Foregrounding and Translation of phraseologisms

Modern English writers and journalists often give preference to foregrounding over traditional stylistic devices. By foregrounding is understood the use of neutral linguistic means for stylistic purposes. A grammatical form or structure thus acquires great expressiveness and may be regarded as a stylistic device.

Foregrounding reveals and brings forth the potentialities which are inherent in linguistic means. A writer senses the expressive possibilities of a word, he sees potential expressiveness in a grammatical structure or form and skillfully uses it. Foregrounding is always individual; it is displayed in unexpected contexts and posses a high degree of unpredictability. Practically every grammatical form and every part of speech may be foregrounded, that is used for expressiveness.

Foregrounding of Articles. In the following example Iris Murdoch effectively reveals the stylistic force of the two articles, their expressive possibilities and their effective use for stylistic purposes. Perhaps he would achieve some sort of piece, the piece of an elderly man, a piece of cozy retirement… Возможно, он обретет какой-нибудь душевный покой, такой покой, покой, свойственный пожилым людям, такой покой, который дает приятное уединение. The foregrounded articles are compensated lexically.

Foregrounding of Degrees of Comparison. Degrees of comparison can also be foregrounded. Such foregrounding may be achieved in two ways: either by semantic or by morphological violation of the norm. The semantic violation of the norm is applied to descriptive adjectives which by virtue of their semantics do not admit of comparison. Yet for the sake of expressiveness they are used either in the comparative or in the superlative degrees. “ Very good, sir”, said the groom, at his most wooden, and sprang down into the road. (Georgette Heyer) Слушаюсь, сэр”, сказал грум с самым, что ни на есть деревянным выражением лица и спрыгнул на дорогу. The meaning of the elative is rendered by a colloquial intensifier (что ни на есть).

The foregrounding of descriptive adjectives is sometimes found in newspapers style as well. The report’s proposals were handed over to a much more ”political” committee… Предложение доклада были переданы комитету, который ведал политикой на гораздо более высоком уровне. The inverted commas indicate that newspapers style is more conventional than imaginative prose.

Morphological violation may be described as violation of established grammatical norms for stylistic purposes and the degrees of comparison become functionally charged. “Curiouser and curioser”, said Alice. (Lewis Carroll) “Cтранче и странче”, сказала Алиса. “Annie, could you give me a quart of coffee in a carton?” “It’ll have to be two points, Eth.” “Good. Even gooder”. (J.Stainbeck) “Анни, дай мне кварту кофе в пакете”. “У меня пакеты по две пинты”. “Ладно, даже распреладно”.

Foregrounding of the Plural Form. The plural form is foregrounded when it is used with uncountable nouns or with “noun phrases”. The plural moves an uncountable noun into a new category, thus stressing it. He was bursting with new ideas and new enthusiasms. (I.Shaw). В нем бурлили новые идеи и новые увлечения. We spent a long day together, with a great many “Do you remembers?” (Desmond Young). Мы провели весь день вместе, без конца повторяя: «А ты помнишь?»

Foregrounding of Word-building New words are coined by affixation, word-compounding and conversion. All these means of word-building are frequently foregrounded. Their expressiveness is due to their individual character and is often a feature of the writer’s style. As word-building possesses a national character the rendering of such coinages constitutes a complicated problem of translation.

Foregrounding of Suffixes. Suffixes present great variety and have different productivity in the S and T languages. The English language is particularly rich in suffixes and their productivity is prodigious. The case with which new words are formed is amazing. Individual coinages speedily become neologisms and enter the vocabulary. Some suffixes are exceptionally productive and offer great possibilities for foregrounding. Such coinages often baffle the translator and their rendering requires considerable ingenuity on his part, usually at the cost of compactness. This is well illustrated by the word “hackdom ” in the following example: … no one who knows his long, dreary record in the House, 25 years of plodding through hackdom would ever accuse him of being a leader. …никому из тех, кто знаком с длительным и унылым пребыванием этого человека в Конгрессе, не пришло бы в голову назвать лидером этого посредственного конгрессмена, который 25 лет корпел над самой повседневной работой.

The suffix –ful is also foregrounded. After the pattern of “handful” and “mouthful” the adjective “faceful” is formed for vividness of expression. A new ward syster, fat and forceful with a huge untroubled faceful of flesh and brisk legs, was installed. (M.Spark). В палате водворилась новая сестра, энергичная толстуха с огромной невозмутимой мясистой физиономией и с быстрой походкой. The stylistic effect is lost because a very usual attribute “мясистый” does not stylistically correspond to the correlated nonce-word “faceful”.

Perhaps the most productive of all suffixes is the suffix –er used both for nominalization and for stylistic purposes. The frequency of its partial grammaticalization, in other words, this suffix often functions as a noun indicator. She is a leaner, leans on me, breathes on me, too, but her breath is sweet like a cow’s breath. She’s a thoucher, too. (J.Stainbeck). Моя дочка любит прислоняться, прислоняется ко мне и дышит на меня. Но от нее приятно пахнет молоком, как от теленка. Она также любит и трогать меня.

Despite its universal character this suffix is easily foregrounded. It is used by writers for forming nonce-words sometimes parallel with existing ones built from the verb but having a different meaning, e.g. “a waiter”: 1. a man who takes and executes orders (The Concise Oxford Dictionary); 2. a man who can wait. (John Stainbeck). She is a waiter – I can see that now and I guess she had at lengthy last grown weary of waiting. Она привыкла ждать, теперь я это понимаю. Но мне сдается, что ей в конце концов надоело ждать.

The suffix –able, another most productive suffix, is also frequently foregrounded. It is often used in advertising as its lexical meaning has not disappeared, e.g. a hummable record – a record that can be hummed; a filmable novel – a novel that can be filmed. He was waiting for the last bath of the purified uranium with unfillable time on his hands. (C.P.Snow). Он ждал последней партии очищенного урана и поэтому у него было много свободного времени, которое он не знал чем заполнить. The lanes were not passable, complained a villager, not even jackassable. Тропинки еще непроходимы, сетовал один крестьянин, по ним не только человеку, но даже ослу не пройти.

These coinages are also translated by extension and are equivalent only semantically, not stylistically.

Foregrounding of Compounds Nonce-words formed by compounding are naturally conspicuous. He was a born parent-pleaser. (I.Shaw). Он обладал даром нравиться родителям.

The following example is curious as the two component elements of the compound have the suffix – er. “Marta said that you wanted something looked up”. “And are you a looker-upper?” “I’m doing research, here in London. Historical research I mean”… (Josephine Tey). «Марта говорила, что нужно отыскать какую-то справку». «А вы что же, отыскиватель?» «Я занимаюсь здесь, в Лондоне, исследовательской работой. Историческими исследованиями, я имею в виду». In this case a Russian nonce-word proves to be possible.

Again a case of semantic but not of stylistic equivalence.

Foregrounding of Adverbial Verbs The so-called adverbial verbs, that is, verbs containing two semes, one expressing action and the other describing the character of that action, are often used for stylistic purposes in the same way as causative verbs. Such use can be traced far back even to Shakespeare. She splashed the four chipped cups down on a table by the door. (M.Sinclair). Она так резко поставила все четыре надтреснутые чашки на стол у двери, что чай расплескался. In this case the verb “to splash down” contains three semes: the action itself, its character and its result. Smoke sorrowed out of the chimney. (P.White). Из труб печально поднимался дым.

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