Chapter 8 stylistic syntax syntactic stylistic devices

The onomasiological approach in stylistic syntax is aimed at finding out what sublanguage is involved and what expressive value a syntactical unit (sentence or other utterance) has, treated in abstraction from its environment. Here we study the syntactical paradigm, i.e. a set of parallel (more or less equivalent, interchangeable, though formally different) syntactical structures and their comparative stylistic significance.

As you remember from Practical Grammar course, the sentence, as distinct from units of lower levels, is a sequence of relatively independent lexical and phrasal units (words or word combinations), and what differentiates a sentence from a word is the fact that the sentence structure is changeable; it does have any constant length: it can be shortened or extended, complete or incomplete, simple, compound or complex. Besides, its constituents, length, word-order, as well as communicative type (assertion, negation, interrogation, exhortation) are variable.

So, to analyze the sentence stylistically on the syntactic level, we will admit that most common and currently used are two-member sentences containing subject and predicate and perhaps, some secondary elements, having normal word order and the function (or the communicative purpose) of which is consistent with its structure (ex. A declarative sentence must express a statement, and not a question or a request). Any kind of deviation from this norm is stylistically relevant and can be viewed as a stylistic device. The classification of StD on Syntactical level paradigmatically may be dealt as follows:

1. From the viewpoint of quantitative characteristics of the syntactic structure (and there are only two possible varieties of deviations: the absence of obligatory elements in a neutral construction (1a) or excess of non-essential elements;

2. with regard to the distribution of the elements we should look for and classify the stylistic value of various types of inversion;

3. By analysing general syntactic meanings, communicative aims of sentences, stylistic effects of shifts, in syntactic meaning, of changes in the use of syntactic forms are establish.

Ellipsis

An elliptical sentence is such a syntactic structure in which there is no subject, or predicate, or both. The main parts of elliptical sentences are omitted by the speaker intentionally in cases when they are semantically redundant. For example:

• Where did you go ?

• To the disco.Assigned features.

• Elliptical sentences can not be viewed as stylistic devices in direct intercourse because they are devoid of suprasegmental information. Ellipsis becomes expressive when used in literature as a means of imitating real speech. Ellipsis makes speech dynamic, informative and unofficial.

Communicative functions. Ellipsis saves the speaker from needless effort, spares his time, reduces redundancy of speech. Elliptical structures may also reveal such speakers' emotions as excitement, impatience, delight, etc. As a stylistic device, ellipsis is an effective means of protagonists' portrayal.

More examples:

• Hullo! Who are you?

• The staff.

• Where are the others?

• At the front.

Вгорі - темне непривітне небо, долі - холодна мокра земля, і більш нічого.

Скільки тобі вчитися в училищі? - Два роки.

Note. It is essential to differentiate between elliptical sentences and one-member structures. The problem is that they may look completely homonymous out of context. For example, the isolated sentence "Dark night" can be treated both as one-member (non-elliptical) or two-member elliptical structure. What is what becomes clear only in speech. If a text begins with the sequence of sentences "Dark night. Strong wind. Loneliness", they are obviously one-member, having neither subject nor predicate. But if the implied subject and predicate can be easily and unambiguously restored in context, we deal with a two-member elliptical sentence. Thus, the sentence "At the front" of the above given example is two-member, elliptical, and extended, its subject they and its predicate are being implied.