Strange as it may seem but very often, almost predominantly,
the indefinite article is endowed in speech/text with lexical meanings,
which may coincide with those of different pronouns. The only excep
tion is made for the meaning of the cardinal numeral one from which
the indefinite article historically originates. No wonder that the
contextual meanings of the lexically charged indefinite article can
sometimes be, as will be seen further on, quite unexpected. The most
frequent and common of these meanings can be expressed, as has
been mentioned already, in one of the following ways:
1) by the cardinal numeral (, ):
He said something about ³
The rheme, the new notional element in the utterance, is more frequently indicated in English by the indefinite article determining the
' See: .. . - .: . ., 1966, p.p. 192-195.
 | |||||
 | |||||
 |
| 5) As one of the possessive "pronouns (according to their contextual meaning): |
| 6) As the negative pronoun or the negative perticle (when the determined noun is preceded by the negative particle not): You were not following / word. . hadn't a penny.³ (S. Maugham) (). 7) as the relative adjective which is lexically equivalent in the sentences below to the Ukrainian identifying pronoun (, ): |
| 8) More common in Ukrainian contextual substitutes for the lexically meaningful indefinite article are, however, different relative adjectives, the most often used being : |
| 9) The contextual meaning of the indefinite article may some- |
schooner that's gettin' ready to go ,
off. (O. Wilde) .
2) In some contexts, however, the indefinite article may acquire
a lexical meaning which corresponds either to the Ukrainian cardinal
numeral , to the ordinal numeral or to the indefinite pronoun
(, ). The indefinite article may also mark the rheme
of the utterance as in the sentence: Only for an instant he hesitated,
then his head went up and his hand came off. (J. London) In this
sentence any of the above-given substitutes may be quite faithful,
since the cardinal or ordinal numeral and the indefinite pronoun are
equally fitting in the utterance, which in Ukrainian will have another
position:
³ () ...
³ () ...
³ () ...
Similarly in the following sentences:
It was only for a moment. /
(J. London) .
3) By the indefinite pronoun only, without the attendant
meanings of the cardinal or ordinal numerals:
He saw her come down the ³ ,
|
|
|
aisle, with Arthur and a strange
young man. (J.London)
.
Sometimes, when with her, , ,
she noted an unusual bright-
ness in his eyes, and she liked ,
it. (Ibid.) .
4) when the lexically meaningful indefinite article precedes the
noun under logical stress, it functions as the demonstrative pronoun,
which is translated into Ukrainian as , , :
This was his programme for
week. (J. London) .
Here was a man who could -
do anything, was the message
she readthere. (Ibid.) .
How can a man write so (
badly?.. (E. Hemingway) ) ?..
He did not go home immediately, and under the tree, where he kept his vigils, he looked up at a window and murmured. (J. London)
When she returned with the grammar, she drew a chair near his. (Ibid.)
Martin rented a typewriter and spent a day mastering the machine. (J. London)
- (his) day's work was the equivalent to a week's work of the average succesful writer. (Ibid.)
It is sweet to feel that you are really and truly a woman. (Ibid.)
This small sum seemed a fortune. (Ibid.)
³ () , , .
() , .
() .
...() - .
(), .
() () .
times be expressed in Ukrainian through different adverbs:
He had the conviction that he ,
could sit in a draught if he -
wanted to. (J. Galsworthy) , ...
There is a great difference. /
(O.Wilde) .
The above-given lexical realizations of the determining and identifying functions of the definite and indefinite articles would be incomplete without the illustration of some other meanings, which they may acquire in contextual environment. The choice of the se-mantically fitting substitute for the definite or indefinite article then rests entirely with the translator, who is well acquainted with the text/ work under translation. Since the style of the text may often influence or predetermine the choice of the necessary synonym, care should be taken in order not to neglect the possible ways of expression in Ukrainian either. Thus, the lexical meaning of the indefinite article a in the sentence - I didn't dare show my face at Court for a month. (O. Wilde) - could be faithfully expressed in Ukrainian either through the identifying pronoun or by its lexical equivalent at sentence level, which is the relative adjective . But the translator of The Picture of Dorian Gray (R. Dotsenko) has suggested for this particular case a more acceptable contextual version: .
|
|
|
10) The broader context often predetermines the employment
of lexically equivalent variants which could scarcely ever be offered for
a narrow context. The kind of contextual substitutes can be seen in
the examples below, where Ukrainian demonstrative and other
pronouns, adjectives, numerals, etc., are contextually/semantically
enforced by emphatic or modal particles. Thus, the contextual mean
ing of the indefinite article below is expressed through an adjective
enforced by an emphatic or some other particle or group of particles:
He was not to remain a sailor.
(London) ..
seemed to think it a dis- ³
tinction. (Ibid.) .
11) The contextual meaning of the indefinite article may be ex
pressed through the interrogative or indefinite pronoun also enforced
by some emphatic particles:
- a penniless young fellow, ...
mere nobody, sir, a subaltern in , - , ,
foot regiment.
...
What a lovely day! (La Mure) !
Note: Apart from the above-cited contextual meanings of the definite and the indefinite articles there may be some other (implicit) meanings of them. Thus, the definite article may sometimes have the following additional realizations in Ukrainian:
a) that of a pronominal word-group of an emphatic force:
I want you to get rid of the , -
dreadful people you're associ-
ated with. (O. Wilde) .
The identifying definite article may include in its semantic information some specifying function and meaning too:
The Chinamen were already -
busy in their shops. (Ibid.) .
Some implicit contextual meanings of the modifying and identifying definite article the can often be given a true and faithful explication i.e. realization in translation only after a thorough study of the broader content as well. Cf.:
After a moment's hesitation,
Strickland scrambled to his feet, .
and together they went to the ,
Bonchee de Pain. (S. Maug-
ham)
.
