Stylistics - what is it? You will receive the answer to the question asked from the materials of the presented article. In addition, we will tell you about the categories and sections of stylistics that exist in Russian, and consider in detail the styles and techniques of English.
General information
Stylistics is a branch of linguistics, or a philological discipline that studies completely different conditions and principles for choosing language communication, as well as methods for organizing language units. In addition, the section defines the differences in the principles presented, the ways in which styles are used.
There is the following division of such a philological discipline as stylistics: these are literary and linguistic sections. However, it should be noted that the named subtypes are not officially recognized.
Thus, the linguistic section of stylistics considers all functional styles of speech, and the literary section studies plots, image systems, plot, etc. in a single work.
One cannot but say that the practical style of the Russian language is quite closely connected with other sections of the course of this school subject. In this regard, it will not work to study it separately from grammar and theoretical lexicology. After all, they serve as a kind of basis for characterizing linguistic means.
Main categories
Now you know what style is. This is a special branch of linguistics, which has the following categories:
- style rules;
- style;
- style norm;
- stylistic coloring of language units;
- correlativity of language expression methods.
Main Sections
The main sections of the presented discipline are:
- text style;
- theoretical style;
- style of language units (or the so-called style of resources);
- practical style;
- style of the varieties of the use of the Russian language (or the so-called functional section).
Linguistic style
As mentioned above, stylistics in Russian is unofficially divided into literary and linguistic. The latter is a whole science of speech styles. She studies the various possibilities of language, namely: expressive, communicative, evaluative, cognitive, emotional and functional. Let's consider it in more detail. After all, it is precisely this possibility of the Russian language that is given the most time in the secondary school curriculum.
Functional speech styles
Russian style clearly articulates the requirements for literate speech. In this regard, it is imperative to know that our mother tongue has five main styles, namely:
- scientific;
- colloquial;
- journalistic;
- formal business;
- artistic.
To get an idea of each, let's look at them in more detail.
Scientific style
This style of speech has a number of features such as monologue, preliminary reflection, the strictest selection of language techniques and statements, as well as normalized speech. As a rule, such texts fully and accurately explain all the facts, show all the causal and investigative relationships between certain phenomena, identify patterns, etc.
Conversational style
This functional style of speech serves for informal or informal communication. It is characterized by the exchange of information on everyday issues, the expression of their thoughts or feelings. It should be especially noted that colloquial vocabulary is often used for such speech.
Publicistic style
It is especially often used in various articles, essays, reports, feuilletons, interviews, during public speaking, etc. Almost always, journalistic style is used to influence people through magazines, newspapers, radio, television, booklets, posters and etc. It is characterized by solemn vocabulary, phraseology, emotionally colored words, as well as verbless phrases, the use of short sentences, "chopped" prose, rhetorical questions, repetitions, exclamations, etc.
Formal business style
This is a style of speech thatactively used in the field of official relations (law, international relations, military industry, economics, advertising, government activities, communication in official institutions, etc.).
Art Style
This style of speech is used in fiction. It quite strongly affects the feelings and imagination of the reader, fully conveys the thoughts of the author, and also uses all the richness of vocabulary, is characterized by the emotionality of speech and imagery. It should be noted that other styles can be used in it.
Style as a discipline
As mentioned above, such a section is mandatory included in the school curriculum. However, a few study hours are not enough to fully study the peculiarities of the styles of the Russian language. That is why the program of some higher educational institutions with a humanitarian bias includes such a course as "Stylistics and literary editing." Its purpose is to familiarize with the general theoretical issues of this discipline, as well as to develop practical skills in working with a specific text.
English style
In order to achieve the highest possible level of proficiency in a particular foreign language, it is not enough just to master the basic grammar rules, as well as learn a few hundred or thousand words. After all, it is extremely important to master a special art - "speaking". To do this, in your speech it is necessary to apply not only all kinds of stylistic devices, but also to know how touse certain styles of speech correctly.
What stylistic devices exist in English?
After reaching an intermediate level of English, you want to improve more and more. But for this it is necessary to learn to understand and feel a foreign language well. As a rule, this is done through comparison and analysis. Let's look at together what stylistic devices are used in English:
- Metaphors. This is a hidden comparison. It is used when things that are completely uncharacteristic of it are attributed to some object or person. At the same time, it is extremely important to observe the transfer of certain qualities on the basis of similarity. For example, instead of the word "stars" use "silver dust", instead of "sun" - "pancake", etc.
- Epithets. This technique emphasizes the qualities of a person or object in a sentence, and also expresses a definition (for example, s alt tears, true love or loud ocean).
- Comparison. This technique matches more than one subject. This is necessary in order to identify differences and other inconsistencies. To find out the comparison in a sentence, you need to pay attention to such words as “as though”, “like”, “as … as”, “as like to remind of”, “such as”, “to resemble”, etc.
- Metonymy. This means of expression is used when a word is replaced by another that is more similar in meaning (for example, "crown" and "sword").
- Antonomasia. This is a special kind of metonymy, characterized by the replacement of namesown.
- Euphemisms and paraphrases. Such techniques are used quite often in English. The first means of expression is used to soften a concept, and the second replaces the names of objects with a descriptive phrase and at the same time indicates their characteristic features.
- Hyperbole. This technique is used to exaggerate any qualities (that is, deliberate selection). With the help of hyperbole, you can give expressiveness and expressiveness to the following statements: told you 100 times or haven’t seen for ages.
- Antithesis. This technique is characterized by the opposition of two phenomena or objects (in black and white or now or never).
- Irony. This technique hides the true meaning of the statements. That is, the listener, viewer or reader must guess for himself what is hidden behind certain words (for example, She turned with the sweet smile of an alligator).
- Oxymoron and paradox. These terms are one and the same concept. As a rule, it is used in cases where it is necessary to emphasize any judgment that is contrary to common sense (for example, less is more, low skyscraper or pleasantly ugly face). Their main difference is that an oxymoron is a phrase, and a paradox is a thought, idea or sentence.
Speech styles in English
As in Russian, speech styles in English differ not only in expressive means and techniques, but also in general specifics. Let's take a closer look at themin detail.
So, in English there are the following styles of speech:
- Free, or the so-called colloquial style. It differs in rather pronounced deviations from accepted norms and is divided into 2 subgroups: familiar-colloquial and literary-colloquial.
- Newspaper style. Designed for objective transmission of events (in written or oral speech). This style is not subjective or emotional.
- Formal business. All important documents and all business correspondence are based on this style.
- Scientific and technical. This style is characterized by consistency and logic.
- Artistic. This style is used in literary works. It is characterized by subjectivity, emotionality, the use of phraseological units, expressive means, as well as detailed and complex sentences.
