The Problem of Colloquial Style

I.R.Galperin denies the existence of this functional style. He thinks that functional style can be singled out in the written variety of language. He defines the style as the result of a deliberate careful selection of language means which in their correlation constitute this style.

There’s a discrepancy in I.R.Galperin’s theory. One of the substyles of the publicistic style is oratory which is its oral subdivision. Y.M.Skrebnev gives the definition of bookish and colloquial styles. The bookish style is a style of a highly polished nature that reflects the norm of the national literary language. The bookish style may be used not only in the written speech but in oral, official talk.

Colloquial style is the type of speech which is used in a situation that allows certain deviations from the rigid pattern of literary speech used not only in a private conversation, but also in private correspondence. So the style is applicable both to the written and oral varieties of the language. The terms “colloquial” and “bookish” don’t exactly correspond to the oral and written forms of speech.

The Belles-Lettres Style, its Substyles and its Peculiarities (I.R.Galperin):

The term “Belles-lettres” is generic for 3 substyles:

- poetry;

- emotive prose;

- drama;

The Belles-lettres style has its own specific function which is double –phoned. Besides, informing the reader, it impresses the reader aesthetically. Its function is aesthetic and cognitive, cognitive on the one hand and receiving pleasure on the other.

The language means of this functional style are:

1) Genuine (not trite) imagery.

2) Contextual (connotative meaning) prevailing over denotation.

3) The individual choice of vocabulary which reflects the author’s personal evaluation;

4) Lexical and syntactical idiosyncrasy. A peculiar individual selection of syntax and lexis;

5) The introduction of elements of other styles.

6) Colloquial language (in drama).

The Language of Poetry. Its peculiarities are rhythm and rhyme. As a SD rhythm is a combination of the ideal metrical scheme and its variations governed by the standard. (Unit 1: Phonographic Level of stylistic analysis)

Emotive prose. Emotive prose is a combination of literary and colloquial variants of the language, being presented by the speech of the characters which is stylized that means it has been made “literature like” and some elements of conversational English were made use of. Emotive prose allows the use of elements of other styles but the author changes them and fulfils a certain function. The substyle of emotive prose makes use of different EM and SD, represented speech, detached constructions, gap – sentence link, etc. (Unit 11. Types of narration)

The language of Drama is the language of plays mainly consisting of dialogues. The author’s speech is in the form of stage remarks. Any presentation of a play is an aesthetic procedure. The language of a play has the following peculiarities:

- It is stylized (retains the modus of literary English);

- It presents the variety of spoken language;

- It has redundancy of information caused by necessity to amplify the utterance;

- Monologues are never interrupted;

-characters’ utterances are much longer than in ordinary conversation.

The Publicist Style, its Substyles, and their Peculiarities

The Publicist Style treats certain political, social, economic, cultural problems. The aim of this style is to form public opinion, to convince the reader or the listener. The publicist style has the features common with the style of the scientific prose and that of emotive prose, i.e.

1) Coherent and logical syntactical structure, with the expanded system of connectives;

2) Careful paragraphing;

3) Emotional appeal is achieved by the use of words with emotive meaning;

4) The use of imagery and other SD in emotive prose:

5) It is also characterized by BREVITY of expression which becomes epigrammatic in essays.

Substyles: The oratory, essays, journalistic articles, radio and TV commentary.

Oratory. It makes use of a great number of expressive means to arouse and keep the public’s interest: repetition, gradation, antithesis, rhetorical questions, emotive words, elements of colloquial speech.

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