Speech is a business card of a person. She will give out your age, level of education, status and even interests. It is not surprising that writers willingly use speech characteristics in their works. This is an excellent addition to the literary portrait of the hero.
More important as they say
Maxim Gorky noted that more often it turns out to be important not what the characters say, but how they do it. The main thing is not judgment, but manner. Therefore, the most accurate definition of the term “speech characteristic” is the character’s vocabulary of the character, the intonational and stylistic coloring of his verbal constructions.
How does this imaginative tool work? The rhetoric of heroes characterizes individuality, makes the image expressive and memorable, serves as a means of contrasting other characters, and displays the emotional and emotional state of the hero.
Vocabulary requirements
Literary techniques for creating a speech characteristic are the use of dialect and slang words, professionalism and clericalism, the inclusion of structures that clog up speech. It is also an introduction to the speech of characters of sayings, jokes, allegories, diminutive language. A conversation can be fast or slow, differ in the unusual structure of phrases, and in the degree of volume.
What is the "salt" of character
Signs that distinguish the hero from other characters can be special, characteristic only for him, words and expressions, as, for example, in Ostap Bender, the hero of the novels Ilf and Petrov. Other characters are characterized by specific speech defects that add piquancy to the image. So Colonel Nai-Turs from Bulgakov’s White Guard burrs, the charming Miss Stapleton from Conan Doyle’s short story “The Baskerville Dog” lisp and Erast Fandorin stutters slightly in Boris Akunin’s detective novels.
Comedy "Undergrowth": Speech Characteristics of Heroes
Denis Fonvizin’s play “Undergrowth” is the first Russian comedy of the era of classicism. In 1782, it triumphantly took place on the stage of the Karl Knipper Theater in St. Petersburg, then it was published and withstood 4 editions during the life of the author.
The comedy was created in the best traditions of classicism and aimed at correcting the vices of society. The play clearly divided all the characters into positive and negative. She obeyed the trinity of place, action and time. A distinctive feature was the "speaking" names and surnames of the characters of the "Undergrowth" and the speech characteristics of the characters.
The lively colloquial language of the comedy revealed the innovation of Fonvizin, who was a vivid participant in the process of the formation of the common Russian literary language in the second half of the 18th century.
Copyright credo
The vocabulary of the good characters of the dramaturgy of the times of Fonvizin was saturated with book turns and bulky syntactic constructions. Denis Ivanovich made significant changes in this tradition. Remaining bookish, the speech of the best heroes of his comedy - Starodum, Sophia, Milon, Pravdin - burns with a thirst for truth, honor, justice, intolerance to vice. So the speech characteristic of the characters is the moral ideal of the author, who is opposed to the conservatism of the ruling circles.
The rhetoric of Starodum, this alter ego of Fonvizin himself, is aphoristic and figurative. His remarks soon went into quotes: “Have a heart, have a soul, and you will be a man at all times”, “Golden boob - all boob” and others.
The conversation of Starodum depends on the speech situation, for example, in a conversation with Prostakova and Skotinin, he ironically uses colloquial expressions.
Why laugh: features of speech of negative persons
It should be noted that the speech of the negative characters of The Undergrowth is attractive in its own way: it has a lot of ease, folk sayings, colorful phraseological units.
Remarkable in the comedy "The Little Man" is the speech characteristic of Prostakova. The author of the dramatic work only has replicas of characters in order to create a complete impression of the arrogance and ignorance of Mitrofanushka’s mother. Popular vocabulary, devoid of expression, emphasizes the heroine's intellectual and emotional poverty. She says “kudy”, “randomly”, “if”, “little bit”, “look-it” mixed up with swear words: “beast”, “cattle”, “erysipelas”, “canalya”, “snout”, "Thieves' bitch", "dog daughter", etc. So the speech characteristic of Prostakova demonstrates the rudeness, perversity, cruelty of the character.
Along with vernacular statements and dialecticism, the landowner also uses book turns: "amorous writing", "hefty fiction". This technique is not just comical, it allows you to achieve amazing credibility in the image of Prostakova, whose speech characteristics indicate that the author is well acquainted with the vocabulary of provincial nobles.
Jokes, proverbs and puns are full of statements by Mitrofanushka and Skotinin. However, this technique does not at all make them cute characters. Rough and vulgar expressions interspersed with folk vocabulary serve one purpose - to ridicule and condemn negative heroes.
Vocabulary
Skotinin's speech characteristics are distinguished by a “zoological” connotation: “piglets”, “pigs”, “pigs” - his favorite words. He pronounces them with tenderness and pride, often personifying himself with the inhabitants of the barnyard. It is no accident that N.V. Gogol said about Skotinin that pigs were for him the same as an art gallery for art lovers. In the vocabulary of the feudal landowner paradoxically mixed colloquial turns (tomorrow, which, this happiness) with clericalism from the world of government institutions: "petitioner", "left by corporal." Skotinin does not stand on ceremony with either the servants or his own nephew: "I will break him like a devil."
Malonravia fruits
Mitrofan looks like a “professor” against the background of his kin, since teachers are engaged with him. However, they are also dropouts, and the abilities of the undergrowth leave much to be desired. A table of speech characteristics in the photo gives us some idea of the teachers of the undergrowth.
Boastful and lazy, Mitrofanushka expresses herself in a rustic and rude way: “how crazy I go ... all night such stuff went into my eyes.” The remarks of the noble son are comical due to stupidity and illiteracy. He speaks of the noun “door” that it is “adjective” because it stands “sixth week” “attached to its place”. In the finale, the heartless son does not respond to the mother’s call, dismissing her: “get off!” The author created the image of Mitrofanushka as an illustration of how pernicious the example of malevolent and unenlightened parents is for the younger generation, the character's actions and his speech characteristics emphasize this.
As the heroes of Thunderstorm say
The drama The Storm by A. N. Ostrovsky appeared almost a hundred years later, when enlightened nobles were encouraged by the coming reforms. The rebellious sound of an incredibly intense play conflict sets, among other expressive means, a speech characteristic. The thunderstorm in the relationships and in the souls of the characters is remarkably demonstrated by the dialogues of opposing heroes.
Replicas from the Dark Kingdom
The musty and oppressive world of the patriarchal city of Kalinov appears before the reader in a speech by Kabanikhi and the Wild. The latter is called in the city a "curser", which one still needs to be searched. His remarks are aggressive and frankly rude. The intolerant arrogant character of the character is manifested in the fact that he pronounces foreign words in his own manner.
Kabanikh’s talk is full of Domostroev’s vocabulary. She often uses the imperative mood, does not disdain obscene words. Along with rudeness and mockery in her speech, there is a desire to seem good and even unhappy to people, to arouse sympathy and acceptance. So verbal constructions help the author create a hypocritical character.
Speech is like a song
The central hero of the drama - Katerina - speaks the language of folk poetry, in her cues alternating vernacular words with the vocabulary of church living literature. Katerina’s speech is extremely figurative and emotional, it has a lot of diminutive constructions. She reveals a deep and extraordinary character. This is especially evident in dialogues with people of the same generation as Katerina. The prudent and cynical Varvara speaks in short phrases that are ruled by mundane worldly wisdom and practicalism, mixed in with lies. Cultural and courteous Boris, ready to endure the tyranny of his uncle Wild, is “sick” with the habit of self-flagellation. His inner monologues expose a good, but cowardly person. This is facilitated by the inversion in the hero’s speech, which always depends on the circumstances and does not know how to manage his own life.
Capacitive speech touches to portraits of heroes
Tikhon's speech is simple-minded and completely devoid of poetry, it is a limp and spiritless character. Emphasized polite with his mother, Tikhon is free from conversations with others.
One of the iconic characters in the play is Feklusha. The conversational elements interspersed with Church Slavism of her speech reflect the falsity prevailing in respect of moral values and faith in God among the inhabitants of Kalinov.
The balanced and competent speech of Kuligin, a self-taught mechanic, demonstrates an honest, good character, full of dreams of a better future for the city. The vocabulary of the inventor is distinguished by correctly constructed constructions, if he uses colloquial words, then it is very organic and in moderation. Poetry is not alien to Kuligin's statements when he admires the perfection of the world. This is a positive hero of the drama, whose convictions and creative impulse do not find support.
They will survive centuries
The ability to masterfully create a linguistic portrait of a character is the privilege of talented writers. The heroes of their books create a new reality and are remembered for a long time by readers.