PART IV
STYLISTIC SYNTAX
1. QUANTITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE
A. The absence of elements which are obligatory in a neutral construction (ellipsis, aposiopesis, nominative sentences, absence of auxiliary elements)
B. Redundance of syntactical elements
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS
C. Various types of inversion
CHANGES IN THE USE OF SYNTACTIC FORMS
Literature:
1.. Galperin I.R. Stylistics.
(p.p.190-253).
Skrebnev J.M. Fundamentals of English Stylistics.
(p.p. 82-105).
3.Арнольд И.В. Стилистика современного английского языка. –Л., 1981.
(–стр. 160-208)
STYLISTIC SYNTAX
QUANTITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYNTACTIC STRUCTURE
From the viewpoint of quantitative characteristics of the syntactic structure, it is self-evident that there are only two possible varieties of deviations – a) the absence of elements which are obligatory in a neutral construction and b) excess of non-essential elements.
A) the absence of elements which are obligatory in a neutral construction
Stylistically significant are: elliptical sentences, nominative sentences, unfinished sentences, as well as sentences in which certain auxiliary elements are missing.
Ellipsis. The term “elliptical sentence” implies absence of one or both principal parts (the subject, the predicate). The missing parts are either present in the syntactic environment of the sentence (context), or they are implied by the situation.
Ellipsis is, first and foremost, typical of colloquial speech. In works of fiction, elliptical sentences are made use of either to reproduce the direct speech of characters, or to impart brevity, a quick tempo and (sometimes) emotional tension to the author’s narrative.
“He became one of the prominent men of the House. Spoke clearly, sensibly, and
modestly, and was never too long. Held the House where men of higher abilities
“bored” it.” (Collins)
Beside oral speech and fiction (which aim at economy and expressiveness, respectively), ellipsis is common to some special types of texts.
For the sake of business-like brevity, elliptical sentences are very frequent in papers of handbooks on technology or natural sciences:
“The grind stone – a cylinder pole, diameter 2.0 dm, thickness 5.0 dm, a frustum hole in
the center, sides of the bases 10 cm and 5.0 cm respectively.”
Ellipsis (and abbreviation) is practically always employed in encyclopedic dictionaries and reference books of the “Who’s Who” type.
All kinds of elliptical constructions (including special ready-made formulas) are resorted to in telegraphic messages. The reason is clear: every word is paid for.
Aposiopesis (Greek- silence) denotes intentional abstention from continuing the utterance to the end. The speaker (writer) either begins the new utterance or stops altogether.
Eg. “Well, I must say that’s a wonderful way of wasting tax-payers “money”, Aitken
growled. “Of all the damned nonsense I’ve run into…” (Chase)
“This story really doesn’t get anywhere at all. The rest of it comes later – sometimes
when Piggy asks Dulcie again to dine with him, and she is feeling lonelier than usual,
and General Kitchener happens to be looking the other way . and then –“ (O.Henry)
Nominative sentences. The communicative function of a nominative sentence is a mere statement of the existence of an object, a phenomenon:
“London. Fog everywhere. Implacable November weather.”
Nominative sentences comprise only one principal part expressed by a noun or a noun equivalent. The stylistic effect produced by a nominative sentence or by a succession of nominative sentences is predetermined by a sense of the words of which they consist.
Eg. “The horror! The flight! The exposure! The police! The first to desert him – these –
all save Sondra perhaps. And even she, too. Yes, she, of course. The horror in her eyes.” (Th.Dreiser)
Absence of auxiliary elements. (auxiliary verbs, articles, prepositions, conjunctions). All these elements, except conjunctions, are omitted in careless colloquial speech . conjunctions, both in colloquial speech and fiction. The absence of conjunctions bears the name asyndeton (Gr. “disconnected”) Asyndetic connection between words, clauses and sentences is based upon the lexical meanings of the parts connected. Absence of connecting elements imparts dynamic force to the text.
