DENOTATION AND

CONNOTATION IN

TRANSLATION

“Dunărea de Jos” of Galaţi

Faculty of Letters

Masters in Translation and Interpreting

Coman Ileana

Prodan Madalina

Anul I, 2009-2010

the primary meaning of a lexical item, involving its relationship to the non-linguistic entities which it represents

for most linguists, the cognitive or communicative aspect of meaning

the dictionary definition

equivalent to extensional meaning

accounts for the relationship between the linguistic sign and its object.

“Nevertheless, it is not possible to equate denotation with the object for the same reasons that make it impossible for the referential meaning to cover all its aspects.” (Zdrenghea, 1977: 22)

more dictionaries are necessary in order to establish the denotative meaning of a word (Levitchi, 1975:19).

DENOTATION – definition

emotional meaning (Venuti, 2000: 21)

the emotional overtones a speaker usually associates with each individual use of a word.

“The connotative aspects of meaning are highly subjective springing from the personal experiences which each speaker has had of a given word as well as from the attitude he would like to emphasize either towards what he wants to express or towards the person he is speaking to.” (Chitoran, 1973: 35)

CONNOTATION – definition

connotations are of two types : objectives and subjectives.

A noun like roserose from English or his Romanian equivalent trandafirtrandafir has “positive” connotations: beauty, perfume, youth, freshness; and the word hyena – hiena has “negative” connotations: ugliness, rapacity, danger for people.

These are connotations accepted by a very large social group, that allow us to call them (conventionally) – objectives.

Less interesting, however not to be neglected by the translator, are the subjective connotations, revived by personal experiences and being often opposed and contrasted to the objective connotations. At a social level, rose “trandafir” has positive connotations. However, it can have e negative connotation in the example: rose-fever /-cold, a kind of “rinita alergica” caused by the pollen not always “benign” of the flower.

Classification of CONNOTATIONS

1. a word that evokes the referent; 2. a word that evokes one or more attributes of the referent; 3. a word that evokes another word; 4. a word that evokes itself.

(Levitchi,1975/1993: 115)

1. A word that evokes the referent. This connotation is onomatopoeic; the sounds or a part of the sounds that form the word imitate the sounds characteristics to the referent:

e.g. cock-a-doodle-do: cucurigu; bow-wow: ham-ham;

cuckoo: cuc, cucu; to hiss: a sasai; to gobble (about turkeys):

a bolborosi; to flutter: a falfai; plump: baldabac, pleosc;

murmur: murmur, susur. • no correspondent in the target language, e.g. to halloo: a striga;

lullaby: cantec de leagan; to crack: a (se) sparge (but: a crapa).

Connotations are classified according to their nature, as following:

2. A word that evokes one or more attributes of the referent. Simple word (rose), compound word, metaphor, simile, metonymy, synecdoche

and some other figures of speech evoke one or more attributes of the referent. Nose with its metaphorized and attested sense of “prora”, “bot (de corabie)” evokes the prominence, the front placement and the sharpness of the nose.

3. A word that evokes another word. There are three important aspects of the association : A. by analogy; B. by contiguity; C. by contrast. A. Association by analogy: consonantal group; rhyme; derivatives; similar words

without motivation; evocation by similar contents.

B. Association by contiguity: ellipsis, stylistic derivation, anacoluthon.

C. Association by contrast: explicit monovalent antonyms, explicit polyvalent antonyms, implicit antonyms.

4. A word that evokes itself . A word can evoke itself diachronic and synchronic.

A. Diachronic evocation: archaisms, etymology. Archaisms: yon (adj., pron.) “acel(a)”, “ace(e)a”, “acei(a)” sau acele(a)” expresses a

greater distance than that and those, was used more rarely even when it hasn't been an archaism yet, today it is a poetism too.

Etymology: pen “toc” or “stilou”, still remembers us in a way about the old sense of “pana”, “condei” from which they derived (the Romanian “toc” or “stilou” don't have such etymological connotations).

B Synchronic evocation: 1. Semantic dominant2. Metasense3. The Dominant of the grammatical sense4. Echo-Words

EXAMPLES

“ Once upon a time, on an inhabited island on the shores of the Red Sea, there lived a Parsee from whose hat the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental splendour. And the Parsee lived by the Red Sea with nothing but his hat and his knife and a cooking-stove of the kind that you must particularly never touch. And one day he took flour and water and currants and plums and sugar and things, and made himself one cake which was two feet across and three feet thick. It was indeed a Superior Comestible (that’s Magic), and he put it on the stove because be baked it till it was done brown and smelt most sentimental. But just as he was going to eat it there came down to the beach from the Altogether Uninhabitable Interior one Rhinoceros with a horn on his nose, two piggy eyes, and few manners. In those days, the Rhinoceros's skin fitted him quite tight. There were no wrinkles in it anywhere. He looked exactly like a Noah's Ark Rhinoceros, but of course much bigger.''

("How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin", Rudyard Kipling)

Some words and phrases are difficult concerning denotations and translation. Parsee "pars"(neatestat de DLRM, DLRC etc,, dar prezent in Dictionarul german-roman publ. de

Ed. Academiei RSR, 1966); la origine, persan inchinator al lui Zoroastru si al focului, refugiat in India dupa 766 e.n. pentru a scapa de persecutia mahomedanilor.

from whose hat etc. - parsii purtau (atat in casa cat si afara) palarii conice dintr-un material lucios

of the kind... never touch "din cele pe care, cu nici un chip, nu trebuie sa le atingi". currants (aici) "stafide negre" plums (aici) "stafide obisnuite" and things "si multe altele", "si cate si mai cate" one cake "o prajitura", "o turta"; one nu are valoarea accentuala a numeralului - este

doar un inlocuitor al articolului a(n) in limbajul copiilor. ...across and... thick... (in) lungime si... (in) latime Superior Comestible "Aliment Superior" (Kipling imita ironic reclamele comerciale,

dupa cum reiese si din paranteza that's Magic "ce magie a cuvintelor"!). till it was all done brown "pana cand s-a innegrit de prajita ce era". and smelt most sentimental "si mirosea grozav de imbietor", "si mirosul te innebunea,

nu alta" (sentimental, ca atatea alte cuvinte, e dinanins folosit impropriu). the Altogether Uninhabited Interior "Tinutul cu totul si cu totul de nelocuit"; Kipling

parodiaza stilul povestilor cu uriasi pe care le-a citit in copilarie (caracteristice sunt si initialele majuscule)

a Noah's Ark Rhinoceros "un rinocer din corabia/arca lui Noe"; referirea e la o jucarie pentru copii imitand arca lui Noe.

(Leviţchi, 1993: 30)

Comments:

In order to illustrate the possibility of expressing all the denotations from an English text in a translation without doing any harm to the Romanian language, we chose a paragraph from Nostromo (part II, chapter 1) by Joseph Conrad. The translation was done by Andrei Ion Deleanu and was published by EPLU, Bucharest, 1969. (Leviţchi, 1993: 32)

Through good and evil report in the varying fortune of that struggle which Don José had characterized in the phrase, "the fate of national honesty trembles in the balance", the Gould Concession, "Imperium in Imperio", had gone on working; the square mountain had gone on pouring its treasure down the wooden shoots to the unresting batteries of stamps; the lights of San Tomé had twinkled night after night upon the great, limitless shadow of the Campo; every three months the silver escort had gone down to the sea as if neither the war nor its consequences could ever effect the ancient Occidental State secluded beyond its high barrier of the Cordillera. All the fighting took place on the other side of that mighty wall of serrated peaks lorded over by the white dome of Higuerota and as yet unbreached by the railway, of which only the first part, the easy Campo part from Sulaco to the Ivie Valley at the foot of the pass, had been laid. Neither did the telegraph line cross the mountains yet; its poles, like slender beacons on the plain, penetrated into the forest fringe of the foothills cut by the deep avenue of the track; and its wire ended abruptly in the construction camp at a white deal table supporting a Morse apparatus, in a long hut of planks with a corrugated iron roof overshadowed by gigantic cedar trees - the quarters of the engineers in charge of the advance section.

Cu zile mai bune sau mai rele in soarta variabila a luptei pe care Don José o caracterizase prin fraza "soarta probitatii nationale oscileaza in balanta", concesiunea Gould, acest "Imperium in imperio", isi continuase opera: din muntele patrat continuasera sa curga comori in scocurile de lemn spre neobositele baterii de maiuri; luminile de la San Tomé licarisera noapte de noapte peste vastul, netarmuritul intuneric de pe Campo; la fiecare trei luni escorta argintului coborase la mare, ca si cum nici razboiul nici consecintele lui n-ar fi putut vreodata sa atinga fostul Stat Occidental izolat dupa inalta bariera a Cordilierei. Toate luptele au avut loc dincolo de maiestusoul zid dantelat de culmi peste care domnea cupola imaculata a Higuerotei, inca nestrapuns de calea ferata, pentru ca nu fusese asezata decat prima parte, partea mai usoara, de pe Campo, de la Sulaco pana la Valea Ivie, la poalele trecatorii. Nici linia de telegraf nu strabatuse inca muntii; stalpii ei, ca niste faruri zvelte pe intinsul campiei, patrundeau pana la liziera padurii de la poalele muntilor, in care se taiase o fasie larga pentru linia ferata, si firul se oprea brusc la cantonamentul santierului, la o masa mica de lemn nevopsit pe care era un aparat Morse, intr-o lunga baraca de scanduri cu acoperis de tabla ondulata dominata de niste cedri uriasi - cartierul general al inginerului care conducea primul tronson.

Interesting for the connotative aspects is the analysis made by Marjorie Boulton to James Shirley's poem, "The glories of our blood and state". (published in "The Anatomy of Poetry", Routledge Paperback, 2nd impression, London, 1970, p. 164-167)

1 The glories of our blood and state

2 Are shadows, not substantial things;

3 There is no armour against Fate;

4 Death lays his icy hand on kings:

5 Sceptre and crown 6 Must tumble down 7 And in the dust be equal made 8 With the poor crooked scythe

and spade. 9 Some men with swords may

reap the field, 10 And plant fresh laurels

where they kill; 11 But their strong nerves at las

must yield; 12 They tame but one another

still:

13 Early or late, 14 They stoop to fate, 15 And must give up their

murmuring breath, 16 When they, pale captives,

creep to death. 17 The garlands wither on

your brow, 18 The boast no more your

mighty deeds; 19 Upon Death's purple altar

now 20 See where the victor-victim

bleeds: 21 Your heads must come 22 To the cold tomb; 23 Only the action of the just 24 Smell sweet and blossom in

the dust.

Intrucat nimeni nu contesta faptul ca atat cei mari cat si cei obscuri trebuie sa moara, valoarea poeziei sta in bogatele sale asociatii.

O parafrazare a poeziei ar putea sugera ca fondul sau continutul de idei, desi catusi de putin banal, este atat de evident incat nu ar necesita 24 de versuri muzicale, alcatuite cu efort: "Ierarhia pamanteasca este nerealista pentru ca sfarseste in moarte, inevitabila atat pentru regi, cat si pentru tarani. Luptatorii pot castiga faima omorand, dar si ei sunt supusi mortii. Faima e trecatoare, biruitorii sunt victime, toate sunt muritoare; numai faptele bune supravietuiesc dupa moarte". Ne putem intreba daca poezia spune mai mult decat atat.

Imaginile extrem de concrete dau forta poeziei si o salveaza din conditia de morala plictisitoare pe marginea unei platitudini. Pana si rangul devine "sange" (de obicei un cuvant tulburator); nu exista "platosa" care sa ne apere impotriva soartei, iar mana sortii e "inghetata" (icy) - o mana reala; regalitatea e zugravita ca "sceptru si coroana" si aceste obiecte reprezentative nu "cad", ci, intr-un chip mai brutal si intr-un limbaj mai simplu, "se poticnesc", ceea ce sugereaza slabiciunea si neajutorarea copilariei. Saracul nu este un vag "pastor" - il tipizeaza "coasa si harletul"; Faima este laur si "ghirlanda" reala; si cum "ghirlanda" e reala, ea trebuie sa se "vestejeasca" repede. Faptele dreptatii sunt flori "placut mirositoare".

Altarul mortii este "purpuriu", imbinand culorile "sangelui"si ale "rangului", iar "recele mormant" ne reaminteste "mana de gheata" a mortii. Aceasta "rezumare" a imaginilor, intocmai ca rezumarea de catre o bijuterie a stralucirii unei catarame, reprezinta una dintre trasaturile cele mai artistice ale poeziei. Sceptru, coroana, coasa, hârleț - toate vor zacea in țărână; dar tot in tarana vor inflori faptele dreptilor. "Biata coasa incovoiata" ne poarta catre cei care, cu mai putina lipsa de vina, "secera" campul cu sabiile - metafora de-a dreptul oribila daca ne gandim bine. Dupa toate probabilitatile, Shirley se foloseste aici de asocierea coasei cu Timpul si Moartea; poate ca se gandeste si la coasele de pe rotile stravechilor care britone care - sinistru spectacol! - "secerau campul". Laurii saditi de luptatori pe campul ingrasat de sange (cred ca trebuie sa interpretam versul 10 in acest mod brutal; sangele este un bun ingrasamant pentru laurii faimei militare) pregatesc cununile de pe fruntea cuceritorilor si sunt contrastati cu florile faptelor celor drepti; florile au un miros suav; sangele si laurii au un miros neplacut.

(Leviţchi, 1993: 89)

Comments:

RED – a primary colour, or any of a spread of colours at the lower end of the visible spectrum varying in hue from that of blood to pale rose or pink.

That red car over there is mine. A red letter day (or scarlet day in academia) is any day of special significance; holidays

(days printed in red on calendars: Sundays, Christmas Day, Easter) etc. The day she graduated from university was a red-letter day for her whole family. She was

the first person in the family’s history to get a university degree. Today is a fantastic day for us – a real red-letter day! We’ve just been blessed with our first

child – a beautiful boy! To paint the town red means to celebrate flamboyantly and publicly, especially to go on a

wild spree, usually involving multiple bars, restaurants and clubs plus copious quantities of alcohol. Painting the town red is, by definition, a group activity, requiring at least two people.

Mary and her friend painted the town red for a few hours. Roll out the red carpet (for) – to welcome and entertain in a grand and impressive style. The mayor of the little town rolled out the red carpet for new business by calling on them

personally. Red carpet – a carpet laid down for important visitors We’ll have to get out the red carpet for the President’s visit. Red carpet – deferential treatment accorded to a person of importance. The returning hero had a red-carpet reception.

Examples of collocations:

Red-faced – embarrassed Red-handed – in the act of committing a crime or doing something wrong or shameful. They were caught red-handed, and now they are red-faced. (Margaret Thatcher) To see red – to be extremely angry People who don’t finish a job really make me see red.

Red flag – a warning signal; something that demands attention or provokes an irritated reaction; red flag as a warning of danger or a problem:

They had overlooked the red flags that should have alerted them to the county’s disastrous investment strategy.

Red tape – excessive formality and routine required before official action can be taken; bureaucratic procedures that delay progress:

Paula had hoped to settle the inheritance quickly but got caught up in a lot of red tape. Red – a communist or socialist Better dead than Red or better Red than dead. (a cold-war slogan claiming that the prospect of

nuclear war is preferable to that of a communist society; or vice versa). Red Cross – an international organization that cares for the wounded, sick, and homeless in

wartime, according to the terms of the Geneva Convention of 1864, and now also during and following natural disasters.

He joined the Red Cross following a 21-year career in the United States Army where he worked within the Army’s healthcare system.

YELLOW – the primary colour between green and orange in the visible spectrum. Give me that yellow book, please ! Yellow journalism – Journalism that exploits, distorts, or exaggerates the news to create

sensations and attract readers. When it comes to yellow journalism, The Mirror, Sunday Mirror and the People – newspapers

make the Daily Mail seem like a church gazette. Yellow Pages – A volume or section of a telephone directory that lists business, services, or

products alphabetically according to field. The Romanian Yellow Pages does not verify advertising claims or content, and does not

assume any responsibility regarding ads. Yellow dog – an offensive term meaning so cowardly and mean as to be beneath contempt

(informal insult). The man says you’re a yellow dog. Wanna make something of it? Yellow-dog contract – an employer-employee contract, now illegal, by which an applicant for a

job agrees not to be a labour-union member while employed. Yellow dog contracts were common in many industries until the 1930s, when they were made

illegal. Yellow people are a vast Asiatic nation, settled in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and other

countries. (of the colour yellow; having a yellow-brown skin colour; - offensive being a person of Asian origin)

BLUE blue film – a film that shows a lot of sexual activity. Children cannot watch blue films. Blue joke – (Indecent) vulgar I do not tolerate blue jokes in my house! blues - A dress blue uniform, especially that of the U.S. Army. Good blue True blue – someone loyal and faithful Out of the blue – unexpected (could be positive or negative) Blue ribbon – first rate, top prize Blueblood – person of noble birth, royalty Bluestocking – well-read or scholarly woman Bluebook – register of socially prominent people The Blues (capitalized) – popular style of music sometimes characterized by melancholy melodies and words Baby blues – Blue eyes (also see Bad blue words) Bad blue Feeling blue – feeling sad or depressed Blue devils – feelings of depression the blues (not capitalized) – depression, state of sadness Blue Monday – feeling sad Baby blues – post-partum depression Singing the blues – bemoaning one’s circumstances Blue laws – laws originally intended to enforce certain moral standards Blue language – profanity Bluenose – puritanical individual Into the blue – entering the unknown or escape to parts unknown Out of the blue – unexpected (could be positive or negative)

Green green-eyed monster – jealousy The phrase was used by, and possibly coined by, Shakespeare to denote jealousy, in The

Merchant of Venice, 1600 : Portia : How all the other passions fleet to air, As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embraced despair, And shuddering fear, and green-eyed jealousy! O love, Be moderate; allay thy ecstasy, In measure rain thy joy; scant this excess. I feel too much thy blessing: make it less, For fear I surfeit. In Othello, Shakespeare also alludes to cats as green-eyed monsters in the way that they play

with mice before killing them. Iago : O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger; But, O, what damned minutes tells he o`er Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves! Green hand - a novice He is a green hand in the field.

Black black market – a place or system for selling goods illegally, as in violation

of rationing. Black market labour is a fundamental problem in Romania and is mainly

encouraged by public system corruption and lack of legislation. black sheep – a member of a family or group regarded as not so

respectable or successful as the rest. e.g. He is the black sheep of the family. In the black – running a business profitably e.g. Since he became manager, the company has been running in the

black. Black day – a day when something sad or disastrous happens. e.g. She always remembers that black day when her cat died.

White A white lie – An often trivial, diplomatic or well-intentioned untruth Everyone tells a white lie on occasion, it’s just a question of why? A white hope – any person who is expected to bring honour, glory, etc. to

some group, place, etc. The great white hope is a singer from Ireland. White meat – any light-coloured meat, as pork, chicken, beef She regularly eats white meat. white elephant – something from which little profit or use is derived; A white elephant gift exchange is a popular holiday party game in the

North America. White night – sleepless night She had 3 white nights last week because of her baby.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chitoran, D., (1973) Elements of English Structural Semantics, Bucuresti, Editura Didactica si Pedagogica.

Levitchi, L., (1975) Indrumar pentru traducatorii din limba engleza in limba romana, Bucuresti, Editura Stiintifica si Enciclopedica.

Levitchi, L., (1993, 1994) Manualul Traducatorului, Bucuresti, Editura Teora.

Venuti, L., (2000) The Translation Studies Reader, London, Routledge Publishing House.

Zdrenghea, M., (1977) Introduction to Semantics, Cluj Napoca, Universitatea “Babes - Bolyai”.