Phonetic and Intonational Features of “Scary Stories” as a Genre of Children’s Folklore (A Case Study of Russian and English Languages)

The article is devoted to the analysis of phonostylistic and rhythmic-intonational features of children’s “scary stories” using separate Russian- and English-language works as examples. A brief analytical review of scientific works on the problem under study is given: on the theory of children’s folklore and speech features of children’s folklore works. The techniques of sound organisation of the analysed stories in order to create fear in the reader or listener are identified and described. Such phenomena of sound organisation of the text as assonance, alliteration, intonational structures, and tempo of narration are described. The ethnocultural specificity of children’s “scary stories” in Russian and English is considered, conditioned by both the structure of the Russian and English languages, and the folklore traditions of the peoples. It is established that in the use of sound organisation of stories, common and different techniques of expressiveness are observed.