Seminar # 1 BASIC NOTIONS OF STYLISTICS AS A BRANCH OF LINGUISTICS WRITTEN AND SPOKEN VARIETIES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FUNCTIONAL STYLES Questions for discussion 1. Stylistics as a branch of linguistics: the object of its investigation, basic notions, links with other branches of linguistics, its types. The principal tasks of the stylistics can be divided into 2: To study linguistic means to produce the desirable effect. These means are called stylistic means: metaphors, rhetorical questions and so on. To study certain type of texts which are characterized by a specific choice and arrangement of linguistic means and which are distinguish by the practical purposes in different acts of the communication. 2. Definition of style. 3. The notion of norm and its violation. types of norm (language, stylistic, ethic, etc.); types of norm violations (individual, group, occasional, intentional, speech mistakes, etc.); borders of norm violation. 4. Denotative and connotative components of a word meaning. Approaches to the structure of connotation. In most cases the denotative meaning is essentially cognitive: it conceptualises and classifies our experience and names for the listener some objects spoken about. Fulfilling the significative and the communicative functions of the word it is present in every word and may be regarded as the central factor in the functioning of language. Unlike the denotative meaning, connotations are optional. The description of the denotative meaning or meanings is the duty of lexicographers in unilingual explanatory dictionaries. Connotative component in its turn is comprised of emotional, expressive, evaluative and stylistic components of meaning. Denotative component is obligatory, connotative is only optional. All 4 components of the connotative meaning can be found altogether or in different combinations or can be absent at all also altogether. Emotional component of the meaning can be permanent or occasional. Word or its variant has the emotional component of the meaning if it conveys any emotion or feeling. Emotion is an experience of short duration, such as: joy, amusement, anger, anxiety or surprise. Feeling is a more stable phenomenon, such as: love, hatred or respect. Interjections are the most obvious signs of emotions. Many emotional words, especially interjections, express emotions without naming it. One and the same interjection “Oh” can express joy, sadness and many other emotions. (e.g. “Oh, I am so glad”, “Oh, I am so sorry”, “Oh, how unexpected!”). It should be pointed out that the words that name emotions or feelings (fear, delight, gloom, cheerfulness) mustn’t be mixed up with the emotional lexis. From the linguistic point of view these are different groups of words. A word has an evaluative component if it expresses positive or negative opinion towards the thing or idea or phenomenon it names. Evaluative component is connected with denotative meaning of a word and can be included into definition of it. (e.g. meaning – meaningful – meaningless). A word has an expressive component of the meaning if with its imagery or in some other way it emphasizes or intensifies the idea or phenomenon in this word or in the words syntactically connected to it. But for example English lexicographers Hornby or Fouler do not differentiate between emotional and expressive components of the meaning. They say that expressive component is always achieved through the emotional one. A word has a stylistic component of the meaning or stylistic connotation if it is typical for defying some functional styles and spheres of speech with which it is associated even when it is used inside not typical contexts. Stylistic component is connected with denotative one due to the fact that a word can belong to this or that sphere of reality. 5. Written and spoken varieties of the standard English language: the difference and interrelation in general and on different language levels (phonetic, morphological, lexical, syntactical). The actual situation of the communication has evolved two varieties of language— the spoken and the written. The varying aims of the communication have caused the literary language to fall into a number of self-sufficient systems (functional styles of language). Of the two varieties of language, diachronically the spoken is primary and the written is secondary. 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 written variety, on the contrary, presupposes the absence of an interlocutor. The spoken language is maintained in the form of a dialogue, the written in the form of a monologue. The spoken language has a considerable advantage over the written, in that the human voice comes into play. This is a powerful means of modulating the utterance, as are all kinds of gestures, which, together with the intonation, give additional information. The written language has to seek means to compensate for what it lacks. Therefore the written utterance will inevitably be more diffuse, more explanatory. In other words, it has to produce an enlarged representation of the communication in order to be explicit enough. The written variety of language has a careful organization and deliberate choice of words and constructions. The spoken language by its very nature is spontaneous, momentary, fleeting. It vanishes after fulfilled its purpose, which is to communicate a thought. The idea remains, the language dissolves in it. The written language, on the contrary, lives, together with the idea it expresses. The spoken language cannot be detached from the user of it, the speaker, who is unable to view it from the outside. The written language, on the contrary, can be detached from the writer, enabling him to look upon his utterance objectively and giving him the opportunity to correct and improve what has been put on paper. That is why it is said that the written language bears a greater volume of responsibility than its spoken counterpart. The spoken variety differs from the written language (that is, in its written representation) phonetically, morphologically, lexically and syntactically. Thus, of morphological forms the spoken language commonly uses contracted forms, as 'he'd' (he would), 'she's' (she is). These morphological and phonetic peculiarities are sometimes regarded as violations of grammar rules caused by a certain carelessness which accompanies the quick tempo of colloquial speech or an excited state of mind. Others are typical of territorial or social dialects. The most striking difference between the spoken and written language is in the vocabulary used. There are words and phrases typically colloquial on the one hand and typically bookish, on the other. The spoken language makes ample use of intensifying words: interjections and words with strong emotive meaning, as oaths, swear-words and alike. Another feature of colloquial language is the insertion into the utterance of words without any meaning, called “fill-ups”, “time fillers” or empty words. The syntactical peculiarities of the spoken language are the omission of parts of the utterance easily understood from the situation; the tendency to use the direct wordorder in questions or omit the auxiliary verb, using the intonation to show the meaning; unfinished sentences; a string of sentences without any connections or linked with and mostly. The syntactical peculiarities of the written language are the abundance of all kinds of conjunctions, adverbial phrases and other connections; use of complicated sentenceunits. The spoken variety of language is far more emotional due mainly to the advantages of the human voice. 6. Definition of functional style. The problem of functional styles’ classification: R.A. Budagov, I.V. Arnold, M.N. Kozina, I.R. Galperin. These types of the text they are called functional styles. A functional style of language is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim of communication. (by Gal’perin) There are a number of classifications of functional styles, but there doesn’t exist a unique accepted by all linguist’s classification. Classification of functional styles is a problematic issue. The classification by I.V.Arnol’d. She differentiated the neutral style and stylistically colored: 1. Stylistically neutral. 2. Stylistically colored can be subdivided into: formal and informal. Классификацию функциональных стилей на основе сферы употребления языка предложила М.Н. Кожина. Данная классификация построена на основе трех групп стилеобразующих факторов: 1. Экстралингвистические факторы (форма общественного сознания и соответствующий вид деятельности – наука, искусство, право и т.д.; сюда входит и специфический характер (тип) мышления – отвлеченнообобщенный или конкретный, а также форма отражения – научное понятие, художественный образ, правовая норма и т.д.) в целом определяют тематику и содержание речевых высказываний, а также состав языковых средств (особенно лексических) функционального стиля. 2. Объективные стилеобразующие факторы (форма проявления языка (устная, письменная), вид речи (монологическая, диалогическая), способ коммуникации (массовая, личная), жанр речи (в широком смысле: очерк, рассказ, повесть, монография, учебник, научная статья, лекция, диспут, собрание и т.д.), вид науки, способ изложения (описательный, повествовательный, рассуждающий, полемически-критический)) определяют разновидности стиля, подстили. 3. «Ситуативно-общественные» факторы (тон речи – высокий, торжественный или сниженный; ориентация на слушателя, аудиторию; вид речевого акта – двусторонний или односторонний). И. R. Galperin distinguishes five functional styles: artistic style; journalistic style; newspaper style; style of official documents, or official style; style of scientific prose, or scientific style. The linguist believes that speech styles are distinguished as certain systems in the literary language primarily in connection with the purpose of the message.
