С. Compositional patterns of syntactical arrangement

 

The structural syntactical aspect is sometimes regarded as the crucial issue in stylistic analysis, although the peculiarities of syntactical arrangement are not so conspicuous as the lexical and phraseological properties of the utterance. Syntax is figuratively called the "sinews of style".

Structural syntactical stylistic devices are in special relations with the intonation involved. Prof. Peshkovsky points out that there is an interdependence between the intonation and syntactical properties of the sentence, which may be worded in the following manner: the more explicitly the structural syntactical relations are expressed, the weaker will be the intonation-pattern of the utterance (to complete disappearance) and vice-versa, the stronger the intonation, the weaker grow the evident syntactical relations (also to complete

 

disappearance)¹. This can be illustrated by means of the following two pairs of sentences: 'Only after dinner did I make up my mind to go there' and ' I made up my mind to go there only after dinner.' 'It was in Bucharest that the Xth International Congress of Linguists took place' and' The Xth International Congress of Linguists took place in Bucharest.'

The second sentences in these pairs can be made emphatic only by intonation; the first sentences are made emphatic by means of the syntactical patterns: 'Only after dinner did I...' and 'It was... that...'

The problem of syntactical stylistic 'devices appears to be closely linked not only with what makes an utterance more emphatic but also with the more general problem of predication. As is known, the English affirmative sentence is regarded as neutral if it maintains the regular word-order, i.e.' subject—predicate—object (or other secondary members of the sentence, as they are called). Any other order of the parts of the sentence may also carry the necessary information, but the impact on the reader will be different. Even a slight change in the word-order of a sentence or in the order of the sentences in a more complicated syntactical unit will inevitably cause a definite modification of the meaning of the whole. An almost imperceptible rhythmical design introduced into a prose sentence, or a sudden break in the sequence of the parts of the sentence, or any other change will add something to the volume of information contained in the original sentence.

Unlike the syntactical expressive means of the language, which "are naturally used in discourse in a straight-forward natural manner, syntactical stylistic devices are perceived as elaborate designs aimed at having a definite impact on the reader. It will be borne in mind that any SD is meant to be understood as a device and is calculated to produce a desired stylistic effect.

When viewing the stylistic functions of different syntactical designs we must first of all take into consideration two aspects:

1. The juxtaposition of different parts of the utterance.

2. The way the parts are connected with each other.

In addition to these two large groups of EMs and SDs two other groups may be distinguished:

3. Those based on the peculiar use of colloquial constructions.

4. Those based pn the stylistic use of structural meaning.

Stylistic Inversion

 

Wоrd-order is a crucial syntactical problem in many languages. In English it has peculiarities which have been caused by the concrete and specific way the language has developed. O. Jespersen states that the English language "...has developed a tolerably fixed word-order which in the great majority of cases shows without fail what is the Subject of the sentence."² This "tolerably fixed word-order" is Subject — Verb (Predicate) — Object (S—P—O). Further, Jespersen mentions

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¹ Пешковский А. М. Интонация и грамматика.— «Известия русского языка и словесности». Л., 1928, т. I. кн. 2, с. 463.

² Jespersen, 0. Essentials of English Grammar. Ldn, 1943, p. 99.

a statistical investigation of word-order made on the basis of a series of representative 19th century writers. It was found that the order S—P—О was used in from 82 to 97 per cent of all sentences containing all three members, while the percentage for Beowulf was 16 and for King Alfred's prose 40.

This predominance of S—P—О word-order makes conspicuous any change in the structure of the sentence and inevitably calls forth a modification in the intonation design.

The most conspicuous places in the sentence are considered to be the first and the last: the first place because the full force of the stress can be felt at the beginning of an utterance and the last place because there is a pause after it. This traditional word-order has developed a definite intonation design. Through frequency of repetition this design has imposed itself on any sentence even though there are changes introduced in the sequence of the component parts. Hence the clash between semantically insignificant elements of the sentence when they are placed in structurally significant position and the intonation which follows the recognized pattern.

Thus in Dickens' much quoted sentence:

"Talent Mr. Micawber has; capital Mr. Micawber has not."

The first and the last positions being prominent, the verb has and the negative not get a fuller volume of stress than they would in ordinary (uninverted) word-order. In the traditional word-order the predicates has and has not are closely attached to their objects talent and capital. English predicate-object groups are so bound together1 that when we tear the object away from its predicate, the latter remains dangling in the sentence and in this position sometimes calls forth a change in meaning of the predicate word. In the inverted word-order not only the objects talent and capital become conspicuous but also the predicates has and has not.

In this example the effect of the inverted word-order is backed up by two other stylistic devices: antithesis and parallel construction. Unlike grammatical inversion, stylistic inversion does not change the structural meaning of the sentence, that is, the change in the juxtaposition of the members of the sentence does not indicate structural meaning but has some superstructural function. Stylistic inversion aims at attaching logical stress or additional emotional colouring to the surface meaning of the utterance. Therefore a specific intonation pattern is the inevitable satellite of inversion.

Stylistic inversion in Modern English should not be regarded as a violation of the norms of standard English. It is only the practical realization of what is potential in the language itself.

The following patterns of stylistic inversion are most frequently met in both English prose and English poetry.

1. The object is placed at the beginning of the sentence (see the example above).

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¹ See: Ярцева В. Н. Основной характер словосочетаний в английском языке.— «Изв. АН СССР, ОЛЯ», 1947, вып. 6.

 

2. The attribute is placed after the word it modifies (postposition of the attribute). This model is often used when there is more than one attribute, for example:

"With fingers weary and worn..." (Thomas Hood)

"Once upon a midnight dreary..." (E. A. Poe)

3. a) The predicative is placed before the subject, as in

"A good generous prayer it was." (Mark Twain)

or b) the predicative stands before the link-verb and both are placed before the subject, as in

"Rude am I in my speech..." (Shakespeare)

4. The adverbial modifier is placed at the beginning of the sentence, as in:

"Eagerly I wished the morrow." (Poe)

"My dearest daughter, at your feet I fall." (Dryden)

"A tone of most extraordinary comparison Miss Tох said it in."

(Dickens)

5. Both modifier and predicate stand before the subject, as in:

"In went Mr. Pickwick." (Dickens)

"Down dropped the breeze..." (Coleridge)

These five models comprise the most common and recognized models of inversion.

However, in modern English and American poetry, as has been shown elsewhere, there appears a definite tendency to experiment with the word-order to the extent which may even render the message unintelligible. In this case there may be an almost unlimited number of rearrangements of the members of the sentence.

Inversion as a stylistic device is always sense-motivated There is a tendency to account for inversion in poetry by rhythmical considerations. This may sometimes be true, but really talented poets will never sacrifice sense for form and in the majority of cases inversion in poetry is called forth by considerations of content rather than rhythm.

Inverted word-order, or inversion, is one of the forms of what are known as emphatic constructions. What is generally called traditional word-order is nothing more than unemphatic construction. Emphatic constructions have so far been regarded as non-typical structures and therefore are considered as violations of the regular word-order in the sentence. But in practice these structures arе as common as the fixed or traditional word-order structures. Therefore inversion must be regarded as an expressive means of the language having typical structural models.

 

Detached Construction

 

Sometimes one of the secondary parts of a sentence by some specific consideration of the writer is placed so that it seems formally independ-

ent of the word it logically refers to. Such parts of structures are called detached. They seem to dangle in the sentence as isolated parts. The detached part, being torn away from its referent, assumes a greater degree of significance and is given prominence by intonation. The structural patterns of detached constructions have not yet been classified, but the most noticeable cases are those in which an attribute or an adverbial modifier is placed not in immediate proximity to its referent, but in some other position, as in the following examples:

1) "Steyne rose up, grinding his teeth, pale, and with fury in his eyes." (Thackeray) 2) "Sir Pitt came in first, very much flushed, and rather unsteady in his gait." (Thackeray)

Sometimes a nominal phrase is thrown into the sentence forming a •syntactical unit with the rest of the sentence, as in:

"And he walked slowly past again, along the river — an evening of clear, quiet beauty, all harmony and comfort, except within his heart." (Galsworthy)

The essential quality of detached construction lies in the fact that the isolated parts represent a kind of independent whole thrust into the sentence or placed in a position which will make the phrase (or word) seem independent. But a detached phrase cannot rise to the rank of a primary member of the sentence—it always remains secondary from the semantic point of view, although structurally it possesses all the features of a primary member. This clash of the structural and semantic aspects of detached constructions produces the desired effect—forcing the reader to interpret the logical connections between the component parts of the sentence. Logical ties between them always exist in spite of the absence of syntactical indicators.

Detached constructions in their common forms make the written variety of language akin to the spoken variety where the relation between the component parts is effectively materialized by means of intonation. Detached construction, as it were, becomes a peculiar device bridging the norms of written and spoken language.

This stylistic device is akin to inversion. The functions are almost the same. But detached construction produces a much stronger effect, inasmuch as it presents parts of the utterance significant from the author's point of view in a more or less independent manner.

Here are some more examples of detached constructions:

"Daylight was dying, the moon rising, gold behind the poplars." (Galsworthy)

'"I want to go,' he said, miserable." (Galsworthy) "She was lovely: all of her — delightful." (Dreiser)

The italicized phrases and words in these sentences seem to be isolated, but still the connection with the primary members of the corresponding sentences is clearly implied. Thus 'gold behind the poplars' may be

 

interpreted as a simile or a metaphor: the moon like gold was rising behind the poplars, or the moon rising, it was gold...

Detached construction sometimes causes the simultaneous realization of two grammatical meanings of a word. In the sentence" 'I want to go,' he said, miserable", the last word might possibly have been understood as an adverbial modifier to the word said if not for the comma, though grammatically miserably would be expected. The pause indicated by the comma implies that miserable is an adjective used absolutely and referring to the pronoun he.

The same can be said about Dreiser's sentence with the word delightful. Here again the mark of punctuation plays an important role. The dash standing before the word makes the word conspicuous and, being isolated, it becomes the culminating point of the climax— lovely… — delightful, i. e. the peak of the whole utterance. The phrase all of her is also somehow isolated. The general impression suggested by the implied intonation, is a strong feeling of admiration; and, as is usually the case, strong feelings reject coherent and logical syntax.

In the English language detached constructions are generally used in the belles-lettres prose style and mainly with words that have some explanatory function, for example:

"June stood in front, fending off this idle curiosity — a little bit of a thing, as somebody said, 'all hair and spirit'..."

(Galsworthy)

Detached construction as a stylistic device is a typification of the syntactical peculiarities of colloquial language.

Detached construction is a stylistic phenomenon which has so far been little investigated. The device itself is closely connected with the intonation pattern of the utterance. In conversation any word or phrase or even sentence may be made more conspicuous by means of intonation. Therefore precision in the syntactical structure of the sentence is not so necessary from the communicative point of view. But it becomes vitally important in writing.¹ Here precision of syntactical relations is the only way to make the utterance fully communicative. Therefore when the syntactical relations become obscure, each member of the sentence that seems to be dangling becomes logically significant.

A variant of detached construction is parenthesis.

"Parenthesis is a qualifying, explanatory or appositive word, phrase, clause, sentence, or other sequence which interrupts a syntactic construction without otherwise affecting it, having often a characteristic intonation and indicated in writing by commas, brackets or dashes."³

In fact, parenthesis sometimes embodies a considerable volume of predicativeness, thus giving the utterance an additional nuance of meaning or a tinge of emotional colouring.

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¹ See Peshkovsky's remark on p. 202.

² Random House Dictionary of the English Language. N. Y., 1967.

Parallel Construction

 

Parallel construction is a device which may be encountered not so much in the sentence as in the macro-structures dealt with earlier, viz. the SPU and the paragraph. The necessary condition in parallel construction is identical, or similar, syntactical structure in two or more sentences or parts of a sentence in close succession, as in:

"There were,..., real silver spoons to stir the tea with, and real china cups to drink it out of, and plates of the same to hold the cakes and toast in." (Dickens)

Parallel constructions are often backed up by repetition of words (lexical repetition) аnd conjunctions and prepositions (polysyndeton). Pure parallel construction, however, does not depeпd оп anу other kind of repetition but the repetition of the syntactical design of the sentence. Parallel constructions may be partial or complete. Partial parallel arrangement is the repetition of some parts of successive sentences or clauses, as in:

"It is the mob that labour in your fields and serve in your houses—that man your navy and recruit your army,—that have enabled you to defy all the world, and can also defy you when neglect and calamity have driven them to despair." (Byron)

The attributive clauses here all begin with the subordinate conjunction that which is followed by a verb in the same form, except the last (have enabled). The verbs, however, are followed either by adverbial modifiers of place (in your fields, in your houses) or by direct objects (your navy, your army). The third attributive clause is not built on the pattern of the first two, although it preserves the parallel structure in general (that+verb-predicate+object), while the fourth has broken away entirely.

Complete parallel arrangement, also called balance, maintains the principle of identical structures throughout the corresponding sentences, as in:

"The seeds ye sow — another reaps,

The robes ye weave—another wears,

The arms ye forge — another bears."

(P. B. Shelley)

Parallel construction is most frequently used in enumeration, antithesis and in climax, thus consolidating the general effect achieved by these stylistic devices.

Parallel construction is used in different styles of writing with slightly different functions. When used in the matter-of-fact styles, it carries, in the main, the idea of semantic equality of the parts, as inscientific prose, where the logical principle of arranging ideas predominates. In the belles-lettres style parallel construction carries an emotive function. That is why it is mainly used as a technical means in building up other stylistic devices, thus securing their unity.

 

In the following example parallelism backs up repetition, alliteration and antithesis, making the whole sentence almost epigrammatic.

"And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,

And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot." (Shakespeare)

In the example below, parallel construction backs up the rhetorical address and rhetorical questions. The emotional aspect is also enforced by the interjection 'Heaven!'

"Hear me, my mother Earth! behold it, Heaven! —

Have I not had to wrestle with my lot?

Have I not suffered things to be forgiven?

Have I not had my brain seared, my heart riven,

Hopes sapped, name blighted, Life's life lied away?" (Byron)

In some cases parallelism emphasizes the similarity and equates the significance of the parts, as, for example:

"Our senses perceive no extremes. Too much sound deafens us; too much light dazzles us; too great distance or proximity hinders our view."

In other cases parallel construction emphasizes diversity and contrast of ideas. (See the example on p. 223 from the "Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens).

As a final remark it must be stated that the device of parallelism always generates rhythm, inasmuch as similar syntactical structures repeat in close succession. Hence it is natural that parallel construction should very frequently be used in poetical structures. Alternation of similar units being the basic principle of verse, similarity in longer units—i. e. in the stanza, is to be expected.