Translation by Means of Analogies.

Despite the differences in economic, social, political, cultural and quite often in geographical environmental conditions, under which the nation of the source language and that of the target language develop, some specific notions in their languages may be similar/analogous in meaning and functioning. It happens due to the existence of common routine or habitual actions, common occupations, social services, etc. in the two language communities.

The appearance of analogous units in the national specific layer of lexicon in different languages may also be the result of bilateral or multilateral contacts and influences to which the nations have been exposed for centuries. Conse­quently similar/analogous specific notions in different lan­guages may appear as a result of direct or indirect borrowings. No wonder that analogous units of national lexicon directly correlate in the source lan­guage and in the target language in their denotative meaning and mostly in the common sphere of their functioning social, cultural, political, etc. Naturally, the connotative differences and sometimes the sphere of use may not always fully coin­cide in the target language as can be seen from the follow­ing few examples: the City/Town Board of Education міський відділ освіти; gingerbread ковріжка; shopsteward голова профкому, stewed fruit узвар/компот; залік preliminary qualifying test/ examination; дипломна робота graduation essay/project; курсова робота yearly essay/project; доцент lecturer/reader or assistant professor; курси підвищення кваліфікації/вдосконалення refresher course; кватирка hinged window pane, pilot window. Their real denotative meaning of some units can be understood from a larger context only.

As can be seen the choice of an appropriate analogy in the target language is greatly influenced by the national/ cultural traditions (сі. пани sirs/gentlemen; кобзар minst­rel). The use of various analogies in the target language is largely due to the existence of many translations. Especially strong is the influence of translation of belles-lettres works and films. Under the influence of this and other factors the units soon become well known to the majority of the target language speakers. It is in this way that many English and American specific notions have be­come familiar in this country and still more Sovietisms penetrated into the English and other languages. These units of specific national lexicon have become regular internationalisms: пені, паунд, Торі, бойкот, віскі, джентльмен, джинси, клуб, леді, мотель, нокаут, пікнік, пінчер, раунд, рекорд­смен, ринг, смокінг, спікер, тариф, фут, ярд; Bolshevik, pioneer, Komsomol, sputnik, Soviet, etc.

But sometimes a faithful translation of analogous units of specific national lexicon can be achieved only with the help of an additional explication as in the examples like special school спеціальна школа (початкова або середня для дітей із психічними чи фізичними вадами), summer school літня школа (курс лекцій, семінарів, практичних занять для підвищення кваліфікації вчителів та іноземних студен­тів).

It is easy to notice that the denotative meaning of the above given units is practically identical in English and Ukrainian.The difference is in some extra linguistic details which must be known to the translator.

Exercise 1. Explain the proper meaning of the English specific notions below. Translate them into Ukrainian.

(No)10.Downing Street, Whitehall, the Upper House, the Commons, the woolsack, speaker (Parliament), the White paper, division of the House; the Stock Exchange; John Bull, the British Lion; lobby, ladyship, lordship, peerage, coroner, proctor; soda fountain; bacon, Yorkshire pudding, frankfurters, hot dogs; ale, gin; crown, farthing, guinea, sixpence, private/ independent school, comprehensive (grammar, modern) school, the 6th form; jeans, Jersey, pullover, tweed; wigwam; bushel, foot, inch, pint, sheriff; soda fountain, Uncle Tom, Uncle Sam, the White House, pink slip, boy scouts, camp fire girls, Jim Crow.

 

Exercise2. Translate the sentences into Ukrainian with special attention to realia used in them.

1. In many parts of Great Britain, the custom of First-footing in the early hours of January 1st is kept with great vigour. The First Foot comes as soon as possible after midnight has struck. The First Foot is traditionally supposed to influence fortunes of the householders in the following twelve months.

2. The Old and unusual game known as the Hood Game, or Throwing the Hood, is played every year on Old Christmas Day, January 6th at Haxey in north Lincolnshire. The ceremonies of Haxey Hood begin in the early afternoon with the procession of the Fool and his twelve Boggans up the village street to a small green place outside the parish church. The Boggans are the official team and play against all comers. Chief among them is the King Boggan, or Lord of the Hood, who carries a wand, or roll of thirteen willows as a badge of office. He and all his team should wear scarlet flannel coats and hats wreathed with red flowers. The “hoods” used in the game bear no resemblance to the headgear from which they are supposed to take their name. The main hood, or Leather Hood, is a two-foot length of thick rope encased in stout leather. The lesser “hoods” are tightly rolled pieces of canvas, tied with ribbons.

3. Jack-in-the-Green is that very ancient figure who represents the summer. As Green George, or the Wild Man, his counterparts exist all over Europe. In England, he takes the form of a man encased in a high wickerwork cage, which completely covers him and is in its turn entirely smothered in green branches, leaves and flowers. Only his eyes are visible, looking through the hole cut in the cage, and his feet below the level of the wickerwork. Sometimes he goes about alone, some­times with only a few attendants, and a musician or two.

4. Egg-shackling takes place on Easter Monday, or Ducking Monday, as it is often called in Eastern Europe. Young men splash unmarried girls vigo­rously with water. The girls are, of course, expected to submit with good grace, and even, in some areas, to pay for the privilege with gifts of painted eggs, or glasses of brandy.

 

Exercise3. Read the story and pick up the words of specific English lexicon. Suggest the ways for conveying their mea­nings and translate the story into Ukrainian.

AN ENGLISHMAN'S DAY.

An Englishman's day—and who better to describe it than an Englishman's wife? It begins when, ignoring me, he sits down to breakfast with his morning paper.

As he scans the headlines (or the racing results), there is nothing he likes better than his favourite breakfast of cornflakes with milk and sugar (porridge if he lives in the North) followed by fried bacon and eggs, marmalade and toast, the whole accompanied by tea or coffee.

However, whether he in fact gets such a meal depends on the state of my housekeeping budget!

After breakfast, except on Sundays and (in many cases) Saturdays which are holidays, he sets off to work by train, tube, bus, car, motor scooter, motor bike or even on his own two feet.

The time he sets out depends in large degree upon whether he is what might colloquially be termed a “striver” (one who works himself), a “driver” (one who sees that others work) or a “thriver” (one who profits from others' work).

If he is a “striver”, he will jostle along with thousands like him on the 7.20, probably still reading his paper (or anybody else's) and studying the success (or otherwise) of his favourite team.

The “drivers” customarily depart about an hour later while the “thrivers” travel up to the City in great style about another hour later.

However, be he “striver”, “driver” or “thriver”, he will enjoy his tea or coffee break around about 11. The tea or coffee is usually brought to the factory bench or office desk.

Then, at mid-day, everything stops for lunch. Most offi­ces and small shops close for an hour, say from 1 to 2, and the city pavements are thronged with people on their way to cafes. Factory workers usually eat in their canteens.

The usual mid-day meal usually consists of two courses – a meat course accompanied by plenty of vegetables, followed by a sweet dish, perhaps fruit pudding and custard with tea or coffee to finish.

Most Englishmen like what they call “good plain food, not messed about with”. They must be able to recognize what they are eating. Otherwise, they are likely to refuse it. Usually they like beefsteaks, chops, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and fried fish and chipped potatoes.

They are in the main not overfond of soup, remarking that it fills them without leaving sufficient room for the more important meat course. Then back to work again, with another break in the middle of the afternoon, once again for tea or coffee, sometimes with a cake or biscuit.

The working day finishes at time between 4 and 6, with, the “thrivers” usually first home and the “strivers” last. On arrival home, many Englishmen seem to like to inspect their gardens before their evening meal.

This goes under various names – tea, high tea, dinner or supper depending upon its size and also the social stand­ing of those eating it. Usually a savoury meat course is followed by stewed fruit or cake and tea.

His evening meal over, the Englishman might do a bit of gardening and then have a walk to the “local” for a “quick one”. The “local” means the nearest beer house while a “quick one” means a drink (alcoholic, of course!) taking anything from half-an-hour to three hours to imbibe! There is plenty of lively, congenial company at the “local” and he can play darts, dominoes, billiards or discuss the weather or the current situation.

However, if the Englishman stays at home he might listen to the radio, watch television, talk, read or pursue his favourite hobby. Then at any time between 10 and 12, he will have his “nightcap” – a drink accompanied by a snack and then off to bed ready for tomorrow. (S.Andrews)

 

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CHAPTER5.

INTERNATIONALISMS (UNITS OF INTERNATIONAL LEXICON).

The vocabulary of each contemporary developed language comprises a specific layer of words and word-combinations representing social and political notions, scientific and technical terminology and having absolute/nearly absolute semantic equivalents in more than two languages; they are predominantly of identical or similar lingual form too which means that they originate from one and the same source language. These are referred to as internationalisms: atom, proton, communism, democracy, constitution, republic, parliament, socialism, sputnik, etc.

The main characteristic feature of internationalisms, single words or word-combinations, is that their lexical identity or similarity is found both at language level and speech level, i.e. in a text.

This group of units embraces, as many linguists believe, apart from many thousands of genuine international words and word-combinations which retain in several languages an identical or similar lingual form and identical meaning many international translation loan units. These have a generally common structural form (of word, word-combination) but rarely a similarity in sounding. The loan internationalisms are mostly different terms: citric acid лимонна кислота, lead oxide окис свинцю, specific gravity питома вага, nonconductivity непровідність; phraseological units (Greek, Latin or modern): Heel of Achilles ахілесова п'ята, sword of Damocles дамоклов меч, to cross the Rubicon перейти Рубікон, the die is cast жереб кинуто, after us the deluge після нас хоч потоп, the fair sex прекрасна стать, tilt at windmills воювати з вітряками; regular mots and proverbs (of Latin, French, English, German origin): sine qua nоn неодмінна умова, status in statu держава у державі, repetitio est mater studiorum (Lat.) повторення мати навчання, sotto voce тихо, finita la commedia (ItaL.) настав кінець, da ist der Hund Begraben! (Germ.) ось де собака заритий, 0. К. all right (Engl.) все добре, с'est la vie (Fr.) таке життя.

The use of loan idioms is restricted in all languages to belles-lettres, partly to social and political texts and to conversational speech style. These idioms are also occasionally used in didactic style and are practically not used in scientific and technical matter texts.

The number of loan idiomatic/stable word-combinations unlike the fund of genuine internationalisms and translation loans remains practically unchanged. That is mainly because idioms/phraseologisms penetrate into different languages through scholastic, literary and cultural channels asa rule. These phenomena are conditioned by some extra linguistic factors which make possible in some important political situations their spontaneous appearance and penetration into several languages during a short period of time. For the last half a century there have been few stable expressions like the fifth column (1936, Spain), peaceful coexistence, star wars, global warming, nuclear deterrent, etc.

 

Conveying the Lexical Meaning of Internationalisms.

 

A faithful conveying of their lexical meaning requires considerable attention on the part of the translator and in the process of their translation both at language level and at speech level several factors have to be taken into consideration: the lingual form, the lexical meaning, the structure, the source of origin and the orthographic presentation of internationalisms in both the languages. As a result it may not always be termed translation proper (cf. atom атом, plan план, student студент); it may sometimes depend on the established model stereotype according to which these units are adopted in the target language. There exist several ways of conveying their lexical meaning.

 

Translation Transliteration. This is more often found in the internationalisms which originate from the languages whose orthographic systems have been arranged on phonetieal principles (Latin, Greek, Italian, Ukrainian, partly Russian and Spanish): Lat.: angina ангіна, proletariat пролетаріат, socialism соціалізм, gladiator гладіатор, class клас, rector ректор; Greek: poet поет, logarithm логарифм, electron электрон, stadium стадіон, drama драма, theatre театр; Ital.: macaroni макарони, concerto концерт, duet дует, solo соло; Span.; armada армада, tango танго, El Dorado Ельдорадо, embargo ембарго. It would be wrong to assume that internationalisms from other than the above-mentioned languages can not be transliterated. Many English, French, German and other non-European by origin lexemes are also transliterated: Eng.; bulldog бульдог, mister містер, shelf шельф, shilling шилінг, shrapnel шрапнель; Fr.; chef шеф, festival фестиваль, franc франк; Germ.; Diktat диктант, Edelweiss эдельвейс; Portuguese: cobra кобра, flamingo фламінго; Hindu: Brahmin брамін, khaki хакі, sari сарі; Jap.; kimono, tsunami цунамі; Arab.: algebra алгебра, atlas атлас, harem гарем; Afr.: banana банан, baobab баобаб, zebra зебра; Austral.: dingo, kiwi, etc.

 

Translation Transcription. Internationalisms originating from English, French and some other languages whose orthographic systems are based on other than phonetic principles (historical or etymological) are faithfully conveyed in the target language in their phonetic form: Eng.; boom бум, box бокс, jeans джинси, knock-out нокаут, leader лідер, raid рейд, round раунд, track трек; Fr.; boulevard бульвар, bouquet букет, bourgeoisie буржуазія, bureau бюро, drape драп, fuselage фюзеляж, pince-nez пенсне, etc.

We must bear in mind that in many internationalisms there is no absolute literal coincidence in the source language and in the target language: basketball баскетбол, shilling шилінг, waltz вальс, степ steppe, указ ukase, etc.

International lexemes are adopted in all languages according to the historically established traditions of their own and find their expression in stereotype models (bankruptcy in Eng., bankeroti in Germ., banqueroute in Fr. or bancarotta in Ital. but «банкрутство» in Ukrainian). This kind of adopting internationalisms is sometimes called a “practical transcribing”.

Some internationalisms may retain still less similarity/likeness in their lingual form when translated from English into Ukrainian: bachelor бакалавр, cocoa какао, crown корона, dance танок, giant гігант, grade градус, hocus-pocus фокус, mother-of-pearl перламутр, mosque мечеть, oil олія, outpost аванпост, papal папський, pound фунт, etc.

Many units in English and Ukrainian do not fully coincide in their orthographic, sounding and morphological (structural) form. This is to be explained by the differences in the phonetic and morphological systems of the two languages and also by the possible influence of a third language as an intermediary between the source/target language and the language from which the international lexeme originates. To convey faithfully the denotative meaning and the lingual form of these internationalisms other ways of translating can be employed.

 

Descriptive Translation. Many international lexemes are semantically condensed and can be conveyed in the target language in a descriptive way only. Depending on the nature of the lexemes their translation may have two somewhat different ways:

a) the lingual form of the source language lexeme/s can be preserved in the target language word-combination/sentence: civilizable – той, (та. me), що піддаються цивілізуванню; classifiable – той, (та. me), що піддаються класифікації; barony 1. володіння барона; 2.титул барона; energize викликати, збуджувати енергію.

b) the lingual form of the internationalism is not or can not be retained in the target language. It happens when the internationalism has not been adopted by the target language. Thus the noun epilogue is a genuine internationalism in many European languages but the adjective еріlogic derived from it, though semantically quite obvious, is unknown in Ukrainian and is rendered as заключний, ключовий, кінцевий.

 

Analogies. In the process of translating an international lexeme of the source language can be substituted in the target language for a synonymous international lexeme. This kind of substituting becomes possible due to the existence in the target language of synonymous international lexemes, of the same logico-grammatical class: athletics гімнастіка, diagram схема, phase період, fashion paper журнал мод, base фундамент, committee комісія, gangster бандит, standard еталон; ангар garage, бульвар avenue, графік plan, естрада variety, party line політичний курс.

 

Translators` False Friends.

As has been noted the units of genuine international lexicon are identified on the basis of their common for dif­ferent languages lexical meaning and identical or similar lingual form. “Loan internationalisms” on the other hand are identified mainly on the basis of their lexical meaning, common functional significance and partly – structural form.

The identification of genuine or loan internationalisms presents no difficulty so far as the monosemantic language units are concerned. That is explained by the terminological nature of the signs which are used to signify social, political, scientific, technical, cultural and other notions (cf. parliament, theatre, theory, poet, arithmetic, artillery, botany, phoneme, suffix, theorem, proton, volt, decimal fra­ctions, sputnik, space probe, etc.).

In Ukrainian they usually take derivational and often also inflexional affixes which are rarely observed in present-day English. As a result most of international words in Ukrai­nian are structurally more complicated than in English (cf. apathy апатія, dietic дієтичний, form форма, exploit експлуатувати).

Some international words, however, may be structurally more complicated in English than in Ukrainian: Greek: analysis аналіз, diagnosis діагноз, sclerosis склероз, academician академік, geographer географ, mathematician математик, philosopher філософ, geologist геолог; Latin: appen­dicitis апендицит, tuberculosis туберкульоз, rheumatism ревматизм.

The problem arises when the translator has to deal with ”pseudo international” words and word-combinations which can be partial ”pseudo international” and complete ”pseudo international” words.

a) partial ”pseudo international” words – only part of their meanings

coincides in different languages: construction конструкція і побудова, regular регулярний і закономірний, address адреса і звер­тання, звернення, speaker спікер і промовець, to discuss дискутува­ти і обговорювати, operation операція і робота, final фінал і за­ключний, stress стрес і наголос, pilot пілот і лоцман, selection селекція і вибір, collection колекція і збір, зібрання, license лі­цензія і дозвіл, correction корекція і виправлення, progression про­гресія і просування, obstruction обструкція і перешкода, limit ліміт і межа, presentation презентація і виклад, test тест і перевірка, control контроль і керування, universal універсальний і загальний, orientation орієнтація і спрямованість, technical технічний і спеці­альний, concern концерн і увага; стурбованість;

b) complete ”pseudo international” words have no similar meanings in

different languages: accurate точний (а не акуратний), reason причина (а не резон), academic університетський, навчально-науковий (а не академічний), paper стаття (а не папір), complement додаток (а не комплімент), technique прийом (а не техніка), elegant стрункий (а не елегантний), familiar знайомий (а не фамільярний), notation система умовних позначок (а не нотація), scholar вчений (а не школяр), decade десятиріччя (а не декада), order порядок (а не ордер), expertise компетентність (а не експертиза), manuscript ру­копис (а не манускрипт), objective мета (а не об'єктив), intelligence ро­зум (а не інтелігенція), composition склад (а не композиція), criticism критичне зауваження, критика (а не критицизм), data дані (а не дата), figure цифра або малюнок (а не фігура).

In many cases English words have more meanings than their Russian or Ukrainian counterparts and only some of them coincide. For example, the English word routine means сталий порядок дій, роз­порядок; консервативний метод робот; математична програма; поточний, заведений, and the Ukrainian word

рутина has only two meanings сталий порядок дій, роз­порядок; консервативний метод робіт.

The fact that English words are more polysemantic than their Ukrainian counterparts must be borne in mind especially when translating from Ukrainian into English as there are more possibilities to make mistakes than translating from English into Ukrainian. Only thorough analysis of the context will hopefully help to avoid mistakes.

 

Plural forms of nouns as translators` false friends.

 

A special group of translators` false friends is formed by the plural forms of some nouns which have meanings different from the meaning of their singular forms: work робота – works праці і завод, fund фонд – funds фонди і гроші, development розвиток – developments події, industry промисловість – industries галузі промисловості, difference різниця – differences розбіжності, damage ушкодження – damages збит­ки. And again only the analysis of the context will help to give adequate translation.

Paronyms as translators` false friends.

Quite a lot of mistakes are made because inexperienced translators are not very keen to use dictionaries to check their guesses as to the meaning of the words they are to translate and paronyms provide a very wide field for mistakes. This type of mistakes is called malapropos. The words are very similar in form but different in meaning: economic економічний and economical економний, ощад-

ливий, temporal часовий and temporary тимчасовий, principal головний and principle принцип, tend тяжіти and trend тенденція, adapt адаптувати, пристосувати and adopt приймати, continual регулярний and continuous тривалий, тяглий, mo­mentary миттєвий and momentous дуже важливий, polemic полеміка and polemical полемічний, personal особистий and personnel особовий склад, accept приймати, погоджуватися and except крім, thesis теза and theses тези, hypothesis гіпотеза and hypotheses гіпотези.

 

Exercise1. Make a careful study of the following groups of words. Note the difference in the meaning in English and in Ukrainian and suggest the appropriate equivalents.

1. actual актуальний; 2. appellation апеляція; 3. aspirant аспірант; 4. balloon балон; 5. baton батон; 6. billet білет; 7. compositor композитор; 8. concern концерн; 9. depot депо; 10. direction дирекція; 11. fabric фабрика; 12. genial геніальний; 13. intelligence інтелігенція; 14. motion моціон; 15. motorist моторист; 16. obligation облігація; 17. physique фізик; 18. probe проба; 19. protection протекція; 20. pathos пафос.

 

Exercise2. Note the meanings of the English international words and translate them in the examples cited below.

1. extravagant adj. 1. spending much more than is necessary or prudent; wasteful; 2. excessively high (of prices)

We mustn't buy roses — it is too extravagant in winter.

2. catholic adj. (esp. likings and interests) general, wide-spread; broad-minded; liberal; including many or most things

Mr. Prower was a politician with catholic tastes and interests.

3. dramatic adj. 1. sudden or exciting; 2. catching and holding the imagination by unusual appearance or effects

How would you account for such dramatic changes in the situation?

4. minister n. 1. Christian priest or clergyman; 2.a person representing his Government but of lower rank than an ambassador

The British minister at Washington was requested to notify his Government of a possible change in the agenda of the forthcoming meeting.

5. routine n. the regular, fixed, ordinary way of working or doing things

Frequent inspections were a matter of routine in the office.

6. pathetic adj. 1. sad, pitiful; exciting pity or sympathetic sadness; affecting or moving the feelings; 2. worthless, hopelessly unsuccessful

Perhaps it was merely that this pathetic look of hers ceased to wring his heartstrings.

7. pilot n. 1. a person qualified to steer ships through certain difficult waters or into or out of a harbor; 2. a guide or leader

Before entering on his literary career, Mark Twain was employed as pilot on vessels going up and down the Mississippi river.

8. student n. (of smt.) a person with a stated interest; anyone who is devoted to the acquisition of knowledge

The recently published work of the world-known ornithologist will be interesting to any student of bird-life.

 

Exercise3. Translate the following sentences, motivating the choice of the variant of translation of the italicized words.

1. African, nations wholeheartedly support the UN resolution, for decolonization. 2. Most of American visitors visit Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. But many go throughout the length of the nation. 3. He hopes that debate on Middle East policy will not be partisan. 4. Watergate has deeply divided Americans, but the splits are not along simple partisan lines. Some Republicans, feeling betrayed, are bitterer than many democrats. 5. The president pledged to appoint a bipartisan Cabinet representative of all elements of U.S. society. 6. The firm claims that they have supplied people of taste and discrimination throughout the world with teas of supreme quality. 7. The president's Oval Office is a dramatic combination of white, electric, blue and gold. 8. It was not to be expected that any dramatic decisions would be reached. 9. The continued dramatic fall in road deaths and casualties since breathalyzer day, which was announced yesterday, is splendid news. 10. A grocery trade spokesman yesterday forecast that retail food prices would rise dramatically as a result of the budget. 11. During the post war period the Soviet Union, has made a dramatic progress in foreign and domestic policies. 12. Realizing that not even the 8,700 agents of the FBI could cope with riots, the Administration turned to the U.S. Army as tool of massive retaliation. 13. Only massive injections of U.S. military and economic aid have kept the Cambodian regime from going under. 14. The dikes are a massive, 2,500-mile-long network of earthen dams with sluice gates, more like the flood control system of the Netherlands than anything else in Asia is. 15. Not since he pardoned his predecessor had the president aroused such a furor. By signing into law the first phase of his economy and energy program, he provoked criticism from across the political spectrum. 16. There is discontent in the academic circles of the country with the Government. 17. In a bid to counter the opposition, the minister yesterday had a surprise session with his advisers. 18. It is believed that the public at least will be sympathetic to the implied or expressed idealism of this book. 19. It was a sad, pathetic sight. 20. What intelligence you have was ruined by your lack of education. 21. The pension is not a charitable gift but a right earned by years of contribution. 22. Rev. D.W., minister of the Established Church, is rector here. 23. Since September, the French government has probably poured more than 1,000 tons of arms - chiefly ammunition, automatic weapons and mortars - into the area. 24. Perhaps if all the diplomats' detractors were to be made to realize that there is absolutely nothing that the Govern­ment can do against the Corps Diplomatique as a whole with regard to limiting its rights and privileges then the recurring furore would die out. 25. He was already deeply involved in foreign affairs, a committed internationalist and interventionist.

Exercise4. Translate sentences, paying attention to internationalisms and pseudo internationalisms:

1. All examples arc taken from actual texts. 2. The manuscript was appa­rently completed in 1990. 3. This is dramatically illustrated by Ecrics. 4. Thus, the issue that this addresses is far from trivial. 5. Both contributions to this jubilee publication are appropriately authoritative. 6. Several indexes in the book make the wealth of information easily accessible. 7. The merit of this book lies in its rich collection of empirical data. 8. The articles are arranged according to subject mat­ter rather than chronology. 9. In addition to the work mentioned above, the volume contains six studies originally published in English. 10. Each volume contains a “List of words cited” and an “Index of names'”. 11. Bateson's description is elegant and accurate. 12. The present notation is inaccurate and in some cases, confusing. 13. The defects of Cowlie's analysis are typical of illuminating but unformalized descriptions. 14. The second article illustrates receptivity to date of whatever sour­ce. 15. In physics, a theory is often the limit of a more general theory as some parameter vanishes. 16. Progression from treatment of a selected individual prob­lem to that of a broad question may also suggest the direction of these studies. 17. The book concludes with a brief account of the renewed interest in Newton during recent decades. 18. Skenstrom's analytical framework is a rather extensive­ly modified version of the modal introduced by J. Sinclair. 19. There is something for everyone in this book, but perhaps not enough of any one thing to make it indispensable to a specific audience. 20. However, for lack of a strong theoretical overview, or of effective introduction to its different sections, this work falls short of its promise.

 

CHAPTER6.

PRAGMATICS OF TRANSLATION.

The relation of words to certain referents which they designate is called semantic; the relation of words to other words of the same language with which they make up syntactic units is called syntactic, respectively. Words are also related to the people who use them and to them words are not just indifferent, unemotional labels of objects or ideas. The people develop a certain attitude to the words they use. Some of the words acquire definite implications, they evoke a positive or negative response, and they are associated with certain theories, beliefs, likes or dislikes (“noble” words: honour, dignity, freedom, etc, and “low” words: infamy, cowardice, betrayal). Words can be nice or ugly, attractive or repulsive. Such relationships between the word and its users are called “pragmatic”.

The pragmatic implications ofa word are an important part of its meaning that produces a certain effect upon the Receptor (reader/listener). Of even greater significance is the pragmatic aspect of speech units. Every act of speech communication is meant for a certain Receptor, it is aimed at producing a certain effect upon him. In this respect any communication is an exercise in pragmatics.

Since the pragmatic effect plays such an important part in communication, its preservation in translation is the primary concern of the translator, and it is by no means an easy task. The process of translation deals with the equivalence aspects syntactic, semantic and pragmatic of which the pragmatic aspect involves a number of difficult problems.

To begin with, the pragmatics of the original text cannot be as a rule directly reproduced in translation but often require important changes in the transmitted message.

Bearing in mind that we can find a proper equivalent only on the basis of the context, situation and the background knowledge, we can see that correlated words in different languages may produce dissimilar effect upon the users. When the original message is lost upon the Receptor it is a failure of the translation and no semantic or syntactic similarity will redress the damage: book means книга but to carry coal to Newcastle has literal and figurative meanings as well as the word-combination a pink slip does and many others. The word green means зеленый but зеленый театр – open-air theatre, зелений пацан – greenhorn, дати зелену вулицю – to give open passage, to give the go-ahead.

The word ambition in English may evoke any kind of response: positive, negative or neutral which is a general peculiarity of the English language. Its Ukrainian/Russian counterpart амбіція is definitely not a nice word: The boy's ambition was to become a pilot. The voters put an end to the general's political ambitions. The same holds true about the words idealism, nationalism, etc.

When we consider not just separate words but a phrase or a number of phrases in a text, the problem becomes even more complicated. The communicative effect of a speech unit does not depend on the meaning of its components alone, but involves considerations of the situational context and the previous experience which are different in different language communities or even different people. The comparison white as snow will not be understood by many people of Africa though it works quite nicely with Europeans, in Australia the north wind means the movement of masses of hot air from the equator and in Europe it is the movement of cold air, the colour of mourning is different in different countries: black in the West, white in the East, tiger in English is cruel, dangerous, a hooligan and in Russian/Ukrainian tales it is courageous and noble.

It seems imperative, therefore, that translation should involve a kind of pragmatic adaptation to provide for the preservation of the original com­municative effect. This adaptation must ensure that the text of translation conveys the same attitude to the reported facts as does the original text and the Receptor understands the implications of the message and is aware of its figurative or situational meaning. The pragmatic adaptation of this kind is an integral part of translation procedures which ensures the necessary level of equivalence.

Apart from the pragmatics of linguistic units, there are also the pragmatics of individual speech acts. In a concrete act of speech the Translator has to do with the specific Receptor upon whom he tries to produce the desired effect, and from whom he would like to get the desired reaction.

This second type of pragmatics is also present in translation events. A translation event is a kind of speech act and it is performed with a certain pragmatic purpose as well. But here we are confronted with a more complicated process than in ordinary speech.

A translation event is pragmatically oriented in two directions. On the one

hand, it is translation which means that its primary purpose is to give the closestpossible approximation to the original text. But on the other hand, a translation event is also an act of speech communication between the Translator and Receptor. So a translation event may be pragmatically oriented toward a concrete Receptor, and it is the result of the activities of a concrete translator, who may have some additional pragmatic motivation, may pursue some aims beside and beyond the true reproduction of the original text. This necessitates the introduction of the concept of the pragmatic value in translation, which assesses its success in achieving this pragmatic super-purpose.

The users of translation often make judgments of its quality exclusively on its merits as an instrument in achieving some specific aim. If in doing it, the translation departs from the original text, so much the worse for the latter.

E. Nida introduced the concept of dynamic equivalence which should he judged not against the original text but against the Receptor's reactions. So, translation of the maintenance instructions is considered good if, after reading it, a technician will be able to operate the appropriate piece of machinery correctly.

Presumably any text should be differently translated depending on whether itis for experts or laymen, adults or kids, for staging or screening, and so on.The specific aims pursued by the translator may also bring about considerable changes in the resulting text with no direct bearing on the original. The translator is assigned his task and paid for it by the people for whom his work is not an end in itself but an instrument for achieving some other goals. Aware of this, the translator tries to make his work meet these “extra-translational” requirements, introducing appropriate changes in the text of translation. Sometimes these changes are prompted by the desire to produce a certain effect on the Receptors, which has already been mentioned.

The specific goal, which makes the translator modify the resulting text, often means that he assumes an additional role and is no longer just a translator. He may set himself some propaganda or educational task, he may be particularly interested in some part of the original and wants to make a special emphasis on it, he may try to carry to the Receptor his own feelings about the Source or the event described in the original. In doing so the translator may try to simplify, abridge or modify the original message, deliberately reducing the degree of equivalence in his translation. During the Cold War when the relations between the West and the USSR were not friendly the title of the novel by M.Wilson Live with Lightning! describing the life and work of American physicists, was translated as Жизнь во мраке!

Inmany types of translation any attempt by the translator to modify his text for some extra-translational purpose is considered unprofessional conduct and se-

verely condemned.

But there are also some other types of translation where particular aspects of equivalence are of little interest and often disregarded. When a book is translated with a view to subsequent publication in another country, it may be adapted or abridged to meet the country's standards tor printed matter. The translator may omit parts of the book or some descriptions considered too obscene or naturalistic for publication in his country, though permissible in the original.

In technical or other informative translations the translator or his employers may be interested in getting the gist of the contents or the most important part of it, which may involve leaving out certain details or a combination of translation with brief accounts of less important parts of the original. A most common feature of such translations is neglect of the stylistic and structural peculiarities of the original. In this case translation often borders on retelling or précis writing.

A specific instance is consecutive interpretation where the interpreter is often set a time limit within which he is expected to report his translation no matter how long the original speech may have been. This implies selection, generalizations, and cutting through repetitions, incidental digressions, occasional slips or excessive embellishments.

It is obvious that in all similar cases the differences which can be revealed between the original text and its translation should not be ascribed to the translator's inefficiency or detract from the quality of his work. The pragmatic value of such translations clearly compensates for their lack of equivalence. Evidently there are different types of translation serving different purposes.

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APPENDIX1.

About Translation.

* ”…дабы внятнее перевесть…не надлежит речь от речи хранить в переводе, но точно сенс выразумев, на своём языке уже так писать, как внятнее может быть”. (Пётр I,1672-1725, Законодательные Акты.)

* ”Кто берётся за перевод, тот принимает на себя долги, которые уплатить обязан, хотя не тою самою монетою, но такою же суммою”. (Василий Капнист, драматург, поэт, переводчик “Горациевых од”, 1758-1823).

* ”Излишнюю верность почитаю излишней неверностью.” (Вас. Анд.Жуковский (1783-1852).

* ”Близость к подлиннику состоит в предании не буквы, а духа создания. Каждый язык имеет свои, одному ему принадлежащие средства, особенности и свойства до такой степени, что для того, чтобы передать верно иной образ или фразу в переводе их должно изменить: …надо чтобы внутренняя жизнь переводного соответствовала внутренней жизни оригинального.” (Виссарион Белинский, 1811-1848).

* А.В.Фёдоров. Перевод – это полное и верное выражение с помощью средств одного языка того, что уже было выражено средствами иного языка.

* Л.С.Бархударов. …процесс преобразований речевого произведения на одном языке в речевое произведение на другом языке при сохранении неизменным плана содержания.

* О.Каде.Под переводом мы понимаем процесс, который начинается с восприятия текста ST и заканчивается передачей текста языком перевода и важнейшей составной частью, которого является смена кодов, т.е. преобразование данного текста из кода SL в код TL.

* Перевод – это параллельная речевая реализация мысли средствами двух языков.