LITERAL, LITERARY, LITERATE

INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL

Read and translate the following sentences paying special attention to the words in bold type.

1. In the United States «aisle» can also denote gangways in trains and shops as well as in the theatre. It will now be interesting to see how far it becomes part of the vocabulary of the British theatre in the literal meaning quite apart from the metaphorical phrase taken from America («rolling in the aisles — overcome by uncontrollable laughter»). 2. It is not easy to find any dictionary explanations of the origin of this verb «dub» but maybe it is merely the abbreviation of «double», the literal translation of the French verb «doubler» which is applied to this technique. 3. Even now that the word (shoestring) has been restored to the language it cannot be said that British English refers to shoestrings in the literal sense, for it is only the metaphorical «on a shoestring» that has caught the public fancy. 4. «Rolling in the aisles» appeared as a heading in the Times Literary Supplement, 26 February 1960. 5. In the literary sphere the desire of modern novelists to depict everyday life with a maximum of realism has inevitably led to the inclusion of expressions in their written vocabulary which in earlier years would never have appeared in print and which were in any case more or less unknown to a great many readers. 6. Mozart’s Concert Aria, «Ch’io Mi Scordi Di Те», is not much of a song from a literary viewpoint, but as music it is extremely beautiful. 7. The traditional meaning of the word (sub-title) was simply «the alternative title of a book (Eric or Little by Little)», but it so happened that this literary convention went out of fashion in the early part of the twentieth century. 8. The literary works in a glass-fronted bookcase were bound in old-fashioned calf. 9. In the closing years of that century it (the word «avant-garde») achieved independence as part of the literary and, artistic vocabulary. 10. It (the word «quiz») was kept alive in literary circles by the works of Jane Austen, and the sense was «to look at someone in a curious or mocking way, make sport of». 11. His (Anthony’s) imagination was fired by the possibilities of his literary efforts. 12. It is in this spirit that this final volume of the Guide (The Pelican Guide to English Liter­ature) offers its contour-map of the literary scene to the general reader. 13. Here is a provocative and fascinating interpretation of a literary masterpiece (Peter Brook’s film «King Lear»). 14. It is interesting to see that in 1955 «back-log» could be totally unknown to a literate Englishman. 15. Illiteracy blanketed these countries. Today all nations are completely literate. 16. He used to make rough sketches at home for his work next day, and Valerie’s help took the form of posing for the various roles required by the products whose merits he must dramatize in a way that even the semi-literate could understand. 17. The lady fills in for the illiterate lass, penning on to paper all her own inhibited tenderness arising from аn unsatisfactory marital situation. 18. She knew that really he was an illiterate peasant, a poor, contemptible immigrant who gave himself airs. 19. Like many others this illiterate untrained peasant woman had the power of life and death over the human beings nearest to her.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Literal adj. 1. Corresponding exactly to the original, e.g. a ~ translation, a ~ transcript of an old manuscript. 2. Based on the actual words in their ordinary meaning, without allegory or metaphor; giving the original or earlier meaning of a word, e.g. the ~ meaning of a word. 3. Prosaic, matter-of-fact, lacking in imagination; exact, e.g. a ~ mind, a ~ description. 4. Connected with, expressed by a letter or letters of the alphabet, e.g. a ~ equation, a ~ coefficient. 5. (colloq.) Virtual, e.g. the gale has made a ~ desert of my garden-, the ~ destruction of the army.

Derivative: literally adv.

Literary adj. Having the nature of, or dealing with literature; appropriate to literature, e.g. ~ language, the ~ profession, ~ fame, a ~. club, a ~ man (i.e. either an author or a man interested in literature); ~- studies, ~ property (the right of an author to tees, ro’yalties, etc. coming from his writings).

Literate adj. 1. Able to read and write. 2. Educated. 3. Skilled in literature, e.g. a ~ person.

Derivatives: literacy п., illiteracy п.; illiterate adj. 1. Unable to read or write. 2. Ignorant, uneducated, e.g. an ~ letter (one full of mistakes in spelling and grammar), ~ people.

Literal, literary and literate are sometimes confused because of the identity of the root word and partial similarity of meanings. One should remember that these words are not synonymous. Literary (литературный) means «pertaining to literature or versed in literature»; the main meanings of literal (буквальный) proceed from the meaning of the Latin word litera (буква): «according to the letter, not figurative, word for word». Literate (грамотный, образованный) means «able to read and write, educated». Its antonym, illiterate (неграмотный, необразованный), «unable to read or write, uneducated» is used very frequently while literate is not, especially in the meaning образованный, which is generally conveyed by the word educated.