英语文体学教程
Chapter1
1, what is style in your opinion according to what we have studied in this chapter?
Anwser1 , from the perspective of the content, the events and activities described ,style is saying different things in different ways ;from the perspective of the ways of expression used ,styled is same thing in different ways; from the perspective of the users of language ,style is different speakers using language in different ways; and from the perspective of the text ,style is the functions of texts for different purposes.
Anwser2, the definition of style is the concept of style as choice .this definition can have at least too interpretations .one is that first we have a pre-existing thought ,and then we choice the appropriate type of expression to express it in language. The chosen expression is the style .another is that the choice refers to the choice of meaning. The choice of language is at the same time a choice of meaning and a choice of style .
2,what is the significance of studying the style of language in learning and teaching English?
Anwser, the answer is that if we want to use language appropriately in different situations , we need to study style .as foreign language learners, if we disregard the rules of using what variety of language in what occasion , or fail to obey them through ignorance , language can become instead a barrier to successful communication . Therefore its necessary to have a clear awareness of how language should be used in different types of situations especially in unfamiliar situations.
3, what factors can result in differences in style ?
Answer , 1, the different types of vocabulary create different images of the events in the reader’s mind, so they can result in different styles.2,people living in different periods of time in history will also speak differently ,and that will result in a different style.
Chapter2
1, explain the following terms
1),foregrounding: the stylistically significant features have to be prominent and motivated ,that is ,foregrounded.
2),incongruity: the linguistic features depart from the normal use of language ,breaking the rules grammar ,spelling ,pronunciation.
3)deflection : the linguistic features don’t depart from the established grammatical, lexical and logical rules and principles ,but have an unexpected high frequency of occurrence.
4),field; its concerned with what is happening ,including the subject matter,the events happenings,going-ons, the content ,etc
5)tenor: its concerned with who is taking part in the exchange of meaning ----the relationship between the speaker and the listener ,their relative status,their attitude,and their role relations .
6)mode: its concerned with how the interaction is conducted ,that is whether it is written or spoken ,or whether it is expressed by phonic substance or graphic substance.
2,question for discussion
2)in rhetorical series,the number of items can influence the stylistic effect.try to analyze the causes on the basis of social culture.
Answer :different numbers of words can produce different stylistic effects in the appropriate contexts. Two items express assertion ,that is ,it is just this ,not that .In appropriate situations three items can produce ethic ,persuasive, and representative effect. Four or more items in a series
stress a large number of the concrete things ,and these can produce an imagery in the mind of the reader that the large amount of things constitutes a significant situation in which certain aspect are highlighted. Another function of the rhetorical series is to use concrete items to highlight abstract concepts so that the abstract concept can be expressed in concrete ,lively and vivid way to enhance the aesthetic value of language.
3)what factors affect the writer’s selection of words and style
Answer : five criteria for the selection of words :whether they are familiar or not familiar, whether they are concrete or abstract, whether they are single or more ,whether they are short and simple. Or long. Whether they are Anglo –saxon words or latin words .field ,tenor ,mode affect the writer’s selection of style.
4)what is the criterion used to classify words
Answer :we can use more systematic way to classify word according to register and dialect .register:field ,tenor , mode .dialect: regional dialect,such as London dialect;social dialect such as dialect of age, race,etc.temporal dialect such as od English .
5)through what channels can words be used to achieve transferred meaning?
Answer :simile :x is like Y, eg as busy as bee. Metaphor: X is Y ,eg he is a pig. Synecdoche eg many hands represent the people who work with their hands . Metonymy eg purse represent money.
Chapter3
1,explain the following terms
1),chiasmus:chiasmus is formed by inverting the word order of the second part of a parallel structure,so it forms a kind of antithetical structure. Eg:let us never negotiate out of fear,but let us never fear to negotiate.
2)antistrophe: it is the repetition of the same items but in inverted order ,eg:what’s polly t o me,or me to polly?
3)epizeuxis:it is a continuous repetition for high lighting a particular feature.
4)ploce: the repetition is not continuous , but intermittent or dispersed in the text.
5)loose sentence: put the major idea first and than the illustration .such a sentence is easy to grasp .
6)periodic sentence:a periodic sentence can be used to create suspense,or expectation, thus drawing the listener’s attention to the end of the sentence.it can be used to produce humorous and emphatic effect .
2,question for discussion
1),there are many types of syntactic deflection ,but they have one thing in common :recurrence of structures. How is syntactic deflection classified?
Answer :there are two type of syntactic deflection :the unexpected high frequency of occurrence of a certain type of sentence; and the overregular occurrence of a particular pattern .
2)the high frequency of occurrence of long and short sentence can create stylistic effect .apart from the difference in expressive meanings ,what are other characteristics of the two types of sentences?
Answer : long sentences are good to provide the detailed descriptions ,and are good to reveal the mental activities of the speaker .so they are used to produce a vivid, rich, exuberant, luxurious
style. Short sentence：can produce direct ,terse ,concise ,clear effect or continuous ,compact ,swift effect ,so that it creates certain atmosphere , and leave a deep impression on the listeners.
3) why do writers often violate the rule of grammar? What do we cal this violation?
Answer: we call this violation syntactic incongruity .the violation of the grammatical rules can be used to produce certain stylistic effects. The so-called ungrammatical sentences are used to represent the different varieties of language according to register and dialect. In literary works, dialectical and personal features of speech are often used to depict the personality of the characters. In poetry, the poet often uses deviant grammatical structures to achieve special effects, makes lines terse and concise, to make it rich in meaning.
4)what is the function of rhetorical questions?
Answer: A rhetorical question is to use the form of a question in order to express a strong emotion or to emphasize a particular aspect. The function of inverted sentence is to make a declarative sentence more po werful, to attract the listener’s attention, or to induce others’ sympathy. Arranged in parallelism, rhetorical questions can express strong emotions and increase the persuasive power.
A rhetorical question can also introduce the topic of the text.
5) In what ways can we use inverted sentences to achieve emphatic effect?
Answer: to change the normal word order can be used to produce some emphatic effect. What is put to the initial part of the sentence is usually the focus of information of the clause and also the theme of he clause. So it is highlighted.
Chapter4
1 explain the following terms
1)Synaesthesia: it refers to the fact that sounds s are attributed with certain values or esthetic
features. It is very casual, and supported by situational features and meaning.
2)Alliteration: refers to the repetition of the initial sound usually a consonant, or a vowel at first
position, in two or more words that occur close together.
3)Assonance: refers to the use of the same or related vowel sounds in successive words. It can
create harmonious effect.
4)Consonance: refers to the repetition of the last consonants of the stresses words at the end of
the lines.
2 questions for discussion
1)What are the characteristic of spoken language and written language respectively?
Answer: spoken language: 1 it can directly be accompanied by other non-linguistic means as the aid; 2 it is generally speaking not as formal as written language; 3 it permits errors in the process of production; 4 it uses a particular grammar, a grammar characteristics of spoken language. 5 homophones can be used for special stylistic effects, such as pun; 6 some implications are best represented by special sound features; 7 sound feature can represent the feature of regional dialect or social dialect.
Written language:1 as written language communication is usually not a direct one, but is delayed in time and at different places, the writer generally has time to get well prepared and revise the text before he sends it out to the reader;2 as space is limited, it has special grammatical features so as to put more meaning in it .there are many nominalizations to make sentences into groups;3 written language is often used in a more formal situation; 4 as time is enough, it is usually written
in a more detailed and logical way;5 as written language is more purposeful, and for a single specific goal, it is usually more constant and developed around a single subject.
2)How many sound patterns do we have? What special stylistic effects can be achieved by them? Answer: these sound patterns include alliteration which can create harmony, connection and achieve special stylistic effects, assonance which can create harmonious effect, and consonance 3)What factors can influence graphological prominence? .
Answer: there are three distinctive factors that can produce graphological prominence: marking, spacing and sequence. Marking refers to the use of written symbols to convey information; space is spacing arrangement departing from this normal way of spacing can be used to achieve stylistic effects.
4 In modern English, punctuation marks are patterned and standardized. How can we use punctuation marks for special stylistic purpose?
Answer: period typically occurs at the end of a declarative sentence. If period occurs in unexpected high frequency of occurrence, it often means that the text mainly functions to provide information; comma is used to mark the unit larger than a word, however, in Charles Dickens’ Dombey and Son, comma is used to indicate syllables; exclamation marks can be used to carry emotional coloring, a mark of expressing special feelings; parentheses are used for further explanation; the ellipsis of punctuation marks produces an illogical and non-sequential image. Chapter7
1 explain the following terms
1）Guide: guide is the further explanation of the headline, it consists of six elements; location, character, event, mode, time, and cause.
2）Nominalization: refers to a grammatical phenomenon in which the meaning which is normally expressed by a clause is here expressed by a phrase, so clause nominalization is normal. It is contracted.
3）The highlighting method: from the productive point of view, the columnist can publish the whole story, or he can cut off some parts from the end. He can even cut off the main body.
4）Meaning contraction: using the smallest form to get the most meaning.
5）Journalese words: as new report requires the speaker to use the least form to get the most meaning, and it has to be fresh and attractive, so the words in news report is short and new.
2 questions for discussion
1) What are semantic features of news report?
Answer:1 In terms of ideational meaning, apart from the semantic field of news report, it covers virtually all areas of meaning systems ;2 in terms of interpersonal meaning, it stresses objectivity;3 in terms of textual meaning, it has the feature of meaning contraction.
3) Most of the headlines are elliptical sentences. Tell in what way ellipsis is best achieve in news report.
Answer: most of the headlines are elliptical sentences. What is omitted is: (a) subject-predicate (b) predicate (c) link verb or auxiliary verb
4) How is meaning contraction of news report embodied in grammar?
Answer: one feature of news report is meaning contraction, that is using the smallest form to get the most meaning .its grammatical feature are as follows:(1) the nominalization of the processes (2)big noun phrases and complex modifications (3)as some of the pre-modifiers come from a separate clause, it is highly contracted .
5）The concreteness contraction of news report is in contradiction to meaning contraction. Tell how this contradiction is revolved in news report.
Answer: besides its authenticity and objectivity, news report should also emphasize concreteness and detailedness. Therefore, the writer often gives background information and details by using parenthesis. By doing so, the writer can provide concrete and detailed information and save space as well.
6）What graphological means are used in news report? Analyze what effects are achieved by graphological means.
Answer: grphological means are made in the typesetting, for example, headlines can be arranged in such ways: 1 flush-left(it is made into a square) 2dropped-line(the length of the line is the same, but dropped in a bit each time) 3 short line followed by a long tome 4 along line followed by a short line 5 concave form 6 convex form . They can increase esthetic value and become more attractive.
7）What are lexical features of news report? Why are many nonce words used in news report? Answer: lexical feature: 1 short and new-fashioned such a “crisis” in “the UN faces crisis of credibility”. 2 short journalese phrase such as “key issue” in “jobless will be the key issue in 1993”. 3nonce words, often blends such as Euromarket=European market.
8）Why is there so much use of direct speech in news report?
Answer: the use of direct speech can enhance the credibility of news report. The directly quoted speech can be regarded as basis of facts.
9）What prominent devices are used in headlines in news report?
Answer: alliteration allusion suspense etc.
Chapter6
1Explain the following terms
1）time non-fluency :pauses in inappropriate positions within a phrase or groups position ,the use of um or er to delay the time ,the repetition of some expressions ,such as be said be said be said.,
2）Quality non-fluency: often the speaker cannot find the appropriate words to express himself, and he is striving for words, so he uses many inexact expressions and even wrong expressions or wrong pronunciations to express himself.
3） Adjacency pair: most of the sentences are declarative and interrogative sentences as they are mostly made up of questions and answers.
4） Slot filling words: slot filling words are used to fill in the pauses when the speaker strives for meaning as words, or when he or she strives to be politeness or lessen the degree of imprudence.
2 question for discussion
1）What are the characteristics of conversation from the perspective of semantics, grammar, vocabulary and phonology?
Answer :semantic features:(1)the inexplicitness of meaning (2)the randomness of subject matter, and a general lack of planning (3)the lack of fluency Grammatical features :(1)sentence complexity (2)verbal phrases(3)nominal phrases(4)the types of sentences (5)quoted elements. Lexical feature:(1)most of the words are short and simple Anglo-Saxon ones, (2)the choice of words is limited in scope or range (3)slang and colloquial words, taboo words ,exclamatory words are frequently used (4)some slot filling words ,such as you know ,I mean,etc.(5)use exaggerated words and expressions. Phonological features :(1)use more contractions for the unimportant information (2)the often try to express themselves in spite of the fact that the other is speaking (3)there are many emphatic ways of speech ,such as stress .
2）How do you account for the inexplicitness of language in daily conversation?
Answer: the inexplicitness of meanings manifested in the following aspects: (1)lots of exophoric expression such as “this “is the tendency (2)there are missin g links between the utterances(3) a lot of background information missing.(4)many inexact expressions using general words for particular concepts(5)many incomplete expressions.
3）What are the features spontaneous commentary from the perspective of semantics, grammar, vocabulary and phonology?
Answer: from the perspective of semantic features, if the listeners could also see the event while the commentary is delivered, there will be a lot of meaning implied or simply presupposed; but in a commentary without visual support on the part of the listeners, the commentator has to provide all the necessary information. In terms of syntactic structure, the sentences and the clauses are usually short as the commentator has no time to give detailed description of the event, and the sentences contain fewer words than usual. From the perspective of lexical features, the words are mostly simple in structure, they are short and simple; they are mostly composed of verbs, and proper names; there might be specialized terms depending on the subject matter of the commentary. From the perspective of phonological features, it is very fast and fluent, but he has to pronounce every word clearly and loudly.
4）What are the features of text structure of public speech?
Answer: It consist of the following element :(1)a short introduction to the main issue or issues concerned (2)the declaration of one’s attitude and position in the ma tter (3)the listing, reasoning, and explaining (4)conclusion
5）How is it that in public speech there is much use of noun phrases with post modification? Answer: there are few pre-modifiers, but more post-modifiers such as “of phrase” and “which clauses” to give detailed and accurate description.
Chapter8
1 explain the following terms
Learned words: learned words are words that borrowed from Latin, Greek and French.
Clichés: are words or expressions which have lost their originality or effectiveness because they have been used too often.
Semantic features: correctness and completeness; conciseness and clearness; consideration and courtesy.
Grammatical features: sentences structure; uses of voices; uses of affirmative sentences; inverted sentences
Lexical features: concrete and natural words; technical terms and abbreviations; brief and common word s; avoid clichés (except business contracts)
3 questions for discussion
1）Why should business English be correct and complete?
Answer: the content of business English should be correct and completely. First, the conveyed information should be correct; sometimes a small mistake would cause a great loss in a deal and even affect business relations between two parties. Second, the conveyed information should be complete. For example, if we order some commodities, we should state names of commodities, delivery dates, consignees, methods of payment, etc.
2）In business English sometimes active voice is used, and sometimes passive voice is preferred. Point out what stylistic features can be achieved through using voices.
Answer: In business English, both active voice and passive voice can be used, but there is a tendency towards preference of active voice in today’s business communication. Active voice is shorter in form and economic in words compared with passive voice. Thus active voice is more effective in stylistic effect than passive voice; besides, active voice can make style more familiar and less formal. But in some cases, passive voice is necessary. When we discuss something negative, we should avoid blaming the other party directly, in addition, passive voice can make business English style more formal, and the conveyed information more objective.
3）Why should business letters be written in a way of consideration and courtesy?
Answer: In business communication, in order to make it more efficient, we should be considerate of others and polite to others. “You- Attitude”
is very important principle in business communication, that is, we should think ourselves back into the shoes of others so as to cooperate sincerely. 4）The use of technical terms and abbreviations is one stylistic feature of business English. State the reason of this phenomenon.
Answer: using technical terms and abbreviations can avoid long and tedious explanation, which is one lexical feature of business English. Such as L/C----letter of credit
5）Why should we avoid clichés in business English?
Answer: clichés are words or expressions which have lost their originality or effectiveness because they have been used too often. In old-fashioned business English there are a large number of clichés, which should be avoid in present-day business communication.
Chapter9
1, explain the following terms
2) Redundancy: in order to avoid opaqueness and ambiguity, it has express clearly what everyone knows and takes for granted. This makes the legal language redundant clumsy and hard to understand.
3) Common words: many of the legal words come from ordinary language with the common core features especially those high-frequency words, such as prepositions, conjunctions, articles, etc.
4) specialized words: specialized words are necessary for two important aspects of legal language. The first is that for the field of law itself, and the second is that for many non-legal field concerned with legal affairs. There are two sources of specialized legal words: common words endowed with legal meanings and archaic words.
2, question for discussion
1)Why is legal English syntactically complex?
Answer: syntactic Complexity: as its main function is to ensure preciseness and accuracy and block any leakage, the draftsmen of legal documents have to be very carful and scrupulous, and the legal texts have to be able to stand the text of time .therefore legal language is rich in modifications, circumlocutions, and complex logic relations.
2）Legal English is very conservative in form. Explain it from a historical perspective.
Answer: conservativeness: as the legal language is produced by careful phrasing and tested over a long time, nobody dares to alter the structure of legal English, so that its structures become old-fashioned and archaic. The representative legal language in such a way is English legal language.
3) What is the reason that there are many legal words of French source?
Answer: because after the Norman Conquest, French because the official language used for all state affairs including law in Great Britain. That is why many French loan words were found in law afterwards.
4) What are the lexical features of legal English?
Answer: legal vocabulary mainly comes from French. (2) Legal words can be divided into following three types: 1, common words2, specialized words3, Multi-register words.