BBL 3207SEMESTER 1 2012/2013DR. IDA BAIZURA BAHAR

LANGUAGE IN LITERATURE

2. Graphological LevelDesign, layout, spelling and letteringThe typographical arrangement of words is as

important in conveying the intended effect

she loves meshe loves me notshe lovesshe loves mesheshe loves

she - Emmet Williams

3. Grammatical LevelGrammar itself is also composed of a number

of levels.

Sentences

Clauses

Phrases

Words

composed of one or more clauses (or "simple sentences").

composed of one or more phrases.

composed of one or more words.

WordsWord class:

noun (N), verb (V), adjective (A) adverb (Adv).

3. Grammatical Level

Sentence structure: Single – a sentence with only one verb group Compound – sentences / clauses linked simply

(and, but) Complex – sentences where subordinate clauses

are bound together by more complex connectives and punctuation

Consider the sentence, 'The audience might like the play but I hate it'.Using round brackets to indicate the phrases

and square brackets to indicate the clauses, we can show the sentence's structure as follows:

[ ( The audience) ( might like ) ( the play ) ] [ but ( I ) ( hate ) ( it ) ]

The sentence thus consists of two coordinated clauses (ie two simple sentences joined together as one sentence). In the first clause each constituent phrase consists of two words, and in the second clause each phrase consists of one word.

3. Grammatical Level Identifying elements of simple sentences functions of words and phrases in sentences: subject, predicate, object, complement, adverbial

Predicators consist of verb phrases (e.g. 'ate', 'had been eating', 'is', 'was being') which can be used to express tense and aspect) function as the centre of English sentences and clauses, around which everything else revolves they express actions (e.g. 'hit'), processes (e.g. 'changed', 'decided') and linking relations (e.g. 'is', 'seemed') they are the most obligatory of English sentence constituents Note that we use the term 'predicator' to be able to distinguish the form-property (VP: verb/verb phrase) from its function in the sentence so that this difference can parallel those for the other SPOCA elements (see below) Examples Mary loves John (transitive predicator), John had been running (intransitive predicator), John seems quiet (linking predicator)

Subjects consist of noun phrases (NPs) (e.g. 'a student', 'John') function asthe topic of the sentence, and the 'doer' of any action expressed by a dynamic predicator and normally come before that predicator subjects are the next most obligatory element after predicators Examples Mary loves John, The exhausted student had been running, John seems quiet

Objects consist of noun phrases (NPs) function asthe 'receiver' of any action expressed by a dynamic predicator, where relevant and normally come immediately after that predicatorobjects are obligatory with transitive predicators (but do not occur with intransitive or linking predicators) Examples Mary loves John, The exhausted student had eaten all his food, Mary has the biggest ice cream

Complements consist of noun phrases (e.g. 'a student') or adjective phrases (e.g. 'very happy') and normally come immediately after a linking predicator (when they are subject complements) or an object (if they are object complements) Complements are obligatory with linking predicatorsfunction asthe specification of some attribute or role of the subject (usually) or the object (sometimes) of the sentenceExamples John is a student, The exhausted student is ill, Mary made her mother very angry

Adverbials consist of adverb phrases (AdvPs: e.g. 'soon', 'then' 'very quickly', prepositional phrases (PPs: e.g. 'up the road', 'in a minute' or noun phrases (e.g. 'last Tuesday', 'the day before last') function asthe specification of a condition related to the predicator (e.g. when, where or how the predicator process occurred)adverbs are the most optional of the SPOCA elements and can normally occur in more positions than the other SPOCA elements, though the most normal position for most adverbials is at the ends of clausesExamples Then John walked up the road, The exhausted student became ill last Thursday, Next Mary stupidly made her mother very angry on her wedding anniversary

Words and Tropes: Transference of MeaningTrope: (Greek tropein, to turn) involves

a deviation from the ordinary and principal signification or meaning of a word. Metaphor, metonymy, personification, simile, and synecdoche are sometimes referred to as the principal tropes.

Involves transference:Trope—transference of meaningScheme—transference of order

More on Foregrounding, Deviation and Parallelism

Foregrounding:some parts of texts had more effect on readers than others in terms of interpretation, because the textual parts were linguistically deviant or specially patterned in some way, thus making them psychologically salient

(or 'foregrounded') for readers (Short 1996)Deviation:

exploits choice and frustrates expectations that are set up either by the linguistic system or by changing the

pattern set up within the poem at some expected point (Herman 1998). Parallelism:

defined as where some features are held constant, usually structural features, while others, usually lexical items - for example, words or idioms - are varied (Short 1996).

ForegroundingEarlier it has been stated how foregrounding ,

deviation and parallelism are special characteristics of literary language or contribute to the literariness of language.

One way to produce foregrounding in a text, then, is through linguistic deviation. Another way is to introduce extra linguistic patterning into a text. The most common way of introducing this extra patterning is by repeating linguistic structures more often than we would normally expect to make parts of texts PARALLEL with one another.

This: linguistic deviation + lingustic paralellism = produce the effect of foregrounding

Sound Parallelismhow sound patterns contribute to the

meaning and effects of poems: alliteration, assonance and rhyme,

and also how particular sounds and groups of sounds 'mimic' phenomena in the world to create effects like onomatopoeia

Sound Parallelism•Words that sound like what they mean•Most obvious examples are onomatopoeic: ‘hiss’ or ‘shush’Example: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keepSteady thy laden head across a brook;Or by a cider press, with patient look,Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. (John Keats, 'To Autumn')