1. Expressive means and stylistic devices - 4

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, 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 glasnosted his love affair with th^: movie star (People) is another example of morphological expressive means.

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

There are also special grammatical forms and syntactical patterns attributing expressiveness, such as: / do know you! I'm really angry with that dog of yours! That you should deceive me! If only I could help you!

Stylistic devices

A stylistic device is a literary model in which semantic and structural features are blended so that it represents a generalised pattern.

Prof. I. R. Galperin calls a stylistic device a generative model when through frequent use a language fact is transformed into a stylistic device. A stylistic device combines some general semantic meaning with a cer­tain linguistic form resulting in stylistic effect. It is like an algorithm employed for an expressive purpose.

The nature of the interaction may be affinity (likeness by nature), proximity (nearness in place, time, order, occurrence, relation) or contrast (opposition).

Respectively there is metaphor based on the principle of affinity, metonymy based on proximity and irony based on opposition.

The evolution of a stylistic device such as metaphor could be seen from four examples that demonstrate this linguistic mechanism (interplay of dictionary and contextual meaning based on the principle of affinity):

1. My new dress is as pink as this flower: comparison (ground for comparison—the colour of the flower).

2. Her cheeks were as red as a tulip: simile (ground for simile— colour/beauty/health/freshness)

3. She is a real flower: metaphor (ground for metaphor—frail/ fragrant/tender/beautifu1/helpless...).

4. My love is a red, red rose: metaphor (ground for metaphor— passionate/beautiful/strong...).

4. Ruby lips, hair of gold, snow-white skin: trite metaphors so frequently employed that they hardly have any stylistic power left because metaphor dies of overuse. Such metaphors are also called hackneyed or even dead.

The more unexpected, the less predictable is the ground for com­parison the more expressive is the metaphor which in this case got a special name of genuine or authentic metaphor. Associations sug­gested by the genuine metaphor are varied, not limited to any definite number and stimulated by the individual experience or imagination.

Lexical expressive means and stylistic devices - 6

There are three big subdivisions in this class of devices and they all deal with the semantic nature of a word or phrase. In the first subdivision the principle of classification is the interac­tion of different types of a word's meanings: dictionary, contextual, derivative, nominal, and emotive. A. The first group includes means based on the interplay of dictionary and contextual meanings:

Metaphor—the application of a word (phrase) to an object (concept) it doesn't literally denote to suggest comparison with another object or concept.(E. g. A mighty Fortress is our God. Dear Nature is the kindest Mother still.)

Catachresis—misuse of a word due to the false folk etymology or wrong application of a term in a sense that does not belong to the word.(E. g.mutual for common)

A later term for it is malapropism that is mostly based on similarity in sound.

Other varieties of metaphor:

Personification—attributing human properties to lifeless objects.(E.g. How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stol'n on his wing my three and twentieth year!)

Metonymy—substitution of one word for another on the basis of real connection.(E.g. Crown for sovereign; Homer for Homer's poems; wealth for rich people.)

Synecdoche—the mention of a part for the whole.(E. g. I'm all ears; Hands wanted.)

Irony is a device based on the opposition of meaning to the sense (dictionary and contextual). Here we observe the greatest semantic shift between the notion named and the notion meant.

—obviously explicit ironical, which no one would take at their fac value due to the situation, tune and structure

—and implicit, when the ironical message is communicated agaii a wider context

B.The second unites means based on the interaction of primary and derivative meanings:

Zeugma (syllepsis): a figure by which a verb, adjective or other part of speech, relating to one noun is referred to another.(He lost his hat and his temper)

Pun (play upon words based on polysemy or homonymy).E. g. What steps would you take if an empty tank were coming toward you?—Long ones.)

C.The third group comprises means based on the opposition of logical and emotive meanings.

Epithet—a word or phrase used to describe someone or something with a purpose to praise or blame.(E. g. ft was a lovely, summery evening)

Oxymoron (a logical collision of seemingly incompatible words). E. g. His honour rooted in dishonour stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.

D. The fourth group is based on the interaction of logical and nominal meanings and includes:

Antonomasia-use of a proper name to express a general idea or conversely a common name for a proper one. Mr. Facing-Both-Ways does not get very far in this world.

II. the interaction between two lexical meanings simultaneous­ly materialised in the context.

Simile(симили) (an explicit statement of partial identity: affinity, likeness, similarity of 2 objects).E. g. My heart is like a singing bird.

Periphrasis—putting things in a round about way in order to bring out some important feature or explain more clearly the idea or situation described. the fair sex. (women)

Hyperbole—use of exaggerated terms for emphasis.E. g. A 1000 apologies.

III. The third subdivision comprises stable word combinations in their interaction with the context:

cliches: clockwork precision, crushing defeat, the whip and carrot policy.

proverbs and sayings: Come! he said, milk's spilt. (Galsworthy)

epigrams: A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. (Keats)

Quotations: Ecclesiastes said, 'that all is vanity'. (Byron)

Allusion defined as reference to a famous historical, literary, mytho­logical or biblical character or event, commonly known.

E.g. It's his Achilles heel (myth of vulnerability), Shakespeare talks of the herald Mercury. (Byron)

Allegory expresses abstract ideas through concrete pictures.

E. g. The scales of justice; It's time to beat your swords into ploughshares.

It should be noted that allegory is not just a stylistic term, but also a term of art in general and can be found in other artistic forms: painting, sculpture, dance, and architecture.

decomposition of set phrases: You know which side the law's buttered. (Galsworthy)