The phrase "leading role" is found in colloquial speech, literary works and newspaper publications quite often, and not only in relation to theatrical and cinematographic productions. They talk about it when they want to emphasize the exclusivity of someone's participation in an enterprise, conflict, dispute, charity event. What is more important - the title role or the main role?
Similar in sound but different in meaning
The definitions "main" and "capital" are paronyms, that is, words similar in morphological composition, but having an unequal semantic interpretation.
The first adjective characterizes something significant, eye-catching, more significant. For example: main event.
The second definition is derived from the word " title", that is, it can be said about something contained in the title, title.
Now it is easy to guess that the main role on the stage or in the cinema isaction performed by the central character. But the title role belongs to the hero, whose name appears in the title of the play or script.
For example, a ballerina can dance the title role in Carmen, but not in Swan Lake.
One and several title roles
In world literature there are many works named after characters. For example: "Anna Karenina", "Poor Lisa", "Taras Bulba", "Queen Margot", "Eugene Onegin", "Romeo and Juliet", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "Tristan and Isolde", "Master and Margarita" etc. Obviously, in the theatrical productions or films of the same name, there will be one or two title roles played by actors who create images of the respective characters.
If the name of the hero is not present in the title, then no matter how significant this role may seem, it can only be called the main one. Let's take the series Brigada, which was sensational at the time. Here the main role was played by Sergei Bezrukov. But in the film Yesenin, this popular Russian artist has the title role.
You can not talk about the presence of several title roles in cases where the title contains collective or numerical values. For example, in the films "Three in a boat, not counting the dog", "Seven Spartans", "Four against the Cardinal" there are only main roles, since the names or surnames of the central characters are not specified.
The use of the phrase in a figurative sense
Sometimes you can hear statements like this:role in the formation of personality belongs to family education. Although the sentence is perceived quite logically by ear, it is incorrect from the point of view of linguistics. We have already found out that capital is related to the title. Therefore, here and in other similar formulations, where it is necessary to emphasize the significance of an object, phenomenon or event, one should say “the main role.”
When a literary character says something like this: “Baba Manya played the title role in all village intrigues,” you need to understand that the writer deliberately makes a mistake trying to convey the nuances of colloquial speech.
Therefore, there is nothing reprehensible when such phrases are used in private conversations, but official publications still need to adhere to the established norms and rules of the Russian language.
Typical speech errors
The expression that has become a cliché "the title role in the comedy" The Inspector General "belongs to Khlestakov" contains several semantic inaccuracies. Firstly, Khlestakov is not an actor, but the protagonist of the play and cannot play roles. Secondly, there are no title roles in this stage work, since the title does not mention personal names. Thirdly, the word "role" in this context is synonymous with "mission".
It would be more correct to say: "The main character of the comedy is Khlestakov" or "The main mission in the events is entrusted to Khlestakov."
