STYLISTICS

A branch of general linguistics

Linguistics - the academic
discipline that studies language
scientifically, and stylistics, as a
part of this discipline, studies
certain aspects of language
variation.
Stylistics studies the principles and the
effect of choice and usage of different
language elements in rendering thought and
emotion under different conditions of
communication.
ISSUES include:
• the aesthetic function of language;
• expressive means of language;
• synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea;
• emotional coloring in language;
• a system of devices called stylistic devices;
• the splitting of the literary language into separate systems called
style;
• the interrelation between language and thought;
• the individual manner of an author in making use of language.
BRANCHES OF STYLISTICS
• Literary Stylistics - focused on the composition of the
work of art, various literary genres and the author’s
views and outlook.
• Lingua-stylistics - studies functional styles (in their
development and current state) and the linguistic
nature of the expressive means of the language, their
systematic character and their functions.
The notion of style and norm
Style
• some or all of the habits of one person (e.g., Shakespeare
style or the style of James Joyce);
• some or all of the language habits shared by a group of
people at one time or over a period of time (e.g., the style
of the Augustan poets);
• effectiveness of a mode of expression (in this case it is given
a more restricted meaning used in the evaluative sense);
The notion of style and norm
Style
• the use of the word ‘style’ referring solely to the literary
language as characteristic of ‘good’, ‘effective’, ‘beautiful’ writing
(it is associated primarily or exclusively with literature).
• A very popular notion of style among teachers of language is
that style is the techniques of expression. In this sense style is
defined as the ability to write clearly, correctly and in a manner
calculated to interest the reader. This is a purely utilitarian view.
If this were true, style could be taught. Style in this sense of
expression studies the normalized forms of the language.
The notion of style and norm
Norm
• The norm of usage is established by the language community at
every given period in the development of the language.

Thus, there are two conflicting tendencies in the process of

establishing the norm:

1. preservation of the already (established) existing norm

2. introduction of new norms not yet firmly established
The notion of style and norm
Norm
The generalized definition of the notion of “norm”
is the following: it is a uniform, exemplary,
commonly recognized usage of language elements
(words, word combinations, sentences); rules of
using speech means at a definite period in the
development of the literary language.
Varieties of Language
• Spoken language
The situation in which the spoken variety of language is
used and in which it develops, can be described concisely
as the presence of an interlocutor. The spoken language
has a considerable advantage over the written language
as the human voice comes into play. This is a powerful
means of modulating the utterance, as all kinds of
gestures together with the intonation give additional
information.
Varieties of Language
• Written language
The written variety, on the contrary, presupposes the
absence of an interlocutor. The written language has to
seek means to compensate for what it lacks. Therefore,
the written utterance will inevitably be more
explanatory. In other words, it hasto produce an
enlarged representation of the communication to be
explicit enough.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
• E. g., if to speak about morphological forms, it is
necessary to mention that the oral type of
speech uses contracted forms: e.g. isn’t, can’t,
aren’t, I’ll, I don’t, he’d, she’s instead of “is not”,
“can not”, are not”, “I shall”, “I do not”, “he
had/would”, “she is / has” in the written variety.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
At the lexical level of oral type of speech there is a number of peculiarities of
oral type of speech:

• 1. The use of typically colloquial words: e.g. chap, kid, daddy, mummy, lad,
etc.
• 2. The use of special words and phrases which are used to introduce
statements: e.g. Well!; Look!; I say!; Look here! They are used to call
attention of the listener.
• 3. The used of cut words: e.g. lab, phone, paper, prof, doc, exam.
• 4. The use of words without any meaning called “fill – ups” or empty
words: e.g. So to say; you know; you see; well; you understand.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The syntactical features of oral speech are characterized by:
a) the use of elliptical sentences or ellipsis (or omission of parts of
the utterance). Elliptical sentences are considered to be norm
of oral speech. The missing parts are easily guessed from the
situation. Many elliptical sentences became set expressions:
e.g.: See you tomorrow!
Pity you didn’t come!
Glad to see you!
Had a good day, Nora? (instead of “Have you had a good day,
Nora?”)
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The syntactical features of oral speech are
characterized by:
b) the use of two subjects when one is sufficient.
It is called tautological subject. Usually it is a
pronoun plus a proper noun:
e.g. He is a brute of a man, this John. Oh
that man, he is so poor!
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The syntactical features of oral speech are
characterized by:

c)The use of unfinished sentences:

e.g. If you don’t come, I’ll... But the end is
understood from the situation.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The syntactical features of oral speech are
characterized by:

d) The use of questions in the form of

statements.
Only the intonation here shows that it is a
question.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The syntactical features of oral speech are
characterized by:
e) In the spoken language it is very natural to have a
string of sentences without any connectives:

e.g.: Came home late. Had supper and went to bed.

Couldn’t fall asleep, of course. The evening had been
too much of a strain.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The syntactical features of oral speech are
characterized by:

f) The spoken language makes ample use of

intensifying words: interjections, swear words,
oaths.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The oral type of speech is more expressive and more
emotional than the written one. This expressiveness is
manifested in:
– Intonation;
– Structural design of the utterances; the use of
exclamatory sentences, one-member sentences,
elliptical sentences;
– The use of interjections which are charged with
emotional meaning.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
The written variety of utterances becomes more exact, as the
situation must be made clear by the context. The relations
between the parts of utterance must be more precise. The written
type of speech is a full and detailed expression of the thought. It is
not spontaneous as the oral speech. The written type is
characterized by logically completed sentences with clauses,
participial constructions, gerundial constructions and
constructions with the infinitive. It is characterized by the use of
literary – bookish words, by the abundance of conjunctions or
other kinds of connectives of different types, characteristic only of
the written variety.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
It is characterized by the use of literary – bookish
words, by the abundance of conjunctions or other
kinds of connectives of different types,
characteristic only of the written variety.
E.g.: moreover, likewise, nevertheless, eventually,
hereafter, further more, in conclusion, in other
words, on the contrary, etc.
SOME TYPICAL FEATURES:
Another syntactical feature of the written variety
is the use of complicated sentence – units. The
monologue character of the written language
demands logical coherence of the idea expressed
and the breaking of the utterance into spans,
hence units like the syntactical whole – the
paragraph.