Lectures 2 and 3 Functional Styles.

(4 hours)
The problem of functional styles is first of all the problem of correct and
adequate communication both in written and oral forms. So, all the would-be
translaters are supposed to know this fact and be ready to get an idea concerning
functional styles, in general, and some relevant peculiarities of them, in particular.
There’s no doubt that adequate communication has acquired a special significance
today, with home and foreign affairs of different levels becoming practically
boundless. The theory of functional styles implies searching for differential properties
of different levels of communication and also setting up definite goals while choosing
a needed level of communication. The number of functional styles in the English
language cannot be regarded as an absolute thing, it’s rather arbitrary, conventional.
English, as any developed language, contains an open set of sublanguages
corresponding to different speech spheres and characterized by a relatively limited
amount of language units. These sublanguages are partially correlated. They are
determined by different spheres of communication and the latter implies functional
difference. Each style of the literary language makes use of a set of language means,
the interrelation of which is peculiar to the given style. It is the coordination of the
language means and stylistic devices that shapes the distinctive features of each style,
but not the language means or stylistic devices themselves. Each style, however, can
be recognized by one or more leading features, which are especially conspicuous.
So, a functional style is a system of expressive means and vocabulary serving a
definite aim of communication. The English bookish literary language comprises the
following functional style:
1. the scientific prose style;
2. the style of official documents;
3. the journalistic/publicistic style;
4. the newspaper style;
5. the belles – letters or fiction style. The informal variety of functional style is
also worth mentioning, it’s – colloquial style.
Journalistic (Publicistic) Style.
Journalistic style is used in compositions devoted to some social, political,
moral, ethnical, cultural, etc problem and meant for the wide public: readers and
listeners. It is found both in written and oral forms. Its written forms are essays,
pamphlets, editorials, newspaper and magazine articles of a literary critical and
social-political character. Its oral form – orator’s speech.
The function of journalistic style is to convince a reader or listener of the
rightness and justice of the theses set forth and make him react to it in the way the
author desires.
But to be fully comprehended by the public the presentation of ideas must be
logical, exact, impressive and concise.
Journalistic style may be found in works of fiction in the form of the author’s
digressions on social-political, moral-ethnical or philosophical topics.
Orator’s Speech strives to convince the public of the rightness of the theses of
the discourse, to evoke a certain attitude on the part of the public to them and
sometimes to awake it to certain action. Direct intercourse with public creates
conditions for contamination of the syntactical, phonetical, lexical characteristics of
formal and informal speech. Contracted grammatical forms and some words typical
of colloquial style may be found in orator’s speech.
Scientific Prose Style
May be considered a variety of literary speech style but their aims are different.
Scientific prose style is characteristic of a narrative which transmits a certain amount
of data referring to some definite branch or field of human knowledge or which
communicates the new results of a research, etc. Scientific prose style varies
depending on what branch of science it refers to: a text on mathematics will differ
from a text on history. But still there are some common features peculiar in this style.
Official Style
Is the Style of Official and Business documents. Nobody doubts that this style
exists in the language. It, like other bookish styles, has no limitations and is all-nation
and more conventional than the colloquial group of styles.
Official style is presented by several varieties: the style of diplomatic
documents, business correspondence, in law: the style of statutes, codes,
parliamentary bills, etc, and military documents. So, we can speak about substyles or
variants of the style.
The main aim of official speech is to reach an agreement between two interested
sides, to state the conditions binding two parties in an understanding. As there is only
one way communication at a time in the style of official documents, its syntax and
vocabulary are characterized by precision and variability. Another important feature
of the style is the use of words in their logical dictionary meanings. Just as in the
other matter-of-fact styles and in contrast to the belles-lettres style, there is no room
for words with contextual meaning or for any kind of simultaneous realization of two
meanings. Words with emotive meaning are not to be found in the style of official
documents either.
Poetic (Belles-lettres) Style
Poetic style is a peculiar functional style which has developed historically in the
system of English literary Styles. It possesses some common features historically
changeable and a great variety of particular properties depending on the particular
form or genre of this style, the epoch, and the individual manner of the author.
Poetic style presents a complex unity of heterogeneous features which
distinguish this style from all the other styles of the English literary language. That
this style may employ elements of other functional styles, that it may employ jargon
words, vulgarism, dialectisms, though all these elements are of course selected,
typified and touched up, sets it apart from other functional styles.
The main function of poetic style is by using language and specific stylistic
means to promote the intention of the author, to aid him in a profound disclosure of
the inner cause of the conditions of the existence, development and disappearance of
a fact of social reality.
Belles-letter style or poetic style comprises poetry proper, fiction or emotive
prose, dramaturgy (style of drama).
 The most important characteristic feature of poetic style is its imagery. An image
created by different language means awakes a sensual perception of reality and in this
way helps to create the desired effect and reaction to what has been said.
Newspaper Style
Newspaper style is a peculiar functional style which differs from journalistic
style by its informality. It is found in newspaper articles, chronicling sensational
trials, accidents, local news, etc.
Today’s newspaper style is a result of gradual development. The main typical
features of newspaper style were influenced by its function of communication and the
concrete circumstances of its development.
One of the peculiar features of English Newspaper Style is: the headings, which
are supposed to attract even to arrest the readers attention, are given often in very
large print taking up a lot of space. There are often several headings given in different
print, from larger to smaller, which give the main theses of the article.
Colloquial functional style
Some authors call colloquial functional style a “free style” for it contains some
deviations from the strict regularity of the literary speech norm. Colloquial functional
style is a speech style and consequently mostly found in dialogue. It is a style of
everyday use. The vocabulary is more free, the syntax more simple, the pronunciation
in oral speech more careless.
There are three types of colloquial functional style as you remember and the use
of the particular colloquial style literary colloquial, or familiar colloquial (low
colloquial being illiterate popular speech) depends on the circumstances, the relations
of the speakers.
The boundaries between colloquial styles are not very sharply defined,
especially concerning their grammatical peculiarities.
Literary colloquial is the speech of educated persons. It is employed in dialogue
when the speakers conform to social conventions, when they know each other very
little, or their conversation deals with some serious or business topic.
Familiar Colloquial deviates to a large extent from the literary norm. Besides
familiar colloquial words, slang words are frequent. Verbs with postposotives prevail:
to put down – to land, to go on – to continue, etc. Interjections are numerous: why!
well! there! dear me! oh, my! gee!
The vocabulary is mostly limited to words of a general meaning, the sense it is
employed in is seen from the context: get, fix, do, business, nice, swell, etc.
These are some of the peculiarities of different functional styles in Modern
English.