Semantic peculiarities of the English article and ways of its translation

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he crowd. (E.Caldwell)А той чоловiк над нами огризався до людей з натовпу.The next afternoon, accompanied by Arthur, she arrived in the Morses carriage.На другий же день в супроводi Артура вона приСЧхала до нього в каретi Морзiв.It needed the excitement of getting a part or a first nightтАжЛише радiсть коли вiн отримав гарну рольтАж

10) very often when the noun in the sentence has another attribute the clearly explicit lexical meaning of the definite article remains superflous:

He lay where he had fallen, and from there he watched the man in the red sweater. (J.London)Вiн лежав, де впав, i звiдти спостерiгав за чоловiком у червоному светрi.When the two men had gone she looked through the photographs again before putting them back.Коли чоловiки пiшли, Джулiя знову переглянула фото перед тим, перед тим, як повернути СЧх на мiiе.

Here the man in the red sweater may be translated as той чоловiк у червоному светрi but the postpositive attribute у червоному (светрi) has a stronger force of definiteness than the prepositive lexically charged article. As a result, the meaning of the article remains implicit, though strongly felt.

Similarly in the sentence below where the lexically charged definite article is also suppressed by the attributive prepositional noun:

From the first mention of the dance by Mrs. Cowperwood and Anna, Ailen had been conscious of a desire toward a more effective presentation of herself than as yet. (T.Dreiser)З першоСЧ митi, як мiсiс Каупервуд та Анна заговорили про вечори з танцями, Ейлен закортiло блиснути (показати себе) ще яскравiше, нiж це СЧй вдавалося досi.

The definite article in the sentence above is substituted for the contextual noun вечори (з танцями) instead of тi танцi as in the original sentence.

) In many a case the definite article may point to thematic functioning of the noun, which is usually signalized by its initial position in the sentence and pointing to the core of the utterance presenting the basic, known already elements in the sentence:

The street lights were fewer now. (J. Steinbeck)Лампiонiв на вулицi тепер горiло менше.The old man stared at the open door. (Ibid.)Старий з острахом дивився на прочиненi дверi.The night was getting colder and more raw all the time. (E. CaldwellА нiч усе холоднiшала i ставала щодалi вологiшою/ i ставало щодалi вологiше.The dog had gone back to his slow, spiritless barking. (J. SteinbeckТут собака заходився знову спроквола i неохоче погавкувати.They silently passed the studio.(J.Fowels)Повз майстерню вони пройшли мовчки.She sat at the desk and with her bold, flowing hand wrote: Your sincerely, Julia Lambert.Джулiя сiла за стiл i своСЧм чiеким плавним правописом написала: Щиро Ваша Джулiя Ламберт.The thought of refusing had never even occurred to him.У нього не було навiть думки про те щоб вiдмовитися.rheme, the notional element in the utterance, is more frequently indicated in English by the indefinite article determining the noun in the initial position. When translated into Ukrainian, however, the rhematic noun, as has long been noticed1, occupies a terminating position in the sentence/clause (when the utterance is a composite sentence):

There was an old twostorey yellow house on Fielding Avenue that year. (W. Saroyan)Того року на ФiлдiнТС Авеню ще стояв старий двоповерховий жовтий будинок.A dog growled in one of the yards as the men went by. (J. Steinbeck)Коли чоловiки проходили повз один з будинкiв, у його дворi загарчав собака.A light fog began to drift through the air, and the stars were swallowed in it. (Ibid.)У повiтрi потягнися легенькi пасма туману, / вони заволокли й поглинули зiрки.A train hooted mournfully, and in a moment it rounded a bend and pushed its terrible light down the track. (Ibid.)Тужно загув поСЧзд, i, обiгнувши за якусь мить округлий вигiн, кинув своСЧ страхiтливi слiпучi пасма свiтла на колiСЧ.тАж I insist on you being educated like a real gentleman.Я наполягаю, щоб ти отримав освiту достойну джентльмена.She only half believed all she had been saying, but it excited her to discuss a plan that would bring her into a close and constantВона лише наполовину вiрила всьому, що казала, але СЧй було приСФмно обговорювати проект, який би ще бiльше зблизив СЧСЧ з Майклом.

A correct selection of thematic and rhematic nouns, identified by the definite and indefinite articles and by their respective placement in the sentence, facilitates the faithful conveying of the logical sentence perspective in the target language.

.2.2. Realization of the contextual meanings of the indefinite article

Strange as it may seem but very often, almost predominantly, the indefinite article is endowed in words/text with lexical meanings, which may coincide with those of different pronouns. The only exception 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 один (одна, одне):

He said something about а schooner that's getting ready to go off. (0. Wilde)Вiн тут розповiдав щось про одну шхуну, яка готуСФться вiдпливати. An excerpt from his book will give some indication of the approach fallowed in his own school and in those that were founded under his influence.Одного витягу з його книги буде достатньо, щоб дати певне уявлення про пiдхiд, що практикуСФться його школою i школами, якi виникли пiд його впливом.The reaction resulted into a complex molecule.Внаслiдок реакцiСЧ утворилась одна складна молекула.

2) In some contexts, however, the indefinite article may acquire a lexical meaning which corresponds either to the Ukrainian cardinal numeral один, to the ordinal numeral перший or to the indefinite pronoun якийсь (якась, якесь). 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:

Вiн був у нерiшучостi (вагався) тiльки якусь мить...

Вiн був у нерiшучостi (вагався) тiльки першу мить...

Вiн був у нерiшучостi (вагався) тiльки одну мить...

Similarly in the following sentences:

It was only for a moment. (J. London) Це тривало тiльки одну/ якусь мить.In a moment the Colonel and Mrs Gosselyn came in.Через одну мить полковник та мiсiс Госселiн увiйшли у кiмнату.For a moment Julia lost control of herself and her voice was heavy with tears.На якусь мить Джулiя перестала володiти собою i в СЧСЧ голосi почулись сльози.

3)By the indefinite pronoun якийсь only, without the attendant meanings of the cardinal or ordinal numerals:

He saw her come down the aisle, with Arthur and a strange young man. (J.London)Вiн бачив, як вона пройшла партером у супроводi Артура i ще якогось незнайомого молодика.Sometimes, when with her, she noted an unusual brightness in his eyes, and she liked it. (Ibid.)Часом, коли вiн бував з нею, вона помiчала якийсь особливий блиск в його очах, що подобався СЧй.But damn it, I would not play you a dirty trick like that.Але, чорт забирай, такоСЧ пiдлостi я б не скоСЧв.

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 цей, ця, це:

This was his programme for a week. (J. London)Це була його програма на цей тиждень.Here w