STYLISTICS OF LANGUAGE AND SPEECH

One of the fundamental concepts of linguistics is the dichotomy of «language and speech» (langue—parole) introduced by F. de Saussure. According to it language is a system of elementary and complex signs-phonemes, morphemes, words, word combinations, utterances and combinations of utterances. Language as such a system exists in human minds only and linguistic forms or units can be systematised into paradigms.

So language is a mentally organised system of linguistic units. When we use these units we mix them in acts of speech. As distinct from language, speech is not a mental phenomenon, not a system but a process of combining these linguistic elements into linear linguistic units that are called syntagmatic.

The result of this process is the linear or syntagmatic combination of vowels and consonants into words, words into word-combinations and sentences and combination of sentences into texts. The word «syntagmatic» is a purely linguistic term meaning a coherent sequence of words (written, uttered or just remembered).

Stylistics is a branch of linguistics that deals with texts, not with the system of signs or process of speech production as such. But within these texts elements stylistically relevant are studied both syntagmatically and paradigmatically (loosely classifying all stylistic means paradigmatically into tropes and syntagmatically into figures of speech).

Eventually this brings us to the notions of stylistics of language and stylistics of speech. The stylistics of language analyses permanent or inherent stylistic properties of language elements while the stylistics of speech studies stylistic properties, which appear in a context, and they are called adherent.

Russian words like толмач, штудировать, соизволять or English words prevaricate, comprehend, lass are bookish or archaic and these are their inherent properties. The unexpected use of any of these words in a modern context will be an adherent stylistic property.

So stylistics of language describes and classifies the inherent stylistic colouring of language units. Stylistics of speech studies the compostition of the utterance—the arrangement, selection and distribution of different words, and their adherent qualities.

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