Functional Styles of the English

Language
 According to Galperin: Functional Style is a system of
interrelated language means serving a definite aim in
communication. It is the coordination of the language
means and stylistic devices which shapes the distinctive
features of each style and not the language means or
stylistic devices themselves. Each style, however, can be
recognized by one or more leading features which are
especially conspicuous. For instance the use of special
terminology is a lexical characteristics of the style of
scientific prose, and one by which it can easily be
recognized. Functional style appear mainly in the literary
standard of a language.
 There are five major functional styles:

1.Scientific style
2.The belles-lettres style
3.Publicistic style
4.The style of official documents
5.Newspaper style
 Scientific style

The scientific style has 3 subdivisions:

 1) the style of humanitarian sciences;
 2) the style of "exact" sciences;
 3) the style of popular scientific prose.
 The main function of the scientific prose style is to provide factual and precise
information, which must be clear, concise, unambiguous and explicit. There is no
space for any redundant, repetitive and unimportant information. The target
audience is a relatively small group of professionals who are well acquainted with
the issue in question. The tone of the scientific text should be formal, impersonal
and objective. Only standard variety of language is used. The whole text is
predominantly written in the third person. The only place where the author can be
heard and s/he can express her/his opinion is the conclusion. In order to follow the
logical structure, the text usually consists of introduction/background, argument,
conclusion and bibliography. To make the text credible, all the important statements
in the text should be supported by references.
 Scientific style

 1. Lexical features:
• Words are used exclusively in the literal sense.
• Do not apply in the presentation of information from which in literary
works. Describe various images. These include epithets, metaphor, comparison,
hyperbole.
• Abstract offers and terminology are often used.
The peculiarities of the scientific style of speech are to allocate three groups of words:
Stylistically neutral. They are used in any speech styles, so they are called generally
accepted.
Generally. They may contain an example of scientific style of different areas, and not
some kind of sphere.
Narrow specialty. These are words that are characteristic of a specific scientific field.
 Scientific style

2. Morphological features:
 In the texts, it is extremely rare to meet the use of verbs standing in the
first or second face of the only number. With the literary style it is quite
acceptable.
 A lot of verbs are used in the present time, which are pretty similar to the
exclusive nouns. Their use allows enough to convey a reliable
assessment of facts and phenomena.
 For scientific style, the feature is not characteristic of which in the works
you can meet a large cluster of adjectives. They use them a little, and
they are mainly included in the profile terms. While in the literary text
they are used much with epithets and other artistic agents.
 When revealing scientific information, parts of speech and their
grammatical forms apply a little differently than in the texts of the rest of
the speech styles.
 Scientific style

3. Syntactic features:
 special revs, for example, on Newton, by experience;
 the use of the word "further" as an introductory word;
 the use of such words as "given", "famous", "appropriate" in order to logically
associate proposals between themselves;
 using the sequence of words in the Parental Cade;
 use large number Complex proposals, especially complex type. With the help of
complex proposals with the additive, you can make a generalization, describe any
phenomenon or law.
 And if you use with apparent reasons, you can quite widely disclose the causal
relationship of certain phenomena in the surrounding world. In such proposals, unions
are used to consistently associate statements between themselves;
 eating such words: "As you know," "scientists believe", "understandable" and others in
the case when it is necessary to refer to the source, on specific facts, regulations, and
so on;

 The Belles-lettres style

The Belles-lettres style has its own specific function to inform the reader and to
impress the reader aesthetically.
 The means of this functional style are:
 - genuine imaginative means and SDs;
 - the use of words in its contextual meaning;
 - the individual choice of vocabulary which reflects the author's personal
evaluation;
 - a peculiar individual selection of syntax;
 - the introduction of elements of other styles;

 The belles-lettres style has the following substyles:

 a) poetry;
 The Belles-lettres style

 Main Features of the Belles-lettres Style:

• Genuine, not trite, imagery, achieved by purely linguistic
devices.
• The use of words in contextual, often in more than one
dictionary meaning.
• A vocabulary reflecting the author’s personal evaluation of
things and phenomena.
• Lexical and syntactical idiosyncrasy.
• The introduction of the typical features of colloquial
language.
 Publicistic style

It is subdivided into:
a) oratory;
b) essays;
c) articles in newspapers and magazines;

1. Phonetic features
(in oratory)
 Standard pronunciation, wide use of
prosody as a means of conveying the subtle
shades of meaning, overtones and emotions.
 Phonetic compression.
 Publicistic style

2. Morphological features

 Frequent use of non-finite verb forms:

gerund, participle, infinitive, non-perfect
verb forms.

 Omission of articles, link verbs,

auxiliaries, pronouns.
 Publicistic style

3. Syntactical features

 Frequent use of rhetorical questions and interrogatives in

oratory speech.

 In headlines: use of impersonal sentences, elliptical

constructions, interrogative sentences, infinitive complexes
and attributive groups.
 News items and articles: usually comprise 1-3 sentences.
 Absence of complex coordination with chain of subordinate
clauses, of exclamatory sentences, break-in-the narrative.

 Publicistic style

4. Lexical features
 Newspaper cliches and set phrases, abbreviations and
acronyms.

 Proper names, toponyms, anthroponyms, names of

enterprises, institutions, international words, dates and
figures.
 In headlines: frequent use of pun, violated phraseology,
vivid stylistic devices.
 In oratory speech: elevated and bookish words, colloquial
phrases, metaphor, alliteration, allusion, irony.
 Publicistic style

5. Compositional features
 Text arrangement is marked by precision, logic and expressive
power.
 Carefully selected vocabulary, variety of topics, wide use of
quotations.
 In oratory: simplicity of structural expression, clarity,
argumentative power.
 In headlines: use of devices to arrest attention: rhyme, pun, puzzle,
high degree of compression, graphical means.
 Articles: strict arrangement of titles and subtitles, emphasis on the
headline.
 Careful subdivision into paragraphs, clearly defined position of the
sections of the article: most important information – in the
 The style of official documents

The style of official documents has the following

sub-styles:
a) the language of legal documents:
(constitutions, laws, treaties, agreements,
exchanges of notes);
b) the language of business documents
(contracts, letters, memos);
c) the language of military documents (military
statutes, rules, regulations).
 The style of official documents

1. Morphological features
 Adherence to the norm, sometimes outdated or even archaic,
e. g. in legal documents.
2. Lexical features
 Prevalence of stylistically neutral and bookish vocabulary.
 Use of terminology, e.g. legal: acquittal, testimony, aggravated
iarceny; commercial: advance payment, insurance, wholesale, etc.
 Use of proper names (names of enterprises, companies, etc.) and titles.
 Abstraction of persons, e.g. use of party instead of the name.
 Officialese vocabulary: cliches, opening and conclusive phrases.
 Conventional and archaic forms and words: kinsman, hereof, thereto, thereby, ilk.
 Foreign words, especially Latin and French: status quo, force majeure, persona
non grata.
 The style of official documents

3. . Syntactical features
 Use of long complex sentences with several types of coordination and subordination (up to
70% of the text).
 Use of passive and participial constructions, numerous connectives.
 Use of objects, attributes and all sorts of modifiers in the identifying and explanatory function.
 Extensive use of detached constructions and parenthesis.
 4. Compositional features
 Special compositional design: coded graphical layout, clear-cut subdi­vision of texts into units of
information; logical arrangement of these units, order-of-priority organisation of content and information.
 Conventional composition of treaties, agreements, protocols, etc.: division into two parts, a preamble and a
main part.
 Use of stereotyped, official phraseology.
 Accurate use of punctuation.
 Generally objective, concrete, unemotional and impersonal style of narration.
 Newspaper style

 Newspaper style was the last of all the styles of written

literary English to be recognized as a specific form of writing
standing apart from other forms. English newspaper writing
dates from the 17th century. At the close on the 16 th
century short news pamphlets began to appear. Any such
publication either presented news from only on e source or
dealt with one specific subject.
 The first of any regular series of English newspapers was
the “Weekly Newes”, which first appear on May 23, 1622.

It is subdivided into:
 a) brief news items;
 b) advertisements and announcements;
 c) headlines;
 d) the editorial
 Newspaper style

 1. Morphological features – frequent usage of non-finite verb forms;

omission
of articles, link verbs, auxiliaries, pronouns.
 2. Syntactical features – use of impersonal sentences, elliptical constructions,
interrogative sentences, infinitive complexes and attributive groups.
 3. Lexical features – newspaper clichés and set phrases, terminological
variety;
abbreviations and acronyms; numerous proper names.
 4. Compositional features – carefully selected vocabulary; variety of topics,
wide use of quotations.
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