Commonest is not a word

Asked by: Ms. Esther Lang I

Score: 4.3/5
(50 votes)

Don’t worry, commonest is the word and many dictionaries define it. commonest (adj) — Occurring, found, or done often; prevalent. However, if you find it on Ngram, most common is more popular than commonest especially in recent years.

Is it correct to say commonest?

The comparative and superlative forms of common are usually more common and most common. Commonest is sometimes used instead of most common in front of a noun.

Do we say most common or commonest?

According to Swan (my grammar bible), common can equally be used with -er and -est as well as more and most. And it’s most common to say ‘most common’ (3,150,000). ‘Commonest’ only has 101,000. Comparatives and superlatives for words of three or more syllables invariably use more and most.

Is commonest a word UK?

Indeed, the word commonest has led a fairly different life in British English. … survey was published in 1970 by Oxford University Press, close to the height of this word’s usage in British English. It makes sense, then, that it was used in the same way that I would use most common.

What is the superlative for the word common?

Adjective. common (comparative commoner or more common, superlative commonest or most common)

33 related questions found

common

(redirected from commonest)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia.

There are two systems for the forms of comparisons of adjectives:
One-syllable adjectives such as long have long, longer, longest.
Adjectives with three and more syllables such as curious have curious, more curious, most curious.
For two-syllable adjectives there is no simple and rigid rule.
Grammarians have listed some endings where system 1 is to be used.
But, I think, people don’t have this list of endings in mind.
Though grammars say it is common, commoner, commonest
people prefer common, more common, most common.

I don’t think that the word communist has an influence in this matter. With «communist» you use different structures.
Either you say: He is a communist — or you say: the communist system.

I think people prefer «more common, most common» because it is easier to speak. Say three times «commoner, commonest»
then you probably feel that hasn’t the right «flow», somehow the two syllables with a weak vowel at the end are against the flow of
speaking.

• #1

Hi,
pls would you say

«the most common mistake of all» or «the commonest mistake of all»?

Is one of the possibilities comletely incorrect?

Thank you

• #2

*completely

I have never heard «commonest», «most common» is used more.

• #3

The most common..is correct
Rocstar

• #4

Hi,
pls would you say

«the most common mistake of all» or «the commonest mistake of all»?

Is one of the possibilities comletely incorrect?

Thank you

I think that they’re both correct although I absolutely LOATHE «commonest» and would never use it.

• #6

Well, «commonest» is listed HERE, so I assume that both are correct.

EDIT: 2,710,000 matches on google for «commonest»

• #7

I think it depends on your meaning.

If common = plentiful (the opposite of rare), then without doubt, most common is preferable.

However, sometimes, common is used to mean «uncultured, dirty, lower-class». It’s maybe not very polite, but some people do use it. In this case, it is useful to use commonest, to make it clear that you are not talking about the frequency of occurrence.

That’s a distinction that’s been used by writers I’ve worked with. It might just be a British thing, because we have a greater concept of social class than other English-speaking countries.

• #8

Commonest is poor grammar. Widely used, but makes me shudder.

• #9

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread, but «commoner, commonest» is an irregular comparative/superlative form. To my mind, using more and most common demonstrates ignorance of the irregular form. However, Merriam Webster doesn’t list the forms, implying that «common» is considered regular. Perhaps this is one of the manifold BE/AE stylistic differences?

• #10

I didn’t know there was any stigma attached to «commonest», so I think Twoflower may be right about a BE/AE stylistic difference.

• #11

I think that they’re both correct although I absolutely LOATHE «commonest» and would never use it.

I presume you think that only the commonest people would actually say «commonest» ?

• #12

Isn’t the general rule of comparative and superlative : -er and -est for adjectives of one or two syllables, more and most for those longer?
Which would make commonest correct, if a little inelegant.

I can hear in my head the narrative on TV nature programmes «One of the commonest forms of insect life on the planet is…………»

• #13

But we add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’ only with two syllable adjectives that end in ‘-y’ like ‘happy’, ‘lucky’, ‘lazy’, etc. I’ve been also taught that we could use ‘more’ and ‘most’ with them when the situation is informal, e.g. writing a letter to a friend, although some grammarians and teachers don’t consider it correct. However, I have seen such examples in my textbook, which is written by native speakers. The Oxford Dictionary gives the comparative and superlative forms as ‘commoner’ and ‘commonest’.

• #14

No, there are a number of two-syllable patterns that can be inflected, most commonly -le/-el as in subtler, simplest, cruellest; beyond that, we get into individual words rather than patterns, as it can be hard to think of multiple examples for each type, but certainly yellower, quieter, bitterest, all sound fairly natural. The thing about the -y adjectives is that we usually inflect them, whereas with the other disyllables that allow it (and not all do, most prominently those in -ing, -ish), it’s an alternative choice.

• #15

I didn’t know there was any stigma attached to «commonest», so I think Twoflower may be right about a BE/AE stylistic difference.

I have no objections whatsoever to commoner/commonest: I happily use them whether the meaning is ‘occurring frequently’ or ‘lacking in social polish’. To suggest that they’re ‘mistakes’ in British English is … well, mistaken.

• #16

Oxford Dictionary lists «commoner» and «commonest» as the comparative and superlative forms of «common». The Oxford Dictionary cannot be wrong.

• #17

There is a usage note in the Collins Cobuild which makes a distinction between the available attributive and predicative forms:

The comparative and superlative forms of common are usually more common and most common. Commonest is sometimes used instead of most common in front of a noun.

Job sharing has become more common.
The disease is most common in adults over 40.
Stress is one of the commonest causes of insomnia.

• #18

Still baffled.

I’d happily say/write:
Job-sharing is commoner today than it was 20 years ago.
The disease is commonest in adults over 40.

• #19

Still baffled.

I’d happily say/write:
Job-sharing is commoner today than it was 20 years ago.
The disease is commonest in adults over 40.

Yuck.
Job sharing is commoner than Miss Brahms on Keeping Up Appearances (showing a lack of taste and refinement). What part of London is it from?

• #20

Still baffled.

I’d happily say/write:
Job-sharing is commoner today than it was 20 years ago.
The disease is commonest in adults over 40.

I’m baffled too.

As Edison correctly points out (post #16) Oxford Dictionaries Online lists the forms commoner, commonest. So it seems odd to me that people are apparently trying to claim there’s something wrong with them.

Or maybe it’s just an AE/BE thing.

• #21

Mystified by the Collins Cobuild entry quoted by Nat, the more so since it appears to be descriptive, not prescriptive; happy with Ewie’s sample sentences.

• #22

Unlike Oxford Online, the editors of the OED clearly don’t think there is any need to list a standard form of the superlative. They use «commonest» themselves in 46 of their definitions and 21 of their etymologies. There’s also 424 quotations which use «commonest». «Most common» features in 99 definitions and 35 etymologies, and appears in 836 quotations.

• #23

I think it depends on your meaning.

If common = plentiful (the opposite of rare), then without doubt, most common is preferable.

However, sometimes, common is used to mean «uncultured, dirty, lower-class». It’s maybe not very polite, but some people do use it. In this case, it is useful to use commonest, to make it clear that you are not talking about the frequency of occurrence.

That’s a distinction that’s been used by writers I’ve worked with. It might just be a British thing, because we have a greater concept of social class than other English-speaking countries.

I thought «commoner» means from a lower social class, when referred to as a noun, now I am confused about the difference between saying » a commoner » and » a commonest «. Would you please explain that?

• #24

You are asking about the noun «commoner», which does not mean «from a lower social class», it means a person who is not a member of the aristocracy or royalty. This thread is about the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective «common». «A commonest» has no meaning.

Last edited: Nov 15, 2015

• #25

The AHD agrees with the OED: commoner and commonest are standard as the comparative and superlative, respectively, of the adjective common.

That doesn’t mean one has to like them or use them. I don’t.

Предложения с «common words»

Avoid including your name or common words .	Не используйте в пароле свое имя или общие слова .
She could not speak even the common words of farewell.	Она не смогла произнести даже общепринятые слова прощания.
I am interested in a printed dictionary of common words concerning all PC-vocabulary.	Меня интересует печатный словарь общих слов, касающихся всего ПК — словаря .
Implementations of tag clouds also include text parsing and filtering out unhelpful tags such as common words , numbers, and punctuation.	Реализация облаков тегов также включает синтаксический анализ текста и фильтрацию бесполезных тегов, таких как общие слова , цифры и знаки препинания.
It has been estimated that over two thirds of the 3,000 most common words in modern Standard Chinese are polysyllables, the vast majority of those being disyllables.	Было подсчитано, что более двух третей из 3000 наиболее распространенных слов в современном стандартном китайском языке являются многосложными, причем подавляющее большинство из них являются несложными.
Studies that estimate and rank the most common words in English examine texts written in English.	Исследования, оценивающие и ранжирующие наиболее распространенные слова в английском языке, изучают тексты, написанные на английском языке.
As far as I know, the most common words for bishop in Greek are episkopos and presbuteros.	Насколько мне известно, наиболее распространенными словами для обозначения епископа в греческом языке являются episkopos и presbuteros.
A selected list of common words is presented below, under Documented list of common misspellings.	Выбранный список общих слов представлен ниже, в разделе документированный список распространенных орфографических ошибок.
There are also a few common words that have variable tone.	Есть также несколько общих слов, которые имеют переменный тон.
However, for the most common words , even that can be omitted.	Однако для самых распространенных слов даже это можно опустить.
Another similar one is words ending in -cion, of which the common words are coercion, scion, and suspicion.	Еще один подобный пример — это слова , заканчивающиеся на — Цион, из которых наиболее распространенными являются слова принуждение, отпрыск и подозрение.
A list of common words borrowed from local languages such as Hokkien and Malay appears in an appendix.	Список общих слов, заимствованных из местных языков, таких как Хокиен и Малайский, приводится в приложении.
It’s held in — the German word is the volk — in the people, in the common, instinctive wisdom of the plain people.	Это лексема, олицетворяющая народ, — Volk с немецкого люди — общую, самобытную мудрость простых людей.
I started to think about what makes words real, because a lot of people ask me, the most common thing I got from people is, Well, are these words made up?	Я начал задумываться над тем, что делает слова реальными, потому что многие спрашивают чаще всего так: Эти слова что, придуманы?
It had to be a coincidence, a common series of sounds that just happened to match an English word.	Наверное, это всего лишь совпадение, случайный набор звуков, напоминающий английское слово .
Besides, all these people need is some common sense advice and some kind words .	Кроме того, все эти люди нуждаются в каком — нибудь здравом совете и каком — то добром слове .
Hearteningly, that call is now bearing fruit in the form of A Common Word, in which Muslim and Christian clergy from around the world have engaged with each other.	К счастью, этот призыв принес свои плоды в форме «Общего слова », в котором мусульманское и христианское духовенство заявили о необходимости сотрудничества друг с другом.
For instance, the word said was used in messaging instead of was like, a common informal spoken phrase.	Например, слово говорил использовалось сообщениях вместо а он такой говорит, что является неформальным разговорным выражением.
The analysis measured the overlap in media consumed by users — in other words , the extent to which two randomly selected users consumed media in common.	В анализе мы проследили, насколько совпадали используемые ими ресурсы, то есть установили общие границы использования СМИ у двух случайных лиц.
And what puts us together is that we have a common, at least, global understanding of what the word business is, or what it should be.	А соединяет нас вместе общее глубокое понимание значение слова бизнес, или того, чем это слово должно быть.
Sunlight also found that members of Congress rarely use the 100 most common SAT words , which are likely very familiar to high school students.	Sunlight также выяснил, что члены Конгресса редко используют 100 самых употребительных слов из школьного оценочного теста, которые должны быть хорошо известны школьникам старших классов.
For non-common actions, you must type in the complete word and press save.	Название нестандартного действия необходимо ввести полностью и нажать кнопку Сохранить.
The words common and courtesy have opposite values.	У слов взаимная и вежливость противоположные значения.
What our common ancestors once darkly felt or clearly thought, this matter of millennia we today summarize in the short word shinto.	То, что ясно или смутно тысячелетиями ощущали наши предки сегодня мы называем коротким словом синто.
And how suffer him to leave her without saying one word of gratitude, of concurrence, of common kindness!	Как допустила, чтобы они расстались без слова благодарности, без слова согласия с ее стороны — вообще без единого доброго слова !
Now as he had his wit (to use that word in its common signification) always ready, he bethought himself of making his advantage of this humour in the sick man.	А так как был он человек, как говорится, себе на уме, то решил поживиться за счет причуды больного.
They were common everyday words-the familiar, vague sounds exchanged on every waking day of life.	То были банальные, повседневные слова , знакомые неясные звуки, какие можно услышать в любой день.
They were speaking of common acquaintances, keeping up the most trivial conversation, but to Kitty it seemed that every word they said was determining their fate and hers.	Они говорили об общих знакомых, вели самый ничтожный разговор, но Кити казалось, что всякое сказанное ими слово решало их и ее судьбу.
It’s not a computer in the common sense of the word… it’s rather an electronic simulation system… with immense memory capacity.	Это не компьютер в обычном понимании этого слова . Это скорее электронная имитационная система с повышенным объемом памяти.
They’d like a word with you about the common cold.	Они хотели бы поговорить с тобой о простуде.
Two men who have a secret in common, and who, by a sort of tacit agreement, exchange not a word on the subject, are less rare than is commonly supposed.	Два человека, связанные общей тайной, которые, как бы по молчаливому согласию, не перемолвятся о ней ни словом , далеко не такая редкость, как может показаться.
Together they discovered that their faces… had many common features… often they were saying the same thing with the same words .	Общими усилиями они обнаружили, что их лица имели много сходных черт. Часто бывало, что и говорили об одном и том же теми же словами .
The use of English expressions is very common in the youth language, which combines them with verlan wordplay .	Использование английских выражений очень распространено в молодежном языке, который сочетает их с игрой слов verlan.
The boy could read and write all letters in the alphabet; however, had difficult in reading common monosyllabic words .	Мальчик умел читать и писать все буквы алфавита; однако ему было трудно читать обычные односложные слова .
In other words , the issue preclusion or collateral estoppel found in the common law doctrine of res judicata is not present in the civilian doctrine.	Другими словами , вопрос о преюдиции или залоговом эстоппеле, встречающийся в доктрине общего права res judicata, отсутствует в гражданской доктрине.
It therefore includes words such as mukluk, Canuck, and bluff, but does not list common core words such as desk, table or car.	Поэтому он включает такие слова , как mukluk, Canuck и bluff, но не перечисляет общие ключевые слова , такие как стол, стол или автомобиль.
Each word has a denotation common for all as well as a connotation that is unique for each individual.	Каждое слово имеет общее для всех значение, а также коннотацию, которая уникальна для каждого человека.
The common Chinese word wú 無 was adopted in the Sino-Japanese, Sino-Korean, and Sino-Vietnamese vocabularies.	Общее китайское слово wú 無 было принято в китайско — японском, китайско — корейском и Китайско — вьетнамском словарях .
Homonymic puns, another common type, arise from the exploitation of words which are both homographs and homophones.	Омонимические каламбуры, еще один распространенный тип, возникают из эксплуатации слов, которые являются одновременно омографами и омофонами.
Of course, it takes a lot more than having two words in common to cause a piece of music to be an adaptation.	Конечно, требуется гораздо больше, чем два общих слова , чтобы заставить музыкальное произведение быть адаптацией.
In the expression, the word spade refers to the instrument used to move earth, a very common tool.	В этом выражении слово лопата относится к инструменту, используемому для перемещения Земли, очень распространенному инструменту.
Of course, if South African English and British English use different spellings for a common word I didn’t know existed, my head will explode.	Конечно, если южноафриканский английский и британский английский используют разные варианты написания для общего слова , о существовании которого я не знал, моя голова взорвется.
In vernacular Arabic, contractions are a common phenomenon, in which mostly prepositions are added to other words to create a word with a new meaning.	В просторечном арабском языке сокращения являются обычным явлением, в котором в основном предлоги добавляются к другим словам , чтобы создать слово с новым значением.
Word play is quite common in oral cultures as a method of reinforcing meaning.	Игра слов довольно распространена в устных культурах как метод усиления смысла.
Word play can enter common usage as neologisms.	Игра слов может войти в общее употребление как неологизмы.
The beso-beso which originated from the Spanish word for kiss, is a common greeting in the Philippines similar to the mano.	Beso — Бесо, которое произошло от испанского слова , означающего поцелуй, является распространенным приветствием на Филиппинах, похожим на mano.
Thus native speakers will have similar but not identical scripts for words they have in common.	Таким образом, носители языка будут иметь похожие, но не идентичные сценарии для слов, которые они имеют в общем.
The word Bangla became the most common name for the region during the Islamic period.	Слово Бангла стало самым распространенным названием этого региона в исламский период.
The court ruled against Ren, claiming his name is a collection of common characters and as a result the search results were derived from relevant words .	Суд вынес решение против Рена, утверждая, что его имя представляет собой набор общих символов, и в результате Результаты поиска были получены из соответствующих слов.
At one time, common word-processing software adjusted only the spacing between words , which was a source of the river problem.	В свое время распространенное программное обеспечение для обработки текстов регулировало только интервал между словами , что было источником проблемы с рекой.
This usage mirrors the common meaning of the word’s etymological cousins in languages such as French and Spanish.	Это употребление отражает общее значение этимологических двоюродных братьев слова в таких языках, как французский и испанский.
In general, do not create links to plain English words , including common units of measurement.	В общем, не создавайте ссылок на простые английские слова , включая общие единицы измерения.
The word is possibly a portmanteau from Latin sylvestris and nympha, sylvestris being a common synonym for sylph in Paracelsus.	Это слово , возможно, является переносным от латинского sylvestris и nympha, sylvestris является общим синонимом сильфы в Парацельсе.
In Northern England, Including the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, fellwalking describes hill or mountain walks, as fell is the common word for both features there.	В Северной Англии, включая Озерный край и йоркширские долины, fellwalking описывает горные или горные прогулки,поскольку fell — это общее слово для обоих признаков.
Antidisestablishmentarianism is the longest common example of a word formed by agglutinative construction.	Антидисстаблишментаризм — самый длинный распространенный пример слова , образованного агглютинативной конструкцией.
In general, it is common practice to use standard characters to transcribe Chinese dialects when obvious cognates with words in Standard Mandarin exist.	В целом, общепринятой практикой является использование стандартных символов для транскрипции китайских диалектов, когда существуют очевидные родственные связи со словами в стандартном мандаринском языке.
The word was assimilated into English as orthopædics; the ligature æ was common in that era for ae in Greek- and Latin-based words .	Это слово было ассимилировано в английском языке как orthopædics; лигатура æ была распространена в ту эпоху для ae в греческих и латинских словах .
As with dharma, the word adharma includes and implies many ideas; in common parlance, adharma means that which is against nature, immoral, unethical, wrong or unlawful.	Как и в случае с Дхармой, слово адхарма включает в себя и подразумевает множество идей; в просторечии адхарма означает то, что противоречит природе, аморально, неэтично, неправильно или незаконно.
It is an affectation, indeed, not very common among merchants, and very few words need be employed in dissuading them from it.	Это действительно притворство, не очень распространенное среди торговцев, и очень мало слов нужно употребить, чтобы отговорить их от него.
Today, it is common to require the actors to mime their hints without using any spoken words , which requires some conventional gestures.	Сегодня принято требовать от актеров мимических намеков без использования каких — либо произносимых слов, что требует некоторых условных жестов.

The
outline of the problem discussed

1.
The main types of words in English and their morphological structure.

2.
Affixation (or derivation).

3.
Compounding.

4.
Conversion.

5.
Abbreviation (shortening).

Word-formation
is the process of creating new words from the material

available
in the language.

Before
turning to various processes of word-building in English, it would be

useful
to analyze the main types of English words and their morphological
structure.

If
viewed structurally, words appear to be divisible into smaller units
which are

called
morphemes.
Morphemes
do not occur as free forms but only as constituents of

words.
Yet they possess meanings of their own.

All
morphemes are subdivided into two large classes: roots
(or
radicals)
and

affixes.
The
latter, in their turn, fall into prefixes
which
precede the root in the

structure
of the word (as in re-real,
mis-pronounce, un-well) and
suffixes
which

follow
the root (as in teach-er,
cur-able, dict-ate).

Words
which consist of a root and an affix (or several affixes) are called

derived
words or
derivatives
and
are produced by the process of word-building

known
as affixation
(or
derivation).

Derived
words are extremely numerous in the English vocabulary.

Successfully
competing with this structural type is the so-called root
word which
has

only
a root morpheme in its structure. This type is widely represented by
a great

number
of words belonging to the original English stock or to earlier
borrowings

(house,
room, book, work, port, street, table, etc.), and,
in Modern English, has been

greatly
enlarged by the type of word-building called conversion
(e.g.
to
hand, v.

formed
from the noun hand;
to can, v.
from can,
n.;
to
pale,
v. from pale,
adj.;
a
find,

n.
from to
find, v.;
etc.).

Another
wide-spread word-structure is a compound
word consisting
of two or

more
stems (e.g. dining-room,
bluebell, mother-in-law, good-for-nothing).
Words of

this
structural type are produced by the word-building process called
composition.

The
somewhat odd-looking words like flu,
lab, M.P., V-day, H-bomb are
called

curtailed
words and
are produced by the way of word-building called shortening

(abbreviation).

The
four types (root words, derived words, compounds, shortenings)
represent

the
main structural types of Modern English words, and affixation
(derivation),

conversion,
composition and shortening (abbreviation) — the most productive ways
of

word-building.

83

The
process of affixation
consists
in coining a new word by adding an affix or

several
affixes to some root morpheme. The role of the affix in this
procedure is very

important
and therefore it is necessary to consider certain facts about the
main types

of
affixes.

From
the etymological point of view affixes are classified into the same
two

large
groups as words: native and borrowed.

Some
Native Suffixes

-er
worker,
miner,
teacher,
painter,
etc.

-ness
coldness,
loneliness,
loveliness,
etc.

-ing
feeling,
meaning,
singing,
reading,
etc.

-dom
freedom,
wisdom,
kingdom,
etc.

-hood
childhood,
manhood,
motherhood,
etc.

-ship
friendship,
companionship,
mastership,
etc.

Noun-forming

-th
length,
breadth,
health,
truth,
etc.

-ful
careful,
joyful,
wonderful,
sinful,
skilful,
etc.

-less
careless,
sleepless,
cloudless,
senseless,
etc.

-y
cozy,
tidy,
merry,
snowy,
showy,
etc.

-ish
English,
Spanish,
reddish,
childish,
etc.

-ly
lonely,
lovely,
ugly,
likely,
lordly,
etc.

-en
wooden,
woollen,
silken,
golden,
etc.

Adjective-forming

-some
handsome, quarrelsome, tiresome, etc.

Verb-

forming

-en

widen,
redden,
darken,
sadden,
etc.

Adverb-

forming

-ly

warmly,
hardly,
simply,
carefully,
coldly,
etc.

Borrowed
affixes, especially of Romance origin are numerous in the English

vocabulary.
We can recognize words of Latin and French origin by certain suffixes
or

prefixes;
e. g. Latin
affixes:
-ion,
-tion, -ate,
-ute
,
-ct,
-d(e), dis-, -able, -ate,
-ant,
—

ent,
-or, -al, -ar in
such words as opinion,
union, relation, revolution, appreciate,

congratulate,
attribute, contribute, , act, collect, applaud, divide, disable,
disagree,

detestable,
curable, accurate, desperate, arrogant, constant, absent, convenient,

major,
minor, cordial, familiar;
French
affixes –ance,
—ewe,
-ment, -age, -ess, -ous,

en-
in
such words as arrogance,
intelligence, appointment, development, courage,

marriage,
tigress, actress, curious, dangerous, enable, enslaver.

Affixation
includes a) prefixation
–
derivation of words by adding a prefix to

full
words and b) suffixation
–
derivation of words by adding suffixes to bound

stems.

Prefixes
and suffixes have their own valency, that is they may be added not to

any
stem at random, but only to a particular type of stems:

84

Prefix
un-
is
prefixed to adjectives (as: unequal,
unhealthy), or
to adjectives

derived
from verb stems and the suffix -able
(as:
unachievable,
unadvisable), or
to

participial
adjectives (as: unbecoming,
unending, unstressed, unbound); the
suffix —

er
is
added to verbal stems (as: worker,
singer, or
cutter,
lighter), and
to substantive

stems
(as: glover,
needler); the
suffix -able
is
usually tacked on to verb stems (as:

eatable,
acceptable); the
suffix -ity
in
its turn is usually added to adjective stems

with
a passive meaning (as: saleability,
workability), but
the suffix —ness
is
tacked on

to
other adjectives, having the suffix -able
(as:
agreeableness.
profitableness).

Prefixes
and suffixes are semantically distinctive, they have their own

meaning,
while the root morpheme forms the semantic centre of a word. Affixes
play

a
dependent role in the meaning of the word. Suffixes have a
grammatical meaning,

they
indicate or derive a certain part of speech, hence we distinguish:
noun-forming

suffixes,
adjective-forming suffixes, verb-forming suffixes and adverb-forming

suffixes.
Prefixes change or concretize the meaning of the word, as: to
overdo (to
do

too
much),
to underdo (to
do less than one can or is proper),
to outdo (to
do more or

better
than),
to undo (to
unfasten, loosen, destroy the result, ruin),
to misdo (to
do

wrongly
or unproperly).

A
suffix indicates to what semantic group the word belongs. The suffix
-er

shows
that the word is a noun bearing the meaning of a doer of an action,
and the

action
is denoted by the root morpheme or morphemes, as: writer,
sleeper, dancer,

wood-pecker,
bomb-thrower, the
suffix -ion/-tion,
indicates
that it is a noun

signifying
an action or the result of an action, as: translation
‘a
rendering from one

language
into another’ (an
act, process) and
translation
‘the
product of such

rendering’;
nouns with the suffix -ism
signify
a system, doctrine, theory, adherence to

a
system, as: communism,
realism; coinages
from the stem of proper names are

common,.
as Darwinism.

Affixes
can also be classified into productive
and
non-productive
types.
By

productive
affixes we
mean the ones, which take part in deriving new words in a

particular
period of language development. The best way to identify productive

affixes
is to look for them among neologisms
and
so-called nonce-words,
i.e.
words

coined
and used only for this particular occasion. The latter are usually
formed on the

level
of living speech and reflect the most productive and progressive
patterns in

word-building.
When a literary critic writes about a certain book that it is an

unputdownable
thriller, we
will seek in vain this strange and impressive adjective in

dictionaries,
for it is a nonce-word coined on the current pattern of Modern
English

and
is evidence of the high productivity of the adjective-forming
borrowed suffix –

able
and
the native prefix un-,
e.g.: Professor Pringle was a thinnish, baldish,

dyspeptic-lookingish
cove with an eye like a haddock.(From
Right-Ho, Jeeves by P.G.

Wodehouse)

The
adjectives thinnish
and
baldish
bring
to mind dozens of other adjectives

made
with the same suffix: oldish,
youngish, mannish, girlish, fattish, longish,

yellowish,
etc. But
dyspeptic-lookingish
is
the author’s creation aimed at a humorous

effect,
and, at the same time, providing beyond doubt that the suffix –ish
is
a live and

active
one.

85

The
same is well illustrated by the following popular statement: “I
don’t like

Sunday
evenings: I feel so Mondayish”. (Mondayish is
certainly a nonce-word.)

One
should not confuse the productivity of affixes with their frequency
of

occurrence
(use). There are quite a number of high-frequency affixes which,

nevertheless,
are no longer used in word-derivation (e.g. the adjective-forming
native

suffixes
–ful,
-ly; the
adjective-forming suffixes of Latin origin –ant,
-ent, -al which

are
quite frequent).

Some
Productive Affixes

Some
Non-Productive Affixes

Noun-forming

suffixes

-th,
-hood

Adjective-forming

suffixes

—ly,
-some, -en, -ous

Verb-forming
suffix -en

Compound
words are
words derived from two or more stems. It is a very old

word-formation
type and goes back to Old English. In Modern English compounds

are
coined by joining one stem to another by mere juxtaposition, as
raincoat,
keyhole,

pickpocket,
red-hot, writing-table. Each
component of a compound coincides

with
the word. Compounds are the commonest among nouns and adjectives.

Compound
verbs are few in number, as they are mostly the result of conversion
(as,

to
weekend) and
of back-formation (as, to
stagemanage).

From
the point of view of word-structure compounds consist of free stems
and

may
be of different structure: noun stems + noun stem (raincoat);
adjective
stem +

noun
stem (bluebell);
adjective
stem + adjective stem (dark-blue);
gerundial
stem +

noun
stem (writing-table);
verb
stem + post-positive stem (make-up);
adverb
stem +

adjective
stem (out-right);
two
noun stems connected by a preposition (man-of-war)

and
others. There are compounds that have a connecting vowel (as,
speedometer,

handicraft),
but
it is not characteristic of English compounds.

Compounds
may be idiomatic
and
non-idiomatic.
In idiomatic compounds the

meaning
of each component is either lost or weakened, as buttercup
(лютик),

chatter-box
(болтун).

These
are entirely
demotivated compounds. There
are also motivated

compounds,
as lifeboat
(спасательная
лодка). In non-idiomatic compounds the

Noun-forming

suffixes

—er,
-ing,
—ness,
-ism (materialism),
-ist

(impressionist),
-ance

Adjective-forming

suffixes

—y,
-ish, -ed (learned),
—able,
—less

Adverb-forming

suffix

—ly

Verb-forming

suffixes

—ize/-ise
(realize),

—ate

Prefixes
un-
(unhappy),re-
(reconstruct),
dis-
(disappoint)

86

meaning
of each component is retained, as apple-tree,
bedroom, sunlight. There
are

also
many border-line cases.

The
components of compounds may have different semantic relations; from

this
point of view we can roughly classify compounds into endocentric
and

exocentric
compounds.
In endocentric compounds the semantic centre is found

within
the compound and the first element determines the other, as
film-star,
bedroom,

writing-table.
In
exocentric compounds there is no semantic centre, as

scarecrow.
In
Modern English, however, linguists find it difficult to give criteria
for

compound
nouns; it is still a question of hot dispute. The following criteria
may be

offered.
A compound noun is characterized by a) one word or hyphenated
spelling, b)

one
stress, and by c) semantic integrity. These are the so-called
“classical

compounds”.

It
is possible that a compound has only two of these criteria, for
instance, the

compound
words headache,
railway have
one stress and hyphenated or one-word

spelling,
but do not present a semantic unity, whereas the compounds
motor-bike,

clasp-knife
have
hyphenated spelling and idiomatic meaning, but two even stresses

(‘motor-‘bike,
‘clasp-‘knife).
The word apple-tree
is
also a compound; it is spelt either

as
one word or is hyphenated, has one stress (‘apple-tree),
but it is not idiomatic. The

difficulty
of defining a compound lies in spelling which might be misleading, as
there

are
no hard and fast rules of spelling the compounds: three ways of
spelling are

possible:
(‘dockyard,
‘dock yard and
dock-yard).
The
same holds true for the stress

that
may differ from one reference-book to another.

Since
compounds may have two stresses and the stems may be written

separately,
it is difficult to draw the line between compounds proper and nominal

word-combinations
or syntactical combinations. In a combination of words each

element
is stressed and written separately. Compare the attributive
combination

‘black
‘board, a
board which is black (each element has its own meaning; the first

element
modifies the second) and the compound ‘blackboard’,
a
board or a sheet of

slate
used in schools for teaching purposes (the word has one stress and
presents a

semantic
unit). But it is not always easy as that to draw a distinction, as
there are

word-combinations
that may present a semantic unity, take for instance: green
room

(a
room in a theatre for actors and actresses).

Compound
derivatives are
words, usually nouns and adjectives, consisting of

a
compound stem and a suffix, the commonest type being such nouns as:
firstnighter,

type-writer,
bed-sitter, week-ender, house-keeping, well-wisher, threewheeler,

old-timer,
and
the adjectives: blue-eyed,
blond-haired, four-storied, mildhearted,

high-heeled.
The
structure of these nouns is the following: a compound stem

+
the suffix -er,
or
the suffix -ing.

Adjectives
have the structure: a compound stem, containing an adjective (noun,

numeral)
stem and a noun stem + the suffix -ed.
In
Modern English it is an extremely

productive
type of adjectives, e.g.: big-eyed,
long-legged, golden-haired.

In
Modern English it is common practice to distinguish also
semi-suffixes, that

is
word-formative elements that correspond to full words as to their
lexical meaning

and
spelling, as -man,
-proof, -like: seaman, railroadman, waterproof, kiss-proof,

ladylike,
businesslike. The
pronunciation may be the same (cp. proof
[pru:f]
and

87

waterproof
[‘wL:tq
pru:f],
or differ, as is the case with the morpheme -man
(cp.
man

[mxn]
and seaman
[‘si:mqn].

The
commonest is the semi-suffix -man
which
has a more general meaning —

‘a
person of trade or profession or carrying on some work’, as: airman,
radioman,

torpedoman,
postman, cameramen, chairman and
others. Many of them have

synonyms
of a different word structure, as seaman
— sailor, airman — flyer,

workman
— worker; if
not a man but a woman
of
the trade or profession, or a person

carrying
on some work is denoted by the word, the second element is woman,
as

chairwoman,
air-craftwoman, congresswoman, workwoman, airwoman.

Conversion
is
a very productive way of forming new words in English, chiefly

verbs
and not so often — nouns. This type of word formation presents one
of the

characteristic
features of Modern English. By conversion we mean derivation of a

new
word from the stem of a different part of speech without the addition
of any

formatives.
As a result the two words are homonymous, having the same

morphological
structure and belonging to different parts of speech.

Verbs
may be derived from the stem of almost any part of speech, but the

commonest
is the derivation from noun stems as: (a)
tube — (to) tube; (a) doctor —

(to)
doctor, (a) face—(to) face; (a) waltz—(to) waltz; (a) star—(to)
star; from

compound
noun stems as: (a)
buttonhole — (to) buttonhole; week-end — (to) weekend.

Derivations
from the stems of other parts of speech are less common: wrong—

(to)
wrong; up — (to) up; down — (to) down; encore — (to) encore.
Nouns
are

usually
derived from verb stems and may be instanced by such nouns as: (to)
make—

a
make; (to) cut—(a) cut; to bite — (a) bite, (to) drive — (a)
drive; to smoke — (a)

smoke;
(to) walk — (a) walk. Such
formations frequently make part of verb — noun

combinations
as: to
take a walk, to have a smoke, to have a drink, to take a drive, to

take
a bite, to give a smile and
others.

Nouns
may be also derived from verb-postpositive phrases. Such formations

are
very common in Modern English, as for instance: (to)
make up — (a) make-up;

(to)
call up — (a) call-up; (to) pull over — (a) pullover.

New
formations by conversion from simple or root stems are quite usual;

derivatives
from suffixed stems are rare. No verbal derivation from prefixed
stems is

found.

The
derived word and the deriving word are connected semantically. The

semantic
relations between the derived and the deriving word are varied and

sometimes
complicated. To mention only some of them: a) the verb signifies the
act

accomplished
by or by means of the thing denoted by the noun, as: to
finger means

‘to
touch with the finger, turn about in fingers’; to
hand means
‘to give or help with

the
hand, to deliver, transfer by hand’; b) the verb may have the meaning
‘to act as the

person
denoted by the noun does’, as: to
dog means
‘to follow closely’, to
cook — ‘to

prepare
food for the table, to do the work of a cook’; c) the derived verbs
may have

the
meaning ‘to go by’ or ‘to travel by the thing denoted by the noun’,
as, to
train

means
‘to go by train’, to
bus — ‘to
go by bus’, to
tube — ‘to
travel by tube’; d) ‘to

spend,
pass the time denoted by the noun’, as, to
winter ‘to pass
the winter’, to

weekend
— ‘to
spend the week-end’.

88

Derived
nouns denote: a) the act, as a
knock, a hiss, a smoke; or
b) the result of

an
action, as a
cut, a find, a call, a sip, a run.

A
characteristic feature of Modern English is the growing frequency of
new

formations
by conversion, especially among verbs.

Note.
A grammatical homonymy of two words of different parts of speech —
a

verb
and a noun, however, does not necessarily indicate conversion. It may
be the

result
of the loss of endings as well. For instance, if we take the
homonymic pair love

— to
love and
trace it back, we see that the noun love
comes
from Old English lufu,

whereas
the verb to
love—from
Old English lufian,
and
the noun answer
is
traced

back
to the Old English andswaru,
but
the verb to
answer to
Old English

andswarian;
so
that it is the loss of endings that gave rise to homonymy. In the
pair

bus
— (to) bus, weekend — (to) weekend homonymy
is the result of derivation by

conversion.

Shortenings
(abbreviations)
are words produced either by means of clipping

full
word or by shortening word combinations, but having the meaning of
the full

word
or combination. A distinction is to be observed between graphical
and
lexical

shortenings;
graphical abbreviations are signs or symbols that stand for the full

words
or combination of words only in written speech. The commonest form is
an

initial
letter or letters that stand for a word or combination of words. But
to prevent

ambiguity
one or two other letters may be added. For instance: p.
(page),
s.
(see),
b.

b.
(ball-bearing).
Mr
(mister),
Mrs
(missis),
MS
(manuscript),
fig.
(figure). In oral

speech
graphical abbreviations have the pronunciation of full words. To
indicate a

plural
or a superlative letters are often doubled, as: pp.
(pages). It is common practice

in
English to use graphical abbreviations of Latin words, and word
combinations, as:

e.
g. (exampli
gratia), etc.
(et cetera), i.
e. (id
est). In oral speech they are replaced by

their
English equivalents, ‘for
example’,
‘and
so on’,
‘namely‘,
‘that
is’,
‘respectively’.

Graphical
abbreviations are not words but signs or symbols that stand for the

corresponding
words. As for lexical
shortenings,
two main types of lexical

shortenings
may be distinguished: 1) abbreviations
or
clipped
words (clippings)

and
2) initial
words (initialisms).

Abbreviation
or
clipping
is
the result of reduction of a word to one of its

parts:
the meaning of the abbreviated word is that of the full word. There
are different

types
of clipping: 1) back-clipping—the
final part of the word is clipped, as: doc
—

from
doctor,
lab — from
laboratory,
mag — from
magazine,
math — from

mathematics,
prefab —
from prefabricated;
2) fore-clipping
—
the first part of the

word
is clipped as: plane
— from
aeroplane,
phone — from
telephone,
drome —

from
aerodrome.
Fore-clippings
are less numerous in Modern English; 3) the
fore

and
the back parts of the word are clipped and the middle of the word is

retained,
as: tec
— from
detective,
flu — from
influenza.
Words
of this type are few

in
Modern English. Back-clippings are most numerous in Modern English
and are

characterized
by the growing frequency. The original may be a simple word (as,

grad—from
graduate),
a
derivative (as, prep—from
preparation),
a
compound, (as,

foots
— from
footlights,
tails — from
tailcoat),
a
combination of words (as pub —

from
public
house, medico — from
medical
student). As
a result of clipping usually

nouns
are produced, as pram
— from
perambulator,
varsity — for
university.
In
some

89

rare
cases adjectives are abbreviated (as, imposs
—from
impossible,
pi — from

pious),
but
these are infrequent. Abbreviations or clippings are words of one
syllable

or
of two syllables, the final sound being a consonant or a vowel
(represented by the

letter
o), as, trig
(for
trigonometry),
Jap (for
Japanese),
demob (for
demobilized),
lino

(for
linoleum),
mo (for
moment).
Abbreviations
are made regardless of whether the

remaining
syllable bore the stress in the full word or not (cp. doc
from
doctor,
ad

from
advertisement).
The
pronunciation of abbreviations usually coincides with the

corresponding
syllable in the full word, if the syllable is stressed: as, doc
[‘dOk]
from

doctor
[‘dOktq];
if it is an unstressed syllable in the full word the pronunciation

differs,
as the abbreviation has a full pronunciation: as, ad
[xd],
but advertisement

[qd’vq:tismqnt].
There may be some differences in spelling connected with the

pronunciation
or with the rules of English orthoepy, as mike
— from
microphone,

bike
— from
bicycle,
phiz —
from physiognomy,
lube — from
lubrication.
The
plural

form
of the full word or combinations of words is retained in the
abbreviated word,

as,
pants
— from
pantaloons,
digs — from
diggings.

Abbreviations
do not differ from full words in functioning; they take the plural

ending
and that of the possessive case and make any part of a sentence.

New
words may be derived from the stems of abbreviated words by
conversion

(as
to
demob, to taxi, to perm) or
by affixation, chiefly by adding the suffix —y,
-ie,

deriving
diminutives and petnames (as, hanky
— from
handkerchief,
nighty (nightie)

— from
nightgown,
unkie — from
uncle,
baccy — from
tobacco,
aussie — from

Australians,
granny (ie)
— from grandmother).
In
this way adjectives also may be

derived
(as: comfy
— from
comfortable,
mizzy — from
miserable).
Adjectives
may be

derived
also by adding the suffix -ee,
as:
Portugee
— for
Portuguese,
Chinee — for

Chinese.

Abbreviations
do not always coincide in meaning with the original word, for

instance:
doc
and
doctor
have
the meaning ‘one who practises medicine’, but doctor
is

also
‘the highest degree given by a university to a scholar or scientist
and ‘a person

who
has received such a degree’ whereas doc
is
not used in these meanings. Among

abbreviations
there are homonyms, so that one and the same sound and graphical

complex
may represent different words, as vac
(vacation), vac (vacuum cleaner);

prep
(preparation), prep (preparatory school). Abbreviations
usually have synonyms

in
literary English, the latter being the corresponding full words. But
they are not

interchangeable,
as they are words of different styles of speech. Abbreviations are

highly
colloquial; in most cases they belong to slang. The moment the longer
word

disappears
from the language, the abbreviation loses its colloquial or slangy
character

and
becomes a literary word, for instance, the word taxi
is
the abbreviation of the

taxicab
which,
in its turn, goes back to taximeter
cab; both
words went out of use,

and
the word taxi
lost
its stylistic colouring.

Initial
abbreviations (initialisms)
are words — nouns — produced by

shortening
nominal combinations; each component of the nominal combination is

shortened
up to the initial letter and the initial letters of all the words of
the

combination
make a word, as: YCL — Young
Communist League, MP
—

Member
of Parliament. Initial
words are distinguished by their spelling in capital

letters
(often separated by full stops) and by their pronunciation — each
letter gets

90

its
full alphabetic pronunciation and a full stress, thus making a new
word as R.

A.
F. [‘a:r’ei’ef] — Royal
Air Force; TUC.
[‘ti:’ju:’si:] — Trades
Union Congress.

Some
of initial words may be pronounced in accordance with the’ rules of

orthoepy,
as N. A. T. O. [‘neitou], U. N. O. [‘ju:nou], with the stress on the
first

syllable.

The
meaning of the initial word is that of the nominal combination. In

speech
initial words function like nouns; they take the plural suffix, as
MPs, and

the
suffix of the possessive case, as MP’s, POW’s.

In
Modern English the commonest practice is to use a full combination
either

in
the heading or in the text and then quote this combination by giving
the first initial

of
each word. For instance, «Jack Bruce is giving UCS concert»
(the heading). «Jack

Bruce,
one of Britain’s leading rock-jazz musicians, will give a benefit
concert in

London
next week to raise money for the Upper Clyde shop stewards’ campaign»

(Morning
Star).

New
words may be derived from initial words by means of adding affixes,
as

YCL-er,
ex-PM, ex-POW; MP’ess, or adding the semi-suffix —man,
as
GI-man.
As

soon
as the corresponding combination goes out of use the initial word
takes its place

and
becomes fully established in the language and its spelling is in
small letters, as

radar
[‘reidq]
— radio detecting and ranging, laser
[‘leizq]
— light amplification by

stimulated
emission of radiation; maser
[‘meizq]
— microwave amplification by

stimulated
emission of radiation. There are also semi-shortenings, as, A-bomb
(atom

bomb),
H-bomber
(hydrogen
bomber), U-boat
(Untersee
boat) — German submarine.

The
first component of the nominal combination is shortened up to the
initial letter,

the
other component (or components) being full words.

4.7.
ENGLISH PHRASEOLOGY: STRUCTURAL AND SEMANTIC

PECULIARITIES
OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS, THEIR CLASSIFICATION

The
outline of the problem discussed

1.
Main approaches to the definition of a phraseological unit in
linguistics.

2.
Different classifications of phraseological units.

3.
Grammatical and lexical modifications of phraseological units in
speech.

In
linguistics there are two main theoretical schools treating the
problems of

English
phraseology — that of N.N.Amosova and that of A. V. Kunin. We shall
not

dwell
upon these theories in detail, but we shall try to give the guiding
principles of

each
of the authors. According to the theory of N.N. Amosova. A
phraseological unit

is
a unit of constant context. It is a stable combination of words in
which either one of

the
components has a phraseologically bound meaning — a phraseme: white
lie –

невинная
ложь, husband
tea —
жидкий чай), or the meaning of each component is

weakened,
or entirely lost – (an idiom: red
tape —
бюрократия, mare’s
nest —

абсурд).
A. V. Kunin’s theory is based on the concept of specific stability at
the

phraseological
level; phraseological units are crtaracterized by a certain minimum
of

phraseological
stability. A.V. Kunin distinguishes stability of usage, structural
and

semantic
stability, stability of meaning and lexical constituents,
morphological

stability
and syntactical stability. The degree of stability may vary so that
there are

91

several
‘limits’ of stability. But whatever the degree of stability might
be, it is the

idiomatic
meaning that makes the characteristic feature of a phraseological
unit.

There
is one trend more worth mentioning in the theory of English
phraseology

that
of A. I. Smirnitsky. A.I. Smirnitsky takes as his guiding principle
the equivalence

of
a phraseological unit to a word. There are two characteristic
features that make a

phraseological
unit equivalent to a word, namely, the integrity of meaning and the

fact
that both the word and the phraseological unit are ready-made units
which are

reproduced
in speech and are not organized at the speaker’s will.

Whatever
the theory the term phraseology is applied to stable combinations of

words
characterized by the integrity of meaning which is completely or
partially

transferred,
e. g.: to
lead the dance проявлять
инициативу; to
take the cake

одержать
победу. Phraseological units are not to be mixed up with stable

combinations
of words that have their literal meaning, and are of non
phraseological

character,
e.g. the
back of the head, to come to an end.

Among
the phraseological units N.N.Amosova distinguishes idioms,
i.e.

phraseological
units characterized by the integral meaning of the whole, with the

meaning
of each component weakened or entirely lost. Hence, there are
motivated

and
demotivated
idioms.
In a motivated idiom the meaning of each component is

dependent
upon the transferred meaning of the whole idiom, e. g. to
look through

one’s
fingers (смотреть
сквозь пальцы); to
show one’s cards (раскрыть
свои

карты).
Phraseological units like these are homonymous to free syntactical

combinations.
Demotivated idioms are characterized by the integrity of meaning as a

whole,
with the meaning of each of the components entirely lost, e. g. white
elephant

(обременительное
или разорительное имущество), or to
show the white feather

(cтpycить).
But there are no hard and fast boundaries between them and there may
be

many
borderline cases. The second type of phraseological units in N.N.
Amosova’s

classification
is a phraseme.
It is a combination of words one element of which has a

phraseologically
bound meaning, e. g. small
years (детские
годы); small
beer

(слабое
пиво).

According
to A.I. Smirnitsky phraseological units may be classified in respect

to
their structure into one-summit
and
many-summit
phraseological units.
Onesummit

phraseological
units are composed of a notional and a form word, as, in
the

soup
—
быть в затруднительном положении, at
hand —
рядом, under
a cloud –
в

плохом
настроении, by
heart —
наизусть,
in the pink –
в расцвете. Many-summit

phraseological
units are composed of two or more notional words and form words as,

to
take the bull by the horns —
взять быка зарога,
to wear one’s heart on one’s

sleeve
—
выставлять свои чувства на показ, to
kill the goose that laid the golden

eggs
—
уничтожить источник благосостояния;
to
know on which side one’s bread

is
buttered —
быть себе на уме.

Academician
V.V.Vinogradov’s classification is based on the degree of

idiomaticity
and distinguishes three groups of phraseological units:
phraseological

fusions,
phraseological unities, phraseological collocations.

Phraseological
fusions are
completely non-motivated word-groups, e.g.: red

tape
– ‘bureaucratic
methods’; kick
the bucket – die,
etc. Phraseological
unities are

92

partially
non-motivated as their meaning can usually be understood through the

metaphoric
meaning of the whole phraseological unit, e.g.: to
show one’s teeth –

‘take
a threatening tone’; to
wash one’s dirty linen in public – ‘discuss
or make public

one’s
quarrels’.
Phraseological
collocations are
motivated but they are made up of

words
possessing specific lexical combinability which accounts for a
strictly limited

combinability
of member-words, e.g.: to
take a liking (fancy) but
not to
take hatred

(disgust).

There
are synonyms among phraseological units, as, through
thick and thin, by

hook
or by crook, for love or money —
во что бы то ни стало; to
pull one’s leg, to

make
a fool of somebody —
дурачить;
to hit the right nail on the head, to get the

right
sow by the ear —
попасть в точку.

Some
idioms have a variable component, though this variability is.
strictly

limited
as to the number and as to words themselves. The interchangeable

components
may be either synonymous, as
to fling (or throw) one’s (or the) cap over

the
mill (or windmill), to put (or set) one’s (or the) best foot first
(foremost, foreward)

or
different words, not connected semantically,
as to be (or sound, or read) like a

fairy
tale.

Some
of the idioms are polysemantic, as, at
large —
1) на свободе, 2) в

открытом
море, на большом пространстве, 3) без
определенной цели, 4) не

попавший
в цель, 5) свободный, без определенных
занятий, 6) имеющий

широкие
полномочия, 7) подробно, во всем объеме,
в целом, 9) вообще, не

конкретно.

It
is the context or speech situation that individualizes the meaning of
the

idiom
in each case.

When
functioning in speech, phraseological units form part of a sentence
and

consequently
may undergo grammatical and lexical changes. Grammatical changes

are
connected with the grammatical system of the language as a whole,
e.g.: He
didn’t

work,
and he spent a great deal of money, and he
painted the town red.
(W. S.

Maugham)
(to
paint the town red —
предаваться веселью). Here
the infinitive is

changed
into the Past Indefinite. Components of an idiom can be used in
different

clauses,
e.g.: …I
had to put up with, the
bricks they
dropped,
and their embarassment

when
they realized what they’d done.
(W. S. Maugham) (to
drop a brick —

допустить
бестактность).

Possessive
pronouns or nouns in the possessive case may be also added, as:

…the
apple of his uncle’s eye…(A.
Christie) (the
apple of one’s eye —
зеница ока).

But
there are phraseological units that do not undergo any changes, e.
g.: She

was
the friend in adversity; other people’s business was meat
and drink to her. (W.

S.
Maugham) (be)
meat and drink (to somebody)
— необходимо как воздух.

Thus,
we distinguish changeable and unchangeable phraseological units.

Lexical
changes are much more complicated and much more various. Lexical

modifications
of idioms achieve a stylistic and expressive effect. It is an
expressive

device
at the disposal of the writer or of the speaker. It is the integrity
of meaning that

makes
any modifications in idioms possible. Whatever modifications or
changes an

idiom
might’ undergo, the integrity of meaning is never broken. Idioms may
undergo

93

various
modifications. To take only some of them: a word or more may be
inserted to

intensify
and concretize the meaning, making it applicable to this particular
situation:

I
hate the idea of Larry making such
a mess of
his life.
(W. S. Maugham) Here the

word
such
intensifies
the meaning of the idiom. I
wasn’t keen on washing
this kind of

dirty
linen in
public. (C.
P. Snow) In this case the inserted this
kind makes
the

situation
concrete.

To
make the utterance more expressive one of the components of the idiom

may
be replaced by some other. Compare: You’re
a
dog in the manger,
aren’t you,

dear?
and: It was true enough: indeed she was a
bitch in the manger.
(A.
Christie)

The
word bitch
has
its own lexical meaning, which, however, makes part of the

meaning
of the whole idiom.

One
or more components of the idiom may be left out, but the integrity of

meaning
of the whole idiom is retained, e.g.: «I’ve
never spoken to you or anyone else

about
the last election. I suppose I’ve got to now. It’s better to
let it lie,»
said Brown.

(C.
P. Snow) In the idiom let
sleeping dogs lie two
of the elements are missing and it

refers
to the preceding text.

In
the following text the idiom to
have a card up one’s sleeve is
modified:

Bundle
wondered vaguely what it was that Bill had
or thought he had-up in his

sleeve.
(A, Christie) The component card
is
dropped and the word have
realizes
its

lexical
meaning. As a result an, allusive metaphor is achieved.

The
following text presents an interesting instance of modification: She
does

not
seem to think you are a
snake in the grass,
though she sees a good deal of grass

for
a snake to be in. (E.
Bowen) In the first part of the sentence the idiom a
snake in

the
grass is
used, and in the second part the words snake
and
grass
have
their own

lexical
meanings, which are, however, connected with the integral meaning of
the

idiom.

Lexical
modifications are made for stylistic purposes so as to create an

expressive
allusive metaphor.

LITERATURE

1.
Arnold I.V. The English Word. – М., 1986.

2.
Antrushina G.B. English Lexicology. – М., 1999.

3.
Ginzburg R.Z., Khidekel S.S. A Course in Modern English
Lexicology. – М.,

1975.

4.
Kashcheyeva M.A. Potapova I.A. Practical English lexicology. – L.,
1974.

5.
Raevskaya N.N. English Lexicology. – К., 1971.

Context free words There are words with definite meanings which are retained in most contexts and are relatively contextfree.

n Context-free words are mainly found among proper and geographical names, titles of magazines and newspapers, names of various firms, organizations, ships and the like, as well as among technical terms used by experts in all fields of human endeavour.

Context-free words usually have permanent equivalents in target language n (TL), which in most cases, can be used in target text (TT). n

n The permanent equivalents of context -free words are often formed by transcription (with possible elements of transliteration) or loan translations.

Context-bound words n are words, the meaning of which largely depends on the context in which they are actualized

Context-bound words may be n n Polysemantic (words with several meanings) Monosemantic (words with only one meaning)

examples n n n «Few Europeans speak Mandarin“ «Few Europeans know the first thing about Mandarin» Mandarin – 1. Chinese language 2. Chinese imperial official 3. Chinese fruit.

n n The context has also a decisive role to play in the selection of TL equivalents to the words of equivalents the original. in most cases, the meaning of a SL word can be rendered in TL by a number of regular equivalents.

Variable equivalents can be found not only to the polysemantic words but also to the monosemantic words as well as to a semantic variant of a polysemantic word, n that is, to one of its meanings which can be actualized in the course of communication. n

n In such cases after the translator has ascertained what meaning the word has in the original text he still has to choose one of the regular equivalents which fits the context best of all, eg. :

n n «This issue of the paper devoted about half of its twenty news columns to the trial of a trial murderer». The context enables the translator to understand that the «issue“ refers here to a publication, the «paper» is a newspaper and the «column» is a department in that newspaper.

n But he has also to find additional information in the context which will allow him to choose an equivalent to «issue»among such RussianKazakh words (give equivalents) or to compare the use of the RussianKazakh words (give equivalents) as equivalents to

n No less important is the role of the context in translating the words with a wide range of reference whose equivalents are too numerous to be listed in any dictionary.

n For example, the English noun «record» is defined as «something that records» n or «the recorded facts about something or someone» and can refer to any document or any events, past or present.

n The context may modify the meaning of a word to such an extent that its regular equivalents will not fit TT, eg.

n n «History has dealt with Hitler; history will deal with all would-be Hitlers“ What is the meaning of the word “to deal” here?

The contextual modification may extend to the connotative meaning of the word. n The translator is greatly concerned about the adequate reproduction of this part of the word semantics since it has an impact upon the whole text. n

n n n Give your translation of the word “ambitious” in these examples «the UN ambitious program of providing food for the people of the earth» the «ambitious plans of South African racists»

n Even if the entry in his dictionary does not provide him with an equivalent that fits his context, the translator can use the dictionary data to facilitate the solution.

n n n The United States worked out a formula which a later came to be known as dollar diplomacy. as Look for the meanings of the word “formula” What equivalent can you give with the dictionary meaning hint?

HANDLING EQUIVALENTLACKING WORDS Equivalent lacking words are often found among SL names of specific national phenomena, n such as the English words «coroner, condominium, impeachment». n

n However, there are quite a number of «ordinary» words for which TL may have no equivalent lexical units: «bidder, conservationist» etc.

n n The absence of regular equivalents does not imply that the meaning of an equivalentan lacking SL unit cannot be rendered in translation or that its translation must be less accurate. The translator coming across an equivalentlacking word, resorts to occasional equivalents which can be created in one of the following ways:

n n 1. Using loan-words imitating in TL the form of SL word or word combination, word e. g. tribalism – , impeachment – , backbencher – brain-drain –. As often as not such occasional formations are adopted by the members of TL community and get the status of regular equivalents.

2. Using approximate substitutes that is TL words with similar meaning which is extended meaning to convey additional information (if necessary, with the help of foot notes) e. g. drugstore – , witchhunter – , afternoon n

n The Russian аптека (дәріхана) is not exactly a drugstore where they also sell such items as magazines, soft drinks, icecream, etс. , but in some cases this approximate equivalent can well be used.

3. Using all kinds of lexical (semantic) transformations modifying the meaning n of the SL word, e. g. «He died of exposure» may be rendered into TL as ……… n

4. Using an explanation to convey the meaning of the SL unit, e. g. n Landslide – n brinkmanship – n

This method is sometimes used in conjunction with the first one when the introduction of a introduction loan-word is followed by a foot-note explaining the meaning of the equivalentlacking word in ST. n After that the translator may freely employ the newly-coined subsitute. n

n The practising translator most often has to resort to such techniques when he comes across some new-coined words in the source text or deals with names of object or phenomena unknown to the TL community (the so-called «realia»).

n New words are coined in the language to give names to new objects, or phenomena which become known to the people.

n n n Such words may never get in common use and will not be registered by the dictionaries but they are well understood by the communicants since they are coined on the familiar structural and semantic models.

If someone is ever refferred to as a «Polandologist», the meaning will be readily understood against such terms n as «Kremlinologist» or «Sovietologist». n

If a politician is called «a nuclearist», the new coinage will obviously mean a supporter of nuclear arms race. n «A zerogrowther“ would be associated with some zero-growth theory or policy and so on. n

n n Therefore the translator coming across a new coinage has to interpret its meaning and to its choose the appropriate way of rendering it in his translation. Consider the following sentence: «In many European capitals central streets have been recently pedestrianized. »

n n As often as not a whole set of new words may enter in common use, all formed on the same all model. Thus, the anti-segregation movement in the United States in the 1960’s introduced a number of new terms to name various kinds of

public demonstrations formed from a verb + -in on the analogy of «sit-in». «ride-in» n (in segregated buses), «swim-in» (in segregated swimming pools), «pray-in» (in n segregated churches) and many others. n

n Quite a number of equivalent-lacking words of this type, however, still have no established no substitutes in Russian, and the translator has to look for an occasional equivalent each time he comes across such a word in the source text, eg. «filibustering», «baby-sitter», «tinkerer», «know-how», «ladykiller», and many others

n Special attention should be paid to English conjunction and prepositions which are often used differently from their apparent equivalents in Russian and are, in fact, equivalent-lacking.

n Such common conjunctions as «when, if, as, once, whichever» and some others are not infrequently the cause of errors in translation and should be most carefully studied.

n Similar pitfalls can be set for the translator by such productive English «semi-suffixes» as -minded, consciuos, -oriented, -manship, etc.

n In conclusion, let us recall that any word may become equivalent-lacking if the particular context makes it impossible to use its regular equivalent and forces the translator to resort to some semantic transformation.

Handling translator’s false friends International words are words in the source and target languages which are more or less similar in form. n The formal similarity is usually the result of the two words having the common origin, mainly derived from either Greek or Latin eg. Parliament, theorem, diameter, etc. n

Handling translator’s false friends n Give your examples of international words

Handling translator’s false friends n Words that are similar in form but different in meaning are called pseudointernational or translator’s false friends

n n Proper and geographical names are transcribed with TL letters, e. g. : Smith – John Fitzgerald Kennedy – Ontario – Downing Street –

n n The same is true about the titles of periodicals and the names of firms and corporations, e. g. : Life – General Motors Corporation – Harriman and Brothers –

n n Transcription is also used to reproduce in TL the names of ships, aircraft, missiles and pieces of military equipment: Queen Elizabeth – Spitfire – Hawk –

The rules of transcription have two minor exceptions n n First, it is sometimes supplemented by elements of transliteration when SL letters are reproduced in TT instead of sounds. This technique is used with mute and double consonants between vowels

or at the end of the word and with neutral vowels (Dorset, Bonners n Ferry-) as well as to preserve some elements of SL spelling so as to n make the TL equivalent resemble some familiar pattern (the Hercules missle Columbia-). n

n n n Second, there are some traditional exeptions in rendering the names of historical personalities and geographical names, e. g. : Charles I-, James II Edinborough-

Pseudointernational words n 1) — Are classified into 2 main groups: Words which are similar in form but completely different in meaning, eg. It lasted the whole decade. She has a very fine complexion. Well, he must be a lunatic.

Handling translator’s false friends n 2) There are many pseudointernational words which are not fully interchangeable though there are some common elements in their semantics.

Handling translator’s false friends n The translator should bear in mind that a number of factors can preclude the possibility of using the formally similar word as an equivalent:

1) Semantic factor The semantic factor resulting from the different subsequent development of the words borrowed by the two languages from the same source, eg. n Idiom – 1. идиом, 2. диалект (наречие), 3. стиль. n

n South Vietnam was a vast laboratory for the testing of weapons for counter-guerrilla warfare.

n n n 2) The stylistic factor resulting from the difference in the emotive or stylistic connotation of the correlated words, eg. “career” Davy took on Faraday as his assistant and thereby opened a scientific career for him.

n 3) The co-occurrence factor reflecting the difference in the lexical combinability rules in the two languages. The choice of an equivalent is often influenced by the usage preferring a standard combination of words to the formally similar substitute.

n n n So, a “defect” has a formal counterpart as «дефект» but “theoretical and organizational defects” will be rather “подсчеты/есептеулер“. A “gesture” may be rendered in another way: The reason for including only minor gestures of reforms in the program… (жалкое подобие реформ)

n 4) The pragmatic factor reflecting the difference in the background knowledge of the members of the two language communities which makes the translator reject the formal equivalent in favor of the more explicit or familiar variant.

n n The American Revolution was a close parallel to the wars of national liberation in the colonial and semi-colonial countries. The counter-revolutionary organization was set up to suppress the Negro-poor white alliance that sought to bring democracy in the South in the Reconstruction period.

n The senator knew Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation by heart.

COLLOCATIONAL ASPECTS OF TRANSLATION ATTRIBUTIVE GROUPS n there is a considerable dissimilarity in the semantic structure of attributive groups in English and in Russian. This dissimilarity gives rise to a number of translation problems.

n n The first group of problems stems from the broader semantic relationships between the attribute and the noun. the attribute may refer not only to some property of the object but also to its location, purpose, cause, etc.

n n As a result, the translator has to make a thorough analysis of the context to find out what the meaning of the group is in each particular case. He must be also aware of the relative freedom of bringing together such semantic elements within the attributive group in English that are distanced from each other by a number of intermediate ideas.

n Thus a resolution submitted by an executive body of an organization may be described as «the Executive resolution» and the majority of votes received by such a resolution will be «the Executive majority» .

n If a word-for-word translation of the name of the executive body (e. g. the «Executive Committee» — исполнительный комитет) may satisfy the translator, the other two attributive groups will have to be explicated in the Russian translation as (try to guess)

n n «резолюция, предложенная исполкомом» and «большинство голосов, поданных за резолюцию, которая была предложена исполкомом»

n The second group of problems results from the difficulties in handling multi-member attributive structures. The English-speaking people make wide use of «multi-storied» structures with complicated internal semantic relationships.

n n The tax paid for the right to take part in the election is described as «the poll tax». The states where this tax is collected are «the poll tax states» and the governors of these states are «the poll tax states governors». Now these governors may hold a conference which will be referred to as ‘the poll tax states governors conference» and so on.

The semantic relationships within a multimember group need not be linear. Consider the following sentence: “It was the period of the broad western hemisphere and world pre-war united people’s front struggle against fascism” (analyze the structure of the attr group) n

n Это был период широкой предвоенной борьбы против фашизма за единый народный фронт в Западном полушарии и во всем мире.

n n The same goes for attributive groups with latent predication where a whole sentence is used to qualify a noun as its attribute «He was being the boss again, using the its-my-money-now-do-as-you’retold voice».

n Here correspondences can also be described in an indirect way only by stating that the attribute is usually translated into Russian|Kazakh as a separate sentence and that this sentence should be joined to the noun by a short introductory element. Cf. :

n The Judge’s face wore his own I-knew-theywere-guilty-all-along expression.

n На лице судьи появилось обычное выражение, говорившее: «Я все время знал, что они виновны» .

n There was a man with a don’t-say-anythingto-me-or-I’ll-contradict-you face. (Ch. Dickens)

n Там был человек, на лице которого было написано: что бы вы мне ни говорили, я все равно буду вам противоречить.

n 3) An attributive group may be transformed into a similar group with the help of a suffix which is formally attached to the noun but is semantically related to the whole group. Thus «a sound sleeper» may be derived from «sound sleep» or the man belonging to the «Fifth column» may be described as «the Fifth columnist».

n As a rule, in the Russian translation the meanings of the original group and of the suffix would be rendered separately, e. g. : человек, обладающий здоровым (крепким) сном (крепко спящий человек), and человек, принадлежащий к пятой колонне (член пятой колонны).

4) As often as not, translating the meaning of an English attributive group into Russian may involve a complete restructuring of the sentence, e. g. : n To watch it happen, all within two and a half hours, was a thrilling sight. n Нельзя было не восхищаться, наблюдая, как все это происходило на протяжении каких-нибудь двух с половиной часов.

Translate the following attributive groups n n n 1. hearty eater; 2. practical joker; 3. conscientious objector; 4. sleeping partner; 5. stumbling block; 6. smoking concert;

Translate the following attributive groups

HANDLING PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS n n n Plan of the lecture 1. Definition of phraseological units 2. Aspects of idioms’ meaning influencing the translation 3. Classification of idioms 4. Factors complicating the task of adequate translation Typical methods to handle a SL idiom in the translating

HANDLING PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS n Phraseological units are figurative set expressions often described as «idioms».

Five aspects of idioms’ meaning that will influence the translator’s choice of an equivalent in the target language 1. the idiom’s figurative meaning, 2. its literal sense, 3. its emotive character, 4. stylistic register, 5. national colouring. n

n n The figurative meaning is the basic element of the idiom’s semantics: «red tape» means bureaucracy, «to kick the bucket» — to die, «to wash dirty linen in public» — to disclose one’s family troubles to outsiders.

n n The figurative meaning is inferred from the literal sense. «Red tape», «to kick the bucket», and «to wash dirty linen in public» also refer, respectively, to a coloured tape, an upset pail and a kind of laundering, though in most cases this aspect is subordinate and serves as a basis for the metaphorical use.

idioms Positive «to kill two birds with one stone» Negative “to find a mare’s nest» Neutral «Rome was not built in a day»

Phraseological units Bookish (to show one’s true colours) Colloquial (to be a pain in the neck)

Besides, an idiom can be nationally coloured, that is include some words which mark it as the product of a certain nation. n For instance, «to set the Thames on fire» and n «to carry coals to Newcastle» are unmistakably British. n

Factors which complicate the task of adequate identification, understanding and translation of idioms: — First, an idiom can be mistaken for a free word combination, especially if its literal sense is not «exotic» (to have butterflies in one’s stomach) but rather trivial (to measure one’s length, to let one’s hair down)

n Second, a SL idiom may be identical in form to a TL idiom but have a different figurative meaning. Thus, the English «to lead smb. by the nose» implies a total domination of one person by the other (cf. the Russian «водить за нос» ) and»to stretch one’s legs» means to take a stroll (cf. the Russian «протянуть ноги» )

n Third, a SL idiom can be wrongly interpreted due to its association with a similar, if not identical TL unit. For instance, «to pull the devil by the tail», that is to be in trouble, may be misunderstood by the translator under the influence of the Russian idioms «держать бога за бороду» or «поймать за хвост жар-птицу»

n Fourth, a wrong interpretation of a SL idiom may be caused by another SL idiom similar in form and different in meaning. Cf. «to make good time» and «to have a good time»

n n Fifth, a SL idiom may have a broader range of application than its TL counterpart apparently identical in form and meaning. For instance, the English «to get out of hand» is equivalent to the Russian «Oтбиться от рук» and the latter is often used to translate it:

n n n The children got out of hand while their parents were away. В отсутствии родителей дети совсем отбились от рук. But the English idiom can be used whenever somebody or something gets out of control while the Russian idiom has a more restricted usage: What caused the meeting to get out of hand? Почему собрание прошло так неорганизованно?

n n There are four typical methods to handle a SL idiom in the translating: First, the translator can make use of a TL idiom which is identical to the SL idiom in all five aspects of its semantics, e. g. «to pull chestnuts out of the fire for smb. » — таскать каштаны из огня для кого-либо.

n Second, the SL idiom can be translated by a TL idiom which has the same figurative meaning, preserves the same emotive and stylistic characteristics but is based on a different image, that is, has a different literal meaning, e. g. «make hay while the sun shines»

n n Third, the SL idiom can be translated by reproducing its form word-for-word in TL, e. g. «People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. » — Люди, живущие в стеклянных домах, не должны бросать камни.

n Fourth, instead of translating the SL idiom, the translator may try to explicate its figurative meaning, so as to preserve at least the main element of its semantics

GRAMMATICAL ASPECTS OF TRANSLATION n n HANDLING EQUIVALENT FORMS AND STRUCTURES Grammaticality is an important feature of speech units. Grammatical forms and structures, however, do not only provide for the correct arrangement of words in the text, they also convey some information which is part of its total contents.

They reveal the semantic relationships between the words, clauses and sentences in the text, n they can make prominent some part of the contents that is of particular significance for the communicants. n

n The syntactic structuring of the text is an important characteristics identifying either the genre of the text or its author’s style.

n In many cases, however, equivalence in translation can be best achieved if the translator does not try to mirror the grammatical forms in the source text.

n There are no permanent grammatical equivalents and the translator can choose between the parallel forms and various grammatical transformations. He may opt for the latter for there is never an absolute identity between the meaning and usage of the parallel forms in SL and TL.

n For instance, both English and RussianKazakh verbs have their infinitive forms. The analogy, however, does not preclude a number of formal and functional differences.

n We may recall that the English infinitive has perfect forms, both active and passive, indefinite and continuous, which are absent in the respective grammatical category in Russian and Kazakh.

n The idea of priority or non-performed action expressed by the Perfect Infinitive is not present in the meaning of the RussianKazakh Infinitive and has to be rendered in translation by some other means.

n Cf. ‘The train seems to arrive at 5. » — Поезд, видимо, приходит в 5. and ‘The train seems to have arrived at 5. » — Поезд, видимо, пришел в 5.

n A dissimilarity of the English and RussianKazakh Infinitives can be also found in the functions they perform in the sentence. Note should be taken, for example, of the Continuative Infinitive which in English denotes an action following that indicated by the Predicate:

n Parliament was dissolved, not to meet again for eleven years.

n Не came home to find his wife gone.

n n Парламент был распущен и не созывался в течение 11 лет. Он вернулся домой и обнаружил, что жена ушла.

n A similar difference can be observed if one compares the finite forms of the verb in English and in RussianKazakh. Theyh have active and passive forms, but in English the passive forms are more numerous and are more often used. As a result, the meaning of the passive verb in the source text is often rendered by an active verb in the translation:

n This port can be entered by big ships only during the tide.

n A most common example of dissimilarity between the parallel syntactic devices in the two languages is the role of the word order in English and in Russian. Both languages use a «direct» and an «inverted» word order. But the English word order obeys, in most cases, the established rule of sequence: the predicate is preceded by the subject and followed by the object.

n This order of words is often changed in the RussianKazakh translation since in Russian the word order is used to show the communicative load of different parts of the sentence, the elements conveying new information (the rheme) leaning towards the end of non-emphatic sentences.

n Thus if the English sentence «My son entered the room» is intended to inform us who entered the room, its Russian equivalent will be «В комнату вошел мой сын» but in case its purpose is to tell us what my son did, the word order will be preserved: «Мой сын вошел в комнату» .

n The predominantly fixed word order in the English sentence means that each case of its inversion (placing the object before the subject -predicate sequence) makes the object carry a great communicative load. This emphasis cannot be reproduced in translation by such a common device as the inverted word order in the Russian sentence and the translator has to use some additional words to express the same idea: Money he had none. Денег у него не было ни гроша.

n n I. Translate the following sentences with the special attention to the choice of RussianKazakh equivalents to render the meaning of the English infinitives. 1. The people of Roumania lived in a poverty difficult to imagine. 2. The Security Council is given the power to decide when a threat to peace exists without waiting for the war to break out. 3. The general was a good man to keep away from. 4. This is a nice place to live in. 5. He stopped the car for me to buy some cigarettes. 6. Jack London was the best short-story writer in his country to arise after Edgar Рое.

n n П. Note the way the meaning of the English passive forms is rendered in your translation of the following sentences. 1. The Prime-Minister was forced to admit in the House of Commons that Britain had rejected the Argentine offer to negotiate the Folklands’ crisis. 2. The amendment was rejected by the majority of the Security Council. 3. He rose to speak and was warmly greeted by the audience. 4. The treaty is reported to have been ratified by all participants.

HANDLING EQUIVALENTLACKING FORMS AND STRUCTURES n A lack of equivalence in the English and RussianKazakh systems of parts of speech can be exemplified by the article which is part of the English grammar and is absent in Russian||Kazakh.

n n As a rule, English articles are not translated into RussianKazakh for their meaning is expressed by various contextual elements and needn’t be reproduced separately. But in some cases there is a need to translate the meaning of the English article.

n Consider the following linguistic statement: ‘To put it in terms of linguistics: a sentence is a concrete fact, the result of an actual act of speech. The sentence is an abstraction. So a sentence is always a unit of speech; the sentence of a definite language is an element of that language. »

n It is obvious that an entity cannot be both a concrete fact and an abstraction. The difference between «a sentence» (любое отдельное предложение) and ‘the sentence» (предложение как понятие, тип предложения) should be definitely revealed in the Russian and Kazakh translations as well.

n n Even if some grammatical category is present both in SL and in TL, its subcategories may not be the same and, hence, equivalent-lacking. Both the English and the Russian verb have their aspect forms but there are no equivalent relationships between them. Generally speaking, the Continuous forms correspond to the Russian imperfective aspect, while the Perfect forms are often equivalent to the perfective aspect.

n As far as the Kazakh language is concerned we can observe more similarity with the English language: both of them have Continuous tense and perfect forms. (give your examples)

n However, there are many dissimilarities. Much depends on the verb semantics. The Present Perfect forms of non-terminative verbs, for instance, usually correspond to the Russian imperfeclive verbs in the present tense:

n n I have lived in Moscow since 2010. Я живу в Москве с 2010 г.

n The Past Indefinite forms may correspond either to the perfective or to the imperfective RussianKazakh forms and the choice is largely prompted by the context. Cf. :

n After supper he usually smoked in the garden. После ужина он обычно курил в саду.

n After supper he smoked a cigarette in the garden and went to bed. После ужина он выкурил в саду сигарету и пошел спать.

n The Past Pefect forms may also be indifferent to these aspective nuances, referring to an action prior to some other action or a past moment. Cf. :

n n I hoped he had read that book. (а) Я надеялся, что он читал эту книгу, (б) Я надеялся, что он (уже) прочитал эту книгу.

A special study should be made of the translation problems involved in handling the Absolute Participle constructions. n To begin with, an Absolute construction must be correctly identified by the translator. n

n The identification problem is particularly complicated in the case of the «with»-structures which may coincide in form with the simple prepositional groups.

n The phrase «How can you play with your brother lying sick in bed» can be understood in two different ways: as an Absolute construction and then its Russian equivalent will be «Как тебе не стыдно играть, когда твой брат лежит больной (в постели)» or as a prepositional group which should be translated as «Как тебе не стыдно играть с твоим больным братом» .

n Specific translation problems emerge when the translator has to handle a syntactical complex with a causative meaning introduced by the verb ‘to have» or «to get», such as: «I shall have him do it» or «I shall have him punished». First, the translator has to decide what TL causative verb should be used as a substitute for the English «have» or «get».

n Depending on the respective status of the persons involved, the phrase «I shall have him do it» may be rendered as «Я заставлю его (прикажу ему, велю ему, попрошу его и т. п. ) сделать это» or even «Я добьюсь (позабочусь о том, устрою так и т. п. ), чтобы он это сделал» .

n Second, the translator must be aware that such complexes are polysemantic and may be either causative or non-causative. The phrase ‘The general had his horse killed» may refer to two different situations.

n Either the horse was killed by the general’s order (Генерал приказал убить свою лошадь) or he was killed in combat and the general was not the initiator of the act but the sufferer (Под ним убили лошадь). An error in the translator’s judgement will result in a distorted translation variant.

n Many equivalent-lacking structures result from a noncausative verb used in the typical causative complex. Preserving its basic meaning the verb acquires an additional causative sense. Cf. : n They laughed merrily. n Они весело смеялись. n They laughed him out of the room. n Они так смеялись над ним, что он убежал из комнаты.

n n In such cases the translator has to choose among different ways of expressing causative relationships in TL. Cf. : The US Administration wanted to frighten the people into accepting the militarization of the country.

n n n Администрация США стремилась запугать народ, чтобы заставить его согласиться на милитаризацию страны. Не talked me into joining him. Он уговорил меня присоединиться к нему. It should be noted that such English structures are usually formed with the prepositions «into» and «out of as in the above examples

HANDLING MODAL FORMS

HANDLING STYLISTICALLYMARKED LANGUAGE UNITS The principal stylistic effect of the text is created, however, with the help of special stylistic devices) as well as by the interworking of the meanings of the words in a particular context. The speaker may qualify every object he mentions in his own way thus giving his utterance a specific stylistic turn.

n Some phrases become fixed through repeated use and they may have permanent equivalents in TL, e. g. true love — истинная любовь, dead silence — мертвая тишина, good old England — добрая старая Англия.

n In most cases, however, the translator has to look for an occasional substitute, which often requires an indepth study of the broad context, for example, J. Galsworthy in his «Forsyte Saga» refers to Irene as «that tender passive being, who would not stir a step for herself,

n the translator is faced with the problem of rendering the word «passive» into Russian so that its substitute would fit the character of that lady and all the circumstances of her life described in the novel.

n A common occurrence in English texts is the transferred qualifier syntactically joined to a word to which it does not belong logically, eg. «a corrupt alliance», «a sleepless bed» or «a thoughtful pipe».

n n ‘The sound of the solemn bells» will become «торжественное звучание колов» and «the smiling attention of the stranger» will be translated as «внимание улыбающегося незнакомца» .

n Note should also be taken of the inverted qualifier which syntactically is not the defining but the defined element. Such a qualifier precedes the qualified word which is joined to it by the preposition «of: «this devil of a woman», «the giant of a man», etc.

n The phrase can be transformed to obtain an ordinary combination (a devilish woman, a gigantic man) and then translated into Russian. The translation may involve an additional element: the devil of a woman — чертовски хитрая (умная, неотразимая и т. п. ) женщина.

n Another common type includes conventional indirect names of various objects or «paraphrases». A frequent use of paraphrases is a characteristic feature of the English language.

n Some of the paraphrases are borrowed from such classical sources as mythology or the Bible and usually have permanent equivalents in Russian (cf. Attic salt — аттическая соль, the three sisters — богини судьбы, the Prince of Darkness — принц тьмы).

n Others are purely English and are either transcribed or explained in translation: John Bull — Джон Буль, the three R’s — чтение, письмо и арифметика, the Iron Duke — герцог Веллингтон.

n n Complicated translation problems are caused by ST containing substandard language units used to produce a stylistic effect. The ST author may imitate his character’s speech by means of dialectal or contaminated forms.

n SL territorial dialects cannot be reproduced in TT, nor can they be replaced by TL dialectal forms. It would be inappropriate if a black American or a London cockney spoke in the Russian translation in the dialect, say, of the Northern regions of the country.

n n Fortunately, the English dialectal forms are mostly an indication of the speaker’s low social or educational status, and they can be rendered into Russian by a judicial employment of low-colloquial elements, e. g. : He do look quiet, don’t ‘e? D’e know ‘oo ‘e is, Sir? Вид-то у него спокойный, правда? Часом не знаете, сэр, кто он будет?

n Contaminated forms are used to imitate the speech of a foreigner. Sometimes, both SL and TL have developed accepted forms of representing the contaminated speech by persons of foreign origin.

n For example, the speech of a Chinese can be represented in English and in Russian in a conventional way, which facilitates the translator’s task, eg. Me blingee beer. Now you pay. n Моя плинесла пиво, твоя типель платить. n

n n n If no such tradition exists, the translator has to select some possible contaminated Russian forms to produce the desired effect, e. g. : When you see him quid’ then you quick see him ‘perm whale (the speech of a Kanaka). Когда твоя видел спрут, тогда твоя скоро-скоро видел кашалот.

Identify the referents of the following paraphrases. n 1. the Emerald Isle; 2. the Land of White Elephants; 3. the Land of the Shamrock; 4. the Land of the Thousand Lakes; 5. from John O’Groat’s to Land’s End; 6. the Mother State; 7. the Golden State; 8. the Evergreen State; 9. the City of Brotherly Love; 10. the City of Seven Hills;

n 11. the vale of misery; 12. John Barleycorn; 13. the Man of Destiny; 14. the Wise Men of the East; 15. a white elephant; 16. a white slave; 17. a white crow; 18. the Union Jack; 19. the Stars and Stripes; 20. John Doe

n n n 1. Ireland 2. Thailand 3. Ireland 4. Minnesota 5. the traversal of the whole length of the island of Great Britain between two extremities;

n n n n 6. Virginia 7. California 8. Washington 9. Philadelphia 10. Cincinnati 11. 12. Джон Ячменное Зерно

n n 13. Napoleon 14. (Three) Wise Men, (Three) Kings, or Kings from the East, were in Christian tradition, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They are regular figures in traditional accounts of the nativity celebrations of Christmas and are an important part of Christian tradition.

n n 15. is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth. 16. a girl or woman forced or sold into prostitution

n n 18. Flag of the United Kingdom 20. устаревший термин, использовавшийся в ситуации, когда настоящий истецнеизвестен или анонимен (неизвестного ответчика называли Ричард Роу). Очень часто под этимпсевдонимом подразумевалось неопознанное тело. В случае, если тело принадлежало женщине, использовался термин Джейн Доу (англ. Jane Doe). Baby Doe — соответственно, дитя Доу. В случае, если в процессе фигурировало несколько неопознанных членов семьи, их именовали Джеймс Доу,