ОСОБЕННОСТИ ФУНКЦИОНИРОВАНИЯ ГЛАГОЛОВ СО ЗНАЧЕНИЕМ «ЗАПРЕЩАТЬ» В АНГЛИЙСКОМ И НЕМЕЦКОМ ЯЗЫКАХ

Научная статья
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18454/RULB.2020.24.4.22
Выпуск: № 4 (24), 2020
PDF

Аннотация

Запреты занимают важное место в любой культуре, и языки обладают развёрнутыми системами средств для выражения прохибитивных значений. Обращение к глаголам запрещения в английском и немецком языках представляется актуальным в контексте исторически сложившихся социокультурных норм, а также религиозных, этических и культурных ценностей, поскольку означенные ценности и нормы подвержены изменениям, а прохибитивные глаголы могут приобретать новые оттенки своих значений. В статье рассматриваются ключевые английские и немецкие прохибитивные глаголы и их дериваты в семантическом аспекте. Подробно анализируются глаголы fordid, prohibit, interdict и inhibit, а также их производные в английском языке. Дан анализ самых распространённых немецких глаголов запрещения verbieten, untersagen, nicht erlauben, nicht zulassen, verwehren, sperren и другим. Выявлено, что самыми употребительными средствами категории запрета в анлийском и немецком языках являются императивные конструкции, к которым относятся прохибитивы, являющиеся отрицательным коррелятом императива, модальные глаголы и инфинитивы с отрицанием. Раскрываются особенности функционирования глаголов запрещения в современной английской и немецкой речи в исторически сложившимся социокультурном контексте.

Introduction

The appeal to prohibitive verbs as the most important key units of encoding a message about a situation of prohibition referring to the present or created in a given speech act is not accidental. This is most clearly seen in regulatory documents. In situations of prohibition, people interact. It is possible to speak in relation to these situations about the semantic roles of the Prohibitor (Subject of the prohibition) and the Addressee of the prohibition. Prohibition is an intentional volitional act. Only people as bearers of consciousness have intention. However, not only individuals and groups of people, but also bodies of power, public and confessional associations created by the collective will of people have a prohibitive power. Predicate verbs, realizing their valences, provide the construction of detailed statements about the situation as a whole. The schemes of such situations are already laid down in the meanings of the verbs. So, the English “prohibitive verbs to forbid, to prohibit and their synonyms in fact denote an order with the opposite sign, namely the requirement for the Causated person not to perform some action. When their valence potencies are realized, an environment appears in the form of a set of actants, on which the functions of designating the Prohibitor / Causator, the Addressee of the prohibition / Causated person, the prohibited action of the addressee / the state of affairs subject to the prohibition, depending on the will of the Addressee fall” [1, P. 26].

Methods

In this article, key English and German prohibitive verbs are characterized primarily in the semantic aspect. In the selection and analysis of empirical material, various research methods were used. These are the following: the conceptual analysis of keywords, component analysis, comparison of distributions of different semantic variants, propositional representation of the structure of statements, identification of the relationship of semantic and positional roles of actants, construction of management models, correlations of active and passive correspondences, testing the ability of the constructions to be used in the performative function, inventory of structural models of prohibitive statements, construction of a scenario of situations of prohibition.

Results and Discussion

The scope of prohibition acts and related acts, the concepts of which are encoded with the signs of modern English, is especially fully represented in the Roget’s Thesaurus [11] in the article 757. Nouns, adjectives and verbs are recorded in the corresponding dictionary entry.

Here are some examples of prohibitive verbs and their synonyms presented in Mark Roger's dictionary of synonyms: “prohibit, forbid; disallow, veto, withhold permission, refuse leave, give the thumbs dawn, give the red light, forbid the banns… refuse; withdraw permission, cancel lave; countermand, counterorder, revoke, suspend… abrogate; prevent… hinder; restrict, stop … restrain; ban, taboo, proscribe, outlaw; black; impose a ban place out of bounds; bar, debar, warn off, shut the door on, blackball, ostracize… exclude; excommunicate … eject; repress, stifle, kill … suppress; censor, blue-pencil… obliterate; put one’s foot down … be severe; frown on, not countenance, not brook… disapprover; discourage, crack down on … dissuade; cramp… circumscribe; draw the line intervene, interfere” [11, P. 382]. Despite fairly representative list of verbs with the meaning of prohibition in this article, we will limit ourselves to the analysis of four English verb lexemes: forbid, prohibit, interdict, inhibit, and also consider the German verb lexems verbieten, untersagen, verwehren, wehren, sperren and some others in terms of their prohibitive meanings and features of their use in the modern speech. The reason for choosing these particular verbs is due to the fact that these lexical units are most often found in the selected examples, media texts and dictionary entries of most synonymous dictionaries.

The prohibitive interpretation of the verb to forbid “to proscribe from or as if from the position of one in authority, co command against, to hinder or prevent as if by an effectual command” [14] emphasizes the unequal relationship between the participants in the situation of prohibition. The subject of the prohibition (the Prohibitor) has power, acts from the standpoint of the law, or occupies the position of an elder in a given circle of people. Accordingly, he can give orders, commands or directions with the aim of preventing any action of another participant by his statement.

Individuals and government bodies, courts, public associations, organizations and institutions possess strong-willed restraining powers. At the same time we cannot exclude the situations from the scope of prohibitions when legislative acts created by the collective will of people, as well as ethnocultural customs, religious precepts have a prohibitive power. For example:

The law forbids the sale of cigarettes to people under the age of 16.

Islam does not forbid registration married women – imam.

The law forbids discrimination in every aspect of employment [16].

We should also point out the preventive meaning of the verb to forbid, in which it means the prohibition of a natural or, in other words, physical, as well as a psychic (mental) obstacle or hindrance in the implementation of an action:

Space forbids further treatment here.

An impassable river forbids the approach of the army. 

As for the verb to prohibit “to forbid by authority, to enjoin, to prevent from ding something, to preclude” [14], the main meanings are prohibitive and preventive, like the verb to forbid has. The prohibitive meaning of the verb to prohibit is as follows: to forbid (an action) by authority = to command (a person or persons) not to do, have, use, or indulge in (something), or not to enter (a place). In this context we deal with an indication of a verbal instruction, an order (command, order) of some person with authority that something should not be done (not shall be done), as well as an indication on the presence of ethical and psychological obstacles for someone in doing something (prevent).

Both individuals and power structures can act a Prohibitor and a source of the prohibitive power. Statements with the verb to prohibit can report on legislative documents created by the will of people, as well as on ethical and religious norms, personal attitudes that act as an obstacle to the commission of an action:

Landlord can’t prohibit you from installing satellite dish (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Colorado Groups want to prohibit elk ranches, control disease (Tribune Business).

City Council may prohibit panhandling after dark (The Cincinnati Post).

Senate votes, 64 to 33, to prohibit ‘partial-birth’ abortions (International Herald Tribune).

Constitution doesn’t prohibit prayer in public schools (National Minority Politics).

Joint resolution amending the constitution to prohibit flag desegration (Capitol Hill Press Releases).

For 25 years, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), which prohibits any state that had not already legalized sports gambling at the time of the law’s enactment from ever authorizing the activity, has given Nevada a practical monopoly on legal sports wagering [13]. 

The verbs to forbid and to prohibit share the same choice of words that name the source of the force that counteracts unwanted or objectionable action.

The English verb to interdict is close in meaning to the verbs to forbid and to prohibit. Basic meanings are the following: “to lay under or prohibit by an interdict, to forbid in a usually formal or authoritative manner, to destroy, damge, or cut off (something, such as an enemy line of supply) by firepower to stop or hamper an enemy, to intercept” [14].    

The verb to interdict and the noun interdict are used for very severe prohibitions – more serious than when a professor tells the class that text messages are not allowed during lectures (“a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical censure withdrawing most sacraments and Christian burial from a person or district, a prohibitory decree”) [14]. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance an interdict was a sentence imposed by the powerful Catholic Church, forbidding a person or a place, and sometimes an entire country to receive church privileges or participate in church functions. Prohibition now often also means “cutting off” with physical force. Bans expressed by these words usually focus on either arms or drug trafficking.

E.g.: Alexander not only allows the Conquerors pretensions to the Crown of England, but he interdicts all those who should oppose him (Coke).

They interdicted that great Court from proceeding any further against them (Cohan).

The Portuguese interdict all foreign commerce (Livingstone).

The clergy were interdicted from indulging any longer in the polemics of theology (Froude).

The state legislature moved to interdict the use of radar-detection devices by motorists [14].

South African Revenue Service Commissioner Tom Moyane will seek a legal interdict against Cyril Ramaphosa if the president does not stop trying to remove him from the tax agency, according to people familiar with the matter [14]. 

The syntactic behavior of the verb to inhibit is in many ways similar to the features of the functioning of the verb to interdict in speech, but still has some differences. Basic meanings are the following: to prohibit from doing something, to hold in check, to discourage from free or spontaneous activity especially through the operation of inner psychological or external social constraints [14]. We can often come across both active and passive constructions in the examples:

Does studying economics inhibit cooperation?

All men were inhibited, by proclamation, at the dissolution, so much as to mention a Parliament (Clarendon).

You shouldn't allow fear of failure to inhibit you. He was inhibited by modesty [14].

The plastics don’t completely kill viruses such as COVID-19 on contact but instead work to inhibit the growth of viruses and germs, slowing down the life of contagions [4].

A peculiar feature of the verb to inhibit is that in some meanings it is used in texts on psychology, biology, medicine and chemistry. The prohibitive meaning itself practically recedes back, yielding a leading place to preventive and deactivating meanings.

German also has a large number of prohibition verbs. The German-Russian synonymous dictionary (1983) contains the following verbs expressing the category of prohibition: verbieten – untersagen – verpönnen – verweisen – verwehren – wehren [3].

In the Duden dictionary in addition to the listed verbs the following series is presented: abstellen – auf den Index setzen – verweigern – zurechtweisen – zurückweisen – zu Fall bringen – nicht gewähren – zur Ordnung rufen – unterbinden – abbiegen – umbiegen – prohibieren – torpedieren – abgehen – ablassen – absehen – verwerfen – verzichten – Abstand nehmen – sich versagen – desistieren – ausgeschlossen sein – ausscheiden – nicht möglich sein [5].

Let us dwell on some of them. One of the most common verbs of the categorical prohibition of any action is the verb verbieten. According to the Duden dictionary the main variants of its translation into English are: prohibit, prohibit, demand non-performance, declare something as unacceptable, unresolved, impossible [5].

Er sagt mir doch nichts, verbietet mir höchstens das Rauchen [12].

The verb can be represented in the following meanings: “hat ihm verboten”, “es zu betreten”; “etwas für nicht erlaubt erklären”; “etwas zu unterlassen gebieten”; “untersagen”; “ist kaum noch zu tolerieren”; “eine Sache durch Gesetz o. Ä. für unzulässig erklären” [5].

E.g.: Ich verbiete dir, ihn zu besuchen.

Du hast mir gar nichts zu verbieten!

Sie hat ihm das Haus verboten.

Das verbietet mir mein Ehrgefühl.

So viel Ignoranz müsste verboten werden.

The reflexive verb sich verbieten also carries the meaning of prohibition:

E.g.: Ich verbot es mir, diesem Traum noch länger nachzuhängen (“auf etwas verzichten”, “von etwas absehen”, “es sich versagen, nicht zugestehen”).

Eine solche Reaktion verbietet sich (von selbst) (“ausgeschlossen”, “nicht möglich sein”) [5].

It should also be noted that the verb verbieten, when expressing a prohibition, often appears in the form of Partizip II:

Zutritt verboten! Parken verboten! Rauchen verboten!

The closest in meaning to the verb verbieten is the verb untersagen. Both of these verbs mean the same thing – “to forbid”, “not to allow” (e.g.: nicht erlauben).

Das Betreten der Bühne ist untersagt (“anordnen, dass etwas zu unterlassen ist”) – (prohibit, do not allow, do not permit, prohibit, declare something unacceptable under the law) [5].

In the year of 1837 I. A. Eberhard wrote on this subject the following: “Verbieten. Untersagen. Untersagt wird nur, was bisher erlaubt gewesen; verboten auch das, was nie erlaubt gewesen ist...” [7]. The verb untersagen forbids what was previously allowed, and verbieten also forbids what has never been allowed.

Also in the modern German colloquial language, untersagen is often used if the initiator of the conversation assumes that the verbieten is perceived by the listener as «hard». This is why untersagen appears in official communication, as well as in those bans that require less stringency.

E.g.: Du hast mir auch strikt untersagt, davon zu sprechen, wie ich dahintergekommen bin [9]. 

Nicht nur Studenten war das strengstens untersagt; doch nur sie unterstanden speziell der universitären Gerichtsbarkeit [17].

Now it is turn to consider the verb verwehren. In the German-Russian dictionary Glosbe this verb has the following main meanings: “prohibit”, “prevent”, “deny” (jemandem etwas nicht zu tun erlauben, verweigern):

Der Pförtner hat dem Besucher den zutritt zum Laboratorium verwehrt. (Er hat ihn daran gehindert, das Labor zu betretten) [8].

So hielt sich die Regierung für berechtigt, ihnen jede Agitation zu verwehren [10].

The verb wehren is close to the verb verwehren in its basic meanings – to prohibit, to prevent, no to allow, debar, to interfere, to block. However, its use is more outdated [2].  

Ich will, kann es dir nicht wehren (jemandem den Zutritt wehren) [5].

For a temporary ban, the verb sperren can be used. Moreover, the variation of prohibitions is multifaceted. Here are some of the examples:

Die Straße war wegen einer Baustelle, eines Unfalls (in beiden Richtungen) gesperrt (den Zugang, Durchgang, die Zufahrt, Durchfahrt verbieten, verwehren [mittels einer Barriere o.Ä.] unmöglich machen).

Der Weg war durch einen umgestürzten Baum gesperrt (aufgrund seiner Lage bewirken, dass der Zugang, die Zufahrt zu etwas nicht möglich ist).

Einfuhr sperren (unterbinden).

Sie ließ die gestohlenen Schecks, die verlorene Kreditkarte sofort sperren. ((besonders in Fällen, in dene jemand seinen (Zahlungs) verpflichtungen nicht nachkommt) die  normale Abwicklung, die Benutzung von etwas durch bestimmte Maßnahmen zu verhindern suchen, unmöglich machen).

Der Spieler wurde wegen eines schweren Fouls für drei Monate gesperrt (einem Spieler, einer Mannschaft verbieten, an (offiziellen) Wettkämpfen, Spielen teilzunehmen) [5].

In addition to the listed verbs in the German language, the prohibition is conveyed by certain structures. First of all, it is necessary to mention modal verbs with negation:

ein Verbot aussprechen / jdm. etwas (dürfen + Verneinung)

E. g.: Im Museum darf man nicht fotografieren (Der Inhaber verbietet es.)

Der Mitarbeiter darf heute nicht früher gehen. (Sein Chef hat es ihm verboten).

Ich will Sie nicht hier haben und Sie können nicht [15].

Ich durfte weder Vorträge halten, noch durften wir bei der Suche nach Unterkünften für Besucher eines bevorstehenden Kreiskongresses [15].

Kein anderer Mann durfte sie berühren [15].

Ich wußte zwar, daß wir sie nicht lesen durften, aber ich war so neugierig, den Grund dafür zu erfahren [15].

The ban is also often conveyed using the constructs nicht erlauben, nicht zulassen:

Meine Zeit erlaubt mir nicht, euch zu besuchen [6].

Man kann es sich nicht mehr erlauben, Ziele zu verfehlen.

In Massachusetts ist es Männern nicht erlaubt, die Großmutter der Ehefrau zu ehelichen [15].

The foregoing allows us to conclude that the category of prohibition in German can be expressed in various ways, in particular, by synonyms and derivatives of the verb verbieten. However, they represent only a small part of this category. The most common means of the category of prohibition are imperative constructions, which can also include prohibitives, which are a negative correlate of an imperative, as well as modal verbs and infinitives with negation.

Conclusion

The analysis of the English and German languages resources used to express speech acts of prohibition and descriptions of situations of prohibition reveals the following ones: verbs with proper prohibitive meanings (forbid, prohibit, interdict, inhibit, verbieten, untersagen, verpönnen, verweisen, verwehren, wehren and some others); nouns with prohibitive meanings; adjectives and adverbs with the meanings of prohibition (forbidden, prohibited, inhibited, prohibiting, verboten, gesperrt, verwehrt, untersagt and some others); negative forms of verbs with the meaning “to allow”; negative forms of the imperative; negative forms of modal verbs (must, dürfen and some others).

In the foundation of prohibitive statements structure in the Englsih and German languages there are similarly arranged three-act propositions, namely: (1) who prohibits?, (2) what is prohibited?, (3) prohibition addressee. The research indicates that English verbs to forbid and to prohibit and German verbs verbieten and untersagen are triad verbs.

E.g.: The doctor forbids the patient to smoke / smoking.

Der Arzt verbietet dem Kranken zu rauchen / das Rauchen.

Prohibitions, first of all, are intended to provide conservative foundations in culture. The cultural scenarios of prohibition for German and English lives are practically the same in their structural composition. It can be assumed that the structures of acts of prohibition and prohibitive situations are universal for all human cultures and societies. Differences relate primarily to the spheres of social life, where prohibitions are a kind of norm. Local prohibitions can be enacted at the legislative level in one country while in other country they are not done. As for the German statesments with prohibitive verbs, they realize the state legislature about the ideal image of sociocultural mode of behavior of citizens. They reflect actual tendencies in the development of modern German society as well as traditional sociocultural categories recognized as the basis of German social mentality, namely: respect of private property, order, and concern of the surrounding world. Unlike Germany, in American society theare are numerous restrictions and bans on national, ethnic, gender, as well as casual reasons of legislators.

Prohibition statements operate in the context of a particular cultural environment, of a particular society. Sociocultural groups with the help of prohibitions designate the circle of inadmissible things in actions against them. It is through prohibitions that the human race, the international community, states, ethnic groups, religious associations, political parties, business communities, as well as a circle of friends, families or individuals protect themselves. The system of permissions and prohibitions is part of the culture of any ethnic group.

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