LECTURE 12 Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices

LECTURE 12 Phonetic expressive means and stylistic devices 1. The problem of ‘sound-meaning’ correlation: different perspectives. 2. Euphony. Sound instrumenting. 3. Onomatopoeia. Graphon. 4. Alliteration. Assonance. 5. Rhyme. Types of rhyme.

The Importance of Sound • The way a word , a phrase or a sentence sounds is of importance, especially if it occurs in poetry or fiction in combination with other words, phrases, sentences. E. g. Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before (Poe) • When analyzing the stylistic value of phonetic organization of the utterance, one of the stumbling blocks is the possibility of correlation between sound and meaning of a linguistic sign.

‘Sound-Meaning’ Correlation: Variety of Perspectives 1. Sounds can be associated with certain meanings • Verier (French scholar): Sounds express definite feelings or states of mind. E. g. [ i: ] – joy; [ u: ] – sorrow, seriousness. • L. Bloomfield: “ … in human speech different sounds can have different meaning. To study the coordination of certain sounds with certain meanings is to study language” (Bloomfield 1961, 27).

‘Sound-Meaning’ Correlation: Variety of Perspectives • Phonosemantics In Russia the idea of ‘sound-meaning’ correlation was developed by Alexander Zhuravlev and Sergey Voronin who worked out the foundations of a new branch of linguistics – phonosemantics. Key points of phonosemantics: • The relationship between sound and sense, form and meaning, is not arbitrary, or socially conventional (as F. de Saussure presumed). Their connection has natural inherent foundations. • Phonetic “meaning” motivates lexical meaning to a certain extent. Sounds have symbolic relevance for naming objects.

‘Sound-Meaning’ Correlation: Variety of Perspectives 2. Separate sounds don’t have meanings of their own, but they can perform aesthetic function and enhance the message of the utterance. • Galperin: “The theory of the sense-independence of separate sounds is based on a subjective interpretation. However, … the way words sound in combination… contributes something to the general effect of the message. ” • Skrebnev: “The sounds themselves, though they have no extralingual meaning, possess (or seem to possess) a kind of expressive meaning and, hence, stylistic value. ” • Arnold: “The musical and aesthetic effect is achieved by sounds in unity with meaning. The sound arrangement of a text can affect us only when rhythm and meaning are taken into account. ”

EUPHONY [‘ju: fənı] – эвфония, благозвучие • Another term used to denote this phenomenon is sound instrumenting. The antonym is cacophony. • Euphony presupposes phonetic organization of the utterance which corresponds to its mood and enhances its emotional and aesthetic impact. • Euphony is often based on repetition of certain sounds or groups of sounds which occur close to each other, create a rhythmic effect and make the utterance more expressive. E. g. Чуден Днепр при тихой погоде, когда вольно и плавно… His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling, faintly through universe and faintly falling like the descent of their last end, upon the living and the dead (Joyce The Dead).

Associative Power of Sounds • Sounds can be strongly associated with certain meanings, which is proven experimentally. They can enhance the denotative and connotative meaning of the utterance. E. g. [l], [m] – even, smooth, tender. [r] – fast, energetic. [i: ] – narrow, happy. [a], [o], [u], [d] – negative associations. E. g. [d] – [t] I found a dimpled spider, fat and white, On a white heal-all, holding up a moth Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth – Assorted characters of death and blight… (R. Frost Design)

Associative Power of Sounds E. g. [l] – [n] – [m] Now dance the lights on lawn and lea, The flocks are whiter down the vale, And milkier every milky sail On winding stream or distant sea… (Tennyson In Memoriam A. H. H. )

ONOMATOPOEIA [onoumætə'pi: ə] – ономатопея, звукоподражание • A combination of speech-sounds which aims at imitating sounds produced in nature (wind, thunder, etc), by animals, people (laughter, sighing, etc), things (tools, machines, etc). E. g. Шуршать – to rustle; греметь – to roar; жужжать – to buzz; хихикать – to giggle; ворчать – to grumble; мурлыкать – to purr; свист – whistle; всплеск – a splash.

Types of Onomatopoeia (Galperin) • Direct Onomatopoeia Words that imitate natural sounds and bring to mind the phenomenon that produces the sound. E. g. a cuckoo; to mew; tintinnabulation; to roar. E. g. … where white horses and black horses and brown horses and white and black horses trotted tap-taptap tap-tappety-tap over cobble stones. (S. O’Casey)

Types of Onomatopoeia (Galperin) • Indirect Onomatopoeia A combination of sounds the aim of which is to make the sound of the utterance an echo of its sense. A group of non-onomatopoeic words produces an onomatopoeic effect. E. g. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain… (Poe) E. g. We’re foot - sloggin’ over Africa. Foot – foot – sloggin’ over Africa. (Boots – boots – movin’ up and down again!) (Kipling)

GRAPHON ['græfən] - граффон • In imaginative prose, advertising and mass media sound is foregrounded through the change of its accepted graphical representation. This intentional violation of the graphical shape of a word (word combination) used to reflect its authentic pronunciation is called graphon (Kukharenko). E. g. Whattaya doin’? Whatch’ yu want? Whadayou mean? • Graphons have been occasionally introduced into English novels and journalism since the beginning of the 18 th century.

Functions and Types of Graphon • Graphon can reflect individual phonetic irregularities (permanent or temporary) of the character’s speech. E. g. Thquire!. . . Your thervant! Thith a bad pieth of bithnith, thith ith… (Dickens Hard Times) – lisping. E. g. The b-b-bas-tud – he seen me c-c-coming (Warren) stammering. • Graphon serves to convey features of territorial dialect of the speaker, or foreign accent. E. g. Goot, goot! Und here’s der liddle Ariel! (Huxley) E. g. Cockney speech (dropping of H’s, [eı] → [aı] ) Is that my wife? I see it is, from your fyce … I want the truth – I must ’ave it! … If that’s ’er fyce there, then that’s ’er body in the gallery… What gyme ’as she been plyin’? You gotta tell me before I go aht (=out) of here (Galsworthy The White Monkey).

Functions and Types of Graphon E. g. American English (Missouri, Negro dialect) You know dat one-laigged nigger dat b’longs to old Misto Bradish? Well he sot up a bank, en say anybody dat put in a dollar would git fo’ dollars mo’ at en’ er de year… (Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) • Graphon gives information about the speaker’s social and educational background. E. g. Butler Yellowplush (Thackeray ‘The Yellowplush Papers’): sellybrated (=celebrated), bennyviolent (=benevolent), illigitimit (=illegitimate). Babbitt (S. Lewis ‘Babbitt’): peerading (=parading), peepul (=people).

Functions and Types of Graphon • Graphon conveys the atmosphere of authentic communication, makes representation of oral speech plausible, vivid, memorable. E. g. Standard graphons: Lemme gotta coupla Gimme gonna E. g. Babbitt (S. Lewis ‘Babbitt’) – careless speech: Jiver = Did you ever Pleasmeech = Pleased to meet you Snoway talkcher father = It is no way to talk to father

Functions and Types of Graphon • Graphon is popular in advertisements, posters, newspapers. E. g. ‘Wok-in Fast Food Restaurant’ ‘The Donut Place’ ‘Rite Bread Shop’ ‘Sooper Class Model’

PARONOMASIA [pærənə'meızıə] парономасия • A variety of phonetic pun. The basis for it is created by a similar sound form of two different words which are related contextually. As a result, meanings of words can interplay. E. g. Унылая пора, очей очарованье… (Пушкин) Мачты мечты (Евтушенко) Your children need your presence more than your presents (Jesse Jackson).

Peculiarities of Paronomasia • Similar sound form creates additional semantic ties between words (R. Jakobson). E. g. And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting… RAVEN – NEVER (Raven as a symbol of futility) • Paronomasia can impart ironic ring to the text. E. g. But he still strummed on, and his mind wandered in and out of poultry and politics, old Forsyte, Fleur, Foggartism… (Galsworthy The Silver Spoon)

SOUND REPETITIONS • G. Leech ‘A Linguistic Guide to English Poetry’: 1. 2. 3. 4. Alliteration CVC Assonance CVC Consonance CVC Reversed CVC rhyme 5. Pararhyme CVC 6. Rhyme СVC *C = consonant; V = vowel. great / grow great / fail great / meat great / grazed great / groat great / bait send / sit send /bell send / hand send / sell send / sound send / end

ALLITERATION [ə, lıtə'reıςn] аллитерация • A phonetic SD which consists in repeating similar sounds, especially consonants, in close succession, particularly at the beginning of successive words (Galperin). E. g. Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before (Poe) E. g. The possessive instinct never stands still. Through florescence and feud, frosts and fires it follows the laws of progression (Galsworthy). E. g. Apt Alliteration’s Artful Aid (Charles Churchill).

Alliteration: Historical Perspective • Alliteration is widely used in English. It may be partly explained by the fact that it is deeply rooted in the traditions of Old English poetry. • In OE poetry A. was one of the basic principles of verse. Each stressed meaningful word in a line had to begin with the same sound, thus integrating the line semantically. A. is often treated as initial rhyme. E. g. Ne maeg baer ren ne snaw, ne forstes fnaest, ne fyres blaest, ne haegles hryre, ne hrimes dryre, ne sunnan haetu, ne sincaldu, ne wearm weder, ne winter-scur wihte gewyrdan; … (The Phoenix)

Functions and Uses of Alliteration • In poetry A. imparts a melodic effect to the utterance and can cause certain associations. E. g. [m], [l] – a somnolent effect How sweet it were, … To lend our hearts and spirits wholly To the music of mild-minded melancholy; To muse and brood and live again in memory. (Tennyson The Lotus Eaters)

Functions and Uses of Alliteration • In prose A. performs an expressive function and accentuates the most important notions. E. g. We lived and laughed and loved and left (Joyce). • A. is a common device used in titles of books, ads, slogans; set phrases. E. g. Pride and Prejudice (Austen) Sense and Sensibility (Austen) School for Scandal (Sheridan) E. g. Make Mine Miller (an advertising slogan for Miller beer) Drive Your Dream (a Toyota slogan) E. g. as good as gold; dead as a doornail; forgive and forget.

ASSONANCE ['æsənəns] - ассонанс • Repetition of stressed vowels within a line or phrase or at the end of it. It makes the utterance more expressive and adds to its specific emotional charge and connotative meaning. E. g. [eı] – light, hope. Tell this soul, with sorrow laden, if within the distant Aiden, I shall clasp a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore – Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels name Lenore. (Poe The Raven)

RHYME [raım] - рифма • Repetition of identical or similar terminal sound combinations of words. In verse they usually occur at the end of corresponding lines. E. g. When the lamp is shattered The light in the dust is dead – When the cloud is scattered The rainbow’s glory is shed. (P. B. Shelley)

TYPES OF RHYME (according to similarity of sound combinations) FULL (точная) INCOMPLETE(приблизительная) Identity of the vowel and consonant sounds in a stressed syllable. E. g. bright - night 1. Assonance (Vowels identical, Consonants – different) E. g. advice – compromise 2. Consonance (Cons-s identical) E. g. wind – land 3. Dissonance (unstressed V-s and Cons-s coincide, stressed – don’t) E. g. devil - evil

TYPES OF RHYME (according to morphological peculiarities) Compound (составная) Simple (простая) A word rhymes with a combination A word rhymes with a of words. word. E. g. O lovers true And others too Whose best is only better, Take my advice Shun compromise Forget him and forget her. (S. Smith)

TYPES OF RHYME (according to arrangement in a stanza) • COUPLET (смежная): a a, b b E. g. Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? (Blake The Tyger) • TRIPLE (тройная): a a a E. g. A second voice at my ear, A little whisper silver-clear, A murmur, ‘Be of better cheer. ’ (Tennyson The Two Voices)

TYPES OF RHYME (according to arrangement in a stanza) • CROSS (перекрестная): a b E. g. My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. (Shakespeare Sonnet 130) • RING (кольцевая, опоясывающая): a b b a E. g. The poetry of earth is never dead: When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead. (Keats The Grasshopper and the Cricket)

INTERNAL RHYME (внутренняя рифма) • The rhyming words are placed within the line. E. g. When you’re lying awake with a dismal headache, and repose is tabooed by anxiety, I conceive you may use any language you chose to indulge in without impropriety. (Gilbert and Sullivan Iolantha)