Main Features of Linguistics - Essay Example

Linguistics One of the most distinguished Caribbean writers of the post war literature, Sam Selvon is specifically remarked for his socio-linguistics features in his novels, short stories, and poems. “There is greatness in the written word, and when men die what they have said will live and sing for other hearts, but the greatest poetry happens in life itself, walking in the dawn of a sleeping village, with flowers and being fanned by a wind from tile undulating fields. So it has happened with him a hundred times in that land four thousand miles away, in the green island in the blue sea under a brilliant sky with sunshine--there, walking on a mountain range stumbling over surrealistic phrases and catching metaphors in the dancing rays of the sun.” (Samuel Dickson Selvon: an Obituary. 1994). The specific nature or the social and stylistic factors of the Trinidadian Creole which prove the “greatness in the written word” of Selvon is manifest in his short story “The Cricket Match.” It is particularly notable that “the Creole that Selvon writes in is, in fact, a modified form of dialect that roughly approximates Trinidadian speech, but is not as precise a rendition as the Jamaican Creole... What makes Selvon’s writing so distinctive is, therefore, his use of humour to undercut the seriousness of the issues that he is describing in his narrative.” (Maceddo 2007). Therefore, it is worth mentioning that “The Cricket Match” has, as in his famous The Lonely Londoners, employed a similarly mild satirical technique and the gentle, ironic form of humour. In this paper, a close study of the passage from the short story is carried out in order to identify and classify the elements of language used which serves the purpose of linguistics analysis. In linguistics, stylistic analysis means the identification of patterns of usage in language whereas, from the literary point of view, it serves in making authoritative observations of the merit and meaning of the literary text. In a well directed linguistic analysis of “The Cricket Match” on the basis of the underlying social and stylistic factors, it is notable that these linguistic variables have been masterfully implemented by the author to give the story an emphatic tone of his specific writing style. It is, therefore, significant to identify some of the most obvious stylistic features of the story as it will prove the actual worth of the literary text. The stereotyped expressions or the clieches that are cleverly used in the story may be particularly noted as they form part of the variety of the language that the author has chosen for his writing. Thus, we notice expressions like ‘singing a calypso,’ ‘in truth and in fact,’ ‘take it from me,’ ‘an authority in the factory on cricket,’ etc. to mention a few. In this way, the writer convinces the readers the specific quality of his language style which is, most remarkably, a unique one compared to the modern stylistics in literature. Another remarkable stylistic feature that goes along with the already mentioned feature is the use of colloquialism or the use of words or phrases chiefly found in everyday speech and there are plenty of examples for this in the story. The story specifically interests in a way to characterise as one of the hallmark features of the informal style of writing employed in the story. The dialogues featuring this trait include ‘you thought we didn’t know how to play the game, eh? That is cricket, lovely cricket,’ ‘Man, cricket is breakfast and dinner where I come from,’ among others. The latter is an example for the use of analogy, a stylistic feature of the writing. Various examples of register or particular type of specialised language or jargon which is technical term for words, phrases or sentence structures which are associated with a particular group of professionals or people can be identified in the writing and they are mostly related to the game of cricket. Some of the examples would include ‘finer points of the game,’ ‘lovely stroke,’ ‘spin the ball,’ ‘a six,’ and ‘fine points.’ The tone or the emotional feel of the passage is particularly notable in this analysis of the stylistic features of the story by Selvon. Another feature of the passage is its informal style with the use of devices like rhetorical questions, informal word structures, specific word choice, coinage of expressions etc. All these and many other features, along with the use of certain important figurative language devices, characterise the stylistic factors of the passage. The figures like simile, overstatement, understatement, paradox, and others along with connotative language have been employed in the passage which is of paramount notice. Remarkably, has employed the Standard English in the writing, but finding that “the language was not sufficiently pliable and couldn’t convey the feelings, moods and as yet ‘unarticulated’ desires of his characters” just as in the case of his other writings, he resorted “to the ‘idiom’ of the people and fused it with Standard English,” and thus “he was able to bring new life and rhythms” to the writing. (Nasta 2006). The social factors of the writing are evident in an involved reading of the text and it is this particular nature of the work that enhances relevance to the stylistic features, thereby, making the story a linguistic and literary craftwork. The social language of the particular people is clearly manifested in the story. The recognition of the native land, its culture, tradition, language, stylistic features, and the social factors by the writer or the persona of the writing can be easily identified in an analysis. It is the same characteristic features of the writing that make the story as well as the author specifically important in the analysis. Works cited Samuel Dickson Selvon: an Obituary. Sam Selvon,“Poem in London” (1951) as quoted. 1994. 17 Feb. 2008 . Maceddo, Lenne. The lonely Londoners. 2007. 17 Feb. 2008 . Nasta, Susheila. Sam Selvon - The Lonely Londoners. 2006. 17 Feb. 2008 . Selvon, Sam. Passage taken from ‘The Cricket Match’. 2008. 17 Feb. 2008 . Read More