2

Contest

Introduction...............................................................................................................3
Chapter 1. Studying of Epithets in Modern Stylistics..............................................4
1.1.Notion of Epithets...............................................................................................4
1.2.Main types of Epithets in English Language.......................................................7
Chapter 2. Analyze of epithet functioning in the literary texts..............................11
2.1.Jane Austin and her works.................................................................................11
2.1.Epithets and their role in creation of portrait images in «Sense and sensibility»
by Jane Austen.........................................................................................................13
Conclusion...............................................................................................................21
Referencies..............................................................................................................22
 3

Introduction
One of the most important problems of modern linguo-stylistics is studying
of the linguistic nature and functioning of separate stylistic devices in various
literary functional styles. Every research in this area is a necessary step on the way
to creation of the adequate stylistic description of the language system in general.
This research work is devoted to one of the oldest stylistic devices – epithet.
The epithet has a long history, it has been attracting attention of the scientists for a
long time because of its nature and variety.
Epithets in English emotive prose can fulfil different stylistic functions: a
descriptive function (to describe characters, views, situations, different things and
feelings); an expressive function (to make the texts more expressive and
emotional).
The purpose of the research work is to study and analyze the functioning of
epithets in English prose for creation of an portrait image.
The object is literary text.
The subject is linguostylistic peculiarities of epithet using for creation of an
portrait image.
To achieve the set goal the following objectives were identified, namely:
1) to study the theoretical material to the researching point;
2) to study the definition of an epithet and its functioning peculiarities;
3) to read and analyze the novel «Sense and sensibility» written by Jane
Austin.
The material of the work is Jane Austin’s novel «Sense and sensibility» and
its translation «Разум и чувства» done by I. Gurov.
The work consists of introduction, two chapters and four paragraphs,
conclusion and references.
.
 4

Chapter 1. Studying of Epithets in Modern Stylistics

1.1.Notion of Epithets

An epithet (from Greek: ἐπίθετον epitheton, neut. of ἐπίθετος epithetos,

"attributed, added") or byname is a descriptive term (word or phrase)
accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage.
It can be described as a glorified nickname. It has various shades of meaning when
applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial
nomenclature. It can also be a descriptive title: for example, Alexander the Great.
In contemporary usage, epithet often refers to an abusive, defamatory, or
derogatory phrase, such as a racial epithet or as in economics, «the dismal
science». The less offensive use is criticized by Martin Manser and other
prescriptive linguists.
In linguistics, an epithet only can be a metaphor, essentially a reduced or
condensed use of apposition. Epithets are sometimes attached to a person's name or
appear in place of their name, as what might be described as a glorified nickname
or sobriquet. An epithet is linked to its noun by long-established usage. Not every
adjective is an epithet. An epithet is especially recognizable when its function is
largely decorative, such as if «cloud-gathering Zeus» is employed other than in
reference to conjuring up a storm. «The epithets are decorative insofar as they are
neither essential to the immediate context nor modelled especially for it. Among
other things, they are extremely helpful to fill out a half-verse», Walter Burkert has
noted.
Some epithets are known by the Latin term epitheton necessarium because
they are required to distinguish the bearers, e.g. as an alternative to numbers after a
prince's name — such as Richard the Lionheart (Richard I of England), or Charles
the Fat alongside Charles the Bald. The same epithet can be used repeatedly joined
to different names, e.g. Alexander the Great as well as Catherine the Great.
 5

Other epithets can easily be omitted without serious risk of confusion, and
are therefore known (again in Latin) as epitheton ornans. Thus the classical Roman
author Virgil systematically called his main hero pius Aeneas, the epithet being
pius, which means religiously observant, humble and wholesome, as well as
calling the armsbearer of Aeneas fidus Achates, the epithet being fidus, which
means faithful or loyal.
Arnold (Arnold 2002) defines an epithet as «lexical-syntactical figure of
speech which fulfils a function of the definitive (а silvery laugh) or the adverbial
modifier(to smile cuttingly) or just predicative». The epithet has a figurative
meaning and emotive and expressive connotations, which help him to show
author’s attitude to the subject.
According to Prof. Galperin I.R., Epithet is a stylistic device based on the
interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase or even
sentence, used to characterise an object and pointing out to the reader and
frequently imposing on him.
According to Prof. Sosnovskaya V.B., Epithet is an attributive
characterisation of a person, thing or phenomenon. It is, as a rule, simple in form.
In the majority of cases it consists of one word: adjective or adverb, modifying
respectively nouns or verbs.
I.R. Galperin underlines that an epithet has both referential and emotive
meaning.
The stylists determine conventional or standing epithet, they are, for
example: green wood, lady gay, fair lady, fair England, salt seas, salt tears, true
love.
The conventional epithet can be tautological: soft pillow, green wood, or
estimative: bonny boy, bonnie young page, bonnie ship, bonnie isle etc.. or false
steward, proud porter, and finally, descriptive: silk napkin, silver cups, long tables.
The epithets of private character opposed to them mark out those qualities
which matter for this thinking in subjects and the phenomena and don't form
constant couples.
 6

Many fixed epithets are closely connected with folklore and can be traced
back to folk ballads (e.g. "true love", "merry Christmas", etc.).The structure and
semantics of epithets are extremely variable which is explained by their long and
wide use. Semantically, there should be differentiated two main groups, the biggest
of them being affective (or emotive proper). These epithets serve to convey the
emotional evaluation of the object by the speaker. Most of the qualifying words
found in the dictionary can be and are used as affective epithets (e.g. "gorgeous",
"nasty", "magnificent", "atrocious", etc.). The second group -figurative, or
transferred, epithets-is formed of metaphors, metonymies and similes (which will
be discussed later) expressed by adjectives. E.g. "the smiling sun", "the frowning
cloud", "the sleepless pillow", "the tobacco-stained smile", "a ghost-like face", "a
dreamlike experience. In the overwhelming majority of examples epithet is
expressed by adjectives or qualitative adverbs (e.g. "his triumphant look" = he
looked triumphantly).* Nouns come next. They are used either as exclamatory
sentences (You, ostrich!) or as postpositive, attributes ("Alonzo the Clown",
"Richard of the Lion Heart").
Epithets are used singly, in pairs, in chains, in two-step structures, and in
inverted constructions, also as phrase-attributes. Pairs are represented by two
epithets joined by a conjunction or asyndetically as in "wonderful and
incomparable beauty" or "a tired old town". Two-step epithets are so called
because the process of qualifying seemingly passes two stages: the qualification of
the object and the qualification of the qualification itself, as in "an unnaturally mild
day" (Hut.), or "a pompously majestic female". Phrase-epithets always produce an
original impression. Cf.: "the sunshine-in-the-breakfast-room smell. Their
originality proceeds from rare repetitions of the once coined phrase-epithet which,
in its turn, is explained by the fact that into a phrase-epithet is turned a
semantically self-sufficient word combination or even a whole sentence, which
loses some of its independence and self-sufficiency, becoming a member of
another sentence, and strives to return to normality. Inverted epithets. They are
based on the contradiction between the logical and the syntactical: logically
 7

defining becomes syntactically defined and vice versa. E.g. instead of "this devilish
woman", where "devilish" is both logically and syntactically defining, and
"woman", also both logically and syntactically defined, W. Thackeray says "this
devil of a woman". Here "of a woman" is syntactically an attribute, i.e. the
defining, and "devil"-the defined, while the logical relations between the two
remain the same as in the previous example-"a woman" is defined by "the devil".
So, epithet is a lexical stylistic device that relies on the foregrounding of the
emotive meaning. Epithet is a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or
occurring in place of the name of a person or thing. The structure and semantics of
epithets are extremely variable which is explained by their long and wide use.
Epithets may be classified from different standpoints: semantic and structural.
Semantically, epithets should be divided into two main groups: affective
(associated) and figurative (unassociated). Structurally, epithets can be viewed
from the angle of composition and distribution. From the point of view of their
compositional structure epithets may be divided into simple, сompound, phrase
and sentence epithets.

1.2.Main types of Epithets in English Language

Compositionally epithets fall into:

• simple or word-epithets, e.g. Happiness for him had a feminine shape.
(Priestley)
• compound epithets (formed by compound adjectives), e.g. a crescent-
shaped object; wild-looking young fellows (Priestley).
• two-step epithets (supplied with intensifiers), e.g. … fatally second
class … public school … (Priestley)
• phrase epithets (also called hyphenated epithets when written through
a hyphen), e.g. Now he was practically a four-hundred-a-year man instead of a
three-hundred-a-year man. (Priestley) …
 8

• reversed epithets (composed of two nouns linked by an of-phrase

where the attributive relation between the members of the combination shows that
the SD is an epithet), e.g. a thick figure of a man (Priestley)
According to I.R. Galperin, semantically epithets may be divided into 2
groups:
• associated underlining the essential feature of the object, e.g.
tremendous moustache. (Priestley)
• unassociated with the noun, unexpected and striking, e.g. the inhuman
drawing-room. (Priestley)
V.A. Kukharenko splits epithets into:
• fixed (trite, traditional, conventional, standing), e.g. a devoted friend,
magic weather.
• figurative (transferred) that can be metaphorical, metonymic, ironical,
etc., e.g. bushy eyebrows. (Priestley)
From the point of view of the distribution of epithets in the sentence, there
can be distinguished a string of epithets whose function is to give a multisided
characterization. E.g. That she was not really a creature of that world only made
her more fascinating, mysterious, romantic … (Priestley).
There are some examples:
1. The picture of spring scented the soft breeze flowing across the mountains
where vague streaks of green defined the dominating, heaped and quarried
ugliness1.
2. … the liquid patience of her large brown eyes2.
3. It was then that she gave him a small smile, blinking at him through her
tea-confused eyes, knowing that this was the first time that this man, to whom she
owned her life, had asked her to do something for him...3

1
Cronin, A. The Citadel [Text] / A. Cronin. – M., 1957. – 33.
2
Bennett, A. Imperial Palace [Text] / A. Bennett. – Pan. New York, 1932. – 223.
3
Fanning, V. Birdcage [Text] / V. Canning. – Pan. New York, 1974. – 21.
 9

According to Prof. I. Galperin epithets can be classified from different

standpoits: semantic and structural. semantically, epithets may be devided into
Semantically, epithets should be divided into two main groups: affective
(associated) and figurative (unassociated).
Structurally, epithets can be viewed from the angle of composition and
distribution. From the point of view of their compositional structure epithets may
be divided into simple, сompound, phrase and sentence epithets.
Semantically epithets are looked at from different angles, which is reflected
in the following:
I.R. Galperin showed that associated epithets are those that point to a feature
which is essential to the object they describe: the idea expressed is to a certain
extent inherent in the concept of the object, as in: 'darkforest \ fantastic terrors \
'dreary midnight'.
Unassociated epithets are attributes used to characterize the object by adding
a feature not inherent in it. i.e. a feature which may be so unexpected as to strike
the reader by its novelty. The adjectives do not indicate any property inherent in
the objects but fitting in the given circumstances only, as in 'heart-burning smile',
'voiceless sands', 'bootless cries'._
As far as novelty is concerned epithets can be trite and genuine. Through
their long run some of the latter have become fixed without losing their poetic
flavour. Such epithets are mostly used in folk songs and ballads.
Kukharenko determines affective, figurative epithets.
Affective (or emotive proper) epithets serve to convey the emotional
evaluation of the object by the speaker. Most of the qualifying words found in the
dictionary can be and are used as effective epithets (e.g. gorgeous, magnificent,
atrocious)
Figurative for transferred; epithets are formed of metaphors, metonymies
and similes expressed by adjectives. Thus epithets can also be based on similarity
of characteristics, on nearness of the qualified objects, and on their comparison
respectively. The third and the first types can be found in this:
 10

7 cannot imagine what Bosch-like picture of Ware Commons Mrs Pouiteney

had built up over the years; what satanic orgies she divined behind every tree...'
(Fowles) As for the metonymic one. study this: 'Her painful shoes slipped off
(Updike)
Skrebnev points out that epithets can be metaphorical, metonymic and
ironical.
As far as structural division is concerned, the classifications of the scholars
have more points in common. Despite the differences in terms, hi essence they are
very much alike. The table below contrasts these two approaches.
 11

Chapter 2. Analyze of epithet functioning in the literary texts

2.1.Jane Austin and her works

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set
among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers
in English literature. Her realism, biting irony and social commentary as well as
her acclaimed plots have gained her historical importance among scholars and
critics.
Austen lived her entire life as part of a close-knit family located on the lower
fringes of the English landed gentry. She was educated primarily by her father and
older brothers as well as through her own reading. The steadfast support of her
family was critical to her development as a professional writer. From her teenage
years into her thirties she experimented with various literary forms, including an
epistolary novel which she then abandoned, wrote and extensively revised three
major novels and began a fourth. From 1811 until 1816, with the release of Sense
and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and
Emma (1815), she achieved success as a published writer. She wrote two
additional novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously
in 1818, and began a third, which was eventually titled Sanditon, but died before
completing it.
Austen's works critique the novels of sensibility of the second half of the
18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century realism. Her plots,
though fundamentally comic, highlight the dependence of women on marriage to
secure social standing and economic security.[6] Her works, though usually
popular, were first published anonymously and brought her little personal fame and
only a few positive reviews during her lifetime, but the publication in 1869 of her
nephew's A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced her to a wider public, and by the
1940s she had become widely accepted in academia as a great English writer. The
 12

second half of the 20th century saw a proliferation of Austen scholarship and the
emergence of a Janeite fan culture.
Jane Austen can be carried to those European writers of a transitional era of
the XVIII-XIX centuries who altered interpretation of human character and
expanded a genre framework of the novel. As A.M. Zverev in the preface to "The
encyclopedia of literary heroes" writes: "Throughout the XVIII century the hero of
the novel or drama usually represented the certain set formula by means of which
virtues, defects, the passions inherent in a human nature were illustrated...
However already to the end of the century of Education exemplariness gives way
to more and more distinct understanding of uniqueness of each destiny. Enters art,
bringing enduring creative findings, psychologism".
At present Jane Austen has the pride of creation the classical English novel.
The British encyclopedia wrote: «Although the birth of the English novel is to be
seen in the first half of the 18th century in the work of Daniel Defoe, Samuel
Richardson, and Henry Fielding, it is with Jane Austen that the novel takes on its
distinctively modern character in the realistic treatment of unremarkable situations
of everyday life».
Stylistics of her work was also an innovation. She was the first who started
applying widely not actually - the direct speech, implication, intertextual
inclusions. In delineation of comic and satirical characters the main role in its
novels is played by irony, implication and dramatization of a narration when each
character has a self-expression opportunity. At creation of images of heroes the
writer uses not actually - the direct speech which is directly entering readers into
an inner world of heroes graphic means of expressiveness, intertextual inclusions,
different types of an art detail, dramatization of a narration are applied by it, for it
ritmiko6intonatsionnogo registrations are fruitfully used rich stylistic opportunities
of parameters of the offer. Thanks to all these expressional means the sociocultural
background of novels, but their main function – characterologic is created. The
combination of ironical speech tone to stylistic receptions of a psychological
narration makes an individual originality of style of the writer.
 13

Austen’s most beloved characters are her heroines. Whether it be the spry
and witty Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice(my favorite book and heroine of
all time), the sensible and superior Elinor Dashwood of Sense and Sensibility, the
handsome and clever Emma Woodhouse of Emma, the genuine and intelligent
Catherine Morland of Northanger Abbey, or the patient and honored Anne Eliot of
Persuasion, a piece of Jane Austen is within each and everyone them. Through the
portrayal of her heroines, Austen succeeds in arousing the reader s emotions and
makes the characters become a component of the reader s soul.
The noble ethical and esthetic ideal is embodied in images of her heroes:
harmony of feeling and reason, rejection of all vulgar, rough, trite, high culture of
feelings. All this also allows to speak about an inherent value of her creativity.
Obligatory attribute of psychological novels is a large number of detailed
descriptions of experiences, feelings and emotions of the main characters. Often
authors replace with it lack of an interesting and fascinating plot, completely
focusing the attention on an inner world of heroes, their experiences. If work is
really written by the master, in that case it is transformed to a genre of the
psychological drama when all this has an appearance of simple descriptions of the
one who of what thought and that told and surely includes elements of love lyrics,
work is a romance novel.
At Jane Austen's novels there are all above-mentioned signs, language of
work is rather emotional and saturated.

2.1.Epithets and their role in creation of portrait images in «Sense and

sensibility» by Jane Austen

Certainly, one of the most widespread receptions allowing to characterize

the character, his appearance, character, behavior, thoughts feelings is the epithet.
By means of epithets the special subtlety of the description, expressiveness, depth
is reached. Reading and pondering upon sense of an epithet in work, we gradually
understand the author's view of habitual things.
 14

In the novel "Sense and Sensibility" not so many epithets are used for
creation of the portrait characteristic. One of the most striking examples of a
portrait is the description of appearance of the main character – Marianna
Dashwood:
Miss Dashwood had a delicate complexion, regular features, and a
remarkably pretty figure. – У мисс Дэшвуд был очень нежный цвет лица,
черты которого отличались правильностью, и прелестная фигура.
When translating epithets from English into Russian the translator uses some
receptions: translating the phrase "Adj + Nom" delicate complexion lexical
addition is used, the translator adds an adverb for strengthening of impression
"very much" - "very gentle complexion". The phrase regular features (regular
features) is translated by means of the subordinate attributive clause – "which lines
differed in correctness". The phrase "a remarkably pretty figure" is translated
almost literally with omission of an intensifying adverb of "remarkably". The
adjective of pretty indicates appearance 'attractive, full of grace'. This adjective is
translated into Russian as "pretty, pretty" and used in relation to someone or
something rather small.
Marianne was still handsomer. – Но Марианна не уступала сестре в
миловидности и даже превосходила ее.
In the English language epithet handsome is used in comparative degree.
The adjective handsome has a semantic shade 'making pleasant impression
correctness of proportions, the correct lines". We translate this adjective into
Russian as "красивый". The adjective handsome is usually used in relation to a
man. It can be also used and after the attitude towards the woman, but then
handsome indicates only correctness of proportions of a female figure or
correctness of lines of her face. The word handsome will also approach at the
description of the subjects having pleasant proportions or symmetry.
Her form, though not so correct as her sister's, in having the advantage of
height, was more striking; and her face was so lovely, that when in the common
cant of praise, she was called a beautiful girl, truth was less violently outraged
 15

than usually happens. - Может быть, сложена она была не столь

гармонично, но более высокий рост лишь придавал ее осанке известную
величавость, а лицо было таким чарующим, что называвшие ее красавицей
меньше уклонялись от истины, чем это обычно при светских похвалах.
For the creation of the main hero image only positive adjectives a re used:
striking (поразительный), lovely (милый), beautiful (красивый). There are also
some interjunctions: so, more, less violently.
Her skin was very brown, but, from its transparency, her complexion was
uncommonly brilliant; her features were all good; her smile was sweet and
attractive; and in her eyes, which were very dark, there was a life, a spirit, an
eagerness, which could hardily be seen without delight. – Прозрачная
смуглость кожи не умаляла яркости румянца, все черты обворожали,
улыбка пленяла, а темные глаза искрились такой живостью и
одушевлением, что невольно восхищали всех, кто встречал их взор.
So, the portrait of main hero Ms Marianna Dashwood consists of following
adjectives:very brown skin («прозрачная смуглость кожи»), more striking form
(«величавость осанки»), so lovely face («лицо было таким чарующим»),
remarkably pretty figure («прелестная фигура»), uncommonly brilliant
complexion («яркость румянца»), delicate complexion («очень нежный цвет
лица»), good, regular features («черты которого отличались правильностью»,
«все черты обворожали»), sweet and attractive smile («улыбка пленяла»), very
dark eyes («темные глаза»).
In whole, Marianna is «a beautiful girl» for the readers. And her character is
as good as her appearance.
She was sensible and clever; but eager in everything: her sorrows, her joys,
could have no moderation. She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was
everything but prudent. - Она была умна, но впечатлительна и отличалась
большой пылкостью: ни в печалях, ни в радостях она не знала меры. Она
была великодушна, мила, загадочна - все что угодно, но только не
благоразумна.
 16

Reading descriptions of Elinor and Margaret we can find more epithets,

which are used to describe their characters, but not the appearance.
В описании сестер Элинор и Маргарет эпитеты используются для
описания больше внутренних черт характера, нежели внешности.
Elinor, this eldest daughter…. She had an excellent heart;—her disposition
was affectionate, and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern
them .- Элинор, старшая из сестер... Душа у нее была прекрасная, сердце
доброе и привязчивое, а чувства очень сильные, но она умела ими управлять.
To describe the age of the girl the superlative of elder is used. Elinor’s
character is described as: «excellent heart» и «affectionate dosposition»
(досл.нежный, ласковый характер). It must be said that first epithet is used in
pretposition (an excellent heart), and then in postposition (her disposition was
affectionatе, her feelings were strong).
The youngest sister the reader sees as a a good-humored, well-disposed girl;
(«добрая и хорошая девочка»).
Margaret, the other sister, was a good-humored, well-disposed girl; but as
she had already imbibed a good deal of Marianne's romance, without having much
of her sense, she did not, at thirteen, bid fair to equal her sisters at a more
advanced period of life. - Маргарет, третья сестра, была доброй, хорошей
девочкой, но уже успела впитать немалую толику романтичности
Марианны, хотя далеко уступала ей в уме, и в свои тринадцать лет,
разумеется, не могла считаться равной более взрослым сестрам.
So, epithets help the author to create the images of sisters Daschwood: they
are well-disposed, beautiful, clever girls:
The Miss Dashwoods were young, pretty, and unaffected. - Барышни
Дэшвуд были молоды, хороши собой и держались с приятной
естественностью
The opposite character is their relative – their brother’s wife. Her image is
more negative than positive.
 17

But Mrs. John Dashwood was a strong caricature of himself;—more

narrow-minded and selfish. – Однако миссис Джон Дэшвуд была как бы
преувеличенной карикатурой на него самого - еще более себялюбивой и
холодной.
Her character and activates are often described with negative epithets with
negative meanings (often with affixes): ungracious behaviour, immoveable disgust,
highly unpleasing.
One another example of an negative image is Mrs. Jennings, Lady
Middleton's mother.
Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton's mother, was a good-humoured, merry, fat,
elderly woman, who talked a great deal, seemed very happy, and rather vulgar. -
Матушка леди Мидлтон, добродушная веселая женщина, уже в годах,
очень говорливая, выглядела всем довольной и порядком вульгарной.
Men images can be devided into 2 groups: young and old men.
The sisters Dashwood’s brother is «a young man», who is «well-respected»
in the society. He is also « not an ill-disposed».
He was not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold hearted and
rather selfish is to be ill-disposed: but he was, in general, well respected - Он
вовсе не был дурным человеком - конечно, если черствость и эгоистичность
не обязательно делают людей дурными - и, во всяком случае, пользовался
общим уважением.
Mr Dashwood’s character is described with epithets in postposition: cheerful
and sanguine. …but his temper was cheerful and sanguine - Но человек по
натуре бодрый и не склонный унывать …
One another young man is brother of Mrs. John Dashwood:
This circumstance was a growing attachment between her eldest girl and
the brother of Mrs. John Dashwood, a gentleman-like and pleasing young man,
who was introduced to their acquaintance soon after his sister's establishment at
Norland, and who had since spent the greatest part of his time there. -
Обстоятельством этим была крепнущая взаимная симпатия между ее
 18

старшей девочкой и братом миссис Джон Дэшвуд, очень приятным

молодым человеком с благородными манерами, который познакомился с
ними вскоре после переезда его сестры в Норленд и с тех пор почти
постоянно гостил там.
There is a complex epithet used «a gentleman-like and pleasing young
man». We can’t translate this example without descriptive means.
An important role plays Marianne’s lover, Mr Willougby.
His manly beauty and more than common gracefulness were instantly the
theme of general admiration, and the laugh which his gallantry raised against
Marianne received particular spirit from his exterior attractions. - Благородная
красота и редкое изящество их нового знакомого тотчас стали темой
всеобщего восхищения: необыкновенная эта привлекательность в сочетании
с галантностью придавала особую забавность маленькому приключению
Марианны.
So, young men are described with help of following epithets: young man,
amiable, gentleman-like and pleasing young man, not an ill-disposed young man,
cheerful and sanguine, cold hearted, well respected, selfish.
Old men are described with honour: the old gentleman (почтенный
джентльмен), and sometimes with some disgust:
Colonel Brandon, the friend of Sir John, seemed no more adapted by
resemblance of manner to be his friend, than Lady Middleton was to be his wife, or
Mrs. Jennings to be Lady Middleton’s mother. He was silent and grave. His
appearance however was not unpleasing, in spite of his being in the opinion of
Marianne and Margaret an absolute old bachelor, for he was on the wrong side of
five and thirty; but though his face was not handsome, his countenance was
sensible, and his address was particularly gentlemanlike. – Полковник Брэндон
так разительно не походил на сэра Джона, что, казалось, столь же не
подходил для роли его друга, как леди Мидлтон для роли его жены, а миссис
Дженнингс для роли матери этой последней. Полковника отличали
молчаливость и серьезность, что, впрочем, отнюдь не лишало его
 19

внешность известной привлекательности, хотя Марианна с Маргарет и

признали его про себя скучнейшим старым холостяком – ведь ему было
никак не меньше тридцати пяти лет! Тем не менее, хотя лицо его и не
поражало красотой черт, оно несло на себе печать благообразия, а
держался он, как истый джентльмен.
Nevertheless, all men images are gentlemen. .
All the epithets in this novel can be devided into some groups.
The first – the largest one – are the epithets describing characters. For
example, cold hearted (черствость), selfish (эгоистичность), steady respectable
young man (благоразумный и степенный молодой человек), neither unjust so
ungrateful (он не был настолько несправедлив и неблагодарен), cheerful and
sanguine (бодрый и не склонный унывать), a more amiable woman (более
мягкосердечная женщина), more narrow-minded and selfish (еще более
себялюбивой и холодной), generous, amiable, interesting (великодушна, мила,
загадочна), sensible and clever (умна, но впечатлительна), eager in everything
(отличалась большой пылкостью), quiet civility (спокойная вежливость),
amiable (милый), natural shyness (застенчивость), noisy children (шумные
дети), very happy, and rather vulgar (всем всем довольной и порядком
вульгарной) и т.д.
The second group – the epithets describing portrait images. Среди них
стоит выделить следующие: manly beauty, handsome, young, pretty, merry, fat,
elderly woman; not unpleasing; a delicate complexion, regular features, and a
remarkably pretty figure; her form was more striking; uncommonly brilliant;
features were all good; her skin was very brown; her skin was very brown4 very
dark eyes.
The third group – ethical epithets. There are a lot of epithets with the word
heart: : excellent heart, good heart; open, affectionate heart. There are also a lot of
epithets to describe young men: not an ill-disposed young man; a gentleman-like
and pleasing young man; particularly gentlemanlike и т.д.
 20

There are not so many epithets to describe physical traits: the old
gentleman, the eldest girl, eldest daughter.
Had he been only in a violent fever, you would not have despised him half
so much. Confess, Marianne, is not there something interesting to you in the
flushed cheek, hollow eye, and quick pulse of a fever?" - Если бы он слег в
горячке, ты презирала бы его куда меньше! Ну, признайся, Марианна, ведь
воспаленное лицо, потускневшие глаза и частый пульс горячки таят для
тебя особую привлекательность, не так ли?
In conclusion, epithets in Jane Austen's novel "Sense and Sensibility" can be
used for display of the following features of the portrait characteristic of the
person: physical, emotional, intellectual, moral, psychological and physiological.
Use of epithets is also presented in the description of the portrait characteristic of
the character and in a target text. Thus the translator uses various methods of
transfer of epithets from English into Russian.
 21

Conclusion

The epithet is the word defining, characterizing a subject or action and

underlining in them any characteristic property or quality.
In broad treatment the concept "epithet" represents a look a track, poetic, art
definition. Research of the linguistic nature of an epithet assumes the accounting of
a complex of the indicators covering its different aspects, such as semantics,
structure, familiarity degree, a quantitative index, stylistic coloring and figurative
potential.
The epithet is considered as the systemically important center tropics, in this
regard there is a problem of classification of stylistic kinds of epithets which meet
in English-speaking fiction.
Epithets in Jane Austen's novel should be carried to a kind of implicit
metaphors since their figurative sense is presented, as a rule, in implicitly
expressed form and comes to light as a result of semantic updating of an attributive
lexeme in a microcontext of the defined word. Metaphorical epithets are peculiar to
the novel, as to a genre in general.
The metaphorical epithet is a bright tool for figurativeness of the art text,
means of characterization of heroes. At the novel there is a large number of various
epithets, not all from which are adjectives on chasterechny accessory. From the
first pages of the novel it becomes clear that the writer owns expressional means of
language. In the novel enough descriptive lexicon which allows to create this or
that mood of heroes, their portrait image is used.
The analysis of epithets showed in the novel that the most part is made by
the epithets opening character and an emotional condition of characters.
 22

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