Теория языка | Филологический аспект №05 (109) Май 2024

Фонетические особенности речи персонажей в произведениях Стивена Кинга и анализ их перевода на испанский и русский языки

Герасимова Полина Владимировна
cтудент кафедры иностранных языков, Уральский федеральный университет, РФ, г. Екатеринбург, gerasimovap6@gmail.com
Научный руководитель Дедюхина Анна Сергеевна
канд. филол. наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков, Уральский федеральный университет, РФ, г. Екатеринбург, a.s.dediukhina@urfu.ru

Аннотация: Индивидуальность персонажей художественного текста выражается в их речевых характеристиках. Особенности речи, так или иначе, определяются как отклонения от литературной нормы. Такие отклонения делятся на индивидуальные, например, акцент, детская речь, или заикание; и на коллективные: сленг, жаргон, или диалекты. Данная статья посвящена фонетической составляющей речи, а именно, акценту, речи с заложенным носом, и репрезентации устной речи персонажей. Был проведён анализ данных особенностей на материале коротких рассказов Стивена Кинга: «Luckey Quarter» (1995) и «Gramma» (1984).
Ключевые слова: речевые особенности, речевое поведение, фонетические особенности, акцент, устная речь, репрезентация

Gerasimova Polina Vladimirovna
undergraduate student of Foreign languages department, Ural Federal University, Russia, Ekaterinburg
Scientific adviser Dediukhina Anna Sergeevna
Cand. Sci. (Philology.), assistant professor of Foreign languages department, Ural Federal University, Russia, Ekaterinburg

Abstract: Individuality of characters in a literary text is reflected in their speech patterns. These speech features are considered to be deviations from the standard. Such deviations can be divided into two categories: individual, such as accent, child speech, and stuttering; and collective, such as slang, lingo, and dialects. This paper focuses on the phonetic aspects of speech, specifically accent, nasal voice, and connected speech of the characters. In addition, this study offers an analysis of these features found in the short stories by Stephen King, "Luckey Quarter" (1995) and "Gramma" (1984).
Keywords: speech features, speech behavior, phonetic features, accent, connected speech, representation

Introduction

There are two types of speech in a literary text that can be distinguished – the author's speech and the character's speech. Both of these types are relatively independent [1, p. 1198]. The character's speech and it's features highlight the individuality of the speaker and indicate their social status, level of education, age, and even nationality. Thus, it is important to convey these features in translation properly, otherwise, the author's intent and the character's individuality could be lost. Moreover, it is necessary to understand how these patterns were conveyed in the original text and to know how they can be represented in the target language.

According to scientists S. Vlakhov and S. Florin, these deviations can be divided into two categories: individual, such as child speech, speech disorders, and stuttering; and collective, such as dialects, lingo, and slang [2, p. 251].

This paper focuses on the phonetic features of character's speech, in particular, the accent, nasal voice, and connected speech. These patterns can be conveyed in text in different ways. However, there is no specific system for representing them. Their translation often requires significant changes to the text.

Accent is an "eminently noticeable disruption" that appears to be an "index of identity". As Anita Starosta pointed out, for the speaker, the accent is "a mark of what he or she not: not from here, not fully occupying any given present" [3, p. 96].

As a deviation from the accepted norm, accent involves mistakes in pronunciation, grammar, syntax, stylistics, and word usage. A poor active vocabulary, overly correct speech that sounds unnatural, and a large number of pauses indicate a foreign accent as well [4, p. 25]. 

The interference of a native language, which is the spontaneous substitution of new and unfamiliar linguistic features for more familiar ones, can also cause a perception and production distortion [5, p. 19]. The reason for these mistakes could be the difference in the phonological systems. From the phonetic perspective, a foreign accent can be represented in text through the sound change, i.e. through the voicing or devoicing of certain sounds, or reduction [6, p. 136-137].

Nasal voice is a temporary feature, and, according to S. Vlakhov and S. Florin, an individual one. It can also be conveyed through the sound change that is typical of speech with a blocked nose.

In connected speech, there are processes such as linking, deletion of certain sounds, or their insertion [7, p. 5]. In this study, connected speech was described as an individual pronunciation feature, and not as a deviation from the standard.  

This article examines the phonetic representation of characters in short stories by Stephen King, "Lucky Quarter" (1995) and "Gramma" (1984), as well as their translations into Russian and Spanish. The Russian versions were translated by Victor Weber and Natalya Rein; the Spanish versions were translated by Bettina Blanch Tyroller and Francisco Blanco.

Methodology

Six examples of phonetic features were found in the short stories by Stephen King and presented in this paper in the tables. These features include accent, nasal voice, and connected speech. The analysis was conducted from two perspectives: representation of phonetic features in the original text, and their representation in translations. The methods of conveying the patterns used were compared, as well as, the specific sound changes were identified.

The classification by Y. Golovanova was chosen for the analysis of accent and nasal voice cases, as it provides a thorough description of specific processes of sound change [6, p. 136-137]. The cases of connected speech were analyzed according to the classification introduced by Ghinwa Alameen и John M. Levis [7, p. 5].

Moreover, each feature was defined as either an individual or a collective. According to S. Vlakhov and S. Florin, accent is an individual deviation from the accepted norm. However, Y. Golovanova considers that the accent in literary text should not be described as an individual deviation from the accepted standard. Instead, she defines accent as a pseudoindividual deviation, as it was added to the text by the author and conveyed according to typical patterns [6, p. 135]. In this paper, accent was defined as an individual feature, but the role of the author and typical patterns were taken into account.

Results and Discussion

Accent

Accent is one of the notable features of characters. It occurs when a person who speaks their native language also speaks another language due to the differences in the linguistic systems between them [8, p. 1699]. It can be detected in the text due to some deviations from standard norms. However, it could be challenging to determine exactly what accent is being used, unless the author left a note. The accent can be conveyed in different ways, and some of them are presented in this section. The review has focused not on a specific accent, but rather on general ways of representation.

As mentioned earlier, accent is a deviation from the literary norm. According to the classification by S. Vlakhov and S. Florin, this deviation is defined as individual [2, p. 251].

Foreign accent presupposes mistakes in all linguistic levels. In terms of phonetic mistakes, they include incorrect articulation of sounds, i.e. insufficient closeness, openness of sound, and vowel lengthening, which can change the meaning of the word [9, p. 107]. It could be that the phonetic systems of the two languages have significant differences. Also, it can involve voicing or devoicing of sounds, as well as their reduction [6, p. 136-137].

It is necessary to convey the accent in translation, and furthermore, to make it recognizable. Otherwise, due to the neutralization of the accent, the author's idea and character's individuality would not have the intended effect.

Table 1 presents some examples of a foreign accent that were found in the story "Luckey Quarter". It was mentioned in the text that the accent represented there is Swedish.

Table 1. Accent

The accent shown in the Table 1 is rather distinct due to some phonetic peculiarities, in particular, sound changes. Both examples show that the labiovelar approximant /w/ was replaced by with labiodental voiced fricative /v/ as in words like vin (win), vut (what). Also, the open sound /ɑ/ was replaced with the close vowel sound /u/ in the word vut (what). The word three became tree as the dental fricative /θ/ changed to the dental plosive /t/.

In the Russian translation, the accent was also conveyed through the sound change. In this case, a voiced sound is changed to a voiceless one: the labiodental fricative was replaced by the labiodental /f/ in all words that contain the sound /v/ as in фыиграла (win), чертофа (cheap), фыдала (paid). However, in Spanish translation the accent was lost. It seems likely that the use of sound change tool was inconvenient. However, the change of certain sounds, such as the distinct pronunciation of the silent Spanish consonant h, or changing of vowels in words like monedas (which could be pronounced as manedas), could possibly create the intended effect of a foreign speech. Errors in pronunciation and a stress shift can be conveyed graphically. In addition, errors in grammar could also be used for this purpose. For instance, using the 1^st person form of the verb he instead of its 3^d person form.

Nasal voice

The case that is given in the Table 2 is an example of a hyponasality, or a speech with a stuffy nose. This peculiarity is considered to be individual and, in this case, temporary one.

Table 2. Nasal voice

In the original text, hypernasality was conveyed through the sound change. In the words okay and think, the voiceless velar sound /k/ was replaced with the voiced /g/, which created the effect of a nasal voice. The change of the bilabial voiced /b/ to the nasal bilabial /m/ occurred in the word something. There is the same case in the Spanish translation, where me became be. The sounds /b/ and /m/ both require similar oral gestures, with the velum being raised for /b/ and lowered for /m/ [10, p. 139]. This is probably why this tool seems convenient for creating a nasal voice effect.

In the Spanish variant, the word ocurrirá also underwent a sound change and became ocudidá. The intense alveolar sound /r/ was replaced by a softer alveolar /d/, which seems natural for the unclear nasal speech. This feature, however, was not conveyed in the Russian translation. The reason for this could be that, in Russian, speaking with a blocked nose does not significantly affect the quality of most sounds.

Connected speech 

Table 3 contains an example of a fast speech that was found in the story "Gramma". In the text, the author mentioned that a character uttered this phrase in one "mental" breath.

Table 3. Connected speech, example 1

As can be seen in Table 3, the words in the sentence are written without spaces, in scriptio continua form. Perhaps, the author intended to convey a connected speech, which is characterized by the process of linking. Linking in the connected speech makes several words sound like one. This process can cause a resyllabification, but it does not change the segmental identity of a phrase [7, p. 5].

This peculiarity was conveyed in both the Spanish and Russian translations using the same technique - linking, or writing words without spaces, as in scriptio continua. This way, the Spanish phrase "Por favor Dios mío no dejes que se despierte hasta que Mami haya vuelto por Jesucristo Amén", and the Russian phrase «Пожалуйста Господи сделай так чтобы она не проснулась раньше маминого возвращения. Прошу Тебя Господи Аминь» likely represent a connected speech.

Table 4 presents another example of a connected speech.  

Table 4. Connected speech, example 2

According to E. Shamina, this feature can be conveyed through the alternative writing [11, p. 140]. In the case where the phrase a cuppa cheer (a cup of tea) is considered to be a connected speech, certain processes can be identified. Firstly, the words cup and of were linked, and as a result, a deletion occurred: the ending sound /f/ was lost. Secondly, a modification of the sound /t/ occurred and was replaced by /ch/ in the word cheer (tea). Moreover, a consonant addition occurred: /r/ at the end of the word cheer (tea).

Phonetic changes also occurred in the Russian translation: a deletion of the sound /ш/ in the word чаечку (чашечку) as well as the first consonant sound /ч/ in the word ая (чая). However, these modifications sound rather unnatural in Russian connected speech. This feature was not conveyed in the Spanish translation, however, it seems possible to achieve this effect by linking words in the phrase la fusión and using a modification or a deletion of the sound /a/ in the word la. This way, the phrase could look like l`fusion.

Conclusion

The current paper focuses on the phonetic peculiarities of speech. It analyses the methods of representing features such as accent, connected speech, and nasal voice. In addition, it compares the ways of translating these features. The speech patterns studied in this article were defined as individual ones. The main tool of their representation is considered to be a sound change. In three out of six cases, the speech features were not transferred in the translated texts. It could be that the phonetic systems of the languages are significantly different, and thus, it was not convenient to use sound change tool. This study offers several options for representing them in translation. 

Speech features represent character's individuality, so it is essential to convey them in translation, and, it is crucial to make them recognizable for readers in order to maintain the author's intended effect. Moreover, it is important to differentiate between the general, accepted standard and the author's unique style, "which expresses the author's worldview" [12, p. 4]. This paper provides a framework for future research into methods of representing speech peculiarities.

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Источники
Stephen King Gramma. L.: Weirdbook, 1984. 64 p.
Stephen King Luckey Quarter. L.: USA Weekend, 1995. 16 p.