Stylistics Analysis - Conjunctions and Interjections

 Stylistics Analysis

Conjunctions and Interjections

A_ Conjunctions:

Conjunctions are members of a closed word class that is used to join words, phrases and clauses. They serve a linking function. There are two types of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions (or simply coordinators) (e.g., and, or, but) and subordinating conjunctions (e.g., if, that, whether, because, however, although, when etc.)

Let us first consider structures containing coordinating conjunctions. The sentences in (1)-(8) below are examples of coordinated structures. The underlined portions are coordinated structures. The coordinating conjunctions are in bold.

 

(1)   This shop sells fresh vegetables and exotic fruits.

(2)   These clothes are brand-new and fashionable.

(3)   This lawyer is quite ambitious but very honest.

(4)   She likes prose but hates verse.

(5)   The documents are in the office or in the car.

(6)   He drives recklessly and quite dangerously.

(7)   He writes romantic comedies and she writes psychological thrillers.

(8)    This charity provides food to the needy, but it does not offer shelter to the homeless.

In (1) the conjunction ‘and’ links two Noun Phrases (NPs). In (2) the conjunction ‘and’ links two Adjective Phrases (APs). In (3) the conjunction ‘but’ links two APs. In (4) the conjunction ‘but’ links two Verb Phrases (VPs). In (5) the conjunction ‘or’ links two Prepositional Phrases (PPs). In (6) the conjunction ‘and’ links two Adverb Phrases (AdvPs). In (7) the conjunction ‘and’ links two sentences (Ss). In (8) the conjunction ‘but’ links two sentences (Ss).

The units that are being coordinated are called conjoins. A defining characteristic of conjunctions of this type is that they link units of equal syntactic status, e.g., a phrase with a phrase of the same type or a sentence with a sentence. Coordination is an instance of parataxis, a term deriving from the Greek roughly meaning ‘syntactic side-by-side arrangement’.

We should notice that two coordinated phrases form a new phrase of the same type as the two constituent conjoins. The reason why this is so is that the larger phrase functions in the same way as each of the conjoins would do if there had been no coordination. Compare (9) to (10) and (11):

 

(9)               Fresh vegetables and newly picked fruits are healthy.

(10)                       Fresh vegetables are healthy.

(11)                       Newly picked fruits are healthy.

 

The sequence fresh vegetables and newly picked fruits in (9) occurs in the Subject position before the main verb of the sentence, as do fresh vegetables and newly picked fruits on their own in (10) and (11). Notice also that the larger NP in (9) determines the form of the verb be in the same way that the NPs in (10) and (11) do. Because the conjoined sequence syntactically behaves in the same way as non-conjoined NPs, we conclude that it is also an NP.

Coordination is also attested in cases where more than two items are being strung together. Whenever there are three or more items, there is usually only a coordinator between the last two items in the list. All cases of coordination that involve an overt coordinator are referred to as syndetic coordination. When there is no overt coordinator, we speak of asyndetic coordination. Thus, syndeton is the joining together of syntactic units using conjunctions. Asyndeton is the joining together of syntactic units without a conjunction. This is illustrated by the following examples.

 

(12)                       I’m tired, I’m hungry, or I’m exhausted; I’ve walked thirty miles.                                       

(13)                       I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m exhausted; I’ve walked thirty miles.

(14)                       I like exotic fruits, like mangoes, papayas, and pineapples.

(15)                       I like exotic fruits, like mangoes, papayas, pineapples.

 

(12) and (14) are examples of syndeton; (13) and (15) are examples of asyndeton.

 

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions (or subordinators for short) are elements that introduce subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause is a clause which is a syntactic element of a larger clause. Subordinating conjunctions are mostly short single words (e.g., because, when, if, unless, that, etc.) but there is also a small group of subordinating conjunctions that consist of more than one word, (e.g. so that, as long as, as if, in order that, etc.). Examples are given below. The subordinate clauses are in square brackets and the subordinating conjunctions are in bold.

 

(16)                       He believes that [all children are born with equal intelligence].

(17)                       I wonder whether [I did the right thing].

(18)                       I wonder if [you could give me some information about

                places to visit in the area].

(19)                       I am hoping for [him to arrive safely].

(20)                       She took that decision because [she was obliged to].

(21)                       Her parents are severe in discipline, although [they are

          open-minded].

(22)                       He came after [we left].

 

Notice that, with the exception of the clause introduced by ‘for’, all the subordinate clauses in (16)-(22) are finite (i.e., expressing tense).

Subordinators are quite different from coordinators in that they link units of unequal syntactic status. In other words, subordination is a type of hypotaxis, a Greek term which means ‘syntactic underneath arrangement’. In (16)-(22), in each case the sequences of words introduced by the subordinator is syntactically subordinate to (i.e., dependent on) what precedes it.

It is important to realize that the nature of the subordination in (16)-(19) above is different from the subordination in (20)-(22): in (16) the clause introduced by that completes the meaning of the verb ‘believe’ and is, therefore, its Direct Object. The clauses introduced by whether, if, and for also introduce Direct Object clauses. By contrast, in (20)-(22), the clauses introduced by because, although, and after supply circumstantial information about what precedes: they specify a reason, a contrast of some sort, and time, respectively. These clauses, therefore, function as Adjuncts.

Because that, if, whether and for introduce Complement clauses, they are referred to as complementisers. These elements comprise a subclass of the subordinating conjunctions.

 

B_ Interjections:

Interjections are expressions of emotion, physical state, agreement, disagreement. In other words, their function is purely emotive.

 

Here are some examples:

Ah, Oh, Gosh, Phew, Tut tut, Wow, Yuck, Yes, No, Ouch, Hmm,