G. Tchaikivska, pg.s.
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukraine)
Denis Diderot's tales individual style: between philosophic and moral tale
The analysis of Denis Diderot's tales individual style is made, in particular, of
syntactic structure, the comparison with the philosophic and moral tales is presented.
Key words: author style, Denis Diderot, syntactic figures, philosophic tale,
moral tale, genre-hybrid.
Г. С. Чайкивская, асп.
Киевский национальный университет имени Тараса Шевченко (Украина)
Авторской стиль Дени Дидро сказочника:
между философской и морализаторской сказкой
В статье проанализированы характеристики авторского стиля сказок
Дени Дидро, а именно особенности синтаксической структуры, проведен
сравнительный анализ с философской и морализаторской сказками.
Ключевые слова: авторский стиль, Дени Дидро, синтаксические фигуры,
философская сказка, морализаторская сказка, жанр-гибрид.
Г. С. Чайківська, асп.
Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка (Україна)
Авторський стиль Дені Дідро казкаря: між філософською
та "моралізатоською" казкою
У статті проаналізовано характеристики авторського стилю казок Дені
Дідро, зокрема особливості синтаксичної структури, здійснено порівняльний
аналіз із філософською та моралізаторською казками.
Ключові слова: авторський стиль, Дені Дідро, синтаксичні фігури, філософська казка, моралізаторська казка, жанр-гібрид.
UDC 811.11=134.2=161.2
N. Khyzhniak, candidate of sciences
(Australia)
SIMILES IN ENGLISH, SPANISH,
UKRAINIAN AND RUSSIAN
The article deals with the simile as one of the oldest methods that reflects
the peculiarities of language and the conceptual scene of the world represented
by different societies. The object of this research is phraseological units in the
English, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian languages registered in dictionaries.
152
The research has theoretical and practical value, including in the light of the
theory and practice of translation, as it makes possible a correct understanding
of associative images that form the basis of a simile and consequently help to
reconstruct them adequately in the translation to target language.
Key words: similes, translation, associative images, conceptual scene
The object of our investigation is stock simile, a stylistic figure
used as a method of cognition and expression. According to E. Sapir,
similes are one of the most antique methods of intellectual activities
of the human being. More over, it preceded counting. Through
similes the operation of comparing two objects, phenomena or their
similarities takes place. Simile is a universal tool of cognition and
expression and consequently many other methods of language
expression were developed. Among them we can mention metaphor
which is considered by many scholars to be an implicit simile.
A huge number of scholars analysed this figure: Arutiunova N. D.,
Vezhbitskaya A., Demyrova M., Kamysheva A. E., Mizin K. I.,
Nekrasova A. E., Fadaee E., Gutiérrez Ordóñez S., Rodríguez
Ponce M. I. and others. However, in our opinion the researches
dedicated to stylistic figures lack deep analysis of various aspects of
the similes. The mechanism of similes is very similar to the one of
metaphor: the difference between them consists in that metaphor
which is considered to be an implicit (hidden) simile blends with the
structure of the text in a new meaning of the metaphoric word. As
such it can only imply the idea that has an explicit form in a simile.
The objective of this article doesn't include delimitation of the
borders of a metaphor and a simile. Our attention will be focused on
stock similes, type of similes that are historically predetermined in
each language and are usually are recorded in dictionaries.
The article contains an analysis of the stock similes and the
reason to this research was lack of investigations of this stylistic
figure, especially in the comparative aspect in different languages
and from the point of view of their translation. This is especially
important as its one of the most widely used and most expressive
figures of speech. The expressive potential of similes deserves our
attention because very often it gives us the possibility to reveal the
cultural vision of the world by different nations, communities, etc.
153
This analysis of stock similes was based on the material of 4
languages, where 2 are Slavic, one Germanic and one Romance,
namely: Ukrainian, Russian, English and Spanish. This approach will
help to reveal common and distinctive features in the expression of
the same ideas in different languages.
Simile as a stylistic figure
Similes belong to the group of stylistic figures that develop their
meaning and structure from the process of comparing different objects
and as a result establishing a network of various associations. The
subject of a simile is intensified by comparing it to another, more
widely known item or phenomenon. Many scholars agree that similes
were the initial figure that developed a lot of other tropes and figures
such as parallelism, metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, litotes, etc.
Similes show an indirect characteristic of a certain object and
therefore not only reflect some stable denominations of certain
objects, but also reveal a special figurative vision a fragment of the
world. In fact it's a description of a secondary semiotics of a
language, determination of its strategy in the process of establishing
paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations between language elements.
E. Nekrasova, who analyses similes in the Russian language,
proposes to distinguish the subject and the object of a simile. In her
opinion the subject is a person, an item, a phenomenon or a
characteristic that is being compared, while the object is something
that the subject is compared to. We will use this definition as our
guidance in the terminology of similes.
Every languages possess a number of ways to introduce a simile
into the speech. The introduction of poetical similes may vary
depending on the author's style and preferences, whilst stock similes
usually have determined connectors that are mostly used in everyday
life. The most common connectors in these languages are: Ukranian
як, ніби, немов, мов, наче, наче б то, ніби то etc; Russian: как,
как будто, вроде, словно etc; Spanish: como, más/menos que,
hecho, igual que, in English: as, as if, like etc.
The extent of explicitness of similes may also vary. E. Nekrasova
notes that in a poetical text many elliptical similes are used. The term
154
elliptical is used to refer to the type of similes that lack the
explanation of the similar feature that the subject and the object of
the simile possess. As a result it may seem to a person who is not
familiar with this simile that this stylistic figure is not logical.
Although in some stock similes those similar features might be clear
enough even if the characteristic of the subject is not explicit. For
example, if we say Вона як сорока/she is like a magpie it's clear that
we are referring to a talkative person. However, as we mentioned
before, every nation has predetermined ways of understating the
world that are reflected in its language. These differences can be
explained by the history, experience, that particular cultural bonds
that every nation has. For example, English people see a talkative
person аs a magpie: be as garrulous as a magpie, chatter like a
magpie. Spaniards also compare such person to this bird: hablar
como una cotorra. Yet they also have other similes: hablar como una
centella (as a lightning) or hablar como una ametralladora (as a
machine-gun). As we look into Russian and Ukrainian languages we
can see how various languages have some similes in common and some
that are unique for them – rus: строчить, как из пулемета or ukr:
строчити наче з кулемету (the same as in Spanish – machine-gun),
rus: быть болтливым как сорока or ukr: балакучий наче сорока
(same as in English and Spanish – as a magpie). It's worth mentioning
though that the form of these similes may vary while the meaning and
the objects stay the same. If in Spanish the speakers focus on the way
the person is talking (hablar como), in Ukrainian and Russian they
describe someone's quality (балакучий наче, быть болтливым как –
be as talkative as). Compare: talk as – be as talkative as.
Cross-cultural aspects of similes
In this part of the article we will pay close attention to the different
models, types of similes in the examined languages. The meaning of
these similes is the same or similar but the cultural differences are
clearly visible in the form of the similes as well as in the objects that
are used to describe certain subjects. To start we will look into the
concept of FEAR and what is it compared to in the four languages.
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English language has two widely used phrases: quake/shake like
an aspen leaf and quiver like a jelly. The objects used in these
similes are aspen leaf and jelly. Both of them make sense due to their
physical qualities: a leaf is very fragile and shakes in the wind and a
jelly has a particular texture that makes it quite shivery. However,
not all of the examined languages have the same similes. In fact all
four languages reveal that their speakers compare a fearful person to
a leaf: shake like an aspen leaf – temblar como una hoja – трястись
як осиковий листок (як осичина) – дрожать как осиновый лист.
What's even more striking is that the type of the leaf is the same in 3
of 4 languages (English, Ukrainian and Russian): aspen. The Spanish
simile has a neutral leaf used as an object without indicating its type.
Opposite to the simile with the objects leaf, the other simile – quiver
like a jelly – has no equivalent in any of the other 3 languages.
Marine creatures are not widely used in stock similes as well as in
other phraseological units in general in Ukrainian and Russian.
Although spanish culture is more closely related to marine world (the
proof of this is their national cuisine) we were unable to find a simile
with a jelly in Spanish.
Regardless of the lack of marine life presence in Ukrainian
folklore, there is an abundance of all types of stock similes that very
often refer to nature, animals and plants. For instance a fearful
person can also be compared to a hare: боязкий, як заєць. A similar
simile is often used in Spanish: caer como una liebre with the
difference in it's structure – to fall (caer) like a hare.
A distinctive nature of the Ukrainian language is the presence of
humorous, derisive expressions, that have the opposite meaning to
what the main verb says. Many of these humorous stock similes also
use elements of nature as their objects: Боюсь тебе, як торішнього
снігу/як вовк кози/як заєць бубна/як собака мухи (to be afraid of
someone as of a last year's snow/ as a wolf is afraid of a goat/ as a
hare is afraid of a tambourine/as a dog is afraid of a fly). The
meaning of the above mentioned similes is opposite – to not be
afraid: Боюсь тебе, як торішнього снігу (I'm afraid of you as of a
last year's snow) – I'm (obviously) not afraid of you.
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While Ukrainians use elements of nature to express themselves, the
Spanish language prefers religious terms. There are a lot of examples
where Jesus, God, church, cross are mentioned. For example, temer
como el diablo a la cruz (to fear like a devil is afraid of a cross).
Another group of similes that we are going to analyse describes a
big number of people or objects that are gathered in one place. To
refer to a large group of people squashed in a closed space English
people use the following similes: packed like sardines or packed like
rabbits in a warren. In Spanish there are three stock similes with the
same meaning: como piojos en costura, como sardinas en lata, como
tres en un zapato. Ukrainians say: багато людей, як плав пливе,
багато, як трави, багацько, хоч греблю гати and their Russian
equivalent would be как сельдей в бочке. As we can see, in some of
the English, Spanish and Russian similes the object is a fish although
of a different type: Spanish and English people are used to sardines
and Russians prefer herring. Nevertheless, each language has
synonymic expressions that reflect the world in a different manner
and has no literal equivalent in other languages. English people use
rabbits as the object of their simile (like rabbits in a warren),
Spaniards talk about fleas in yarn (como piojos en costura) and
Ukrainians see big amount of someone or something in the grass (як
трави) or a full-flowing river (хоч греблю гати).
Stock similes and the translation techniques that can be used
To achieve an adequate translation of stock similes it's necessary
to preserve their stylistic and pragmatic qualities in the target
language. To make translator's work easier there is a big amount of
stock similes that possess the same meaning as well as the same form
and association line: shake like an aspen leaf – temblar como una
hoja – трястись, як осиковий листок – дрожать как осиновый
лист. In the target language the original simile is easily substituted
with the one that already exists. More complications may arise with
the stock similes that have some differences in their form or the
semantics. Using literal translation can be possible although the
translator should bare in mind that their affect may differ to the one
in the source language: 1) the addressee will not understand it,
because it will be alien to another culture. In this case translation
157
suffers certain losses; 2) the addressee will understand it although it
won't be stock simile in target language anymore. The positives of
this could be the enrichment of the target culture and language.
However, not all stock similes in one language have equivalents
in other languages. In such cases we talk about the so called
"lacunas". Below we give examples in each of the 4 languages.
In the Spanish language we can find a lot of similes that contain
the elements of bullfight (corrida). As well as the similes that are
based on historic experiences and geographic information they don't
have equivalents in other languages. For instance, Spaniards use
similes: viajar más que la maleta de torrero (to travel more than
toreador's suitcase), poner como se las ponían a Fernando
VII/FelipeІI (to prepare everything as they had prepared it for
Ferdinand the VII/Phillip the II). The first simile refers to the style of
life of the toreadors in Spain, who obviously travel a lot and it has no
equivalent in either English, nor Ukrainian or Russian. The second
simile is quite unique. To understand it the recipient needs to know
the background information about its meaning. Although being a
stock simile even Spaniards might not be aware of it's origin, but for
them it's irrelevant because they know the meaning of the simile. For
foreign recipient the situation is different. The research that we
conducted shows that this stock simile comes from a legend about
the lives of Spanish kings. According to one legend, Phillip the II
liked to hunt and often his servants set everything up for him to make
sure he caught some quails. Another legend tells us a story about
Ferdinand the VII who liked to play billiards. Yet he wasn't a good
player. In order to guarantee the monarch's victory his billiard-balls
were moved to better positions. This Spanish phrase is often used to
refer to different kind of frauds in real estate. Not having equivalents
in any of the 3 languages it seems like the descriptive translation is
the only option in this case.
There is a similar type of stock simile in English. Based on a
cultural information it doesn't have equivalent in other languages.
This simile – to cry like a banshie – means to cry bloodcurdlingly,
desperately. The background information reveals the story behind its
subject. Banshie is a ghost that cries. The name has its origins in
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Scottish and Irish folklore: according to a legend, banshie is a ghost
that used to be a guardian of a family, but when it started to cry and
howl, it foretold the death of one of the family members. Although
the simile has no equivalent in other languages, the theory of
translation postulates that there's nothing untranslatable. The possible
way of its reconstruction in target language could be literal
translation. In this case it depends in the type of the recipient, his
background knowledge of the folklore of the country to ensure that
he is capable of interpreting the simile in the correct way. Frankly,
this translation technique seems to have little use in this case as
regular representative of another culture will rarely know the
meaning. The other option would be in such case to give a footnote
with the explanation. This is not a perfect solution either, as a reader
will have to digress form the essence of the story and depending on
the text that the simile is used in it might not even be possible.
Therefore the context it's used in should be taken into consideration
as it may have both a positive and a negative effect on the translated
text. The other option of translation of this simile would use the
substitution of the original simile in the source language by an
adjective or verbal adverb in the target language:
– она душераздирающе плакала;
– вона несамовито плакала;
– lloraba dolorosamente, tremendemente.
This type of translation techniques has clear disadvantages as it's
hard to avoid stylistic losses in the target text. At the same time,
depending on the situation that the simile is used it could be logical
and appropriate to replace it by its incomplete equivalent in the
translation. By an incomplete equivalent we understand a simile that
is semantically similar but is lexically different:
Плаче наче скрипка грає/ Плаче старий мов дитина / Реве як
корова – Llora como Magdalena/ como Lázaro.
It's necessary to remember though that the replacement of the
object of a stock simile might not be the best option, as it can lead to
partial interference into the connotation of the simile.
159
Having analysed few stock similes in various languages it seems
reasonable to state that the question of the adequate representation of
stock similes requires detailed study. Inaccurate understanding of the
similes's semantics in the original language can lead to regrettable
mistakes in the translation. Especially tricky might be the similes that
have similar or even identical lexical structure, but have different
meanings in different languages: trabajar como burro (to work as a
donkey) means to work hard in Spanish, but it doesn't have the
connotation of stubbornness that is characteristic of the similar stock
simile in the Ukrainian. That's why an adequate translation in
Ukrainian would be працювати як віл (as on ox). A literal
translation, though it could be clear, would add at the same time
unnecessary expressivity and/or different meaning. In the same way
the Spanish phrase fresco como lechuga (fresh as lettuce) has its
Ukrainian equivalent: свіжий як огірок (fresh as a cucumber).
In a conclusion we should say that stock similes occupy an
important place in a huge number of expressive figures and tropes
used in different languages. Moreover, it's a window to another
culture that enriches our own world. To reflect adequately the
meaning and the form of this stylistic figure, a deep analysis on a
cognitive level is needed in order to understand which element in the
structure of a simile is the main one. Only then, taking into account
linguistic resources and background knowledge of future recipients
with the realities of a foreign culture, we can take a decision about
which translation technique would be the most appropriate to use.
LIST OF REFERENCES
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2. Вежбицкая А. Сравнение – градация – метафора / А. Вежбицкая // Теория метафоры. – М.: Прогресс, 1990.
3. Виноградов В.С. Введение в переводоведение. Общие и лексические вопросы / В. С. Виноградов. – М.: изд. ин-та общего и среднего образов. РАО, 2001.
4 Демирова М. Сравнение как способ презентации специфики русской и
болгарской картин (моделей) мира [Електронний ресурс] // Балканская руссистика // М. Демирова. – 2003. – Режим доступу: http://www.russian.slavica.org/
article1008.html (Останній доступ 7.03.2010).
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/ Р. П. Зорівчак. – Л.: Вища школа, 1983.
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6. Испанско-русский фразеологический словарь / [под. ред. Э. И. Левинтовой]. – М.: Русский язык, 1985. – 1074 с.
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10.02.08 "Иранские языки" / А. Е. Камышова. – СПб: 2006.
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/ В.И. Карасик, Г.Г. Слышкин // Методологические проблемы когнитивной
лингвистики [под ред. И.А. Стернина]. – Воронеж: Воронежский государственный унивеситет, 2001.
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11. Некрасова Е.А. Сравнения / Е.А. Некрасова // Языковые процессы современной русской художественной литературы. Поэзия. – М.: Наука, 1977.
12. Словник фразеологізмів української мови / [від. ред. В. Винник]. – К. :
Наук. думка, 2003.
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14. Fadaee E. Symbols, metaphors and similes in literature: a case study of
"Animal farm" [Електронний ресурс] / Elaheh Fadaee // International Journal of
English and Literature. – Vol. 2 (2).
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– Madrid: Arco Libros, 1994.
16. Rodríguez Ponce M.I. Las comparaciones estereotipadas y su aprovechamiento en la
enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera [Електронний ресурс] / María Isabel
Rodríguez Ponce // Actas del XV Congreso de ASELE. – Oviedo: 2005.
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lexicografía, 2004.
Стаття надійшла до редакції 03.03.14
Н. С. Хижняк, канд. филол. наук
(Австралия)
Устойчивые сравнения в английском, испанском,
украинском и русском языках
Статья посвящена устойчивым сравнениям – одному из наиболее древних
языковых средств, которое отражает особенности языка и концептуальной
сферы мира, представленного разными языковыми группами. Объектом исследования выступают компаративные фразеологические единицы в английском, испанском, украинском и русском языках, зафиксированые в словарях.
Статья имеет теоретическую и практическую ценность, особенно в свете
теории и практики перевода, поскольку правильное восприятие ассоциатив161
ных образов, составляющих основу устойчивых сравнений, способствует их
адекватному воспроизведению в целевом языке.
Ключевые слова: устойчивые сравнения, перевод, асоциативный образ,
концептуальная сфера мира
Н. С. Хижняк, канд. філол. наук
(Австралія)
Сталі порівняння в англійській, іспанській,
українській та російській мовах
Стаття присвячена усталеним порівнянням – одному з найдавніших мовних засобів, що відображає особливості мови та концептуальної сфери світу,
представленого різними мовними спільнотами. Об'єктом дослідження виступають компаративні фразеологічні одиниці в англійській, іспанській, українській та російській мовах, зафіксовані словниках. Розвідка має теоретичну та
практичну цінність, особливо в світлі теорії та практики перекладу, оскільки
правильне розуміння асоціативних образів, що складають основу усталених
порівнянь сприяє їхньому адекватному відтворенню в цільовій мові.
Ключові слова: усталені порівняння, переклад, асоціативний образ, концептуальна сфера світу
162