Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika–
Зарубежная лингвистика и
лингводидактика– Foreign
Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Journal home page:
https://inscience.uz/index.php/foreign-linguistics
A comprehensive reflection on stylistics and its varieties
of expressive tools in the English language
Aziza KHIKMATOVA
1
Bukhara State University
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Received March 2025
Received in revised form
10
April 2025
Accepted 2 April 2025
Available online
25 May 2025
This article provides a general overview of stylistics and its
devices, with theoretical concepts supported by relevant
examples.
2181-3701/© 2025 in Science LLC.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47689/2181-3701-vol3-iss5
This is an open-access article under the Attribution 4.0 International
(CC BY 4.0) license (
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.ru
Keywords:
style,
function,
meaning,
connotation,
additional meaning,
context,
transfer,
text,
special features,
define,
investigation.
Ingliz tilidagi stilistika va uning turli xil ifoda vositalari
haqida atroflicha mulohaza
ANNOTATSIYA
Kalit so‘zlar:
uslub,
vazifa,
ma’no,
qo‘shimcha ma’no,
kontekst,
ko‘chirish,
matn,
maxsus,
xususiyatlar,
aniqlash,
tergov.
Ushbu maqolada Stilistika masalasi va stilistik qurilmalar
haqida umumiy tushunchalar umumiy ko‘rib chiqiladi; muallif
tomonidan taqdim etilgan nazariy ma’lumotlar keltirilgan
misollar orqali isbotlangan.
1
Student, Bukhara State University. E-mail: hikmatova7073@gmail.com
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue – 5 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
46
Всесторонний анализ стилистики и разнообразия
выразительных средств в английском языке
АННОТАЦИЯ
Ключевые слова:
стиль,
функция,
значение,
коннотация,
дополнительное значение,
контекст,
передача,
текст,
специальный,
особенности,
определение,
исследование.
В данной статье дается общее рассмотрение вопроса
стилистики и общие понятия о стилистических приемах;
теоретическая
информация,
изложенная
автором,
подтверждается посредством представленных примеров.
INTRODUCTION
Stylistics, sometimes called linguo-stylistics, is a branch of general linguistics.
It has now been more or less outlined. It deals mainly with two interdependent tasks:
a) the investigation of the inventory of special language media which by their ontological
features secure the desirable effect of the utterance and b) certain types of texts
(discourse) which due to the choice and arrangement of language means are
distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication. The two objectives of stylistics
are discernible as two separate fields of investigation. The inventory of speciаl language
media can be analyzed and their ontological features revealed if presented in a system in
which the correlation between the media becomes evident.
The types of texts can be analyzed if their linguistic components are presented in
their interaction, thus revealing the unbreakable unity and transparency of constructions
of a given type. The types of texts that are distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of the
communication are called “functional styles of lаnguаge” (FS); the special media of
language that secure the desirable effect of the utterance are called “stylistic devices”
(SD) and “expressive means” (EM).
METHODS
In dealing with the objectives of stylistics, certain pronouncements of adjacent
disciplines such as theory of information, literature, psychology, logic, and, to some
extent, statistics must be touched upon. This is indispensable, for nowadays no science is
entirely isolated from other domains of human knowledge; and linguistics, particularly
its branch of stylistics, cannot avoid references to the above-mentioned disciplines
because it is confronted with certain overlapping issues.
To ascertain the borders of stylistics, it is necessary to go аt some length into the
question of what is style.
The word style is derived from the Latin word 'stilus', which meаnt a short stick
sharp at one end and flat at the other used by the Romans for writing on wax tablets.
Now the word 'style' is used in so many senses that it has become a breeding ground for
ambiguity. The word is applied to the teaching of how to write a composition, it is also
used to reveal the correspondence between thought and expression; it frequently
denotes an individual manner of making use of language, it sometimes refers to more
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue – 5 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
47
general, abstract notions thus inevitably becoming vague and obscure, as, for example,
“Style is the man himself” (Buffon), “Style is depth” (Derbyshire); “Style is deviations”
(Enkvist); “Style is choice”, and the like.
All these ideas directly or indirectly bear on issues in stylistics. Some of them
become very useful by revealing the springs which make our utterances emphatic,
effective, and goal-directed. It will therefore not come amiss to quote certain interesting
observations regarding style made by different writers from different angles.
Some linguists consider that the word 'style' and the subject of linguistic stylistics
are confined to the study of the effects of the message, i.e., its impact on the reader. Thus,
Michael Riffaterre writes that “Stylistics will be a linguistics of the effects of the message,
of the output of the act of communication, of its attention-compelling function”.
This point of view has been reached under the influence of recent developments in the
general theory of information. Language, being one of the means of communication or, to
be exact, the most important means of communication, is regarded in the above
quotation from a pragmatic point of view. Stylistics, in that case, is regarded as a
language science that deals with the results of the act of communication.
To a very considerable degree, this is true. Stylistics must take into consideration
the “output of the act of communication”. But stylistics must also investigate the
ontological, i.e., natural, inherent, and functional peculiarities of the means of
communication which may ensure the effect sought.
Archibald A. Hill states that "A current definition of style and stylistics is that
structures, sequences, and patterns which extend, or may extend, beyond the boundaries
of individual sentences define style, and that the study of them is stylistics." The truth of
this approach to style and stylistics lies in the fact that the author concentrates on such
phenomena in language as present a system, in other words, on facts which are not
confined to individual use.
According to Q. Musayev’s definition, “Stylistics is a branch of linguistics which deals
with the result of the act of communication, investigating a system of interrelated language
means which serve a definite
aim
in communication.” It investigates language potentialities
of making the utterance more effective, paying much attention to the analysis of stylistic
means of the language, of their nature and functions, their classification, and possible
interpretation of the additional meanings they may carry in a message.
One of the tasks set before stylistics is a thorough study of all changes in
vocabulary, set phrases, grammatical constructions, their functions, an evaluation of any
breaking away from the established norm, and classification of mistakes and failures in
word-coinage.
Stylistics has two separate fields of investigation.
The first field of investigation deals with the system of special language means that
serve to achieve the desired effect, called the stylistic means of the language. The stylistic
means of the language can be divided into expressive means and stylistic devices.
The second field of investigation of stylistics is certain types of texts, distinguished
by different aspects of communication, called functional styles of the language.
Stylistics studies the expressive means of language, but from a special angle.
It takes into account the modifications of meanings that various expressive means
undergo when they are used in different functional styles. Expressive means have a kind
of radiating effect. They noticeably colour the whole of the utterance no matter whether
they are logical or emotional.
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue – 5 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
48
Stylistic device is a conscious and intentional intensification of some typical
structural and semantic property of a language unit (neutral or expressive), promoted to
a generalized status and thus becomes a generative model. It follows then that an SD is an
abstract pattern, a word into which any content can be poured. As is known, the typical is
not only that which is in frequent use, but also that which reveals the essence of
a phenomenon with the greatest and most evident force.
The birth of SDs is a natural process in the development of language media.
Language units which are used with more or less definite aims of communication in
various passages of writing and in various functional styles begin gradually to develop
new features, a wider range of functions, thus causing polyfunctionality. Hence, they can
be presented as invariants with concrete variables.
All stylistic means of a language can be divided into expressive means and stylistic
devices.
The stylistic device is a conscious and intentional literary use of some of the facts
of the language (including expressive means) in which the most essential features of the
language are generalized. Most stylistic devices are regarded as aiming at the further
intensification of the emotional or logical emphasis contained in the corresponding
expressive means.
RESULTS
Stylistic devices must always have some function in the text; besides, they bring
some additional information. The conception that words possess several meanings gives
rise to such stylistic devices as
metaphor, metonymy, irony, epithet,
and others. Thus, a
metaphor is a conscious, intentional intensification of the semantic properties of a word:
“Oh, Rain,” said Mor. He enveloped her in a great embrace. (J. Murdoch)
The dictionary meaning of the verb “envelop” is “to wrap up, cover on all sides”.
The contextual meaning is “to embrace”. Other examples:
1. He wants his girlfriend to mother him. (He wants his girlfriend to take care of
him, to protect him).
2. The prices will come down soon. (The prices will be cheaper).
The typical features of proverbs and sayings serve as the foundation for a stylistic
device which is called epigram, i.e., brevity, rhythm, and other properties of proverbs:
1. A thing of beauty is a joy for ever. (J. Keets).
2. Sweet is pleasure after pain. (J. Dryden)
3. What the eye does not see, the stomach does not get upset. (J.K. Jerome)
These phrases are not proverbs, they are the creations of writers and poets. When
such phrases are used in the text, they accumulate great emotive force and function, and
easily become a stylistic device.
The same can be said about syntax. The typical structural features of oral speech –
violation of word order, omission of some parts of the sentence, repetition of certain
words – may be intensified and gain a generalized status. Such stylistic devices as
inversion, parallel constructions, chiasmus etc. are the result of these stylistic
transformations.
It is important to know that the stylistic use of
expressive means
must not
necessarily lead to the formation of a
stylistic device.
For example, repetition is widely
used in folk songs, poetry, and oral speech to make our speech emotional and expressive,
but we can’t say that in such cases we use a stylistic device:
Xorijiy lingvistika va lingvodidaktika – Зарубежная лингвистика
и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue – 5 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
49
When the weather is wet
We must not fret.
When the weather is cold
We must not scold.
When the weather is worn
We must not storm...
DISCUSSION
Thus,
expressive means
are the facts of the language, while
stylistic devices
are the
property of the speech. They are the creation of individuals (writers and poets) and are
based on the peculiarities of existing expressive means of the language. In short, this is
the difference between expressive means and stylistic devices.
The force of the same stylistic device may be different. In some cases, the emotive
charge may be very strong; in others, it may be weak. Due to the overuse of the stylistic
devices, it may become hackneyed, trite, and lose its freshness and brightness:
1) The best
pens
of the world (metonymy),
a sweet
smile (epithet),
sly
as a fox
(simile).
2) With his
mousing
walk (epithet).
In the first case, we have trite stylistic devices, while in the second-fresh (genuine)
stylistic device.
CONCLUSION
Words in context, as has been pointed out, may acquire additional lexical meanings
not fixed in dictionaries, which we have called contextual meanings. The latter may
sometimes deviate from the dictionary meaning to such a degree that the new meaning
even becomes the opposite of the primary meaning, as, for example, with the word
sophisticated. This is especially the case when we deal with transferred meanings. What
is known in linguistics as transferred meaning is practically the interrelation between
two types of lexical meaning: dictionary and contextual. The contextual meaning will
always depend on the dictionary's (logical) meaning to a greater or lesser extent. When
the deviation from the acknowledged meaning is carried to a degree that it causes an
unexpected turn in the recognized logical meanings, we register а stylistic device.
REFERENCES:
1.
Hague, 1964, p 316-317
2.
Riffaterre, M. The stylistic function. Proceedings of the 9th International
Congress of Linguists, The Hague, 1964, p 316-317
3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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и лингводидактика – Foreign Linguistics and Linguodidactics
Special Issue – 5 (2025) / ISSN 2181-3701
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