Academic Journal of Modern Philology

doi: 10.34616/ajmp.2025.26.15

ISSN 2299–7164

Vol. 26 (2025)

Special Issue

Open Access. Published by Committee for Philology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław Branch and College for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Wrocław. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Muriel Waterlot

John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Faculty of Humanities

murielwaterlot@kul.pl

ORCID: 0000-0002-1665-2543

A Comparative Semantic-Discursive Analysis of Polish and Dutch Collocations with Vreugde – Radość (‘Joy’) in the Letter Rejoice! on the Teachings of Pope Francis

Abstract

This article reports on the results of a comparative semantic-discursive analysis of Polish and Dutch collocations with the nouns radość and vreugde (‘joy’) from a letter to consecrated men and women entitled Rejoice!, a message on the teachings of Pope Francis (2014). The article consists of five sections. After the introduction, key terms relevant to understanding the analysis are defined. The methodology of the study is then outlined, with a focus on the specific methodological model used for the semantic-discursive analysis of Dutch and Polish collocations with the nouns radość and vreugde. This model is based on the phases of Ekman’s definition of the emotion ‘joy’ (2009) and on the linguistic realisation of these phases in the form of verb-noun collocations. The following section compares and discusses several collocations with ‘joy’ in Dutch and Polish. Based on the results of this comparison, carried out in the conceptual domain, the article concludes by affirming that a semantic-discursive approach, applied to a contrastive analysis of lexical units such as collocations, can be used as an efficient tool in translation.

Keywords: ontological structure, collocations, verb-noun collocations, nouns denoting emotion, collocating verb

1. Introduction

In recent decades, collocations, as part of phraseological or polylexical units, have been brought to the fore by corpus linguistics. One example of this for the Dutch language is the project Woordcombinaties (word combinations) by the Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal (Dutch Language Institute)1. This project deals with the different combinations that words can enter into with other words, and envisages the creation of a database and online application which would be especially useful for Dutch language learners. Currently, searches for word combinations can only be done for a certain number of verbs, but in the future it could be done for nouns as well.

The present analysis aims to identify the meaning of the Polish and Dutch collocations that derive from the relationship between the collocating verb (V) and the noun (N) for “joy” in Polish and in Dutch, and to determine their degree of correspondence (both syntactic [compositional] and semantic [meaning]). This will allow us to ascertain whether translators can benefit from a comparative semantic-discursive analysis of collocations.

The degree of correspondence of a number of Polish and Dutch verb-noun collocations with the emotion “joy” (cf. radość in Polish and vreugde in Dutch) is analysed in a corpus of collocations from the Polish [KONG] and Dutch [CONG] edition of the letter Rejoice! published by the Congregation for Religious People to consecrated men and women. The document was issued before the start of the Year of Consecrated Life, and was intended for ordained and consecrated persons to prepare for the coming year by meditating on the teachings of Pope Francis in the exhortation Evangelii gaudium (Santo Padre Francesco 2013).

This letter was chosen because it contains a large number of collocations with radość or vreugde combined with a collocating verb. An additional argument in favour is the fact that the letter is easily accessible in several languages, such as Dutch, Polish, English, Italian, etc.

In terms of methodology, the analysis will be carried out on the basis of the integrated cognitive model which is described in section 3.

The structure of this article is as follows: first, some key concepts are explained. Then the methodological approach is described. Finally, we proceed to the analysis of the Polish and Dutch collocations on the basis of lexical, syntactic and semantic criteria. The article ends with a conclusion.

2. Definitions

2.1. Collocation

The first term that requires some explanation is the term ‘collocation’. It is usually attributed to the British linguist John Rupert Firth (1957) who drew attention to fixed combinations that cannot be traced back to familiar grammatical notions such as “subcategorisation”. Firth himself does not give a clear definition of a collocation, but uses adages such as “You shall know a word by the company it keeps” (1957: 11).

In the literature after Firth, one finds roughly two types of definitions of a collocation: restricted ones and general ones. One example of a restricted definition is that formulated by Franz Josef Hausmann (1989–1991), according to whom a collocation is prototypically a combination of two lexical words that stand in some kind of grammatical relationship to one another in one of the following structures:

a) noun + adjective (epithet);

b) noun + verb;

c) verb + noun (object);

d) verb + adverb;

e) adjective + adverb;

f) noun + (prep.) + noun.

According to Hausmann, a collocation differs from a free word combination (e.g. the book is useful / das Buch ist nützlich / le livre est utile) by the restricted combinability (or affinity) of the combined words (1989–1991: 1010).

Dictionaries such as the Cambridge Free English Dictionary usually define words in a more general way, as is the case for the term “collocation”: “a word or phrase that is often used with another word or phrase, in a way that sounds correct to people who have spoken the language all their lives, but might not be expected from the meaning” (CFED: s. v. “collocation”). We also find this kind of broad definition among linguists, such as Dirk Geeraerts, who gives the following general definition of a collocation: “(…) een idiosyncratische restrictie op de verbindbaarheid van woorden” (“[...] an idiosyncratic restriction on the connectivity of words”) (1986: 134). This definition, for example, points out that it is not possible to replace one of the parts of a fixed compound with a synonym. The meaning of the connection is then not preserved, or at least the utterance sounds strange. When picking up the phone for example, the customary expression is Who am I speaking to?. The verb in this fixed connection cannot be replaced by a synonym, because Who am I chatting to? is not equally appropriate in that situation, or at least it would have a special stylistic effect.

2.2. Concept

The second term of interest in the context in this research is “concept”, which is linked to the definition of the word ‘emotion’. To analyse the collocations with radość – vreugde, they will be linked to a conceptual representation of this emotion which can be physically experienced, and whose properties can be verbalised through a cognitive process.

What is of importance here is that we are dealing with a dynamic process in which personal and relational factors come into play, as emotions are triggered by an external factor (usually an event or situation). In this analysis, it is, therefore, a matter of contrastively examining how the real, physical experience of emotion (the process or affective state) was verbalised through a cognitive activity that relies on concepts based on ontological structures. This approach was elaborated upon by Dorota Śliwa (2015) and, according to her, it can be useful for translators looking for conceptually and terminologically equivalent terms in source and target languages. Śliwa (2015) reminds us that Aristotle was one of the first to provide a basis for reflection on what really exists. This reflection was then developed by Thomas Aquinas through the cognitive activity of the intellect, and through the elaboration of the method of metaphysical separation that Andrzej Maryniarczyk would later designate as the real poznanie separacyjne or ‘separating cognition’ and the poznanie abstrakcyjne or ‘abstracting cognition’ (2015: 30–43, as cited in Śliwa 2015: 414). This will help to establish the link between the real and the conceptual in the semantic analysis. Given the importance of the speaker’s participation and knowledge of the world, we end up with Étienne Henry Gilson (1969: 142–143, as cited in Śliwa 2015: 416) who defines the concept as a particular act of the intellect and as the result of thinking. This theoretical stance based on realist metaphysics allows us to consider the ontological construction (of a conceptual nature) by taking into account the ontic structure and logical cause-effect links. In other words, it allows us to connect the real with the conceptual in virtue of which properties of the real transcend the intellect in the form of concepts (Śliwa 2015: 416). In this analysis, however, it will not be necessary to distinguish between “ontological relations” and “logical relations” as is the case in terminology, because logical relations are established in cognitive activity. It will therefore suffice to report the properties of the real emotion of “joy” (the process, and personal and relational effects) which, through intellectual/cognitive activity, are spontaneously transformed into concepts representing logical relations between them.

For many translators, one of the central problems they face is the search for a conceptual and terminological equivalence between the source and target texts. By adopting a metaphysical realistic approach, the translator will thus also be able to have recourse to the properties of the reality of a lexical construction without having to distinguish ontological and logical relations between certain concepts in the source and target languages.

2.3. Definition of the Emotion “Joy”

Since no single dictionary can claim to be exhaustive in terms of terminology, we will first have to find a basis for identifying the overall conceptual organisation of some collocations related to the concept “joy”, since the interaction between cognition and naming is essential for delimiting the characteristics of each concept, and for comparing them in verb-noun collocations in Dutch and Polish. Let us first look at the cognitive and non-cognitive aspects of the concept “emotion”.

Many philosophers, starting with Aristotle, have recognised the importance of emotions in our lives. Renewed interest and lively scientific debate on the theories of emotion reappeared with the publication in 1884 of William James’ What is an Emotion? in which he asserted the dimension of bodily phenomenology at the heart of the conception of emotion. In the second half of the twentieth century, the importance of emotions became even more evident in philosophical debate, when many philosophers realised that emotions play a very important role in our moral judgments: in cognitive theory, Robert C. Solomon (1973) and Martha Nussbaum (2003) consider emotion to be an evaluative judgment. We can, therefore, see that the concept of ‘emotion’ is the subject of intense debate in the literature, with two extremes: the non-cognitive theory (physiological approach) on the one hand and the cognitive theory (intellectualist approach) on the other. In our case study, we opt for a position in which both physical symptoms and (cognitive) judgments are important.

In view of the difficulty of defining “joy” among the many emotional variations considered in the numerous classifications and, often fragmentary, definitions proposed by researchers and scientists, we decided to define this concept in accordance with an onomasiological approach which emphasises the cognitive-semantic component of language and considers the extralinguistic reality in the process of naming. In the case of an emotion, this will be the experience of this emotion by a human being in a specific context, in reaction to an external stimulus. An onomasiological approach starts with concepts and results in denomination (Śliwa 2015: 414). Concepts therefore need to exist in the mind of the speaking subject, as well as a relation to a referent which is an object of reality (Cabré 1995: 6).

For many translators, one of the main problems and challenges they encounter is the search for equivalence. By adopting a realistic metaphysical approach, the translator will be able to have recourse to the properties of the reality of a lexical construction, without having to distinguish ontological and logical relationships between certain concepts in the source and target language.

In order to relate the real to the conceptual (or to define the concept of “joy”), and to bring together the inherent characteristics of the emotion ‘joy,’ particular attention is paid to the definitional sequence of the analytical (logical) type. In order to comprehend the ontological structure of the concept of “joy,” we have recourse to the knowledge of specialists in the field of psychology, which emphasises the role of the triggering and the unfolding (somatic manifestations) of this emotional process.

By means of a real and terminological definition (= linguistic signs given to the concept as a result of thinking), psychology describes “joy” by denominative lexemes of the metalinguistic level assimilated to the concept of “joy” (Śliwa, ٢٠١٣). These components (which describe the inherent properties of joy) will provide a starting point for establishing an ontological base/framework for studying collocations with nouns related to this concept.

In psychology, “joy” is considered by Paul Ekman (1992) as one of the six basic emotions, along with anger, surprise, fear, disgust, and sadness. For Ekman, an emotion lasts only a few seconds, but the subjective experience is prolonged. We also find this aspect in Michela Summa’s description of joy, which she distinguishes from happiness thus:

(…) joy accompanies the process through and through, whereas happiness seems to be more strictly tied to the moment of achievement of the process... joy is not only a direct emotional response to an event that is embedded in our life-concerns but is also tightly bound to the present moment, whereas happiness presupposes an evaluative stance concerning one period of one’s life or one’s own life as a whole. (2020: 424)

The APA Dictionary of Psychology, in turn, distinguishes two forms of joy: passive and active:

Passive joy involves tranquility and a feeling of contentment with things as they are. Active joy involves a desire to share one’s feelings with others. It is associated with more engagement of the environment than is passive joy. The distinction between passive and active joy may be related to the intensity of the emotion, with active joy representing the more intense form. (APA: s. v. “joy”)

The American Psychological Association (APA) defines an emotion in a general way, as “a complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral and physiological elements” (APA: s. v. “emotion”). In this view, an emotion is seen as a process consisting of three parts: subjective experiences, physiological responses and behavioural responses. The first part, or “subjective experience,” also referred to as a stimulus, relates to the experience that produces the emotion. The second part – the physiological response – is the result of the autonomic nervous system’s reaction to the emotion we are experiencing. The third part, or the behavioural responses, relates to the expression of the behavioural responses to stimuli, which can be positive or negative, such as a smile, grimace, laugh or sigh, along with many other reactions depending on societal norms and one’s personality (APA). Based on the above-mentioned definition, we can claim that the emotion “joy” can be considered a momentary psychological process consisting of three phases: stimulus – reaction – behaviour. In the following sections, we will relate these aspects to collocations with the noun (N) for the concept “joy,” which will serve as a starting point for the development of a methodological and conceptual framework for the categorisation and analysis of the translation of collocations with nouns for “joy” (cf. section 3).

2.4. A Cognitive Approach to Collocations

Towards the end of the 20th century, Mel’čuk emerged with a restricted concept of collocations. In Mel’čuk (1998), as reported by Agnès Tutin and Francis Grossmann (2002: 12), collocations are defined as recurrent combinations of two linguistic elements that have a syntactic relationship. One of the elements of the collocation called the “base,” keeps its usual meaning, while the other, the ‘collocate,’ is dependent on the other (synsemantic words) and usually has a less transparent meaning. Stressing the binary structure of collocations, it can be represented as follows: base + collocate = collocation.

The “base” of the collocation is the concept that refers to reality. In the case of a verb-adjective collocation, it refers (cognitively) to an inherent property of the concept designated by the base. In the case of a verb-noun collocation (V+N/N+V), it will – through the intellectual/cognitive functions – either refer to the dynamics (the process) of the emotion “joy” experienced by one person (the personal dimension) or several persons (the collective dimension), or to a property that can be relational (e.g. in the case where an action/emotion is caused by an external agent [a person or a group of persons, an event or a situation] to one or several persons [according to Śliwa 2002: 292]).

For the purpose of this analysis of collocations in discourse, we shall rely on the three dimensions of collocations as defined by Pierre Lerat (1995: 102). He distinguishes three levels of collocations, which allow for three levels of analysis following the pragmatic, syntactic and, semantic approach [as noted by Śliwa (2011: 91–92)]:

1) the pragmatic level, which we may refer to as the discourse level (expressed by verbs in context); this dimension allows us to locate a collocation in a text or discourse (here, passages of the letter “Rejoice...” in Dutch and Polish), with all of the enunciative markers (especially verb-noun collocations, where the verb has an inflectional form and modality);

2) the semantic level (which expresses meaning), where Lerat introduces the linked conceptual level (= concept and conceptual components) in the sense of a preferred lexeme combination and which is interested in conceptual connectivity. For the analysis of this dimension, we make use of the cognitive approach to collocations as defined by Śliwa (cf. the sections above);

3) the syntactic level, which is related to the syntactic aspect of the preferred lexeme combination, and which exposes the syntagmatic combination according to which we can schematise the types (syntactic constructions) of collocations (N+Adj, V+N / N+V, etc.) (Lerat 1995: 102, as cited in Śliwa 2013: 139). As far as this level is concerned, only verb-noun collocations will be taken into account in this analysis.

Following the onomasiological approach adopted, we propose to start with the referential/conceptual level (i.e. the conceptualisation of the reality of the emotion). We do this from a model that refers to the reality of the experience (psychological level) and the cognitive unfolding of the emotion (cf. section 3.1.1.); the syntactic structures (or verb-noun collocations with the N joy) are then extracted from the discourse level, i.e. the passages of the letter Radujcie się… and Verheugt u… (“Rejoice...”).

When the referential/conceptual dimensions are introduced into the semantic-syntactic analysis of collocations (cf. Śliwa 2002: 292), we can assume that, according to the above scheme, the base word, which is the Dutch and Polish noun (N) for “joy” (vreugde – radość), refers to the category of the real/concept and that it is “responsible” for the selection of the “collocate” (collocating verb).

At the conceptual level, the basic bipartite structure of the collocation is composed of the specified entity (the superordinate conceptual entity) and the specifier, which is the perceived characteristic that specifies the generic concept (cf. Śliwa 2013: 141), which can be:

inherent-dimensional, expressed in adjectival-nominal collocations (Adj+N), e.g. wielka radość (“great joy”), where the specifying property is expressed by the adjective;

inherent-dynamic, expressed in noun-verb collocations (N+V), e.g. radość rozchodzi (“joy radiates”), where the specifying property is expressed by the verb;

relational, expressed in verb-noun collocations (V+N), e.g. okazywać radość (“to show joy”).

3. Methodological Framework

As already mentioned and explained in section 2.4., the corpus of this analysis is composed of Dutch and Polish collocations with vreugde – radość extracted from the discourse level, i.e. passages of the letter Radujcie się… and Verheugt u… (“Rejoice...”). As our research mainly aims to point out an approach that ensures a more coherent semantic description, we will limit our discussion to a qualitative, descriptive analysis of a few examples related to the three components of the process of the emotion “joy” (cf. section 3.1.1. for more details).

For the semantic-discursive analysis of collocations, we have established a model in which we integrated – through the definitions of the emotion “joy” (cf. section 2.3.) – elements of the process of this emotion and its linguistic realisation, which is presented in the form of a verb-noun collocation of the type V+N – N+V.

3.1. Integrated Model for a Semantic-Discursive Analysis of Collocations with Vreugde – Radość (Methodological Framework)

In this section, we present (in accordance with the definition of joy in section 2.3.) an integrated model based on the model of the Basic Emotion System by David Matsumoto and Paul Ekman (2009), in which, by means of a cognitive approach, we have integrated – for each of the three phases that describe the process of the emotion “joy” – the meaning of the collocating verb (“collocate”) that refers to one of the phases (stimulus – reaction – behaviour), and to the way in which that emotion is experienced (by an individual or a group of people).

3.1.1. The Basic Emotion System According to Matsumoto and Ekman

In their representation of the Basic Emotion System, Matsumoto and Ekman (2009) describe the mechanism by which emotions are triggered. When we consider emotion according to their schema, it consists of three basic components: triggering events (cf. “stimulus”), emotional reactions (development at, among others, the cognitive, subjective and physiological levels) and the expression of emotion or action tendencies (cf. “behaviour”).

Figure 1 represents a simplified representation of Matsumoto and Ekman’s basic emotion system:

Figure 1. Simplified representation of the basic emotion system (Matsumoto and Ekman 2009)

In developing our integrated model, the actantial structure of collocative verbs – denoting dynamic inherent and relational properties – has been linked to the simplified model of the basic emotion system, where the actants denote the stimulus, the “experiencer” and the external agent, respectively (cf. Figure 2).

I. Stimulus (causal)

II. Emotional reaction of the experiencer (onset/progress)

III. Behaviour of the experiencer (consequences/extinction)

Lexical elements expressing the arousal of the emotional state (stimulus)

Actors/participants:

a. the experiencer

or

b. external agent (individuals, groups, people, events, obstacles...)

Lexical elements expressing the initial state or progress of the emotional state

-------------------------------------

Cognition (judgment, opinion, knowledge)

Lexical elements expressing a cognitive attitude when experiencing the emotion

Lexical elements expressing the intensity of the emotional state and lexical elements expressing the extinguishment of the emotional state

Actors/participants:

a. the experiencer

or

b. external agent (individuals, groups, people, events, obstacles...)

Physiology (symptoms)

Lexical elements expressing physiological phenomena and the progress of the emotion

Subjective feeling/experience

Lexical elements expressing the individual’s reactions and personal behaviours during the experience of the emotion

Figure 2. Integrated model for the semantic-discursive analysis of collocations with an emotion

In addition to the cognitive criteria associated with the three phases of the emotion “joy” (cf. Figure 2: I. stimulus, II. emotional reaction, III. behaviour of the experiencer) related to the experiencer, we have also introduced those which relate to the external agent or cause of joy in the onset/causal phase, as well as to the extinction phase, since joy can serve as an instrument for more or less deliberate purposes.

Based on the integrated model, which encompasses the three components of the process of the emotion “joy” (cf. I. stimulus, II. emotional reaction, III. experiencer’s behaviour [consequences/extinction]) we will proceed in section 4 to the comparative analysis of some selected Dutch and Polish collocations of the type V+ N/N+V with “joy” (vreugde – radość).

4. Contrastive Cognitive Analysis of Polish and Dutch Verb-Noun Collocations with Radość – Vreugde (“joy”)

In our analysis, we take into account collocations whose collocating verb has a meaning subordinate to the expression of a phase of the emotion (Tutin, Grosmann 2002: 17). In order to analyse the collocations systematically, the verb-noun collocations have been classified according to the three phases of the integrated model which refer to a property perceived in one of the three phases of emotion (cf. I. stimulus, II. onset/progress, III. consequences/extinction). When comparing Polish and Dutch collocations with “joy” in each of these phases, we examine whether there are differences in the use or choice of collocating verbs (this could, for instance, be the case when the verb is metaphorical in use).

4.1. Collocations Expressing the Initial Phase of the Emotion

The first type of collocation that is considered in this analysis includes those in which the collocate expresses the initial phase of the emotional process. In line with human psychology (= reality), that phase can either be experienced by an “experiencer” (a person or group) or triggered by an “external agent” (= a person/people, events). In our analysis, we consider both cases.

Experiencer

radość rodzi się z – vreugde ontstaat uit

(1) (…) Bóg mówi: «Jesteś ważny dla mnie, kocham cię, liczę na ciebie». Jezus mówi to każdemu z nas! Z tego rodzi się radość! (KONG 2014: 8)

[(…) God says: “You are important to me, I love you, I am counting on you.” Jesus says this to each one of us! Joy is being born from that!]

(2) (…) zegt Hij [God] jullie: “Jij bent belangrijk voor mij, ik zie jou graag, ik reken op jou.” Jezus zegt dit tot elk van ons! Daaruit ontstaat de vreugde! (CONG 2014: 14)

[(…) God says to you: “You are important to me, I love you, I am counting on You.” Jesus says this to each one of us! Joy arises from that!]

In Polish, we are dealing with a personification of “joy”: we have rodzić się or “being born” (inchoative aspect), which provides a metaphor. In Dutch, onstaat (“arises”) is used, and the metaphor is lost.

przyjmować radość – de vreugden verwelkomen

(3) Na drodze do Emaus, jak Jezus z uczniami, przyjmujmy radości i cierpienia ludzi (...). (KONG 2014: 18)

[On the road to Emmaus, like Jesus with his disciples, we accept (…) the joys and sorrows of the people (…).]

(4) Op de weg naar Emmaüs, net als Jezus met Zijn leerlingen, verwelkomen wij (...) de vreugden en de smarten van de mensen (...). (CONG 2014: 26)

[On the road to Emmaus, like Jesus with his disciples, we welcome (…) the joys and sorrows of the people (…).]

These collocations show semantic (conceptual) differences. Przyjmować (“to accept”) expresses a passive attitude (i.e. “to admit to oneself”), while the Dutch verb verwelkomen (“to welcome”) implies an active attitude. In Italian (the source language), we find the verb accogliere which means “to welcome.” In Polish, a combination of radość (“joy”) with powitać – witać (“to welcome”) does not occur.

poznać radość – vreugde kennen

(5) Serce misyjne to jest serce, które poznało radość zbawienia w Chrystusie i dzieli się tym jako pocieszeniem (..). (KONG 2014: 21)

[A missionary heart is a heart that has got to know the joy of Christ’s salvation and shares it as consolation (…).]

(6) Een missionair hart is een hart dat de vreugde van de verlossing van Christus heeft gekend en die als troost deelt (…). (CONG 2014: 30)

[A missionary heart is a heart that has known the joy of Christ’s salvation and shares it as consolation (…).]

The Polish and Dutch collocations do not quite match semantically. In the Polish collocation poznało radość, the prefix po- gives the verb the meaning of an inchoative (cf. “experienced the joy”). In Dutch, the verb kennen in the perfect tense takes on the meaning of a resultative: de vreugde heeft gekend ‘has known the joy.’

odczuwać radość – overweldigd worden door vreugde

(7) (…) w utrapieniach apostoł narodów odczuwa pełną radości i czuje się uczestnikiem chwały, której wszyscy oczekujemy. (KONG 2014: 6)

[In his difficulties the apostle to the gentiles experiences complete joy and feels himself a sharer of the glory that we all await.]

(8) In zijn beproevingen wordt de apostel der heidenen overweldigd door vreugde en heeft hij deel aan de glorie die wij allen verwachten. (CONG 2014: 10)

[In his difficulties the apostle to the gentiles felt full of joy and a sharer of the glory that we all await.]

Here again, the Polish and Dutch collocating verbs do not correspond semantically. The Polish odczuwać radość “to experience joy” expresses the physical experience of the apostle who experiences the emotion ‘within himself.’ In Dutch, on the other hand, the apostle experiences the emotion as something that comes to him from outside, as it were.

osiągnąć radość – de vreugde bereiken

(9) W codziennym zabieganiu każdy mężczyzna i każda kobieta pragnie osiągnąć radość całą swoją istotą i zamieszkać w niej. (KONG 2014: 7)

[In their daily struggles, every man and woman desires to attain joy with their whole being and dwell in it.]

(10) Te midden van hun dagelijkse beslommeringen proberen alle mannen en vrouwen om met heel hun wezen de vreugde te bereiken en vast te houden. (CONG 2014: 13)

[In their daily struggles, all men and women try to reach and hold onto joy with all their being.]

The collocations correspond lexically, semantically and syntactically. In both languages, we have the literal translation of the Italian tende a giungere o – literally “to tend to reach.” In itself, joy cannot be “attained” because it is a gift from God.

External agent

zaprosić do radości – uitnodigen tot vreugde

In this example, we see that sentences from the Bible (the words of the prophets and the Psalms) are spoken by someone (metonymy) inviting the experiencer to joy. In this example, the relational aspect is expressed because there are always two actors in the act of inviting (the inviter and the invited).

(11) W Starym Testamencie – w Psalmach i u proroka Izajasza odnajdujemy częstsze zwroty: z różnorodnością językową, twórczą i oryginalną, wiele razy zaprasza się do radości (…). (KONG 2014: 5)

[In the Old Testament – in the Psalms and in the prophet Isaiah we find more numerous recurrences: with creative and original linguistic variations, many times one is invited to joy.]

(12) In het Oude Testament komen de meeste vermeldingen voor in de Psalmen en bij de profeet Jesaja. Met een creatieve en originele linguïstische verscheidenheid wordt vele malen uitgenodigd tot vreugde. (CONG 2014: 10)

[In the Old Testament, these recurrences are most numerous in the Psalms and in the prophet Isaiah. With creative and original linguistic variations, many times one is invited to joy.]

Both Polish and Dutch use an impersonal construction which correspond semantically. In Dutch, the formulation of the first part of the sentence is more descriptive than in Polish.

4.2. Collocations (Collocating Verbs) Expressing the Emotional Reaction of the Experiencer

According to the integrated model, the experience of the state of joy (durative aspect) is situated at three psychological levels a) cognition (judgment, opinion, knowledge); b) physiology (symptoms); c) subjective feeling.

In our analysis, and according to the collocations we found in the research corpus, we consider two psychological levels: cognition and physiology.

a. Cognition

Pope Francis points to the wealth of terms found in the Bible to express the emotion ‘joy’ that was cognitively perceived and described by the authors of the biblical text or ‘experiencers’:

(13) Spotyka się w Biblii aż 13 różnych czasowników i rzeczowników opisujących radość Boga, osób, ale też samego stworzenia, w dialogu zbawienia. (KONG 2014: 5)

[One encounters as many as 13 different verbs and nouns in the Bible describing the joy of God, of persons, but also of creation itself, in the dialogue of salvation.]

(14) In de Bijbel komen immers maar liefst 13 verschillende werkwoorden en substantieven voor om de vreugde van God, die van de mensen en ook die van de schepping zelf, in de heilsdialoog, te beschrijven. (CONG 2014: 10)

[Indeed, as many as 13 different verbs and nouns occur in the Bible to describe the joy of God, that of men and also that of creation itself, in the dialogue of salvation.]

In the Dutch translation of this collocation, the translator has used a lexically and semantically equivalent expression.

b. Physiology – symptoms

“Physical experience” should also include lexical elements that express the individual’s reactions during the experience of the emotion. In this regard, we encountered, for example, the collocation krzyczeć z radości (“to shout for joy”).

krzyczeć z radości – juichen van vreugde

(15) (…) uwolnieni więźniowie przybywają do Jerozolimy, krzycząc z radości (Iz 35,9n; 51,11). (KONG 2014: 5)

[(…) the liberated prisoners will enter Jerusalem shouting for joy (Is 35:9 f.; 51:11).]

(16) (…) de bevrijde gevangenen zullen juichend van vreugde Jeruzalem binnentrekken (Jesaja 35,9 e.v.; 51,11). (CONG 2014: 10)

[(…) the liberated prisoners will enter Jerusalem jubilant with joy (Is 35:9 f.; 51:11).]

The Polish collocating verb krzyczeć literally means “to shout.” The Dutch verb juichen (“to jubilate” or “to rejoice”) is a good equivalent here because it has the meaning of “in vrolijk geroepen woorden zijn vreugde te kennen geven” (Den Boon et al. 2015) or “to express one’s joy in words shouted out.” The Dutch verb schreeuwen “to shout” implies shouting to express distress or pain or another discomfort (Den Boon et al. 2015). In the Willibrord translation of the Bible (1981), juichen is not combined with vreugde (“joy”), for example in Lev. 9:24: “Toen het volk dat zag, begon het te juichen en wierp zich ter aarde.” (“When the people saw this, they began to rejoice and threw themselves to the ground”). This means that juichen is not necessarily expressed lexically. In the Willibrord translation of the Bible (1981), in Zeph. 3:17 we read “zijn vreugd uitroepen” (“shout out his joy”), and in particular “Luidkeels roept Hij zijn vreugd om u uit” (“Loudly He cries out His joy for your sake”). Here, the translator could have used the collocative verb uitroepen “shout.”

4.3. Collocations (Collocating Verbs) Expressing the Experiencer’s Behaviour

Experiencer

pokazać radość – getuigen van de vreugde

(17) W ludzkiej skończoności, w ograniczeniach, w codzienności osoby konsekrowane żyją w wierności, pokazując radość, która w nich mieszka (…). (KONG 2014: 3)

[In human finitude, in limitations, in daily life, consecrated persons live in fidelity, showing the joy that dwells in them (...).]

(18) Geconfronteerd met de menselijke eindigheid, de beperkingen, de dagelijkse beslommeringen beleven de Godgewijde mannen en vrouwen de trouw door te getuigen van de vreugde die in hen leeft. (CONG 2014: 6)

[Faced with human finitude, limitations, daily worries, God-ordained men and women experience faithfulness by bearing witness to the joy that lives within them.]

In Polish, we have the verb pokazać, which is often used in the context of material things. Semantically, ukazać should be used here in the sense of “showing from within.” Syntactically, the collocations also differ: pokazać is combined with a direct object and in Dutch getuigen van (“to testify to,” “to bear witness to”) is a prepositional phrase. In Italian, we read “(…) dando ragione della gioia che li abita, diventano splendida testimonianza” (CIVC 2014: 8), meaning “they become wonderful witnesses.” The Polish language system lacks a collocating verb with “joy” with this meaning.

External agent

dopełniać radość – de vreugde vervolledigen

(19) Ostateczny triumf Boga i gody Baranka dopełnią wielką radość i wesele (por Ap 19,7), wywołując eksplozję kosmicznego Alleluja. (KONG 2014: 6)

[The final triumph of God and the marriage of the Lamb will complete the great joy and rejoicing (cf Rev 19:7), setting of an explosion of a cosmic Alleluia.]

(20) De uiteindelijke triomf van de Heer en de bruiloft van het Lam zullen elke vreugde en uitbundigheid vervolledigen (cf. Openbaring 19,7) en een kosmisch Halleluja doen uitbarsten. (CONG 2014: 10)

[The final triumph of God and the marriage of the Lamb will complete every joy and exultation (cf. Rev 19:7), setting off an explosion of a cosmic Alleluia (Rev 19:6).]

Semantically, both collocations correspond: dopełniać means the same as iets vervolledigen (cf. “to complete something”). Nevertheless, the collocation de vreugde voltooien (“to complete the joy”) also appears to be in use, as in Eucharistisch gebed VI voor liturgische vieringen rond de verzoening I (“the Eucharistic prayer VI for liturgical celebrations around Reconciliation I”) (THEO 2020): “(…) terwijl wij zijn dood en opstanding vieren en uitzien naar de gezegende dag waarop Hij zal wederkomen om onze vreugde te voltooien” (“as we celebrate His death and resurrection and look forward to the blessed day when He will return to complete our joy”).

In De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling (2021) in 1 J: 1.4, we discover that the noun vreugde (“joy”) can be combined with the verb volkomen maken (lit. “to make complete”) de vreugde volkomen maken (“to make joy complete”), which is closer to the Italian source text “completeranno ogni gioia” (CIVC 2014: 17).

uczynić radość z – vreugde schenken

In the following example, there are two actors – God and the people. God is the external agent, the one who gives joy, who makes the people joyful:

(21) Przekleństwo, owoc niezachowania Przymierza, zniknie, ponieważ Bóg pragnie uczynić z Jerozolimy wesele i z jej ludu – radość (por. Iz 65,18). (KONG 2014: 6)

[The curse, a result of their disregard for the Covenant, will disappear because God is about to make Jerusalem a delight and its people - a joy (cf. Is 65:18).]

(22) De vloek, die het resultaat is van hun niet-naleving van het Verbond, zal verdwijnen, omdat de Heer Jeruzalem in een jubelende stad zal herscheppen en haar bevolking vreugde zal schenken (cf. Jesaja 65,18). (CONG 2014, 11)

[The curse, a result of their disregard for the Covenant, will disappear because the Lord will recreate Jerusalem into a jubilant city and grant joy to its people (cf. Is 65:18).]

The semantic meanings of the collocations differ in that uczynić – in Dutch maken or scheppen (“to make or create”) – refers to bringing forth from nothing. The people are central here. In Dutch, God is at the center. He is the one who bestows and gives joy. In the Willibrord translation (1981), the Prophet Isaiah expresses the fact that God wants to “recreate His people into a people full of joy” (cf. herscheppen in een bevolking vol vreugde). The verb “to recreate” is closer to the Italian edition: “Dio sta per fare di Gerusalemme una gioia e del suo popolo un gaudio (cf. Is 65, 18)” (CIVC 2014: 17) – literally translated: tot een vreugde maken or “to make into a joy.”

5. Conclusion

This comparative analysis of collocations formed from a verb and the word radość – vreugde that refers to the same extralinguistic reality (or the same frame of reference) in all languages has shown the connection between the collocative verb (V) and the base word (a noun), and allowed us to discover specific features of this emotion that goes through different phases and is experienced by an ‘experiencer’ or external agent (individual or group), in each case in a relational context. As we saw when comparing verb-noun collocations with radość – vreugde, languages such as Dutch and Polish do not always use literal equivalents, but rather equivalents of a verb-noun collocation that are more anchored in the target language (as in the example of uczynić radość z – vreugde schenken.). Languages may, moreover, have other lexical means of expressing the semantic meaning of a collocation, such as in the example of pokazać radość – getuigen van de vreugde.

Semantic similarities can be traced by appealing to the conceptual framework of a concept (such as radość – vreugde in the case of our analysis) in order to compare collocations or to justify the choice of an analogous and linguistically and stylistically acceptable equivalent in the translation into a target language.

Ultimately, the finding that equivalents that are closer to the meaning of the source text could be used allows us to conclude that a semantic-discursive approach in a comparative analysis of the translation of certain lexical units – such as collocations – could serve as a starting point for finding an appropriate equivalent. This leads us to the belief that this approach could become a useful tool in future research on the assessment of translations.

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1 Project Woordcombinaties website: https://ivdnt.org/woordenboeken/woordcombinaties/ [date of access: 30.06.2023].

Received:

06.10.2023

Reviewed:

01.02.2024

Accepted:

30.03.2024