The main function of language is to enable speakers to create a picture of reality and to make sense of their experience of what goes on around them.
Halliday (1985:101) claims that “Our most powerful conception of reality is that it consists of „goings-on‟: of doing, feeling, happening, being. These goings-on are sorted out in the semantic system of the language, and explored through the grammar of the clause.” Clause is evolved in the grammatical function expressing the reflective, experiential aspect of language. This is the system of transitivity. “Transitivity specifies the different types of processes that are recognized in the structure and the language by which they are expressed.” (ibid). Halliday and Matthiessen (2004:175)
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The importance of involving linguistic analysis to literature lies in examining the linguistic features of a text which can contribute a great deal to the readers' understanding. The reason behind paying attention to the linguistic study of literature emerges from the fact that any literary work is a piece of language. Some other scholars consider "stylistics" as part of linguistics. Crystal and Davy, (1969:9) see that linguistics is an academic discipline which studies language scientifically whereas stylistics studies certain aspects of language variation and therefore it is essentially of that discipline. Turner (1973:8) defines' stylistics' as the part of linguistics which concentrates on variation in the use of language, often, but not exclusively, with special attention to the most conscious and complex uses of language in literature. Stylistics is not only the science of literature but also the study of sound patterns. It is also the study of rhythm and meter, vocabulary, syntax, and even the study of structures exceeding the limits of a sentence (Wellek: …show more content…
English and Arabic are similar rather than different in their main functional systems at the level of metafunctions.
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Definition and variables: Transitivity has been defined in rigorous ways during the history of linguistics. Traditionally, transitivity was understood as a semantic phenomenon: Transitive sentences were sentences which describe events that involve a transfer of energy from subject to object. (e.g. 'he killed the man'). Structurally these are mostly sentences with a grammatical subject and a direct (accusative) object (at least in the languages that were the targets of description). In the golden era of formal grammars transitivity became a purely formal concept: Verbs (or more rarely sentences) with a direct object were classified as transitive and those without one as intransitive without taking their semantics into account (Jacobsen 1985:89). Transitivity specifies the different types of processes that are recognized in the language and the structures by which they are expressed. (Halliday: 1985; 101)
In Halliday’s concept of transitivity there are three components of processes:
1. The process
First, a brief background in the three dimensions of language discussed throughout this paper. The functional, semantic, or thematic dimensions of language as previously mentioned are often used in parallel with each other. Due, to this fact it is important to be able to identify them as they take place and differentiate between these dimensions i...
In English 1102, I was exposed to a variety of different genres, including, argumentative research paper, an annotated bibliography, an analytical paper, and a workplace specific piece. Entering this class the majority of papers I had written were all analytical, and in this class we went above and beyond the basic 5 paragraph essay. Though each paper had a different genre and style, I learned that each project was similar in composition.
The authors state, “Genres in literature are categories of writing recognized for their patterns of organization, their
Diction plays a critical role in the development of the tone in a story. The type of words the author uses directly leads to the tone of the entire literary work. If ...
Birk, Newman. “Selection,Slanting,and Charged Language.” Language Awarness:Reading for College Writers.Ed Paul Escholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. 11th ed. Boston:Bedford, 2013. 223-31. Print
Clair and Williams). Stylometry is the study of writing style and technique. It is used to find and give credit to the author of given works. Researchers spent a long time analyzing the unique writing to see if Shakespeare is the author of his works. As it turned out, Shakespeare is the author.
Lowe, Peter J. Texas Studies in Literature & Language; Spring2007, Vol. 49 Issue 1, p21-44, 24p Academic Search Complete Ebesco. Web. 23 July 2011
Roberts, Edgar V., and Robert Zweig. "A Glossary of Important Literary Terms." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Boston: Longman, 2012. 1945. Print.
Another important characteristic of postmodern literature is the mixing of styles. Many literary styles such as “[ . . . ] tone, point of view, register, and logical sequence; apparently random unexpected intrusions and [ . . ...
What is writing style? I started out thinking that writing style is a personal thing and that all writers have their own style. But, this way of thinking is really just a simple way to answer the question. After more careful thought, I realized that style is actually quite the opposite of personal and original. Style is a form of standardization. As writers, we all follow certain rules and guidelines to make our point. Style is these rules and guidelines.
One of the more interesting concepts is the "Chain of signifiers", in which the signifier itself points not to the signified, or concept, but rather points to another set of signifiers, which each point to another set of signifiers, ad infinitum. It is this idea that "the word...never reaches the point when it refers to a signified" (Tyson 252) that positions language as nonreferential, with no end-game where a signified is met and all the supplements provided by the signifiers are resolves. There is no point at which language "refer[s] to things in the world" (252) instead relying on how we, through our own structures of signification, view concepts. Each chain of signifiers is dependent upon the structure that acts upon the creation of meaning and experience, and no longer dependent on the signified itself. For instance, a text never reaches the point where it relays the disparate ideas that formulated the text in the mind of the author - it instead is formulated of supplements that point to poten...
Comparing The Elements of Style by Strunk and White and Style Toward Clarity and Grace by Williams
It may be time to consider a literary work not as a predetermined product cast in a deterministic mold, but as a dynamic system that transcends the prevailing assumptions that are supposed to define its identity. The formal definitions can be just external to the composition of the text since we cannot expect the reader to know exactly what the author intended to write without falling into the trap of intentional fallacy.
Shea, Renee, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Scanlon. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2013. 525-529,546-551. Print.
An approach to literature that focuses on the formal elements of a work, such as its language, structure, and tone. Formalist Critics offer intense examinations of the relationship between form and meaning in a work, emphasizing the subtle complexity in how a work is arranged. Formalists pay special attention to diction, irony, paradox, metaphor, and symbol, as well as larger elements such as plot, characterization, theme, and narrative technique. (Bedford 2181)