Oxymoron

Oxymoron is a figure of combination in which a fusion of semantically incomparable words creates a new concept: hot snow, loving hate, horribly beautiful

Oxymoron has a great expressive potential. It is used when there is a necessity to point out contradictory and complicated nature of the object under description

Antithesis

Antithesis is a figure of combination that stands close to oxymoron. But oxymoron is realized through a single word-combination. And antithesis is a combination of semantically opposite phrases. The main lexical means of antithesis formation are antonyms: danger – security, empty – occupied. Antithesis may also be formed through the situational confrontation of two notions expressed by non-antonymous words:

You’re easy on the eyes, hard on the heart

The communicative function of the antithesis is to point out contradictory and complicated nature of the object

Climax (gradation) and anticlimax

Climax is a figure of substitution that consists in arranging the utterance so that each subsequent component of it should increase significance, importance or emotional tension of the narration:

I am sorry, I am very sorry, I am extremely sorry

Anticlimax is a figure of substitution that consists in arranging the utterance so that each subsequent component of it should decrease significance, importance or emotional tension of the narration.

ZEUGMA

Zeugma is a figure of combination that consists in combining incomparable words upon the economy of syntactical units:

He got out of bed and low spirits

Mary dropped a tear and her handkerchief

The communicative function of the zeugma is to create a humorous effect

PUN

Pun is a figure of combination based upon a play of words.

Play of words may be grounded upon:

• Polysemy and homonymy:

My husband just can’t bear children!

He needn’t bear children. You should not expect too much of your husband

• Similarity of pronunciation:

John said to Pete at dinner: “Carry on!” But Pete never ate carrion.

35 Syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices ellipsis

An elliptical sentence is such a syntactical structure in which there is no subject, or predicate, or both. The main parts of an elliptical sentence are omitted by the speaker intentionally in cases they are semantically redundant (лишний):

Where did you go? To the disco.

The communicative function of the elliptical sentence is to say the speaker from needles efforts, to reduce redundancy of speech, to make speech dynamic

Nominative (nominal) sentences

A nominative sentence is a variant of a one-member sentence: it has neither subject nor predicate. It is called nominative or nominal because its basic component is a noun or a noun-like element (gerund, numeral).

There are several structural types of nominative sentences:

• Unextended nominative sentences consisting of a single element:

Morning. April. Problems.

• Extended nominative sentences consisting of the basic component and one or more words modify it:

Nice morning. Late April.

• Multicomponent nominative sentences consisting of two or more basic elements:

• Late April and horribly great problems

The communicative function of the nominative sentence is to state the existence of some things, phenomena or events