Compounding as the most productive type of word formation in English fiction texts (based on the series of novels by George Martin "A game of thrones")

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UDC 811.11Г373.61Г42

COMPOUNDING AS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE TYPE OF WORD FORMATION IN ENGLISH FICTION TEXTS (BASED ON THE SERIES OF NOVELS BY GEORGE MARTIN “A GAME OF THRONES”)

O. Shumenko

Introduction. Compounding is one of the most ancient ways of word formation which has kept productivity at the present stage of development of English language. The existence of language is impossible without continuous development, which leads to the emergence of new words. New words arise when it is necessary to define the new subjects or there is a need for renaming already known objects. New words are formed from already existing elements of the language for existing word-formation models. The vocabulary of English, as well as any other, is in a state of continuous change. One of the regularities of the development of the vocabulary of the language is the addition of new words to it. Replenishment is due to word formation. In this process, the connection between the word- form and the grammar, in particular with the morphology, is manifested. New words are written in accordance with the grammar of English, according to the sample of already existing words in the language and relate to a certain part of the language.

The vocabulary of the language is constantly changing. Among the other sections of the Germanic language, the compounding is marked by a large number of research on the productive processes of the formation of new words, in particular in English. Compounding is a common method of formation of new words in all areas of language. It is most clearly manifested in fiction. A distinctive feature of modern word formation is the widespread distribution of composite formations. A compound word, on the one hand, serves as a way of curtailing free phrases, phraseological unit, or even microtext, and on the other hand, reflects the tendency to combine lexical units integrated not only with syntactic relationships, but also associatively-correlated in the text.

The article rests on recent research in the scientific works of prominent domestic and foreign scientists as H. Marchand, O. Jespersen, N. Chomsky, O. M. Bortnichuk, S. A. Vengerov, Yu. A. Zatsnyi, P. M. Karashchuk, A. O. Kolesova, O. S. Kubryakova, A. D. Meshkov, N. A. Nikolina, V. М. Pitel, M. D. Stepanova, V. P. Tsaryov.

The relevance of the study is determined by the need to study this vocabulary, since the number of new lexical units in this sphere annually increases. At present, the process of word-building pays considerable attention in modern lexicology, because this way of word- formation helps to form new words at a rapid pace.

The objective of the article is to study the peculiarities of the formation and functioning of compound words in modern English.

The tasks of this research are: (1) to explore ways to replenish the English vocabulary; (2) to analyze the concept of word formation; (3) to define its main methods in contemporary English; (4) to define the concept of a compound word and productive word- formation models of compound words; (5) to characterize the phenomenon of compounding in modern English; (6) to distinguish the ways and difficulties of translating the compound words of the English language texts based on the material of the series of novels by George Martin “A Game of Thrones”.

The object of the study is the compound words of the English language, formed by combining two or more stems and their translation on the material of the cycle of novels by George Martin “A Game of Thrones”. The subject of the study is the pragmatic and functional features of such units on the material of the cycle of novels by George Martin “A Game of Thrones”.

During the research, the following methods were used: general scientific, descriptive, linguostylistic, continuous sampling method, method of translation analysis.

The results of the research. Enrichment of the vocabulary is one of the processes of adapting the language system to the new conditions of real communication due to changes in the space of the extra-language environment. The ways of replenishing the vocabulary of the English language are conversion, affixation, word formation, abbreviation, generalization, specification, metaphor, degradation, elevation.

Word formation is the section of linguistics, which studies the mechanism of the formation of derivative words. A subject of studying of word formation is consideration of ways of word formation and determination of their productivity, classification of derivative words taking into account their word-formation structure and word-formation value [1]. The research of all word-formation means of language belongs to problems of word formation.

Types of word formation: (1) semantic word formation - the use of existing words in a new meaning: reduplication - the formation of a new word by repeating the stems; (2) syntactic - the formation of compound words; (3) morphological - the creation of words with affixes: the suffix is a derivative element at the end of the word (between the root and the end), which is a productive element of the word-formation, the prefix is a morpheme that stands before the root of the word and modifies its meaning, the infix is an affix that occurs within the framework; (4) telescopy is a phenomenon when a new word arises from the fusion of the full stem of one word with the abbreviated stem of another, or from the fusion of abbreviated stems of two words [2, с. 194].

English word formation is also defined as the model of motivated (secondary) names, that is, word-building models. The leading feature of the word-making model is abstractness. The ability of model to abstract to make it a kind of matrix in which "new" words are printed, and it provides an opportunity to perform a word-formation function [3, c. 125]. Not all methods of word formation are used equally. In order to determine the trend of the formation of new words, it is important to explore each of the methods of word formation.

Compound words, obviously, can be defined as the union of two or more words capable of functioning as a single word, as one unit. Compound words consist of two or more root morphemes. Compound words make up a large layer of everyday vocabulary, since words have totally different meanings. The most common classifications of compound words in English are classifications in parts of the language, that is, those based on the morphological approach. It was found that if each part of the language could be combined with any other, forming compound words, then the English word formation would have at its disposal 196 models [4, с. 54].

All compound words are divided into syntactic and asyntactic. The first ones include words in which the order of components coincides with the order of words in syntactic phrases, while others are compound words in which the components are in combinations impossible for the syntax of the given language. In English there are words formed by the addition of two or more full-fledged words or stems. At the same time, different parts of the language can be combined, for example, noun + noun, adjective + adjective, noun + verb, etc. Compound words are written together, through a hyphen or as two separate words. There are no rules for writing such words [5, с. 19].

The intensive use of compound words reflects the synthetics of contemporary poetic thinking. Just as the detailed comparisons in the 20th-century artistic speech are gradually superseded by a metaphor, figurative means, expressed by combinations of words, are regularly replaced in modern texts - complex derivatives. formulation vocabulary grammatical speech

In the formation of compound words, we are guided not by logic, but by associations. We see or want to establish a connection between the two ideas, choosing the shortest possible path. What this connection is, usually turns out to be due to the context. Briefness takes over the clarity [6, p. 99]. In addition, among complicated words there are actually compound words formed as a result of the addition of two units, as well as difficult derivative words that were formed by addition, which was accompanied by some other derivation process (fixation, conversion, etc.).

Compounding is the formation of compound words by the combination of two stems or the stem and the whole word, which in the latter case acquires the status of morphemes and is also considered as the stem. The main objective of compounding is to facilitate communication. The numerous compound words combine in one word meaning, which, it would be necessary to convey by the whole word or sentence.

At present, activation of the process of compounding, caused by mobile changes in the language. In addition, the feature of the structure of compound words allows them to realize two main trends of language-to save language means (due to the ability of a compound word to express two and more thoughts simultaneously) and to artistic expression. The first tendency is widely manifested in compound words-terms that are characteristic of the language of scientific and technical texts. The second tendency - to expressiveness, emotional saturation - finds a vivid embodiment in the language of artistic works. However, this ability of compound words, in my opinion, is still poorly understood [7, p. 173].

Compound words are in many languages - Sanskrit, Greek, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, Russian, English, German, and others. In a number of languages, they are relatively few, for example, in Latin. However, it can be argued that word-building by the process of compounding is peculiar to most languages of the world. The ability of the language to form compound words reflects the peculiarities of the vision of the world by the carriers of this language, national cultural specifics.

The translation of fiction works is fundamentally different from other types of translation. Such translation is a true art, since the translator must maintain the invariable contents of the original text, its sense; he has no right to embody any of his ideas. The fiction translation isn't literal therefore causes a set of disagreements among translators. Translator of fiction texts is a writer, who practically re-writes the book, reproducing it for readers [8, p. 71].

The fiction translation must be clear. It is necessary to remember that, the laconicism and brevity of the translation, however shouldn't go to damage of clarity of reading of the text and ease of his understanding. The fiction translation must be literary, that is, fully comply with the generally accepted norms of the Ukrainian literary language.

As you know, the quality of translation depends largely on the goal set by the translator. There are three goals of translation of fiction texts: (1) an acquaintance of readers with the work of the writer, the works of which they cannot read themselves because of ignorance of the author's language; (2) an acquaintance of readers with the peculiarities of culture of another people, the transfer of originality of this culture; (3) an acquaintance of the reader with the contents of the book.

The understanding of the foreign-language text is difficult skill which demands preparation. Even knowledge of grammatical norms and lexicon doesn't guarantee excellent result yet. Difficulties of the translation from English into Ukrainian can arise for various reasons -from problems with definition of a word meaning to misunderstanding of syntactic sentence structure [9, p. 30].

The main task of any translator is to get an adequate original of the text that is as close as possible to its content and style. However, each language has its own peculiarities, therefore it is difficult to accurately convey the nuances of the meanings of a word. Leading ways of translating compound words are equivalent, analog, descriptive translation, transcription and decompression [10, p. 22].

In the initial analysis of the peculiarities of the translation of fiction text, one can distinguish the following series of problems encountered by all translators: (1) the specifics of the translation of stable expressions; (2) the problem of the translation of wordplay; (3) the need to take cultural differences into account. The specifics of the translation of stable expressions are not as complex as it may seem at first glance. Using the dictionary of stable phrases and speeches, as well as a dictionary of synonyms, you can easily select the most suitable translation. The problem of translating of wordplay is one of the most interesting moments in fiction translation - this is when the translated text has a humorous or ironic background. It is necessary to have a special skill to save the game of words, which is meant by the author [11, p. 183].

If to compare all presented translations of the series of novels by George Martin “A Game of Thrones” performed by different translators, then you can find differences in the expressions used by them, the analysis shows that the translations differ from each other, because each translator in his own way discovers the individuality of the author.

The personal style of George Martin is that he slightly shifts the usual sense of the word, forcing him to denote such a range of objects that do not exactly coincide with the range of objects that are usually designated by the word in the standard use.

We selected 562 examples, by the method of continuous sampling on the material of the series of novels by George Martin “A Game of Thrones”. The following examples were analyzed and identified 13 word-formation models: N. + N. (111), Adj. + N. (99), N. + V. (80), N. + Adj. (77), V + N. (42), Adj. + Adj. (37), N. + V. + N. + N. (35), Adv. + Adj. (29), Num. + N. + N. (16), Adv. + Pron + N. (13), N. + V. + Adv. + Art. + N. (11), N. + Prep. + N. (7), N. + Adv. (5). As a rule, these words are translated by nouns and adjectives into Ukrainian language. These examples most accurately characterize the peculiarities of an individual style of the author.

Conclusions. Thus, English language is constantly evolving, new technologies are emerging, new sciences are emerging, and therefore there is a need for constant replenishment of the vocabulary to designate new concepts. Word formation studies ways to create new words and is the leading way to enrich the vocabulary of English. The most effective ways are fixation, conversion, telescoping and compounding.

Compound words act as an integral part of any language. The basic function of compound words enrich and enrich the vocabulary of English with new formations. Compounding is one of the most productive ways of word formation. Words with this method are formed by the addition of two stems.

Translation of fiction works is a complex process that requires high qualification. The goal of translators is to make the source text clear and acceptable to readers. Knowledge of the individual style of the author will help to more fully penetrate the atmosphere of the work, which in turn will help to make a better translation.

To translate compound words is not enough to use the dictionary, but you need to master the grammar and culture features of both languages at a high level. Before you begin to translate compound words of fiction texts, you need to get acquainted with the history of a particular country. Also, you should not rely entirely on the dictionary during translation, because these words are not always the fixed matches. And lastly, it is necessary to read carefully the original text in order to accurately convey the atmosphere of the work.

References

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5. Nikolina N. A. (2013). Active processes in the sphere of addition of composing in the modern Russian language / Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod University named after N.I. Lobachevsky. Linguistics. N 6 (2). pp. 171-173.

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