Revaluation of syntactical meanings.

Grammatical meanings, similar to notional meanings, can be “shifted”, i.e. used figuratively. In other words, grammatical forms (in our case syntactical) are sometimes used not in their original sphere – they perform a function which is not their originally.

 

Quasi-affirmative sentences. This provisional term denotes a certain variety of rhetorical question, namely those with a negative predicate. The implication of such a negative question is an affirmative statement:

Isn’t that too bad? = That is too bad.

 

Quasi-negative sentences. Most of them are rhetorical questions with affirmative predicates: Did I say a word about the money? (Shaw) = I didn’t say…

 

Quasi-imperative sentences are those which express inducement (order or request) without the imperative form of the verb. Some of them do not name the required action, but only mention the object or a qualification of a self-evident action:

“Tea. For two. Out here.” (Shaw)

 

Quasi-interrogative sentences are either imperative or declarative. Instead of asking How old are you? Where were you born? One may either command Fill in your age and birthplace or explain: Here you are to write down your age and birthplace.

Types of Syntactic Connection Viewed Stylistically

Words, phrases, clauses, and sentences are connected with one another in speech. Words and phrases are mostly combined with their environment semantically, sometimes by means of auxiliary elements (prepositions and conjunctions) . Clauses and independent sentences can be joined to one another asyndetically (in this case the connection is purely semantic); more often, conjunctions or other connectors are employed.

Stylistically relevant are changes in the type of connection between the aforementioned units.

 

Detachment. Detachment is specific phonetic treatment of a word or word-group ^ instead of the usual articulation when the word (phrase) is fused with its environment, the speaker makes a short pause before (and often after) the detached segment and lays special stress on it. As a result of this, the word (phrase) appears to be opposed to the rest of the sentence – to what precedes it and follows it. Hence, the detached part is underlined as something specially important.

In writing and in print, detached parts are separated from the rest of the sentence by punctuation marks (mostly by commas or dashes). Unusual placement in the sentence (inversion – see above) is also a sure sign of detachment.

The general stylistic effect of detachment is strengthening, emphasizing the word (or phrase) in question. Besides, detachment imparts additional syntactical meanings to the word or phrase.

Talent, Mr. Micawber has, capital, Mr. Micawber has not. (Dickens)

It was indeed, to Forsyte eyes, an odd house. (Galsworthy)

Parenthetic words, phrases and sentences. They either express modality of what is predicated or imply additional information, mostly evaluating what is said or supplying some kind of additional information. Parenthetic elements comprising additional information seem to be a kind of protest against the linear character of the text^ the language user interrupts himself trying in vain to say two things at once.

Parenthetic segments comprising additional information perform a number of stylistic functions. One of the most important potentialities of such parentheses is the creation of the second plane, or background. The parenthetic form of a statement makes it more conspicuous, more important than it would be if it had the form of a subordinate clause.

 

The main entrance (he had never ventured to look beyond that) was a splendiferous

combination of a glass and iron awning, coupled with a marble corridor lined with

palms. (Dreiser)

 

Syntactic Stylistic devices( variant 2)

We may define several groups of SSD

1. Positional syntactic stylistic devices

1/ Emphatic inversion or Anastrophe

2/ Detachment

3/ Parenthesis

 

2. Accumulative SSD

1/ Parallelism

2/ Chiasmus

3/ Climax (logical, emotional, quantitative)

4/ Anticlimax

5/ Antithesis

6/ Enumeration

7/ Repetition (lexical, Synonymical, Syntactical)

8/ Anaphora

9/ Epiphora

10/ Anadiplosis

11/ Framing

12/ Syntactic tautology (noun >pronoun; pronoun >noun)

 

3. SSD based on various types of connection between the parts of the utterance

1/ Asyndeton

2/ Polysyndeton

3/ Apokoinou

4/ The gap-sentence link

 

4.Qualitative SSD

1/ Ellipsis

2/ Aposiopesis

3/ Exclamation

4/ Anacoluthon

5/ Question- in- the- narrative

6/ Represented speech (unuttered/inner; uttered )

 

5. SSD based on the stylistic use of structural meaning

1/ Rhetorical question 2/ Litotes