its sense.
[And the silken, sad, uncertain/Rustling of each purple curtain...] - the repetition of "s"
produces the effect of rustling.

 Euphony - a sense of ease and comfort in pronouncing or hearing, an effective combination of

sounds capable of producing a certain artistic impression.

The lovely lilies shade me as I stroll through the soft and dewy flower beds.
Sing to me of silent souls rising to heaven above us.

 Cacophony - harsh joining of sounds, producing a strain and discomfort in pronouncing or

hearing.

“I detest war because cause of war is always trivial.”

 3. Phonographical means of stylistics

When we judge language, we often bear in mind its written representation. It can be however very
subjective and at the same objective. Because language exists in 2 forms: oral and written.

Sound instrumenting is made mainly through the change of its graphical representation. It is an effective
means to divide information into:

 the speaker `s origin

 social and educational background
 physical
 emotional condition

Phonographic means are those ones the usage of which compensates lack of traditional of spelling
means and punctuation:

 Means of singling out of a sentence or in part. The usage of another print, dots, spacing.
 Means of singling out of a word or word combination

 Graphon - is graphical fixation of phonetic peculiarities of pronunciation resulting in

the violation of the accepted spelling. I gotta lotta things to buy. Whattaya doing?
“The b-b-b-ast-ud seen me c-c-coming” (stumbling).
“You don’t mean to thay that thith ith your firth time” (lisping).

 Italics add logical or emotive significance to the words. E.g. “Now listen, Ed, stop
that now. I’m desperate. I am desperate, Ed, do you hear?” (Dr.)

 Capitalization is used in cases of personification making the text sound solemn and
elevated or ironical in case of parody. E.g. O Music! Sphere – descended maid, //
Friend of Pleasure, Wisdom’s aid! (W.Collins)

 Multiplication - intensity of speech. “Allll aboarrrd!”- Babbit Shrieked.

Ways of text segmentation:

 Traditional (banner, kicker, headline, underhead, leading paragraph)

 Violation (text can lack traditional component – paragraphs, lines…)
 Macrosegmentation (change of text by using empty space, change of print)
 Graphical (different print in text can show inner and external speech)
 Transmission of the Graphic Model of text (the means of arrangement of an official
text can be used in fiction for the humorous effect)
 4. The system of English versification : rhyme, rhythm, metre. English metrical patterns.

Versification is the art of writing verses. It is the imaginative expression of emotion, thought, or narrative, mostly
in metrical form and often using figurative language.

"What is poetry?"
 A poem has to be in lines.
 A poem has to have rhymes.
 A poem has to be in one of a number of set rhythms.
 A poem has to have verses/stanzas.
 The rhythms of poetry are quite different from ordinary speech.
 A poem has to have a capital letter at the start of each line.
 A poem has to have vivid, descriptive words.
 A poem has to have imagery - similes, metaphors and other stylistic
devices.
 The language used in poetry is a special kind of language.
 Some words are not suitable in poetry.
 Some subjects are not suitable for poetry.
 Some subjects are more poetic than others.

Rhyme is the accord of syllables in words (sight – flight, deign – gain, madness – sadness.)

full rhyme:  duty – beauty; wonder – thunder

vowel rhyme: flesh – fresh – press
consonant rhyme: worth – forth; fur – four; turn – torn – tone
eye-rhyme: love – prove; brood – flood

Types of rhyme:

According to the structure of rhyme we can distinguish three different types:

1)  Masculine rhyme

– the last stressed syllables are rhymed together;  dreams – streams; obey – away; understand – hand
2)  Feminine rhyme
– the last two syllables are rhymed together, the 1 st syllables are stressed; duty – beauty, berry – merry,
delightful – frightful
3) Dactylic rhyme
– the last 3 syllables are rhymed together, the 1 st syllables are stressed. regretfully – forgetfully, tenderly –
slenderly

Rhythm is a recurring stress pattern in poetry. It is an even alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. A foot
is a combination of one stressed and one or two unstressed syllables. The most popular poetic feet are trochaic
foot, iambus, dactyl, amphibrach, and anapest.

Metre may be defined as that ordered rhythm which results from a regular alternation of stressed and
unstressed, or as they are sometimes called, long and short, syllables in a line of poetry.

Traditionally, the metrical structure of the poem is analysed in terms of feet. A foot is a small number of
consecutive syllables - normally two or three, sometimes four or more. Within the foot, syllables are
characterised as stressed or unstressed (or in some contexts short/long, high/low pitch, etc).
5. Word and its semantic structure

The word is a structured set of interrelated lexical variants realized in different contexts and thought of as a group
because manifested with one form and have a common semantic component.

Polysemy is the ability of a word to possess several meanings (or lexico-semantic variants — LSV ).

All lexico-semantic variants of a word taken together form its semantic structure or semantic paradigm.

F.ex. the verb treat in sentences:

a) He treated my words as a joke

.b) The book treats of poetry.

c) They treated me to sweets.

d) He treats his son cruelly.

In all these sentences the verb «treat» has different meanings and we can speak about polysemy.

The semantic structure of a word is complicated and may include, among others, the following oppositions of its
meanings:

 direct meaning / figurative meaning. For instance, in the sentence « Our neighbor died
yesterday of a heart attack» is used in its direct meaning of “to stop being alive”, whereas in
the sentence «  I laughed until I died» it is used figuratively, meaning that the person laughed a
lot.
 main meaning /secondary meaning. In the sentences: “  These mountains are too high to
climb” and “  These socks are a bit high.”  In sentence 1 the adjective high is used in its main
meaning – “large in size from the top to the ground”, whereas in sentence 2 it is used in one of
its secondary meanings – “to have an unpleasant smell”.

The adjective “dull” one can hardly hope to find a generalized meaning covering and holding together the rest
of the semantic structure.

Dull,  adj.

1. A dull book, a dull film - uninteresting, monotonous, boring. 

2. A dull student - slow in understanding, stupid. 
3. Dull weather, a dull day, a dull colour - not clear or bright. 
4. A dull sound -  not loud or distinct.
5. A dull knife - not sharp.
6. Trade is dull - not active.
7. Dull eyes (arch.) - seeing badly.
8. Dull ears (arch.) - hearing badly.
6.Stylistic and style meaning of the word. Types of stylistic meaning of the word: emotional,
evaluative, expressive

There is a confusion between the terms style and stylistics. 

A style of language is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in
communication. Each style is recognized by the language community as an independent whole. The
peculiar choice of language means is primarily dependent on the aim of the communication.

Thus we may distinguish the following styles within the English literary language:

1) the belles-lettres style,

2) the publicistic style,
3) the newspaper style,
4) the scientific prows style,
5) the style of official documents, and presumably some other.

Each style of language is characterized by a number of individual features. Each style can be subdivided
into a number of substyles.

The belles-lettres style: a) poetry proper; b) emotive prose and c) drama.

The publicistic style: a) speeches (oratory); b) essays; c) articles in journals and newspapers.
The newspaper style : a) newspaper headlines; b) brief news items and communiques and c)
advertisements.
The scientific prose style: a) the prose style used in the humanitarian sciences, b) that used in the
exact sciences.
The style of official documents : a)language of commercial documents, b) language of diplomatic
documents, c) language of legal documents, d) language of military documents.

All stylistic means of a language can be divided into expressive means (EM), which are used in some
specific way, and special devices called stylistic devices (SD).

Types of stylistic meaning of the word:

1. Emotive connotations express various feelings оr emotions. Еmоtions differ from feelings.
Emotions like joy, disappointment, pleasure, anger, worry, surprise are mоrе short-lived.
Feelings imply а more stable state, or attitude, such as love, hatred, respect, pride, dignity.
2. The evaluative component charges the word with negative, positive, ironic or other types of
connotation conveying the speaker's attitude in relation to the object of speech.
3. Expressive connotation either increases or decreases the expressiveness of the message.

The word «thing» applied to а girl. When the word is used with аn emotive adjective like «sweet» it
becomes еmоtive itself: «She was а sweet little thing». But in other sentences like «She was а small
thin delicate thing with spectacles», she argues, this is not true and the word «thing» is definitely
expressive but not emotive.

Another group of words that help create this expressive effect are the so-called «intensifiers», words
like «absolutely, frightfully, really, quite», etc.