Exploring Stylistic Analysis in Language Studies

1. Stylistics and stylometry

2. What is “style”? • Term not much loved by linguists • Too vague • Has connotations in neighbouring fields (“style” = good style, ie a value judgment) • Many books/articles make reference to etymology of the word (Lat. stilus = ‘pen’), so it follows that style is mainly about written language • Various definitions, some very close to things already seen (especally “register”) • Two main aspects widely supposed: • style is choice • style is described by reference to something else

3. Style as choice • For any intended meaning there are a range of alternative ways of expressing that meaning • Different choices express nuances • of meaning • of other things (style?) eg buy vs purchase • Example: • Visitors are respectfully informed that the coin required for the meter is 50p; no other coin is acceptable • 50p pieces only • Propositional meaning is the same; difference in expression conveys something else (register etc)

4. Style as choice • Style is a choice, but often the “choice” is somewhat predetermined • ie a choice between appropriate and inappropriate style • So maybe “style” is just another word for register?

5. Style and the norm • Some writers define style as • “individual characteristics of a text” • “total sum of deviations from a norm” • But what is the “norm”? • Is there some form of the language that is neutral as regards style/register? • Note also that the norm shifts: eg Bible AV was written in the vernacular of its time • Literary stylistics focuses on the exceptional

6. Even if there is no norm, we can describe style comparatively • Stylistics mainly involves comparing and contrasting texts • and associating linguistic variance with contextual explanation • Some authors see style as being what is added to the text

7. Stylistic analysis • Gulf between literary vs linguistic stylistics • Lit crit focuses on effect on the reader, intended or otherwise, so largely intuitive and subjective • Linguistic stylistics looking for characterisations of style (including literary style) in terms of linguistic phenomena at the various levels of linguistic description

8. Stylistic analysis • Inventory of linguistic devices and their effect • usually in a contrastive way: • in contrast with other writers in a similar genre • in contrast with other genres • Linguistic devices described in terms of the usual linguistic levels of description: phonology, morphology, lexis, grammar, etc. • Effects can be directly expressive, or indirectly, by association • example: onomatopoeia vs alliteration as a phonological device

9. Examples of stylistic devices • Phonostylistics • onomatopoeia, alliteration • use of regional accents • Lexical stylistics • archaisms, neologisms, slogans • recurring imagery through metaphor (eg many water metaphors in Shakespeare) • juxtaposition of close synonyms to imply subtle differences in meaning, or to reinforce (eg let or hindrance) • Syntax stylistics • tenses, word order, use of pronouns • complexity, esp. juxtaposition of eg long and short sentence • deliberate violation of normal syntactic conventions

10. Historical stylistics • Taking a diachronic view of language • Study how linguistic devices lose or gain stylistic significance • eg novel metaphor  idiom  cliché • Must bear in mind contemporary setting • eg falconry metaphor in Shakespeare understood differently • My Fair Lady: audience assumptions about Cockney characters

11. Stylistic analysisCrystal & Davy (1969) Investigating English Style • Informally identify stylistic features felt to be significant • Devise a method of analysis which facilitates comparison between usages • Identify the stylistic function of the features so identified

12. Types of features • “Invariable” features due to the individual or the time – usually of little interest • Discourse features • medium (= Halliday’s mode), what features distinguish written language from spoken language • participation: eg monologue vs dialogue • Province (= field) lexis and syntax • Status (= tenor) features relating to relative social standing of writer/speaker and reader/listener • Modality (= text type) eg message delivered as a letter, postcard, text message, email, etc • Singularity: deliberate occasional idiosyncracies

13. Methods • Look at features on the various linguistic levels • Example: email (compared to letter) • No address at top • Greetings (Dear X, Yours sincerely) optional • Where used, may be different: strict rules about Yours sincerely/truly etc; emails show more variety • Spelling, orthography (caps and punc), and grammar more flexible • Convention of including original in response (cut&paste vs indirect reference) • Since two modes coexist, there is some cross-over • some emails (more formal) have features of a letter, in the extreme being seen as just an alternative delivery mode • some letters more like emails, eg if correspondence is in electronic form, you can cut&paste quotes from previous correspondence

14. Stylometry • Measurement of style based on numerical analysis • Always been part of stylistics (especially in authorship studies), but more popular now due to practicality (computers) • Involves counting things • And knowing how to show the significance of what has been counted

15. What to count • Simple things may characterise different styles • average sentence length • average word length • type:token ratio (vocabulary richness) • number of types = number of different words • number of tokens = total number of words • vocabulary growth (homogeneity of text) • number of new types in 1st, 2nd, …, nth 1000 words • in rich varied text, number will climb steadily • Especially when used comparatively

16. What to count • More complex analyses can give a more interesting picture • specific syntactic structures • degree of modification in NPs • types of verbs (eg verbs of persuasion, speech verbs, action verbs, descriptive verbs) • distribution of pronouns (1st/2nd/3rd person) • etc … (anything you can think of) • Quite sophisticated mathematical techniques can give an overall picture • eg factor analysis: identifies from a (big) range of variables which ones best identify/characterize differences

17. Coming soon … • After Easter we will look at … • Case study of stylistic analysis • Some examples of stylometry • by Biber to classify of genre • and various uses in the field of … • Authorship attribution • Literary studies • Forensic