Main subgroups of special literary words. Where are they used and what stylistic effect do they produce

Main subgroups of special literary words.

Where are they used and what stylistic effect do they produce?

Literary special vocabulary falls into: a) poetic words; b) archaisms; c) barbarisms and foreign words; d) terms. e) literary coinages

Poetic words are characterized by the highest degree of elevation.

In the 17-19^th centuries these words were widely used in poetry to contribute to its emotional appeal. Poeticisms were synonymous with neutral words (e.g. steed meant horse, quoth – said, woe – sorrow). This group of words includes: a) pure poeticisms: e.g. brine, anarch, b) archaic words (e.g. delve – dig, commix – mix, coil – disturbance), c) historical words (e.g. argosy, cask).

Poetic words are unsuitable for plain prose. Nowadays they are not favoured even by poets. In contemporary British and American literature these words are sometimes used in combination with neutral ones to achieve ironic effect.

e.g. In fumes like that you’d need a protective mask to check your car oil, let alone sleep. My eyes are watering, and there must be less than a fifty-fifty chance of my surviving the night. I pull the sheets over my head and slip off into a deep and toxic slumber (P.McCarthy). slumber (n. poetic) sleep.

Archaic words. Archaism is an old word which is either completely or practically out of use in present day language. According to the reasons of their disappearance from the language, archaic words can be divided into:

a) historical archaisms, i.e. words whose referent has already disappeared (e.g. vassal, yeoman, etc.);

b) archaic words proper, i.e. words which have been replaced by their synonyms (e.g. brethren – brothers, deem – think).

I.R.Galperin distinguishes three stages in the aging process, according to which three subgroups are singled out:

a) obsolescent words, or old-fashioned words gradually passing out of general use (e.g. wilt, thy, thee, art, thou);palfrey (small horse), garniture (furniture)

b) obsolete words which are no longer used but can be still recognized (e.g. methinks – it seems to me); nay (no);

c) archaic words proper, i.e. words which can not be recognized (a losel – a lazy fellow, kine – pl. cow).troth (faith), a losel (a worthless, lazy fellow)

Thus, the beginning of the aging process of a word is marked by decrease in its usage.

Archaisms are most frequently found in poetry, fiction, legal and ritual contexts, in dialectal speech. The use of archaic words in fiction, for instance in dialogues of historical novels, seeks to evoke the style of older speech, hence the flavour of the previous centuries. E.g. ‘Prithee, young one, who art thou, and what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee in this strange fashion? Art thou a Christian child, - ha?’ (N.Hawthorne).

However, archaization does not mean complete reproduction of the speech of past epochs; it is effected by the application of separate archaic words. The abundant use of archaisms in contemporary literature seems strange and unsuitable. Even when used to give colour to conversation in historical romances, archaic style is more likely to irritate the reader than to please him.

Nevertheless, writers with a strong feel for the language may on occasion deliberately use archaic words to emphasize a certain point or to create a mood.

Some archaisms may count as inherently funny words and are used for humorous effect. In poetry archaisms highlight the general colouring of elevation. The colouring may be described as both poetic and solemn.

In legal and ritual writing and speech archaisms are used as part of a specific jargon (e.g. heretofore, hereunto, thereof) or formula (e.g. With this ring I thee wed). They produce the colouring of solemnity.

Terms belong to particular sciences. Consequently, the domain of their usage is the scientific functional style. A classical term is monosemantic and has no synonyms.

They belong to the scientific style, but may as well appear in other styles (In non-professional spheres: imaginative prose, newspaper texts, everyday oral speech).When used in other styles, terms produce different stylistic effects. They may sound humoristically or make speech "clever" and "scientific-like".

In professional spheres the term performs no expressive or aesthetic function. So Terms - words denoting objects, processes, phenomena of science, humanities, technique.( e.g. drill adapter, bank-administered trust fund, curve analyzer, laser, diode, and ripple.vector, palatalization, pachyderms,)

1) Single terms: psychology, equity, function.

2) Terms consisting of several words: subject-matter, computeraided system, belles-lettres style.

Compare: Chlorophyll makes food by photosynthesis = Green leaves build up food with the aid of light.

Barbarisms are words of foreign origin which have not entirely been assimilated into the English language. They bear the appearance of a borrowing, e.g. viva voce, a propos, beau monde, etc.

Barbarisms and foreign words are used to supply local colour; to reproduce speech of a local inhabitant.

Barbarisms differ from foreign words:

The main function of barbarisms and foreignisms is to create a realistic background to the stories about foreign habits, customs, traditions and conditions of life.

Literary coinages

There is a term in linguistics which by its very nature is ambiguous and that is the term neologism. In dictionaries it is generally defined as * a new word or a new meaning for an established word.

Every period in the development of a language produces an елог-mous number of new words or new meanings of established words.

The coining of new words generally arises first of all with the need to designate new concepts resulting from the development of science and also with the need to express nuances of meaning called forth by a deeper understanding of the nature of the phenomenon in question. It may also be the result of a search for a more economical, brief and compact form of utterance which proves to be a more expressive means of communicating the idea.

The first type of newly coined words, i. e. those which designate newborn concepts, may be named terminological coinages.The layer of terminological neologisms has been rapidly growing since the start of the technological revolution.Terminological coinages (neologisms) are words cybernetics, nuclear fission,network server, browser, e-mail, provider, site etc.)

Hacker means "someone who uses a computer to connect to other people's computers secretly and often illegally in order to find or change information".

The second type, I. e. words coined because their creators seek expressive utterance may be named stylistic coinages. Stylistic coinages (neologisms) are words coined because their creators needed a more expressive means of communicating the idea. This kind of literary coinages is found in publicistic style mostly in newspapers articles and magazines.

Another type of neologism is the nonce-word,i.e. a word coined to suit one particular occasion.Such words will always remain neologisms, i.e. will never lose their novelty: “Let me say in the beginning that even if I wanted to avoid Texas I could not, for I am wived in Texas, and mother-in-lawed, and uncled, and aunted, and cousined within an inch of my life.” (J. Steinbeck)

“You’re the bestest good one—she said—the most bestest good one in the world.” (H. E. Bates)

“That was masterly. Or should one say mistressly.” (Huxley)

Nonce words are used by writers for the sake of expressiveness, they are stylistically colored, their functions being different in different contexts, such as the creation of the effect of witty humor or satire. Example: The surgeon rubbed his hands and ha-ha-ed (Ch. Dickens). This nonce word will hardly be used in the English language.

The stylistic effect achieved by newly-coined words generally rests on the ability of the mind to perceive novelty at the background of the familiar.The sharper the contrast, the more obvious the effect.

A stylistic effect may also be achieved by the skilful interplay of a long-established meaning and one just being introduced into the lan­guage.

New words are coined according to the productive models for word-building in the given language. Example: affixation: to villagize, anti-hero, anti-novelist, unworthwhile; conversion: to fellowship, to service, to garage a car; compounding: back-room boys (men engaged in secret research); blending: musicomedy (music-comedy), cinemactress (cinema actress); change of meaning: top (excellent, wonderful)