A Stylistic Study of Nonsentences in Selected Absurd Dramas

Abstract

This study deals with the important yet neglected or peripherally studied category of English sentences: nonsentences (NSs). This unusual sentence type consists of a set of fossilized spoken and written sentences or a set of spoken and written sentences with fixed openings. The present study aims at investigating and analyzing the occurrence of NSs in the language of four randomly selected absurd plays. The essentiality of each type of NSs is determined, analyzed and studied stylistically. The study aims to answer the following questions: Do NSs occur in these dramas?, if they occur, are there degrees of diversity in their occurrences ?, do these selected dramas present all NS types?, and if it is so, which NS type is used most frequently in these dramas? A theoretical background is presented to achieve the aims of this study. Through the adoption of Quirk et al.'s (1985) model of nonsentences and the statistical analysis, the study concludes that the communicative process is full of syntactically defective sentences. Nonsentences are commonly found in spoken and written English. They are defective in themselves. Thus, nothing is missing and nothing can be inserted. It is found that all nonsentence types are present in the sample with various degrees. 1. Introduction