NOTES ON STYLE

Many words in a language are neutral from the stylistic point of view, that is, they may be used in practically any situation, from a conversation among friends to a paper on linguistics or some other aca­demic subject. Others, however, are restricted to a certain type of situa­tion. For example, by all means, which sounds quite natural when speak­ing to an older person or one whom one knows only slightly, would sound strange, even ridiculous, if addressed to a friend. Conversely, OK, which is commonly used among friends, is quite unsuitable in the first type of situation. These two types of situation are usually called formal (the first type) and informal (the second type) and the expressions for­mal style and informal style are used of words and constructions which are restricted to one type. Formal and informal here are best translated into Russian as îôèöèàëüíûé and íåîôèöèàëüíûé (ðàçãîâîðíûé), although the English and Russian concepts do not exactly coincide, as can be seen from the table given below. Colloquial is also widely used in the same sense as informal with reference to style. However, in this book the terms formal and informal have been adopted as the basic ones in defining stylistic values.

Formal and informal are of course not absolutely separate catego­ries; there are varying degrees of formality, from the very formal (for example, a speech at a conference) to the very informal (for example, a conversation between close friends). Situations which have a certain de­gree of formality but not enough to be classed as formal can be called semi-formal. An example of a semi-formal situation is that of a student addressing a teacher in a conversation class. Since semi-formal is not treated as a stylistic category distinct from formal and informal but rather as an intermediate stage between them, words classed as either formal or informal may be used in semi-formal situations, but those de­scribed as very formal or very informal (highly colloquial) should be avoided.

The following table will show more clearly in what situations for­mal, informal and semi-formal style are appropriate.

Formal                                                                     Informal

—addressing   strangers and people one           — addressing   friends  and  relations;  

    knows only   slightly, esp. if   older;                                                                                                                    

                                                                     — addressing children;

—addressing people who are more                  — among young people, even if they do not
senior (eg at work);                                                   know each  other well ;

—in speeches, lectures, papers at

    conferences, etc.;                                       — in letters to friends and relations;

—in business   letters;           

—     in   essays,    articles,    literary                          — in dialogues  between  friends and relations, narrative and description.                                      and any young people;
                                                                        — in compositions and stories told from  

          a personal point of view                                                                         

 

                                                                    Semi-Formal

—addressing people whom one  knows more than slightly but not well,
eg teachers, colleagues, neighbours;

—in letters to such people;

—addressing strangers of about the same age or younger.

This is the general, traditional tendency. However, the question of style in literary works is in fact more complex, since here the choice de­pends not so much on external factors as on the individual writer's crea­tive needs. Thus a writer may choose any style which he considers ap­propriate to his artistic purpose, and change from one style to another in order to achieve a certain effect.