Background: Stylistics offers invaluable insights into how linguistic choices shape literary meaning and impact. Sentence structure, a fundamental component of syntax, plays a critical role in conveying narrative rhythm, tone, and character [11, 39]. While Ukhozi Olumaphiko is a significant literary work, a detailed stylistic analysis focusing specifically on its sentence constructions remains underexplored.

Aim: This study aims to identify and analyze the predominant stylistic sentence patterns and structures employed in the novel Ukhozi Olumaphiko. Furthermore, it seeks to explore how the author's syntactic craftsmanship contributes to the novel's thematic development, characterization, and overall narrative effect.

Methods: Adopting a qualitative, descriptive stylistic approach, this research systematically examines the complete text of Ukhozi Olumaphiko. Data collection involved identifying and purposively sampling sentences exhibiting distinctive stylistic features, including variations in length, complexity (simple, compound, complex sentences), and rhetorical devices such as parallelism and inversion [4, 6, 40, 41]. The analytical framework incorporated linguistic categories for sentence analysis and principles of content analysis to interpret the communicative and aesthetic functions of these structures within their literary context [26, 30].

Results: Preliminary analysis reveals a diverse range of sentence structures, with the author artfully alternating between concise, impactful declarative sentences and elaborate, complex constructions. Frequent use of parallelism and rhetorical questions significantly contributes to thematic emphasis and reader engagement. The findings indicate that syntactic variation is not merely decorative but deeply embedded in the novel's narrative strategy, influencing pace, suspense, and the depiction of emotional states.

Stylistics, Sentence Structure, Syntax

Adejare, O. Language and Style in Soyinka: A Systematic Text and Literary Study of Linguistic Dialect; Heinemann Educational Books: Ibadan, Nigeria, 2013.

Agu, I.E. A Linguistic-Stylistic Analysis of Newspaper Reportage. Int. J. Res. Humanit. Soc. Stud. 2015, 2, 20–27. Available online: https://www.ijrhss.org/pdf/v2-i8/3.pdf (accessed on 15 March 2025).

Alatawi, M. Linguistic Stylistics and Literary Stylistics: A Comparative Study; 2021. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350845452 (accessed on 15 March 2025).

Almutalabi, M. A Stylistic Study of the Use of Complex Sentences in Poe’s The Black Cat. J. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2018, 22, 29–31.

Ama, J.A. The Concept of Style. HubPages, 2022. Available online: https://hubpages.com/ (accessed on 4 February 2022).

Ashegova, B. Stylistic Figures of English; E-Library.RU: Moscow, Russia, 2021.

Babiker, M.M.; Ahmad, S.A.B. Linguistic Stylistic Analysis of Lexical and Grammatical Categories in Things Fall Apart. Int. J. Innov. Sci. Eng. Technol. 2023, 10, 4. Available online: http://www.ijiset.com/ (accessed on 31 March 2025).

Bagawandas, M.; Manimannan, G. Quantification of Stylistic Traits: A Statistical Approach. Paper presented at the 7th International Conference on Textual Data Analysis, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 10 March 2004; Volume 1, pp. 71–78.

Begum, S. Introduction to Linguistics & Phonetics. 34 Stylistics; E-PGP Books; 2017. Available online: https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/engp13/chapter/stylistics/ (accessed on 4 March 2025).

Boyne, M. Sentence to Destruction: A Stylistic Analysis of Two Post-Apocalyptic Novels; Working with English: Medieval & Modern Language, Literature and Drama; University of Nottingham: Nottingham, UK, 2009.

Bunn, J.H. The Sentence. In Balancing the Common Core Curriculum in Middle School Education; Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, Switzerland, 2017.

Burnett, H.; Burnett, W. The Fiction Writer’s Handbook; Harper & Row: New York, NY, USA, 1975.

Candria, M. Stylistics and Linguistic Analysis of Literary Works. Culturalistics J. Cult. Lit. Linguist. Stud. 2019, 3, 29–34.

Carretero, M.; Romero, E.D.; de la Rosa, V.M. Reported Speech in Opinion Newspaper Articles and Political Speeches: An English/Spanish Contrastive Approach. In Constructional and Cognitive Explorations of Contrastive Linguistics; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2024.

Dan, S. Literary Stylistics and Fictional Translation; Peking University Press: Beijing, China, 1995.

Dinges, A. Absolute gradable adjectives and loose talk. Linguist. Philos. 2024, 47, 341–360.

Dutta-Flanders, R. The Language of Suspense in Crime Fiction: A Linguist Stylistic Approach; Macmillan Publishers: Hampshire, UK, 2017.

Farzad, M. Exploring Creative Stylistics in Literature and Linguistics; ResearchGate Publication; 2023. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/374004435_Title_Exploring (accessed on 27 March 2025).

Feng, S.; Banerjee, R.; Choi, Y. Characterizing Stylistic Elements in Syntactic Structure. Paper presented at the 2012 Joint Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing and Computational Natural Language Learning, Jeju, Republic of Korea, 12 July 2012; Association for Computational Linguistics.

Frow, J. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2022.

Guy, J.M.; Conklin, K.; Sanchez-Davies, J. Literary stylistics, authorial intention and scientific study of literature: A critical overview. Lang. Lit. Int. J. Stylist. 2018, 27, 196–217.

Herrmann, J.B.; van Dalen-Oskam, K.; Schoch, C. Revisiting Style, a Key Concept in Literary Studies. J. Lit. Theory 2015, 9, 25–52.

Heumer, W. Literary Style. In Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Literature; Routledge: London, UK, 2016; pp. 195–204.

Jaxa, N.P. Uphononongo Ngokwesithako Sobunzululwazi-Sakhono Kwiinoveli Ezimbini zesiXhosa: (Ukhozi Olunamaphiko Nolwadilik’Udonga); Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University: Port Elizabeth, South Africa, 2013.

Kamalu, I. Stylistics. In Issues in the Study of Language and Literature: Theory and Practice; Kraft Books Limited: Ibadan, Nigeria, 2023; pp. 1–728.

Krippendorff, K. Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology; Sage Publications Inc.: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2004.

Liman, A.T.; Agu, I.; Ofemile, A.Y.; Agu, E. A Linguistic-Stylistic Analysis of Undergraduates’ Creative Writings; ResearchGate; 2018. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329247951_A_LINGUISTIC-STYLISTIC_ANALYSIS_OF_UNDERGRADUATES_CREATIVE_WRITINGS (accessed on 31 March 2025).

Lysanets, Y.; Morokhovets, H.; Bieliaeva, O. Stylistic features of case reports as a genre of medical discourse. J. Med. Case Rep. 2017, 11, 83.

McIntyre, D. Language and Literature. Int. J. Stylist. 2012, 22, 4.

Neuendorff, K. Content Analysis Guidebook; Sage Publications Inc.: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2002.

Niazi, N. A Stylistic Analysis of D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Engl. Lit. 2013, 2, 4.

Orebe, O.O. A Linguistic-Stylistic Analysis of Selected Aspects of Minutes of Meeting. J. Lang. Teach. Res. 2021, 12, 286–292.

Page, R.; Busse, B.; Nogaard, N. Rethinking Languages, Text and Context: Interdisciplinary Research in Stylistics in Honour of Toolan; Routledge: London, UK, 2019; ISBN 978-0-815-39576-8.

Sokolova, G.L.; Kolyago, A.L. Knowledge of stylistic and syntactic features of complex sentences in the Mari language as a component of language education (the case of parallelism). Paper presented at the ADVED 2020—6th International Conference on Advances in Education, Virtual Conference, 5–6 October 2020; ISBN 978-605-06286-0-9.

Stephens, J. Editorial: Critical Content Analysis and Literary Criticism. Int. Res. Child. Lit. 2015, 8, v–viii.

Stockwell, P. Cognitive Poetics and Literary Theory. J. Lit. Theory 2015, 1, 135–152.

Usarov, A.K.; Mamatov, A.E.; Yusupova, S.B.; Nazirova, S.O.; Sobirova, D.A. The Theory of Composite Sentences and the Degree of Studying the Problems of Syntactic Stylistics in Linguistics. J. Crit. Rev. 2020, 7, 486–488.

Verma, M.H. A Stylistic Approach to Teaching Literature at the College Level. Lang. India 2015, 15, 8.

Voigit, E.B. Syntax: Rhythm of Thought, Rhythm of Song. Kenyon Rev. 2003, 25, 144–163.

Wiaam, A.A. Sentence length and complexity in Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Old Man at the Bridge”: A stylistic analysis for teachers of literature. Palarch’s J. Archaeol. Egypt Egyptol. 2020, 17, 7.

Zhusunova, M.K.; Ordabaeva, Z.Z.; Alpysbaeva, A.K.; Ospanova, G.E. Semantic-stylistic features of the initial and final sentences of the text. Bull. Karaganda Univ. Philol. Ser. 2022, 108, 33–44.