Syntactical Expressive Means and Stylistic Devices

(2 academic hours)

 

1. Problems concerning the composition of spans of utterance larger than the sentence

Syntax is the branch of language science which studies the types of relations between the words, word-combinations, sentences and also between larger spans of utterances.

Here we are going to deal with the linguistic questions of syntactical level. It is first of all syntactical synonymy, i.e. the case when similar logical information is rendered with the help of different syntactical constructions with different functional, stylistic and expressive colouring and connotation.

E.g. Go off! – Off you go! – You go off!
Every functional style has also got its peculiar syntactical constructions, e.g. the style of official documents.

According to the theory of generative grammar there are two kinds of structures — a deep structure and a surface structure. The latter are the actual sentences produced by the former, which is not presented in language units and therefore unobservable. This theory enables the interpreter to look at a sentence from the point of view of what is 'behind' the sentence.

Another development in linguistics is 'text-linguistics'. This development, which as yet has not been formed as a separate theory, aims at investigating the objective criteria concerning ways and means of constructing texts of different kinds and genres.

It is first of all necessary to find the elements into which any text may fall. In other words, there must be certain constituent units of which any text is composed.

Phonemes, the smallest language units, function within morphemes and are dependent on them, morphemes function within words, words — within sentences, and sentences function in larger structural frames which we call "supra-phrasal units" - they are the basic constituents of a text.

The term (SPU) is used to denote a larger unit than a sentence. It generally comprises a number of sentences interdependent structurally (usually by means of pronouns, connectives, tense-forms) and semantically (one definite thought is dealt with). A sentence from the stylistic point of view does not necessarily express one idea, as it is defined in most manuals of grammar. It may express only part of one idea.

So a supra-phrasal unit is a combination of sentences presenting a structural and semantic unity backed up by rhythmic and melodic unity.

An SPU can be embodied in a sentence if the sentence meets the requirements of this compositional unit, coincide with the paragraph, enclose several paragraphs and in a paragraph there can be several SPU. The difference between them is that an SPU is a syntactical phenomenon, while the paragraph is a graphico-compositional unit of a written text.

A paragraph is a graphical term used to name a group of sentences marked off by indentation at the beginning and a break in the line at the end. But this graphical term has come to mean a distinct portion of a written discourse showing an internal unity. It is a more or less developed set of thoughts. The structure, logical construction, size of it are important for a stylistic analysis, can be very expressing and speakable.

The length of a paragraph normally varies from eight to twelve sentences. The longer the paragraph is, the more difficult it is to follow the purport of the writer.

The purpose is to grasp the attention, to make the reader see that the thought is deep (in a long p.) or to induce a certain reaction on the part of the reader. This reaction is generally achieved by intentionally grouping the ideas so as to show their interdependence or interrelation. It discloses the writer's manner of depicting the features of the object or phenomenon described.

2.Compositional patterns of syntactical arrangement

Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Syntactical Arrangement include: stylistic inversion, detached constructions, parallel constructions, chiasmus, repetition, suspense, climax, antithesis.

Structural syntactical stylistic devices are in special relations with the intonation involved. The more explicitly the structural syntactical relations are expressed, the weaker will be the intonation-pattern of the utterance (to complete disappearance) and vice-versa, the stronger the intonation, the weaker grow the evident syntactical relations (also to complete disappearance). 'Only after dinner did I make up my mind to go there' and '/ made up my mind to go there only after dinner.'

When viewing the stylistic functions of different syntactical designs we must take into consideration the following aspects:

1. The juxtaposition of different parts of the utterance.

2. The way the parts are connected with each other.

3. Those based on the peculiar use of colloquial constructions.

4. Those based on the stylistic use of structural meaning.

Stylistic Inversion

The usual Word-order in English is Subject — Verb (Predicate) — Object (S—P—O). Any other order will change the impact on the reader. Stylistic Inversion is an intended violation of the usual order of the members of the sentence for stylistic purpose. It aims at attaching logical stressor additional emotional colouring to the surface meaning of the sentence.

e.g. grammar inversion: No sooner had I looked at him, when he began to cry. SI can be classified according to the following patterns:

1. the object is placed at the beginning of the sentence. Time he has, desire to study he hasn’t.

2. the predicative is placed before the subject or the link-verb. A good student he was. Rude am I in my speech… (Shakespeare). The former is mostly characteristic for colloquial speech, the latter – bookish.

3. the attribute is placed after the word it modifies (postposition of the attribute). With fingers weary and worn… (Thomas Hood) it usually adds solemnity, elevation and melodiousness in prose.

4. the adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence. At your feet I fall. Down dropped the breeze (Coleridge). The AM is accented itself here, but it also foregrounds the subject at the last position, which is very emphatic.

5. Both modifier and predicate stand before the subject. Down dropped the breeze (Coleridge).

Detached constructions. Detachment is a stylistic device based on singling out a secondary member of the sentence with the help of punctuation (intonation), so that it seems formally inderpendent of the word it refers to. Being formally inderpendent this secondary member acquires a greater degree of significance and is given prominence by intonation. e.g. She was gone. For good. They are detached with the help of commas, dashes or even a full stop: I have to beg you for money. Daily. DC as an SD is a typification of the syntactical peculiarities of colloquial language. Function: to focus the reader’s attention.

A variant of DC is parenthesis (вводное слово или предложение) – is a qualifying, explanatory or appositive word, phrase, clause, sentence, or other sequence which interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise affecting it, having often a characteristic intonation and indicated in writing by commas, brackets or dashes. It gives the utterance an additional nuance of meaning or a tinge of emotional colouring.

Parallel construction is a device which may be encountered not so much in the sentence as in the macro-structures dealt with the syntactical whole and the paragraph. Parallelism is more or less complete identity of syntactical structure in two or more sentences or parts of sentence in close succession.

e.g. So long as men can breathe or eyes can see… (Shakespeare)

P.c-s are often backed up by the lexical repetition. In this case P acquires additional semantic stylistic value. P.c-s are most frequently used in enumerations, antithesis and in climax, thus consolidating the general effect achieved by these SDs. It carries the idea of semantic equality of the parts, does the emotive function, generates rhythm.

Chiasmus (Reversed Parallel Construction) from Greek [cross arrangement] – перекрестный\ реверсированный параллелизм - is based on repetition of syntactical patterns, but it has a reversed order in one of the utterances. I.e.one of the sentences is inverted as compared to that of the second sentence: SPO-OPS.

Down dropped the breeze,

The sails dropped down. (Coleridge) e.g. The public wants a thing, therefore it is supplied with it, or if it is supplied with a thing, it wants it. (Thackeray).

Chiasmus is sometimes achieved by a sudden change from active voice to passive or vice versa. It brings in some new shade of meaning or additional emphasis on the second part.

Repetition is reiteration of the same word or phrase with the view of expressiveness. As an SD it fixes the reader’s attention on the key-word of the utterance. It can be of various types: at the beginning - anaphora; at the end – epiphora; the last word of one is repeated at the beginning of the next part – anadiplosis (linking/ reduplication) – Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all ye know on earth… (Keats); at the beginning and at the end of a sentence/paragraph – framing – кольцевой повтор, рамка. It helps to promote the text categories: prospection, retrospection, presupposition, predictability, wholeness, intensifies the utterance, produces the monotony of action, makes the rhythm.

The special type of R is called distant rep-n – when the repeated word /phrase occurs not in a close succession, but in some distance from one another. The distance may be a chapter, several chapters and so on.

Suspense затягивание, задержка главной мысли - is a compositional device that consists in arranging the utterance in such a way, that the less important, descriptive parts are placed at the beginning, while the main idea is presented in the end of the utterance. The sentences of this type are called periodic. Thus the reader's interest is held up, he is kept in a state of uncertainty and expectation. This device is typical of oratorical style. Suspense and climax sometimes go together.

Climax (gradation) кульминация – is an arrangement of sentences or phrases which secures a gradual increase in significance, importance, or emotional tension in the utterance. It’s ascending series of words or utterances in which intensity or significance increases step by step.

e. g. Every racing car, every racer, every mechanic, every ice - cream van was also plastered with advertising.

C. can be logical, emotional or quantitative. Logical c. is based on the relative importance (objective or subjective) of the component parts looked at from the point of view of the concepts put in them. Emotive C –based on the relative emotional tension produced by words with emotive meaning. Quantitative C is an evident increase in the volume of the corresponding concepts: Little by little, bit by bit, and day by day, and year by year the baron got the worst of some disputed question. (Dickens)

It helps to show the relative importance of things as seen by the author, or to impress upon the reader the significance of the things described by suggested comparison, or to depict phenomena dynamically. Anticlimax – the decrease of tension.

Antithesis (stylistic opposition) антитеза is a SD based on the author's desire to stress certain qualities of the thing by appointing it to another thing possessing antagonistic features. e. g. They speak like saints and act like devils. The aim is to make ‘contrast.

Enumeration is a SD by which separate things, properties or actions are brought together and form a chain of grammatically and semantically homogeneous parts of the utterance. Sometimes absolutely heterogeneous notions are made homogeneous from the semantic point of view.

e. g. She wasn't sure of anything and more, of him, herself, their friends, her work, her future.

3. Particular ways of combining parts of the utterance: Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Linkage

Asyndeton is a deliberate avoidance of conjunctions in constructions in which they would normally use. e.g. He couldn't go abroad alone, the sea upset his liver, he hated hotels.

Polysyndeton - is a deliberate usage (overuse) of connectives between the parts of the sentence. It’s mostly identical repetition of conjunctions: used to emphasize simultaneousness of described actions, to disclose the authors subjective attitude towards the characters, to create the rhythmical effect.

e. g. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. The difference between the Enumeration and P: the first shows things united, the second – isolated.

The Gap - sentence - link is a peculiar type of connection, which is not immediately apparent and it requires some effort to grasp the interrelation between the parts of the utterance, i.e. to bridge the semantic gap. It presents two utterances, the second is brought into the focus of the reader's attention.

e. g. She and that fellow ought to be the sufferers, and they were in I tally (Galsworthy).

It serves to signal the introduction of the inner represented speech; indicates a subjective evaluation of the facts; introduces an effect resulting from a cause which has already had verbal expression, in other words it displays an unexpected coupling of ideas, stirs up in the reader’s mind the suppositions and associations.

4. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Peculiar Use of Colloquial Constructions: ellipsis, break in the narrative, represented speech.

Ellipsis - is a deliberate omission of some parts of the sentence for the purpose of shorter and more emphatic presentation of an emotionally coloured speech. It is the omission of a word necessary for the complete syntactical construction of a sentence, but not necessary for understanding The stylistic function of ellipsis is to speed up the tempo, to imitate the colloquial language, to connect its structure.

e. g. You feel all right? Anything wrong or what? Oh, finally! Go! Stop it! Nor more!

Aposiopesis (Break - in - the narrative). Sudden break in the narration has the function to convey the strong emotions, to reveal agitated state of the speaker, - he can’t proceed his speech.

e. g. You just come home or I’ll...

The difference between ellipsis and break is that in ellipsis the speaker deliberately stops to let the listener guess, and in the break- he really or feigningly can’t speak.

Question in the narrative. Changes the real nature of a question and turns it into a stylistic device. A question in the narrative is asked and answered by one and the same person, usually the author. It becomes akin to a parenthetical statement with strong emotional implications. e. g. For what is left the poet here? For Greeks a blush - for Greece a tear. (Byron “Don Juan”)

Unlike rhetorical questions it does not contain statements. Question in the narrative is very often used in oratory. This is explained by one of the leading features of oratorical style - to induce the desired reaction to the content of the speech.

There are 3 ways of reproducing character's speech.1) direct speech; 2) indirect speech (reported speech); 3) represented speech – introduction of the voice of the heroes in author’s speech..

Represented speech (non-personal direct speech). There is also a device which coveys to the reader the unuttered or inner speech of the character, his thoughts and feelings. This device is also termed represented speech. To distinguish between the two varieties of represented speech we call the representation of the actual utterance through the author's language "uttered represented speech", and the representation of the thoughts and feelings of the character “unuttered or inner represented speech”.

Peculiarities:

1) the absence of quotation marks

2) the usage of the 3rd person sg- mostly

3) the specific choice of vocabulary

4) question and exclamatory marks in narrative

5) the great degree of emotional tension

6) the usage of interjections

5. Syntactical Stylistic Devices Based on Stylistic Use of Structural Meaning

Rhetorical question is a statement in a form of a question, that expects no answer. It is asked in order to make a statement rather than to get a reply. They are frequently used in dramatic situation and in publicistic style.

e. g. What was the good of discontented people who fitted in nowhere?

Litotes - is a use of two negative notions for creating a positive one. Its function is to convey doubts of the speaker concerning the exact characteristics of the object or a feeling, irony, restraint.

e.g. It's not a bad thing - It's a good thing.

e.g. He is no coward. He is a brave man.

e.g. He was not without taste.

e.g. He is no fool.

Different syntactical phenomena may serve as an expressive stylistic means. Its expressive effect may be based on the absence of logically required components of speech - parts of the sentence, formal words or on the other hand on a superabundance of components of speech; they may be founded on an unusual order of components of speech, the change of meaning of syntactical constructions and other phenomena.

Ellipsis. Elliptical sentences are sentences in which one or more words are omitted, leaving the full form to be understood by the reader or hearer.

e.g. I beg your pardon, sir. Didn’t know. Sorry to have bothered you.”

Aposiopesis is found in sentences unfinished logically or structurally due to which the expression of the thought conveyed is limited to a hint.

e.g. “If you don’t give me your signature when I come back tomorrow …”

(implies threat).

One member sentences are those which have no separate subject and predicate but only one main part. This main part may be expressed by a noun (so-called nominal sentences) or an infinitive (infinitive sentences).

e.g. An astonishing experience, another blow to his preconception of a stiff and formal race! (Galsworthy).

e.g. To be alive! To have youth and the world before one!

Zeugma is a figure of speech in which a verb or adjective does duty with two or sometimes more than two nouns and to only one of which it is strictly applicable. Zeugma is based on polysemy, often on the literal and figurative meanings of a word. It may be based on the meaning of a set expression as a whole and the literal meaning of the separate words – its components. It may also be based on the different meanings of homonyms. Zeugma usually, though not necessarily, produces a satiric or humorous effect.

e.g. then came fish and silence.

Superabundance of Components of Speech may be found in different types of repetition and in the emphatic construction.

1. Simple reiteration is limited to the repetition of the same word, phrase or sentence though not necessarily in one sentence or even paragraph, it may be found in much larger syntactical units. It plays an important role in creating a definite emotional colouring. This colouring may be different depending on the lexical meaning of the word or words repeated.

2. The repetition of the root is a special type of reiteration in which only the root of the word and not the full word is repeated. Depending on the context it may have different stylistic colouring.

e.g. To live again in the youth of the young (a tinge of regret for fast passing youth).

3. Framing is a type of repetition, when the same word or words, standing at the beginning of the sentence or syntactical unit are repeated at the end of it. They occupy the emphatic syntactic positions in the sentence.

e.g. Those kids were getting it all right, with busted heads and bleeding faces – those kids were getting it.

4. Anadiplosis is a repetition of a word or a group of words, which come at the end of a phrase or clause and at the beginning of a new phrase or clause. It serves to emphasize the most important part of the statement.

e.g. Especially as Mr. Spears, Mrs. Spears of all people, whose two boys were so exemplary, was waiting for her in the drawing-room.

5. Syntactic tautology is the repletion of a part of the sentence, usually the subject, expressed by a noun by a pronoun, sometimes vice versa. Syntactic tautology may be used for the sake of emphasis or to render low colloquial of which it is typical. It is often found in nursery rhymes, and poetry imitating the style of popular ballads.

e.g. The Widow Douglass, she took me for her son, and allowed she would civilize me.

6. Polysyndeton is the repetition of the conjunction or some other formal word before each following homogeneous part of the sentence. It serves as a means of distinguishing each part by isolating them from each other and at the same time connecting them into one sense unit. The repetition of conjunctions lends a definite rhythmical quality to the statement. Polysyndeton stresses the simultaneousness of actions, or the close connection of the qualities or phenomena enumerated. When rendering colloquial speech it may serve as a means of characterizing a personage’s speech underlining its primitive construction.

e.g. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect.

7. Anaphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of clauses, sentences, periods, or in poetry at the beginning of lines, stanzas.

e.g. “Why didn’t you dare it before?” he asked harshly. “when I hadn’t a job? When I was starving? When I was just as I am now as a man, as an artist, the same Martin Eden?”

8. Epiphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the end of two or more succeeding clauses, sentences, verses etc. Epiphora even in a greater degree than anaphora creates a rhythmic pattern of the narration. Besides that, epiphora underlines the logical connection and emotional identity of adjoining units of speech.

e.g. It’s their wealth and security that makes everything possible makes your art possible, makes literature, science, even religion possible (Galsworthy).

Synonymic Repetition is a peculiar type of repetition consisting in the use of synonymous means to express the same idea. The words repeated are not necessarily synonyms, but become such in the context.

Emphatic Constructions are sentences with the anticipatory “ it ” which serves to stress any part of the sentence.

e.g. It was Winifred who went up to him.

e.g. It was while passing through Moulsey lock that Harris told me about his maze experience.

An insertion (inserted clause) appears within another clause and interrupts its structure. Their stylistic functions are rather versatile. They usually contain some information serving to make clearer what is said in the main body of the sentence, or are a casual interruption due to the speaker suddenly thinking of something vaguely connected with what he is speaking about and thus serve as a characterization of a personage’s speech manner or his state. They may serve to create two parallel speech planes, for instance, when we have reported speech.

Parallel Constructions – Parallelism is the repetition of the same syntactical structure in two or more succeeding sentences. Parallel arrangement serves to bring forth either the similarity or the difference between the objects in question. Parallelism lends a definite rhythm to the narration and due to its sameness it creates a certain background to emphasize the necessary word or phrase. This word or phrase is usually repeated in the parallel constructions. Parallelism is found in literary works where it serves as an expressive means. It is also found in scientific prose and official documents.

e.g. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and I was whistling as I walked past the studio gates.

Chiasmus is a type of parallelism with cross arrangement of the elements.

Detached (loose) parts of the sentence are such parts which are less closely, less intimately connected with the rest of the sentence. They have a certain independence which finds expression in the intonation and, in writing, in punctuation. Detachment is a stylistic expressive means for it serves to emphasize the loose part of the sentence. Practically any secondary part of the sentence, direct, indirect objects, and especially often adverbial modifiers, attributes and appositions may be detached

Rhetoric questions i s a widely used expressive means. It is an affirmative or negative statement in the form of the question. It is emotionally coloured, is distinct from an ordinary question which is asked to draw forth some information, the rhetoric question does not require any answer; it serves the purpose of calling the reader’s (or hearer’s) attention to a particular point in the discourse, writing, speech, etc. The appeal to the reader or hearer which the rhetoric question contains serves as a means of enhancing the expressiveness of monologue speech making it more lively, more versatile (varied).

e.g. What will not necessity do?

As you know the English sentence is characterized by a rather strict and rigid word order. The putting of a part of the sentence in an abnormal place, in a place unusual for it, i.e. inversion, brings this word into prominence, emphasizes it. In this way inversion becomes a significant expressive means. The main stylistic effect of inversion is emphasis. But it may acquire other connotations depending on the context.

Inversion always brings about either change in the logical content of the sentence, or lends an additional emotional colouring to the narration. Inversion is usually found in written speech, its use in colloquial speech is rather a rare occurrence.

Enumeration is another expressive means which consists in naming over various qualities or recounting different objects or actions with the purpose of giving a many-sided artistic characterization to the phenomenon described. The words enumerated are homogeneous parts of a sentence.

Represented speech is a form of utterance which renders the actual words of the speaker through the mouth of the writer retaining the peculiarities of the speaker’s manner of expression.

Represented speech loses the remoteness of indirect speech and approximates direct speech, as it in a great measure retains the latter’s phrasing, syntactical structure and inner colloquial intonation. The peculiarities of represented speech are that the past tense is used instead of the present, the pronoun of the third person is used instead of the pronouns of the first and second persons.

There are two varieties of represented speech: a) uttered represented speech and b) unuttered or inner represented speech. Morphologically there is no difference between them. The syntactical pattern is somewhat different.

Uttered represented speech is employed in belles-letter style and newspaper style.

Unuttered (inner) represented speech renders the thoughts and feelings of the character he does not express aloud.

 

THEME 7

Functional Stylistics

(1 academic hour)

 

1. The notion of style in functional stylistics

The notion of style has to do with how we use the language under specific circumstances for a specific purpose. The notion of using English, apart from using our knowledge of its linguistic structure also involves awareness of the numerous situations in which English can be used as a special medium of com­munication with its own set of distinctive and recognizable features. Uses of English in numerous situations that require definite stylistic features are studied by the theory of functional styles.This theory involves consideration of such notions as norm and function in their relation to style.

2. Correlation of style, norm and function in the language

Any national language uses the notion of ' correct language’ which involves conformity/accordance to the grammatical, lexical and phonetic stan­dards accepted as normative in this society. The favoured variety is usually a version of the standard written language. It is presented in dictionaries, grammars and other official manuals. Those who speak and write in this way are said to be using language 'correctly', those who do not are said to be using it 'incorrectly'. Correct usage is associated with the notion of the linguistic norm.

The norm is closely related to the system of the language as an abstract ideal system. The system provides and determines the general rules of usage of its elements. The norm is the actual use of these provisions by individual speakers under specific conditions of communication.

However the literary norm is not a homogeneous and calcified entity. It varies due to regional, social, situational, personal factors, etc.

The norm will be dictated by the social roles of the participants of communication, their age and family or other relations. An important role in the selection of this or that variety of the norm belongs to the purpose of the utterance, or its function. Informal language on a formal occasion is as inappropriate as formal language on an informal occasion. This brings us to the notion of the norm variation.

Functional styles are subsystems of the language and represent varieties of the norm of the national language. Each of them is characterized by its own parameters in vocabulary usage, syntactical expression, phraseology, etc.

3. Language varieties: regional, social, occupational

Language variety features depend on the presence of certain factors in a social situation. These factors may be grouped into two types: sociolinguistic and stylistic.

Sociolinguistic factors identify the regional and social varieties of the language.

Stylistic factors identify individual preferences in usage (phraseology, special vocabulary, language of literature) or the varieties that are associated with occupational groups (lawyers, journalists, scholars).

Regional language variation of English provides a geographical answer to the question 'Where are you from, in the English-speaking world?' Social language variation provides an answer to the question ‘Who are you?' or 'What are you in the eyes of the English-speaking society to which you belong?' One and the same person may belong to different social groups and perform different social roles (be described as 'a parent', 'a wife', 'an architect', 'a feminist', 'a member of Parliament', 'an amateur sculptor', 'a theatre-goer', etc.)

Language more than anything else will testify to our permanent and temporary roles in social life. Our pronunciation, choice of words and constructions, general strategy of communication are defined by the age, sex, occupation and socio-economic aspects.

Britain is usually said to be linguistically more class-conscious than other English-speaking countries. For example, in England Received Pronunciation (RP), is considered to be the 'prestige accent'.

However today with the breakdown of rigid divisions between social classes and the development of mass media RP is no longer the prerogative of social elite. Today it is best described as an 'educated' accent which actually has several varieties. Most educated people have developed an accent, which is a mixture of RP and various regional features that sometimes is called ‘ modified RP'.

Occupational varieties of the national language are normally associat­ed with a particular way of earning a living.

There are no class distinctions here. People belonging to any professional field develop jargon and professional slang, their own linguistic rituals which its members accept as a criterion of proficiency, which set them apart from outsiders as, e. g., languages of law, government and religion with their unique grammar, vocabulary, and patterns of discourse.

4. Distinctive linguistic features of the major functional styles of English

There are a great many classifications of language varieties that are called sublanguages, substyles, registers and functional styles that use various criteria for their definition and categorization. The term generally accepted by most Russian scholars is functional styles. They suggest the following style classes: 1) Official business style. 2) Scientific-professional style. 3) Publicist style. 4) Literary colloquial style. 5) Familiar colloquial style.

However these five classes can seldom be observed in their pure forms: mixing styles is the common practice. His description of five major functional styles is based on their most distinctive features on each level of the language structure: phonetical (where possible), morphological, syntactical and lexical.

5. Different approaches to functional styles classification

According to Galperin: Functional Style is a system of coordinated, interrelated language means intended to fulfill a specific function of communication and aiming aiming at a definite effect in communication. It is the coordination of the language means and stylistic devices which shapes the distinctive features of each style and not the language means or stylistic devices themselves. Each style, however, can be recognized by one or more leading features which are especially conspicuous. For instance the use of special terminology is a lexical characteristics of the style of scientific prose, and one by which it can easily be recognized.

The authors of handbooks on different languages propose systems of styles based on a broad subdivision of all styles into 2 classes – literary and colloquial and their varieties. These generally include from three to five functional styles.

Galperin’s system of styles:

1. Belles-lettres style (poetry, emotive prose, drama); 2. Publicist (oratory and speeches, essay, article); 3. Newspaper (brief news items, headlines, ads and announcements, editorials); 4. scientific prose; 5. official documents (business, legal, diplomacy, military).

Arnold’s system of styles:

1. Poetic; 2. Scientific; 3. Newspaper; 4. Colloquial.

In her last issue: 1. Colloquial styles (literary coll., familiar coll., common coll.) and 2. Literary bookish style (scientific, official documents, publicists, oratorical, poetic)

Screbnev’s system of styles: Number of styles is infinite.

Screbnev and Kusnez

1. literary/bookish style (publicist; scientific (and technological); official documents); 2. free/colloquial (literary coll.; familiar coll.)