Linguistic Stylistics Style Features: Phonological

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Linguistic Stylistics Style Features: Phonological Linguistics Linguistic Stylistics Style Features: Phonological Paper Coordinator Prof. Ravinder Gargesh Module ID & Name Lings_P_LS5; Style Features: Phonological Content Writer Ravinder Gargesh Email id [email protected] Phone 011-43107962; 9811282218 Style Features: Phonological Contents: 5.0 Introduction 5.1 Style features at the level of phonology 5.2 Rhythm in poetry 5.3 Rhyme, Rhyme Scheme and Stanza form 5.4 Onomatopoeia, Alliteration, Assonance and Consonance 5.5 Summary Objectives: The main objective of this module is to give the students an idea about style features as they occur in literary texts, particularly poetry. Rhythm is very important for poetry, since a poet constructs rhythms in poems. The term rhythm will be explained with examples. Other features, namely, Rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance and consonance will also be briefly explained. 5.0 Introduction The study of literary style assumes that the elements of style perceived by the readers are the significant linguistic combinations that operate covertly to generate artistic or aesthetic meanings through their mutual inter-relations in the literary contexts of a text. It is an accepted practice to study language as a verbal semiotic by splitting it up into various sub-levels, such as phonology, morphology, lexicon, syntax and semantics, and even graphology. The logic for splitting/sub-dividing is that there are many things to say about language. Any analysis of style features is bound to be dominated by examples from poetry, for here we find the maximum 'play of signifiers'. All stylization, in terms of the play of words, can be seen as an attempt at extending the limits of language in order to explore and communicate afresh areas of human experience. As a result one finds immense varieties of stylistic structures in the language of literature. In this module we will be focusing only on the phonologically oriented style features. These features in a way represent how patterned sounds have a structure as well as a function. 5.1 Style features at the phonological level Phonology as a branch of linguistics identifies distinctive sound groups in a language, and establishes how these are put together to form meaningful sequences. It also identifies ways in which the phonetic elements of a language are grouped together and exploited by the speakers of a language to effect communication. The phonological patterns not only draw the readers' attention but also enhance communication by generating rhythm through metrical patterns and by linking similar sounding phonological constituents into a constitute at the next higher level as that of rhyme, alliteration, assonance etc. These phonological patterns created by the repetition of same or similar sounds by some kind of phonological deviations become the tools of foregrounding such as in metre, rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance and consonance. 5.2 Rhythm in Poetry Rhythm in poetry depends on a couple of factors. First, it generally depends on the almost mathematical patterns construed as metre and the actual rhythm of language generally known as prose rhythm. Secondly, it depends on the performance of a reciter or actor. E.g., Mark Antony’s line in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar can be rendered in two different ways: (i) If ˊyou have ˊtears preˊpare to ˊshed them ˊnow (ii) ˊIf you have ˊtears preˊpare to ˊshed them ˊnow Notice that in (i) the stress is on the second syllable while in (ii) it is on the first syllable, While in (i) the stress pattern is close to that of the folk singer, (ii) is closer to the normal spoken rhythm of English speech. However, both possibilities exist. First let us, briefly have a look at ‘metre’ and then at ‘prose rhythm’. 5.2.1 Metre: Metre is a linguistic phenomenon based on the principle of 'isochrony' or the principle of recurrence equal to or analogous to musical pulse or heart-beat or a kind of equaltimedness. In poetry these equivalences are rooted within and across lines. The largest unit of metre is the line. Within a line the minimum unit of articulation can be a syllable can be a syllable as in French and the various Indian languages, or the patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in English. The principle of units, based on the principle of equivalence, generates rhythm. In any poetic line the number of syllables can be counted and their organization into metrical units can be observed. It is the recurrence of these metrical units that results in verse. Since each language has its own process of recurrences, e.g., classical Greek, Latin and in various Indian languages poetry is organized into lines of long and short syllables, or that much of Chinese poetry exploits the opposition between different levels of 'tone', and English poetry exploits the opposition between stressed and unstressed units. Metre, in English literary tradition, is a conventionalized type of stress pattern, i.e., a pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poetic line. Although metre and stress are related, they are however not the same thing. English metre has been viewed in terms of binary stressed-unstressed syllables (traditionally marked ˊ and ˘ for strong and weak syllables respectively). Further, in poetic works, the binary system of metrical combinations are highly controlled in number and sequence, and are said to recur in 'feet', whereas such controls are missing in the language in general. The most common types of metrical feet are the iamb, trochee, anapaest, and dactyl with the organizational patterns of ˘ ˊ (unstressed-stressed), ˊ ˘ (stressed-unstressed), ˘ ˘ ˊ (unstressed-unstressed-stressed) and the ˊ ˘ ˘ (stressed-unstressed-unstressed) respectively. The examples of these are as below: (1) Iamb: And ˊswims, /or ˊsinks, /or ˊwades/ or ˊcreeps / or ˊflyes (J. Milton: Paradise Lost. II, 950) (2) Trochee: ˊAnd be / ˊfore the / ˊsummer / ˊended / ˊstood the /maize in / all its / beauty (H.W. Longfellow: The Song of Haiwatha, V, 265-6(3) (3) Anapaest: And for ˊall /this, one ˊlittle / hour to ˊthank (R. Browning: Any Wife to Any Husband, 48) (4) Dactyl: ˊGleamed on the/ˊcolmuns of/ˊcypress and/ˊcedar sus/ˊtaining the/ˊbranches (H.W. Longfellow: Evangeline II, 36) All the above examples, in (1) and (ii) each of the stresses and un-stresses fall on a syllable unit. In contrast, in (3) and (4) the unstressed units generally occupy a space more than that of a syllable. While the iamb consists of a pattern of unstressed and stressed units, the trochee of unstressed-stressed units, the anapaest of unstressed-unstressed-stressed units and the dactyl of stressed-unstressed-unstressed units. The differences between the iamb and anapaest on the one hand and the trochee and dactyl on the other are that their timing slots of unstressed units vary. While the former group is identified as ‘rising rhythm’ the latter as ‘falling rhythm’. There are numerous patterns of metrical feet in English poetry. Another crucial factor is the number of accented feet in a line. Theoretically, the line can consist of one-foot to five-foot, but instances of a single-foot and four-foot lines are uncommon. A two-foot line is called a ‘dimeter’ a three-foot line a ‘trimeter’, a four-foot line a ‘tetrameter’, and a five-foot line a ‘pentameter’. An example of each is given below: (5) Dimeter: ˊOne more Unˊfortunate (T. Hood: ‘The Bridge of Sighs’) (6) Trimeter: I am ˊMonarch of ˊall I surˊvey (A. Cowper: ‘Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk’) (7) Tetrameter: But ˊhail, thou ˊgoddess ˊsage and ˊholy (J. Milton: ‘Il Penseroso’) (8) Pentameter: The ˊploughman ˊhomeward ˊplods his ˊweary ˊway (T. Gray: ‘Elegy written on a country churchyard’) The last syllable missed that will complete the final foot in the line from Gray’s poem is termed as the ‘silent stress’ (Abercrombie 1965: 23). 5.2.2 Prose Rhythm: Sometimes there are differences between actual stress and the metre expectation of stress. This has led to the view that meter is distinct from stress. Chatman (1965) states that the relationship between the two is distinct and one of tension. While metrical stress and the normal word stress do coincide to a great degree in traditional poetry, for this binds the words and the syntax of the poem to generate a controlled rhythm. But at times this complete command of metre over language is missing in most unconventional contemporary poetry, where stress patterns of ordinary language dominate or become free from the stranglehold of metre. 'Prosaic strength', is the term first used by Davie (1952: 62- 9), and subsequently by Leech (1966: 26-9), highlights the ascendance of the elements of prose in poetry. By this is meant that a rhythm of prose generated by syntactic patterns, such as balanced sentences, variety in sentence structure and length etc., is made prominent in poetry. Prose rhythm is also generated by the creation of 'counterpoints'. Counterpoint is created when line end and sentence end do not coalesce, resulting in a 'run-on' line. The carry-over of syntactic rhythm from one line into another has also been termed as 'enjambment’. Enjambment can occur between morphemes as in Dylan Thomas - "The hay/fields", "...The coal/Black night..." or in G.M. Hopkins - "… the king/doms of daylight's dauphin...". Such enjambments occur as isolated instances. Enjambment can also be seen at times as regular phenomena, i.e., occurring at similar metrical positions, as in the beginning of T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland: (9) 1 April is the cruellest month, breeding 2 Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing 3 Memory and desire, stirring 4 Dull roots with spring rain. 5 Winter kept us warm, covering 6 Earth in forgetful snow, feeding 7 A little life with dried tubers.
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