Dwell on the political system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Do the practical task.

Speak on the Belles-lettres Style: its substyles, their functional and linguistic characteristics. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with the belles-lettres style and its substyles. Do the practical task.

Belles-lettres is a term that is used to describe a category of writing. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. For many modern purposes, belles-lettres is used in a narrower sense to identify literary works that do not fall into other major categories, such as fiction, poetry or drama.

Three substyles are:

The language of poetry, or simply verse.

Emotive prose, or the language of fiction.

The language of the drama.

They have the common function which may broadly be called “aesthetico-congnitive”. This is a double function which aims at the cognitive process, which secures the gradual unfolding of the idea to the reader and at the same time calls forth a feeling of pleasure, derived from the form in which the content is wrought.

The first substyle we shall consider is verse. Its first differentiating property is its orderly form, which is based mainly on the rhythmic and phonetic arrangement of the utterances.

Among the lexical peculiarities of verse the 1st to be mentioned is imagery,

Imagery is a use of language media which will create a sensory perception of an abstract notion by arousing certain associations (sometimes very remote) between the general and the particular, the abstract and the concrete, the conventional and the factual.

The substyle of emotive prose has the same common features as the belles-lettres style in general; but all these features are correlated differently in emotive prose. The imagery is not so rich and the percentage of words with contextual meaning is not so high as in the poetry; it contains a combination of the spoken and written varieties of the language. There are always 2 forms of communication present – monologue and dialogue.

The 3rd subdivision of the belles-lettres style is the language of plays. It is entirely a dialogue. The author’s speech is practically excluded except for the playwright’s remarks and stage directions.

The playwright uses non-literary forms and expressions with particular aim, but he does it sparingly.

 

2. Speak on the Style of Official Documents: its substyles, their functional and linguistic characteristics. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with the official documents style and its substyles. Do the practical task.

It can in its turn be divided into the language of business documents, the language of legal documents, the language of diplomacy, and the language of military documents. But we shall examine the peculiarities of the style in the whole, without going into details and peculiarities of every substyle.

The main aim of this type of communication is to state the conditions binding two parties in an undertaking. These parties may be: the state and the citizen, or citizen and the citizen; a society and its members; two or more enterprises or bodies(ну вы поняли). The aim of communication in this style of language is to reach agreement between two contracting parties.

Pecularities:

1. system of clichés(dear sir, madam xernya)

2. abbreviations, symbols - MP – Member of Parliament; gvt – government, $, &, £, §,

3. logical dictionary meaning - there is no room for contextual meanings or for any kind of simultaneous realization of two meanings.

The business letters have a definite compositional pattern, namely, the heading giving the address of the writer, the date, the name of the addressee and his address.

 

Speak on Phraseological units, idioms and proverbs. Outline the principle classifications of phraseological units in the English language. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with phraseological units, idioms and proverbs. Do the practical task.

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. In folklore among all the variety and richness of its poetical significance and form it is difficult to find more interesting and researchable genre than phraseological units: proverbs and sayings. It was the subject of deep study of scientists in most different ideological branches. Proverbs were not only the person's point of view but also general people's outlook is expressed. Proverbs play important role in language. They give emotionality, expressiveness to the speech. They have certain pure linguistic features that must always be taken into account in order to distinguish them from simple sentences. Proverbs are brief statements showing uncondensed form of the accumulated life experience of the community and serving as conventional practical symbols for abstract ideas.

A translator dealing with set expressions is confronted with some problems that are connected with their properties:

1) complicated semantic structure of phraseological units. It is made up of several components of meaning – figurative or denotational meaning, that is its actual sense; imagery component, i.e. literal meaning of a phraseological meaning; emotive charge; stylistic reference; evaluative component. Translation should reproduce all the components of meaning which is not easy to do since any of these components may be nationally specific, cf.

2) Polysemy of many set expressions, often containing mutually contradictory meanings, e.g. no love lost – a) неприязнь, враждебное отношение, ненависть друг к другу; б) взаимная симпатия, взаимная страсть, привязанность (outdated).

3) Similarity in the surface structure, difference in meaning: a SL idiom and a TL idiom may be alike in their form, but absolutely different in meanings, cf. to lead smb by the nose (to control completely, to make smb do whatever you want) – водить к-л за нос

4) There may be similar, though not identical SL units that should not be misinterpreted, cf. to lose one’s head – потерять голову, растеряться, to lose one’s mind – сойти с ума, лишиться рассудка.

5) An idiom can resemble a non-idiomatic expression, that is a free word group, but they have no common components of meaning, cf. to appeal to the country – распустить парламент, to go in couples – быть неразлучными.

These factors account for the major problems that arise in dealing with idioms which can be entered in special translation dictionaries of phraseological units and discussed on the basis of parallel texts of fiction. In the latter case idioms are used not only in their conventional form, but they often undergo different modifications which calls for special additional means of their adequate translation.

 

Speak on the Publicist Style: its oral and written varieties, functional and linguistic characteristics. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with the publicist style and its varieties. Do the practical task.

The publicistic style of language became a separate style in the middle of the 18th century. It also falls into 3 varieties, each having its own distinctive features. It has a spoken variety, namely, the oratorical substyle. The development of radio and television has brought into being another new spoken variety, namely, the radio and TV commentary. The other 2 substyles are the essay (moral, philosophical, literary) and journalistic articles (political, social, economic) in newspapers, journals and magazines. Book reviews in journals, newspapers and magazines and also pamphlets are generally included among essays. The general aim of publicistic style is to exert (прилагать усилие) a constant and deep influence on public opinion, to convince the reader or the listener that the interpretation given by the writer or the speaker is the only correct one and to cause him to accept the point of view expressed in the speech.

This brain-washing function is most effective in oratory, for here the most powerful instrument of persuasion, the human voice, is brought into play.

Direct contact with the listener permits a combination of the syntactical, lexical and phonetic peculiarities of both the written and spoken varieties of language. But in its leading features oratorical style belongs to the written variety of language, though it is modified by the oral form of the utterance and the use of gestures.

 

Speak on the periodization of the history of the English language: the peculiarities and general characteristics of chronological divisions in the History of English. Describe the development tendencies in the Modern English. Do the practical task.

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from England and their language was called English - from which the words England and English are derived.

Old English (450-1100 AD) The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.

Middle English (1100-1500) In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy conquered England The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.

Early Modern English (1500-1800) Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many people from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

Late Modern English (1800-Present) The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.

 

Speak on the Style of English Newspaper: its substyles, their functional and linguistic characteristics. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with the newspaper style. Do the practical task.

English newspaper style can be defined as a system of interrelated lexical, phraseological and grammatical means which is perceived by the community as a separate linguistic unity that serves the purpose of informing and instructing the reader.

It is possible to distinguish within this style the following substyles:

1. Brief news items.

The principal function of a brief news item is to inform the reader. It states facts without giving explicit comments/ news items are essentially matter-of-fact, and stereotyped forms of expression prevail(преобладающий, доминирующий).

2. Advertisements and announcements.

Their principal function is to inform the reader. There are two basic types of advertisements and announcements in the modern English newspaper: classified(по группам разделяют, нап: бизнес, предложения, свадьба и т.д) and non-classified.

3. The headline.

The headline \the title given to a news item or an article\ is a dependent form of newspaper writing. It is in fact a part of a larger whole. The main function of it is to inform the reader briefly what the text that follows is about.

4. The editorial.

Its function is to influence the reader by giving an interpretation of certain facts. Editorials comment on the political and other events of the day. Their purpose is to give the editor’s opinion and interpretation of the news published and suggest to the reader that it is the correct one.

 

The Romantic period in English literature began in the late 1700s and lasted through the mid-1800s. Romanticism focuses on the emotional side of human nature, individualism, the beauty of the natural world and the simplicity of common people. Romantic authors value sentimental, heartfelt feelings and emotional experiences over historical and scientific facts.

In the period from 1786 to 1830 two generations of Romantic poets permanently affected the nature of English language and literature. Usually, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who wrote most of their major works from 1786 to 1805, are regarded as the first generation of the English Romantic poets.

George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats, who produced their major works between 1810 to 1824, are regarded as the second generation of English Romantics.

The Lake Poets introduced into poetry short forceful words and constructions of everyday speech. They brought sound and colour into verse. They appreciated folklore and national art and insisted that poetry should be linked with folk traditions of a nation. All of them were humanists.

Lyrical Ballads contains some of the early treatments of subjects and themes by Wordsworth and Coleridge that would occupy the bulk of each poet’s oeuvre. These subjects and themes include the relationship between humanity and nature, the psychology of the human heart, the fascination with the supernatural, and etc.

Speak on the Belles-lettres Style: its substyles, their functional and linguistic characteristics. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with the belles-lettres style and its substyles. Do the practical task.

Belles-lettres is a term that is used to describe a category of writing. A writer of belles-lettres is a belletrist. For many modern purposes, belles-lettres is used in a narrower sense to identify literary works that do not fall into other major categories, such as fiction, poetry or drama.

Three substyles are:

The language of poetry, or simply verse.

Emotive prose, or the language of fiction.

The language of the drama.

They have the common function which may broadly be called “aesthetico-congnitive”. This is a double function which aims at the cognitive process, which secures the gradual unfolding of the idea to the reader and at the same time calls forth a feeling of pleasure, derived from the form in which the content is wrought.

The first substyle we shall consider is verse. Its first differentiating property is its orderly form, which is based mainly on the rhythmic and phonetic arrangement of the utterances.

Among the lexical peculiarities of verse the 1st to be mentioned is imagery,

Imagery is a use of language media which will create a sensory perception of an abstract notion by arousing certain associations (sometimes very remote) between the general and the particular, the abstract and the concrete, the conventional and the factual.

The substyle of emotive prose has the same common features as the belles-lettres style in general; but all these features are correlated differently in emotive prose. The imagery is not so rich and the percentage of words with contextual meaning is not so high as in the poetry; it contains a combination of the spoken and written varieties of the language. There are always 2 forms of communication present – monologue and dialogue.

The 3rd subdivision of the belles-lettres style is the language of plays. It is entirely a dialogue. The author’s speech is practically excluded except for the playwright’s remarks and stage directions.

The playwright uses non-literary forms and expressions with particular aim, but he does it sparingly.

 

2. Speak on the Style of Official Documents: its substyles, their functional and linguistic characteristics. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with the official documents style and its substyles. Do the practical task.

It can in its turn be divided into the language of business documents, the language of legal documents, the language of diplomacy, and the language of military documents. But we shall examine the peculiarities of the style in the whole, without going into details and peculiarities of every substyle.

The main aim of this type of communication is to state the conditions binding two parties in an undertaking. These parties may be: the state and the citizen, or citizen and the citizen; a society and its members; two or more enterprises or bodies(ну вы поняли). The aim of communication in this style of language is to reach agreement between two contracting parties.

Pecularities:

1. system of clichés(dear sir, madam xernya)

2. abbreviations, symbols - MP – Member of Parliament; gvt – government, $, &, £, §,

3. logical dictionary meaning - there is no room for contextual meanings or for any kind of simultaneous realization of two meanings.

The business letters have a definite compositional pattern, namely, the heading giving the address of the writer, the date, the name of the addressee and his address.

 

Dwell on the political system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Do the practical task.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. It means that the sovereign reigns but does not rule.

Britain does not have a written constitution, but a set of laws.

Parliament is the most important authority in Britain. Technically Parliament is made up of three parts: the Monarch, the House of Lords; and the House of Commons. In reality the House of Commons is the only one of the three which has true power.

The monarch serves formally as head of state. But the monarch is expected to be politically neutral and should not make political decisions.

The present sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II. She was crowned in Westminster Abbey in 1953.

The House of Commons consists of Members of Parliament. There are 650 of them in the House of Commons. They are elected by secret ballot. General elections are held every five years. The country is divided into 650 constituencies. All citizens, aged 18 and registered in a constituency, have the right to vote. But voting is not compulsory in Britain. Only persons convicted of corrupt and certain mentally ill patients don't take part in voting.

There are few political parties in Britain thanks to the British electoral system. The main ones are: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party and the Liberal / Social Democratic Alliance.

Each political party puts up one candidate for each constituency. The one who wins the most votes is elected MP for that area.

The party which wins the most seats in Parliament forms the Government. Its leader becomes the Prime Minister. His first job is to choose his Cabinet. The Prime Minister usually takes policy decisions with the agreement of the Cabinet.

The functions of the House of Commons are legislation and scrutiny of government activities. The House of Commons is presided over by the Speaker. The Speaker is appointed by the Government.

The House of Lords comprises about 1,200 peers. It is presided by the Lord Chancellor. The House of Lords has no real power. It acts rather as an advisory council.
It's in the House of Commons that new bills are introduced and debated. If the majority of the members are in favour of a bill, it goes to the House of Lords to be debated. The House of Lords has the right to reject a new bill twice.

But after two rejections they are obliged to accept it. And finally a bill goes to the monarch to be signed. Only then it becomes law.

Parliament is responsible for British national policy. Local governments are responsible for organizing of education, police and many others.

 

Kazakhstan – United Kingdom relations were formally established on 19 January 1992. The UK opened an embassy in Kazakhstan in October 1992 and Kazakhstan opened an embassy in the UK in February 1996.Kazakhstan's relations with the West have greatly improved in the last few years as the Government has closely cooperated in the U.S.-led War on Terror. Britain is the third-largest foreign investor in Kazakhstan with British companies making up 14% of foreign direct investment. Over 100 British companies do business in Kazakhstan.BAE Systems has a 49% stake in Air Astana.

 

4. Speak on Lexical Stylistic Devices and Expressive Means. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with the lexical stylistic devices and expressive means. Do the practical task.

“The expressive means of a language are those phonetic, morphological, word building, lexical, preseological or syntactical forms which exist in language as-a-system for the purpose of logical and various dictionaries.

Among lexical EM we must mention words with emotive meanings, interjections, polysemantic words, vulgar words, slang etc. The fact that polysemantic words retain their primary and secondary meanings is of great importance for stylistics. It is quite easy to understand the meaning of the following phrases; He grasped the main idea; a burning question; pity melted her heart. The italicized words are used in their secondary transferred dictionary meanings. But the primary and secondary meanings are realized simultaneously. The expressiveness of these words becomes obvious when compared with neutral equivalents; He understood the main idea; an important question; pity softened her heart.

SD must always have some function in the text, besides they bring some additional information. The conception that words possess several meanings gives rise to such SDS as metaphor, metonymy, irony, epithet and others.

Transferred meaning is the interrelation between two types of the lexical meaning: dictionary and contextual. The contextual meaning always depends on the dictionary meaning. But when the deviation is very great that it ven causes an unexpected turn in the logical meaning, we register a stylistic device. In other words we may say: when we witness two meanings of the word realized simultaneously we are confronted with a SD, where two meanings interact

Speak on Phraseological units, idioms and proverbs. Outline the principle classifications of phraseological units in the English language. Identify problems a translator may encounter dealing with phraseological units, idioms and proverbs. Do the practical task.

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. In folklore among all the variety and richness of its poetical significance and form it is difficult to find more interesting and researchable genre than phraseological units: proverbs and sayings. It was the subject of deep study of scientists in most different ideological branches. Proverbs were not only the person's point of view but also general people's outlook is expressed. Proverbs play important role in language. They give emotionality, expressiveness to the speech. They have certain pure linguistic features that must always be taken into account in order to distinguish them from simple sentences. Proverbs are brief statements showing uncondensed form of the accumulated life experience of the community and serving as conventional practical symbols for abstract ideas.

A translator dealing with set expressions is confronted with some problems that are connected with their properties:

1) complicated semantic structure of phraseological units. It is made up of several components of meaning – figurative or denotational meaning, that is its actual sense; imagery component, i.e. literal meaning of a phraseological meaning; emotive charge; stylistic reference; evaluative component. Translation should reproduce all the components of meaning which is not easy to do since any of these components may be nationally specific, cf.

2) Polysemy of many set expressions, often containing mutually contradictory meanings, e.g. no love lost – a) неприязнь, враждебное отношение, ненависть друг к другу; б) взаимная симпатия, взаимная страсть, привязанность (outdated).

3) Similarity in the surface structure, difference in meaning: a SL idiom and a TL idiom may be alike in their form, but absolutely different in meanings, cf. to lead smb by the nose (to control completely, to make smb do whatever you want) – водить к-л за нос

4) There may be similar, though not identical SL units that should not be misinterpreted, cf. to lose one’s head – потерять голову, растеряться, to lose one’s mind – сойти с ума, лишиться рассудка.

5) An idiom can resemble a non-idiomatic expression, that is a free word group, but they have no common components of meaning, cf. to appeal to the country – распустить парламент, to go in couples – быть неразлучными.

These factors account for the major problems that arise in dealing with idioms which can be entered in special translation dictionaries of phraseological units and discussed on the basis of parallel texts of fiction. In the latter case idioms are used not only in their conventional form, but they often undergo different modifications which calls for special additional means of their adequate translation.