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Warsztaty translatorskie III / Workshop on translation III,
red./eds. R. Sokoloski, H. Duda, K. Klimkowski,
Lublin–Ottawa 2003, ISBN 83-7306-113-4
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Tomasz Kotliński
Teacher Training College
Zamość
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
in James Joyce’s “Ulysses”
The following paper will look at the issue of equivalence in Maciej Słomczyński’s translation of word-experiments in James Joyce’s
“Ulysses”. This brief analysis will attempt to reflect both structural and
culturally based differences between the languages, and the use of formal
and dynamic equivalence in the renderings.
It will be worthwhile to place “Ulysses” in its literary context to investigate the importance of its innovative language. What links “Ulysses”
with its Homeric prototype, the O d y s s e y , is not only the central
theme of home-coming and the cast of characters but also the language.
Joyce ingenuously transferred mythological characters into the streets
of Dublin and he did the same with the language, deftly adapting the
patterns of Homeric epithets, i. e. combinations of adjectives and nouns
to make compound adjectives.1 The text of “Ulysses” abounds in such epithets providing us with interesting material for analysis. We will discuss
such experiments by pointing to the word formation rules underlying this
creativity.2
The most numerous group of experiments in “Ulysses” are composite
epithets, which are formed according to the rules of compounding, that
1
A Dictionary of Literary Terms, Penguin Books, defines an epithet as “usually
an adjective of phrase expressing some quality or attribute which is characteristic of
a person or thing. Homer joined adjectives and nouns to make compound adjectives
known as ’Homeric epithets’ when applied to stock nouns. Two famous examples are
’winedark sea’ and ’rosy fingered dawn’ but there are a great many in the Iliad and
the Odyssey and they became an important feature of poetry in the oral tradition”,
(pp. 241, 309)
2
The analysis of the composition of word-experiments will be based on the following material: Satkiewicz H. (1969), Handke K. (1976), Kurzowa Z. (1976) (Polish
word-formation). English word-formation patterns are taken from Bauer L. (1983).
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Tomasz Kotliński
is “adding one base to another such that usually the one placed in front
in some sense subcategorizes the one that follows”, where by “base” we
mean “a form to which a rule of word-formation is applied” (Quirk &
Greenbaum 19??: 430). The compound adjectives have been selected on
the basis of what parts of speech compose a given adjective and what
kind of difficulties the translator had to cope with. The Polish renderings
will be discussed in order to show the structural differences between the
two languages and reveal the methods applied by the translator. Textual
contexts will be provided to help elucidate the meaning. Numbers in
brackets refer to pages of the Penguin edition of “Ulysses” and its Polish
translation by Maciej Słomczyński, (Warsaw: PIW 1981), from which all
the examples have been taken.
1. (Noun+Adjective) Noun
The first group comprises adjectives consisting of a noun and an
adjective describing another noun, ( N o u n + A d j e c t i v e ) N o u n.
Examples:
(1)
Tides, myriad islanded, within her, blood not mine, oinopa ponton,
a winedark sea. (p. ??)
A w niej przypływy o niezliczonych wyspach, nie moja krew, oinopa
ponton, morze ciemne jak wino. (p. 55)
(2)
On the curbstone before Jimmy Geary the sexton’s an old tramp sat,
grumbling, emptying the dirt and stones out of his huge dustbrown
yawning boot. (p. 101)
Na krawężniku, przed domem kościelnego Jima Geary siedział stary
włóczęga, mamrocząc, wysypując piasek i kamyki z wielkiego, brunatnozakurzonego rozdziawionego buta. (p. 109)
(3)
A sugarsticky girl shovelling scoopfuls of creams for a Christian
brother, (p. 150)
Lepkosłodka dziewczyna nakłada całe szufelki nadziewanych czekoladek chrześcijańskiemu braciszkowi. (p. 162)
(4)
Under Tom Kernan’s ginhot words the accompanist wove music slow.
(p. 290)
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
71
Pośród dżinem płonących słów Toma Kernana akompaniator prządł
powolną muzykę. (p. 301)
The Polish renderings range from paraphrases to very close translation, preserving the form of the adjective in question. The reason why
winedark sea has been translated as ciemne jak wino may lie in the
semantic shift the noun wino undergoes when changed into the adjective winny; consider a possibility of winnociemne — the first element
is ambiguous. It may either refer to wine as in “ocet winny” (vinegar)
or to the taste as in “winne jabłko” (sour apple). In this case, the descriptive method of translation, though diminishing some of the original
compactness of the phrase may be justified.
In the second example compounding is retained in the translation.
However, the meaning of the self-explanatory English compound dustbrown is somehow distorted in brunatnozakurzony in the way that the
original compound describes the colour and does not mention that the
boot was dusted. Słomczyński decides to slightly distort the sense of
the phrase for the sake of keeping the compounding form, realizing it
contributes to the meaning to the same degree as its sense does, as is our
assumtion that compound adjectives in “Ulysses” are a direct link with
the language of the O d y s s e y .
A case of fairly faithful translation is seen in the rendering of sugarsticky girl by lepkosłodka dziewczyna. The Polish compound reads naturally and the change of the English noun sugar into the adjective słodka
does not change the overall meaning of the rendering.
The translation of ginhot causes some trouble. Here, the compound
meaning “hot as gin” is rendered by dżinem płonące, using a participle.
Again, the meaning is close but the fact that the author used the compound in the original is lost in the translation. There seems to be no
obstacle why the Polish phrase should not be written jointly (dżinempłonące) and in this way render both the sense and the form of the
original compound.
As we have seen, none of the Polish renderings is a formal equivalent of the English compound, none has preserved the structure
N o u n + A d j e c t i v e. This is so because the process of compounding operates in Polish on a different basis than it does in English. It
is even believed that compounding is not a productive process in Pol-
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Tomasz Kotliński
ish but rather an imitation of Germanic formations. Refuting this view
and giving clear patterns of Polish compounds, Kurzowa (1976: 114)
observes that compounding and derivation by means of affixation are
two overlapping processes. It is often the case that the formation of
Polish compounds requires the use of both processes (in lepkosłodka,
brunatnozakurzony we have the presence of the infix -o-). Therefore the
interaction of the two processes may complicate the formation of Polish
compounds and restrict its productivity.
On the other hand, English draws abundantly on its Germanic origins,
and compounding has always been a major way of creating its word-stock.
As Wrenn (1952) observes
English has never at any time lost its native powers of making
new words by derivation, of building up words of native stocks and
parts. Though these powers were atrophied by centuries of foreign
domination in cultural matters during the French supremacy, and
to a less extent by the almost overwhelming importance of Latin at
the Renaissance, they never ceased to be; and its huge expansion
in the latter centuries, these powers have been to some extent
called into use. (Wrenn 1952: 107-108)
The loss of the inflectional endings in the course of the development of
English only helped such compounds as ginhot, sugarsticky to be formed.
How prolific the compounding may be, can be seen in other examples
from the text of “Ulysses” and their renderings from the Polish translation. Compound adjectives coined from a noun and a participle form
quite a numerous group in the text; they amount to 35 items, from which
the most representative will be discussed here.
2. (Noun+Participle) Noun
(5)
The scrotumtightening sea. (p. 11)
Mosznękurczące morze. (p. 9)
(6)
From a hill above a corpsestrewn plain a general speaking to his officers, leaned upon his spear. (p. 30)
Ze wzgórza nad pokrytą ciałami równiną wsparty na włóczni generał
przemawia do swoich oficerów. (p. 30)
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
(7)
73
Dicers and thimbleriggers we hurried by after the hoofs, the vying
caps and jackets and past the meatfaced woman, a butcher’s dame,
nuzzling thirstily her clove of orange, (p. 38)
Mijając graczy i naciągaczy spieszyliśmy za kopytami, współzawodniczącymi czapeczkami i kurtkami, mijając mięsistogębą kobietę, damulę rzeźnika, łapczywie ryjącą w swej ćwiartce pomarańczy.
(p. 38)
(8)
The whitemaned seahorses, champying, brightwindbridled, the steeds
of Mananaan. (p. 43)
Białogrzywe konie morza, gryzące wędzidła jasnych wiatrów, rumaki
Mananaana. (p. 44)
(9)
She blinked up of her avid shameclosing eyes, mewing plaintively and
long, showing him her milkwhite teeth. (p. 58)
Zamrugała chciwymi, wstydliwie przymkniętymi oczami, miaucząc
żałośnie, przeciągle i ukazując mu swe mlecznobiałe zęby. (p. 61)
(10)
Dullthudding Guinness’s barrels. It passed stately up the staircase
steered by an umbrella, a solemn beardframed face. (p. 119)
Głuchodudniące beczki Guinnessa. Weszło majestatycznie na schody,
poprzedzone przez parasol, uroczyste, brodąobramowane oblicze.
(p. 128)
The series presented here renders well the accumulation of compounds
in Joyce’s prose. What strikes most about this pattern is a fairly great
number of descriptive renderings in Polish. Actually the pattern noun
+ verb + word forming inflectional ending and infix -o- does exist in
Polish, though as Kurzowa (1976: 102) points out, adjectives of this type
are no longer used and are thought to be archaic (the examples given
include deszczorody, dzieworody, cudotwórczy. On the other hand, the
English pattern is very productive though sometimes classified together
with noun + adjective compounds (Bauer1983: 209).
The formations mosznękurczące, brodąobramowane are worth looking
into. Both Polish and English compounds of this type consist of a verb
and a modifying noun as a direct object of the verb (scrotumtightening
sea: sea tightening the scrotum; mosznękurczące morze: morze kurczące
mosznę). The question is whether such formations can be treated as
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Tomasz Kotliński
well-formed compounds in Polish; the only information of their compound character is the ordering and joint spelling; what breaks the rules
is the lack of the infix and the retaining of the nominal inflection. Such
semi-compounds can be however accepted on the basis of their innovativeness and our tenet that the form is as important as the sense.
As mentioned before, descriptive renderings dominate in this pattern.
A very compact phrase, brightwindbridled horses, is rendered by means
of a lengthy sentence. Worth noting here is the number of elements in the
original compound (3) which may add to the difficulties in the translation. Nevertheless, Polish knows compounds of more than two elements,
especially in the bureaucratic jargon; dobotonażokilometr, efektogodzinopraca are good examples of such formations. However their use is very
restricted and they cannot set a general rule, which could justify the
translator.
Yet, it is enough to mention a masterly translation of a fragment
of the text accumulating a great deal of compound adjectives in one
sentence to see the translatoric talents of Słomczyński:
“Come on, you winefizzling, ginsizzling, booseguzzling existences!
Come on, you doggone, bullenecked, beet1ebrowed, hogjowled, peanutbrained, weaseleyed fourflushers, false alarms and excess baggage. (p. 425)
This delirious invocation to imaginary persons is rendered as:
“Pójdźcie wy. winożłope, dżynochłepte, gorzałochlejne istoty! Pójdźcie
wy, spsiałe, byczoszyje, lwiobrewe, świnioryje, orzeszkomózgie, łasiczookie
szulery, fałszywe alarmy i zbyteczne bagaże. (p. 462)
In the case of the first sentence, the Polish renderings are all
formal equivalents of the original compounds, their structures are
exactly the same: winefizzling (N o u n + P a r t i c i p l e): winożłope
(N o u n + P a r t i c i p l e). Moreover, the Polish compounds conform to
the rules of word-formation (the presence of the infix) and are fully acceptable. The Polish compounds in the second sentence are formed on
a different pattern than the original, so the translator has been using
the method of dynamic equivalence. However, it does not influence the
meaning in the least way.
The only omission is spsiałe, where a compound in the original is
rendered by means of a simplex (not compounded) adjective, well rooted
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
75
in the word stock. Because of the series of compounds in one sentence,
this omission does not impoverish the formal meaning of the whole.
3. (Adjective/Adverb+Participle) Noun
Another group of compounds, by far the most numerous in the text,
are formed on the pattern (A d j e c t i v e / A d v e r b + P a r t i c i p l e)
N o u n. The examples include:
(11)
A voice, sweettoned and sustained, called to him from the sea.
(p. 29)
Głos słodkobrzmiący i niemilknący wołał go z morza. (p. 28)
(12)
They swarmed loud, uncouth about the temple, their heads
thickplotting under maldroit silk hats. (p. 40)
Mrowi1i się głośno w świątyniach, nieokrzesani, gruboknujące
głowy pod krzywo nałożonymi cylindrami. (P. 40)
(13)
At the lacefringe of the tide he halted with stiffhoofs, seawardpointed ears. (p. 51)
Przy rąbku koronki przypływu przystanął prostując przednie
kopytka, uszami zwrócony w stronę morza. (p. 53)
(14)
Then he went to the dresser, took the jug Hanlon’s milkman has
just filled for him, poured warmbubbled milk on a saucer and set
it slowly on the floor. (P. 58)
Później podszedł do kredensu, wziął dzban napełniony przed
chwilą przez mleczarza od Hanlona, nalał ciepłego, pokrytego bąbelkami mleka na spodek i postawił go ostrożnie na podłodze.
(p. 62)
(15)
What was the name of that priestylooking chap who was always
squinting in when he passed? (p. 155)
Jak się nazywał ten księżowyglądający facet, który zezował zawsze w naszym kierunku przechodząc? (p. 167)
(16)
Portals of discovery opened to let in the quaker librarian, softcreakfooted, bald, eared and assiduous. (p. 190)
Wrota odkryć otworzyły się, aby wpuścić kwakierskiego bib-
76
Tomasz Kotliński
liotekarza, miękkoskrzypostopego, łysego, wielkouchego i gorliwego. (p. 204)
This type of compounds is difficult to classify because the first element is an adjective in form but seems to function as an adverb semantically (Bauer 1983: 212). For the sake of clarity the second element is
treated here as a participle, though it functions adjectivally. The pattern is highly productive both in English and Polish so the fairly great
number of omissions (about 50%) is striking. The omissions include the
cases where Polish has no corresponding one word adverb: seaward — “ku
morzu, w stronę morza” or where there is no corresponding participle;
thinsocked ankles (p. 223) — kostki okryte cienkimi skarpetkami (p. 240),
darkbacked figure (p. 227) — postać o ciemnym grzbiecie (p. 244). The
ease with which English nouns can be converted into verbs and into participles adds to the productivity of this pattern in English: sock (Noun)
> to sock (Verb) > socked (Participle). On the other hand, the process of conversion (zero derivation) is not a productive process in Polish
word-formation.
Where Polish has corresponding adverbs and participles/adjectives,
the translator had no difficulty in joining them to build well-formed compounds: słodkobrzmiący, gruboknujące, księżowyglądający.
Special attention must be paid to the compound adjective consisting
of three bases: softcreakfooted, which has been skillfully translated as
miękkoskrzypostopy.
The same talent has been revealed in the rendering of the following sentence, describing hyperbolically the Citizen, a character from the
Cyclops episode:
The figure seated on a large boulder at the foot of a round tower
was of a broadshouldered deepchested stronglimbed frankeyed redhaired freely freckeled shaggybearded widemouthed largenosed longheaded deepvoiced barekneed brawnyhanded hairylegged ruddyfaced
sinewyarmed hero. (p. 294)
This inflated description is ingeniously translated into Polish by the
following sentence:
Owa postać spoczywająca na ogromnym głazie u stóp krągłej
wieżycy był to rozłożystoramienny szerokopierśny krzepkoczłony
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
77
szczerooki czerwononosy gęstopiegi rozwianobrody szerokousty
wielkonosy długowłosy niskogłosy gołoudy mocarnoręki włochatonogi
rumianolicy węźlastociosany bohater. (p. 317)
As we can see every English compound adjective in the sentence has
its Polish rendering, equivalent both to the form and sense of the original and well expressing the gigantic effect. The only objection may be
raised concerning the translation of sinewy armed by obscure węźlastociosany. From the structure of the self explanatory sinewy armed one
infers that the person in question is one with sinewy arms, muscular. So,
the Polish compound węźlastociosany has hardly any semantic affinity
with its English counterpart, but its expressiveness may compensate for
its divergence from the original.
So far we have been dealing with compound adjectives in the text
of “Ulysses” which are a direct reflection of Homeric epithets. However,
Joyce’s inventiveness goes further, and using the resources of the English language he coins a number of phrase compound adjectives, that
is such constructions where an entire phrase seems to be involved in the
formation of a new adjective. The examples include:
(17)
And Bloom, of course with his knockmedown cigar putting on swank
with his lardy face. (p. 304)
A Bloom oczywiście, z tym cwaniackim cygarem, tak jak by chciał
zadawać szyku tą swą opasłą gębą. (p. 327)
(18)
I seen you up Faithful place with your squarepusher, the greaser of
the railway, in his cometobed hat. (p. 427)
Widziałem cię na placu Faithful z tym twoim kochaneczkiem, z tym
smarowaczem kolejowym, ubranym w skocz-mi-do-łóżka kapelusz.
(p. 465)
(19)
For which and further reasons he felt it was interest and duty even
to wait on and profit by the unlookedfor occassion, though why. . .
(p. 567)
Dla tej i innych przyczyn poczuł, że jest to ciekawe a nawet jest to jego
obowiązkiem czekać nadal i skorzystać z nieprzewidzianej sposobności,
choć dlaczego. . . (p. 671)
(20)
He turned a long you are wrong gaze on Stephen of timorous dark
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Tomasz Kotliński
pride at the soft impeachment, with a glance also of entreaty for he
seemed to glean in a kind of a way that it wasn’t all exactly . . . (p. 563)
Skierował przeciągłe nie masz r acji spojrzenie na Stefana, pełne
bojaźliwej mrocznej dumy z powodu łagodnego oskarżenia, a także
prośby, gdyż zaświtało w nim coś, co powiedziało mu w pewien sposób,
że nie wszystko jest dokładnie tak, jak. . . (p. 667)
(21)
A sudden-at-the-moment-though-from-lingering-illness-often-previously-expectorated-demise. Lenehan said. (p. 144)
Nagły-choć-pochodzący-z-przewlekłej-choroby-przedtem-wyksztuszony-zgon,
powiedział Lenehan. (p. 154)
None of the Polish sources (Kurzowa (1976), Handke (1976), Satkiewicz (1969) list phrase compounds as autonomous formations in their
studies of Polish compounds. On the other hand Bauer (1983) gives examples not only from English but also from other languages, mainly
Germanic. Perhaps the alien character of such compounds in Polish accounts for their rather poor rendition. Actually, the translator has to
introduce this type of compounding into Polish if he decides to retain
their original form.
Let us have a closer look at the rendition of the above mentioned
phrase compounds. Out of the five examples provided, three are translated as compounds into Polish: 18. skocz-mi-do-łóżka kapelusz, 20.
nie masz racji spojrzenie and 21. nagły-choć-pochodzący-z-przewlekłej-choroby-przedtem-wykrztuszony-zgon. Those phrases which are hyphenated seem to be acceptable in Polish, whereas (20) may be confusing for
the Polish reader; the phrase nie masz racji may not be necessarily perceived as an adjective and the lack of hyphenation may also contribute
to it. It has to be noted that in English noun phrases, the adjective
always precedes the noun and therefore may be easily identified, quite
contrary to Polish with its freedom of placing the adjective within the
noun phrase.
The cases where compounding has not been retained in the translation include the rendition of unlookedfor by uncompounded, already
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
79
established simplex adjective nieprzewidziany and knock-me-down by obscure cwaniacki.
4. Phrase Compound Noun
Apart from phrase compound adjectives, there are also a number of
p h r a s e c o m p o u n d n o u n s coined by Joyce in “Ulysses”. They
are the following:
(22)
There’s whatdoyoucallhim out of. How do you? Doesn’t see. (p. 63)
Ten jak że mu tam wychodzi z. Jak się pan? Nie widzi. (P. 67)
(23)
Bury him cheap in a whatyoumaycall. (p. 72) Pochowaj go tanio
w czymkolwiek bądź. (p. 78)
(24)
Practice dwindling. A mighthavebeen. Losing heart. Gambling. Debts
of honour, (p. 127)
Podupadająca praktyka. Zmarnowany. Stracił serce. Hazard. Długi
honorowe. (p. 136)
(25)
After him, freshfound, the hue and cry zigzag, gallops in hot pursuit of follow my leader 65C 66C night watch, John Henry Menton,
Wisdom Hely, V. B. Dillon, (. . . ) Whatdoyoucallhim, Strancreface,
Fellowthat’slike, Sawhimbefore, Chapwith, Chris Callin, (. . . ) handsomemarriedwomanrubbedagainstwidebehindinClonskeatram, (. . . ) Miss
Dubedatandshdidbedad (. . . ). (p. 519)
Za nim, zwietrzywszy na nowo trop, pogoń i wrzawa galopuje zygzakiem, gęsiego, ścigają go 65C i 66C policjanci nocnego patrolu, John
Henry Menton, Wisdom Hely, V. B. Dillon, (. . . ) Jakżemutam, Obcatwarz, Facetpodobnydo, Gdzieśgojużwidziałem, Tencobyłztym, Chris
Callinam, (. . . ) przystojnamężatkaoktórejrozłożystytyłekotarłemsięwtramwajudoClonskea, (. . . ) Miss Dubedatktóradupyda (. . . ). (p. 610)
(26)
. . . he at the outset in principle, at all events, was in thorough sympathy with peasant possession, as voicing the trend of modern opinion,
a partiality however, which, realising his mistake, he subsequently
cured of, and even was twitted with going a step further than Michael
Davitt in the striking views he at one time inculcated as a backtothelander, . . . (p. 577)
. . . na początku w każdym razie, żywił głęboką sympatię do sprawy
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Tomasz Kotliński
uwłaszczenia chłopów, wypowiadając się w duchu nowoczesnych
poglądów, ale ze skłonności tej jednak, zdawszy sobie sprawę ze swego
błędu, wyleczył się później częściowo, a nawet robiono mu zarzuty, ze
posunął się o krok dalej niż Michael Davitt w swych uderzających
poglądach, które ongiś wpajał zachwalając swój narolępowrócizm . . .
(p. 683)
A closer look will show that even such semi-compounds as whatdoyoucallhim or whatyoumaycall cause problems in rendering. What points
to their nominal character is not only their joint spelling but also the
fact that they take articles: a whatyoumaycall. Perhaps the unimportant
function these compounds play in the text led the translator to disregard
the formal equivalence of the renderings.
A more interesting example is a mighthavebeen. It is also a phrase
compound, but this time coined from the perfective form of a modal verb.
Such formations, based on some syntactic structures are not uncommon
in English. Compare words denoting people such as: has-been (Noun)
“person who, thing which has lost a quality or proficiency formerly possessed, out-of-date person or thing”, haves and have-nots (Noun) “the
rich and the poor”, would-be (Adjective & Adverb) “denoting unachieved
aspiration or intention”. (The examples come from the Concise Oxford
Dictionary, The Seventh Edition). The rendition of mighthavebeen by
zmarnowany. though semantically correct, does not reflect the compound
form of the original phrase.3
Joyce had a strong liking for mocking names and he was especially
fond of long, compounded German surnames. In the fragment presented
above, we are dealing with similar names and some members of the crowd
pursuing Bloom, the central character of “Ulysses”, bear very strange
names indeed: Whatdoyoucallhim, Strangeface, Sawhimbefore. These formations are nominalized phrases which are meant to resemble proper
names. It must be admitted that their rendition does not raise any
objections. One has also to note the extremely long compound hand3
Satkiewicz (1969) gives some examples of Polish nouns and adjectives derived
from some syntactic sructures such as nouns derived from prepositional phrases:
międzyczas, przedbieq, miedzybieg, nadtytuł (p. 99) and adjectives such as bezprzewodowy, bezcłowy, docelowy, miedzyzakładowy (p. 155). It seems however that such
formations are not derived by a productive process but rather by analogy.
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
81
somemarriedwoman. . . , which consists of ten elements. As in the case
of the surnames, this compound did not cause any problems in translation, because seemingly no special derivational process or rules had been
involved — all elements had been joined together to form nominal units.
Much more interesting is the rendition of the proper name Miss Dubedatandshedidbedad. Actually, Joyce plays on the surname of a female
character. Miss Dubedat, whose name is evidently ambiguous. It may be
read as a homophone of the phrase “do bed at”, and Joyce deftly puns
on it adding the sequel “and she did bed (ad)". Note how ingeniously the
translator managed to render it; Dubedatktóradupyda not only retains
the unchanged surname but it also plays the pun with exactly the same
sexual connotations. The change of the grammatical tense of the phrase
from the past of “did bed” to the future of “dupy da” seems to be irrelevant
considering the overall success in rendering that particular compound.
Such translation is an instance of formal equivalence both in the form
and the sense.
The last example in this series is a word derived by means of two
word-formation processes: compounding and suffixation. A backtothelander, one infers from the context, is a person who advocates going
back to the land in terms of agrarian policy. Compounding is responsible for the phrase compound backtotheland, whereas suffixation adds
the agentive suffix -er. It should be added that the occurrence of two
word-formation processes in one word usually points to the acceptability
of a given formation. In the Polish rendering we are also dealing with
the two processes. Narolępowrócizm requires both compounding (note
the retaining of inflection in narolę) and suffixation with -izm forming
abstract nouns. The shift from the personal noun in the English sentence
into the abstract one in the rendition requires a slight rephrasing. On the
whole, the rendering is acceptable both as far as the form and sense are
concerned thanks to the use of dynamic equivalence.
5. Compound Verbs
C o m p o u n d v e r b s in English are formed in the same manner
as compound adjectives and nouns. The following are the examples from
the text of “Ulysses”:
(27)
He smellipped the cordial juice and bidding his throat strongly to
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Tomasz Kotliński
speed it, set his wineglass delicately down. (p. 172)
Smakusączył kordiał i zmusiwszy przełyk, by przełknął, ostrożnie
odstawił szklankę. (p. 185)
(28)
Unwed, unfancied, ware of wiles, they fingerponder nightly each his
variorum edition of “The Taming of the Shrew”, (p. 213)
Nie zaślubieni, nie zakochani, wystrzegający się podstępów, co noc
wertująkartkują każdy swe krytyczne wydanie “Poskromienia złośnicy”. (p. 219)
(29)
The boys sixeyed Father Conmee and laughed. (p. 219)
Chłopcy zerknęli sześciooko i parsknęli śmiechem. (p. 236)
(30)
The Hobgoblin: (His jaws chattering, capers to and fro, goggling
his eyes, squeaking, kangaroohopping, with outstretched clutching
arms. . . ) (p. 472)
Gnom: (Poruszając szczękami, pląsa tu i tam, przewraca oczyma,
piszczy, skacze jak kangur, ma rozwarte zagięte ramiona. . . ) (p. 535)
(31)
Fiacre and Scotus on their creepy stools in heaven spilt from their
pintpots, loudlatinlaughing: Euge! Euge! (p. 47)
Fiacre i Scotus rozlewają z kufli, siedząc na swych oślich ławeczkach
w niebie, rżącgrzmiąc łaciną: Euge! Euge! (p. 48)
Although according to Bauer, English compound verbs are rather rare
and the majority of them are formed by back-formation or conversion
from compound nouns rather than putting two lexemes (bases) together
(Bauer 1983: 207), and also the Polish sources hardly give any examples,
the text abounds in quite a number of them. Considering the first verb
presented in this series (27.), one infers from the context that smellsipping denotes the combined actions of smelling and sipping, savouring
a drink. A satisfactory translation must render such action in one word,
which smakusączyć does well. The only objection is the use of the interfix –u-, which though exists in Polish compounds, its use is restricted to
a very few, mainly lexicalized items, such as południe, and proper names
Bogusław, Bogumił, etc. (Handke1976: 102).
A somewhat different method has been applied by the translator in
the rendition of the verb fingerponder. The English compound metaphor-
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
83
ically describes the action of reading, browsing through books, pondering with fingers. Słomczyński joins two existing Polish verbs wertować
and kartkować, both denoting “browsing”, “reading desultorily”. Wertująkartkują although renders some of the original sense is deficient formally. It looks like a compound but it is not a one since a compound
joins two lexemes to form a new one and wertowaćkartkować does not
bring any new meaning; it rather intensifies the separate meanings of
the two lexemes. The same is true of the translation of loudlatinlaughing
by rżmiącgrzmiąc łaciną. Again, rżmiącgrzmiąc is a combination of two
separate verbs rather than a new, modified verb.
Still another way of translating is presented in example 29. The English verb coined by Joyce to sixeye (to look with six eyes, three people looking at the same time) is rendered by means of modifying the
verb patrzeć by coined, compounded adverb sześciooko. By doing so,
the translator managed to retain both the same sense and form, though
transferred to another part of the sentence. Such procedure falls under
the category of dynamic equivalence.
An example of the descriptive method of translation is found in the
rendition of the verb to kangaroohop by skakać jak kangur. Although the
Polish phrase exactly renders the sense of the English compound it loses
some of its meaning by not reflecting its form.
To supplement our review of word-formation processes, of which
compounding has been given primary attention, one has to present
some instances of words derived by means of c o n v e r s i o n or
z e r o - d e r i v a t i o n. We have mentioned conversion when discussing
participles formed from verbs derived in turn by conversion from nouns.
Such a way of producing new words is extremely productive in English,
whereas in Polish such processes do not occur,4 if we understand that
“conversion is the use of a form which is regarded as being basically of
one form class as though it were a member of a different form class,
without any concomitant change of form.” (Bauer 1983: 227) Polish, on
4
Satkiewicz (1969) admits that conversion is a typically Germanic wordformation process but she provides some interesting examples of substantivization
of adjectives in Polish without the modification of the base. The examples she gives
include: aparatowy, dźwigowy, grupowy, salowy (p. 195). Although she states that the
use of substantivization is on the increase in Polish, as for now conversion cannot be
labelled a productive and autonomous word-formation process in Polish.
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Tomasz Kotliński
the other hand in the majority of cases requires a class changing suffix as
in kora (Noun) > korować (Verb). Therefore, it may be supposed that the
translation of English words derived by conversion will cause problems
comparable to those of compounds and a close look at the rendition will
show some more methods employed by he translator. The examples from
text of “Ulysses” include:
(32)
After he woke me up last night same dream was it? Wait. Open hallway. Street of harlots. Remember. Haroun al Raschid. I am almosting
it. That man led me, spoke. I was not afraid, (p. 52)
Kiedy obudził mnie zeszłej nocy, czy nie był to ten sam sen? Zaczekaj. Otwarta sień. Ulica nierządnic. Pamiętam. Już prawiewiem.
Ten człowiek prowadził mnie, mówił. Nie bałem się. (p. 54)
(33)
He thous and thees her with grave husbandwords. Dost love, Miriam?
Dost love thy man? (p. 196)
Ty, jej rzecze, wy jej rzecze, poważnymi panamężowymi słowami.
Czyli miłujesz, Miriam? Czyli miłujesz męża twego? (p. 211)
(34)
He had been meantime taking stock of the individual in front of him
and Sherlockholmesing him up, ever since he clapped eyes on him.
(p. 556)
W ciągu całego tego czasu badał i oceniał osobnika siedzącego naprzeciwko i Sherlockholmesował go, od chwili gdy oczy jego spoczęły na
nim. (p. 658)
The first example presents a case where conversion has been utilized
to derive a verb from an adverb, hence the form to almost, in this context meaning to recollect, to remember almost precisely. The translator
cannot rely on a corresponding process in Polish for the lack of it, so the
only chance of success offers itself in any form of compensation for this
lack. And Słomczyński does it surprisingly well by coining a compound
verb prawiewiedzieć in the place of the converted adverb. The result reads
well and has also the air of compactness as the original formation.
An instance of converting pronouns into verbs is shown in (33) where
archaic forms of second person pronouns thou (nominative singular) and
thee (objective singular) are used as verbs. The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives the meaning of to thou as to “address (person) as thou;
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
85
use thou instead of you”. Again, the translator has to compensate for
the lack of similar forms; he does so by using archaisms: rzecze, słowy,
czyli, miłujesz, twego. As we can see, the translation is as packed with
archaisms as the original, though the converted pronouns do not have
formal equivalents. Note also the skillful rendition of husbandwords by
formally equivalent panamężowesłowa.
Sherlockholmesować presents itself as a successful rendition of to
Sherlockholmes as a verb, possibly meaning to act like Sherlock Holmes.
The ease with which even a proper name has been converted into the
verb coincides with the ease the Polish equivalent was derived by means
of a class-changing suffix. This coincidence accounts for the successful
rendition of this verb.
This analysis dealt with some word-formation motivated experiments
in “Ulysses”. In the first part we dealt with composite adjectives, which
have their prototypes in the Odyssey, and which are derived by the process of compounding. Compounding was also used by the author to derive
nouns and verbs. We also provided some examples of verbs derived by
conversion. By presenting Polish renderings of the original experiments
we were able to see the differences and similarities between English and
Polish word-formation rules, and it enabled us to establish the methods employed by the translator, that is the use of formal and dynamic
equivalence, and some instances of omissions.
REFERENCES
Bauer L. (1983) English Word-formation, Cambridge University Press.
Handke K. (1976) Budowa morfologiczna i funkcje compositów polskich,
Prace Językoznawcze PAN.
Kurzowa Z. (1976) Złożenia imienne w języku polskim, PWN, Warszawa-Kraków
Quirk R., Greenbaum S., A University Grammar of English, Longman.
Satkiewicz H.(1969) Produktywne typy słowotwórcze współczesnego
języka ogólnopolskiego, Warszawa, Uniwersytet Warszawski.
Wrenn C. L. (1952) The English Language, Methuen & Co, London.
Rendering word-formation motivated neologisms
in James Joyce’s “Ulysses”
86
Tomasz Kotliński
Abstract
The following paper will look at the issue of equivalence in Maciej Słomczyński’s translation of word-experiments in James Joyce’s “Ulysses”.
This brief analysis will attempt to reflect both structural and culturally
based differences between the languages, and the use of formal and dynamic
equivalence in the renderings.
In the first part we deal with composite adjectives, which have their prototypes in the Odyssey, and which are derived by the process of compounding.
The same derivational process was also used by the author to derive nouns
and verbs. We also provide some examples of verbs derived by conversion.
By presenting Polish renderings of the original experiments we aim to see
the differences and similarities between English and Polish word-formation
rules, and therefore we will investigate the methods employed by the translator,
that is the use of formal and dynamic equivalence, and some instances of
omissions.