Rendering of Geographical Names

Tradition is very strong in rendering this group of words. They are often rendered according to the usage of earlier days, e.g. Dover ■ Дувр, Texas - Техас, Hull - Гулль, etc.

But in some cases the tradition has been abandoned in favour of transcription. So Virginia is now Вирджиния, not Виргиния, and Hull is often rendered as Халл. Extended names are often translated: the Cape of Good Hope - Мыс Доброй Надежды.

Rendering of the Names of Institutions. Periodicals, Hotels. Streets, etc.

These classes of proper names are usually transcribed, e.g.

General Motors - Дженерал Моторс, Times - Тайме. Hotel Carlton - отель «Карлтон», Bayswater Road - Байсуотер Роуд.

But the "telling names" of old inns as well as the names of streets in historical novels are translated; The Red Lion - гостиница «Красный Лев». The "Economist" publishing office is in Threadneedle street - редакция журнала «Экономист» помещается на Треднидл стрит, but "tailors lived in Threadneedle street" - портные жили на улице «Иголка с ниткой»

Translation of terms

Terms are generally associated with a definite branch of science. They are characterised by a tendency to be monosemantic in a given branch of science and technology and therefore easily call forth the required concept: calorie - калория, equator - экватор, polysemantic - многозначный, etc. But it should be taken into consideration that one and the same term may have different meaning in different branches of science, e.g. line 1) конвейер, поточная линия 2) трубопровод. In some cases the recent terminological explosion has produced polysemy even within the same branch (e.g. поджигающий электрод - in electronics may be keep-alive electrode or trigger electrode).

There is another group of words of terminological nature: names of animals, birds, etc, e.g. tiger-тигр, cat-кошка, swallow-ласточка. These words may acquire a figurative meaning in the source - language which has no equivalent in the target-language, e.g. tiger had a transferred meaning (now rare) "smart-liveried small boy as groom" (Concise Oxford Dictionary) - маленький жокей, мальчик-жокей.

Names of plants also belong to this group: oak - дуб, lily-of-the-valley - ландыш, as well as names of natural elements, names of the days of the week, of months and numerals: oxygen - кислород, Thursday - четверг, July - июль, thousand - тысяча, million -миллион.

Despecialization of terms in news media may occasionally pose a translation problem (the launching pad for his career-трамплин для его карьеры).

LECTURE 7

TRANSLATION OF POLYSEMANTIC, PSEUDO-INTERNATIONAL WORDS AND "NON-EQUIVALENTS"

Translation of Polysemantic Words

Different meanings of polysemantic words are revealed in the context. The term "context" is understood as the minimum stretch of speech diagnosing each individual meaning of the word. The context individualizes the meanings, brings them out.

The context reveals concrete or abstract meanings of a word, its direct or transferred meaning, e.g. the word "truth" is used in its concrete everyday meaning in the phrase "Tell me the truth" - «Скажи мне всю правду», while in the following sentence "To understand and to know the reality, it is necessary to have a theory of knowledge corresponding to truth (R. Fox, Marxism and literature) the word "truth" is used in its abstract philosophical meaning «истина». Для того, чтобы постигнуть и понять действительность, необходимо иметь теорию познания, соответствующую истине. In the following examples the context reveals direct and transferred meanings of the word "to cripple". "Smith was crippled in the war" - «Смит был искалечен на войне» (direct meaning), "Reactionaries cripple the national movement in Africa" - «Реакционеры подрывают национально освободительное движение в Африке» (transferred meaning).

The context also reveals a free or bound use of the word. He made a pace or two forward, (free) - Он сделал шага два вперед. Не kept pace with the times (bound) - Он не отставал от века. In this latter case the word "pace" forms part of a phraseological unity and is translated by a corresponding phraseological unity.

Here are some more examples. The adjective "brittle" developed a new figurative meaning used to describe "tone", "looks", "temper", etc.

"He has a brittle - easily loses his temper. (Hornby)

A brittle smile -деланная улыбка - (a forced smile) Kathleen was as white as Cade had been the day Scarlett called, white and hard and brittle( M. Mitchell) Катлин была бледна как Кейд в тот день, когда Скарлет заехала к ним. На её лице было застывшее, жестокое выражение. The context is not always limited to a minimum stretch of speech (microcontext). Sometimes macrocontext ( a paragraph, a chapter or even a whole book) is necessary for a correct interpretation of the meaning. Describing Becky Sharp Thackeray writes: "The wretched woman was in a brilliant full toilet". Knowing Thackeray's negative attitude toward Becky, of the two meanings of the word "wretched" - (1) несчастная, (2) негодная the latter should be used in the translation of this sentence: Негодная/коварная/ женщина была в ослепительном туалете.

Translation of Pseudo-International Words

There is a distinct group of words, which constitute a special difficulty for the translator, the so-called pseudo-international words. As distinct from genuine international words which have a more or less similar phonetic form and carry the same meaning (electronics -электроника, cybernetics - кибернетика, algebra - алгебра, the pseudo-international words differ in meaning from language to language either completely, e.g. commutator- коллектор, complexion - цвет лица, or partially elevator- 1) элеватор, 2) лифт.

They are known as the translator's "false friends". Although they are warned against them, translators are often deceived by formal resemblance into making errors. Here are some examples of such words and their equivalents in Russian: There were attempts to sabotage key services in Santiago (the Economist, 1974) - Делались попытки вывести из строя основные объекты коммунального обслуживания в Сантьяго.

We are told that BBC television this autumn will give a massive coverage to the general election (Morning Star, 1968) - Сообщили, что нынешней осенью передачи Би-Би-Си по телевидению будут широко освещать парламентские выборы.

The Russian word «прогресс» is monosemantic and has positive connotations. The meaning of the English "progress" is neutral and can apply to any movement as can be seen from the title of Hogarth' picture "Rake's Progress" - «Жизнь повесы», or from the following examples: Her progress about London during that first week was one thrilling adventure (H. Walpole) Её знакомство с Лондоном в ту первую неделю было сплошным увлекательным приключением.

Sometimes the meaning of international words is identical in English and in Russian but the collocation pattern is different which prevents the use of the Russian word in translation.

Never before in the history of the world have there been so many persons engaged in the translation of both secular and religious materials (E. Nida and Ch. Taber, The Theory and Practice of Translation).

Although the meanings of the words "religious" - религиозный and" materials" - материалы are identical, the collocation «религиозные материалы» is quite impossible in Russian. An adequate translation would be: Ещё никогда в истории человечества столько людей не занималось переводом как светской, так и духовной литературы.

Rendering of Contextual Meanings

A contextual meaning arises in the context. It should not be regarded as part of the semantic structure of the word. Every word possesses an enormous potentiality for generating new contextual meanings. These occasional contextual meanings are not arbitary, but are always predetermined by the semantic structure of the word. It largely depends upon the semantic context. A contextual meaning possible in one language is impossible in another.

In an atomic war women and children will be the first hostages (D.W.) Первыми жертвами в атомной войне будут женщины и дети.

In this sentence the contextual meaning of the word "hostage" is the "victim". This contextual is evidently implicit in its dictionary meaning. A similar contextual meaning cannot be generated by the Russian word «заложник». Thus the word «жертва» is the only possible equivalent.

The word "exploitation" acquires an unexpected contextual meaning in the following sentence: Britain's worldwide exploitation was shaken by colonial Liberation Movement. (D.W.)

The contextual meaning was formed metonymically: every colonial system is based on exploitation which is the foundation of colonial power. The Russian word «эксплуатация» can not generate similar contextual meaning. A possible equivalent will also be formed metonymically: Колониальное могущество Англии было потрясено до основания национально-освободительным движением в колониях.

Contextual meanings often produce a strong effect, performing a stylistic function of "deceived expectancy". The translator is confronted with a double difficulty: he should avoid toning it down and must not violate the norms of the target-language.

Translation of "Non-equivalents"

The so-called "non-equivalents" are the words of the source-language which either have no equivalents in the target language or no equivalent denotatum in the target culture. They may be divided into two groups. The first group consists of the so-called realia-words denoting things, objects, features of national life, customs, habits, etc., e.g. House of Commons, thane, coroner, teach-in, drive-in, cricket, etc.

The second group embraces words, which for some linguistic reason have no equivalent in the target language: conservationist, readership, glimpse, etc.

Three Ways Of Rendering Non-Equivalents

1. By direct borrowing(transliteration or transcription): impeachment - импичмент, thane - тан, mayor - мэр, know-how - ноу- хау. The latter is now used as a term in official documents, trade agreements etc. But the translator should not abuse his right to use loan words and should avoid overburdening the Russian text with numerous and often unnecessary borrowings. This tendency for indiscriminate borrowings of words denoting foreign realia was strongly opposed by the famous Soviet translator I .A. Kashkin. (И.А. Кашкин, «Ложный принцип и неприемлемые результаты», Иностранные языки в школе, М, 1952, № 2.)

Such borrowings, as пресс-релиз, тич-ин are frequently not understood by the general reader. It is often better to resort to interpreting translation to make the notion clear: tribalism- племенной строй, press-release - материалы для прессы, teach-in -собрание преподавателей и студентов колледжа или университета для выражения критических взглядов по политическим и социальным вопросам.

2.By translation loans.House of Commons - Палата общин, backbencher - заднескамеечник, brain-drain - утечка мозгов.

3.By descriptive or interpreting translation.Landslide - победа на выборах с огромным перевесом голосов, a stringer (Am.) - частично занятый корреспондент, труд которого оплачивается из расчета количества слов, wishful thinking – принимание желаемого за действительное.

The action of Congress and of North Carolina and Tennessee statesmen, aided by gifts of wise conservationists, have set this land aside as a Great Smoky National Park. (National Geographic, 1964).

Эта местность на берегу реки Смоки-хилл была превращена в Национальный парк благодаря усилиям Конгресса и государственный деятелей штатов Северная Каролина и Теннесси, а также благодаря пожертвованиям любителей природы, понимающих важность ее сохранения.

LECTURE 8