Chapter 2

Expressive Resources of the Language

Expressive means and stylistic devices. Different classifications of expressive means and stylistic devices from antique to modern times.

In my reading of modern French novels I had acquired the habit of underlining expressions, which struck me as aberrant from general usage, and it often happened that the underlined passages taken together seemed to offer a certain consistency. Iwondered if it would be possible to establish a common denominator for all or most of these deviations, could we find a common spiritual etymon or the psychological root of 'several' individual 'traits of style' in a writer.

Leo Spitzer: Linguistics and Literary History

Expressive means and stylistic devices Expressive means

Expressive means of a language are those linguistic forms and properties that have the potential to make the utterance emphatic or expressive. These can be found on all levels - phonetic, graphical, morphological, lexical or syntactical.

Expressive means and stylistic devices have a lot in common but they are not completely synonymous. All stylistic devices belong to expressive means but not all expressive means are stylistic devices. Phonetic phenomena such as vocal pitch, pauses, logical stress, and drawling, or staccato pronunciation are all expressive without being stylistic devices

Morphological forms like diminutive suffixes may have an expressive effect: girlie, piggy, doggy, etc. An unexpected use of the author's nonce words like: He glasnostedhis love affair with this movie star (People) is another example of morphological expressive means.

Lexical expressive means may be illustrated by a special group of intensifiers - awfully, terribly, absolutely, etc. or words that retain their logical meaning while being used emphatically: It was a very specialevening/event/gift.

There are also special grammatical forms and syntactical patterns attributing expressiveness, such as: Ido know you! I'm really angry with that dog of yours! Thatyou shoulddeceive me! If onlyI could help you!

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