Lexico-syntactical stylistic devices

Lexico-syntactical SDs

certain structures, whose emphasis depends not only on the arrangement of sentence members but also on the lexico-semantic aspect of the utterance (V.A.K.)

- include: <antithesis>, <climax>, <anticlimax>, <simile>, <litotes>, <periphrasis>

See: <lexical SDs>, <cluster SDs>, <syntactical SDs>, <stylistic device>

Antithesis

антитеза

a semantically complicated <parallel construction>, the two parts of which are semantically opposite to each other

- is to stress the heterogenity of the described phenomenon, to show that the latter is a dialectical unity of two (or more) opposing features. (V.A.K.)

e.g. Some people have much to live on, and little to live for. (Wilde)

e.g. If we don’t know who gains by his death we do know who loses by it. (A.Christie)

e.g. Mrs. Nork had a large home and a small husband. (S.Lewis)

e.g. In marriage the upkeep of woman is often the downfall of man. (S.Evans)

e.g. Don’t use big words. They mean so little. (Wilde)

••

- stylistic opposition, based on relative opposition which arises out of the context through the expansion of objectively contrasting pairs

e.g. saint – devil, reign – serve, hell – heaven, youth – age, fiery – frosty

The words involved in the opposition do not display any additional nuance of <meaning> caused by being opposed one to another.

- is generally moulded in <parallel construction>;

- is often signalled by the introductory connective but, when so, the other structural signal, the parallel arrangement, may not be evident, it may be unnecessary;

- a device, bordering between stylistics and logic;

It is essential to distinguish between antithesis and what is termed contrast. Contrast is a literary (not a linguistic) device based on logical opposition between the phenomena set one against another.

- has the following basic functions: rhythm-forming (because of the parallel arrangement on which it is founded); copulative; dissevering; comparative

Source: <I.R.G.>:222-224

••

стилистическая фигура, усиливающая выразительность за счёт столкновения (противопоставления) в одном контексте прямо противоположных понятий и образов (I.V.A.)

See: <oxymoron>, <parallel construction>, <lexico-syntactical SDs>

Climax

Gradation

нарастание

a semantically complicated <parallel construction>, in which each next word combination (clause, sentence) is logically more important or emotionally stronger and more explicit (V.A.K.)

Three types:

@ logical climax

a three-step <climax> (the most widely spread model), in which intensification of logical importance, of emotion or quantity (size, dimensions) is gradually rising step by step (V.A.K.)

••

is based on the relative importance of the component parts looked at from the point of view of the concepts embodied in them (I.R.G.)

e.g. Better to borrow, better to beg, better to die! (Dickens)

e.g. Like a well, like a vault, like a tomb, the prison had no knowledge of the brightness outside. (Dickens)

e.g. For that one instant there was no one else in the room, in the house, in the world, besides themselves. (M.Wilson)

@ emotive climax

a two-step <climax>, in which the second part repeats the first one and is further strengthened by an intensifier (V.A.K.)

••

is based on the relative emotional tension produced by words with <emotive meaning> (I.R.G.)

e.g. He was so helpless, so very helpless. (W.Deeping)

e.g. She felt better, immensely better. (W.Deeping)

e.g. I have been so unhappy here, so very very unhappy. (Dickens)

@ quantitative climax

an evident increase in the volume of the corresponding concepts (I.R.G.)

e.g. They looked at hundreds of houses; they climbed thousands of stairs; they inspected innumerable kitchens. (S.Maugham)

e.g. Little by little, bit by bit, and day by day, and year by year the baron got the worst of some disputed question. (Dickens)

@

e.g. We were all in all to one another, it was the morning of life, it was bliss, it was frenzy, it was everything else of that sort in the highest degree. (Dickens)

e.g. I am firm, thou art obstinate, he is pig-headed. (B.Charlestone)

e.g. No tree, no shrub, no blade of grass that was not owned. (J. Galsworthy)

••

an arrangement of sentences (or of the homogeneous parts of one sentence) which secures a gradual increase in significance importance, or emotional tension in the utterance (I.R.G.:219)

••

расположение слов и выражений в порядке возрастающего их значения (I.V.A.)

Syn.: climax, gradation

Ant.: <anticlimax>

See: <parallel construction>, <repetition>, <lexico-syntactical SDs>

Anticlimax

антиклимакс, спад

a <climax> suddenly interrupted by an unexpected turn of the thought which defeats expectations of the reader (listener) and ends in complete semantic reversal of the emphasised idea (V.A.K.)

e.g. It was appalling – and soon forgotten. (Galsworthy)

e.g. He was unconsolable – for an afternoon. (Galsworthy)

e.g. Women have a wonderful instinct about things. They can discover everything except the obvious. (Wilde)

Ant.: <climax>

See: <lexico-syntactical SDs>

Simile

сравнение

an imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two different classes on the grounds of similarity of some quality

The one which is compared is called the tenor, the one with which it is compared, is called the vehicle. The tenor and the vehicle form the two semantic poles of the simile, which are connected by one of the following link words: “like”, “as”, “as though”, “as if”, “as like”, “such as”, “as... as”, etc.

e.g. She is like a rose.

e.g. He stood immovable like a rock in a torrent. (J.Reed)

e.g. His muscles are hard as rock. (T.Capote)

e.g. The conversation she began behaved like green logs: they fumed but would not fire. (T.Capote)

Source: <V.A.K.>

••

characterisation of one object by bringing it into contact with another object belonging to an entirely different class of things

- excludes all the properties of the two objects except one which is made common to them;

- forcibly set one object against another regardless of the fact that they may be completely alien to each other;

e.g. Maidens, like moths, are ever caught by glare. (Byron)

e.g. Other words live but a short time and are like bubbles on the surface of water – they disappear leaving no trace of their existence. (I.R.G.)

e.g. His mind was restless, but it worked perversely and thoughts jerked through his brain like the misfirings of a defective carburettor. (S.Maugham)

e.g. It was that moment of the year when the countryside See ms to faint from its own loveliness, from the intoxication of tis scents and sounds. (Galsworthy)

Source: <I.R.G.>

Compare: <logical comparison>

See: <metaphor>, <epic simile> or <Homeric simile>, <lexico-syntactical SDs>

(logical) comparison

(логическое) сопоставление

a) an ordinary comparison of two objects belonging to the same classes (V.A.K.)

e.g. She is like her mother.

b) weighing two objects belonging to one class of things with the purpose of establishing the degree of their sameness or difference

- takes into consideration all the properties of the two objects, stressing the one that is compared

e.g. The boy See ms to be as clever as his mother.

Source: <I.R.G.>

Compare: <simile>

See: <lexico-syntactical SDs>

(the) tenor

(the) vehicle

See: <simile>

Epic simile

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