Disgusting

Sweet

Lecture 2

The Interlude.

Every notional word of a natural language carries some definite information which may be called basic and which conveys the main idea of an object, process, action, etc. We should differ it from the so-called additional information which is present in a number of words in the language or may be created in the context in speech; it offers various additional data about the object in question.

The ability of a verbal element to obtain extra significance in a definite context was called by Prague linguists foregrounding. A contextually foreground element carries more information than when taken in isolation, so it is possible to say that in context it is loaded with basic information inherently belonging to it, plus the acquired, adherent, additional information.

So, stylistic analysis involves rather subtle procedures of finding the foregrounded element and indicating the chemistry of its contextual changes, brought about by the intentional, planned operations of the addresser, i.e. effected by the conscious stylistic use of the language.

For foreign language students stylistic analysis holds particular difficulties: linguistic intuition of a native speaker does not work; besides, difficulties may arise because of the inadequate language command in grasping the basic denotational information. Starting stylistic analysis one should bear in mind that the understanding of each separate component of the message is an indispensable condition of satisfactory work.

Meaning From a Stylistic Point of View.

Stylistics is a domain where meaning assumes paramount importance. This is because of the fact that any stylistic device is mainly realized when a twofold application of meaning is apparent.

Thus e.g., irony is defined as the clash of two diametrically opposite meanings (primary dictionary and contextual).

e.g. Stoney smiled the sweet smile of an alligator. (J. Steinbeck)

It is more or less universally recognized that word-meaning is not homogeneous, but is made up of various components. These components are usually described as types of meaning. The two main types are

• The grammatical and

• the lexical meanings.

If we consider such word-forms as girls, winters, tables, etc. we notice that they though denoting widely differing objects of reality have something in common. This common element is the grammatical meaning of plurality.

Comparing word-forms of one and the same word we observe that besides grammatical meaning, there is another component of meaning in them. Unlike the grammatical meaning this component is identical in all the forms of the word.

Thus, e.g., the word-forms go, goes, went, gone, going possess different grammatical meanings of tense, person, etc. but in each of these forms we find one and the same semantic component denoting the process of movement. This is the lexical meaning of the word.

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