Translation as an object of scholarly research.

Translation as an object of scholarly research.

Translation is a complex dichotomous and cumulative process which involves a number of activities drawing upon other disciplines related to language and culture.

Comment on the suggested definitions of translation:

· Translation is a complicated phenomenon that deals with linguistic forms, linguistic and cultural pictures of the world and the communicative situation itself (Breus).

· Translation is a process of interlingual communication of ideas (Barchudarov).

· Translation is a kind of interlingual communication. A translator shall create a text the meaning, structure and functions of which shall be equal to those of the original text (Komissarov).

· Translation is a kind of transformation of a SL text into a TL text (Kazakova).

· Minimal unit of the source text which can be translated as a whole is a unit of thought that expresses one grammatical function. It’s called functional unit of translation the units that have one lexical meaning (to take place), dialectical, which expresses unit of proseadeary (it’s singled of intonation pattern)

· If we characterize the process of translation we can do it like this.

SL text- analysis-transfer-restructuring- TL text.

In the begging we have the speaker of the source language that creates a source language text. And at the end we have a target language text. So we can take into consideration that these people those who speak the Sl don’t know the TL. So we have the translator or the interpreter and he reads or listens to the Sl and analysis it.

Analysis – to divide the text into meaningful parts.

The translator divides the text into meaningful parts, he finds out how these meaningful parts can be expressed. He looks for equivalents in the TL and tries to translate every meaningful part. If he can’t find equivalents he finds adequate structures that can compensate for the absence of equivalents. Then he finds that he can’t assemble the text according to the pattern that he’s given in the Sl text, because the parts that he translated came to look different. And he was to explain some things because there are cultural peculiarities, language peculiarities. And to make the text he has to restructure the text and then he assembles a new text- the TLT. And the TLT is transferred for recipient. This is the process and this is the result.

Factors influencing the process of translation.

Translation is a means that enables interlingual communication. That’s why the specifics of a communicative situation are of such importance for a translator.

The process of translation is influenced by many factors:

1) the motive and the purpose of the communication,

motive- is why we start communication.

Purpose- is what we want to achieve at the eng of communication.

2) the communicative intention of the speech act- the means we use t achieve the purpose (polite request, flattery, a claim, an order, pay a compliment, etc.)

3) linguistic function of the text

Informative- the continent of the text

Expressive- the form of the text

Imperative- the style of the author.

4) the mode of discourse used in the source text,

-Description - is a static picture of events or objects.

- Narration - dynamic picture, the text is divided into parts preterminated by the chronological order.

- exposition (explanation) the listener or reader doesn’t have any idea of the notion. The division of the text into parts is preterminated by the statement and several frames.

(e.g. cause- effect frame, the purpose- result frame) Within one frame certain ideas are discussed and the coherence of the text is ashored by the frame itself. And by certain connective.

Argumentation - here the recipient knows something about the notion but the purpose is to ruin his point of viewpoint of view to find fault with it and then to give a new idea instead it. The validity of a new idea should be supported by facts. The structure is similar to exposition but instead of giving a single statement. You give a theasis and an antithesis.

5) the qualities of the participants,

status, goal, the point of the topic of the communication, negative or positive attitude, interest, knowledge, education, age, motivation, etc.

6) the conditions of the communication.

Environment, circumstances (official meeting), atmosphere, time.

The principle of (un)translatability.

Some scholars say that than does not exist at all. We can not translate.

1. No 2 languages having the same phonology it is impossible to re-create the sound of a work composed in one language in another language.

2. No 2 languages having the same syntactic structure. It is impossible to re-create the syntax of a word composed in one language in another

3. No 2 languages having the same vocabulary, it is impossible to re-create the vocabulary of a work composed in one language in another language.

4. No 2 languages having the same literary history, it is impossible to re-create the literary forms of a work composed in one language in another language.

5. No 2 languages having the same prosody, it is impossible to re-create the prosody of a literary work composed in one language in another language.

But other scholars believe that the translation exists.

We use translation every day. People translate to communicate. The key- word is experience. On this respect we may speak about general experience (this experience that we all possess) and individual experience. The mentality of people is different. That is why poem very often do not understand what we mean, we have to explain what we mean, we have to paraphrase what we mean, we have to define what we mean within the frame work of one and the same language, of one and the same culture. And is this case we may say that we use interlinguistic translation and we use intralinguistic translation. So, translation exists and we use it every day.

4) Translation theories (the theory of regular correspondences, situational theory).

The TRC was generally recognized as the first fundamental linguistic theory of translation. As a linguistic basis of translation J.I. Recker suggested establishing certain correspondences between the source language and the target language. In doing so he distinguished three categories of regular correspondences in translating: 1) equivalents; 2) analogues; 3) adequate replacements.

1) equivalents -single valued (однозначный) term, (The United Nations- Организация Объединенных наций)

2) analogues- adequate units between TL and SL (synonyms) (Fair has 2 translations честный и справедливый, fair
share- справедливая доля, fair deal- честная сделка)

3) adequate replacements- antonymic translation (the meaning of the whole) (A good riddance!- Скатертью дорожка!)

The situational (denotative) model ( the way from the SL to the TL leads through reality, i.e., the translator uses his/her knowledge and previous experience of the world at the point of transfer) → “interpretation” Apart from some insignificant differences, there is a common reality surrounding us, and thus in linguistic interaction it is only the linguistic signs that differ, the signified objects, i.e. the denotata are the same. The translator traces the SL signs back to the world of denotata common to all of us, or, in other words, he/she clarifies which situation of the objective world is described by the SL text. A typical case of translation based on the denotative model is the translation of realia → the translator can make several choices: 1) can borrow the foreign word, equate it with a similar TL realia, 2) invent a new TL word, etc. We translate according to the denotative model when there is only one possible solution in the TL for the naming or description of an object or situation.

 

Translation theories (transformational, semantic, levels of equivalence).

- the substitution of SL signs with TL signs.

The semantic model

-approach translation from the point of view of meaning or sense

-it became more and more fashionable to assume that the translator might be breaking down the words of the SL sentences into semantic constituents

The process of translation according to the semantic model:

The transfer from one language to another happens through a semantic deep structure consisting of some system of basic meanings.

= sense ® text ® sense model

Process:

(1) translator first understands the text to be translated

(2) he/she expresses what he/she has understood in the given language, i.e. he/she expresses the sense of the text.

The sense of the text refers to the common ground that can be found in all texts intuitively regarded identical with the given text. They intend to describe this common content-related invariant with the help of a special semantic language, the so called basic language.

→ Process of translation:

-the translator switches from idiomatic English to the English basic language (independent sense analysis),

-switches from the English basic language to the TL basic language (this is what can actually be considered translation),

-from the TL basic language he/she switches onto the idiomatic TL (independent sense synthesis).

Levels of equivalence

5 levels of transfer:

(1) the level of linguistic signs (use of different words to produce utterances → several alternatives),

(2) the level of utterance (linear ordering of Lic signs → several alternatives),

(3) the level of message (the situation isdescribed from various angles),

(4) the level of situation (e.g., objects, persons, abstract phenomena in question),

(5) the level of communicative goal (e.g., to inform).

→ several multi-level decisions

In comprehending the text, the receiver moves in the opposite direction: from the level of linguistic signs to the assumed communicative goal of the sender.

Translation process:

During analysis: he/she moves from the level of linguistic signs to the level of the communicative goal,

During synthesis he/she moves from the level of the communicative goal to the level of linguistic signs.

Commentary

Transposition

It’s a change in the order of linguistic elements, which are words, phrases, clauses and sentences. Most often it is connected with the notions of theme and rheme:

*A boy came in – The boy came in

In the first case literal translation is impossible, as the word “boy” is rheme, so we change the word order: “Вошел мальчик”

Within a complex sentence the same tendency is observed in Russian. So the first place is occupied by the part of a sentence which most logically precedes the second, while in English the position of both clauses though not quite fixed is for the most part governed by existing syntactical rules. In fact the main clause precedes the subordinate one, and this often causes a change in the order of clauses in translation.

* He trembled as he looked up. – Взглянув наверх, он задрожал.

*You goin’ to court this morning? – Said Jim. We have strolled over. – Мы подошли. “Вы пойдете сегодня в суд?” – спросил Джим.

The transposition of the sentence elements is sometimes called sentence restructuring, because the sentence is getting restructured in the process of translation. This restructuring consists in changing syntactic functions of words in a sentence. In English as in Russian the theme is generally placed in the beginning if a sentence, though in English this place is reserved for the sentence subject. The theme of the English sentence is represented by the subject though semantically it is not always the doer of the action expressed by the predicate group. It may be its object and even denote some adverbial relations (time, place, cause etc). In Russian the word order is relatively free, therefore the first word group must not necessarily be at the same time its syntactic subject. So in many cases the English subject is replaced by a secondary element, such as object, adverbial modifier with constant changes in the syntactic pattern of the sentence. Very often there occur some lexical changes.

* He was met by his sister.

It is obvious that when we translate from Russian into English the process is reversed.

*В комнате установилась тишина.” – “The room turned silent.”

*В радиотехнических устройствах часто встречаются системы из электрических проводов”. – Radio equipment often includes systems of electric wires.

Replacement

This is a very important transformation, and I can affect any kind of linguistic units: word forms, parts of speech, sentence elements, types of syntactic relations, sentence types etc.

- Word forms

*The struggles of the Indian people in all parts of the US” – борьба

*A novel about lives of common people” – о жизни

- Parts of speech

It is a common type of replacement for English nouns derived from verbs and denoting actions. In this case the English noun is replaced by a Russian verb.

*It’s our hope that… – мы надеемся, что…

The same is true for nouns derived from verbs with the help of the suffix –er. The situation is complex, because in Russian the corresponding word may not exist at all or such words may denote people of permanent occupations.

*He is an early riser.

 

Very often English adjectives are replaced by Russian nouns.

* Australian prosperity – процветание Австралии

English comparative forms of adjectives, such as “higher, lower, longer, shorter, better” are frequently replaced by Russian nouns that come from adjective stems.

*They demand higher wages and better living conditions – они требуют повышения зарплаты и улучшения условий жизни.

-Sentence elements

It is sometimes called syntactic restructuring, which consists in changing of the functions of the words in the sentence. As in Russian so in English the theme is usually placed in the beginning of the sentence (subject, object, adverbial relations). In many cases the English subject is very often replaced by some secondary element with constant changes in the syntactic pattern of the whole sentence. Very often it is accompanied by certain lexical changes.

* The new film is much spoken about.

- Sentence types

It is a very common transformation of the simple sentence by a complex one and vice versa. While translating from English into Russian it becomes necessary to replace English structures with non-finite verbal forms by subordinate clauses and in this case we turn the simple sentence into a complex one.

 

*I want you to speak English.

- Types of syntactic relations

Both Russian and English have syntactic relation of coordination and subordination. Coordination is more characteristic of spoken Russian, so it is often desirable when doing consecutive or immediate translation from English into Russian to replace subordination of sentences by coordination.

*So I started walking way over coast where the pretty cheap restaurants are, because I didn’t want to spend a lot of dough.”

Transformation – a formal linguistic operation, which enables to place 2 levels of structural representation in correspondence.

These transformations are optional from the grammatical point of view, but they are very frequent because they add to the clarity and the simplicity of style.

The transformation helps to avoid ambiguity; it makes the implicit meaning of a sentence explicit. In the phrase “ in 1969 report of the Royal Commission on Security ” “ of ” has two meanings:

- A report about the Commission

-A report delivered by the Commission.

Metaphor

A metaphor is a comparison used to add descriptive meaning to a phrase (without using the words "like" or "as"). Metaphors are generally not meant literally, and may have little connotative similarity to the concepts they are meant to portray.

Simile

The easiest stylistic device to find is a simile, because you only have to look for the words "as" or "like". A simile is a comparison used to attract the reader's attention and describe something in descriptive terms.

Example: The beast had eyes as big as baseballs and teeth as long as knives.

Metonymy

Metonymy is similar to synecdoche, but instead of a part representing the whole, a related object or part of a related object is used to represent the whole.[3] Often it is used to represent the whole of an abstract idea.

Example: The phrase "The king's rifles stood at attention," uses 'rifles' to represent infantry.

Symbol

A symbol may be an object, a person, a situation, an action or some other object that has literal meaning in the story, and that represents something other than itself.[5] It can also be a word or an idea. It is used as an expressive way to depict an idea. The symbol generally conveys an emotional response far beyond what the word, idea, or image itself dictates.

Paradox

In literary terminology, a paradox is an apparent contradiction that is nevertheless somehow true.[7] Paradox can take the form of an oxymoron, overstatement or understatement. Paradox can blend into irony.

Rhyme

The repetition of identical or similar sounds, usually accented vowel sounds and succeeding consonant sounds at the end of words, and often at the ends of lines of prose or poetry.[8]

Repetition

Repetition is the deliberate use of a word or phrase more than once in a sentence or a text to create a sense of pattern or form or to emphasize certain elements in the mind of the reader or listener.

Verbal Irony

This is the simplest form of irony, in which the speaker says the opposite of what he or she intends. There are several forms, including euphemism, understatement, sarcasm, and some forms of humor

 

 

Translation as an object of scholarly research.

Translation is a complex dichotomous and cumulative process which involves a number of activities drawing upon other disciplines related to language and culture.

Comment on the suggested definitions of translation:

· Translation is a complicated phenomenon that deals with linguistic forms, linguistic and cultural pictures of the world and the communicative situation itself (Breus).

· Translation is a process of interlingual communication of ideas (Barchudarov).

· Translation is a kind of interlingual communication. A translator shall create a text the meaning, structure and functions of which shall be equal to those of the original text (Komissarov).

· Translation is a kind of transformation of a SL text into a TL text (Kazakova).

· Minimal unit of the source text which can be translated as a whole is a unit of thought that expresses one grammatical function. It’s called functional unit of translation the units that have one lexical meaning (to take place), dialectical, which expresses unit of proseadeary (it’s singled of intonation pattern)

· If we characterize the process of translation we can do it like this.