文体学正文分析

摘要
文体分析是建立在语言描写基础之上的。

语言描写在特定社会情境中所产生的表达效果和交际功能是通过特定的语音、词汇、句法特征和语义结构予以体现的。

演讲作为公众场合的一种活动，其语言的应用决定了一场演讲的成败。

演讲的语言风格较为正式，但是为了能使一场演讲成功，其语言风格不能太僵硬也不能太亲密。

本文语音、词汇、句法这个方面来分析美国总统尼克松在一场宴会的演讲。

旨在通过研究这次演讲的内容总结出演讲的语言特征，从而为各界人士在准备演讲时提供参考。

T
Contents
1 Introduction (3)
2 Theoretical Foundation (4)
2.1 The defination of stylistics....................................................... .. (4)
2.2 The linguistic features of stylistic (6)
3 Introduction to Public speaking (8)
3.1 Introduction to Publish speaking (8)
3.2 .The feature of public speaking (8)
4 Stylistic Analysis of public speaking (9)
4.1Analysis of public speaking at the Syntactic Level (9)
4.2Analysis of public speaking at the Lexical Level (11)
4.3Analysis of the poem at the phonological Level (13)
Conclusion (16)
1 Introduction
Public speaking utilizes a variety of language which is directed towards a specific event or topic .In its broad sense , public speaking includes many types such as reli-gious sermons , lectures at universities , political speeches delivered at public meetings , radio and TV talks etc .In its narrow sense , public speaking only refers to the speech made at public meetings .Hereafter , in this essay , public speaking is accordingly discussed in its narrow sense .For the sake of convenience , public speaking and public speech are roughly used interchangeably .
As an example , I will take ” The Speech by Presi-dent Nixon of the United States at the Welcoming Ban-quet” (delivered on Fe b .21 , 1972 on his first visit to China)to study its syntax , vocabulary , phonology and the rhetorical device。

2 Theoretical Foundation
2.1 The defination of stylistics
Stylistic is a branch of linguistics which studies style in a scientific and systematic way concerning manners/linguistic features of different varieties of language at different levels.
2.2 The linguistic features of stylistic
2.2.1 The Phonological feature
Phonology is used in this book to refer to the system of speech sounds in language, which includes the following aspects: elision, the omission of a sound or sounds in speech; sound symbolism, the symbolic meaning of sounds; sound patterning, the matching of identical or similar sounds between two or more words; rhyme, the repetition of identical end sounds; rhythm, the flow of sounds and their rise and fall, and their accents and pauses;pause, brief interruption of the articulatory process which includes silent pause --- silent breaks between words, and filled pause gaps，which are filled by such expressions as um, er, ah; stress：the pronunciation of a word or syllable with more force than the surrounding words or syllables; tempo, the speed of speaking; intonation patterns, patterns of utterance usually expressed by variations in pitch, loudness, syllable length, and speech rhythm; alliteration, the repetition of an initial sound in two or more words that occur close together; assonance, the repetition of internal vowel sounds in successive words; consonance, partial or total identity of consonants in successive words or syllables whose man vowels differ; onomatopoeia, words containing sounds similar to the noises they describe; pitch, the relative height of speech sounds as perceived by a listener.
2.2.2 The Graphological feature
Graphology is used in this book to refer to the writing forms, and the signs used in a text, which includes the following aspects: punctuation,the use of punctuation marks; capitalization, the use of capital letters; paragraphing, the way in which a text is divided into paragraphs; italics, words leaning to the right; format of printing, the general arrangement of the printing forms; graphic signs, size or shape of letters, tables, pictures, diagrams, drawings, type style, etc; spelling ：normal or deliberate misspelling.
2.2.3 The Lexical feature
Lexis is used in this book to refer to the choice of words, which includes the following aspects: general or specific ( superordinate or subordinate; Anglo-Saxon or Latinate; conceptual or associative (denotative or connotative); monosyllabic or polysyllabic; descriptive or evaluative; formal or informal; standard or non-standard;dynamic or static; vulgar or euphemistic; favorable or unfavorable; Archaic or neologism; common or rare; abstract or concrete.
2.2.4 The Syntactic feature
Syntax is used in this book to refer to rules for ordering and connecting words into sentences. The syntactic categories include the following aspects: sentence type simple or multiple, major or minor, periodic or loose, etc; sentence length, in number of words;sentence complexity;coordination/subordination/parataxis;noun phrases;clause types, SV, SVA, SVO, SVOA, SVC, SVOO, SVOC, finite/nonfinite, verbless,independent/dependent; phrase types, NP, VP, AdjP, AdvP, PrepP; grammatical constructions, comparative or superlative, coordinative or cataloguing, parenthetical,etc; word order, normal or inverted, etc; tenses, the prevailing tense, simple or complicate, etc; voices, active or passive; grammaticality, grammatical or nongrammatical.
2.2.5 Semantic feature
Semantics is used in this book to refer to the meaning of words, expressions, etc,and by what means the meaning is conveyed from the addresser to the addressee.Here, our concern is mainly the rhetorical devices, especially figures of speech,which can be roughly divided into eight types: figures of comparison, figures of replacement, figures of repetition, figures of contrast/juxtaposition, figures of double meaning, figures of reverse meaning, figures of resemblance, figures of omission.
3.Introduction to Public speaking
3.1 Introduction to Public speaking
Public speaking utilizes a variety of language which is directed towards a specific event or topic .In its broad sense , public speaking includes many types such as reli-gious sermons , lectures at universities , political speeches delivered at public meetings , radio and TV talks etc
3.2 The feature of public speaking
Pubic speaking has syntactic , lexical, phonological and rhetorical features.The stylistic features of public speaking can be summarized as follows:The language used in public speaking is formal .Public speaking requires that the language and style be stan-dard and neither too frozen nor too intimate .The use of rhetoric devices makes a speech effective and convincing .
4.Stylistic Analysis of public speakig
4.1Analysis of public speakig at the Syntactic Level
Compared with other varieties of English , the lan-guage of public speaking is more formal .The seriousness of the speaker' s attitude is revealed in this formality .On the other hand , the language used in public speaking is less formal than that of legal documents and scientific English .Public speaking is a variety that is between spo-ken language and written language .A speech is usually written beforehand and the speaker just recites it from memory or alternatively reads the written speech .Here we can assume that the syntax of public speaking is more complicated than that of conversation and scientific Eng-lish .
Nixon' s speech consists of 11 paragraphs , 32 sen-tences , 607 words .The average number of words in each paragraph is 55 .18 .Additionally , on average , there are 18 .97 words in each sentence .The longest sentence in this speech contains 69 words while the shortest contains only three .According to linguistic statistics , the average number of words in each written English sentence is 17 .6 (Wang Zuoliang 1987 :230).From this we can deduce that in public speeches , the sentences are somewhat longer than the average
standard .In conversation , the av-erage number of words in each sentence is below 10 . Table 1 shows the length of sentences in Nixon' s speech :
Words in each Sentence Number of
Sentence Percentage
Less than 10 9 28 .125%
10-15 8 25%
16-20 3 9.375%
21-30 7 21 .875%
31-40 3 9.375%
More than 40 2 6 .25%
Total 32 100%
Table 1
Sentence structure in public speaking is generally more complex than that in other varieties of
English .In-complete sentences are very common in conversation .But in public speeches sentences are quite complete and grammatical .Among the 32 sentences in Nixon' s speech , 17 of them are complex sentences which make up 53 . 125 %, while compound and complex -compound sen-tences make up 15 .625 %.Simple sentences make up 31 .125 %.Table 2 shows the sentence structure in Nixon' s speech .
Sentence Type Number Percentage
Simple Sentence 10 31.25%
Complex Sentence 17 53 .125 %
Complex -Compound
Sentence 3 9 .375%
Compound 2 6 .25%
Total 32 100%
Table 2
Various tenses are used in public speaking .Gener-ally , the present tense is the most common form .The use of other tenses depends on what the speaker is talking about .That is to say , whether he speaks about the past , present or future .In Nixon' s speech , there are 68 verb forms (excluding infinitives), of which 53 are in simple present tense .Other tenses are used less often than the simple present tense .Table 3 shows the tenses used in Nixon' s speech .
Tenses Number Percentage
Simple Present
Tense 53 77.94%
Simple Past Tense 4 5 .88%
Present Perfect
Tense 5 7 .35%
Present Continuous
Tense 1 1 .47%
Future Tense 5 7 .35%
Total 68 100%
Table3
In public speaking , the use of nominal groups is very complicated .The determiners are put both before and after the head words .But in the majority of cases the determiners are put after the head words .This increases the complexity of nominal groups .For example , 13 at-tributive clauses are used in Nixon' s speech .
In public speaking , declarative sentences are often employed .This is because the speaker aims at impressing the audience and persuading them to do what he advo-cates .Declarative sentences are quite effective for this purpose .Of course , other sentence types are also used , such as imperative sentences , interrogative sentences and inverted sentences etc .Take Nixon' s speech as an exam-ple , he used several imperative sentence s .Such as “So , let us , in these next five days , start a long march togeth-er , not in lockstep , but on different roads leading to the same goal ...”
Interrogative sentences are also used in Nixon' s speech .For example , “What is the world ?” “What l ega-cy shall we leave for our children ?”Inversion is also used in this speech .For example , “Never have I heard Ameri-can music played better in a foreign land .”
4.2 Analysis of public speakig at the Lexical Level
Vocabulary used in public speaking is quite formal . The length of words also increases .Consequently , in public speaking , “big words” are used extensively .For example , in Nixon' s speech there are 147 words that con-tain more than six letters .This constitutes 24 .21 %of the total number of words .There are 91 words that contain more than seven letters .This makes up 14 .99 % of the total .In conversation , commentary and
advertisement , words of more than 6 letters only make up less than 20 % of the total ..(Wang Zuoliang 1987 :235)Obviously the ratio of long words in public speaking is higher than that of other varieties mentioned previously .The longest word in this speech contains 18 letters .A number of very for-mal words that seldom appear in daily conversation are employed in public specking .Just cite a few as an exam-ple , Nixon used the following words in his speech “distin-guished , incomparable , hospitality , legacy , magnificent , immeasurably , transcend , compromise , lockstep , plague etc .”The use of these words contribut es significantly to the formality of the style .It gives the audience an impres-sion that the speaker is serious about the topic .The use of formal words also makes the speaker sound more con-vincing .
Another tendency in the diction of public speaking is the replacement of verbs with nouns and the substitution of adjectives for nouns .For instance ,the sentence “ …At this very moment through the wonder of telecommunica-tions …” ,The noun phrase “the wonder of telecommunica-tions ,is a replacement of the adjectival phrase “ wonderful telecommunications” .
It is obvious that abstract words are frequently used in Nixon' s speech .For example , “ hospitality , frank-ness , difference , greatness” , etc .The use of abstract words is due to the fact that the speaker often talks about some abstract doctrines or ideals .The use of abstract words increases the formality of the speech and makes the speech sound lofty and convincing .
Another feature of public speaking is the frequent use of personal pronouns .The first person , both singular form and plural form , is extensively used .The second person is also very often used .But the third person sel-dom appears in public speaking .During the course of the speech , the speaker has to mention himself from time to time .It is only natural for him to use “ I” and “me” . “We” or “us” are very helpful words in public speaking . As “we” includes both the speaker and the listeners and the use of “we” and “us” indicates that the speaker puts himself “in the same boat”with t he listeners .To be more exact , the use of “we” and “us” shows clearly that the speaker is on the side of his
audience .This shortens the distance between the speaker and the audience so that it arouses the audience' s affirmative feelings and sympathet-ic responses .Further more , “we” is a mild way of re-questing and commanding .The speaker calls upon his lis-teners by using “we” .In Nixon' s speech , 40 personal pronouns are used .“I (me)” , “we (us)” are used 34 times .The use of “we” and “us” makes up 60 % of the total .
4.3Analysis of public speakig at the Phonological Level
Many phonological devices such as prosody , intona-tion , rhyming , assonance , alliteration etc .are employed in public speaking to intensify the effect .Though a speech is delivered orally , it differs greatly from conversa-tion .All the words are spelt and said in their complete forms .Abbreviations of words and elisions of sounds rarely appear in public speaking .Take Nixon' s speech as an example , such words as “we have , we will , cannot , let us , there is” are not spelt and said as “we' ve , we' ll , can' t , let' s , there' s ” .The absence of abbreviations and elisions maintains the formality of style .
Alliteration is employed in Nixon ' s speech to achieve the beauty of sound .For instance , “Mr .Prime Minister , I wish to thank you for your very gracious and
eloquent remarks .At this very moment through the won-der of telecommunications , more people are seeing and hearing what we say than on any other such occasion in the whole history of the world .Yet , what we say here will not be long remembered .What we do here can change the world .”In this short paragraph , the sound /w/ is repeat-ed 11 times .
When reading the speech we find that it is very rhythmical .Rhythmic speech is easy to read and pleasing to the ears .This can be easily recognized in Nixon' s speech .Take the third paragraph as an example , “As you said in your toast , the Chinese people are a great people , the American people are a great people .If our two peo-ples are enemies the future of this world we share together is dark indeed .But if we can find common
ground to work together , the chance for world peace is immeasur-ably increased .”There is a pleasant rhythm in it .The au-thor of the speech has arranged stressed syllables and un-stressed syllables at regular intervals .This adds phonolog-ical beauty to the speech and makes the speech sound very pleasing to the audience .
Conclusion
In summary , public speaking is a variety of language which is used on various occasions .Compared with con-versation and unscripted commentary , the language used in public speaking is more formal and solemn .The sen-tence structure of a public speech is complicated but still easy to understand .A variety of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, assonance , simile , metaphor , rhetorical questions , inversion , parallelism , repetition , antithesis , allusion are employed in public speaking to intensify the effect of a speech .The use of rhetoric devices makes a speech effective and convincing .Full preparation and lit-tle external interference enable the language used in pub-lic speaking to be complete in structure and correct in grammar .The mode of delivering a public speech has both the characteristics of oral English and written Eng-lish .It is because of all these features that public speak-ing recognizes itself as an important variety of the English language .
References
秦秀白. 2002. 英语语体和文体要略. 上海：上海外语教育出版社.
徐有志. 2005.英语文体学教程. 北京：高等教育出版社.
董启明. 2008. 新编英语文体学教程. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社.
张德禄. 2015. 英语文体学重点问题研究.北京：外语教学与研究出版社.
Xu Meihua. Stylistic Analysis of “40-Love” Written by McGough［J］.Asian Social Science ,2009(6):118-120
Appendix
40—Love
middle aged
couple playing
ten nis
when the
game ends
and they
go home
the net
will still
be be
tween them
①
40—Love middle aged couple playing tennis
when the game ends and they
go home the net
will still
be between them
②。