Speech is a calling card of a person. It will reveal your age, education level, status and even interests. It is not surprising that writers willingly use speech characteristics in their works. This is an excellent addition to the literary portrait of the hero.
More important as they say
Maxim Gorky noticed that more often than not what the characters say is important, but how they do it. The main thing is not judgment, but manner. Therefore, the most accurate definition of the concept of "speech characteristic" is the nature of the character's vocabulary, the intonational and stylistic coloring of his verbal constructions.
How does this figurative tool work? The rhetoric of the characters characterizes the individuality, makes the image expressive and memorable, serves as a means of opposing other characters, and shows the mental and emotional state of the hero.
Requirements for lexical means
Literary techniques for creating a speech characteristic arethe use of dialect and slang words, professionalism and clericalism, the inclusion of constructions that clog speech. This is also an introduction to the speech of the characters of sayings, jokes, allegories, diminutives. The speech can be fast or slow, differ in the unusual structure of phrases, the degree of volume.
What is the "s alt" of the character
The sign that distinguishes the hero from other characters can be special, characteristic only for him, words and expressions, as, for example, in Ostap Bender, the hero of the novels by Ilf and Petrov. Other characters are distinguished by specific speech defects that add spice to the image. This is how Colonel Nai-Tours from Bulgakov's "White Guard" lisps, the charming Miss Stapleton lisps from the story "The Hound of the Baskervilles" by Conan Doyle, and Erast Fandorin stutters slightly in Boris Akunin's detective novels.
Comedy "Undergrowth": the speech characteristics of the characters
The play by Denis Fonvizin "Undergrowth" is the first Russian comedy of the era of classicism. In 1782, it triumphantly passed on the stage of the Karl Kniper Theater in St. Petersburg, then it was published and went through 4 editions during the author's lifetime.
Comedy was created in the best traditions of classicism and aimed at correcting the vices of society. The play clearly divided all the characters into positive and negative. It obeyed the trinity of place, action and time. A distinctive feature was the "speaking" names and surnames of the actors "Undergrowth" and speech characteristicsheroes.
The lively colloquial language of comedy revealed the innovation of Fonvizin, who was a prominent participant in the formation of a common Russian literary language in the second half of the 18th century.
Author's credo
The lexicon of the positive heroes of the dramaturgy of Fonvizin's time was full of book turns and cumbersome syntactic constructions. Denis Ivanovich made significant changes to this tradition. Remaining bookish, the speech of the best heroes of his comedy - Starodum, Sophia, Milon, Pravdin - burns with a thirst for truth, honor, justice, intolerance for vice. So the speech characteristics of the characters reveal the moral ideal of the author, who is in opposition to the conservatism of the ruling circles.
The rhetoric of Starodum, this alter ego of Fonvizin himself, is aphoristic and figurative. His remarks soon dispersed into quotes: “Have a heart, have a soul, and you will be a man at any time”, “Golden blockhead is all blockhead” and others.
Starodum's conversation depends on the speech situation, for example, in a conversation with Prostakova and Skotinin, he ironically uses vernacular expressions.
Why we laugh: features of the speech of negative people
It should be noted that the speech of the negative characters of the "Undergrowth" is attractive in its own way: it has a lot of ease, folk sayings, colorful phraseological units.
Remarkable in the comedy "Undergrowth" is the speech characteristic of Prostakova. The author of a dramaturgical work has only the characters' lines in stock in order to create a complete impression ofarrogance and ignorance of mother Mitrofanushka. The vulgar vocabulary, devoid of expression, emphasizes the intellectual and spiritual poverty of the heroine. She says “where”, “maybe”, “what if”, “not a cheek”, “look-tka” mixed with swear words: “beast”, “cattle”, “mug”, “scoundrel”, “snout”, "thieves' mug", "dog's daughter", etc. So the speech characteristic of Prostakova demonstrates the rudeness, depravity, cruelty of the character.
Along with colloquial statements and dialectisms, the landowner also uses book phrases: “amorous letter”, “fair fiction”. This technique is not just comical, it allows you to achieve amazing credibility in the image of Prostakova, whose speech characteristics indicate that the author is quite familiar with the vocabulary of provincial nobles.
Jests, proverbs and puns are full of statements by Mitrofanushka and Skotinin. However, this technique does not make them likable characters at all. Rough and vulgar expressions interspersed with folk vocabulary serve one purpose - to ridicule and condemn negative characters.
Vocabulary from the barn
Skotinin's speech characteristic is distinguished by a "zoological" tinge: "pigs", "pigs", "shed" are his favorite words. He pronounces them with tenderness and pride, often personifying himself with the inhabitants of the barnyard. It is no coincidence that N. V. Gogol said about Skotinin that pigs for him are the same as an art gallery for art lovers. In the lexicon of the feudal landowner, colloquial phrases are paradoxically mixed (tomorrow, which,eka happiness) with clericalisms from the world of state institutions: “petitioner”, “left by a corporal”. Skotinin does not stand on ceremony either with the servants or with his own nephew: “I’ll break him like hell.”
Evil fruits
Mitrofan looks like a "professor" against the background of his relatives, because teachers are working with him. However, they are also half-educated, and the abilities of the undergrowth leave much to be desired. The table of speech characteristics in the photo gives us some idea about the underage teachers.
Bubblehead and lazybones, Mitrofanushka speaks in a simple and rude way: "I walk like crazy … all night long such rubbish climbed into my eyes." The remarks of the noble son are comical due to stupidity and illiteracy. He says of the noun "door" that it is an "adjective" because it stands "attached to its place" for "six weeks". In the finale, the heartless son does not respond to his mother's call, brushing her off: "Get off!" The author created the image of Mitrofanushka as an illustration of how pernicious the example of malevolent and unenlightened parents is for the younger generation, the actions of the character and his speech characteristics emphasize this.
As the Thunderstorm characters say
The drama "Thunderstorm" by A. N. Ostrovsky appeared almost a hundred years later, when enlightened nobles were inspired by the coming reforms. The rebellious sound of the incredibly tense conflict of the play sets, among other expressive means, the speech characteristic. The storm in the relationships and in the souls of the characters is wonderfully demonstrated by the dialogues of the heroes opposing each other.
Replicasfrom the dark realm
The musty and despotic world of the patriarchal city of Kalinov appears before the reader in the speech of Kabanikha and Dikiy. The latter is called in the city "scold", what else to look for. His remarks are aggressive and frankly rude. The intolerant arrogant nature of the character is manifested in the fact that he pronounces foreign words in his own manner.
Kabanikha's dialect is full of Domostroy vocabulary. She often uses the imperative mood, does not shun swear words. Along with rudeness and mockery in her speech, there is a desire to seem kind and even unhappy to people, to arouse sympathy and acceptance. So verbal constructions help the author to create a hypocritical character.
Speech like a song
The central character of the drama - Katerina - speaks the language of folk poetry, in her remarks colloquial words are interspersed with the vocabulary of church life literature. Katerina's speech is exceptionally figurative and emotional, it contains many diminutive constructions. It reveals a deep and extraordinary character. This is especially evident in dialogues with people of the same generation as Katerina. The prudent and cynical Barbara speaks in short phrases, which are ruled by mundane worldly wisdom and practicality, mixed with lies. Cultured and courteous Boris, ready to endure the tyranny of his uncle Diky, is “sick” with the habit of self-flagellation. His inner monologues denounce a kind, but cowardly person. This is facilitated by the reception of inversion in the speech of the hero, who always depends oncircumstances and does not know how to manage his own life.
Capacitive speech strokes for portraits of heroes
Tikhon's speech is vulgar and completely devoid of poetry, this is a weak-willed and soulless character. Emphatically polite with his mother, Tikhon is cheeky in conversations with others.
One of the iconic characters in the play is Feklusha. The colloquial elements interspersed with Church Slavonicisms of her speech reflect the falseness that prevails in relation to moral values and faith in God among the inhabitants of Kalinov.
The balanced and competent speech of Kuligin, a self-taught mechanic, demonstrates an honest good character, full of dreams of a better future for the city. The inventor's vocabulary is distinguished by well-constructed constructions, if he uses colloquial words, then it is very organic and in moderation. Kuligin's statements are not alien to poetic turns when he admires the perfection of the world around him. This is a positive hero of the drama, whose convictions and creative impulse are not supported.
They will survive the ages
The ability to masterfully create a linguistic portrait of a character is the privilege of talented writers. The heroes of their books create a new reality and are remembered by readers for a long time.
