STYLISTIC DIFFERENTIATION OF MODERN ENGLISH

STYLISTIC DIFFERENTIATION OF MODERN ENGLISH

1. Stylistics analyses language from the functional point of view. That is why defining the notion of "function", its differentiation from the notion "aim" seems to be an essential starting point.

Speech activity, as any other human activity, is predetermined and conditioned by human needs and aims. The aim of human activity is a certain conceivable practical result which is considered to be desirable. Two types of hierarchically related aims should be distinguished: the main aim and the intermediate one, the latter presupposes creating and applying definite means of achieving the main aim. The main aim of verbal communication is of pragmatic (non-lingual) character, while the intermediate aim is of constructive (lingual) character. Commonly, the aim of communication is said to consist in conveying information, but it is not quite correct. Whenever the speaker intends to say something he intends to change either the psychological and mental state of the hearer or his physical state. To achieve this aim the speaker should first set a constructive (lingual) aim, i.e. constructing an utterance (a text) which is the most suitable for attaining the pragmatic aim in a concrete speech situation.

Function is usually defined either as a relation of one element to another or as a role of an element in a system as well as a role of the whole system in wider environment.

As modern linguistics distinguishes three areas of language, namely, language system (langue), speech activity (performance) and speech material (speech, parole), the notion of function has certain peculiarities when applied to each of these areas. Accordingly, three types of stylistics may be distinguished; stylistics of language, stylistics of speech activity, and stylistics of speech.

2. Language, being a system by itself, is part of other system of a higher order - language and reality, language and thinking, language and society. In relation to reality, thinking and society, language has two main functions - communicative and cognitive. These functions predetermine the properties of both language system and its components.

stylistics of language does not only cover the system of expressive means but also all language means which are used for nomination and communication.

As language is closely related to thinking, which may be logical and imaginative, at the very early stages of its development it developed two related subsystems - the practical language and the poetic language having different structural and functional organisation.

Each of the two subsystems first existed in the oral forms only. Much later, the written form came into being. Written language was used for specific purposes and became a type of language with its formal, structural, and semantic peculiarities, it is known as a bookish language. The oral language also became a type of language with its formal, structural, and semantic peculiarities, too. It is known as a conversational language.

The main unit of written language is the text, whereas that of oral type is the utterance. They differ in many respects: in substance, in functions, and in their norms.

Practical oral, practical written, poetic oral and poetic written subsystems can be defined as functional types of language. They constitute the basis for the stylistic differentiation of speech activity and speech.

3. The notion of functional style is interpreted in stylistics differently. There are two main approaches to its definition, both originating from Ac. V.V.Vinogradov's conception. According to the first approach, style is defined on the criterion of function as a socially

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accepted, functionally conditioned and internally organised system of the ways of usage, choice and combination of communicative verbal means which correlate with other similar systems serving other aims and fulfilling other functions in speech practice of a nation. According to the second approach style is defined with regard to its components. It is regarded as a system of language means united by the similarity of their function or by the sphere of usage.

Our interpretation of functional style somewhat differs from those mentioned above. Any human activity, speech activity including, presupposes the existence of means or tools of such activity as well as devices or ways of using these means. As human

activity is always purposeful, both means and devices are functionally oriented. So, if function is a role of units, style is their property. We are to distinguish styles as the properties of speech activity from styles as the properties of speech.

We define the speech functional style as a socially accepted stereotype of speech behaviour closely connected with human social activity. These stereotypes are sets of norms and rules for generating utterances and texts together with the means and devices supplied by the language system for achieving various pragmatic aims. A functional style carries information about the speaker: the social role he has assumed, his social status, his psychological state, and his attitude to the hearer as well as to the subject-matter of speech. Its meaningfulness is a result of the speaker's choice of a certain manner of speech behaviour from the existing accepted stereotypes.

The choice of a stereotype is conditioned by many factors, the main of which are as follows: a) social roles (social relations) of the communicants, which may be equal and nonequal; b) social situation of communication, which may be formal and informal; c) pragmatic aims of the communicants. These factors do not exclude the influence of a personal factor, the factor of the author's or the speaker's personality.

4. The problem of functional style classification is also very complicated. There are two approaches to it: deductive (from the general to the specific) and inductive (from the specific to the general). But, irrespective of the approaches adopted, scholars usually distinguish the following styles; conversational, publicistic and oratorical, official, scientific, newspaper style, and belles-lettres style.

The status of some of these styles seems refutable. Following the differentiation of the primary and secondary semiotic systems we assume that the poetic language, the language of fiction does not constitute a functional style comparable with other functional styles but it constitutes a functional type of language. Literary texts are objects of art which have their own specific structures whose functions differ in many respects from those of practical texts and utterances.

The status of the newspaper style is also doubtful. Some scholars consider that the existence of this style is conditioned by the specific aims of mass media and by the peculiarities of the linguistic means used in newspapers. But these peculiarities are confined to very limited newspaper units - headlines, brief news items and editorials Thus, it is more reasonable to speak about the newspaper language rather than about the newspaper style.

I.R.Galperin excludes conversational style from the inventory of functional styles, because his classification was based entirely on the written type of language. Though conversational style is used even more widely than written language and is not homogeneous at all.

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The following speech functional styles can be distinguished:

Official style is based on the practical language and is absolutely impersonal. It is used in formal situations with the social roles of the communicants being equal or non-equal.

Scientific style is mainly based on the practical language, being mostly impersonal. It may include elements of the poetic language. The criteria of social situation and social roles are irrelevant for it.

Publicistic (oratorical) style is mainly based on the practical language, being personal. It may widely employ elements of the poetic language.

Literary conversational style is mainly based on the practical language. Mostly it widely employs elements of the poetic language. It is used in formal situations, where social roles of the communicants may be equal or non-equal.

Colloquial style is based on the practical language, though also employs elements of the poetic language. It is used in informal situations where the social roles of the communicants are as a rule equal.

5. A certain manner of behaviour results in the fact that the product of this activity -utterances and texts - have certain structural and semantic properties. These properties are the subject-matter of stylistics of speech.

Utterances and texts having similar or different semantic and structural properties conditioned by functional styles, they may be classified according to semantic and structural criteria. On the basis of these criteria, three major classes of texts hierarchically related to one another can be distinguished:

a)types of the texts. These are different classes of texts within a functional style which differ in their semantic and thematic characteristics. Thus, texts of official style may be subdivided into administrative, judicial, military, commercial, diplomatic etc;

b)genres of the texts. These are types of texts further subdivided according to their compositional and stylistic peculiarities. Thus, military texts are divided into orders, reports, instructions, regulations etc;

c)individual texts, mostly influenced by the author's personality. The study of such texts constitutes the subject-matter of stylistics of individual speech.