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Дипломная работа: Homonymy in the book of Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland"
Contents
I. Introduction
II. Theoretical Part
II.1 Different classifications of expressive means
II.1.1 Hellenistic Roman rhetoric system
II.1.2 Stylistic theory and classification of expresssive means by G. Leech
II.1.3 I. R.Galperin's classification of expressive means and stylistic devices
II.1.4 Classification of expressive means and stylistic devices by Y.M.Skrebnev
II.2Homonyms
II.2.1 Sources of Homonyms
II.2.2 Classification of Homonyms
II.2.3 Homonyms in the book
II.3 Lewis Carroll and his book
IV. Practical part
Conclusion
Bibliography
I. Introduction
The title of this work is "Homonymy in the book of Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland". I chose this theme because I am going to be a teacher and this book is often used in the process of teaching English - for example, some extracts of it are used in the school text-books as texts for reading and it would be useful for teachers to work on this book detaily.
But this book is not only interesting in the case of teaching English, but also for personal intellectual maturity-the literary work of Lewis Carroll is known all over the world, it has the third place in the list of the most popular sources of quotation on the earth - after Bible and Shakespeare! No one can name himself "an educated person" if he has never read this book. This book is not just a simple funny fairy tale for children but adult people are interested in it, because they have grown up and managed to see things that a child is not able to notice: that Lewis Carroll was an extraordinary thinker. "Alice in Wonderland" surprises an attentive reader with its logic puzzles, new look on the time and existence, quaint play on words, new linguistic discoveries, "new life" of folk-lore in the form of nonsense. This book is an object of searching for representatives of science: for mathematicians, physicists, philosophers, and, of course, for philologists.
My diploma consists of two main parts: theoretical part, where are stated the definition of homonyms, their sources and classification, some facts about Lewis Carroll and his book and here I went into the examples of using homonymy with the purpose of creating humorous effect by the author of the book. The practical part includes questions on the theory and several exercises on homonymy mostly based on the extracts from the text of "Alice in Wonderland".
I would recommend to use this work in the course of lexicology at the lessons on the themes "Homonymy" and "Stylistic devices".
II. Theoretical Part
II.1 Different classifications of expressive means
In spite of the belief that rhetoric is an outmoded discipline it is in rhetoric that we find most of the terms contemporary stylistics generally employs as its metalanguage. Rhetoric is the initial source of information about metaphor, metonymy, epithet, antithesis, chiasmus, anaphora and many more. The classical rhetoric gave us still widely used terms of tropes and figures of speech.
That is why before looking into the new stylistic theories and findings it's good to look back and see what's been there for centuries. The problems of language in antique times became a concern of scholars because of the necessity to comment on literature and poetry. This necessity was caused by the fact that mythology and lyrical poetry was the study material on which the youth was brought up, taught to read and write and generally educated. Analysis of literary texts helped to transfer into the sphere of oratorical art the first philosophical notions and concepts.
The first linguistic theory called sophistry appeared in the fifth century В. С Oration played a paramount role in the social and political life of Greece so the art of rhetoric developed into a school.
Antique tradition ascribes some of the fundamental rhetorical notions to the Greek philosopher Gorgius (483-375 В. С). Together with another scholar named Trasimachus they created the first school of rhetoric whose principles were later developed by Aristotle (384-322 В. С.) in his books «Rhetoric» and «Poetics». Aristotle differentiated literary language and colloquial language. This first theory of style included 3 subdivisions:
• the choice of words;
• word combinations;
• figures.
1. The choice of words included lexical expressive means such as foreign words, archaisms, neologisms, poetic words, nonce words and metaphor.
2. Word combinations involved 3 things:
a) order of words;
b) word-combinations;
c) rhythm and period (in rhetoric, a complete sentence).
3. Figures of speech. This part included only 3 devices used by the antique authors always in the same order.
a) antithesis;
b) assonance of colons;
c) equality of colons.
A colon in rhetoric means one of the sections of a rhythmical period in Greek chorus consisting of a sequence of 2 to 6 feet.
Later contributions by other authors were made into the art of speaking and writing so that the most complete and well developed antique system, that came down to us is called the Hellenistic Roman rhetoric system. It divided all expressive means into 3 large groups: Tropes, Rhythm (Figures of Speech) and Types of Speech.
A condensed description of this system gives one an idea how much we owe the antique tradition in modern stylistic studies.
II.1.1 Hellenistic Roman rhetoric system
Tropes:
1.Metaphor—the application of a word (phrase) to an object (concept) it doesn't literally denote to suggest comparison with another object or concept.
E. g. A mighty Fortress is our God.
2. Puzzle (Riddle)—a statement that requires thinking over a con fusing or difficult problem that needs to be solved.
3. Synecdoche—the mention of a part for the whole.
E.g. A fleet of 50 sail (ships)
4.Metonymy—substitution of one word for another on the basis of real connection.
E.g. Crown for sovereign; Homer for Homer's poems; wealth for rich people.
5.Catachresis—misuse of a word due to the false folk etymology or wrong application of a term in a sense that does not belong to the word.
E.g. Alibi for excuse; mental for weak-minded; mutual for common; disinterested for uninterested.
A later term for it is malapropism that became current due to Mrs. Malaprop, a character from R. Sheridan's The Rivals (1775). This sort of misuse is mostly based on similarity in sound.
E. g. That young violinist is certainly a child progeny (instead of prodigy ) .
6.Epithet—a word or phrase used to describe someone or some thing with a purpose to praise or blame.
E. g. It was a lovely, summery evening.
7.Periphrasis—putting things in a round about way in order to bring out some important feature or explain more clearly the idea or situation described,
E.g. I got an Arab boy... and paid him twenty rupees a month, about thirty bob, at which he was highly delighted. (Shute)
8.Hyperbole—use of exaggerated terms for emphasis.
E. g. A 1000 apologies; to wait an eternity; he is stronger than a lion.
9.Antonomasia—use of a proper name to express a general idea or conversely a common name for a proper one.
E.g. The Iron Lady; a Solomon; Don Juan.
Figures of Speech that create Rhythm
These expressive means were divided into 4 large groups:
Figures that create rhythm by means of addition
1. Doubling (reduplication, repetition) of words and sounds.
E. g. Tip-top, helter-skelter, wishy-washy, oh, the dreary, dreary moorland.
2. Epenalepsis (polysyndeton) conjunctions; use of several conjunctions.
E.g. He thought, and thought, and thought; I hadn't realized until then how small the houses were, how small and mean the shops. (Shute)
3. Anaphora: repetition of a word or words at the beginning of twoor more clauses, sentences or verses.
E. g. No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass, not a bird or beast, not even a fish that was not owned!
4. Ertjambment: running on of one thought into the next line, couplet or stanza without breaking the syntactical pattern.
E.g. In Ocean's wide domains Half buried in the sands Lie skeletons in chains With shackled feet and hands.(Longfellow)
5. Asyndeton: omission of conjunction.
E. g. He provided the poor with jobs, with opportunity, with self-respect .
Figures based on compression
1.Zeugma (syllepsis): a figure by which a verb, adjective or other part of speech, relating to one noun is referred to another.
E. g. He lost his hat and his temper, with weeping eyes and hearts.
2.Chiasmus—a reversal in the order of words in one of two parallel phrases.
E. g. He went to the country, to the town went she.
3.Ellipsis—omission of words needed to complete the construction or the sense.
E.g. Tomorrow at 1.30; The ringleader was hanged and his followers imprisoned.
Figures based on assonance or accord
1. Equality of colons—used to have a power to segment and arrange.
2. Proportions and harmony of colons.
Figures based on opposition
1. Antithesis—choice or arrangement of words that emphasises a contrast.
E.g. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, wise men use them; Give me liberty or give me death.
2. Paradiastola—the lengthening of a syllable regularly short (in Greek poetry).
3.Anastrophe—a term of rhetoric, meaning, the upsetting for effect of the normal order of words (inversion in contemporary terms).
E. g. Me he restored, him he hanged.
Types of speech
Ancient authors distinguished speech for practical and aesthetic purposes. Rhetoric dealt with the latter which was supposed to answer certain requirements* such as a definite choice of words, their assonance, deviation from ordinary vocabulary and employment of special stratums like poetic diction, neologisms and archaisms, onomatopoeia as well as appellation to tropes. One of the most important devices to create a necessary high-flown or dramatic effect was an elaborate rhythmical arrangement of eloquent speech that involved the obligatory use of the so-called figures or schemes. The quality of rhetoric as an art of speech was measured in terms of skilful combination, convergence, abundance or absence of these devices. Respectively all kinds of speech were labelled and represented in a kind of hierarchy including the following types:elevated; flowery /florid/ exquisite; poetic; normal; dry; scanty; hackneyed; tasteless.
Attempts to analyse and determine the style-forming features of prose also began in ancient times. Demetrius of Alexandria who lived in Greece in the 3d century ВС was an Athenian orator, statesman and philosopher. He used the ideas of such earlier theorists as Aristotle and characterized styles by rhetoric of purpose that required certain grammatical constructions.
The Plain Style, he said, is simple, using many active verbs and keeping its subjects (nouns) spare. Its purposes include lucidity, clarity, familiarity, and the necessity to get its work done crisply and well. So this style uses few difficult compounds, coinages or qualifications (such as epithets or modifiers). It avoids harsh sounds, or odd orders. It employs helpful connective terms and clear clauses with firm endings. In every way it tries to be natural, following the order of events themselves with moderation and repetition as in dialogue.
The Eloquent Style in contrast changes the natural order of events to effect control over them and give the narration expressive power rather than sequential account. So this style may be called passive in contrast to active.
As strong assumptions are made subjects are tremendously amplified without the activity of predication because inherent qualities rather than new relations are stressed. Sentences are lengthy, rounded, well balanced, with a great deal of elaborately connected material. Words can be unusual, coined; meanings can be implied, oblique, and symbolic. Sounds can fill the mouth, perhaps, harshly.
Two centuries later a Greek rhetorician and historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus who lived in Rome in the ls( century ВС characterized one of the Greek orators in such a way: «His harmony is natural, stately, spacious, articulated by pauses rather than strongly polished and joined by connectives; naturally off-balance, not rounded and symmetrical.»
Dionyssius wrote over twenty books, most famous of which are «On Imitation», «Commentaries on the Ancient Orators» and «On the Arrangement of Words». The latter is the only surviving ancient study of principles of word order and euphony.
For the Romans a recommended proportion for language units in verse was two nouns and two adjectives to one verb, which they called «the golden line».
Gradually the choices of certain stylistic features in different combinations settled into three types—plain, middle and high. Nowadays there exist dozens of classifications of expressive means of a language and all of them involve to a great measure the same elements. They differ often only in terminology and criteria of classification.
Three of the modern classifications of expressive means in the English language that are commonly recognized and used in teaching stylistics today will be discussed further in brief.
They have been offered by G. Leech, I. R. Galperin and Y. M. Skrebnev.
II. 1 .2 Stylistic theory and classification of expresssive means by G. Leech
One of the first linguists who tried «to modernize» traditional rhetoric system was a British scholar G. Leech. In 1967 his contribution into stylistic theory in the book «Essays on Style and Language» was published in London. Paying tribute to the descriptive linguistics popular at the time he tried to show linguistic theory could be accommodated to the task of describing such rhetorical figures as metaphor, parallelism, alliteration, personification and others in the present-day study of literature.
Proceeding from the popular definition of literature as the creative use of language Leech claims that this can be equated with the use of deviant forms of language. According to his theory the first principle with which a linguist should approach literature is the degree of generality of statement about language. There are two particularly important ways in which the description of language entails generalization. In the first place language operates by what may be called descriptive generalization. For example, a grammarian may give descriptions of such pronouns as /, they, it, him, etc. as objective personal pronouns with the following categories: first/third person, singular/plural, masculine, non-reflexive* animate/inanimate.
Although they require many ways of description they are all pronouns and each of them may be explicitly described in this fashion.
The other type of generalization is implicit and would be appropriate in the case of such words as language and dialect This sort of description would be composed of individual events of speaking, writing, hearing and reading. From these events generalization may cover the linguistic behaviour of whole populations. In this connection Leech maintains the importance of distinguishing two scales in the language. He calls them «register scale» and «dialect scale». «Register scale» distinguishes spoken language from written language, the language of respect from that of condescension, advertising from science, etc. The term covers linguistic activity within society. «Dialect scale» differentiates language of people of different age, sex, social strata, geographical area or individual linguistic habits (ideolect).
According to Leech the literary work of a particular author must be studied with reference to both—«dialect scale» and «register scale».
The notion of generality essential to Leech's criteria of classifying stylistic devices has to do with linguistic deviation.
He points out that it's a commonplace to say that writers and poets use language in an unorthodox way and are allowed a certain degree of «poetic licence». «Poetic licence» relates to the scales of descriptive and institutional delicacy,
Words like thou, thee, thine, thy not only involve description by number and person but in social meaning have «a strangeness value» or connotative value because they are charged with overtones of piety, historical period, poetics, etc.
The language of literature is on the whole marked by a number of deviant features. Thus Leech builds his classification on the principle of distinction between the normal and deviant features in the language of literature.
Among deviant features he distinguishes paradigmatic and syntagmatic deviations. All figures can be initially divided into syntagmatic or paradigmatic. Linguistic units are connected- syntagmatically when they combine sequentially in a linear linguistic form.
Paradigmatic items enter into a system of possible selections at one point of the chain. Syntagmatic items can be viewed horizontally, paradigmatic—vertically.
Paradigmatic figures give the writer a choice from equivalent items, which are contrasted to the normal range of choices. For instance, certain nouns can normally be followed by certain adverbs, the choice dictated by their normal lexical valency: inches/feet/yard + away,e. g. He was standing only a few feet away.
However the author's choice of a noun may upset the normal system and create a paradigmatic deviation that we come across in literary and poetic language: farmyards away, a grief ago, all sun long. Schematically this relationship could look like this
| inches | normal | away |
| feet | ||
| yards | ||
| farmyard | deviant | away |
The contrast between deviation and norm may be accounted for by metaphor which involves semantic transfer of combinatory links.
Another example of paradigmatic deviation is personification. In this case we deal with purely grammatical oppositions of personal/ impersonal; animate/inanimate; concrete/abstract.
This type of deviation entails the use of an inanimate noun in a context appropriate to a personal noun.
As Connie had said, she handled just like any other aeroplane, except that she had better manners than most. (Shute). In this example she stands for the aeroplane and makes it personified on the grammatical level.
The deviant use of she in this passage is reinforced by the collocation with better manners, which can only be associated with human beings.
| Aeroplane | ||
| Train | Normal inanimate neuter | it |
| Car | ||
| Aeroplane | Deviant animate female | She |
This sort of paradigmatic deviation Leech calls «unique deviation» because it comes as an unexpected and unpredictable choice that defies the norm. He compares it with what the Prague school of linguistics called «foregrounding».
Unlike paradigmatic figures based on the effect of gap in the expected choice of a linguistic form syntagmatic deviant features result from the opposite. Instead of missing the predictable choice the author imposes the same kind of choice in the same place. A syntagmatic chain of language units provides a choice of equivalents to be made at different points in this chain, but the writer repeatedly makes the same selection. Leech illustrates this by alliteration in the furrow followed where the choice of alliterated words is not necessary but superimposed for stylistic effect on the ordinary background.
This principle visibly stands out in some tongue-twisters due to the deliberate overuse of the same sound in every word of the phrase. So instead of a sentence like "Robert turned over a hoop in a circle" we have the intentional redundancy of "r" in "Robert Rowley rolled a round roll round".
Basically the difference drawn by Leech between syntagmatic and paradigmatic deviations comes down to the redundancy of choice in the first case and a gap in the predicted pattern in the second.
This classification includes other subdivisions and details that cannot all be covered here but may be further studied in Leech's book.
This approach was an attempt to treat stylistic devices with reference to linguistic theory that would help to analyse the nature of stylistic function viewed as a result of deviation from the lexical and grammatical norm of the language.
II. 1 .3 I. R.Galperin's classification of expressive means and stylistic devices
The classification suggested by Prof. Galperin is simply organised and very detailed. His manual «Stylistics» published in 1971 includes the following subdivision of expressive means and stylistic devices based on the level-oriented approach:
1. Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices.
2.Lexical,expressive means and stylistic devices.
3.Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices*.
1. Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devicesTo this group Galperin refers such means as:
1) onomatopoeia (direct and indirect): ding-dong; silver bells... tinkle, tinkle;
2) alliteration (initial rhyme): to rob Peter to pay Paul;
3) rhyme (full, incomplete, compound or broken, eye rhyme, internal rhyme. Also, stanza rhymes: couplets, triple, cross, framing/ring);
4) rhythm
2. Lexical expressive means and stylistic devices
There are three big subdivisions in this class of devices and they all deal with the semantic nature of a word or phrase. However the criteria of selection of means for each subdivision are different and manifest different semantic processes.
1. In the first subdivision the principle of classification is the interaction of different types of a word's meanings: dictionary, contextual, derivative, nominal, and emotive. The stylistic effect of the lexical means is achieved through the binary opposition of dictionary and contextual or logical and emotive or primary and derivative meanings of a word.
A. The first group includes means based on the interplay of dictionary and contextual meanings:
metaphor: Dear Nature is the kindest Mother still. (Byron)
metonymy: The camp, the pulpit and the law
For rich man's sons are free.
(Shelly)
irony: It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one's pocket.
B. The second unites means based on the interaction of primary and derivative meanings:
C. polysemy: Massachusetts was hostile to the American flag, and she would not allow it to be hoisted on her State House;
zeugma and pun: May's mother always stood on her gentility; and Dot's mother never stood on anything but her active little feet. (Dickens)
C. The third group comprises means based on the opposition of logical and emotive meanings:
interjections and exclamatory words:
All present life is but an interjection
An 'Oh' or 'Ah' of joy or misery,
Or a 'Ha! ha!' or 'Bah!'~a yawn or 'Pooh!'
Of which perhaps the latter is most true.
(Byron)
epithet: a well-matched, fairly-balanced give-and-take couple. (Dickens) oxymoron: peopled desert, populous solitude, proud humility. (Byron)
D. The fourth group is based on the interaction of logical and nominal meanings and includes:
antonomasia: Mr. Facing-Both-Ways does not get very far in this world. (The Times)
II. The principle for distinguishing the second big subdivision according to Galperin is entirely different from the first one and is based on the interactionbetween two lexical meanings simultaneously materialised in the context. This kind of interaction helps to call special attention to a certain feature of the object described. Here belong:
simile: treacherous as a snake, faithful as a dog, slow as a tortoise. periphrasis: a gentleman of the long robe (a lawyer); the fair sex. (women)
euphemism: In private I should call him a liar. In the Press you should use the words: 'Reckless disregard for truth'. (Galsworthy)
hyperbole: The earth was made for Dombey and Son to trade in and the sun and the moon were made to give them light. (Dickens)
III . The third subdivision comprises stable word combinations in their interaction with the context:
cliches: clockwork precision, crushing defeat, the whip and carrot policy. proverbs and sayings: Come! he said, milk's spilt. (Galsworthy) epigrams: A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. (Keats) quotations: Ecclesiastes saidy 'that all is vanity'. (Byron) allusions: Shakespeare talks of the herald Mercury. (Byron) decomposition of set phrases: You know which side the law's buttered. (Galsworthy)
3. Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices
Syntactical expressive means and stylistic devices are not paradigmatic but syntagmatic or structural means. In defining syntactical devices Gaiperin proceeds from the following thesis: the structural elements have their own independent meaning and this meaning may affect the lexical meaning. In doing so it may impart a special contextual meaning to some of the lexical units.
The principal criteria for classifying syntactical stylistic devices are:
— the juxtaposition of the parts of an utterance;
— the type of connection of the parts;
— the peculiar use of colloquial constructions;
— the transference of structural meaning.
Devices built on the principle of juxtaposition
inversion (several types):
A tone of most extravagant comparison Miss Tox said it in. (Dickens)
Down dropped the breeze. (Colerigde)
detached constructions:
She was lovely: all of her—delightful. (Dreiser)
parallel constructions:
The seeds ye sow—another reaps,
The robes ye weave—another wears
The arms ye forge—another bears.
(Shelley)
chiasmus:
In the days of old men made manners Manners now make men. (Byron)
repetition: For glances beget ogles, ogles sighs, sighs wishes, wishes words, and words a letter. (Byron)
enumeration: The principle production of these towns... appear to be soldiers, sailors, Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dock-yard men. (Dickens)
suspense:
Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle... Know ye the land of the cedar and vine...
'Tis the clime of the East-'tis the land of the Sun.
(Byron)
climax: They looked at hundred of houses, they climbed thousands of stairs, they inspected innumerable kitchens. (Maugham)
antithesis: Youth is lovely, age is lonely; Youth is fiery, age is frost. (Longfellow)
Devices based on the type of connection include
Asyndeton: Soams turned away, he had an utter disinclination for talk, like one standing before an open grave... (Galsworthy)
polysyndeton: The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. (Dickens)
gap-sentence link: It was an afternoon to dream. And she took out Jon's letters. (Galsworthy)
Figures united by the peculiar use of colloquial constructions
Ellipsis: Nothing so difficult as a beginning; how soft the chin which bears his touch. (Byron)
Aposiopesis (break-in-the-narrative): Good intentions but -; You just come home or I'll...
Question in the narrative: Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. How could it be otherwise? (Dickens)
Represented speech (uttered and unuttered or inner represented speech):
Marshal asked the crowd to disperse and urged responsible diggers to prevent any disturbance... (Pilchard)
Over and over he was asking himself: would she receive him?
Transferred use of structural meaning involves such figures as
Rhetorical questions; How long must we suffer? Where is the end? (Norris)
Litotes: He was no gentle lamb (London); Mr. Bardell was no deceiver. (Dickens)
Since «Stylistics» by Galperin is the basic manual recommended for this course at university level no further transposition of its content is deemed necessary. However other attempts have been made to classify all expressive means and stylistic devices because some principles applied in this system do not look completely consistent and reliable. There are two big subdivisions here that classify all devices into either lexical or syntactical. At the same time there is a kind of mixture of principles since some devices obviously involve both lexical and syntactical features, e. g. antithesis, climax, periphrasis, irony, and others.
According to Galperin there are structural and compositional syntactical devices, devices built on transferred structural meaning and the type of syntactical connection and devices that involve a peculiar use of colloquial constructions. Though very detailed this classification provokes some questions concerning the criteria used in placing the group 'peculiar use of colloquial constructions' among the syntactical means and the group called 'peculiar use of set expressions' among the lexical devices. Another criterion used for classifying lexical expressive means namely, 'intensification of a certain feature of a thing or phenomenon' also seems rather dubious. Formulated like this it could be equally applied to quite a number of devices placed by the author in other subdivisions of this classification with a different criteria of identification, such as metaphoT, metonymy, epithet, repetition, inversion, suspense, etc. It does not seem quite just to place all cases of ellipsis, aposiopesis or represented speech among colloquial constructions.
II. 1 .4 Classification of expressive means and stylistic devices by Y.M.Skrebnev
One of the latest classifications of expressive means and stylistic devices is given in the book «Fundamentals of English Stylistics» by Y.M.Skrebnev published in 1994 . Skrebnev's approach 
demonstrates a combination of principles observed in Leech's system of paradigmatic and syntagmatic subdivision and the level-oriented approach on which Galperin's classification is founded. At the same time it differs from both since Skrebnev managed to avoid mechanical superposition of one system onto another and created a new consistent method of the hierarchical arrangement of this material.
Skrebnev starts with a holistic view, constructing a kind of language pyramid.
He doesn't pigeonhole expressive means and stylistic devices into appropriate layers of language like Leech and Galperin. Skrebnev first subdivides stylistics into paradigmatic stylistics (or stylistics of units) and syntagmatic stylistics (or stylistics of sequences). Then he explores the levels of the language and regards all stylistically relevant phenomena according to this level principle in both paradigmatic and syntagmatic stylistics.
He also uniquely singles out one more level . In addition to phonetics, morphology, lexicology and syntax he adds semasiology (or semantics).
According to Skrebnev the relationship between these five levels and two aspects of stylistic analysis is bilateral. The same linguistic material of these levels provides stylistic features studied by paradigmatic and syntagmatic stylistics. The difference lies in its different arrangement.
Paradigmatic stylistics < 1. Phonetics > Syntagmatic (Stylistics of units) < 2. Morphology > stylistics < 3. Lexicology > ( Stylistics of < 4. Syntax sequences) < 5. Semasiology > |
Paradigmatic stylistics
Looking closer into this system we'll be able to distinguish specific units and their stylistic potentials or functions. Thus paradigmatic stylistics (stylistics of units) is subdivided into five branches.
Paradigmatic phonetics actually describes phonographical stylistic features of a written text. Since we cannot hear written speech but in our «mind» writers often resort to graphic means to reproduce the phonetic peculiarities of individual speech or dialect. Such intentional non-standard spelling is called «graphons» (a term borrowed from V.A. Kucharenko).
I know these Eye - talians ! (Lawrence) — in this case the graphon is used to show despise or contempt of the speaker for Italians.
In Cockney speech whose phonetic peculiarities are all too well known you'll hear [ai] in place of [ei], [a:] instead of [au], they drop «h's» and so on. It frequently becomes a means of speech characterisation and often creates a humorous effect.
The author illustrates it with a story of a cockney family trying to impress a visitor with their «correct» English:
«Father, said one of the children at breakfast.—I want some more 'am please».—You mustn't say 'am, my child, the correct form is 'am,— retorted his father, passing the plate with sliced ham on it. «But I did say 'am, pleaded the boy». «No, you didn't you said 'am instead of 'am». The mother turned to the guest smiling". «Oh, don't mind them, sir, pray. They are both trying to say 'am and both think it is 'am they are saying»
Other graphic means to emphasise the «unheard» phonetic characteristics such as the pitch of voice, the stress, and other melodic features are italics, capitalisation, repetition of letters, onomatopoeia (sound imitation).
E.g. I AM sorry; «Appeeee Noooooyeeeeerr» (Happy New Year); cock-a-doodle-doo.
Paradigmatic morphology observes the stylistic potentials of grammar forms, which Leech would describe as deviant. Out of several varieties of morphological categorial forms the author chooses a less predictable or unpredictable one, which renders this form some stylistic connotation. The peculiar use of a number of grammatical categories for stylistic purposes may serve as an ample example of this type of expressive means.
The use of a present tense of a verb on the background of a past-tense narration got a special name historical present in linguistics.
E. g. What else do 1 remember? Let me see.
There comes out of the cloud our house... (Dickens)
Another category that helps create stylistic colouring is that of gender. The result of its deviant use is personification and depersonification. As Skrebnev points out although the morphological category of gender is practically non-existent in modern English special rules concern whole classes of nouns that are traditionally associated with feminine or masculine gender. Thus countries are generally classed as feminine (France sent her representative to the conference.) Abstract notions associated with strength and fierceness are personified as masculine while feminine is associated with beauty or gentleness (death, fear, war, anger—Zie, spring, peace, kindness—she). Names of vessels and other vehicles (ship, boat, carriage, coach, car) are treated as feminine.
Another deviant use of this category according to Skrebnev is the use of animate nouns as inanimate ones that he terms «depersonification» illustrated by the following passage:
«Where did you find it?» asked Mord Em'ly of Miss Giiliken with a satirical accent.
«Who are you calling "it"?» demanded Mr. Barden aggressively. «P'raps you'll kindly call me "im and not it». (Partridge)
Similar cases of deviation on the morphological level are given by the author for the categories of person, number, mood and some others.
Paradigmatic lexicology subdivides English vocabulary into stylistic layers. In most works on this problem (cf. books by Galperin, Arnold, Vmogradov) all words of the national language are usually described in terms of neutral, literary and colloquial with further subdivision into poetic, archaic, foreign, jargonisms, slang, etc.
Skrebnev uses different terms for practically the same purposes. His terminology includes correspondingly neutral, positive (elevated) and negative (degraded) layers.
Subdivision inside these categories is much the same with the exclusion of such groups as bookish and archaic words and special terms that Galperin, for example, includes into the special literary vocabulary (described as positive in Skrebnev's system) while Skrebnev claims that they may have both a positive and negative stylistic function depending on the purpose of the utterance and the context.
The same consideration concerns the so-called barbarisms or foreign is whose stylistic value (elevated or degraded) depends on the I of text in which they are used. To illustrate his point Skrebnev s two examples of barbarisms used by people of different social ,s and age. Used by an upper-class character from John Galswor-the word chic has a tinge of elegance showing the character's iwledge of French, He maintains that Italian words ciao and nbina current among Russian youngsters at one time were also nsidered stylistically 'higher' than their Russian equivalents. At the пе time it's hard to say whether they should all be classified as isitive just because they are of foreign origin. Each instance of use ould be considered individually.
Stylistic differentiation suggested by Skrebnev includes the following ratification:
positive/elevated
Poetic;
Official;
Professional.
Bookish and archaic words occupy a peculiar place among the other positive words due to the fact that they can be found in any other group (poetic, official or professional).
Neutral
Negative/degraded
colloquial; neologisms;
jargon; slang; nonce-words;
vulgar words .
Special mention is made of terms. The author maintains that the stylistic function of terms varies in different types of speech.
In non-professional spheres, such as literary prose, newspaper texts, everyday speech special terms are associated with socially prestigious occupations and therefore are marked as elevated. On the other hand the use of non-popular terms, unknown to the average speaker, shows a pretentious manner of speech, lack of taste or tact.
Paradigmatic syntax has to do with the sentence paradigm: completeness of sentence structure, communicative types of sentences, word order, and type of syntactical connection.
Paradigmatic syntactical means of expression arranged according to these four types include
Completeness of sentence structure
ellipsis;
aposiopesis;
one-member nominative sentences.
Redundancy, repetition of sentence parts, syntactic tautology (prolepsis), polysyndeton.
Word order
Inversion of sentence members.
Communicative types of sentences
Quasi-affirmative sentences: Isn't that too bad? = That is too bad.
Quasi-interrogative sentences: Here you are to write down your age and
birthplace = How old are you? Where were you born?
Quasi-negative sentences: Did I say a word about the money (Shaw) = / did not say...
Quasi-imperative sentences: Here! Quick! = Come here! Be quick!
In these types of sentences the syntactical formal meaning of the structure contradicts the actual meaning implied so that negative sentences read affirmative, questions do not require answers but are in fact declarative sentences (rhetorical questions), etc. One communicative meaning appears in disguise of another. Skrebnev holds that «the task of stylistic analysis is to find out to what type of speech (and its sublanguage) the given construction belongs.» (47, p. 100).
Type of syntactic connection
detachment;
parenthetic elements;
asyndetic subordination and coordination.
Paradigmatic semasiology deals with transfer of names or what are traditionally known as tropes. In Skrebnev's classification these expressive means received the term based on their ability to rename: figures of replacement.
All figures of replacement are subdivided into 2 groups: figures of quantity and figures of quality.
Figures of quantity. In figures of quantity renaming is based on inexactitude of measurements, in other words it's either saying too much (overestimating, intensifying the properties) or too little (underestimating the size, value, importance, etc.) about the object or phenomenon. Accordingly there are two figures of this type.
Hyperbole
E. g. You couldn't hear yourself think for the noise.
Meosis {understatement, litotes).
E. g. It's not unusual for him to come home at this hour.
According to Skrebnev this is the most primitive type of renaming.
Figures of quality comprise 3 types of renaming:
• transfer based on a real connection between the object of nomination and the object whose name it's given.
This is called metonymy in its two forms: synecdoche and periphrasis.
E. g. I'm all ears; Hands wanted.
Periphrasis and its varieties euphemism and anti-euphemism.
E .g. Ladies and the worser halves; I never call a spade a spade, I call t a bloody shovel.
• transfer based on affinity (similarity, not real connection): metaphor.
Ikrebnev describes metaphor as an expressive renaming on the basis of similarity of two objects. The speaker searches for associations in his mind's eye, the ground for comparison is not so open to view is with metonymy. It's more complicated in nature. Metaphor has no formal limitations Skrebnev maintains, and that is why this is not a purely lexical stylistic device as many authors describe it (see jalperin's classification).
This is a device that can involve a word, a part of a sentence or in whole sentence. We may add that whole works of art can be viewed is metaphoric and an example of it is the novel by John Updike «The Centaur».
As for the varieties there are not just simple metaphors like She is a flower, but sustained metaphors, also called extended, when one netaphorical statement creating an image is followed by another inked to the previous one: This is a day of your golden opportunity, Sarge . Don't let it turn to brass. (Pendelton)
Often a sustained metaphor gives rise to a device called catachresis or mixed metaphor)—-which consists in the incongruity of the parts of a sustained metaphor. This happens when objects of the two or more parts of a sustained metaphor belong to different semantic spheres and the logical chain seems disconnected. The effect is usually comical.
E. g. «For somewhere», said Poirot to himself indulging an absolute riot of mixed metaphors «there is in the hay a needle, and among the sleeping dogs there is one on whom I shall put my foot, and by shooting the arrow into the air, one will come down and hit a glass-house!» (Christie)
A Belgian speaking English confused a number of popular proverbs and quotations that in reality look like the following: to look for a needle in a haystack', to let sleeping dogs lie', to put one's foot down; I shot an arrow into the air (Longfellow); people who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Other varieties of metaphor according to Skrebnev also include
Allusion defined as reference to a famous historical, literary, mythological or biblical character or event, commonly known.
E. g. It's his Achilles heel (myth of vulnerability). Personification— attributing human properties to lifeless objects.
E.g. How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stol'n on his wing my three and twentieth year! (Milton)
Antonomasia defined as a variety of allusion, because in Skrebnev's view it's the use of the name of a historical, literary, mythological or biblical personage applied to a person described. Some of the most famous ones are Brutus (traitor), Don Juan (lady's man).
It should be noted that this definition is only limited to the allusive nature of this device. There is another approach (cf. Galperin and others) in which antonomasia also covers instances of transference of common nouns in place of proper names, such as Mr. Noble Knight, Duke the Iron Heart.
Allegory expresses abstract ideas through concrete pictures.
E. g. The scales of justice; It's time to beat your swords into ploughshares.
It should be noted that allegory is not just a stylistic term, but also a term of art in general and can be found in other artistic forms: in painting, sculpture, dance, and architecture.
• transfer by contrast when the two objects are opposed implies irony.
Irony (meaning «concealed mockery», in Greek eironeia) is a device based on the opposition of meaning to the sense (dictionary and contextual). Here we observe the greatest semantic shift between the notion named and the notion meant.
Skrebnev distinguishes 2 kinds of ironic utterances:
— obviously explicit ironical, which no one would take at their face value due to the situation, tune and structure.
E. g. A fine friend you are! That's a pretty kettle offish!
— and implicit, when the ironical message is communicated against a wider context like in Oscar Wilde's tale «The Devoted Friend» where the real meaning of the title only becomes obvious after you read the story. On the whole irony is used with the aim of critical evaluation and the general scheme is praise stands for blame and extremely rarely in the reverse order. However when it does happen the term in the latter case is astheism.
E. g. Clever bastard! Lucky devil!
One of the powerful techniques of achieving ironic effect is the mixture of registers of speech (social styles appropriate for the occasion): high-flown style on socially low topics or vice versa.
Syntagmatic stylistics
Syntagmatic stylistics (stylistics of sequences) deals with the stylistic functions of linguistic units used in syntagmatic chains, in linear combinations, not separately but in connection with other units. Syntagmatic stylistics falls into the same level determined branches.
Syntagmatic phonetics deals with the interaction of speech sounds and intonation, sentence stress, tempo. All these features that characterise suprasegmental speech phonetically are sometimes also called prosodic.
So stylistic phonetics studies such stylistic devices and expressive means as alliteration (recurrence of the initial consonant in two or more words in close succession). It's a typically English feature because ancient English poetry was based more on alliteration than on rhyme. We find a vestige of this once all-embracing literary device in proverbs and sayings that came down to us,
E. g. Now or never, Last but not least; As good as gold.
With time its function broadened into prose and other types of texts.
It became very popular in titles, headlines and slogans.
E. g. Pride and Prejudice. (Austin)
Posthumous papers of the Pickwick Club. (Dickens)
work or wages!; Workers of the world, unite !
Speaking of the change of this device's role chronologically we ould make special note of its prominence in certain professional eas of modern English that has not been mentioned by Skrebnev. Today alliteration is one of the favourite devices of commercials and advertising language.
E.g. New whipped cream: No mixing or measuring. No beating or the ring..
Colgate toothpaste: The Flavor's Fresher than ever—It's New. Improved, Fortified.
Assonance (the recurrence of stressed vowels).
E.g. ...Tell this soul with sorrow laden, if within the distant Aiden; shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore. (Рое)
Paronomasia (using words similar in sound but different in meaning th euphonic effect).
The popular example to illustrate this device is drawn from E. A. Poe's Raven .
E.g.And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting Rhythm and meter.
The pattern of interchange of strong and weak segments is called rhythm. It's a regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables that make a poetic text. Various combinations of stressed and un-tressed syllables determine the metre (iambus, dactyl, trochee, etc.).
Rhyme is another feature that distinguishes verse from prose and consists in the acoustic coincidence of stressed syllables at the end of verse lines.
Here's an example to illustrate dactylic meter and rhyme given in Skrebnev's book
Take her up tenderly,
Lift her with care,
Fashion'd so slenderly
Young and so fair.(Hood)
Syntagmatic morphology deals with the importance of grammar forms used in a paragraph or text that help in creating a certain stylistic effect.
We find much in common between Skrebnev's description of this area and Leech's definition of syntagmatic deviant figures. Skrebnev writes: «Varying the morphological means of expressing grammatical hotions is based... upon the general rule: monotonous repetition of morphemes or frequent recurrence of morphological meanings expressed differently...» (47, p. 146).
He also indicates that while it is normally considered a stylistic fault it acquires special meaning when used on purpose. He describes the effect achieved by the use of morphological synonyms of the genetive with Shakespeare—the possessive case (Shakespeare's plays), prepositional o/-phrase (the plays of Shakespeare) and an attributive noun (Shakespeare plays) as «elegant variation» of style.
Syntagmatic lexicology studies the «word-and-context» juxtaposition that presents a number of stylistic problems—especially those connected with co-occurrence of words of various stylistic colourings.
Each of these cases must be considered individually because each literary text is unique in its choice and combination of words. Such phenomena as various instances of intentional and unintentional lexical mixtures as well as varieties of lexical recurrence fall in with this approach.
Some new more modem stylistic terms appear in this connection-stylistic irradiation, heterostylistic texts, etc. We can observe this sort of stylistic mixture in a passage from O'Henry provided by Skrebnev:
Jeff, says Andy after a long time, quite umeidom I have seen fit to impugn your molars when you have been chewing the rag with me about your conscientious way of doing business.,.
Syntagmatic syntax deals with more familiar phenomena since it has to do with the use of sentences in a text. Skrebnev distinguishes purely syntactical repetition to which he refersparallelism as structural repetition of sentences though often accompanied by the lexical repetition
E. g. The cock is crowing, The stream is flowing... ( Wordsworth)
and lexico-syntactical devices such as
anaphora (identity of beginnings, initial elements).
E. g. If only little Edward were twenty, old enough to marry well and fend for himself instead often. If only it were not necessary to provide a dowaryforhis daughter. If only his own debts were less. (Rutherfurd)
Epiphora (opposite of the anaphora, identical elements at the end of sentences, paragraphs, chapters, stanzas).
E. g. For all averred, I had killed the bird. That made the breeze to blow. Ah wretch! Said they, the bird to slay, That made the breeze to blow!
(Coleridge)
Framing (repetition of some element at the beginning and at the end of a sentence, paragraph or stanza).
E.g. Never wonder. By means of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, settle everything somehow, and never wonder. (Dickens)
Anadiphsis (the final element of one sentence, paragraph, stanza is repeated in the initial part of the next sentence, paragraph, stanza.
E.g. Three fishers went sailing out into the West. Out into the West, as the sun went down. (Kingsley)
Chiasmus (parallelism reversed, two parallel syntactical constructions contain a reversed order of their members).
E. g. That he sings and he sings, and for ever sings he-I love my Love and my Love loves me! (Coleridge)
Syntagmatic semasiology or semasiology of sequences deals with semantic relationships expressed at the lengh of a whole text. As distinct from paradigmatic semasiology which studies the stylistic effect of renaming syntagmatic semasiology studies types of names used for linear arrangement of meanings.
Skrebnev calls these repetitions of meanings represented by sense units in a text figures of co-occurrence. The most general types of semantic relationships can be described as identical, different or opposite. Accordingly he singles out figures of identity, figures of inequality and figures of contrast.
Figures of identity
Simile (an explicit statement of partial identity: affinity, likeness,
similarity of 2 objects).
E. g. My heart is like a singing bird. (Rosetti)
Synonymous replacement (use of synonyms or synonymous phrases
to avoid monotony or as situational substitutes).
E. g. He brought home numberless prizes. He told his mother countless
stories. (Thackeray)
E. g. I was trembly and shaky from head to foot.
Figures of inequality
Clarifying (specifying) synonyms (synonymous repetition used to characterise different aspects of the same referent).
E.g. You undercut, sinful, insidious hog. (O'Henry)
Climax (gradation of emphatic elements growing in strength).
E. g. What difference if it rained, hailed, blew, snowed, cycloned? (O'Henry).
Лпп -climax (back gradation—instead of a few elements growing in intensity without relief there unexpectedly appears a weak or contrastive element that makes the statement humorous or ridiculous).
E. g. The woman who could face the very devil himself or a mouse—goes all to pieces in front of a flash of lightning. (Twain)
Zeugma (combination of unequal, or incompatible words based on the economy of syntactical units).
E.g. She dropped a tear and her pocket handkerchief. (Dickens) Pun (play upon words based on polysemy or homonymy).
E. g. What steps would you take if an empty tank were coming toward you?—Long ones.
Disguised tautology (semantic difference in formally coincidental parts of a sentence, repetition here does not emphasise the idea but carries a different information in each of the two parts).
E. g. For East is East, and West is West... (Kipling)
Figures of contrast
Oxymoron (a logical collision of seemingly incompatible words).
E. g. His honour rooted in dishonour stood, And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.
(Tennyson)
Antithesis (anti-statement, active confrontation of notions used to show the contradictory nature of the subject described).
E. g. It was the bestof times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the era of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of Darkness... Hope... Despair. (Dickens)
His fees were high, his lessons were light. (O'Henry)
An overview of the classifications presented here shows rather varied approaches to practically the same material. And even though they contain inconsistencies and certain contradictions they reflect the scholars' attempts to overcome an inventorial description of devices. They obviously bring stylistic study of expressive means to an advanced level, sustained by the linguistic research of the 20th century that allows to explore and explain the linguistic nature of the stylistic function. This contribution into stylistic theory made by modern linguistics is not contained to classifying studies only. It has inspired exploration of other areas of research such as decoding stylistics or stylistic grammar that will be discussed in further chapters.
carroll book expressive mean
II.2 Homonyms
Many words, especially characterized by a high frequency rating, are not connected with meaning by a one relation-ship. On the contrary, one symbol as a rule serves to render several different meanings. The phenomenon may be said to be the reverse of synonymy where several symbols correspond to one meaning. Two or more words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning, distribution and (in many cases) origin are called homonyms. The term is derived from Greek (homos 'similar' and onoma 'name') and thus expresses very well the sameness of name combined with the difference in meaning.
E. g. bank, n.- a shore
bank, n.-an institution for receiving, lending, exchanging money
ball, n. — a sphere; any spherical body
ball, n.- a large dancing party
English vocabulary is rich in such pairs and even groups of words. Their identical forms are mostly accidental : the majority of homonyms coincided due to phonetic changes which they suffered during their development.
Homonymy exists in many languages, but in English it is particularly frequent, especially among monosyllabic words. In the list of 2,540 homonyms given in the Oxford English Dictionary 89% are monosyllabic words and only 9,1% are words of two syllables. From the viewpoint of their morphological structure, they are mostly one-morpheme words.
If synonyms and antonyms can be regarded as the treasury of the language's expressive resources, homonyms are of no interest in this respect, and one cannot expect them to be of particular value for communication. Metaphorically speaking, groups of homonyms and pairs of antonyms are created by the vocabulary system with a particular purpose whereas homonyms are accidental creations, and therefore purposeless.
In the process of communication they are more of an encumbrance, leading sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding. Yet it is this very characteristic which makes them one of the most important sources of popular humour.
The pun is a joke based upon the play upon words of similar form but different meaning (i.e. on homonyms) as in the following: "A tailor guarantees to give each of his customers a perfect fit."
(The joke is based on the homonyms: 1 .fit, n.-perfectly fitting clothes; 2.fit,u. — a nervous spasm)
Homonyms which are the same in sound and spelling (as the example given in the beginning of this chapter) are traditionally termed homonyms proper.
The following joke is based on a pun which makes use of another type of homonyms:
"Waiter!"
"Yes, sir."
"What's this? " "It's bean soup. "
"Never mind what it has been. I want to know what it is now."
Bean, n.-and bean, Past Part, of to be are homophones. As the example shows they are the same in sound but different in spelling. Here are some more examples of homophones:
Night, n.- knight, n.; piece, n. -peace, n. ; scent, n. -cent, n. - sent, v. (Past Indef., Past Perf., of to send); rite, n.-to write, v.-right, adj.; sea, n.-to see, v.-C[si:] (the name of a letter).
The third type of homonyms is called homographs. These are words which are the same in spelling but different in sound.
E.g. to bow [bau],v.-to incline the head or body in salutation
bow [bju],n.-a flexible strip of wood for propelling arrows
to lead [li:d],v.-to conduct on the way, go before to show the way lead [led],n.-a heavy, rather soft metal
to tear [tea-], v.-to pull apart or in piece by force
tear [tw],n.-a drop of the fluid secreted by the lacrimal glands of the eye
II.2.1 Sources of Homonyms
One source of homonyms has already been mentioned: phonetic changes which words undergo in the course of their historical development. As a result of such changes, two or more words which were formerly pronounced differently may develop identical sound forms and thus become homonyms.
Night and knight, for instance, were not homonyms in Old English as the initial k in the second word was pronounced, and not dropped as it is in its modern sound form: O. E. kniht (cf. O.E. niht). A more complicated change of form brought together another pair of homonyms: to knead ( O.E. cnedah) and to need (O.E. neodiah).
In Old English the verb to write had the form writan, and the adjective right had the forms reht, riht. The noun sea descends from the Old English form sae, and the verb to see from O.E. seon. The noun work and the verb to work also had different forms in Old Enhlish: wyrkean and weork respectively.
Borrowing is another source of homonyms. A borrowed word may , in the final stage of its phonetic adaptation, duplicate in form either a native word or another borrowing. So, in the group of homonyms rite, n.- to write, v.-right, adj. the second and third words are of native origin whereas rite is a Latin borrowing (<Lat. ritus). In the pair piece ,n.-peace,n., the first originates from Q.'F.pais, and the second from O.F. (<Gaulish) pettia. Bank ,n.("shore") is a native word, and bank ,n. ("a financial institution") is an Italian borrowing. Fair, adj. (as in a fair deal, it's not fair] is native, and fair, n. ("a gathering of buyers and sellers") is a French borrowing. Match, n. ("a game; a contest of skill, strength") is native, and match ,n. ("a slender short piece of wood used for producing fire") is a French borrowing.
Word-building also contributes significantly to the growth of homonymy, and the most important type in this respect is undoubtedly conversion. Such pairs of words as comb,n.- to comb,v.,pale,ad]. - to pale, v. To make ,v.- make,n. are numerous in the same in sound and spelling but refer to different categories of parts of speech, are called lexico-grammatical homonyms.
Shortening is a further type of word-building which increases the number of homonyms. E.g. fan, n. in the sense of "an enthusiastic admirer of some kind of sport or of an actor, singer , etc." is a shortening produced from, fanatic. Its homonym is a Latin borrowing/aw, n. which denotes an implement for waving lightly to produce a cool current of air. The noun rep, n. denoting a kind of fabric (cf. with the R. penc) has three homonyms made by shortening : rep,n. (<repertory), rep,n.(<representative), rep,n.(<reputationy, all the three are informal words. During World War II girls serving in the Women Royal Naval Service (an auxiliary of the British Royal Navy) were jokingly nicknamed Wrens (informal). This neologistic formation made by shortening has the homonym wren,n. "a small bird with dark brown plumage barred with black" (R. KpanuenuK).
Words made by sound-imitation can also form pairs of homonyms with other words e. g. bang, n. ("a loud, sudden, explosive noise") - bang, n. ("a fringe of hair combed over the forehead"). Also: mew, n. ("the sound a cat makes") - mew, n. ("a sea gull") — mews ("a small terraced houses in Central London").
The above-described sources of homonyms have one important feature in common. In all the mentioned cases the homonyms developed from two or more different words, and their similarity is purely accidental. (In this respect, conversation certainly presents an exception for in pairs of homonyms formed by conversation one word of the pair is produced from the other: a find < to find.)
Now we come to a further source of homonyms which differs essentially from all the above cases. Two or more homonyms can originate from different meanings of the same word when, for some reason, the semantic structure of the word breaks into several parts. This type of formation of homonyms is called split polysemy. From what has been said in the previous chapters about polysemantic words, it should have become clear that the semantic structure of a polysemantic words presents a system within which all its constituent meanings are held together by logical associations. In most cases, the function of the arrangement and the unity is determined by one of the meanings (e. g. the meaning "flame" in the noun/ire). If this meaning happens to disappear from the word's semantic structure, associations between the rest of the meanings may be severed, the semantic structure loses its unity and falls into two or more parts which then become accepted as independent lexical units.
Let us consider the history of three homonyms:
board, n. - a long and thin piece of timber
board, n. - daily meals, especially as provided for pay,
E. g. room and board
board, n. - an official group of persons who direct or supervise some activity, e. g. a board of directors
It is clear that the meanings of these three words are in no way associated with one another. Yet, most larger dictionaries still enter a meaning of board that once held together all these other meanings "table". It developed from the meaning "a piece of timber" by transference based on contiguity (association of an object and the material from which it is made). The meanings "meals" and "an official group of persons" developed from the meaning "table", also by transference based on contiguity: meals are easily associated with a table on which they are served; an official group of people in authority are also likely to discuss their business round a table.
Nowadays, however, the item of furniture, on which meals are served and round which boards of directors meet, is no longer denoted by the word board but by the French Norman borrowing table, and board in this meaning, though still registered by some dictionaries, can very well be marked as archaic as it is no longer used in common speech. That is why, with the intrusion of the borrowed table, the word board actually lost its corresponding meaning. But it was just that meaning which served as a link to hold together the rest of the constituent parts of the word's semantic structure. With its diminished role as an element of communication, its role in the semantic structure was also weakened. The speakers almost forgot that board had ever been associated with any item of furniture, nor could they associate the concepts of meals or of a responsible committee with a long thin piece of timber (which is the oldest meaning onboard). Consequently, the semantic structure of board was split into three units.
A somewhat different case of split polysemy may be illustrated by the three following homonyms:
spring, n. — the act of springing, a leap
spring, n. - a place where a stream of water comes up out of the earth (R. родник, источник)
spring, n. — a season of the year.
Historically all three nouns originate from the same verb with the meaning of "to jump, to leap" (O.E. springan), so that the meaning of the first homonym is the oldest. The meanings of the second and third homonyms were originally based on metaphor. At the head of a stream the water sometimes leaps up out of the earth, so that metaphorically such a place could well be described as a leap. On the other hand, the season of the year following winter could be poetically defined as a leap from the darkness and cold into sunlight and life. Such metaphors are typical enough of Old English and Middle English semantic transferences but not so characteristic of modern mental and linguistic processes. The poetic associations that lay in the basis of the semantic shifts described above have long since been forgotten, and an attempt to re-establish the lost links may well seem far-fetched. It is just the near-impossibility of establishing such links that seems to support the claim for homonymy and not for polysemy with these three words.
It should be stressed, however, that split polysemy as a source of homonyms is not accepted by some scholars. It is really difficult sometimes to decide whether a certain word has or has not been subjected to the split of the semantic structure and whether we are dealing with different meanings of the same word or with homonyms, for the criteria are subjective and imprecise. The imprecision is recorded in the data of different dictionaries which often contradict each other on this very issue, so that board is represented as two homonyms in Professor V. K. Muller's dictionary, as three homonyms in Professor V. D. Arakin's and as one and the same word in Hornby's dictionary.
II.2. 2 Classification of Homonyms
The subdivision of homonyms into homonyms proper, homophones and homographs is certainly not precise enough and does not reflect certain important features of these words, and, most important of all, their status as parts of speech. The examples given in the beginning of this chapter show that homonyms may belong both to the same and to different categories of parts of speech. Obviously, a classification of homonyms should reflect this distinctive feature. Also, the paradigm of each word should be considered, because it has been observed that the paradigms of some homonyms coincide completely, and of others only partially.
Accordingly, Professor A. I. Smirnitsky classified homonyms into two large classes: 1. Full homonyms, 2. Partial homonyms
Full lexical homonyms are words which represent the same category of parts of speech and have the same paradigm.
E. g match, n. — a game, a contest
match, n. - a short piece of wood used for producing fire
wren, n. - a member of the Women's Royal Naval Service wren, n. - a bird
Partial homonyms are subdivided into three subgroups:
A. Simple lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words which belong to the same category of parts of speech. Their paradigms have one identical form, but it is never the same form, as will be seen from the examples.
E.g. (to) found, v.
found, v. (Past Indefinite, Past Participle of to find)
to lay, v.
lay, v. (Past Indef. Of to lie)
to bound, v.
bound, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to bind)
B.Complex lexico-grammatical partial homonyms are words of different categories of parts of speech which have one identical form in their paradigms.
E.g. rose, n.
rose, v. (Past Indef. Of to rise)
maid, n.
maid, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to make)
left, adj.
left, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to leave)
bean, n.
been, v. (Past Part, of to be)
one, num.
won, v. (Past Indef, Past Part, of to win)
C. Partial lexical homonyms are words of the same category of parts of speech which are identical only in their corresponding forms.
E.g. to lie (lay, lain), v.
to lie (lied, lied), v.
to hang (hung, hung), v.
to hang (hanged, hanged), v.
to can (canned, canned)
can (could)
II.2.3 Homonyms in the book
Lewis Carroll used many stylistic devices in his book. One of them is pun. This definition of pun is given in the dictionary of literary terms of J.A.CUDDON.1979 Published by Penguin Books: "Pun-a figure of speech which involves a play upon words. The Greek term is paronomasia. One of the earliest types of word-play, the pun is widespread in many literatures and gives rise to a fairly universal form of humour" Lewis Carroll used homonyms to create the humourous effect, some dialogues are based on the play upon words, and it causes misunderstanding. Here are the extracts from the book where homonyms are used on this purpose.
1. "Mine is a long tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. "It is a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?" And she kept on puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of the tale was something like this:
"Fury said to
a mouse, That
he met in the house, 'Let
us both go
to law: I
will prosecute you.
Come, I'll
take no denial; We
must have
a trial:
For really
this morning I've
nothing
to do.'
Said the
mouse to
the cur,
'Such a trial,
dear Sir, With
no jury
or judge,
would
be wasting our
breath.'
I’ll be
judge,
I'll be
Jury,’
Said cunning
old
Fury:
'I'll
try
the
whole
cause,
and
condemn
you to
death.'"
This way L. Carroll realizes the unwanted mistake of Alice, caused by homonymy
of the words "tale" and "tail": and there appeared the verse in the shape of mouse's
tail.
'Tale' and 'tail' are homophonesTale.
tale-['teil]-w., a story, number, count (Practical English Dictionary)
tale —n., a story, told story <Old English talu ; Old German zala (german Zahl "number"); Old Island tola "story; number" (A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms)
Webster's School Dictionary:
- Tale \ ʹtāl \ n 1 : man oral relation or recital <a tale of woe> 2: a story about imaginary event <a fairy tale> 3 : a false story : LIE 4: a piece of harmful gossip <all sorts of tales were going around about them> 5 a : COUNT 1, TALLY b : anumber of things taken together : TOTAL [ Old English talu ]
Tail
Tail-n.,<Old English taegel; Old German zagal (german dial. Zagel); Old Island tagl "a tail of a horse"; got. tagl "hair"(A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms)
Webster's School Dictionary:
-tail \ʹtāl \ n 1: the rear end or a lengthened growth from the rear end of the body of an animal 2: something resembling an animal's tail <tail of a kite> [Old English tegel]
Tail-[teil]-n., the projecting continuation of the backbone at the hinder end of an animal(Practical English Dictionary)
2. "You can draw water out of a water-well," said the Hatter; "so I should think youcould draw treacle out of a treacle-well - eh, stupid?"
"But they were in the well," Alice said to the Dormouse, not choosing to notice thislast remark.
"Of course they were," said the Dormouse: "well in".
Here Carroll continues playing upon words: by changing the word order he changes words' meaning. He used the proper homonym 'well' in this joke.
Well
Well-['wel]-adv. In a good manner or degree. - a. In good health; suitable. Well-[wel]-n. a deep hole for water; a spring. - v. i. to flow out or up (Practical English Dictionary)
well[wel] >(A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms)
I n., a deep hole for water <Old English wella; Old German wella (Germ. Welle) "a wave"; Old Island veil "boiling"; relative Lit. vilnis "wave"; Russian eonna II adv., in a good manner or degree <Old English wel; Old German wela, wola (Germ. wohl); Old Island vel, Got. waila; relative Latin velle "to want"
Webster's School Dictionary:
Well \ʹwel\ n 1 a : an issue of water from the earth : a pool fed by a spring b: a source of supply: WELLSPRING <was a well of information> 2: a hole sunk into earth to reach a natural deposit (as of water, oil, or gas) 3 something suggesting a well (as in being damp, cool, deep, or dark) [Old English welle] Well adv.la: in a pleasing or desirable manner <me party turned out well> b : in a good or proper manner < did the work well> 2; in a full or generous manner < eat well> <the orchard bore well> 3: with reason to courtesy: PROPERLY <we could not very well refuse> 4: in all respects <a well deserved ovation> 5: in an intimate way<know a person well> 6: without trouble or difficulty <I could well have gone> 8: exactly la <remember it well> [Old English wel]
3. "It's a mineral, I think," said Alice.
"Of course it is," said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to everything that Alice said: "there's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is - 'The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours." The author uses the homonymy of the word "mine". It's a proper homonym.
Mine
Mine-pron., that belonging to me(Practical English Dictionary)
Mine-n., a deep hole for digging out coal, metals, etc.; an underground gallery with a charge of explosive; a large shell or canister of explosive placed in the sea to destroy ships. (Practical English Dictionary)
A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms: Mine
Ipron., that belonging to me < Old English mīm; Old German mīm (Germ, mein); Old Island minn, Got. meins; relative Russian меня>
IIn., an underground gallery with a charge of explosive; a deep hole for digging out coal, metals, etc. <XIII, from (Old) French mine, perhaps from Celt. (Middle Island, Gael, mein "ore")>v., to obtain from a mine <XIV>
Webster's School Dictionary:
ˡmine \min, 'mīm\ adj., archaic : my - used before a word beginning with a vowel or h <mine eyes> <mine host> or sometimes as a modifier of a preceding noun<mother mine> [Old English mm]
2 mine \'mīn\ pron., sing or pl in construction : that which belongs to me : thosewhich belong to me - used without a following noun as an equivalent in meaning tothe adjective my
3 mine \'mīn\ n ; a pit or tunnel from which mineral substances (as coal or gold) are
taken 2 : a deposit of ore 3: a subterranean passage under an enemy position 4a : acharge buried in the ground and set to explode when disturbed (as by an enemy) b :an explosive device placed underwater to sink enemy ships 5: a rich source ofsupply <a mine of information> [Middle French]
mine \'mīn\ vb l : to dig a mine 2: to obtain from a mine <mine coal> 3: to work in a mine 4a : to burrow in the earth : dig or from mines under a place b : to lay military mines in or under <mine a harbor>
4."And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle: "nine the next and so on." "What a curious plan!" exclaimed Alice.
"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to day."
The character gives the funny etymology of the noun lesson. Of course, he is not as serious as I am. The author used the pair of homophones:
Lesson
Lesson-[lesn]-n., a portion of scripture read in church; something to be learnt by a pupil; a part of course of teaching; an experience that teaches. (Practical English Dictionary)
A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms:
Lesson (96,83%) n., a part of course of teaching; <XIII, from (Old) French leqon\ -Latin lectio, lection "collecting, reading" from lect-, stem pp from legere "to collect; to read">
Webster's School Dictionary:
Lesson \ʹles-n\ n 1 : a passage from sacred writings read in a worship servise
2 : a piece of instruction <the story carries a lesson>; esp : a reading or exercise to be studied by a pupil <master each lessori> 3 a : something learned by study or experience <the lessons of life> b: a rebuke or punishment meant to forestall the repetition of an offence <gave the naughty child a lessori> [Old French legon, from Latin lectio "act of reading", from legere "to read"]
Lessen
A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms:
(3,17%) v., to decrease <XIV, from less, comparative of little a.,"small": Old English lÿtel, compar. Iæssa; Old Friz. lēssa>
Webster's School Dictionary:
Lessen \'les-n\ vb : to make or become less less \ʹles\ adj. 1 : of a small number: FEWER <less than three> 2 : of lower rank, degree, or importance < no less a person than the principal> 3a : of reduced size or extent b : more limited in quantity <in less time> [Old English læs, adv. and n., and læssa, adj.]
Lessen-[lesn]-v. t. to diminish. (Practical English Dictionary)
5."Nothing can be clearer than that. Then again - before she had this fit' - you never had fits, my dear, I think?" said the King to the Queen.
"Never!" said the Queen furiously, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke.
"Then the words don't fit you," said the King looking round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence.
"It's a pun!" the King added in an angry tone, and everybody laughed, "Let the jury consider their verdict," the King said, for about the twentieth nine that day.
-The King's pun is based on two different meanings of the word 'fit':
1. fit-[fit]-n., a sudden passing attack of illness; a seizure with convulsions, spasms, loss of consciousness, etc., as of epilepsy, hysteria, etc., a sudden and passing state and mood. (Practical English Dictionary)
2. fit-a. well-suited, worthy; proper, becoming; ready; in good condition. (Practical English Dictionary)
A Dictionary of English Homonyms and Homoforms: Fit
In., a sudden passing attack of illness <Old English fitt "a struggle";
IIn., "part of a ballad; musical stanza" <Old English fitt; perhaps relative German Fitze; Old Island fit
IIIa., suitable, ready < XIV, source is unknown, perhaps it's connected with II n. v., to suit; to supply <XIV, from IIIa.>
Webster's School Dictionary:
ˡfit \ʹfit\ n 1 : a sudden violent attack of a disorder (an epilepsy) especially whenmarked by convulsions or loss of consciousness 2 : a sudden flurry (as of activity)
˂completed the assignment in a fit of efficiency> 3 : an emotional outburst <afit ofanger> [Old English fitt "strife"]
2 fit adj. 1a : adapted to an end or design : APPROPRIATE <water/z£ for drinking>
b: adapted to the enviroment so as to be capable of surviving 2 PROPER 3 : put into a suitable state < a house fit to live in> 4 : QUALIFIED, COMPETENT 5: soundphysically and mentally : HEALTHY [Middle English]
3 fit vb 1: to be suitable for or to : BEFIT 2a : to be correctly adjusted to or shapedfor b : to insert or adjust until correstly in place c : to make a place or room for 3 : tobe in agreement or accord with <the theory fits the facts> 4a : to make ready:
PREPARE b: to bring to a required form and size : ADJUST c : to cause to conformto or suit something else 5 : SUPPLY, EQUIP <fitted the ship with new engines>6:to be in harmony or accord : BELONG [ Middle English fitten]
II. 3 Lewis Carroll and his book
Lewis Carroll's real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He was born at Darsbery Parsonage , Jan. 27, 1832, and died at Guilford, Jan. 14 1898.
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was a Professor of mathematics, he worked in Oxford University as a tutor, he was the author of several works on mathematics and logic. Professor Dodgson liked to communicate with children very much, and he had more friends among them than among adult people. Most of all his friends he liked Alice Lidell, a daughter of head of Christ Church College. She was that person who was presented the first hand-written text of the fairy tale "Alice's adventures Under Gruond", which Doctor Dodgson had told Alice and her sisters Lorine and Edith in the famous picnic on 4th of July in 1862. The hand-written text was illustrated with author's drawings. And only in 1865 supplemented variant of the tale was published under another title "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", this time illustrated by Jon Daniel, under Carroll's control.
During 125 years that have passed from the day of publication of "Alice in Wonderland" it became clear that his book - in not only an outstanding work but an innovating one, and that the modest tutor of Oxford was an unusual thinker, which pondered over many problems of contemporary with him knowledge, and at times surpassing his time. It became definitely clear nowadays when his diaries and letters, his works at logic and puzzles, and when several modern scientists began to search his works, including two tales about Alice, from the positions of our times.
IV. Practical part
Practical part consist s of two levels .
The first level is designed for lessons of lexicology in Nekrasov State Teaching College.
The second level is is designed for home reading lessons at secondary school.
First level .
I. Consider your answers to the following.
1. Which words do we call homonyms?
2. Why can't homonyms be regarded as expressive means of the language?
3. What's the traditional classification of homonyms? Illustrate your answer with examples.
4. What are the distinctive features of the classification of homonyms suggested by Professor A. I. Smirnitsky?
5. What are the main sources of homonyms? Illustrate your answer with examples.
6. In what respect does split polysemy stand apart from other sources of homonyms?
7. Prove that the language units board ("a long and thin piece of timber") and board ("daily meals") are two different words (homonyms) and not two different meanings of one and the same word. Write down some other similar examples.
8. What is the essential difference between homonymy and polysemy? What do they have in common? Illustrate your answer with examples.
II. Find pairs of homonyms in these extracts from the text and define the type of these homonyms. On what linguistic phenomenon is the joke in the following extracts based? What causes misunderstanding?
1."Mine is a long tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing.
"It is a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?"
2."It's a mineral, I think," said Alice.
"Of course it is," said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to everything that Alice said: "there's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is - 'The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours."
3."You can draw water out of a water-well," said the Hatter; "so I should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well - eh, stupid?"
"But they were in the well," Alice said to the Dormouse, not choosing to notice this
last remark.
"Of course they were," said the Dormouse: "well in".
4."And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.
"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle: "nine the next and so on." "What a curious plan!" exclaimed Alice.
"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to day."
5. "Nothing can be clearer than that. Then again - before she had this fit' - you never had fits, my dear, I think?" said the King to the Queen. "Never!" said the Queen furiously, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard as she spoke. "Then the words don't fit you," said the King looking round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence.
III. Find homophones to the underlined words:
.. .the Mock Turtle yawned ant shut his eyes. "Tell her about the reason and all that," he said to the Gryphon.
" The reason is," said the Gryphon, "that they would go with the lobsters to the dance. So they got thrown out to sea. So they had to fall a long way. So they got their tails fast in their mouths. So they couldn't get them out again. That's all." "Thank you," said Alice, "it's very interesting. I never knew so much about whiting."
IV. Explain the homonyms which form the basis for the following jokes. Classify their types.
1. An observing man claims to have discovered the colour of the wind. He says he went out and found it blew.
2. Child: Mummy, what makes the Tower of Pisa lean?
Fat mother:! have no idea, dear, or I'd take some myself.
3. Advertisement: "Lion tamer wants tamer lion."
4. Father: Didn't I tell you not to pick any flowers without leave? Child: Yes, daddy, but all these roses had leaves.
5. Diner: Waiter, the soup is spoiled. Waiter: Who told you that?
D i n e r: A little swallow.
6. The difference between a cat and a comma is that a cat has its claws at the end of its paws, and a comma has its pause at the end of a clause.
7. A canner exceedingly canny
One morning remarked to his grannie: "A canner can't can anything that he can, But a canner can't can a can, can'e?"
V. Provide homonyms for the italicized words in the following jokes and extracts and classify them according to Professor A. I. Smirnitsky's classification system.
1.Teacher: Here is a map. Who can show us America? Nick goes to the map and finds America on it. Teacher: Now, tell me, boys, who found America? Boys: Nick.
2.Father: I promised to buy you a car if you passed your examination, and you have failed. What were you doing last term? S o n: I was learning to drive a car.
3."What time do you get up in summer?"
"As soon as the first ray of the sun comes into my window." "Isn't that rather early?" "No, my room faces west."
4."Here, waiter, it seems to me that this fish is not so fresh as the fish you served last Sunday."
"Pardon, sir, it is the very same fish."
5.Old Gentleman: Is it a board school you go to, my dear? Child: No, sir. I believe it be a brick one!
6. Stanton:! think telling the truth is about as healthy as skidding round a corner at sixty.
Freda: And life's got a lot of dangerous corners - hasn't it, Charles?
S t a n t o n: It can have - if you don't choose your route well. To lie or not to lie - what do you think, Olwen?
(From Dangerous Corner by J. B. Priestley)
VI. Do the following italicized words represent homonyms or polysemantic words? Explain reasons for your answers.
1. 26 letters of ABC; to receive letters regularly. 2.no mean scholar; to mean something. 3. to propose a toast; an undone toast. 4. a hand of the clock; to hold a pen in one's hand. 5. to be six foot long; at the foot of the mountain. 6. the capital of a country; to have a big capital (money). 7. to date back to year 1870; to have a date with somebody. 8. to be engaged to Mr. N; to be engaged in conversation. 9. to make afire; to sit at the//re(place). 10. to peel the bark off the branch; to bark loudly at the stranger. 11. A waiter is a person who, instead of waiting on you at once, makes you wait for him, so that you become a waiter too.
Conclusion
For the conclusion I'd like to say the book of Lewis Carroll is a universal book, and it can be used not only as the source of texts for reading at the lessons of English language but it generously provides philologists with the examples of many language phenomenons, such as polysemy, homonymy, Carroll used a lot of stylistic devices in his book, for example pun, personification. Carroll lavishly used resources of his native language in his books about Alice's adventures. This book is full of original language discoveries, the author of "Alice in Wonderland" experiments with the language, plays with it. We admire his bright imagination of Professor Dodgson, and try to guess, why a raven is like a writing desk....
I hope that my work would be useful for my colleagues in the process of teaching English and, perhaps, it would inspire other final-year students to work on Lewis Carroll's books in other new directions, though, in my opinion, the process of investigating this book is interminable.
Some of them make the speech of the characters vivid, interesting, humorous, ironical, emotional, understandable; they reflect their thoughts and feelings.
He novels take place in undescribable and unnamed places, but it all begins with a simple rabbit hole. After that Alice's adventures take her to places unknown.
Obviously Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is chalked full of symbolism and imagery, but most people who read the book don't see the logic behind it. The greatest literary device that Carroll used was logic itself. As a supreme logician the world which he created was a perfect place...a place of truth, honesty, and order. This concept is hard to grasp but it is most certainly true(Spacks).
Symbolism was laced throughout the books. On every page there was something that represented something else. At the beginning the transferring of her size from small to large and so forth represented the process of maturation. Another example is the caucus-race representing the electoral process.
I caught an allusion within the book, or at least i thought it was one. I believe that all the knights and kings of different colors represent King Arthur and his knights. In King Arthur his knights battle knights of all different colors, red, green, yellow, etc., and in Thought the Looking-Glass there are different colored knights and kings who fight.
The personification in the two books is incredible and unbelievable at some points. It stretches from pigs to cats that can vanish and talk to chess pieces with imagination to playing cards that are alive. Don't forget all the animals at the beginning of Alice in Wonderland that join her when she falls down the rabbit hole.
Imagery is everywhere in this book. Carroll did a great job of desrcibing the out-of-this-world places that Alice travelled to as well as the strange creatures that she met. The elaborate pictures don't hurt either.
Finally, we come to language. The language in this book is in a category of its own. Carroll writes for children but has the ability to use language and imagination that would make an adult interested as well. Also, just about all of the songs and poems throught the books are spin-offs on famous songs or poems.
However you view Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, there can be no debate about the amount of literary devices used and the genious of Lewis Carroll.
he survey of different-functional styles will not be complete without at least a cursary look into what constitutes the very notion of text as-a production of man's creative activity in the realm of language.The word 'text', which has imperceptibly crept into common use has never been linguistically ascertained. It is so broad in its application that it can refer to a span of utterance consisting of two lines, on the one hand, and to a whole novel, on the other. Therefore the word needs specification in order to make clear what particular kind of language product has the right to be termed text. When analysing the linguistic nature of a text it is first of all necessary to keep in mind the concept of permanence as set against ephemerality. Text, being the result of language activity, enjoys permanence inasmuch as it belongs to the written variety of language.Text can be what it claims to be only if it possesses the quality of integrity, i.e. wholeness characterized by its gestalt. In other words, text must enjoy a kind of independent existence; it must be an entity in itself.The integrity of the text presupposes the subordination of certain parts to one particular part which reveals the main idea and the purport of the writer. It has already been stated that a text consists of units which we called supra-phrasal. These units are not equal in their significance: some of them bear reference to. the main idea, others only back up the purport of the author. It follows then that supra-phrasal units can be classified as predicative and relative. The interrelation between these will show what kind of importance the author attaches to one or other part of the utterance.The theory of communication has brought about new concepts regarding the information imparted by different texts. It will be of use to distinguish between the following terms: meaning, signification and content. The term 'content' should be reserved for the information imparted by the whole of the text.It follows then that the information contained in a text is its content. However, the content is not a mechanical summing up of the significations of the sentences and the supra-phrasal units. The integrating power of the text greatly influences the signification of the sentences, depriving them of the independence they would enjoy in isolation. The same can be observed in the sentence, where the words to a greater or lesser degree lose their independence and are subjected to sometimes almost imperceptible semantic modifications. To phrase the issue differently, the content of a text modifies the significations of the sentences and the meanings of the words and phrases. The integrating power of the text is considerable and requires careful observation.The information conveyed by a text may be of different kinds; in particular, two kinds of information might be singled out, viz. content-conceptual and content-factual.Content-conceptual information is that which reveals the formation of notions, ideas or concepts. This kind of information is not confined to merely imparting intelligence, facts (real or imaginary), descriptions, events, proceedings, etc. It is much more complicated. It follows then that content-conceptual information is mainly found in the belles-lettres language style. Here it reigns supreme although it may also be encountered in some other functional styles and particularly in diplomatic texts.Content-factual information is that contained in what we have already named matter-of-fact styles, i.e. in newspaper style, in the texts of official documents and in some others.The aim of our work is to analyse the story «Alice/s Adventures in wonderland» by Lewis Caroll. Our problems are:- to find different stylistic Devices in the text;- to analyse them.
Final remarksThis brief outline of the most characteristic features of the five language styles and their variants will show that out of the number of features which are easily discernible in each of the styles, some should be considered primary and others secondary; some obligatory, others optional; some constant, others transitory. The necessary data can be obtained by means of an objective statistical count based on a large number of texts, but this task cannot be satisfactorily completed without the-use of computers. Another problem facing the stylicist is whether or not there are separate styles within the spoken variety of the language, and the analysis of these styles if it can be proved that there are any. So far we are of the opinion that styles of language can only be singled out in the written variety. This can be explained by the fact that any style is the result of a deliberate, careful selection of language means which in their correlation constitute this style. This can scarcely be attained in the oral variety of language which by its very nature will not lend itself to careful selection.However, there is folklore, which originated as an oral form of communication; and which may perhaps be classed as a style of language with its own' structural and semantic laws.There many different Stylistic Devices in «Alice’s Adventures in wonderland» by Lewis Carroll. They help to produce strong effect to readers. It helps to depict more clear picture of the story.
Bibliography
1. Auden, W. H. "Today's 'Wonder-World' Needs Alice." Aspects of Alice. Edited by Robert Phillips. New York: The Vanguard Press, 1971:3-12..
2. Carroll, Lewis. Alice in Wonderland. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1992.
3. Levin, Harry. "Wonderland Revisited." Aspects of Alice. Edited by Robert Phillips. New York: The Vanguard Press, 1971: 175 -197.
4. Reichertz, Ronald. The Making of the Alice Books. Buffalo, NY: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1997.
5. "A cat may look at a king." The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. Oxford University Press, 2004. Answers.com 18 December 2007.
6. Дедова С.А. Учебно-методическое пособие по работе с книгой Л. Кэрролла "Приключения Алисы в Стране Чудес" (для студентов гуманитарных специальностей, изучающих английский язык). - Омск: Изд-во ОмГУ, 2004. - 80 с.
7. Galperin I. R. Stylistics. – M., 1977.
8. Galperin I. R. An Essay in Stylistic Analysis. M., 1998.
9. Bailey, Richard W. Current Trends in the Analysis of Style. "Style", vol. 1, No. 1, 1997.
10. Akhmanova 0. Linguostylistics. Theory and Method. MGU, M., 1992.
11. Definitions and examples are taken from: Longman Language Activator. – 1997
12. Стилистика
13. Словарь
14. Швейцер А.Д. Литературный английский язык в США и Англии. М.: Высшая школа, 1971. – 200 с.
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