Научная статья на тему 'ENGLISH IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS AS A MEANS OF CREATING A SPECIFIC IMAGERY OF A NEWSPAPER TEXT'

ENGLISH IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS AS A MEANS OF CREATING A SPECIFIC IMAGERY OF A NEWSPAPER TEXT Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

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Ключевые слова
IDIOM / IMAGERY / JOURNALISTIC STYLE / PROVERBS / SAYINGS / MODIFICATION / NEWSPAPER / ELLIPSIS / PARCELING / CONTAMINATION

Аннотация научной статьи по языкознанию и литературоведению, автор научной работы — Guzikova Valentina Victorovna

The article regards the views of some prominent researchers in the field of studying English idiomatic expressions, used with the aim of creating a specific imagery while writing a newspaper material. Phraseological units, proverbs, sayings and popular expressions are an integral stylistic component of the newspaper's language, a significant source of expressive and emotional saturation, an essential means of implementing the constructive and stylistic peculiarities of newspaper speech. Relying upon the classifications of the well-known linguists, the author of the article concludes that all the possible modifications can be subdivided into the four most common groups. By means of idioms that are not translated verbatim, but are perceived in an updated form, as a result of which the aesthetic aspect of the language is enhanced respectively.

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Текст научной работы на тему «ENGLISH IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS AS A MEANS OF CREATING A SPECIFIC IMAGERY OF A NEWSPAPER TEXT»

Lingual didactics and professional Lingual didactics ratio is the ratio of the whole and its part. If lingual didactics is considered as a whole theory of language learning then professional Lingual didactics formulates the foreign language learning main regularities using originally empirical and then scientifically proved data [5].

In conclusion it may be stated that professional Lingual didactics is being developed as Lingual didactics field having it own aims and content. The main directions of professional Lingual didactics are scientific proving of legal pointing out of professional Lingual didactics as a foreign language learning methodological base for professional purposes; lingual didactics integrative nature description, its categorical and terminological vocabulary developing; purposes and the whole professional oriented foreign language learning methodical infrastructure determination on the foundation of new methodological approaches; selection and developing of language materials to be helpful in mastering language competence in all kinds of language activity; lingual professional environment creation for foreign language mastering; development of foreign language professional communicative competence model formation that is a professional oriented key concept.

References:

1. Erchak N.T. Foreign languages: mastering psychology. Training manual. Moscow. 2013. P. 215. (In Russian).

2.Zimnaya A. A. Speech activity lingual psychology. Moscow. 2001. P. 402 (In Russian).

3.Kolshanskii V. G. Lingual heritage of XX c.Ed.№ 3. Moscow. 2007. P. 15. (In Russian).

4.Batunova I.V., The educational process in learning of foreign language (English) in non-linguistic institutions/ Batunova I.V.// International Research Journal. 2017. № 01 (55) Vol 3. pp. 25—27. URL: https://research-journal.org/pedagogy/process-obucheniya-inostrannomu-anglijskomu-yazyku-v-neyazykovyx-vuzax/ doi: 10.23670/IRJ.2017.55.035 (date of access 06.12.2021). (In Russian).

5.Batunova I.V., Lobyneva E.I., Nikolaeva A.Yu. Application of effective training methods at foreign language classes at non-linguistic (technical) higher education institutes/ Batunova I.V., Lobyneva E.I., Nikolaeva A.Yu. // International Research Journal. 2018. — № 1 (67) Vol. 4. pp. 11—14. URL: https://research-journal.org/pedagogy/primenenie-effektivnyx-metodov-obucheniya-na-zanyatiyax-po-inostrannomu-yazyku-v-neyazykovyx-texnicheskix-vuzax/ doi: 10.23670/IRJ.2018.67.045 (date of access 06.12.2021). (In Russian).

УДК 81.811.11-26

ENGLISH IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS AS A MEANS OF CREATING A SPECIFIC IMAGERY OF

A NEWSPAPER TEXT

Guzikova Valentina Victorovna

Cand. Sc. (Philology), Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages, Ural Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia,

Yekaterinburg, Russia

Abstract. The article regards the views of some prominent researchers in the field of studying English idiomatic expressions, used with the aim of creating a specific imagery while writing a newspaper material. Phraseological units, proverbs, sayings and popular expressions are an integral stylistic component of the newspaper's language, a significant source of expressive and emotional saturation, an essential means of implementing the constructive and stylistic peculiarities of newspaper speech. Relying upon the classifications of the well-known linguists, the author of the article concludes that all the possible modifications can be subdivided into the four most common groups. By means of idioms that are not translated verbatim, but are perceived in an updated form, as a result of which the aesthetic aspect of the language is enhanced respectively.

Keywords: idiom, imagery, journalistic style, proverbs, sayings, modification, newspaper, ellipsis, parceling, contamination.

Introduction. Our research interest is the question of idiomatic expressions of the English language as a means of creating a specific imagery of a newspaper material. Phraseology plays one of the most significant roles in the language due to its semantic richness, imagery, color, conciseness and brightness. It brings to oral and written speech such important features as smoothness, originality and grace. One can't but agree with Professor A.V. Kunin, one of the well-known researchers in the area in question, who refers to phraseology as "the treasury of language". "Phraseological units reflect the history of the people, the originality of their culture and way of life. The English Phraseological Foundation is a complex conglomerate of ancestral and borrowed phraseological units with a clear predominance of the former" [Kunin 1996: 5].

A significant number of English idioms are closely related to ancient mythology, history, literature (the root of all evil - корень зла; the olive branch - оливковая ветвь (a symbol of peace and tranquility)). Some idioms go back to Aesop's fables and other Greek legends and fairy tales (cherish a viper in one's bosom - to warm a snake on your chest; the lion's share - львиная доля; blow hot and cold - "to be indecisive; to waver"- семь пятниц на неделе). A significant contribution to the English "treasury of language" was made by such

languages as French (burn the candle at both ends -"burn life", crème de la crème - "сливки общества"); German (be on the fritz - "broken or not functioning properly" - отдает концы; «сдыхает»); Spanish (tilt at windmills - "fight with windmills", mano a mano - "hand to hand"); Russian (Russian roulette -"extreme risk or danger, usually self-inflicted" - русская рулетка )); Chinese (lose face - "lose prestige", kowtow -"behave humbly and obey someone without question" ); Italian (every dog is a lion at home — every sandpiper is great in his swamp) and many more.

Materials and Methods. As is known as a fact, idioms are widely used not only in oral speech and works of authors of fiction, but also in the media text, making the style of presentation imaginative, bright and colorful. Cases of the use of idioms in newspaper texts show that often the functioning of idioms goes beyond the traditional idea of their stability and immutability. Modern journalism focuses on creating bright, attention-grabbing material.

Widely using the pun for non-standard use of idioms, the authors of newspaper articles prefer to transform the component composition of idioms or their location in relation to each other, which not only does not destroy the idiom, but, on the contrary, intensifies its meaning. Special cases of the use of idioms in newspaper and advertising texts explain the revival of interest in the problems of phraseology caused by the desire of linguists to determine the emerging patterns in the transformation of idioms.

Idiomatic expressions carry a huge functional, stylistic and emotional-expressive load in the media. Phraseological units can represent figures of speech, i.e. reinterpreted phrases that are used not in ordinary, but in special, figurative meanings. An important condition for achieving the highest possible quality of intercultural communication and reducing the inevitable losses during translation is a very careful, accurate handling of idioms. Erudition, knowledge from the field of regional studies - history, culture, customs and traditions of English-speaking countries always helps. [Chuzhakin, Palazhchenko 2000: 62].

Journalistic style is a functional type of speech that serves a wide range of public relations: cultural, sports, socio-political, etc. The journalistic style is most fully manifested in newspapers and socio-political magazines, which is why it is also called newspaper or magazine-publicist [Vinogradov 1977:76]. The style under consideration has two main functions, merged in unity - informational and influencing.

In accordance with V.G. Kostomarov, the main constructive principle of the newspaper's language is a dialectical combination of standard and expression. This is explained not only by such functions of the newspaper as informational and influencing, but also by the fact that the language of the newspaper should "be communicatively denoted, that is, clear and expressive, precise, concise" [Kostomarov 1971:90].

Phraseological units, proverbs, sayings and popular expressions are an obligatory stylistic component of the newspaper's language, an important source of expressive and emotional saturation, an essential means of implementing the constructive and stylistic peculiarities of newspaper speech. They give the newspaper text a certain influencing power, help to create a specific imagery. They are able not only to express the corresponding thought more succinctly, but also to convey an attitude, an assessment.

For example, the proverb Когда рак на горе свистнет (When pigs fly,) conveys a greater expressivity, evaluation, than the free phrase used for saying that something will never happen. The phraseological unit не менять своего мнения или решения (to stick to one's guns) is more expressive than the expression to remain determined, resolute, or steadfast in one's opinion, belief, or perspective; to refuse to be persuaded by someone else into believing or doing something one does not agree with. (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. 2015).

Here is an example of using an idiom in a newspaper text: "After some soul-searching, Morgan decided to stick to his guns, and ultimately leave GMB". - «После некоторого самоанализа Морган решил придерживаться своего мнения и в конечном итоге покинуть GMB». (The Hollywood Reporter, 28 March 2021)

"Basically she (Tammy) talked about it for as long as I can remember and she'd just say 'I'm going to do a coffee shop and it's going to happen, " Maggie said. "The whole time I'd say OK, it's not going to happen, I'd say when pigs fly!" (Portsmouth Daily Times, 2020, September 15).

In order to create an artistic effect, the authors of media texts resort to the transformation of phraseological units. "For stylistic purposes, phraseological units can be used both unchanged and in a transformed form, with a different meaning and structure, or with new expressive and stylistic properties" [Shansky 1985:149]. Most often, transformation is understood as "any deviation from the generally accepted norm fixed in the linguistic literature, as well as an improvised change for expressive and stylistic purposes" [Guseynova 1997:7].

Literature Review. The modification of phraseological units is considered in the works of many researchers of phraseology: N.M. Shansky, T.S. Guseynova, V.V. Gorlov, etc. Summarizing the classifications of the above-mentioned linguists, all transformations can be divided into 4 most general groups:

1) semantic modifications,

2) lexical modifications,

3) syntactic modifications,

4) morphological modifications

5) word-formation modifications

In lexical modifications as a result of more or less significant changes in the component composition of the PU, while the syntactic structure of the phraseological unit remains unchanged: it does not lengthen or shorten.

This type of transformation includes techniques for replacing and re-installing PU components.

For example: Astroworld Disaster Rekindles Fears About Music Festival Safety. Those fears were rekindled again with Travis Scott's Astroworld festival in Houston last Friday, where nine people died and more than 300 were injured, at a packed event that drew 50,000 people to NRG Park. (New York Times, 2021) - Эти опасения вновь возродились с фестивалем Astroworld Трэвиса Скотта в Хьюстоне в прошлую пятницу, где девять человек погибли и более 300 получили ранения, на многолюдном мероприятии, которое привлекло 50 000 человек в парк NRG. In PU kindle the flame - to light the flame of something, there is a lexical replacement of the second part of the phraseological unit. This is done in order to create a closer connection of the PU semantics with the subject of the text.

Syntactic modifications of idioms lead to lengthening, shortening or changing the syntactic structure of the phraseological unit. These include: reduction (ellipsis); addition (wedging) of components; change of the communicative type of the sentence; parceling; contamination; allusion.

Reduction is a contraction of the PU structure, omission of significant elements. In most cases, the verb is omitted in the PU with the structure of the phrase, since it, being the structural core of verbal phraseological units, does not carry the main thematic load, and, consequently, its reduction does not pose a danger to semantics of the phraseological unit.

For example:

As we prepare to brave the third Covid-19 wave, the silver lining may yet give us grit and resilience, a way forward in the post-pandemic journey, quite akin to post-war recovery where the capacity of citizens to earn a living is the biggest buffer for the fragility of a state. (the dictionary form of this PU is every cloud has a silver lining) - В то время как мы готовимся противостоять третьей волне Covid-19, луч надежды все же может дать нам выдержку и стойкость, путь вперед в постпандемическом путешествии, весьма похожий на послевоенное восстановление, когда способность граждан зарабатывать на жизнь, является самым большим буфером для хрупкости государства. (Dawn, November 15 2021).

The ellipse also includes the truncation of the phraseological unit - the reduction of the initial or final elements of a multicomponent PU, when an incomplete, open construction arises. Especially often the truncation is used when quoting. For example, the well-known English proverb "One bad apple spoils the bunch" (or barrel, or bin). - the harmful effect or influence that one person or thing may have on others" is very often used in a truncated form: "One bad apple and bad apple". An example is the following statement:

He said another part of his job is to educate students about Islam and the different sects within it. "There was a lot of profiling following 9/11," Gray said. "Unfortunately, our students get in a habit of blaming everyone because of one bad apple." - (Indiana News and Tribune (9/12/2011).

The addition of components is possible in any part of the PU - at the beginning, at the end or in the middle (in this case, they talk about wedging). When adding components, there is an "increment of meaning, and it is the added component that takes on the main emotional and expressive load, since due to its novelty and inaccuracy it is not predicted by the reader" [Vnuk 2008:78].

For instance:

"I read no social media, period," Blakeney said. "I'm sure I'd be a damn basket case if I did." -Montgomery Advertiser (11/11/2011) - Я не читаю никаких социальных сетей, точка", - сказал Блейкни. "Я уверен, что был бы чертовски глуп, если бы сделал это".

While all stocks tend to go down during an economic slowdown or recession, "the higher yielding dividend stocks weather the storm better," he says. —The Wall Street Journal (10/2/2011) - В то время как все акции, как правило, падают во время экономического спада или рецессии, "более высокодоходные дивидендные акции лучше переносят трудную ситуацию", - говорит он.

Discussions. Cases of occasional changes in the communicative type of the PU utterance are few and include mainly the formation of narrative sentences into interrogative ones. They are most often used in headlines to attract the attention of readers and stimulate their interest. For example: Is there really as good fish in the sea? (USAT) - Свет клином не сошёлся?

Parcelling is a special modification technique of the PU, which consists in the fact that the elements of the phraseological unit are separated by a comma or a full stop. This technique is used to enhance the rapid response of PU, although it is used infrequently. The most important information is highlighted and emphasized by the parcelling. For example:

The lines they draw will last for the decade, so they'll influence who gets elected to Congress and the Statehouse. No small potatoes. — Dallas Morning News (1/3/2011) - Направления, которые они определят, продлятся десять лет, поэтому они будут влиять на то, кто будет избран в Конгресс и Палату представителей. Никакой мелкой сошки.

Contamination is understood as "a stylistic device that establishes the syntactic and semantic interconnection of two or more PU due to the loss of a component in at least one phraseological unit" [Vnuk 2008:80].

For instance:

Aonach Mor may be a step ahead of the game because it is a new skiing resort with attitudes untainted by years of traditional working practices. (Scotsman). - Аонак Мор может оказаться на шаг впереди всех, поскольку это новый лыжный курорт, не подвергшийся влиянию установок многолетней традиционной практики работы.

In this case, there is a contamination of two English phraseological units: ahead of the game - ahead of everyone, in a winning position (впереди всех, в выигрышном положении), a step ahead - one step ahead (на шаг впереди).

Morphological modifications include changes in the grammatical aspect of phraseological meaning. In this case, we are talking about the modification of articles, the number of nouns, forms of degrees of comparison of adjectives, tense forms of verbs, etc. The example may be as follows:

Their sparkling white BMW is an electric model they say can go about 80 miles before petering out. — The Bergen Record (4/15/2012) - Их сверкающий белый BMW - электрическая модель, которая, по их словам, может проехать около 80 миль, прежде чем иссякнет.

Engineers employed a lot of guesswork, adopting a standard that structures inside nuclear plants should have three times the quake resistance of general buildings. "There was no basis in deciding on three times," said Mr. Aoyama, an emeritus professor of structural engineering at the University of Tokyo. "They were shooting from the hip," he added, making a sign of a pistol with his right thumb and index finger. —The New York Times (3/26/2011) - Инженеры использовали много догадок, приняв стандарт, согласно которому конструкции внутри атомных станций должны обладать в три раза большей устойчивостью к землетрясениям, чем обычные здания. "Не было никаких оснований принимать решение трижды", -сказал г-н Аояма, почетный профессор строительной инженерии Токийского университета.

"Они стреляли от бедра", - добавил он, делая знак пистолета большим и указательным пальцами правой руки.

Real estate barons have reaped fortunes, and taxpayers are left holding the bag. -The Washington Post (7/14/2011) - Бароны недвижимости нажили состояния, а налогоплательщики остались на бобах.

Conclusions. It should be pointed out that the possibilities of morphological transformations in PU are too limited unlike free combinations of words and, as a rule, are accompanied by other occasional modifications. The word-formation modifications of the PU components are very limited and do not differ in diversity. Most often, this is just the addition of word-forming affixes.

Using the example of the studies considered, it can be stated that the number of phraseological units found in English newspaper articles are used not

only in the form in which they exist in the language, but also in a modified form, updating the semantics, structure and expressive-stylistic properties of idiomatic expressions. New semantic shades are created, respectively; a new artistic quality of phraseological units appears.

Thus, we can conclude that in the hands of experienced English-speaking journalists, phraseological units and idioms become one of the most effective linguistic means of expressiveness and emotiveness, which gives the texts of the modern English and American press a lively, imaginative sound and a special stylistic coloring. It is due to idiomatic phrases that are not translated verbatim, but are perceived reinterpreted, the aesthetic aspect of the language is enhanced.

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The Hollywood Reporter, 28 March 2021 - URL: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/piers-morgan-returns-to-bashing-meghan-markle-blames-tyranny-of-woke-mobs-for-tv-exit-4157452/

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