Stylistics

The term 'style' is used in linguistics to describe the choices which language makes available to
a user, above and beyond the choices necessary for the simple expression of a meaning. Linguistic form
can be interpreted as a set of possibilities for the production of texts, and thereby linguistic form makes
possible linguistic style. Stylistics is the study of linguistic style, whereas (theoretical) Linguistics is the
study of linguistic form. Linguistic form is generated from the components of language (sounds, parts of
words, and words) and consists of the representations - phonetic, phonological, morphological, syntactic,
semantic etc. - which together form a code by which what we say or write has a specific meaning.

A. Modern stylistics

Stylistics is a method of textual interpretation in which primacy of place is assigned

to language.

 The reason why language is so important to stylisticians is because the various forms,
patterns and levels that constitute linguistic structure are an important index of the function of the
text which in turn acts as a gateway to its interpretation .
 The preferred object of study in stylistics is literature, whether high art or more popular
‘noncanonical’ forms of writing.

The traditional connection between stylistics and literature brings with it two important
caveats (cautions), though.

 Creativity in language use should not be seen as the exclusive preserve of literary writing.
Many forms of discourse (advertising, journalism, and popular music – even casual conversation)
often display a high degree of stylistic skill.
 The techniques of stylistic analysis are as much about deriving insights about linguistic
structure and function as they are about understanding literary texts. Thus, the question ‘What can
stylistics tell us about literature?’ is always paralleled by an equally important question ‘What can
stylistics tell us about language?’

A number of myths about contemporary stylistics:

 Confusion about the scope of stylistics is a result of confusion about the compass of
language. For instance, there is a belief that a stylistician is a dull old grammarian who spends too
much time on such trivial pursuits as counting the nouns and verbs in literary texts.
 This is an erroneous perception of the stylistic method and it is one which stems from a
limited understanding of how language analysis works. True, nouns and verbs should not be
overlooked. Yet, it is the full range of the system of language that makes all aspects of a writer’s
craft relevant in stylistic analysis. The more complete and context-sensitive the description of
language, then the fuller the stylistic analysis that accrues.

B. The purpose of stylistics

Why should we do stylistics?
 To do stylistics is to explore language, and, more specifically, to explore creativity in
language use.
 This method of inquiry sheds light on the ‘rules’ of language because stylistics shows us how
these rules are broken in certain texts.

The practice of stylistics conform to the following three basic Principles (Rs) :
 stylistic analysis should be rigorous.
 The stylistic method should be based on an explicit framework of analysis , derived from
models of language and discourse .
 stylistic analysis should be retrievable.
 The stylistic method should be organized through explicit terms and criteria , since there is a
wide agreement on the meaning of terms .
 stylistic analysis should be replicable.
 The methods of stylistics should be sufficiently transparent as to allow other stylisticians to
verify them, either by testing them on the same text or by applying them beyond that text.

Language in its broadest conceptualization is not a disorganized mass of sounds and symbols, but is
instead an intricate web of levels, layers and links. 

STYLISTICS AND LEVELS OF LANGUAGE

A. Levels of Language

These levels are interconnected: they interpenetrate and depend upon one another.

1. Phonology; Phonetics: The sound of spoken language; the way words are pronounced 

2. Graphology: The patterns of written language; the shape of language on the page 
3. Morphology: The way words are constructed; words and their constituent structures 
4. Syntax; grammar: The way words combine with other words to form phrases and sentences
5. Lexical analysis; lexicology: The words we use; the vocabulary of a language
6. Semantics: The meaning of words and sentences  
7. Pragmatics; discourse analysis: The way words and sentences are used in everyday
situations; the meaning of language in context.
Example: “That puppy’s knocking over those pot plants!”

Graphology: accommodates the systematic meanings encoded in the written medium of language
(graphic substance). The sentence is written in the Roman alphabet, and in a 12 point emboldened
‘Georgia’ font the sentence final exclamation mark suggests an emphatic style of vocal delivery.

Phonology: encompasses the meaning potential of the sounds of spoken language (phonetic
substance) Systematic differences in sound sort out the meanings of the words used: thus, the word-
initial /n/ sound at the start of ‘knocking’ will serve to distinguish it from, say, words like ‘rocking’ or
‘mocking’. The word ‘knocking’ also raises an issue in lexicology: contemporary English
pronunciation no longer accommodates the two word-initial graphemes <k> and <n> . Apart from
these fixed features of pronunciation, there is potential for significant variation in much of the
phonetic detail of the spoken version (e.g. the /t/ vs. ‘glottal stop’ ; /r/ variations ; /ing/ vs. /in/ ). The
social or regional origins of a speaker may affect other aspects of the spoken utterance.

Morphology: The sentence also contains words that are made up from smaller grammatical
constituents known as morphemes. Thus, ‘potplants’ has three constituents: two root morphemes
(‘pot’ and ‘plant’) and a suffix (the plural morpheme‘s’), making the word a three morpheme cluster.

Grammar: The domain of language organization “the lexico-grammar”.It is a single ‘clause’ in the
indicative declarative mood. It has a Subject (‘That puppy’), a Predicator (‘’s knocking over’) and a
Complement (‘those potplants’). Each of these clause constituents is realized by a phrase which
itself has structure. For instance, the verb phrase which expresses the Predicator has a three part
structure, containing a contracted auxiliary ‘*i+s’, a main verb ‘knocking’ and a preposition ‘over’
which operates as a special kind of extension to the main verb (phrasal verb).

Semantics: concerned with meaning and those elements of language which give the sentence a
‘truth value’. A truth value specifies the conditions under which a particular sentence may be
regarded as true or false. The lexical item ‘puppy’ commits the speaker to the fact that a certain type
of entity (namely, a young canine animal) is responsible for the action carried out. Other terms, such
as the superordinate items ‘dog’ or even ‘animal’, would still be compatible in part with the truth
conditions of the sentence. The demonstrative words ‘That’ and ‘those’ express physical orientation
in language by pointing to where the speaker is situated relative to other entities specified in the
sentence. (deixis). The demonstratives suggest that the speaker is positioned some distance away
from the referents ‘puppy’ and ‘pot plants’ (distal), whereas ‘This’ and ‘these’ would imply a ‘proximal’
relationship to the referents.

Discourse: encompasses aspects of communication that lie beyond the organization of sentences.
Discourse is context-sensitive and its domain of reference includes pragmatic, ideological, social and
cognitive elements in text processing. 

In spite of its semantic compatibility, the less specific term would implicate in many contexts a rather
negative evaluation by the speaker of the entity referred to. This type of implication
is Pragmatic rather than semantic because it is more about the meaning of language in context than
about the meaning of language per se.
This sentence in a two-party interaction will be understood as a call to action on the part of the
addressee. Yet the same discourse context can produce any of a number of other strategies. A less
forthright speaker might employ a more tentative method, through something like “Sorry, but I think
you might want to keep an eye on that puppy.’ Here, indirection serves a politeness function.

GRAMMAR AND STYLE

The inter connectedness of the levels and layers means there is not necessarily natural
starting point in stylistic analysis. Interconnection between levels is important: one level may
complement, parallel or even collide with another level.

Example:
“You are the sun in reverse, all energy flows into you.”
Explanation:
At first glance, this sequence bears the stylistic impact of the lyric poem. This literary genre is
characterized by short introspective text where a single speaking voice express emotions or thought,
and its love poem manifestation the thoughts are often relayed through direct address in the second
person to an assumed lover frequently the lyric works through an essentially metaphorical
construction whereby the assumed addressee is blended conceptually with an element of nature.
Indeed, the lover, as suggested here is often mapped onto the sun, which makes the sun the
“source domain” for the metaphor she uses a very simple stylistic technique which essentially
involves playing off the level of grammar against the level of graphology. Ending the first line where
she does, the seemingly complete grammatical structure “You are the sun” this integrates in the
second line when we realize that the grammatical complement are’ is not the phrase but rather “the
sun in reverse” is the phrase.
As the remainders at the poem bears out, this is a bitter sentiment a kind of anti-lyric where
the subject of the direct address does not embody the all-fulfilling radiance of the sun but is rather
more like an energy-sapping sponge which drains rather than enhances the life-forces of nature.

The grammar of language is hugely complex set of inter lacking categories, units and structures: in
effect, the rules of the language in the academic study of language, the expression rules of grammar
does not refer to prescriptive nice style to the sorts of proscription that forbid the use of, say, a
double negative or a split infinity. On the contrary, the genuine grammatical rules of a language are
the language insofar as they specify the very bedrock of its syntactic construction and the core
organizing principles.
A.BASIC MODEL OF GRAMMAR
Most theories of grammar accept that grammatical units are ordered hierarchically
according to their size (a rank scale) o sentence (or clause complex) clause…phrase (or group)…
word…morpheme.

Morpheme-it is the smallest unit in grammar simply because it has no structure of its own.
Clause- it is the most important scale because it is the site of several important functions in
language.
-it also provide tense, positive or negative polarity; the core of a proposition in
language; and grammatical ‘mood’ (whether a clause is declarative, interrogative or
imperative).

THE FOUR BASIC ELEMENTS OF CLAUSE STRUCTURE

 Subject(S)
 It is filled by a noun phrase (cluster of words in which a noun forms the central
component).
-In finding the subject it should answer the question ‘who’ or ‘what’ placed in front of the
verb.
 Predicator(P)
 It is always filled by a verb phrase.
 Complement(C)
 It is filled either by a noun phrase or an adjective phrase.
 It should answer the question ‘who’ or ‘what’ placed after the verb.
 Adjunct(A)
 It is typically filled either by an adverb phrase or by a prepositional phrase
 It should answer the question such as ‘how’, ‘when’, ‘where’ or ‘why’ placed after the
verb.

B.VARIATIONS IN BASIC CLAUSE STRUCTURE

It is a grammatical mood that involves different types of clausal patterning:
 The imperative (the form typically used for requests and commands like “Mind your head”
or “Turn on the telly”) it has no subject element and their verb retains its base form and
cannot be marked for tense.
 The interrogatives (the form typically used for asking question, it contain the subject
elements). However, many types of interrogative position part of the predicator in front of
the subject thus: “Would the professor of Necromancy wear lipstick every Friday?” When
there isn’t enough Predicator available to release a particle for the pre-subject position, a
form of the pro-verb ‘do’ is brought into play.
 The declarative clauses may contain S and P elements only like “the train arrived” or “the
lesson began” or two complements (a direct object and an indirect object) like “Mary gave
her friend a book” or “Bill told the children a story”.

Adjunct elements are many and varied in terms of the forms they take and of the type of
information they bring to a clause. They basically describe the circumstances that attach to the
process related by the clause and for that reason they can removed without affecting the
grammatically of the clause as a whole.

Example of SPAAAA pattern

“Mary awoke suddenly in her room one morning because of a knock on the door.”Strictly
speaking, neither the subject, complement nor adjunct elements are essential components of
clause structure. The situation regarding the predicator element is not quite so clear-cut,
however, and there has been much debate among grammarians about the status of ‘P-less’
structures. Everyday languages use involves a type of grammatical abbreviation known as
ellipsis. Finally there can only be one subject element and one predicator element of structure
in any given clause.

NARRATIVE SYLISTICS
Narrative discourse provides a way of retelling felt experience by matching up patterns
of language to a connected series of events. In its most minimal form, a narrative comprises
two clauses which are temporarily(relating to measured time) ordered, in a way that any
change in order will result in a change in the way we interpret the assumed chronology of the
narrative events .
Example:
“John dropped the plate and Janet laughed suddenly”.
Analysis:
We assume that John’s misfortune preceded Janet’s response, and it was his misfortune
that brought about her response. However, reversing the clause to form “Janet laughed
suddenly and John dropped the plates” would invite a different interpretation: that is, that
Janet’s laughter not only preceded but actually lead to John’s misfortune.

NARRATIVE REQUIRES THE FOLLOWING:

 Development
 Elaboration
 Embellishment (decoration)
 Sufficient degree of stylistic flourish to give it an imprint of individuality or personality.