Universitatea "Dunarea de Jos" Galati

Student: Ionita Alice Iuliana

Master, Anul II, SEM al II lea

prof Dima Gabriela

INTRODUCTION

Words hardly ever occur on their own because they can hardly mean anything on their
own. When one is asked to give the meaning of an isolated word, one usually tries to place it in a
context in order to figure it out. It can, therefore, be assumed that the contexts in which words
appear may influence or at least clarify their semantic value that is because of contextual factors
a word may have more than one meaning, and consequently, the analysis above word level is
extremely important.

In my paper, I shall illustrate the above statements by discussing the semantics of the
word “heart”. I’ve chosen this topic because the word appears in a great number of structures
(collocations, idioms or set expressions) in both English and Romanian. The meanings of the
word “heart” are very important for its translation and they are determined most frequently by
the structures in which the word occurs.

The word “heart” in the Macmillan English Dictionary is listed as having many different
uses. These include both literal and figurative ones:

e.g “the organ in one\s chest that pumps blood around your body”;

“area of your chest where one’s heart is”;

“the inner, central part of something”;

“a shape that represents love”;

“a playing card with a red shape on it”, etc.

There are also listed phrases containing this word: e.g. by heart, from the bottom of ones
heart, break one’s heart and attributive uses and combinations: e.g. at heart, heart-stopping,
kind-hearted, etc.

The number of uses to which this word is put, shows that it is very frequent and important
in English. The most significant parts of the human body are the head and the heart. The former
stands for the intellect and the latter stands for the affective and emotional side. The heart is the
centre of total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feelings, emotions, moods,
moral features or shortcomings and even memory. It is the only organ whose “activity” can be
felt by merely touching the chest.

1. Denotation and Connotation of the Word “Heart”

When we talk of a word’s denotative meaning, we are referring to the definition of a

word as found in a dictionary. For example, in TheFreeDictionary.com, the heart has two
definitions:

• “The chambered muscular organ in vertebrates that pumps blood received from the
veins into the arteries, thereby maintaining the flow of blood through the entire
circulatory system”;

• A similarly functioning structure in invertebrates.

Heart as an organ in one’s chest can be found in four structures:

Heart + Verb: one’s heart beats= inima bate/ticăie;

one’s heart stops= inima stă/ se opreşte/ încetează să mai bată

Adjective+ Heart: good/ healthy/strong heart= inimă bună/ sănătoasă

bad/weak heart=inimă slabă/ bolnavă

artificial heart=inimă artificială

Heart+ Noun: heart attack/failure= atac de inimă, de cord

heart disease=boală de inimă

heart beat= bătaie a inimii

Noun + “of”+ Heart: disease, condition of the heart=boală de inimă

 When we talk of a word’s connotative meaning, we are talking about what the word
symbolizes or represents. This can imply meanings that are very different-or similar- to that of
the denotative depending upon how the word is being used and what the purpose of the user is.

• The word heart may be used metaphorically as the seat of feelings and emotions
in general or of specific feelings (love, fondness, happiness, sadness, pity,
unkindness, fear).

Examples of structures that refers to feelings in general are:

pour aut/open/unlock one’s heart= a-şi deschide inima, sufletul

a-si uşura,descărca inima,sufletul

wear one’s heart upon one’s sleeve= a nu-şi ascunde sentimentele

a avea inima deschisă

one’s heart vibrates= a-i tremura inima de fericire

one’s heart warms towards sb = a compătimi din toată inima, sufletul pe cineva

one’s heart bleeds for sb= a-i sângera inima, a i se frânge inima

one’s heart sinks= a se dezumfla, a se potoli, a i se strânge inima

a union of hearts= căsătorie bazată pe afecţiune, dragoste

near to sb’s heart= drag, pe gustul cuiva, aproape de sufletul cuiva

have one’s heart in one’s boots= a fi trist/necăjit /dezamăgit

eat one’s heart out= a fi foarte trist

• The word heart may stand for conscience or soul:

my heart smote me= simţeam, aveam mustrări de conştiinţă

search one’s heart= a-şi cerceta inima,conştiinţa

a privi în inima, sufletul cuiva

read sb’s heart=a citi in inima, sufletul cuiva

• Attitudes in general or ways of behavior such as courage, fear/cowardice, enthusiasm,
sincerity, honesty are often associated with heart. The meaning of heart may be courage in:

e.g give heart to sb= a încuraja, a sprijini pe cineva

have heart= a avea curaj

keep (up) heart= a nu se pierde cu firea

lose heart= a-şi pierde curajul, a se descuraja

take heart= a prinde curaj

In phrases, heart is often associated with cowardice, fear:

e.g. his heart is in his mouth= moare de frică, i s-a făcut inima cât un purice

The word is also used to refer to enthusiasm or its absence:

e.g. put heart into sth= a face ceva cu tragere de inimă

his heart is not in it= nu e prea entuziasmat

Sincerity and honesty are suggested by structures such as:

e.g. the bottom of one’s heart=adâncul inimii cuiva

cross one’s heart= a (se) jura, pe cuvânt

wear one’s heart upon one’s sleeve= a nu avea gânduri ascunseş ce-I în guşă şi-n căpuşă

Heart may refer to someone’s personality, disposition or character or may stand for a
person that has certain traits of character. This is the case of:

e.g a heart of stone=inimă de piatră

a heart of gold=inimă de aur

good/kind/loving/soft/tender/warm heart=persoană cu inimă bună,caldă,iubitoare

cold/cruel/hard heart=persoană cu inimă rece, împietrită

big/generous heart= persoană mărinimoasă, om cu suflet mare

faint heart=persoană timidă

brave/stout/valiant heart=inimă vitează, persoană curajoasă

false heart= inimă nestatornică, trădătoare, falsă

light/free heart= persoană cu inimă usoară, nepăsătoare

Heart is also used to denote the central innermost part of sth, its main or essential part.

e.g. heart of the city/the capital/the forest= inima/ central oraşului, capitalei, pădurii

the heart of the matter/the subject/the debate/the dilemma/the mystery= miezul problemei, a

subiectului, esenţa dezbaterii

the heart of the cabbage/a lettuce= miezul verzei, miezul salatei

go/get to the heart of sth=a ajunge în miezul a ceva

lie at the heart of sth=a se afla în miezul a ceva

Heart may also serve as a form of address: dear, sweet heart=scumpul meu/scumpule,

draga mea/dragul meu, iubitule/iubito

2.Specialized Meanings of the Word „Heart”

The word heart is rather frequent in the medical discourse and it refers mostly to
conditions of heart. I have listed several specialised terms containing the word heart:

Heart attack = sudden interruption or insufficiency of the supply of blood to the heart
typically resulting from occlusion or obstruction of a coronary artery and often characterized by
seve or of the blood vessere chest pain.It is also called myocardial infarction ;

Heart disease = a structural or functional abnormality of the heart or of the blood vessels
supplying the heart that impairs its normal functioning;

Heart surgery = any surgical procedure involving the heart. The medical procedure
involves an incision with instruments performed to repair damage or arrest disease in a living
body;

e.g. Open-heart surgery = heart surgery in which the rib cage is spread open; the heart is
stopped and blood is detoured through a heart-lung machine while a heart valve or coronary
artery is surgically repaired.

Heart transplant = the replacement of a patient's diseased or injured heart with a healthy
donor heart. It is also called cardiac transplantation. Heart transplant is performed on patients
with end-stage heart failure or other li-fe threatening heart disease. The purpose of heart
transplant is to extend and improve the life of a person who would otherwise die from heart
failure;

Heart murmur = an abnormal sound heard through a stethoscope over the region of the
heart. It is caused by the vibrations generated during the normal cardiac cycle and may be
produced by muscular action, vascular actions, motion of the heart or blood passing through the
heart;

Heartbeat = the cycle of contraction of the heart muscle; it begins with an electrical
impulse in the sinoatrial node, which serves as the normal pacemaker for the heart.

In Romanian, "inimă" alternates sometimes with another word of Latin origin, "cord" or
an adjective deived from it, "cardiac", felt to be more scientific terms. The Romanian equivalents
of the above-listed terms are:

heart attack/failure= atac de inimă, de cord

heart disease/complaint/condition/trouble= boală de inimă

heart surgery= operaţie pe cord, intervenţie cardiacă, chirurgie cardiacă

heart transplant= transplant the equivalentde inimă

heart murmur= murmur cardiac

heartbeat= bătaie de inimă, a inimii

The adjective cardiac maz also be found in sznonzmous English collocations: cardiac
murmur, cardiac disease.

As one can see, in the Romanian translation, the equivalent of the English "heart" is
usually expressed by a prepositional noun phrase (the preposition being "de", as a rule), or
occasionally by a noun phrase in the Genitive case (a inimii).

3. Conclusion
 Some of the structures discussed in this paper have both a literal and a figurative
meaning, which is reflected in their translation into Romanian. This is revealed only by the
context in which they appear.

For example, "My heart fails me" may refer to the organ that no longer performs its
function:" nu-mi mai bate inima"(literal meaning) or it may suggest lack of courage: "curajul mă
părăseşte" (figurative meaning).

Heart is translated as "inimă" or "cord" whenever the word denotes the organ. The
Romanian word "inimă" has many of the figurative meanings as the English "heart" has.

The word may be translated as an abstract noun:

a) Soul, "suflet"- to unburden one\'s heart= a-şi descărca sufletul

put heart in= a pune suflet în

b) Conscience, "conştiinţă"- my heart smote me= aveam mustrări de conştiinţă

c) Courage, "curaj"-to lose heart= a-şi pierde curajul

d) Pity, "milă"- have a heart= ai milă

e) Attitude, "atitudine"- a change of heart= o schimbare de atitudine

f) Middle, Centre, Core, Essence, "mijloc, centru, miez, esenta"- the heart of the forest=
mijlocul pădurii; the heart of the problem=esenţa problemei

The word heart may be omitted in the translation"

e.g. touch sb's heart= a impresiona

give heart to sb= a sprijini, a încuraja

cross one's heart= a (se) jura

one\s heart sinks= a se duzumfla, a (se) potoli

Sometimes the Romanian equivalent is simply an explanation, a paraphrase of the

English structure. For example, a union of hearts is translated by căsătorie bazată pe afecţiune,
dragoste.

The translation of the word is important for understanding and clarifying its meaning,
even if sometimes this may involve either some loss or some addition of meaning, particularly
when heart is used figuratively.

4. Corpus

"Heart disease is a slow killer that usually catches victims off guard because they either
don\t know their risk factors or they don't recognize the warning signs, until it's too late."

(TheFreeDictionary.com)

"Sudden strenuous effort, too much sodium in the diet and sudden emotional upset can
precipitate symptoms of heart failure."

(Heart failure 101)

" The first patient, a diabetic (a person with a blood sugar disorder) in his 50\'s, suffered
from end-stage heart failure- his heart couldn't pump enough blood to other organs."

(The beat goes on)

" A missed heart murmur can prove fatal for a child in some cases and early detection will
facilitate early intervention."

(Novel digital device to detect heart murmurs)

"Heart transplant operations in Scotland have been suspended amid fears over a rise in
the number of deaths", NHS Greater Glasgow said yesterday.

(N Bref: Heart surgery on hold over high deaths rate)

"He stopped besides her, feeling for her pulse and then listening to her heartbeats."

(E. R Burroughs, "Tarzan of the Apes")

5. Bibliography

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/heart

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Heart
http://revije.ff.uni-lj.si/elope/article/view/3377

http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php

http://www.lingv.ro/RRL%203%202007%20Parlog.pdf