Translation theory: object and objectives.

CHAPTER1.

Models of translation.

Description of the translating process is one of the major tasks of the translation theory. Here we deal with the dynamic aspects of translation trying to understand how the translator performs the transfer operation from ST to TT.

Psychologically viewed, the translating process must include two mental processes – understanding and verbalization. First, the translator understands the content of ST, that is, reduces the information it contains to his own mental program, and then he develops this program into TT. The problem is that these mental processes are not directly observable and we do not know much of what that program is and how the reduction and development operations are performed. That is why the translating process has to be described in some indirect way. The translation theory achieves this aim by postulating a number of translation models.

A model is a conventional representation of the translating process describing mental operations by which the source text or some part of it may be translated, irrespective of whether these operations are actually performed by the translator. It may describe the translating process either in a general form or by listing a number of specific operations (or transfor­mations) through which the process can, in part, be realized. Translation models can be oriented either toward the situation reflected in the ST con­tents or toward the meaningful components of the ST contents.

The existing models of the translating process are, in fact, based on the same assumptions which we considered in discussing the problem of equivalence, namely, the situational (or referential) model (V.Gak) is based on the identity of the situations described in the original text and in the translation (wet paint—свіжа фарба, instant coffee — розчинна кава). In the situational model this intermediate level is extralinguistic. It is the described reality, the facts of life that are represented by the verbal description. The process of translating presumably consists in the translator getting beyond the original text to the actual situation described in it. This is the first step of the process, i.e. the break-through to the situation. The second step is for the translator to describe this situation in the target lan­guage. Thus the process goes from the text in one language through the extralinguistic situation to the text in another language. The translator first understands what the original is about and then says "the same things" in TL.

The transformational model postulates the similarity of basic notions and nuclear structures in different languages.

E. Nida suggested that the translating process may be described as a series of transformations. The structural transformational model (J.-P.Vinnay, E.Nida, J.Darbelnet, A. Schweitzer) postulates that in any two languages there is a number of nuclear structures which are fully equivalent to each other. Each language has an area of equivalence in respect to the other language. It is presumed that the translator does the translating in three transformational strokes. First — the stage of analysis — he transforms the original structures into the nuclear structures, i.e. he performs transformation within SL. Second —the stage of translation proper —he replaces the SL nuclear structures with the equivalent nuclear structures in TL. And third — the stage of synthesis — he develops the latter into the terminal structures in the text of translation (we had a long walk – we walked long).

A similar approach can be used to describe the translation of semantic units. The semantic transformational model (L.Barhudarov, Ya.Retsker) postulates the existence of the "deep" semantic categories common to SL and TL. It is presumed that the translator first re­duces the semantic units of the original to these basic semantic categories and then expresses the appropriate notions by the semantic units of TL.

Thus if he comes across the sentence “ John is the proud owner of a new car ”, he is first to realize that it actually means that “ John has a new car ” and that “ he is proud because of that ”. After transferring these basic ideas to Russian and converting them to the semantically acceptable phrases he will get the translation “У Джона (є) нова машина, якою він дуже пишається”.

In describing the process of translating we can explain the obtained variants as the result of the translator applying one or all of these models of action. This does not mean that a translation is actually made through the stages suggested by these models. They are not, however, just abstract schemes. Training translators we may teach them to use these models as practical tools. Coming across a specific problem in ST the translator should classify it as situational, structural or semantic and try to solve it by resorting to the appropriate procedure. If, for instance, in the sentence “He is a poor sleeper” the translator sees that the attributive group cannot be di­rectly transferred into Russian, he can find that the transformational model will do the trick for him here and transform the attributive group into a verb-adverb phrase: “Он плохо спит”.

Among other approaches to the description of the process of translating we can also mention the communicational approach (O.Kade) which postulates that translation is possible if the translator knows the user`s language and the subject matter well enough. The interpretational theory of translation or translatology of the text (I.Alekseeva, V.Falaleev)sees translation as interpretation of genre and stylistic, communicative, pragmatic and informational aspects of ST with adequate means to create TT, often ignoring general linguistic aspects of translation.

V.Komissarov created his Theory of Equivalence trying to combine different approaches to translation. Translation equivalence is defined as a measure of semantic similarity between ST and TT. If we compare a number of TTs with their STs we shall discover that the degree of semantic similarity between the two texts involved in the translating process may vary. In other words the equivalence between ST and TT may be based on the reproduction of different parts of the ST con­tents. Accordingly, several types of translation equivalence can be distin­guished. He distinguished five levels.

The first level is the translation in which the degree of semantic similarity with ST seems to be the lowest:

Maybe there is some chemistry between us that doesn't mix.

Бывает, что люди не сходятся характерами.

Here we cannot discover any common semes or invariant structures in the original and its translation. It comprises the information which must be preserved by all means even though the greater part of the contents of the original is lost in the translation. This part of the contents which contains information about the general intent of the message, its orientation towards a certain communicative effect can be called 'the purport of communication ". Thus we can deduce that in the first type of equivalence it is only the purport of communication that is retained in translation.

The second group of translations can be illustrated by the following example:

He answered the telephone.

Он снял трубку.

This group is similar to the first one, as the equivalence of translations here does not involve any parallelism of lexical or structural units. Most of the words or syntactical structures of the original have no di­rect correspondences in the translation but in this group of translations the equivalence implies retention of two types of information contained in the original – the purport of communication and the indication of the situation.

In the next group of translations the part of the contents which is to be retained is still larger.

Scrubbing makes me bad-tempered.

Oт мытья полов у меня настроение портится.

In this case the translation retains the two preceding informative complexes as well as the method of describing the situation. The translation is a semantic paraphrase of the original, preserving its basic semes and allowing their free reshuffle in the sentence. Thus we are faced with a situation that can be explained in terms of the semantic theory. We can now say that the third type of equivalence implies retention in the translation of the three parts of the original contents which we have conventionally desig­nated as the purport of communication, the identification of the situation and the method of its description.

The fourth group of translations can be illustrated by the following example:

Не was standing with his arms crossed and his bare head bent.

Он стоял, сложив руки на груди и опустив непокрытую го­лову.

In this group the semantic similarity of the previous types of equiva­lence is reinforced by the invariant meaning of the syntactic structures in the original and the translation. In such translations the syntactic structures can be regarded as derived from those in the original through direct or backward transformations. This includes cases when the translation makes use of similar or parallel structures.

The fourth type of equivalence presupposes retention in the translation of the four meaningful components of the original: the purport of communication, the identification of the situation, the method of its description, and the invariant syntactic structures.

The fifth group of translations has the maximum possible semantic similarity between texts in different languages. These translations retain the meaning of all the words used in the original text. The examples to illustrate this semantic proximity are:

I saw him at the theatre.

Я видел его в театре.

The house was sold for 10 thousand dollars.

Дом был продан за десять тысяч долларов.

Here we can observe the equivalence of semes which make up the meaning of correlated words in the original text and the translation; parallelism of syntactic structures implying the maximum invariance of their meanings; the similarity of the notional categories which determine the method of describing the situation; the identity of the situations; the identi­cal functional aim of the utterance or the purport of communication. The relative identity of the contents of the two texts depends in this case on the extent to which various components of the word meaning can be rendered in translation without detriment to the retention of the rest of the informa­tion contained in the original.

Thus, a translation event is accomplished at a definite level of equiva­lence. It should be emphasized that the level hierarchy does not imply the idea of approbation or disapprobation. A translation can be good at any level of equivalence.

What is Translation?

Summing up the above-mentioned, we can see that the answer to this question is not a simple one. The human activities taking place in the process of translation, and in their pure form making up the notion of translation, are complicated and diverse. So the first characteristic peculiarity of the notion of translation is its multisided and complicated nature.

Translation cannot be understood and scientifically defined without taking into consideration its social nature and essence, social functions. Translation cannot appear, exist and function beyond a society. It appears only when at a certain stage of social development there are problems impossible to solve in any other way and when there are necessary conditions for that. The first primary aspect of the notion of translation is its social nature and function.

Secondly, translation cannot be understood unless it is looked at as a cultural phenomenon, a part and parcel of development of the national culture and a factor influencing the cultural process. There doesn`t exist a national culture in the contemporary world which is not influenced by translation and does not take part in it. At the same time translation is a result of interaction and cooperation of two cultures: source country and target country. It is obvious that the next principal aspect of the notion of translation is that it is a cultural phenomenon, a fact and part of the process and motive force of the national and world culture.

Thirdly, translation cannot be understood and more than that scientifically defined unless its deepest linguistic basis, its linguistic nature is shown. Translation, in the first place, is a linguistic activity, a specific linguistic event in the process of which a transformation of an oral or written text from one into another takes place. And finally, this is a transfer of certain information or recreation of a certain system of images of one language in a respective system of another language. So still another principal aspect of the notion of translation is its linguistic aspect, its linguistic nature of translation.

Translation, in particular, literary translation, cannot be understood unless studied from the aesthetic or literary point of view. Literary translation is a great, very complicated and attractive field of translation and it is, in general, impossible practically and theoretically without taking into consideration the laws governing art. That is where its artistic nature is especially prominent. Translation is an intricately organized and functioning process the result of which is a translated work of art.

And finally,translation cannot be scientifically understood unless it is viewed within a historical context, unless it is shown as a historical event and historical process. Translation is not a frozen and unchanged abstraction. Translation appears historically at a certain stage of human development, exists historically, develops historically together with the development of social, cultural and other processes.

In the dictionary by P. Palazhenko (Несистематический словарь. – М. 2002) we find 43 definitions of “translation” which is still another proof of the complexity of this process. We worked with some of this definitions and now let`s look at what different people said about translation at different times.

In the history of translation we can find very interesting approaches to translation. Denis Diderot, the French philosopher and writer, in fact ignored the source text at all. He used to read the book several times, tried to feel and grasp its spirit, put the book aside and began writing his translation. Miguel de Cervantes didn`t believe in translation and the hero of his book Don Quixote skeptically compared translation with the back-side of a carpet. One of French translators even compared translation with a woman and said that it was impossible to expect translation to be beautiful and faithful at the same time. Very often mistakes in translations led to serious problems in the relations of countries. There exists an Italian saying: tradutori – traditori which means translators – traitors.

As we see there exist many rather controversial definitions of translation and interpretation suggested by the representatives of different schools of linguistics and translation. These definitions range from formal, structural approaches to translation, e.g. “translation is substitution of elements or structures of one language by the elements or structures of another language (A.Oettinger, N.Chomsky, O.Kade, V.Rozentsveig), to semantic and functional treatment of translation, e.g. “translation is rendering in the target language (TL) of the closest equivalent of the initial message from the point of view of its meaning and style” (E.Nida, H.Claber).

All these approaches contributed to a contemporary understanding of translation as interlingual and intercultural communication recognized by many Ukrainian (I.Korunets, S.Maksymov, G.Miram, A.Panasyev, O.Semenets), Russian (A.Fedorov, L.Barkhudarov, G.Chernov, A. Chuzhakin, V.Komissarov, R. Minyar-Beloruchev, A.Shveitser) and western (M.Baker, M.A.K.Halliday, M.Hoey) writers on the subject.

According to this understanding translation is a process of transforming speech messages in the source language (SL) into the speech messages in the target language (TL) under condition that their sense and communicative intention remain unchanged. It is quite natural that in the process of translation the form of the messages can be transformed due to the structural (lexical, morphological and syntactical) differences between languages. Such transformations which are inevitable in the process of translation are also called "code shifting" (i.e. substitution of the SL structures by the TL structures).

 

Exercise1. Translate the following sentences using the semantic transformations suggested in the parenthesis.

1. Already the reactionary offensive of Yankee imperialism was begin­ning to get the inevitable answer from the Latin America peoples (specification). 2. At seven o'clock, a dull meal was served in the oak paneled dining room (specification). 3. I apologize for stepping on your toe (generalization). 4. Now, more than two hours later, the big jet was still stuck, its fuselage and tail blocking runway three zero (generalization). 5. He would cheer up somehow, begin to laugh again, and draw skeletons all over his slate, and before his eyes were dry (modulation). 6. Unfortunately, the ground to the right that was normally grass covered, had a drainage problem, due to be worked on when winter ended (modulation). 7. He had an old mother whom he never disobeyed (antonymous translation). 8. No person may be reinstated to a position in the post service without passing an appropriate examination (antonymous translation). 9. When she reached the house, she gave another proof of her identity (explication). 10. In one of his whistle-stop speeches, the Presidential nominee briefly outlined his attitude towards civil rights program (explication).

 

Exercise2. The sentences below are arranged in separate groups on the basis of a common polysemantic noun, verbor adjective. When translating them point out which meanings of the words in bold type are conveyed in Ukrainian at thelevel ofword-combination and which—at the level ofsentence only.

1. I'm going to put up the notice on Saturday. (S.Maugham). Praed comes in from the inner room puttingup his handkerchief which he has been using. (B. Shaw). I mustn't be upset... It will put up my temperature. (D. Defoe). What did it cost to put up those columns? (J. Galsworthy). 2. Lawrence Hadley ran the photographic department. (A. Cronin). In her mind were running scenes of the play. (T. Dreiser). After a few minutes he settled himself at his desk to run through the rest of his mail. (A. Cronin). Al­though she kept her head down she felt the blood run into her face. (Ibid.) I happened torun into their Mr. Smith the other day. (Ibid.) I thought I'd run down for an hour. Am I a nuisance? (Ibid.) 3. Listen, children. I'm going out. If you finish your work, carry on with exercises I gave you. (P. Abrahams). Only fancy is he has a dear little boy tocarrythe family on. (J. Galsworthy). Well, all through the circus they did the most astonishing things, and all the time that clown carried on so... (M. Twain). 4. She realized that hers (life) was not to be a round pleasure. (T. Dreiser). The fact that work of any kind was offered after so rude a round of experience was gratifying. Her imagination trod a very narrow round. It would be an exceedingly gloomy round, living with these people. (Ibid.) 5. “Is that all you're worry­ing about? About what's on my mind?” (M. Wilson). Here he was with only a casual acquaintance to keep his mind from himself. “ No, I've changed my mind, I'm the paragon of husbandry again... She clearly had no idea how out­standing a mind she really had. (M. Wilson).The thought­ful serious state of mind in which Mary found herself had been unclouded in her by a conversation she had with her father the evening before. (Sh. Anderson). 6. He forgot the presence of the farmer and his mind racked back over his life as a married man. (Ibid.) 7. "Who's speaking?" he ask­ed mildly conscious of error on his part... (T. Dreiser). Some noise... was heard, but no one entered the library for the best part of an hour. (W. Scott). But to produce a com­modity a man must not only produce an article satisfying some social want, but his labour itself must form part and parcel of the total sum of labour expended by society (K. Marx). This to him (Drouet) represented in part high life — a fair sample of what the whole life must be. (T. Dreis­er). 8. Too much of a thing is good for nothing. (Proverb.) “You know there's one thing I thoroughly believe in” she said. I have a cup of coffee in the morning and then dinner but I never eat more than one thing for luncheon”. Then a terrible thing happened. (S. Maugham). “Well, John, how are things?” (A. Bennet). He was satisfied with most things, and above all other things, with himself. (Ch. Dickens). “Don't cry. Miss Dombey”, said Sir Walter, “what a wonder­ful thing that I am here”. (Ibid.) It is one thing to show a man that he is in an error and another to put him in pos­session of truth. (J. Locke). All things come round to him who will but wait. (H. Longfellow). 9. Keeping his back turned, he left the doorway and straddled a chair in a corner of the kitchen. If Uncle Dave will live here we could build another room on the back. They shook hands, with Jim Nel­son's back turned to the room. (J. Galsworthy).10. Keep these two books as long as you wish. (S. Leacock). I shall always keep this dollar. “Well”, said the doctor, “I want you to keep very quiet.” (Ibid.) In the winter it should bekept in a warm place, where it can hatch out its young. (Mark Twain). This didn't keep the neighbours from talking plainly among them. (K. Porter). “You needn't keep onsaying it round”, said Mr. Whipple. (Ibid.) June keeps after me all the time to tell her about what Uncle Dave is like. He kept his eyes fixed on his father's face, putting a quest­ion now and then. There was no medal for the Nelsons tokeep, only a reddish-brown photograph taken in London. (J. Galsworthy). 11. Alice, having fully considered the matt­er, thought it most prudent to write to Lady M. You ought not toconsider poverty a crime (Ch. Bronte). Consider our hands! They are strong hands. (P. Jones).You consider your own affairs, and don't know so much about other people's. (K. Lawrence).12. Fox introduced Erik to French and Larkin, two other assistants who had withdrawn to a corner to talk shop. The March night made him withdraw his over-coat. She wanted to withdraw from the people around her. Erik took advantage of this opportunity to withdraw from the project for a while. At last one third of those who had once been willing to sign the petition to the Board of Tru­stees now asked that their names be withdrawn. (M. Wilson). 13. Davon had said that he was recaptured by two sol­diers and as he lay on the ground Adair hit him with a club. (M. Star). The game is played with a ball the size of a tennis ball and a club that's a little shorter than for ice-hockey and a slightly bent at the end. (M. News). The chess club also meets once a week after school and is run by a teacher who is very keen on chess. (Ibid.) They clubbed at Kain’s, who resided at the Statler Hilton Hotel, to talk on poli­tics, to settle their affairs. (M. Star). 14. Erik couldn't remo­ve his eyes from Haveland's fair head. Erik turned: a fair slight girl in black suit stood next to him. He realized that he was greatly unfair. “It wasn't fair of you”, said Havilland, his voice became strained. “But no one could say he hadn't been fair ”, he insisted angrily. (M. Wilson). 15. So long as Mary lived beside that monstrous man, and in that monstrous house he realized that he would never be at rest. She could endure anything solong as he took her to him in the end. A long silence ensued, then the sound returned swelling in from the distant hills more loudly, retaining longer than before. No matter what happened she must live for Denis in the long run. Long ago she had realized with a crushing finality that she was chained to a man of domine­ering injustice. (A. Cronin).

 

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CHAPTER2.

FREE ATTRIBUTIVE WORD-COMBINATIONS.

 

Problems of translation of word-combinations occupy an important place in the practical activities of translators/interpreters. Word-combinations, both free and phraseological, have a certain semantic independence and quite often translating problems are solved within a word-combination.

In the process of translation of word-combinations of great importance is translation of their components, i.e. the words they consist of. Translation is of analytic character: the whole is created of translation of elements on the basis of their relationship. In free word-combinations the words preserve their independent meaning and the translator has to deal with the problems of translation of separate words. But even in the case of free word-combinations the process of translation is not limited only by translation of separate words. On the one hand, translation of these words depends on their relationship within the word-combination in question, and on the other, the type of the word-combination itself can have specific peculiarities influencing the translation of its components. The characteristic peculiarity of bound/stable (phraseological) word-combinations is that the meaning of the whole dominates the meaning of the components and translation in this case is of synthetic character while in the case of free word-combinations it is analytic. This must be borne in mind translating free word-combinations.

The most widely used free word-combinations can be grouped like this:

1). Adj./Participle + Noun, e.g. a nice day, supersonic spending, Arab anger, silent majority, attempted coup, etc.

2). Noun + Noun, e.g. labour movement, labour conditions, labour contract, Labour Party, labour raids, labour spy, etc.

3). Multicomponental word-combinations, e.g. DouglasPlane Plant Strike Committee.

There exists a certain similarity between free and stable word-combinations and it can be of two types:

a) partial:

blind man but blind alley (тупік, безвихідне становище); liberal government but liberal education (широка гуманітарна освіта); common error but common sense (здоровий глузд); to make wine but to make a point (приділити увагу, надати значення); to take a book but to take pains (докладати зусиль);

b) complete:

to go to the country – поїхати за місто або зрозпустити парламент і призначити вибори; to sit on the fence – сидіти на заборі або зайняти вичикувальну позицію.

 

CHAPTER3.

PHRASEOLOGICAL (IDIOMATIC) AND STABLEWORD-

COMBINATIONS.

 

According to A.Kunin phraseological/idiomatic expressions are structurally, lexically and semantically stable language units having the meaning which is not made up by the sum of meanings of their component parts. An indispensable feature of phraseo­logical (idiomatic) expressions is their figurative i.e. meta­phorical nature and usage. It is this nature that makes them distinguishable from structurally identical free combinat­ions of words like: hot air – гаряче повітря (free comb.) and hot air – пустопорожні теревені (idiom.), to kick the bucket – копнути ногою цаберку (free comb.) and to kick the bucket – врізати дуба (idiom.). On rare occasions the lexical meaning of phraseologially bound expressions can coincide with their direct i.e. non-figurative meaning, which facilitates their under­standing as in the examples like: to make way дати дорогу, to die a dog's death здохнути як собака, to receive a hero's welcome зустрічати як героя.

Some single words (especially proper names) can also have figurative meanings and possess the nece­ssary expressiveness which are the distinguishing features of idioms: Croesus, Tommy (Tommy Atkins), Yankee, Mrs. Grundy, Jack Ketch, etc.These proper names can not be confused with usual (com­mon) proper names of people. As a result their figurative meaning is conveyed in a descriptive way. So Mrs. Grundy means світ, люди, існуюча мораль, Jack Ketch кат, Croesus Крез, надзвичайно багата людина, Tommy Atkins англій­ський солдат, Yankee (in Europe) янкі, американець, etc.

Phraseological (idiomatic) expressions should not be mixed up with other stable prepositional, adjectival, verbal and adverbial phrases the meaning of which is not an actual sum of meanings made up by their constituent parts either: by George, by and by, for all of, for the sake of, cut short, make believe; or compounds like: topsy-turvy, higgledy-piggledy, high and dry, cut and run, touch and go; Tom, Dick and Harry, etc. These and a lot of other stable expressions can very often be treat­ed as standardized collocations, i.e. phrases having components with limited combinative power and retaining their semantic independence. Their meaning can be conveyed in a descriptive way too, like that of genuine phraseological expressions: fifty-fifty так собі: ні добре, ні погано, O.K. все гаразд, на належному рівні, cut short обірвати, присікти.

But we must bear in mind that these units quite often acquire a certain additional modal meaning and only the context will help to translate them adequately: for that matter стосовно цього, у цьому відношенні, власне кажучі, можна сказати, по суті, фактично, etc.

V.Komissarov includes into this group phrases like to take a fancy, to have a rest, to have a shave, to break silence, to take heed, to take into account, etc. But the translator still should remember the difference in the combinability of words in different languages: to jump at conclusions робити поспішні висновки, to bearresemblanceбути схожим.

The stable expressions like standardized collocations, according to V. Vi-

nogradov's classification, have mostly a transparent meaning and are easier to translate than regu­lar idioms, phraseological word-combinations. It is simply impossible to guess, for example, the meaning of the English idiom Hobson's choice from the seemingly transparent meanings оf its component parts. A philological inquiry and context only help establish the meaning of the name and the real meaning of the idiom – nо choice whatsoever, acceptance of what is offered. Ya.Retsker emphasized the possibility of mistaking a free word-combination for a phraseological one and vice versa.

There exist different classifications of phraseological word-combinations the most widely used groups are phraseological unities and phraseological fusions.

Phraseological unities are the word-combinations where the meaning of the whole is not the sum of the meanings of its components but it is based on them and the motivation is apparent. They are often metaphoric and their metaphoric nature is easily seen. They may vary in their semantic and grammatical structure, not all of them are figurative. Here we find professionalisms, trite phrases, alliterations, coupled synonyms, etc. A.Kunin divides phraseological unitiesinto figurative and non-figurative and introduces an intermediate group between phraseological unities and phraseological fusions though other scientists do not do that. Examples of phraseological unities are: apple of discord, Pyrrhic victory, a drop in the ocean (bucket), birds of feather, bird`s eye view, to catch at a straw, to dance on a tight rope, to fish in troubled waters, to hold a trump card, to ride a hobby horse, sharp as a needle, cold as charity, to go to bed, in the twinkling of an eye, at hand, far and away, in full swing, through thick and thin, etc.

Phraseological fusions are the word-combinations where the meaning of the whole is not the sum of the meanings of its components and it cannot be derived from them. These phrases are semantically indivisible stable combinations; they are the most synthetic phraseological word-combinations; their meanings look unmotivated though sometimes we may find them by way of historical/etymological analysis. In other situations it is useless to try and recreate the image of the fusion because it may not be clear even to the native speaker. Examples of phraseological fusions are: devil`s advocate, to blow one`s own trumpet, white elephant, Dutch courage, Dutch bargain, Dutch treat, Dutch feast, to dance attendance to, to show the white feather, gray mare, to cry wolf, above board, at 6s and 7s, on the nail, spic and span, etc.

Many English and Ukrainian idioms, proverbs and sayings, preserving national literary images and reflecting the traditions, customs, the mode of life due to absence of similar idioms in the target language, can be con­veyed by way of regular explanation sometimes with the help of a single word: an odd/queer fish дивак, Canter­bury tale небувальщина, вигадка, blue bonnet (синій берет) шотландець, ніде курці клюнути crammed, зубами тре­тяка вибивати to freeze. Most often, however, the meaning of this kind of phraseologisms is conveyed with the help of free word-combinations: to dine vith Duke Humphrey залиши­тись без обіду (нічого не ївши), to cut off with a shilling позбавити когось спадщини, ноги на плечі to go quickly (or very quickly) on one's feet, зуби з'їсти на чомусь to have great experience in something, кивати/на­кивати п'ятами to run away quickly, hurriedly.

It goes without saying that none of the phraseologisms above can be translated word-for-word since their images would lose their connotative i.e. metaphorical meaning in the target language. So, пообідати з герцогом Гамфрі or обрізати шилінгом could be understood by the Ukrainian language speakers in their literal meaning. The same can be said about our idiom ноги на плечі i.e. with one's legs on the shoulders which would never be understood by the English language speakers. Therefore the component images when transferred mechanically to the target language can often bring about complete destruction of the phraseological units.

The choice of the way of translating may be predetermin­ed by the source language text or by the existence/absence of contextual equivalents for a phraseologism/stable express­ion in the target language. Thus in the examples below units of this kind can be translated into Ukrainian either with the help of a single word or with the help of a standardized phraseological expression: to give a start здригнутися, to give heart to one підбадьорювати, морально підтримувати когось, the weaker vessel/facet жінка (прекрасна стать, жіноцтво).

Quite often the meaning of a standardized collocat­ion can have synonymous single word semantic equivalents in the target language. The choice of the equivalent is pre­determined then by the meaning of the standardized collocat­ion/phraseologism and by the style of the sentence where it is used: to make sure впевнитися (переконатися), забезпе­чувати, to make comfort втішатися, to take place відбуватися, траплятися.

The same holds true about the traditional combinations which have in the target language several stylistically neutral equiva­lents (words or word-combinations) like to run a risk ризи­кувати, йти на ризик.

Faithful translation of a large number of phraseological expressions on the other hand can be achieved only by a thorough selection of the variants having in the target language a similar lexical meaning, the picturesqueness and expressiveness. The similarity can be based on common in the source language and in the target language component images and on the structural form of them. As a result these phraseologisms are easily guessed by the students which facilitates their translation: a grass widow (widower) солом'яна вдова (вдівець), not to see a step beyond one's nose далі свого носа нічого не бачити, measure thrice and cut once сім раз одміряй, a paз одріж, not for love or money ні за які гроші, ні за що в світі, не знати/тямити/ні бе, ні ме, ні кукуріку not to know А from В, вночі що сіре, те й вовк all cats are grey in the dark, etc.

It often happens that the target language has more than one semantically similar phraseological expression for that of the source language. The selection of the most fitting va­riant for the passage under translating should be based not only on the semantic proximity of the phraseologisms but also on the similarity in their picturesqueness, expres­siveness and possibly in their basic images. The bulk of this kind of phraseological expressions belong to so-called phraseological unities. Here are some Ukrainian variants of English phraseologisms: either in the saddle or lose the horse або пан, або пропав, або перемогу здобути, або дома не бути, manу hands make work light де згода там і вигода, гуртом і чорта побореш, гуртом і батька добре бити, гро­мада – великий чоловік,; a man can die but once від смерті не втечеш, раз мати народила, paз і вмират, раз козі смерть, двом смертям не бути, а одної не минути.

A number of phraseological units due to their common source of origin are characterized in English and Ukrainian by partial or complete identity of their components, their component images, the picturesqueness and expressiveness (and consequently of their meaning). These phraseologisms often preserve a similar or even identical structure in the source language and in the target language. So they are understood and translated without difficul­ties: to cast pearls before swine кидати перла перед свиньми; to be born under a lucky star народитися під щасливою зір­кою; to cherish/warm a viper in one's bosom пригріти гадюку в пазусі.

One of the peculiar features of such phraseological expres­sions is their international character. Only few of them have phraseological synonyms with national flavour. They are restricted to corresponding speech styles whereas inter­national phraseologisms mainly belong to the domain of higher stylistic level:

an apple of discord/ a bone of contention—яблуко розбрату, чвар, strike the iron while it is hot— куй залізо, доки гаря, make hay while the sun shines—коси коса,

поки роса, neither fish nor flesh—ні риба ні м`ясо/ні пава ні гава.

Therefore national colloquial variants of international phraseological equivalents always differ considerably in their picturesqueness, expressiveness and in their lexical meaning. They are analogous only semantically to genuine equivalents which may sometimes lack absolute identity in the source language and in the target language too (cf. to cross the Styx канути в Лету).

As can be seen some international phraseological units slightly differ in English and Ukrainian either in their stru­ctural form and lexical meaning or in the images making up the idioms. So the phraseological expression to fish in troubled waters has the plural of waters whereas in its Ukrai­nian equivalent the component to fish is specified and ex­tended to ловити рибку/рибу у каламутній воді. Slight divergences are also observed in some other Eng­lish and Ukrainian international equivalents: the game is worth the candle гра варта свічок, a sound mind in a sound body у здоровому тілі здоровий дух.

There exists in each language a specific national layer of phraseological expressions com­prising proverbs and sayings. These phraseological ex­pressions are based on the component images found in the national language only. They are dis­tinguished by the picturesqueness, the expressiveness and the lexical meaning of their own. Due to their specificity the phraseologisms have no traditionally established lite­rary variants in the target language. As a result their stru­ctural form and wording in different translations may often lack absolute identity. In the word-for-word variants of translation they mostly lose their aphoristic/idiomatic nature and thus need a literary perfection: the moon is not seen when the sun shines місяця не видко, коли світить сонце, it is a great victory that comes without blood велика та пере­мога. яку здобувають без пролиття крові.

Still we find in different languages a number of phraseological expressions which are mainly of the sentence type and have common component parts. Hence their lexical meaning nothing to say about their component images, their pictures­queness and their expressiveness, is identical as well. This is predetermined by their common source of origin in Eng­lish and in Ukrainian: if you run after two hares, you will catch neither якщо побіжиш за двома зайцями, не впіймаєш жодного; a drowning man will catch (snatch) at a straw пото­паючий хапається за соломинку, Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune Вакх утопив більше людей, ніж Нептун (вино загубило більше людей, ніж море).

Taking into account all above-mentioned, the following ways of adequate conveying of phraseological (idiomatic) expres­sions are tobe used:

Translation by Absolute Equivalents.

This is a way of translating by which every component part of the source language idiom is retained in the target language as well as the main images, the expressiveness and the figurative (connotative) meaning. Translating with the help of equivalents is resorted to when dealing with phraseological expressions which originate from the same source in both languages.

The phraseological expressions may originate:

1) from Greek mythology: Augean stables авгієві стайні (занедбане,

занехаяне місце); Cassandra warnings застере­ження Кассандри (застереження_у на які не звертають уваги, але які збуваються); Hercules' Pillars (the Pillars of Hercules) геркулесові стовпи (Гібралтарська протока); a labour of Sisyphus сізіфова праця (важка і марна праця); Pandora's box скриня Пандори, Пандорина скриня (дже­рело всіляких лих); the Trojan horse троянський кінь (при­хована небезпека);

2). from ancient history or literature: an ass in a lion's skin (назва однієї з

байок Езопа) осел у левовій шкурі; to cross (pass) the Rubicon перейти Рубікон (прийняти важ­ливе рішення); the die is thrown/cast жеребок кинуто (рі­шення прийнято); the golden age золотий вік (золоті ча­си); I came, 1 saw, I conquered прийшов, побачив, переміг;

3). from the Bible or based on biblical plot: to cast the first stone at one

першим кинути у когось каменем, to cast pearls before swine розсипати перла перед свиньми, the golden calf золотий телець, ідол, a lost sheep заблудла вівця; the massacre (slaughter) of innocents винищення немовлят, the ten commandments десять заповідей, the thirty pieces of silver тридцять срібняків.

A great many of absolute equivalents originate from con­temporary literary or historical source relating to different languages (mainly to French, Spanish, Danish, German, Italian, Arabic): French: after us the deluge після нас хоч потоп, the fair sех прекрасна стать, the game is worth the candle гра варта свічок, more royalist than the king більший рояліст, ніж сам король, to pull the chestnuts out of the fire вигрібати каштани з вогню, one's place in the sun місце під сонце; Spanish: blue blood блакитна кров, the fifth column п'ята колона, to tilt at the windmills воювати з вітряками; Italian: Dante's inferno Дантове пекло; Arabic: Alladin's lamp лампа Алладіна, etc.

Some belle mots belonging to prominent English and Ameri­can authors have also turned into idiomatic expressions. Due to their constant use in belles-lettres they have become known in many languages. Especially considerable is the amount of Shakespearian mots: better a witty fool than a foolish wit (W. Shakespeare) краще дотепний дурень, ніж дур­ний дотепник, cowards die many times before their deaths боягузи вмирають багато разів, something is rotten in the state of Denmark (W. Shakespeare) не все гаразд у Дат­ському королівстві, vanity fair (J. Bunyan) ярмарок марнославства/суєти, to reign in hell is better than to serve in hea­ven (J. Milton) краще панувати в пеклі, ніж слугувати в раю, the last of the Mohicans останній з могікан, to bury a hatchet (F. Cooper) закопати томагавк (укласти мир), the almighty dollar (W. Irving) всемогутній долар, the iron heel (J. London) залізна п'ята (ярмо), gone with the wind (M. Wilson) пішло за вітром, the cold war (W. Lippman) холодна війна.

Only minor alterat­ions may happen but they do not change either the denotative meaning, or the component images, the picturesqueness, the expres­siveness or the connotative meaning of phraseologisms: appetite comes while eating апетит приходить під час їди, kings go mad and the people suffer from it королі божево­ліють, а народ страждає, the last drop makes the cup run over остання краплина переповнює чашу, let the cock crow or not the day will come співатиме півень чи ні, а день на­стане, money is the sinews of war гроші – м'язи війни, of two evils choose the least з двох лих вибирай менше, out of the mouths of babies speaks the truth (wisdom) устами немовлят говорить істина/мудрість, the pen is mightier than the sword перо могутніше за меч, etc.

Not only regular idioms but many standardized word-combinations which also often originate in the two languages from a common source can be translated by absolute equi­valents: to give help подавати/надавати до­помогу, to win/gain a victory здобути/здобувати перемогу, to make an attempt зробити спробу.

 

CHAPTER4.

UNITS OF SPECIFIC NATIONAL LEXICON/REALIA.

 

Each language in the course of its historical development] acquires a bulk of words and phrases, ways of saying, idio­matic expressions, etc. standing for various specific national phenomena/realia. These include designations for different notions of material and spiritual life, administrative and political] forms of government, jurisdiction, public bodies as well as the way of life, conduct, habits, different national customs and traditions. National features also find their graphic manifestation in some articles of clothing, in meals and beve­rages, even in meal times established as a result of the peo­ple's natural environment and geographical position or due to the traditions of national economy and employment of the population. Nationally specific as a rule are many official terms and titles of address, the monetary systems and the systems of weights and measures, etc., e. g.: English: county, borough, butterscotch, custard, muffin, toffee, bushel, chain, furlong, inch, mile, pint, penny, shilling, pound, lady, mister, sir, lobby, speaker, teller, Lord Chancellor, Number 10 Downing Street, Whitehall, etc.; Ukrainian: кобзар, веснянка, коломийка, козак, запорожець, кептар, січ, свитка, хата, лежанка, весільний батько, троїсті музики, вечорниці, борщ, вареники, галушки, кутя, медок, ряжанка, опришок, плахта; Russian: тройка, квас, окрошка, щи, самовар, сарафан, колхоз, комсомол, луноход, совет (советский), спутник.

Nation's specific notions or realia are words or word-combinations that are used to designate things characteristic of the life (mode of life, culture, social and historical development) of one nation and are alien to other nations. They convey national and/or historical colouring and do not have full equivalents in other languages. These units can be geographic, ethnographic, socio-political, etc. They can also be classified according to the place and time of usage.

The penetration of a nation's specific notions into other national languages is realized in different historical periods through various channels and in most different conditions. The latter include first of all trade contacts in the process of which many notions are borrowed as designators for the things which they signify. The designators may be regular labels (or trade marks) like bacon, champagne, jam, jeans, coca-cola, corn-flakes, macaroni, samovar, vodka, spaghetti, sweater, tweed, whisky, etc.

Some other specific national notions can penetrate into the target language in the process of traditional bilateral economic and cultural contacts which may be maintained at different levels. The contacts in their turn may as well be multilateral which fact often facilitates an international] spreading of some specific national notions of a certain language (or some languages). That was the way in which many a specific national term has become widely known: balalaika, bandoure/pandore, hopak, polka, waltz, beefsteak, pudding, lunch, etc.

Still other specific national notions become world-wide known through the literary/historical works, through the press or by way of other mass media like the radio or television: oasis, boycott, Labourist, pagoda, picket, taboo, Tory, ricks - haw, sauna, Soviet, etc.

These and other specific national terms (and notions) found their way to different languages and in the course of some historical time they have become internationalisms. The more important the specific notion is for a certain nation, the more often it is used in the everyday life of the community, the greater is the possibility of its becoming international.

But the overwhelming majo­rity of other specific national notions in all languages remain within the boundaries of the language of its origin. Moreover they may sometimes be unknown even to a greater part of the natio­nal community. These may be archaic notions like the Uk­rainian бунчук, виборний, осаул, тулумбас, сіряк or loca­lisms like кулеша, плачипда, бакуш, etc. Besides, many other rather wide-spread and well-known specific notions in a national community may often be of minor importance for the target language communities which live under dif­ferent economic, social, cultural or geographical conditions. An ordinary reader, say, would pay little if any attention to the highly specific and unique for every Englishman notions like kedgerel (meals), proctor, whip (in Parliament), the Eton and Harrow match, Charing Cross, the East End or Bloomsbury. These specific names are often ment­ioned in English prose, especially in the works by the British authors like Galsworthy, Cronin and others. So the names have to be explained to our readers in the footnotes or in commentaries to the novels, e. g.:

They were off immedia­tely, without interference, swinging out of the East End in the direction of Bloomsbury. (A. Cronin)

Автомобіль зразу ж pушив, і вони без перешкод поїхали з Icm-Енду в напрямку до центрального району – Блумсбері.

The East End was and remains the poorest part of London, whereas Bloomsbury as the central part of it was known during the late 19^th – the beginning оf the 20th century for its group of poets critical of bourgeois morals and aesthetics. So an additional explanation of the proper names in the target language becomes necessary. Many other specific English and Ukrainian national notions are also to be explained in this way, e. g.: bingo бінго (азартна гра типу лото – попу­лярна серед пристаркуватих і одиноких людей, особливо жінок); gin джин (ялівцева горілка: використовується для коктейлів), mackintosh макінтош (одяг,водонепроник­на тканина), Merseyside Мерсісайд (Ліверпуль з навколишніми містами й поселеннями обабіч гирла р. Мерсі), muesli мюзлі (страва на сніданок з подрібнених пшеничних зерен з су­хими фруктами, горіхами тощо); пуд pood (measure of weight equal to 16,38 kg), рушник rushnyk (embroidered towel used in every folk rite in Ukraine), суботник subotnу k (voluntary unpaid work in the USSR on days off for the public good (on Saturday).

The meaning of the above-given English and Ukrainian specific national words has not been conveyed by way of translation proper. They have simply been explained in the target language. Sometimes each or some of the components, making up the unit of specific national lexicon, can also be directly translated. And yet it may turn insufficient for thefaithful conveying of their sense. Then an explanation of the specific national notion is added: alphabet soup азбучний cуп з макаронів, що мають форму літер абетки, піонерська лінійка young pioneers parade/line up, учнівські правила school regulations and rules of pupils' behaviour; класний журнал register/form register and record book.

It is difficult for the foreign student to guess the real meaning of the specific national unit even from the seemingly transparent, lexical meaning of its component parts. To avoid misunderstanding and ambiguity further explication becomes inevitable: Athens of the North (поет.) Північні Афіни (Единбург); сubbing полювання на лисиць (у якому беруть участь початкуючі мисливці й молоді собаки-гончаки); question time день запитань (у палаті громад від 14.45 до 15.30 з понеділка по четвер; відповіді дають прем'єр-міністр і міністри); privy purse приватний гаманець (асигнування державного бюджету на утримання монарха Великобританії).

This is not so with many other notions which only at first sight seem to be different in English and Ukrainian hut in reality are quite similar and can usually be substituted for each other: box (Christmas box) різдвяний подарунок (сf. новорічний подарунок); Department of Education and Science міністерство освіти і науки; Department of Industries міністерство промисловості; Department of Energy міністерство енергетики; extramural education заочне і вечірнє навчання.

As may have been noticed the units of specific national lexicon are rarely similar by their nature and meaning in either of the two languages. That is why there exist various approaches to conveying their meanings in the target language which can hardly be called translation proper.

 

Transcoding.

 

The national specific lexicon units whose mean­ings are conveyed this way usually belong to genuine internationalisms and comprise the social and political lexicon mainly:

It's a poor coloured wo­man's place and you are a grand gentleman from Cape Town. (P. Abrahams)

Це кімната для бідної кольорової жінки, а ти ж великий джентльмен із Кейптауна.

You're a supercilious half-baked snob. (Cronin)

Ти насправді зарозу­мілий і обмежений сноб.

Andrew put out some bot­tled beer and asked Christine to prepare sandwiches. (Ibid.)

Ендрю дістав кілька пляшок пива і попросив Крістін приготувати сендвічі.

In many a case the lingual form of a unit of specific national lexicon conveyed in transcription or transliteration cannot provide for a full expression of its lexical meaning. Then an additional explication of its sense becomes neces­sary. It happens when the unit of specific national lexicon is introduced in the target language for the first time or when it is not yet known to the broad public. The explanation may be given either in the translation/interpretation itself or in a footnote – when a lengthy explication becomes necessary.

They took her to the To­wer of London. (Jerome K. Jerome)

Вони показали їй ста­родавню лондонську форте­цюТауер.

A thousand dockers mar­ched down Whitehall to Downing Street yesterday to declare their protest against proposed changes in the dock labour scheme. (M. Star)

Учора тисяча докерів пройшла від Уайтхолу до Даунінг-Стріт у знак про­тесту проти пропонованих урядом змін у розпорядку їхньої праці.

As the dawn was just breaking he found herself close to Covent Garden. (0.Wilde)

Щойно почало розвидня­тися, а він уже був непо­далік від ринку Ковент-Гарден.

He said that Wall Street and Threadneedle Street bet­ween them could stop the universe. (R. Aldington)

Він сказав, що Уолл-Стріт і Треднідл-Стріт удвох спроможні зупинити всесвіт.

*Уайтхол – вулиця в центрі Лондона, де знаходяться урядові установи(переню уряд Великої Британії).

*Даунінг-Стріт №10 і11 відповідно резиденції прем`єр-міністра і лорда-канцлера Великої Британії.

*Треднідл-Стріт – вулиця в Сіті, де розташовано го