Grammatical metaphor

I. The theory of grammatical gradation.

Modern stylistics proceeds from the nature of stylistic effect and studies the mechanism of stylistic function. The major principle of stylistic effect is the opposition between the norm and deviation from the norm (on different levels of the language).

Skrebnev describes this state as the opposition between the traditional meaning and situational meaning.

Arnold maintains that the very essence of poetic language is the violation of the norm (at all the levels of the language: phonetic, graphical, morphological, lexical, syntactical). Though: not every deviation from the norm results in expressiveness.

EX.: You do not use the article with an adverb or adjective (it would be linguistic nonsense).

Noam Chomsky formulated that rule in grammar and called it “grammatical gradation”:

Marked structures:: Unmarked structures

(Grammatically correct):: Grammatically incorrect

EX.: Решил он меня обмануть.

*Decided he me to deceive.

Semi-marked structures are formed by the deviation from lexical and grammatical valency. In other terms this is called “transposition” - a phenomenon that destroys customary (normal, regular, standard) valences and thus crate expressiveness.

II. Grammatical metaphor and types of grammatical transposition.

That kind of transposition can be called Grammatical metaphor (Prof. E.I.Shendels) at the bases of the same mechanism - the transfer of the name from one object on to another.

A grammatical form as well as a lexical unit possesses a denotative and connotative meaning. There ate 3 types of denotative grammatical meaning:

1. The first type reflects relations of objects in outside (EX.: singularity and plurality);

2. The second denotes the relation of the speaker to the first type of denotation. It shows how objective relations are perceived by reactions to the outside world (EX.: modality, voice, definiteness and indefiniteness);

3. The third type – intralinguistic denotation - has no reference to the extra-linguistic reality. I conveys relations among linguistic units proper (EX.: the formation of the past forms of regular and irregular verbs).

According to Shendels, “grammatical metaphor is a transposition (transfer) of a grammatical form from one type of grammatical relation to another”.

Thus we deal with a redistribution of grammatical and lexical meanings that create new connotations.

Types of grammatical transposition

We may distinguish 3 types of grammatical transposition:

1. The transposition of a certain grammar form into a new syntactical distribution with a resulting effect of contrast.

EX.: “Historical present”: a verb in the Present Indefinite form is used against the background of the Past Indefinite narration, creating the effect of vividness, an illusion of “presence”).

2. The transposition, involving both – the lexical and grammatical meanings.

EX.: the use of the plural form with a abstract or proper noun: “The look on her face… was full of secret resentments, and longings, and fears”.

3. The transposition of classifying grammatical meanings, bringing together situationally incompatible forms.

EX.: the use of common noun as a proper one = personification of inanimate objects or antonomasia. – Mr. Know-All, Mr. Truth, speaking names.

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