1. Stylistics as a branch of general linguistics

Oxymoron

Oxymoron is a combination of two words in which the meanings of the two clash, being opposite in sense, for example: 'low skyscraper', 'sweet sorrow', 'nice rascal', 'pleasantly ugly face', 'horribly beautiful, 'a deafening silence'. If the primary meaning of the qualifying word changes or weakens, the stylistic effect of oxymoron is lost. For example such word- combinations as 'awfully nice', 'awfully glad', 'terribly sorry' now are used simply intensifiers (усилители) because the words awfully and terribly have lost their primary logical meaning. There are two main structural models: adjective +noun and adverb + adjective.

22. Antonomasia

Antonomasia is the interplay between the logical and nominal meanings (взаимодействие между логическими и номинальные значения). Most proper names are built on some law of analogy. Many of them end in -son (as Johnson) or -er (Fletcher). But such names as Miss Blue-Eyeses (Carter Brown) or Miss Fancy or Scrooge or Mr. Zero may be called token (знак) or telling names. They give information to the reader about the bearer (владелец) of the name. Antonomasia is intended (предназначена) to point out the leading, most characteristic feature of a person or event, at the same time disclosing (раскрытие) this leading peculiar feature as a proper name to the person or event concerned. Eg. Ivan the Terrible, Alexander Nevsky, Jaraslav Mudriy, Richard the Lion Heart. Antonomasia is very often used in the belles-lettres style as well. Eg. "I say this to our American friends. Mr. Facing-Both-Ways does not get very far in this world." (The Times)

23. Simile (сравнение)

Simile [] is a direct comparison creating a vivid image because the object with witch we compare is well-known as an example of the quality in question. Ordinary comparison and simile must not be confused. They represent two diverse processes. . Comparison means weighing [] (взвешивание) two objects belonging to one class of things with the purpose of establishing the degree of their sameness or difference. Comparative constructions are not regarded as simile, if no image is created. E.g.: 1) She is not so clever as her brother. 2) The little kitten is as quick as its mother-cat is.

To use a simile means to characterize one object with another one belonging to an entirely (полностью []) different class of things. ‘E.g.: She was like a silvery flower of the night. (Моэм)’. Similes have formal elements in their structure: connective words such as like, as, such as, as if, seem.

In the English language there is a long list of hackneyed (избитый ) similes pointing out the analogy between the various qualities, states or actions of a human being and the animals supposed to be the bearers (носители) of the given quality, etc, for example: treacherous (вероломный) as a snake, sly (хитрый ) as a fox, busy as a bee, industrious (трудолюбивый ) as an ant, faithful (верный) as a dog, to work like a horse, to fly like a bird, to swim like a duck and many others of the same type. These combinations, however, are not genuine (подлинный) similes and have become clichés in which the second component has become simply an adverbial intensifier (усилитель).

24. Periphrasis (перифраз)

Periphrasis [] is a device which denotes the use of a longer phrasing in place of a possible shorter and plainer form of expression. It is also called circumlocution [] due to the round-about or indirect way used to name a familiar object or phenomenon. Periphrasis represents the renaming (переименование) of an object. This device has a long history. It was widely used in the Bible and in Homer's Iliad. As a poetic device it was very popular in Latin poetry (Virgil). Due to this influence it became an important feature of epic and descriptive poetry throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. It is due to this practice of re-naming things that periphrasis became one of the most favoured devices in the 17th and 18th centuries giving birth even to a special trend in literature in France and other countries called periphrastic (изобилующий перифразами). The essence of the device is that it is decodable only in context. E.g. ‘I understand you are poor, and wish to earn money and wish to earn money by nursing the little boy, my son, who has been so prematurely deprived of what can never be replaced.’ (Dickens) (который был так преждевременно лишены того, что никогда не может быть заменен). The object clause 'what can never be replaced' is a periphrasis for the word mother.

Stylistic periphrasis can also be divided into logical and figurative. Logical periphrasis is based on one of the inherent properties (неотъемлемых свойств) or perhaps a passing feature of the object described. Ex.: instruments of destruction (Dickens) = 'pistols'; the most pardonable of human weaknesses (Dickens) —'love'. Figurative periphrasis is based either on metaphor or on metonymy, the key-word of the word combination is used figuratively, as in 'the punctual servant of all work' (Dickens) -'the sun'; 'in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes' (Shakespeare) ='in misfortune'; 'to tie the knot' ='to marry'. (пунктуальный слуга всех работ// в раздоре с миром и судьбой в = по несчастью // связать себя узами брака).

25. Euphemism

Euphemism [] (эвфемизм) is a word or phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a conventionally (условно, традиционно) more acceptable one, for example, the word 'to die' has bred (породило) the following euphemisms: to pass away, to expire, to be no more, to depart, to join the majority, to be gone, and the more colloquial ones: to kick the bucket, to give up the ghost, to go west (дать дуба, испустить дух, идти на запад.). So euphemisms are synonyms which aim at producing a deliberately mild effect (намеренно мягкий эффект.). The origin of the term 'euphemism' discloses the aim (раскрывает цель) of the device very clearly, i.e. speaking well. Euphemism is sometimes figuratively called "a whitewashing device". They have not been freshly invented. They are expressive means of the language and are to be found in all good dictionaries. Euphemisms may be divided into several groups according to their spheres of application (сферы применения). The most recognized are the following: 1) religious, 2) moral, 3) medical and 4) parliamentary.

26. Hyperbole

Hyperbole []can be defined as a deliberate overstatement or exaggeration (преднамеренного завышения или преувеличения ) of a feature essential (существенный) to the object or phenomenon. In its extreme form this exaggeration (преувеличение) is carried to an illogical degree, sometimes ad absurdum [].For example: "He was so tall that I was not sure he had a face." (O. Henry). In order to depict (изобразить) the width of the river (ширину реки) Dnieper Gogol uses the following hyperbole: "It's a rare bird that can fly to the middle of the Dnieper.". Like many stylistic.devices, hyperbole may lose its quality as a sty­listic device through frequent repetition and become a unit of the lan-guage-as-a-system, reproduced -in speech in its unaltered form. Here are some examples of language hyperbole: ‘A thousand pardons'; 'scared to death, 'immensely obliged;' 'I'd give the world to see him.' // "Тысячу извинений", "напуган до смерти’, ‘очень обязан’, ‘я отдал бы мир, чтобы его увидеть ". Hyperbole differs from mere exaggeration (от простого преувеличения) in that it is intended to be understood (должно быть понятно) as an exaggeration.

27. Epigrams

An epigram [] is a stylistic device akin to a proverb (пословица), the only difference being that epigrams are coined by individuals whose names we know, while proverbs are the coinage of the people. Epigrams are terse, witty (краткими, остроумными), pointed statements, showing the ingenious turn of mind of the originator (гениальный склад ума составителя). They always have a literary-bookish air about them that distinguishes them from proverbs. Epigrams possess a great degree of independence and therefore, if taken out of the context, will retain the wholeness of the idea (сохранит целостность идеи) they express. They have a generalizing function and are self-sufficient.

There are special dictionaries which are called "Dictionaries of Quotations." These, in fact, are mostly dictionaries of epigrams. What is worth quoting must always contain some degree of the generalizing quality and if it comes from a work of poetry will have rhyme. That is why the works of many great poets full of epigrammatic statements.

28. Quotations

A quotation is a repetition of a phrase or statement from a book, speech, etc. used by way of authority, illustration, proof, etc. Quotations are usually marked off in the text by inverted commas (" "), dashes (—), italics or other graphical means. A quotation is the exact reproduction of an actual utterance made by a certain author. The work containing the utterance quoted must have been published or at least spoken in public; for quotations are echoes of somebody else's words. The use of quotations presupposes a good knowledge of the past experience of the nation, its literature and culture. The stylistic value of a quotation lies mainly in the fact that it comprises two meanings: the primary meaning and the applicative (прикладное) meaning, i.e. the one which it acquires (приобретает) in the new context.

Quotations, unlike epigrams, need not necessarily be short. A whole paragraph or a long passage may be quoted if it suits the purpose. Quotations are used as a stylistic device with the aim of expanding the meaning of the sentence quoted and setting two meanings one against the other, thus modifying the original meaning. Quotations are also used in epigraphs. The quotation in this case possesses (обладает) great associative power and calls forth (вызывает) much connotative meaning.

29. Allusions

An allusion is an indirect reference, by word or phrase, to a historical, literary, mythological, biblical fact or to "a fact of 'everyday life made in the course of speaking or writing. The use of allusion presupposes knowledge of the fact, thing or person alluded to on the part of the reader or listener. As a rule no indication of the source is given. This is one of the notable differences between quotation and allusion. Another difference is of a structural nature: a quotation must repeat the exact wording of the original; an allusion is only a mention of a word or phrase which may be regarded as the key-word of the utterance. Allusions are based on the accumulated experience and the knowledge of the writer who presupposes (предполагает) a similar experience and knowledge in the reader. Allusions and quotations may be termed nonce-set-expressions because they are used only for the occasion. Allusions are used in different styles, but their function is everywhere the same. The decoding of an allusion, however, is not always easy.