Stylistic function notion
Like other linguistic disciplines stylistics deals with the lexical, grammatical, phonetic and phraseological data of the language. However there is a distinctive difference between stylistics and the other linguistic subjects. Stylistics does not study or describe separate linguistic units like phonemes or words or clauses as such. It studies their stylistic function.
Stylistics focuses on the expressive properties of linguistic units, their functioning and interaction in conveying ideas and emotions in a certain text or communicative context.
Stylistics interprets the opposition or clash between the contextual meaning of a word and its denotative meaning.
Accordingly stylistics is first and foremost engaged in the study of connotative meanings.
The semantic structure (or the meaning) of a word roughly consists of its grammatical meaning (noun, verb, adjective) and its lexical meaning. Lexical meaning can further on be subdivided into denotative (linked to the logical or nominative meaning) and connotative meanings. Connotative meaning is only connected with extra-linguistic circumstances such as the situation of communication and the participants of communication. Connotative meaning consists of four components:
1) emotive; (feelings or emotions)
2) evaluative; (the speaker's attitude)
3) expressive; (expressiveness of the message)
4) stylistic. (certain functional style or a specific layer of vocabulary)
A word is always characterised by its denotative meaning but not necessarily by connotation. The four components may be all present at once, or in different combinations or they may not be found in the word at all.
This detailed and systematic description of the connotative meaning of a word is suggested by the Leningrad school in the works of Prof. I. V. Arnold, Z. Y. Turayeva, and others.
Galperin operates three types of lexical meaning that are stylistically relevant—logical, emotive and nominal. He describes the stylistic colouring of words in terms of the interaction of these types of lexical meaning. Skrebnev maintains that connotations only show to what part of the national language a word belongs—one of the sub-languages (functional styles) or the neutral bulk. He only speaks about the stylistic component of the connotative meaning.
EXPRESSIVE MEANS
Expressive means of a language are those linguistic forms and properties that have the potential to make the utterance emphatic or expressive. These can be found on all levels—phonetic, graphical, morphological, lexical or syntactical.
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Expressive means and stylistic devices have a lot in common but they are not completely synonymous. All stylistic devices belong to expressive means but not all expressive means are stylistic devices. Phonetic phenomena such as vocal pitch, pauses, logical stress, and drawling, or staccato pronunciation are all expressive without being stylistic devices
Morphological forms like diminutive suffixes may have an expressive effect: girlie, piggy, doggy, etc. An unexpected use of the author's nonce words like: He glasnosted his love affair with the movie star (People) is another example of morphological expressive means.
Lexical expressive means may be illustrated by a special group оf intensifiers— awfully, terribly, absolutely, etc. or words that retain their logical meaning while being used emphatically: // was a very sped e vening/event/gift.
There are also special grammatical forms and syntactical patterns attributing expressiveness, such as: / do know you! I'm really angry with that dog of у ours! That you should deceive me! If only I could help you!
STYLISTIC DEVICES
A stylistic device is a literary model in which semantic and structural features are blended so that it represents a generalised pattern.
Prof. I. R. Galperin calls a stylistic device a generative model when through frequent use a language fact is transformed into a stylistic device. Thus we may say that some expressive means have evolved into stylistic devices which represent a more abstract form or set of forms. A stylistic device combines some general semantic meaning with a certain linguistic form resulting in stylistic effect. It is like an algorithm employed for an expressive purpose. For example, the interplay, interaction, or clash of the dictionary and contextual meanings of words will bring about such stylistic devices as metaphor, metonymy or irony.
The nature of the interaction may be affinity (likeness by nature), proximity (nearness in place, time, order, occurrence, relation) or contrast (opposition).
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Respectively there is metaphor based on the principle of affinity, metonymy based on proximity and irony based on opposition.
The evolution of a stylistic device such as metaphor could be seen from four examples that demonstrate this linguistic mechanism (interplay of dictionary and contextual meaning based on the principle of affinity):
1. My new dress is as pink as this flower: comparison (ground for comparison—the colour of the flower).
2. Her cheeks were as red as a tulip: simile (ground for simile— colour/beauty/health/freshness)
3. She is a real flower: metaphor (ground for metaphor—frail/ fragrant/tender/beautifu 1/helpless...).
My love is a red, red rose: metaphor (ground for metaphor— passionate/beautiful/strong...).
4. Ruby lips, hair of gold, snow-white skin: trite metaphors so frequently employed that they hardly have any stylistic power left because metaphor dies of overuse. Such metaphors are also called hackneyed or even dead.
The more unexpected, the less predictable is the ground for comparison the more expressive is the metaphor which in this case got a special name of genuine or authentic metaphor. Associations suggested by the genuine metaphor are varied, not limited to any definite number and stimulated by the individual experience or imagination.
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