Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices

All stylistic means of a language can be divided into expressive means (EM), which are used in some specific way and special devices called stylistic devices (SD).

The expressive means of a language are those phonetic means, morphological forms, means of word-building, and lexical phraseological and syntactical forms, all of which function in the language for emotional or logical intensification of the utterance. These are intensifying forms of the language, brought by social usage and recognized by their semantic function. They have been fixed in grammar and dictionaries. Some of them are normalized, and good dictionary label them as intensifiers. In most cases they have corresponding neutral synonymous forms.

Language is a means of communication. From the point of view of its structure it is a system. All the signs used for communication are language means. They may roughly be divided into neutral and expressive. Neutral means serve as building material for expressing thoughts in which nothing is particularly emphasized, e.g. ordinary statements or questions (I'm a fourth year student).

But very often some utterances are made more prominent than others, i.e. they are intensified. Intensification may be of two kinds: logical and emotive. Logical intensification is making an utterance logically emphatic, e g. It was guilt that motivated her. Emotional intensification is making an utterance more emphatic by revealing the emotions of the writer or speaker, e. g. Alas, I didn't know anything about it. It must be noted, though, that it is often impossible to distinguish between logical and emotional emphasis. They often overlap. A very strong logical emphasis may color the utterance emotionally. The logical and emotional intensification result in what is generally called expressiveness. Expressiveness must be not confused with emotiveness. The term "expressiveness" is broader than "emotiveness". Emotiveness is an emotional intensification of an utterance, i.e. revealing the emotions of a writer or speaker.

Expressive means are part of the language - they exist in the language as expressive means. They are fixed in dictionaries and grammar books. They are used in speech ready-made.

Stylistic device is a conscious and intentional literary use of some of the facts of the language (including expressive means) in which the most essential features (both structural and semantics of the language forms are raised to a generalized level and thereby present a generative model. Most stylistic devices may be regarded as aiming at the further intensification of the emotional or logical emphasis contained in the corresponding expressive means.

The birth of a SD is not accidental. Language means which are used with more or less definite aims of communication and in one and the same function in various passages of writing, begin gradually to develop new features, a wider range of functions and become a relative means of expressiveness alongside already recognized expressive means of the language, like proverbs or sayings and the like.

The main constituting feature of a SD is the binary opposition of two meanings of the employed unit, one of which is normatively fixed in the language and does not depend upon the context, while the other one originates within a certain context and is contextual.

It is possible to single out the following main groups of SD:

1. SD based on the binary opposition of lexical meanings regardless of the syntactical organization of the utterance - lexical stylistic devices.

2. SD based on the binary opposition of syntactical meanings regardless of their semantics - syntactical stylistic devices.

3. SD based on the binary opposition of lexical meanings accompanied by fixed syntactical organization of employed lexical units - lexico-syntactical stylistic devices.

4. SD based on the opposition of the meanings of phonological and/or graphical elements of the language - graphical and phonetical stylistic means.

Consider your answers to the following questions:

1. What is the origin of the word "Stylistics"?

2. What does stylistics deal with? What are the objects of studies of English Stylistics?

3. What is the base of links between Stylistics and other branches of linguistics?

4. What is functional style? How is individual style different from functional style?

5. What major functional styles do you know?

6. What is the difference between expressive means and stylistic devices?

7. Give definition of expressive means of a language. What is a stylistic device?

8. What are the main groups of stylistic devices in Modern English?

9. What is the main constituting feature of a SD?

10.What stylistic devices are based on the binary opposition of lexical meanings regardless of the syntactical organization?

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