Glossary of stylistic terms
Graphic: spacing of graphemes (hyphenation, multiplication) and of lines, all changes of the type (italics, bold type, capitalization or absence of capital letters), punctuation.
GLOSSARY OF STYLISTIC TERMS
Allegory ['жlɪg(ə)rɪ] (Gk „allegoria – speaking otherwise‘) means expressing abstract ideas through concrete pictures. It is a form of symbolism in which ideas or abstract qualities are represented as characters or events in the story, novel, or play.
Alliteration [əНl tə`re ∫(ə)n] (L ‗repeating and playing upon the same letter‘) is the repetition of the same (or similar) sounds or sound clusters, usually consonants, of stressed syllables in neighbouring words or at short intervals within a line or passage, usually at word beginnings.
Allusion [ə'lu:ʒ(ə)n] (L ‗allusio – a play on words or game; and a derivative of the Latin word alludere – to play around or to refer to mockingly‘) is an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text (the so-called allusive quotations).
Anapaest ['жnəpi:st] is a metrical foot consisting of two short or unstressed syllables followed by one long or stressed
syllable – – .
Anticlimax [Нжnt 'kla mжks] a structure in which every successive word, phrase, or sentence is emotionally or logically less strong than the preceding one.
Antithesis [жn't иəs s] (Gk ‗opposition‟) is the expression of opposing or contrasting ideas laid out in a parallel structure. Antonomasia [Нжntənəж'me z ] is the usage of a proper name for a common noun (Othello, Romeo) or the usage of common nouns or their parts as proper names (Mr. Snake, Mr.
Backbite etc.).
Aposiopesis [НжpəжНsaiə'pi:sis] (or break in the narrative) (Gk ‗becoming silent‘) denotes a speaker‘s deliberate failure to complete a sentence, which is caused by the influx of senses, consideration of time, notice that he/she gives out some secret, unwillingness to proceed, inability or unwillingness to finish the utterance.
Archaic [ɑ:'keɪɪk] words are out-dated words which are already partly or fully out of circulation, rejected by the living language. I.R. Galperin classifies archaic words into the following groups [Galperin, 1977: 83]:
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forms – thee, thy, thine; pronoun ye; verbal ending –est and the verb forms art, wilt (thou makest, thou wilt); the ending –(e)th instead of –(e)s (he maketh); contracted forms (‗tis, „twas,
„gainst, e‟en (even)); past tenses (spake, clothed)).
· Obsolete [`ɒbsəli:t] words have completely gone out of use but are still recognized by the readers: methinks – it seems to me, nay – no, aught – anything, naught – nothing.
· Archaic [ɑ:'keɪɪk] words proper are no longer recognized in modern English: (troth – faith, losel – worthless, lazy fellow, albeit – though, whilom – formerly, ehe – also).
Assonance ['жsənəns] is the repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually close together, to achieve a particular effect of euphony.
Asyndeton [ж'sɪndɪtən] (Gk ‗disconnected‘) is the omission of the conjunctions that ordinarily join coordinate words or clauses.
Author‟s [`ɔ:иəz] stylistics [staɪ`lɪstɪks] (genetic stylistics) is interested in the peculiarities of the author‘s style on the basis of his creative biography, his believes, interests and other factors which could influence his literary creative
work.
Bookish [bхkэ∫] (learned) words are mostly used in cultivated spheres of speech: in books, public speeches, official negotiations and official documents.
Cacophony [kə'kɒfən ] is a sound pattern used to create harsh and discordant effect.
Chiasmus [ka 'жzməs] (reversed parallelism) (Gk ‗a placing crosswise‘) is a kind of parallelism where the word order of the sentence or clause that follows becomes inverted.
Climax ['kla məks] is the point of the greatest conflict, the emotional high point, the turning point in the plot, or the point at which the main character to choose some form of action that will either worsen or improve his or her situation.
Climax ['kla məks] or gradation [grə'deэ∫(ə)n] (L ‗gradatio
– gradualness‘; Gk ‗climax – a ladder‘) is a structure in which every successive word, phrase, or sentence is emotionally stronger or logically more important than the preceding one.
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Cognitive ['kɒgnətэv] stylistics describes what happens in the minds of readers when they interface with (literary) language.
Colloquial [kə'ləukwɪəl] words according to their usage may be divided into three big groups: 1) literary colloquial used in fiction to represent the peculiarities of speech of educated people in the course of ordinary conversation or when writing
letters to intimate friends; 2) familiar colloquial which are more emotional and much more free and careless than literary colloquial and contain a great number of jocular or ironical expressions and nonce-words; 3) low colloquial used in illiterate popular speech.
Comparative [kəm'pжrətэv] method ['meиəd] is aimed at finding out the most effective way of expression by comparing selected language means with those which are either less expressive or neutral in the given context.
Comparative [kəm'pжrətэv] stylistics [staэ'lэstэks] investigates national and international features in stylistic systems of national languages.
Conflict ['kɒnflɪkt] is an internal or external struggle between the main character and an opposing force.
Connotative [kə'nəʊtetэv] meaning ['mi:nэŋ] may be of four types [Методичні вказівки, 2001: 14]:
1. emotive[э'məʊtэv] meaningrefers to the feelings and emotions of the speaker towards things and phenomena of objective reality;
2. expressive[эk'spresэv] meaningaims at creating the image of the indicated object;
3. evaluative[э'vжljuətэv] meaningstates the attitude of speakers (in terms ―approval – disapproval‖) to the object in question;
Context ['kɒntekst] is a linguistic encirclement of a language unit.
Contrastive stylistics is concerned with the investigation of stylistic systems of unrelated languages.
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Сonvergence [kən'vɜ:dʒ(ə)ns] is a combination of stylistic devices promoting the same idea, emotion or motive.
Conversational [Нkɔnvə'seɪʃ(ə)n(ə)l] words are most often used in oral, colloquial speech. They include colloquial words, general slang words (interjargon), special slang words (social and professional jargons), vulgarisms and dialectal words.
Corpus ['kɔ:pəs] stylistics uses a corpus methodology to investigate stylistic categories in different text types or in individual texts. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of stylistic phenomena rely on the evidence of language usage as collected and analysed in corpora.
Dactyl ['dжkt l] is a metrical foot consisting of stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables ┴ ─ ─.
Decoding [di: 'kəʊdэŋ] stylistics (reader‟s stylistics or stylistics of perception) focuses on the reader‘s perception of a literary text, his reaction to it.
Denotative [dɪ'nəutətɪv] meaning informs of the subject of communication; connotation [Нkɔnə'teɪʃ(ə)n] informs of the participants and conditions of communication [Kukharenko, 2003: 27].
Detachment [d 'tжt∫mənt] is a separation of a secondary part of the sentence with the aim of emphasizing it.
Dialectal [Нdaэə'lektəl] stylistics studies stylistic stratification and differentiation of language units within a definite geographical or social dialect.
Dialectal [Нdaэə'lektəl] words reflect the peculiarities of social or geographical environment.
Discourse | ['dɪskɔ:s] stylistics | considers | a writer‘s |
employment of | discourse strategies | and the | way a text |
functions as discourse.
Ellipsis [ `l ps s] (Gk ‗leaving out‘) is the absence of one or both principal parts (the subject, the predicate) in a syntactic construction.
Emphatic [эm'fжtэk] constructions [kən'strʌk∫(ə)nz] (the emphatic construction with „do‟, „it is smb/smth who/that‟, „it
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is by/with/through smth that‟, „it is then that) intensify any member of a sentence, giving it more prominence.
End [end] rhyme [raэm] is a rhyme used at the end of a line to echo the end of another line.
Enumeration [ Нnju:mə're ∫(ə)n] is a repetition of homogeneous parts of the sentence, aimed at emphasizing the whole utterance.
Euphemism ['ju:fəmэz(ə)m] (Gk ‗eupheme – speaking well‘) is a variety of periphrasis which is used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally more acceptable one.
Euphony ['ju:fənэ] is a sound pattern used to create pleasing and harmonious effect.
Exposition [Нekspə'zэ∫(ə)n] refers to the explanatory information a reader needs to comprehend the situation in the story.
Expressive [эks'presэv] means of a language are defined as those phonetic, morphological, word-building, lexical, phraseological and syntactic forms which exist in the language- as-a-system for the purpose of logical and/or emotional intensification of the utterance [Galperin, 1977: 27].
Falling [fɔ:lэŋ] action ['жk∫(ə)n] are the events that follow the climax.
Feminist ['fəmənэst] stylistics is concerned with the analysis of the way that questions of gender impact on the production and interpretation of texts.
Figures ['fэgəz] of co-occurrence [`kəхə'kʌrəns] are understood as combined, joint appearance of sense units, i.e. types of linear arrangement of meanings in texts [Скребнев, 2003: 143].
Figures ['fэgəz] of replacement [rэ'pleэsmənt] in English
Foot [fʊt]is a group of syllables forming a metrical unit; a unit of rhythm.
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Foregrounding ['fɔ:graund ŋ] is making the utterance more conspicuous, more effective and therefore imparting some additional information.
Functional ['fʌŋkʃ(ə)nəl] style [staэl] of a language is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication [Galperin, 1977: 33]. Classification
[Нklжsэfэ'keэ∫(ə)n] of functional ['fʌŋkʃ(ə)nəl] styles according to [Kukharenko, 2003: 8]:
· official [ə'fэ∫əl] style is represented in all kinds of official documents and papers;
· scientific [Нsaэən'tэfэk] style is found in articles, brochures, monographs and other scientific and academic publications;
· publicist ['pʌblэsэst] style covers such genres as essay, feature article, public speeches etc.;
· newspaper ['nju:zНpeэpə] style is observed in the majority of information materials printed in newspapers;
· belles-lettres [Нbel'letrə] style embraces numerous and versatile genres of imaginative prose.
Functional ['fʌŋk∫(ə)nəl] stylistics studies peculiarities and regularities of language functioning in different types of speech, speech structure of functional styles, norms of selection and combination of language units in them.
General ['dʒen(ə)rəl] stylistics (theoretical stylistics, theory of stylistics) studies universal stylistic means which exist in any language and regularities of language functioning irrespective of the content, aim, sphere of communication.
Graphic ['grжfэk] stylistic means are employed to bring out or strengthen some word, word combination or utterance in order to make it more prominent. They include spacing of graphemes (hyphenation, multiplication) and of lines, all changes of the type (italics, bold type, capitalization or absence of capital letters), punctuation and intentional violation of spelling.
Graphon ['grжf(ə)n] as intentional violation of the graphical shape of a word (or word combination) is used to reflect its authentic pronunciation [Kukharenko, 2003: 14].
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Historical [hɪs'tɒrɪk(ə)l] stylistics deals with the studying of stylistic system of a language in a diachronic aspect.
Hyperbole [ha 'pɜ:bəlэ] (Gk ‗overcasting‘) is a purposeful overstatement or exaggeration of the truth to achieve intensity, or for dramatic or comic effect.
Iambus [a 'жmbəs] is a metrical foot consisting of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable ─ ┴ .
Immanent ['эmənənt] stylistics studies a literary text as some immanent fact, not taking into account author‘s intentions or how this text is interpreted by the reader.
Incomplete [Нэnkəm'pli:t] sentences are characterized by the absence of auxiliary elements of the sentence (auxiliary verbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions).
In indirect [in'd(a)эrect] speech [spi:t∫] the exact words of a personage are transformed by the author in the course of his narrative and undergo some changes.
Initiating [э'nэ∫эeэtэŋ] incident ['эnsэdənt] is an event that changes the situation established in the exposition and sets the conflict in motion.
Instrumentation [Нэnstrəmen'teэ∫(ə)n] is the art of selecting and combining sounds in order to make the utterance expressive and melodic. It unites three basic stylistic devices: alliteration, assonance and onomatopoeia.