Aitmukhanbetova A.S.
Master of Humanitarian Science
Senior teacher
of al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Origin of phraseology in contemporary English
Phraseological
units, or idioms, as they are called by most western scholars, represent what
can probably be described as the most picturesque, colorful and expressive part
of the language’s vocabulary. While reading different papers I really liked the
comparison in the sentence as below: “If synonyms can be figuratively referred
to as the tints and colors of the vocabulary, then phraseology is a kind of
picture gallery in which are collected vivid and amusing sketches of the
nation’s customs, traditions and prejudices, recollections of its past history,
scraps of folk songs and fairy-tales. Phraseological units, (also called
idiom), is a word group with a fixed lexical composition and grammatical
structure; its meaning, which is familiar to native speakers of the given
language, is generally figurative and cannot be derived from the meanings of
the phraseological unit’s component parts. The meanings of phraseological units
are the result of the given language’s historical development. Most English
phraseological units are known for native speakers but authors of them are
unknown. These phraseological units are connected with the customs and
traditions of the English and with realia and historical facts. For instance, blue stocking ―( ñèíèé ÷óëîê in Russian) is an educated, intellectual woman, more
specifically a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1720–1800), the
"Queen of the Blues", and including Elizabeth Vesey (1715–91), Hester Chapone (1727–1801), and
the classicist Elizabeth
Carter (1717–1806). In the following generation came Hester Lynch Piozzi (1741–1821), Hannah More (1745–1833), and Frances Burney (1752–1840). Until
the late 18th century, the term had referred to learned people of both sexes.
It subsequently was applied primarily to intellectual women, and the French
equivalent bas bleu had a similar connotation. The term later developed
negative implications, and in some instances such women were stereotyped as
being "frumpy". The reference to blue stockings may arise from the
time when woollen worsted stockings were
informal dress, in contrast to formal, fashionable black silk stockings.
Curiously, the most frequent such reference is to a man, Benjamin Stillingfleet, who reportedly lacked the formal black stockings,
yet still participated in the Blue Stockings Society.
The most significant literary source of phraseological
units is the Bible Phraseological units from the Bible are mostly borrowed. For
instance, the golden rule ― «çîëîòîå ïðàâèëî»
(translation in English), a wise rule which helps everyone and in most cases.
In the original version it sounds as follows:
ìóäðîå: «Treat
others so as you want to be treated».
«According to quantity of phraseological units which
enrich the English language the works of Shakespeare is in the second position
after the Bible. They are above 100». One of the most known phraseological
units is taken from the tragedy
«Othello»: the green ― eyed monster (literary.) ―«÷óäîâèùå ñ çåëåíûìè ãëàçàìè»
translation in Russian, meaning to be jealous.
Apart from Shakespeare, other genius writers made
their contribution to enrich the English language and particularly its
phraseology. Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Charles
Dickens, Walter Scott and others are among them.
Majority of English phraseology is connected with antique history and culture.
Unsurprisingly most of them bear international character and can be met in most
languages. For instance, phraseological
unit the golden age — çîëîòîé âåê (in Russian) can be
referred to antique mythology. Greek poet Hesiod in his poem «Works and Days» describes himself as the heir of a farm bequeathed to him and his
brother Perses. However, Perses apparently squandered his wealth and came back
for what is owned by Hesiod. Perses went to law and bribed the lords to judge
in his favour. The poem contains a sharp attack against unjust judges
like those who decided in favour of Perses; they are depicted as pocketing bribes
as they render their unfair verdicts. Hesiod seems to have thought that instead
of giving him money or property which he will again spend in no time, it is
better to teach him the virtues of work and to impart his wisdom which can be
used to generate an income. The following
phraseological unit can be set as an example of the
expression: Kill the goose that laid/ lays the golden eggs —
óáèòü êóðèöó, íåñóùóþ çîëîòûå ÿéöà (in Russian).
There are an enormous number of phraselogical units
came from French. As far as phraselogical units borrowed from German are
concerned they are not immense. A proverb firstly used by Thomas Carlyle can be
served as an
example: Speech is silver, silence is golden ― «ñëîâî ― ñåðåáðî, ìîë÷àíèå ― çîëîòî». Finally there are a few phraselogical units came
from the Spanish language and culture: Blue blood ― ãîëóáàÿ êðîâü. "It’s a direct translation of the Spanish sangre azul.
Many of the oldest and proudest families of Castile used to boast that they
were pure bred, having no link with the Moors who had for so long controlled
the country, or indeed any other group. As a mark of this, they pointed to
their veins, which seemed bluer in colour than those of such foreigners. This
was simply because their blue-tinted veins showed up more prominently in their
lighter skin, but they took it to be a mark of their pure breeding."
Difficulties of translation of
phraseological units
Translation of phraseological units is topical for the
contemporary translatology nowadays. According to many outstanding specialists,
phraseological units are lexical combinations, the meaning of which is defined
by the whole expression. The most distinctive feature of phraseological unit is
its emotional expressiveness and conciseness of thought expression. Fairly
often, phraseological units are functioning in the newspaper style. It should
be noted that phraseological units are very often transformed into “stock
phrases”. Defining phraseological units in the text and the ability to find an
equivalent to it during the translation process is the most important stage for
the translat or. In order to translate a phraseological unit, the translator
should use phraseological dictionaries and context plays an important role
during the translation process. In conclusion it should be noted that
phraseological units reflect culture and a national mentality of a definite
nation. Due to this reason, translation of phraseological units is one of the
topical issues for the contemporary translatology. Phraseological units are an
integral part of any language or culture and knowing these units and
appropriate interpretation of them is an evidence of appropriate translation of
the whole expression or a work of art.
References
1.
Chitalina, N.A. (1995). Translation
Manual. Lexical Challenges of Translation (p. 44). Moscow: International
Relations.
2.
Ivanova, I.V. (1999). Translation
Challenges of Phraseological Units (on the Basis of German Economic Texts). Proceedings ROSI, 3, 47-51.
3.
Komissarov, V.N., Koralova, A.L.
(1999). Practical Manual on the Translation from English into Russian
(p. 14). Moscow:
Vysshaya shkola.
4.
Kuzmin, S.S. (2007). Idiomatic
Translation from Russian into English (Theory and Practice) (pp. 7-291). Moscow: Flinta: Nauka.
5.
Slepovich, V.S. (2005). Translation
Manual (the English and the Russian Languages) (pp. 74-79). Minsk: TetraSystems.