Functional Styles of the English Language

Each style makes use of a group of means the interrelation of which is peculiar to the style. It is
the coordinator of the I-ge means and stylistic devices which shapes the distinctive features of
each style. Each style is recognized by one or more leading features, which are especially
conspicuous. A style of l-ge can he defined as a system of coordinated, interrelated and
interconditioned I-ge means intended to fulfill a specific function of communication and aiming at
a definite effect. It is relatively stable at a given stage in the development Of the literary -ge,
but it may change from one period to another, thus making the -ge style a historical category.
!he development of each style is predetermined by the .hanges in the norm of "tandard
English. !he English literary -ge has evolved a number of styles easily distinguishable from
One another. !hey are not homogeneous and fall into several variants. !he e#istence of
functional styles is conditioned by the specific peculiarities of communication in the large
diversity of human activity spheres. !he styles differ in bot. possibility and impossibility of
using certain elements and structures in a given conte#t.
The Publicistic Style started to be recognized as a separate style in the middle of the $th
century. It is characteristic of radio commentaries, essays and newspaper articles. %nlike other
styles, the publicistic style has a spoken variety, namely, the oratorical substyle. &ook reviews in
'ournals, newspapers and magazines and also pamphlets are generally included among essays.
Its aim is to e#ert a constant and deep influence on public opinion, to convince the reader or
listener that the writer(s or speaker(s interpretation is the only acceptable one and to cause him
to accept the point of view e#pressed in the speech, essay or article not only by logical
argumentation, but by emotional influence too. !his brain-washing function is most effective in
oratory, for here the most powerful instrument of persuasion, the human voice, is brought into
play. )ue to this combined influence *logical and emotional+, the p.s. has ,eatures in common
with the style of scientific prose through its coherent and logical syntactical structures with an
e#panded system of connectives and careful paragraphing and that of emotive prose through
the use of words with emotive meaning and of imagery. !he manner of presenting ideas,
however, brings this style closer to that of belles-lettres, in this case to emotive prose, as it is to
a certain e#tent individual. -aturally, of course, essays and speeches have greater individuality
than newspaper or magazine articles where the individual element is generally toned down and
limited by the re.uirements of the style. One of the leading features of the p.s. is brevity of
e#pressions. In essays brevity sometimes becomes epigrammatic.
The oratorical substyle is the oral subdivision of the p.s. having the purpose of persuasion. It
belongs to the written variety of the l-ge, but it is modified by the oral form of the utterance and
the use of gestures. In oratories the speaker addresses directly to the audience *dear guests,
ladies and gentlemen+, uses the /nd person pronoun you, sometimes contractions and
collo.uial words. (!he substyle is especially made use of in political speeches and those on
social problems, in speeches on solemn occasions *weddings, funerals, anniversaries+, in
speeches in parliament and courts of law. !he sphere of application of oratory is confined to
appeal to an audience and therefore matters on science, business, art, literature should not
been mentioned here. As the speaker can only rely on the memory of the audience, he will often
make use of repetitions to enable his listeners to follow him, retain the main points of his speech
and to persuade and add weight to the speaker(s opinion. In order not to bore the speaker with
mere repetitions, synonyms are used instead, thus filling tip the speech with details and
embellishing it. Any piece of oratory will contain parallel constructions, antithesis, suspense,
clima#, rhetorical .uestions and .uestions-in-the-narrative. 0uestions are more fre.uent as they
promote closer contact with the audience.
Essays started to he distinguished linguistically at the end of the 1
th
century. !he essay is a
literary composition on philosophical, social, aesthetic or literary sub'ect dealing with it only
superficially. !he most obvious characteristics of the essay arc personal approach in treating
the problem and natural way of e#pression. In order to achieve this brevity of e#pression, the
use of the first person singular, an e#panded use of connectives to facilitate the process of
grasping the ideas, an e#tensive use of emotive words and similes and metaphors are vital in
writing an essay. In comparison with the oratorical substyle, which aims at an immediate effect,
essays aim at a more lasting, thus slower effect. !he language of articles is characterized by all
the features of the publicistic style. !he character of the magazine or newspaper and the sub'ect
chosen influences the choice and use of stylistic devices. In articles one can fre.uently find rare
and bookish words, neologisms, parentheses, various word combinations. !he emotional
appeal is achieved by emphatic constructions, periphrasis etc.
Newspaper style was the last to be recognized as a specific form of writing, dating from the
2th century. Its purpose is to inform the reader about the events of the day and to make the
reader have an attitude towards these events. !o serve this purpose the newspaper style
makes use of a system of interrelated le#ical, phraseological and grammatical means. -ot
everything that is printed belongs to newspaper style as a modern paper publishes articles on
various topics *poems, stories, crosswords, science, and art+. Only the printed material which
imparts information belongs to n.s. !hus, brief news items and communi.u3s, press reports,
informational articles and advertisements and announcements are attributed to this style. !he
most concise form of newspaper information is the headline, which is the title given to a news
item or a newspaper article. Apart from giving info about the sub'ect-matter, headlines also carry
a considerable amount of appraisal, thus indicating the interpretation of the facts in the news
item that follows. English headlines are short and catching, sometimes sounding sensational.
4eadlines are critical, summarizing and drawing attention to the story. !heir telegraphic style is
the best-known feature of news reporting. !hey may contain emotionally coloured words and
phrases. "yntactically headlines are very short sentences or phrases which may be declarative
sentences *5hannel !unnel 6ill not 7eet+, interrogative sentences *)o 8ou 9ove 6ar:+,
nominative phrases *;oyal "candal ,atigue+, elliptical sentences *"till in )anger+, sentences
with articles omitted *"tolen <ainting 6as ,ound by !ree+, phrases with verbals *&order <act
&locked+, comple# sentences *-ew "trike 9ooms as Ira. ;e'ects %.-. Arms Inspection+ etc.
!he most often employed figure of speech in creating headlines is the pun *!raffic )ead ;ise
"lowly, Ira.i 4ead "eeks Arms+. A brief news items only states facts without giving any
comments. !his accounts for the total absence of any individuality of e#pression and the almost
complete lack of emotional colouring. !he bulk of employed vocabulary is neutral and common
literary. Apart from this, special political and economic terms *parliament, code, output+, non-
term political vocabulary *public, peace, opposition+, newspaper clich3s *vital issue,
overwhelming ma'ority, war escalation+, abbreviations *%-O, E%+, neologisms are made use of
in newspaper style and in brief news items. 4owever, some popular papers tend to insert
emotionally loaded vocabulary. !he basic peculiarity of news items lie in their syntactical
structure. As the reporter is constrained in space, he tries to cram all the facts in the space
allotted. ,or that he uses comple# sentences with many clauses, verbal and noun constructions,
nominative with infinitive constructions, specific word order. =ournalistic practice has developed
the pattern called five-w-and-h-pattern rule *who-what-why-how-where-when+ > sub'ect-
predicate-adverbial modifier of reason? manner- adverbial modifier of place- adverbial of time.
Advertisements and announcements appeared in the &ritish press in the 2th century. !heir
function is to inform the reader as well. !here are classified and non-classified ads and
announcements. In classified ads various kind of info is arranged according to sub'ect-matter
into sections *&irths, 7arriages, )eaths, &usiness Offers etc+. All announcements are built on
an elliptical pattern so that all elements that can be done without are eliminated. !he elliptic
sentence structure is done purely technically to economize space. !he vocabulary of classified
announcements is on the whole neutral with some emotional colouring to attract the reader(s
attention, especially in the section <ersonal. As for separate *non-classified+ advertisements,
the variety of language form and sub'ect-matter is so great that hardly any essential features
common to all may be pointed out. !he reader(s attention is attracted by every possible means@
typographical, graphical and stylistic. 7e advertiser may use as much space as he chooses.
Allusions, hyperboles, repetitions are fre.uent practice in advertisements. !he phraseological
units are changed so that other words are inserted into them. !he names of colours are often
used in advertisements with various connotations@ red represents warmth, yellow > 'oy, green
> calm, white > comfort.
Editorials are articles which comment on the political and other events of the day. !heir function
is to influence the reader by giving interpretation of certain facts and to present the editor(s
opinion and interpretation of the news published and to suggest to the reader that this is the
correct one. !hey appeal to both the reader(s mind and his feelings. 4ence, the use of
emotionally coloured language elements, both le#ical and structural. Editorials abound
especially in metaphors and epithets *international climate, price e#plosion, crazy policies+.
<eriphrasis is also a common feature of editorials *developing countries, the great powers+.
"cientific <rose "tyle is typical of academic scientific writing intended to communicate e#act info
from a peculiar area and to consolidate the process of learning. Its main function is to
communicate on a scientific topic. !he aim of the -ge of science is to prove a hypothesis, to
create new concepts, to disclose some laws and relations. !he -ge means used tend to be
ob'ective, precise, unemotional, devoid of any individuality. !he leading feature of this style is
the logical se.uence of utterances. In no other style can be found such a developed system of
connectives. Another feature is the use of special terminology characteristic of each branch of
science. -o other field of human activity is so prolific in coining new words as science is. 6ords
used in this style tend to be used in their primary logical meaning without taking in consideration
the conte#t. !erms are coined so as to be self-e#planatory to the greatest possible degree.
Even though, a new term is usually followed by an e#planation. Another feature of scientific
style is the sentence-patterns, which are of three types@ postulatory, argumentative and
formulative. !his style also makes use of .uotations and references, which sometimes may
occupy half a page. !he impersonality of any scientific writing is another feature typical of the
style *I we, active passive+. In connection with the general impersonal tone of
e#pression, it should be noted that impersonal passive constructions are fre.uently used with
the verbs ascertain, assume, compare, conclude, construct, describe, determine, estimate,
e#plain, infer, note, point out, record, suppose, test, verify*h should be assumed+. Aerbs of
warning and advising *avoid, check, ensure, notice, prevent, remember+ and of manipulation
*ad'ust. assemble, begin, boil, connect, cover, decrease, dilute, release, rotate+ are often
employed.
The Style of Official Documents. !he style of official documents is one of the most important
functional styles of the English language. It is sometimes called BofficialeseB. !he official style is
subdivided into several substyles which represent the features of the root style and therefore
they have much in common. !hese substyles are@
C the language of business documents
C the language of legal documents
C the language of diplomacy
C the language of military documents.
!he official-administrative style is the style of official documents, office acts, diplomatic and
'uridical te#ts, business correspondence, of different provisions, decrees, resolutions, contracts,
declarations, government notes. Otherwise said, the specific nature of this style is determined
by the functioning sphere of the language, thus, manifesting in the field of political, 'uridical,
administrative, diplomatical activities etc. !he communicative aim of official style is to state the
conditions binding two parties in an undertaking. B!hese parties may be@ the state and the
citizen, or citizen and citizen *'urisdiction+D a society and its members *statute or ordinance+D two
or more enterprises or bodies *business correspondence or contracts+D two or more
governments *pacts, treaties+D a person in authority and a subordinate *orders, regulations,
instructions, authoritative directions+D the board or presidium and the assembly or general
meeting *procedures acts, minutes+, etc. In other words the aim of communication in this style of
language is to reach agreement between two contracting parties. Even protest against violations
of statutes, contracts, regulations, etc., can also be regarded as a form by which normal
cooperation is sought on the basis of previously attained concordance.
In a document or office act the word must be used in such a way mat the interpretation of its
significance should not lead to ambiguity. !he necessity of rendering, the ideas with a ma#imum
accuracy imposes the elimination of any secondary semantic development, canceling by this
any possibility of ambiguous interpretation of the utterance. <erhaps, because of the denial of
any e#pression vagueness there is in the official-administrative style a series of stereotype
e#pressions, fi#ed formulas, these representing at the same time the result of some
'udgements, which often cannot be e#pressed in all their scope, in all their unfolding, as it is in
the scientific prose style.
BThe official-administrative style is one of bookish styles and it figures, as a rule, in written form.
!his style doesn(t recognize e#pressions with emotive meaning, artistic methods etc. !he use of
such attributes of &elles-9ettres style would make them seem uncertain, because the te#t would
become hard to understand, and it will not e#clude false and doubtful interpretations. Even it
seems to be unitary, the official style is heterogeneous, it caters three main spheres of activity,
which helps to distinguish in this style three substyles@ legal, diplomatic and administrative.
"ince all these stylistic subdivisions are characterized by common fundamental features, as
accuracy, stereotyped and standard e#pression, they cater the domain of social activity
including the official relations sustained both locally and internationally.B E7arin A.D FFD G$H
One of the most striking functions of the style of official documents is a special stem of clich3s,
terms and set e#pressions. e.g. I beg to inform you private advisory )ear "ir Abbreviations,
conventional symbols and contractions are also used in this style@ e.g. fo.b. *free on board+ I. v.
t. *government+ 9.t.d. *limited+ 7.<. *7ember of <arliament+.!hose words which have an
emotive meaning have no place in the style of official documents. Even in the style of scientific
prose some words may be found which reveal the attitude of the writer, his individual evaluation
of the facts and events of the issue. &ut such words are not to be found in official style, e#cept
those which are used in business letters as conventional phrases of greeting or close, as )ear
"irs, )ear 7iss "mith, 8ours sincerely, 8ours truly, Aery truly yours etc. As in all other
functional styles, the distinctive properties appear as a system. !here cannot be singled out a
style by its vocabulary only, recognizable though it always is. !he syntactical pattern of the style
is as significant as the vocabulary though not perhaps so immediately apparent. !he most
noticeable of all syntactical features are the compositional patterns of the variants of the style.
!hus, business letters have a definite compositional pattern, namely, the heading giving the
address of the writer and the date, the name of the addressee and his address. It is important to
mention that the te#ts of official style are distinguished by lack of connotation, otherwise said,
this style doesn(t include words with a figurative meaning. &ut this does not mean that the te#ts
of this style are deprived of graphicalness. !he synta# of this style presents the following
peculiarities@ developed sentences, multiple sub'ects, predicates e#pressed by verbs at refle#ive
voice, lack of pronominal attribute, participial constructions, different stable constructions,
stereotypes etc. Almost every official document has its own compositional design. <acts and
statutes, orders and minutes, codes and memoranda all have more or les definite forms and it
will not be an e#aggeration to state that the form of the documents is itself informative,
inasmuch as it tells something about the matter dealt with *a letter, an agreement, an order,
etc.+ B!he over-all code of the official style falls into a system of subcodes, each characterized
by its own terminological nomenclature, its own compositional form, its own variety of syntactical
arrangements. &ut the integrating features of all these subcodes emanating from the general
aim of agreement between parties, remain the following@
C conventionality of e#pressionD
C absence of any emotivenessD
C the encoded character of languageD symbols *including abbreviations+
C a general syntactical mode of combining several pronouncements into one sentence.
The official style is subdivided into several substyles which represent varieties of the root style
and therefore have much in common with it. !hey are as follows@
- !he language of business documents
- !he language of legal documents
- !he language of diplomacy
- 7ilitary terms.
!his style has a definite communicative aim and accordingly has its own system of interrelated
language and stylistic means. !he aim of this style is to state the conditions binding two parties
and to reach agreement between them. !his aim predetermines the peculiarities of the style. A
striking feature is a special system of clich3s, terms and set e#pressions by which each substyle
is easily recognized, for e#ample the above mentioned, private advisory, ta#able capacities, a
body of 'udges etc. Another characteristics of this style is the e#tensive use of abbreviations,
conventional symbols and contractions, for e#ample 7< *member of parliament+, Ivt
*government+, 9td *limited+, " *dollar+ etc. !he third feature of the style is the use of words in
their logical dictionary( meaning. !here is no room here for words with conte#tual meaning or for
any kind of simultaneous realization of two meanings. 6ords with emotive meaning are also not
to be found in the style of official documents. !hese are the words which reveal the attitude of
the writer, his individual evaluation of the facts and events, e#cept for those which are used in
business letters as conventional phrases of greeting or closing, such as )ear "ir, 8ours
faithfully. All these properties appear as a system. A style cannot be singled out only( by its
vocabulary. !he syntactical pattern of the style is as significant as the vocabulary though not so
immediately apparent. !he most noticeable of all syntactical features are the compositional
patterns. !hus, business letters have a definite compositional pattern, namely, the heading,
giving the address of the writer and the date, the name of the addressee and his address. !he
&elles 9etters "tyle. !his is a generic term for three substyles in which the main principles and
the most general properties of the style are materialized. !hese three substyles are@ the
language of poetry, emotive prose *the -ge of fiction+ and the -ge of drama. Each substyle has
certain common features, typical of the general belles-letters style, but they are also individual.
!he first common feature is the function of all three substyles, which is aesthetic and cognitive.
!his function aims at the cognitive process, which secures the gradual unfolding of the idea to
the reader and at the same time creates a feeling of pleasure, which is derived from the content.
!his pleasure is caused by both the admiration for the -ge means selected and their peculiar
arrangement and by the fact that the reader is allowed to form his own conclusions. !he
purpose of this style is not to prove, but to suggest a possible interpretation of the phenomena
of life by forcing the reader to see the writer(s opinion. !his means selecting a system of -ge
means which will secure the effect sought. !he indispensable linguistic features of the style are
- genuine, not trite imagery, achieved by purely linguistic devicesD - the use of words in
conte#tual and very often in more than one dictionary meaningD - a vocabulary which reflects the
author(s personal evaluation of things or phenomenaD - a peculiar individual selection of le#ical
and syntactical means, sometimes idiosyncraticD - the introduction of the typical features of
collo.uial -ge to a full degree. !he belles-letters style is individual in essence. !his individuality
is illustrated by the selection of I-ge means, mainly of stylistic devices.