STYLISTICS

Aralin 7:
Pag – Aanalisa sa mga Panitikan
STYLISTICS
• Stylistic analysis in linguistics refers to
the identification of patterns of usage in
speech and writing.
• Stylistic analysis in literary studies is
usually made for the purpose of
commenting on quality and meaning in a
text.
 What is Stylistics?
Is the study and interpretation of texts
from a linguistic perspective.

As a discipline it links literary criticism

and linguistics.
 What is Stylistics?
The preferred object of stylistic studies
is literature, but not exclusively “high
literature” but also other forms of written
texts such as text from the domains of
advertising, pop culture, politics, or
religion.
What is Stylistics?
• Socialization
• Production
• Reception of meaning
• Critical discourse analysis
• Literary criticism
What is Stylistics?
• Regional accents
• People’s dialects
• Descriptive language
• The use of grammar
(active or passive voice)
How do linguistic features reveal the
meaning of a text?
• Linguistic features and
techniques help in the
interpretation of texts
 Example:
Woman without her man is
nothing.

• Woman, without her, man is nothing.

• Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Example:
Let’s eat, grandmother.

• Let’s eat grandmother!

• Even in advertisements, we
can see that stylistics is
applied.
• In Filipino culture,
unknowingly, we apply stylistics
in our language.
Example of stylistics:
Petal Attraction
(flower shop)
Elizabeth Tailoring
(tailors)
Farmacia with Love
(pharmacy)
Mane Attraction
(hairdresser)
Ken Afford
(eatery)
Felix the Cut
(barber shop)
The Way We Were
(boutique)
Fix Ahoy!
(electrical repair shop)
Summa Cum Laundry
(laundry shop)
Luv Hon Ko Laundry
(laundry shop)
Dish is Eat!
(eatery)
Stylistics is a process of
mediation between
language and literature.
DISCIPLINE:
Linguistics Literary
Criticism

Stylistics

SUBJECT:
Language Literature
Literary criticism
• Is the evaluation, analysis,
description, or interpretation
of literary works.
 Boy of blue
(Nadine Sarreal)
I thought I love you boy of blue
Boy of blue you said you love me, too
It’s not how much the here and now
But more of how and why

Yesterday my life was sane

And then you kissed me in the rain
How I loved my boy of blue
Boy of blue my love was you
 Stylistic analysis:

• Monosyllabic
• 58 words
• Simplicity of structure
• Youthfulness
• There’s a rhyming scheme
• Repetition of the “O” sound
 What is Stylistics?
“is an elusive and slippery topic” and its
definition in general linguistic book is often
mistaken (Bradford 1997).

“The analysis of distinctive expression in

language and the description of its purpose and
effect.” (Verdonk 2002).
What is Stylistics?
Stylistics in general is divided to two
major categories, either linguistic
stylistics (general stylistics) or non-
linguistic stylistics (literary stylistics)
(Cummings 2010).
Two major categories:

a. Non-linguistic (Literary Stylistics)

b. Linguistic Stylistics (General Stylistics)

Two major categories:

a. Non-linguistic (Literary Stylistics)

is concerned with the evaluation of
the esthetic aspect and the
prescriptive harmony of writing or
speaking language. Non-Linguistic
stylistics (literary stylistics) is often
linked with the criticism and
appreciation of literary works
(Hickey 2014).
Two major categories:

b. Linguistic Stylistics (General Stylistics)

investigates the ways in which the
meaning is made through literary
language and in other kinds of texts.
It regards the linguistic models and
theories as its tools of analysis to
describe the conditions that make the
text works. (Norgaard, Busse and
Montoro 2010).
The purpose of stylistics

Stylistics examines the creativity in the

use of language. It enhances the way we
think about language and its uses. Thus,
the stylistic process, examining the
creativity of language use, develops our
understanding of literature (Simpson
2004).
The purpose of stylistics

The purpose of stylistics is to connect

linguistic analysis with literary criticism.
This can be done by expanding the
literary intuitiveness of linguists and by
expanding the linguistic observation and
knowledge of critics. (Widdowson 2013).
 Some of the key terms and devices used in
stylistic analysis

a. Alliteration
Alliteration means the repetition of the same
consonant sounds in close words. The
consonant sounds must be in the initial
position of words in order to be examples of
alliteration. (Norgaard, Busse, and Montoro
2010).
b. Arbitrariness
Arbitrariness is one of the features of
human language. It means that there is
no recognizable connections between the
sound signal and the message conveyed by
human beings. So, the word elephant, for
instance, has no connections with the
animal it symbolizes. (Aitchison 1999).
c. Assonance.
Is the opposite of Alliteration. It means
the repetition of the same vowel sound in
close words. Just like alliteration,
assonance possesses a cohesive effect due
to the fact that similar sounds connect
words together if they are in proximity.
Assonance is widely used in poetry,
newspaper headlines, advertising, etc.
d. Conceptual Blending Theory.
Conceptual blending theory is derived from
cognitive linguistic traditions, conceptual
metaphor theory and mental spaces
theory. It proposes that the construction
of meaning doesn't rely only on pre-
existing knowledge scope but also on
temporary knowledge structure (Jeffries
and Maclntyre 2010 144).
 Maraming Salamat po
sa Pakikinig <3

Inihanda ni:
Bb. Mary Grace G. Loyola
Bachelor of Elementary Education