Lexical and semantic features of Elizabeth Gilbert's idiosyncrasy

Abstract

As you know, each writer has his own individual creative handwriting – idiosyncrasy, which manifests itself in the peculiarities of the choice and use of vocabulary, structuring sentences, as well as in the author's manner of presenting information. The study of idiostyle allows us to analyze in detail the stylistics of a particular author and highlight those features that make his individual style recognizable and unique. In this article, a detailed critical analysis of the lexical and semantic features of the writer Elizabeth Gilbert's idiosyncrasy was carried out, which manifest themselves at all levels of linguistic description. The research aimed to identify the specifics of the lexical content of the author's works, to describe the characteristic features of the semantics of the lexemes used by her, as well as to analyze the peculiarities of the compatibility of lexical units. Within the framework of this study, a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the texts of three of the most famous works by E. Gilbert – "Eophoria", "Commits" and "City of Virgins" was carried out. The methods of lexicometric analysis, statistical modeling and discursive analysis were used. As a result of the study, it was revealed that E. Gilbert's idiosyncrasy is characterized by an increased frequency of using abstract vocabulary, as well as a preference for prefixed verbs and nouns denoting the emotional states and inner experiences of the characters.