5.5. Stylistic Use of Structural Meaning

Every syntactic structure has its definite function, which is sometimes called structural meaning. When a structure is used in some other function it assumes a new meaning which is similar to lexical transference of meaning. This can be seen in two syntactic SDs:

Rhetorical Questionis a special SD, whose essence consists in reshaping the grammatical meaning of the interrogative sentence. I.e. the question is no longer a question but a statement expressed in the form of an interrogative sentence. Thus there is a simultaneous interplay of two structural meaning: 1) that of the question and 2) that of the statement (either affirmative or negative).

E.g.Are thesethe remedies for a starving and desperate populace?

Litotesis a SD consisting of a peculiar use of negative constructions. The negation plus noun or adjective serves to establish a positive feature in a person or thing. This positive feature, however, is diminished in quality as compared with a synonymous expression making a straightforward assertion of the positive feature. Lets compare the following two pairs of sentences:

E.g.It’snot a badthing. = It’s agoodthing.

E.g.He isno coward. = He isa brave man.

‘Not bad’is not equal to ‘good’although the two constructions are synonymous. The same can be said about the 2^ndpair,no cowardand ‘a brave man’. In both cases the negative construction is weaker than the affirmative one. Still we cannot say that the two negative constructions produce a lesser effect than the corresponding affirmative ones, just on the contrary. The stylistic effect of litotes depends mainly on intonation.

E.g.He wasnot without taste. It troubled himnot a little. He found that this wasno easy task.

A variant of litotes is a construction with two negations, as in ‘not unlike’, ‘not unpromising’, not displeased’, etc

Litotes is used in different styles of speech, excluding those, which may be called matter-of-fact styles, official style and scientific prose.

6. Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices

Phonetic means of rendering ideas, emotions, feelings and images are studied by Phonostylistics. In thewritten variety of the language a desired stylistic effect can be achieved thanks to a peculiar sound arrangement in words, specific rhythm and rhyme created by different syntactic patterns used. In theoralvariety of the language this effect is intensified by the usage of different intonation components (pitch of the voice, melody, stress, tempo, rhythm, etc)

Intonationis the most powerful means of conveying emotionality, for it expresses the speaker’s attitude to an utterance. Falling tones are used when the speaker is sure of himself or shows superiority complex. Rising tones, however, imply that the speaker is shy, timid or unsure of himself.

Stress (logical & emphatic) is stylistically relevant. Excitement is rendered by emphatic stress, change in the pitch and the range of the voice.

Pausemay perform different stylistic functions. It is stylistically loaded when it is suggestive of the emotional state of the speaker. Silence can imply disagreement, disapproval, or that the speaker is confused, surprised, etc. A long pause may show that the person is thinking over the matter. Short frequent pauses render embarrassment or strong excitement. In the line of print the expectation of a pause is shown by dash (-), fullstop (.), suspension marks (…), etc.

The author’s phonetic means in creating expressiveness and emotional colouring deal with the sound aspect of speech, mainly with the choice of words, their specific arrangement and repetition. All this is studied by Euphony(теорияблагозвучия). A significant role in Euphony is played by repetition of certain sounds on which a number of phonetic SDs is based.

Onomatopoeiais a combination of speech-sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature (wind, sea, thunder, etc.), by things (machines and tools), by people (singing, 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.

There are two types of onomatopoeia:

• Direct(which displays itself in words imitating natural sounds) The degree of imitation may be different. Some words at once remind us of things producing sounds, others need our efforts to be decoded.

E.g. ding-dong;buzz;bang,cuckoo;mew, etc.

• Indirect(is formed by sounds which make the utterance an echo of its sense). It requires the mention of the thing which is the source of the sound.

E.g.And thesilken,sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain (E.A. Poe)

Alliteratonis a phonetic SDs which aims at imparting a melodic (or cacophonic) effect to the utterance. The essence of this SD lies in the repetition of similar sounds (consonant sounds in particular) in close succession.

E.g.Deep into thedarkness peering, long I stoodthere wondering, fearing,

Doubting,dreamingdreams no mortal everdared todream before. (E.A. Poe)

Rhymeis 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.

Rhyme may be of two types:

• Full rhymes(presupposes identity of the vowel sound and the following consonant sounds in a stressed syllable).

E.g.might – right;needles – heedles, etc

• Incomplete rhymes, which may be further divided into:

a) vowel rhymes(the vowels in corresponding words are identical, but the consonants may be different):

E.g.flesh – fresh – press

b) consonant rhymes(consonants are identical, but vowels are different):

E.g.worth– forth;tale –tool;Treble –trouble

Modifications of rhyming sometimes go so far as to make one word rhyme with a combinationof words. Such rhymes are calledcompoundorbroken. The peculiarity of this type is that the combination of words is made to sound like one word.

E.g.bottom – forgot'em – shot him

Another modification of compound rhyme is eye-rhyme, where the letters and not the sounds are identical.

E.g.love – prove;flood – brood

According to the way the rhymes are arranged within the stanza, certain models have crystallized:

• couplets– when the last words of two successive lines are rhymed. This is commonly markedaa

• triple rhymes –aaa

• cross rhymes – abab

• framingorring rhymes –abba

• internal rhymes – the rhyming words are placed not at the end of the lines, but within the lines

E.g.I bring freshshowersfor the thirstingflowers.(Shelley)

Once upon a midnight drearywhile I pondered weak andweary. (Poe)

Rhythmexists in all spheres of human activity and has various forms. It is a deliberate arrangement of speech into regularly recurring units intended to be grasped as a definite periodicity which makes rhythm a SD. Rhythm, therefore, is the main factor which brings order into the utterance. It affects both semantic and structural aspects, because orderly phonetic arrangement of the utterance demands orderly syntactic structures, which, in their turn, suggest an orderly segmenting of the sense-groups.

Rhythm in language demands oppositions: long – short; stressed – unstressed; high – low, etc.