Analysis of syntactical stylistic devices based on the arrangement of sentence members
ministry of education of the republic of moldova
SLAVONIC UNIVERSITY
Romano-Germanic Philology Department
Registration
№ 03.3-18/
APPROVED
Doctor of Pedagogy,
__________E.I.Parea
«___»__________2012
Diploma thesis
licentiate of humanities
ANALYSIS OF SYNTACTICAL STYLISTIC DEVICES BASED ON THE ARRANGEMENT OF SENTENCE MEMBERS
Research Adviser
Senior Lecturer
Master in Philology in
the field of Americanistics
Submitted by
(date, signature)
Speciality
223.1.04 English Language and Literature
Chisinau 2012
Contents
Introduction
______________________________
Chapter One. Syntactical
Stylistic Devices_______________________
1.1. Definition of Syntactical Stylistic Devices _____________________________
1.2.
Arrangement of Sentence Members_______________________
1.3.Sentence Arrangement___________________
1.4. Inversion
Chapter Two.
Analysis of Syntactical Stylistic Devices based on part of the novel
by Daphne Du Maurier “Rebecca”_____________________
Conclusions
______________________________
Appendix 1_____________________________
Appendix 2
______________________________
Introduction
The theme
of our Diploma Thesis is “Analysis of Syntactical Stylistic Devices
Based on the Arrangement of Sentence Members” (based on Daphne du
Maurier’s novel “Rebecca”). The cause of this selecting is the
linguistic importance of this subject because Syntactical Stylistic
Devices and Arrangement of Sentence Members are major part of lexicology
which helps to understand richness of language and its beauty.
Our investigation is connected with the novel of Daphne du Maurier “Rebecca”
because prose helps us to discover and analyze all stylistic devices
and to show all sense of this novel.
The main goal is to prove that major processes of Syntactical Stylistic Devices play a relevant role in the Daphne du Maurier’s novel “Rebecca” and to investigate which of them are the most frequent and productive.
It leads to several objectives:
a). to select theoretical sources connected with the subject-matter;
b). to study these theoretical sources;
c). to learn all Syntactical Stylistic Devices;
d). to find out which of these devices are the most productive;
e). to investigate the novel of Daphne du Maurier “Rebecca”;
f). to pick out and analyze a certain amount of examples in order to prove the hypothesis of the diploma;
g) to come to certain conclusions;
h) to present the results of the investigation
The hypotheses of the work is that after analyzing a part of the novel and finding there some Syntactical Stylistic Devices, we must understand what devices are more used in the novel. These devices will help us to investigate the novel better and our diploma work.
The structure
of the work is the following: Introduction, Chapter One, Chapter Two,
Conclusions, Bibliography, and two Appendixes.
Introduction
states the topicality of the subject studied the motives for its choice,
the main goal, and the objectives, the methods for the investigation,
the hypothesis, and the work structure.
Chapter One is entitled “The Analysis of Theoretical materials
on Syntactical Stylistic Devices”. It contains theoretical data on
different ways of Syntactical Stylistic Devices and explains each of
devices on this theme. It represents the theoretical material for studying
of such authors as: Kukharenko V.A. “A book of Practice in Stylistic”;
Antrushina G.B. “English Lexicology”, and others.
Chapter Two is entitled “Analysis of Syntactical Stylistic Devices based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier “Rebecca.” In this chapter we have analyzed the novel “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier. Chapter Two gives the analysis of repetition, inversion, one-word sentence, parallel constructions, asyndeton, polysindeton and others. Our aim is to find and to show what devices are more and what are less.
Conclusions is the part of the diploma thesis in which the
results of the investigation as well as the confirmation of the hypothesis
of the work is shown, that is, Stylistic Devices, are more used in the
novel “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier.
Bibliography presents a selection of the authors dealing with the subject of the investigation and some internet sources connected with the same subject. It also presents the list of dictionaries used in the course of work and literary sources by Daphne du Maurier.
Appendix 1 shows the examples, which were not included in Chapter Two.
Appendix 2 presents the diagram in which all the stylistic devices are shown.
We consider the work will be of practical use for the future researchers in the field of Stylistics of the English language.
Chapter One. The Analysis of Theoretical Materials on Syntactical Stylistic Devices
1.1.A stylistic
device (SD) is a conscious and intentional intensification of
some structural or semantic property of a language unit. The interplay
or clash of the dictionary and contextual meanings of words brings about
the stylistic devices.
SDs always
carry some additional information, either emotive or logical.
SDs must
be regarded as a special code which has to be well known to the reader
in order to be deciphered easily.
Stylistic devices are designed to achieve a particular artistic effect.
Inversion/Change of Word Order aims at making one of the members of
the sentence more conspicuous, more important, more emphatic.
Detached Construction is a secondary part of a sentence,
placed so that it seems formally independent of the word it logically
refers to. The detached part, being torn away from its referent, assumes
a greater degree of significance.
Sometimes one of the secondary parts of the sentence by some specific
consideration of the writer is placed so that it seems formally independent
of the word it logically refers to. Such parts of structures are called
detached. They seem to dangle in the sentence as isolated parts. The
detached part, being torn away from its referent, assumes a greater
degree of significance and is given prominence by intonation".
The structural patterns of detached constructions have not yet been classified, but the most noticeable cases are those in which an attribute or an adverbial modifier is placed not in immediate proximity to its referent, but in some other position, as in the following examples:
1) "Steyne rose up, grinding his teeth, pale, and with fury in his eyes."
2) "Sir Pitt came in first, very much flushed, and rather unsteady in his gait"
Sometimes a nominal phrase is thrown into the sentence forming a syntactical unit with the rest of the sentence, as in "And he walked slowly past again, along the river - an evening of clear, quiet beauty, all harmony and comfort, except within his heart."
The essential quality of detached construction lies in the fact that the isolated parts represent a kind of independent whole thrust into the sentence or placed in a position which will make the phrase (or word) seem independent. But a detached phrase cannot rise to the rank of a primary member of the sentence - it always remains secondary from the semantic point of view, although structurally it possesses all the features of a primary member. This clash of the structural and semantic aspects of detached constructions produces the desired effect - forcing the reader to interpret the logical connections between the component parts of the sentence. Logical ties between them always exist in spite of the absence of syntactical indicators.
Detached constructions in their common forms make the written variety of language akin to the spoken variety where the relation between the component parts is effectively materialized by means of intonation. Detached construction, as it were, becomes a peculiar device bridging the norms of written and spoken language. This stylistic device is akin to inversion. The functions are almost the same. But detached construction produces a much stronger effect, inasmuch as it presents parts of the utterance significant from the author's point of view in a more or less independent manner.
Here are some more examples of detached constructions:
‘Daylight was dying, the moon rising, gold behind the poplars.'
'I want to go,' he said, miserable.'
‘She was lovely: all of her-delightful.’
The italicized phrases and words in these sentences seem to be isolated, but still the connection with the primary members of the corresponding sentences is clearly implied. Thus gold behind the poplars may be interpreted as a simile or a metaphor: the moon like gold was rising behind the poplars, or the moon rising, it was gold...
Detached construction sometimes causes the simultaneous realization of two grammatical meanings of a word. In the sentence ‘I want to go,' he said, miserable’ the last word might possibly have been understood as an adverbial modifier to the word said if not for the comma, though grammatically miserably would be expected. The pause indicated by the comma implies that miserable is an adjective used absolutely and referring to the pronoun ‘he’.
The same can be said about Dreiser's sentence with the word delightful,l here again the mark of punctuation plays an important role. The dash, standing before the word, makes the word conspicuous and being isolated, it becomes the culminating point of the climax- lovely... delightful, i.e. the peak of the whole utterance. The phrase all of her is also somehow isolated. The general impression suggested by the implied intonation, is a strong feeling of admiration; and as is usually the case, strong feelings reject coherent and logical syntax. In the English language detached constructions are generally used in the belles-lettres prose style and mainly with words that have some explanatory function, for example: "June stood in front, fending off this idle curiosity - a little bit of a thing, as somebody said, 'all hair and spirit'..." Detached construction as a stylistic device is a typification of the syntactical peculiarities of colloquial language.
Detached construction is a stylistic phenomenon, which has so far been little investigated. The device itself is closely connected with the intonation pattern of the utterance. In conversation any word or phrase or even sentence may be made more conspicuous by means of intonation. Therefore precision in the syntactical structure of the sentence is not so necessary from the communicative point of view. But it becomes vitally important in writing. Here precision of syntactical relations is the only way to make the utterance fully communicative. Therefore when the syntactical relations become obscure, each member of the sentence that seems to be dangling becomes logically significant. A variant of detached construction is parenthesis. "Parenthesis is a qualifying, explanatory or appositive word, phrase, clause, sen¬tence, or other sequence which interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise affecting it, having often a characteristic into¬nation and indicated in writing by commas, brackets or dashes."
In fact parenthesis sometimes embodies a considerable volume of predicativeness, thus giving the utterance an additional nuance of meaning or a tinge of emotional colouring.
Steyne rose up, grinding his teeth, pale, and with fury in his eyes.
This stylistic device is akin to inversion, detached construction produces
a much stronger effect.
“I want to go’, he said, miserable.”
A variant of detached construction is parenthesis. Parenthesis is a qualifying, explanatory or appositive word, phrase, sentence, etc. which interrupts a syntactic construction, giving an utterance an additional meaning or emotional colouring. It is indicated in writing by commas, brackets or dashes.
Carl, a great singer, was not a good dancer.
Parallel Construction may be encountered not so much in the sentence as in the macro-structures. The necessary condition in parallel construction is identical, or similar, syntactical structure in two or more sentences or parts of a sentence in close succession:
“There were real silver spoons to stir the tea with, and real china
cups to drink tea out of, and plates of the same to hold the cakes and
toast in.”
Parallel Construction is most frequently used in enumeration, antithesis
and climax, thus consolidating the general effect achieved by these
stylistic devices.
In the following example parallelism backs up repetition, alliteration, and antithesis, making the whole sentence almost epigrammatic:
“And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot.”
Parallel Construction emphasizes the similarity, diversity,
contrasts the ideas equates the significance of the parts.
Parallel construction is a device, which may be encountered not so much
in the sentence. The necessary condition in parallel construction is
identical or, similar, syntactical structure in two or more, sentences
or parts of a sentence, as in:
E.g. "There were, ..., real silver spoons to stir he tea with, and real china cups to drink it out of, and plates of the same to hold the cakes and toast in. " (Dickens)
Parallel constructions are often backed up by repetition of is (lexical repetition) and conjunctions and prepositions polysyndeton). Pure parallel construction, however, does not depend on any other kind of repetition but the repetition of the syntactical design of the sentence.
Parallel constructions may be partial or complete. Partial parallel arrangement is the repetition of some parts of successive sentences or clauses as in:
"It is the mob that labours in your fields and serve in your houses - that man your navy and recruit your army, - that have enabled you to defy all the world, and can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair." (Byron)
The attributive clauses here all begin with the subordinate conjunction that which is followed by a verb in the same tense form, except the last (have enabled). The verbs however are followed either by adverbial modifiers of place (in your fields, in your houses) or by direct objects (your navy, your army).
The third attributive clause is not built on the pattern of the first two, although it preserves the parallel structure in general (that + verb predicate + object), while the fourth has broken away entirely. Complete parallel arrangement, also called balance, maintains the principle of identical structures throughout the corresponding sentences, as in: "The seeds ye sow - another reaps, The robes ye weave - another wears, The arms ye forget- another bears." (P. B. Shelley)
Parallel construction is most frequently used in enumera¬tion, antithesis and in climax, thus consolidating the general effect achieved by these stylistic devices.
There are two main functions of parallel construction:
semantic and structural. On the one hand a parallel arrangement suggests
equal semantic significance of the component parts, on the other hand,
it gives a rhythmical design to these component parts, which makes itself
most keenly felt in balanced" constructions. Parallel construction
is used in different styles of writing with slightly different functions.
When used in the matter-of-fact styles it carries, in the main, the
idea of semantic equality of the parts, as in scientific prose, where
the logical principle of arranging ideas predominates. In the belles-lettres
style parallel construction carries an emotive function. That is why
it is mainly used as a technical means in building up other stylistic
devices, in particular antithesis and climax. It is natural that parallel
construction should very frequently be used in poetical structures.
Alternation of similar units being the basic principle of verse, similarity
in longer units - i.e. in the stanza, is to be expected.
Our senses perceive
no extremes. Too much sound deafens us; too much light dazzles us; too
great distance or proximity hinders our view.
Parallelism always generates rhythm; hence it is natural to be used
in poetry.
Chiasmus/ Reversed Parallel Constructions based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern, but it has a cross order of words and phases.
Chiasmus lays stress on the second part of the utterance
and always brings in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis.
Chiasmus or Reversed Parallel Construction belongs to the group of stylistic
devices based on the repetition of a syntactical pattern; but it has
a cross order of words and phrases. The structure of two successive
sentences or of a sentence' may be described as reversed parallel construction,
the word order of one of the sentences being inverted as compared to
that of the other as in:
"As high as we have mounted in delight
In our dejection do we sink as low." (Wordsworth)
‘Down dropped, the breeze, The sails dropped down." (Coleridge)
Chiasmus is sometimes achieved by a sudden change from active voice to passive or vice versa, for example:
'The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the taker and the chief mourner, Scrooge signed it. (Dickens)
This device is effective in that it helps to lay stress on the second part of the utterance, which is opposite in structure, as our dejection; Scrooge signed it. This is due to the sudden change in the structure, which by its very unexpectedness linguistically requires a slight pause before it. As is seen from the examples above, chiasmus can appear only when there are two successive sentences or coordinate parts of a sentence. So distribution, here close succession, is the factor, which predetermines the birth of the device. There are different variants of the structural design of chiasmus. The first example given, shows chiasmus appearing in a complex sentence, where the second part has an opposite arrangement. The second example demonstrates chiasmus in a sentence expressing semantically the relation of cause and effect. Structurally, however, the two parts are presented as independent sentences, and it is the chiasmatic structure, which supports the idea of subordination. The third example is composed of two independent sentences and the chiasmus serves to increase the effect of climax. Here is another example of chiasmus where two parallel constructions are followed by a reversed parallel construction linked to the former by the conjunction and:
"The night winds sigh, the breakers roar, And shrieks the wild sea-mew." (Byron)
It must be remembered that chiasmus is a syntactical, not a lexical device, i.e. it is only the arrangement of the parts of the utterance which constitutes this stylistic device. In the famous epigram by Byron "In the days of old men made the manners; Manners now make men," there is no inversion, but a lexical device. Both parts of the parallel construction have the same, the normal word order. However the witty arrangement of the words has given the utterance an epigrammatic character. This device may be classed as lexical chiasmus or chiasmatic repetition. Byron particularly favoured it. Here are example:
"His jokes were sermons, and his sermons jokes."
It should be mentioned that the difference in meaning of the repeated words on which the epigrammatic effect rests: 'strange-strange;' 'no more no more', 'jokes-jokes.'
Syntactical chiasmus is sometimes used to break the monotony of parallel constructions. But whatever the purpose of chiasmus, it will always bring in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis on some portion of the second part. The stylistic effect of this construction has been so far little investigated. But even casual observation will show that as should be perceived as a complete unit. One cannot help noticing that the first part in chiasmus is somewhat complete, it calls for continuation, and the anticipation is rewarded by the second part of the construction, which is, as it the completion of the idea. Like parallel construction, chiasmus contributes to the rhythmical quality of the utterance, and the pause caused by the change in the syntactical pattern may be likened to a caesura in prosody. As can be seen from this short analysis of chiasmus, it has developed, like all stylistic devices, within the framework of the literary form of the language. However its prototype may be found in the norms of expressions of the spoken language, as in the emphatic: 'He was brave man, was John.''
Repetition is used when the speaker is under the stress of strong emotions. It shows the state of mind of the speaker.
The repetition ‘I don’t want to hear’ shows the excited state of mind of the speaker. Repetition aims at fixing the attention of the reader on the key-word of the utterance.
Anaphora is the repetition of the same word at the
beginning of two or more phrases
Ignorant of how Soams watched her, ignorant of her reckless desperation,
ignorant of all this.
Epiphora is the repetition at the end of a phrase.
I am exactly the man to be placed in a superior position in such a case
as that. I am above the rest of mankind, in such a case as that. I can
act with philosophy in such a case as that.
Repetition can also be arranged in the form of a frame: the initial
parts of syntactical units are repeated at the end of it. Such compositional
units are called framing. Framing makes the whole utterance more compact
and more complete.
Anadiplosis/ Reduplication: the last
word or phrase of one part of the utterance is repeated at the beginning
of the next part.
This compositional pattern is also called chain-repetition:
A smile would come into Mr.Pickwick’s face: the smile extended
into a laugh: the laugh into a roar, and the roar became general.
Any repetition causes some modification of meaning which needs analysis.
The functions of the repetition are the following:
1) to intensify the utterance.
Those evening bells! Those evening bells!
Meditation, sadness, reminiscence and other psychological and emotional
states of mind are suggested by the repetition of the phrase with the
intensifier ‘those’.
2) Repetition may also stress monotony of action, suggest fatigue,
despair, hopelessness or doom:
What has my life been? Fag and grind, fag and grind. Turn the wheel,
turn the wheel.
Pleonasm/Tautology is the use of more words in a sentence
than are necessary to express the meaning:
1. It was a clear starry sky, and not a cloud was to be seen.
2. He was the only survivor; no one else was saved.
Enumeration is a stylistic device by which separate
things, objects, phenomena, actions or properties are named one by one
so that they produce a chain. The links of the chain are forced to display
some semantic homogeneity.
The grouping of sometimes absolutely heterogeous notions meets
the peculiar purport of the writer. Enumeration is frequently used to
depict scenery through a tourist’s eyes as it gives one an insight
into the mind of the observer.
Suspense consists in arranging the matter of communication in such a way that the less important parts are amassed at the beginning, the main idea being withheld till the end of the sentence. Thus the reader’s attention is held and his interest kept up, as he is in the state of uncertainty and expectation. Suspense sometimes goes together with Climax.
Climax/Gradation is the arrangement of sentences which
secures a gradual increase in significance, importance or emotional tension
in the utterance. The gradual increase in significance may be maintained
in three ways: logical, emotional and quantitative. Emotional climax
is mainly found in sentences.
It was a lovely city, a beautiful city, a fair city, a veritable
gem of a city.
Quantitative climax is an evident increase in the volume of the concepts:
They looked at hundreds of houses, they climbed thousands of stairs,
they inspected innumerable kitchens.
The function of this stylistic device is to show the relative importance
of the things as seen by the author.
Bathosor anticlimax is a sudden drop
from elevated to the commonplace that produces a comic or ridiculous
effect.
Antithesis is a stylistic opposition, setting
thing one against the other. In order to characterize a thing or phenomenon
from a specific point of view, it may be necessary to find points of
sharp contrast.
Antithesis has the basic function of rhyme-forming because
of the parallel arrangement on which it is founded.
Asyndeton is a deliberate omission of connectives
between parts of sentences where they are generally expected to be according
to the norms of the language
Soams turned away; he had an utter disinclination to talk.
Polysyndeton is the stylistic device of connecting
sentences or phrases or words by using connectives before each component.
The repetition of conjunctions and other means of connection makes
an utterance more rhythmical, so one of the functions of polysyndeton
is rhythmical.
Unlike enumeration, which combines elements of thought into one whole,
polysyndeton shows things isolated.
And, polysyndeton. has also the function of expressing sequence.
The Gap-Sentence Link (GSL) is a peculiar type of
connection of sentences in which the connection is not immediately seen
and it requires an effort to grasp the interrelation between the parts
of the utterance.
The Gap-Sentence Link is generally indicated by and or but. The functions
of GSL are the following:
1) it signals the introduction of inner represented speech;
2) it indicates a subjective evaluation of the facts;
3) it displays an unexpected coupling of ideas.
The Gap-Sentence Link aims at stirring up in the reader’s mind
the suppositions, associations and conditions under which the sentence
can exist.
Ellipsis refers to any omitted part of speech that
is understood, i.e. the omission is intentional. In writing and printing
this intentional omission is indicated by the row of three dots (…)
or asterisks (***).
Ellipsis always imitates the common features of colloquial language.
This punctuation mark is called a suspension point or dot-dot-dot.
Good intentions but-; You just come home or I’ll…
Litotes is a peculiar use of negative construction:
the negation plus noun or adjective establish a positive feature in
a person or thing. It is a deliberate understatement used to produce
a stylistic effect. Litotesis not a pure negation, but a negation that
includes affirmation.
Such negative constructions have a stronger effect on the reader than
affirmative ones.
She was not without taste.
The constructions with two negations: not unlike, not unpromising, not displeased make positive phrases.
1.2 Arrangement of Sentence Members.
Stylistic study of the syntax begins with the study of the length and the structure of a sentence. It appears, the length of any language unit is a very important factor in information exchange, for the human brain can receive and transmit information only if the latter is punctuated by pauses.
Theoretically speaking a sentence can be of any length, as there are no linguistic limitations for its growth, so even monstrous constructions of several hundred words each, technically should be viewed as sentences.
Indeed, psychologically, no reader is prepared to perceive as a syntactical whole those sentences in which the punctuation mark of a full stop comes after the 124th word (Joyce Carol Oates. Expensive People), or 128th word (E. Hemingway. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber),or 256th word (T. Pynchon. The Crying of Lot 49), or 631 st word (N. Mailer. Why Are We in Vietnam ?),or even after 45 whole pages of the text (J. Joyce. Ulysses).
Unable to specify the upper limit of sentence length we definitely know its lower mark to be one word. One-word sentences possess a very strong emphatic impact, for their only word obtains both the word-and the sentence-stress. The word constituting a sentence also obtains its own sentence-intonation which, too, helps to foreground the content. Cf.: "They could keep the Minden Street Shop going until they got the notice to quit; which mightn't be for two years. Or they could wait and see what kind of alternative premises were offered. If the site was good. - If. Or. And, quite inevitably, borrowing money." (J.Br.) As you see, even synsemantic conjunctions, receiving the status of sentences are noticeably promoted in their semantic and expressive value.
Abrupt changes from short sentences to long ones and then back again, create a very strong effect of tension and suspense for they serve to arrange a nervous, uneven, ragged rhythm of the utterance.
There is no direct or immediate correlation between the length and the structure of a sentence: short sentences may be structurally complicated, while the long ones, on the contrary, may have only one subject-predicate pair. Cf.: "Through the windows of the drag-store Eighth street looked extremely animated with families trooping toward the center of the town, flags aslant in children's hands, mother and pa in holiday attire and sweating freely, with patriarchal automobiles of neighboring farmers full of starched youngsters and draped with bunting." (J.R.) Almost 50 words of this sentence cluster around one subject-predicate centre "Eighth street looked animated".
At the same time very short sentences may boast of two and more clauses, i.e. may be complex, as we observe in the following cases: "He promised he'd come if the cops leave." (J.B.) "Their father who was the poorest man in town kept turning to the same jokes when he was treated to a beer or two." (A. S.) Still, most often, bigger lengths go together with complex structures.
Not only the clarity and understandability of the sentence but also its expressiveness depend on the position of clauses, constituting it. So, if a sentence opens with the main clause, which is followed by dependent units, such a structure is called loose, is less emphatic and is highly characteristic of informal writing and conversation. Periodic sentences, on the contrary, open with subordinate clauses, absolute and participial constructions, the main clause being withheld until the end. Such structures are known for their emphasis and are used mainly in creative prose. Similar structuring of the beginning of the sentence and its end produces balanced sentences known for stressing the logic and reasoning of the content and thus preferred in publicist writing.
A word leaving the dictionary to become a member of the sentence normally loses its polysemy and actualizes only one of its meanings in the context. The same is true about the syntactical valency: a member of the sentence fulfils one syntactical function. There are cases, though, when syntactical ambivalence is preserved by certain members of a sentence which fact creates semantic ambiguity for it allows at least two different readings of the sentence. In the now famous quotation from N. Chomsky "The shooting of the hunters..." the second part may be regarded both as an attribute ("whose shooting" = who was shooting) and as аи object ("whose shooting" = who was shot). Another sentence, composed by Yu. Apresyan to prove the effectiveness of transformational procedures, shows a much bigger syntactical ambivalence, for practically each of its members can be viewed as playing more than one syntactical role, which brings the total number of possible readings of the sentence to 32 semantic variants. Hereitis: "Приглашение рабочих бригад вызвало осуждение товарища Иванова".
Sometimes syntactical ambivalence, like the play on words on the lexical level, is intentional and is used to achieve a humorous effect. Cf.: "Do you expect me to sleep with you in the room?" (B.Sh.) Depending on the function of "with you" the sentence may be read "to sleep with you! in the room" (and not in the field, or in the garden) or "to sleep with you in the room" (and not alone, or with my mother). The solution lies with the reader and is explicated in oral communication by the corresponding pausation and intonation. To convey them in the written form of speech order of words and punctuation are used.
The possibilities of intonation are much richer than those of punctuation. Indeed, intonation alone may create, add, change, reverse both the logical and the emotional information of an utterance. Punctuation is much poorer and it is used not alone, but emphasizing and substantiating the lexical and syntactical meanings of sentence-components. Points of exclamation and of interrogation, dots, dashes help to specify the meaning of the written sentence which in oral speech would be conveyed by the intonation. It is not only the emphatic types of punctuation listed above that may serve as an additional source of information, but also more conventional commas, semicolons and full stops. E.g.: "What's your name?" "John Lewis." "Mine's Liza. Watkin." (K.K.) The full stop between the name and the surname shows there was a pause between them and the surname came as a response to the reaction (surprise, amusement, roused interest) of John Lewis at such an informal self-introduction.
Punctuation also specifies the communicative type of the sentence. So, as you well know, a point of interrogation marks a question and a full stop signals a statement. There are cases though when a statement is crowned with a question mark. Often this punctuation-change is combined with the change of word-order, the latter following the pattern of question. This peculiar interrogative construction which semantically remains a statement is called a rhetorical question. Unlike an ordinary question, the rhetorical question does not demand any information but serves to express the emotions of the speaker and also to call the attention of listeners. Rhetorical questions make an indispensable part of oratoric speech for they very successfully emphasize the orator's ideas. In fact the speaker knows the answer himself and gives it immediately after the question is asked. The interrogative intonation and / or punctuation draw the attention of listeners (readers) to the focus of the utterance. Rhetorical questions are also often asked in "unanswerable" cases, as when in distress or anger we resort to phrases like "What have I done to deserve..." or "What shall I do when...". The artificiality of question-form of such constructions is further stressed by exclamation marks which, alongside points of interrogation, end rhetorical questions.
The effect of the majority of syntactical stylistic devices depends on either the completeness of the structure or on the arrangement of its members. The order in which words (clauses) follow each other is of extreme importance not only for the logical coherence of the sentence but also for its connotation meanings. The following sprawling rambling sentence from E. Waugh's novel Vile Bodies, with clauses heaping one over another, testifies to the carelessness, talkativeness and emotionality of the speaker: "Well, Tony rang up Michael and told him that I'd said that William, thought Michael had written the review because of the reviews I had written of Michael's book last November, though, as a matter of fact, it was Tony himself who wrote it." (E.W.) More examples showing the validity of the syntactical pattern were shown in Exercise I on the previous page.
One of the most prominent places among the SDs dealing with the arrangement of members of the sentence decidedly belongs to repetition. ' We have already seen the repetition of a phoneme (as in alliteration), of a morpheme (as in rhyming, or plain morphemic repetition). As a syntactical SD repetition is recurrence of the same word, word combination, phrase for two and more times. According to the place which the repeated unit occupies in a sentence (utterance), repetition is classified into several types:
1. anaphora: the beginning of two or more successive sentences (clauses) is repeated - a..., a..., a... . The main stylistic function of anaphora is hot so much to emphasize the repeated unit as to create the background textile nonrepeated unit, which, through its novelty, becomes foregrounded. The background-forming function of anaphora is also evident from the kind of words which are repeated anaphorically. Pay attention to their semantics and syntactical function in the sentence when working with Exercise II.
2. epiphora: the end of successive sentences (clauses) is repeated -...a, ...a, ...a. The main function of epiphora is to add stress to the final words of the sentence.
3 framing: the beginning of the sentence is repeated in the end, thus forming the "frame" for the non-repeated part of the sentence (utterance) - a... a. The function of framing is to elucidate the notion mentioned in the beginning of the sentence. Between two appearances of the repeated unit there comes the developing middle part of the sentence which explains and clarifies what was introduced in the beginning, so that by the time it is used for the second time its semantics is concretized and specified.
4. catch repetition (anadiplosis). the end of one clause (sentence) is repeated in the beginning of the following one -...a, a.... Specification of the semantics occurs here too, but on a 'more modest level.
5. chain repetition presents several successive anadiplosis -...a, a...b, b...c, c. The effect is that of the smoothly developing logical reasoning.
6. ordinary repetition has no definite place in the sentence and the repeated unit occurs in various positions - ...a, ...a..., a.. . Ordinary repetition emphasizes both the logical and the emotional meanings of the reiterated word (phrase).
7. successive repetition is a string of closely following each other reiterated units - ...a, a, a... This is the most emphatic type of repetition which signifies the peak of emotions of the speaker.
As you must have seen from the brief description, repetition is a powerful means of emphasis. Besides, repetition adds rhythm and balance to the utterance. The latter function is the major one in parallel constructions which may be viewed as a purely syntactical type of repetition for here we deal with the reiteration of the structure of several successive sentences (clauses), and not of their lexical "flesh". True enough, parallel constructions almost always include some type of lexical repetition too, and such a convergence produces a very strong effect, foregrounding at one go logical, rhythmic, emotive and expressive aspects of the utterance.
Reversed parallelism is called chiasmus. The second part of a chiasmus is, in fact, inversion of the first construction. Thus, if the first sentence (clause) has a direct word order - SPO, the second one will have it inverted - OPS.
1.3. Sentence Arrangement
Sentences may be arranged in four basic ways, each creating a
different emphasis.
The loose sentence places the main point at the beginning and then adds the explanatory material. For example, if you wanted to address a current problem in the office - such as workers opening windows when the air conditioning or heat is running - you could start with that main idea and follow with supporting details:
Open office windows can create many problems, including higher heating and cooling costs, distracting street noise or pollution, and some potentially dangerous situations.
The cumulative sentence presents the main idea somewhere in the middle, with explanatory material before and after.
While it may seem a harmless situation, open office windows can create problems, not the least of which is the potential for birds and other animals to enter the building.
The periodic sentence presents supporting details first, saving the main idea for the end.
Considering the potential for increased costs, pollution, noise, and animal invasion, management asks that office windows remain closed.
The balanced sentence is built to emphasize a similarity or contrast between two or more of its parts.
Everyone has agreed that keeping the office windows closed will reduce heating and cooling costs and create a quieter, safer work environment.
1.4. Inversion
Inversion which was briefly mentioned in the definition of chiasmus is very often used as an independent SD in which the direct word order is changed either completely so that the predicate (predicative) precedes the subject; or partially so that the object precedes the subject-predicate pair. Correspondingly, we differentiate between partial and a complete inversion.
The stylistic device of inversion should not be confused with grammatical inversion which is a norm in interrogative constructions. Stylistic inversion deals with the rearrangement of the normative word order. Questions may also be rearranged: "Your mother is at home?" asks one of the characters of J. Baldwin's novel. The inverted question presupposes the answer with more certainty than the normative one. It is . the assuredness of the speaker of the positive answer that constitutes additional information which is brought into the question by the inverted word order. Interrogative constructions with the direct word order may. be viewed as cases of two-step (double) inversion: direct w/o —» grammatical inversion —» direct w/o.
Still another SD dealing with the arrangement of members of the sentence is suspense- a deliberate postponement of the completion of the sentence. The term "suspense" is also used in literary criticism to denote an expectant uncertainty about the outcome of the plot. To hold the reader in suspense means to keep the final solution just out of sight. Detective and adventure stories are examples of suspense fiction. The - theme, that which is known, and the theme, that which is new, of the sentence are distanced from each other and the new information is withheld, creating the tension of expectation. Technically, suspense is organized with the help of embedded clauses (homogeneous members) separating the predicate from the subject and introducing less important facts and details first, while the expected information of major importance is reserved till the end of the sentence (utterance).
A specific arrangement of sentence members is observed in detachment, a stylistic device based on singling out a secondary member of the sentence with the help of punctuation (intonation). The word-order here is not violated, but secondary members obtain their own stress and intonation because they are detached from the rest of the sentence by commas, dashes or even a full stop as in the following cases: "He had been nearly killed, ingloriously, in a jeep accident." (I.Sh.) "I have to beg you for money. Daily." (S.L.) Both "ingloriously" and "daily" remain adverbial modifiers, occupy their proper normative places, following the modified verbs, but - due to detachment and the ensuing additional pause and stress - are foregrounded into the focus of the reader's attention.
The second, somewhat smaller, group of syntactical SDs deals not so much with specificities of the arrangement as with the completeness of sentence-structure. The most prominent place here belongs to ellipsis, or deliberate omission of at least one member of the sentence, as in the famous quotation from Macbeth: What! all my pretty chickens and their dam // at one fell swoop?
In contemporary prose ellipsis is mainly used in dialogue where it is consciously employed by the author to reflect the natural omissions characterizing oral colloquial speech. Often ellipsis is met close to dialogue, in author's introductory remarks commenting the speech of the characters. Elliptical remarks in prose resemble stage directions in drama. Both save only the most vital information letting out those bits of it which can be easily reassembled from the situation. It is the situational nature of our everyday speech which heavily relies on both speakers' awareness of the conditions and details of the communication act that promotes normative colloquial omissions. Imitation of these oral colloquial norms is created by the author through ellipsis, with the main function of achieving the authenticity and plausibility of fictitious dialogue.
Ellipsis is the basis of the so-called telegraphic style, in which connectives and redundant words are left out. In the early twenties British railways had an inscription over luggage racks in the carriages: "The use of this rack for heavy and bulky packages involves risk of injury to passengers and is prohibited." Forty years later it was reduced to the elliptical: "For light articles only." The same progress from full completed messages to clipped phrases was made in drivers' directions: "Please drive slowly" "Drive slowly" "Slow".
The biggest contributors to the telegraphic style are one-member sentences, i.e. sentences consisting only of a nominal group, which is semantically and communicatively self-sufficient. Isolated verbs, proceeding from the ontological features of a verb as a part of speech, cannot be considered one-member sentences as they always rely on the context for their semantic fulfillment and are thus heavily elasticized sentences. In creative prose one-member sentences are mostly used in descriptions (of nature, interior, appearance, etc.), where they produce the effect of a detailed but laconic picture foregrounding its main components; and as the background of dialogue, mentioning the emotions, attitudes, moods of the speakers.
2.2.In apokoinu constructions the omission of the pronominal (adverbial) connective creates a blend of the main and the subordinate clauses so that the predicative or the object of the first one is simultaneously used as the subject of the second one. Cf: "There was a door led into the kitchen."
"He was the man killed that deer." The double syntactical function played by one word produces the general impression of clumsiness of speech and is used as a means of speech characteristics in dialogue, in reported speech and the type of narrative known as "entrusted" in which the author entrusts the telling of the story to an imaginary narrator who is either an observer or participant of the described events.
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