Phrase epithets and their translation

A phrase and even a whole sentence may act as a single idea to modify a noun and thus become an epithet if the main formal requirement of the epithet is maintained, i.e. its attributive use (He was that I’m-a-friend-of-the-boss type). In such a case the phrases and sentences lose their independence and graphically and syntactically become similar to a word. Phrase epithets are always hyphenated and followed by a noun, e.g.: There is a sort of ‘Oh-what-a-wicked-world-this-is-and-how-I-wish-I-could-do-something-to-make-it-better-and-nobler’ expression about Montmorency that has been known to bring tears into the eyes of pious old ladies and gentlemen (Jerome K. Jerome) or Ned explained this to me with his where-would-he-be-without-me? look.

One of the main reasons for the usage of phrase epithet in the text is that they carry very rich semantic information. They also express features and properties which simply do not have a corresponding synonym with a simple lexical form.

The translation of the phrase epithets presents considerable difficulty since in the majority of the cases it is impossible to find direct equivalents of such constructions in Ukrainian as they are not typical of the Ukrainian language. In each concrete case the choice of the translational variant depends on the concrete lexical meaning and stylistic function of the phrase epithet and on the meaning of the whole context. Still, the general approaches for translation techniques are as follow:

1. In cases when a phrase epithet consists of a sentence (interrogative, exclamatory, or narrative), and there is a connotation of comparison, or else it is a quotation of somebody’s direct speech or possible thoughts, it could be rendered with the same structural pattern as in the SL, i.e., word-for-word, e.g.: He mumbled his usual “Better-than-I-deserve” reply to my how-do-you-do greeting. – Він пробурмотів своє звичне “Краще, ніж я того заслуговую” у відповідь на моє запитання про те, як у нього справи.

Usually, the introductory words, or word combinations like наче, немов (кажучи), and other synonymous expressions are added, e.g.:

She gave Mrs. Silsburn a you-know-how-men-are look… – Вона глянула на місіс Сілзберн, наче кажучи: “Ви ж знаєте, які чоловіки…”.

2. In some cases a phrase epithet is rendered with just one word – a simple epithet or an adjective phrase, e.g.: take-it-or-leave-it statement - ультимативна заява; He had dark spectacles, puffy cheeks and a tell-me-my-good-man way talking – Він був у темних окулярах, з одутлими щоками і з довірливою манерою говорити. This can be interpreted as semantic narrowing of equivalents in translation.

3. Quite often it is necessary to paraphrase or explicate the meaning of a phraseological unit within the structure of an English phrase epithets, e.g.: He coolly told the waiter to telephone for two stalls, which seemed to me a grand-man-about-town way of doing things, – Він холодно наказав офіціанту замовити по телефону два місця в партері, що здавалося мені чудовим способом провадити справи, до якого вдають світські люди. A “man-about-town” is a phraseological unit and means “світська людина, багатий джиґун”.

4. Numerous phrase epithets, especially those lacking connotation, are usually rendered into Ukrainian with participial clause or subordinate sentences, which leads to a certain loss of imagery, e.g.: the gosh-what-I’ll-give-them people – люди, яким важко підібрати подарунок.

It is necessary to note that it is impossible to suggest a certain technique, suitable in all cases, for rendering phrase epithets so extensively used in English. The richness of the Ukrainian language, its specific means for conveying various shades of meaning, are so diverse, that their choice will depend on the context and stylistic value of a phrase epithet in a TL.

Task1:Suggest the object the quality of which was used in the following transferred epithets. Rewrite the sentences, avoiding illogical use of attributes. Translate the sentences into Ukrainian. Comment on the transformations you applied to render transferred epithets? Is figurativeness preserved in all cases? If not, how can you explain the reason?

1. Jake awoke in the darkness with a slight hangover, and headache due to fatigue and Coors, and the distant but unmistakable sound of his doorbell ringing continually as if held firmly in place by a large and determined thumb.

2. “No money”, Nulty said, and wrinkled his sadyellownose.

3. I didn’t say anything for a moment or two and he looked up fast, his eyesbright and quizzical.

4. The words died away on his lips, and he hid a guilty gin in his gray beard.

5. For a moment the general did not reply; he was smiling his curious red-lipped smile.

6. A tight-lipped arrogance had long since replaced the warm reception given to the visitors in the first few days after the shootings.

7. Langdon gave the kid a proud nod.

8. But he had humorous eyes.

9. But while a surgeon checked the bleeding, he prowled up and down, growling furiously, attempting to rush in, and being forced back by an array of hostile clubs.

10. He was, however, in the process of being totally degraded and humbled before a small-town, red-neck judge with a quick tongue.

11. He sat with Daisy in his arms for a long silent time.

12. There was a waiting silence as the minutes of the previous hearing were read.

13. He drank his orange-juice in long cold gulps.

14. Nick smiled sweatily.

15. She watched his tall quick step through the radiance of the corner streetlight.

16. Lottie retreated at once with her fat little steps to the safety of her own room.

17. I pressed half-a-crown into his ready palm and left.

18. "I kicked Miss Donovan's chair out from under her and she banged down on her side in a swirl of silken legs".

19. The only place left was the deck strewn with nervous cigarette butts and sprawled legs.

20. Puzzled wrinkles appeared on Mr Barbecue-Smith’s forehead.

Task2: In each of the following sentences replace the inverted epithets by non-figurative adjectives, and then by similes or simple epithets (for example, the toy of a girl – a nice girl, the girl like a toy. Translate the sentences into Ukrainian and comment on the method you applied to translate them.

1. She turned her eyes slowly back to him, her dry lips curved in a shadow of a smile.

2. It was October weather; the stone-grey sky was full of larks, the leaden mirror of the Thames brightened with autumnal foliage.

3. A small snake of irritation curled sharply up his throat and bit the back of his mouth.

4. Calgary's first impression of Leo Argyle was that he was so attenuated, so transparent, as hardly to be there at all. A wraith of a man!

5. Gerald Weise is a smiling, blue-eyed giant of a man.

6. The masses streamed toward the basilica in a euphoric torrent of humanity.

7. At his full height he was only up to her shoulder, a little dried-up pippin of a man.

8. A breeze blew curtains in and out like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling.

9. Can’t think how he married that glass of sour milk.

10. The late afternoon sky bloomed in the window for a moment like the blue honey of the Mediterranean--then the shrill voice of Mrs. McKee called me back into the room.

11. An ugly gingerbread brute of a boy with a revolting grin and as far as I was able to ascertain, no redeeming qualities of any sort.

12. He rose and stared down at the jeweler Eden was an adept at bargaining, but somehow all his cunning left him as he faced this Gibraltar of a man.

13. Duncan was a rather short, broad, dark-skinned taciturn Hamlet of a fellow with straight black hair.

14. So he saw and heard her the moment before the train appeared and paused, throwing up a Babylonian tower of smoke into the rain, and oppressing men's hearts with the scream of her whistle.

15. He fell into the water with a yell, spread-eagled like an ungainly frog, and his proud yachting cap floated towards the bamboo roots while he thrashed about in a porridge of water and mud.

Task3: Analyze the structure of the phrase epithets in the following sentences and suggest how their meaning should be rendered into Ukrainian

1. Jack looked toward Smokey, as desperate as a cornered animal . . . but Smokey was staring back with the thin-lipped, out-of-patience expression.

2. Man alive, don't you know that all this ... more-power-to-your-elbow business is got up in England, to fool you...

3. Clay left his feet where they were [on his friend's bed] for a few don't-tell-me-where-to-put-my-feet seconds, then swung them to the floor and sat up.

4. After a moment’s thought he decided to try the skittish let’s-all-have-a-jolly-game approach.

5. I closed my eyes, smelling the goodness of her sweat and the sunshine-in-the-breakfast-room smell of her lavender-water.

6. Willy was famous for having, as a child, witnessed his father's death, killed by a camel on along-planned long-looked-forward-to-visit to Egypt.

7. Naturally after we grabbed him we went to his office and house to see what we could find out – you know, where-you-were-on-the-night-of-June-6, 1894 - stuff and the present cook said she'd only been working for him since the 8th of October, and that led to that.

8. The place had its own peculiar smell, thrilling to devotees, compounded of warmth and water and chemicals and healthy wet green foliage. Adam loved this smell. He stood awhile smelling the plants and looking with satisfaction at the wet marble and hugging the private thrill of his own soon-to-be-swimming sensations.

9. Plain practical rowing of the get-the-boat-along order is not a very difficult art to acquire, but it takes a good deal of practice before a man feels comfortable when rowing past girls.

10. Then we would eat at the dining-table in the front kept-for-best-in-the-off-chance-HM-the-Queen-should-ever-drop-by-unannounced-and-be-in-desperate-need-of-a-cup-of-tea room with its doilies, polish china and scary macramé picture of a donkey that my late great-aunt Irene had made (Mike Gayle, Turning thirty)

11. His partner put a hand on his arm and nodded toward Jack in a little-pitchers-have-big-ears gesture.

12. Jack looked toward Smokey, as desperate as a cornered animal . . . but Smokey was staring back with the thin-lipped, out-of-patience expression.

13. He had the short body, the big shoulders, the round chest, no neck, a great ruddy beard, the tufted eyebrows, the “What do you want, damn you!” look about the eyes, and the whole catalogue.

14. In their matrimonial bickerings they were, upon the whole, a well-matched, fairly-balanced, give-and-take couple. It would have been, generally speaking, very difficult to have betted on the winner ".

15. Oh, I remember something she said while she was dressing. I didn't know what Chris said, but she said: "When I ask her she'll tell me," in that Queen-of-France way she talks sometimes.

16. The John-Bull-like lady over there, he learnt from the aunt, was ‘Mrs Tomkins, the kindest old soul.

Task4:In each sentences point out epithet and define its type and structure. Translate the sentences and comment on the ways you rendered epithets. Epithets of what structure lost their figurativeness in Ukrainian translation?

1. Lo recalled that scarecrow of a house, the solitude, the soggy old pastures, the wind, the bloated wilderness, with energy of disgust that distorted her mouth and fattened her half-revealed tongue.

2. He was deeply fond of the dog. It was so old and understanding and sagacious. He knew it was also a special favourite of his master's, a giantlimbed, violent-tempered brute of a man, and for that reason he was always watchful and careful of it, never letting it stray from sight.

3. And the "You be damned" spirit in her blood revolted. The impudence of it! Shadowing her! No! She was not going to leave Miss Fleur triumphant.

4. Then he turned down the lane and stood leaning on the orchard gate – grey skeleton of a gate.

5. Her brother was – and no doubt still is a prominent, pasty-faced, suspenders-and-painted-tie-wearing politician, major and booster of his ballplaying, Bible-reading, grain-handling home town.

6. Unfortunately, it never seemed to be chocolate cake and silver teapot day when Lady Montdore came.

7. …a thick old crow of a woman in a black dress put her nose out and regarded me suspiciously before letting me in.

8. During the past few weeks she had become most sharply conscious of the smiling interest of Hauptwanger. His straight lithe body – his quick, aggressive manner – his assertive, seeking eyes.

9. The heron’s legs were like stilts under its clumsy body. It’s dusky feathers hung shaggy, ungroomed. It was perfectly motionless. Its long beak pointed down from a head both unnoble and unbeautiful. The beak aimed down into the still, dark water. The heron occupied its own insignificant corner of the landscape in a timeless, long-legged solitude.

10. He (a son of a Harlan County miner) would sit on the railless porch with the men when the long, tired, dirty-faced evening rolled down the narrow valley, thankfully blotting out the streets of shacks, and listen to the talk.

11. Only once did McMurdo see him, a shy, little, gray-headed rat of a man.

12. Apart from variations of expression he really had three faces: the young, open, boyish one, which I saw most often in love and loved best; the petulant, explosive, tormented one, without patience and without malice, which was rooted in his paintings, his work, his drive to create, and the narrow, cautious one, eye-on-the-door, whisper-behind-your-hand, money envious, the one most rarely seen-at least by me.

13. A spasm of high-voltage nervousness ran through him.

14. She sighed, frowned, then clapped her big plump hands together in a let's-get-down-to-business manner, and again fired her beady eyes upon me.

15. They tramped gaily along, over decaying logs, through tangled underbrush, among solemn monarchs of the forest, hung from their crowns to the ground with drooping regalia of grapevines.

16. He crossed Tottenham Court Road and Gower Street, walking without any particular object, except to take the air. It was not until he was under its shadow and saw the vast bulk of London University insulting the autumnal sky that he remembered that here was the Ministry of Information.

Task5:Study the following passages, point out and analyze the structure and the meaning of the epithets and adjectives. What is the author trying to achieve by using them? Translate the passages and comment on the techniques you applied to render the epithets. Is the structure of the device preserved in translation? Comment on the means you applied to preserve the figurativeness of the text.

a) "I hope you come here good-humouredly determined to make the best of your position," continued the lady. "You will have to begin this morning by putting up with no other company at breakfast than mine. My sister is in her own room, nursing that essentially feminine malady, a slight headache; and her old governess, Mrs. Vesey, is charitably attending on her with restorative tea. My uncle, Mr. Fairlie, never joins us at any of our meals: he is an invalid, and keeps bachelor state in his own apartments. There is nobody else in the house but me. Two young ladies have been staying here, but they went away yesterday, in despair; and no wonder. All through their visit (in consequence of Mr. Fairlie's invalid condition) we produced no such convenience in the house as a flirtable, danceable, small-talkable creature of the male sex; and the consequence was, we did nothing but quarrel, especially at dinner-time. How can you expect four women to dine together alone every day, and not quarrel? We are such fools; we can't entertain each other at table. You see I don't think much of my own sex, Mr. Hartright - which will you have, tea or coffee?--no woman does think much of her own sex, although few of them confess it as freely as I do. Dear me, you look puzzled. Why? Are you wondering what you will have for breakfast? or are you surprised at my careless way of talking? In the first case, I advise you, as a friend, to have nothing to do with that cold ham at your elbow, and to wait till the omelette comes in. In the second case, I will give you some tea to compose your spirits, and do all a woman can (which is very little, by-the-bye) to hold my tongue.

b) The figure seated on a large boulder at the foot of the round tower was that of broadshouldered, deep-chested, strong-limbed, frank-eyed, red-haired, freckled, shaggy-bearded, wide-mouthed, large-nosed, deep-voiced, ruby-faced hero. From shoulder to shoulder he measured several ells and his rocklike mountainous knees were covered, as was likewise the rest of his body wherever visible, with a strong growth of tawny prickly hair in hue and toughness similar to the mountain gorse (Ulex Europeus). The widewinged nostrils, from which bristles of the same tawny hue projected, were of such capaciousness that within their cavernous obscurity the fieldlark might easily have lodged her nest. The eyes in which a tear and a smile strove ever for the mastery were of the dimensions of a goodsized cauliflower.

Task6:Study the following passages, pick out and analyze the semantics and type of epithets. Find other stylistic devices that account for text expressiveness in the source text. Paraphrase and explain them avoiding the use of imagery. State degree of their equivalent translation in the Ukrainian language

Thus, by our standards fully equipped, we left the clammy shores of England.

France rain-washed and sorrowful, Switzerland like a Christmas cake, Italy exuberant, noisy, and smelly, were passed, leaving only confused memories. The tiny ship throbbed away from the heel of Italy out into the twilit sea, and as we slept in our stuffy cabins, somewhere in that tract of moon-polished water we passed the invisible dividing-line and entered the bright, looking-glass world of Greece. Slowly this sense of change seeped down to us, and so, at dawn, we awoke restless and went on deck.