Styles of a language are its varieties that serve one or another side of social life. They all have a few parameters in common: the purpose or situation of use, the forms in which they exist, and the set of language features.
The concept itself comes from the Greek word "stilos", which meant writing stick. As a scientific discipline, stylistics finally took shape in the twenties of the twentieth century. Among those who studied the problems of stylistics in detail were M. V. Lomonosov, F. I. Buslaev, G. O. Vinokur, E. D. Polivanov. D. E. Rozental, V. V. Vinogradov, M. N. Kozhina and others paid serious attention to individual functional styles.
Five styles of speech in Russian
Functional styles of language are certain features of speech itself or its social variety, specific vocabulary and grammar that correspond to the field of activity and way of thinking.
In Russian, they are traditionally divided into five varieties:
- colloquial;
- formal business;
- scientific;
- journalistic;
- artistic.
The norms and concepts of each depend on the historical era and change over time. BeforeIn the 17th century, colloquial and book lexicon differed greatly. The Russian language became literary only in the 18th century, largely thanks to the efforts of M. V. Lomonosov. Modern styles of the language began to take shape at the same time.
Birth of styles
In the Old Russian period there were church literature, business documents and annals. Spoken everyday language differed from them quite strongly. At the same time, household and business documents had much in common. M. V. Lomonosov made a lot of efforts to change the situation.
He laid the foundation for the ancient theory, highlighting the high, low and middle styles. According to her, the literary Russian language was formed as a result of the joint development of book and colloquial variants. She took as a basis stylistically neutral forms and turns from one and the other, allowed the use of folk expressions and limited the use of little-known and specific Slavic words. Thanks to M. V. Lomonosov, the styles of the language that existed at that time were replenished with scientific ones.
Subsequently, A. S. Pushkin gave impetus to the further development of stylistics. His work laid the foundations of the artistic style.
Moscow orders and Peter's reforms served as the origins of the official business language. Ancient chronicles, sermons and teachings formed the basis of the journalistic style. In the literary version, it began to take shape only in the XVIII century. To date, all 5 styles of the language are designed quite clearly and have their own subspecies.
Conversational-everyday
As the name implies, this stylespeech is used in everyday communication. Unlike jargon and dialects, it is based on literary vocabulary. His sphere is situations where there are no clear official relations between the participants. In everyday life, mostly neutral words and expressions are used (for example, “blue”, “horse”, “left”). But you can use words with colloquial coloring ("locker room", "lack of time").
Inside the colloquial, there are three subspecies: everyday-everyday, everyday-business, and epistolary. The latter includes private correspondence. Colloquial and business - a variant of communication in a formal setting. The colloquial and formal-business styles of the language (a lesson or a lecture can serve as another example) in a certain sense divide this subspecies among themselves, since it can be attributed both there and there.
Informal communication allows for familiar, endearing and reduced expressions, as well as words with evaluative suffixes (for example, "home", "bunny", "boast"). The colloquial and everyday style can be very bright and figurative due to the use of phraseological units and words with an emotionally expressive connotation (“beat the bucks”, “close”, “child”, “believing”, “skirt”).
Various abbreviations are widely used - “failed”, “ambulance”, “condensed milk”. Spoken language is simpler than bookish - the use of participles and gerunds, complex multi-part sentences is inappropriate. In general, this style corresponds to the literary one, but at the same time it has its own characteristics.
Scientific style
He, like the official business, is verystrict in the choice of words and expressions, sharply narrows the scope of what is permissible. The scientific style of the Russian language does not allow dialectisms, jargon, colloquial expressions, words with emotional overtones. Serves science and industry.
Since the purpose of scientific texts is to present research data, objective facts, this puts forward requirements for their composition and the words used. As a rule, the sequence of presentation is as follows:
- introduction - setting the task, goal, question;
- the main part is the search and enumeration of answer options, drawing up a hypothesis, evidence;
- conclusion - the answer to the question, the achievement of the goal.
A work in this genre is built consistently and logically, it presents two types of information: facts, and how the author organizes them.
The scientific style of the language makes extensive use of terms, prefixes anti-, bi-, quasi-, super-, suffixes -awn, -ism, -ne-e (antibodies, bipolar, supernova, sedentary, symbolism, cloning). Moreover, the terms do not exist by themselves - they form a complex network of relationships and systems: from the general to the particular, from the whole to the part, genus/species, identity/opposites, and so on.
Mandatory criteria for such a text are objectivity and accuracy. Objectivity excludes emotionally colored vocabulary, exclamations, artistic turns of speech, here it is inappropriate to tell a story in the first person. Precision is often associated with terms. As an illustration, one can cite an excerpt from the book by Anatoly Fomenko “Methodsmathematical analysis of historical texts.”
At the same time, the degree of "complexity" of a scientific text depends primarily on the target audience and on the purpose - who exactly the work is intended for, how much knowledge these people supposedly have, whether they can understand what is being said. It is clear that at such an event as a school lesson of the Russian language, simple styles of speech and expression are needed, and complex scientific terminology is also suitable for a lecture for senior students of a university.
Of course, other factors also play a big role - the topic (in technical sciences, the language is stricter and more regulated than in the humanities), genre.
Within this style, there are strict requirements for the design of written work: candidate and doctoral dissertations, monographs, abstracts, term papers.
Substyles and nuances of scientific speech
In addition to the actual scientific, there are also scientific and educational and popular science substyles. Each is used for a specific purpose and for a specific audience. These styles of language are examples of different, but at the same time similar outwardly communicative streams.
Scientific and educational sub-style is a kind of lightweight version of the main style in which literature is written for those who have just begun to study a new field. Representatives - textbooks for universities, colleges, schools (high school), part of the tutorials, other literature created for beginners (below is an excerpt from a psychology textbook for universities: authors Slastenin V., Isaev I. et al., "Pedagogy. Study Guide ").
The non-fiction sub-style is easier to understand than the other two. Its purpose is to explain complex facts and processes to the audience in a simple and understandable language. Various encyclopedias "101 facts about …" were written by him.
Formal business
Of the 5 styles of the Russian language, this one is the most formalized. It is used to communicate between states, and institutions with each other and with citizens. It is a means of communication between citizens in production, in organizations, in the service sector, within the limits of their performance of their official duties.
Official business style is classified as book-written, it is used in the texts of laws, orders, orders, contracts, acts, powers of attorney and similar documents. The oral form is used in speeches, reports, communication within the framework of working relationships.
Formal Business Style Components
There are several sub-styles in the general category:
- Legislative. It is used in oral and written form, in laws, regulations, resolutions, instructions, explanatory letters, recommendations, as well as in instructions, article-by-article and operational comments. Orally heard during parliamentary debates and appeals.
- Jurisdictional - exists in oral and written forms, is used for indictments, sentences, arrest warrants, court decisions, cassation complaints, procedural acts. In addition, it can be heard during court hearings.debates, conversations at the reception of citizens, etc.
- Administrative - implemented in writing in orders, charters, decisions, contracts, employment and insurance contracts, official letters, various petitions, telegrams, wills, memos, autobiographies, reports, receipts, shipping documentation. The oral form of the administrative sub-style - orders, auctions, commercial negotiations, speeches at receptions, auctions, meetings, etc.
- Diplomatic. This genre in writing can be found in the form of treaties, conventions, agreements, pacts, protocols, personal notes. Oral form - communiques, memorandums, joint statements.
In formal business style, stable phrases, complex conjunctions and verbal nouns are actively used:
- based on…
- according to…
- based on…
- due to…
- force…
- meaning…
Only the scientific and formal business styles of the language have clear forms and structure. In this case, this is a statement, resume, memorandum, identity card, marriage certificate and others.
The style is characterized by a neutral tone of narration, direct word order, complex sentences, conciseness, conciseness, lack of individuality. Special terminology, abbreviations, special vocabulary and phraseology are widely used. Another striking feature is the cliché.
Publicistic
The functional styles of the language are very idiosyncratic. Publicity is no exception. It is used in the mediasocial periodicals, during political, judicial speeches. Most often, its samples can be found in radio and television programs, in newspaper publications, in magazines, booklets, at rallies.
Publicism is designed for a wide audience, so special terms are rarely found here, and if they are, they are sought to be explained in the same text. It exists not only in oral and written speech - it is also found in photography, cinema, graphic and visual, theatrical-dramatic and verbal-musical forms.
The journalistic style of the language has two main functions: informational and influencing. The task of the first is to convey facts to people. The second is to form the right impression, to influence the opinion about the events. The information function requires the reporting of reliable and accurate data that are of interest not only to the author, but also to the reader. The influence is realized through the personal opinion of the author, his calls to action, as well as the way the material is presented.
Besides the specific ones for this particular style, there are also common features for the language as a whole: communicative, expressive and aesthetic.
Communicative function
Communication is the main and general task of the language, which manifests itself in all its forms and styles. Absolutely all styles of language and styles of speech have a communicative function. In journalism, texts and speeches are intended for a wide audience, feedback is realized through letters and calls.readers, public discussions, polls. This requires the text to be readable and easy to read.
Expressive function
The journalistic text shows the personality of its author, who can express his attitude to events, share his point of view. In different genres, the author has a different degree of freedom - emotionality is typical for a pamphlet or a talk show, but is not welcome in an informational note or news release.
Expression should not go beyond reasonable limits - it is necessary to observe the norms of speech culture, and the expression of emotions cannot be the only task.
Aesthetic function
Out of all 5 styles of Russian speech, this function is available only in two. In literary texts, aesthetics plays an important role; in journalism, its role is much less. However, reading or listening to a well-designed, thoughtful, harmonious text is much more pleasant. Therefore, it is desirable to pay attention to aesthetic qualities in any of the genres.
Journalistic genres
There are quite a few actively used genres within the main style:
- oratory;
- pamphlet;
- essay;
- reportage;
- feuilleton;
- interview;
- article and others.
Each of them is used in certain situations: a pamphlet as a kind of artistic and journalistic work is usually directed against a particular party, social phenomenon or political system as a whole, a report is a prompt and impartial report from the scene,an article is a genre with which the author analyzes certain phenomena, facts and gives them his own assessment and interpretation.
Art Style
All styles of language and styles of speech find their expression through the artistic. It conveys the feelings and thoughts of the author, affects the reader's imagination. He uses all the means of other styles, all the diversity and richness of the language, is characterized by figurativeness, emotionality, and concreteness of speech. Used in fiction.
An important feature of this style is aesthetics - here, unlike journalism, it is a mandatory element.
There are four types of artistic style:
- epic;
- lyrical;
- dramatic;
- combined.
Each of these kinds has its own approach to displaying events. If we talk about the epic, then the main thing here will be a detailed story about the subject or event, when the author himself or one of the characters will act as a narrator.
In the lyrical narrative, the emphasis is on the impression that the events left on the author. Here the main thing will be experiences, what happens in the inner world.
The dramatic approach depicts an object in action, shows it surrounded by other objects and events. The theory of these three genera belongs to V. G. Belinsky. In the "pure" form, each of the above is rare. Recently, some authors have identified another genus - combined.
In turn, epic, lyrical,dramatic approaches to describing events and objects are divided into genres: fairy tale, short story, short story, novel, ode, drama, poem, comedy and others.
The artistic style of the language has its own characteristics:
- combination of language tools of other styles is used;
- form, structure, language tools are selected in accordance with the intention and idea of the author;
- use of special figures of speech that give color and imagery to the text;
- The aesthetic function is of great importance.
Tropes (allegory, metaphor, simile, synecdoche) and stylistic figures (default, epithet, epiphora, hyperbole, metonymy) are widely used here.
Artistic image - style - language
The author of any work, not only literary, needs the means to contact the viewer or reader. Each art form has its own means of communication. This is where the trilogy comes in - artistic image, style, language.
Image is a generalized attitude to the world and life, expressed by the artist with the help of his chosen language. This is a kind of general category of creativity, a form of interpretation of the world through the creation of aesthetically active objects.
Artistic image is also called any phenomenon recreated by the author in the work. Its meaning is revealed only in interaction with the reader or viewer: what exactly a person will understand, see, depends on his goals, personality, emotional state, culture and values in which he was brought up.
The second element of the triad "image - style - language" hasattitude to a special handwriting, characteristic only for this author or era of a combination of methods and techniques. In art, three different concepts are distinguished - the style of the era (covers a historical period of time, which was characterized by common features, for example, the Victorian era), national (it means features that are common to a particular people, nation, for example, the Japanese style) and individual (we are talking about an artist whose work has special qualities that are not inherent in others, for example, Picasso).
Language in any kind of art is a system of figurative means designed to serve the goals of the author when creating works, a tool for creating an artistic image. It enables communication between the creator and the audience, allows you to "draw" an image with those very unique style features.
Each type of creativity uses its own means for this: painting - color, sculpture - volume, music - intonation, sound. Together they form a trinity of categories - artistic image, style, language, help to get closer to the author and better understand what he created.
It should be understood that, despite the differences between them, styles do not form separate, purely closed systems. They are able and constantly interpenetrate each other: not only the artistic one uses the language means of other styles, but also the official business one has many mutual points with the scientific one (jurisdictional and legislative subtypes are close in their terminology to similar scientific disciplines).
Business vocabulary penetrates colloquial speech, and vice versa. Publicistic type of speech inoral and written form is closely intertwined with the realm of colloquial and non-fiction styles.
Moreover, the current state of the language is by no means stable. It would be more accurate to say that it is in dynamic equilibrium. New concepts are constantly emerging, the Russian dictionary is replenished with expressions that come from other languages.
Create new forms of words with the help of existing ones. The rapid development of science and technology also actively contributes to the enrichment of the scientific style of speech. Many concepts from the field of artistic science fiction have migrated to the category of quite official terms that name certain processes and phenomena. And scientific concepts have entered everyday speech.
