Transferred use of structural meaning.
Rhetorical questions -is a special syntactical stylistic device the essence of which consists in reshaping the grammatical meaning of the interrogative sentence:
How long must we suffer? Where is the end? (Morris)
Thus there is an interplay of two structural meanings: 1) that of the question and 2) that of the statement (either affirmative or negative). Both are materialized simultaneously:
“Are these the remedies for a starving and desperate populace?” “Is there not blood enough upon your penal code, that more must be poured forth to ascend to Heaven and testify against you?” (Byron)
Rhetorical questions based on negation:
“Did not the Italian Mosico Cazzani
Sing at my heart six months at least in vain?” (Byron)
“Have I not had to wrestle with my lot?
Have I not suffered things to be forgiven?” (Byron)
Litotesis a stylistic device consisting of a peculiar use of negative constructions.:
He was no gentle lamb (London); Mr. Bardell was no deceiver. (Dickens)
Two negative constructions produce a lesser effect than the corresponding affirmative ones:
1. It’s not a bad thing. - It’s a good thing.
2. He is no coward. - He is a brave man.
Transference of meaning - a device with the help of which two meanings are materialized simultaneously: the direct (negative) and transferred (affirmative).
The stylistic effect of litotes depends mainly on intonation:
1. “Whatever defects the tale possessed—and they were not a few—it had, as delivered by her, the one merit of seeming like truth,”
2. “He was not without taste...”
3. “It troubled him not a little...”
4. “He found that this was no easy task.”
5. “He was no gentle lamb, and the part of second fiddle would never do for the high-pitched dominance of his nature.” (Jack London)
6. She was wearing a fur coat... Carr, the enthusiastic appreciator of smart women and as good a judge of dress as any man to be met in a Pall Mall club, saw that she was no country cousin. She had style, or ‘devil’, as he preferred to call it.
The negation does not merely indicate the absence of the quality mentioned but suggests the presence of the opposite quality.
Classification of expressive means and stylistic devices by Y.M. Skrebnev
Skrebnev’s approach demonstrates a combination of principles observed in Leech’s system of paradigmatic and syntagmatic subdivision and the level-oriented approach on which Galperin’s classification is founded.
Skrebnev first subdivides stylistics into paradigmatic stylistics (or stylistics of units)and syntagmatic stylistics (or stylistics of sequences).
He also singles out one more level. In addition to phonetics, morphology, lexicology and syntax he adds semasiology (or semantics).
Paradigmatic stylistics
(Stylistics of units)←1. Phonetics →Syntagmatic stylistics
←2. Morphology →(Stylistics of sequences)
←3. Lexicology
←4. Syntax
←5. Semasiology
Paradigmatic stylistics
Paradigmatic phoneticsactually describes phonographical stylistic features of a written text.
“Graphons”(a term borrowed from V.A. Kucharenko):
I know these Eye-talians! (Lawrence).
“Father, said one of the children at breakfast.—I want some more ‘am please”,—You mustn’t say ‘am, my child, the correct form is ‘am, — retorted his father, passing the plate with sliced ham on it. “But I did say ‘am, pleaded the boy”. “No, you didn’t: you said ‘am instead of ‘am”. The mother turned to the guest smiling: «Oh, don’t mind them, sir, pray. They are both trying to say ‘am and both think it is ‘am they are saying”.
Other graphic means to emphasize the “unheard” phonetic characteristics such as the pitch of voice, the stress, and other melodic features are italics, capitalisation, repetition of letters, onomatopoeia (sound mutation):
I AM sorry; «Appeeee Noooooyeeeeerr» (Happy New Year); cock-a-doodle-doo.
Paradigmatic morphologyobserves the stylistic potentials of grammar forms, which Leech would describe as deviant.
Historical present: What else do I remember? Let me see. There comes out of the cloud our house... (Dickens).
Stylistic colouring of gender (personification and depersonification).
In modern English special rules concern whole classes of nouns that are traditionally associated with feminine or masculine gender: thus, countries are generally classed as feminine (France sent her representative to the conference.); abstract notions associated with strength and fiercenessare personified as masculine while feminine is associated with beauty or gentleness (death, fear, war, anger—he,spring, peace, kindness—she); names of vessels and other vehicles (ship, boat, carriage, coach, car) are treated as feminine.
Person: One never knows what happens next/we never know; you never know.
The plural of majesty: By the grace of Our Lord, We, Charles the Second…
The plural of modesty: Now, we come to the conclusion that…
The plural of humility: Oh, we are proud /Мы, стало быть, деревенские…
Pronouns: How is one to know that?/How should a body know it?
Number: Now, what’s that? Reading books instead of working?
How dare he talk like that to ladies?
This is what the student is supposed to know.
Paradigmatic lexicologysubdivides English vocabulary into stylistic layers: neutral, positive (elevated)and negative (degraded.)
Positive/elevated
poetic;
official;
professional.
Bookish and archaic words occupy a peculiar place among the other positive words due to the fact that they can be found in any other group (poetic, official or professional).
Neutral Negative/degraded
colloquial; neologisms; jargon; slang;
nonce-words; vulgar words.
Special mention is made of terms.
Paradigmatic syntaxhas to do with the sentence paradigm: completeness of sentence structure, communicative types of sentences, word order, and type of syntactical connection.