英语文体学知识重点

Chapter 1 Introduction· What is the English StylisticsIt is a science that deals with the research for a wide variety of the styles of written and oral English in English language.· What are language functionsa To deliver some infor to other peopleb To communicate with each other in society·How do we express ourselves in a proper waySeveral factors do work.a)Phoneticsb)Vocabularyc)Grammard)Some knowledge concerningEnglish stylistics·The correctness in using the language can not replace the appropriateness in language communication. WhyFour examples:a “ Hello ” and “ Hi ”b “ Assist me Assist me ” and “ Aid Aid ”c “That’s all right.” “That’s to say.” “It’s ..”d See next paged “ I am terribly sorry to hear that your husband has just died, but don’t let it upset you too much. You’re an attractive, young lady. I’m pretty sure it is very easy for you to find someone else soon. ” ·The effects of language expressions are sometimes related to somenon-linguistic factors.b Age ------ “ Cheers ” and “ Bye for now. ”c Vocation ------ “ Watch the birdie. ”d Received education ------ “ goto . ”e Social station ------ “ What prompted you to apply for this job ” ·Why should we learn and study English stylisticsa It will help us to express ourselves in English properly.b It will help us to know something about language features of a variety of English written styles.c It will help us to select a proper way for getting the best language effects and attaining our communicative purposes.d It will help us to go at literary criticism.e It will help us to do the translation work well.Chapter 2 Language Description & Stylistic Analysis·There are 4 phonetic means in English:1 stress2 Intonation3 pause4 voice quality.·Stress has several apparent stylistic and grammatical functions.1 The first function is for emphasis.2 The second function is to change the meaning or the part of speech of some words, or both.3 The third function is to differ some English words4 The fourth function is to show someone’s surprise, anger, fear, doubt, pleasure, etc..·Intonation can be employed to express people’s happiness, sadness, certainty, hesitation, depression, etc. There are 5 pitches in phonetics:1 The falling pitch is used to show the meaning of definiteness, certainty and completeness.2 The rising pitch is employed to show the meaning of indefiniteness, uncertainty and incompleteness.3 The fall-rise pitch is used to give people some encouragement or give people a warning.4 The rise-fall pitch is employed to give people a sincere praise or to show the feeling of shock.5 The level pitch is used to give account on something happened in the past.·Pause can be divided into two.a voiced pauseb silent pause ·Some useful rhetorical devices1. Period and inversion2. Parallelism and antithesis3. Climax and anti-climax4. RepetitionChapter 3 Oral Style and Written Style·Several occasions for using oral style:1. In literary masterpieces2. In everyday conversation3. In informal speeches·The differences between oral communication and written communication1. Use some gestures body language in oral communication2. Use a statement as a question in oral communication3. Use some pure oral words in oral communication· The comparison of language styles in oral style and in written style ·What can be used with oral style1 slangs2 vogue words3 abbreviations4 phrasal verbs5 idioms·What can be used with written style 1 Scientific English 2 Legal English 3 Religious English 4 Formal speech 5 Official documentsChapter 4 Formal Style & Informal Style·Five styles were advanced by Martin Joos in the book “ The Five Clocks ”1 Frozen Style: legal items, historic literature, the documents for international conferences, etc.2 Formal Style: This style is usually used to deliver some infor on formal occasions.3 Consultative Style: With this style people usually offer some background information. It is usually employed in business activities.4 Casual Style: People usually use it between friends, acquaintances, or insiders. Its main feature is that people usually employ ellipsis, slangs or cants with it.5 Intimate Style: It is usually used between husband and wife. Moreover it is employed in jargons sometimes. Chapter6 Societal Deviation in English· What is societal deviation in EnglishSocietal deviation is something about societal dialects.·Black English Vernacular: 土语urban black English·What are the reasons for you to know Black English Vernacular1It will help us to know thestatus que of AE.2 It will helpto read some novels in Americanliterature.Chapter 7 Time Deviation in English· Three stages of the development of English language1 The 1st stage is from 449 to 1100The verbs in Old English can be divided into two categories ------ one is strong verbs and another is weak verbs. The past tense forms of most of weak verbs are with the ending -cec, -ode, or -de after the original weak verbs.2 The 2nd stage is from 1100 to 1500 Middle English.At that time “ hw ” in Old English became “ wh ” and “ cw ” became “ qu ”.3 The 3rd stage is from 1500 to present time Modern English.There are two remarkable features in Modern English.1There are many loans in Modern English. from Japanese/fromFrench/from Latin/ from Chinese.2 There are some neologisms新词 in Modern English.·The application of English archaic words过时的词in modern times1 In legal English2 In religious English3 In English poetry4 In newspapers·Why use archaic words in modern times formal/rhyme/show-off Chapter 8 Common Practical Styles ·Three functions of English advertisements1 to attract readers’ attention2 to arose customer interest3 to erge customer to take actions as soon as possible.·Some features of English advertisements1 More simple sentences2 Less negative sentences ------ If people really want to express the negative meaning in advertisements, they may use “ nothing ” or “ no ” instead of “ not ”.3 Frequent use of present tense4 More and more imperative sentences5 Far more elliptical sentences 7 Some special adjectives8 Some newly-created words ·Journalistic English: Newsreport/news story·two categories of newspapers1 quality paper大报2 tabloid小报·Three requirements for news reports：Swift / objective / true·Some features of journalistic English1 Some journalistic jargons2 Some acronyms3 Some apocopation4 Some aphoeresis5 Some words with front and back clipping6 Some syncopations7 Some neologisms8 Some blends9 Some nouns are used as verbs to make the headlines vivid. Scientific English·What can be written with scientific English1 Scientific works and literature2 Academic theses3 Laboratory reports4 Product instructions·Some important features of scientific English1 Passive voice is high-frequently used in sentences.2 Present tense is quite often employed in sentences because scientific concepts and principles are usually described as truths.3 Long and complete sentences are often used to express meanings, ideas and concepts.4 There are some words which are from Latin.5 There is a simplicity in meaning for some words in scientific English.6 There are some useful prefixes and suffixes in scientific English. Chapter 9 Literary Style·The language features of English poetry1. The rhythm and the meter of English poetryRhythm is a regular succession of weak and strong stresses, accents, sounds, or movements in speech, music, poems, dancing, etc. ·How is the rhythm formed in English poemsStressed syllables and unstressed syllables which alternately appear in a stanza may produce rhythm in English poems. ·What is meter Meter is the measur. The English poetic rhythm is based on meter.构成英诗节奏的基础是韵律,即“格律”; ·How many meters are there in English poetic compositionThere are seven 1 iambus 抑扬格 2 trochee 扬抑格3 dactyl 扬抑抑格 4 anapaest 抑抑扬格 5 amphibrach 双行诗 6 spondee 7 purrhic ·What is stanzaIt consists of lines or verses. Simply speaking it is a poetic paragraph.·Some common forms of stanzas: 1 couplet 双行诗2 triplet 三行诗3 quatrain 4 cinquain 5sestet 6 septet 7 octet 8 Spenserian stanza 9 abba abba cde cde2 Shakespeare sonnet abab cdcd efef gg3 Spenserian sonnet abab bcbc cdcd ee·What is verse verse is the poetic sentence,line It is made up of one foot or more than one. Briefly speaking it is called a poetic sentence.·How to keep a rhyme in a poem 1 Keep an end rhyme It can be divided into four forms.1 The first form is to keep a single rhyme Sometimes it is called a masculine rhyme or a male rhyme.2 The second form is to keep a double rhyme Sometimes it is called afeminine rhyme or a female rhyme. . 3 The third form is to keep a triple rhyme.4 The fourth form is to keep an eye rhyme.2 Keep a head rhyme3 Keep an internal rhyme·Blank verse ：Unrhymed verse ·Three features of blank verses 1 They do not keep any rhymes, but they are the poems with some meter. 2 They can be long or short.3 Their feet in each line are not uniform.·Common Figures of Speech Used in English Poetry Use of simile andrepetition/head-rhymed alliteration /metapher/ parallelism/personification / speaking silence, dumb confession / paradox 矛盾修饰法/hyperbole,overstatement exaggeration/ metonymy 借代转喻 · Stylistic Features in Fiction Two points of viewTwo perspectives 1 Use singular or plural number of the third person ------ as a narrator or a story-teller to narrate some plots in a novel.Notes: a. Most of writers or novelists like to use this perspective.b. The effect of using this perspective is “ objective ”. 2 Use singular or plural number of the first person ------ as one of the characters to narrate some plots in a novel.Note:In this way it will make readers think that it is really a true story and there is no trace of make-up.·The dialogs in novels1 Some useful informal words2 Some common slangs·Direct and indirect speeches in novels1 Sometimes some novelists like to use direct speech in order to make a psychological description in narrating plots in a novel.2 Sometimes some novelists like to use indirect speech in order to make a thought presentation in narrating plots in a novel.·How to analyze a literary masterpiece1 Use a way of rhetorical analysis.2 Use a way of syntactical analysis. Chapter 10 Common Expressing Styles in English Passages· What is the ornate styleIn the ornate style, people like to use some modifiers, such as adjectives, adverbs, etc, and use some rhetorical devices, such as simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, etc. In syntax, people like to use long sentences and some sentences with a complex structure or a parallel structure.·What is the plain styleIn the plain style, people prefer to use short sentences. People rarely use big words. People don’t like to use many modifiers. As for syntax, people prefer to use compound sentences.·Which style is better Simply speaking, it depends. It depends on different occasions.·What is the involved style In this style, people usually employ some detailed descriptive device to express something. They often use some specific words for their descriptions.·What is the terse styleIn this style, people usually use brief words and simple-structured sentences which have some profound implied meanings.·Relationship between Irony and humor:Irony is a language means while humor is an effect.。