Means of expressive syntax in A. P. Chekhov's short story "The Black Monk"

Gareeva Liliya Mahmutovna ORCID: 0000-0001-8046-9762 PhD in Philology Associate Professor; Department of Philology; Moscow Financial and Industrial University 'Synergy' Associate Professor; Department of Socio-Economic and Humanitarian Disciplines; Moscow State University of Sports and Tourism Novogireevskaya str., 19/2, sq. 26, Moscow, 111397, Russia liliyagareeva@yandex.ru

Introduction

The term "expressivity" in linguistics refers to a set of semantic and stylistic features of a language unit that ensure its ability to act in a communicative act as a means of subjectively expressing the speaker's attitude to the content or addressee of speech ^[2].

The syntax of the Russian language has a huge potential in creating expressivity of utterance, conveying emotional shades of speech. Expressivity in syntax is manifested as the ability of syntactic constructions to create imagery and expressiveness of the text, to increase the emotional-influencing effect of speech. Various rhythmic and intonational means can participate in creating expressivity: changes in intonation in different text fragments, dynamics of the tempo of speech (its acceleration or deceleration in narration), variations in the timbre of utterance (depending on the target setting, it can be perceived as gloomy, philosophical, cheerful, joking, etc.).

Using stylistic figures and tropes, expressive syntax largely intersects with rhetoric and rhetorical means of emotional reinforcement.

In the history of linguistics, several classifications of figures of speech are known. According to modern differentiation, they are divided into three main categories:

1) addition figures (anadiplosis, anaphora, gradation, polyptote, polysyndeton, simploka, epiphora);

2) reduction figures (ascenton, zeugma, syllepsis, ellipsis);

3) movement figures (hyperbaton, inversion, parallelism, chiasm).

Literature review

Quite a lot of research has been devoted to expressive linguistic means in Russian linguistics (N. A. Lukyanova ^[10], V. N. Telia ^{[12, 14]}, G. V. Kolshansky ^[8], Eliseeva E.A. ^[7]), however, most of them consider the general principles of using expressive means of language, the mechanisms of their creation in speech mainly concerns vocabulary, whereas the features of the functioning of expressive syntax tools and their role in creating the author's style of individual writers still remain poorly understood issues. In this regard, A. P. Chekhov's novel "The Black Monk" (1893) was chosen as the material for this study.

In recent years, the works of E. S. Astakhova ^[1], E.N. Vorobyova ^[5], N. V. Kondratieva and L. M. Chernysheva ^[9], and A. A. Solomennikova ^[11] have been devoted to certain aspects of the theory of expressive syntax. In the article "Techniques of expressive syntax", N. V. Chernikova and E. S. Kopylova emphasize that "the use of expressive syntax techniques is aimed at expressing the speaker's subjective attitude to the content and addressee of speech, and also emotionally saturates speech, making it vivid and memorable" ^{[15, p. 31]}.

The linguistic features of A. P. Chekhov's prose were studied at different times by M. Arvinte, N. P. Badaeva, A. A. Belkin, N. Ya. Berkovsky, P. Bicilli, V. Ya. Lakshin, N. M. Fortunatov, A. P. Chudakov and others.

The story "The Black Monk" has a special rhythmic and syntactic organization, which gave N. M. Fortunatov grounds to call the composition of this work musical, or "sonata". The researcher also noted the regular repetition, consistent deployment and dynamic correlation of what is said in Chekhov's narrative ^[13].

Materials and methods

The purpose of the study was to identify and analyze the means of expressive syntax used by A. P. Chekhov in the story "The Black Monk". The methodological basis of the research was made up of theoretical and practical methods. The theoretical part used general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, system analysis, generalization), as well as typological and descriptive methods. In order to substantiate the propositions put forward in the practical part, the method of continuous sampling of syntactic constructions with expressivity was used, elements of discourse analysis were used to identify the pragmatic essence of expressive units and their discursive functions in the text of A. P. Chekhov's novella "The Black Monk" ^[16].

The results of the study

As a result of the research, expressive syntactic techniques used in the story were identified and described, their role and functions in the narrative were analyzed, and the relationship between the elements of the syntactic structure of the text and the level of expression in its individual fragments was established.

Chekhov's narration is perceived as smooth and harmonious in sound, while the integrity and smoothness of speech unity come to the fore in it. Basically, this effect of melodiousness is achieved due to the predominance of complex conjunctive constructions in the text (more often with the union and), the individual units of which are perceived primarily as components of an integral rhythmic-intonational unity ^{[6, p. 135]}. For example: But waves ran through the rye, and a light evening breeze gently touched his uncovered head. A minute later, there was another gust of wind, but stronger, and the rye rustled, and the muffled murmur of the pines was heard from behind ^[16].

Often the author also uses homogeneous members of the sentence with the conjunction "and". "Due to the use of the union, homogeneous members intonationally merge, creating smoothness and singability of speech" (N. P. Badaeva) ^{[3, p. 36]}. For example: Kovrin listened to music and singing with greed and was exhausted by them, and the latter was expressed physically by the fact that his eyes were glued shut and his head was tilted to the side ^[16]. The melodiousness of the text is also created by rows of homogeneous members without unions: Kovrin had never seen such amazing roses, lilies, camellias, tulips of all kinds, starting from bright white and ending with soot black, in general, such a wealth of colors as Pesotsky's ^[16].

Chekhov often uses a contrast technique that enhances the expressiveness of the narrative and is created through homogeneous terms with the conjunctions "a" and "but", as well as using complex contrastive constructions. It's a beautiful, sweet, healthy thing, but even here there are passions and war, Kovrin thought ^[16]. Kovrin spoke kindly and convincingly, but she continued to cry, shaking her shoulders and clasping her hands, as if a terrible misfortune had really befallen her ^[16]. He could never have loved a healthy, strong, red-cheeked woman, but he liked pale, weak, unhappy Tanya ^[16]. Constructions with the meaning of juxtaposition nevertheless harmoniously fit into the overall harmonious, uniform Chekhov narrative: They ate and drank three thousand, but from bad hired music, shouting toasts and footmen running around, from noise and crowding, they did not understand the taste either in expensive wines or in amazing snacks ordered from Moscow ^[16].

However, against the background of the author's smooth, balanced intonation, various means of creating expression stand out all the more clearly, among which are rhetorical exclamations, questions and appeals, parcel, introductory and insertion constructions, repetitions, ascending and descending gradation, and other figures that are both structural and compositional elements of the narrative and serve to enhance the expressiveness of the utterance.

Rhetorical exclamations are found throughout the text of the story. With their help, Chekhov expresses thoughts and emotions (both his own and each of the characters). There are many examples of this: There were all kinds of quirks, exquisite ugliness and mockery of nature! (author) ^[16]. My God, she's an adult now! – he said (Kovrin) ^[16].

The rhetorical question is also characteristic of the speech of the characters in the story: Who tied the horse to the apple tree? – his desperate, soul-rending cry was heard. – What kind of scoundrel and scoundrel dared to tie a horse to an apple tree? ^[16]. A rhetorical question often precedes the question-and-answer structure of the speech of the characters in the story: And when I die, who will watch? Who will work? The gardener? Employees? Yes? So I'll tell you what, my dear friend: the first enemy in our business is not a hare, not a crunch or a frost, but a stranger ^[16].

Rhetorical appeal is a characteristic speech feature of each of the characters. For example: My God, my God! Messed up, frozen over, defiled, messed up! The garden is gone! The garden is dead! Oh my God! (Egor Semenych) ^[16]. Tanya, dear Tanya, you are an extremely cute creature. Dear Tanya, I'm so glad, so glad! (Kovrin) ^[16]. Oh, my God, my God, save us! "What is it?" she said in horror. – But don't be afraid, Andrew, don't be afraid, for God's sake, don't be afraid... (Tanya) ^[16].

The parcel in Chekhov's text not only enhances emotionality, but also helps to emphasize the key idea, creates the effect of colloquial speech in the dialogues between the characters. I am very glad that you have come. I am incredibly glad... Thank you ^[16]. ... the legend is kind of strange, incongruous. To begin with, it is not very clear ^[16]. Have you read it where? Did you hear that? Or maybe I dreamed about the black monk? I swear to God, I don't remember. But the legend interests me ^[16].

The abundance of introductory and insertion constructions of various types is also characteristic of the style of this story. They increase the emotionality of statements and convey various expressive shades of the author's speech and the characters' remarks. So, in Egor Semenych's remark, the insertion appeals to the understanding of the interlocutor, contains a call for empathy: The whole secret of success is not that the garden is large and there are many workers, but that I love business – do you understand? – I love, perhaps, more than myself ^[16]. The insertion construction clarifies and emphasizes the meaning of the sentence: In ancient times, one happy person was finally afraid of his happiness – it was so great! – and to appease the gods, he sacrificed his beloved ring to them ^[16]. The introductory construction can serve to convey negative or positive emotions, to convey the general mood of the characters: And as luck would have it, guests arrived every day, who had to be amused, fed, and even left to spend the night ^[16]. If, after my death, she gets the garden and she becomes the mistress, then, of course, nothing better could be desired ^[16].

Repetition, which is often found in the text of the story, also has a high degree of expressiveness. Anton Chekhov usually uses repetition of sentences and their parts in order to streamline and rhythmize their structure. In the story "The Black Monk," repetitions are most often contained in the characters' lines and convey their agitation, anxiety, and being on the verge of a nervous breakdown. For example: Finally, guilty and tormented by conscience, he knocked on the locked door and called timidly: – Tanya! Tanya? ^[16]. Will you come with me? Do you want to be mine? ^[16]. The garden is gone! The garden is gone! ^[16].

The gradation technique is often used by Chekhov to convey the mental state of the characters, showing dynamics, increasing excitement or irritation: I was going crazy, I had delusions of grandeur, but I was cheerful, cheerful and even happy, I was interesting and original ^[16]. The presence of people, especially Yegor Semyonych, now irritated Kovrin, he answered him dryly, coldly and even rudely... ^[16].

Punctuation marks play a special role in expressing expression. In the text of the story "The Black Monk", a dash is widely used, which N.S. Valgina called "a sign of semantic, intonational and compositional surprise" ^{[4, p. 597]}. This punctuation mark has unique expressive capabilities and semantic ambiguity. A dash can act not only as a semantically connecting sign, but also as a sign contrasting syntactic units, and it also helps to highlight parts of a construction, mark the place of logical stress, pauses, and make a semantic emphasis on a certain part of a phrase. The legend, the mirage, and I are all products of your excited imagination. I am a ghost ^[16]. In this fragment of the Black Monk's speech, the second dash is the author's mark, informing the remark of meaningfulness, mystery. Elliptically incomplete sentences with dashes create the effect of increasing emotionality in the characters' speech: I work from morning to night. I do all the vaccinations myself, pruning myself, planting myself, everything myself ^[16]. This punctuation mark often separates two semantic parts of a complex syntactic whole, helping to change the author's intonation: Suddenly there will be such joy that you want to fly under the clouds and pray to God there, or you will suddenly remember that in August you will have to part with your native nest and leave your father, or, God knows where, the thought will come that She is insignificant, petty, and unworthy of such a great man as Kovrin, and she goes to her room, locks herself in, and weeps bitterly for several hours ^[16].

In artistic speech, the use of homogeneous sentence terms is an effective means of enhancing expressivity. At the same time, synonyms and words of similar semantics are often included in the ranks of homogeneous members. Multicomponent rows of homogeneous members in the story are often used to create the effect of consistency, routine of what is happening in the lives of the characters: We have only a garden, a garden, a garden, and nothing else. Shtamb, polushtamb," she laughed, "aport, ranet, borovinka, oculirovka, copulirovka... Our whole, our whole life has gone into the garden, I never even dream of anything except apple trees and pears ^[16].

With the help of homogeneous sentence members that increase the emotionality of speech, A. P. Chekhov uses multi-union and non-union. Polyunion (or polysyndeton) consists in the deliberate repetition of compositional conjunctions in order to logically and intonationally highlight the listed concepts. The multi-union also acts as a means of increasing the semantic significance of the listed elements, giving the speech of the heroes a solemn tone and emotional uplift. For example: He was seen in Africa, then in Spain, then in India, then in the Far North... ^[16]. So I write articles, participate in exhibitions, and receive medals... ^[16].

Nonunion (or asyndeton) manifests itself as the deliberate omission of conjunctions between homogeneous members of a sentence or parts of a compound sentence. We read in the text of the story: Small, pale, skinny, so that the collarbones are visible; eyes wide open, dark, intelligent, everyone is looking somewhere and looking for something; gait, like his father, small, hurried ^[16]. The lack of union in this fragment highlights the dry analytical "review" of Tanya's appearance and demeanor, made by Kovrin, who is not yet in love with the heroine.

In the story, techniques that violate the integrity and closure of the sentence are also frequent. At the same time, speech becomes fragmented, incomplete. This effect is usually achieved by using ellipsis in A. P. Chekhov. For example: I didn't tell him anything... nothing... I just said there's no need to keep it... extra workers if... if you can, at any time, have day laborers. Because... After all, the workers haven't done anything for a whole week... I... I just said that, and he screamed and told me... a lot of hurtful, deeply insulting things. For what? ^[16]. In the above fragment, ellipsis helps to convey the confused, agitated speech of the heroine after a major quarrel with her father.

Chekhov's narrative has a huge range of expressive possibilities for conveying the most subtle semantic nuances and deep emotional intensity. Various constructions of expressive syntax are used both in the author's speech and in the transmission of the characters' lines and their thoughts, feelings and intentions in internal monologues.

Discussion and conclusions

An analysis of the means of expressive syntax in the text of A. P. Chekhov's novella "The Black Monk" allowed us to summarize their following features: 1) the contrast technique, which enhances the expressiveness of the narrative, is created using homogeneous terms with the conjunctions "a" and "but", as well as through complex contrastive constructions; 2) rhetorical exclamations, questions and appeals, parcellation, introductory and insertion constructions, repetitions, gradation are especially common in Chekhov's narrative; 3) syntactic figures appear in the text both as structural and compositional elements of the narrative, and as carriers of the function of enhancing the expressiveness of the utterance; 4) punctuation marks, especially dashes and ellipsis, play an important role in expressing expression.

In conclusion, we note that Chekhov's language, at first glance, has accessibility and simplicity, but at the same time it is musical, euphonious and largely expressive, which is largely due to the use of various means of expression and expressive syntax techniques.