英语文体学Chapter7TheEnglishofConversation
英语文体学知识重点
Chapter 1 Introduction· What is the English StylisticsIt is a science that deals with the research for a wide variety of the styles of written and oral English in English language.· What are language functionsa To deliver some infor to other peopleb To communicate with each other in society·How do we express ourselves in a proper waySeveral factors do work.a)Phoneticsb)Vocabularyc)Grammard)Some knowledge concerningEnglish stylistics·The correctness in using the language can not replace the appropriateness in language communication. WhyFour examples:a “ Hello ” and “ Hi ”b “ Assist me Assist me ” and “ Aid Aid ”c “That’s all right.” “That’s to say.” “It’s ..”d See next paged “ I am terribly sorry to hear that your husband has just died, but don’t let it upset you too much. You’re an attractive, young lady. I’m pretty sure it is very easy for you to find someone else soon. ” ·The effects of language expressions are sometimes related to somenon-linguistic factors.b Age ------ “ Cheers ” and “ Bye for now. ”c Vocation ------ “ Watch the birdie. ”d Received education ------ “ goto . ”e Social station ------ “ What prompted you to apply for this job ” ·Why should we learn and study English stylisticsa It will help us to express ourselves in English properly.b It will help us to know something about language features of a variety of English written styles.c It will help us to select a proper way for getting the best language effects and attaining our communicative purposes.d It will help us to go at literary criticism.e It will help us to do the translation work well.Chapter 2 Language Description & Stylistic Analysis·There are 4 phonetic means in English:1 stress2 Intonation3 pause4 voice quality.·Stress has several apparent stylistic and grammatical functions.1 The first function is for emphasis.2 The second function is to change the meaning or the part of speech of some words, or both.3 The third function is to differ some English words4 The fourth function is to show someone’s surprise, anger, fear, doubt, pleasure, etc..·Intonation can be employed to express people’s happiness, sadness, certainty, hesitation, depression, etc. There are 5 pitches in phonetics:1 The falling pitch is used to show the meaning of definiteness, certainty and completeness.2 The rising pitch is employed to show the meaning of indefiniteness, uncertainty and incompleteness.3 The fall-rise pitch is used to give people some encouragement or give people a warning.4 The rise-fall pitch is employed to give people a sincere praise or to show the feeling of shock.5 The level pitch is used to give account on something happened in the past.·Pause can be divided into two.a voiced pauseb silent pause ·Some useful rhetorical devices1. Period and inversion2. Parallelism and antithesis3. Climax and anti-climax4. RepetitionChapter 3 Oral Style and Written Style·Several occasions for using oral style:1. In literary masterpieces2. In everyday conversation3. In informal speeches·The differences between oral communication and written communication1. Use some gestures body language in oral communication2. Use a statement as a question in oral communication3. Use some pure oral words in oral communication· The comparison of language styles in oral style and in written style ·What can be used with oral style1 slangs2 vogue words3 abbreviations4 phrasal verbs5 idioms·What can be used with written style 1 Scientific English 2 Legal English 3 Religious English 4 Formal speech 5 Official documentsChapter 4 Formal Style & Informal Style·Five styles were advanced by Martin Joos in the book “ The Five Clocks ”1 Frozen Style: legal items, historic literature, the documents for international conferences, etc.2 Formal Style: This style is usually used to deliver some infor on formal occasions.3 Consultative Style: With this style people usually offer some background information. It is usually employed in business activities.4 Casual Style: People usually use it between friends, acquaintances, or insiders. Its main feature is that people usually employ ellipsis, slangs or cants with it.5 Intimate Style: It is usually used between husband and wife. Moreover it is employed in jargons sometimes. Chapter6 Societal Deviation in English· What is societal deviation in EnglishSocietal deviation is something about societal dialects.·Black English Vernacular: 土语urban black English·What are the reasons for you to know Black English Vernacular1It will help us to know thestatus que of AE.2 It will helpto read some novels in Americanliterature.Chapter 7 Time Deviation in English· Three stages of the development of English language1 The 1st stage is from 449 to 1100The verbs in Old English can be divided into two categories ------ one is strong verbs and another is weak verbs. The past tense forms of most of weak verbs are with the ending -cec, -ode, or -de after the original weak verbs.2 The 2nd stage is from 1100 to 1500 Middle English.At that time “ hw ” in Old English became “ wh ” and “ cw ” became “ qu ”.3 The 3rd stage is from 1500 to present time Modern English.There are two remarkable features in Modern English.1There are many loans in Modern English. from Japanese/fromFrench/from Latin/ from Chinese.2 There are some neologisms新词 in Modern English.·The application of English archaic words过时的词in modern times1 In legal English2 In religious English3 In English poetry4 In newspapers·Why use archaic words in modern times formal/rhyme/show-off Chapter 8 Common Practical Styles ·Three functions of English advertisements1 to attract readers’ attention2 to arose customer interest3 to erge customer to take actions as soon as possible.·Some features of English advertisements1 More simple sentences2 Less negative sentences ------ If people really want to express the negative meaning in advertisements, they may use “ nothing ” or “ no ” instead of “ not ”.3 Frequent use of present tense4 More and more imperative sentences5 Far more elliptical sentences 7 Some special adjectives8 Some newly-created words ·Journalistic English: Newsreport/news story·two categories of newspapers1 quality paper大报2 tabloid小报·Three requirements for news reports：Swift / objective / true·Some features of journalistic English1 Some journalistic jargons2 Some acronyms3 Some apocopation4 Some aphoeresis5 Some words with front and back clipping6 Some syncopations7 Some neologisms8 Some blends9 Some nouns are used as verbs to make the headlines vivid. Scientific English·What can be written with scientific English1 Scientific works and literature2 Academic theses3 Laboratory reports4 Product instructions·Some important features of scientific English1 Passive voice is high-frequently used in sentences.2 Present tense is quite often employed in sentences because scientific concepts and principles are usually described as truths.3 Long and complete sentences are often used to express meanings, ideas and concepts.4 There are some words which are from Latin.5 There is a simplicity in meaning for some words in scientific English.6 There are some useful prefixes and suffixes in scientific English. Chapter 9 Literary Style·The language features of English poetry1. The rhythm and the meter of English poetryRhythm is a regular succession of weak and strong stresses, accents, sounds, or movements in speech, music, poems, dancing, etc. ·How is the rhythm formed in English poemsStressed syllables and unstressed syllables which alternately appear in a stanza may produce rhythm in English poems. ·What is meter Meter is the measur. The English poetic rhythm is based on meter.构成英诗节奏的基础是韵律,即“格律”; ·How many meters are there in English poetic compositionThere are seven 1 iambus 抑扬格 2 trochee 扬抑格3 dactyl 扬抑抑格 4 anapaest 抑抑扬格 5 amphibrach 双行诗 6 spondee 7 purrhic ·What is stanzaIt consists of lines or verses. Simply speaking it is a poetic paragraph.·Some common forms of stanzas: 1 couplet 双行诗2 triplet 三行诗3 quatrain 4 cinquain 5sestet 6 septet 7 octet 8 Spenserian stanza 9 abba abba cde cde2 Shakespeare sonnet abab cdcd efef gg3 Spenserian sonnet abab bcbc cdcd ee·What is verse verse is the poetic sentence,line It is made up of one foot or more than one. Briefly speaking it is called a poetic sentence.·How to keep a rhyme in a poem 1 Keep an end rhyme It can be divided into four forms.1 The first form is to keep a single rhyme Sometimes it is called a masculine rhyme or a male rhyme.2 The second form is to keep a double rhyme Sometimes it is called afeminine rhyme or a female rhyme. . 3 The third form is to keep a triple rhyme.4 The fourth form is to keep an eye rhyme.2 Keep a head rhyme3 Keep an internal rhyme·Blank verse ：Unrhymed verse ·Three features of blank verses 1 They do not keep any rhymes, but they are the poems with some meter. 2 They can be long or short.3 Their feet in each line are not uniform.·Common Figures of Speech Used in English Poetry Use of simile andrepetition/head-rhymed alliteration /metapher/ parallelism/personification / speaking silence, dumb confession / paradox 矛盾修饰法/hyperbole,overstatement exaggeration/ metonymy 借代转喻 · Stylistic Features in Fiction Two points of viewTwo perspectives 1 Use singular or plural number of the third person ------ as a narrator or a story-teller to narrate some plots in a novel.Notes: a. Most of writers or novelists like to use this perspective.b. The effect of using this perspective is “ objective ”. 2 Use singular or plural number of the first person ------ as one of the characters to narrate some plots in a novel.Note:In this way it will make readers think that it is really a true story and there is no trace of make-up.·The dialogs in novels1 Some useful informal words2 Some common slangs·Direct and indirect speeches in novels1 Sometimes some novelists like to use direct speech in order to make a psychological description in narrating plots in a novel.2 Sometimes some novelists like to use indirect speech in order to make a thought presentation in narrating plots in a novel.·How to analyze a literary masterpiece1 Use a way of rhetorical analysis.2 Use a way of syntactical analysis. Chapter 10 Common Expressing Styles in English Passages· What is the ornate styleIn the ornate style, people like to use some modifiers, such as adjectives, adverbs, etc, and use some rhetorical devices, such as simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, etc. In syntax, people like to use long sentences and some sentences with a complex structure or a parallel structure.·What is the plain styleIn the plain style, people prefer to use short sentences. People rarely use big words. People don’t like to use many modifiers. As for syntax, people prefer to use compound sentences.·Which style is better Simply speaking, it depends. It depends on different occasions.·What is the involved style In this style, people usually employ some detailed descriptive device to express something. They often use some specific words for their descriptions.·What is the terse styleIn this style, people usually use brief words and simple-structured sentences which have some profound implied meanings.·Relationship between Irony and humor:Irony is a language means while humor is an effect.。
英语文体学Chapter 7 Cohesion in Literary Discourse
Syntactic Devices
2) Cataphoric reference Cataphoric reference refers to something that is yet to come later in the text.
Syntactic Devices
Example They had grown up next door to each other, on the fringe of a city, near fields and woods and orchards, with sight of a lovely bell tower that belonged to a school for the blind. Now they were twenty, had not seen each other for nearly a year. There had always been playful, comfortable warmth between them, but never any talk of love. His name was Newt, her name was Catharine… (Vonnegut, Jr., Long Walk to Forever)
Syntactic Devices
1) Anaphoric reference Anaphoric reference refers to something that has already been mentioned in the text.
E.g. Mary went to see her cousin last week, she lives in New York.
《英语文体学》前七章总结
《英语文体学》前七章总结第一章：关于文体学。
文体学是一门研究语言风格的学科，我们所讲的是现代文体学，其又分为一般文体学和文学文体学。
前者主要是各种文体的一般特征，后者是各种文学作品的特别特征，两者研究有重叠。
语言是人们进行社交的工具，包括：言语行为，言语事件和文本。
言语事件包括三要素：实体，形式和情境。
语言具有多样性，不同的场合使用不一样的语言，承担着不同的功能，如语言的指示功能，表达功能和文本功能。
风格，是个人或群体的语言使用习惯。
学习文体学使我们对不同的语言特色或风格有个系统的知识，熟悉不同文学题材的不同特点，深化我们对文学作品的理解力和欣赏力。
此外，文体学给翻译和语言教学也提供了有效地方法。
文体学作为一门学科并不是独立存在的，它与多个学科如修辞学，文学评论等有着密切的关系。
第二章：文体学学习的必要性。
文体学作为一门研究语言风格的学科，分析不同的语言特色。
系统学习文体学，有助于培养表达的准确感。
在不同的场合使用不同的语言。
这对学外语的学生尤为重要；文体学有助于提高我们对文学作品的理解力和欣赏力。
通过对文本的研究。
涉及到描写，理解文章体裁特点和艺术表现力，这一过程就是提高我们理解和欣赏的过程；文体学有助于翻译保有原作的原滋原味。
通过分析通篇的风格，包括词，句子的特征，修辞，陈述方式以及文章的主题译者可以更好的把握原文的特色，使得译文在思想上，风格上更贴近原文，有其韵味。
第三章：语言变体文体学把语言变体主要分为方言变体和语域变体。
前者是由于不同的地域风俗习惯形成的，而后者是由于场合的不同而形成的。
方言变体和语域变体是相互依存的。
方言变体又分为：个人习语，即个人用语习惯；短暂性方言，每个时代的有其特别的语言特点，语言是时代的烙印；地域方言，不同地域的不同方言，每个地方读有其不同的说话习惯；社会方言即社会不同阶层如富人和穷人，使用不同的语言；和标准方言，方言也有标准和不标准之分。
语域变体在文体学中，又包括语场，语式（说和写）和语旨。
大学英语跨文化交际chapter7 Cultural Patterns
Chapter 7 Cultural Patterns
Cultures Arranged Along the High-Context
and Low-Context Dimension
High-Context Cultures
Japanese
Chinese
Korean
African American
subjugation to nature
harmony with
nature
mastery with nature
Chapter 7 Cultural Patterns
Low-context culture
Low context (LC) cultures prefer to use low-context messages, in which the majority of the information is vested in the explicit code.
An American nt
giving speech at his leaving his hometown
Chapter 7 Cultural Patternsq
Low-context culture
An example of low-context communication is now experienced by more and more people as they interact with computers. For computers to “understand” a message, every statement must be precise. Many computers will not accept or respond to instructions that do not have every space, period, letter and number in precisely the right location. The message must be overt and very explicit.
(0099)《英语文体学引论》复习思考题答案
(0099) 《英语文体学引论》复习思考题答案I. Explain in brief the following terms (10 points; in test it contains 10 terms):1. stylistics: the study or the investigation of style.2. style: the linguistic habit of a particular person(s) or characteristic of typical situations.3. dialect: a subtype of language which may be determined by geographical locality orparticular social groupings.4. morpheme: the smallest unit in a language that carries meaning.5. phoneme: the smallest sound unit in a specific language capable of semantic distinction.6. language: a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.7. register: language determined by situation.8. acoustic phonetics: a branch of phonetics dealing with the physical properties of thespeech sounds of a language.9. auditory phonetics: the study of how the sound of speech is received by the hearer.10. syllable: a vowel sound either with or without a consonant or consonants in clusters.11. general stylistics:the investigation of the linguistic features of all kinds of language use.12. literary stylistics: the study of the linguistic features of literature in particular, such asthose of poetry, novels and dramas.13. form: the particular way of expressing the message.14. content: the message or information or the communicative value that is encoded orloaded in a linguistic expression.15. phonological analysis: it is chiefly concerned about the sound patterns of a piece ofliterature, especially those of poetry.16. lexical analysis: it is chiefly concerned about the internal structure and the stylisticcoloring and the semantic relationship of the words in the text.17. syntactical analysis: it is chiefly concerned about how the words in a text are puttogether to produce meaning and other kinds of message.18. discoursal analysis: it is concerned about how sentences are joined together to produce acohesive and coherent text.19. paralinguistic features: the vocal effects caused by different shaping of the vocal cordsand openings20. social dialect: it is determined by the social groupings that a person belongs to.21. taboo: words forbidden to be used in public because of their being dirty or offensive22. whispery voice: utterance without any vocal cord vibration at all. Emphasizing contrast.23. breathy voice: utterance where there is too much breath for the needs of the articulation.24. creaky voice: a slow crackle of vocal cord vibrations at a low pitch, like a stick being runalong a fence.25. falsetto: a switch of the voice from one vocal register to a higher one; usually found onlyin males.26. common core words: refer to those words used in everyday life.27. technical words: refer to those words used in special professions.28. standard words: words that are used in the standard dialect.29. non-standard words: words labeled as slangs, vulgarisms and colloquialisms in thedictionary. the cultural and social implications of a word simile: a comparison between two things with emphasis on the similarity or likeness between them30. spoken words: words that most often used in face-to- face, casual and everydayconversations.31. literary words: words used in formal writings or literature.32. extension: a specific word comes to mean a general idea.33. specialization: the change of the word meaning may move in the opposite direction, aword with general reference is narrowed to a specific reference.34. elevation: words of derogatory association become words of favorable association.35. degradation: neutral words or words of favorable association degenerated intoderogatory words.36. metaphor: a covert comparison37. litotes: understatement38. irony: a figure of speech that takes the form of saying or implying the opposite of whatone feels to be the case39. compound sentence: a sentence made up of two or more simple sentences, joinedtogether by conjunctions or punctuations40. periodic sentence: one that is not grammatically complete until the end is reached41. loose sentence: one that may be brought to a grammatical close before the end is reached42. elliptical sentence: one in which either the subject or the predicate or part of thepredicate is missing43. inverted sentence: one in which the subject position is filled by other sentence elements44. antithesis: a figure of speech in the formula of X conj. Y with a contrast between them45. parallelism: a rhetorical device in which two or more than two similar syntacticstructures with different words are placed side by side46. repetition: a rhetorical device in which identical words are used but not necessarily inidentical position47. deviation: violation of standard use of the language48. cataphora: If the referred item comes after the referring item in a text, then it is a case ofcataphora.49. progressive conjunction: one sentence that joined by the use of conjunctive words ofaddition or progression50. field of discourse: the topic under discussion or the nature of the activity in whichlanguage is involvedII. Answer the following questions (50 points; in test it contains 5 questions):1. What is the relationship between form and content?One way of talking about style is to make a distinction between form and content.Content is the message or information or the communicative value that is encoded orloaded in a linguistic expression. Form is the particular way of expressing the message.The form is the style which may be different from case to case although the meaningmay remain the same. For example, the Chinese term 开始may be expressed indifferent English words, such as start, begin and commence, but each suggests a differentstyle.2. What are the differences between language and speech?Another way of talking about style is to make a distinction between language and speech, which may be translated in Chinese as 语言and 言语. This distinction was firstproposed by Saussure, the founder of the modern linguistics. According to Saussure,there are four major differences between language and speech.A. Language is abstract whereas speech is concrete. Language is abstract in the sensethat it has only psychological instead of physical existence. Language is notsomething that you can bring to the classroom and examine under the microscope,not something you can hear, see, smell , touch or taste. Speech is concrete in thesense that it has physical properties. Either can be heard in the spoken form or seenin the written form.B. Language is potential whereas speech is actual. Language is potential in the sensethat it is a kind of can-mean system, while speech is something that has an actualmeaning.C. Language is code whereas speech is message(语言是一个代码系统，言语才是信息). Language is a set of symbols that can be used to transmit information. Speechis the actual use of the language in an act of communication in a particular situationfor a particular purpose. It carries a real message.D. Language is stable and systematic whereas speech is subject to personal andsituational constraint. For example, the word book in the English language alwaysrefers to some printed matter. But in speech it may be used to refer to anything thatthe speaker wants to refer to by the use of it as long as it is understandable. Thecommon example is the sentence: He is a walking dictionary(a kind of book)meaning that he is very knowledgeable.3. What is the methodology of stylistic analysis? What are the levels of stylistic analysis?The major methodology for stylistic analysis is linguistic analysis. It tries to be objective or scientific in its analysis. According to the advocates of this methodology, anyone using this methodology to analyze a given text of literature will reach roughly the same conclusion.Levels of analysisSince stylistic analysis is a kind of linguistic analysis, naturally, how many levels of structure we have in a language correspondingly how many levels of structure at which we may do stylistic analysis.1) PhonologicalPhonological analysis is chiefly concerned about the sound patterns of a piece of literature, especially those of poetry.2) LexicalLexical analysis is chiefly concerned about the internal structure and the stylistic coloring and the semantic relationship of the words in the text.3) SyntacticalSyntactical analysis is chiefly concerned about how the words in a text are put together to produce meaning and other kinds of message.4) DiscoursalDiscoursal analysis is concerned about how sentences are joined together to producea cohesive and coherent text.4. Define paralinguistic features. What are they?Definition: the vocal effects caused by different shaping of the vocal cords and openings.Kinds and the corresponding stylistic effects.1) Whispery voice: utterance without any vocal cord vibration at all. Emphasizingcontrast.2) Breathy voice: utterance where there is too much breath for the needs of thearticulati on, the effect being one of mild ‘puffing and blowing’. Expressing surprise and astonishment.3) Creaky voice: a slow crackle of vocal cord vibrations at a low pitch, like a stickbeing run along a fence.4) Falsetto: a switch of the voice from one vocal register to a higher one; usually foundonly in males.5. What are the three ways of studying the sound of language?A. articulatory phoneticsThe study of the sounds of a language with special attention to the speaker: the movement of the lungs, vocal cords, tongue, the lips and other organs which produce and control the noisy outward breathing.B. acoustic phoneticsThe study of the physical properties of the sound waves in the air when being transmitted from the speaker to the hearer.C. auditory phoneticsThe study of how the sound of speech is received by the hearer6. What are the four typical meters in English poetry?In English poetry, stress is usually used in the realization of meter. The followings are the four most typical meters.1) Iamb: Iamb is a metric foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by astressed syllable.2) Trochee: Trochee is a metric foot consisting of a stressed syllable followed by anunstressed syllable.3) Anapest: Anapest is a metric foot composed of two unstressed syllables followed byone stressed one.4) Dactyl: Dactyl is a metric foot composed of one stressed syllable followed by twounstressed ones7. What is the relationship between sound and meaning?According to Saussure, the relationship between sound and meaning is arbitrary in the sense that why a certain meaning takes a particular sound has no reason and it is completely accident. But in literature, the writers always try to arrange the words in sucha way as to make the patterns of sound to directly suggest the meaning.8. What is the relationship between style and the choice of words, according to thestylisticians?The stylisticians’ attitude: they lay emphasis on the adaptability to the situation.Standard, non-standard, black, dialectal, slang, archaisms are equally good in their expressiveness. There is no distinction of one being superior and other being inferior.9. How many kinds of word meanings may be classified? And what are they?According to the linguists, a word has various kinds of meaning. The first kind of meaning is denotative meaning.1) Denotative (概念意义)The kind of meaning we can get from the dictionary. It can also be termed asdictionary meaning, conceptual meaning, logical meaning and referential meaning.This is the most basic meaning that we understand a word has.2) Stylistic = social (社会意义)The kind of meaning associated with a particular social situation in which a particular word is often used. e.g begin, start, commence3) Affective meaning(情感意义)It is the emotional, attitudinal and evaluative coloring of a word. e.g. cunning and clever. Both mean the skillful handling of a delicate or difficult situation. But they reveal different attitudes and evaluation of the speaker.4) Collocative (搭配意义)Some words may have the same dictionary meaning, but they collocate with different words, as shown by the pair or synonyms of pretty and handsome.5) Connotative (内涵意义)the cultural and social implications of a word.10. What are the three basic components of the English vocabulary?The three basic components of the English vocabularyA Anglo-Saxona. Members of the familyb. Parts of the bodyc. Natured. Timee. One-syllabled verbsB Frencha. Government and Lawb. Army and military activitiesc. Religiond. CostumesC Latina. Medicineb. Lawc. Theologyd. Sciencee. Literature11. Functionally speaking, what are the four types of English sentences?1) Declarative 2) Interrogative3) Exclamatory 4) Imperative12. What are the conjunctions used in combining English sentences?1) Progressive conjunction (推进性连接): by the use of conjunctive words of additionor progression, such as and, furthermore, moreover, etc.2) Contrastive conjunction (对照性连接): by the use of conjunctive words of contrastor transition, such as but, whereas, while, on the contrary, on the other hand, etc.3) Temporal conjunction (时间性连接): by the use of conjunctive words of temporalsequence, such as then, later, afterwards, at last, or finally, etc13. What are the gestures may be used in a casual conversation?Facial expressions, eye-contact, body positions, distance, physical touch, sound modification, clothing, and environment14. What are the three types of substitution? Can you give some examples?A. Nominal substitution (名词性替代)1) The meaning of o ne/ones e.g. You bought a red pencil, I’d like a blue one.2) The use of the “same”Example:A: I want a cup of teaB: The same.3) The use of “kind, sort”. e.g. American food is not the same as the English kind.B. Verbal substitution (动词性替代)Do you like Chinese food?Yes, I do.He likes Chinese food. So do I.C. Clausal substitution (分句性替代)1) The use of “so” “not”Example: A: Do you think he will come tomorrow?B: Yes, I think so./ No, I think not.2) LimitationClausal substitution applies only to sentences, where the predicate verb of amain clause is one of the following verbs:believe, be afraid, expect, fear, hope, imagine, say, tell, think, suppose.15. What is the relationship between dialect and register?Another way of talking about style, is to make a distinction between dialects and registers.A: Speaker orientedDialects are speaker oriented. What kind of speaker speaks what kind of dialect.Dialects may be regional or social. Regional dialect (地域方言)is determined by the geographical locality the speaker lives in. The social dialect is determined by the social groupings that a person belongs to.B: Situation orientedRegister is situational oriented. Register is the language determined by situation, and because of this we have such registers as formal English, informal English, classroom English, legal English, etc.16. Name at least five kinds of figures of speech in English.Simile, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, irony, overstatement, etc.17. Can you give some examples of rhetorical questions?Idea: a rhetorical question is one which does not really need an answer, or the answer is obviousExamples:Is that a reason for despair?Can any one doubt the wisdom of this action?Is no one going to defend me?What difference does it make then?18. What are the stylistic features of the Bible?1. 1. Biblical simplicity2. Full of balanced sentences3. The use of concrete words4. Short paragraphs5. Heavy use of and to begin a new paragraph6. Syntactical features1) simple and complete sentences2) the use of old forms of personal pronouns3) the second personal pronoun take the verb of –est as in shouldest,gavest,etc.,and the third person doth and hath which are absent in other styles of writing4) negation takes the form of“verb+not” without the use of auxiliaries19. What are the five kinds of reference in the English language?According to relative positions of the referring item and the referred item, reference may be classified into the following kinds.1) Anaphora(后照应)In a case of reference, if the referred item (a word or a phrase) come before the referring item in a text, then it is a case of anaphora.Example: Mr. Wang is an engineer, he graduated from Beijing University.2) Cataphora(前照应)On the other hand, if the referred item comes after the referring item in a text, then it is a case of cataphora. As in the example:I was introduced to them; it was John Leathwall and his wife.3) Exophora(外照应)If the interpretation of an item in a text depends on something in the immediate environment, then it is a case of exophora.Example: Did the gardener water those plants?4) Paraphora(平行照应)An item which refers to something in another text.Example: He is the Shylock Holmes in our class.5) Homophora(自照应)When the class is composed of only one member, then any mention of it is a case of homophora.Example: The moon moves around the earth.20. What are the three factors of register?1) Field of discourse —the topic under discussion or the nature of the activity inwhich language is involved.2) Tenor of discourse —the kind of social relationships between the participants in aconversation.3) Mode of discourse —the medium along which the message is being transmitted.21. Give examples to illustrate power relationship and solidarity relationship.Power relationship is a kind of vertical relationship in the sense that the two participants in the conversation hold unequal authority. For example, the relations between boss and employee, or between parents and children, or between teacher and students.Solidarity relationship is a horizontal relationship in that participants in a conversation hold equal authority. For example, the relations between playmates, classmates, friends, etc.22. What are the non-linguistic features of casual conversation?1) Unpreparedness or low degree of preparedness2) Frequent change of roles3) Monitoring4) Simultaneity in space and time5) Topic drifting6) Channel limitation7) Gestures23. What are the linguistic features of the language of news reporting?In news reporting one can find some characteristics in syntax, lexis, and textual structure.A. SyntaxThere is a heavy use of complex sentences and a heavy use of non-finite verb phrases. The subjects of sentences are usually very complicated. Compared with the verb phrases in the previous discussed varieties, the composition of the verb phrases in newspaper reporting is even simpler, mainly simple present or past tense. The structure of the noun phrases in news reporting is very complicated. There is a remarkable increase in the number of modifiers for an average sentence in the variety of newspaper reporting. And the modifiers themselves tend to be more complicatedly structured.B. LexisThere is rare use of pronouns, but by contrast, there is a remarkable increase of the use of proper nouns. The degree of complication in the aspect of word structure is about the same as that in public speech. Both in terms of the number of letters in an average word and the number of morphemes in an average word. Although the word structure in the style of newspaper reporting tends to be complicated, it is ever ready to use short instead of big word wherever possible, especially in headlines.Compound words are used frequently. Moreover, non phrases which actually express actions or state and heavily used, and they are derived from verb phrases in order to make the sentences more compact and save space without lowering the amount of information conveyed.C. Textual structureIn textual structure, one of the most outstanding characteristic is straightforwardness.24. What are the linguistic features of the language of advertisement?A. Syntax:In terms of syntax, the language of advertisement is simple in structure for easy understanding, and colloquial in style for familiarity, intimacy and solidarity. There is a higher frequency of imperative and interrogatives. As to structure, according to statistics, we have the lowest rate of occurrence of passive in comedies, the second lowest is in ads. There is also a heavy use of pre-modifiers, possessive’s,comparative and superlative adjectivesB. Lexis:There is a heavy use of compounds. Simple, short, inner structure and a highpercentage of active, affirmative, commendatory and large quantities of propernames could be found in the vocabulary of advertisement.C. Rhetorical devices:One can easily find a lot of parallelism, reiteration and alliteration.25. What is the relationship between literary language and ordinary language?1) The kind of language people use in daily conversation is the ultimate source of thelanguage of literature.2) Ordinary language follows the norm of convention, and the purpose is to beunderstood fully.3) Literary language is not the mechanical copy of ordinary language, but refined andprocessed.4) Literary language has some linguistic deviation.III. Stylistic analysis (20 points):1. Explain the connotative meaning of the italicized words or expressions in the followingsentences (12 points; in test it may or may not appear; it contains 3 words or expressions):1) Don’t trust her; she is a snake in the grass.Snake is a kind of animal, because of prejudice and cultural conventions now oftenused to refer to a person who is cunning and untrustworthy2) The enemy will attack us tomorrow morning, but we are still not well prepared. TheDamocles’ sword is hanging over us.Damocles’ sword is an allusion to Greek mythology. Damocles was invited to abanquet in the court. In the midst of the entertainment, Damocles looked up and sawsuspended above his head by a single thread a naked sword. By extension, it comesto mean an immediate danger.3) We have to consult him, you know, he is the real Titan in our class.Titan is a name used to refer to a class of gods huge in physical size. By extension,it comes to mean a person of great strength or influence.4) News from Pentagon today says …Pentagon is a huge building in Washington in which the U.S. Department ofDefense exercises its functions, now often used to refer to the ministry itself5) She knows nothing about the cruelty of the world. She is a lily.Lily is a flower and by cultural conventions a symbol of purity and innocence in thewest.6) Hamlet, according to some psycho-analysis theory, is a character who has theOedipus complex.According to psycho-analysis theory, Oedipus complex refers to the sexual love of an infant for the parent of the opposite sex, with jealousy of the other parent, often in an unconscious way. In this play, Hamlet is believed to have this kind of hidden desire. Actually, he seems to attempt to kill his father and marry his mother in his unconscious mind.7) He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Don’t believe what he says.A wolf is a wild animal that looks like a large dog and that kills and eats otheranimals. Here wolf is used to refer to persons who are cruel and untrustworthy.8) The doctor told him it is not cancer, however, it is only a white lie.A lie is something that someone says which they know is untrue. A white lie is a liethat is not very serious, deliberately made, usually is used to comfort others.9) He is always ready to help people when they are in need. He’s a real Robin Hood.Robin Hood is a legendary outlaw of medieval England. He is said to take money form the rich and give it to the poor. By extension, it comes to mean any person ready to defend the interest of the poor and innocent.10) Their policy is all sticks and no carrots.One uses carrot to refer to something that is offered to people in order to persuade them to do something. The word “stick” is used to refer to harsher persuasion.11) China never stands on the side of Chauvinism.Chauvin was a soldier under the command of Napoleon who had blind worship for Napoleon. By extension, it comes to mean a kind of narrow minded patriotism.12) Children are flowers of our countryFlowers here are the symbol of young, lovely things. Here the sentence means that children are the future of our country.2. What possible social relationships exist between the participants in the followingsentences? (12 points; in test we may have the same pattern)1) Excuse me, could you tell me the right time, please?2) What time is it, please?3) What’ the time?Sentence 1) shows a high degree of politeness and formality which may most probably appear in a conversation between strangers with great social distance in between.Sentence 2) still shows some degree of politeness and formality which may be in a conversation between acquaintances. Sentence 3) is a direct question without taking care of politeness. This is characteristic of conversations between friends or classmates orfamily members.3. Indicate what kind of figures of speech is used in the following examples? (8 points, intest we may have 2 sentences)The young hunter was as strong as a lion. (simile)Life is but a brief candle. (metaphor)from the cradle to the grave (metonymy)Many hands make light work. (synecdoche)She’s as old as a mountain. (hyperbole)A victorious defeat (oxymoron)He is a fool. He never knows where his personal interest lies. His whole heart is concerned about the interest of other people. (irony)Belinda smiled, and all the world was gay. (overstatement / hyperbole)The drunkard loves his bottle better than his wife. (metonymy)My love is a red, red rose. (metaphor)4. Try to analyze the following sentence and point out its stylistic value (12 points)1) Sentences can be classified into different kinds, e.g., according to their structures,various functions they apply, or according to the rhetorical effects they achieve. For example, Rhetorically speaking, we may have periodic, loose, elliptical, and inverted sentence. A periodic sentence is one that is not grammatically complete until the end is reached. Being the opening sentence of a novel, the reader may expect a serious one. And when the reader reads the beginning of the long sentence, they find an emphatic construction. And the first words are rather big and formal words, like “universally”, and “acknowledged”. Also, there is a word “truth”. From thes e words the reader’s suspense is risen and they would feel an immediate and strong interest in finding out what the universal truth is. While they are reading the long sentence, they feel more and more tense and serious till the very end of this sentence. But, out of their expectancy, they find the truth is the common one —money and wife. Because of the prolonged suspense, the reader would feel a sudden relaxation and ridiculous recreation. This sentence-building skill serves effectively and sets down the basic tone of the novel —being funny enough.2) This is indeed a very significant line in terms of its clause structure.Firstly, we may notice that the three clauses are short in length and simple in structure and arranged in chronological order. This generates a feeling that the acts of coming, seeing and conquering were simple, and were completed one after another in quick succession.Secondly, we can see that the three clauses have the same structure, i.e., they。
英语语言学 Chapter 7
Anthropological study of linguistics: study of language in a sociocultural context. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942):
The meaning of a word greatly depends upon its occurrence in a given context. 2. Language functions as a link in human activity, a mode of action.
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第一个给文化下明确定义是英国人类学家泰勒， 他认为文化是“一个复杂的总体，它包括知识、 信仰、艺术、伦理道德、法律、风俗以及作为 一个社会成员的个人通过学习获得任何其他能 力和习惯。 随后，由于学者各自的学术立场和观察角度不 同，产生了各种定义。各种定义应当是互补的。 综合各家之见解，文化是指人类创造出来的并 可以通过学习获得和为后人学习和传递下去的 一切物质和非物质产品。
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1.1 The relationship between L & C
Generally, the relation of L to C is that of part to whole, for L is part of C. The knowledge and beliefs that constitute a people’s culture are habitually encoded and transmitted in L.
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请客吃饭 称呼用语 接受礼物 电话用语 面对恭维 问候用语 考虑问题的主体 亲属称谓
英语文体学课本1-2
Table of Contents1 The Concern of Stylistics1.1. Stylistics1.2. Language1.3. Aspects of the Speech Event1.4. Language Varieties and Function1.5. Style1.6. The Study of Style1.7. The Concern of Stylistic Study1.8. Stylistics and Other Spheres of Study2 The Need for Stylistic Study2.1. Stylistic Study Helps Cultivate a Sense of Appropriateness2.2. Stylistic Study Sharpens the Understanding and Appreciation of Literary Works2.3. Stylistic Study Helps Achieve Adaptation in Translation3 Varieties of Language3.1. Two Kinds of Varieties3.2. Dialects3.3. Registers3.4. The Mutual Dependence Between Register and Dialect3.5. The Social Meaning of Language Varieties4 Linguistic Description4.1. The Aims of Stylistics in Linguistic Description4.2. Levels of Language4.3. Stylistic Features4.4. Procedure of Linguistic Description4.5. The Practical Description and Analysis in This Book5 Formal vs Informal Language5.1.The Interpersonal Function of Language5.2. Degrees of Formality5.3. Functional Tenor and Degrees of Formality5.4. Martin Joos' Classification5.5. Speech Situation and Formality5.6. Formality and Linguistic Features5.7. Sets of Co-occurring Features5.8. Involved vs Informational Texts5.9. Tenors, Field, and Mode6 Spoken vs Written Language6.1. Striking Differences6.2. Stylistic Differences6.3. Examples of Contrast6.4. More Delicate Distinctions Amongst Modes of Discourse6.5. Mode, Field, and Tenors7 The English of Conversation7.1. Necessity of Studying Speech7.2. Necessity of Studying Conversation7.3. Object of Study7.4. An Adapted Way of Transcription7.5. A Sample Text of Casual Conversation7.6. General Features7.7. Stylist Features in Terms of Levels of Language7.8. Summary7.9. Other Kinds of Conversation8 The English of Pubic Speech8.1. Scope of Public Speech8.2. A Sample of Text for Analysis8.3. General Features of Public Speech8.4. Stylistic Features of Public Speech9 The English of Advertising9.1. Advertising English as a Variety9.2. Newspaper Advertising9.3. Radio Advertising9.4. Television Advertising10 The English of News Reporting10.1. The English of New Reporting as a Variety10.2. Two Samples Texts for Analysis10.3. General Features of Newspaper Reporting10.4. Stylistic Features of Newpaper Reporting10.5. Stylistic Features of Radio and Television News11 The English of Science and Techology11.1. The Scope of the English of Science and Technology 11.2. Sample Texts for Analysis11.3. General Features of EST11.4. Stylistic Features of EST11.5. Features of Spoken EST12 The English of Legal Documents12.1. The English of Legal Documents as a Variety12.2. Sample Texts for Analysis12.3. Stylistic Features of Legal English13 The English of Literature (1) --General Remarks13.1. Literature as Language Art13.2. Literary Language and Ordinary Language13.3. Literary Language as a Variety14 The English of Literature (2) --The Language of Fiction 14.1. Manipulation of Semantic Roles14.2. Creation of Images and Symbols14.3. Preference in Diction14.4. Artistic Manipulation of Sentence Variety and Rhythm14.5. Employment of Various Points of View14.6. The Subtle Workings of Authorial Tones14.7. Various Ways of Presenting Speech and Thought15 The English of Literature (3) --The Language of Drama15.1. Manipulation of the Naturalness of Characters' Speech15.2. Exploitation of Different Speech Act, Turn-taking and Politeness Patterns15.3. Use of Assumptions, Presuppositions and Conversational Implicature16 The English of Literature (4) --The Language of Poetry16.1. Various Devices for Compression16.2. Extreme Care in Word Choice16.3. Free Arrangement of Word Order16.4. Lexical and Syntactical Repetition16.5. Full Manipulation of Sound Effects16.6. The Manipulation of Sight16.7. Analysis of Poems at All LevelsGlossary1. The Concern of Stylistics1.1 StylisticsWhat is stylistics?Simply defined, STYLISTICS is a discipline that studies the ways in which language is used; it is a discipline that studies the styles of language in use.This definition, however, needs elucidation.The stylistics we are discussing here is MODERN STYLISTICS, a discipline that applies concepts and techniques of modern linguistics to the study of styles of language use. It has two subdivisions: GENERAL STYLISTICS and LITERARY STYLISTICS, with the latter concentrating solely on unique features of various literary works, and the former on the general features of various types of language use. 'Stylistics', in this book, is general stylistics: one that studies the stylistic features of the main varieties of language, covering the functional varieties from the dimension of fields of discourse (different social activities), formal vs informal varieties from the dimension of tenors of discourse (different addresser-addressee relationships), and the spoken vs written varieties from the dimension of modes of discourse (different mediums). Meanwhile, general stylistics covers the various genres of literature (fiction, drama, poetry) in its study. But it focuses on the interpretation of the overall characteristics of respective genres, with selected extracts of literary texts as samples.If we say that literary stylistics also discusses the overall linguistic features of the various genres of literature, then the scope of general stylistics and the scope of literary stylistics are only partly overlapping, as is shown in the following figure:ModernStylisticsGe neral StylisticsLite rary StylisticsVar iety FeaturesGenreFeaturesLiterary TextStyleGeneral stylistics, as a discipline, needs to make clear a whole set of related terms and terminology and answer questions like: What is language? What is language variety? What is style? What are stylistic features? etc.1.2 LanguageFirst, we need to clarify our views on language. We must be clear about what language is, or how we should look at language.There are many definitions of language, or many ways of looking at it. Modern linguistics which began with Saussure's lectures on general linguistics in 1906-11 regards language as a system of signs. Meanwhile, American structuralism represented by Bloomfield regards language as a unified structure, a collection of habits. From the late 1950s on, the fact that 'man talks' and the implications of this human capacity have been at the centre of investigation in the linguistic sciences. The transformational-generative (TG) linguists headed by Noam Chomsky have beenconcerned with the innate and infinite capacity of the human mind. This approach sees language as a system of innate rules (Chomsky, 1957). The approach advocated by the systemic-functional linguists headed by M. A. K. Halliday sees language as a 'social semiotic', as an instrument used to perform various functions in social interaction. This approach holds that in many crucial respects, what is more important is not so much that 'man talks' as that 'men talk'; that is, that language is essentially a social activity (Halliday, 1978).The philosophical view of LANGUAGE or A LANGUAGE is related of the actual occurrence of language in society--what are called language activities. People accomplish a great deal not only through physical acts such as cooking, eating, bicycling, running a machine, cleaning, but also by verbal acts of all types: conversation, telephone calls, job application letters, notes scribbled to a roommate, etc. All utterances (whether a word, a sentence, or several sentences) can be thought of as goal-directed actions. (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969) Such actions as carried out through language are SPEECH ACTs. Social activities in which language (either spoken or written) plays an important role such as conversation, discussion, lecture, etc are SPEECH EVENTs.Most of these events are sequential and transitory (that is, they occur in sequence and can not last for a long time). It is difficult to examine them at the time of their occurrence. So we have to record the events. Any such record, whether recalled through memory, or committed to a tape, or written down on paper, or printed in a book, of a speech event, is known as a TEXT.Language is often compared to a CODE, a system of signals or symbols used for sending a MESSAGE, a piece of information. In any act of verbal communication (both spoken and written, primarily spoken), language has been regarded as a system for translating meanings in the ADDRESSER's (the speaker's/writer's) mind into sounds/letters, ie ENCODING (meaning-to-sound/letter), or conversely, for translating sounds/letters into meanings in the ADDRESSEE's (the hearer's/ reader's) mind, ie DECODING (sound/letter-to-meaning), with lexis and grammar as the formal code mediating between meaning and sound/letter.But we must keep in mind that, unlike other signalling codes, language code does not operate in a fixed way- it is open-ended in that it permits generation of new meanings and new forms (such as metaphorical meanings, and neologisms); ie it is in a way creatively extendible.Text, then, is verbal communication (either spoken or written) seen as a message coded in a linear pattern of sound waves, or in a linear sequence of visible marks on paper.1.3 Aspects of the Speech EventLanguage is transmitted, patterned, and embedded in the human social experience. So it is both possible and useful to discern three crucial aspects of a speech event--the substantial, the formal, and the situational. (see Gregory and Carroll, 1978) Language is transmitted by means of audible sound waves in the air or visible marks on a surface. These sounds or marks are the SUBSTANCE of the speech events. The audible sounds or visible marks are not jumbled together--rather, they are arranged in a conventionally orderly way, displaying meaningful patterns in their internal relations. These meaningful internal patterns are the FORM of the speech event. Language activities do not occur in isolation from other human activities. They take place in relevant extratextual circumstances, linguistic and non-linguistic. These relevant extratextual circumstances are the SITUATION * of the speech event. Any speech event is part of a situation, and so has a relationship with that situation. Indeed, it is this contextual relationship between thesubstance and form of a speech event on the one hand and the situation in which it occurs on the other, which gives what is normally called 'meaning' to utterances. In other words, context determines meaning of features in situations.*Situation, as the non-linguistic setting or environment surrounding language use, can clearly influence linguistic behaviour. It is frequently synonymous with context, a conceptual abstraction from all possible situations, and its collocates -- context of situation, especially, context of utterance. The abstracted context, composed partly of the probable co-text, partly of the probable situation of each item, establishes the meaningfulness of the formal items in the language.1.4 Language Varieties and FunctionAs mentioned just now, when language is used, it is always used in a context. What is said and how it is said is often subject to a variety of circumstances. In other words, speech events differ in different situations, ie between different persons, at different times, in different places, for different purposes, through different media, and amidst different social environments. We often adjust our language according to the nature of the context of situation. Some situations seem to depend generally and fairly consistently on a regular set of linguistic features; as a result, there have appeared different types of a language which are called V ARIETIES OF LANGUAGE. So far as the English language is concerned, there are different 'Englishes' to fit different situations: for instance, Old/Modern English, British/American English, Black English, legal English, scientific English, liturgical English, advertising English, formal/ informal English, spoken/written English, etc. There is actually no such thing as a homogeneous English language.In all these varieties, language performs various communicative roles, ie FUNCTIONs. For example, language is used (functions) to communicate ideas, to express attitudes, and so on. The roles that language plays are ever changing and the number of the roles can be numerous. There have been many attempts to categorize these roles into a few major functions. The IDEATIONAL or REFERENTIAL function serves for expressing the speaker's/writer's experience of the real world, including the inner world of his/her own consciousness. The INTERPERSONAL or EXPRESSIVE/SOCIAL function serves to establish and maintain social relations, for the expression of social roles, and also for getting things done by means of interaction between one person and another. The TEXTUAL function provides means for making links within the text itself and with features of its immediate situation. (For detailed discussion see Buhler, 1934; Halliday, 1971.)The three functions represent three coexisting ways in which language has to be adapted to its users' communicative needs. First, it has to convey a message about' reality', about the world of experience, from speaker/writer to hearer/reader. Secondly, it must fit appropriately into a speech situation, fulfilling the particular social designs that speaker/writer has upon hearer/reader. Thirdly, it must be well constructed as an utterance or text, so as to serve the decoding needs of hearer/reader.These functions and the needs they serve are interrelated: success in interpersonal or expressive/social communication depends in part on success in transmitting a message, which in turn depends in part on success in terms of text production.Different types of language have relations with predominant functions, eg advertising with persuasion, TV commentary with information, address terms with social roles. Literary texts can be regarded as a type of language which performs a distinct social function -- an aesthetic orpoetic function.The functions are not mutually exclusive: an utterance may well have more than one function.1.5 StyleNow we come to the question of style.The word STYLE has been used in many ways:Style may refer to a person's distinctive language habits, or the set of individual characteristics of language use, as 'Shakespeare's style', 'Miltonic style', 'Johnsonese', or 'the style of James Joyce'. Buffon's ' Le style, c'est l'homme même', has contributed to the vogue of this definition. Often, it concentrates on a person's particularly singular or original features of speaking or writing. Hence at the extreme end style may refer to a writer's deviations from a relatively normal use of language.Style may refer to a set of collective characteristics of language use, ie language habits shared by a group of people at a given time, as 'Elizabethan style', in a given place, as 'Yankee humour', amidst a given occasion, as 'the style of public speaking', for a literary genre, as ‘ballad style', etc. Here the concentration is not on the individuality of the speaker or writer, but on their similarities in a given situation.Style may refer to the effectiveness of a mode of expression, which is implied in the definition of style as 'saying the right thing in the most effective way' or 'good manners', as a 'clear' or 'refined' style advocated in most books of composition.Style may refer solely to a characteristic of 'good' or 'beautiful' literary writings. This is the wide-spread use of style among literary critics, as 'grand style', 'ornate style', 'lucid style', 'plain style', etc, given to literary works.Of the above four senses of style, the first two (especially the second) come nearest to our definition of style. To be exact, we shall regard STYLE as the language habits of a person or group of persons in a given situation. As different situations tend to yield different varieties of a language which, in turn, display different linguistic features, so STYLE may be seen as the various characteristic uses of language that a person or group of persons make in various social contexts.Here we can use Ferdinand de Saussure's distinction between langue and parole. Langue is the system of rules common to speakers of a particular language (such as English), ie the general mass of linguistic features common to a language as used on every conceivable occasion. Parole is the particular uses of this system, or selections from this system, that a person or group of persons will make on this or that occasion. Style, then, belongs to parole. It consists in choices from the total linguistic repertoire of a particular language.All linguistic choices are meaningful, and all linguistic choices are stylistic. Even choices which are dearly dictated by subject matter are part of style. In our discussion, however, stylistic choice is limited to those aspects of linguistic choice which concern alternative ways of rendering the same subject matter, or those forms of language which can be seen as equivalent in terms of 'referential reality' they describe, or, in other words, the 'synonymous expressions' in transmitting the same 'message'.We are interested in the way in which choices of codes are adapted to communicative functions for advertising, news reporting, science thesis, ere including the aesthetic function forliterature. Hence the occurrence of different functional styles and of the various styles of literature.When we look at style in a text, we are not likely to be struck by local or individual choices in isolation, but rather at a pattern of choices. If, for instance, a text shows a repeated preference for passive structures over active structures, we are likely to consider this preference a feature of style. But local or specific features may also be noteworthy features of style if they form a significant relationship with other features in a coherent (consistent) pattern of choice. Consistency in preference is naturally reduced to 'frequency': To find out what is distinctive about the style of a text, we just measure the frequency of the features it contains. The more we wish to substantiate what we say about style, the more we will need to point to the linguistic evidence of texts; and linguistic evidence has to be couched in terms of numerical frequency.Yet it is worth our note that a feature which occurs more rarely than usual is just as much a part of the statistical pattern as one which occurs more often than usual; and it is also a significant aspect of our sense of style. (see 4.4)1.6 The Study of StyleSome scholars call the object of stylistics simply style, without further qualifications. Indeed, the study of style in western countries has been undertaken for more than two thousand years. The doctrine of 'decorum' or fittingness of style has passed down from the rhetoricians of Ancient Greece and Rome , who applied it first to oratory and then to written language. Up till the late 19th century, style studies had always been closely integrated with the art of writing and the evaluation of literary works. In fact, traditional approaches to language laid such heavy store by the quality of written language that 'good style' or sometimes simply 'style' was used as a description of writing that was praiseworthy, skilful or elegant.At the turn of the century, Ferdinand de Saussure, in his Geneva lectures of 1906-11, Cours de linguistique generale (1916), attacked the 19th century philologists for their 'diachronic' or historical study of language (ie looking at language as it changes through time), and for their interest in prescribing normal or 'correct' usage modelled on 'classic' literary writings. His influence was so strong that, after him, the professional study of language soon veered away from the historical concern of philology towards linguistics, which claimed to be heavily descriptive and to describe a given language 'synchronically' (ie synchronic study: looking at language as it exists at a given time). Saussure, with his insistence on the primacy of everyday speech, was little interested in the written language and even less in the literary. He viewed literary language as special uses of language which were comparatively unimportant in the study of language as a whole. His pupil, Charles Bally, who began the systematic study of what we now call 'stylistics', again gave scant attention to literature. American linguist Leonard Bloomfield held much the similar view. This is only too natural, for, at the turn of the century, new linguistics was yet fighting for its autonomy and needed to emphasize its difference from traditional language studies. It was not until the fifties that there appeared a sway from this position.Noam Chomsky's Syntactic Structures (1957) revived interest in what had once looked a discredited concern with 'correctness' in speech and with an inherited system of rules. Chomsky believes that the human mind must be constituted at birth to receive certain patterns of language; otherwise it would be very hard to explain how infants learn their mother tongue so quickly and with little effort. So it may not have been absurd of the European Renaissance to have interested itself in the prospect of a universal grammar underlying all human languages. Chomsky destroyedthe dominance of structuralism and encouraged a new tolerance of historical grammar. And in doing this he initiated a new interest in literature among professional linguists and the prospect of co-operation between criticism and the professional study of language.By the 1950s most of the early anxieties on the part of linguists had become unnecessary. The tools of linguistics could be used in related disciplines without the danger of reducing linguistics itself to a mere technology or a service station. On the contrary, by the time they came back to literary language, linguists had been armed to the teeth – with fresh insights and new theories as well as a formidable technical vocabulary. This time they would study style in a much more detailed and systematic way. They would not study literature to the exclusion of other varieties of language. Rather they would approach literature as a complex of varieties of language in use and point to the aesthetic function of literary language.The 1960s saw the flourishing of modern stylistics: Two landmark volumes of papers presented respectively to the Indiana Style Conference in 1958 ( Style in language , MIT Press) and to the Bellagio Style Conference in 1969 ( Literary Style: a Symposium , OUP) came into being. Monographs such as Linguistics and Style (Enkvist et al, 1964) and Investigating English Style (Crystal and Davy, 1969), A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry (Leech, 1969) appeared. New courses on style were offered in colleges and universities. Textbooks concerning spoken varieties of English (some with accompanying records or tapes) such as Varieties of Spoken Englis h (Dickinson and Mackin, 1969), Scientifically Speaking (Brookes, 1971) were published. Grammars, as A Grammar of Contemporary English (Quirk et al, 1972) widened their scope to include in their study 'sentence connection', 'focus', 'theme', 'emphasis', and 'varieties of English and classes of English'. Dictionaries began to give labels (eg. fml, colloquial, slang, etc) to words and phrases of stylistic colouring.From the 1960s onward, application of various linguistic models such as transformational-generative linguistics, systemic-functional linguistics, speech-act theory, discourse analysis etc in stylistic analysis has been gaining momentum in the past decades of years.1.7 The Concern of Stylistic StudyHaving discussed what language is and the sense of style, we are now in a position to come to a more refined definition of stylistics: It is a discipline that studies the sum of stylistic features characteristic of the different varieties of language.Stylistic study concerns itself with the situational features that influence variations in language use, the criterion for the classification of language variety, and the description and interpretation of the linguistic features and functions of the main varieties (both literary and non-literary) of a language-- in this book, of the Modern English language.As an independent discipline, stylistics offers a comparatively more complete theoretical framework and a more rigorous procedure of linguistic description, so that learners will have a systematic knowledge of the features of different varieties of language, make appropriate use of language in their communication, familiarize themselves with the stylistic features of the different genres of literature, and deepen their understanding and appreciation of literary works. Besides, stylistics offers useful ideas on translation and language teaching.1.8 Stylistics and Other Spheres of StudyA formerly very much borderline discipline, stylistics takes roots in the soil of modern linguistics, using models and methods of linguistic description in the stylistic analysis of texts. Stylistics also absorbs nourishment from literary theories, and so is closely related to them.Similar to modern linguistics, stylistics lays stress on the study of language functions and the different structures dictated by these functions. But linguistics stresses the description of linguistic structures while stylistics on the stylistic effects of different language structures.Stylistics is the continuation and development of rhetoric. However, discarding the traditional practices of rhetoric to establish norms for people to model on, stylistics turns to the presentation of the functional features of language, --- it is descriptive, not prescriptive. It does not aim at a so-called 'refined' style of writing, but at a manner 'appropriate' to the situation.Stylistics supplies literary criticism with a brand-new approach. Since the beginning of the 20th century the linguistic turn in literary criticism has enabled the scientific school of literary theorists such as Russian formalism, New Criticism, Structuralism, etc to place language in the central position of their theories. With a whole set of meta-language renewed by modern linguistics and modern literary theory-- deviation, prominence, function, situational factors, narrative points of view, modes of presenting speech, etc, and with the multi-level structural approach, stylistics has pushed the linguistic turn to its extreme. Making literary research still more scientific and more accurate, it broadens the vision of literary criticism.Study Questions1) Consult at least five books on stylistics, note down the definitions of stylistics that they give, and discuss the similarities and differences among the definitions.2) Compare the definitions of language put forward by different schools of linguistics. Tell what view or views of language is or are suited to stylistics, and why.3) What aspects are there in a speech event?4) Different scholars classify the function of language into different major types. Compare them, and comment on the saying: The functions of language are mutually exclusive.5) Comment on the different senses of style.6) The goal of most stylistic study is simply to describe the formal features of texts for their own sake. What do you think of this statement?7) Discuss the relationship between stylistics and rhetoric, and tell how stylistics broadens the vision of literary criticism.。
全版新编英国文学选读(上)chapter7.doc
Chapter 7. The Eighteenth Century[The Age of Reason (1688——1798)]I. Historical backgroundAfter the Glorious Revolution, Whig and Tory were established. The former one represented the interests of the moneyed class, while the latter one represented the royalists.England fought many wars with France, Spain, etc. In those wars England rose as a victor making it the strongest country in navy and economy and considerably stretching its occupied land oversees extending from the west of Canada to the east of India.II. The special features of the cultural life at the timea. Political writings: the rise of the political parties led to the appearance of pamphlet wars of political writings attracting many writers to work for either of the parties or both alternatively.b. The rise of newspapers and magazines: the reason for the rise: ·Both parties had their respective ones to express their opinions. ·The rise of the middle class demanded entertainment and education and they need to express their views too.c. Coffeehouses:where people gathered to exchange ideas and thus they help to determine the literary trend of the timed. The new morality:·The emphasis on reason·The development of tolerance of different opinions in politics and religione. The influence of science and technology:·Principia Mathematica in 1687 by Newton (1642——1727) ·The new epistemology of John Locke (1632——1704)f. French influence——Augustanism——neoclassicism stressing to learn from the classicals*What is classicism?The characteristics in Greek and Roman classical works. They are clarity, logic, form, proportion, balance with each other, parallelism, restraint.III. The characteristics of neoclassicism1.Reason rather than emotion and form rather than content were emphasized.2.Most of the writings at the time were didactic and satirical.3.The closed couplet was the only possible verse form for serious work for elegance, correctness, appropriateness and restraint were preferred.4.It is exclusively a “town”poetry, catering to the interests of the“society”in great cities. The humbler aspect of life are neglected and it showed in most part no love of nature, landscape, or country things and peoplecking romantic elements and being hostile to medieval literature6.An age of prose, especially the latter part the centuryIV. Representative authors of the time1. Daniel Defoe2. Jonathan Swift3. Joseph Addison4. Alexander Pope5. Samuel Johnson6. Henry Fieldding7. Thomas Gray8. Thobias George Smollet9. Richard Brinsley Sheridan10. Robert Burns11. William Blake1.Daniel Defoe(1661—1731)a pioneer novelist of England and also a prolific writer of books and pamphlets on a great variety of subjects.1）his life story:a.from a dissenter’s family: Presbyterian butcherb.having a questionable character in politics, but strong belief in religious freedom2)his literary achievements:·fiction:Robinson , Crusoe , Moll Flanders·contribution to journalism & regulating English trade methods and principles3) characteristics of his fiction:a.Robinson Crusoe:(1)based on real experience of a Scottish sailor but combinedwith his own imagination, it is still a fictional work.(2)using the picaresque frame with a story in the shape of a journal and having strong sense of journalistic truth; containing serious wisdom of life(3)The importance of the hero:i. typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical and diligent with a restless curiosity to know more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural challengesIi. a real hero of middle class different from the hero of knights orepic hero(4)moral teaching: sing praise of labour, presenting it as the source of human pride and happiness as well as a means to change man’s living conditions from desperation to prosperity(5)limitations:i. praise colonization overseas through the relationship with Friday ii. his attitude to woman is open to criticismiii. Praise slaveryb. Moll Flanders:(1) its story(2)the significance, one is for the first a woman being the protagonist; artistically more mature than Robinson: better structure and better plot; so it is written in an autobiographical form called a memoir2. Jonathan Swift(1667-1745)a churchman and also a university graduate who viewed human society with contempt and has been called a cynic and even a misanthrope.1)his life story:His father died before he was born, and he had to accept the aid of his relatives and finished his study at Dublin University.2)his literary achievements:a.satirical essays:The Battle of Books(1696-1698), A Tale of the Tub(1696-1698)b.Writings in pamphlets:The Draiper’s Letters, A Modest Proposac.fiction:Gulliver’s Travel(1726)3)characteristics of his pamphlets:·Gulliver’s Travela. criticizing the oppression and exploitation of the Irish people by the absentee landlords and the English government.b. using bitter satire·The battle of Booksa debate happening 18th century. Some people modern people ·The Tale of the Tuba satire on various religious sects: Catholic, Anglican and dissenters’churches: changes done by different churches to the Christian doctrines·The Draiper’s Lettersrevealing the corruption and license, debased·A Modest Proposala satire on the English government’s heavy exploitation4)A Modest Proposala.It is a bitter satire on the policy of the English government towards the Irish people.b.Swift in this article suggested to the Irish people that the best way to end their misery was to produce children and sell them at market as a delicious dish for the rich.3. Joseph Addison(1672-1719)and Richard Steele(1672-1729)1) their life stories: they were born in the same year, attended the same school and later studied at the same university.they had the same political trend——whig2) their literary achievements:Joseph Addison & Richard Steele·Joseph Addisonstarted the periodical essays that were the most characteristic genre of 18thcentury literature.·Richard Steelecontribution to the periodicals:The Tatler, The Spectator, The Guardian3)characteristics of their periodical essays:a.Methods:d, indirect, was admirably adapted to their purpose.2. were full of wit, humor, and satire.b. Themes:dealt with1)light topics-fashions, head-dresses, practical jokes,2)polite conversations, discussed art, philosophy, drama, and poetry, and sought in so doing not only to interest the general reader in such subjects, but also to guide and develop their tastes.3) deeper topics such immoralityOne other characteristic: draw some images of some typical middle class people:C. Style: simple language familiar to the middle men; graceful, poised, well balanced, familiar words and expressions to the readers,4)Aims of their writing:a.to educate the newly risen middle class.b.to bridge the gap between the small circle of London elegance and wit,and the large, serious, rather Puritan middle class.5)two selected pieces written by Addisona. The Royal Exchangeb. Sir Roger at Church4.Alexander Pope(1688-1744)1) his life story:·he was self-educated.·he worked hard against poor health and unfavorable conditions and gained a profound knowledge of both the classics and the craft of writing.2)his literary achievements:·An Essay on Criticism, The Rape of the Lock, An Essay on Man ·Contribution to poetry in heroic couplets3)characteristics of his poems:a. succeeded Chaucer and Dryden in bringing metrical form to its perfection.b. contained a great number of quotable lines that have passed into everyday speech as popular sayings, such as :“To err is human, to forgive divine”, and “For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”c. limitation: Pope is never profound in thought, so the poems lack original ideas5.Samuel Johnson(1709-1784)the greatest English man of letters between Pope and Wordsworth. 1) his life story:·he was born in a book seller’s family.·he was conservative in his world outlook and was against any kind of reform or innovation.·he upheld tradition and authority. Uphold conventions authority2)his literary achievements:·A Dictionary of the English Language·Contribution to a periodical, The Rambler,·Known for essay; his Preface to his edition of Shakespeare and The Lives of the Poets3)characteristics of his writing:Emphasizing the specification of language6. Henry Fielding(1707-1754)playwright, novelist and district law magistrate, came from an aristocratic background1) his life story:·was born to an upper-class family·began writing plays while at university and took it as his profession after leaving school.2)his literary achievements:novels:The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews,The History of Tom Jones3)characteristics of his novels:a. The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrew( 1) its story and significance(2)in his preface to this novel Fielding proudly announced that he had created a new genre called comic epics in prose and discussed its characteristic feature.(3)the novel turned from a novel of seduction into one of the first exemplars of the great English panoramic tradition, which was to reach new heights later in Thackeray and Dickens.b. The History of Tom Jones(1) its story(2) Its significance:a. the understanding of allegory in the storyb. to Fielding, the countryside represents the basic goodness of human race, whereas the city stands for evil and sin.Tobias George SmollettA general introductionTobias George Smollett (19 March 1721 –17 September 1771) was a Scottish poet and author.He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as·The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748),·The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens.·His last novel, the best novel is The Expedition of Humphry Clinker(1771), published in the year of his death.7. Thomas Gray(1716-1771)one of the representative poets at the time1) his life story:was born in London and educated at Eton and Cambridge, where he, after a grand tour on the continent, spent the rest of his life.2)characteristics of his poems:·more natural and spontaneous in thought·emphasizing emotions and sentiments3)The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard8. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)1) his life story:was born in Dublin, of Irish origin, and was educated at Harrow.2)his literary achievements:drama: The Rivals, A Trip to Sarborough, The School for Scandal3)The School for Scandala. its story and significanceb. it is written in the tradition of Comedy of Manners, and exposes the immorality, hypocrisy, money-hunting, and scandal-mongering of the idle classes in 18th century England.9. Robert Burns(1759-1796)1) his life story:was born in Scotland in a poor peasant family and educated himself through selfstudy.2）his literary achievements:poems and songs3)characteristics of his poems and songsa.written in the Scottish dialect and in the tradition of Scottish folk songs.b.besides love lyrics, most of his poems and songs are about patriotic and political themes.10. William Blake (1757-1827)a poet as well as an engraver.1)his life story:was born in a hosier’s family in London and drew pictures and engraved to illustrate his works and the works of others.2)his literary achievements:·poems:Poetical Sketches, Songs of Innocence,Songs of Experience, Prophetic Books·broke with the neo-classical tradition both in form and in content3)characteristics of his poemsa. Songs of Innocence(1) expressed the poet’s delight in life,even in the face of sorrow and suffering.(2)the world is seen through the eyes of a child’s imagination which can be attained by adults if they cast away the follies and deceits of the hostile world and seek a visionary world through their imagination.b. Songs of Experience(1) the atmosphere is no longer sunny but sad and gloomy, and evil is found everywhere in this world.(2) through the loss of imagination, man has become a slave to the falsehood and hypocrisy of religion and society, and thus has lost the Heaven of Innocence and gained the Hell of Experience.c. the contradiction of these two poem collections。
《英语文体学》1-7总结
第一章文体学相关研究内容文体学分为普通文体学和文学文体学，二者有重叠部分，但在此我们所研究的是普通文体学，文体学研究的是语言风格，对语言，人们的理解有很多种，但不管哪种说法，无可否认，语言都是人类表达思想、互相交流的手段，并且有很多具不同意旨的言语事件；风格是与说话人的语言习惯、时代背景相关的，是人门特有的表达方式，因人而异，对语言起到一定修饰作用并且关系到语言表达的有效性。
因此，文体学研究会涉及各种语言变体及相关特征、功用。
文体学对提高理解力和鉴赏水平有很大帮助。
此外，文体学还与语言学、修辞学及文学评论等相关联。
接下来的章节中将具体阐述相关内容。
第二章文体学研究的必要性学习文体学可以提高我们语言使用的精确性，犹如不能在婚礼上穿牛仔装一样，语言使用要合乎当时、当地的具体环境，这就涉及文体学中的言语事件；学习文体学有利于提高我们对文学作品的理解与鉴赏水平，因为文学创作中，作者不可避免会对作品的语言、风格做选择，在文学评论三部曲（描述、解读、评估）中会涉及相关内容；文体学对满足翻译适应性有很大帮助，翻译很难做到完全对应，但基本原则一致是必须的，如作品基调、作品体裁等一致。
以上文体学内容中都有涉及。
第三章语言变体在不同的社交场合，有不同的约定俗成的语体。
根据特定场合的语言习惯及其中特定说话人的语言使用，语言变体可以分为两种：方言变体和语域变体。
方言变体与不同的语言使用者相关，分为个人方言、时间方言、地域方言、社会方言和标准方言；语域变体与不同社交场合相关，其构成要素是语场、语式和语旨。
两种变体并非独立存在而是有一定的相关性，比如，在同一种族、同一领域或同一社会地位，为了增进了解，说话人可能会选择这一具某种共同特征人群的行内语言。
此外，从语言变体中，我们还可以获知说话人的某些相关信息，如职业、国家和说话意旨等。
第四章语言描述了解了语言变体，本章节探讨各种语言变体的具体表述问题，即具体语言表述。
在这个层面上，文体学提供了一种系统的分析方法，使我们对付各种文章轻而易举。
英语文体学第7章口语与书面语
❖ Scope of Public Speech
Want some drink? Last night’s party go well?
b. The structure of nominal groups are simple, composed of ‘determiner +adj. + n., with little post modifier. Within the nominal group, relative pronoun is often omitted in the relative clause, as in The man (whom) I met
In written language, sentences are usually complete and tend to be longer than the average spoken sentences. Clauses are closely connected. E.g..: That individual writers or speakers may in certain circumstances be identified through specimens of their discourse has given rise to another highly influential notion of style– as a set of individual characteristics. Taken to extremes, this view ends up by equating an individual with his style: the style is said to be the man. More moderately, and more usefully, the notion has been applied to some sub-set of the total linguistic characteristics rather than to the whole observable range.
英语文体学-Chapter-7-The-English-of-Conversation
A: No, it’s for ↘me. But it’s very ↘plain.
30
7.5 A Sample Text of Casual Conversation
B: It’s a lovely ↗colour- - -
A: It’s ↗nice.
B: ↘Yeah. I never di- I could never ↘take to ↗knitting
The two speakers may provide an ending simultaneously.
3) Frequency of interrogative sentences
As a verbal transaction between two people conversing, questions and answers are the basic form. Hence the higher incidence of interrogative sentences. Vocatives are used to call the attention of the addressee (to get him or her involved).
We just take casual conversation as our subject of study.
7.5 A Sample Text of Casual Conversation
Here is a sample text of a dialogue between two educated women in their thirties.
English Stylistics
Chapter 7 The English of Conversation
英语文体学教学大纲
《英语文体学》课程教学大纲课程编号：ENGL3002课程类别：专业选修课授课对象：英语、英语师范专业开课学期：秋（第7学期）学分：2主讲教师：王军指定教材：《新编英语文体学教程》，董启明主编，外语教学与研究出版社，2008年。
教学目的：英语文体学是一门实用性非常强的学科,对阅读、翻译、文章分析、文章欣赏以及得体地使用英语都有很大的帮助，此外，英语文体学也是英语语言学研究重要的基础性学科之一。
作为一门课程，英语文体学主要由两部分构成：其一为文体学研究主要内容介绍，包括文体类型、文体特征、文体价值等方面，其次为具体文体分析方法介绍。
第一课Introduction to Stylistics课时：第一周，共2课时教学内容：What is stylistics and how is it associated with other linguistic studies?第一节：The position of stylistics in general linguistics.The importance of studying stylistics.第二节：What is stylistics?The major contents of this study.Issues that need to be born in mind.思考题：1.How to do stylistics in the framework of literature or translation?2.What do you expect to learn from this course?第二课Style and Stylistics课时：第二周，共2课时教学内容：The development and scope of stylistics第一节：The definition of style and stylistics.The relationship between appreciation and research.第二节：The development of stylistics.The scope of stylistics.思考题：1.What are the major differences between style and stylistics?2.What areas in society can the knowledge of stylistics be applied to?第三课Procedure of stylistic analysis （1）课时：第三周，共2课时教学内容：Linguistic description第一节：Linguistic description: methods and procedures.第一节：A checklist of linguistic description.The functions of each one.思考题：1.Why do we need linguistic description?2.Think about the significance of conducting linguistic description.第四课Procedure of stylistic analysis （2）课时：第四周，共2课时教学内容：Textual analysis and contextual factors analysis第一节：What is textual analysis?How to conduct textual analysis?第二节：A classification of contextual factors.How to analyze contextual factors？思考题：1.How do you understand the relationship between understanding and textual analysis?2.Are there other ways to classify contextual factors?第五课Stylistic functions of linguistic items课时：第五周，共2课时教学内容：Stylistic functions as defined at different levels第一节：Stylistic functions of speech sounds.Stylistic functions of graphological items.第二节：Stylistic functions of lexical items.Stylistic functions of syntactic/grammatical items.思考题：1.How do you evaluate the different kinds of stylistic functions?2.What is the significance of studying stylistic function?第六课Varieties in relation to regions课时：第六周，共2课时教学内容：Regional English第一节：A brief introduction to British English.The appearance of American English.第二节：Differences between British English and American English.British and American regional dialects.思考题：1.What are the major causes for the differences between British English and American English?2.How to deal with the use of the two regional English in actual learning or dailycommunication?第七课Varieties in relation to media课时：第七周，共2课时教学内容：Spoken English and written English第一节：Major features of spoken English and written English.What are the standards of using spoken English or written English?第二节：Electronic English.思考题：1.What is the situation like if one is only skilled in using spoken English or written English?2.What is the role of electronic English in the course of learning English?第八课Varieties in relation to attitude课时：第八周，共2课时教学内容：Attitude-related styles第一节：Degree of formality.Politeness.第二节：Impersonality.Accessibility.思考题：1.Think about the relationship between meaning and emotion expressions.2.What do you think of the relationship between formality and politeness?第九课Varieties in relation to social factors课时：第九周，共2课时教学内容：Social factors and their constraints on language第一节：Women’s English.Black English.第二节：Taboo and euphemism.Cultural factors involved in social factors.思考题：1.What are the reasons that maintain the existence of women’s English?2.How do you understand the status of black’s English and the black’s social status?第十课Review of the past lessons课时：第十周，共2课时教学内容：A summary and comment of the past lessons第一节：The watershed of the whole course.Recall what have been learned.第二节：What are the sections that interest you the most?Is there possibility for you to conduct further research?第十一课The English of conversation课时：第十一周，共2课时教学内容：Conversational English第一节：A general introduction to what to learn in the latter half of the term.About conversation.Phonological features.第二节：Lexical features.Syntactic/grammatical features.Semantic features.Sample analysis of a student.思考题：1.How do you understand conversation in terms of direct speech and indirect speech?2.Is conversational English always informal?第十二课The English of public speaking课时：第十二周，共2课时教学内容：Public speech and its features第一节：What is public speech?Public speeches’ phonological features.Lexical features.第二节：Syntactic/grammatical features.Semantic features.Sample analysis of a student.思考题：1.What are the major differences between public speaking and conversation?2.What are the major differences between public speech and written English?第十三课The English of news reporting （1）课时：第十三周，共2课时教学内容：General knowledge about news reporting第一节：What are news reports?Different kinds of newspapers and magazines.第二节：The make-up of news reports.A sample analysis of a piece of newspaper (New York Times/China Daily)思考题：1.Is there any difference between formal news report and informal news release?2.Specify the make-up of some pages of newspaper, both English and Chinese.第十四课The English of news reporting （2）课时：第十四周，共2课时教学内容：Stylistic features of news reporting第一节：Graphological features.Lexical features.第二节：Syntactic/grammatical features.Semantic features.Sample analysis of a student.思考题：1.What are the functions of each group of stylistic features in news reporting?2.What are the stylistic features that distinguish news reporting from other textual styles?第十五课The English of Advertising课时：第十五周，共2课时教学内容：The language styles in advertising English第一节：Something about advertisements.Graphological features.第二节：Lexical features.Syntactic/grammatical features.Semantic features.Sample analysis of a student.思考题：1.What are the major purposes of advertisements?2.Give some advertising examples that show the violation of some basic language rules inadvertising.第十六课Literary English课时：第十六周，共2课时教学内容：Literary English: novel and poetry第一节：Some basic facts about the novel.Aspects for the analysis of the novel.General stylistic features of the novel.第二节：Some basic facts about the poetry.Prosody.General stylistic features of poetry.思考题：1.Between fiction and reality, what kinds of stylistic features are most suitable for the novel?2.What effects does it have on appreciation to analyze the novel’s stylistic features?3.How to balance meaning expression and poetic features in poetry?4.What are the common stylistic features between poetry and novel?第十七课：The English of science and technology课时：第十七周，共2课时教学内容：Technical English第一节：Graphological features.Lexical features第二节：Syntactic/grammatical features.Semantic features.思考题：1.How to handle formality and politeness issues in technical English?2.How is objectivity achieved in technical English?第十八课：Review and answer questions课时：第十八周，共2课时教学内容：Review and answer questions第一节：Review.第二节：Answer questions.参考书目：1.王守元.《英语文体学要略》.济南：山东大学出版社，2000.2.徐有志.《英语文体学教程》.北京：高等教育出版社，2005.3.Thornborrow,J. Patterns in Language: Stylistics for Students of Language and Literature.Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000.4.Wright, L. Stylistics: A Practical Coursebook. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching andResearch Press, 2000.。
英语文体学Chapter 7 Cohesion in Literary Discourse
Chapter 7 Cohesion in Literary DiscourseCohesion is a concept popularized by Halliday and Hasan (1976). It refers to "the set of linguistic devices that bind a text together, that give it unity or texture" (Verdonk and Weber, 1995). These devices can be phonological, syntactic, or lexical. In this chapter, we will look at each type of these cohesive devices and see how they function in literary discourse. We will also examine another type of cohesion, namely the cohesion of foregrounded features.7.1 Phonological DevicesCohesion can be achieved through sound patterns such as alliteration, assonance and rhyme which were considered in Chapter Five. But, the examples discussed there were all taken from poetry. In this section, therefore, we will examine examples from fictional prose. Consider the following extract.(1) The Brangwens had lived for generations on the Marsh Farm, in the meadows where the Erewash twisted sluggishly through alder trees, separating Derbyshire from Nottinghamshire...So the Brangwens came and went without fear of necessity, working hard because of the life that was in them, not for want of the money. Neither were they thriftless. They were aware of the last halfpenny, and instinct made them not waste the peeling of their apple, for it would help to feed the cattle. But heaven and earth was teeming around them, and how should this cease? They felt the rush of the sap in spring, they knew the wave which cannot halt, but every year throws forward the seed to begetting, and, falling back leaves the young-born on the earth. They knew the intercourse between heaven and earth, sunshine drawn into the breast and bowels, and the rain sucked up in the daytime, nakedness that comes under the wind in autumn, showing the birds' nests no longer worth hiding. Their life and interrelations were such; feeling the pulse and body of the soil, that opened to their furrow for the grain, and became smooth and supple after their ploughing, and clung to their feet with a weight that pulled like desire, lying hard and unresponsive, when the crops were to be shorn away. The young corn waved and was silken, and the lustre slid along the limbs of the men who saw it. They took the udder of the cows, the cows yielded milk and pulse against the hands of the men, the pulse of the blood of the teats of the cows beat into the pulse of the hands of the men. They mounted their horses, and held life between the grip of their knees, they harnessed their horses at the wagon, and, with hand on the bridle-rings, drew the heaving of the horses after their will.In autumn the partridges whirred up, birds in flocks blew like spray across the fallow, rooks appeared on the grey, watery heavens, and flew cawing into the winter. Then the men sat by the fire in the house where the women moved about with surety, and the limbs and the body of the men were impregnated with the day, cattle and earth and vegetation and the sky, the men sat by the fire and their brains were inert, as their blood flowed heavy with the accumulation from the living day.(Lawrence, The Rainbow)This extract is quoted by F. R. Leavis (1955) as one of the examples that demonstrate an "intense apprehension of the unity of life" (cited in Freeborn, 1996: 3). Leavis points out: "Words here are used in the way, not of eloquence, but of creative poetry (a wholly different way, that is, from that of O may I join the choir invisible): they establish as an actual presence - create as part of the substance of the book - something that is essential to Lawrence's theme". However, the critic does not explain what it is that produces an intense apprehension nor does he show the features of creative poetry in the extract. What we do here is analyze one aspect of Lawrence's language use in this extract that helps produce the effect specified by Leavis. This is the employment of sound patterns. As can be noticed in a close reading, in this extract alliteration and assonance are used quite extensively. Listed below are examples of these two sound patterns.Alliteration and Semi-alliterationThey felt the rush of the sap in spring......sunshine drawn into the breast and bowels,and became smooth and supple after their ploughing,The young corn waved and was silken, and the lustre slidalong the limbs of the men who saw it.They mounted their horses, and held life between the grip oftheir knees, they harnessed their horses at the wagon, and,with hand on the bridle-rings, drew the heaving of the horsesafter their will.In autumn the partridges whirred up, birds in flocks blew likespray across the fallow,...AssonanceBut heaven and earth was teeming around them, and how should this cease?The rain sucked up in the day time, nakedness that comes under the wind in autumn showing the birds nest no longer worth hiding.Feeling the pulse and body of the soil, that opened to their furrow for the grain, and became smooth and supple after their ploughing, and clung to their feet with a weight that pulled like desire,...The young corn waved and was silken, and the lustre slid along the limbs of the men who saw it.They took the udder of the cows, the cows yielded milk and pulse against the hands of the men, the pulse of the blood of the teats of the cows beat into the pulse of the hands of the men.As was discussed in Chapter Five, the major function of alliteration and assonance is to establish some kind of connection between or among the items that are phonetically associated. The alliteration and assonance in this extract serve precisely this purpose. They function as important devices that knit the text together and createunity of discourse. The extract may not be eloquent in that it consists mainly of a series of main clauses that are linked either without any linking word or by coordination only. Yet it is quite cohesive because of the extensive use of alliteration and assonance. The harmony of vowels and the unity of consonants greatly reinforce the theme of the extract - the unity of life and the harmony of the natural world. The ingenious use of these sound patterns is a feature of creative poetry.The rhythmic patterning in this extract also helps to make the text stick together. Freeborn (1996) listed lines in the extract that can be scanned as verse. In the following, we will only list lines that can be read with more or less the same number of stresses. The stressed syllables are in bold type and the number of stresses in each line is marked:But heaven and earth was teeming around them, 4They felt the rush of the sap in spring, 4They knew the wave which cannot halt, 4They knew the intercourse between heaven and earth, 4Sunshine drawn into the breast and bowels, 4Feeling the pulse and body of the soil, 4The pulse of the blood of the teats of the cows 4Beat into the pulse of the hands of the men. 4And held life between the grip of their knees, 4But every year throws forward the seed to begetting, 5And, falling back leaves the young-born on the earth. 5And became smooth and supple after their ploughing, 5And clung to their feet with a weight that pulled like desire 5Drew the heaving of the horses after their will. 57.2 Syntactic DevicesAt the syntactic level, there are a number of devices that can be employed to make literary texts cohesive. In this section, we will look at three of them: co-reference, ellipsis, linkage.7.2.1 Co-referenceCo-reference is the means of referring to something elsewhere in the text. It is thus an important device for linking sentence with sentence and at the same time avoiding repetition. Co-reference consists of two types: anaphoric reference and cataphoric reference. The former refers to something that has already been mentioned in the text, while the latter refers to something that is yet to come. The two types of references are chiefly signalled by the third person pronouns (he, she, it, they, him, her, them) and the definite article (the). Now take a look at the following examples of anaphoric reference:(2) My uncle Melik was just about the worst farmer that ever lived. He was too imaginative and poetic for his own good. What he wanted was beauty.(W. Saroyan The Pomegranate Trees)(3) And ice, mask-high, came floating by...The ice was here, the ice was there,The ice was all around...(Coleridge, The Ancient Mariner)(4) Tom Sponson, at fifty-three, was a thoroughly successful man. He had worked up a first-class business, married a charming wife, and built himself a good house in the London suburbs that was neither so modern as to be pretentious nor so conventional as to be dull. He had good taste.(J. Cary, The Breakout)In each of the three cases, the items that have anaphoric reference constitute the given information and has the function of providing structural and semantic continuity (Wales, 1989). Wales believes that anaphoric reference is far commoner than cataphoric reference. This may be true, nevertheless cataphoric reference is frequently found in literary works and performs a unique function. Below are two interesting examples:(5) They had grown up next door to each other, on the fringe of a city, near fields and woods and orchards, with sight of a lovely bell tower that belonged to a school for the blind.Now they were twenty, had not seen each other for nearly a year. There had always been playful, comfortable warmth between them, but never any talk of love.His name was Newt. Her name was Catharine...(Vonnegut, Jr., Long Walk to Forever)(6) She was sitting on the veranda waiting for her husband to come in for luncheon. The Malay boy had drawn the blinds when the morning lost its freshness, but she had partly raised one of them so that she could look at the river.(W. S. Maugham The Force of Circumstance)Both passages are openings of short stories. The pronouns in the passages not only provide discourse cohesion, but also have the function of arousing the readers' curiosity so that they may be immediately involved in reading the story. In the case of example one, it is only when the reader gets to the third paragraph does he become clear about whom the item they refers to. Thus, great suspense is produced. Such use of cataphoric reference is characteristic of literary discourse.7.2.2 EllipsisEllipsis is the omission from a sentence of words needed to complete a construction. Ellipsis in spoken English and normal everyday written discourse is usually a grammatical device for economy of words. The omitted parts may be understood from the context or by means of intonation, or from such paralinguistic features as gestures and facial expressions. It is thus a common means of implicit cohesion between sentences or utterances, usefully avoiding unnecessary repetition. In literature, ellipsis is not merely a grammatical means to make the work compact and cohesive but also a rhetorical device to express certain aspects of the meaning or message of the work. The elliptical style is common in the representation of interior monologue. Now let us consider the ellipsis in the following paragraph.(6) Quick through the window. ①Escape. ②I have a pistol; I'll hold them back.③ Too late. ④ Gestapo men under the windows aiming pistols into the room. ⑤Detectives have forced the door, rush into the room through the kitchen. ⑥ One, two, three-nine of them. ⑦ ...(J. Fuchik, Notes from the Gallows)The background of the preceding paragraph is that Fuchik, an underground communist leader and the chief editor of the Czech Communist Party's organ, goes to an appointed meeting to see his adjutant at the Jeliniks' apartment. When he arrives there, he finds that there are two more comrades present. Fuchik immediately realizes that it is an unnecessary risk for so many of them to be in one room at once, as a curfew has been imposed on Prague after 10 p.m. No sooner does he point out this danger and suggest termination of the meeting at once than Gestapo men bang on the door. The paragraph quoted describes how Fuchik reacts to this critical situation.The sentence structures of the paragraph, as can be easily seen, are highly elliptical. Out of a total of seven sentences, three (sentences 1, 4, and 7) do not have predicate verbs and one (sentence 5) omits the operator are which, together with the participle aiming, forms the present progressive aspect and a finite verb phrase. Four (sentences 1, 2, 4, and 7) of them have only one element: sentence 1 consisting of four words, sentence 2 of only one word, sentence 4 of only two words, and sentence 7 of six words. The ellipsis here, rhetorically speaking, seems to be multi-functional. Firstly, it can bring great immediacy to the scene being described, thus making it appear as if it was actually passing before the eyes. Secondly, the brevity of the sentence structure creates a sense of urgency and tension. Finally, the ellipsis also manifests Fuchik's wisdom, his quick succession of thoughts.Poetry is the most condensed of all literary genres. Ellipsis, therefore, is one of the design features of poetic discourse. Take a look at the examples below:(8) Who has seen the wind?Neither I nor you.But when the leaves hang trembling,The wind is passing through.(C. G. Rossetti, Who Has Seen the Wind)(9) Into the sunshine,Full of the light,Leaping and flashingFrom Morn till night.Into the moonlight,Whiter than snow,Waving so flower-likeWhen the winds blow!(J. R. Lowell, The Fountain)In line two of Example (8), both the verb and the object are omitted. But like those in a conversation, the missing elements can easily be recovered from the context. Therefore, any attempt to supply the omitted parts would destroy the unity and rhythm of the text and make it highly redundant. Lowell's poem is even more elliptical. The subjects are omitted and so are some verbs and the auxiliaries of the verbal phrases. However, the omissions here do not cause any ambiguity or awkwardness. Instead, they make the text very compact and highly cohesive. They neatly capture the liveliness and wonderfulness of the fountain.7.2.3 LinkageLinkage refers to the use of overt signals that connect language units both within and beyond sentences to form literary discourse. These signals include coordinating conjunctions such as "and" and "but", subordinating conjunctions such as "before" and "when", and linking adverbials such as "so" and "yet". Leech and Short (1981) observe that in the history of fiction writing, there has been a progressive tendency, over the past three hundred years, to dispense with logical connections between sentences, and to rely instead on inferred connections. This means that stylistically it is more fruitful to examine the overt linking devices that occur within sentences. In this section, therefore, we will only look at linkage at the clause level. First, let us examine an extract from a short story by Hemingway.(10) Nick stood up. He was all right. He looked up the track at the lights of the caboose going out of sight around the curve. There was water on both sides of the track, then tamarack swamp.He felt of his knee. The pants were torn and the skin was barked. His hands were scraped and there were sand and cinders driven up under his nails. He went over to the edge of the track down the little slope to the water and washed his hands. He washed them carefully in the cold water, getting the dirt out from the nails. He squatted down and bathed his knee.(The Battler)In the second paragraph of the extract, there are four sentences that contain more than one clause. Interestingly, the clauses in these sentences are all connected by thecoordinating conjunction and. This suggests that the conditions described in the first two sentences are equally bad and the actions were performed in a time sequence.The use of coordinating conjunctions as clause connectors is a typical feature of Hemingway's style. It suits the content of Hemingway's stories and novels for Hemingway chiefly portrays men of action, a point we made in Section 2 of Chapter Two.Another example of foregrounded clause linkage is found in the opening of Adam Hall's The Tango Briefing below:(11) I came in over the pole and we were stacked up for nearly twenty minutes ina holding circuit round London before they could find us a runway and then we had to wait for a bottle-neck on the ground to get itself sorted out and all we could do was stare through the windows at the downpour and that didn't help.Sayonara, yes, very comfortable thank you.There was a long queue in No. 3 Passenger Building and I was starting to sweat because the wire had said fully urgent and London never uses that phrase just for a laugh; then a quietly high-powered type in sharp blue civvies came up and asked who I was and I told him and he whipped me straight past Immigration and Customs without touching the sides and told me there was a police car waiting and was it nice weather in Tokyo.'Better than here.''Where do we send the luggage?''This is all I've got.'He took me through a fire exit and there was the rain slamming down again and the porters were trudging about in oilskins.The radio operator had the rear door open for me and I ducked in and the driver hooked his head round to see who I was, not that he'd know.'You want us to go as fast as we can?''That's what it's all about.'Sometimes along the open stretches where the deluge was flooding the hollows we worked up quite a bowwave and I could see the flash of our emergency light reflected in it.'Bit of a summer storm.''You can keep it.'They were using their sirens before we'd got halfway along Waterloo Road and after that they just kept their thumb on it because the restaurants and cinemas were turning out and every taxi was rolling.Big Ben was sounding eleven when we did a nicely controlled slide into Whitehall across the front of a bus and he put the two nearside wheels up on the pavement so that I could get out without holding the traffic.'Best I could do.''You did alright.'As can be noticed, the vast majority of clauses are connected by and. More strikingly, the writer uses this coordinating conjunction to connect all the clauses ofthe compound sentences that contain more than two clauses. Normally, people only link the last two clauses with 'and' and mark the boundary of the preceding ones with a comma. Only a few clauses are linked by the subordinating conjunctions such as before and because. Wright and Hope (1996) point out that the effect of this pattern of clause linkage is "of an uninterrupted stream of events - all sequential, all equally important, each flowing into the other in a linear narrative ordered by the rapid passage of time" (Wright and Hope: 139). The speaker is a special agent who has been summoned from Tokyo for an urgent mission and the syntax mirrors the urgency he feels, and produces a frantic sense of events rushing to a climax.7.3 Lexical DevicesAt the lexical level, there are two important devices for cohesion. These are lexical repetition and elegant variation, both of which manifest the relation of meaning within the text.7.3.1 Lexical RepetitionIn Chapter Six, we discussed repetition as syntactic overregularity at some length. The repetition of a lexical item was examined briefly as a foregrounded feature. In this section, let us look at one more example that demonstrates its power of cohesion as well as its rhetorical function.(12) I saw her and liked her because she was not beautiful. Her chin was not just right and something about her nose fell short of perfection. And when she stood up, well, there wasn't much to see but her tallness, the length from her hips to her feet, and the length from her hips to her shoulders. She was a tall girl and that was all. She was the first tall girl I had ever liked, perhaps because I had never watched a tall girl get up from a table before; that is, get up the way she did, everything in her rising to the art of getting up, combining to make the act to look beautiful and not like just another casual movement, an ordinary life motion.Maybe I liked her because when I talked to her for the first time I found that she had tall ideas too, ideas which like her chin and nose did not seem just right to me, but like her getting up were beautiful. They hung together. They were tall ideas, about life and people, morals and ethics. At first they seemed shockingly loose to me, but when I saw they all moving together, like her body, they hung together. They looked naturally beautiful. They had the same kind of pulled-out poetry that sometimes defies the extra-long line and hangs together, hangs together when you see the whole thing finished, when you've scanned it up and down and seen all the line endings melt into a curious kind of unity, which makes strange music - strange because everything is long yet compact. She was music. I see it now, her getting up impressed me at the time because for the first time I felt poetry in a person rising - music in body parts moving in natural rhythms. I liked the tall girl.(R. Hagopian, Wonderful People)In the above extract, Hagopian repeats the lexical item tall seven times and the phrase hang together four times. Moreover, he uses words and phrases that are similar in meaning to tall and hang together. For example, the length from her hips to her feet, and the length from her hips to her shoulders are related in meaning to tallness and moving together and moving in natural rhythms are similar in meaning to hang together. The function of the repeated occurrence of each of the items and that of its synonymous words and expressions seems to be two-fold. One is to link the different parts of the story. The other is to reinforce the ideas expressed in the extract. Specifically, these repetitions hammer home the particular qualities the speaker likes in his female partner.7.3.2 Elegant VariationElegant variation refers to the use of an alternative word or expression as a replacement for a word or expression that occurred in the preceding context. Writers often resort to this device to achieve stylistic effect. Consider the example below:(13) My uncle straightened up, breathing deeply.Put the little creature down, he said. Let us not be cruel to the innocent creations of Almighty God. If it is not poison and grows no larger than a mouse and does not travel in great numbers and has no memory to speak of, let the timid little thing return to the earth. Let us be gentle toward these small things which live on the earth with us.Yes, sir, I said.I placed the horned toad on the ground.Gently now, my uncle said. Let no harm come to this strange dweller on my land.The horned toad scrambled away.(W. Saroyan, The Pomegranate Trees)The narrator and his uncle came to see the land his uncle had bought to start a farm. It was a large piece of worthless desert land which was overrun with prairie dogs, squirrels, horned toads, snakes, and a variety of smaller forms of life. When they were walking over the dry earth, his uncle saw a horned toad at his feet. He had never seen such an animal before and was afraid of it. But when the narrator caught the toad, he tried not to show his fear. When he was assured that the animal was harmless, he was much relieved and ordered his nephew to set the toad free. The variation of expressions for the horned toad here not only shows the uncle's ignorance of the animal but also reveals his pedantry.7.4 Cohesion of Foregrounded FeaturesIn Chapters 3～6, we considered foregrounded features mostly one by one. This might have given the impression that foregrounded features occur in isolation and function independently at their own different textual levels. In fact, they usually cohere and operate in a mutually supportive way to convey certain aspects of thework's meaning. In the following, we will discuss three poems to illustrate this point. The first one is written by a contemporary British poet, James Kircup.(14) Thunder and LightningBlood punches through every vein,As lightning strips the windowpane.Under its flashing whip, a whiteVillage leaps to light,On tubs of thunder, fists of rainSlog it out of sight again.Blood punches the heart with frightAs rain belts the village night.The first thing that may strike us is that all the finite verbs (punch, leap, strip, slog, and belt) in the poem which normally take as their subjects nouns that have human or animate qualities co-occur with inanimate nouns. This should not be taken as a coincidence. If we give these verbs a closer look, we may find that all of them except leap are items usually associated with violent human actions with an intent to punish. Nevertheless, these actions are here performed by lightning and rain, i.e. nature. Reinforced by the fact that lightning is said to have flashing whip and rain fists, the poem seems to express mainly the destructive and violent aspect of nature and thus creates a terrifying atmosphere.Besides cohesion of the deviant uses of the finite verbs in the poem, we will also take a look at the rhyme-scheme of the poem. Leech says, "if a single scheme extends over the whole text, it can itself be regarded as a form of cohesion" (Leech, 1970: 123). What seems to be significant about the rhyme-scheme of the poem is that the consonants in the rhymes are /n/ and /t/, sounds generally classified as plosives. Plosives are a class of sounds which are produced with greater muscular strength because air coming out from the lung meets obstructions. This then seems to underline the great force of nature, and reinforces the general atmosphere created in the poem. More interestingly, of the two plosives one is nasal and the other is oral. Together with the vowels, they sound very like the rumbling of thunder.Our analysis of Kircup's poem so far has shown a) there is cohesion among foregrounded features of the same type, b) different types of foregrounded features also have cohesion, i.e. they co-operate to express, often indirectly, certain aspects of the work's meaning. Both the deviant uses of the finite verbs and the overregularity in the rhyme-scheme of this poem suggest that nature has a destructive power and is most awesome.The second poem we discuss in this section is The Eagle by Tennyson.(15) The EagleHe clasps the crag with crooked hands,Close to the sun in lonely lands,Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls,He watches from his mountain walls,And like a thunderbolt, he falls.Tennyson can be said to be a conventional poet in that he does not often breach the rules of the English language. This being the case, one may still find much foregrounding in his poems. Even in this short poem, we can notice some significant foregrounded features. More interestingly, these features seem to work together to convey the aggressiveness, powerfulness and the unyielding character of the eagle.The first feature that strikes us in this poem is Tennyson's employment of sounds. The most suggestive line in terms of its sound effect is line one. It may be transcribed broadly as follows:/hi: klaesps Qe kraeg wiQ kru:kt haendz/It can be easily noticed that there is a dominance of plosive consonants in the line. /k/ occurs four times, /g/, /p/ and /t/ respectively once. As we saw when analyzing Kircup's poem, plosives are a class of sounds which when pronounced require greater muscular strength. The plosives in this poem therefore, may suggest the powerfulness of the eagle in question, thus reinforcing the meaning expressed by the wording of the line. This is further supported by the occurrence of /ae/ in three of the four stressed syllables. The articulation of /ae/ requires more muscular tension and strength than that of most vowels in English, especially its close associate /e/. Both the high proportion of plosives and the repeated occurrence of the vowel /ae/ in this poem create a strong onomatopoeic effect. In passing, we want to point out that it is largely because of his success in utilizing sound patterns that critics and readers alike rank Tennyson among the greatest English poets.Another feature to note in this poem is the humanization of the eagle. The poet has used the masculine third-person pronoun to refer to the eagle throughout the text. The subjective case he occurs four times and the objective case him once. He also uses the masculine third-person possessive pronoun his once. We can also see that in the poem the eagle is said to have hands. The humanization of the eagle is important, for it reminds us of the wisdom and strength which typically characterize man. What is more significant is the choice of the masculine third-person pronoun as opposed to the feminine. It matter-of-factly bestows great masculinity upon the eagle. Had the feminine pronoun been used, readers would naturally associate femininity to the eagle and the powerful image of the eagle would be completely altered.A further feature which is worth commenting is that the closing line of the first stanza and that of the second stanza run parallel to each other. Each of the lines begins with an adverbial followed by the subject and ends with a monosyllabic verb. This syntactic arrangement functions to knit the text closely together. But more significantly, it draws attention to the two lines. When the reader carefully examines the two lines, he may find that the adverbial is the longest element of each clause and is placed in the initial position. In English, the presentation of the content of a clause usually follows either of two principles. One is the principle of end-focus, i.e. the。
文体学7-syntactic2
5. Long sentence
• Long sentences are capable of expressing complex ideas with precision and suitable for the explanation of theories or the description of things in detail.
• They rise out of the earth. They sweat and starve for a few years. Then they sink back into the nameless mounds of the graveyard and nobody notices that they are gone. • George Orwell, Marrakech • (pressing, hurried, sequential )
• The stylistic effect of periodic sentence
is to make the reader wait for completed information. The important effect of left-branching is climax. The periodic sentence, by delaying both grammatical closure and the key idea until the end, achieves climax by suspense.
Stylistic markers of syntax（2）
Objectives: To acquaint students with the stylistic knowledge on the syntax level
英语文体学教程
Chapter11, what is style in your opinion according to what we have studied in this chapter? Anwser1 , from the perspective of the content, the events and activities described ,style is saying different things in different ways ;from the perspective of the ways of expression used ,styled is same thing in different ways; from the perspective of the users of language ,style is different speakers using language in different ways; and from the perspective of the text ,style is the functions of texts for different purposes.Anwser2, the definition of style is the concept of style as choice .this definition can have at least too interpretations .one is that first we have a pre-existing thought ,and then we choice the appropriate type of expression to express it in language. The chosen expression is the style .another is that the choice refers to the choice of meaning. The choice of language is at the same time a choice of meaning and a choice of style .2,what is the significance of studying the style of language in learning and teaching English?Anwser, the answer is that if we want to use language appropriately in different situations , we need to study style .as foreign language learners, if we disregard the rules of using what variety of language in what occasion , or fail to obey them through ignorance , language can become instead a barrier to successful communication . Therefore its necessary to have a clear awareness of how language should be used in different types of situations especially in unfamiliar situations.3, what factors can result in differences in style ?Answer , 1, the different types of vocabulary create different images of the events in the reader’s mind, so they can result in different ,people living in different periods of time in history will also speak differently ,and that will result in a different style.Chapter21, explain the following terms1),foregrounding: the stylistically significant features have to be prominent and motivated ,that is ,foregrounded.2),incongruity: the linguistic features depart from the normal use of language ,breaking the rules grammar ,spelling ,pronunciation.3)deflection : the linguistic features don’t depart from the established grammatical, lexical and logical rules and principles ,but have an unexpected high frequency of occurrence.4),field; its concerned with what is happening ,including the subject matter,the events happenings,going-ons, the content ,etc5)tenor: its concerned with who is taking part in the exchange of meaning ----the relationship between the speaker and the listener ,their relative status,their attitude,and their role relations .6)mode: its concerned with how the interaction is conducted ,that is whether it is written or spoken ,or whether it is expressed by phonic substance or graphic substance.2,question for discussion2)in rhetorical series,the number of items can influence the stylistic to analyze the causes on the basis of social culture.Answer :different numbers of words can produce different stylistic effects in the appropriate contexts. Two items express assertion ,that is ,it is just this ,not that .In appropriate situations three items can produce ethic ,persuasive, and representative effect. Four or more items in a series stress a large number of the concrete things ,and these can produce an imagery in the mind of the reader that the large amount of things constitutes a significant situation in which certain aspect are highlighted. Another function of the rhetorical series is to use concrete items to highlight abstract concepts so that the abstract concept can be expressed in concrete ,lively and vivid way to enhance the aesthetic value of language.3)what factors affect the writer’s selection of words and styleAnswer : five criteria for the selection of words :whether they are familiar or not familiar, whether they are concrete or abstract, whether they are single or more ,whether they are short and simple. Or long. Whether they are Anglo –saxon words or latin words .field ,tenor ,mode affect the writer’s selection of style.4)what is the criterion used to classify wordsAnswer :we can use more systematic way to classify word according to register and dialect .register:field ,tenor , mode .dialect: regional dialect,such as London dialect;social dialect such as dialect of age, race, dialect such as od English .5)through what channels can words be used to achieve transferred meaning? Answer :simile :x is like Y, eg as busy as bee. Metaphor: X is Y ,eg he is a pig.Synecdoche eg many hands represent the people who work with their hands . Metonymy eg purse represent money.Chapter31,explain the following terms1),chiasmus:chiasmus is formed by inverting the word order of the second part ofa parallel structure,so it forms a kind of antithetical structure. Eg:let us never negotiate out of fear,but let us never fear to negotiate.2)antistrophe: it is the repetition of the same items but in inverted order ,eg:what’s polly to me,or me to polly?3)epizeuxis:it is a continuous repetition for high lighting a particular feature.4)ploce: the repetition is not continuous , but intermittent or dispersed in the text.5)loose sentence: put the major idea first and than the illustration .such a sentence is easy to grasp .6)periodic sentence:a periodic sentence can be used to create suspense,or expectation, thus drawing the listener’s attention to the end of the can be used to produce humorous and emphatic effect .2,question for discussion1),there are many types of syntactic deflection ,but they have one thing in common :recurrence of structures. How is syntactic deflection classified?Answer :there are two type of syntactic deflection :the unexpected high frequency of occurrence of a certain type of sentence; and the overregular occurrence of a particular pattern .2)the high frequency of occurrence of long and short sentence can create stylistic effect .apart from the difference in expressive meanings ,what are other characteristics of the two types of sentences?Answer : long sentences are good to provide the detailed descriptions ,and are good to reveal the mental activities of the speaker .so they are used to produce a vivid, rich, exuberant, luxurious style. Short sentence：can produce direct ,terse ,concise ,clear effect or continuous ,compact ,swift effect ,so that it creates certain atmosphere , and leave a deep impression on the listeners.3) why do writers often violate the rule of grammar? What do we cal this violation? Answer: we call this violation syntactic incongruity .the violation of the grammatical rules can be used to produce certain stylistic effects. The so-called ungrammatical sentences are used to represent the different varieties of language according to register and dialect. In literary works, dialectical and personal features of speech are often used to depict the personality of the characters. In poetry, the poet often uses deviant grammatical structures to achieve special effects, makes lines terse and concise, to make it rich in meaning.4)what is the function of rhetorical questions?Answer: A rhetorical question is to use the form of a question in order to express a strong emotion or to emphasize a particular aspect. The function of inverted sentence is to make a declarative sentence more powerful, to attract the listener’s attention, or to induce others’ sympathy. Arranged in parallelism, rhetorical questions can express strong emotions and increase the persuasive power. A rhetorical question can also introduce the topic of the text.5) In what ways can we use inverted sentences to achieve emphatic effect? Answer: to change the normal word order can be used to produce some emphatic effect. What is put to the initial part of the sentence is usually the focus of information of the clause and also the theme of he clause. So it is highlighted.Chapter41 explain the following terms1)Synaesthesia: it refers to the fact that sounds s are attributed with certainvalues or esthetic features. It is very casual, and supported by situational features and meaning.2)Alliteration: refers to the repetition of the initial sound usually a consonant, ora vowel at first position, in two or more words that occur close together.3)Assonance: refers to the use of the same or related vowel sounds insuccessive words. It can create harmonious effect.4)Consonance: refers to the repetition of the last consonants of the stresseswords at the end of the lines.2 questions for discussion1)What are the characteristic of spoken language and written languagerespectively?Answer: spoken language: 1 it can directly be accompanied by other non-linguistic means as the aid; 2 it is generally speaking not as formal as written language; 3 it permits errors in the process of production; 4 it uses a particular grammar, a grammar characteristics of spoken language. 5 homophones can be used forspecial stylistic effects, such as pun; 6 some implications are best represented by special sound features; 7 sound feature can represent the feature of regional dialect or social dialect.Written language:1 as written language communication is usually not a direct one, but is delayed in time and at different places, the writer generally has time to get well prepared and revise the text before he sends it out to the reader;2 as space is limited, it has special grammatical features so as to put more meaning in it .there are many nominalizations to make sentences into groups;3 written language is often used in a more formal situation; 4 as time is enough, it is usually written in a more detailed and logical way;5 as written language is more purposeful, and for a single specific goal, it is usually more constant and developed around a single subject.2)How many sound patterns do we have? What special stylistic effects can beachieved by them?Answer: these sound patterns include alliteration which can create harmony, connection and achieve special stylistic effects, assonance which can create harmonious effect, and consonance3)What factors can influence graphological prominence? .Answer: there are three distinctive factors that can produce graphological prominence: marking, spacing and sequence. Marking refers to the use of written symbols to convey information; space is spacing arrangement departing from this normal way of spacing can be used to achieve stylistic effects.4 In modern English, punctuation marks are patterned and standardized. How can we use punctuation marks for special stylistic purpose?Answer: period typically occurs at the end of a declarative sentence. If period occurs in unexpected high frequency of occurrence, it often means that the text mainly functions to provide information; comma is used to mark the unit larger than a word, however, in Charles Dickens’ Dombey and Son, comma is us ed to indicate syllables; exclamation marks can be used to carry emotional coloring, a mark of expressing special feelings; parentheses are used for further explanation; the ellipsis of punctuation marks produces an illogical and non-sequential image. Chapter71 explain the following terms1）Guide: guide is the further explanation of the headline, it consists of six elements; location, character, event, mode, time, and cause.2）Nominalization: refers to a grammatical phenomenon in which the meaning which is normally expressed by a clause is here expressed by a phrase, so clause nominalization is normal. It is contracted.3）The highlighting method: from the productive point of view, the columnist can publish the whole story, or he can cut off some parts from the end. He can even cut off the main body.4）Meaning contraction: using the smallest form to get the most meaning.5）Journalese words: as new report requires the speaker to use the least form to get the most meaning, and it has to be fresh and attractive, so the words in news report is short and new.2 questions for discussion1) What are semantic features of news report?Answer:1 In terms of ideational meaning, apart from the semantic field of news report, it covers virtually all areas of meaning systems ;2 in terms of interpersonal meaning, it stresses objectivity;3 in terms of textual meaning, it has the feature of meaning contraction.3) Most of the headlines are elliptical sentences. Tell in what way ellipsis is best achieve in news report.Answer: most of the headlines are elliptical sentences. What is omitted is: (a) subject-predicate (b) predicate (c) link verb or auxiliary verb4) How is meaning contraction of news report embodied in grammar?Answer: one feature of news report is meaning contraction, that is using the smallest form to get the most meaning .its grammatical feature are as follows:(1) the nominalization of the processes (2)big noun phrases and complex modifications (3)as some of the pre-modifiers come from a separate clause, it is highly contracted .5）The concreteness contraction of news report is in contradiction to meaning contraction. Tell how this contradiction is revolved in news report.Answer: besides its authenticity and objectivity, news report should also emphasize concreteness and detailedness. Therefore, the writer often gives background information and details by using parenthesis. By doing so, the writer can provide concrete and detailed information and save space as well.6）What graphological means are used in news report? Analyze what effects are achieved by graphological means.Answer: grphological means are made in the typesetting, for example, headlines can be arranged in such ways: 1 flush-left(it is made into a square) 2dropped-line(the length of the line is the same, but dropped in a bit each time) 3 short line followed by a long tome 4 along line followed by a short line 5 concave form 6 convex form . They can increase esthetic value and become more attractive.7）What are lexical features of news report? Why are many nonce words used in news report?Answer: lexical feature: 1 short and new-fashioned such a “crisis” in “the UN faces crisis of credibility”. 2 short journalese phrase such as “key issue” in “jobless will be the key issue in 1993”. 3nonce words, often blends such as Euromarket=European market.8）Why is there so much use of direct speech in news report?Answer: the use of direct speech can enhance the credibility of news report. The directly quoted speech can be regarded as basis of facts.9）What prominent devices are used in headlines in news report?Answer: alliteration allusion suspense etc.Chapter61Explain the following terms1）time non-fluency :pauses in inappropriate positions within a phrase or groups position ,the use of um or er to delay the time ,the repetition of some expressions ,such as be said be said be said.,2）Quality non-fluency: often the speaker cannot find the appropriate words to express himself, and he is striving for words, so he uses many inexact expressions and even wrong expressions or wrong pronunciations to express himself.3）Adjacency pair: most of the sentences are declarative and interrogative sentences as they are mostly made up of questions and answers.4）Slot filling words: slot filling words are used to fill in the pauses when the speaker strives for meaning as words, or when he or she strives to be politeness or lessen the degree of imprudence.2 question for discussion1）What are the characteristics of conversation from the perspective of semantics, grammar, vocabulary and phonology?Answer :semantic features:(1)the inexplicitness of meaning (2)the randomness of subject matter, and a general lack of planning (3)the lack of fluency Grammatical features :(1)sentence complexity (2)verbal phrases(3)nominal phrases(4)the types of sentences (5)quoted elements. Lexical feature:(1)most of the words are short and simple Anglo-Saxon ones, (2)the choice of words is limited in scope or range (3)slang and colloquial words, taboo words ,exclamatory words are frequently used (4)some slot filling words ,such as you know ,I mean,etc.(5)use exaggerated words and expressions. Phonological features :(1)use more contractions for the unimportant information (2)the often try to express themselves in spite of thefact that the other is speaking (3)there are many emphatic ways of speech ,such as stress .2）How do you account for the inexplicitness of language in daily conversation? Answer: the inexplicitness of meanings manifested in the following aspects: (1)lots of exophoric expression such as “this “is the tendency (2)there are missin g links between the utterances(3) a lot of background information missing.(4)many inexact expressions using general words for particular concepts(5)many incomplete expressions.3）What are the features spontaneous commentary from the perspective of semantics, grammar, vocabulary and phonology?Answer: from the perspective of semantic features, if the listeners could also see the event while the commentary is delivered, there will be a lot of meaning implied or simply presupposed; but in a commentary without visual support on the part of the listeners, the commentator has to provide all the necessary information. In terms of syntactic structure, the sentences and the clauses are usually short as the commentator has no time to give detailed description of the event, and the sentences contain fewer words than usual. From the perspective of lexical features, the words are mostly simple in structure, they are short and simple; they are mostly composed of verbs, and proper names; there might be specialized terms depending on the subject matter of the commentary. From the perspective of phonological features, it is very fast and fluent, but he has to pronounce every word clearly and loudly.4）What are the features of text structure of public speech?Answer: It consist of the following element :(1)a short introduction to the main issue or issues concerned (2)the declaration of one’s attitude and position in the matter (3)the listing, reasoning, and explaining (4)conclusion5）How is it that in public speech there is much use of noun phrases with post modification?Answer: there are few pre-modifiers, but more post-modifiers such as “of phrase” and “which clauses” to give detailed and accurate description.Chapter81 explain the following termsLearned words: learned words are words that borrowed from Latin, Greek and French.Clichés:are words or expressions which have lost their originality or effectiveness because they have been used too often.Semantic features: correctness and completeness; conciseness and clearness; consideration and courtesy. Grammatical features: sentences structure; uses of voices; uses of affirmative sentences; inverted sentencesLexical features: concrete and natural words; technical terms and abbreviations; brief and common word s; avoid clichés (except business contracts)3 questions for discussion1）Why should business English be correct and complete? Answer: the content of business English should be correct and completely. First, the conveyed information should be correct; sometimes a small mistake would cause a great loss in a deal and even affect business relations between two parties. Second, the conveyed information should be complete. For example, if we order some commodities, we should state names of commodities, delivery dates, consignees, methods of payment, etc.2）In business English sometimes active voice is used, and sometimes passive voice is preferred. Point out what stylistic features can be achieved through using voices.Answer: In business English, both active voice and passive voice can be used, but there is a tendency towards preferenceof active voice in today’s business communication. Active voice is shorter in form and economic in words compared with passive voice. Thus active voice is more effective in stylistic effect than passive voice; besides, active voice can make style more familiar and less formal. But in some cases, passive voice is necessary. When we discuss something negative, we should avoid blaming the other party directly, in addition, passive voice can make business English style more formal, and the conveyed information more objective.3）Why should business letters be written in a way of consideration and courtesy?Answer: In business communication, in order to make it more efficient, we should be considerate of others and polite to others. “You- Attitude” is very important principle in business communication, that is, we should think ourselves back into the shoes of others so as to cooperate sincerely.4）The use of technical terms and abbreviations is one stylistic feature of business English. State the reason of this phenomenon.Answer: using technical terms and abbreviations can avoid long and tedious explanation, which is one lexical feature of business English. Such as L/C----letter of credit5）Why should we avoid clichés in business English? Answer: clichés are words or expressions which have lost th eir originality or effectiveness because they have been used too often. In old-fashioned business English there are a large number of clichés, which should be avoid in present-day business communication.Chapter91, explain the following terms2) Redundancy: in order to avoid opaqueness and ambiguity, it has express clearly what everyone knows and takes for granted. This makes the legal language redundant clumsy and hard to understand.3) Common words: many of the legal words come from ordinary language with the common core features especially those high-frequency words, such as prepositions, conjunctions, articles, etc.4) specialized words: specialized words are necessary for two important aspects of legal language. The first is that for the field of law itself, and the second is that for many non-legal field concerned with legal affairs. There are two sources of specialized legal words: common words endowed with legal meanings and archaic words.2, question for discussion1)Why is legal English syntactically complex?Answer: syntactic Complexity: as its main function is to ensure preciseness and accuracy and block any leakage, the draftsmen of legal documents have to be very carful and scrupulous, and the legal texts have to be able to stand the text of time .therefore legal language is rich in modifications, circumlocutions, and complex logic relations.2）Legal English is very conservative in form. Explain it from a historical perspective.Answer: conservativeness: as the legal language is produced by careful phrasing and tested over a long time, nobody dares to alter the structure of legal English, so that its structures become old-fashioned and archaic. The representative legal language in such a way is English legal language.3) What is the reason that there are many legal words of French source?Answer: because after the Norman Conquest, French because the official language used for all state affairs including law in Great Britain. That is why many French loan words were found in law afterwards.4) What are the lexical features of legal English?Answer: legal vocabulary mainly comes from French. (2) Legal words can be divided into following three types: 1, common words2, specialized words3, Multi-register words.。
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Clearly, conversing is the most basic of spoken varieties.
7.3 Object of Study
In terms of field, conversation covers a wide range.
In terms of mode, conversation can be spontaneous or non-spontaneous
end, and realized I’d left my coat in my ↘locker. 15
And I just couldn’t
A:
↘M.
B: ↗face going all the way ↘back again with this
great… you know my ↘arms were aching.
Saussure emphasized speech over writing
Language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication
People talk and they communicate their thoughts and feelings by means of oral sounds.
Speech is the most basic form of language activity
Indian languages, etc
ห้องสมุดไป่ตู้
7.2 Necessity of Studying Conversation
Language is essentially a social activity
5
B: ↘M - -
A: Pull your ↘chair close if you ↗want. Is it - -
B: ↘Yes, I’ll be all right in a ↗minute. It’s just that I
am…
A: What have you ↘got?
10
7.5 A Sample Text of Casual Conversation
Conversation 7.6 General Features 7.7 Stylistic Features in Terms of
Levels of Language 7.9 Other Kinds of Conversation
7.1 Necessity of Studying Speech
We just take casual conversation as our subject of study.
7.5 A Sample Text of Casual Conversation
Here is a sample text of a dialogue between two educated women in their thirties.
B: ↘Stupid. I had er about five thousand ↘books
- - to take back to Senate ↘House ↗yesterday, -
and I got all the way through the ↗college to where
the ↘car was at the parking meter, at the ↘other
In terms of personal tenor, conversations can be very informal/intimate or more formal; in terms of functional tenor, conversations can be informative or phatic
English Stylistics
Chapter 7 The English of Conversation
WANG Yao @ SDUT
Contents
7.1 Necessity of Studying Speech 7.3 Object of Study 7.5 A Sample Text of Casual
A: You got a ↗cold?
B: ↘No, just a bit ↘sniffy, cos I’m –I’m ↗cold
and I’ll be all right once I’ve warmed ↘up. Do I
↘look as though I’ve got a ↗cold?
A: No I thought you ↘sounded as if you were.
A: ↘M-
20
7.5 A Sample Text of Casual Conversation
B: And I thought, ↗well, I’ll get it on ↘Tuesday.
It’s a bit ↗silly cos I ↘need it.
A: M. It’s gone very ↗cold, ↘hasn’t it?
B: ↘M- - - It’s ↘freezing.
A: ↘M- I’m…
25
B: You’re ↘knitting. (laugh quietly for-) What
are you ↘knitting? That’s not a tiny ↗garment?
A: No.