Стилистика

1. The varieties of the English language. Тhe peculiarities of the spoken and the written varieties.

Then the word-stock of the English language may be divided into three main layers (strata): the literary layer (stratum), the neutral layer, and the colloquial layer. The literary and the colloquial layers contain a number of subgroups. Each subgroup has a property it shares with all the subgroups within the layer. This common property which unites the different groups within the layer is called its aspect.

The aspect of the literary layer is its bookish character, which makes the layer more or less stable.

The aspect of the colloquial layer is its lively spoken character, which makes it unstable, fleeting.

The aspect of the neutral layer is its universal character. It can be employed in all styles of language and in all spheres of human activity. This makes the layer the most stable of all.

The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are grouped under the term Standard English Vocabulary.

Other groups in the literary and colloquial layers are called special literary (bookish) vocabulary and special (non-standard) colloquial vocabulary.

Neutral words

Neutral words form the bulk of the English Vocabulary and are used in both literary and colloquial language. Neutral words are the main source of synonymy and polysemy. neutral words don’t have a special stylistic colouring and are devoid of emotional meaning.

Common standard literary words

Common standard literary words are chiefly used in writing and in polished speech. They are used in formal communication. Literary words are mainly observed in the written form. One can always tell a literary word from a colloquial word, because literary words are used to satisfy communicative demands of official, scientific, poetic messages, while colloquial words are employed in non-official everyday communication. Common colloquial words are always more emotionally colored than literary ones. They are used in informal communication.

Literary words stand in opposition to colloquial words forming pairs of synonyms which are based on contrasting relations.

Colloquial Neutral Literary

kid child infant

daddy father parent

2. The notion of style in stylistics. The theory of functional styles. Functional style classification.

FS is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication

Major English FS:

• The language of belles-letters

• The language of publicistic literature

• The language of newspapers

• The language of scientific prose

• The language of official documents

3. Functional style classification. Functional style characteristics. Publicistic style: substyles, common and peculiar features.

FS is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite aim in communication

Major English FS:

• The language of belles-letters

• The language of publicistic literature

• The language of newspapers

• The language of scientific prose

• The language of official documents

FS - patterned variety of literary text

Characteristics:

• Constituent typification to secure purpose of communication

• Relative stability

• History dependence

• Society dependence

Spoken varieties:

- oratorical substyle

- radio and TV commentary

Written varieties:

- essay(moral, philosophical…)- a series of personal and witty comments

Typical features:

• brevity of expression;

• use of the 1st person singular

• expanded use of connectives

• abundant use of emotive words

• use of similes, metaphors, epigrams, paradoxes and aphorisms.

- journalistic articles (political, social, economic)

Purpose – to influence the public opinion, to convince the reader or the listener that the given interpretation is the only correct one.

Common features:

• coherent and logical syntactical structure;

• different connectives and careful paragraphing;

• words with emotive meaning;

• stylistic devices are not fresh or genuine;

• brevity of expressions.

Typical features:

• Direct address (ladies and gentlemen…, use of the 2nd person you)

• Use of colloquial words and contractions

• Usage of repetitions, similes and trite metaphors

• Usage of ready-made phrases or clichés