Functional classification of texts by E.Grosse

Attempts to single out different classes of texts on the basis of text functions are rather numerous in the linguistic literature E. Grosse allocates eight classes of written texts depending on the function, carried out by them:

1. Normative texts carry out the function of regulation, establishment of the norm in a certain sphere of life. Examples of such texts are: laws, charters, treaties, certificates (birth, marriage), etc.
2. The function of contact texts consists in establishment of contact between people. Here belong: salutatory cards, thank-you letters, expressions of sympathy, concern etc.
3. Group texts are intended for identification of certain groups of people. Here belong songs which characterize people as belonging to a certain political party, for example “Marseleza”.
4. The function оf poetic texts, consists in the reflection of the artistic position of the author. The basic content of such texts is embodied in different literary works (verse, novel, comedy etc.).
5. Texts with a dominant feature of self-expression serve as a means of a profound author’s analysis of personal life experience, facts of biography. The desire to express oneself is traced in personal diaries, curriculum vitas, autobiographies etc.
6. Texts with a dominant feature of urge, (inducement, motive, stimulus) have an obvious function of prompting. Such orientation is palpable in advertising texts, program documents of different parties, newspaper commentaries etc.
7. A special, transitive class is made up by the texts, in which two functions dominate simultaneously. Such texts carry out both the function of prompting and transfer of information (for example, informational advertisements).
8. Texts with a dominant feature of special information serve, as a means of information exchange between people. Such function is carried out, for example, by the scientific texts, news in the means of mass communication, weather forecasts etc.

The above-described approach is hardly something new and unique. Functional approach underlies, for example, the scheme of description of text types offered by Ulrih Engel. Among “the global purposes”, serving as a basis for texts differentiation he names: informing, urging, persuasion, edification, establishment of contact, and emphasis.

 Functional differentiation of the texts

 

The notion of style has to do with how we use the language under specific circumstances for a specific purpose. The notion of using English, for instance, involves much more than using our knowledge of its linguistic structure. It also involves awareness of the numerous situations in which English can be used as a special medium of communication with its own set of distinctive and recognizable features. The various branches of linguistics that investigate the topic, such as sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, pragmatics, discourse analysis, text linguistics, and stylistics present a remarkable range of method­ologies and emphases. We'll be interested in how stylistic research treats of the subject.

Linguistic literature gives various definitions of the notion 'style' that generally boil down to the following three meanings of this term:

• A variety of the national language traditionally used in one of the socially identifiable spheres of life that is characterised by a particular set of linguistic features, including vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. These are chiefly associated with the social and regional varieties, such as educated, colloquial, low colloquial, dialectal, uneducated, etc. From this point of view the most broad and well known subdivision in many national languages today usually describes these varieties as neutral, literary (high) and colloquial (low): e. g. Cockney, upper-class, educated English.

• Generally accepted linguistic identity of oral and written units of discourse, such as public speech, a lecture, a friendly letter, a newspaper article, etc. Such units demonstrate style not only in a special choice of linguistic means but in their very arrangement, i. e. composition of a speech act, that creates a category of text marked by oratory, scientific, familiar or publicist style.

• Individual manner of expression determined by personal factors, such as educational background, professional experience, sense of humour, etc.: e.g. personal style of communication, the style of Pushkin's early poetry.

Style is our knowledge how language is used to create and interpret texts and conversational interactions. It involves being aware of the range of situations in which a language can be used in a distinctive and predictable way and of the possibilities available to us when we want to produce or respond to creative uses of the language. As has been mentioned before there are a great many classifications of language varieties that are called sublanguages, sub-styles, registers and functional styles that use various criteria for their definition and categorisation. The term generally accepted by most Russian scholars is functional styles.

Yu. Galperin distinguishes 5 functional styles and suggests their subdi­vision into sub-styles in modern English according to the following scheme:

1. The Belles-Lettres Style:

a) poetry;

b) emotive prose;

c) the language of the drama.

2. Publicist Style:

a) oratory and speeches;

b) the essay;

c) articles.

3. Newspaper Style:

a) brief news items;

b) headlines;

c) advertisements and announcements;

d) the editorial.

 

Scientific Prose Style.