STYLISTIC SYNTAX

1. STYLISTIC SYNTAX Stylistic functions of syntactic phenomena

2. Expressive means of syntax 1. EMs based on absence of logically necessary elements. 2. EMs based on the excessive useof speech elements. 3. EMs consisting in an unusualarrangement of linguistic elements. 4. EMs based on interactionof syntactic forms.

3. Absence of Syntactic Elements 1. Elliptical sentences. 2. Unfinished sentences (aposiopesis). 3. Nominative sentences. 4. Constructions with lacking auxiliary elements.

4. ELLIPSIS Ellipsis is an intentional omission from an utterance of one or more words. E.g.: Then the electric lights came on and it was pleasant along the streets looking in thewindows (E.Hemingway). Stylistic function: to create dynamism of the situation. It imparts a kind of emotional tension to the author’s narration.

5. APOSIOPESIS(silence) A sudden stop in the speaker’s utterance. It is a deliberate abstention from bringing the utterance up to the end. E.g.: “Well, they’ll get a chance now to show-” (Hastily):” I don’t mean - But let’s forget that”. (E.O’Neill) Stylistic function: to render a nervous state of the speaker, a hint at s/th remaining unsaid.

6. Nominative sentences Their meaning is stating the existence of the thing (things) named. E.g.: “London. Fog everywhere. Implacable November weather.” (Ch.Dickens) Stylistic function: to reflect the speaker’s (the hero’s) state of mind, to invigorate the dynamic force of narration.

7. ASYNDETON Asyndetonmeans“absence of conjunctions”. E.g.: “There was no breeze came through the door.” (E.Hemingway) “I love Nevada. Why, they don’t even have mealtimes here. I never met so many people didn’t own a watch.” (A.Miller) Stylistic function: brevity, acceleration of the tempo, colloquial speech.

8. ZEUGMA Zeugma is a combination of one polysemantic word with two or more words in succession, each collocation pertains to different semantic or even syntactic plane. E.g.:“After a while and a cake he crept nervously to the door of the parlor.” (A.Tolkien) Stylistic function: to create a humorous effect thanks to discrepancy between identity of structures and semantic incompatibility.

9. Excess of Syntactical Elements Repetition of a speech element in any part of the sentence emphasizes the significance of the element, increases the emotional force of speech. E.g.: “ I really don’t see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal”. (O.Wilde)

10. REPETITION 1. Framing: “Obviously - this is a streptococcal infection. Obviously.” 2. Chain: “ Failure meant poverty, poverty meant squalor, squalor led, in the final stages, to the smell and stagnation of B. Inn Alley” (D. Du Maurier) 3. Catch (anadiplosis): “And a great desire for peace, peace of no matter what kind, swept through her”. (A.Bennet)

11. REPETITION 4. Prolepsisis repetition of the noun subject in the form of a personal pronoun. E.g.: “Bolivar, he’s plenty tired, and he can’t carry double”. (O.Henry) Stylistic function: to emphasize the subject, to make it more conspicuous.

12. POLYSYNDETON Polysyndeton is repetition of a conjunction between successive statements. It creates a strong rhythmic effect. E.g.: “He is a very deliberate, careful guy and we trust each other completely. And this is real luck, believe me”. (D.Uhnak) Stylistic function: polysyndeton underlines close connections of successive statements, sometimes it may create solemnity (Bible).

13. Order of Speech Elements Stylistic inversion is deviation from the usual order of words in a sentence (complete or partial). E.g.: “Women are not made for attack. Wait they must.” (J.Conrad) Stylistic function:to make the idea prominent and emphatic, to draw the attention of the reader or interlocutor to the inverted word.

14. Interaction of Syntactical Structures 1. Parallel constructions are a syntactical type of repetition as it deals with reiteration of the structure of several successive sentences (clauses) and not their lexical “flesh”. E.g.: The coach was waiting, the horses were fresh, the roads were wet, and the driver was willing. Stylistic function: to create specific rhythmical sounding of the text.

15. Interaction of Syntactical Structures 2. Chiasmus is a variety of parallelism. It is a pattern of two steps where the second repeats the structure of the first in a reversed manner. E.g.: “I looked atthe gun, and the gun looked at me”. (R.Chandler) Stylistic function: to create the tensity of the situation or to produce a humorous effect.

16. Interaction of Syntactical Structures 3. Anaphorais the use of identical words at the beginning of two or more contiguous sentences. E.g.:Farewell to the mountains high covered with snow!Farewell to the straits and green valleys below! Expressive purpose: to imprint the elements, emphasized by repetition, in the reader’s memory, to impart a peculiar kind of rhythm and increase the sound harmony.

17. Interaction of Syntactical Structures 4. Epiphora is recurrence of identical elements in the end of two or more contiguous utterances. E.g.: “Then there was something between them. There was. There was”. (Th.Dreiser) Stylistic purpose:epiphora contributes to rhythmical regularity of speech, making prose resemble poetry. It may be combinedwithanaphora and parallelism.

18. HOME ASSIGNMENT 1. Ивашкин И.П. и др. Практикум по стилистике английского языка. - М., 2005. - С.38-46. 2. Беспальчикова Е.В. Обучение анализу текста // ИЯШ, 2002. - № 2. - С.52-55. 3. Кухаренко В.А. Seminars in Style. - М., 1986. - С. 71-73 (rhetorical question, repetition); 76-77 (inversion, detachment); 78-80 (ellipsis, aposiopesis); 82-83 (polysyndeton, asyndeton, attachment).