1、English Stylistics,Chapter 4 Linguistic Description,Contents,Aims of stylistics in linguistic description,1,Levels of language,2,Stylistic features,3,Practical description and analysis in this book,5,Procedure of linguistic description,4,4.1 The aims of stylistics in linguistic description,Stylistic
2、s aims to provide a methodology of analysis a technique of description a procedure for stylistic significance Stylistics replaces a sporadic approach with a systematic one and seeks to avoid over-reliance on intuitive ability in stylistic analysis The ordered approach (p.42),4.2 Levels of language,3
3、 aspects in a speech event Substantial, formal, situational Aspects of speech event are related to levels of language and linguistic description Substantial: phonology & graphology Formal: lexis & grammar Situational: semantics,4.2 Levels of language,4.2.1 Level of phonology/graphology Phonology The
4、 study of rules for the organization of sound systems of a language Graphology The study of writing system of a language,4.2 Levels of language,4.2.2 Level of lexis/grammar Grammar The study of structure of units in a language, and the way they function in sequences Grammar is divided into morpholog
5、y and syntax Morphology: internal structure of words and rules governing their formation Syntax: external relationships of words in a sentence Lexicology The study of the choices of specific lexical items in a text, their distribution and meaning,4.2 Levels of language,4.2.3 Level of semantics Seman
6、tics The study of the overall meaning of a text, the meaning derived not from the formal properties of words and structures but from the way sentences/utterances are used and the way they are related to the context in which they are used/uttered,4.3 Stylistic features,Stylistic features A situationa
7、l variety of language can be seen as a complex of features describable by reference to a number of contextual categories, which are defined with reference to sets of linguistic features, operating at some or all of the levels of language. These situationally bound features are called Stylistically S
8、ignificant Features.,4.3 Stylistic features,Stylistic features can be found at 3 levels Phonological/graphological level Lexciogrammatical level Semantic level,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.1 Phonological/Graphological level 4.3.1.1 Phonological features Segmentals Sounds broken into smallest units, ca
9、lled phonemes (vowels and consonants) Super-segmentals/prosodic features Sounds extending over longer stretches of spoken text (stress, rhythm, intonation),4.3 Stylistic features,Segmental features 1. onomatopoeia Isolated sounds reflecting aspects of reality Use of words imitating natural sounds2.
10、sound symbolism Sounds in some way appropriate to the meaning expressed,4.3 Stylistic features,Segmental features 3. assimilation Change of one sound into another at word boundaries in connected speech because of the influence of an adjacent sound elision Omission of sounds,4.3 Stylistic features,Se
11、gmental features 4. alliteration Repetition of initial consonant assonance Repetition of stressed vowel with different end consonant consonance Repetition of final consonant with different vowel rhyme Repetition of syllable,4.3 Stylistic features,Super-segmental features 1. stress Prominence given t
12、o one part of a word or longer utterance Word stress vs. Sentence stress 2. rhythm Pattern formed by the stresses perceived as peaks of prominence or beats Stressed syllables occur at regular internals 3 types of rhythms (p.46-47),4.3 Stylistic features,e.g. A man put on his hatand walked along the
13、strandand there he met another manwhose hat was in his hand,4.3 Stylistic features,Super-segmental features 3. intonation Distinctive pattern of rise and fall in pitch taking place in connected speech Tonic units Brief stretches usually corresponding to units of information Each contains one syllabl
14、e (tonic syllable) for pitch prominence with pitch movement 5 tones (p.48-49),4.3 Stylistic features,Super-segmental features 4. pitch height The point of the pitch scale at which a stressed syllable occurs in relation to the previous syllable pitch range The width of pitch movement on the tonic syl
15、lable or from stress to stress,4.3 Stylistic features,Super-segmental features 5. pause Temporary stop or silence in the flow of speech utterance together with tone unit Forms (p.50) Public speaking, drama, and film,4.3 Stylistic features,Super-segmental features 6. tempo Relative speed of utterance
16、 Slow tempo: special care, seriousness Fast tempo: off-hand dismissal, cheerful levity Tempo and emotion,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.1.2 Graphological features Graphological features concerns the use of alphabet, number system, punctuation, capitalization, headlining, italicizing, bracketing, diagram
17、ming, paragraphing, spacing Stylistics describes patterns of writing that assist in distinguishing varieties of language Different registers make particular use of graphological features,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.1.2 Graphological features Some poems are to be heard to unders
18、tand, while others are to be seen to understand E.g. She Loves Me Not (P.52),4.3 Stylistic features,Me up at doesout of the floorquietly Starea poisoned mousestill who aliveis asking what have i done that You wouldnt have (E.E. Cummings),4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2 Lexicogrammatical level 4.3.2.1 G
19、rammatical features Sentence type Clause type Group type Word type,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2 Lexicogrammatical level 4.3.2.1 Grammatical features 1. sentence type Whether a variety makes use of a particular type of sentence (periodic vs. loose etc) (P.53) Whether there is any repetition of the sa
20、me structural pattern (parallelism, antithesis) Whether there is any question which does not expect an answer (rhetorical question) The average sentence length,4.3 Stylistic features,1. sentence type E.g. The apparition of these faces in the crowds Petals on a wet, black bough- Ezra Pound, In a Stat
21、ion of the Metro,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2.1 Grammatical features 2. clause type Independent vs. dependent Non-finite vs. finite Clause elements: S, P, O, C, A,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2.1 Grammatical features 3. group type Nominal groups Noun, pronoun, numeral, non-finite or nominal structures
22、 as head with or without modification (premodified vs. postmodified) Verbal groups Lexical verb as head with or without auxiliaries preceding it (p. 55),4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2.1 Grammatical features 4. word type Compound Affixation Portmanteau Nonce Conversion Pun,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2.
23、2 Lexical features General wording inclination Connotative meaning Collocation,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2.2 Lexical features 1. general wording inclination Whether the vocabulary is simple or complex, descriptive or evaluative, general or specific Whether there is any use of rare or specialized or
24、 Latinate vocabulary Whether there are idiomatic expressions associated with dialects or registers Whether nouns are abstract or concrete Whether verbs are static or dynamic Whether adj. and adv. are frequent,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2.2 Lexical features 2. connotative meaning Connotative vs. Deno
25、tative Favorable, neutral, derogatory Slang, archaism, neologism, jargon, argot,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.2.2 Lexical features 3. collocation The habitual or expected co-occurrence of words The meaning of a word depends on its immediate context its nearby words called Collocates Lexical Set: words
26、having similar collocational range,4.3 Stylistic features,3. collocation E.g. Think from how many treesDead leaves are broughtTo earth on seed or wing- Vernon Witkins, The Compost Heap,4.3 Stylistic features,3. collocation E.g. For I have known them all already, known them all Have known the evening
27、s, mornings, afternoons I have measured out my life with coffee spoons - T. S. Eliot,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Semantic level Cohesion Paragraphing Discourse patterns Rhetorical devices Semantic roles,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Semantic level 1. text as a semantic unit A text is a stretch of la
28、nguage which forms a unity by reason of its linguistic cohesion (the means of linking sentences into larger units) and semantic coherence (natural or reasonable connection in content) A text both coheres in its realworld context and is internally coherent,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Semantic level
29、2. cohesion Implicit vs. explicit (p. 59) 3 types of cohesion Transitional words/phrases: conj, pp, etc Grammatical devices: ellipsis, substitution, co-reference (anaphora, cataphora) Lexical reiteration: synonyms, hyponyms, general words Stylistic functions (p. 61),4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Sema
30、ntic level 3. paragraphing Concentrates on one aspect of the total theme; brings out a clear picture of the organization of thematic development Contrasts can be found in the linear structure and the hierarchical structure; specific patterns of paragraphing (p. 61),4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Seman
31、tic level 4. discourse pattern Discourse: not only ordinary conversation and its context but also written communications between writer and reader; text Discourse organization patterns,4.3 Stylistic features,5. rhetorical devices 2 types of figures of speech: scheme and trope Schemes figures which a
32、rrange words into patterns of foregrounded regularity of form Foregrounded regularity of expression Tropes Figures which twist words away from their usual meaning or collocations to produce deviations Forgrounded irregularity of content,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Semantic level Trope (1) figurativ
33、e meaning Extension of meaning a word or an expression through sense association Make statements more concrete, lively, beautiful, rich in humor Metaphor, personification, metonymy, synecdoche,4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Semantic level Trope (2) absurdity A combination of two expressions which are
34、semantically incompatible (oxymoron) or a statement which is apparently self-contradictory (paradox),4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Semantic level Trope (3) honest deception The deliberate use of overstatement (hyperbole), or understatement (litotes), or words which are clearly opposite to what one re
35、ally means (irony),4.3 Stylistic features,4.3.3 Semantic level 6. semantic roles The way in which the referent of a nominal group contributes to the state, action, or situation described by the sentence The semantic roles differ from the syntactic roles Agent, patient, experiencer, possessor, recipi
36、ent, instrument, cause, locative, temporal,4.4 Procedure of linguistic description,1. work systemically through the text and note down points we feel of some stylistic significance respectively under various headings 2. quantify the frequency of a linguistic feature 3. assess the importance of styli
37、stic features 4. make statements about the overall linguistic picture of the text, bringing together diverse features to show how they form a coherent, integrated pattern, and making judgments about or interpreting the significance of such patterns in relation to the context of the text,4.5 The prac
38、tical description and analysis in this book,3 categories of varieties Tenor of discourse (informal vs. formal 5) Mode of discourse (spoken vs. written 6) Field of discourse (conversation 7, public speech 8, advertisement 9, news reporting 10, science theses 11, legalese 12, literature 13-16),Assigments,So many terms!,
