ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE
International scientific-online conference
10
THE BASICS OF STYLISTIC DEVICES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
Dilnoza Davranbekovna Umurzakova
Senior teacher of the Foreign languages department,
Academic lyceum of Uzbek State World Languages University, Uzbekistan
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13853913
Abstract.
The article examines the main classifications of stylistic devices
in English literature based on the works of J. Leach, I.R. Galperin and Yu.M.
Skrebnev.
Key words:
classification, stylistic devices, figures of speech, tropes, types
of speech.
When studying the language features of a particular author, it is necessary
to refer to the works of famous linguists-stylists and study the classifications of
stylistic devices and expressive means. This contributes to a better
understanding of the linguistic means chosen by the writer and a more thorough
analysis of stylistic devices at all levels of the language.
Today, there is no unified approach to the classification of stylistic devices
in domestic and foreign stylistics. It is worth noting that the beginning of
modern classifications was laid by the Hellenistic Roman system of rhetoric,
within the framework of which all expressive means are divided into three
groups: tropes, rhythm (figures of speech) and types of speech. And one of the
first linguists who attempted to modernize the Hellenistic Roman system of
rhetoric and developed a modern classification was Geoffrey Leach, a famous
British scientist. Drawing on the principles of descriptive linguistics, popular at
the time, he attempted to show how linguistic theory could be linked to the task
of describing such rhetorical figures as metaphor, parallelism, alliteration,
personification, and others in the study of literature [2]. According to J. Leach,
writers and poets use language in a non-standard way and allow a certain
degree of "poetic license". The language of literature as a whole is marked by a
number of deviant features. Thus, D. Leach builds his classification on the
principle of the difference between normal and deviant features in the language
of literature [1].
Among the deviant features he distinguishes paradigmatic and
syntagmatic deviations. First of all, we distinguish different levels of linguistic
function, at which a figure is to be identified and described. Based on this, these
figures are classified as formal (grammatical or lexical), phonological,
orthographic or semantic, or perhaps a combination of these categories.
Linguistic units are linked syntagmatically when they are successively combined
ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE
International scientific-online conference
11
in a linear linguistic form. Paradigmatic elements enter into a system of possible
choices at one point in the chain. Syntagmatic elements can be considered
horizontally, paradigmatic ones vertically. Paradigmatic elements give the writer
a choice of equivalent items that contrast with the usual choice. For example,
certain nouns can usually be followed by certain adverbs, the choice being
determined by their normal lexical valence. However, the author's choice of
noun can disrupt the normal system and create a paradigmatic deviation, which
we encounter in literary and poetic language [3].
Yu. M. Skrebnev does not divide expressive means and stylistic devices
into the corresponding layers of language, as I. R. Galperin does. He first divides
stylistics into paradigmatic stylistics (or stylistics of units) and syntagmatic
stylistics (or stylistics of sequences). Then he examines the level of language and
considers all stylistically significant phenomena in accordance with these levels,
both in paradigmatic and syntagmatic stylistics. He also clearly identifies one
more level. In addition to phonetics, lexicology and syntax, he adds semantics
[3].
The classification of stylistic devices proposed by I.R. Galperin is
characterized by a high degree of detail, includes the following division of
expressive means and stylistic devices based on a level approach:
ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE
International scientific-online conference
12
Thus, it can be concluded that there are various classifications of stylistic devices
and expressive means. Three modern classifications of expressive means of the
English language were proposed by J. Leach, I. R. Galperin and Yu. M. Skrebnev. J.
Leach's classification is based on the principle of distinguishing between normal
and abnormal features of the literary language. He identified paradigmatic and
syntagmatic deviations from the lexical and grammatical norms of the language.
I. R. Galperin based his classification on a level-by-level approach and identified
three groups: phonetic, lexical, syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices.
The methodology of Yu. M. Skrebnev demonstrates a combination of the
principles of J. Leach's paradigmatic and syntagmatic division and I. R. Galperin's
level-by-level approach
Stylistic use of phraseology: proverbs and sayings; maxims (a proverb created not by the people, but by an individual
representative of it - a writer, thinker); allusions, mixing words of different stylistic coloring: terminological series, literary
and colloquial words, poetic and literary elevated words, foreign words and jargon.
Stylistic devices for describing phenomena and objects: periphrasis, euphemism, comparison.
Stylistic devices based on the interaction of basic and derivative (including non-free) subject-logical meanings: word play,
pun, zeugma.
Stylistic devices based on the interaction of subject-logical and emotional meanings: epithet, oxymoron, use of interjection,
hyperbole.
Stylistic devices based on the interaction of subject-logical and nominal meanings: antonomasia (as a special case of
metonymy) - of two types: speech and language
Stylistic devices based on the interaction of dictionary and contextual subject-logical meanings;
Lexical expressive means and stylistic devices;
Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices: onomatopoeia, alliteration, rhythm, rhyme;
ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE
International scientific-online conference
13
References:
1.
Abdullaev A.S. (2023). Main classifications of stylistic techniques in the
theory and stylistics of language. Bulletin of Science and Education. No. 59. 195-
198.
2.
Znamenskaya T.A. English Literature: Stylistic Devices in English
Literature. Course Basics: Textbook. - M.: Editorial, 2022.
3.
Sharipova N. (2023). Artistic stylistic devices in modern English scientific
prose. Science and Modernity, (8-3), 175-182.
