Syllabus
Topics
1. Varieties of English; variety labels
2. Stylistic information in grammars and dictionaries
3. Stylistic information in dictionaries and usage manuals
4. Style in the vocabulary: neutral words vs. stylistically marked words; words with stylistically elevated connotations.
5. Style in the vocabulary: neutral words vs. stylistically marked words; words with stylistically lowered connotations
6. Style as contextually restricted linguistic variation; relevant contextual features; classification of texts, language functions
7. Concepts of British stylistic theories: time, region, field, medium, tenor
8. Speaker-bound and situation-bound dimensions of stylistic analysis
9. Inherent style markers vs. distributional style markers; style markers in lexis and grammar.
10. Inherent style markers vs. distributional style markers; style markers on the suprasentential level
11. Stylostatistics.
12. Figures of speech. Besides an outline of a topic, each seminar concentrates on stylistic analysis of a different sort of text (conversation, unedited speech, academic prose, newspaper reporting, the language of religion, the language of legal documents, the language of written instructions, compressed English).
Annotation
The course acquaints students with basic concepts of linguistic stylistics and stylistic theory, esp. the British theory of registers. It concentrates on stylistic analysis of different sorts of texts, based on identification of stylistically relevant features.
Its objective is to develop awareness of stylistic distinctions on different language levels, and to cultivate stylistically appropriate use of English in different communicative situations.