Theory of Translation

This sentence was rendered in a translation published in the late twenties as Кролик лежал в какой-то депрессии между двух кочек.

 

There were attempts to sabotage key services in Santiago.

Делались попытки вывести из строя основные объекты коммунального обслуживания в Сантьяго.

 

The meaning of the Russian word саботаж is narrower.

We are told that BBC television this autumn will give a massive coverage to the general election.

Сообщают, что  нынешней осенью передачи Би-би-си по телевидению  будут широко освещать парламентские выборы.

 

Sometimes the referential meanings of international words coincide, while their contextual meanings do not.

 

Britain’s world wide exploitation was shaken to the roots by colonial liberation movements.

Колониальное могущество Англии было потеряно до основания национально-освободительным движением в ее колониях.

 

The contextual meaning of the word “exploitation” is metonymical – the power of colonial systems was based on exploitation. A similar metonymic transference of the word эксплуатация – могущество is rendered to in the Russian translation.

 

Benches gleamed empty and crimson under the light, their occupants haveng gone to tea. (C.P.Snow).

Все члены  Палаты лордов оправились пить чай, и опустевшие скамьи сверкали красной обивкой при электрическом свете.

 

The Russian loan word оккупант is used only in a special sense as a military term with negative connotations whereas the English word is polysemantic. The addition члены Палаты лордов has been made for pragmatic reasons.

Sometimes pseudo-international words may have different connotations in spite of practically identical referential meanings. Thus the word прогресс has usually only positive connotations while the word “progress” has a wider range of connotations – positive, neutral and negative.

For instance, the title of John Bunyan’s book “The Pilgrim’s Progress” is an allegory depicting man’s progress towards perfection. The Russian traditional translation is “Путь пилигрима” (к совершенствованию) – positive connotations.

 

Her progress about London during that first week was one thrilling adventure.                          (H.Walpole).

Ее прогулки по Лондону  в ту первую неделю были сплошным увлекательным  приключением. – (neutral connotations).

 

Hogarth’s series if engravings “Rake’s Progress” has distinctly negative connotations. The traditional translation is «Жизнь повесы».

Different usage of pseudo-international words is often a stumbling block to translators, e.g.

Once upon a most early time there was a Neolithic man.  R.Kipling).

Давным давно, еще в каменном веке, жил да был один человек. (translated by K.Chukovsky).

The adjective “Neolithic” has its counterpart in Russian – неолитический, but its use is confined to scientific prose. It would not be suitable in a tale for children. So the translator introduced a traditional combination – человек, живший в каменном веке – resorting to a redistribution of semantic components.

 

Non-Equivalents

 

Non-equivalents are SL words which have no corresponding lexical units in the TL vocabulary.

The absence of equivalents may be explained both by extralinguistic and linguistic reasons. Accordingly, non-equivalents may be divided into two groups. The first group consists of words denoting referents unknown in the target language – things, objects, notions, features of national life, customs, habits, etc. the words of this group bear a distinctly national character and are tied up with the history of the people speaking that language, the growth of its culture, its way of life and traditions. Cultural discrepancy accounts for the appearance of words which are untranslatable in the literal sense of the word. Yet there are different ways of rendering these words in translation and of overcoming the so-called “barrier of untranslatability” (cultural untranslatability). The words belonging to this group cover a wide range of denotata, e.g. speaker, parliament, public school, landslide, coroner, teach-in, drive-in, know-how, striptease, brain drain, backbencher, grill-room, as well as titles of politeness, etc.

The second group embraces words which for some linguistic reason have no equivalents in the target language, the so-called linguistic lancunae, e.g. privacy, involvement, glimpse, conservationist, environmentalist, oralist, readership, riser, bedder, vote-getter, statehood, etc.

It should be stressed that the term “non-equivalents” merely implies the absence of a word or a word-combination in the vocabulary of the target language but does not exclude the possibility of rendering “non-equivalents” in translation, usually by descriptive translation.

 

Translation of Non-Equivalents

 

There are three ways of rendering non-equivalents in translation.

 

By Borrowings

The borrowed words may be either transliterated or transcribed, e.g. ale –эль, roastbeef – ростбиф, sweater – свитер (transliterated borrowings). Parliament – парламент, striptease – стриптиз, speaker – спикер, know-how – ноу-хау, establishment – истэблишмент (transcribed borrowings). The latter principle is, as seen from the above examples, applicable to the rendering of neologisms.

By translation loans

House of Commons – Палата Общин, backbencher – заднескамеечник, brain trust – мозговой трест.

By Descriptive or Interpreting Translation

Landslide – победа на выборах с огромным перевесом голосов;

a stringer (америк.) – частично занятый корреспондент, труд которого оплачивается из расчета количества слов;

a conservationist (environmentalist) – человек, озабоченный загрязнением или уничтожением окружающей среды.

 

Differences in cultural background frequently require detailed additions which are explanatory. What is familiar to the native reader may be unfamiliar to the reader of the translation. Additions in this case make up for the implicit information, contained in the text.

 

Her home is filled from top to toe with Victoria, classically elegant, very together.

Ее дом сверху донизу наполнен мебелью и всякими вещицами викторианской эпохи, все в строгом и элегантном стиле, очень хорошо сочетается между собой.

 

The presidential campaign of 1976 produced the neologism “oralist”.

 

This college professor is what campaign sides describe as an “oralist” – someone who isn’t asked to hammer out position papers, but can drop by or call up with some words of advice.

Организаторы  избирательной кампании называли этого  профессора «устным советчиком» - он не должен был писать программные документы; он только забегал, чтобы дать коротенькие советы или давал их по телефону.

 

Translation of Neologisms

 

There are also three ways of rendering neologisms in translation.

 

By Borrowings

By borrowed words may be either transcribed or transliterated. E.g. hippy –хиппи; smog – смог. It should be noted that transcription of such words is not always exact, e.g. nylon – нейлон; laser – лазер.

 

By Translation Loans

 

Neutron bomb – нейтронная  бомба.

 

By Descriptive or Interpreting Translation

 

Feedback – обратная связь, activism – агитационная деятельность, bugging – тайное наблюдение с помощью технических средств.

 

In some cases neologisms may be regarded as non-equivalents and translated accordingly.

 

Translation of Words of Emotive Meaning

 

As has been pointed out some words contain an element of emotive evaluation. The element of emotive meaning may be regarded as another seme, and is an integral element of their semantic structure, e.g. love, hate, to cry, to suffer, etc.

Morphological factors may heighten the emotive meaning already contained in the semantic structure of a word. For instance, the emotive meaning inherent in the word “vexation” is intensified by the use of this word in the plural.

 

Despite the limitation on its jurisdiction, the International Court of Justice manages to smooth a considerable number of petty frictions, and keep them from becoming serious vexations. (P.Lyon).

Несмотря на такое ограничение своей юрисдикции, Международному Суду удается сглаживать значительное количество мелких трений и не давать им перерастать в серьезные конфликты.

 

The emotive meaning is created by connotations which may be positive or negative. In the following example “the endless resolutions received by the National Peace Committee” has positive connotations. Its correlated word бесконечные cannot be used in the translation of this phrase as it will evoke negative connotations: boring, dull. The right word to choose in this context is многочисленные (бесчисленные) резолюции, полученные Национальным Комитетом Мира.

The meaning of the English noun “blow” is neutral but when it is used with the preposition “for” or “against” it acquires positive or negative connotations respectively (help, oppose – The COD) whereas the Russian noun always evokes negative connotations.

The peaceful policy of the Soviet Union is a tremendous blow for peace.

Мирная политика Советского Союза является огромным вкладом в дело обеспечения мира.

 

The Russian verb озарить conveys positive connotations, e.g. ее лицо озарила улыбка, whereas its referential equivalent in English is evidently neutral.

 

Horror dawned in her face.         (Victoria Holt)

На ее лице появилось выражение ужаса.

 

These connotations may form part of the same semantic structure of a word but they may also be due to its collocations with certain words and become permanent, compare: черная меланхолия, черная зависть, черная неблагодарность; розовые надежды, розовые очки, в розовом свете.

Emotive meaning varies in different word classes. In some of them, for example, in interjections, the emotive element prevails. On the other hand, in conjunctions the emotive meaning is practically non-existent. In other classes of words which possess emotive meaning it forms, as has already been said, part of their semantic structure.

Emotive meaning should be rendered in translation. Words of wide semantic structure, of vague and indefinite semantic boundaries are difficult for translation due to their semantic ambiguity and the possibility of subjective interpretation. The adjective fierce, for example, is a good illustration of that kind of emotive meaning. The dominant seme inherent in all its lexical-semantic variants is the seme of “vehemence” which acquires different semantic modifications in these variants. The БАРС dictionary gives the following meanings: fierce – 1.свирепый, лютый, жестокий; 2.неистовый, сильный; 3.неудержимый, горячий; 4.бодрый, энергичный; 5.амер. жарг. невыносимый, отвратительный.

 

There was no answer, only the tapping on the window, once more repeated, fierce and sharp.       (I.Murdoch).

Никто не ответил, только повторился стук в окно, сильный и резкий.

 

At night passers would see the fierce dead glare of the patent lamp.

(W.Falkner)

Ночью прохожие видели нестерпимо-яркий мертвенный свет неприкрытого щитом уличного фонаря.

 

The Spaniards ruled Sardinia for four centuries and gave Sardinians their aura of grave courtliness and their fierce pride.

Испанцы правили Сардинией  четыре столетия и привили сардинцам  суровую учтивость и необузданную гордость.

 

The element of vehemence is distinctly felt in all these uses of the word “fierce” corresponding to all its dictionary lexical-semantic variants. But in the following example the reference of the adjective “fierce” is suppressed by its emotive meaning and it is practically used as an expletive. Its vague referential meaning is commented upon by the writer.

 

In a fury of haste he dragged a bottle-green sweater over the dark red one he wore. “Gosh”, he exclaimed, “this is fierce”. What he designated as “fierce” can only be guessed, but probably referred to the furious speed with which life was moving. (M. de la Roche).

В безумной спешке он натянул  темно-зеленый свитер поверх темно-красного, который на нем был. «Черт возьми», - воскликнул он – «здорово». Что он хотел сказать этим, можно только догадываться, возможно он имел в виду ту бешеную скорость, с какой летела жизнь.

 

There are cases when fierce deprived of all reference becomes a mere intensifier/ the translation in such cases is purely contextual? E.g. fierce black hair, fierce red moustache – черные как смоль волосы, огненно-рыжие усы.

Sometimes different usage of different valency do not allow the use of the correlated Russian word with the same reference.

 

In the general strike, the fight against the depression, the antifascist struggle, and against Hitlerism the British Communist party played a proud role.

Во время всеобщей забастовки в борьбе против кризиса, в антифашистской борьбе в самой Англии и в борьбе против гитлеризма коммунистическая партия Великобритании играла выдающуюся роль.

 

“Proud” and «выдающийся» “have the same degree of intensity and may be regarded as emotive equivalents.

As has already been pointed out the emotive meaning of some adjectives and adverbs is pronounced that it suppresses their referential meaning and they come to be used merely as intensifiers. Their translation is achieved by Russian intensifiers irrespective of their reference.

 

Even judged by Tery standards, the level of the debate on the devaluation of the pound yesterday was abysmally low.

Даже с точки зрения консерваторов, дебаты в Палате Общин вчера по вопросу с девальвации фунта происходили на чрезвычайно (невероятно) низком уровне.

 

Rendering of Stylistic Meaning in Translation

 

Every word is stylistically marked according to the layer of the vocabulary it belongs to. Stylistically words can be subdivided into literary and non-literary. The greater part of the literary layer of the Modern English vocabulary is formed by words of general use (i.e. words of general purpose) possessing no special stylistic reference and known as neutral words. Neutral words comprise common colloquial words and common literary words as well. Colloquial words and some groups of literary words are expressive while neutral words are not.

The stylistic function of the different strata of the English vocabulary depends not so much on the inner qualities of each of the groups as on their interaction when opposed to one another.

 

“My dear Copperfield”, said Mr. Micawber, “this is luxurious. This is a way of life which reminds of a period when I was myself in a state of celibacy, and Mrs. Micawber had yet not been solicited to plight her faith at the Hymeneal altar.

(Ch. Dickens)

Mr. Micawber’s speech is characterized by highly literary, pompous words and phrases.

«Мой дорогой Копперфильд», - сказал мистер Микобер, - «Это роскошно». Этот образ жизни напоминает мне  о том времени, когда я сам  был в состоянии безбрачия, а миссис Микобер еще не умоляли принести клятвы на алтаре Гименея.

 

If you don’t keep your yap shut …     (J.Salinger)

Если ты не заткнешься…

 

Then he really let one go at me.

Тут он мне  врезал по-настоящему.

 

The examples from Salinger are in marked contrast to the quotation from Dickens. The words are not colloquial, but slang words, i.e. emphatically non-literary.

It would be an error to translate a neutral or a literary word by a colloquial one or a colloquial word by a literary one or to introduce a colloquial word in a literary context. A mistake of this nature occurs in the excellent translation of “The History of Henry Esmond” by E.Kalashnikova:

 

“She had recourse to the ultimo ratio of all women and burst into tears”.

Она прибегла к ultimo ratio всех женщин и ударилась в слезы.

 

The combination of a Latin phrase with a non-literary phrase is certainly jarring. The set expression “to burst into tears” is neutral and its equivalent would be залиться слезами. They possess an equal degree of expressiveness.

 

Translation of Phraseological Units

 

Phraseological units are usually classified into three big groups: phraseological fusions, phraseological unities and phraseological collocations.

Phraseological fusions are non-motivated groups forming indivisible wholes both semantically and syntactically. Their meaning in Modern English does not depend on the meaning of the component elements. They seldom, if ever, have equivalents in the S and T languages and are usually rendered by interpreting translation or by paraphrasing, e.g. to paint the lily – пытаться улучшить или украсить что-л., нуждающееся в улучшении или украшении; заниматься бесплодным делом; тратить время или силы попусту. To show the white feather – струсить, проявить трусость.

The meaning of a phraseological fusion may naturally be rendered by different synonyms, e.g. to go the whole hog – делать что-л. основательно, проводить до конца, не останавливаться на полумерах, идти на все.

Phraseological unities are motivated units of Modern English; their components are not semantically bound. They are often figurative and the transference of meaning is either metaphorical or metonymical, e.g. to drop a brick – допустить бестактность, сделать ляпсус, промах; monkey business – всякие штучки, фокусы, глупости, дурачества; to eat humble pie – проглотить обиду, смириться.

This group of phraseological units is heterogeneous and comprises proverbs, proverbial sayings, allusions, euphemisms, professionalisms, e.g.

 

Little pitchers have long ears – дeти любят слушать разговоры взрослых; What will Mrs. Grundy say? – Что скажут люди?

 

Phraseological unities differ by their structure, by their syntactical function in a sentence and by their stylistic features.

According to the principle of their translation phraseological unities can be divided into three groups:

• Phraseological unities having Russian counterparts, which have the same meaning expressed by a similar image. They can often be traced to the same source – biblical, mythological, Latin proverbs or sayings, e.g. a living dog is better than a dead lion (bibl.) – живой пес лучше мертвого льва; not all is gold that glitters – не все то золото, что блестит; to cut the Gordian knot (myth.) – разрубить гордиев узел.
• Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings having the same meaning but expressing it by a different image.