Translating the zero article

The main functions of the zero article are as follows:

· generalizing

· totalizing

· qualifying

· individualizing

The generalizing zero article indicates an abstract notion expressed by the noun rather than a concrete object. Therefore, it can be compensated by the following words: вообще, как таковой, if any: Woman is physically weaker than man. – Женщина вообще физически слабее мужчины. Life is short. – Жизнь (как таковая) коротка.

When usage of the zero article with the noun in the plural is close to that of the classifying indefinite article with the noun in the singular, the compensating pronoun все can be used: Museums are closed on Mondays. – В понедельник закрыты все музеи.

The totalizing zero article indicates that two or more objects are considered as a single unit, as a whole.134 As such, the sentence can be translated either word for word or with the help of a resumptive word: He gave us ink, paper and penand asked us to put down everything we could remember about the accident.135 – Он дал нам ручку, чернила и бумагу и попросил написать все, что мы могли вспомнить об этом несчастном случае. Он дал нам все, что нужно для письма: ручку, чернила и бумагу - и попросил написать все, что вспомним об этом несчастном случае.

The qualifying zero article is used with the nouns referring to action, state, and /or quality rather than object: I’m really tired and I’m going to bed. – Я действительно устала и собираюсь лечь спать. He was soldier enough to fight that battle to its bitter end. – У него было достаточно мужества, чтобы выдержать битву до ее горького конца. He translated word for word. – Он все перевел дословно. Thus, to translate a sentence with the qualifying article, we often have to resort to substitution of a part of speech.

The individualizing zero article should be taken into account, first and foremost, in translating from Russian into English. It is common knowledge that no article is used with proper nouns. However, this article can also be characteristics of common nouns, referring to members of one’s own family (in this case, the nouns are usually capitalized): I hope Unclewill not be late, because Grandmother is rather tired and so is Mother. – Надеюсь, что дядя не опоздает, так как бабушка довольно устала, и мама тоже. The article, thus, helps to understand whose family is meant, the speaker’s or somebody else’s: The puppies looked just like the neighbor’s dog, so we assumed it was the father. – Щенята были очень похожи на соседского пса, поэтому мы предположили, что это был их отец.

The individualizing zero article is also typical of address: Почему ты плачешь, девочка? – Why do you cry, little girl? This article is also used with nouns modified by postpositional cardinal numerals: Откройте книги на странице 20. – Please open your books to page 20.

Chapter 7. TRANSLATING ATTRIBUTIVE CLUSTERS

FEATURES OF THE ATTRIBUTIVE PHRASE

The attributive cluster is a group of words with a key noun and a number of attributive components modifying it. The average number of attributes is 7 ± 2. The attributes can be expressed by an adjective (a gold ring), by a noun (a golden heart), or by a compound phrase similar to a clause (the I-don’t-know-you expression on her face).

The order of attributes is not random. In English, closest to the key noun come the “factual” (objective) attributes (according to the general rule: the closer in meaning, the nearer in position), then the evaluative (subjective) attributes. Thus, some grammarians formulate the rule for the order of attributes before the noun: “OPSHACOM”, where OP stands for OPINION adjectives (beautiful, horrible, nice), SH for SHAPE adjectives (long, short, round, narrow), A for AGE (old, new, young), C for COLOR (red, black, orange), O for ORIGIN (British, Canadian, German), M for MATERIAL (plastic, metal, aluminum). For example, it is correct to say a nice long new black Chinese wooden pen, and it would be unnatural to change the word order.

In English the attributive phrase based on subordinate relations between the key word and the attributes consists of components belonging to different semantic groups, whereas in Russian we can come across semantically homogeneous elements: масло масляное, день деньской (*butter butter is absolutely impossible).

Semantic relations between the components of the attributive phrase can vary. Besides those mentioned, the attribute can denote the following: place (a beach house), time (evening newspaper), characteristics (overtime ban), reason (sickness pay), object (fish export), source (membership fees), purpose (face cream), subject (UNESCO call) and others.

There may be phrases in which the semantic relations could be interpreted in different ways. For example, Hong Kong proposals can be understood as a) proposals made in Hong Kong (place), b) proposals concerning Hong Kong (characteristics), c) proposals made when Hong Kong did not belong to China, before it got a new name of Xianggang (time). In this case only the context gives a clue to the correct understanding of the meaning.