INTRODUCTION
Every day we are involved in actions and events, thoughts, and perceptions, which our language system accounts for. We have different ways of using the resources of language system to capture the same event and reality. This is generally referred to in Linguistics as Style. This unit looks at the concept of style as it is reflected individual ways of using language to represent their experience through speech and writing.
3.1 What is Style?
The term style has different applications to different people. However, for us as language specialists style simply refers to how individuals use language to reflect their unique environment. People are always motivated either consciously or unconsciously on the choices they make within the linguistic system they operate in. These choices have a profound impact on the way a text is structured and interpreted. Halliday (1994) views language as being used to represent what goes on in the physical and abstract world. He says this way of using language fulfils the experiential function of language. The experiential function of language is an important marker of style.
Stylistics is the study of style in language. According to the Wikipedia Dictionary, Stylistics is the study of varieties of language whose properties position that language in context. For example, the language of advertising, politics, religion, individual authors, etc., or the language of a period in time, all belong in a particular situation. In other words, they all have ‘place’ .
Linguists look at style in the language of writers of prose, poems and drama. The perspective through which a writer tells a story is an important stylistic dimension. For instance, a story may be told in the first person-making the narrator also a character whose actions and events can be shared by the reader of the story. It may also be narrated in the third person by an invisible narrator, who facilitates access of the readers to the thoughts and actions of the characters. This is generally referred to in Stylistics as point of view.
Other features of stylistics include the use of dialogue, including regional accents and people’s dialects, descriptive language, the use of grammar, such as the active voice or passive voice, the distribution of sentence lengths, the use of particular language registers, etc.
The concept of style is closely related to Register, as style could be formal, informal or plain. It could be described in other ways as frozen, humorous, ironic, poetic, literary, etc. Gairns and Redman (1986) noted that lexical items may be similar in conceptual meaning but differ in style as can be seen in the following items:
Children - neutral
Offspring - formal
Nippers - colloquial, humorous
Kids - colloquial
Brats - colloquial, derogatory
When studying style in language, we can also look at the principles of stylistic analysis. These include textual cohesion and coherence, modality, transitivity, speech act analysis, the discoursal representation of speech and thought, face and politeness, presupposition, etc. Studying the style of an author equips us with an understanding of how language works. Literary linguistics (also known as Stylistics) is often invaluable in attempts to identify the essence of an author's style; it is crucial to understanding how advertisements win us over; it is important in the identification of weak writing, moments of failure or contradiction in political or persuasive language, and in many other contexts.
It is new and central to the study and understanding of literature and the media because contemporary cultures are so rooted in information, communication, and text. Every register has its style. So style is an aspect of register. Though every individual has his/her own style, they try to conform to the general style associated with a particular linguistic situation. For instance the generally accepted style for casual conversation is informal, so the speaker selects colloquial expressions. However, in contrast, the style for application for a job is formal.
3.2 Style in Writing
Style in writing can be studied from different perspectives. That is, when one is looking at the style of a writer, we could mean different things. Basically, the language of the writer is the focus and the basic levels of language can be identified and analysed in any written text. For instance, the clausal and sentence structure (syntax), the shape of the language on the page (graphology), the words and the constituents structure (morphology), the vocabulary used (lexicology), the meaning of words and sentences (semantics), etc, can be looked into.
In poems, the sound patterning as represented in features such as rhythm and metre can be examined. It is easy to recognise poems when they are read out because they have metres in which the strong and weak syllables are organised.
Narrative discourse may be analysed by looking at how it is told – the point of view as discussed in the last section. One can also look at the way meanings are encoded in the clauses by looking at the actions, the participants and the circumstances associated with the action (see Halliday, 1994)
Stylisticians (those who study Style) also look at how speech and thought are represented in writing. This way, they examine the methods used by writers for transcribing the speech and thoughts of the imagined or real characters. Speeches can be presented as directly spoken by the character or reported.
Also in Drama, the way the dialogue is ordered is very important. We need to look at the types of interaction taking place between the characters and between the author and the reader. We can also examine the structure of the conversational discourse – how the turns are taken and other discourse features such as interruption, elicitation of responses, etc.
3.3 Style in Speech
Style in speech is one area that discourse analysts are interested in. Speech is essentially different from writing in the sense that speech is spontaneous, while writing is a “cold” thoughtful process. Errors in speech are most times pardonable and corrected even by the speaker. However, errors in writing are viewed as more serious. Speech may be monologue (speaking to self, a pseudo audience), dialogue (two or more people exchanging ideas) or multilogue, many people speaking together in unison, e.g.,- prayer, football match, etc).
To study style in speech, we need to consider a lot of factors. These include: the tone and intonation, the function of the sentences, (whether they are imperative, declarative, interrogative), pauses, interruption, how speakers are selected in conversations, the kinds of speech acts used, how conversations open and close, extralinguistic features, such as the gaze direction, facial expression, and other gestures.
In studying speech, sylisticians recognise the fact that individuals differ in their speech behaviour. They also recognise that there are certain generally accepted norms for behaving when we are using speech in different contexts of language use. For instance, in any normal conversation, one person holds the floor at a time and the next speaker can be identified after that speaker has finished his speech. Likewise, there are some forms of discourse in which a speaker controls the discourse throughout, e.g.,: sermons, lectures, etc. In such contexts, other participants are just to listen.
3.4 Other Ways of Seeing Style
Style can be seen as a choice, when one considers the various factors that lead users to prefer certain linguistic forms to others. These factors can be grouped into two types: user-bound factors (referring to the situation where the language is being used). These include among others, the speaker’s or writer’s age, gender, idiosyncratic preferences, regional and social background, etc. The other factors are Situation- bound stylistic factors. These depend on the medium of communication, attitude (level of formality), the field of discourse, etc.
Style is also seen as deviation from a norm. This is a term common in literary stylistics, where unusual linguistic forms are used. The ability of literary writers to deviate from the norms of language use is sometimes referred to as ‘poetic license’. For instance instead of using the normal syntactic structure as in:
He flew away (S P C) where S (Subject) = He; P (Predicator) = flew; and C (Complement) = away
The author may decide to reorder the forms to read:
Away he flew (C S P)
Above, the C (Complement) is now fronted, while the S and P are pushed inward.
Poetic license also allows literary writers to use unusual collocation, what is generally referred to as “collocational clash” (using words that would not normally go together), e.g.: Once below a time
Two important notions in Stylistics are Automatisation and Foregrounding. Automatisation refers to the common use of linguistic devices. It does not attract particular attention by the language decoder. Automatisation corresponds with the norm. Foregrounding on the other hand, are unexpected expressions in certain contexts. They are considered conspicuous therefore, they catch the language decoder’s attention. Foregrounding deals with deviation from the norm.
Another way of seeing foregrounding is as an indication of an episode or event in a narrative or drama that is yet to take place. This can be done by using a metaphor or subplot to bring to the fore a major development prior to its occurrence in the narration or play.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Read two short stories written by Nigerian authors and compare the styles of the two authors.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Style is a very important feature of language use. The style of a language is determined by a number of factors, which include the context, the user, the topic of discussion, and so forth. Style in speech is different from style in writing because the mode determines the style. Analysing the style of any particular language use encompasses looking at all the variables that contributes to the meaning – these include the linguistic forms, and how they are arranged, the attitude of the writer (formal/informal), how the sentences are linked (cohesion), and so forth.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, we have examined the concept of style: its meaning, and what determines the style an individual uses. We also looked at how style differs in speech and writing and how users of language adopt styles that fit into the context of language use. Lastly, we saw style as deviation from the norm (foregrounding) and as the point of view of the writer or speaker.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Explain the term style.
2. What is the relationship between style and register?
3. Compare style in writing with style in speech and point out the essential differences.
4. Write out 10 words that you consider as formal and their informal counterpart.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Bradford, R. (1997). Stylistics. UK: Routledge.
Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (1986). Working with Words, A Guide to Teaching and Learning Vocabular., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Halliday, M.A.K. (1994). Introduction to Functional Grammar.
London: Edward Arnold.
Leech, Geoffrey & Shor, M. (1981). Style in Fiction: A Linguistic
Introduction to English Fictional Prose. London: Longman.
Simpson, P. (2004). Stylistics: A Resource Book for Students. London: Routledge.
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