ISSN: 1139-8736
Depósito Legal: B-48039-2000 |
2.2.6. Consequences of the typology
According to Talmy, the main consequence of this typology
is that languages will differ in the amount and type of information they
can present in the background. To illustrate the distinction between background
and foreground, he gives the following English sentences (122):
(2.17) a. Last year I went to Hawaii by plane
b. Last year I flew to Hawaii
They are virtually equivalent in the information they
contain, except for the fact that the means of transportation (by air)
is foregrounded in (a), and part of the background in (b).
Because of the different lexicalization patterns they
characteristically use, English and Spanish differ in the way they present
information. Thus, in English, information about the manner of movement
will usually be given in the background, whereas in Spanish, if present,
it will typically appear foregrounded. What is more, since English can
accumulate several paths accompanying just one verb, the amount of background
information that English can convey will be much richer, giving as a result
that not all of the information can be kept in the Spanish equivalent.
Thus, sentences like the following cannot be adequately rendered in Spanish:
(2.18) Come right back down out from up in there!
(2.19) The man ran back down into
the cellar
In (2.18) a very complex path is present. Nothing similar
can be expressed in Spanish. With regards to (2.19) any of the possible
translations will not manage to capture all the backgrounded information,
namely, that the manner of movement was running, that it was a return trajectory,
that it was a downwards movement and that a place was entered. Spanish,
being a path-type language, will only be able to give as background one
part of the information. The rest will have to be presented in the foreground,
or omitted altogether, as the following possible translations for the English
sentences attest (123):
(2.20) a.
El hombre corrió
al sótano
the man ran to the cellar
the man went back to the cellar running
c. El hombre bajó al sótano corriendo
the man went down to the cellar running
d. El hombre entró al [sic] sótano corriendo
the man went into the cellar running
In (2.20a) the vertical dimension of the path, the entering
and the fact that it is a return trajectory is lost. In (b) the downward
movement
and the entering is left unexpressed. Also, the manner of movement (corriendo)
is in the foreground. In (c), only the downwards movement is kept. In (d),
only the entering dimension of the English complex path remains. Any attempt
to capture more of the English original will sound unnatural in Spanish
or will not be faithful.
(2.21) El hombre corrió escaleras abajo de
vuelta al sótano
the man ran stairs
down back to the cellar
This is probably the most literal translation, even
though it includes an element escaleras (stairs) not present in
the original. Nevertheless, it is not a very natural Spanish sentence,
and what is more, it does not have the same meaning, since in the Spanish
example the entering into the cellar, although implied, can be cancelled:
(2.22) El hombre corrió escaleras abajo de
vuelta al sótano pero no entró
In the English original (2.19) it cannot be cancelled.
The result would be a contradiction:
(2.23) * The man ran back down into the cellar, but
he didn’t go in.
Another possible translation would be to use the periphrasis
volver
a and a coordination of two path verbs:
(2.24) El hombre volvió a bajar
y a entrar en el sótano corriendo
the man do again go down and
go in in the cellar running
'the man ran down into the cellar again'
But, once more, the meaning would not be the same. (2.24)
implies that the first time the man was in the cellar, he had arrived there
running
down and into as well. This is not implied in the English original
(2.19), where the particular manner of movement and trajectory are stated
only about the return trip to the cellar with no information about how
the man had got to the cellar previously.
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ISSN: 1139-8736
Depósito Legal: B-48039-2000 |