stylistics

1 7.2

Study of how people use language to create meaning in writing and speech

noun
/stəˈlɪstɪks/

Specialized

: estilística

The professor explained how stylistics can reveal the unique features of a writer's language.
cognitive stylistics
computational stylistics
discourse stylistics

Examples

So, where does stylistics, as practiced in France, fit in with these developments in linguistics?

Academic text (2004)
The essays in this special issue suggest just as much, and they reflect some trends in stylistics today.

Academic text (2004)
For my part, I think that stylistics has become much more than that in recent years.

Academic text (2004)
I admit it may seem odd to take issue with Fish today when stylistics is thriving, especially in Europe.

Academic text (2004)
The study of stylistics in France is as varied and controversial as in many other countries.

Academic text (2004)
His worry about stylistics was about what a social scientist would call "confirmation bias."

Academic text (2004)
Yet after a couple of decades of recession, stylistics has returned to prominence.

Academic text (1998)
At that point, we are left to form our preferences without the benefit of stylistics, whether traditional or computational.

Academic text (2002)
By then, I had a PhD in the English language, taught linguistics and stylistics, and directed composition programs.

Academic text (1990)
Today, the concluding article here by Wilfrid Rotg suggests that stylistics in France shows no signs of fading away.

Academic text (2004)

Surface Forms

stylistics singular

stylistics plural

Morphology

stylistics = stylistic (semi-transparent) = style + ist + ic + s

Formed by adding an academic-field suffix to 'stylistic' (style→stylist→stylistic→stylistics); the derivation is regular but the specialized scholarly meaning may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Stylistics comes from style, which comes from a Latin word for a 'writing tool', plus the ending -ics, which means 'the study of'. So stylistics is the study of a writer's or speaker's language style, or how they choose words and forms, especially in literature.