Problems of stylistic research

Units of language on different levels are studied by phonetics, lexicology, grammar & syntax. The scope of problems and the object of stylistic study go back to ancient schools of rhetoric and poetics. Both the object and the material of studies of Stylistics are very specific. The matter is while speaking of the stylistic value of a text, it's impossible to proceed from the level-biased approach which comprises the hierarchical system of sounds, words and clauses. Each of these linguistic units may be charged with stylistic meaning. Besides the interaction of these elements, the structure and composition of the whole text are stylistically relevant. Stylistics is all-level discipline.

The word “stylistics” is a derivative from “style” which originates from the Latin “stylus/stilus”– a slender pointed writing instrument (a small stick with a pointed end) used by the ancient Greeks and Romans as they scratched letters on wax-covered plates (or wax tablets).

Stylistics studies the principles and effect of choice and usage of different language elements in rendering thought and emotion under different conditions of communication. Stylistics is concerned with such issues as:

1. the aesthetic function of language;

2. expressive means in language;

3. synonymous ways of rendering one and the same idea;

4. emotional colouring in language;

5. a system of special devices called stylistic devices:

6. the splitting of the literary language into separate system called style;

7. the interrelation between language and thought;

8. the individual manner of an author in making use of the language.

So, the object of Stylistics is versatile and multi-dimensional.