英语文体学-Chapter-7-The-English-of-Conversation

WANGYao@SDUTEnglishStylisticsChapter7TheEnglishofConversationContents7.1NecessityofStudyingSpeech7.3ObjectofStudy7.5ASampleTextofCasualConversation7.6GeneralFeatures7.7StylisticFeaturesinTermsofLevelsofLanguage7.9OtherKindsofConversation7.1NecessityofStudyingSpeechSaussureemphasizedspeechoverwritingLanguageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunicationPeopletalkandtheycommunicatetheirthoughtsandfeelingsbymeansoforalsounds.SpeechisthemostbasicformoflanguageactivityIndianlanguages,etc7.2NecessityofStudyingConversationLanguageisessentiallyasocialactivityAteacher,forinstance,willtalkwithhiswifeathome,withhiscolleaguesatschool,withhisstudentsintheclassroom,withshopassistantswhenshopping,withfriendsonthephone,etc.HeislikelytoengageinmonologueaswellClearly,conversingisthemostbasicofspokenvarieties.7.3ObjectofStudyIntermsoffield,conversationcoversawiderange.Intermsofmode,conversationcanbespontaneousornon-spontaneousIntermsofpersonaltenor,conversationscanbeveryinformal/intimateormoreformal;intermsoffunctionaltenor,conversationscanbeinformativeorphaticWejusttakecasualconversationasoursubjectofstudy.7.5ASampleTextofCasualConversationHereisasampletextofadialoguebetweentwoeducatedwomenintheirthirties.A:Yougota↗cold?B:↘No,justabit↘sniffy,cosI’m–I’m↗coldandI’llbeallrightonceI’vewarmed↘up.DoI↘lookasthoughI’vegota↗cold?A:NoIthoughtyou↘soundedasifyouwere.5B:↘M--A:Pullyour↘chaircloseifyou↗want.Isit--B:↘Yes,I’llbeallrightina↗minute.It’sjustthatIam…A:Whathaveyou↘got?107.5ASampleTextofCasualConversationB:↘Stupid.Ihaderaboutfivethousand↘books--totakebacktoSenate↘House↗yesterday,-andIgotallthewaythroughthe↗collegetowherethe↘carwasattheparkingmeter,atthe↘otherend,andrealizedI’dleftmycoatinmy↘locker.15AndIjustcouldn’tA:↘M.B:↗facegoingalltheway↘backagainwiththisgreat…youknowmy↘armswereaching.A:↘M-207.5ASampleTextofCasualConversationB:AndIthought,↗well,I’llgetiton↘Tuesday.It’sabit↗sillycosI↘needit.A:M.It’sgonevery↗cold,↘hasn’tit?B:↘M---It’s↘freezing.A:↘M-I’m…25B:You’re↘knitting.(laughquietlyfor-)Whatareyou↘knitting?That’snotatiny↗garment?A:No.B:(laughsfor-)A:No,it’sfor↘me.Butit’svery↘plain.307.5ASampleTextofCasualConversationB:It’salovely↗colour---A:It’s↗nice.B:↘Yeah.Ineverdi-Icouldnever↘taketo↗knittingexceptonthesedoubleoneedleswith↘string,you↗know,that’smysortofknitting.35A:↘Yeah.7.6GeneralFeatures1)itshowsinexplicitnessoflanguage,asthisgreatandtheotherendhavetobeunderstoodontheimmediateextralinguisticcontextorsharedbackgroundknowledge.2)itshowsrandomnessofsubject-matterandlackofplanning.3)thereisthephenomenonofnormalnon-fluency,ashesitation,slipsofthetongue,overlappingorsimultaneousspeech.7.7StylisticFeaturesinTermsofLevelsofLanguage7.7.1GrammaticalFeatures7.7.2LexicalFeatures7.7.4SemanticFeatures7.7.1GrammaticalFeatures1)Preferenceforshortandloosesentences2)Highincidenceofellipticalandincompletesentences3)Frequencyofinterrogativesentences4)Simplenominalandverbalgroupstructure1)PreferenceforshortandloosesentencesSpeakerstendtouseshortutteranceswhentalking.Keepingwiththefactthatourshort-termmemoryisonlysevenoreightwordslong.Thelongersentencesarelooselyjoinedtogether:usuallythemainclausecomesthefirst,withotherclausesofphrasesrunningonbehind,veryoftenjoinedbyandorso.2)HighincidenceofellipticalsentencesInordertobebriefandinformal/intimate,participantsincasualconversationtendtoomitparts/elementsofanutterancewhichinformalcontextarenotellipted.Moreexamples:Wantsometea?(Doyouwantsometea?)YouOkay?(AreyouOkay?)Gottogonow.(I”vegottogonow.)You’vewhat?(Whathaveyouhad?)2)Highincidenceofincompletesentences3cases:Thespeakermayrestartasentencetoconformmoretowhathe/shewantstosay.SpeakerAmaywanttocompleteSpeakerB’ssentenceorviceversaThetwospeakersmayprovideanendingsimultaneously.3)FrequencyofinterrogativesentencesAsaverbaltransactionbetweentwopeopleconversing,questionsandanswersarethebasicform.Hencethehigherincidenceofinterrogativesentences.Vocativesareusedtocalltheattentionoftheaddressee(togethimorherinvolved).4)SimplenominalandverbalgroupstructureNominalgroupstendtobe“Det+(Adj)+Noun”;withnotmuchpostmodificationoradjectivesequenceRelativeclausesomitanoptionalrelativepronounandtheprep.isputattheendObjectformsassubjects(Metoo)Verbalgroupsarecomposedofoneverborof“Aux+Verb”ContractedverbalformsInformalfillerverbssuchasgotPassivesarefew;lessmodalverbs7.7.2LexicalFeaturesPreferenceforshortwordsandvagueexpressionsFrequentuseofcolloquialitemsandidiomsandagreatmanyphrasalverbs.Useoflexicalhyperboleandslang1)PreferenceforshortwordsandvagueexpressionsThewordsareshort.Thevocabularyreflectstherelativedomesticityofthesubjectmatter:weather,health,car,knitting;wordshavingtodowithphaticcommunication,andvocalsoundssuchas“m”,“mhm”,etctokeeptheconversationgoing.Forexample,---I’dlike↘fiftypence,Dad.---↗Why?---Becausewewantsomethingsfromtheshops.(cfneedtobuy)It’sbeenverynice↘havingyou.(cftohaveyourcompany)1)PreferenceforshortwordsandvagueexpressionsSpecializedtermsandformalphraseol