Stylistics of the Russian language is one of the sections of Russian linguistics. This article will be devoted to a brief overview of this science. The material also considers the process of development of this branch of linguistics from its inception to the present.
At the junction of two sciences
The style of the Russian language as a science is an intermediate link between rhetoric and linguistics. And, accordingly, it includes the rethought achievements of both branches of knowledge. Therefore, speaking about the historical process of the development of this discipline, it is necessary to say a few words about the fact that the first prerequisites for its formation were laid in the ancient world.
Thus, the most prominent thinker and public figure of Ancient Greece, Aristotle, and some of his students, in addition to their philosophical works, are also known as the founders of rhetoric schools, where they taught their students the basics of public speaking, including the linguistic side of this issue.
It is worth saying that in addition to philology, they also taught acting skills and the ability to maneuver their voices to their wards.
As for the ideas that, having originated in antiquity, influenced the style of the modern Russian language, among them it is certainly necessary to mention the theory of speech styles, as well as ideas about means of expression.
Also in Ancient Greece and Rome, the first literary works of such existing genres as theatrical plays (tragedy, comedy, and so on) were created. And accordingly, the first mention of the structure of artistic literary works can also be found in the works of scientists of that time.
Ancient Greek philosophers first introduced into scientific use such concepts as preface, exposition, plot development, denouement, and so on.
Thus, we can say that it was in ancient times that scientists became interested in three main problems that, many centuries later, the style of the Russian literary language began to consider, namely: the expressive possibilities of individual lexical units (words), speech styles, text structure.
Ancient Greek philosophers were the first to use terms such as metaphor, epithet, synecdoche, hyperbole and so on.
The stylistics section of the Russian language, which is called "the stylistics of parts of speech", deals with these issues.
Subsequently, the outstanding domestic linguist Vinogradov said that this science should be divided into several separate areas. One subsection was to be called literary stylistics of the Russian language, and the other - linguistic. The first of these, in his opinion, shoulddeal with the means of stylistic expressiveness, while the second one he assigned the role of studying various styles of speech.
Speech in various life situations
The ancient Greek doctrine of three styles laid the foundation for the formation of science, which began to bear the name of functional stylistics (Russian - in our country).
The name itself also has Greek roots. And in literal translation it means something like “the science of writing tools,” since styles in the ancient world were called pens for depicting letters on clay tablets.
Three types of speech were mentioned in the writings of ancient philosophers: high, medium and low. Subsequently, studying the treatises of the ancient sages, the great Russian scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov applied this system to the study of the practical style of the Russian language.
He also divided all the variety of options for organizing speech into three groups. His article on the benefits of spiritual reading contains references to the three calms: high, medium, and low, as well as the situation in which each should be used.
There are many theories in the style of the modern Russian language, each of which gives its own vision of the problem of classifying styles. However, for the most part, all these works contain references to five varieties of speech.
So, according to the stylistics of the speech of the Russian language, the following styles can be distinguished:
- Scientific.
- Formal business.
- Publicistic.
- Literary.
- Spoken.
These names may vary in different sources, but the essence of the classification remains the same. This article will consider the essence of each of these styles of speech.
Don't confuse the two
In the stylistics of the Russian language, along with the concepts of styles, there are also types of speech. How are they different from each other?
A few words have already been said about the first ones in this article. The latter characterize the text in terms of the purpose of the statement. According to this criterion, speech can be a narrative, description or reasoning. Therefore, they should not be confused with the concept of styles that determine the conditions for the existence of a particular text. So, for example, narration as a type of speech can be used both in an official business style (for example, when compiling an explanatory note), and in a literary work, for which artistic language is characteristic.
Classification
As for styles, some linguists say that we can talk about their two varieties, which can be divided, in turn, into 5 of the above subgroups.
So, what two groups are we talking about in the style of the Russian language?
The two big varieties are literary and non-literary styles. The first includes: artistic, journalistic, official business and scientific. Non-literary is the colloquial subtype.
High style
Next, we will talk about the art style. For works inwhich it is most often used, is characterized by a high emotionality of the narration, as well as rich imagery. Therefore, in the language of these artistic creations there are many words used in a figurative sense. Such a phenomenon in the style is called "tropes". There are about a dozen different lexical means of expression, which include metaphor, epithet, hyperbole, synecdoche, oxymoron, and so on.
At the syntactic level, there are also techniques that contribute to the creation of an artistic image, as well as giving the text certain rhythmic characteristics. There are many types of repetitions, such as anaphora and epiphora.
Also, this style is the most capacious in terms of the possibility of including elements characteristic of other types of speech. So, for the language of a literary character, a colloquial style may be inherent.
Formal business or formal style
It is most often found in various documents that have a clearly regulated structure. Such papers are characterized by the use of various types of clichés, traditionally used turns of speech ("we, the undersigned…", "we can conclude from the foregoing…" and so on).
Also, for such documents, ready-made forms with missing factual data are often used, which are filled in in accordance with certain circumstances. Therefore, the language of such papers does not differbrilliance, verbosity, and so on. On the contrary, one of the criteria for a professionally drafted act is its brevity and conciseness.
As a rule, elements of this style are extremely rare in literary works. However, in the works of modern authors, stylized extracts from various official papers are still sometimes found. In such cases, a similar style is appropriate on the pages of fiction.
Language of scientific publications
As an example of a text that is characterized by a scientific style, one can cite such a clearly regulated opus as a final qualifying work, or - in colloquial language - a thesis.
In manuals on the practical style of the Russian language, this type of speech is usually characterized as logically built, adhering to a certain structure. As a rule, in such works there is a mandatory numbering of their sections, and even such insignificant, at first glance, features as the use of Latin or Arabic numerals are stipulated.
At the lexical level, these scientific works are characterized by an abundance of specialized terms, as well as the use of some clichés ("from this we can conclude …", "in the course of considering this problem, we came to the conclusion … "and so on).
Friendly chat
Many people mistakenly believe that the use of so-called vernacular and colloquial vocabulary is most characteristic of the colloquial style of speech. However, the authors of manuals on practicalstylistics of the modern Russian language argue that this is not entirely true. Most of the words in such texts still belong to the vocabulary of a general variety, that is, not limited to any particular style. Colloquial and colloquial expressions in everyday conversations are contained in the amount of 5-15 percent.
Some mistakenly believe that conversational style of speech exists only when information is transmitted using the human voice.
However, manuals on the style of the Russian language and the culture of speech often mention that information related to the field of scientific knowledge can also be voiced in this way. This means that such a message is characterized by an appropriate style.
Personal Features
In addition to the typical styles mentioned in the previous chapters of this article, there is also the concept of the individual characteristics of the speech of each individual person. Linguists say that there are certain characteristics inherent in certain groups of people.
For example, members of the intelligentsia can usually be distinguished by the long sentences they use in their conversation, as well as by their relatively large vocabulary.
Each age group has individual characteristics.
Culture of speech
This concept began to be often used in our country after the October Revolution, when large sections of the population, descended from the peasantry and workers, got the opportunity to participate in political lifestate and to hold leadership positions in manufacturing and other enterprises.
Accordingly, it became necessary not only to provide these people with various professional knowledge necessary for their activities, but also to improve their literacy. Many scientists, including Vinogradov, have developed their own methods of teaching the culture of speech and the Russian language.
Purity of language
This problem again became relevant in the years of perestroika, because at that time, in connection with the opening of borders, many foreign words began to penetrate the Russian language, most of which were English.
To improve speech culture, the outstanding philologist Rosenthal created a textbook with exercises on the style of the Russian language. Many teachers say that this manual is the best among similar books.
One of the fundamental works of this area is also the book "Essays on the style of the Russian language", written by Gvozdev. In it, the scientist considers the issue of stylistic norms, purity of speech and much more.
Conclusion
This article considered the question of what is the style of the Russian language, provides information about the most important scientific works in this area. This material also provides a brief history of the formation and development of this industry.
By studying the style of the Russian language, a person can significantly improve the level of oral and written speech. Many prominent writers, including Maxim Gorky, spoke about the need for this. He is known tocompared tongue to weapon.
