Spoken Style in Literature

You don’t have to pussyfoot around him.’ He hesitated. ‘I like him.’
According to lexicographical resources, the interjection ah is used in the modern English language in order to express surprise, pleasure or sympathy, or when you disagree with somebody [Hornby, 2010]. It expresses the emotion of sympathy of the personage in the given context. Similarly it is used in order to represent spoken style of speech in the novel between the personages. Nevertheless, there are also other markers of spoken style of speech in the given fragment from the novel of J. Mojes:
- grammatical contractions: he’s, don’t;
- informal lexeme to pussyfoot.
The percentage of lexical markers of spoken style of speech in the novel of J. Moyes is represented in Table 2.
Table 2 – Lexical markers of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes “Me Before You”
Informal words 46% Lexical contractions 12,5% Vulgar words 12,5% Interjections 12,5% Slang 8% Idioms 4% Taboo 4%
According to this diagram, the most frequent layer of lexical units in the spoken style of literature is informal words (46%). Quite often are also lexical contractions, vulgar words and interjections (each 12,5%). Slang (8%), idioms (4%) and taboo words (4%) are used very rarely.

2.3. Syntactic Markers of Spoken Style in “Me Before You”

Syntactic markers of spoken style are observed in the analyzed material from the novel of J. Moyes “Me Before You” much more often than lexical markers – see Picture 1.

Picture 1 – Correlation of lexical and syntactic markers of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes “Me Before You”

Their dominance can be explained by the frequent use of syntactic contractions in the novel of J. Moyes in the dialogues of personages. There are also other syntactic means of spoken style in literature which must be analyzed.
1. Syntactic contractions.
Syntactic contractions include ordinary contractions of auxiliary verbs with pronouns. For example:
He is wondering where best to position himself when his phone rings. It is Rupert.
‘I’m on my way in. Just trying to get a cab.’
The literary variant is I am.
‘I wouldn’t worry. Doesn’t Darth Vader chop his arm off in episode two?’ I pointed at my cheek so that Thomas would kiss it.
The literary variants are:
- would not;
- does not.
‘Will you have a go at finding this bloody arm for me? He’s had me looking for half an hour and I’ve got to get ready for work.’
The literary variants are:
- he has;
- I have.
All these contractions show the spoken character of communication in the dialogues of the novel “Me Before You”.
2. Elliptical constructions.
Ellipsis is one of the frequent means of imitation of spoken style of speech in the novel “Me Before You”. For example:
‘Right,’ he says. ‘Got to go. Help yourself to breakfast.’
The sentence Got to go shows the omission of the subject (pronoun I) and the auxiliary verb have (I have got to go).
‘Stick those through my door, will you?’
‘No problem. You want me to call a taxi for you?’
‘No. No point both of us getting wet.’
In this case the interrogative sentence is built in a form of a statement. In written style of speech the use of an auxiliary verb do is needed.
‘That you, love?’
This interrogative sentence shows also the elimination of the verb to be. The normative written variant would be the following: Is that you?
‘Bugger,’ said Thomas.
‘Not me,’ said Dad, chewing, before Mum could say a thing.
In this example ellipsis as a marker of the spoken style of speech is used in the words of the personage Dad. The phrase Not me is an omitted phrase which should have the following view in the full literary variant: This is/was not me.
3. Detachment.
Detachment helps to express emotions in the spoken speech of personages of the novel “Me Before You”. For example:
‘Frank’s shutting down the cafe. From tomorrow.’
Detachment consists in the separation of the part of the sentence (from tomorrow) into the definite sentence. As a result the reader of the novel can feel the intonation and sentence stress in the spoken dialogue.
4. Aposiopesis.
Aposiopesis is used as the means of emotional expression in the spoken speech of personages in the novel of J. Moyes. For example:
‘You know my beauty routine. Soap, water, the odd paper bag.’
Patrick was beginning to look exasperated. I was starting to lag behind. I hate running. I hated him for not slowing down.
‘Look … shop assistant. Secretary. Estate agent. I don’t know … there must be something you want to do.’
In this case aposiopesis is reflected with the help of punctuation mark three dots. As a result the reader can perceive the emotion of uncertainty which is expressed by means of intonation in spoken speech.
Nathan studied the floor before he looked at me.
‘Try to cheer him up a little? He’s … he’s a little cranky.
This sentences combines lexical and syntactic means of spoken style of communication. In syntactic aspect we can observe the use of aposiopesis expressing a hack in a speech. In lexical aspect we can say about the informal word cranky which is also the marker of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes.
He’s … he’s a little cranky. Understandable, given … the circumstances. But you’re going to have to have a fairly thick skin.
In the given example we represent the continuation of the emotional speech of the personage. Aposiopesis shows the intention of the speaker to find some “convenient” words in this situation of communication.
I blinked, my mouth opening briefly. I closed it. Dad always said it made me look more stupid than I actually was.
‘Well … can I get you anything?’
‘I’ll –’ I cast around the room. ‘I’ll see if there’s any washing, then.’
This example is interesting for its unusual representation of aposiopesis. In the previous cases aposiopesis was marked with the help of three dots. But in this sentence just the same representation of emotions used in the spoken style of speech is seen with the help of a hyphen.
The percentage of syntactic markers of spoken style of speech in the novel of J. Moyes is resented in Table 3.
Table 3 – Syntactic markers of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes “Me Before You”
Contractions 67% Ellipsis 19% Aposiopesis 11% Detachment 3%
According to the given diagram, the dominating syntactic marker of spoken style is contractions (67%). Elliptical constructions are used also quite often (19%). Aposiopesis (11%) and detachment (3%) are used very rarely.
If we will not divide the markers of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes, we can say about the following percentage – see Table 4.
Table 4 – Dominating and less frequent markers of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes “Me Before You”
Grammatical contractions 40% Informal lexical units 18,5% Elliptical constructions 11,5% Aposiopesis 6,5% Lexical contractions 5% Vulgar lexical units 5% Interjections 5% Slang 3% Detachment 1,8% Idioms 1,8% Taboo 1,9%
According to Table 4, the dominating means of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes is grammatical contraction. Quite often are also informal lexical units and elliptical constructions.



























Conclusion

In the course of the research we have made a conclusion that spoken speech is a style of speech which is used in easy and informal communication and opposed to the codified written speech. Spoken style of speech is characterized by mostly colloquial units which are unstable and free, spontaneous unprepared character of communication, mostly dialogical communication, representation of warm and friendly atmosphere of interpersonal interaction.
Lexical peculiarities of spoken style are represented by lexical units which are marked by special stylistic connotation. The main lexical layers used in spoken speech are colloquialisms, slang and jargon, professional and dialectical words, vulgarisms, phonetic variants of words, shortenings, interjections and idioms with colloquial stylistic markers.
Syntactic level of spoken style is represented by contractions (grammatical and lexical), omission within elliptical constructions, co-ordinate conjunctions in a relative meaning. Syntactic features of spoken style of speech also include stylistic figures such as detachment and aposiopesis.
The analysis of the novel of J. Moyes “Me Before You” helped to reveal the main peculiarities of spoken style in literature while analysis of vivid and emotional dialogues of personages. The main lexical and stylistic markers of spoken style in literature are lexemes with informal markers. Other quite frequent means of expressing spoken style are lexical contractions (shortened name of personages), vulgar words (obscene lexemes), and interjections. Sometimes spoken style of speech in “Me Before You” is expressed with the help of slang, colloquial idioms and taboo words with low stylistic connotation.
Syntactic markers of spoken style in the novel of J. Moyes are represented mostly by grammatical contractions. Other features of spoken style in the analyzed novel are elliptical constructions (omissions of auxiliary verbs), aposiopesis and detachment expressing the special spoken intonation of the dialogues.

References

Арнольд, И. В. Лексикология современного английского языка / И. В. Арнольд. – 2-е изд., перераб. – М.: Флинта: Наука, 2012. – 376 с.
Арнольд, И. В. Стилистика. Современный английский язык / И. В. Арнольд. – 5-е изд., испр. и доп. – М.: Флинта: Наука, 2002. – 384 с.
Бузаров, В. В., Основы синтаксиса английской разговорной речи / В. В. Бузаров. – М.: Крон-Пресс, 1998. – 364 с.
Валгина, Н. С. Современный русский язык / Н. С. Валгина. – 6-е изд., перераб. – М.: Логос, 2002. – 528 с.
Гальперин, И. Р. Очерки по стилистике английского языка. Опыт систематизации выразительных средств / И. Р. Гальперин. – Изд. 2-е. – М.: Книжный дом «ЛИБРОКОМ», 2012. – 376 с.
Караулов, Ю. Н. Русский язык: энциклопедия / Ю. Н. Караулов. – М.: Дрофа, 2007. – 703 с.
Крюкова, Н. Н. Ways of Formation and Translation of Occasional Words in Fiction / Н. Н. Крюкова // Филология и лингвистика в современном обществе: материалы II междунар. науч. конф. (г. Москва, февраль 2014 г.).  — М.: Буки-Веди, 2014. — С. 175-177.
Лич, Д. Коммуникативная грамматика английского языка / Д. Лич, Я. Свартвик. – М.: «Просвещение», 1983. – 304 с.
Несова, Н. М. Стилистическая квалификация слов в английском языке / Н. М. Несова // Russian Journal of Linguistics. – 2012. – № 1. – С. 50-54.
Рябова, К. М. Нормативные особенности разговорной лексики / К. М. Рябова // Вестник Бурятского государственного университета. – 2009. – № 11. – С. 86-89.
Скребнев, Ю. М. Основы стилистики английского языка / Ю. М. Скребнев. – 2-е изд., испр. – М.: ООО «Издательство Астрель»: ООО «Издательство АСТ», 2003. – 221 с.
Cabre, M. T. Terminology: Theory, Methods, and Applications / M. T. Cabre. – John Benjamins Publishing, 1999. – 206 p.
Coleman, J. The Life of Slang / J. Coleman. – OUP Oxford, 2012. – 368 p.
Dooly, M. Semantics and Pragmatics of English: Teaching English as a Foreign Language / M. Dooly. – Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona, 2006. – 83 p.
Galperin, I. R. Stylistics / I. R. Galperin. – М.: Высшая школа, 1981. – 320 p.
Hussey, S. The English Language: Structure and Development / S. Hussey. –Routledge, 2014. – 208 p.
Lehtsalu, U. An Introduction to English Stylistics / U. Lehtsalu, G. Liiv, O. Mutt. – Tartu State University, 1973. – 151 p.
Lipka, L. English Lexicology: Lexical Structure, Word Semantics & Word-formation / L. Lipka. – Gunter Narr Verlag, 2002. – 244 р.
Mathesius, V. A Functional Analysis of Present Day English on a General Linguistic Basis / V. Mathesius. – Walter de Gruyter, 2013. – 228 p.
Radford, A. Minimalist Syntax: Exploring the Structure of English / A. Radford. – Cambridge University Press, 2004. – 512 p.
Sindoni, M. G. Spoken and Written Discourse in Online Interactions: A Multimodal Approach / V. G. Sindoni. – Routledge, 2014. – 240 p.
Wyld, H. C. A History of Modern Colloquial English / H. C. Wyld. – Digitallibraryindia; JaiGyan, 1920. – 456 p.

List of Dictionaries
Chalker, S. The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar / S. Chalker, E. Weiner. – OUP Oxford, 1994. – 464 p.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. – 2015. URL: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/ (date of access: 04.11.2020).
Hornby, A. S. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary / A. S. Hornby. – 8th Edition. – Oxford University Press, 2010. URL: https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ (date of access: 03.11.2020).
Murphy, R. Cambridge Dictionaries / R. Murphy. – 2007. URL: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ (date of access: 03.11.2020).
Wales, K. A Dictionary of Stylistics / K. Wales. – London and New York: Taylor and Francis Group, 2014. – 497 p.

List of Practical Resources
Moyes, J. Me Before You. – 2012. URL: https://www.readanybook.com/ebook/me-before-you-565109 (date of access: 01.11.2020).











2