29. Transposition ( the noun, the article)

Transposition is a case of violation of the typical grammatical valency of a word. It consists in the unusual use of the grammatical forms and categories of parts of speech changing their grammatical meaning.Sometimes transposition also leads to the change in the semantic meaning of a word [9].

One of the examples is antonomasia, when a proper noun is turned into a common noun. It is often shown by the use of such words in the plural or with the indefinite article.

E.g. She was beginning to like, definitely to prefer, middle-aged men … but the trouble was that really nice attractive ones … had hardly more than an occasional faint gleam of interest to spare for a Miss Matfield [J.B. Priestley].

The noun

Transposition of the three noun categories (case, number and definiteness/indefiniteness) can be observed.

The category of case

Transposition takes place when inanimate nouns are used in the genitive (possessive) case (instead of expressing the idea by means of the ‘of-phrase’).

It often happens with nouns denoting time or in cases of personification, which makes the utterance sound more elevated.

E.g. Yesterday’s press is of no interest for me.

E.g. She came gliding along London’s broadest street, and then halted, swaying gently [J.B. Priestley].

The group-genitive can also take place. The element 's can also be added to a whole group of words. This produces a humorous effect as the words that are placed together are logically incompatible.

E.g. It’s the young fellow in the backroom’s car.

The category of number

 Proper names, abstract and material nouns are uncountable ones. Their use in the plural adds some special expressive and emotional power, creates the effect of imagery and makes the description more vivid.

E.g.  The snows of Kilimanjaro, the sands of Sahara

Proper names used in the plural may lend the narration a unique generalizing effect, or show the speaker`s negative attitude. There can also be examples of antonomasia.

E.g. There’s always a hundred of Miss Browns waiting for me.

The use of the singular instead of the plural form creates a generalized, elevated effect. 

E.g. The faint fresh flame of the young year flushes

     From leaf to flower and from flower to fruit

     And fruit and leaf are as gold and fire. [A. Swinburne].

The opposite device, the use of plural instead of singular can make the description more powerful and large-scale.

E.g. The clamour of waters, snows, winds, rains [E. Hemingway].

The plural nouns may imply the singular and vice versa. It is a case of grammatical synecdoche.

E.g. How dare he talk like that to ladies ? (one lady is meant instead of many).

E.g. This is what the student is supposed to know. (all students are meant instead of one).

The article

The definite article used with a proper name may emphasize the person's good or bad qualities, and show that the person is well-known.

E.g. The Turgis who came out of 9, Nathaniel Street, later that Saturday afternoon, was quite different from the youth we have already met [J.B. Priestley].

The indefinite article before a proper name may have a negative evaluative connotation.

E.g. A Forsyte is not an uncommon animal [J. Galsworthy].

The indefinite article often appears with proper names in cases of antonomasia.

E.g. a Don Juan, a Picasso, a Ford, a Napoleon, a Harry Potter.

When the definite article is used with the adjectives in postposition it makes them more important for the characterization of the personage.

E.g. Aunt Hester, the silent, the patient, that backwater of the family energy sat in the drawing room, where the blinds were drawn.

When no article is used before a common noun a maximum level of abstraction is conveyed.

E.g. Old Man at the Bridge (the title of a story by E. Hemingway).

Articles are often omitted in newspaper headlines for the economy of space.

Sometimes articles are omitted in careless colloquial or illiterate speech.

E.g. Some girls haven’t any real feelings at all. Girl I know – she lives near us, and she’s one of these manicurists – she is one just the same [J.B. Priestley].

Semantic transposition is also found in personification and animalification (zoonimic metaphors).

E.g.  … one of those dark spouting mornings which burst over unhappy London like gigantic bombs filled with dirty water  [J.B. Priestley].

E.g. According to all the literary formulas, the wife of Mr. Smeeth should have been a grey and withered suburban drudge … But Nature, caring nothing for literary formulas, had gone to work in another fashion with Mr. Smeeth [J.B. Priestley].

We can also find Personification when the neuter gender of such nouns as earth, moon (feminine), sun (masculine) is exchanged for the masculine and feminine respectively. In this case these objects somehow come to life and start being associated with human beings. These nouns are substituted by the pronouns he or she. A similar phenomenon is observed with names of countries. Countries are often classed as nouns of the feminine gender, especially when they are considered as political powers more than mere geographical bodies.

E.g. Britain said her word in the negotiation.

Abstract notions suggesting the ideas of strength and power are personified as nouns of the masculine gender. Gentleness and beauty are associated with the feminine gender.E.g. such nouns as anger, death, fear, war are masculine. On the other hand, spring, peace, kindness, dawn are feminine. 

Animalification may have either negative or positive connotations.

  E.g. He is such a wolf!

Transposition is also observed when transition from one part of speech into another takes place, e.g. in substantivization.

E.g. The humiliated were forgotten.

Sometimes phrases or even sentences can be substantivized.

E.g. Don’t tell me you forgot the what’s-its-name? [J.Thurber].