The Use of Interjections for the Stylization of Children’s Speech in Works of Fiction (A Case Study of the Novel Room by E. Donoghue

Abstract

The article examines the stylization of the speech of a child narrator in E. Donoghue’s novel Room (2010), which is narrated by a five-year-old boy. His speech is stylized as a child's at different language levels. Onomatopoeic interjections are also used for this purpose. They can be set as well as occasionalisms. They are italicized in the text, which emphasizes their uniqueness and vividness. The interjections are divided into semantic groups. The presence of onomatopoeia and interjections in real children's speech makes their use effective for a plausible stylization of the speech of a child narrator.