Inversion: examples of use in context. Inversion is a beautiful distortion of the Russian language Give a definition of inversion and examples

The article talks about the pragmatics of syntax, pragmalinguistic use and the study of various features of inversion in modern English. Particular attention is paid to the ability of inversion to have a certain pragmatic effect on the reader or listener, or otherwise - the communicative effect, which is not possessed by any statement. The existing close connection between the subjective type of actualization and the emotional-expressive component of communication has never raised doubts among linguists, but this topic remains practically unexplored. The analysis of inverted sentences shows that with the help of inversion the emotionally expressive component of communication is expressed. The focus is also on the pragmatic context as the basis for the intensification of the utterance. Inversion is associated not only with a change in the position of the correlative members of the sentence among themselves, but also with the place of the word in the sentence. The pragmatic function of word order is expressed in the fact that a member of the sentence, which is in an unusual place for him, receives an additional semantic and expressive load.

intensification.

word order

pragmatic context

inversion

syntax

pragmatics

1. Bondarko L.V., Verbitskaya L.A. Applied linguistics. SPb. : Publishing house of St. Petersburg. University, 2001.

3. Mathesius V. The main function of word order in English. Prague Linguistic Circle: Sat. articles. - M.: Progress, 1967.

4. Pocheptsov G.G. The grammatical aspect of the study of a sentence // Inostr. lang. in the school. - 1975. - No. 6.

5. Turlova E.V. Pragmalinguistic characteristics of small-format texts / Volzh. state social and humanitarian acad. - Samara, 2009.

6. Kinsella Sophie. Can You Keep a Secret? (CKS) Black Swan. - 2007 .-- S. 438.

7. Kinsella Sophie. Remember Me? (RM). - Black Swan, 2008 .-- 443.

8. Sidney Shelden. Nothing Lasts Forever (NLF). - N.Y. : Grand Central Publishing, 1994. - 432 p.

9. Weisberger Lauren. Last Night at Chateau Marmont, (LNCM). - Harper Collins Publishers, 2010 .-- S. 424.

10. Weisberger Lauren. The Devil Wears Prada (DWP) Anchor Books, 2003. -432

11. Wickham Madeleine. The Gatecrasher (TG) Black Swan, 2008 .-- 449.

12. Wickham Madeleine. The Wedding Girl (WG) Black Swan, 2007.412.

In the first half of the 20th century, it became necessary to study pragmatic syntax and inversion as a new perspective in the study of syntactic phenomena.

It became necessary to supplement the constructively oriented traditional syntax with a new perspective in the study of syntactic phenomena, which opens with an appeal in syntactic research to what is the social purpose of language, namely, to the use of sentences in speech activity. The corresponding direction of syntactic theory can be called pragmatic syntax, based on the fact that it is in linguistic pragmatics that the focus of linguistic research is the relationship between linguistic units and those who use them, as well as the conditions for the implementation of linguistic units, i.e. components of speech activity.

This topic is of great interest from the point of view of pragmatic use and study of various features of inversion in the English language. The pragmatic features of inversion in English are a poorly studied area, but relevant for the implementation of the emotionally expressive component of communication. Sentence actualization and expression intersect in the plane of pragmatics as a semantically and communicatively significant category, for here the speaking subject with all his intentions comes to the fore. The existing close connection between the subjective type of actualization and the emotional-expressive component of communication has never raised doubts among linguists, but this topic remains practically unexplored. The analysis of inverted sentences shows that with the help of inversion the emotionally expressive component of communication is expressed.

Pragmatics (from the Greek πρᾶγμα, genus πρᾶγματος - deed, action) is an area of research in semiotics and linguistics, in which the functioning of linguistic signs in speech is studied. The term "pragmatics" was introduced at the end of the 30s. XX century Ch.U. Morris as the name of one of the sections of semiotics, which he divided into semantics, which studies the relationship of signs to objects, syntactics, a section on inter-sign relations, and pragmatics, which studies the attitude of speakers to signs.

Pragmatics is a practical utility that satisfies the subjective interests of an individual.

Linguistic pragmatics studies the conditions for the use of language by communicants in acts of verbal communication. Specifically, these conditions include the communicative goals of the interlocutors, the time and place of the speech act, the level of knowledge of the communicants, their social statuses, psychological and biological characteristics, the rules and conventions of speech behavior adopted in a particular society, etc. In the process of verbal communication, communicants use one or another code (language, according to F. de Saussure), as well as, if necessary, other sign systems, including paralinguistic ones. The conditions for using the language are often subdivided into context (linguistic conditions), consituation (extra-linguistic conditions), and co-empirium (the level of linguistic and encyclopedic knowledge of communicants). However, all these conditions are often referred to as a single term "context", in which, thus, a very different content is put. Naturally, pragmatics should take into account the influence that such a context has on the linguistic means used in the process of communication.

Language is the most important means of communication, but even when we talk to each other (verbal communication), we accompany our speech with gestures, postures, facial expressions (non-verbal communication). With the help of non-verbal communication, we often focus on a particular phrase, on a particular message. Inversion works like this, it kind of highlights, puts in the first place, brings forward the more significant, what you want to emphasize, what we emphasize. That is, inversion often conveys our emotion or mood.

Prose writing has the same word order patterns in all functional styles. Fictional speech is distinguished by the presence of not only neutral, but also expressive statements.

It is known that, according to the laws of psychology, the degree of understanding depends on the organization of the statement. If the writer really wants to be understood by the reader, and he wants it, then to exercise the proper influence on the reader it is not enough for him to express, to convey only the meaning, the main idea of the work through a word, a statement; it is necessary to convey this word, statement so that it will certainly "activate" the imagination and feelings of the reader, and not just his thought. And this, consciously or unconsciously, is always taken into account by the writer, otherwise his work will not reach the addressee, therefore, the action and specific communication in the aesthetic field will not take place. In other words, there is little communicative role here; an influencing or pictorial role of speech is also needed, which activates the reader's fantasy and feelings.

In prose, inversion often gives a special rhythmic sound to a sentence. However, unlike poetry, in prose it is not rhythm that causes inversion, but inversion, motivated by the purpose of the utterance, can give rhythm to the sentence.

So, in the next sentence, the position of the predicative Lofty men at the beginning caused a stronger stress on the linking verb were, giving the whole utterance a certain rhythmic pattern:

Lofty men they were, in blue or red shirt-sleeves, stout straps about their waists, short pipes in their mouths, fine, hardy nutty brown specimens of humanity.

The inversion functions are interesting in the following example:

Bright the carriage looked, sleek the horses looked, gleaming the harness looked, luscious and lasting the liveries looked.

At first glance, it might seem that the main stylistic device used in this sentence and giving it a certain emotional coloring is the repetition of the word looked. However, a closer analysis shows that repetition here does not appear in its main stylistic function, but in an additional function of the background, against which the adverbial words bright, sleek, gleaming, luscious and lasting, brought to the first place, are the main means of stylistic influence on the reader. It is interesting to note in passing that when the repetition has the function of amplification, the sentence prompts the corresponding emphatic intonation; when the repetition has a background function, as in this example, the repeated words do not have emphatic intonation. The intonation in all cases is falling.

Context plays an important role in understanding and realizing the pragmatic aspect of inverted word order. The context is usually understood as the linguistic environment in which one or another linguistic unit is used. The textual situation plays an important role.

The pragmatic context differs from the linguistic one in that it serves to complicate it semantic and to fulfill a specific pragmatic function.

His voice suddenly faded and before he could continue, a bright thing fell through the air and hit the map, and rolled off into the sand. His wife looked at his face. His eyes were too bright. And down one cheek was a track of wetness. She took his hand and hold it tight. Slowly he said with difficulty: "Wouldn" t it be nice if we went to sleep tonight and in the night it all come back. Wouldn "t it be nice?" ...

First of all, you need to consider this example from a grammatical point of view. According to the characteristics of Halperin's grammatical inversion types, this type belongs to the fifth type. Here the circumstance precedes the linking verb to be, and both of them come before the subject.

In this example, inversion also performs the function of intensification, that is, again, it has an emotionally expressive character. If you "align" the order of words in this sentence: a track of wetness was down one cheek, then the topic (given) is not highlighted, it does not carry any stylistic load. If you highlight it, moving it to the last, unusual place in the sentence, then its stylistic information content is sharply increased. The reader, as it were, expects, anticipates something unusual, out of the ordinary.

Inversion can get expressiveness also in cases when it evokes the idea of those contexts for which the corresponding arrangement of words is usual. So, for example, in English poetry, an adjective can not only, as is usual for prose, precede the noun being defined, but also follow it:

Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous. But nothing happens. The postposition of the adjective in prose gives the style a solemnity, exaltation, or musicality.

Thus, we can conclude that the expressive and functional-stylistic coloring of the inversion is characteristic mainly of prose, since in the lists the word order obeys the rhythmic-intonation structure of the verse, and the arrangement of the components of syntactic constructions is relatively free.

Communication in the artistic and aesthetic field can be fully carried out only if the speech is expressive, figurative, emotional, if it awakens the reader's imagination, that is, if it also performs an aesthetic function. Only skillfully constructed and syntactically organized speech in a special way can fulfill the aesthetic function of literature and be considered artistic. This is the aesthetic function of inversion.

When considering the specifics of artistic speech, it is important to take into account the peculiarities of the reader's perception of the text. According to the experimental data of some psychologists, to understand the meaning of words, the conceptual plan of speech, it takes 2.5 times longer than for the appearance of an image. From this we can make a logical conclusion that it is necessary to activate the reader's imagination by the writer, which, of course, can be realized only through the text.

Let's look at specific examples of the use of inverted word order and analyze the situations in which it is used.

If could you just ... um, recap the situation for all our benefits ....

This type of inversion is grammatical, since the subject you is between the parts of the verb modal predicate could recap. Inversion performs an emotionally expressive function, since the verb could has the meaning of a polite request, and put forward in preposition it emphasizes the upbringing and even timidity of the main character. The idea of uncertainty, expressed in inversion, is also supported by the punctuation of the statement. Speech is choppy.

It "ll be fine, I tell myself for the zillion time, will it be absolutely fin.

In this example, the pragmatic effect of the utterance is provided not only by inversion, where the verb will is placed in the initial position of the syntagma, which has the meaning of expression of will. The heroine inspires herself, wants everything to be good. This idea is also supported by the lexical repetition fine, the zillion time hyperbole.

In this example, we see how inversion is combined with other stylistic means. The inversion is at the top of the gradation.

You wore my present ... can it be so gorgeous.

Exclamation inversion in this case emphasizes the degree of the heroine's reaction to the prevailing circumstances; it can be considered as admiration or surprise. At the beginning of the second semantic group, it is as if the word how is omitted, and this is what distinguishes the exclamatory inversion. Despite the absence of an exclamation mark, it is clear that the heroine's reaction is emotional. This is due to the fact that first, information is provided that introduces the reader to the course of the matter, and then, by inverting the modal verb can, the reaction.

Inversion has not only semantics (relation to the designated) and syntactics (relation to other members of the sentence), but also pragmatics (relation to the speaker). In the course of our research, we found out that different types of inversions can make a certain impression on people (positive, negative or neutral), have some kind of influence on them, cause one or another reaction. The ability to exert a certain pragmatic effect on the reader or listener, or otherwise - not every statement has a communicative effect.

Each writer, to a certain extent, expresses emotions and feelings in his works, expresses his subjective attitude towards the heroes and the actions taking place. Its purpose is to attract the reader's attention and keep it throughout the entire work, to awaken emotions in the reader and influence his feelings. Make sure that the person who reads the book empathizes with its characters.

"I just ... I had such high hopes! Wanted I to get to know you a bit, wanted I to have fun ... and for us to laugh ... wanted I one of those pink cocktails, not champagne .. . "

Sometimes, in order to attract the attention of the reader, an interesting storyline is not always enough, so the authors pay great attention to the language of the work. They reinforce, highlight and accentuate statements, as well as deviate from speech standards and norms, endow statements with emotional power in order to achieve imagery and create an aesthetic effect. The writer, in order to influence the reader, uses various means of expressing expression, among which inversion is not the last.

A few minutes later see I him walking briskly back from the garage, holding a pocket of crisps.

The problem of expressiveness as a linguistic phenomenon has always been in the center of attention of many linguists, since it is associated with the expression of the speaker's subjective attitude to the subject of speech. The essence of the expressive-stylistic function is to highlight a certain word in speech that requires special attention.

Usually, the highlighted word is put forward in the first place, which gives the whole utterance a certain expressiveness without changing the meaning of the utterance:

Never, never would I tell all my cool not tiny secrets.

With the expressive-stylistic function of inversion, the lexical predicate is in the first place in a number of cases. This is the case, for example, when highlighting an adverbial adverb in sentences such as In he ran, etc. The same, apparently, applies to such cases where

limiting or defining adverbs are combined with inversion: Never have I seen such vintage blue ornament!

From what has been said, it follows that placing this or that word in the first place in a sentence does not mean that this word acts as a lexical subject.

Aside from purely grammatical moments, the first place in a sentence may also be due to expressive-stylistic moments; however, these latter (expressive-stylistic moments) are usually accompanied by changes in intonation.

Inversion has not only semantics (relation to the designated) and syntactics (relation to other members of the sentence), but also pragmatics (relation to the speaker). In the course of our research, we found out that different types of inversions can make a certain impression on people (positive, negative or neutral), have some kind of influence on them, cause one or another reaction. The ability to exert a certain pragmatic influence on the reader or listener, or otherwise - not every statement has a communicative effect.

There are various ways to build a sentence. Among them, inversion occupies a special place as one of the options for deliberate violation of the sentence structure. Inversion as a way of expressiveness can be used to achieve a communicative intention. At the same time, various types of inversion may occur in a sentence, each of which is used to solve certain communication problems.

Reviewers:

Brusenskaya LA, Doctor of Philosophy, Head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Communication Science, Rostov State Economic University "RINH", Rostov-on-Don.

Kulikova EG, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Communication Science, Rostov State Economic University "RINH", Rostov-on-Don.

Bibliographic reference

Kochetova V.A. PRAGMATIC FEATURES OF INVERSION IN MODERN ENGLISH // Modern problems of science and education. - 2012. - No. 6 .;
URL: http://science-education.ru/ru/article/view?id=7757 (date of access: 02/01/2020). We bring to your attention the journals published by the "Academy of Natural Sciences"

"Inversio" in Latin means " overturning "... In the linguistic sense, the term inversion is a change in the order of the arrangement of words in a phrase, phrase or sentence.

- Helped them banal happening(the subject is inverted).

I do not consider him a reliable partner (inversely predictable).

It was accepted with surprise (the circumstance was inverted).

This fine drizzling rain has finally stopped (subject inverted).

It was a fine day! (definition inverted).

Carefully, he opened the door and looked inside (the circumstance is inverted).

Examples of inversion from fiction:

I wanted to get into a new captivity(D. Byron). Suddenly he saw a big smithy in the forest(Ludwig Thicke). This almost always happens in a super-urban setting. fantastic city... (A. Tolstoy).

Inversion, how it functions, and typology are defined by language classification; this is, of course, not always easy. Inversion in English is largely determined by its belonging to the analytical class. Unlike the Russian language, the inversion of the English sentence is more fixed.

Let's carry out small interrogative sentences.

Inversion. Examples in Russian:

Does he live in Samara? / Does he live in Samara? / Does he live in Samara?

Does Laura work for New Airlines? / Does Laura work for New Airlines?

Are you going to your club tonight? / Are you going to your club tonight? / Are you going to your club tonight?

The free order of words in a sentence is largely determined by the belonging of the Russian language to synthetic.

Another picture is in an English sentence, where grammatical inversion with a fixed word order is used. An interrogative construction begins with then a typical scheme follows: subject-predicate-complement (circumstance)

Inversion. Examples in English:

Does he live in Samara?

Does Lora work for New Airlines Company?

Are you going to your club tonight?

As for that, here you can see a similar arrangement of accent words in English and Russian sentences.

Rarely have I come across such magnificent architecture! - Seldom have I seen such a splendid architecture!

In Russian and English versions, the word rarely(in a sentence - circumstance) is an inversion. It gives an emotional coloring to the statement, emphasizing the rarity of the phenomenon (in order to enhance the effect of perception, the word is placed at the beginning of the sentence).

The word "inversion" comes from the Latin "inversio", which means - "overturning", "permutation". This term is used in almost all main sciences: logic, mathematics, literature, geometry, drama, biology, physics and chemistry, rhetoric and psychology. It is better to look for an exact answer to the question of what inversion is in the context of a certain science. And the general meaning of this concept is the same everywhere: "another order", "vice versa", "permutation", "another version", "change of the usual order, state, structure".

What is inversion in literature

In the literature, inversion is a stylistic device in which a non-standard word order is used, giving a sentence a beautiful sound and special meaning. With its help, the writer can focus on any action or word. In English, where the order of words in a sentence is quite strict, inversion is rarely used, but in Russian it is very common.

If you skillfully rearrange the order of words in a sentence, you can give it the greatest expressiveness. A traditional sentence has the following structure: subject, predicate, definition, addition, circumstance. Inversion, on the other hand, allows you to break this order, highlighting the most important element of the sentence.

Inversion is often used in poetry for euphonious lines and successful rhymes. It can also be found in Russian translations of English poems. The main function of inversion in poetry: maintaining the general rhythm, smooth connection between lines and paragraphs.

In the works of Lermontov one can find classical examples of inversion, especially in the works "Mtsyri" and "Borodino", and the great Pushkin generally considered inversion one of the most necessary stylistic devices. And in the poems of Tsvetaeva, Mayakovsky and Brodsky, the inversion can easily be found.

To understand what inversion is, examples will help the best.

Inversion examples

"We were all ready to start a new battle tomorrow" (M. Lermontov)
"I restore Russia from dampness and sleepers" (M. Tsvetaeva)
"In the two years I have lived here, yesterday turned into tomorrow" (I. Brodsky)
"At first I was very upset" (A. Pushkin)
"He's an arrow past the doorman" (A. Pushkin)
"An old man obedient to Perun alone" (A. Pushkin)
"And Oleg drove up to the wise old man" (A. Pushkin)
"You are rich in countless treasures" (Goethe, translation by N. Kholodkovsky)

Why do you need inversion

Let's summarize by listing the merits of inversion:

inversion allows you to focus on a specific word or phrase;
places semantic loads in the sentence;
in a poetic text, inversion sets the rhythm;
in prose, using inversion, you can place logical stresses;
inversion conveys the author's attitude to the characters and the author's emotional state;
inversion brings text to life and makes it more readable and interesting.

To fully understand what inversion is, you need to read more classical literature. In addition to inversion, in the texts of great writers you can find many other interesting stylistic devices that make speech brighter and with which our Russian language is so rich.

In the literature, inversion is usually called a violation of the usual word order. Inversion is not common for all languages. For example, in the English language there is a strictly fixed order of words, and there inversion can be found only in the rarest poetry created a couple of centuries ago. In Russian, inversion is pretty common. An example of inversion in Russian: I regret to disturb your peace of mind. It would be more correct to say this: disturb your peace of mind.

In the literature, inversion is the construction of words in a sentence with reversed order. Examples from the classics: A lonely sail in the fog of the blue sea whitens ;, What was this warm, this sleeping night waiting for? She was waiting for the sound; (Turgenev).

In fiction, writers often use tropes and stylistic figures that enhance the imagery of speech and its impact on the reader or listener. One such stylistic figure is inversion, which literally means turning over in Latin. This stylistic trick consists in breaking the direct word order in a sentence:

definition - subject - predicate - circumstance or addition.

The technique of rearranging the members of the sentence focuses attention on a certain word, distinguishes it from others and creates exactly the effect of influence that the writer is seeking.

One of the most common types of inversion is when the definition is placed behind the word being defined, for example:

The inversion between the subject and the predicate is often used, for example, we read from S.:

The object, especially the direct accusative, is usually found after the predicate. The permutation creates an inversion in the verses of M. Lermontov:

So the poet put it, bringing the main word forward instead of they were expecting a battle.

Inversion in literature is a violation of the usual word order in a sentence. From the Latin language inversio - permutation, overturning. Inversion can highlight one or more words emphatically:

Compare what is in my poems

With the most tender mother with tears

(V.A. Zhukovsky)

Also, inversion can be broken by inserted words and phrases ...

Inversion examples:

By the labors of the night iznurn

I lie in the shadows (M.Yu. Lermontov Mtsyri);

His sharpness and subtlety of instinct amazed me; (A.S. Pushkin) - I was struck by his sharpness and subtlety of instinct;

From the grave then the emperor,

When he wakes up, he suddenly appears; (M.Yu. Lermontov Air ship);

How I love e in the early days,

When there is only one talk about the luke; (B. Pasternak);

Why does old man seem to me?

The roofs of the huts are bursting in tarry sleep.

And the glow smokes, and shouts to the mother:

The blood of the children flooded the tablecloths in the chambers,

And the warriors lie, and on them the crows,

Their pupils are sklvanny through a bloody shell; (S. Kirsanov Two dreams);

It was candlelight. Trembling in the horses

The cold is angrier at night;

Turned around in a sleigh

Mikhailo Ivanovich.

... At that time they came running

Coachman and counselor (N. Nekrasov);

I, mother of God, now with prayer

Before your image, bright radiance ... (M.Yu. Lermontov).

In the Russian literary language (and in Russian literature in particular) we see texts consisting of sentences.

In these sentences (and we are now primarily going to talk about the narrative), experts distinguish two types of word arrangement. Two orders:

1 .Direct (or neutral).

For example, from Dead Soulsquot ;:

2 .Inverse (inverse).

For example, from Fountain of Bakhchisarai Palacequot ;:

Instead of a neutral order: "The pale luminary of the harem, are you already forgotten here?"

The second example is mild syntactic inversion, which is very common.

Inversion is mainly used to give a high style, underline individual words; or technically: to maintain the rhythm of the lines in the verses.

Inversion is nothing more than the replacement of words between themselves, which were meaningful, but became non-frail. I really like the inversion of Vasily Zhukovsky, probably one of the best, which you can't do for the sake of rhyme:

Inversion is a figure of speech, which is characterized by the rearrangement of the members of the sentence (the subject and the predicate most often) to places that are not typical for them, in order to give the sentence as a whole a great emotional coloring.

Inversion is (Latin inversio permutation, turning) the arrangement of the members of the sentence in a special order, violating the usual (direct) order, in order to enhance the expressiveness of speech. Inversion is one of the stylistic figures. Hunting for a bear is dangerous, a wounded animal is terrible, but the soul of a hunter, accustomed to dangers from childhood, has swept away. A month came out in a dark night, lonely looking out of a black cloud at desert fields, at distant villages, at nearby villages.

The term inversion comes from inversio, which means permutation. Inversion is called a stylistic figure, when words or whole parts of phrases are not put in the usual and accepted position, put in reverse order. This gives the text a special expressiveness.

Inversion example

He ascended higher as the head of the rebellious

Alexandrian pillar ... or

There is no place to compete with stupidity.

And there is another example of inversion on the plate.

Inversion
There is a direct word order, and there is a reverse word order, and so inversion is a reverse word order.
Let me explain. In a sentence, the adjective must first go, and then the noun it defines. This will be direct word order. But when a noun is put in the first place, then this is inversion.
For example. Autumn golden came to visit us. Compare: golden autumn.
Here is an example from a poem by K. Chukovsky.
Also, in a sentence, the subject is usually put in first place, and then the predicate comes (direct word order). But if the predicate comes first, and then the subject, then there is an inversion in the sentence.
Here is an example from a poem by A.S. Pushkin
In this example, we see that the predicate is put in first place, and then the subject comes (a voice sounded, dreamed features). We also observe an inversion - this is hopeless sadness, a gentle voice.

Inversion is called prim in poetry or narration - permutation or narration. Inversion changes the usual order of words in the construction of a sentence.

In verses for example - Aragva light, he happily reached the green shores (Lermontov). Here the subject and predicate are rearranged, the words in the verse are arranged rhythmically so that the rhythm of the verse is not affected. A vivid example of the inversion of the last time is present in the texts of the character Star Wars - master Yoda))) Take only his sentence in the first part (or the second - I don’t remember exactly) - When you will be 900 years old, you will not look so good;)))

In general, in English, such a permutation transforms a sentence from a declarative to an interrogative one.

Inversion in literature is a violation of the usual word order. It comes from the Latin inversio which translates as overturning, permutation. In Russian, this is a fairly common phenomenon, since we do not have a rigid word order in the grammar.

As an example of inversion:

Is it comparable to what is in my poems

With the most tender mother with tears?

Inversion is a change in the usual order of individual parts of a whole. The term itself comes from the Latin inversio, translated - "overturning", "rearrangement". It is widely used in various fields of knowledge.

The ambiguity of the term "inversion"

From the point of view of psychology, inversion is a violation of the normal, that is, generally accepted, order of the course of mental processes. It can affect the sphere of behavior, motives, reactions, etc. The term was introduced into scientific circulation at the end of the 19th century, a little later Z. Freud applied it to the field of sexology, calling it an inversion of non-traditional orientation.

Mathematicians also have their own meaning in the concept of "inversion". For them, this is a special kind of displaying space or a separate plane using inverse radii.

In biology, this term refers to mutations in which a section of the chromosome is separated from the chromosomal chain, turns 180 degrees and returns to its original place.

The list of values could go on and on. Sociologists, physicians, philosophers, physicists, and musicians put their own meaning into this term. But, perhaps, he enjoys the greatest popularity among linguists and literary scholars.

Inversion in Philology

In linguistics, inversion is a conscious change in the usual word order for everyday speech. Russian belongs to the group of languages in which the word order is conditionally free. This means that the members of the sentence can stand in different positions, but the general meaning of the statement or its emotional coloring depends on the place they occupy.

It has been observed that the reader's attention is concentrated primarily on the first and last word in a sentence. Poets and writers began to use this, seeking to increase the expressiveness and artistic imagery of their works by changing the word order.

Types of inversions

Depending on which member of the sentence changes its place, different types of such a technique as inversion are distinguished. Examples can be seen in the table:

Inversion type	Example	Neutral, familiar word order
Subject inversion	Could help them now luck alone.	Luck alone could help them now.
Predicate inversion	Didn't hope she's more on her friend.	She no longer relied on her friend.
Inversion of definition	He wrote poetry truly wonderful.	He wrote truly wonderful poetry.
Inversion of complement	For the Motherland Russian soldiers fought.	Russian soldiers fought for their homeland.
Inversion of the Circumstance of a Course of Action	With undisguised annoyance she looked at him.	She looked at him with undisguised annoyance.

Inversion functions

Let's try to figure out what inversion is for. The first and most logical answer is to draw the reader's attention to an important word or group of words from the author's point of view. Thus, according to one researcher, the inversion in the first phrase of the Queen of Spades by A.S. Pushkin has a semantic meaning, she immediately makes it clear what will be discussed in the work. The phrase reads like this: "Once we played cards at the horse guard Narumov." The rearrangement of the word "card" in the center of the sentence gives it a shade of significance, at the same time attracts attention and the name of the horse guard, in whose house the action begins.

The second purpose of the inversion technique is to increase the emotionality, expression of the utterance. Let us compare, for example, two sentences: “The weather was fine” and “The weather was fine”. The first statement has a calm narrative character, the second expresses the speaker's emotion. This effect is achieved by inverting the definition.

There is another, more practical, “sonorous” goal. Inversion in a poem can only be used to maintain rhythm and rhyme. Recently, there have been a lot of inversions of this kind in the works of amateur poets; among the classics, they often have a semantic load.

Inversion. Examples from Russian classics

Let us try in practice to make sure of the above conclusions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this technique is used in literature all the time. There are indeed many inversions in the works of Russian poets. Let's look at some examples.

The inversion of the complement is contained in the verses of A.S. Pushkin: "Love, hope, quiet glory / Deception did not live long for us." The author deliberately pushes aside the subject “deception” (which has a negative connotation) and brings to the fore the words that give rise to positive emotions (love, hope, glory). This makes the reader experience those feelings that disturb him - disappointment, unjustified expectations.

An excellent example of the inversion of the predicate can serve as the lines of Sergei Yesenin: “The night is dreaming. People have fallen asleep, / Only I am tormented by anguish. " Here the phrase describing the state of the lyric hero contains the usual word order, and in those that describe the outside world (night, other people), inversion is used. This technique emphasizes the alienation of the hero.

The inversion of the circumstances of the course of action is present in the first line of M.Yu. Lermontov's "Duma": "I look sadly at our generation." The word "sad", brought to the fore, sets the tone of the work, to which the author remains faithful to the end.