ENGLISH STYLISTICS
Exam Topics
1. General Notes on Style and Stylistics. (Theoretical Foundations of contemporary
stylistics, Basic Notions of Stylistics, Different understanding of style)
2. The object of study of stylistics (Stylistics and its connection with other linguistic
disciplines, Stylistic foregrounding)
Stylistic is the science, which studies those features of the linguistic utterance which
are utilized to impose the encoder's way of thinking of the decoder. (How the reader
affected by text). The subject of stylistics can be outlined as the study of the nature,
functions and structure of stylistic devices. The word “style” is derived from the Latin word
“stilus” (a short stick, used by Romans for writing). Stylistics defined a) the style of different
writers; b) types of literature; c) elements of language). Stylistics deals with two
independent tasks: 1) the investigation of the inventory of special language media; 2)
certain types of text. Individual style should be applied linguistic sphere and literary
science, which deals writer’s individual manner. Practical stylistics continues from the norm
of language and deals with the language professionally (editors, publishers, writers etc.).
When the speaker talks, he encode his speech and the listeners decode and understand the
meaning of his words. These are called encoding and decoding stylistics. Stylistic
foregrounding is visible psychological effect on reader and hearer.
Touches general language problems. For ex: aesthetic function of
Stylistic devices language, emotional coloring, the relation between language and
thought.
Avoid discussion of general issues. Its aspect is literary texts and
Functional styles others. Types: scientific, newspaper, official, belles-lettres,
publicist (discourse)
Expressive means Make emphatic, expressive. Types: phonetic, graphical, lexical.
3. Stylistics of Structural Language Levels: (Phonetic, Graphic and Morphological
Means of Stylistics; Stylistic Lexicology of the English Language, Stylistic Syntax of the
English Language)
1)Phonetics, Phonology One must distinguish here between the set of possible
human sounds, which constitutes the area of phonetics and the set of system sounds used
in a given human language, which constitutes the area of phonology. 2) Morphology refers
to the analysis of minimal forms in language, which are however, themselves comprised of
sounds. 3) Syntax is concerned with the meanings of words in combination with each other
to form phrases or sentences. 4) Semantics. Here one touches, however, on practically
every other level of language as well as there exists lexical, grammatical, sentence and
utterance meaning. 5) Pragmatics relies strongly for its analyses on the notion of speech
act, which is concerned, with the actual performance of language.
4. Linguostylistics and Literary Stylistics. Decoding stylistics. Different Branches of
Stylistics.
Branches of stylistics. Literary and linguistic stylistics, comparative stylistics,
decoding stylistics and functional stylistics. I. According to the type of stylistic research, we
can distinguish literary stylistics and lingua–stylistics. Both have common objects of
research. Both study the common ground of: 1) the literary language from the point of view
of its variability; 2) the idiolect of a writer; 3) poetic speech that has its own specific laws.
However, they differ in points of analysis. Lingua–stylistics studies functional styles and the
linguistic nature of the expressive means of the language. The subjects of Literary Stylistics
are: composition of a work of art, various literary genres, writer’s outlook. II. Comparative
stylistics deals with the contrastive study of more than one language. It analyses the
stylistic resources not in a separate language but at the crossroads of two languages, or two
literatures. III. Decoding stylistics. Each act of speech has the performer, or sender of
speech and the recipient. The former does the act of encoding and the latter the act of
decoding the information. IV. Functional stylistics is a branch of lingua–stylistics that
investigates functional styles or varieties of the national language such as scientific,
colloquial, business, and publicist and so on.
5. Stylistics of language and speech.
The stylistics of language analyses permanent or inherent stylistic properties of
language elements while the stylistics of speech studies stylistic properties, which appear in
a context, and they are called adherent (sadiq). Therefore, stylistics of language describes
and classifies the inherent stylistic coloring of language units. Stylistics of speech studies
the composition of the utterance - the arrangement, selection and distribution of different
words, and their adherent qualities.
6. Varieties of Language and English Literary Language.
The actual situation of communication has evolved two varieties of language – the
spoken (oral) and the written.
Spoken written
primary secondary
colloquial vocabulary typically bookish
diachronically
has an interlocutor
The language is called Anglo-Saxon or Old English. Old English is dead language, like
Latin and Greek. This period lasted approximately until the end of the 12 th century. During
the next stage of its development, known as the Middle English period, the English
language rapidly progressed towards its present state. It had enlarged its vocabulary by
borrowings from Norman - French and other languages. The New English period dates from
the 15th century. This is the beginning of the English language known, spoken and the
written at the present time. In the 16th century, English began to flourish. The norms of the
19th century literary English were influenced by certain other styles of other languages.
7. Types of Lexical Meaning.
Logical meaning – is the precise naming of a feature of the idea, phenomenon or
object, the name by which we recognize the whole concept. This meaning is also called
referential or direct meaning. Ex: the verb “inwardly” has the primary logical meaning of
“internally” or “within”. Emotive meaning - materializes a concept in a word, but unlike
logical meaning, emotive meaning has a reference not directly to things or phenomena, but
to the feelings and emotions of the speaker towards these things. Ex: “I feel so darned
(damned) lonely”. The word “darned” has no logical meaning, only emotive meaning.
Nominal meaning – is attached to words, which while expressing concepts, indicate a
particular object out of a class. Ex: the word “table”. The first thing that appears in our mind
is the general notion of concrete features. But we also may denote “a definite table”. In this
case we use definite article and the meaning becomes denotational (nominating).
Denotation is notional meaning of word as opposed to its stylistics appurtenance
(münasiblik). Connotation is a part of meaning of linguistic unit, expressing its stylistic
value.
8. Stylistic Classification of the English Vocabulary.
9. Special Literary Vocabulary: Terms. Poetic Words.
10. Special Literary Vocabulary: Archaic Words. Barbarisms and Foreignisms.
11. Special Colloquial Vocabulary: Slang words. Jargonisms.
12. Special Colloquial Vocabulary: Dialectal Words. Vulgar Words.
The word-stock of a language divides into three parts: literary (bookish character,
more or less stable), neutral (universal character, most stable) and colloquial (lively spoken
character, most stable).
Literary layer Colloquial layer Neutral words
Common colloquial vocabulary–
Common literary words –
are on the borderline between Used in colloquial and
used in written and polished
common colloquial and special literary layers
speech
colloquial
Most words are
Terms and learned words Slang
monosyllabic
They don’t have special
Poetic words Jargonisms
stylistic coloring
Archaic words Professional words
Barbarisms and foreignisms Dialectical words
Literary coinages Vulgarisms
Colloquial coinages
Special Literary Vocabulary
Used in particular science or discipline. Determination-
Terms
terms lost their quality
Poetic and highly literary words Evoke emotive meanings and rarely used.
Archaic words No longer recognizable. They’re dropped out or changed.
Obsolescent words The words become rarely used.
Obsolete words Gone completely out of use, but recognized by English.
Are words of foreign origin and have not entirely been
Barbarisms
assimilated into the English language.
Used for certain purpose, do not belong to the English
Foreignisms
vocabulary. They aren’t registered by English vocabulary.
Literary coinages Neologisms. It is defined as “a new word”.
Special Colloquial Vocabulary
Means everything that is below the standard usage of
Slang present-day English. It consists of very informal words
and phrases. Used by a particular group of people.
Stand close to slang, also being substandard, expressive
Jargonisms and emotive, but unlike a slang they are used by limited
groups of people (also professionally).
Are the words used in a definite trade, profession or
Professionalisms calling by people connected by common interests both at
work and at home.
Are those which in the process of integration of the
English language remained beyond its literary
Dialectical words
boundaries, and their use is generally confined to a
definite locality.
Are expletives and swear words which of an abusive
Vulgar words or vulgarisms
character.
Unlike those of a literary-bookish character, are
Colloquial coinages
spontaneous and elusive. Not fixed in dictionaries.
13-20. (Lexical Stylistic Devices)
Lexical meanings aren’t fixed in the dictionaries, what is called contextual meanings.
Transferred meaning is practically the interrelation between two types of lexical meaning:
dictionary and contextual.
Stylistic device’s name Explanation Example
Means transference of some
Metaphor quality from one object to The leaves fell sorrowfully.
another.
Prolonged metaphor Group of metaphors.
Metaphors, which are absolutely
Genuine metaphors
unexpected.
Trite or Dead Metaphors, which are fixed in
metaphors dictionaries.
Metonymy Is based on a different type of I haven’t read Dickens.
relation between the dictionary
and contextual meanings.
Reveals a quite unexpected
substitution of one word for
Genuine metonymy
another or one concept for
another.
The two meanings stand in
A police station being
Irony opposition to each other. Must be
burglarized.
confused with humor.
Then hate me if thou wilt, if
Derivative meanings interweave ever now.
Polysemantic effect
with the primary one. Now while the world is bent
my deeds to cross.
Is the use of a word in the same
grammatical but different Dora, plunging at once into
Zeugma semantic relations to two privileged intimacy and into
adjacent (bitişik) words in the the middle of the room.
context.
The importance of being
Is based on the interaction of two
Earnest. (the name of hero and
Pun well-known meanings of a word
the adjective present in our
or phrase.
mind).
Interjections and We use when express our feelings
Dear me! God! Come on!
Exclamatory Words strongly.
Emotive and logical meaning of
The Epithet Wild wind, loud ocean.
the word characterize the object.
Simple epithet Ordinary adjectives.
Are built like compound
Compound epithet Curl-headed girl.
adjectives.
Phrase epithet Are built as a form of phrase.
Is composed of two nouns liked in
Reversed epithet The shadow of a smile.
an “of” phrase.
Is a combination of two words in
Oxymoron which the meaning of the two Low skyscraper
clash, being opposite in sense.
The interplay between logical and
Antonomasia
nominal meanings of a word.
Is a word or phrase used to
To die – to pass away, to
replace an unpleasant word or
Euphemism expire, to be no more and so
expression by a conventionally
on.
more acceptable one.
Can be defined as a deliberate
Hyperbole exaggeration of a feature She’s got tons of money.
essential to the object.
The Cliché Is generally defined as an Rosy dreams of youth.
expression that has become too
common and trite.
Are facts of language and fixed in
Proverbs and Sayings Out of sight, out of mind.
the dictionaries.
Is similar to a proverb, the only
“He that bends shall be made
Epigrams difference is that epigrams are
straight”. (S. Maugham)
coined by individuals.
Is a repetition of a phrase or
Quotations “To be or not to be!” (Hamlet)
statement from a book, speech.
Is an indirect reference, by word
“I’m ready to meet my
Allusions or phrase, to a historical, literary
Waterloo” (Napoleon).
fact or facts of everyday life.
Consists in reviving the
It was raining cats and dogs,
Decomposition of Set independent meaning, which
and two kittens and a puppy
Phrases make up the component parts of
landed on my window still.
the fusion.
21. Simile. Periphrasis. (Lexico Syntactical SDs)
22. Antithesis. Litotes. (Lexico Syntactical SDs)
23. Climax. Anticlimax. (Lexico Syntactical SDs)
24. Syntactical Stylistic Devices (The Classification of Syntactical Stylistic Device)
25. Stylistic Inversion. Ellipsis. (Syntactical SDs)
26. Parallel Construction. Chiasmus. (Syntactical SDs)
27. Detached Construction. Repetition. (Syntactical SDs)
28. Break-in-the-narrative. Polysyndeton and Asyndeton. (Syntactical SDs)
29. Question-in-the-narrative. Rhetorical Question. (Syntactical SDs)
30. Onomatopoeia. (Phonetic SDs)
31. Alliteration and Assonance (Phonetic SDs)
32. Rhyme. Rhythm (Phonetic SDs)
33. Functional Styles of the English Language. (The Belles letters style)
34. Functional Styles of the English Language.( The Publicistic Style)
35. Functional Styles of the English Language. (The Language of newspaper)
36. Functional Styles of the English Language (The Language of scientific prose, Language of
official documents)
37. Speech and Thought Presentation (Categorization of speech presentation; Character
and characterization)
