Inversion as a stylistic devise in the texts of newspaper articles

 

THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF

THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

 

 

THE MOSCOW POWER ENGINEERING INSTITUTE

(Technical University)

 

THE INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTICS

Department of Applied Linguistics and Translating Techniques

 

 

TERM PAPER

SPECIALITY: “Stylistics”

SUBJECT: “Inversion as a stylistic devise in the texts of newspaper articles”.

 

 

 

                                                          

 

 

 

Moscow 2011

 

Table of contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………3

1. Theoretical part……………………………………………………………6
1. Stylistic as a science ………………………………………………………6
2. Functional Styles…………………………………………………………..7
3. Newspaper style………………………………………………………….10
4. Stylistic inversion……………………………………………………........12
2. Practical part………………………………………………………………16

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………22

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………….24

Appendix…………………………………………………………………………26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Stylistics, sometimes called  l i n g u o - s t y 1 i s t i c s, is a branch of general linguistics. It has now been more or less definitely outlined. It deals mainly with two interdependent tasks: a) the investigation of the inventory of special language media which by their ontological features secure the desirable effect of the utterance and b) certain types of texts (discourse) which due to the choice and arrangement of language means are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of the communication [10]. The two objectives of stylistics are clearly discernible as two separate fields of investigation. The types of texts can be analyzed if their linguistic components are presented in their interaction, thus revealing the unbreakable unity and transparency of constructions of a given type. The types of texts that are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of the communication are called functional styles of language (FS); the special media of language which secure the desirable effect of the utterance are called stylistic devices (SD) and expressive means (EM).

The first field of investigation, i.e. SDs and EMs, necessarily touches upon such general language problems as the aesthetic function of language, synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea, emotional coloring in language, the interrelation between language and thought, the individual manner of an author in making use of language and a number of other issues.

The second field, i.e. functional styles, cannot avoid discussion of such most general linguistic issues as oral and written varieties of language, the notion of the literary (standard) language, the constituents of texts larger than the sentence, the generative aspect of literary texts, and some others.

It is in view of the ever-growing significance of the exploration of language potentialities that so much attention is paid in linguo-stylistics to the analysis of expressive means (EMs) and stylistic devices (SDs), to their nature and functions, to their classification and to possible interpretations of additional meanings they may carry in a message as well as their aesthetic value.

A FS is a patterned variety of literary text characterized by the greater or lesser typification of its constituents, supra-phrasal units (SPU), in which the choice and arrangement of interdependent and interwoven language media are calculated to secure the purport of the communication.

Each FS is a relatively stable system at the given stage in the development of the literary language, but it changes, and sometimes considerably, from one period to another. Therefore functional style of language is a historical category. There are many instances to prove this. Thus, the FS of emotive prose actually began to function as an independent style after the second half of the 16th century; the newspaper style budded off from the publicistic style; the oratorical style has undergone considerable fundamental changes, and so with other FSs.

The development of each style is predetermined by the changes in the norms of standard English [3].

It is also greatly influenced by changing social conditions, the progress of science and the development of cultural life in the country. For instance, the emotive elements of language were abundantly used in scientific prose in the 18th century. This is explained by the fact that scientists in many fields used the emotional language instead of one more logically precise and convincing, because they lacked the scientific data obtainable only by deep, prolonged research. With the development of science and the accumulation of scientific data, emotive elements gave way to convincing arguments and "stubborn" facts.

The English literary language has evolved a number of FSs easily distinguishable one from another. They are not homogeneous and fall into several variants all having some central point of resemblance, or better to say, all integrated by the invariant—i.e. the abstract ideal system.

The subject of the present work is the syntactical stylistic devise – inversion – in the text of newspaper’s article. The aim of the work is to analyse the tendency of using this SD in the newspapers.

The mass media (radio, newspapers, TV) are aimed at the widest possible and audience. They play the important role in reflecting the life of society and in building opinions. The mass media can draw the public’s attention to the most serious political, economic, social and ecological problems. They are doing much to excite an interest in every aspect of the country's life. The aim of mass media is not only to inform the people of everything that is going in the world but to help them understand and correctly interpret the events. To reach the goals authors tend to use different stylistic devices and expressive means such as metaphor, metonymy, epithet, occasionalism, periphrasis, alliteration, oxymoron, inversion and many others.

The timeliness of the work is determined by the importance of the newspapers in modern world and by frequent using of inversion as one of the expressive means in them. The press always focuses public attention on all the most important questions of social, economic, scientific and cultural life. Most newspapers in our country come out daily, besides there are some weekly newspapers too. The edition board of a newspaper usually deals with the topical issues of the day. The readers’ questions, opinions and suggestions which they send in letters the editor help to improve the newspaper and make it more interesting. It keeps people informed on topical issues of the day. Reports by political observes and commentators help us get useful information at home and foreign affairs[7].

 

 

 

1. Theoretical part
1. Stylistic as a science

The subject of stylistics can be outlined as the study of the nature, functions and structure of stylistic devices, on the one hand, and, on the other, the study of each style of language as classified, its aim, its structure, its characteristic features and the effect it produces, as well as its interrelation with other styles of language. The task we set before ourselves is to make an attempt to single out such, problems as are typically stylistic and cannot be treated in any other branch of linguistic science.

English language as being divided into three main layers: the literary layer, the neutral layer and the colloquial layer. The literary and the colloquial layers contain a number of subgroups each of which has a property it shares with all the subgroups within the layer. This common property, which unites the different groups of words within the layer, may be called its aspect. The aspect of the literary layer is its markedly bookish character. It is this that makes the layer more or less stable. The aspect of the colloquial layer of words is its lively spoken character. It is this that makes it unstable, fleeting [7].

The aspect of the neutral layer is its universal character. That means it is unrestricted in its use. It can be employed in all styles of language and in all spheres of human activity. The literary layer of words consists of groups accepted as legitimate members of the English vocabulary. They have no local or dialectal character. The colloquial layer of words as qualified in most English or American dictionaries is not infrequently limited to a definite language community or confine to a special locality where it circulates[2].

There are 2 basic objects of stylistics:

- special linguistic means (stylistic devices and expressive means) which secure the desirable effect of the utterance;

- certain types of texts “discourse” which due to the choice and arrangement of the language are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication (functional styles).

 

1.2. Functional Styles

Functional Style is a system of interrelated language means serving a definite aim 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.

A style of language can be fined as a system of coordinated, interrelated and inter-coordinated language means intended to full-fill a specific function of communication and aiming at a defined effect. Style of language is a historical category.

The English literary system has evolved a number of styles easily distinguishable one from another. They are not homogeneous and fall into several variants of having some central point of resemblance or better to say. All integrated by the invariant - i.e. the abstract ideal system.

They are:

1) Official(documents and papers); or the style of official documents, is the most conservative one. It preserves cast-iron forms of structuring and uses syntactical constructions and words long known as archaic and not observed anywhere else. Addressing documents and official letters, signing them, expressing the reasons and considerations leading to the subject of the document (letter-all this is strictly regulated both lexically and syntactically. All emotiveness and subjective modality are completely banned out of this style [1].

2) Scientific (brochures, articles, other scientific publications); is employed in professional communication. Its most conspicuous feature is the abundance of terms denoting objects, phenomena and processes characteristic of some particular field of science and technique. Scientific style is also known for its precision, clarity and logical cohesion which is responsible for the repeated use of such clich?s as: “Proceeding from…”; “As it was said above…”; “In connection with…” and other lexico-syntactical forms emphasizing the logical connection and interdependence of consecutive parts of the discourse [5].

3) Publicistic (essay, public speech); is a perfect example of the historical changeability of stylistic differentiation of discourses. In ancient Greece, e.g., it was practiced mainly in its oral form and was best known as oratorio style, within which views and sentiments of the addresser (orator) found their expression. Nowadays political, ideological, ethical, social beliefs and statements of the addresser are prevailingly expressed in the written form, which was labeled publicist in accordance with the name of the corresponding genre and its practitioners. Publicist style is famous for its explicit pragmatic function of persuasion directed at influencing the reader and shaping his views, in accordance with the argumentation of the author. Correspondingly, we find in publicist style a blend of the rigourous logical reasoning, reflecting the objective state of things, and a strong subjectivity reflecting the author’s personal feelings and emotions towards the discussed subject [6].