Page 39 - Міністерство освіти і науки України

Lecture 8

Translation, stylistic devices and style

To render as fully as possible in the target language variant the ease of expression
pertaining to the source language matter a translator often has to be an investigator of a
text. That means he should pay attention to special combinations of language units,
expressive means and stylistic devices peculiar to a given text; he should take into
consideration that the term “meaning” is applied not only to words, word-combinations,
sentences but also to the manner of expression into which the matter is cast. A translator
must know the functions of different stylistic devices, otherwise his translation may
cause damage to the semantic and aesthetic aspect of the source matter.

I Lexical Stylistic Devices.
The interaction or interplay between the dictionary meaning and a meaning which
is imposed on the word by a context may be maintained along different lines. One line
is when the author identifies two different objects as identical and another line is when
the author finds it possible to substitute one object for another. A third line is when a
certain property of an object is used in an opposite or contradictory sense. According to
these lines we distinguish metaphor, metonymy and irony.
Metaphor may be defined as the power of realizing two lexical meanings
simultaneously.
e.g. In the sun beams that streamed through the open window the dust
danced and was golden.
Metonymy is based on nearness, on some kind of association connecting the two
concepts. For example, the words cup or glass may stand for “the drink they contain”.
Irony is also based on the simultaneous realization of two logical meanings but it
is generally used to convey a negative meaning. Therefore only positive concepts are
the material for irony.
e.g. It must be delightful to find oneself in a foreign country without a
penny in one`s pocket.
Among the other important lexical stylistic devices are the following four:
Epithet is based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive
word, phrase or even sentence, it is markedly subjective, giving an individual perception
and evaluation.
e.g. wild wind, loud ocean, heart-burning sigh.
Oxymoron is a combination of two words in which the meaning of the two clash,
being opposite in sense.
e.g. horribly beautiful, a deafening silence
Simile is an imaginative comparison of two unlike objects belonging to two
different classes.
e.g. “Maidens, like moths, are ever caught by glare”(Byron)
Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration of a feature essential to the object.

37