Transcript LECTURE 11

LECTURE 11
1. SDs based on syntactical compression:
- Ellipsis;
- One-member (Nominative) sentences;
- Aposiopesis (Break-in-the Narrative);
- Apokoinu construction.
2. SDs based on transposition of structural meaning:
Rhetorical question.
3. Represented speech.
Variability of Sentence
Sentence, being different from units of lower levels,
possesses a changeable structure. It can be
• Unextended – extended;
• One-member – two-member;
• Incomplete – complete;
• Simple – compound – complex.
Communicative type, word order are also variable.
‘Neutral’ Sentence Model
The ‘neutral’ sentence conforms to the following
requirements:
• Two-member;
• A few secondary parts (object, attribute, adverbial
modifier);
• Normal word order (S – P – O).
E.g. A blazing fire was burning in the hearth.
SYNTACTICAL COMPRESSION
• Stylistically relevant absence of elements which are
considered obligatory in a ‘neutral’ sentence
construction.
Syntactical compression can take on different forms
Ellipsis
(Absence of principal parts
of a sentence)
Aposiopesis
Apokoinu constr.
(Sentence deliberately (Absence of
left unfinished)
connectives)
ELLIPSIS [ı‘lıpsıs] - эллипс
Ellipsis (elliptical sentence) presupposes absence of one or
both principal parts of a sentence (the Subject, the
Predicate). The missing parts are either present in the
syntactical environment of the sentence (context), or
they are implied by the situation (Skrebnev).
E.g. “Where’s the man I’m going to marry?”
“Out in the garden.” [adv. modifier of place]
“What’s he doing out there?”
“Annoying Father.” [part of simple verbal predicate
+Object]
Ellipsis and incomplete sentences
• Arnold: Ellipsis is mostly expressed by incomplete
sentences. The missing elements can be restored
thanks to context.
• Galperin: Ellipsis as a SD always imitates
colloquial structures. Therefore, we cannot
equate it with incomplete sentences, because in
colloquial structures nothing is omitted – they are
the norm of colloquial language.
E.g. See you tomorrow. Won’t do. – normal
colloquial syntactical structures, not elliptical!
Ellipsis and Colloquial Speech (CS)
• Ellipsis is typical of colloquial (oral) speech. This quality of CS
assumes the features of a SD when used in written discourse.
• Elliptical sentences are mostly introduced in dialogues to
imitate the spontaneous nature and dynamism of CS. They
can also reflect the character’s emotional and physical state.
E.g. ‘Not good with words. Never my line.’
‘I understand what you’re saying.’
‘Don’t hate, can’t love. Can’t love, can’t paint.’
‘I understand.’
‘Bloody geometry. No good. Won’t work. All tried it. Down
the hole.’ […] He seemed to lose all train (Fowles The Ebony
Tower)
Ellipsis and Colloquial Speech (CS)
• Ellipsis can be employed in monologues giving the
character’s speech a touch of authenticity.
E.g. My dear boy. Painted to paint. All my life. Not to
give clever young buggers like you a chance to show
off. […] Don’t care a fart in hell where my ideas come
from. Never have. Let it happen. That’s all. Couldn’t
even tell you how it starts. What half it means. Don’t
want to know (Fowles The Ebony Tower).
Structural Varieties of Ellipsis
• Absence of Subject (mostly ‘I’)
E.g. ‘Were they interesting books?’
‘Don’t know. Haven’t read them. Looked pretty
hopeless.’ (A. Christie)
• Absence of the finite verb of the Predicate
E.g. ‘You Chester Scott?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Glad to know you.’ (Chase)
• Absence of everything except the auxiliary verb
E.g. ‘Stop it, Ernie.’
‘Sha’n’t.’ (A. Christie)
Ellipsis: Spheres of Usage
• Oral speech;
• Fiction (in direct speech of characters –
dialogues and monologues, – or in the
author’s narrative for the sake of brevity and
emotional tension);
• Papers or handbooks on technology or natural
sciences:
E.g. The grindstone – a cylinder pole, diameter
2.0 dm, thickness 5.0 dm.
Ellipsis: Spheres of Usage
• Advertisements and newspaper headings
E.g. Tough times? Want your own business? For
the top franchise opportunities go to:
www.dailyexpress.co.uk.
• Telegraphic messages
E.g. Just arrived. Elephant passed through half an
hour ago… Elephant ranged around streets; two
plumbers going by killed one – other escaped.
Regret general. O’Flaherty, Detectve. (M. Twain)
ONE-MEMBER (NOMINATIVE) SENTENCES
– односоставные (назывные) предложения
• A nominative sentence comprises only one member
(principal part) expressed by a noun or a noun
equivalent.
• The communicative function is a statement of the
existence of an object/phenomenon named by the
sentence.
E.g. London. Fog everywhere. Implacable November
weather.
ONE-MEMBER (NOMINATIVE) SENTENCES
– односоставные (назывные) предложения
E.g. Ночь, улица, фонарь, аптека,
Бессмысленный и тусклый свет.
Живи еще хоть четверть века –
Все будет так. Исхода нет.
Умрешь – начнешь опять сначала,
И повторится все как встарь,
Ночь, ледяная рябь канала,
Аптека, улица, фонарь. (А. Блок)
Peculiarities of nominative sentences
• Nominative sentences are self-sufficient both
structurally and semantically. Nothing is omitted.
• NSs help us perceive a more or less isolated image,
leaving its interrelations with other objects in the
background.
E.g. Nothing – nothing! Just the scent of camphor, and
dustmotes in a sunbeam through the fanlight over
the door. The little old house! A mausoleum!
(Galsworthy)
Nominative Sentences: Variety of Uses and
Functions
• NSs are often found in the descriptive ‘Exposition’ which
introduces the reader to the setting of the narrative.
E.g. We went in through the shop. Smell of boot polish like
a lion cage. Back room with an old kitchen range. Good
mahogany table. Horsehair chairs. Bed in corner made up
like a sofa. Glass-front bookcase full of nice books,
Chamber’s Encyclopedia. Bible Dictionary. (J. Cary The
Horse’s Mouth)
• NSs are common in stage remarks (DRAMA)
E.g. Garden at the Manor House. A flight of grey stone
steps. The garden, an old-fashioned one, full of roses.
(Wilde The Importance of being Earnest)
Nominative Sentences: Variety of Uses and
Functions
• NSs can present a kaleidoscopic range of images flashing
across the character’s mind.
E.g. The horror! The flight! The exposure! The police! The first to
desert him – these – all save Sondra perhaps. And even she,
too. Yes, she, of course. The horror in her eyes! (Dreiser An
American Tragedy).
• NSs can reflect the character’s individual world perception.
E.g. Surrey all in one blaze like a forest fire. Great clouds of dirty
yellow smoke rolling up. Nine carat gold. Sky water-green to
lettuce green. A few top clouds, yellow and solid as lemons.
River disappeared out of its hole. Just a gap full of the same
fire, the same smoky gold, the same green. Far bank like a
magic island… (J. Cary The Horse’s Mouth)
APOKOINU CONSTRUCTION [æpə‘koınu:]
- апокойну
• A blend of two clauses through a word which
has two syntactical functions, one in each of
the blended clauses. The connective is usually
omitted.
E.g. There was no breeze came through the door
(Hemingway).
• Usually the word common for two clauses is a
predicative or an object in the first clause and
the Subject in the second.
Function of Apokoinu Construction
• It is used to characterize a personage through
her/his speech which is often uneducated and
careless.
E.g. There was a door led into the kitchen (Sh.
Anderson).
I am the first one saw her.
I never met so many people didn’t own a
watch.
Aposiopesis [æpəsaıə'pi:sıs] – апозиопезис,
апосиопея, умолчание
• From Greek “maintaining silence”. Another term to
denote this SD is ‘Break-in-the-Narrative’ (Galperin).
• A SD that involves breaking off a sentence and
deliberately leaving it unfinished. It may be caused
by unwillingness to proceed, uncertainty or an
upsurge of emotions.
E.g. You heard what the guy said: get out or else…
(Gardner)
Implications of Aposiopesis
In writing aposiopesis heavily depends on context
which is the only key to its decoding.
The SD may imply:
• threat
E.g. You just come home or I’ll…
• warning
E.g. If you continue your intemperate way of living, in six
months’ time…
• strong upsurge of emotions causes inability to speak
E.g. Emily, if I do improve and make a big change…would you
be…I mean: could you be… (T. Wilder).
Implications of Aposiopesis
• euphemistic considerations
E.g. Then, Mamma, I hardly like to let the words cross my lips,
but they have wicked, wicked attractions – like dancing girls
that – that charm snakes and dance without – Miss Moir with
downcast eyes, broke off significantly and blushed (A. Cronin).
• The implication often outweighs what is expressed
E.g. Good intentions, but –
• Implication can function as a secret code
E.g. To – (a poem by P.B. Shelley)
Transferred Use (Transposition) of Structural
Meaning
• Every syntactical structure has its function, which is
called the structural meaning.
When a structure acquires a new function, it takes on
a new meaning.
SDs based on transferred use of structural meaning
Rhetorical Question
Litotes
RHETORICAL QUESTION [rə‘torıkəl] –
риторический вопрос
A SD the essence of which consists in reshaping the
grammatical meaning of the interrogative sentence. The
question is no longer a question but a statement
expressed in the form of an interrogative sentence
(Galperin).
E.g. Have I not suffered things to be forgiven? (=I have
suffered things to be forgiven) (Byron).
• RQ is interrogative in form and affirmative in meaning. It
requires no answer as it already contains it.
• The interrogative form makes the statement more
categorical.
Structural Patterns of Rhetorical Questions
• Complex sentence with a subordinate clause
E.g. Shall the sons of Chimary
Who never forgive the fault of a friend
Bid an enemy live? (Byron)
• Simple sentence based on negation
E.g. Have I not had to wrestle with my lot?
Have I not suffered things to be forgiven? (Byron)
Such sentences are usually emotionally charged and convey an
additional shade of meaning (assertion, doubt, etc).
Functions of Rhetorical Questions
• Attracting attention, heightening emotional tension,
impressing the readers/listeners, creating the effect of
involvement.
RQs are characteristic of public speeches (oratory) and philosophical
digressions (fiction).
E.g. Are these the remedies for a starving and desperate populace?
(Byron)
• Conveying various kinds of modal shades of meaning
(challenge, doubt, scorn, etc).
E.g. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? (Shakespeare) –
challenge.
Is there not blood enough upon your penal code, that more must be
poured forth…? (Byron) – scorn and contempt.
How can what an Englishman believes be heresy? (Shaw) – satire.
Functions of Rhetorical Questions
• Creating a humorous effect
E.g. Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would
want to live in an institution? (H.L. Mencken)
E.g. Isn’t it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they
do ‘practice’? (George Carlin)
E.g. To actually see inside your ear canal – it would be
fascinating, wouldn’t it? (Letter from Sonus, a
hearing-aid company, “Rhetorical Questions We’d
Rather Not Answer”, The New Yorker, March 24,
2003).
WAYS OF REPRODUCING ACTUAL SPEECH
(GALPERIN)
Direct speech
Represented speech
Indirect speech
Uttered RS
Inner RS
DIRECT SPEECH
• Repetition of the exact utterance as it was spoken. The
term ‘direct speech’ is used to distinguish the character’s
speech from the author’s narrative.
E.g. “You want your money back, I suppose,” said George
with a sneer.
“Of course, I do – I always did, didn’t I?” says Dobbin.
(Thackeray Vanity Fair)
• DS is always introduced by such verbs as say, declare,
shout, cry, murmur, sigh, beg, assure, etc.
These verbs help to indicate the intonation of the
utterance.
USES OF DIRECT SPEECH
• DS is introduced in fiction to depict the character
through her/his speech and becomes part of the
personage’s speech characteristic. It is mostly found
in dialogues.
E.g. ‘I suppose it was mostly about reality. Failures to
capture it. […] Movies no one even remembers any
more. How all the king’s plays and all the king’s
scripts… and nothing in your present can ever put
you together again.’
‘Tell me when to touch the tears from my eyes.’
(Fowles Daniel Martin)
USES OF DIRECT SPEECH
• DS can be used as a quotation in the
publicistic style.
• DS is predominant in plays.
E.g. JACK: I have lost both my parents.
LADY BRACKNELL: To lose one parent, Mr
Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune;
to lose both looks like carelessness.
(Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest)
INDIRECT SPEECH
• Conversion of the character’s utterance into
the author’s mode of expression accompanied
by significant changes of wording, meaning
and emotional colouring.
E.g. Marshal asked the crowd to disperse and
urged responsible diggers to prevent any
disturbance… (K. Prichard).
REPRESENTED SPEECH – несобственнопрямая речь
• Representation of the character’s utterance or inner speech by a
second person, usually the author.
E.g. Old Jolyon was on the alert. Wasn’t the “man of property” going
to live in his new house, then? […]
“No,” – June said – “he was not; she knew that he was not.”
How did she know?
She could not tell him, but she knew. She knew nearly for certain. It
was most unlikely; circumstances had changed! (Galsworthy)
• Shift to the 3d person;
• Present → Past;
• Usually formally unmarked (no quotation marks);
• Use of parenthesis, interjections, intensifiers, contracted forms,
ellipsis, exclamatory sentences and questions, colloquial words,
character’s favourite words.
INNER REPRESENTED SPEECH
• Linguistic representation of the character’s inner speech
characterized by fragmentary, sometimes incoherent nature,
which is conveyed by aposiopesis, exclamations, one-member
sentences.
E.g. An idea had occurred to Soames. His cousin Jolyon was
Irene’s trustee, the first step would be to go down and see
him at Robin Hill. Robin Hill! The odd – the very odd feeling
those words brought back. Robin Hill – the house Bossiney
had built for him and Irene – the house they never lived in –
the fatal house! And Jolyon lived there now! H’m!
(Galsworthy).
• Inner RS gives us an insight into the character’s inner life and
most adequately conveys her/his feelings and psychological
peculiarities.