Билет Legends and fairy tales as a small epic genres

General characteristics

An epic may deal with such various subjects as myths, heroic legends, histories, edifying religious tales, animal stories, or philosophical or moral theories. Epicpoetry has been and continues to be used by peoples all over the world to transmit their traditions from one generation to another, without the aid of writing. These traditions frequently consist of legendary narratives about the glorious deeds of their national heroes.

 

Билет Languages of the world and their classification

A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' reflects the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a biological family tree, or in a subsequent modification, to species in a phylogenetic tree of evolutionary taxonomy. No actual biological relationship between speakers is implied by the metaphor. Estimates of the number of living languages vary from 5,000 to 8,000, depending on the precision of one's definition of "language", and in particular on how one classifiesdialects. The 2013 edition of Ethnologue catalogs just over 7,000 living human languages.^[1] A "living language" is simply one that is used as the primary form of communication of a group of people. There are also many dead and extinctlanguages,. Membership of languages in a language family is established by comparative linguistics

 

 

1.ISOLATING (analysis): Isolating languages exhibit no formal paradigms. It has only

one element of basic meaning per word and in such cases they are monomorphemic. For

example, when, as, since, from, etc. and their grammatical status and class-membership is

determined by their syntactic relations with the rest of the sentence in which they occur.

In English invariable words such as prepositions, conjunctions and many adverbs are

isolating in types. Chinese, several other Southeast Asian languages-Vietnamese are

examples of such types. In them the bound morphemes are rare and words containing

more than one morpheme are not thereby grammatically different. Words in such

languages are assigned to word-classes on the basis of different syntactic functions.

2. INFLECTIONAL: If there are several meaningful elements, but are in some way fused

together or are modified in different contexts, the language will be inflectional. In it

words having several gram

m

atical form

s in which it is difficult to assign each category to

a specific and serially identifiable morphemic section. Classical languages such as Latin,

Ancient Greek, Sanskrit are the most obvious examples of such type. For example, Latin

'amo' (I love) is morphemically divisible into two morphemes; root /am-/and suffix /-o/;

but this suffix, though morphemically not further divisible, marks five separate

categories, each syntactically relevant in different ways to other words in sentences in

which the form m

ay occur: singular num

ber, first person, present tense, indicative m

ood

and active voice. English nouns such as men, geese, mice, women are inflectional.

Inflectional languages were held to represent the highest stage of evolution and the m

ost

perfect form of human communication.

3. AGGLUTINATIVE: If there is more than one element of basic meaning, but these

were kept apart from one another and undergo no m

odification, the language is

agglutinative. Morphologically complex words in which individual grammatical

categories may be easily assigned to morphemes stung together serially in the structure of

the word-form exemplify the process of agglutination. Turkish, Sudanese and Japanese

are examples of such type with the Turkish as the perfect one. Languages of these types

are alike of necessity in respect of word structure. Grammars of these languages are very

different in other respects.

Typological classification will ultimately be based on all the systems of language,

phonological as well as grammatical and semantic. But recently an approach for

combining all these systems has been made available.

Билет Myth and their place in the literature

Myth, a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. It is distinguished from symbolic behaviour (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons). Myths are specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing apart from ordinary human experience. The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition

The word myth derives from the Greek mythos, which has a range of meanings from “word,” through “saying” and “story,” to “fiction”; the unquestioned validity of mythos can be contrasted with logos, the word whose validity or truth can be argued and demonstrated. Because myths narrate fantastic events with no attempt at proof, it is sometimes assumed that they are simply stories with no factual basis, and the word has become a synonym for falsehood or, at best, misconception. In the study of religion, however, it is important to distinguish between myths and stories that are merely untrue.

The first part of this article discusses the nature, study, functions, cultural impact, and types of myth, taking into account the various approaches to the subject offered by modern branches of knowledge. In the second part, the specialized topic of the role of animals and plants in myth is examined in some detail. The mythologies of specific cultures are covered in the articles Greek religion, Roman religion, and Germanic religion.

The nature, functions, and types of myth

Myth has existed in every society. Indeed, it would seem to be a basic constituent of human culture. Because the variety is so great, it is difficult to generalize about the nature of myths. But it is clear that in their general characteristics and in their details a people’s myths reflect, express, and explore the people’s self-image. The study of myth is thus of central importance in the study both of individual societies and of human culture as a whole.

Mythology can refer to the collected myths of a group of people—their body of stories which they tell to explain nature, history, and customs.^[1] It can also refer to the study of such myths.^[2][3]

A myth is a story which is not true. The definition of the word myth is still subject to debate. Myths may be very old, or new (for example: urban myths). There may not be records or other proof that they happened, but at least some parts of myths may be true. We know about them from older people telling them to younger people. Some myths may have started as 'true' stories but as people told and re-told them, they may have changed some parts, so they are less 'true'. They may have changed them by mistake, or to make them more interesting. All cultures have myths. Stories about the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses are myths.

Many people once believed in mythological animals and gods. These animals or gods may have control or has power over a part of human or natural life. For example, the Greek god Zeus had powers over lightning and storms. Whenever Zeus wanted to, he could make a storm, and that he made storms to show his anger. Another example is that of the Egyptian god, Atum, who was said to be the creator of everything in the world. In Hindu mythology, the cause ofthunderstorms was said to be the wrath of Indra, the chief of all gods. His most powerful weapon was the Vajra 1, or 'thunderbolt'. It was said that no one could survive after an attack from this weapon.

 

 

Early Enlightenment

Literary classicism began as Europe entered the Enlightenment period, a time that glorified reason and intellectualism. From about the mid-1600s to 1700, authors such as John Dryden, Samuel Pepys, John Locke, Jean Racine and Moliere exemplified these concepts.

Early 1700s

From about 1700 to 1750, the movement picked up in popularity, particularly in England. English writers included Alexander Pope, Johnathan Swift and Joseph Addison, and the French author Voltaire worked during this period.. The events in Johnathan Swift's popular "Gulliver's Travels" mirror the types of situations in ancient epics, although with a satirical twist.

Golden Age

The mid- to late-1700s marked the predominant period for neoclassicism in literature. Samuel Johnson's impact is evident from the term "The Age of Johnson" typically applied to the period.

Classicism is a specific genre of philosophy, expressing itself in literature, architecture, art, and music, which has Ancient Greek and Roman sources and an emphasis on society. It was particularly expressed in the Neoclassicism of the Age of Enlightenment.

This period sought the revival of classical art forms, including Greek drama and music. Examples of this appeal to classicism included Dante, Petrarch, and Shakespeare in poetry and theatre. Tudor drama, in particular, modeled itself after classical ideals and divided works into Tragedy and Comedy. Studying Ancient Greek became regarded as essential for a well-rounded education in the liberal arts.

C. 400 BC

Classicism both as an art style and as the first theory of art was defined by the ancient Greeks, emulated by the Romans, and then continued to appear in various forms across the centuries. Historically, the periods most associated with Classicism are the fifth and fourth centuries BC in Greece with writers such as Aristotle and Sophocles; the first century BC and first century AD in Rome with writers such as Cicero and Vergil; in late seventeenth-century French drama; and in the eighteenth century, especially in France, during a period called the Enlightenment, with such writers as Voltaire and Condorcet. In its varying formulations Classicism affirms the superiority of balance and rationality over impulse and emotion. It aspires to formal precision, affirms order, and eschews ambiguity, flights of imagination, or lack of resolution. Classicism asserts the importance of wholeness and unity; the work of art coheres without extraneous elements or open-ended conclusions.

Both ancient Greek and ancient Roman writers stressed restraint and restricted scope, reason reflected in theme and structure, and a unity of purpose and design. In his Poetics, for example, Aristotle stressed the unities of time, place, and action. Perhaps basing his theory of drama on Sophocles's plays, Aristotle asserted that the action of a place must occur within 24 hours, with all the events taking place in one location, and each event causing the next event. Following these restrictions would produce a pleasingly cohesive drama. In all, the ancients believed that art was a vehicle for communicating the reason and intelligence that permeate the world and human affairs when people act rationally and according to moral precept.

Classicism in the twentieth century can be seen in the literary works and critical theory of T. S. Eliot, for example, and in the use of mythology in various works, an instance of which is Eugene O'Neill's 1931 trilogy, Mourning Becomes Electra, which is based on the Oresteia of Aeschylus.

 

REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORS

Cicero (106 BC-43 BC)

Cicero was born January 3, 106 BC to a wealthy family living south of Rome. His extraordinary intellect was recognized while he was a student, and Cicero was sent to Rome to study law under the famous Quintus Mucius Scaevola. As a young man, Cicero also became interested in philosophy, first studying Platonian philosophy and then Stoicism, an austere philosophy adhered to by some Romans. Cicero spent time abroad to avoid retaliation following his win of a controversial court case in 79 BC While in Athens, Greece, he conversed on Platonian philosophy and refined his oratorical style. Cicero's career took off when he returned to Rome: He was a successful lawyer, was known as the best orator in the republic, and he quickly ascended through the political hierarchy, often taking a position at the youngest age allowed by law. These feats were impressive for a man who was not part of the nobility and, therefore, lacking the familial influence that was so integral to Roman governance. Cicero was a strong supporter of the Roman Republic during a time when the republic was unraveling into a series of dictatorships. After Julius Caesar was murdered and Rome was in upheaval, Cicero was a popular leader, but he was eventually labeled an enemy of state by Marc Antony and Caesar Octavian, who had him assassinated by decapitation on December 7, 43 BC Cicero was a prolific author of speeches, philosophical treatises, and rhetorical treatises. His many famous works include Brutus (46 BC), On Fate (45 BC), and Cato the Elder, On Old Age (44 BC).

Pierre Corneille (1606-1684)

Pierre Corneille was born June 6, 1606, in Rouen, France. The man who would one day be remembered as the Father of French Tragedy, Corneille studied law and worked as a magistrate for the Department of Forests and Rivers in Rouen. In his spare time, Corneille wrote plays. He sold his first comedy, Mélite, to a traveling troupe of actors in 1629. The play was successful and Corneille began to write full time. While his comedies were generally contemporary, his tragedies, for which he is most famous, were often historic and followed classic rules of composition and theme. Médée, produced in 1635, was his first tragedy. Corneille broke with classic tradition—and his sponsor, the powerful Cardinal de Richelieu—when he produced Le Cid (1637), a play that was categorized as a tragicomedy. Despite the wild success of Le Cid with audiences, the controversy arising from Richelieu's condemnation caused Corneille to withdraw from public life and writing for several years. He returned to playwriting with Horace (1640), Cinna (1643), and Polyeucte (1643), all tragedies carefully crafted in the classic tradition. Corneille went on to have a successful and prolific playwriting career, working until his death on October 1, 1684 in Paris.

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1888 and was educated at Harvard, the Sorbonne in Paris, and Merton College at Oxford University. He met Ezra Pound in England in 1914 and settled in London in 1915,the same year his famous poem "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" was published. His collection Poems was published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press in 1919. While evolving as a modern poet, Eliot also made his way as a literary critic and editor, first as an editor for The Egoist and later as the founder of the quarterly The Criterion. In these activities his influence on the modern literary period cannot be overstated. He shaped modern poetry, moving it toward a detached or non-sentimental colloquial idiom as he increasingly affirmed the importance of classical cultural tradition. Eliot converted to Anglicanism during the 1920s and became a British subject in 1927.

T. S. Eliot tried to resurrect the comic drama of Aristophanes in his 1932 poetic play, Sweeney Agonistes, and integrate classical tragic elements in his play Murder in the Cathedral, about the life and death of Thomas Becket. Eliot's literary criticism is extensive, including The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism (1920), The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (1933), and Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (1948). In various essays, Eliot praised the poetic drama of the Jacobean stage and the works of Dryden. In his Poetry and Drama (1951), he analyzed the difficulties in trying to revive poetic drama for the modern stage. In all, a complex literary critic and poet, Eliot articulated some of the most challenging of modern stylistic developments with an appreciation of Classicism. He received the Nobel Prize in 1948.

Euripides (c. 485 BC-c. 406 BC)

A writer during the first classical period in Greece, Euripides was a playwright of great import. The decline of the Golden Age in Greece, as a result of the Peloponnesian War, was witnessed by Euripides, and these changes probably account for the overall tone of his tragedies. His works also serve as a chronicle of Athenian thought during a turbulent time in its history and are excellent examples of Athenian drama.

Euripides was born in 485 BC in Athens, where he spent most of his life. Historians believe that he was from a middle-class background, which suggests that he was well educated. Euripides was also a friend of many of the great thinkers, including Anaxagoras, Socrates, and Protagoras. During his childhood and into early adulthood, Euripides enjoyed the splendor of an Athens rich in resources and political allies.

In 455, Euripides wrote his first tetralogy, a composition including three tragedies and a satyr play. Ninety-two plays are known to have been written by the dramatist after the start of the war. Only nineteen of his plays still exist, most of them tragedies in the form of divine myths, marital narratives, and noble family histories.

Euripides's works were often not warmly received by the Greeks of his time, as he did not believe in the triumph of reason over passion, nor did he believe that reason and order regulated the universe. These contrary beliefs are expressed by the gods of his plays, who do not always act in just or compassionate ways, even exhibiting the less desirable characteristics of their mortal counterparts. It has been suggested that, as a result of these differences, Euripides's work was not popular at dramatic festivals, earning him relatively few prizes. Euripides eventually left Athens in response to his critics and at the invitation of the Macedonia king Archelaus. Archelaus requested that Euripides's writings contribute to a new cultural center the king envisioned as a rival to Athens. Unfortunately, Euripides lived less than two years in Macedonia before he died.

Despite his unpopularity, Euripides has been labeled a stylistic innovator for his unconventional beliefs, particularly by contemporary critics who contend that his works contributed to the creation of modern drama. In his own time, Sophocles and others admired his work for its psychological realism and its use of simple, everyday dialogue in favor of the decorative aristocratic language that dominated the genre. The Dionysian festival revived his plays one hundred years after his death in 406 and they enjoyed a much greater reception.

Homer (c. 750 BC)

It is of interest to note that Homer, whom many consider one of the greatest poets of western civilization, may not have existed. Various critics and historians offer conflicting views as to whether the man actually lived or was a fictional character given credit for the work of many. Some believe he was a bard by profession, a singing poet who composed and recited verses on legends and history. It is difficult to say when exactly the poet would have written. Based on language and style, it can be narrowed down to the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries BC The language of his works, a blend of Ionic and Aeolic, indicates that he was perhaps from the island of Chios, off the western coast of Asia Minor, where one family has actually claimed him as a legitimate ancestor.

In support of this theory, Demokodos, who appears in the Odyssey, is believed to be a portrait of Homer, a blind minstrel who sings about the fall of Troy. Until the third century BC, the Greeks insisted that an individual named Homer was responsible for both the Iliad and the Odyssey, among other various minor works that have been attributed to the author. However, grammarians eventually began to wonder if the Iliad and the Odyssey were written by two different people.

In direct opposition to the idea of a single author, critics also point out that an anonymous group of bards may have been responsible for the work of Homer. Blind, wandering old bards were referred to as "homros" and may be the creative energy behind a fictional Homer. Scholars have also identified many inconsistencies or stylistic differences between the Iliad and the Odyssey, supporting the idea that they are the work of two different authors. Regardless of whether Homer's voice is that of one man or several, the literary greatness of the Iliad and the Odyssey is unchallenged even today.

Jean Racine (1639-1699)

Born on December 22, 1639, in La Ferte-Milon, France, Jean Racine was orphaned as an infant and raised by his paternal grandparents. Racine's education was dictated by Jansenist doctrine, a sect within the Roman Catholic Church. Aside from his religious indoctrination, Racine also studied Greek and Latin literature. After studying theology in the south of France, Racine returned to Paris, where he befriended Molière. Molière's troupe performed Racine's first play, La thébaïde, ou les frères ennemis (translated as The Thebaid), a 1664 play about the rivalry between Oedipus's sons. After Molière agreed to put on his second play, Alexandre le grand, a year later, the friendship between Racine and Molière ended over creative differences when Racine pulled the play two weeks into its production.

This would be one of a series of conflicts for Racine. Upon seeing Alexandre le grand, Corneille harshly criticized Racine for his work, in turn leading to a bitter rivalry between the two dramatists. Racine incited the anger of the Jansenists for denouncing them publicly, making nasty comments that painted the Catholic sect in a most unfavorable light. Finally, the Duchesse de Bouillona was an enemy of Racine and intentionally engaged in activities calculated to subvert Racine's career as a dramatist. In one instance, the duchess encouraged another dramatist to write a play to rival Racine's production. Additionally, she purposely purchased a group of good seats, only to leave them vacant on the opening nights of Racine's plays.

 

 

Traditional Criticism

The traditional criticism approach examines you examine how the author’s life, his/her biographical information, contemporary times and effect of his life circumstances on his inspiration and their reflection in his works.

New Criticism

The new criticism approach is mostly used in poetry analysis and evaluates elements like diction, imagery, stanza structure, verse form, meanings, particularly and complexities of meaning.

This form of critical analysis refrains from analyzing the biographical and historical context of a poem.

Sociological Criticism

The sociological criticism approach deals with the direct analysis of society with reference to societal problems, conflicts and contemporary issues. Areas of analysis typically include events, happenings, cultural trends and effects of modernism.

Rhetorical Criticism

The rhetorical criticism approach makes use of the technique of persuasion and aims to understand the conveyance of the content of poetry and other works of art. It evaluates the angle of approach, presentation of arguments, evidence and attitude.

Stylistic Criticism

The stylistic critical technique evaluates the manner of presentation for any work and focuses on the minor details like diction, vocabulary, tone and various style elements.

Metaphorical Criticism

A metaphorical critical analysis makes use of the use, nature, purpose and evaluation of metaphors used in any work. The analysis probes into the meaning and illustration along with the message conveyed of the metaphorical stance being used.

Structuralist Criticism

The structural critical analysis studies symmetry, trends and patterns for a particular society or for a societal comparative analysis. of various societies. underlying patterns of symmetry which are held to be common to all societies. Corroboration is drawn from sociology and anthropology, and the study techniques categorize and evaluate the work in larger context rather than assessing its quality alone.

Biographical Criticism

A biographical critical analysis evaluates a with a poem in terms of the reflection of the writer’s psychology, or as biographical data piece. This kind of analysis focuses on the interrelationship of a particular work in context of understanding the influences, inspiration and circumstances of the writer.

Marxist Criticism

In case of the Marxist critical analysis, poetry is analyzed on the basis of its political correctness and calls for mention of support for workers against capitalist exploitation and perils of free market perils.

Historical Criticism

Historical criticism analyzes poem works in their historical context and evaluates the use of allusions, words, phrases and diction along with conventions and expectations at the time of the written works produced.

Moralist Criticism

The moral critical approach examines poetry and art works against standard ethical and civil criteria; humanistic, societal impact, tolerance, equality, social justice and sensitivity.

This approach adheres to the humanistic and civil element in poems, dramas and other art work and evaluates the impact and influence of works of literature in a stringent moral context.

Feminist Criticism

Feminist critical analysis is concerned with the politics of women’s authorship, representation of the women’s condition within literature. Origin of feminine criticism is originally derived from the classic works of 19th Century women authors like George Eliot and Margaret Fuller.

Based on the feminist theory, the feminist critical evaluation analyzes elements like stereotypes of women, images of women in literature, literary mistreatment of women, place of women in patriarchal societies and challenges faced by women in the modern era.

Vowels of GLs

GLs also had some specific features in the system of vowels.

IE short /ŏ/ and /ǎ/ correspond to GLs short /ǎ/: Gr octō – Goth ahtau, Rus ночь – Germ nacht

IE long /ō/ and long / ā / correspond to GLs long /ō/: Lat frāter – Goth brōþar (брат), Lat flōs –

OE blōma (цветок).

Short /ŏ/ & long /ā/ appeared in GLs from inner sources.

Germanic fracture

In GLs the quality of a stressed vowel in some cases depended on the type of the sound that

followed it. This dependence is reflected in the notion of fracture. The fracture concerns two

pairs of vowels: /e/ & /i/, /u/ & /o/.

In the root syllable IE /e/ = GL /i/, if it was followed by 1) /i/ 2) /j/ 3) nasal+consonant, else IE

/e/ = G /e/.

Examples: Lat med i us – OE middle (середина), Lat ve nt us – OE wind (ветер) but Lat edere –

OE etan (есть).

IE /u/ = GL /u/ if followed by 1) /u/ 2) nasal+consonant, else IE /u/ = G /o/.

Example: Lat sunus – OE sunu (сын)

Vowel gradation, or Ablaut

Vowel gradation, or ablaut (“ab” means reducing, “laut” – sound) was inherited by GLs from

ancient IE languages. There are two kinds of vowel gradation: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative gradation:

Different vowels appear alternatively in various forms of one and the same word: in IE /e/ and

/o/, in GL /i/ and /a/.

Examples: везу – воз, беру – сбор, Goth hilpan – halp (preterit sg).

Quantitative gradation:

is represented by the alternation of a short vowel with the corresponding long one and also

alternation of a short vowel with the zero of the vowel.

Examples: беру – брать, OE findan  P2 fnden  fundan

The origin of gradation has been a matter of discussion for more than 100 years. The prevailing

theory is that it might be caused by different stressed conditions:

- the full stress brings the high degree /o/;

- the weakened stress causes the medium degree /e/;

- the unstressed position results in the zero of a vowel.

In GLs vowel gradation was used most constantly in deriving grammatical forms of strong verbs.

The stress system in GLs

In IELs there were two types of stress: musical pitch and force (dynamic) stress. Besides,

in IE the word stress was free. In the GLs it is fixed. It was discovered that in the course of the

Common Germanic Period word stress came to be fixed on the first meaningful part of the word

(root-syllable). This fixed stress couldn’t but result in weakening of unstressed positions which

in its turn resulted in neutralization of certain vowels, dropping, change of their quality and

quantity. Verner’s Law, however, shows that the root vowel in GLs might be unstressed and this

lead to the conclusion that originally GLs had a free stress system.

Adjective

In GLs adjective declension is represented by

1. strong declension which is a combination of substantival and pronominal endings;

2. weak declenstion which reflected the declension of n-stem substantives.

Adjective declension in all GLs has no parallel with other IE languages.

Verb

The system of verbs of all GLs consisted of 3 types:

1. strong verbs,

2. weak verbs,

3. united preterit-present verbs.

Strong verbs used vowel gradation to derive their preterit and P2. Examples: OE bindan

(inf) - bånd (pret sg) – bundum (pret pl) – bundans (P2) (ModE bind – связывать).

Weak verbs derived the same forms with the help of a dental suffix –d-. It’s phonetic

variants were /t/, /d/, /Ɵ/. Examples: OE styrian – styrede – styredon – styred (ModE stir –

шевелить).

Preterit-present verbs used vowel gradation to derive the forms of the present tense while

their form of the preterit was build with the help of the dental suffix. Examples: OE wītan (inf) -

wāt (pres sg) – wĭton (pres pl) – wiste (pret sg) – wiston (pret pl) - ʓewiten (P2) (знать).

Word order

In IE as it was a highly inflected language word order was free. In the GLs word order gradually

became fixed. In some languages like English it resulted in the fixation of the position of each

member of the sentence. Sometimes it also resulted in the frame constructions and inversions.

Germanic alphabets

Through the history of their development GLs used 3 different alphabets.

Runic alphabet

The runes were used as letters, each symbol indicated a separate sound. It is supposed that the

runic ABC is based on the Latin or some other Italic alphabet, close to Latin in writing. But the

material and technique of writing used by Germanic tribes in their early times caused

considerable modifications of Latin in the Runic ABC.

It is supposed that the Runic ABC originated in the 2-3 AD on the banks of the Rhine or the

Danube where Germanic tribes could come into contact with the Roman culture. Since the Runic

ABC was used by different Germanic tribes (Goths, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians) it was

adopted to the needs of each of language. New letters were added into it, some of the original fell

out.

Ulphila

Ulphila’s Gothic ABC originated in the 4th century. It is based on the Greek ABC but has some

Latin and Runic letters. This is the ABC of Ulphila’s gothic translation of the Bible. But in

modern editions of Gothic texts a Latin transcription of the Gothic ABC is used.

Latin alphabet

It began to be used when a new technique of writing was introduced, i.e. spreading of colour,

paint on the surface instead of cutting and engraving the letters. Introduction of the Latin ABC

was stimulated by the spread of Christianity, as Christian religious texts were written in Latin.

The Latin ABC was also modified to the peculiar needs of the separate GLs.

 

What does an Author do?

Authors use their voice in the form of text to express ideas, thoughts, images and information. There are various types of writers and many paths to choose from. Here are just a few:

Story Writer -
is someone that is typically a freelancer and specializes in writing short fiction stories for a variety of magazines. Many well-known authors started out as story writers.

Author (or Novelist) -
is someone who writes long stories. Depending on the genre, a fiction book can have between 80,000 to 200,000 words, so this type of writer needs to be able to plan and execute his work. This requires dedication and patience.

Non-Fiction Writer -
is someone who writes in a specialized field. This may include technical writers and academic writers. They are able to take a large amount of information and break it down so it is readable text. This type of writing requires fact and research checking.

Journalist -
is someone whose writing is published in newspapers and magazines and read by thousands if not millions of people. This type of writer is typically a freelancer and is always working to a deadline. Quality of work is extremely important as is making a name for yourself, as this will help to earn a respectable income.

Article Writer -
is someone who writes a short piece, for example a food article or travel article. He or she will write for a variety of magazines, using crisp and concise language to make the article informative and fun to read. Having specialized knowledge is excellent, as article writers are always needed for medical, technical or commercial magazines.

Online Writer -
is someone who is typically a freelancer and writes articles or short stories for websites and blogs. The internet is a great way to provide amateur writers an outlet for their creative work, enabling them to learn and progress in their skill level as they climb upwards in their writing career.

Ghostwriter -
is an anonymous writer who writes books, articles, stories and other texts that are officially credited to another person. He or she needs to keep the voice consistent with that of the official “author.” This type of writing is challenging, as there is a lot of planning, communication, re-writing and patience needed in order to satisfy the client.

Copywriter -
is someone who writes good marketing text (or copy) in order to sell something. A good copywriter will get paid well, as good copy sells more products. The key to this type of writing is being able to garner the trust of the reader while evoking interest and enthusiasm in the product.

Business Writer -
is someone who generally writes for cutting-edge professional magazines and newspapers. Business magazines and newspapers need writers that have relevant business knowledge, excellent language skills and who are on the same, if not better level, than the reader.

Columnist -
is someone who writes for newspapers, magazines and newsletters. Some columnists are syndicated; their articles are seen in hundreds of newspapers, and a new article needs to be written every week.

Persuasive writing's main purpose is to persuade. Unlike expository writing, persuasive writing contains the opinions and biases of the author. To convince others to agree with the author's point of view, persuasive writing contains justifications and reasons. It is often used in letters of complaint, advertisements or commercials, affiliate marketing pitches, cover letters, and newspaper opinion and editorial pieces.

4. Narrative Writing:

Narrative writing's main purpose is to tell a story. The author will create different characters and tell you what happens to them (sometimes the author writes from the point of view of one of the characters—this is known as first person narration). Novels, short stories, novellas, poetry, and biographies can all fall in the narrative writing style. Simply, narrative writing answers the question: “What happened then?”

Trails in fiction

A metaphor is a figure of speech that refers to something as being the same as another thing for rhetorical effect.^[1]

In simple English, when you portray a person, place, thing, or an action as being something else, even though it is not actually that “something else,” you are speaking metaphorically. “He is the black sheep of the family” is a metaphor because he is not a sheep and is not even black. However, we can use this comparison to describe an association of a black sheep with that person. A black sheep is an unusual animal and typically stays away from the herd, and the person you are describing shares similar characteristics

Metaphor is realizing two lexical meanings simultaneously.
Metaphors which are absolutely unexpected, i.e. quite unpredictable, are called genuine metaphors:
A puppet government
He is a mule.
He is not a man, he is just a machine!
Genuine metaphors are mostly to be found in poetry and emotive prose.
Metaphors, commonly used in speech are called dead (stereotyped, hackneyed), fixed in dictionaries: A ray of hope, roots of evil, to fish for compliments, to bark up the wrong tree, to apple one’s eye.

Metonymy is the substitution of one word for another with which it is associated:
‘The White House said…’ (the American government); the press (newspapers and magazines); the grave(death); The hall applauded;
I am fond of Agatha Christie;

Synecdoche is a form of metonymy: using the name of a part to denote a whole or vice versa: the police (for a handful of officers); bread (for food).

 

Simile is a figure of speech in which the subject is compared to another subject. By means of the comparison the objects are characterized.
The formal elements of a simile are like, as, as if, as though, such as, seem, etc.
2. She seemed nothing more than a doll.
3. Maidens, like moths are ever caught by glare.
In the English language there is a long list of hackneyed similes, which are not genuine similes any more but have become cliches:
Faithful as a dog; to work as a horse; stubborn as a mule; slow as a tortoise; busy as a bee; hungry as a bear; to swim like a fish

 

Irony (‘mockery concealed) is a form of speech in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the words used.
Well done! A fine friend you are!
‘What a noble illustration of the tender laws of this favoured country!’
Irony must not be confused with humour, although they have very much in common. Humour always causes laughter. But the function of irony is not to produce a humorous effect. Irony is generally used to convey a negative feeling: irritation, displeasure, pity or regret.

 

Epithet coveys the subjective attitude of the writer as it is used to characterize an object and pointing out to the reader some properties or features of the object. Epithet aims at evaluation of these properties or features.
Heart-burning smile; wild winds; fantastic terrors; voiceless sands;
unearthly beauty; deep feelings; sleepless bay.

 

Oxymoron is a combination of two words in which their meaning clash, being opposite in sense:
Sweet sorrow; pleasantly ugly face; deafening silence; horribly beautiful.

Allusion is reference to a famous historical, literary, mythological, biblical or everyday life character or event, commonly known. As a rule no indication of the source is given.
It’s his Achilles heel.

 

Antonomasia is intended to point out the leading, most characteristic features of a person or of event. It categorizes the person and simultaneously indicates both the general and the particular. Antonomasia can be defined as a variety of allusion:
Vralman, Molchalin, Mr. Zero, Don Juan.

 

Zeugma (syllepsis) is the use of a word in the same grammatical but different semantic relations. It creates a semantic incongruity which is often humorous:
1. He lost his hat and his temper.
2. ‘…and covered themselves with dust and glory.-Mark Twain

Pun (also known as paronomasia) is a deliberate confusion of similar – sounding words for humorous effect. Puns are often used in jokes and riddles.
2. The name Justin Time sounds like ‘just in time’
4. Officer.-What steps (measures) would you take if an enemy tank were coming towards you?
Soldier. - Long ones.

 

Interjections and Exclamatory Words are used to express our strong feelings; they are conventional symbols of human emotions.
The interjection is not a sentence; it is a word with strong emotive meaning. Oh! Ah! Pooh! Gosh! Alas! Heavens! Dear me! God! Come on! Look here! By the Lord! Bless me! Humbug! Terrible! Awful! Great! Wonderful! Fine! Man! Boy! Why! Well!

 

Periphrasis denotes the use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter and planer form of expression. It is also called circumlocution due to the round-about or indirect way to name a familiar object.
There are traditional periphrases which are not stylistic devices, they are synonymic expressions:
The giver of rings, the victor lord, the leader of hosts (king),
the play of swords(battle), a shield-bearer(warrior),

Hyperbole is a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration of a phenomenon or an object.
He was so tall that I could not see his face.

 

Proverbs and sayings are brief statements showing in condensed form life experience of the community and serving as conventional symbols for abstract ideas. Proverbs and sayings have some typical features: rhythm, sometimes rhyme and or alliteration.
1. ‘Early to bed and early to rise,
2.Out of sight, out of mind.

Epigrams are terse, witty statements, showing the turn of mind of the originator. Epigram is a stylistic device akin to a proverb, the only difference being that epigrams are coined by people whose names we know, while proverbs are the coinage of the people.
‘A God that can be understood is not a God.’

 

Quotation is a repetition of a phrase or statement from a book, speech and the like used by the way of illustration, proof or as a basis for further speculation on the matter.

 

Allegory is a device by which the names of objects or characters are used figuratively, representing some more general things, good or bad qualities.

A type of allegory is Personification.

Personification is a form of comparison in which human characteristics, such as emotions, personality, and behavior and so on, are attributed to an animal, object or idea.
The proud lion surveyed his kingdom.
The primary function of personification is to make abstract ideas clearer to the reader by comparing them to everyday human experience.

Onomatopoeia (sound imitation) is a combination of speech sounds which imitate sounds produced in nature (wind) by things (tools), by people (laughing), by animals (barking). ▲ plink, plink, fizz.

Direct onomatopoeia: words which imitate natural sounds. ▲ buzz. Indirect: combination of sounds which makes the sound of the utterance an echo of its sense. ▲ Камышишуршатвтиши.

Alliteration: repetition of similar consonant sounds in close succession. ▲ Functional, fashionable, formidable.

Assonance: repetition of similar vowel sounds, usually in stressed syllables. ▲ Grace, space,pace.

Rhyme: repetition of identical or similar terminal sounds or sound combinations in words. ▲ One, two, three, four, five. I caught a fish alive. Assonance of vowel [ai].

Rhythm: complex unit defined as a regular recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables (strong and weak elements) which determine the meter in poetry or the measured flow of words in prose.

▲ One, two, three, four.Mary at the cottage door.

Graphical expressive means include the use of punctuation, graphical arrangement of phrases, violation of type and spelling.

Graphon: the intentional violation of the generally accepted spelling used to reflect peculiarities of pronunciation or emotional state of the speaker. Types of graphon: multiplication, hyphenation, capitalization, apostrophe. Functions: - to give the reader an idea about smth (level of education, emotional state, origin). – to attract attention. – to make smb memorize it. – to show smth, explain. Graphical means are popular with advertisers. They individualize speech of the character or advertising slogan. ▲ A better stain getter. ▲ How do you spell relief? R-O-L-I-P-S – to make reader / listener to remember it.

 

Litotes is a figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite. For example, instead of saying that someone is mean, you can say he is not very generous.

He's not a very generous man.

She is not very beautiful.

He is not the friendliest person I 've met.

Alliteration

repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of consecutive or nearby words

 

assonance

repetition of vowel sounds at the beginning of consecutive words or nearby words

The origin of the language.

The Origin of Language (by Edward Vajda)

Yesterday we discussed the gulf that separates the creative use of language by humans from the inborn signals of animals. Bees returning from their first flight out of the hive know perfectly how to perform their complex nectar dances. With humans, the precise form of language must be acquired through exposure to a speech community. Words are definitely not inborn, but the capacity to acquire and language and use it creatively seems to be inborn. Noam Chomsky calls this ability the LAD (Language Acquisition Device). Today we will ask two questions: how did this language instinct in humans originate? And how did the first language come into being?

Concerning the origin of the first language, there are two main hypotheses, or beliefs. Neither can be proven or disproved given present knowledge.

1) Belief in divine creation. Many societies throughout history believed that language is the gift of the god to humans. The most familiar is found in Genesis 2:20, which tells us that Adam gave names to all living creatures. This belief predicates that humans were created from the start with an innate capacity to use language.

It can't be proven that language is as old as humans, but it is definitely true that language and human society are inseparable. Wherever humans exist language exists. Every stone age tribe ever encountered has a language equal to English, Latin, or Greek in terms of its expressive potential and grammatical complexity. Technologies may be complex or simple, but language is always complex. Charles Darwin noted this fact when he stated that as far as concerns language, "Shakespeare walks with the Macedonian swineherd, and Plato with the wild savage of Assam." In fact, it sometimes seems that languages spoken by preindustrial societies are much more complex grammatically than languages such as English (example: English has about seven tense forms and three noun genders; Kivunjo, a Bantu language spoken on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, has 14 tenses and about 20 noun classes.) There are no primitive languages, nor are any known to have existed in the past--even among the most remote tribes of stone age hunter-gatherers.

2) Natural evolution hypothesis. At some point in their evolutionary development humans acquired a more sophisticated brain which made language invention and learning possible. In other words, at some point in time humans evolved a language acquisition device, whatever this may be in real physical terms. The simple vocalizations and gestures inherited from our primate ancestors then quickly gave way to a creative system of language--perhaps within a single generation or two

This hypothesis cannot be proven either. Homo sapiens, "the wise human," should perhaps really be called Homo loquens, "the speaking human" because language and humans are everywhere found together, whereas wisdom among humans is much more selectively distributed.

First, there are four imitation hypotheses that hold that language began through some sort of human mimicry of naturally occurring sounds or movements:

1) The "ding-dong" hypothesis. Language began when humans started naming objects, actions and phenomena after a recognizable sound associated with it in real life. This hypothesis holds that the first human words were a type of verbal icon, a sign whose form is an exact image of its meaning: crash became the word for thunder, boom for explosion.

The problem with this hypothesis is that onomatopoeia (imitation of sound, auditory iconicity) is a very limited part of the vocabulary of any language; imitative sounds differ from language to language: Russian: ba-bakh=bang, bukh= thud.

2) The "pooh-pooh" hypothesis holds that the first words came from involuntary exclamations of dislike, hunger, pain, or pleasure, eventually leading to the expression of more developed ideas and emotions. In this case the first word would have been an involuntary ha-ha-ha, wa-wa-wa These began to be used to name the actions which caused these sounds.

The problem with this hypothesis is that, once again, emotional exclamations are a very small part of any language. They are also highly language specific. For instance, to express sudden pain or discomfort: Eng. ouch; Russ. oi.

3) The "bow-wow" hypothesis (the most famous and therefore the most ridiculed hypothesis) holds that vocabulary developed from imitations of animal noises, such as: Moo, bark, hiss, meow, quack-quack. But, once again, onomotopoeia is a limited part of the vocabulary of any language. The linguistic renditions of animal sounds differ considerably from language to language:

b) Cat-meow, Russ.myaoo, Chin--mao, Jap.nya-nya purr in French is ron ron.

c) Pig: oink-oink; Russ. hryu-hryu; Chin.--oh-ee-oh-ee; Jap. bu-bu.

d) Russian rooster: kukareiku. Japanese kokekoko

4) A somewhat different hypothesis is the "ta-ta" hypothesis. Charles Darwin hypothesized (though he himself was sceptical about his own hypothesis) that speech may have developed as a sort of mouth pantomime: the organs of speech were used to imitate the gestures of the hand.

It is very possible that human language, which today is mostly verbal, had its origin in some system of gestures. Human gestures, however, just like onomatopoeic words, differ from culture to culture. Cf. English crossing the finger for good luck vs. Russian "fig" gesture; nodding for yes vs. for no in Turkish and Bulgarian;

A second set of hypotheses on language origin holds that language began as a response to some acute necessity in the community.

1) Warning hypothesis. Language may have evolved from warning signals such as those used by animals. Perhaps language started with a warning to others, such as Look out, Run, or Help to alert members of the tribe when some lumbering beast was approaching.

2) The "yo-he-ho" hypothesis. Language developed on the basis of human cooperative efforts. The earliest language was chanting to simulate collective effort, whether moving great stones to block off cave entrances from roving carnivores or repeating warlike phrases to inflame the fighting spirit.

Plato also believed that language developed out of sheer practical necessity. And Modern English has the saying: Necessity is the mother of invention.

3) A more colorful idea is the lying hypothesis. all real intentions or emotions get involuntarily expressed by gesture, look or sound. He proposed that the need to deceive and lie--

There are no scientific tests to evaluate between these competing hypotheses. This is why in the late 19th century the Royal Linguistic Society in London actually banned discussion and debate on the origin of language out of fear that none of the arguments had any scientific basis at all and that time would be needlessly wasted on this fruitless enquiry.

Where did grammar come from? There is nothing like grammar (patterns with definite functions yet no set meaning) in animal systems of communication.

In isolated instances it can be shown that a grammatical pattern developed from chance lexical combinations: suffix -hood from OE word haeda= state. childhood, boyhood, puppyhood.

But these are isolated instances. How language developed a complex grammar remains a complete mystery. This means that how language developed is equally a mystery. We simply don't know how language may have actually evolved from simple animal systems of sounds and gestures.

There are about 5,000 languages spoken on Earth today. We know that there were even more spoken in the past, when most people lived in small bands or tribes.

There are two age-old beliefs regarding world's present linguistic diversity.

1) The oldest belief is that there was a single, original language. monogenesis. And similar stories are found in other parts of the world.

a) A Basque scholar claimed that the first language was Basque.

b) A German philologist of the last century maintained that German was the first language and that all other languages are inferior corruptions of it.

2) the hypothesis of parallel evolution. This hypothesis holds that, as humans evolved parallel in more than one location; each group developed its own unique language. The hypothesis of the multiple origin of humankind is sometimes called the Candelabra theory. The candelabra hypothesis tends to be favored in East Asia and by a smaller number of scientists in the WestThe major language families of today would be descended from these separate mother tongues.

3) Scientific monogenesis: The Mother Tongue theory.

Many modern scholars believe in a theory of monogenesis that has come to be called the Mother Tongue Theory. This theory holds that one original language spoken by a single group of Homo sapiens perhaps as early as 150 thousand years ago gave rise to all human languages spoken on the Earth today. As humans colonized various continents, this original mother tongue diverged through time to form the numerous languages spoken today.

Regardless of the origin of language, the fact remains that there are over 5,000 mutually unintelligible forms of human speech used on Earth today.

What is expressed concisely in one language requires a phrase in another language. (Examples of aspect and evidentiality; also words like Swahili mumagamagama "a person who habitually loses things" and Russian zajchik "the rainbow reflection from glass." Сross-language comparisons fall under a branch of linguistics called language typology.

1) First, to try to trace the original mother tongue (or mother tongues). Linguists who compare modern languages try to reconstruct ancient languages are called comparative linguists.

2) Second, because languages change more slowly than the environment in which they are spoken, languages contain all sorts of indications of bygone culture. Study a language--any language--and you will learn much about the history of the people who speak that language. You will also be taking a crucial step toward understanding the contemporary culture of the speakers.

 

14 Means of epic Imagery, in a literary text, is an author's use of vivid and descriptive language to add depth to his or her work. It appeals to human senses to deepen the reader's understanding of the work. Powerful forms of imagery engage all of the senses pro lenses.

Imagery often makes writing more fascinating through the use of sensual details and adds to deeper symbolic meaning to the text alluring to all senses. Imagery is not defined to visual imagery; it includes olfactory (smell), auditory (sound), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), thermal (heat and cold), and kinesthetic sensation (movement).

Visual Imagery: relating to visual scenes, graphics, pictures, or the sense of sight.
Example:

 

• The clouds were low and hairy like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.
• The iced branches shed ‘crystal shells.’

Auditory Imagery: relating to sounds, noises, music, sense of hearing or choosing words with a sound that imitates real sounds in the form of onomatopoeia. Words such as “bang!” “achoo!” “cacaw!” "buzz!" all work to describe sounds that most people are familiar with. Onomatopoeia is used mostly in poetry, but has its function in prose.
Example:

 

• Joanna, the minute she set her eyes on him, let loose the scream of her life.
• The rumbling sound of clouds, indicated start of monsoon.

Olfactory Imagery: is concerning aromas, smell, odors, scents, or the sense of smell.
Example:

 

• She smelled as sweet as roses.
• I was awakened by the strong smell of a freshly brewed coffee.

Gustatory Imagery: pertains to tastes, flavors, palates or the sense of taste.
Example:

 

• Christina served the bland sea-prawns pasta with the sweet mariana sauce.
• Joshua touched the naked wire. It was the biggest mistake of his life.

Tactile Imagery: is concerning physical touches, textures or the sense of touch.
Example:

 

• The cold water touched his skin and he felt a shudder run down his spine.
• Chloe came running and touched every nook and corner of my face with her slobbering tongue.

Kinesthetic Imagery: pertains to movements or the sense of bodily motion.
Example:

 

• Ange's heartbeat was so loud, she felt it could be heard across the room.
• The clay oozed between Jacob's fingers as he let out a squeal of pure glee.

Organic Imagery or Subjective Imagery: are the personal experiences of a character's physique, body, including emotion and the senses of hunger, thirst, fatigue, sickness, agony and pain.
Example: Life is too much like a pathless wood.

 

 

16. The Modernist Period in English Literature occupied the years from shortly after the beginning of the twentieth century through roughly 1965. Modernism was set in motion, in one sense, through a series of cultural shocks. The first of these great shocks was the Great War, which ravaged Europe from 1914 through 1918, known now as World War One

Modernism encompasses a variety of specific artistic and philosophical movements including symbolism, futurism, surrealism, expressionism, imagism, vorticism, dada, and others.

John Locke's (1632–1704) empiricism, which saw the mind beginning as a tabula rasa, a blank slate (An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690).

by Carl Jung (1875–1961)