Linguistic Stylistics - Gabriela Missikova part2

Chapter 5:

LEXICAL EXPRESSIVE MEANS AND STYLISTIC

DEVICES

5.1Interaction of Different Types of Lexical Meaning

Expressiveness at a lexical level is mainly produced by a set of lexical relations identified in modern lexical semantics as the relation of identity, inclusion, overlap and disjunction (Cruse, D. A., 1986, p. 87). The lexical relation which parallels identity is the relation of cognitive synonymy (e.g. fiddle – violin), the lexical relation corresponding to the inclusion of one class in another is hyponymy (dog – animal, scarlet – red, murdered – killed), the lexical relation corresponding to overlap is known as compatibility (dog – pet, e.g. It’s a dog and It’s a pet are compatible: It’s my pet dog.) and the relation analogous to the relation of disjunction is known as incompatibility (cat – dog, e.g. It’s a cat entails It’s not a dog.).

Similar to many scholars (Cruse, 1986, 2000; Simpson, 1997) our approach is context-based, which enables us to consider various shifts of meaning resulting from the interplay between the meaning of a word as fixed in a dictionary (defined ‘in isolation’) and its use in a particular context. Galperin’s work (ibid.) is a bit dated, however, his explanation of contextual and dictionary meaning provides an elementary background to our further discussion (ibid., p. 55):

Words in a context may acquire additional lexical meaning not fixed in dictionaries, so-called contextual meaning. Contextual meaning may sometimes deviate from the dictionary meaning to such a degree that the new meaning even becomes the opposite of the primary meaning. This is especially the case of transferred meanings.

What is known in linguistics as transferred meaning is the interrelation between two types of lexical meaning: dictionary and contextual. Dictionary meaning will always depend on the dictionary (logical) meaning to a greater or lesser extent. When the deviation from the acknowledged meaning is carried to a degree that it causes an unexpected turn in the recognised logical meanings, we register a stylistic device.

The transferred meaning of a word may be fixed in dictionaries as a result of long and frequent use of the word other than in its primary meaning. In this case we register a derivative meaning of the word. We do not perceive two meanings.

When, however, we perceive two meanings of the word simultaneously, we are confronted with a stylistic device in which the two meanings interact.

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5.1.1 Interaction of Dictionary and Contextual Logical Meanings

The relationship between dictionary and contextual logical meanings can be based on the principle of affinity or proximity (i.e. metaphor), on the principle of symbol – referent relation (i.e. metonymy) and on the principle of opposition (i.e. irony).

Metaphor

A metaphor is a very common figure or trope which has been studied since Aristotle’s Poetics. In fact, many authors have contributed towards the study of metaphor and it is not the purpose of this chapter to provide a complete list of their names. Our intention is not to discuss the literary values of metaphors but to have a closer look at metaphoric words, phrases and expressions used in non-literary contexts, such as in (informal) spoken language, the language of reporting, the language of sports and political commentaries, etc.

From this point of view a metaphor arises from the interplay between the dictionary and contextual logical meanings. This interplay is based on the affinity or similarity of certain properties or features of the two corresponding concepts (e.g. she was a flesh-eating orchid). Metaphoric expressions are often based on one word used metaphorically (the speaker became tired and emotional), often personifications serve this purpose (e.g. the flavours married beautifully, the rape of Sarajevo, Prague fights more floods, etc.).

Metaphors can be classified according to their degree of originality or unexpectedness. Metaphors that are absolutely unexpected and unpredictable are called genuine metaphors, these are illustrated by the examples given above. Those, which are commonly used in speech and therefore are sometimes even fixed in dictionaries, are trite or dead metaphors. They are highly predictable and their (metaphorical) motivation is apparent, for example head of department, body of information, bottom of a road/ garden/ street, mouth of a river and many others. I. R. Galperin (ibid.) lists time-worn or trite metaphors, for example a ray of hope, floods of tears, a flight of fancy, a gleam of mirth, a shadow of a smile, etc.

Everyday speech also provides many examples of metaphoric expressions. Language users create witty names (or nicknames) for people with specific characteristics. The names are metaphorically motivated as illustrated by the following examples. Stylistically, they belong to colloquial language or slang, for example Barbie doll (a US slang for an empty-headed but sexually attractive young woman), basket case (a nervous wreck or someone who is mentally incapacitated; patients in mental hospitals are often taught basket-weaving skills), culture vulture (a person who is excessively and indiscriminately interested in the arts), egghead (an intelectual), a good egg or a bad egg (a nice person or a dubious character), faceless man (a person who is not known to the public, but who uses power behind the scenes), headshrink or headshrinker (humorous and informal expression for a psychoanalyst or a psychiatrist, now shortened to shrink), shrinking violet (humorous and informal word for a person who lacks self-confidence, a shy person), muckrakers (the name given to US investigative journalists and writers using excessive sensationalism at the beginning of the 20th century), yellow journalism (the methods

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of the muckracking press), etc. Some examples of a more complex character can be added, these are metaphorical expressions commonly used in colloquial speech: She’s got her claws into him, ...he messed up with a bad egg, ...their relationship bit the dust, ...she pulled wool around his eyes.

Specific functions are achieved by metaphors used in newspapers. The following metaphoric expressions were abstracted from political commentaries:

...political parties have learnt their lesson..., ... the goverment decided behind the closed door..., ...Europeans looking forward to their new money..., ...there were few members of Congress without skeleton in their closets..., ... young generation heading for the promised land..., ...their recent campaigne has come to nothing..., ...local directors keeping them in dark..., ...Clinton doesn’t seem to notice he is playing with fire here..., etc. (Kollárovič, 2000).

Metonymy

Metonymy is based on a different type of relationship between the dictionary and contextual logical meanings, a relationship based on some kind of association connecting the two concepts which these meanings represent (Galperin, ibid., p. 140). For example, the word crown can stand for a king or queen, cup or glass for the drink it contains, woolsack for the Chancellor of the Exchequer who sits on it, or the position and dignity of the Lord Chancellor, etc.

As Galperin points out, the interrelation between the dictionary and contextual meanings should stand out clearly and conspicuously, otherwise, we cannot state that a stylistic device is used. The above listed examples are common and fixed in dictionaries. In fact, they are derivative logical meanings which co-exist with the primary one. Metonymy used in language-in-action or speech, so called contextual metonymy, is genuine metonymy and reveals a quite unexpected substitution of one word for another, or even of one concept for another, on the grounds of some strong impression produced by a chance feature of the thing, for example:

‘Miss Tox’s hand trembled as she slipped it through Mr. Dombey’s arm, and felt herself escorted up the steps, preceded by a cocked hat and a Babylonian collar.’

(Ch. Dickens)

Cocked hat and Babylonian collar stand for the person who wears them. The function of these examples is mainly to point out the insignificance of the wearer rather than his importance. His personality is reduced to his externally conspicuous features, the hat and red collar. This kind of metonymy is called (part for whole) synecdochy. Similarly:

‘Then I came in. Two of them, a man with long fair moustache and a silent dark man ... Definitely, the moustache and I had nothing in common.’

(D. Lessing)

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Several authors have attempted to provide a complete list of all types of relationship which metonymy is based on. Among them the following relationships are the most common:

•A concrete thing is used instead of an abstract notion. In this case the thing becomes a symbol of the notion, as in

‘The camp, the pulpit and the law For rich men’s sons and free.’

(P. B. Shelley)

•The container instead of the thing contained:

‘The hall applauded.’

‘He drank two glasses and left.’ ‘I managed just a cup.’

•The relation of proximity, as in:

‘The ballroom was glittering and happy.’ ‘The city was horrified and scared to death!’

•The material instead of the thing made of it, as in:

‘The gold was stolen.’ ‘The iron is hot.’

‘He was taken away in irons.’

•The instrument which the doer uses in performing the action instead of the action or the doer himself, as in:

‘Well, Mr. Weller, says the gentleman, you’re a very good whip and can do what you like with your horses, we know.’

(Ch. Dickens)

There are many other types of relationships which may serve as a basis for metonymy. Perhaps, a better, or more systematic way of classification is based on the recognition of synecdochy as a special case of metonymy. Traditionally, there are four main types of synecdochy, often presented under their original Latin names*. The

*Synecdochy (from Greek “take up with something else”)

1.pars pro toto

2.totum pro parte

3.species pro genere

4.genus pro specie

5.singularis pro plurari

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fifth case can be regarded as a subtype of pars pro toto synecdochy. In addition to the language of prose and poetry, examples of synecdochy can be recognised in the language of newspapers (Ukraine mourns dead from Lviv air show), political and sports commentaries (England grab late penalty to end Spain‘s hopes of European glory), or in everyday speech (Tell us what happened. We’re all ears!). Many of them have lost their freshness and originality, and do not create any special stylistic effects (Could you give me a hand with this heavy table? or, in Slovak, Včera ju požiadal o ruku.).

Irony

Irony is a stylistic device also based on the simultaneous realisation of two logical meanings, dictionary and contextual, but the two meanings stand in opposition to each other, for example:

“It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a penny in one’s pocket.”

T. Žilka (1987, p. 109) explains irony as an indirect naming of a phenomenon in which the meaning is shifted towards the opposite pole. He also thinks that irony can be considered as an extreme case of a metaphor, however, metaphor is based on the relation of homonymy while irony is based on antonymy. Two types of irony can be classified: the first type provides a positive evaluation of a person, event or nature with an opposite, that is negative, meaning (e.g. Sk. Ty si mi dobrý priateľ! dobrý = zlý). The above mentioned example illustrates this type of irony (i.e. delightful = horrible). Let us have one more example of this kind:

“They were as funny as the Black Death.”

(D. Francis)

In the first type of irony too much praise creates the opposite that is negative, effect, for instance, This is the most exciting trip of my life! (the most exciting means the most boring). In the second type of irony, the words and expressions with negative meaning are the bearers of positive qualities of people, items, events and various phenomena. This kind of irony can function as self-criticism or self-irony. The famous statement of Socrates ‘I know that I know nothing’ can be seen as an example of this kind of irony. We perceive the positive meaning of the message: Socrates is saying I know a lot, I know almost everything. T. Žilka classifies this type of irony also in Švejk who declares himself to be an idiot but his acts are often wise and clever (ibid., p. 111).

Irony is a gentle means of humour, however, it must not be confused with it. Humour always causes laughter, what is funny must come as a sudden clash of the positive and negative. In this respect irony can resemble humour. But the function of irony is not confined to producing a humorous effect.

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5.1.2 Interaction of Primary and Derivative Logical Meanings

Polysemy

is a generic term the use of which must be confined to lexicology as an aspect of the science of language. In actual speech polysemy vanishes unless it is deliberately retained for certain stylistic purposes. For example,

“Massachusetts was hostile to the American flag, and she would not allow it to be hoisted on her State House.”

The word flag is used in its primary meaning in combination with the verb to hoist and in its derivative meaning in the combination was hostile to.

Zeugma

The use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relationship to two adjacent words in the context, the semantic relationship being on one hand literal, and on the other, transferred.

“Dora, plunging at once into privileged intimacy and into the middle of the room.”

(G. B. Shaw)

"Moira in the bar was dispensing champagne and bright laughs in copious qualities,...”

“Mr. Well’s hair, manner, and eyes were all out of control,...”

(D. Lessing)

Pun

Another stylistic device based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word (for example “aardwark” is a British student pun of the late 1980s for hard work) or phrase (e.g. “Seven days without water make one weak.”). It is difficult to draw a hard and fast distinction between zeugma and a pun. The only reliable distinguishing feature is a structural one: zeugma is the realisation of two meanings with the help of a verb which is made to refer to different subjects or objects (direct or indirect). The pun is more independent. For example:

“Bow to the board,” said Bumble. Oliver brushed away two or three tears that were lingering in his eyes; and seeing no board but the table, fortunately bowed to that.

(Ch. Dickens)

The pun is often used in advertising slogans, headlines, catch-phrases, jokes (especially so called ‘knock–knock’ jokes), etc. The following examples are all based on homophony (Miššíková, 1999, p.22):

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Humbug! and many others are not interjections as such; a better name for them would be exclamatory words generally used as interjections, their function being that of the interjection. (Some adjectives and adverbs can also take on the function of interjections, for example, amazing! terrible! awful! great! wonderful! splendid! fine! etc.)

Epithet

A means of displaying the writer’s/speaker’s emotional attitude to his/her communication. It is subtle and delicate in its character, not so direct as interjections. It is also believed that an atmosphere of objective evaluation can be created by means of the epithet. The epithet is a stylistic device based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase and even sentence, used to characterise an object and pointing out to the reader some of the properties or features of the object. The epithet is markedly subjective and evaluative. Examples quoted by I. R. Galperin (ibid.) are a bit dated (wild wind, loud ocean, remorseless dash of billows, formidable waves, heartburning smile, etc.). An interesting source of fresh and original epithets are, for example, the film and book reviews, articles about various arts and hobbies (hand-made decorations, gardening, painting, etc.), pleasures and entertainment (barbeques, wines, eating, etc.). The qualities of discussed products are best described by a sophisticated lexis of professional slang (jargon) which usually abounds in epithets (e.g. a fashion article: Coco Chanel first introduced the androgynous look to womenswear, her pioneering appropriation of masculine tailoring; an article about music, the grunge: ...an aural chaos, ...clutch of prehistoric amps, ...penetrated into a desparate core of rattling hearts; an article about wines:

...exotic musky parfumes and flavours, ...rich, full, high alcohol wines, etc.).

Oxymoron

is a combination of two words, mostly an adjective and a noun or an adverb with an adjective, in which the meanings of the two clash, being opposite in sense, for example, little big man, low skyscraper, the poorest millionaire, sweet sorrow, nice rascal, pleasantly ugly face, horribly beautiful, deafening silence, poor little rich girl, unpleasant pleasure, and so on.

5.1.4 Interaction of Logical and Nominal Meanings

The interplay between logical and nominal meanings of a word is called antonomasia. The two kinds of meanings must be realised in the word simultaneously, for example,

“Society is now one polished horde, formed of two mighty tribes, the Bores and Bored.”

(G. G. Byron)

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This device is mainly realised in the written language, because sometimes capital letters are the only signals to denote its presence. The use of antonomasia is not confined to the belles-letters style. It is often found in magazines and newspapers, for example,

“I suspect that the Noes and Don’t Knows would far outnumber the Yesses.”

(The Spectator)

5. 2 Intensification of a Certain Feature of a Thing or Phenomenon

In the third group of stylistic devices, which we now come to, we find that one of the qualities of the object in question is made to sound essential. The quality picked out may be seemingly unimportant, but for a special reason it is elevated to the greatest importance.

Simile

The intensification of some feature of the concept in question is realised in a device called simile which should not be confused with an ordinary comparison. Traditionally, we identify a comparison when all the properties of the two objects are taken into consideration, while stressing the one that is compared. Simile excludes all the properties of the two objects except one which is made common to them. For example, ...the boy seems to be as clever as his mother... is an ordinary comparison. Boy and mother belong to the same class of objects and only one quality is being stressed to find the resemblance. But in the sentence Maidens, like moths, are ever caught by glare (Byron), we have a simile. Maidens and moths belong to heterogeneous classes of objects and Byron has found the concept ‘moth’ to indicate one of the secondary features of the concept ‘maiden’, that is, to be easily lured (F. Miko, J. Mistrík, I. R. Galperin, T. Žilka).

Similes have various formal elements in their structure, for example, connective words such as like, as, such as, as if, seem. For example,

“Emily Barton was very pink, very Dresden-china-shepherdess like.”

“They were laughing like dogs. Then they turned around and drove back and scraped the paint off the other side. They went off like bats out of hell.”

“Two Japanese girls, as glossy and self-sufficient as young cats, sit smiling.”

(D. Lessing)

In the English language there is a long list of similes pointing out the analogy between the various qualities, states or actions of human beings and the animals, for example, treacherous as a snake, sly as a fox, busy as a bee, industrial as an ant, blind as a bat, faithful as a dog, to work like a horse, to be led like a sheep, to fly like a bird, to swim like a dug, hungry as a bear, thirsty as a camel, to act like a puppy,

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playful as a kitten, vain (proud) as a peacock, slow as a tortoise, etc. These combinations have ceased to be genuine similes and are considered clichés nowadays.

Periphrasis

The renaming of an object by a phrase that brings out some particular feature of the object. Here are some well-known dictionary periphrases, i.e. periphrastic synonyms: the cap and gown > a student, a gentleman of the long robe > a lawyer, the fair sex > women, my better half > wife, the Big Apple/ the Melting Pot > New York, etc. The following example is from the language of literature:

“I know an old woman, I am sure I should say lady, who says, ‘People like you ...’ She means aliens, foreigners, though I have lived here forty years... ‘have no idea what London was like’.” (D. Lessing)

Euphemisms

There is a variety of periphrasis which is called euphemistic, for example:

...and he sends a forked-fingered gesture after us...

(D. Lessing)

Euphemism is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression with a conventionally more acceptable one, for example, the word to die can be replaced by the following euphemisms: to pass away, to expire, to be no more, to depart, to join the majority, and the more facetious ones: to kick the bucket, to give up the ghost, to go west. From this point of view euphemisms are synonyms which aim at producing a deliberately mild effect. An interesting source of euphemistic expressions is the language of reporting, for example, new prizes > higher prizes, Irish confetti > a euphemism for stones, rocks, or other such missiles thrown in riots, airdance > euphemism for death by hanging from the language of criminals and the police, etc. The majority of euphemisms are substitutes for taboo and vulgar words, for example, lady of the night, lady of pleasure > a prostitute, bathrooms, rest rooms

> toilets, etc. Sophisticated euphemisms can be found in the language of politics, for example, the Final Solution > the Nazi plan to murder the world’s Jews.

E.Ciprianová (2002) states two main purposes of euphemisms:

1.To follow culturally established norms of interaction (euphemisms are used to avoid taboo topics in speech and the violation of rules of social etiquette).

2.To describe reality in a more pleasant and less direct way (euphemisms are connected with the unwillingness to hurt other people’s feelings, but also with a certain manipulation of social perception and attitudes).

E.Ciprianová (ibid.) provides us with a systematic overview of the taboo topics. She discusses four main groups of taboo topics, which generate the creation of euphemisms.

The first group of taboo words is related to religion, for example, the word God transformed into Gosh or Goodness, Jesus into Jingo or Gee, etc.

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