Stylistic means of expressing surprise in the English language.
The most frequent syntactic means of expressing surprise in the English language is ellipsis (around 16 examples):
Finding herself quite unaware of how to draw up a contract for Jason Thague that would be binding, she phoned Hope for advice.
- I’ll do it for you, Hope said.
- Will you really? [Ruth Rendell «The Chimney Sweeper's Boy»]
- A place where they manufacture cars.
- You will manufacture cars?
- Not a whole car, but I will put the wheels on.
- You put cars on wheels?the chef said in disbelief. [Jeffrey Archer “A twist in the tale”]
In these abstracts surprise is expressed in general questions “Will you really?” and “You put cars on wheels?”, containing ellipsis. This can be explained by the fact, that surprise can be explained as an instant reaction to some unexpected information uttered by the addresser. Thus, the addressee has no time for considering this new information and offers on-the-spot answer to the statement.
Repeating part of the addresser’s utterance as syntactical means of expressing surprise is also typical for this language (around 17 examples):
“But who did Barry call?” asked Anna.
“Fenston on his mobile.”
“Fenston?” asked Anna in disbelief. “How did he manage to escape when I left his office only a few minutes before the first plane hit the building.” [Jeffrey Archer “False Impression”]
“You should start reading the evening papers, Gerald, and stop looking in mirrors and then you’d know Walter isn’t going to be Mayor?” repeated Gerald.
“Not going to be Mayor?” repeated Gerald in disbelief. [Jeffrey Archer “A twist in the tale”]
In these examples, the speaker accentuates those parts of interlocutor’s utterances, which are the causes of their surprise. They repeat some parts of the previous utterances with the purpose of getting more information on the subject.
The analyzed examples showed that it is typical for the English language to use such a stylistic device as aposiopesis to express surprise coupled with excitement (around 20 examples). A person expressing surprise breaks off the sentence and leaves it unfinished:
“And you,” he said, pointing at Mark, “clean up mess and start slicing rest of potatoes.”
“Me?” said Mark in disbelief. “But -” [Jeffrey Archer “A twist in the tale”]
“Do you realize who got left behind in the rubble?” Fenston asked before Tina could speak
“Anna?”
“No” said Fenston. “Petrescu is dead”.
“Dead?” repeated Tina as she stared across the table at her friend. “But-”[Jeffrey Archer “False Impression”]
Proceeding from the fact that surprise is expressed when something runs counter to what was expected by the person, it can be assumed that this device indicates that the person is so overcome with surprise that cannot even continue to speak.
The analyzed examples showed that the English language is rich in phraseological units expressing surprise. I have classified them into 3 groups basing on extralinguistic parameters of situation.
The first group comprises units expressing surprise, when it is difficult or impossible to understand. English set expressions like “it beats me”, “it is beyond me” denote the inability of a surprised person to comprehend the situation:
- Just imagine! She was completely paralyzed, with no one to attend to her needs.
- It beats me how he could leave his fiancée like that! [RuthRendell “The Water’s Lovely”]
- She spent the whole day at home waiting for the message.
- It’s beyond me why Ursula wants to get this message so much! [Ruth Rendell “The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy”]
The use of these expressions is due to the fact, that in the state of surprise the speaker’s mind is blank and his/hers immediate reaction is the expression of incomprehension.
The second group comprises units expressing surprise at unexpected appearance of someone or at something which happened completely unexpectedly. Here belong such phraseological units as “to come as a bolt from the blue”, “to drop a bombshell”:
- People think that he is guilty!
- Yes, the decision of the court to let him go came as a bolt from the blue! [Reginald Hill “Good Morning Midnight”]
- Have you heard the news?
- No, what has happened?
- Jamie said he quitted his job.
- Oh, I believe he really dropped a bombshell when announced it. [Jeffrey Archer “A Quiver Full Of Arrows”]
Besides, English idiom “lo and behold” is used to express surprise at a sudden or unexpected appearance someone:
- How did you meet him?
- Oh, I was cooking dinner, when lo and behold, there was him, standing with a bunch of flowers. [Reginald Hill “Good Morning Midnight”]
And finally, the third group comprises units expressing disbelief to the unexpected event. Here belong such phraseological units as “that’s a likely story” and “pigs might fly”:
- The Stivensons are buying a new car. Their daughter said that her father was fired last month.
- Ha! That’s a likely story! [Jeffrey Archer “A Twist In The Tale”]
- My son is going to marry his teacher. She’s 39!
- Really? And pigs might fly! [Reginald Hill “Good Morning Midnight”]
It should be noted that these expressions imply some irony. Thus, it can be assumed that English people do not always express surprise sincerely.
Schematically, the number of usages of stylistic means of expressing surprise is presented in the table.
Table 4. Stylistic means of expressing surprise in the English language.
| Stylistic means | Number of usages |
| Structural stylistic device - ellipsis | |
| Structural stylistic device - repetition | |
| Structural stylistic device - aposiopesis | |
| Phraseological units – Group 1 | |
| Phraseological units – Group 2 | |
| Phraseological units – Group 3 | |
| Total number of usages |
Thus, it can be concluded that stylistic means of expressing surprise in the English language are numerous and diverse. As stylistic means are defined as implicit ones, it can be assumed that English people tend to express surprise implicitly. They are more reserved in using direct expressive means than Russian people.