Syntactical EMs and SDs based on the stylistical use of the peculiarities of oral speech. (particular use of colloquial constructions)

• Ellipsis is a typical phenomenon in conversation but it assumes a new quality when used in the written language. It is an omission from a construction of one or both principle parts (the subject, the predicate) which are obviously understood. Ellipsis is made use of to impart brevity, a quick tempo, emotional tension, also to create the effect of implication.

 

e.g. I went to Oxford as one goes into exile; she to London.

e.g. The open door was a dark, blank screen, the curtained windows blind whiteness.

 

• Aposiopesis (break-in-the-narrative) is the sudden breaking off in speech, without completing a thought; it reflects the emotional or/and psychological state of the speaker: he is either unable or/and unwilling to state what was in his mind. Aposiopesis conveys to the reader a very strong upsurge of emotions. Aposiopesis creates an effect of implication – a sudden break in the narrative inevitably focuses the attention on what is left unsaid.

 

e.g. You just come home, or I’ll … (the implication is a threat)

e.g. Good intentions, but – (the implication is that nothing has come of what it was planned to accomplish)

Aposiopesis is a SD in which the role of intonation cannot be overestimated – the pause after the break is generally charged with meaning.

 

3. Stylistical use of Interrogative and Negative constructions.

• Rhetorical question is a peculiar interrogative construction which semantically remains a statement. It appeals to the reader for an answer, it sounds emphatic, it mobilizes the attention of the reader even when the latter is not supposed to answer anything, when the only possible answer is implied within the boundaries of the question. Rhetorical question is full of emotive meaning and modality. It serves to express all kinds of modal shades of meaning as doubt, challenge, anger, irony, etc.

 

e.g. She took a vase of roses and left the room. Soames remained seated.Was it for this that he had sighed the contract? Was it for this that he was going to spend some ten thousand pounds? (J. Galsworthy)

 

• Litotes is a type of ironical understatement made for emphasis, where an affirmation is expressed by denying its contrary. Litotes is used to weaken the positive characteristics of a thing or phenomenon. The statement sounds less categorical, it conveys certain doubts of the speaker as to quality he mentions.

 

e.g. The outward relations between James and his son were marked by a lack of sentiment peculiarly Forsytean, but for all that the two were by no means unattached. (J. Galsworthy)

 

The analysis of the examples shows that the negation does not merely indicate the absence of the quality mentioned but suggests the presence of the opposite quality.

 

e.g. It’s not a bad thing = It’s a good thing.

e.g. He is no coward = He’s a brave man.

e.g. He was not without taste, etc.

 

Syntactical EMs and SDs used in utterances.

1. Syntactical EMs and SDs based on parallelism.

2. Syntactical EMs and SDs based on a special arrangement of the parts of the utterance.

3. Syntactical EMs and SDs based on repetition.

 

1. Syntactical EMs and SDs based on parallelism:

• Parallel constructions or parallelism are constructions formed by the same syntactical pattern closely following one another.

Parallelism is complete when the construction of the second sentence fully copies that of the first one; parallelism is partial when only the beginning or the end of several sentences are structurally similar.

Parallelism carries an emotive function; in some cases it emphasizes the similarity and equates the significance of the parts; in other cases parallelism emphasizes diversity and contrast of ideas. Parallel constructions almost always include some type of lexical repetition too, and such a convergence produces a very strong effect, foregrounding at one go logical, rhythmic, emotive and expressive aspects of the utterance.

 

e.g. As if by magic silence fell. Arms were folded, tongues stilled, faces became angelic and demure, and feet were placed decorouslyside by side.

 

• Reversed parallelism is called chiasmus.

Chiasmus or reversed parallelism is a structure of two successive sentences ort parts of a sentence where the word-order of one of the sentences is inverted as compared with that of the other. It is used to break the monotony of parallel constructions; to lay stress on the part of the utterance which is opposite in structure, to bring in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis.

 

e.g. Soon the young professor was telling Roy how much he liked his books, and Roy was modestly telling himwhat in this one and the other his aim had been and how conscious he was that he had come far short of achieving it. (W.S. Maugham)

 

Syntactical EMs and SDs based on a special arrangement of the parts of the utterance.

• Climax presents a structure in which every successive sentence or phrase is emotionally more expressive or logically more important or more explicit than the preceding one. It is frequently accompanied by lexical and syntactical repetitions.

The stylistic function of climax is to show the relative importance of things as seen by the author: he discloses his world outlook, his evaluation of objective facts and phenomena.

 

e.g. In spite of himself, something swelled in his breast.

e.g. To live here in sight of all this, to be able to point it out to his friend, to talk of it, to possess it! His cheek flushed.

 

Such an organization of the utterance creates a gradual intensification of its significance both logical and emotive, it absorbs the reader’s attention more completely.

Climax may be of three main types:

• Quantitative when it is the quality or size that increases with the unfolding of the utterance.

 

e.g. They looked at hundredsof houses; they climbed thousands of stairs; they inspected innumerable kitchens.

• Qualitative or emotive when intensification in achieved through the introduction of emphatic words into the utterance, which fact increases its emotive force.

 

e.g. He was helpless, so very helpless.

e.g. That’s a nicegirl, that’s a very nice girl!

 

Usually in this type of climax the word most important semantically is repeated and intensified by the introduction of such emotionally coloured adverbs as “terribly”, “especially”, “immensely”, etc.

• Logical, the most frequent type, in which every new concept is stronger, more important and valid.

 

e.g. Silence fell upon Closter place, peace, oblivion. (Maurier)

 

Very often every successive member of a climax is a natural logical consequence of the preceding one:

e.g. I swear to God I never saw the beat of this winter. More snow, more cold, more sickness, more death. (M. Wilson)

A peculiar variety is presented in those cases when a negative structure undergoes intensification:

e.g. “No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass … that was not owned.” (J. Galsworthy)

 

• Anticlimax (Bathos) is counterpart to climax, it presents a structure where emotion or logical importance is accumulated only to be suddenly broken or/and brought to a sudden cadence, it is the sudden reversal of roused expectations; it consists in adding one weaker element to one or several strong ones, mentioned before. Anticlimax brings forth a humorous or ironic effect.

 

e.g. Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything expect the obvious. (O. Wilde)

 

• Suspense is the deliberate slowing down of the thought postponing its completion till the very end of the utterance. Suspense prepares the reader for the only logical conclusion of the utterance and the reader awaits the completion of the utterance with an ever increasing tension; the reader is kept in a state of uncertainty usually with anxiety and expectation.

 

e.g. Yes, despite the drawback of Miss Anderson’s village school, the dark old-fashioned building, the primitive sanitation, the scarcity of stock which made Anna’s Christmas cards all the more welcome, and the great range of age in each class, still Miss Anderson had one priceless advantage. (Miss Read)

 

• Antithesis is a structure presenting two contrasting ideas in a close neighborhood. The two parts of an antithesis are semantically opposite to each other. It is used to demonstrate the contradictory nature of the object or, when two different objects are opposed to each other, to underline their incompatibility.

 

e.g. They speak like saints and act like devils.

 

Syntactical EMs and SDs based on repetition.

Repetition is recurrence of the same word, word combination, phrase for two or more times. Repetition is a powerful means of emphasis: it aims at logical emphasis, it fixes the attention of the reader on the key-word of the utterance; in a way repetition imparts additional sense to the whole of the utterance. Repetition adds rhythm and balance to the utterance.

 

e.g. … the photograph of Lotta Lind beck he tore into small bits across and across and across.

 

As to the position occupied by the repeated unit in a sentence or (in an) utterance, we shall mention four main types, most frequently occurring in English literature: anaphora, epiphora, anadiplosis, framing.

 

• Anaphora is the repetition of one or more initial words of several succeeding sentences. The main stylistic function of anaphora, is not so much to emphasize the repeated unit as to create the background for the unrepeated unit, which, through its novelty, becomes foregrounded.

 

e.g. Out of his other property, out of all the things he had collected, his silver, his pictures, his houses, his investments, he got a secret and intimate feeling; out of her he got none. (J. Galsworthy)

 

• Epiphora is recurrence of the same word, word combination, phrase for two or more times in the end of successive sentences (clauses). The main function of epiphora is to add stress to the final words of the sentence.

 

e.g. He had never before seen such an expression on her face. And since it is always the unusual which alarms, Soames was alarmed. (J. Galsworthy)

 

• Anadiplosis or catch repetition is the repetition of the same unit (word or phrase) at the end of the preceding and at the beginning of the following sentence. the writer, instead of moving on, seems to double back on his tracks and pick up his last word. It is a powerful means of emphasis.

e.g. He (old Jolyon) would not run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, and so to his son he said good-bye. That good-bye lasted until now. (J. Galsworthy)

e.g. I wake up and I am alone and I walk round warless and I’m alone and I talk with people and I’m alone. (J. Wane)

 

• Framing or ring repetition is repetition which is arranged in the form of a frame: it is recurrence of the word or word combination in the beginning of the sentence (or paragraph) and at the end. It makes the whole utterance more compact and more complete.

 

e.g. He sat, still and silent, until his future landlord accepted his proposals and brought writing materials to complete the business. He sat, still and silent, while the landlord wrote.

 

One more type of stylistic repetition should be mentioned – morphological repetition. It presents not an independent lexical unit but a morpheme, usually the [-ing] suffix.

e.g. And still from all the cross streets they were hurrying and rattling towards the converging point at full speech, and hurling themselves into straggling mass, locking wheels and adding their driver’s imprecations to the clamor. (O. Henry)

 

Repetition should not be mixed up with pleonasm – an excessive uneconomic use of unnecessary, extra words which either shows the inability of the writer to express his ideas in a precise and clear manner or a device purposely used for special force or clearness.

 

e.g. This volume contains all the short stories which Melville is known to be written and collects them for the first time in one volume. (Observer)

e.g. Троя пылала, объятая пламенем огня.