Lexical EM and SD (General Considerations). Intensification of a Certain Feature of a Thing of Phenomenon (Simile. Periphrasis).

The feature of the object which is picked out seems unimportant and frequently transitory. But for a special reason it’s elevated to the greatest importance and made into a telling feature. Simile: imaginative comparison of two unlike objects which belong to different classes. It excludes all the properties of the compared objects except one which is made common to them. ▲ The girl is like a bird. Trite simile points out the analogy between the human being and the animals which have stereotyped traits of character, states. ▲ As wet as a fish. Hyperbole: is a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration of a feature of a thing or phenomenon. If it is used frequently it may become trite hyperbole. ▲ I’ve told you thousand times! Understatement: when the quality or quantity is underrated. It is deliberate underrating of a feature or property of an object. ▲ Мальчик-с-пальчик. It’s used in Britain in every-day speech as it symbolizes politeness.

The feature of the object which is picked out seems unimportant and frequently transitory. But for a special reason it’s elevated to the greatest importance and made into a telling feature. Periphrases: is a process which realizes the power of language to coin new names for objects by disclosing some quality of the object. Periphrases is the renaming of an object by a phrase that brings out some particular feature of this object. ▲ The ship of the desert – camel. Language periphrases are trite as it is seen: ▲ He spoke as the father of the nation. Speech periphrases is understandable in a particular context, it is genuine. Euphemism: a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a more acceptable one. ▲ golden-ager – an elderly person. Dysphemism is quite opposite to euphemism. ▲ nipper – a young child. Euphemisms groups: 1) religious 2) moral 3) medical 4) parliamentary.

12)Functional Styles of the English Language (General Considerations). Language of Drama.

A FS of l-ge is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication. A FS is thus to be regarded as the product of a certain concrete task set by the sender of the message. Functional styles appear mainly in the literary standard of a language. They are also called discourses.

Belles-lettre, Publisitic, Newspaper, Scientific Prose, of Official Documents. Stable system, but change from 1 period to another. Belles-lettres style, function - aesthetico-cognitive. Aim- to call aesthetic feelings of pleasure and promote cognitive process. Publicistic S. Sphere- mass media, aim- to influence public opinion, to persuade. Newspaper S. Sphere: mass media restricted by press (lang of newsp & governmental magazines). Function: to inform. Aim: to comment, to inform of certain political, cultural, economic events; to influence the public opinion on political or other matter. Scientific Prose. Sphere: science activity. Function: to give logical progress of some idea. Aim: to prove a hypothesis, to create new concepts. Style of Offic Doc-s. Sphere: business, jurisdiction. Function: instructive, regulative. Aim: to reach agreement between two parties.

The Belles-lettres style has the following subtypes a) the language style of poetry; b) the language style of emotive prose; c) the language style of drama.

The Publicistic FS comprises the following substyles: a) the language style of oratory; b) the language style of essays; c) the language style of feature articles in newspapers and journals.

The newspaper FS falls into a) the language style of brief news items and communiqués; b) the language style of newspaper head­ings and c) the language style of notices and advertisements.

The scientific prose FS also has three divisions: a) the language style of humanitarian sciences; b) the language style of "exact" sciences; c) the language style of popular scientific prose.

The official document FS can be divided into four varieties: a) the language style of diplomatic documents; b) the language style of business documents; c) the language style of legal documents;  

d) the language style of military documents.

Language of drama The language of plays is an entirely dialogue. The author's speech is almost entirely excluded except for the playwright's remarks and stage directions, significant though they may be.

But the l-ge of the characters is in no way the exact reproduction of the norms of colloquial l-ge, although the playwright seeks to reproduce actual conversation as far as the norms of the written language will allow. Any variety of the belles-lettres style will use the norms of the literary l-ge of the given period. True, in every variety there will be found departures from the established literary norms. But in genuinely artistic work these departures will never go beyond the boundaries of the permissible fluctuations of the norms, lest the aesthetic aspect of the work should be lost.

It follows then that the l-ge of plays is always stylized, that is, it strives to retain the modus of literary English, unless the play­wright has a particular aim which requires the use of non-literary forms and expressions. However, even in this case a good playwright will use such forms sparingly.

The analysis of the language texture of plays has shown that the most characteristic feature here is redundancy of information caused by the necessity to amp­lify the utterance. This is done for the sake of the audience.

In plays the curtailment of utterances is not so extensive as it is in natural dialogue. In plays the "signals of attention" such as "oh" are irrelevant and therefore done away with. The monologue in plays is never interrupted by any such exclamatory words on the part of the person to whom the speech is addressed. Further, in plays the characters' utterances are generally much longer than in ordinary conversation.

The sequence of sentences reflecting the sequence of thought, being directed by the purport of the writer, will not allow any digressions from the course taken, unless this was the deliberate intention of the playwright. Therefore, unlike the real, natural spoken variety of language, the language of plays is already purposeful. The sequence signals, which are not so apparent in lively conversation, become conspicuous in the language of plays. The degree to which the norms of ordinary colloquial language are converted into those of the language of plays, that is, the degree to which "the spoken language is made literary" varies at different periods in the de­velopment of drama and depends also on the idiosyncrasies of the play­wright himself.

13)SD Based on Interaction of Logical and Emotive Meanings (Interjections and Exclamatory Words). The Epithet.

Logical meaning is the precise naming of a feature of the idea, phenomenon or object, the name by which we recognize the whole of the concept. This meaning is also synonymously called referential meaning or direct meaning. The meanings that are to be found in speech or writing and which are accidental should not be regarded as components of the semantic structure of the word. They may be transitory, inasmuch as they depend on the context. They are contextual meanings. A dictionary meaning is materialized in the context; a contextual meaning is born in the context. Every word possesses an enormous potentiality for generating new meanings.

The potentiality of words can also be noted in regard to emotive meaning. But unlike logical meaning, emotive one has reference not directly to things or phenomena of objective reality, but to the feelings and emo­tions of the speaker towards these things or to his emotions as such. Therefore the emotive meaning bears reference to things, phenomena or ideas through a kind of evaluation of them. The function of the words that have emotive meaning is to reveal the subjective, evaluating attitude of the writ­er to the things or events spoken of.

Interjections and exclamatory wordsare words we use when we express our feelings strongly and which may be said to exist in language as conventional symbols of human emotions. In traditional grammars they are regarded as a part of speech, but there is another point of view which regard them as not as a part of speech, but as a sentence. But still interjections are considered to be not sentences but emotive words. One interjection may express different feelings.

Interjections may be divided into primary and derivative. Primary interjections are generally devoid of any logical meaning. (Pooh! Bah! Gosh! Hush! Alas!) Derivative interjections may retain a modicum of logical meaning.

Exclamatory words: Goodness gracious! Look here! Come on! God knows! Some adjectives, nouns and verbs can also take on the function of interjections – terrible! Awesome! Great! Man! Interjections always attach a definite modal nuance to the utterance. But it is impossible to define exactly the shade of meaning contained in a given interjection, though the context may suggest one. Interjections also bear features which mark them as bookish, neutral or colloquial.

The Epithet:is subtle and delicate in character. It is not so direct as an interjection.

The epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase or even sentence used to characterize an object and pointing out to the reader.

The epithet is markedly subjective and evaluative. The logical attribute is purely objective, non-evaluating.

The epithet makes a strong impact on the reader. Epithets may be classified from different standpoints:

- Semantic (associated with the noun and unassociated with it) There also exist language epithets and speech epithets.

- Structurally: simple, compound, phrase and sentence epithets. Phrase epithets are always placed before the nouns they refer to. There are also reversed epithets: the shadow of a smile, a devil of a job. Such epithets are metaphorical.

There also exist a string of epithets. It gives many-sided description of an object. Transferred epithet: they are ordinary logical attributes generally describing the state of a human but referring to inanimate objects: merry hours, sleepless pillow, and sick chamber. It is a direct way to show the author’s attitude towards the things described.

14)SD and Phonetic Means (General Consideration). (Onomatopoeia. Alliteration. Rhyme. Rhythm).

The sound of most words taken separately will have little or no aesthetic value. It is in combination with other words that a word may acquire a desired phonetic effect. The theory of sound symbolism is based on the assumption that separate sounds due to their articulatory and acoustic properties may awake certain ideas, perceptions, feelings, images, vague though they might be.

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 (sighing, laughter, patter of feet, etc) and by animals. Combinations of speech sounds of this type will inevitably be associated with whatever produces the natural sound. Therefore the relation between onomatopoeia and the phenomenon it is supposed to represent is one of metonymy.

There are 2 varieties of onomatopoeia: direct and indirect. Direсt onomatopoeia is contained in words that imitate natural sounds, as ding-dong, buzz, bang, cuckoo, tintinabulation, mew, ping-pong, roar and the like. Indirect onomatopoeia is a combination of sounds the aim of which is to make the sound of the utterance an echo of its sense. It is sometimes called "echo-writing". Indirect onomatopoeia, unlike alliteration, demands some mention of what makes the sound, as rustling (of curtains) in the line above. The same can be said of the sound [w] if it aims at reproducing, let us say, the sound of wind.

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, in close succession, particularly at the beginning of successive words. Alliteration, like most phonetic expressive means, does not bear any lexical or other meaning unless we agree that a sound meaning exists as such. But even so we may not be able to specify clearly the character of this meaning, and the term will merely suggest that a certain amount of information is contained in the repetition of sounds, as is the case with the repetition of lexical units. Therefore alliteration is generally regarded as a musical accompaniment of the author's idea, supporting it with some vague emotional atmosphere which each reader interprets for himself.

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.

Identity and particularly similarity of sound combinations may be relative. For instance, we distinguish between full rhymes and incomplete rhymes. The full rhyme presupposes identity of the vowel sound and the following consonant sounds in a stressed syllable, as in might, right; needless, heedless. When there is identity of the stressed syllable, including the initial consonant of the second syllable (in polysyllabic words), we have exact or identical rhymes. Incomplete rhymes present a greater variety. They can be divided into 2 main groups: vowel rhymes and consonant rhymes. In vowel rhymes the vowels of the syllables in corresponding words are identical, but the consonants may be different, as in flesh – fresh – press. Consonant rhymes, on the contrary, show concordance in consonants and disparity in vowels, as in worth – forth; tale – tool – Treble – trouble.

Modifications in rhyming sometimes go so far as to make one word rhyme with a combination of words; or two or even three words rhyme with a corresponding two or three words. The distinctive function of rhyme is particularly felt when it occurs unexpectedly in ordinary speech or in prose. The listener's attention is caught by the rhyme and he may lose the thread of the discourse.

Rhythm exists in all spheres of human activity and assumes multifarious forms. It is a mighty weapon in stirring up emotions whatever its nature or origin, whether it is musical, mechanical, or symmetrical, as in architecture. The most general definition of rhythm may be expressed as follows:

"Rhythm is a flow, movement, procedure, etc., characterized by basically regular recurrence of elements or features, as beat, or accent, in alternation with opposite or different elements or features" (Webster's New World Dictionary).

Rhythm can be perceived only provided that there is some kind of experience in catching the opposite elements or features in their correlation, and, what is of paramount importance, experience in catching the regularity of alternating patterns. Rhythm is primarily a periodicity, which requires specification as to the type of periodicity. Therefore rhythm in verse as an SD is defined as a combination of the ideal metrical scheme and the variations of it, variations which are governed by the standard.

15)SD Based on Interaction of Dictionary and Contextual Meanings (Metaphor. Metonymy. Irony).

The interaction or interplay between the primary dictionary meaning (the meaning which is registered in the language code as an easily recog­nized sign for an abstract notion designating a certain phenomenon or object) and a meaning which is imposed on the word by a micro-context may be maintained along different lines. One line is when the author identifies two objects which have nothing in common, but in which he subjectively sees a function, or a property, or a feature, or a quality that may make the reader perceive these two objects as identical. An­other line is when the author finds it possible to substitute one object for another on the grounds that there is some kind of interdependence or interrelation between the two corresponding objects. A third line is when a certain property or quality of an object is used in an opposite or contra­dictory sense.

The stylistic device based on the principle of identification of two objects is called a metaphor. The SD based on the principle of substitution of one object for another is called metonymy and the SD based on contrary concepts is called irony.

The term 'METAPHOR' means transference of some quality from one object to another. A metaphor becomes a SD when 2 different phenomena (things, events, ideas, actions) are simultaneously brought to mind by the imposition of some or all of the inherent properties of one object on the other which by nature is deprived of these properties. Such an im­position generally results when the creator of the metaphor finds in the 2 corresponding objects certain features which to his eye have some­thing in common.

Metaphors, like all stylistic devices, can be classified according to their degree of unexpectedness. Thus metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, i.e. are quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors. Those which are commonly used in speech and therefore are sometimes even fixed in dictionaries as expressive means of l-ge are trite metaphors, or dead metaphors. Their predictability therefore is appar­ent. Genuine metaphors are regarded as belonging to language-in-action, i. e. speech metaphors; trite metaphors belong to the language-as-a-system, i.e. language proper, and are usually fixed in dictionaries as units of the language.

A dead M. can be refreshed by the context & given a 2^nd life – sustained/prolonged M.  This is done by supplying the central image created by the meta­phor with additional words bearing some reference to the main word. For example: "Mr. Pickwick bottled up his vengeance and corked it down." The verb to bottle up is explained in dictionaries as follows: ‘to keep in check' ("Penguin Dictionary"); to conceal, to restrain, repress' ("Gas-sell's New English Dictionary"). The metaphor in the word can hardly be felt. But it is revived by the direct meaning of the verb to cork down. This context refreshes the almost dead metaphor and gives it a second life. Such metaphors are called sustained or prolonged.

We may call the principal metaphor the central image of the sustained metaphor- and the other words which bear reference to the central im­age—contributory images. Sometimes, however, the central image is not given, but the string of words all bearing upon some implied central point of reference are so associated with each other that the reader is bound to create the required image in his mind.

Metaphors may be sustained not only on the basis of a trite meta­phor. The initial metaphor may be genuine and may also be developed through a number of contributory images so that the whole of the utte­rance becomes one sustained metaphor.

Genuine metaphors are mostly to be found in poetry and emotive prose. Trite metaphors are generally used as EMs in newspa­per articles, in oratorical style and even in scientific language. The use of trite metaphors should not be regarded as a drawback of style. They help the writer to enliven his work and even make the meaning more con­crete.

The metaphoric use of the word begins to affect the dictionary meaning, adding to it fresh connotations or shades of meaning. But this influence, however strong it may be, will never reach the degree where the dictionary meaning entirely disappears. If it did, we should have no SD. It is a law of stylistics that in a SD the stability of the dictionary meaning is always retained, no matter how great the influence of the contextual meaning may be.

METONYMY is based on a different type of relation between the dictionary and contextual meanings, a relation based not on iden­tification, but on some kind of association connecting the two concepts which these meanings represent. Thus, the word crown may stand for 'king or queen', cup or glass for 'the drink it contains'. Many attempts have been made to pin-point the types of relation which metonymy is based on. Among them the following are most common:

1. A concrete thing is used instead of an abstract notion. In this case the thing becomes a symbol of the notion, as in "The camp, the pulpit and the law For rich men's sons are free." (Shelley)

2. The container instead of the thing contained: The hall applauded.

3. The relation of proximity, as in: "The round game table was boisterous and happy." (Dickens)

4. The material instead of the thing made of it, as in: "The marble spoke."

5. The instrument which the doer uses in performing the action instead of the action or the doer himself, as in: "Well, Mr. Weller, says the gentleman, you're a very good whip, and can do what you like with your horses, we know." (Dickens)

The list is in no way complete. There are many other types of rela­tions which may serve as a basis for metonymy. It must also be noted that metonymy, being a means of building up imagery, generally 'concerns concrete objects, which are generalized. The process of generalization is easily carried out with the help of the definite article. Therefore instances of metonymy are very often used with the definite article, or with no article at all, as in "There was per­fect sympathy between Pulpit and Pew", where 'Pulpit' stands for the clergyman and 'Pew' for the congregation.

This is probably due to the fact that any definition of a word may be taken for metonymy, inasmuch -as it shows a property or an essen­tial quality of the concept, thus disclosing a kind of relation between the thing as a whole and a feature of it which may be regarded as part of it.

Metonymy and metaphor differ in the way they are deciphered. In the process of disclosing the meaning implied in a metaphor, one image excludes the other. This is not the case with metonymy, which while presenting one object to our mind, does not exclude the other.

IRONY is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous reali­zation of 2 logical meanings—dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings stand in opposition to each other. The word containing the irony is strongly marked by intonation. It has an emphatic stress and is generally supplied with a special melody design, unless the context itself renders this intonation pattern unnec­essary.

Irony must not be confused with humour, although they have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter. What is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and the negative. In this respect irony can be likened to humour. But the function of irony is not confined to producing a humorous effect. It rather expresses a feeling of irritation, displeasure, pity or regret. A word used ironically may sometimes express very subtle, almost im­perceptible nuances of meaning.

Richard Altick says, "The effect of irony lies in the striking dispari­ty between what is said and what is meant." This "striking disparity" is achieved through the intentional interplay of two meanings, which are in opposition to each other. Irony is generally used to convey a negative meaning. Therefore only positive concepts may be used in their logical dictionary meanings.

16)SD Based on Interaction of Primary and Derivative Logical Meanings (Polysemy.--Zeugma. Pun).

The meaning of a word gradually develops, so it is normal for almost every word to acquire derivative meanings. Some meanings are characterized by their permanence, others appear in some contexts and vanish. Primary and derivative meanings are characterized by their relative stability and therefore are fixed in dictionaries, thus constituting the semantic structure of the word.

The problem of polysemy is one of the vexed questions of lexicology. It is sometimes impossible to draw a line of demarcation between a derivative meaning of a polysemantic word and a separate word. Polysemy is a category of lexicology and as such belongs to language-as-a-system. In actual everyday speech polysemy vanishes unless it is deliberately retained for stylistic purposes. When a word begins to manifest an interplay between the primary and one of the derivative meanings we are confronted with a SD. (e.g. Sonnet 90 by Shakespeare, the word ‘hate’ materializes several meaningsin the context: to detest, to bear malice to, the opposite to love, to fel aversion for etc).

Derivative meanings interweave with the primary one and this network of meanings constitutes a SD which mau be called the polysemantic effect. This SD can be detected only when a rather large span of utterance up to a whole text, is subjected to a scrupulous and minute analysis. The polysemantic effect is a very subtle and sometimes hardly perceptible stylistic device. But it is impossible to underrate its significance in discovering the aesthetically pragmatic function of the utterance.

Unlike this device, zeugma and pun lie on the surface of the text.

Zeugmais the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations to 2 adjacent words in the context, the semantic relations being, on the one hand, literal, and on the other, transferred. (e.g. ‘Dora, plunging at once into privileged intimacy and the middle of the room’ B.Shaw)

This SD is particularly favoured in English emotive prose and in poetry. By making the 2 meanings conspicuous, each of them stand out clearly. Zeugma is a strong and effective device to maintain the purity of the primary meaning when the 2 meanings clash.

The punis a SD based on the interaction of 2 well-known meanings of a word or phrase. The semantic essence of the device is based on polysemy or homonymy. The distinguishing feature between zeugma and pun is a structural one: zeugma is the realization of 2 meanings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different subjects or objects (direct or indirect). The pun is more independent. There need not necessarily be a word in the sentence to which the pun-word refers. This doesn’t mean the pun is entirely free, it depends on the context. Puns are often used in riddles and jokes. (e.g. Is life worth living? It depends on the liver.)