Semantic Foregrounding

 

The lexical possibilities of foregrounding are also considerable. A writer sometimes skillfully uses a word in an unusual combination owing to which it becomes conspicuous and acquires greater expressive value.

I suggest, Mr. Speaker, that the government and its Department of Citizenship and Emigration have their collective sheet fimly rooted in the nineteenth century. (A.Halley)

 

Я высказываю предположение, мистер Спикер, что правительство и Министерство по делам гражданства и эмиграции все еще упорно цепляются за принцип XIX века.

 

The unusual combination “collective feet” cannot be preserved in Russian (коллективные ноги would be unacceptable) and only the semantic aspect of the combination is rendered in the translation.

Stylistic means and devices present considerable and varied problems for translation. They possess a distinct national character although at first sight they may appear to be identical. Foreground linguistic means give rise to particularly hard problems as specific national language means are brought into play by foregrounding, e.g. articles, suffixes, the passive voice, conversion, etc.

The translator must be fully aware of the function of a stylistic device and its effect, to be able to reproduce the same effect by other means, if necessary, thus minimizing the inevitable losses due to inherent divergences.

To conclude: stylistic equivalence may be achieved by different means and not necessary by the same device.