Chapter VI, Part 2
12.
If language is an eminently practical theory about how the world of human
knowledge and experience is organised (I.35), then style is a still more
practice-driven theory about how particular views of the world and of the
discourse participants can be mediated by motivated sets of language choices.
Influential Stylistic Parameters have the function of winnowing down the
plausible choices and proposing ways for cohesion and coherence to crystallise.
They aim at taking account of the motives of the text producer and the response
of the receiver, such as projecting a ‘verbal image’ that comes across as
‘likeability’ or ‘personal attractiveness’
(VI.19).
13.
My review of these Parameters will draw together factors that have in the main
variously appeared earlier in this book in discussions of the triad of
Lexicogrammar, Prosody, and Visuality, so my treatment here might resemble a
modest a wrap-up. Whereas Lexicogrammatical Parameters are more discrete (e.g..
Affirmative or Negative; Present or Past), Stylistic Parameters tend to be more
scalar (more or less Weight; smoother or rougher Flow), and Prosody falls in
between (e.g. Strong Stress or Weak Stress; Front Weight, Mid Weight, or End
Weight).
14.
We have repeatedly noticed the Parameter of Markedness applying to
options chosen for a distinct motive (cf. III.82ff; VI.10.12).30 For Polarity, the plain Affirmative is least marked [1681] and the emphatic
more marked [1682]; the plain Negative [1683] is more marked than the plain
Affirmative, and the multiple Nega-tive is still more marked [1684]. Perhaps the
most marked is the trendy Negative tacking on ‘not’ in its own Tone Group after an Affirmative Clause [1685-86].
[1681] I want
money for the trip to Amsterdam (Van Gogh)
[1682]
‘I do want money’, he says with
conviction (Crow’s Calling)www
[1683] ‘I don’t
want money’, said Tony. ‘I want the piano’. (Piano)
[1684] ‘I don’t
want no money from you’, said Linda, ‘I don’t trust yer’ (Sergeant
Joe)
[1685] We
caught a night bus to Ipoh, arriving at 04:30, très compos mentis (not!) (Jodie)www
[1686] One awaits the geriatric Techno of the next century with
interest. Not. (NME)
For
Degree, the Positive is least marked [1687] and the doubled Superlative is the
most marked [1688].
[1687] He is a handsome man:
tall, fair, with blue eyes, and a Grecian profile. (Eyre)
[1688]
he is the most handsomest man
I ever
saw in my life. (Jones)
For
Tenses, the least marked are the Simple Present for a continuing State [1689] or
a habitual Action [1690], and the Simple Past for a single Action [1691]. The
more marked Tenses are the more complex ones like the Future Successive [1692]
(cf. III.85).
[1689] Our Lord is
alive. He lives and all is
well. (I Believe)
[1690] Tony snores
all the time. (conversation)BNC
[1691] Biff snorted.
(Twist of Fate)
[1692] This hotmail-clone will be going to
have many more security features. (HOTCLONE)www
For
Transitivity, the Active and Passive are least marked for a distinctly
Dispositive Action in a simple Clause [1693-94]. Markedness can be raised either
by elaborating the Circumstances [1695-96] or by formatting something as a
Dispositive that does not qualify, such as Emotions [1697-98].
[1693] Flying cow wrecks
car. (Today)
[1694] I was hit by
a flying cow. (Shaun Robinson in Today)
[1695] On the very first lap, Darell Waltrip
unexpectedly hit the brakes hard
in front of Burton and caused
significant front-end nose damage to the Caterpillar #22 Pontiac. (Peoria
Trader)
[1696] Mr Major was hit by an egg thrown from close range by a young man
shouting about unemployment with such force that it cut Mr Major’s
right cheek, splattered his glasses and dribbled down his dark blue suit. (Daily
Telegraph)
[1697]
Yui blinked away unwanted tears as a new wave of deep
sadness and heartbreak hit her bllindside. (Xenogears)www
[1698] That new life had barely begun however when the family’s
Australian adventure was hit by heartbreak. (Daily Telegraph)
The Medial is unmarked as an everyday Attribute or
bodily Enactment [1699-1700]. More marked options format the same as if it were
Active [1701] or Passive [1702], or have an Agent that would be incapable of the
Enactment [1703-04].
[1699]
Our house is ugly! (Ex-Etiquette)www
[1700]
He laughed and hiccupped. (Alteration)www
[1701]
‘The Shadow knows’, the voice
said, and laughed a laugh that clabbered milk. (Blackout)www
[1702]
The
last
good
laughs were laughed with Monty Python’s Flying Circus (Bast-wood)www
[1703]
The path that I walked seemed to laugh at me as I struggled on (Mylander)www
[1704]
Jo was raised on a sandhill that shook whenever the San Andreas Fault hiccupped.
(Jo Clayton)www
For
Clause Types, the plain Declarative is the least marked [1705], and the
Exclamatory more so [1706], whereas some versions of the Optative sound quite
marked to us today [1707].
[1705] I sleep now in eternal
rest (California
Peace Officers Memorial)www
[1706] What a sleep it was, content,
peaceful and so happy to be alive! (Jodie)www
[1707] Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast! Would I
were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest! (Romeo)
15.
The unmarked order of the Declarative Clause in English has the Subject at the
Front, followed by the Verb and then, if present, an Object or an Adverbial (cf.
IV.15). So [1708, 1710, 1712] are unmarked, whereas the contrasting ones are
Marked by fronting an Item ahead of the Subject + Verb, such as an Object
[1709], or a Subject Complement as Noun Phrase [1711] or as Modifier [1713] (cf.
IV.20). The fronted Item stands out and receives Strong Stress, whereas
elsewhere the same Item could get Weak Stress whilst Strong Stress goes to a
nearby Item, as we see from the contrasting examples displayed here.
[1708] Meg had de·!sert·ed ¡him in his hour of need. (Little
Women)
[1709]
!Him they had
de·¡sert·ed,
whether in sheer panic or out of revenge (Treasure)
[1710] It was
a ¡mea·gre !di·et: an annual dinner for Charles’s polo playing friends (Diana)
[1711] I drew out my purse; a !mea·gre ¡thing it was. (Eyre)
[1712] The State of Illinois, south of Chicago, is
an ¡end·less !dump.
(Lucker)
[1713]
!End·less
that ¡af·ter·noon
was. (Dandies)
Intermediate
markedness applies to a postponed Subject coming after its Verb, as in
[1714-15]. This order ensures a Strong Stress for the Subject at End Weight.
[1714]
Forth came the !bride and !bridegroom.
(Wildfell)
[1715]
Coming in the opposite direction was an endless !flood of !mo·tor
cyclists (Belfast Telegraph)
16.
As for Belief, the less marked options are plausibly the non-committal ones like Possible [1716] and Permissible [1717], whereas the more marked options
are the contrary, such as Obligatory [1718] and Impermissible [1719].
[1716]
Maybe they’re top mountaineers training for a Himalayan expedition (First Fifty)
[1717]
‘You
may go’,
said the King, and the Hatter hurriedly left the court. (Alice)
[1718]
‘‘I must, Ludovico — I absolutely must — speak to my aunt
before we go back to the flat.’ He looked back at her and knew the strength of
her will. (Woman of Style)
[1719]
Maxwell had insisted that he would under no circumstances take back his former
employees. […] ‘Grass will grow on my hands before I consider’. (Independent)
Finally,
Trajectory
is necessarily scalar, e.g. a Durative Process lasting a ‘short while’
[1720] as compared to an ‘eternity’ [1721]; or a Frequentive one happening
‘just two or three
times’ [1722]
as compared to ‘over
and over’ [1723].
[1720]
The rain came down in buckets, but it only lasted a short while. (PlayOutside)www
[1721]
He didn’t know how long they were climbing down for, but the ladder felt like
it was going on for eternity. Man, was there an end to this thing? (In
the Dark)www
[1722]
Professional choirs rehearse just two or three
times for a concert (Choir Conductor)www
[1723]
When
this
process
repeats
itself
over and over throughout the day, week after week, month after month, year after year, the body is predisposed to gaining fat. (GR2
Control)www
17.
The Parameter of Weight is higher for items treated as important and
worthy of attention, and lower for the rest. A simple option is repetition,
either right away [1724] or further on [1725]. The repeated Item may take Strong
Stress each time, whether or not visual emphasis by type face is displayed as
well [1725].
[1724]
I am in !hor·ri·ble,
!hor·ri·ble
trouble, Sheila. (Return)
[1725]
This savant said that Mothers held back Civilization through Selfishness. It’s
!fright·ful
to think about, isn’t it? Simply !fright·ful! (Hermione)
Many
languages exploit repetition far more than English.
18.
Prosody can guide Weight by assigning distinctive ‘stress’ or
‘emphasis’, usually to a Content Word, e.g., a Noun [1726] or a Modifier [1727],
but sometimes to a Function Word, e.g., an Auxiliary [1728]
or an Article [1729].
[1726] ‘You’re saying that !New·ley worked a double-cross?’ There was an incredulous stress on the
name. ‘Not !New·ley.’ Dougal stressed the name too. (Freelance Death)
[1727] ‘Rest assured that we’re !dead·ly !ser·ious.’ There
was a nasty emphasis on the last words. (Destined).
[1728] ‘Just how well !did
you know Nicola?’ The gentle stress on the word ‘did’ made it clear
Blanche expected there to be more to their relationship (Taped)
[1729] ‘Did
you know that
Mr. Bevan was !the Mr. Bevan?’ ‘!The Mr. Bevan?’ (Damsel)
Or,
Weight can increase by making the Tone Groups short and thus raising the
incidence of Strong Stresses [1730].
Here too, repetition can serve [1731].
[1730]
There is no recession, my friends. No
!down·turn.
No hard !times.
The rich are wallowing in the loot they’ve accumulated in
the past two decades… (Stupid White Men)
[1731]
‘!Oh!
!nev·er,
!nev·er,
!nev·er!
he !nev·er
will succeed with me.’ And she spoke with a warmth which quite astonished
Edmund. (Mansfield)
Interjections
attain their Higher Weight by placing Strong Stress on Items of short Length
[1732-33] (cf. IV.98). Some have in fact been shortened over time, perhaps to
sound less blasphemous, e.g. ‘God blind me’ => ‘blimey’ [1734];
‘God’s wounds’ => ‘zounds’ [1735]; ‘God rot’ => ‘drat’
[1736].
[1732] Me? Pinch wallets? !Cri·key, what an insult. (Sergeant Joe)
[1733] ‘Ian Paisley — !ugh!’ she
said with
feeling. She
had a
nice line
in ‘ughs’. (Jaunting)
[1734] !Bli·mey, he
even looks
older than
me and
that’s saying
something. (Liverpool Echo)
[1735]
‘To tell you plainly, we have been afraid of a son of a whore.’ […]
‘Why, !zounds!’ (Jones)
[1736] ‘Oh !drat!’
said Clare. ‘I left my umbrella under the seat.’ (Picturegoers)
19.
Visuality can guide Weight
by orthographic means [1737-38]
(V.32), or by a short Tone Group placed in a separate paragraph [1739-40].
[1737] All these ballots violated Florida law yet they all were counted.
Can I say this any louder? Bush didn’t win!
Gore did! (Stupid White Men)
[1738]
Whether I’m in Texas or Florida, when I hear the words Governor
Bush, I instinctively respond with a ‘STOP
HIM!’ (same)
[1739]
What state was it that offered Jeb and George a helping hand by sending this
bogus list to Florida?
Texas.
(same)
[1740]
One testing-company CEO told a gathering of Wall Street analysts that Bush’s
education law ‘reads like our business plan’.
No
surprise. (Bushwhacked)
20.
Lexical contributions to Weight can be made with contrasting choices:
[1741]
Lady Dedlock […] fell not into the !melt·ing,
but rather into the !freez·ing,
mood. (Bleak House)
[1742]
the Bellman, perplexed and distressed, said
he had hoped, at least, when the wind blew due !East,
that the ship would not travel due !West!
(Snark)
Or,
Weight falls on uncommon lexical choices, e.g., the Modifiers in ‘a
canary-headed woman’ [1743] or ‘a fish-mouthed woman’ [1744], as compared
to the ‘good
woman’
or ‘kind
woman’
(in whom
almost
‘no one’
was
‘interested’) [1745].
[1743] her ladyship was a canary-headed
woman, and
given to
flights and
tantrums (Parish)
[1744] She was a fish-mouthed
woman with a hard eye, and as I told my errand her mouth grew fishier and the
eye harder. (O’Hara)
[1745] She was a good woman, a kind woman,
a diligent woman, but no one, save perhaps Tinka her ten-year-old, was at all
interested in her (Babbitt)
Similarly,
the Weight may go to an unpredictable choice of Object for a common Verb, as
when a spaniel with pricey tastes ‘eats’ the family’s ‘money’ [1746],
or ‘patients drink’ a yucky medication by the ‘bottle’ [1747], as
compared to prosaic-ally ‘eating dinner’ [1748], or ‘drinking a toast’
(after ‘standing and raising your glasses’, no less) [1749]. The placement
of Strong and Weak Stresses reflects the difference in Weight.
[1746] I couldn’t believe it when Bonnie ate the !mon·ey. […] she once ate a £35 !cheque. (Daily Mirror)
[1747] Patients drank a bottle of magnesium !cit·rate each night (Gut)
[1748] They ate their ¡din·ner in silent !gloom (Who, Sir?)
[1749] stand