Lecture 6.

FUNCTIONAL STYLES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

1. THE FUNCTIONAL STYLE OF SCIENCE.
2. THE NEWSPAPER FUNCTIONAL STYLE.
3. THE PUBLICIST FUNCTIONAL STYLE.
4. THE FUNCTIONAL STYLE OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.
5. THE LITERARY FUNCTIONAL STYLE.
A functional style of a language is a system of interrelated language means which serves a
definite aim in communication [Galperin, 1977: 33]. Any functional style is characterised by a
peculiar use of various language means and distinguished by one or some especially prominent
features.
All stylisticians agree that such a well-developed language as English is streamed into several
functional styles, but their classification is one of the most disputable issues of stylistics.
One of the widely accepted classifications includes the following functional styles
[Kukharenko, 2003: 8]:
official style, represented in all kinds of official documents and papers;
scientific style, found in articles, brochures, monographs and other scientific and academic
publications;
publicist (publicistic) style, covering such genres as essay, feature article, public speeches etc.;
newspaper style, observed in the majority of information materials printed in newspapers;
belles-lettres (literary) style, embracing numerous and versatile genres of imaginative prose.
These styles are not homogeneous and fall into several substyles all having some features of
resemblance.
A functional style is also viewed as the collection of choices made by language users from
language inventory, including layout, grammar, vocabulary and phonology [Ghazala, 1994: 13]. Thus
the analysis of linguistic peculiarities of the specified functional styles will include the description of
their
1) layout (paragraphing, titling, punctuation, graphic presentation),
2) vocabulary (selection of lexis),
3) grammar (realisation of grammatical categories) and
4) sentence structure (sentence length, complexity, communicative types).

1. THE FUNCTIONAL STYLE OF SCIENCE.

The main function of the functional style of science is to convey knowledge, facts, results and
data, obtained through experimentation and hypotheses. Scientific prose aims at proving a hypothesis,
creating new concepts, disclosing the internal laws of existence, development, relations between
different phenomena. The distinguishing features of the style are accuracy, objectivity, exact and
logical presentation of facts and ideas, the most generalized form of expression.
 This functional style has some linguistic characteristics which clearly distinguish it from other
functional styles. Let‘s consider them in detail:
I) Layout of scientific texts.
1) Paragraphs are usually well-organized. They consist of an introduction (topic), body
(amplification) and conclusion. Such organization of paragraphs leads to clarity of data and ideas.
2) Titles and subtitles summarize the main point or emphasize central ideas of a paragraph or
text and may contain different graphological types (such as bold type, italics, capitalization, spacing ,
etc.).
3) Figures, equations, diagrams, tables and symbols are employed to illustrate the results, to
make them clear and accurate.
4) The use of quotations, references and foot-notes is a conspicuous feature of this style.

II) Vocabulary of scientific texts.

The vocabulary of scientific English has some peculiar features which reflect the formal,
special and objective nature of scientific texts.
1) The vocabulary of scientific English includes terminology, special lexis and nomenclature
words specific to a definite field of science and technology.
2) In addition to special vocabulary, stylistically neutral words in their primary logical
meaning are also used.
3) Colloquial vocabulary is not characteristic of the style. Even when used, especially in
descriptive texts, colloquial words are regarded as the exception, not the rule.
4) The scientific vocabulary abounds in set-phrases and cliches which add to precision, clarity
or logical cohesion of the text: In connection with..; As it was mentioned above..; One can observe
that..; The focus of this research is in the area of ..; Such a study is important in order to..; The
findings from this research provide evidence that ..; The main conclusions drawn from this study are
…. (Zhukovska 2010).
5) Latin phrases: a priori, ab initio, ad hoc – to this (i.e., "for this," in the sense of improvised
or intended only for a specific, immediate purpose), circa (ca.), de facto, et cetera, in vitro, ex vivo
and in vivo, inter alia.
6) Latin abbreviations: ca./c., cf. (compare), et al., etc., ibid., i.a., i.e., q.v. / qq.v. (imperative,
used after a term or phrase that should be looked up elsewhere in the current document or book. For
more than one term or phrase, the plural qq.v. is used), re (in re – concerning), v.i. (vide infra – see
below), v.s. (vide supra – see above).
(III) Grammar of scientific texts.
1) The verbs are predominantly used in three main tense forms: Past Indefinite (to indicate
past achievements and discoveries); Present Indefinite (to imply a reference to present time, to give the
account of scientific facts); Present Perfect (to demonstrate well-established findings and
accomplishments).
2) The recurrent usage of the Passive Voice helps to achieve objectivity of presentation: it
should be pointed out, it must be emphasized.
3) Noun phrases in scientific texts are long and compound that contributes to precision and
formality of information.
4) Adjectives and adverbs (especially adverbs of place, time, manner, reason and result) are
employed to accomplish accuracy of description.

IV) Sentence structure of scientific texts.

1) The most noticeable feature of the style is the logical sequence of utterances with a clear
indication of the interrelations and interdependencies. Scientific prose is marked by a developed and
varied system of connectives. Their main functions are to indicate a conclusion, summary or result; to
provide a concrete argument; to bind relevant information together. The most frequent of them are:
a) logical connectives: thus, then, therefore, etc.
b) connectives of contrast; but, yet, however, etc.
c) connectives of addition: and, or.
2) Sentences in this style are of three main sentence patterns: postulatory, argumentative, and
formulative.
As it has been already mentioned, one of the most important aspects of scientific texts is to
weigh evidence and draw conclusions from data. The authors of such texts tend to tone down their
statements in order to reduce the risk of opposition. Linguistically it is realized as hedges (words or
phrases used in a sentence to express ambiguity, probability, caution, or indecisiveness about the
remainder of the sentence, rather than full accuracy, certainty, confidence, or decisiveness). Hedging is
expressed through the use of the following means, which deal with degrees of probability:
1) Modal auxiliary verbs: may, might, can, could, would, should.
2) Modal lexical verbs: to seem, to appear, to believe, to assume, to suggest, to estimate, to
tend, to think, to argue, to indicate, to propose, to speculate.
3) Adjectival, adverbial and nominal modal phrases: possible, probable, un/likely, assumption,
claim, possibility, estimate, suggestion, perhaps, possibly, probably, practically, likely, presumably,
virtually, apparently.
4) Approximators of degree, quantity, frequency and time: approximately, roughly, about,
often, occasionally, generally, usually, somewhat, somehow, a lot of.
5) Introductory phrases: to our knowledge, it is our view that, we feel that, which express the
author’s personal doubt and direct involvement.
6) “If” clauses: if true, if anything.
 7) Compound hedges made up of several hedges: it seems reasonable/probable, it may
suggest that, it seems likely that, it would seem somewhat unlikely that, it may appear somewhat
speculative.

2. THE NEWSPAPER FUNCTIONAL STYLE.

The newspaper style is a purposeful and thematic arrangement of language means in order to
bring up-to-date, accurate and convincing information on current affairs. The existence of the
newspaper style is one of the controversial issues of functional stylistics. It is argued that this style has
a number of varieties since the modern newspaper carries material of an extremely diverse character.
On the pages of a newspaper one finds not only news items, communiques, press reports, but also
stories and poems, crossword puzzles, chess problems, TV or radio program lists, and the like. Since
these serve the purpose of entertaining the reader, they cannot be considered specimens of the
newspaper style. Nor can articles in special fields, such as science and technology, art, literature, etc.
be classed as belonging to the newspaper style.
Still, there exist some characteristics which distinguish the newspaper style from other
functional styles. British newspapers can be classified into popular newspapers and quality
newspapers. Popular newspapers or tabloids such as The Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Mail, The
Daily Express, The Daily Star, The Today are the best selling newspapers. They are entirely orientated
on public’s interests and print mostly social events and less serious news. They are considered as
leisure and pleasure newspapers.
Quality newspapers (such as The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Observer)
are the formal type of British newspapers. They are called this because they are serious and
respectable in terms of material, language and style. Though these newspapers differ in the language
means they use to present information or to convince the reader about something, there are common
features of language and style which permit to regard them as one variety.
I) Layout of the newspaper texts.
1) Titles and headlines play the most important role in the press, especially on the front and
back pages. There are various ways of presenting titles and subtitles using different types, spacing,
capitalization etc. This variation of headlines aims at attracting the reader ’s attention and emphasizing
the special importance of titles.
Syntactically headlines are sentences or phrases which follow the variety of patterns: full
declarative sentences, interrogative sentences, nominative sentences, elliptical sentences, sentences
with articles omitted, phrases with verbals, questions in the form of statements, complex sentences,
headlines including direct speech.
2)Paragraphs in popular newspapers are not well-organized. In fact, paragraphs are long
individual sentences which look like paragraphs, but only graphologically. Such organization of
paragraphs aims at emphasizing every piece of information by promoting each sentence to a paragraph
status. Another significant stylistic function of short paragraphing is to help readers scan and skim
some parts of the article they are reading.
Paragraphs of quality newspapers are generally well-organized and relatively long. Many of
the paragraphs have some kind of introduction, amplification and conclusion. This relative
organization of paragraphs reflects the seriousness of the whole article and stresses the formality of the
style.
3)Punctuation marks in popular newspaper language are used to engage the reader in
communication with what they read, to imply irony or surprise; to emphasize important information.
But in quality newspapers punctuation is not employed in any significant way which points out the
formality of the style.
4)The exploitation of colours, photographs, pictures, diagrams and different typographical
devices (such as bold type, capitalization, etc.) is a prominent feature of modern popular and quality
newspapers.

II) Vocabulary of the newspaper texts.

1) In terms of lexical means, the language of newspapers is characterized by the use of words
with clear meaning. Compound words, neologisms, loan words are also widely used.
Colloquialisms, contractions and phrasal verbs are frequently employed in popular newspapers but
they are not so common in quality ones. Their use makes the article closer and more intimate to
readers and establishes a better communication with them.
2) Popular newspapers use special words which are not used in other contexts. Here are the
examples: row – dispute/controversy; hitman – hired-assassin; probe – investigation; quiz –
inquire/question; to wed – to marry; pact – treaty. These words are sometimes used to save space,
especially in headlines of quality newspapers, too. But there they are not as common as they are in
popular newspapers.
3) The language of newspapers is characterized by the use of different expressive means and
stylistic devices. Metaphor, simile, irony, metonymy and personification are the most frequently
used. They perform different functions determined by the idea and theme of the article.

III) Grammar of the newspaper texts.

1) Nouns in popular newspapers are predominantly used with modifiers, either in pre position
or post position. Both types of modification are commonly used but modifiers in pre position are more
frequent.
2) In quality newspapers noun phrases tend to be complex and formal. The adjectival nominal
phrases (death colliery, roof support) and “of genitive” (the proximity of old working) are very
frequent. Their function is to achieve conciseness and save space.
 3) The most prominent feature of popular newspapers is the absence of auxiliary verbs in the
titles and subtitles. The omission of the auxiliary verb is deliberate for the sake of saving space and
shortness of titles. But they can be easily guessed from context.
4) The most frequent tense form is Present Indefinite. It (or the bare Infinitive) is used both in
popular and quality newspapers’ headlines to refer either to the past, present or future.
5) The use of Perfect tenses especially Present Perfect is a characteristic feature of quality
newspapers which brings up the formality of the style.
6) Both Active and Passive Voices are used in newspapers. The Active Voice is used in the
language of newspapers of any type. But in quality newspapers the Passive Voice is more frequently
used to reflect insignificance of the doer of the action, to endow an atmosphere of objectivity of
reporting in a scientific-like style, to stress the formality of the style.
7) Adjectives of all types, including intensifiers play a very important part in newspapers.
They are used for detailed and precise description.
8) Adverbs are crucial. The most popular are adverbs of time, place, manner, reason, result
and frequency. It should be mentioned that adverbs have no set place in the sentence in popular
newspapers. Such mobility of adverbs aims at emphasizing a specific word in the sentence. But in
tabloids adverbs are used in their proper places to achieve precision and formality.
9) Modals are very popular in quality newspapers. The most frequently used are the
probability modals such as would, could, might, may, can, which intensify the modesty or uncertainty
of style.

IV) Syntax of the newspaper texts.

1) Sentences in popular newspapers are mainly simple, but some sentences may be quite long
and complicated. This is a general tendency in all popular newspapers, which reflects the function of
simplifying and accelerating reading. In quality newspapers sentences are complex and long. Such
complexity of sentence structure makes information condense, keeps the tempo of reading flowing and
concentrated.
2) The predominant communicative type of sentences in popular newspapers is a declarative
sentence. Its main function is to deliver and report information, events, news. However, interrogative
sentences are also used, but these are mostly rhetorical questions which can be placed at the beginning
or end of the article. The use of rhetorical questions aims at involving the reader into the process of
reading.

3. THE PUBLICIST FUNCTIONAL STYLE.

The general aim of the publicist style is to influence public opinion, to convince the reader (or
the listener) that the writer’s (or speaker’s) interpretation is the only correct one, and to make the
reader (listener) accept the author’s viewpoint not merely through logical argumentation but through
emotional appeal as well.
 The publicist style became a separate style of the English language in the middle of the 18th
century. It falls into three varieties: the oratory; essay (moral, philosophical, literary); journalistic
articles (political, social, economic; editorials, feature articles, critical reviews (?)) in newspapers,
journals and magazines.
Due to its characteristic combination of logical argumentation and emotional appeal, publicist
style has features in common with the style of scientific prose, on the one hand, and that of emotive
prose, on the other.
I) Layout of the publicist texts:
1) titles and headlines: drawing attention to the topic discussed; employ metaphors, allusions,
wordplay, etc.
2) careful paragraphing;

II) Vocabulary of the publicist texts.

1) use of words with emotive meaning;
2) use of imagery;
3) other stylistic devices of the semantic level (very often not fresh or genuine as in the
literary style).

III) Syntax of the publicist texts.

1) coherent and logical syntactical structure (not too long and complicated);
2) expanded system of connectives.

Its coherent and logical syntactical structure, with an expanded system of connectives and its
careful paragraphing makes it similar to scientific prose. Its emotional appeal is generally achieved by
the use of words with emotive meaning, the use of imagery, and other stylistic devices as in emotive
prose; but the SDs used in publicistic style are not fresh or genuine. The individual element essential
to the belles-lettres style is, as a rule, missing here.
The manner of presenting ideas, however, brings this style closer to that of belles-lettres style,
i.e. to emotive prose, as it is to a certain extent individual. No doubt, essays and speeches have greater
individuality than newspaper and magazine articles where it is usually limited by the requirements of
the style.
Publicist style is characterized by brevity of expression.

Oratory and Speeches

Direct contact with the listener permits a combination of the syntactical, lexical and phonetic
peculiarities of both the written and spoken varieties of language. In its leading features, however,
oratorical style belongs to the written variety of language, though it is modified by the oral form of the
utterance and the use of gestures. Certain features of the spoken language can be used here:
 Direct address to the audience (e.g. Ladies and gentlemen, Honourable members);
The use of the 2nd person pronoun “you”;
Sometimes contractions: I’ll, won’t, haven’t, isn’t, etc.;
The use of colloquial words.
Use of rhythm and repetition in a way that invites participation and agreement from the
audience.

This style is evident in speeches on political and social problems of the day, in orations and
addresses on solemn occasions, in sermons and debates.
The sphere of application of oratory is confined to an appeal to an audience. The SDs
employed in oratorical style are determined by the communicative situation. If the speaker intends to
rouse the audience and keep it in suspense, they will use various traditional SDs. But undue
prominence given to form may lead to an exaggerated use of these devices, to embellishment.

As a style of writing, it is still associated with speeches given to an assembly, intended to

persuade the group to accept a course of action on a particular problem.
This is not a form that is well suited to complex arguments; the style is more successful when
it appeals to common truths and public virtues.

The Essay
As a separate form of English literature, the essay dates from the end of the 16th century. It is
a literary composition of moderate length on philosophical, social, aesthetic, or literary subject, but it
merely touches upon the surface. Personal treatment of the theme and a natural manner of expression
are two of its most obvious characteristics. An essay is rather a series of personal and witty comments
than a completed argument or a conclusive examination of any matter.
The essay was very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. At that time essays were written on
topics connected with morals and ethics, and on political and philosophical problems.
In the 19th century the essay as a literary term gradually changed into what we now call the
journalistic article or feature article which covers all kinds of subjects from politics, philosophy or
aesthetics to travel, sport and fashion.
The most characteristic language features of the essay remain:
Brevity of expression (sometimes bordering on epigrammatic brevity);
The use of the 1st person singular, which justifies a personal approach to the problems treated;
A rather expanded use of connectives which facilitate the process of grasping the correlation
of ideas;
Abundant use of emotive words;
The use of similes and sustained metaphors as means of the cognitive process.
 The real secret of the essay sub-style consists in the interrelation of these constituents.
Depending on the writer’s individuality essays are written in a highly emotional manner resembling
the style of emotive prose, others resemble scientific prose.

Modern essay is often biographical. Its vocabulary is simple and so is its logical structure and
argumentation. But it still retains all leading features of the publicist style.
In comparison to oratorical style, the essay aims at a more lasting and, hence, a slower effect.
Epigrams, paradoxes and aphorisms are comparatively rare in oratory (they require concentrated
attention of the listener). In the essay they are common.
The main difference between essays and speeches is that the essay seeks a lasting – and the
speech an immediate effect.

Journalistic Article, Feature Article

Irrespective of the character of the magazine and the divergence of the subject-matter (whether
it is political, literary, popular-scientific, or satirical) all the already mentioned features of publicist
style are to be found in any article. The character of the magazine as well as the subject chosen affects
the choice of SDs.
The language of political magazine articles differs little from that of newspaper articles. But
such elements as rare and bookish words, neologisms, parenthesis are more frequent in journalistic
articles.
Literary reviews stand closer to essays by their content and by their linguistic form. More
abstract words of logical meaning are used in them, they often resort to emotional language and less
frequently to traditional set-expressions.
An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly
reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.
Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, usually written by the senior editorial staff
or publisher of the publication, in which case the opinion piece is usually unsigned and may be
supposed to reflect the opinion of the periodical. In major newspapers editorials are classified under
the heading "opinion".
Other opinion pieces may be written by a (regular or guest) columnist. Such pieces, referred
to as "columns", may be strongly opinionated, and the opinion expressed is that of the writer (and not
the periodical). However, not all columns are opinion pieces; for example, columnists may write
columns that are nonsensical and solely intended for their humouristic effect.

All these genres represent persuasive writing, which is any written communication with the
intention to convince or influence readers to believe in an idea or opinion and to do an action. Many
writings such as criticisms, reviews, reaction papers, editorials, proposals, advertisements, and
brochures use different ways of persuasion to influence readers.
 According to Karsten Jonsen (2018), there are five categories of persuasive writing: rhetoric,
craftsmanship, authenticity, reflexivity, and imagination. Rhetoric refers to the various writing styles
authors use to marry language and data to persuade readers. Craftsmanship refers to how the authors
utilize present information in a manner that makes their writing persuasive. Authenticity refers to the
different tones and energy a writer utilizes to bring life to their work. Reflexivity is the balance a
writer maintains for a piece of writing that is interesting and attention grabbing while it still being
relevant and relatable to the reader's reality. Imagination relates to a writer's ability to create writing
that allows readers to interpret the writing in their own way.
Traditionally, there are three aesthetic features to persuasive writing:
1) Ethos is the appeal to credibility. It convinces the audience of the credibility of the
writer. The writer's expertise on their subject matter lends to such credibility. The level of education
and profession of the writer also come into play.
2) Logos is the appeal to logic and reason. It is the most commonly accepted mode in
persuasion because it aims to be scientific in its approach to argumentation. In writing, facts are
presented logically and faulty logic is avoided.
3) Pathos is the appeal to emotion. This aims to convince the audience by appealing to
human emotions. Emotions such as sympathy, anger, and sadness motivate humans; using pathos will
get the audience emotionally invested in the subject of the writing.
Argumentation is another essential feature to persuasive writing. Researches found that
recognizing opposing points of view and providing substantial rebuttals makes a paper much more
convincing and persuasive.

One more genre of journalism, a feature story is a piece of non-fiction writing about news.
The main sub-types are the news feature and the human-interest story.
A feature story is distinguished from other types of non-news by the quality of the writing.
Stories should be memorable for their reporting, crafting, creativity, and economy of expression.
A feature story, as contrasted with straight news reporting, normally presents newsworthy
events and information through a narrative story, complete with a plot and story characters. It differs
from a short story primarily in that the content is not fictional. Like literature, the feature story relies
upon creativity and subjectivity to make an emotional connection with the readers and may highlight
some universal aspect of human nature. Unlike straight news, the feature story serves the purpose of
entertaining the readers, in addition to informing them. Although truthful and based on good facts,
they are less objective than straight news.
4. THE FUNCTIONAL STYLE OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS.
The style of official documents is divided into four substyles:
1) the language style of business documents,
2) the language style of legal documents,
3) the language style of diplomatic documents,
 4) the language style of military documents.
The aim of official documents is to state rights and obligations of the parties in an undertaking
and to reach agreement between them. Therefore the language of documents is formal, accurate,
concrete, concise and clear. It is characterized by conventionality of expression, absence of
emotiveness, encoded character, and peculiar syntactic organization.
I) Layout of official documents.
1) There are no paragraphs, the whole document is one sentence divided into separate clauses,
often marked by commas or semicolons, and not by full stops. This specific organization serves to
show the equality of the items, to avoid ambiguity and cheating.
2) Punctuation marks, even full stops, are not used in traditional legal English to avoid
fraudulent additions, double interpretation or misunderstanding.
3) Capitalization is highly significant. Capitalized words can mark the beginning of a
document or a new part of the same document. They can also emphasize important words.

II) Vocabulary of official documents.

1) The vocabulary is highly bookish. The words are used in their logical dictionary meaning.
Words with emotive meanings are excluded.
2) Archaic words (especially compound words with adverbs here/there and preposition
(hereunder, hereinafter) and archaic forms (witnesseth) are still used in legal English:
We are sending you herewith statement of your account. All expenses connected therewith
begin born by … Subject to General Conditions on Sale endorsed hereon …
3) Pairs of synonyms (an English word and its French counterpart) are common for
documents. These words explain each other, thus accuracy of meaning is achieved: made and signed;
terms and conditions; able and willing; reasonable and proper.
4) There is a special set of terms, phrases and clichȗs: hereinafter, aforesaid, it is understood
and agreed, including without limitation, assignees and licenses, without prejudice, as between us,
solely on condition that;
5) The use of Latin (pro rata, pari passu, ad hoc) and French words (force majeure,
amicably);
6) The use of abbreviations, conventional symbols and marks is peculiar to the style, e.g.:
C&F (Cost and Fright), C&I (Cost and Insurance), et al. (and others), v.v. (quite the opposite).

III) Grammar of official documents.

1) Noun phrases are extremely long and complex with many modifiers in postposition. That
aims at pressing all the details together as one organic whole that is inseparable and should be taken as
one unit.
 2) The most widespread tense forms are Indefinite and Perfect Tenses. Continuous and Perfect
Continuous Tenses are absolutely not used. The specific character of official documents presupposes a
rare use of the past tenses: Sellers have sold and Buyers have bought …
3) Sentences in the Passive Voice beginning with the introductory word it and abstract nouns
are statistically more recurrent than sentences with a verb in the active form.
4) Non-finite forms of the verb (the Infinitive, the Gerund, the Participles) are extensively
exploited: Property in goods, to have passed to Buyers when goods have been put a board; The
delivery of goods was to have taken place last month and we have been caused serious inconvenience
through the delay; The letter of credit is to be valid for 90 days, all bank charges being at the expense
of the Buyers.
5) The modal verb shall is used in the sense of must to indicate obligations but not to refer to
the future: The result shall be considered …
6) Adverbs of time and place (hereto, hereby, hereto, thereof, hereunder) are widely used to
achieve a required precision of reference.
7) Adjectives and intensifiers are rarely used to avoid ambiguity.
8) Pronouns as substitutes for nouns are quite rare to avoid ambiguity of reference.

IV) Syntax of official documents.

1) Sentences are usually very long, complex and complicated which helps to present
information precisely and to avoid ambiguity.
2) Declarative sentences dominate in legal language. Their function is to reflect dictating and
obligatory nature of legal documents.
3) Clauses are complex and complicated due to many insertions and interruptions to reflect the
compactness of the whole document and every detail of it.

5. THE LITERARY FUNCTIONAL STYLE.

Literary language has been assigned a special character since antiquity. It has been considered
as sublime and distinctive from all other types of language, written or spoken. The reason for this is
the special use of language which is deviant from ordinary, everyday, non-literary language. It breaks
the common norms of language, including graphological, phonological, grammatical, lexical, and
semantic norms. Although this is true of literary language in general, it has always been applied to
poetry in particular. This separation of literature from other kinds of language is challenged
nowadays, as what can be called literary elements are now found in other varieties such as the press,
religion and advertising.
There are three main literary genres: poetry, prose fiction and drama. Prose fiction includes
two main types: novels and short stories.

I) Layout of literary texts.

 1) In the narrative, descriptive paragraphs tend to be organized as comparatively independent
units including interdependent ideas. Usually, perfectly well-organized paragraphs in the narrative are
the opening, descriptive ones at the beginning of novels and stories, which set the scene for the whole
text. Such paragraphs have clear-cut topic sentences, amplifications and conclusions/summaries. On
the other hand, paragraphs disappear in the dialogue. Dialogic extracts represent incomplete,
fragmented units that have to be taken in relation to one another, and to the large context of the
narrative. There are no paragraphs, in poetry, where stanzas replace paragraphs in prose.
2) Capitalization, underlining, bold type and italics are all used variably and frequently in
literary language, mainly for emphasis.
3) All punctuation marks are used and manipulated well in literary language, whether poetry
or prose. They are used at will by writers, both normally and unconventionally.

II) Grammar of literary texts.

1) The overwhelming tense is Past Indefinite, or the narrative tense, as events take place in the
past. However, all other tenses are used in this variety, but to a lesser extent. Present Indefinite, for
instance, can be used by the writer, or the narrator, to express timelessness of an event, an idea, or a
statement of some kind, or imply an attempt to relate the past to the present as being inseparable in the
chronology of events and continuity of time. Voice is generally unmarked in literary texts. The Active
Voice is more recurrent than the Passive. Yet, the latter can be sometimes dominant, when writers
want to hide something for its unimportance, or to keep it unknown to readers temporally, or
permanently for some reason.
2) Adjectives are used for description, accuracy of description, exaggeration and aesthetic
effect. Usually they have a simple structure (one word), but they can be occasionally complex (two or
more words) (half-hidden, ill-smelling). A series of “descriptive predicative adjectives” (long back
land, startled little waves, warm sea-scented beach) and “post-positive adjectives” (half-moon large
and low, I was young, and easy, I was green and carefree, famous) are also recurrent in literary
language.
3) Adverbs of all types are popular in literary language. They are of considerable importance
to meaning and perception; they are quite mobile here, used by writers at will anywhere in the
sentence, regardless of their normal positions.
4) Modal verbs such as can, could, would, etc. are recurrently used, especially those of
probability and ability, but, modal verbs like must, ought to, should, shall (in obligatory sense) are not
used here, for literary material is not obligatory, or instructional in character by any means.

III) Sentence structure of literary texts.

1) Many sentences of literary texts are complex and sometimes too complicated. For example
the sentence
“It contained several large streets all very like one another”
“and many small streets still more like one another”
“inhabited by people equally like one another”
“who all went in and out at the same hours”
“with the same sound upon the same pavements”
“to do the same work”
“and to whom everyday was the same as yesterday, and tomorrow”
“and every counterpart of the last and the next”
consists of the main clause and seven subordinate clauses.

In the place of conclusion:

The substyles of the five FSs given above:
The belles– lettres FS has the following substyles:
a) The language style of poetry;
b) The language style of prose fiction;
c) The language style of drama.

The publicist Ic-FS comprise the following substyles:

a) The language style of oratory;
b) The language style of essays;
c) The language style of journalistic articles in newspaper and journals.

The newspaper FS falls into:

a) The language style of brief news items and communiques;
b) The language style of newspaper headings and
c) The language style of notices and advertisement.

The scientific prose FS also has three divisions:

a) The language style of the humanities;
b) The language style of the sciences;
c) The language style of popular scientific prose.

The official document FS can be divided into four varieties:

a) The language style of diplomatic documents;
b) The language style of business documents;
c) The language style of legal documents;
d) The language style of military documents.
 In 1967, linguist Martin Joos identified five registers of language or styles of English usage,
and these continue to be recognized today. The five registers are frozen, formal, consultative, casual,
1
and intimate :
Стосунки

комуніка
Типові комунікативні Характерні риси стилю
Стиль

нтами
ситуації
між

Урочисті, дуже вагомі для Це переважно стиль

життя суспільства події, монологічного мовлення, що
високі офіційні характеризується ускладненим,
високоофіційний,

Суворо офіційні

церемонії, наради, судочинні книжним синтаксисом та

процедури, релігійні служби. великою кількістю так званих
церемонний

фіксованих лінгвістичних
одиниць або формульних
Frozen

виразів, мовних стереотипів,

кліше.
Всі важливі події, що Як правило, стиль
вимагають точного, ретельного монологічного мовлення,
підбору слів: типовою рисою
це стиль наукових доповідей, якого є зосередженість на
спеціальної літератури, одній темі, без залучення
розрахованої на фахівців, сторонніх спостережень.
навіть в її більш популярній Синтаксис і вокабуляр
формі; підручників та вирізняються різноманітністю й
Офіційно-ділові

формального писемного ускладненістю, проте лексика не

(офіційний)

мовлення в цілому. тяжіє до фіксованої

формальності та стереотипної
Consultative (консультативний або Formal

квітчастості високоофіційного
стилю.
Всі щоденні, рутинні ситуації На відміну від двох
писемного та розмовного вищезазначених, це стиль
мовлення, діалогічного мовлення, що не
що не мають особливого потребує попереднього
символічного значення. ретельного планування
Ситуації купівлі - лексико-синтаксичної форми.
продажу, запитів щодо Серед його характерних рис -
отримання певної інформації та повтори, еліптичні речення,
надання відповідей на ці перепити.
Рутинно-ділові
нейтральний)

запити, телефонних дзвінків,

викладання в школах та
університетах США,
спілкування у неформальних
ситуаціях.

1
Joos V. The Five Clocks // International Journal of American Linguistics, 1962. – Vol.28, №2, p. V., наводиться за
Дубенко О.Ю. Порівняльна стилістика англійської та української мов. Посібник для студентів та викладачів
вищих навчальних закладів. – Вінниця: Нова Книга, 2005. – С. 22 - 23.
 Відпочинок, розваги,
Звертання на ім'я,

Приватні, дружні
(невимушений) релаксація в колі друзів і використання прізвиськ,
родичів, позааудиторне
скорочені синтаксичні
спілкування студентів тощо структури, нечітка вимова, часте
вживання сленгу, зниженої
Casual

лексики, приказок та
ідіоматичних виразів.
Спілкування з найближчими Еліптична мова інтимного
Intimate

домашні

друзями, коханими, родичами спілкування, часто не зрозуміла

Інтимні,

стороннім людям.