Various definitions of the term «litotes» in the linguistic literature

A stylistic means is a conscious and deliberate reinforcement of some typical structural and / or semantic properties of a linguistic unit (neutral or expressive), which acquired a general status and thus became a generative model. The following groups of stylistic means can be distinguished:

Lexical - based on a figurative meaning, that is, on the interaction of two types of lexical meaning: dictionary and contextual: metaphor, personification, metonymy, irony, understatement (meiosis), etc .;

In linguistic literature, there are different interpretations of the term "litotes". I.V. Arnold believes that litotes is based on the expressiveness of negation and consists in the use of a particle with an antonym that already contains a negative prefix: It is not unlikely = It is very likely; he was not unaware of = he was quite aware of [1, p. 236]. However, in the same source there is another definition of litotes - a deliberate understatement, expressed by the negation of the opposite: not bad = very good and is considered as a trope opposite to hyperbole: we inched our way along the road [1, p.21].

I.R. Halperin defines litotes as a stylistic means based on the special use of negative constructions. Denial in combination with a noun or adjective denotes a positive quality of a person or thing [10, p. 250]. However, the indicated positive quality has a somewhat diminished degree in comparison with a synonymous expression without the use of negative constructions. Litotes reflects the simultaneous realization of two meanings: negative and affirmative. In the litote, one can trace the paths of interaction between form and content. V.A. Kukharenko defines litotes as a two-component structure, where two negations are designed to create a positive assessment, for example: not unkindly = kindly, although the positive effect is somewhat weakened and expresses the speaker's lack of confidence in what he is saying. The litotes function, according to V.A. Kukharenko is very similar to the function of a stylistic means of understatement – they both weaken the effect of the utterance. The uniqueness of the litotes lies in its special "double negation" and in the weakening of only a positive assessment. The Russian term “litotes” corresponds only to the English “understatement”, since it has no structural or semantic restrictions [5, p. 114]. In describing hyperbole - exaggeration and its opposite understatement, V.A. Kukharenko reports that when the size, shape, measurement values, characteristic features of an object are not exaggerated, but deliberately underestimated, we are dealing with a stylistic phenomenon of understatement (understatement). The mechanism of its occurrence is directly opposite to the mechanism of hyperbole and does not state the real state of affairs, but conveys an emotional assessment of the speaker [5, p. 71]. V.V. Gurevich describes stylistic means of hyperbole and litotes as opposed to each other and refers them to stylistic means based on the meaning of lexical units. In his opinion, hyperbole (exaggeration) means a deliberate extreme exaggeration of the qualities of an object: He was so tall that I was not sure he had a face. (O. Henry).

Litotes (understatement) is a stylistic device based on the special use of negative constructions in a positive sense in such a way that the described quality is weakened, but in fact this quality is described as something very positive or more intense: There are not a few people who think so (= very many) [3, p. 31]. The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary, for example, gives the following definition of the term litotes: “an ironically moderate form of speech, especially the expression of an affirmation through the negation of its opposite,“ not bad ”instead of“ good ”. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines litotes as “a way of expressing a thought with a word that has the opposite meaning in a negative form, such as“ not bad ”instead of “good ”.

The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English explains litotes as “an understatement; using the negation of the opposite, such as “I shan’t be sorry when it’s over” meaning “I shall be very glad”.

The Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary gives the following definition of litotes

• 1)    trope: negation of a feature not characteristic of an object, that is, a kind of “negation of negation”, resulting in a formally equivalent to a positive, but actually weakened statement (“not useless”);

• 2)    a trope opposite to hyperbole; deliberate understatement ("little man with a fingernail").

Linguist David Crystal describes litotes as a figure of speech in which something is downplayed (not bad instead of good). E.V. Klyuev argues that litotes is a trope that is directly opposite to hyperbole and is traditionally defined as an "understatement" - there is a case in which a "large value" is replaced by a "smaller one" either unconsciously following the speech tradition ("Look for a minute!"), Or consciously, that is, with a certain figurative purpose [4, p. 127]. Y.M. Skrebnev notes in his works that litotes denotes a special form of meiosis, and not an independent trope, and reflects a certain idea by negating the opposite idea. As a result, we have a double negation, which forms a positive value, which, however, has a lesser degree of intensity not without his assistance / with his assistance [9, p. 115]. O.N. Laguta in his "Educational Dictionary of Stylistic Terms" gives the following definition of the terms "litotes" and "meiosis":

Litotes [1], -s. In the lexical style: a kind of periphrasis, a deliberately weakened expression, consisting in the definition of a concept by negating the opposite. * Believe: I listened not withoutparticipation (N. Nekrasov). Not useless. Interesting. Litotes [2], -s. Trope, the same as meiosis. Meiosis. In the lexical style: an expression with the meaning of understatement is usually figurative, and then it is considered a trope. * Your spitz, adorable spitz, no more than a thimble (A. Griboyedov) [6, p. 31]. The conducted literature review reflects the ambiguity of interpretation the term in question. The indicated ambiguity lies in the definitions, where litotes can be considered both as an understatement (meiosis) and as a double negation. A large number of similar interpretations do not contribute to a clear understanding of this phenomenon. Syntactic - based on the syntactic design of the statement, highlighting it regardless of the lexical meaning of the units used: inversion, repetition, enumeration, parallelism, chiasm, ellipse, etc .;

Lexico-syntactic - based on the constancy of the structure of the unit used and a certain range of lexical meanings (antithesis, litotes, gradation, comparison, paraphrase);

Phraseological - based on the violation of phraseological units that occurs in the process of their modification;

Phonetic - associated with the sound design of the statement: alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhythm, rhyme, etc .;

Graphic - serve to convey in writing those emotions which in oral speech are expressed using intonation and stress: font changes, stylistic use of capital letters, stylistic use of punctuation marks;

Phono-graphic - grafon - graphic fixation of phonetic peculiarities of pronunciation with the subsequent violation of the generally accepted pronunciation. Used to display incoherent or sloppy pronunciation caused by temporary or permanent factors;

Morphological - associated with expressive capabilities within various grammatical categories inherent in one or another part of speech;

Word formation - associated with the expressive potential of models and types of word formation, with the connotative potential of affixes [8]. In the proposed classification, the considered stylistic means - litotes and meiosis - are presented in different groups. Meiosis is considered as a stylistic tool based on a figurative meaning and belongs to the group of lexical stylistic tools:

She wore a pink hat, the size of a button. (J. Reed) The little woman, for she was of a pocket size, crossed her hands solemnly on her middle. (J. Galsworthy) There is so much going on that they do not have time to grow old. (Sh. Anderson) Litotes, according to this classification, belongs to the group of lexico-syntactic stylistic means based on the constancy of the structure of the unit used and a certain range of lexical meanings: He was not an unpleasant man, I had decided. Just too successful. (I. Shaw). Questions are never indiscreet;       answers       sometimes       are.       (O.       Wilde)

She wasn’t silly or mawkish, but she gave one the impression of a lovely purity and a strange loftiness of soul. (S. Maugham). An analysis of the above examples shows that the key difference between the two stylistic tools under consideration is that both methods express deliberate understatement of the described qualities in different ways. The stylistic qualities of meiosis are expressed with the help of lexical means, their semantics - the peculiarity of this technique lies in the choice of the lexical unit by the author, which contains in its semantics an element reflecting a deliberate understatement of the described qualities. The stylistic qualities of the litotes reflect not so much a deliberate understatement as an indication of the presence of negative qualities, insignificant in their degree - the semantic effect produced by the use of double negation.