Lexical indicators of exaggeration and understatement of the time of the English language (based on the material of literary texts)

The time continuum is an integral part of a literary text. The issue of defining time as a category was dealt with by scientists from various fields: philosophy, linguistics, linguistics, physics [1-8, 10-18]. "Linguistic time is a complex and multidimensional category that includes various representations of time" ^{[9, p. 122]}. Speaking about time from the point of view of its existence in the text, it is worth noting that its embodiment is achieved both grammatically and lexically. "The word is able to preserve the cultural memory of the past, representing, first of all, the specifics of this past" ^{[15, p. 143]}. This article is devoted to the issue of demonstrating time space through the use of various lexemes within the framework of a modern English fiction text of the fantasy genre, namely its exaggeration and understatement.

There are lexical units that semantically define a particular period of time. For example:

Year - the period from 1 January to 31 December, that is 365 or 366 days, divided into 12 months ^[19].

Dictionary phrases include: every year, this year, next/last year, the following year, in the year, in... years, in previous years, in the past few years, all year round, during the whole year, years ago, years later, for many years, for the coming year.

Let's consider the use of the year token on the example of an English fiction text of a fantastic genre.

He – and he was quite definitely a he, there was no possible doubt about that – had been carved out of the turf thousands of years before ^[20]. (He–it was definitely him, there was no doubt about it–had been carved out of turf thousands of years ago. – Here and further the author's translation).

This example clearly shows the classical use of the noun year as an indicator of the time interval in combination with the numeral thousands, the preposition of and the adverb before. In this context, the use of the year token is an obvious statement of the time interval, which is reflected in the context of the proposed passage. However, the use of the same token in a different phrase may demonstrate a deliberate exaggeration of the time interval. For example:

Tiffany blinked away smoke and flames and shock. ‘And how do you know so much about it, please?’ she said.

‘I was there.’

‘A thousand years ago?’

‘Yes ^[20].

(Tiffany blinked away smoke, flame and shock. - please tell me, how do you know so much about this? "What is it?" she asked.

- I was there.

"A thousand years ago?"

- Yes.)

From the proposed passage, we see that the dictionary phrase can be a tool for exaggerating the time continuum, namely the life span, since the phrase a thousand years ago demonstrates the duration of the character's existence.

Nouns denoting obviously rather large time intervals are widely used in literary texts. So the noun century (a period of 100 years), having such vocabulary phrases as a century ago, a century after, for centuries, over the centuries, through the centuries, during the half of the century, the past/previous century, through the century, is often used as to demonstrate the actual time calculation, and to exaggerate time in general. Let's turn to the examples.

And here came the stench, trailing behind him and turning the daylight grey. It was like the bottom of a pond, where things had died and rotted for centuries ^[20]. (And then the stench appeared, trailing behind him and turning the daylight gray. It was like the bottom of a pond where everything had been dying and rotting for centuries.)

The stable expression for centuries demonstrates the actual passage of time, this is indicated by the preposition for and the noun centuries. Such use of the noun is quite frequent in a literary text, since it is a direct indication of time periods that can accurately describe a particular period of existence. However, the same noun can act as a means of exaggerating time. For example:

The loser will die. In his case, I regret to say we might see him again in a few centuries; in your case, I don’t propose to guess ^[20]. (The loser will die. In his case, I regret to say, we may see him again in a few centuries; in your case, I'm not going to guess.)

The combination of the noun centuries and the adjective few creates a clear exaggeration of the continuum, since we see that the phrase in a few centuries indicates a period of time after which we will be able to see the hero again. This use of time pointers demonstrates the need for hyperbolized intervals for the existence of heroes within the literary text of the fantasy genre.

The next noun that has clear boundaries in terms of its semantics is h our (60 minutes; one of the 24 parts that a day is divided into). Let's look at examples of dictionary phrases. These include: an hour, about an hour, half an hour, hours a day, for an hour, in an hour, by the hour, per/an hour, within the hour, in less than an hour, hours away, hour after hour.

The actual statement of time can be expressed by indicating specific intervals. For example:

It was past midnight – technically speaking, the witching hour. In real life every hour was a witching hour, but nevertheless the way the two hands on the clock stood straight up was slightly eerie ^[20]. (It was after midnight–technically speaking, the hour of the witches. In real life, every hour was an hour of witchcraft, but, nevertheless, the way the two hands on the clock stood straight was a little creepy)

In the above example, we see the use of the noun hour as a clear pointer to time intervals. Such time pointers are a mandatory component of the description of the time continuum of the English literary text.

Another use of the hour token may be an expression of hyperbolized time, which is aimed at describing the properties of a substance, object, object. Consider an example:

Some things were best left unspoken, such as the fact that the loss of lambs on the down where the Feegles lived was much less than it was in more distant parts of the Chalk, but on the other hand a few sheep would disappear; they would be the weak lambs or the very old ewes (Feegles liked old strong mutton, the kind that you could chew for hours) – the flocks were guarded, and guards took ^[20]. (Some things were better left unsaid, such as the fact that the loss of lambs on the plain where the Feegles lived was much less than in more remote parts of the Shallows, but on the other hand, a few sheep would disappear; it would be weak lambs or very old sheep (Feegles liked old strong mutton, one that could be chewed for hours) – the herds were guarded, and the guards took.)

The example presented above demonstrates the characterization of meat through the use of a hyperbolized continuum. The noun hour in combination with the preposition for and the verb chew create the phrase chew for hours, which demonstrates the characteristic of meat, namely its rigidity, through a long process of chewing it. Such use of the hour token is very frequent.

The lexeme age (a very long time) is part of the following vocabulary phrases: take ages, for ages, ages ago. Let's consider an example of the use of this noun in an English literary text.

Well, there was the hiver. But he wasn’t all that bad. And before that there was the Queen of the Fairies, but that was ages ago ^[20]. (Well, there was a beehive. But he wasn't that bad. And before that there was a Fairy Queen, but that was a long time ago.)

The phrase ages ago consists of a noun and an adverb and is a dictionary. Moreover, this combination of lexemes is quite common in English literary texts to identify a deliberately large period of time. However, the same noun can be a means of exaggerating time. For example:

Oh, no, old chap, you’ve got ages yet, you will be up and out of here in no time, lots of life left in you! ^[20] (Oh, no, old man, you still have a whole eternity ahead of you, you'll get up and leave here in the blink of an eye, there's still a lot of life in you!)

Within the framework of the proposed context, we see the phrase have got ages yet, consisting of the verb have got, the noun ages, which is represented in the plural form, and the adverb yet. Such a phrase is a vivid example of hyperbolized time, aimed at describing the possibilities that are open to the hero. It is this combination of words with the ages lexeme that allows you to stretch the continuum.

A quantitative analysis of the use of nouns in the English fiction text of the fantasy genre, namely "Midnight-colored Dress" by T. Pratchett, showed the following results:

It follows from the diagram that the noun year has been used 60 times, of which 11 use cases represent a hyperbolization of time, which is 61%. The century token has met 2 times in total, one of which demonstrates an exaggerated time interval (5%). Noun hour – 18 cases of use, 5 of which as a hyperbolized continuum (28%). Age – 3 times, 2 of which are an example of an obvious exaggeration of the time interval.

In addition to the image of hyperbolized time in a literary text, it is quite common to downplay the time continuum through the use of certain lexical units within the framework of dictionary and non-dictionary phrases. Such nouns can be: second moment, minute.

The noun second (a unit for measuring time, there are 60 seconds in one minute) is represented by the following vocabulary phrases: over seconds, for... seconds, every... seconds, per second, few seconds, lasts... seconds, less than ...seconds. Let's take a closer look at the use of this token within the context of specific examples.

And with that she disappeared from view, and after a few seconds Tiffany, still straining to keep the book closed, heard a squeaking noise ^[20].  (And with that she disappeared from sight, and a few seconds later Tiffany, still trying to keep the book closed, heard a creak.)

The phrase after a few seconds is a direct indication of the specific time after which the action changed within the proposed context. It is worth noting that after a few seconds is a dictionary phrase.

All this was the thought of a second, and when she blinked, the witches were watching her ^[20]. (It was all a thought of a second, and when she blinked, the witches were watching her.)

The phrase the thought of a second is copyrighted, since such compatibility is not represented in the dictionary. Such a combination indicates a very short period of time during which the action takes place, namely the thought process. The nouns thought and second, connected by the preposition of, demonstrate the understatement of the continuum with the help of lexical compatibility.

The following noun – moment (a very short period of time) – includes the following vocabulary phrases: wait a moment, one moment, for a moment, for one brief moment, in a moment, have got a moment, take a moment., moments later. Unlike all the previous lexemes, moment does not have such exact boundaries that can be expressed in numerical terms as minute, day, hour, year, however, it still denotes the smallest part of time and can be used to depict a rapid change of events. For example:

Can you keep it occupied for a while? I won’t be a moment ^[20]. (Could you keep him occupied for a while? I won't be long.)

The noun moment denotes a short interval that the heroine of the work will be absent. The expression is a dictionary and directly indicates the shortest time interval.

            Another use of the moment token may demonstrate additional characteristics of the actions taking place within the framework of the proposed dicteme. For example:

The important thing was not to give him any time to think, even for one moment, as she towed him behind her like a sack ^[20]. (It was important not to give him time to think, even for a moment, while she dragged him along like a sack.)

In the proposed context, the noun moment is part of the non-dictionary phrase even for one moment. The deliberate understatement of time in this dicteme reinforces the importance of the actions taking place. It is the understatement of moment, used in the singular form, that indicates this, since it is combined with the lexeme even. The numeral one makes the segment even more compressed.

The lexeme minute (each of the 60 parts of an hour, that are equal to 60 seconds) includes which vocabulary phrases, like minutes to, minutes past, minutes after/before, in... minutes, for... minute, within minutes, per minute, minutes later, every minute of, take minutes, just minutes, and are also ways to depict an understated time.

The usual use of the noun minute denotes a very short period of time, most often very specific. For such an image of a time interval, dictionary phrases are most often used. For example:

Tiffany spent several minutes of heavy scrubbing before she had a cup she’d care to drink from, and even then something was rattling inside the kettle ^[20]. (Tiffany spent several minutes thoroughly washing dishes before she had a cup she wanted to drink from, and even then something rattled inside the kettle.)

In the proposed context, the segment is completely limited by the lexical meaning of the noun minute, the lexeme several makes it more specific. Thus, the phrase several minutes is not an understatement of time, but a statement of it.

Demonstration of the least short time segments can be achieved by combining the minutes token with other parts of speech. For example:

Tiffany stared down at the man’s boots. They gleamed in the sunlight, and that was wrong. She had been standing in the dust of the road for only a few minutes and her boots were grey ^[20]. (Tiffany stared at the man's shoes. They glistened in the sun, and it was wrong. She had only been standing in the dust of the road for a few minutes, and her shoes were gray.)

The non-dictionary phrase only a few minutes is a deliberate understatement of the time continuum, which is achieved by using the only token, which increases not only the degree of contamination of the heroine's shoes, but also reduces the time during which the same contamination occurred to a minimum. Thus, we cannot indicate the exact number of minutes, but we understand that this action happened as quickly as possible. It is this effect that is achieved by combining various lexemes with the noun minute.

            Let's turn to the quantitative analysis of the lexemes second, moment, minute.

It follows from the diagram that the noun moment has been used 99 times, of which 31 uses represent an understatement of time, which is 62%. The second token has been encountered a total of 23 times, 10 of which demonstrate an understated time interval (20%). The noun minute – 19 cases of use, 9 of which as an understated continuum (18%).

Lexemes denoting a time continuum, being part of dictionary and author's phrases, can both exaggerate and downplay time intervals. The high frequency of the use of tokens in terms of time distortion to a greater or lesser extent is noted in moment and year. Being part of a phrase, the presented tokens are able to both stretch and narrow the time intervals.