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0CENTRAL ASIAN JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES A
THE ISSUE OF LEXICAL STYLISTIC DEVICES AND THEIR UNIQUE USAGE IN OSCAR WILDE'S NOVELS Abdullayeva Dildora Shukhratovna, Ibrohimova Mukaddam Bokhodirovna, Teachers of the Faculty of World Languages,
Namangan State University. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14526049
ARTICLE INFO
Received: 12th December 2024 Accepted:14th December 2024 Published:19th December 2024
KEYWORDS stylistic device, metaphor, metonymy,
irony, pun, zeugma, epithet,
oxymoron, antonomasia.
ABSTRACT
The article is devoted to the problem of usage and function of lexical stylistic devices in the works of Oscar Wilde. The aim of this article is to analyze and study the lexical stylistic devices in the literary works of Wilde. Moreover, to define both common and specific features and nature of lexical stylistic devices.
In modern stylistics the problem of expressive means and stylistic devices is always of great interest for many linguistic researchers. This problem is of special importance in connection with constantly increasing interest in using specific means of expression. Furthermore analysis of stylistic devices in certain contexts and literary works presents the unique nature of existence and usage of expressive means and stylistic devices.
The present article is considered to be of a certain importance not only for general theory of languages and stylistics but also for detailed analysis of lexical stylistic devices in the works of O.Wilde and methods of interpretation.
There are different approaches to the problem of lexical stylistic devices and their classification. Some scholars differentiate between tropes and figures of speech, others between stylistic devices and expressive means of the language. In our work we support the notion of a stylistic device elaborated by I.R.Galperin "Stylistic device is a conscious and intentional intensification of some typical structural and semantic property of a language unit (neutral or expressive) promoted to a generalized status and thus becoming a genitive model"[2,67]. As for classification of stylistic devices we think that their differentiation according to the language level (phonetic, lexical, lexical syntactical, syntactical) is the most appropriate.
We have grouped lexical stylistic devices into the following:
Firstly, lexical stylistic devices based on interaction of dictionary and contextual logical meaning: metaphor, metonymy, irony.
Secondly, lexical stylistic devices based on interaction of primary and derivative logical meanings: zeugma, pun.
Thirdly, lexical SD based on interaction of logical and emotive meaning: epithet, oxymoron. And finally, lexical SD based on interaction of logical and nominative meaning: antonomasia. Having analyzed four plays of Oscar Wilde "Lady Windermere's Fan", "A woman of no importance", "An ideal husband", "The importance of being earnest", we have come to a conclusion that it is not an easy task to single them out. Some of them make the speech of the
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characters vivid, interesting, humorous, ironical, emotional and understandable; they reflect their thoughts and feelings.
Now, let me present some examples on the basis of certain theoretical background. Let us start with metaphor. Metaphor is one of the most frequently used, well-known and elaborated among stylistic devices. The metaphoric use of the word begins to affect the dictionary meaning, adding to it fresh connotations of meaning or shades of meaning. Metaphor is based on the likeness of two different phenomena and transference of some quality from one object to another.
For example: " The God of this century is wealth", " I am a ship without a rudder in a night without a star"[3,206].
The speaker of this phrase gets lost, he does not know what to do in such situation. He says he is " a ship without a rudder", he does not know where he must go and what to do for better future.
Wilde's metaphors develop the reader's imagination. At the same time the author reflects his own point of view. "Youth is the Lord of life"-which means gift of nature is youth.
Next lexical SD is metonymy which is based on a different type of relation between the dictionary and contextual meanings, a relation based on not identification, but on some kind of association connecting two concepts.
e.g. "......a thing more tragic than all the tears the world has ever shed".
" She was stern to me, but she taught me what the world is forgetting, the difference that there is between what is right and what is wrong".
" Do you think seriously that women who have committed what the world calls a fault should never be forgiven?"[4,27]
In these three examples we can see the same metonymy, "world". Here the author means the people who live in the world. Here we also can see that container is "world" instead of people.
Epithet is another stylistic device used by O.Wilde. It is based on interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase, and sentence.
e.g. " Mabel Chiltern is a perfect example of the English type of prettiness, the apple-blossom type"[5,175]
"Lips that have lost the note of joy, eyes that are blinded by tears, chill hands and icy heart". According to these examples, we can say that epithet is a word which in its attributive use discloses the individual emotionally coloured attitude of the writer to the object he describes. Wilde's epithets give a brilliant colour and wonderful witticism to his plays. As for the irony, it is SD based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings which stand in opposition to each other.
e.g. "All women become like their mother. That is their tragedy. No man does. That is his"[3,95]
In this example irony is made of speech in which the opposite of what is said is meant. Pun is another lexical SD based on the interaction of two well-known meanings of a word or phrase. It is difficult to draw a hard and fast distinction between zeugma and the pun. The reliable distinguishing feature is a structural one: zeugma is the realization of two meanings with the help of the verb which is made to refer to different subjects or objects. The pun is more independent.
Thus, the title of one of O.Wilde's plays, "The Importance of being Earnest", has a pun in it, because the name of the hero and the adjective meaning "seriously-minded" are both existing in our mind.
e.g. "Algernon: You look as if your name was Earnest. You are the most earnest-looking person I have ever seen in my life"[6,286].
In this example there are two meanings of one word are quite independent and both direct . These two meanings of the pun are realized simultaneously and in the remark of one and the same person.
Hyperbole is also a lexical SD used by O.Wilde. It is based on deliberate exaggeration to make a speech more expressive. e.g. " I have never loved anyone in the world butyou"[3,34]
"I have met hundreds of good women" In these hyperboles Wilde uses the exaggeration of the quantitative aspect. They make their way not on the direct meaning, but on the great emotional influence.
"The happy prince" is a short story written by Oscar Wilde and published in May 1888. The
overriding theme of this stories are an appreciation of love, charity and compassion. First we
should observe the opening formula of this short story. Here Wilde did not use such
commonplace expressions as:
Once upon a time, there was a happy prince,"
or
"There was once the statue of the Happy Prince...."
Instead of using these expressions, he placed an impressive adverbial phrase unexpectedly at the beginning of the story, and tried to emphasize that the statue of the Happy Prince was standing up high and was beautiful.
" High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt. He was very much admired indeed."
"He is as beautiful as a weathercock," remarked one of the Town Councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; "only not quite so useful," he added, fearing people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.
We can find many similes in this story; these expressions are not conventional, but are unique and interesting. In the second part, the Happy Prince is described as follows: "He is as beautiful as a weathercock."
This is something unusual to comparison. A weathercock is simply an instrument that indicates direction and it is not suitable for expressing the marvelousness of the Happy Prince. In addition, the word "weathercock" is usually used in such expressions as, "as changeable as a weathercock," meaning "it turns around frequently like a weathercock" or" "he often changes his mind.
We can recognize another stylistic device -The Happy Prince with an angel figure: [3]
"He looks just like an angel" said the charity children as they came out of the cathedral in their scarlet cloaks and their clean white pinafores. "How do you know?" said the Mathematical Master, "you have never seen one." "Ah! but we have, in our dreams,"? answered the children; and the Mathematical Master frowned and looked very severe, for he did not approve of children dreaming.
Wilde uses biblical allusions to strengthen his tale and make it unforgettable. For example, according to the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
"an angel is a messenger who serves God in Heaven and is sent to a human world after devoting its life to God.
In fact, the word "angel" originally came from the Greek word "angelos" or messenger sponsor."
The fairy tale starts with the third person narration with few dialogues between the statute and the swallow. Personification plays an overriding role in this tale as in all the others(statute, swallow). The moral lesson of "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde is that the
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worst aspects of modern society can be overcome by love and charity, which have the unique ability to unite men and make them whole. Wilde wrote the fairy tale during the Victorian era, when the East End of London was awash with the suffering and forced labor of children, many of whom were forced into prostitution and almost all of whom lived in abject poverty. This social context is generally accepted as the inspiration for the story.
In conclusion we want to say that O.Wilde's works are full of lexical SDs which make his novels emotive and really expressive.
Bibliography:
1. Galperin I.R, " An essay in Stylistics", Higher School,1968
2. Galperin I.R "Stylistics ", Higher school,1977
3. Wilde O, " Lady Windermere's Fan"
4. Wilde O, " A woman of No Importance"
5. Wilde O, " An Ideal Husband"
6. Wilde O, " The Importance of Being Earnest".
