Semantic peculiarities of English clothes inscriptions

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Semantic peculiarities of English clothes inscriptions

Olena I. Panchenko,

Grand PhD (Philology), Full Professor, Head of Department of Translation and Linguistic Training of Foreigners, Oles Honchar Dnipro National University

Kristina S. Syrvatka,

Master Student Oles Honchar Dnipro National University

Summary

The object of the article is the problem of the linguistic study of English clothes inscriptions. The subject of this study is the specificity of parts of speech realization in dialects. The purpose of the paper is linguistic analysis of English-language clothing inscriptions semantic load. In order to achieve this goal in the course of our study, the following tasks are foreseen: collecting, systematizing and analyzing the inscriptions on clothes and performing their translation into the Ukrainian language, identifying the existing unsolved questions when translating the inscriptions on clothes. Theo- bject of the research is English-language slogans, which are placed on the clothes of adults and children in Ukraine and abroad. The purpose of the paper and its tasks determine the choice of research methods: the method of comparison, which allows establishing the adequacy of translation of the inscriptions on clothes; descriptive method used to describe successful translations and failures of translators. The inscriptions on clothes as a text representant convey certain information about a person: about events that occur in a person's life, about events, about tastes, interests and hobbies of a person. We have collected and analyzed about 200 clothing slogans. The inscription on the clothes is a communicative tool with a variety of semantic content. It is possible to classify the inscriptions on clothes according to the thematic principle and divide them into several semantic groups. The latter are finding of research. According to this classification, the semantic load of the inscriptions on clothes is quite diverse and dynamic. This means that they are in a state of constant change, as well as the fashion in general and often reflect some short-term problems and soon become irrelevant. The practical value of the investigation is to use the suggested classifications to the translation of clothes inscriptions.

Key words: text, inscription, semantic load, classification, clothes, slogan, thematic principle.

Анотація

semantic english clothes inscriptions

СЕМАНТИЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ АНГЛІЙСЬКИХ НАПИСІВ НА ОДЯЗІ

ПАНЧЕНКО Олена Іванівна,

доктор філологічних наук, завідувач кафедри перекладу та лінгвістичної підготовки іноземців Дніпровського національного університету імені Олеся Гончара

СИРВАТКА Кристіна Сергіївна,

магістрант Дніпровського національного університету імені Олеся Гончара

У статті розглянуто проблему лінгвістичного вивчення англійських написів на одязі. Метою дослідження є лінгвістичний аналіз семантичного навантаження англомовних написів на одязі. Об'єктом дослідження є англомовні слогани, які розміщуються на одязі дорослих і дітей в Україні та за кордоном. Предметом цього дослідження є специфіка реалізації частин мови в діалектах. Для досягнення цієї мети виконано завдання збору, систематизації та аналізу написів на одязі та їх перекладу українською мовою, виявлення існуючих невирішених питань підчас аналізу таких написів. Мета роботи та її завдання визначають вибір методів дослідження: метод порівняння, що дає змогу встановити адекватність перекладу написів; описовий метод, що використовується для опису успішних слоганів. Написи на одязі як представник тексту передають певну інформацію про людину: про події, що відбуваються в житті людини, про смаки, інтереси й захоплення людини. Зібрано та проаналізовано близько 200 слоганів на одязі. Напис на одязі -- це комунікативний інструмент із різноманітним семантичним змістом. Можна класифікувати написи на одязі за семантичним принципом і виокремити серед них декілька семантичних груп. Останні є результатом дослідження. Смислове навантаження написів на одязі досить різноманітне й динамічне. Висновок, англійські написи на одязі перебувають у стані постійних змін, як і мода загалом, часто відображають деякі короткочасні проблеми і незабаром стають неактуальними. Практичне значення дослідження полягає у використанні запропонованих класифікацій для перекладу написів на одязі.

Ключові слова: текст, напис, смислове навантаження, класифікація, одяг, слоган, тематичний принцип.

Аннотация

СЕМАНТИЧНІ ОСОБЛИВОСТІ АНГЛІЙСЬКИХ НАПИСІВ НА ОДЯЗІ

ПАНЧЕНКО Елена Ивановна,

доктор филологических наук, зав. кафедрой перевода и лингвистической подготовки иностранцев Днепровского национального университета имени Олеся Гончара

СЫРВАТКА Кристина Сергеевна,

магистрант Днепровского национального университета имени Олеся Гончара

В статье ставится проблема лингвистического изучения английских надписей на одежде. Целью статьи является лингвистический анализ семантической нагрузки англоязычных надписей на одежде. Для достижения этой выполнены задачи сбора, систематизации и анализа надписей на одежде и их перевода на украинский язык, выявление существующих нерешённых вопросов при анализе надписей на одежде. Объектом исследования являются англоязычные слоганы, которые размещаются на одежде взрослых и детей в Украине и за рубежом. Предметом настоящего исследования является специфика реализации частей речи в диалектах. Цель работы и её задачи определили выбор методов исследования: метод сравнения позволяет установить адекватность перевода надписей на одежде; описательный метод использован для описания успешных слоганов. Надписи на одежде как особый текст передают определённую информацию о человеке, событиях, происходящих в его жизни, о его вкусах, интересах и увлечениях. В процессе исследования собрано и проанализировано около 200 слоганов на одежде. Надпись на одежде -- это коммуникативный инструмент с разнообразным семантическим содержанием. Можно классифицировать надписи на одежде по семантическому принципу и разделить их на несколько семантических групп. Последние являются результатом исследования. Смысловая нагрузка надписей на одежде достаточно разнообразна и динамична. Вывод, надписи на одежде находятся в состоянии постоянных изменений, как и мода в целом, часто отражают некоторые кратковременные проблемы и со временем становятся неактуальными. Практическое значение исследования заключается в использовании предложенных классификаций для перевода надписей на одежде.

Ключевые слова: текст, надпись, смысловая нагрузка, классификация, одежда, слоган, тематический принцип.

The problem formulation

Clothing is one of the necessities of life, influencing the impression people have about us, affecting one's self-confidence, an important component of appearance. Clothes with a print in the form of a short text is one of the ways of self-expression in our time; it provides an opportunity to demonstrate feelings, outlook on life, transmits personal information about hobbies and tastes. That's why the problem of its linguistic analysis is a relevant one. The relevance of the study is determined by the focus of modern linguistic studies on the analysis of English inscriptions. One of the important issues remains the translation of English inscriptions.

Connection with the latest research

At the present stage of development of linguistics, scientists pay particular attention to the study of such a peculiar, multifaceted phenomenon as the slogan. The interest of researchers determines the large number of works and points of view devoted to this phe-nomenon. Slogans have become an integral part of everyday life. These short compact phrases, due to their high functionality, are implemented and occupy any free physical and mental space. It becomes apparent that this phenomenon requires extensive investigation. The increased interest of researchers to the slogan led to the emergence of such a trend in advertising as a slogan. The slogan was an aspect of the study (part of the study) not only of the language of advertising, advertising text and political discourse, but also monoverse, newspaper reports, PR texts and texts on clothing. The slogan also be-came a separate object of study for many scientists (O. Ivsus, N. Belousova, O. Dmitriev, N. Kopeikina, I. Morozova, D. Ogilvi, P. Ondombo, K. Padova, I. Velinov). Interest in this topic does not fade, despite the large number of works dealing with the study of the slogan.

The purpose of our study is linguistic analysis of English-language clothing inscriptions semantic load. In order to achieve this goal in the course of our study, the following tasks are foreseen collecting, systematizing and analyzing the inscriptions on clothes and performing their translation into the Ukrainian language, identifying the existing unsolved questions when translating the inscriptions on clothes. The object of the research is English-language slogans, which are placed on the clothes of adults and children in Ukraine and abroad. The purpose of the paper and its tasks determine the choice of research methods:the method of comparison, which allows establishing the adequacy of translation of the inscriptions on clothes; descriptive method used to describe successful translations and failures of translators.

The essence of the research. The main linguistic and functional features of compressed text labels on clothing are the compression of a large amount of text and information compression. Such a transformation is achieved through semantic changes (the structure of short informative messages, implicit and fuzzy information, any assumptions or predictions) and stylistic compression (namely the use of stylistic figures and paths). It is also possible to reduce the volume of the text due to lexical tools (abbreviations, phraseological units, foreign words, and profanity), grammar (the use of certain parts of speech, turns, and substitutions), graphics (various fonts, italics, underlining) and syntax (incomplete, elliptic, compound, partial offers).Semantic compression is the process of lexicon compression. The lexicon is used to create a text document (or a specific set of documents), by reducing the heterogeneity of the language, but at the same time preserving the semantics of the text. As a result, the same text can be written using a smaller set of words. In most cases, semantic compression is lossy compression. We understand that increased flexibility does not compensate for lexical compression, and the original document cannot be restored in the reverse process.

The inscriptions on clothes as a text representant convey certain information about a person: about events that occur in a person's life, about events, about tastes, interests and hobbies of a person.We have collected and analyzed about 200 clothing slogans._

The slogan on clothing is an integral compressed text, because the slogan must convey to the person the essence of the information content, as well as interest him and attract attention using the minimum number of words. And also, we can consider the slogan as a compressed text because of its volume and space that it occupies. Therefore, we can say that the inscription on clothes is a compressed text, because it represents the process of reducing the structure of language unit without changing the information embedded in it, which is systemic in nature and stylistically unmarked.

The inscription on the clothes is not just a decorative element. It is a communicative tool with a variety of semantic content. It is possible to classify the inscriptions on clothes according to the semantic principle and divide them into several semantic groups:

1) inscriptions associated with the names of the brand, the manufacturer. Famous clothing brands: Zara, Stradivarius, Calvin Klein, Dolce Gabbana, Masimmo Dutti, Giorgio Armani, Prada; perfume companies: Versace, Dior, Chanel; sportswear such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok. The use of the names of world brands is very popular among young people and is often found on clothing in the form of inscriptions;

2) inscriptions with the names of musical groups, musical artists or simply musical directions or names of sports teams. Often walking along the streets, we see passers-by with such inscriptions on clothes: “Linkin Park”, “Moon”, “Maruv”, “The Firemann”, “Punk not dead”, “Play with an open heart”, “Real Madrid”. Having seen a person with such an inscription on clothes, we immediately realize that he is a fan of a certain musical group or football team. Thanks to such inscriptions, we learn the facts about a stranger, information about his preferences and tastes;

3) inscriptions with negative, offensive, obscene words and expressions. This is another proof that the inscription on clothes is a way of expressing attitudes towards others. Even if this expression is not entirely positive. For example: “Keep your distance”, “Do not approach close!”, “Do not copy me!”, “I do not want to communicate with you!”, “Minimum communication with others”;

4) labels containing funny words or phrases. People who want to cheer or support others with their appearance prefer the following inscriptions: “Life is sad, but the salary is ridiculous”, “A clear con-science is the best sleeping pill”, “A place for free advertising”, Loneliness is when you have a phone, and an alarm clock rings”. A person with such an inscription seems positive and sociable. In this case, the inscription on the clothes is a way to cheer yourself up and others;

5) inscriptions with phrases expressing a personal attitude to politics, the activity of a country or city, the world around and ecology, science. People who want to express their opinion about the sur-rounding reality prefer T-shirts with the following inscriptions: “Stop pollution”, “Keep the forest!” “You are in society”, “You are MAN”, “You are in the city!” “Behave culturally!”;

6) inscriptions with phrases related to the opposite sex, such as: “Call me!”, “I am free”, “Follow me”, “My boyfriend is not in the city”, “My evening is absolutely free”;

7) inscriptions with phrases that do not contain specific information, such as “Sunday”, “Mysticism”, “Cosmos”, “Summer”, “Butterfly”, “Beauty”;

8) inscriptions with the characteristics of a person. For example: “Forever young”, “I am young, just gray-haired”, “I was born to be blonde”, “I am a little over 30”, “Always 18”, “Born to be free”;

9) lettering with quotes. Basically, these are lines of popular songs: “Where there is no danger, there can be no glory”, “No one appreciates what is too much”, “Beauty will save the world”;

10) inscriptions challenging society, such as “Just Call!”, “Of course I'm not Katherine Hepburn, but...”, “Catch me if you can”.

According to this classification, the semantic load of the inscriptions on clothes is quite diverse and dynamic. This means that they are in a state of constant change, as well as the fashion in general and often reflect some short-term problems and soon become irrelevant.

In addition, the inscriptions on clothes were classified by M. Khalikov [2] on thematic principle. In his work, he cites and systematizes several examples of modern t-shirt writing:

1) appeal for action: “Do it”, “Just do it”, “I love Planet!”, “Earth is our home!”, “Be green!”, “Take care of Earth!”;

2) appeal for humanism and tolerance “More respect, less attack”;

3) appeal for brutality: “Prepare Attack Destroy”

4) indication of the inadmissibility of interference with the privacy of the T-shirt owner: “Don't tell me what to do and I won't tell you where to go”;

5) folk speech formula: “You can only interrupt a woman with the words “I love” “I buy,” “Yes, I'm a fool””;

6) own characteristic: “Happy Fabulous Nice”, “Troublemaker”;

7) expressions of open flirting: “I melt looking at you”;

8) indication of marital status: “I love my husband”, “I love my wife”.

M. Golovushkina, O. Voyachek [1] also classified the analyzed inscriptions according to the thematic principle:

1) inscriptions according to the character, opinion, worldview: “Life is cool”, “I love everything!”, “People like people, but I am the queen” “Life is excellent”;

2) inscription according to interests: “Forever” “Handmade”;

3) romantic inscriptions: “I love my husband”;

4) provocative inscriptions: “Do you need my body?”;

5) neutral inscriptions: “Aqua club”, “AnnaTeam”.

In addition, in our study, we have developed a classification of clothes on the communicative type of sentence and emotional coloring.

Slogans for the purpose of the statement are: declarative, interrogative, imperative and exclamatory sentences. The most effective, in our case, are imperative and exclamatory. The task of an interpreter is to use the knowledge of theoretical principles of translation for the transfer of the communicative func-tion of the original, since knowledge of the theoretical foundations of translation and extra-linguistic realities is a necessary condition for the adequacy of the translation.

Consequently, according to the communicative type of sentence, the following groups of slogans are singled out:

1) declarative sentence (such sentences are simply statements that relay information), for example: “I don't like....”, “I don't know anything”;

2) interrogative sentence (an interrogative sentence asks a question, and it always ends with a ques-tion mark), for example: “Is it the silk shine of my hair or am I just the goddess of love?”;

3) imperative sentence (such sentence is used to issue a command or offer advice), for example: “Get out!”, “Go!” “Let's go!”;

4) exclamatory sentence (an exclamatory sentence expresses heightened emotion such as excitement, anger, surprise or joy. It always ends with an exclamation mark!). For additional emotion enhancement, the following words may be used in occasional sentences: what, that, how: “What's that?!” Also, occasional sentences placed on clothes may include only one word or phrase: “Wow!”, “Wonderful!”, “It's such a beautiful life!”

The texts of the inscriptions are often ironic and gave new meaning to classical forms of clothing, for example, the inscription on the dress “You can wear me, but you can't take it off!”, “The most fash-ionable jacket” on the jacket, “This sweater costs a million dollars” on the sweater. Fashion should not be taken seriously and has turned consumers of its products into “walking advertisements” of certain brand. A small label, which is usually sewn from the inside, turned into huge slogans on the most prominent and even unexpected places [3].

Conclusions and prospects

Slogans on clothes have become an integral part of modern everyday life, although they have a very long history of existence. The inscription on clothing provides direct, verbal-visual communication between people. After all, every inscription must have its own meaning. This research will allow people to pay attention to the translation of the inscriptions and use the information correctly, which should reflect the real interests of its owner. Though some examples surprise us with their frivolity, sometimes even insults, sometimes funny cues that lead to curiosities. By paraphrasing the famous phrase, we can assert -- we are in charge of what is written on our clothing.

References

1. Головушкина М., Воячек О. Англоязычные надписи на одежде как элемент молодёжной субкультуры. Общество : IIIМеждународная научно-практическая конференция, Пенза, 2015. С. 266-268.

2. Халиков М. М. Дискурсивно-прагматический потенциал межуровневой транспозиции лингвистических единиц. Вестник Самарского государственного университета. Самара, 2016. № 1. С. 191-196.

3. Benbow-Pfalzgraf T., Martin R. Contemporary Fashion. Penguin, 2010. 743 р.

References II

1. Golovushkina, M., Voyachek, O. (2015), “English Clothes Inscriptions as an Element of Youth Subculture”, Language. Law. Society : Collection of articles of the 3rd International Scientific and Practical Conference [“Angloyazychnye nadpisi na odezhde kak element molodyozhnoy subkul'tury”, Yazyk. Pravo. Obshchestvo : sbornik statey IIIMezhdunarod- noy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii], Penza State University Publishing, Penza, pp. 266-268.

2. Halikov, M. M. (2016), “Discourse-Pragmatic Potential of Interlevel transposition of Linguistic Units”, Vestnik of Samara State University [“Diskursivno-pragmaticheskiy potentsial mezhurovnevoy transpozitsii lingvisticheskikh yedi- nits”, Vestnik Samarskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta], Samara, vol. 1, pp. 191-196.

3. Benbow-Pfalzgraf, T., Martin, R. (eds.) (2010), Contemporary Fashion, Penguin Publishing Group, 743 p.

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