Lecture 5

Q1. FUNCTIONAL STYLES

Language means which we choose for communication depend on several factors, the
most significant among them being the situation of the communication act. Indeed, depending
on the situation (which includes the purpose of the communication and its participants) we
adhere either to informal or formal manner. The former is observed in every-day non-official
communication, which is known as colloquial speech.
The literary communication, most often materialized in the written form, is not
homogeneous, and proceeding from its purpose we speak of different functional styles. As the whole
of the language itself, functional styles are also changeable; their quantity and quality alter in the
course of their development. This is why we say that FS (sometimes also called registers or
discourses) is a relatively stable system at the given stage in the development of the literary
language, and therefore an FS is a historical category.
The main functional divisions of the national English language, which had been formed by
th
the 19 century, i.e. after the establishment of written and spoken standards, were its standard or
literary forms and its substandard forms. The literary language comprised a great number of
varieties (or “forms of existence”). Within the already established written standard there developed
different literary and functional styles (belles-lettres style, publicistic style, scientific style, etc.),
within the spoken standard we can safely assume the existence of more formal and less formal,
colloquial varieties which bordered on the sub-standard forms of the language. We can also posit the
existence of modified local standards used by educated people but displaying certain local coloring.
Literary English found its ideal representation in the works of English authors of the 19 th
century. Sub-standard forms of the language – local dialects and lower social dialects – were only
used for oral communication. During the 18th c., when conformity to the rules of correctness and
high style were looked upon as a primary merit, writers were not inclined to employ the non-prestige
types of local speech. Characterization through dialect, which sometimes occurred in the drama of
Renaissance, had fallen into disuse. In the 19 th c. literary tastes changed and writers began to take a
greater interest in the regional dialects and in folklore. Non-standard forms of the language were
recorded in the speech of various characters to show their social rank and origin.
An FS is generally defined as a patterned variety of literary text characterized by the
greater or lesser typification of its constituents, supra-phrasal units, in which the choice and
arrangement of interdependent and interwoven language media serve the purpose of the
communication.
Linguists are not unanimous in the classification of FS; some of them offer 5 FS
(Galperin’s viewpoint), others – 4 (Kozhin), some adhere to the opinion that there are 3 (Arnold) or
even 2 FS (Budagov).
Taking into consideration the fact that I. Galperin’s classification is more expanded than
those of the others; it is preferable to stick to this classification. Thus in the English literary standard
we distinguish the following major FS, splitting them into a number of genres or the so-called sub-
styles which represent varieties of abstract invariant:
 The language style of belles-lettres or fiction (prose, poetry, drama),
 The language style of publicistic literature (speeches, essays, feature articles in press),
 The language style of newspapers (brief news items, headlines, press reports, ads and
announcements),
 The language style of scientific prose (humanities and exact sciences, popular scientific
prose),
  The language style of official documents (diplomatic, business, legal, military etc.).
As can be seen, this system lacks in one point, i.e. the language style of colloquial
speech. The latter can also be called an FS since it does serve a definite aim in communication.
Many linguists do not include this variety of language into the system of FS claiming that the
language of everyday speech is rather changeable and therefore does not present a stable
system. Nonetheless, colloquial speech occupies a prominent place in our lives, and is viewed
by some linguists as a system of language means so strongly differing from those presented in
the literary/formal communication that it can be classified as an independent entity with its
own peculiar units and rules of their structuring (see the works of G. Leech, J. Starvik, D.
Davy, D. Crystal, O. Sirotinina, O. Lapteva.).
While speaking about functional styles, it is necessary to focus on two paramount points:
the first one concerns the dichotomy “written/oral”, which is not synonymous to the dichotomy
“literary/colloquial”, the former opposition meaning the form of presentation, the latter – the choice
of language means. There are colloquial messages in the written form (such as letters of personal
character, informal notes, diaries and journals) and vice versa, there exist examples of literary
discourses in the oral form (as for instance in recital, lecture, report, paper read at a conference,
workshop, etc.).
The second point deals with the flexibility of style boundaries: the boarders within which a
style presumably functions are not rigid and allow various degrees of overlapping and fusing into
each other. It is not accidental that rather often we speak of the so-called intermediate cases such as
the popular scientific style, which itself is a combination of the features of scientific and belles-
lettres styles, or the style of new journalism which is a fusion of publicistic, newspaper and belles-
lettres styles.

Q2. THE BELLES-LETTRES STYLE

One of its most distinctive features of the belles-letters style the individuality in selecting
language means. It rests on certain linguistic features which are: a) genuine imagery, achieved by
purely linguistic devices; b) the use of words in contextual and very often in more than one
dictionary meaning, or at least greatly influenced by the lexical environment; c) a vocabulary which
will reflect to a greater or lesser degree the author’s personal evaluation of things or phenomena; d)
a peculiar individual selection of vocabulary and syntax; e) the introduction of the typical features of
colloquial language to a full degree (in plays) or a less one (in emotive prose) or a slight degree, if
any (in poems).
There are three substyles in which the main principles and the most general properties of
the belles-letters style are materializes:
a) the language of poetry (or simply verse),
b) emotive prose, or the language of fiction,
c) the language of drama.
a) The first differentiating property of verse is its orderly form, which is based mainly on
the rhythmic and phonetic arrangement of the utterance. The rhythmic aspect calls forth syntactical
and semantic peculiarities, which also fall into a more or less strict orderly arrangement.
Rhythm and rhyme are immediately distinguishable properties of the poetic substyle. They
can be called the external differentiating features of the substyle, typical only of this one variety of
the belles-letters style.
The most observable and widely recognized compositional patterns of rhythm making up
classical verse are based on:
1. alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables;
2. equiliearity, that is an equal member of syllables in the lines;
 3. a natural pause at the end of the line, the line being a more or less complete semantic
unit;
4. identity of stanza pattern;
5. established patterns of rhyming.

In modern versification there may be all kinds of deviations from these rules, some of them
going so far that classical poetry ceases to be strictly classical and becomes what is called free verse,
which in extreme cases borders on prose.
The most recognizable English metrical patterns are:
1. Iambic meter, in which the unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed one.
2. Trochaic meter, where the order is reversed, that is stressed syllable is followed by
one unstressed.
3. Dactylic meter – one stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed.
4. Amphibrachic meter – one stressed syllable is framed by two unstressed.
5. Anapaestic meter – two unstressed syllables are followed by one stressed.
These arrangements of qualitatively different syllables are the units of the meter, the
repetition of which makes verse. One unit is called a foot. The number of feet in a line varies, but it
has its limits, it rarely exceeds eight.
If the line consists of only one foot it is called a manometer, a line consisting of two feet is
a diameter; three trimeter; four tetrameter; five pentameter; six hexemeter; seven septameter; eight
octameter. In defining the measure, that is the kind of ideal metrical scheme of a verse, it is
necessarily to point out both the type of meter and the length of the line. Thus, a line that consists of
four iambic feet is called iambic tetrameter; correspondingly a line consisting of eight trochaic feet
will be called trochaic octameter, and so on.
The stanza is the largest unit in verse. It is composed of a number of lines having a definite
measure and rhyming system which is repeated throughout the poem.
The stanza is generally built up on definite principles with regard to the number of lines,
the character of the meter and the rhyming pattern (model).
There are many widely recognized stanza patterns in English poetry. Some of them are:
1. The heroic couplet – a stanza that consists of two iambic pentameters “aa “
2. The Spencerian stanza, named after Edmund Spencer, the XVI century poet who first
used this type of stanza. It consists of nine lines, the first eight of which are iambic pentameters and
the ninth is one foot longer, that is an iambic hexameter, “ababbcbcc”
3. Ottava rima, composed of eight iambic pentameters “abababcc”.
4. Ballad stanza, which is generally an alternation of iambic tetrameters with iambic
dimeteres or trimeters “abcb”.
5. Sonnet, which is composed of fourteen iambic pentameters “ababcdcdefefgg”, that is
three quatrains with cross rhymes and a couplet at the end.

Q3.

b) Emotive prose (fiction). Emotive prose is the combination of the literary variant of
language, both in words and syntax, with the colloquial variant. It may be more exactly defined as a
combination of the spoken and written varieties of the language, inasmuch as there are always two
forms of communication present - monologue (the writer’s speech) and dialogue (the speech of the
characters). The language of the writer conforms present or is expected to conform to the literary
norms of the given period in the development of the novel, or of the English literary language. The
language of a character of the novel, or the story will in the main be chosen in order to characterize
of the man himself. Though, this language is also subjected to some kind of reshaping. It is not a
pure simple reproduction of what might be the natural speech of living people. It has undergone
change introduction by the writer. The colloquial speech has been made “literature-like”. This
means that only the most striking elements of what might have been a conversation in life are made
use of, and even these have undergone some kind of transformation.
Emotive prose allows the use of elements from other styles as well: the newspaper style;
the official style; the style of scientific prose. But all these styles under the influence of emotive
prose undergo a kind of transformation. A style of language that is made use of in prose is diluted by
the general features of the belles-letters style, which subjects it to its own purpose.

c) Language of drama. Unlike poetry, which excepts for ballads, excludes direct speech,
and emotive prose, which is a combination of monologue and dialogue, the language of plays is
absolutely a dialogue. The author’s speech is almost excluded except for the playwright’s remarks
and stage directions.
But the language of the characters is in no way the exact reproduction of the norms of
colloquial language, although the playwright seeks to reproduce actual conversation as far as the
norms of the written language will allow.
The language of plays is always stylized, unless the playwright has a particular aim which
requires the use of non-literary forms and expressions.
The stylization of colloquial language is one of the features of plays which at different
stages in the history of English drama has manifested itself in different ways revealing, on the one
hand, the general tends of the literary language and, on the other hand, the personal language (style)
of the writer.

Fiction. Literary Elements.

1. Kinds of Literature
Literature can be subdivided into various kinds according to various criteria.
It can exist in oral (folklore) or written form; literary speech can be prosaic or poetic.
Literature can be divided into fiction and non-fiction.
Non-fiction is a prose writing that presents and explains ideas or tells about real people,
places, events. The main forms/genres of non-fiction are character sketch, journal, letters, memoirs,
biography, essay etc.
Fiction is writing that tells about imaginary characters and events. The main kinds of
fiction are epic (narrative), dramatic and lyric.
Lyric. If the author presents an aspect of reality reflected in his inner world, if his
emotions and meditations are represented without a clearly delimited thematic or temporary setting,
the kind is lyric with lyric poetry as its main variety.
Drama. A story written to be performed by actors. The events are represented in the
speech and actions of characters in their interrelation. The main dramatic genres are defined by the
nature of the represented conflict as well as the moral stand taken by the author and expressed in a
peculiar emotive quality of writing (tragedy, comedy and drama).
Epic. This kind of literature tells/narrates about the events and the characters more or less
objectively. Two main genre subdivisions are delimited by the volume of the represented subject
matter. In a novel alongside the main theme there are several other rival themes; several minor
conflicts alongside the main one, rival characters alongside the main character; thus the plot is
usually complex. A short story is as a rule centered on one main character, one conflict, one theme.
There are two types of short stories:
 plot (action) short story. This type is built upon one obvious collision. The action
dramatically develops on ascending line to explode in the end. The plot structure is usually
closed.
psychological (character) short story. This type usually shows the drama of character’s
inner world. The structure in such a story is usually open. The traditional components of the plot
are not clearly discernable and the action is less dynamic.
But these types are not the only ones. The more usual is the so-called mixed type which
includes a great variety of stories ranging from psychological-plot short story (e.g. G.Greene) to
sketch short story (e.g. S.Lewis).
2. Theme and Idea
Theme of a literary work is the represented aspect of life. As literary works commonly
depict human nature, the theme can be understood as an interaction of human characters under
certain circumstances such as social and psychological conflicts (war and peace, racial
discrimination, generation gap and the like). Within a single work the basic theme can alternate with
rival or by-themes and their relationship can be very complex.
Idea of a literary work is emphasized thought and emotional attitude transmitted to the
reader by the whole poetic structure of the text. Poetic structure is a multi-layered entity and all its
layers pertain to the expression of the idea.

3. Characters (Personages)
Characters are people or animals or natural forces represented as persons taking part in the
action of a literary work. They are classified in several ways:
a) static (staying the same throughout the work) or dynamic (undergoing some change in
the personality or attitude).
b) flat or round. Flat characters are simple. They are merely sketched out and not fully
developed; they have only one dimension, one underlined side. Round characters are complex and
fully developed; the reader come to appreciate them as if actual people.
c) main or minor (rival). The main character can also be called protagonist. Protagonist is
an obviously central character in a story or play, the one whom the readers or audience are supposed
to sympathize with. As a rule the protagonist is admirable and distinguished but sometimes he can
on the contrary seem very ordinarily or even foolish. The synonym for protagonist is hero/heroine –
a character whose actions are inspiring and noble.
In the system of personages there is such a notion as antagonist (a person or force that
opposes the protagonist in the conflict); sometimes the antagonist is understood as an enemy of the
hero or heroine.
Anti-hero is the central character possessing less than virtuous qualities.

Ways of characterization
The characters can be presented directly or indirectly.
Direct characterization. The writer tells us explicitly what kind of person the character is.
In contemporary literature this way is not often used, mostly in fairy-tales or in humorous works.
Indirect characterization. The writer makes the reader figure out the character and come to
the definite conclusion for himself. This is made by means of:
- the character’s appearance, clothes, gestures;
- the speech (the thoughts and feelings expressed by the character, as well as the choice
of words, syntax and other peculiarities);
- the actions of the character and his relations with other people;
- the attitude of the other characters to this one;
- self-characterization.
 4. Plot
Plot is the sequence of related events that make up a story. The plot can be rather simple
or (mainly in novels) complex, consisting of a major plot and one or more subplots. The plot is
usually based upon conflict. Conflict in a literary work is a struggle between opposing forces.
Conflicts can take various forms:
a) internal – within the character’s consciousness or soul (man vs. self);
b) external – between the character and the outer world:
man vs. man
man vs. society
man vs. nature
man vs. machine
man vs. supernatural forces (god, evil, fate etc.)
Conflict can be obvious or hidden.
Conflict usually undergoes several stages:
1) reasons/causes;
2) beginning;
3) development;
4) crisis;
5) resolution;
6) consequences.
Accordingly the plot consists of the following components:
1) exposition;
2) beginning;
3) the story itself;
4) climax;
5) denouement;
6) ending.

Exposition gives necessary preliminaries to the action, such as setting (time and place), the
subject of the action, the circumstances, which will influence its development.
In Anglo-American literary tradition the beginning and story itself are usually not
separated from each other. Together they form the story (part of the plot which represents the
beginning of the collision and the collision itself).
Climax: 1) in plot development it is the turning point, the moment when the character
makes decision which course of action to take; 2) the point of the greatest intensity, interest or
suspense in a narrative – the so-called emotional climax. These two types of climaxes do not
obligatory coincide. The literary work can contain either both types or only one of them.
Denouement is the action that follows the resolution of the conflict; the event or events that
bring an action to an end.
Ending is a non-obligatory component that shows the consequences of the conflict, the
events happening after the end of the main collision.
A work of narrative prose that has all the above-mentioned elements is said to have a
closed plot structure.
A literary work in which some elements are omitted or are not represented in their
conventional form is said to have an open plot structure.

5. Narrative (Plot Technique)

Plot structure and literary time
 Events of real life span in real time; they make a sequence of the past, the present and the
future. Each single event takes the place of the previous one; thus they all can be considered as
forming a straight line. Time in a literary work differs from natural historical time. Thus the
narrative can start at any moment of the character’s life and it can end at any other moment which is
not necessarily the one that follows the former chronologically. The story can end with the event
that preceded those represented at the beginning or in the middle of the narrative. The representation
of literary (poetic) time is conditioned by the laws of the narrative literature as well as by the work
content. The difference between the natural sequence of events and their arrangement in a literary
work is meaningful.
According to this there exist the following kinds of narrative:
1) straight line narrative means chronological order of events;
2) complex narrative - the order of events is changed by means of:
- flashbacks (scenes that interrupt the present action to show the events that happened
at an earlier time);
- foreshadowings (the use of clues that hint at important plot developments that are
to follow);
- retardation (a deliberate delay in the development of action realized through
introducing new characters, the author’s reasoning, descriptions, etc.).
3) framing structure means story within a story;
4) circular structure means repetition of some actions or events which is characteristic of
the so-called “small genres”, or fairy-tales.

6. Forms of speech representation in a literary work

The speech in literary work is divided into the author’s and the personage’s speech.
Forms of the author’s speech
In epic literature the most important form is narration – the kind of writing or speaking that
presents a series of events in their development. Narration expounds what happened, when and to
whom.
If the story is told by the author himself, we deal with a third-person narration. The author
is anonymous, rather impersonal, having no direct relation to the persons he speaks about. The
narrator gives objective information on the characters, their thoughts, feelings, their past and future.
He expresses his attitude to the characters explicitly. This kind of the author is called “omniscient”
(all-knowing). Besides the author can be merely an observer who only shows some actions, events,
but doesn’t concern to the inner life of the characters, makes no comment on anything
Narrator may be a character as well. In this case we have a first-person narration which
can take the following forms:
1) the narrator is a witness, not an active participant of the events;
2) the narrator takes an active part in the events, not being the main character;
3) the narrator is the protagonist of his own story. In this case sometimes (though
not always) we can consider the narrator as the alter ego of the author.
It is important not to confuse the narrator and the author himself. Even if they are very
close to each other, almost coinciding, they are not the same. There exists a tale – a very special
form of the first-person narration imitating the peculiarities of the oral speech of a person who
belongs to some particular social or ethnic group.
Entrusted narration – 1) the narration begins from the third person (by the author) and is
then continued by a character, from the first person; 2) alternation of several narrators.

Other forms of the author’s speech

 a) Description – representation of the atmosphere, the scenery and the like in a literary
work. The subjects described are:
- landscapes;
- portraits;
- different things and objects;
- emotional conditions.

The events are not described – they are narrated.

b) Reasoning – the author’s thoughts, comments and feelings. They are expressed directly.

Personages’ speech
1) Dialogue
2) Monologue
- dramatic (a character speaks alone, but there are those he addresses to);
- interior (a character speaks to himself, no matter whether in aloud form or not).
There exists a specific kind of interior monologue – unuttered represented speech (the
combination of the author’s and personage’s speech. The author speaks about a character from the
third person but using the words and syntactical constructions characteristic of this character).

Q4.
Lecture 12
THE LANGUAGE STYLE OF PUBLICISTIC LITERATURE

The publicistic style of language is a perfect example of the historical changeability of

stylistic differentiation of discourses. For instance, in ancient Greece it was practiced mainly in its
oral form and was best known as oratoric style, within which views and sentiments of the
addresser/orator found their expression. And besides, it should be reminded that the basic rules of
linguostylistics derive from the works of ancient philosophers and thinkers who attached great
importance to public speeches, giving speechmakers and orators a prominent place in the society.
Nowadays political, ideological, ethical, social beliefs and statements of the addresser are
prevailingly expressed in the written form, which was labelled publicist in accordance with the name
of the corresponding genre and its practitioners. The language style of publicistic literature is
famous for its explicit pragmatic function of brainwashing directed at influencing the reader and
shaping his views in accordance with the argumentation of the author. In other words the main
objective of any speechmaker is to cause his/her addressee to accept the standpoint expressed in the
speech and lead him/her to action not merely through logical argumentation but through emotional
appeal as well. This persuasive function is most obvious and effective in oratory, as here the most
powerful instrument of brainwashing – human voice – is brought into play.
Due to its characteristic combination of logical argumentation and emotional appeal, this
style has features in common with the style of scientific prose, on the one hand, and that of emotive
prose, on the other. Its logical syntactical structure with an expanded system of connectives and its
careful paragraphing speak about its similarity with scientific prose. Its emotional appeal achieved
through the use of words with emotive meaning, the use of imagery and other stylistic devices and
expressive means, draws this style closer to fiction. Correspondingly, we find in publicistic style a
blend of rigorous logical reasoning, reflecting the objective state of things, and a strong subjectivity
reflecting the author’s personal feelings and emotions coupled wuth conceptual approach towards
the phenomena described.
Three types of speeches are usually distinguished: political, judicial/legal and ceremonial.
Political speeches fall into two categories; parliamentary debates, and speeches at rallies, meetings,
election campaigns etc. Legal speeches are exercised in the speeches of counsel and judges in courts
of law. Ceremonial speeches or sermons (used in public weddings, funerals, jubilees etc.) deal
mostly with religious subjects, ethics and morality; sometimes they take up social and political
problems as well.
It should be stated that the sphere of application of oratory is rather broad: here science, art,
literature, business relations, information and technological innovations etc. are dealt upon.
As far as the oratorical style is modified in oral form of the utterance, typical traits of the spoken
variety of speech are to be found here:
 Direct address to the audience; Dear Mr. President (Vice-President, Prime-Minister, Speaker,
Ambassador etc), Ladies and Gentleman, Honorable Guests etc
 The use of the second person pronouns, which distinctly set the author-addressee relations; you,
your, yours etc.
 The speechmaker often uses contractions; I’ll, I’ve, won’t, isn’t, didn’t etc
Good speechmaking very often depends upon the quality of information used to develop thesis
statement. In this respect the introduction and conclusion of any speech gain paramount importance.
Very often the introduction includes a question, personal reference, startling statement, story,
quotation etc. Speech conclusion may have such effective elements as the summary, the
recommendation, the stirring statement etc. At closing the speech the orator usually thanks his/her
audience for their attention or perhaps patience; Thank you (very much), (my) dear friends, dear
colleagues, etc.
The stylistic devices used in oratorical style are mainly traditional, but Modern English oratory
strives to be more businesslike. Repetition can be regarded as the most typical stylistic device of this
style. Almost any piece of oratory may have parallel constructions, rhetorical questions, question-in-
the-narrative, climax, stylistic inversion etc., which bare merely individual subjective character and
depend upon the occasion. The prosody of speech plays a crucial role here; the change of intonation
breaks the monotony of the utterance, reviving the attention of the audience.
Alongside the verbal context the speechmaker makes use of paralinguistic means, namely
his/her body language, which facilitate him/her to broadcast the speech with greater ease and have a
stronger impact on the addressees.

Q6.

The Essay

An essay is a piece of writing, usually short and in prose on philosophical, social, aesthetic or
literary subjects. Personality in the treatment of topic and naturalness of expression are two of the
most evident characteristics of the essay. It is rather series of personal and witty comments than a
finished argument or a conclusive examination of any matter. That is why it never penetrates deep
into the subject matter, revealing all the conceptual information, but simply touches upon the
surface. This literary genre has definite linguistic traits which shape it as a variety of publicistic
style.
The name “essay” appears to have become common on the publication of Montaigne’s
“Essays”, a literary form created by this French writer. As a separate form of English literature the
essay dates from the close of the 16th century. It was very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The most characteristic language features of the essay are brevity of expression, the use of
the first person pronouns, which justifies a personal approach to the problems treated, as well as a
rather expanded use of connectives encouraging the process of grasping the correlation of ideas, the
abundant use of emotive vocabulary etc.
Some essays, depending on the writer’s individual approach, are written in a highly emotional
manner resembling the characteristic traits of fiction, while others are similar to scientific prose.
In comparison with oratorical style, the essay aims at a more lasting and slower effect; paradoxes,
aphorisms and epigrams are comparatively rare in oratory, since they require the concentrated
attention of the listener. In the essay they are commoner, as the reader has the opportunity to make a
careful and scrupulous study of the content and form of the utterance.
A serious composition that is intended to inform or persuade is considered to be a formal essay, and
works written in a more relaxed style for a less serious occasion or purpose are called informal
essays.
According to the subject matter and the treatment it receives, essays may be classified as narrative,
descriptive, reflective and argumentative. This division, is however, by no means clear cut; in fact
most essays possess features characteristic not of one particular type, but several.
The narrative essay is a description of happenings in their distinct chronological order. It is
the easiest to create because the material is arranged according to the actual course of events; one
knows where to start and what to do next, each paragraph being devoted to one particular episode or
group of episodes. Narrative essays bear a close resemblance to those short stories in which the
author describes events as he himself has experienced them. In fact, particularly all narrative essays
could be classed as short stories. For this reason some authors consider that there is no justification
for distinguishing between the two forms.
The descriptive essay. This type of essay describes characters and setting at rest. It is more
difficult to write because the order in which ideas follow one another is determined not by the
sequence of events, but rather by certain qualities of these ideas and the logical connection between
them. One of the most important differences between narrative and descriptive essays is that in
descriptive writing, there is no single event which will keep the reader in suspense as there is in
story.
The essence of the reflective essay lies in contemplation upon any given subject which demands
imagination and power of observation. Such essays are developed through analysis, that is one starts
by breaking down the subject into parts, then groups the various ideas together and finally arranges
them in an order best suited for one’s purposes. In some cases author’s of reflective essays in the
arrangement of their ideas work from the general to particular and from the impersonal to the
personal, or just vice versa.
The argumentative essay touches upon one particular topic sometimes containing controversial
ideas, and is intended to be argued for or against a proposition. An ability to reason and a capacity
for arranging ideas in logical order are the important requirements of an argumentative essay. There
are two main forms of argument; inductive and deductive. In ‘inductive’ argument authors begin
with a general statement and then produce facts to prove it. In ‘deductive’ argument one statement is
inferred from another, beginning with a general idea and arriving at a particular one.

Feature articles

Irrespective of the character of the magazines and the subject matter-whether it is political,
literary, popular-scientific or satirical, all the mentioned features of publicistic style are typical to
any feature article. The character of the magazine as well as the subject chosen has a direct impact
on the choice and use of stylistic devices. Words of emotive meaning, for example, are few, if any,
in popular scientific articles. Their exposition is more consistent and the system of connectives more
expanded than in a satirical article.
 The language of political magazine articles differs little from that of newspaper articles. But
such elements of publicistic style as rare and bookish words, neologisms, and parenthesis are more
frequent here than in a newspaper article. In other words, magazine articles are not labelled as over-
official or purely informative, for they comprise both elements of evaluation and appraisal and the
author’s subjective modality towards the phenomena described.
The above mentioned features, as can be seen, apply to the so-called New Journalism which
brings into use the forbidden ''I''. New journalism attempts to challange the readers by placing them
within a new world through the use of narrative devices; the latter ones allow journalists to portray
characters with their psychological depth. With the help of these devices authors sympathize with
the character within a story being told, thus they can identify with the event and the experiences
much easier than if they are told simply bare ''facts'' as traditional journalism had been doing.
Literary reviwes both by their content and by their linguistic form. More abstract words of
logical meaning are used in them, they often resort to emotional language and less frequently to
traditional set expressions.

Q12.
Lecture 13
THE STYLE OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
Official style, or the language style of official documents, is the most conservative one.
It is most apparent in the following geners:
1) the language of business documents;
2) the language of legal documents;
3) the language of diplomacy;
4) the language of military documents.
The paramount goal of this type of discourse lies in stating the conditions binding two parties
in an undertaking. These parties may be: the state and the citizen; citizen and citizen; a society and
its members; two or more enterprises or bodies (e.g. business contracts or correspondence etc.); two
or more governments (pacts, treaties, agreements, resolutions), a person in authority and a
subordinate (orders, regulations, instructions), a board and an assembly or general meeting
(procedures, minutes, acts) etc.
This style preserves cast-iron forms of structuring and uses syntactical constructions and
words long known as archaic and not observed in anywhere else. All emotiveness and subjective
modality are banned out in this style. Words in this style are used in their logical dictionary
meaning, thus excluding any connotations and occasionalisms.
The most conspicuous feature observed in this style, is a special system of clichés, terms and
set expressions, by which each substyle can easily be recognized: I beg to inform you; I beg to
move; I second the motion; the above mentioned; on behalf of; Dear Sir; We remain; Your obident
servants etc.
Each of the genres of this style has its own peculiar terms, phrases and expressions which
differ from corresponding terms, phrases and expressions of other variants. In the sphere of finance
the following terms are to be found: invoice, excise tax, internal revenue, money laundering,
monetary fund, cash on delivery, treasury, reimbursement, arbitration, loan emission etc.
Legal (or judicial) terms comprise: jurisdiction, coinage offences, rout and riot of common
law, perjury, conspiracy, assaults, credible witness, incest, embezzlement, uttering, forgery, wanton
and willful murder, void marriage, unrestricted authority etc.
In diplomatic documents we find such terms as: political asylum, international recognition,
Charge d’affaires, usurpation of power, diplomatic department, act of sabotage, diplomatic corps,
resumption of diplomatic contacts etc.
Military documents contain the following terms: air raid, rear, non-commissioned officer,
conduct a call-up, nuclear weapons, conventional weapons, commanding staff, military division,
armed conflicts, suppress the uprising etc.
Besides the special terms of each variety of the style, there is a feature common to all of
them – the use of abbreviations, conventional symbols and constructions: MP (member of
Parliament), Ltd. (limited), PVT (Private), FG Off (Flying officer), atk (attack), A/T (anti-tank),
WO2 (Warrant Officer 2nd class) etc.
The most noticeable of all syntactical features are the compositional patterns of the varieties
of this style. Thus, business letters have a definite compositional pattern: the heading, giving the
address of the writer, the date, the name of the addressee and his address. A well-composed letter
usually presupposes three basic components, namely:
 a salutation, which corresponds to the introduction,
 a general message, which reflects the body,
 a closing plus signature, corresponding to the conclusion.

AMBASSADOR OF MALAYSIA
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
16 June, 2002
Your Excellency,
I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that I am leaving Moscow today on the completion of my mission as Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Malaysia to the Russian Federation.
 On leaving the Russian Federation, I would like to take this opportunity to express Your
Excellency my sincere appreciation for the assistance and cooperation rendered to me by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in particular and the other members and officials of the Russian
Government in general, which have made my mission here a pleasant and memorable one, both
officially nd personally.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration

His Excellency Mr. … (Signature)

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation
Moscow

Almost every official document has its own compositional design: pacts and
statutes, orders and minutes, notes and memoranda - all have more or less definite
forms. One of the most significant features of this type is a general syntactical mode of
combining of several pronouncements into one sentence, where the clauses are
naturally divided not by full stops but either by commas, or by semicolons.

Q7.
THE LANGUAGE STYLE OF SCIENTIFIC PROSE

Scientific style is employed in professional communication. The language of science is

governed by the aim of the functional style of scientific prose, which is to prove a hypothesis, to
create new concepts, to disclose the internal laws of existence, development, relations between
different phenomena used, therefore, tend to be objective, unemotional, devoid of any individuality,
there is a striving for the most generalized form of expression. This style is exercised in various
types of scientific and research works: dissertation papers, monographs, university issue papers,
annotations, summaries, excerpts, graduation papers, academic lectures, manuals, textbooks etc.
The most noticeable features of the style are:
 Logical sequence of utterances with clear indication of their interrelations and interdependence.
In no other functional style do we find such a developed and varied system of connectives as in
scientific prose.
 Use of terms specific to each given branch of science. Due to the rapid dissemination of
scientific and technical ideas, particularly in what are called the exact science, we may observe
the process of “de-terminization”, that is some scientific and technical terms begin to circulate
outside the narrow field they belong to and eventually begin to develop new meanings. But the
overwhelming majority of terms does not undergo this process of de-terminization and remain
the property of scientific prose. The necessity to penetrate deeper into the essence of things and
phenomena gives rise to new words to name them a term will make more direct reference to
something than a descriptive explanation, a non-term. Hence, the rapid creation of new terms in
any developing science.
The exchange of terms between various branches of science can be observed in modern
scientific prose.
 Sentence-patterns, which can be of three types: postulatory, argumentary and formulative.
Every piece of scientific prose begins with postulatory pronouncements which are taken as
self- evident and needing no proof. A reference to these facts is only preliminary to the
exposition of the writer’s idea and is therefore summed up in precisely formulated statements
accompanied, if necessary, by references to sources. The writer’s own ideas are also shaped in
formulae (i:), which are the declaration of a doctrine or theory, of a principle, an argument, the
result of an investigation, etc.
 The use of quotations and references. The references also have a definite compositional pattern,
namely, the name of the title of the work quoted, the publishing house, the place and year it was
published, and the page of the excerpt quoted or referenced to.
 The frequent use of footnotes, not of the reference kind, but of digressive character. This fully
meets the main requirement of the style, which is logical coherence of ideas expressed. Anything
that seems to violate this requirement or seems not to be immediately relevant to the matter in
hand, but at the same time may serve indirectly to back up the idea, will be placed in a footnote.
 Impersonality of scientific writings is also considered a typical feature of this style. This quality
is mainly revealed in the frequent use of passive constructions. Scientific experiments are
generally described in the passive voice. This comes to prove that author’s subjective modality is
usually not observed in this style. A number of phrases are used in this respect: the text (extract
from the article) deals with (the problem of) …; the monograph touches upon …; the extract
from the book is concerned with …; the extract centers on…; it further says that …; great
importance is attached to …; one of the main problems to be singled out is …; judging from the
 author’s point of view …; to sum it up …; having analyzed the information it is possible to
conclude that … etc.
Now let us make a distinction between popular scientific prose and the language of science in
general. There is no room for doubt that pure scientific pieces of works are intended for a restricted
amount of readers, i.e. specialists in that particular field of science, while popular scientific prose
presupposes for a large audience. Here scientific phenomena acquire more explicit explanations and
are easily decoded by the readers. Popular scientific prose can even include emotional words.
To see these differences, let us consider two abstracts.
 In tagmatics we make a crucial theoretical difference between the grammatical
hierarchy and the referential one. In a normal instance of reporting a single event in time, the two
re potentially isomorphic with coterminous borders. But when simultaneous, must be sequenced in
the report. In some cases, a chronological or logical sequence can in English be partially or
completely changed in presentational order; when this is done, the referential structure of the tale
is unaffected, but the grammatical structure of the telling is radically altered. Grammatical order
is necessarily linear, but referential order is t least potentially simultaneous…

 The body of an adult insect is subdivided into a head, a thorax of three segments, and a
segmented abdomen. Ordinarily, the thorax bears three pairs of legs. One or two pairs of wings
may be attached to the thorax. Most adult insects have two large compound eyes, and two or three
small simple eyes.
Features of the mouth parts are very helpful in classifying the many kinds of insects. A
majority of insects have biting mouth parts or mandibles as in grasshoppers and beetles. Behind the
mandibles are the maxillae, which serve to direct food into the mouth between the jaws. A labrum
above and a labrum below are similar to an upper and lower lip. In insects with sucking mouth
parts, the mandibles, maxillae, labrum, and labium are modified to provide tube through which
liquid can be drawn…

Q8.
Lecture 14
NEWSPAPER STYLE
 Newspaper style, which dates from the 17 th century, was the last of all the styles of written
literary English to be recognized as a specific form of writing.
It should be borne in mind that not every printing material published in a newspaper should
be referred to the newspaper style. The paper contains vastly varying materials, some of them
being publicistic essays, some – feature articles, some scientific reviews, others – official stock
exchange accounts, various kinds of ads etc., so that a daily/weekly newspaper also offers a variety
of styles.
Thus, a newspaper serves the goals of journalism, which comprises nearly all the aspects and
spheres of human life. The very core of journalism, in its broad sense, is a cognitive science about
the real world that embraces us. It contributes to better mutual understanding and is in itself the
cradle of communication.
When mentioning “newspaper style” we mean informative materials, characteristic of
newspaper only and found in other publications. In fact, all kinds of newspaper writing are to a
greater or lesser degree both informative and evaluative. But, of course, it is obvious that in most
of the basic newspaper “genres” one of the two functions prevails; thus, for example, news of all
kinds is essentially informative, whereas the editorial is basically evaluative.
Information in the English newspaper is presented in the first place through the medium of:
1) brief news items;
2) press reports;
3) articles purely informational in character;
4) advertisements and announcements.
The newspaper also seeks to influence public opinion on political and appraisal and other
matters. Elements of appraisal may be observed in the very selection and way of presentation of
news and in the use of specific vocabulary.
To understand the basic language peculiarities of English newspaper style it prefarable to touch
upon the following most peculiar newspaper genres:
1. Brief news items;
2. Advertisements and announcements;
3. The headline;
4. The editorial.

Q9.
Brief News Items

The main function of a brief news item lies in its informative character. It actually does not
have any limitations in the sphere of its application, for it comprises nearly all the fields of human
activity: science, technology, politics, international relations, diplomacy, culture etc. This substyle
belongs to the written variety of language and therefore constitutes all the peculiarities of and
characteristic traits of it. Its basic way of presentation is by monologue, which excludes all sorts of
exclamatory and emotive words, the first and second person pronouns, elliptical constructions,
elements of colloquial speech etc. Such a message is never an “I” story; it comes to testify that
authors of brief news items focus on objective, factual and precise information, which obviously
bares an official and urgent character. The communicative function of brief news items is displayed
directly; they attach importance not to the revelation of some phenomena, as in the style of scientific
prose, or various connotations, which reflect the aesthetic side of the utterance, as it is in emotive
prose, but sheer information. Thus it becomes apparent that the language of brief news items is
stylistically neutral, but apart from this newspaper style has its specific features and is characterized
by:
 special political and economic terms: Chairman, armistice, Speaker, constituency,
convention, human rights, Legal Council, convocation, summit, campaign, Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Special Envoy, dictatorship, commodity exchange,
deficit, hedge, lease, remittance, shareholder etc.

 non-term political vocabulary: citizenship, public, amendment, nation, statesman, unity,

agreement, peace etc. A characteristic feature of political vocabulary is that the border
line between terms and non-terms is less distinct than in the vocabulary of other special
fields.

 newspaper clichés, i.e. commonplace phrases familiar to the reader:voicing concern,

informed sources, cope with grief, sparked controversy, carnival atmosphere, heated
debate, bottom line, crisis proportions, white stuff, firestorm of protest, tree-lined streets,
densely wooded area, etc. Skillful reporters cannot avoid these stereotyped expressions
for it is rather difficult to create an effective message within time and space limitations.

 abbreviations of various kinds are often employed in news items, press reports and
headlines. Among them abbreviated terms names of governmental and non governmental
organizations, public and state bodies, political associations, various offices, commercial
firms, etc. known by their initials are very common: USAF (United States Air Force),
ECU (European Currency Unit), CBI (Confederation of British Industry), NGO (Non-
Governmental Organization), NSPCC (National Security for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Children), YTS (Youth Training Scheme), etc.

 neologisms are very common in newspaper vocabulary. The newspaper is very quick to
react to any new development in the life of society, in science and technology.
Sometimes it happens so that the newspaper itself becomes the cause of appearing this or
that neologism. Hence, neologisms make their way into the language of the news paper
very easily and often even spring up on newspaper pages: eco-friendly (not harming the
environment), advertoctracy (persuit of public policy by mass advertising campaigns),
globocrats (high-ranking, powerful members of international organizations), cineplex (a
building which houses a number of different cinemas), ageism (prejudice against
someone because of their age), destatisation (withdrawal of the state areas that were
previously state-controlled as in the former Soviet bloc in the 80s and 90s), fatwa
(formal legal opinion by an Islamic leader), etc.
 Q11.
Advertisements and Announcements:

Advertisements make an indispensable part of newspapers. They are almost as old as

newspapers themselves, penetrating into the British press in the mid-XVII century.
In the twilight of the twentieth century and the beginning of the new era, advertisement
appears to be the most significant aspects of human activity in the turmoil of marketing and trade
relations. The text of advertisement is considered to be one of the crossroads of linguistics and
psychology, pragmatics and cognitive science as it is not only a pure linguistic text but also a
specific channel of communication.
Their principal function of any ad is to inform and by means of persuasion force the
reader/consumer to act. Today, thanks to the huge growth in mass media, the language of
advertising reaches almost everybody and moreover, the enormous competition for potential
customers has led advertisers to exploit the incredibly versatile capacities of language and image to
influence people’s thoughts and correspondingly their actions. Today the advertisements have a
strong cultural function as well, namely they do not only sell a product, but in a way promote certain
lifestyles at the same time.
Usually two basic types of advertisements and announcements are differentiated in the
modern English newspaper: classified and non-classified.
In classified advertisements and announcements various kinds of information are
arranged according to subject-matter into sections, each being an appropriate name, such as:
Births, Marriages and Deaths of celebrities, Job Vacancies, Business Offers, Personal etc.
The vocabulary here is on the whole essentially coloured words or phrases used to attract the
reader’s attention. It should be stated that every section of announcement has its own peculiar
compositional pattern and ways of expression. The only similarity among them is perhaps the
frequent use of elliptical sentences and the omission of articles, prepositions, particles and
punctuation marks which make the statement more telegram-like. Sentences that are grammatically
complete also tend to be short, compact and easy to digest. The mentioned features, as a rule, do not
bare any stylistic function; they are merely technical – to economize space.
Mason. – On May 25, at Mother Theresa’s Hospital, to Jerome and Irene – a son.
Naturally, the emotional colouring is more characteristic to “Personal” section:
Healthy, friendly, honest and sexy guy (30), quite intelligent seeks an interesting, enchanting
and easygoing woman to wed. Will talk, discuss art and travel. Interested women for this inquisitive
chap please write Box 552, The Independent, E. C. 5.
As for the non-classified advertisements and announcements, the variety of language form
and subject-matter is so great that hardly any essential features common to all may be pointed out.
The reader’s attention is attracted by every possible means: typographical, graphical and stylistic –
phonetic, lexical and syntactical.
n fact, non-classified ads tend to be longer; they can even occupy a full page. Alongside with the
vast quantity of stylistic devices and expressive means employed in non-classified ads, morphology
and phraseology are also of great importance. Generally all parts of speech are used in newspaper
ads; adjectives and nouns – for naming and qualifying the products or services in question; verbs
and adverbs – for creating the illusion of movement and dynamism; numerals provide the factual
and objective informative block and represent some data about the sales results, personal pronouns
state direct contact between the author and the consumer etc.

Q10.
The Headline

In every kind of discourse we differentiate various structural components that form the basis
of the given piece of writing. The headline is an indispensable compositional component of
newspaper articles, moreover it plays a crucial role in the formation of news. The headline i.e. the
title given to a news item or an article is a dependent form of newspaper writing. In any words, the
term headline refers to the words in the leading position – the words that will be read first and that
are situated to draw attention most of all. To be effective, a newspaper headline must serve a set of
functions – attract attention, help to make a choice (orientating function), engage the audience, be
quickly understood, lead the audience into the body text and present the gist of the article.
But apart from this, headlines often contain elements of appraisal, they show the reporter’s
or the paper’s attitude to the fact reported or commented on, thus also performing the function of
instructing the reader. English headlines are short and catching, a skillfully turned out headline tells
a story, or enough of it, to arouse or satisfy the reader’s curiosity. In some English and American
newspaper sensational headlines are quite common.
The functions and the peculiar nature of English headlines predetermine the choice of the
language means used. The vocabulary groups considered in the analysis of brief news items are
commonly found in headlines. Emotional colouring, hence, stylistic devices and specific syntactical
features are characteristic to headlines: full declarative sentences; interrogative sentences;
nominative sentences; elliptical sentences; sentences with articles omitted; phrases with verbals;
questions in the form of statements; complex sentences; headlines including direct speech.
The headlines in English-language newspapers can be very difficult to understand. One
reason for this is that newspaper headlines are often written in a special style, which is very different
from ordinary English; there are some special rules of grammar and words are often used in unusual
ways.
 Headlines are not always complete sentences. Many of them consist of noun phrases
with no verb:
More Wage Cuts
Holiday Hotel Death
 Headlines often contain strings of three, four or more nouns:
Furniture Factory Pay Cut Row
 Headlines often omit articles and the auxiliary verb “to be”:
 Woman Walks on Moon
Shakespeare Play Immoral, says Headmaster
 In headlines, simple tenses are often preferred instead of progressive or perfect
forms. The simple present is employed for both present and past events. This is due to the
fact that readers always expect to find fresh information in newspapers:
Blind Girl Climbs Everest (= has climbed)
Taipei Plays Down Jet Incidents (= played)
 Headlines often use infinitives to refer to the future:
India to Push Atom Pact
Companies to Face Probe on Nazi Ties
Hospitals to Take Fewer Patients
 Auxiliary verbs are usually dropped from passive structures, leaving past participles:
Murder Hunt: Man Killed
Six Killed in Explosion
Short words that save space are very common in newspaper headlines. Some of the short
words in headlines are unusual in ordinary language, and some are used in special senses
which they do not often have in ordinary language. Other words are chosen not because they
are curt, but because they sound dramatic: curb (restrict), bid (attempt), blaze (big fire), edge
(move gradually), feud (long-lasting dispute), landslide (victory by large majority in
election), mar (spoil), soar (rise dramatically) etc.

The Editorial

The function of the editorial is to influence the reader by giving an interpretation of certain
facts. Editorial comments on the socio-political and other events of the day. Their purpose is to give
the reporter’s/editor’s opinion and interpretation of the news published and suggest to the reader that
it is the correct one. Like any evaluative writing, editorials appeal not only to the reader’s mind but
to his feelings as well. Hence, the use of emotionally coloured language elements, both lexical and
structural. Alongside political words and expressions, terms, clichés and abbreviations, one can find
colloquial words and expressions, slang and professionalisms. Various stylistic devices are
characteristic to editorials. The editorials in different papers vary in degree of emotional colouring
and stylistic originality of expression.

Q13.

Lecture 15
THE LANGUAGE OF COLLOQUIAL SPEECH

Any piece of conversation is defined as a stretch of speech between two or more people who
mutually intend to communicate. People between whom the conversation is carried out are most
frequently in the same surroundings, conscious of each other’s body language. In their attempt to
communicate the interlocutors are able to place a great deal of reliance on the extralinguistic
context.
Two types of conversation are generally distinguished: formal and informal (casual) which
are clearly distinct in their pragmatic orientation. In casual situations the interlocutors are not
anxious about the impression they make which, as a rule, is the result of the absence of any tension.
The speakers are usually well aware of the subject matter of their talk, and they share approximately
the same interests or re simply well informed. These extralinguistic factors determine the informal
usage of grammar and vocabulary, the selection of intonation etc. As compared with the casual talk,
an official conversation is as a whole characterized by a great control over speech and more careful
shaping of ideas.
In general the grammar of spoken sentences is simpler than the grammar of written ones.
The division into separate sentences is less clear cut and the connections between clauses not so
distinct for the speaker relies on features of intonation which are able to convey a great deal of
information. Besides, the hearer has a chance to interrupt the speaker if his understanding is
hampered by something or if he needs some additional explanations.
In writing we usually have time to plan the message, to think about it carefully, to revise it
afterwards if necessary and to see the upshot of it all. In speech we shape our message as we go.
Colloquial English is very rich in connectives, which perform three main functions:
 Reinforcing connectives supplementing some fact or idea, which immediately precedes.
The reinforcement may take the form of simple repetition, may be a paraphrasing of
some part of what has been said or fresh piece of information (e.g. in fact, as a matter of
fact, as I say, that is, really, in other words, to be specific etc.).
 Diminishing connectives retracting the whole or part of the meaning which has been
expressed in the preceding part (e.g. at least, in a sense, at any rate, rather, I mean to say,
mind you, the thing is, the matter is, actually etc.).
 Softening connectives differ from the first two in the respect that it has a largely stylistic
function and very little semantic content of its own. This is why they are also called
fillers. Ordinary English conversation is full of such connectives. The use of a filler often
alters the stylistic force of a sentence (e.g. you know, you see, I believe, I mean, sort of,
mind you etc.).
 Grammar of conversational English has also its specific features including such
peculiar features as word order variations, wide usage of elliptical sentences, incomplete
sentences, slips, repetitions etc.

As the speaker shapes his/her ideas he/she tries to spotlight a certain word and accordingly
he brings it forward into a more focused or emphatic position.
Beautiful dress she made for you.
Terrible this smog, isn’t it?

Parts of the sentence, the meaning of which are obvious from the situation or verbal context,
are omitted in colloquial style. In this respect elliptical sentences are of high occurrence in
conversational English.
- Where they will meet us? Usual place?
- Yes, usual place, on the stairs.
There exist certain rules of ellipsis in discourse. Among the most frequent cases of ellipsis are
the following:
a. the omission of the subject:
… Don’t know how to invite her.
… says she’s seeking a job.
There’s Liz. Looks smashing. or Here’s she. Back again.
b. often the verb phrases usually with the verb “to be” are elided too:
… five o’clock – time to leave.
… quite near, very easy to find.
c. the auxiliary verb may also be omitted along with the subject:
See, Meg coming here.
Got over it, I see.
Raining again.
d. Sometimes an auxiliary is omitted:
You like it? or You want to take it?

Another striking feature of conversational style is repetition:

- Will you join us?
- No…no…thanks, dear…I…I am too busy.
 - You see, it’s far…far difficult.

In spoken discourse a sentence may begin with one construction but finish with a different
one, there being some shared feature. Errors of grammar are frequent and natural in conversation
as interlocutors are very often either in hurry or just don’t bother about the impression they make:
It is the food they are serving there is one thing.
One of the main stylistic features of conversational English is the brevity and compression of
its expression, which exist in all the levels – phonetic, morphological, syntactical and lexical.
It is common knowledge that contracted forms are of high occurrence in everyday speech,
like it’s, it isn’t, I don’t, I didn’t, you can’t, you’ve, we’ll, ‘cause, ‘tis etc. Baby talk is another
peculiar feature of conversational style, like Mummy, Daddy, Granny, Auntie, pussy, lovey,
doggy, pinny, etc. In literature elements of baby talk arouse certain emotions; they reveal the
sincere and affectionate attitude of the speaker.
Interjections and exclamatory words make an indispensable part of everyday speech. They
may express various shades of meaning in speech on the one hand, and arouse certain feelings on
the other, such as regret, disappointment, joy, surprise, woe, astonishment, lamentation, pleasure,
entreaty and others (Oh! Uh! Oops! Wow! Hush! Gosh! Dear me! God knows! Humbug! Why!
Shit! Blast! etc.).
Along with grammatical characteristics, vocabulary is also n indicator of conversational style.

The selection of vocabulary depends to a great extent on the fact whether the occasion is formal

or informal. People taking part in debates or discussions strive to make their speech more

controlled and precise. But on informal occasions this degree of intellectual control of thoughts

and expressions is not required.

Generally in conversational style preference is given to words with simple structure, thus
avoiding formal phraseology. Vocabulary of conversation is marked by lexical imprecision,
redundancy of expression, intensification, neologisms etc. Casual talks do not usually require a
high degree of exactness. The imprecision of vocabulary may be the result of memory loss, when
speakers fail to recollect the necessary item of vocabulary. Redundancy is often the result of
attempts to find a word, which would be conductive to keeping up the atmosphere of interaction.
 Intensification is often achieved by means of such adjectives as: fantastic, smashing, superb,
bloody, cool, jolly, grotty, furious, yucky, tough, etc.; such verbs as: collapse, smash, blast, damn,
bugger, etc.
The language of everyday speech is also notable for the wide use of colloquialisms, which
are considered explicit or formal enough for polite conversation. Colloquial words give birth to
specific subgroups, which sometimes cannot be grasped easily. They are; dialects, slang, jargon,
vulgar and taboo words, cant and argot.