Emphatic Constructions

 

Emotive colouring and expressiveness of speech may be achieved by various emphatic means both grammatical and lexical. Expressiveness and emotive colouring should not be confused. The former is a wider notion than the latter. Emphatic means are used even in those styles of language which lack emotive colouring, viz. the style of scientific prose and official style. Emphatic models give prominence either to one element of the utterance or make the whole utterance forceful and expressive.

Emphatic means of the English language present great variety and bear a distinct national character. Some emphatic models in English and in Russian coincide but there are considerable differences. Even coincidences are often partial or seeming. Therefore rendering of emphasis in translation is not a simple task.

 

Inversion as a Means of Emphasis

 

The emphatic role of inversion is a well-known fact, and need not be considered here. It is only to be mentioned that the stylistic function of inversion is frequently rendered lexically.

 

Up goes unemployment, up go prices, and down tumbles the labour vote.

Безработица резко увеличилась, цены подскочили, а количество голосов, поданных за лейбористов, катастрофически упало.

The Prime Minister’s word distorted and vicious as they are, are a tribute to the fighting capacity of the Communist Party.

Слова премьер-министра, столь злобно и грубо искажающие действительность, являются лишь подтверждением боеспособности коммунистической партии.

 

Emphatic Use of the “As… As” model

 

The model “as…as” expressing the same degree of quality may be used emphatically not in its direct function but to express the superlative degree. In this case it is as a rule combined with the pronouns “any”, “anything”, “anybody”. The translations of this model require lexical compensation.

As he has since admitted, he admires Rosamund Darnley as much as any woman he had ever met. (Agatha Christie)

Как он потом признался, ни одна женщина на свете не вызывала в нем такого восхищения как Розамунд Дарнли.

 

He tried as well as any man could, but he faild. (M.Halliday)

 

Ни один человек не мог сделать больше, но все-же он потерпел неудачу.

This new opera is as remote from classic grand opera as anything created in modern idiom could be.

Это новая опера, написанная в очень современной манере, совершенно непохожа на классическую оперу.