Lecture 1

The Theory and the Craft of Translation

1. Is Translation an Art or a Craft?

Translation is a means of interlingual communication. But is it an art or a craft?

This question has been under debate for many years. According to Natalia Strelkova
“Ideally, the translator is like a talented artist who when he looks at his sitter or a
landscape, sees something more than the ordinary viewer – he sees the essence of
what is in front of him.” A good translator always processes “the textual information
to allow the reader to see what he sees and feel what he is feeling. He acts as an
invisible bridge between the author and the reader. That is what makes translation an
art.” (N. Strelkova. Introduction to Russian-English Translation. New York, 2012, p. 1)
On the other hand, mastery of craft is important, too, for an inept, ineffectual
translator or interpreter can wreak havoc on any effort at communication. (N. Strelkova.
Introduction to Russian-English Translation. New York, 2012, p. 1)

The following example is just a case in point.

Hand-made in every detail, fused to the body of the model who displays it, an haute
couture dress is a wearable sculpture.

The literal translation of this sentence will be the following: Сделанное вручную в
каждой детали, слившееся с телом модели, которая его демонстрирует,
платье высокой моды – это пригодная для носки скульптура.

fuse - объединяться, сливаться

wearable – пригодный для носки

1. To translate this sentence correctly, we’ll have to analyze its components on

different levels, namely: lexical, grammatical and stylistic.
2. Then we should “decode” and reformulate these elements according to the
norms of the Russian language. This stage of translation requires specific skills
which are called translator’s competence. So, we can say that translation is a
craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and statement in one
language by the same message and statement in another language.

Taking all these facts into account, this sentence can be translated like that: Изготовленное вручную до малейших деталей, подчеркивающее
фигуру модели, которая его демонстрирует, платье высокой моды – это настоящее произведение искусства.
The term translation has several meanings: it can refer to the general subject field,
the product (the text that has been translated) or the process (the act of producing the
translation, otherwise known as translating).

The process of translation between two different written languages involves the
translator changing an original written text (the source text or ST) in the original
verbal language (the source language or SL) into a written text (the target text or
TT) in a different verbal language (the target language or TL). (Introducing Translation
Studies, p. 5)

2. The Theory of Translation as a Linguistic Science

The core of the translation theory is the general theory of translation which is
concerned with the fundamental aspects of translation inherent in the nature of
bilingual communication and therefore common to all translation events, irrespective
of what languages are involved or what kind of text and under what circumstances
was translated.
The basis of this theory is linguistics in the broadest sense of the word, that is,
macrolinguistics with all its new branches, such as psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics,
text linguistics, communicative linguistics, etc.
The task of the theory of translation is a theoretical description of the
translation phenomenon.
The aims of the theory of translation are:
1) to describe general linguistic principles of translation;
2) to elaborate the principles of types of translation;
3) to define the notion of equivalence and / or adequacy in translation;
4) to describe the process (the notion) of translation from the scientific point of view;
5) to reveal pragmatic and social-linguistic factors of translation;
6) to define the notion of norm in translation (for example, professional norms, which
regulate the translation process itself, linguistic norms as related to the language
system, communicative norms as related to communicative behavior, production
norms which concern the methods and strategies by which a correct product can be
achieved, etc. (Current Issues In Language and Society Volume 5, Issue 1-2, 1998, Cristina
Schaffner The Concept of Norms in Translation, Studies, p. 1)
One of the outstanding scientists who influenced the development of the theory of
translation was Eugene Nida. (He is also famous for his translation of the Bible).
Central to Nida’s work is the move away from the old idea that an orthographic
word has a fixed meaning and towards a functional definition of meaning in which a
word ‘acquires’ meaning through its context and can produce varying responses
according to culture. (Introducing Translation Studies, p. 39)
Fyodorov stresses that translation theory is an independent linguistic discipline,
deriving from observations and providing the basis for practice. He believes that all
experience is translatable and rejects the view that language expresses a peculiar
mental word-picture (словесное изображение).
Comissarov sees translation theory moving in three directions:
1) the denotative (informational translation);
2) the semantic (precise equivalence);
3) the transformational (transposition of relevant structures).

3. Translation Studies as an Academic Discipline

Translation studies is the academic discipline related to the study of the theory
and phenomena of translation. By its nature it is multilingual and also
interdisciplinary, encompassing any language combinations, various branches of
linguistics, comparative literature, communication studies, philosophy and a range of
types of cultural studies (культурология) as well as sociology and historiography.
(Introducing Translation Studies, p. 1)
Translation studies contains elements of social science and the humanities
(гуманитарные науки) and deals with the systematic study of the theory, the
description and the application of translation, interpreting or both these activities.
Translation studies has become more prominent in recent years due to:
1) a proliferation of specialized translating and interpreting courses at both
undergraduate and postgraduate level, which are mainly oriented towards
training future professional translators and interpreters.
2) a proliferation of conferences, books and journals on the theory and practice
of translation (The Journal of Translation and New Voices, The Linguist, The
ITI Bulletin and In Other Words).
3) The work of such international organizations as the Canadian Association
for Translation Studies, the European Society for Translation Studies, etc.,
which bring together translation studies scholars nationally and internationally.
This thesis can be illustrated with the following example: the book by Jeremy
Munday INTRODUCING TRANSLATION STUDIES. Theories and applications
contains material on historical sources, the works on ethics, ideology, sociology,
historiography and other branches of science.
3. A Brief History of Translation
Throughout history, written and spoken translations have played a crucial role in
interhuman communication. The first traces of translation date from 3000 BC during
the Egyptian Old Kingdom, where inscriptions in two languages were found. The
practice of translation was discussed by, for example, Cicero and Horace (first century
BCE) and St Jerome (fourth century CE). Their writings were to exert an important
influence up until the 20-th century. For example, St Jerome’s approach to translating
the Greek Septuagint into Latin would affect later translations of the Scriptures.
Indeed, in Western Europe the translation of the Bible was to be the battleground of
conflicting ideologies. In China, it was the translation of the Buddhist sutras that
inaugurated a long discussion on translation practice.
It should be mentioned that in academic circles translation was previously
relegated to just a language-learning activity. But today thanks to cross-cultural
communication translation got enhanced importance and we see the rapid growth in
this area, particularly over the last decde.

4. Ethics of Translation

Criterion Its characteristics

Preparation and Professional translators need comprehensive mastery of

qualifications grammar, syntax and vocabulary of both the source and target
languages (linguistic competence), and in-depth understanding
of cultural norms.
Professional translators must have knowledge of the pertinent
Knowledge of subject matter.
the subject of
translation

The 1. Professional translators should refuse to translate from a TT

relationship unless with the consent of the author.
with the author 2. If they want to alter some part of the text, they may do it
only with the author's consent.
1. In the case of co-translation, the names of all the translators
The must appear on TT.
relationships
with colleagues 2. A translator must refuse work detrimental to a fellow
translator.

Confidentiality A translator must respect professional secrets. He must not

divulge any information obtained during the performance of
his services, including access to documentation or reports.

Impartiality A translator should remain neutral, unbiased and impartial with

regard to either party's gender, disability, race, ethnicity or
national origin, age, educational level, socioeconomic status,
religious or political beliefs.
 5. Criteria for Assessing the Translator’s Competence

The translator’s competence is the ability to render a target language text into a
source language text in accordance with all agreements. It consists of the following
sub-competences: linguistic, cultural, textual, subject, research, and transfer
competence.

Competence Its characteristics

Linguistic The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL

and TL.

Cultural Cultural competence comprises four components:

(a) awareness of one's own cultural worldview;

(b) attitude towards cultural differences;

(c) knowledge of different cultural practices and

worldviews;

(d) cross-cultural skills.

Textual It consists in being proficient in combining linguistic forms

(текстовый) to produce a written or oral text in different genres or text
types.

Subject Knowledge of the ST subject is essential as it allows the

translator to provide clear insight into the core ideas of the
original work in the TT.

Research The translator should have the ability to acquire and process
information.

Transfer To make the TT accurate and complete, the translator must

know the principles guiding translation, such as processes,
methods, procedures, and so forth.
 The Chartered Institute of Linguists’ (IoL) Diploma in Translation is the most
widely known initial qualification for translators in the UK. Its Notes for Candidates
gave the following criteria for assessing the translation:
1) accuracy: the correct transfer of information and evidence of complete
comprehension;
2) the appropriate choice of vocabulary, idiom, terminology and register (регистр,
стиль; уровень (произношения, чистоты речи и т. п.));
3) cohesion (связность), coherence (логичность, последовательность,
обоснованность) and organization;
4) accuracy in technical aspects of pronunciation, etc. (Introducing Translation
Studies, p. 31)

Lecture 2
The Translation Process

1. Classification of the Types (Methods) of Translation

Different types of translation can be singled out depending on the predominant

communicative function of the source text or the form of speech involved in the
translation process. Thus we distinguish between the following types of translation:
№ Criterion Characteristics of the type of translation
1 According to the 1. Informative translation is rendering into the target
overall ST language non-literary texts, the main purpose of which is
function we to convey a certain amount of ideas, that is, to provide
distinguish information to readers. The source texts can be
between represented by scientific and technical texts, newspaper
informative and materials, official papers, public speeches, political and
literary propaganda materials, advertisements, etc.
translation. 2. Literary translation (novels, short stories, plays,
poems, etc.) involves various lexical, grammatical and
stylistic techniques as each genre calls for a specific
arrangement and makes use of specific artistic means to
impress the reader.
2 According to the Semantic translation attempts render, as close as the
translation semantic and syntactic structures of the second language
approach used in allow, the exact contextual meaning of the original. It is
producing the appropriate for translation of serious literature,
target text, autobiography, ‘personal effusion’, any important
translations can political or other statement (Introducing translation studies,
 be characterized p. 44-45) whose content is addressed to specialists.
as semantic or Ex: the translation of legislation and legal documents.
communicative. Communicative translation attempts to produce on its
readers an effect as close as possible to that obtained on
the readers of the original (Introducing translation studies, p.
44-45) whose content is addressed to the general reader.
Ex: the translation of Pushkin’s poems.
3 According to the 1) ‘literal’ translation / word-for-word translation
degree of (дословный перевод) consists in mechanical
modification substitution of the elements of the original text for their
introduced in the equivalence in the language of the TT (Ex: to play with
translation, it can fire – играть с огнем);
be literal or free. 2) ‘free’ translation / sense-for-sense translation
(вольный перевод) means rendering the most essential
things of a ST without formal correspondences being
taken into account. ((Introducing Translation Studies, p. 20)
4 According to the Selective translation is a translation of selected parts of
integrality of a document (the extraction of information). It covers not
translation, i.e. only translation of certain passages in a text but also
the amount of the abstracts or summaries prepared on the basis of a ST in
ST translated, another language. (Roda P. Roberts, Towards a Typology of
translation can be Translations, p. 74)
either full or Full translation is a translation of the whole piece of
selective. writing, whose content is so important for the recipient
that it should be translated into the TL in detail. The
most widely used methods of full translation are literal
translation, semantic translation and communicative
translation.
5 According to the 1. Oral translation is commonly known as interpreting
medium of or interpretation.
translation the
translation can be There are two main kinds of oral translation –
oral and written. consecutive (последовательный) and simultaneous
(синхронный перевод). In consecutive translation the
translating starts after the original speech or some part of
it has been completed.
In simultaneous interpretation the interpreter is
supposed to be able to give his translation while the
speaker is uttering the original message.
2. Written is the reproduction of the content of the
original document by means of the language of
translation in written form.
 The Russo-American linguist Roman Jakobson (Jacobson
1959/2000 'On Linguistic Aspects of Translation') makes a very
important distinction between three types of written
translation:

1. intralingual translation - translation within the

same language, which can involve rewording, or
paraphrase;
2. interlingual translation - translation from one
language to another, and
3. intersemiotic translation - translation of the
verbal sign by a non-verbal sign, for example
music or image.

Back-translation and adaptive translation are another two

types of written translation.

"Back-translation" is a translation of a translated text

back into the language of the original text, made without
reference to the original text.

Adaptive translation represents the concept of the

original but it is different because a created text cannot
be substituted for the original text completely. Adaptive
translation is characterized by the following features:
simplification + interpretation. Its aim is to make the TT
clear to certain groups of people who don’t possess
certain professional or other types of knowledge to
understand this material if it were translated word-
for-word.
6 According to the Machine translation (MT) is a sub-field of
ways of computational linguistics that investigates the use of
employing the computer software to translate text or speech from one
newest natural language to another.
technologies we
distinguish Computer-assisted translation (CAT), also called
between machine "computer-aided translation," "machine-aided human
translation, translation" (MAHT) and "interactive translation," is a
computer form of translation wherein a human translator creates a
translation and target text with the assistance of a computer program.
web-based The machine supports a human translator.
human
 translation.
Web-based human translation is generally favored by
companies and individuals that seek more accurate
translators. In view of the frequent inaccuracy of
machine translators, human translation remains the most
reliable, most accurate form of translation available.

2. Translation Strategy

Hurtado Albir proposes the following definition of translation strategy: “Strategy

is the procedure used by the translator to solve problems that emerge when carrying
out the translation process with a particular objective in mind” (Hurtado Albir 1996,
1999).
According to Chesterman translation strategy is “a plan that is implemented in a
given context.” (2005: 26).
Jaaskelainen (2005: 71) considers strategy as, "a series of competencies, a set of
steps or processes that favor the acquisition, storage, and utilization of information".
"A 'strategy' is a generalization about typical courses-of-action exhibited by
professional translators" (Neubert and Shreve, 1992: 52); they are the standard tools
of the trade, the procedures offering a solution to the various types of problems
encountered in the translation task.
It is worth mentioning that translation techniques affect the micro-units of text and
the results of translation, while translation strategies affect the process of translation.
Translators use strategies for comprehension (e.g., distinguish main and
secondary ideas, establish conceptual relationships, search for information) and for
reformulation (e.g., paraphrase, retranslate, say out loud, avoid words that are close to
the original). Because strategies play an essential role in problem solving, they are a
central part of the subcompetencies that make up translation competence.

3. Stages of Translating Process

Description of the translating process is one of the major tasks of the translation
theory. The most widespread approach to organizing the translating process includes
several steps:

1. Review the material you are going to translate so that you can understand its intent
and content. Use your linguistic competence and ‘world knowledge’ (de-verbalized,
theoretical, general, encyclopaedic and cultural) to grasp the sense of the ST.
2. Identify its genre or functional style.
3. Identify the problems you may come across in the process of translation.
4. Identify the units of translation.
5. Make a draft translation.
6. Leave a little extra time to review the text after having finished translating. You
should take a break and look at the text with a new perspective, which will allow you
to improve your work.
7. Then edit this version:
- check the translation against the original to ensure accuracy of content;
- proofread it carefully to correct typographical errors and grammatical mistakes.
8. Translate the headline.
9. The final stage involves going over your draft to verify that the text reads as one
originally produced in the target language - not as a 'translation'.

4. The Problem of the Unit of Translation (UT)

Being one of the fundamental concepts always argued about in the realm of
translation, the unit of translation (UT) has been given various definitions by different
theorists. Some linguists say that a word can’t be the UT because the boundaries
between words aren’t clear and it is difficult to single out a separate word in speech.
For example, the noun ice cream and the phrase I scream are pronounced the same.
That’s why these authors reject a word as a UT.

Shuttleworth and Cowie (1997) define it as: "a term used to refer to the linguistic
level at which ST is recodified in TL" (p. 192). In other words, it's an element with
which the translator decides to work while translating the ST. Barkhudarov (1993)
defines a UT as the smallest unit of SL which has an equivalent in TL". He
recommends that this unit of translation, no matter how long, can itself have a
complex structure although its parts separately cannot be translated and replaced by
any equivalent in the TL.

Newmark insists that the unit of translation, understood as a segment of the

original text from which the translator can begin his or her reformulation in a different
language, is part of a movable scale: “The word, the lexical unit, the collocation, the
group, the clause and the sentence–rarely the paragraph, never the text”.

On the whole, in modern language the UT is distinguished on the following levels:

Level Its characteristics Example

1 The level of Though a phoneme doesn’t bare Sutherland - Сатерленд
phonemes an independent meaning of its (графство Шотландии)
own, it is sometimes used as a
UT. In this case a phoneme of a [Ө] – [t]
SL is substituted for the similar
in articulation and acoustic
features phoneme in the TL or
 graphemes in writing.
2 The level of The adoption by the TL of a Backbencher -
morphemes compound word whose "заднескамеечник" (рядовой
components are literal член парламента)
translations of the components
of a corresponding compound back is a root, bench is a root,
in the SL. -er is a suffix
3 The level of The unit of the TL is one word Tom thanked his teachers. –
words and it is much more frequently Том поблагодарил своих
used in the SL. But such cases учителей.
are too limited. Only some
words in a sentence find their
correspondence in the TL.
4 The level of Very often their meanings are To plough the sands -
collocations not equal to the meanings of заниматься бесполезным
(phrases) their components (that is the делом / тратить силы
words they consist of). And in впустую
this case they are translated by
means of their equivalents in But if an interform of the phrases
coincides in both languages, the
the TL.
literal translation is possible.

Pandora's box - ящик

Пандоры (источник всяческих
бедствий)
5 The level of When a translator segments a On December 23, 1856,
sentences text into translation units, the cries of new life swelled from
larger these units are, the better a North Carolina farmhouse,
chance there is of obtaining an their source a baby boy named
idiomatic translation. James Buchanan Duke. The
lad would have far more
impact on the world than the
failed president his name
honored.
23 декабря 1856 года с
фермы, расположенной в
Северной Каролине,
донеслись крики
новорожденного,
возвестившего о своем
появлении на этот свет. Это
был мальчик, которого
 нарекли Джеймс Бучанан
Дьюк. Парнишка этот
повлиял на мир куда
больше, чем неудачник-
президент, в честь которого
он был назван.
(Steiner, John F., Steiner, George A.
Business, Government, and Society: A
Managerial Perspective, Text and Cases.
USA, 2011. Ch. 3)
6 The level of On this level more attention is For example, compare the
text paid to producing a naturally Russian translation of Ch.
reading TT than to preserving Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre with
the ST wording intact. the original.

AIS Lecture 1

TRANSLATION THEORY: OBJECT AND OBJECTIVES

Points:

Basic assumptions

Translation studies

Basic assumptions

Translation is a means of interlingual communication. The translator makes

possible an exchange of information between the users of different languages by
producing in the target language (TL or the translating language) a text which has an
identical communicative value with the source (or original) text (ST). This target text
(TT, that is the translation) is not fully identical with ST as to its form or content due
to the limitations imposed by the formal and semantic differences between the source
language (SL) and TL. Nevertheless the users of TT identify it, to all intents and
purposes, with ST - functionally, structurally and semantically. The functional
identification is revealed in the fact that the users (or the translation receptors — TR)
handle TT in such a way as if it were ST, a creation of the source text author. The
translation is published, quoted, criticized, etc. as if it really belonged to the foreign
Source. A Britisher may find in his paper the phrase "The French President made the
following statement yesterday" and then read the statement in quotation marks. He is
sure that he has read what the French President really said, which is certainly not true
to fact since the President spoke French and what is cited in the paper is not the
original text but something different: an English text produced by some obscure
translator who blandly passes his statement for the French statesman's.

A book in Russian may bear the title: «Ч. Диккенс. Тяжелые времена» and
the readers are convinced that they are reading a novel by Ch. Dickens no matter how
close it actually is to the original text. They may make judgements on its merits, say,
"I like Dickens" or "Dickens's style is somewhat artificial" or "Dickens's vocabulary
is very rich", etc. as if they have really had access to the author's work.

The functional status of a translation is supported by its structural and

semantic similarity with the original. The translator is expected to refrain from any
remarks or intrusions in his text which may betray his authorship thereof. He is
expected to efface himself as fully as he can to avoid interference with the process of
communication between S and TR.

The structure of the translation should follow that of the original text: there
should be no change in the sequence of narration or in the arrangement of the
segments of the text.

The aim is maximum parallelism of structure which would make it possible to

relate each segment of the translation to the respective part of the original. It is
presumed that any breach of parallelism is not arbitrary but dictated by the need for
precision in conveying the meaning of the original. The translator is allowed to resort
to a description or interpretation, only in case "direct translation" is impossible.

Structural parallelism makes it possible to compare respective units in the

original text and in the translation so as to discover elements which have equivalents
and those which have not, elements which have been added or omitted in translation,
etc. In other words, similarity in structure is preserved in respect to the smallest
segments of the text.

Of major importance is the semantic identification of the translation with ST.

It is presumed that the translation has the same meaning as the original text. No
exchange of information is possible if there is discrepancy between the transmitted
and the received message. The presumption of semantic identity between ST and TT
is based on the various degrees of equivalence of their meanings. The translator
usually tries to produce in TL the closest possible equivalent to ST

As a kind of practical activities translation (or the practice of translation) is a

set of actions performed by the translator while rendering ST into another language.
These actions are largely intuitive and the best results are naturally achieved by
translators who are best suited for the job, who are well-trained or have a special
aptitude, a talent for it. Masterpieces in translation are created by the past masters of
the art, true artists in their profession. At its best translation is an art, a creation of a
talented, high-skilled professional.

As any observable phenomenon, translation can be the object of scientific

study aimed at understanding its nature, its components and their interaction as well
as various factors influencing it or linked with it in a meaningful way. The science of
translation or translatology is concerned both with theoretical and applied aspects of
translation studies. A theoretical description of the translation phenomenon is the task
of the theory of translation. Theoretical research is to discover what translation is, to
find out what objective factors underlie the translator's intuition, to describe the ways
and methods by which the identity of the communicative value of ST and TT is
achieved. The objective knowledge obtained can then be used to help the translator to
improve his performance as well as to train future translators

The theory of translation provides the translator with the appropriate tools of
analysis and synthesis, makes him aware of what he is to look for in the original text,
what type of information he must convey in TT and how he should act to achieve his
goal. In the final analysis, however, his trade remains an art. For science gives the
translator the tools, but it takes brains, intuition and talent to handle the tools with
great proficiency. Translation is a complicated phenomenon involving linguistic,
psychological, cultural, literary, ergonomical and other factors. Different aspects of
translation can be studied with the methods of the respective sciences. Up to date
most of theoretical research of translation has been done within the framework of
linguistics. The linguistic theory of translation is concerned with translation as a form
of speech communication establishing contact between communicants who speak
different languages. The basis of this theory is linguistics in the broadest sense of the
word, that is, macrolinguistics with all its new branches, such as psycholinguistics,
sociolinguistics, text linguistics, communicative linguistics, etc., studying the
language structure and its functioning in speech in their relationship to mind, culture
and society. Language, which makes possible communication between people, is part
of all human activities, of life itself.

The core of the translation theory is the general theory of translation which is
concerned with the fundamental aspects of translation inherent in the nature of
bilingual communication and therefore common to all translation events, irrespective
of what languages are involved or what kind of text and under what circumstances
was translated. Basically, replacement of ST by TT of the same communicative value
is possible because both texts are produced in human speech governed by the same
rules and implying the same relationships between language, reality and the human
mind. All languages are means of communication, each language is used to
externalize and shape human thinking, all language units are meaningful entities
related to non-linguistic realities, all speech units convey information to the
communicants. In any language communication is made possible through a
complicated logical interpretation by the users of the speech units, involving an
assessment of the meaning of the language signs against the information derived from
the contextual situation, general knowledge, previous experience, various associations
and other factors. The general theory of translation deals, so to speak, with translation
universals and is the basis for all other theoretical study in this area, since it describes
what translation is and what makes it possible

An important part of the general theory of translation is the theory of

equivalence aimed at studying semantic relationships between ST and TT. It has been
noted that there is a presumption of semantic identity between the translation and its
source text. At the same time it is easily demonstrable that there is, in fact, no such
identity for even a cursory examination of any translation reveals inevitable losses,
increments or changes of the information transmitted. Let us take an elementary
example. Suppose we have an English sentence 'The student is reading a book". Its
Russian translation will be «Студент читает книгу». This translation is a good
equivalent of the English sentence, but it is not identical in meaning. It can be pointed
out, for example, that the Russian sentence leaves out the meaning of the articles as
well as the specific meaning of the Continuous Tense. In Russian we do not get
explicit information that it is some definite student but not some particular book or
that the reading is in progress at the moment of speech. On the other hand, the
Russian sentence conveys some additional information which is absent in the source
text. We learn from it that the student is a male, while in ST it may just as well be a
female. Then the translation implies that the student in the case is a college
undergraduate, while in ST he may be a high school student or even a scholar, to say
nothing of the additional grammatical meaning conveyed by the grammatical aspect
of «читает», the gender of «книга» and so on. Part of this information, lost or added
in the translating process, may be irrelevant for communication, another part is
supplemented or neutralized by the contextual situation, but it is obvious that
translation equivalence does not imply an absolute semantic identity of the two texts.
The theory of equivalence is concerned with factors which prevent such an identity, it
strives to discover how close ST and TT can be and how close they are in each
particular case.

The general theory of translation describes the basic principles which bold
good for each and every translation event. In each particular case, however, the
translating process is influenced both by the common basic factors and by a number
of specific variables which stem from the actual conditions and modes of the
translator's work: the type of original texts he has to cope with, the form in which ST
is presented to him and the form in which he is supposed to submit his translation, the
specific requirements he may be called upon to meet in his work, etc.

Contemporary translation activities are characterized by a great variety of

types, forms and levels of responsibility. The translator has to deal with works of the
great authors of the past and of the leading authors of today, with intricacies of
science fiction and the accepted stereotypes of detective stories. He must be able to
cope with the elegancy of expression of the best masters of literary style and with the
tricks and formalistic experiments of modern avantgardists. The translator has to
preserve and fit into a different linguistic and social context a gamut of shades of
meaning and stylistic nuances expressed in the original text by a great variety of
language devices: neutral and emotional words, archaic words and new coinages,
metaphors and similes, foreign borrowings, dialectal, jargon and slang expressions,
stilted phrases and obscenities, proverbs and quotations, illiterate or inaccurate
speech, and so on and so forth.

The original text may deal with any subject from general philosophical
principles or postulates to minute technicalities in some obscure field of human
endeavour. The translator has to tackle complicated specialized descriptions and
reports on new discoveries in science or technology for which appropriate terms have
not yet been invented. His duty is to translate diplomatic representations and policy
statements, scientific dissertations and brilliant satires, maintenance instructions and
after-dinner speeches, etc.

Translating a play the translator must bear in mind the requirements of

theatrical presentation, and dubbing a film he must see to it that his translation fits the
movement of the speakers' lips.

The translator may be called upon to make his translation in the shortest possible
time, while taking a meal or against the background noise of loud voices or rattling
type-writers.

In simultaneous interpretation the translator is expected to keep pace with the

fastest speakers, to understand all kinds of foreign accents and defective
pronunciation, to guess what the speaker meant to say but failed to express due to his
inadequate proficiency in the language he speaks.

In consecutive interpretation he is expected to listen to long speeches, taking

the necessary notes, and then to produce his translation in full or compressed form,
giving all the details or only the main ideas.
 In some cases the users will be satisfied even with the most general idea of the
meaning of the original, in other cases the translator may be taken to task for the
slightest omission or minor error.

Each type of translation has its own combination of factors influencing the
translating process. The general theory of translation should be supplemented by a
number of special translation theories identifying major types of translation activities
and describing the predominant features of each type.

Another important branch of the theory of translation is concerned with the

study of ST and TT units which can replace each other in the translating process. The
creation of equivalent texts results in, and in part is dependent on, the equivalence of
correlated language units in the two texts. In any two languages there are pairs of
units which are of identical or similar communicative value and can replace each
other in translation. The communicative value of a language element depends both on
its own semantics and on the way it is used in speech. Therefore translation
equivalence may be established between units occupying dissimilar places in the
system of respective languages. It follows that equivalent units cannot be discovered
with confidence before a certain amount of TT's have been compared with their ST's.
It is obvious that a description of translation equivalents, as opposed to the methods of
the general theory of translation, should be bilingual, that is, it should always relate to
a definite pair of languages. Moreover, a bilingual theory of translation should study
two separate sets of equivalents, with either language considered, in turn, as SL and
the other as TL. Nevertheless all bilingual theories of translation proceed from the
identical basic assumptions as to the classification of equivalents and their role in the
translating process.

Of particular interest is that branch of the theory of translation which is

concerned with the translating process itself, that is, with the operations required for
passing over from ST to TT. It is a great challenge to the translation theory to
discover how the translator does the trick, what are his mental processes which ensure
production in TL of a text of identical communicative value with the given ST. True,
these processes are not directly observable but they can be studied, even though with
a certain degree of approximation, in various indirect ways. This direction of the
translation theory is of considerable practical value for it makes possible the
description of particular methods of translation that can be used by the translator to
ensure equivalence between ST and TT. The study of the translating process reveals
both the translator's general strategy and specific techniques used to solve typical
translation problems.

In conclusion, mention should be made of one more branch of the theory of

translation which deals with the pragmatic aspects of the translating process. The
communicants involved in interlingual communication speak different languages but
they also belong to different cultures, have different general knowledge, different
social and historical background. This fact has a considerable impact on the
translator's strategy since the most truthful rendering of ST contents may sometimes
be partially or fully misunderstood by the receptors of the translation or fail to
produce a similar effect upon them. The translator has to assess the possible
communicative effect of TT and take pains to ensure an adequate understanding of its
message by TR. This may necessitate expanding or modifying the original message to
make it more meaningful to the members of a different language community.

A further pragmatic adaptation may be imperative if TT is addressed to some

specific social or professional group of people or if the translation event has some
additional pragmatic purpose. In some cases the pragmatic value of translation is the
major factor in assessing the quality of the translator's performance.

All branches of the theory of translation are concerned with important aspects
of the translator's work and constitute a body of theoretical thought of indisputable
practical value.

Translation studies

The second half of the 20th century has seen the in-depth study of translation,
which is sometimes called Theory of Translation, Science of Translation, Translation
Linguistics, or even Translatology.

It has been claimed abroad that translation studies began in 1972 with
Holmes’s paper presented at the Third International Congress of Applied Linguistics,
“The Name and Nature of Translation Studies”. However, unfortunately, European
and American scholars seemed to have been unaware of the achievements of the
Russian school of translation studies. Works by V. Komissarov, A. Shveitser, A.
Fedorov and many others confirmed the status of translation studies as a discipline of
its own even in the 1950s.

The main concern of translation theory is to determine appropriate translation

methods for the widest possible range of texts and to give insight into the translation
process, into the relations between thought and language, culture and speech.

There are several aspects of this branch of linguistics:

• General theory of translation, whose object is general notions typical of translation

from any language.
 • Specific (or partial, in terms of Holmes) theory of translation that deals with the
regularities of translation characteristic of particular languages - for example,
translation from English into Russian and vice versa.

• Special (partial) theory of translation that pays attention to texts of various registers
and genres.

There are two terms corresponding to the Russian word “перевод”: translation and
interpretation. Those who discriminate between the terms refer the term ‘translation’
to the written text, and the term ‘interpretation’ to oral speech.

However, the terms are polysemantic: to interpret might mean “to render or
discuss the meaning of the text” – an outstanding British translation theorist
P.Newmark, for example, states that “when a part of a text is important to the writer’s
intention, but insufficiently determined semantically, the translator has to interpret”.
The term to translate is often referred to any (written or oral) manner of expression in
another language.

We should also differentiate the terms translating and rendering. When we

translate, we express in another language not only what is conveyed in the source text
but also how it is done. In rendering, we only convey the ideas (the what) of the
source text.

AIS Lecture 2

TRANSLATION EQUIVALENCE

Points:

Types of equivalence

Pragmatic level

Situational level

Semantic paraphrase

Transformational equivalence

Lexical and grammatical equivalence

The levels of equivalence hierarchy

 Types of equivalence

Translation equivalence does not mean that source and target texts are
identical. It is a degree of similarity between source and target texts, measured on a
certain level.

Viewed from the semiotic angle, the source and target texts can be identical
pragmatically, semantically and structurally.

Every text should be equivalent to the source text pragmatically, which means
that the both texts should have one and the same communicative function. The target
text should have the same impact upon the receptor as the source text has.

Semantic identity implies describing the same situation, using similar lexical
meaning of the units, and similar grammatical meaning of the elements.

Structural similarity presupposes the closest possible formal correspondence

between the source text and the target text.

Equivalence

PRAGMATIC SEMANTIC
STRUCTURAL

(function) (content) (form)

situational lexical grammatical

According to V. Komissarov, one can distinguish five levels of equivalence:

pragmatic, situational, lexical (semantic), grammatical, structural levels.

Pragmatic level

First and foremost, the translation must retain the same communicative
function as the source text.43 The description and enumeration of speech functions
can be found in the work by R. Jakobson, who pointed out the following:

• informative function, i.e. conveying information: Лавры моего конкурента

не дают мне спать. – I am green with envy because of the success of my competitor.

• emotive function, i.e. expressing the speaker’s emotions: На кой леший мне
такой друг? – What on earth do I need such a friend for?
 • conative function, i.e. expressing one’s will: Could you do me a favor,
please? – Пожалуйста, окажите мне услугу.

• phatic function, i.e. making communicative contact: How do you do! –

Здравствуйте!

• metalingual function, i.e. describing language features: Don’t trouble trouble

until trouble troubles you. – На дворе трава – на траве дрова.

• poetic function, i.e. aesthetic impact:

Tiger Tiger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry? (W.Blake)

Тигр, Тигр, в лесу ночном

Мрачный взгляд горит огнем.

Чья бессмертная рука

Жизнь влила в твои бока? (Пер. К.Филатовой)

These sentences have only one thing in common: general intent of

communication, communication aim, or function. At first glance, the source and
target texts have no obvious logical connection; they usually designate different
situations, have no common semes (i.e. smallest components of meaning), and have
different grammar structures.

Situational level

The source and the target texts can describe the same situation from different
angles with different words and structures: I meant no harm. – Простите, я нечаянно.
(the situation in the bus); Who shall I say is calling? – Кто его спрашивает? (the
situation on the phone); Wet paint. – Осторожно: окрашено! (the situation in the
park).

There are no parallel lexical or structural units in these counterparts.Therefore,

their content is different, the word semes are different, grammar relations between the
sentence components are different. Nevertheless, the utterances correspond to each
other in their communicative functions and in the similarity of the described situation.
Because of this identity, V. Komissarov calls this type of equivalence «identification
of the situation».

Frequently one and the same situation is referred to in different languages.

This is particularly true of set phrases: Fragile. – Осторожно: стекло! Beware of the
dog! – Осторожно, злая собака! Push/Pull – От себя/К себе.

Some situations cannot be translated: for example, Приятного аппетита! has

no corresponding phrase in English. In place of this lacuna, English people use the
French idiom Bon appétit! There is also no equivalent for the Russian С легким
паром.

Semantic paraphrase

Dealing with the transformation of meaning implies a semantic variation, or

semantic paraphrase of the source language utterance. For example, the sentence in
the original can be translated as if the situation were viewed from a different angle:
He was not unlike his mother. – Он довольно похож на свою мать. He is my son. –
Я - мать этого мальчика. Or some words of the source language sentence are
paraphrased in translation: After her illness, she became as skinny as a toothpick. –
После болезни она стала худая, как щепка. Or the target sentence can verbalize the
idea in more detail than the source language sentence: Сегодня Борису не до шуток.
– Boris is in no mood for joking today.

On this level of equivalence, the source and the target sentences have the same
function (aim), they describe the same situation, and their meanings are
approximately identical, whereas their grammar structures are different. As is known,
the meaning of each word consists of semes, the smallest sense component. The set of
semes in the source and target sentences is the same, but they are grouped differently
and, therefore, are verbalized in different ways and do not have the same syntactic
structure.

V. Komissarov states that on this level the two sentences match because they
have approximately the same method of the situation description.

Transformational equivalence

On this level, the target and the source language sentences manifest grammar
transformations: the passive predicate can be translated by the active: The port can be
entered by big ships only in tide. – Большие корабли могут заходить в порт только
во время прилива. Likewise, part of speech can be changed in translation: We had a
long walk. – Шли мы долго. Or the structure of the sentence can be modified: Jane
was heard playing the piano. – Было слышно, как Джейн играла на пианино, where
the sentence is translated by a complex one). Any other change of the grammar
meaning within the sentence testifies to the equivalence on the transformational level,
which is called by V. Komissarov the level of the invariant meaning of the syntactic
structure.

This level of equivalence presupposes retention of the utterance function, the

description of the same situation, the same meaning of the source and target
sentences, and a very close (but variable) grammatical meaning.

Lexical and grammatical equivalence

On this level, the most possible semantic similarity between the source and
target sentences is found: Every mother loves her children. – Каждая мать любит
своих детей. I will write you every week. – Я буду писать тебе каждую неделю.
As a matter of fact, this is a word for word translation where each word and the whole
structure retains its lexical and grammatical meaning, the situation designated by the
sentences is identical, and the communicative function of the utterances is the same.
Every form of the target sentence is equal, with no variations, to that of the source
language sentence. Therefore, this level might be called the level of formal
equivalence.

The levels of equivalence hierarchy

The relationship between the levels of equivalence is not random. Each

subsequent level presupposes a preceding one. Thus, the level of lexical and
grammatical equivalence implies that the phrases have the same grammatical and
lexical meanings (transformation and semantic equivalence), refer to the same
situation, and have the same function. Phrases equivalent at the semantic level have
similar semantics, describe the same situation and perform the same function;
however, they do not have close grammatical meaning, since this level of equivalence
is higher than the transformational level. Thus, the hierarchy observed between the
level of equivalence is unilateral, the lower levels presupposing the higher ones, but
not the other way about.

The hierarchy of levels does not imply the degree of evaluation. A lower level
of equivalence does not mean a worse level. A higher level of equivalence is not a
better one. A translation can be good at any level. This depends on a number of
factors, such as the aim of the author, the requirements of the text, the perception by
the receptor. What level of equivalence is better in translating the phrase The rain in
Spain stays mainly on the plain in the famous musical “My Fair Lady”? In Russian
musicals Eliza pronounces another tongue twister: Карл у Клары украл кораллы,
and it is much better than might be a word for word translation Дождь в Испании
выпадает главным образом на равнинах, since the author’s (and the translator’s)
aim was to show Miss Doolittle’s cockney speech but not convey the weather
forecast. Pragmatics of translation seems to dominate all other aspects of this type of
communication.

AIS Lecture 3

WAYS OF ACHIEVING EQUIVALENCE

Points:

Types of translation techniques

Translation transcription

Transliteration

Calque translation

Grammar transformations

Lexical transformations

Complex transformations

Types of translation techniques

To transfer a form from one language to another with different alphabets, the
translator either copies the form by the letters of the target language or changes it by
making transformations.

Mechanical copying, or transfer, of the source language words includes:

• transcription, or copying the sound form of the source language word by

means of the target language letters: eau de cologne – одеколон

• transliteration or copying the letters of the source language by the target

language letters of another system: London – Лондон, Washington - Вашингтон.
 Some linguists (V. Komissarov, for one) consider calque (blueprint)
translation as mechanical copying. Calque is translation by parts:
extralinguistic – внеязыковой, старовер – Old Believer. Since the calqued word is
not just a mechanical borrowing of the form but it undergoes some changes, this
device is, to some extent, an actual translation, which includes form transformations.

Translation transformations are complete changes of the appearance of a

translated word, phrase, or sentence. In foreign translation theory, transformations are
known as shifts of translation. Translation transformations can be of three categories:

• grammatical transformations,

• lexical (semantic) transformations,

• complex (lexical and grammatical) transformations.

Translation transcription

Transcription is a method of writing down speech sounds.

It is essential to differentiate between a phonetic transcription and a practical

(or translation) transcription. In a phonetic transcription, sounds are depicted by
special symbols on the basis of their articulatory and auditory identity. A phonetic
transcription is an intralinguistic operation, that is, it deals with only one language.

A practical transcription is an interlinguistic operation as it deals with two

languages: the sounds of the source language word are rendered by the letters of the
target languge: Anchorage – Анкоридж, Oakland - Окленд. Because the English
(Latin) and Russian (Cyrillic) alphabets and sounds do not coincide, there are special
rules for representing English sounds by Russian letters and Russian sounds by
English letters.

Transliteration

Abroad, transliteration, defined as writing a word in a different alphabet, is

often associated with transcription. However, strictly speaking, the notion of
transliteration is based on representing written characters of one language by the
characters of another language.

Cаlque translation

Blueprint translation is the translation of a word or a phrase by parts: kitchen-

ette – кух-онька, brainwashing – промывка мозгов, AIDS (Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome) – СПИД (синдром приобретенного иммунодефицита),
Залив Золотой Рог - Golden Horn Bay.

There can occur half-calques in cases where half of the word is borrowed
through transcription or transliteration and the other half is translated: South Korea –
Южная Корея, Old Jolyon – Старый Джолион.

Calque translation can be very tricky as it may result in “translator’s false friends”,
i.e. misleading translations: high school – средняя школа (not высшая школа);
restroom – туалет (not комната отдыха); дом отдыха – resort (not rest home).

Grammar transformations

Grammar transformations are morphological or syntactical changes in

translated units. They are subdivided into the following types:

Grammar substitution, when a grammar category of the translated unit is

changed. Thus a passive construction can be translated by an active voice verb form:
Martin Heidegger is generally regarded as one of the most influential founders of
existentialism. – Мартина Хайдеггера обычно считают одним из самых
значительных основоположников экзистенциализма. The reason for this
transformation is stylistic: in English the passive voice is used much more often in
neutral speech, whereas in Russian this category is more typical of the formal style.

Or there may be substitution of the noun number category, the singular by the
plural or vice versa: Her hair is fair and wavy. – У нее светлые волнистые волосы.
This transformation is due to the structural difference between the English and
Russian languages: in English the analyzed noun is Singularia Tantum, in Russian it
is used in the plural.

Parts of speech, along with the parts of the sentence, can be changed: He is a
poor swimmer. – Он плохо плавает, where the noun is substituted by the verb, the
adjective by the adverb; simultaneously the predicative is substituted by the simple
verb predicate. The reason for this transformation can be accounted for by language
usage preferences: English tends to the nominal expression of the state, Russian can
denote the general state by means of the verb.

Word order change. Usually the reason for this transformation is that English
and Russian sentences have different information structures, or functional sentence
perspective. For example, A new press conference was held in Washington yesterday
is naturally equivalent to Вчера в Вашингтоне состоялась новая пресс-
конференция, where the adverbial modifiers, subject and predicate are positioned in
a mirror-like fashion.
 Sentence partitioning is the replacement of a simple sentence in the source text
with a complex sentence (with some clauses), or a complex sentence with several
independent sentences in the target text for structural, semantic or stylistic reasons: I
want you to understand this transformation. – Я хочу, чтобы вы поняли эту
трансформацию. Моя машина не завелась, поэтому я не смогла заехать за вами.
– My car wouldn’t start. Therefore, I couldn’t pick you up.

Sentence integration is a contrary transformation. It takes place when we make

one sentence out of two or more, or convert a complex sentence into a simple one: If
one knows languages, one can come out on top. – Зная языки, можно далеко пойти.
In ancient Rome, garlic was believed to make people courageous. Roman soldiers,
therefore, ate large quantities of it before a battle. – Перед боем римские воины
съедали большое количество чеснока, поскольку в Древнем Риме полагали, что
чеснок делает людей мужественными.

Grammar compensation is a deliberate change of the grammar category by

some other grammar means. Compensation takes place when a grammar category or
form does not exist in the target language and, therefore, cannot produce the same
impact upon the target text receptor. This can be illustrated by translating a sentence
with a mistaken pronoun form from English into Russian. Since a similar mistake in
using the pronoun is impossible in Russian, it is compensated by a mistaken
preposition: ''Take some of the conceit out of him,'' he gurgled. ''Out of who?'' asked
Barbara, knowing perfectly well that she should have said 'whom' '' - «Поубавь
немного у него тщеславия,» - буркнул он. «С кого?» – спросила Барбара,
хорошо зная, что ей следовало сказать ‘у кого’». As a result, the translator showed
the character's illiteracy.

Lexical transformations

Lexical transformations change the semantic core of a translated word. They

can be classified into the following groups:

Lexical substitution, or putting one word in place of another. It often results

from the different semantic structures of the source language and target language
words. Thus the word молодой is not always translated as young; rather, it depends
on its word combinability: молодой картофель is equal to new potatoes. This
translation equivalent is predetermined by the word combination it is used in. This
type of translation can hardly be called substitution, since it is a regular equivalent for
this phrase. Deliberate substitution as a translation technique can be of several
subtypes:
 a) Specification, or substituting words with a wider meaning with words of a
narrower meaning: Will you do the room? – Ты уберешься в комнате? I’ll get the
papers on the way home. – Я куплю газеты по дороге домой. The underlined
English words have larger scopes of meaning than their Russian counterparts and
their particular semantics is recognized from the context.

b) Generalization, or substituting words of a narrower meaning with those of a

wider meaning: People don’t like to be stared at. – Людям не нравится, когда на
них смотрят. If we compare the semantic structure of the English and Russian verbs,
we can see that the English stare specifies the action of seeing expressed by the
Russian verb. The Russian смотреть can imply staring, facing, eyeing, etc. The
specific meaning in the Russian sentence can be expressed by the adverb пристально.

Another reason for generalization in translating can be that the particular

meaning expressed by the source language word might be irrelevant for the translation
receptor: She bought the Oolong tea on her way home. – По дороге домой она
купила китайского чаю. Oolong is a sort of Chinese tea but for the receptor this
information is not important; therefore, the translator can generalize.

c) Differentiation is a rather rare technique of substitution. It takes place when

we substitute a word by another one with parallel meaning, denoting a similar species:
bamboo curtain – железный занавес. Both bamboo and железо (iron) are materials
known for their hard nature. They are used figuratively to denote the barriers between
the Western and Communist countries (bamboo curtain in reference to China,
железный занавес in reference to other Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic
Aid) states. There are no hyponymic relations between the notions of bamboo and
iron (though the referential area of железный занавес is of course much wider than
that of bamboo curtain.)

d) Modulation is a logical development of the notion expressed by the word:

But outside it was raining. - Но на улице шел дождь. The primary equivalent of the
word outside is снаружи. But it is impossible to say in Russian Но снаружи шел
дождь. By means of unsophisticated logical operation the translator finds another
equivalent: на улице. Thus he takes into consideration a tradition of the word
combination and acceptability of collocation. He is aided in this by the metonymical
closeness of word meanings based on contiguity of the two notions.

Compensation is a deliberate introduction of some additional element in the

target text to make up for the loss of a similar element in the source text. The main
reason for this transformation is a vocabulary lacuna in the target language. For
example, one of the Galsworthy’s characters was called a leopardess. But there is no
one-word equivalent of the same stylistic coloring in Russian. Therefore, the
translator compensated the word by using the word тигрица to characterize the lady.

Metaphoric transformations are based on transferring the meaning due to the

similarity of notions. The target language can remetaphorize a word or a phrase by
using the same image (Don’t dirty your hands with that money! – Не марай рук
этими деньгами!) or a different one (Он вернет нам деньги, когда рак свистнет. –
He will pay us our money back when hell freezes over). The source language
metaphor can be destroyed if there is no similar idiom in the target language: Весна
уже на пороге. – Spring is coming very soon. Or, on the contrary, the target text is
metaphorized either to compensate a stylistically marked word or phrase whose
coloring was lost for some reason, or merely to express a source language lacuna: Он
решил начать жить по-новому. – He decided to turn over a new life.

Complex transformations

This type of transformations concerns both the lexical (semantic) and

grammatical level, i.e. it touches upon structure and meaning. The following
techniques can be associated with lexical and grammatical transformations:

Explicatory translation, that is, rewording the meaning into another structure
so that the receptor will have a better understanding of the phrase. Sometimes this
transformation is named as explicitation, defined as the technique of making explicit
in the target text information that is implicit in the source text. This transformation is
often accompanied by the extension of the structure, the addition of new elements: I
have a nine-to-five job. – Я работаю с 9 утра до 5 вечера. Leslie Mill’s play, which
was also included in the FORUM, was taken up with children from grades 1-5. –
Пьеса Лесли Милла, которая также была опубликована в журнале «Форум»,
была поставлена детьми 1-5 классов. The reason for which this transformation is
made is that the target text receptor has different background knowledge. Sometimes
this transformation is required because of the dissimilarity between the language
structures, with the source language structure being incomplete for the target
language, like gun licence is удостоверение на право ношения оружия.

Reduction (omission, implicitation) is giving up redundant and

communicatively irrelevant words: Elvis Presley denied being lewd and obscene. –
Элвис Пресли отрицал свою непристойность. The reduction is a must if a source
language expresses the notion by a phrase and the target language compresses the idea
in one word: сторонники охраны окружающей среды – conservationists. There is a
general tendency of the English language to laconic and compressed expressions as
compared with Russian: внебюджетные источники финансирования – non-budget
sources; контроль за ходом проекта – the Project control.
 Integral transformation is the replacement of a set phrase with another clichéd
structure that has the same speech function: How do you do! – Здравствуйте!; Wet
paint. – Осторожно, окрашено. Help yourself. – Угощайтесь.

Antonymic translation is describing the situation by the target language from

the contrary angle.

It can be done through antonyms: the inferiority of friendly troops –

превосходство сил противника. The reason for this transformation is the lack of a
one-word translation equivalent to the word inferiority.

This transformation can also take place when we change the negation modality
of the sentence: She is not unworthy of your attention. – Она вполне достойна
вашего внимания. In the English sentence we deal with double negation, called
understatement, which, according to logic rules, means the positive expressed in the
Russian sentence. Through understatement, English-speaking people avoid expressing
their ideas in too a categorical tone.

Shifting the negation is another manifestation of the antonymous translation: I

don’t think I can do it. – Думаю, я не смогу сделать это., which is a result of
linguistic tradition peculiar to this or that language.

Metonymical translation is the transference of meaning and structure based on

the contiguity of forms and meanings of the source and target languages: The last
twenty years has seen many advances in our linguistic knowledge. – В последние 20
лет наблюдается значительный прогресс в лингвистике. In the English sentence,
time is expressed by the subject of the sentence, whereas in Russian it is more typical
to express it by the adverbial modifier. This causes grammar restructuring of the
sentence.

Complex compensation is a deliberate change of the word or structure by

another one because the exact equivalent of the target language word or phrase is
unable to produce the same impact upon the receptor as does the source language
word or phrase. For example, we often have to compensate on the lexical level the
meaning of the Past Perfect in the Russian text translation, since there is no similar
tense category in Russian: Their food, clothing and wages were less bad than they had
been. – Теперь их еда, одежда и зарплата были не такими уж плохими, как
когда-то. Puns, riddles, tongue-twisters are often compensated; for example, Don’t
trouble trouble until trouble troubles you. – Во дворе трава на траве дрова.
Compensation exercises the translator’s ingenuity; however, the effort it requires
should not be wasted on textually unimportant features.
 AIS Lecture 4
TRANSLATION MODELS

Points:
1. Translation process
2. Situational model of translation
3. Transformational model of translation
4. Semantic model of translation
5. Psycholinguistic model of translation

Translation process

To start a machine translation, computer designers invited a group of experienced

translators to ask them a question, seemingly naive but directly referring to their
profession: how do you translate? Could you tell us in detail everything about the
translation process? What goes on in a translator's brain? What operation follows
what? Dmitri Zhukov, a professional translator, reminisces that this simple question
took everyone by surprise, for it is a terribly difficult thing to explain what the process
of translation is.

Attempts to conceptualize the translation process have brought to life some theories,
or models, of translation. The translation model is a conventional description of
mental operations on speech and language units, conducted by a translator, and their
explanation.

Approximately, four translation models can be singled out:

1. Situational (denotative) model of translation
2. Transformational model of translation
3. Semantic model of translation
4. Psycholinguistic model of translation

Each model explains the process of translation in a restrictive way, from its own
angle, and, therefore, cannot be considered comprehensive and wholly depicting the
mechanism of translation. But together they make the picture of translation process
more vivid and provide a translator with a set of operations to carry out translation.

Situational model of translation

One and the same situation is denoted by the source and target language. But each
language does it in its own way.
To denote means to indicate either the thing a word names or the situation a sentence
names. Hence is the term of denotative meaning, or referential meaning, i.e. the
meaning relating a language unit to the external world; and the term of denotation, or
a particular and explicit meaning of a symbol.

To translate correctly, a translator has to comprehend the situation denoted by the

source text - as P. Newmark stressed, one should translate ideas, not words and then
find the proper means of the target language to express this situation (idea). If the
translator does not understand the situation denoted by the source text, his or her
translation will not be adequate, which sometimes happens when an inexperienced
translator attempts to translate a technical text. The main requirement of translation is
that the denotation of the source text be equal to the denotation of the target text. That
is why a literary word-for-word translation sometimes results in a failure of
communication. Возьми хлеба в булочной. is equivalent to the English Buy some
bread in the bakery. only because the receptor of the Russian sentence knows that the
situation of buying in Russian can be denoted by a more general word взять whose
primary equivalent (not for this context) is to take which does not contain the seme of
money-paying.

Thus, this model of translation emphasizes identification of the situation as the

principal phase of the translation process.

This theory of translation is helpful in translating neologisms and realia: to give a

proper equivalent to the phrase Red Guards, which is an English calque from Chinese,
we should know what notion is implied by the phrase. On finding out that this phrase
means ‘members of a Chinese Communist youth movement in the late 1960’s,
committed to the militant support of Mao Zedong, we come to the Russian equivalent
of this historic term – хунвэйбины.

As a matter of fact, this model of translation is used for attaining the equivalent on the
situation level. It is the situation that determines the translation equivalent among the
variables: instant coffee is equivalent to растворимый кофе but not мгновенный
кофе.

The situation helps to determine whether a translation is acceptable or not. For

example, we have to translate the sentence Somebody was baited by the rights.
Without knowing the situation, we might translate the sentence as Кто-то
подвергался травле со стороны правых as the dictionary’s translation equivalent for
to bait is травить, подвергать травле. But in case we know that by the smb President
Roosevelt is meant, our translation will be inappropriate and we had better use the
equivalent Президент Рузвельт подвергался резким нападкам со стороны правых.
A weak point of this model is that it does not explain the translation mechanism itself.
One situation can be designated by various linguistic means. Why choose this or that
variable over various others? The model gives no answer to this question.

Another flaw in this theory is that it does not describe the systemic character of the
linguistic units. Why do the elements of the idiom to lead somebody by the nose not
correspond to the Russian обвести за нос? Why does this idiom correspond to the
Russian держать верх над кем-то? This model does not describe the relations
between the language units in a phrase or sentence and thus gives no explanation of
the relations between the source and target language units. This model gives reference
only to the extralinguistic situation designated by the sentence.

Transformational model of translation

When translating, a person transforms the source text into a new form.
Transformation is converting one form into another one.

There are two transformation concepts in the theory of translation. In one of them,
transformation is understood as an interlinguistic process, i.e., converting the source
text into the structures of the target text, which is translation proper. Special rules can
be described for transforming source language structures as basic units into target
language structures corresponding to the basic units. For example, to translate the
“adverbial verb” one must introduce an adverb, denoting the way the action is
performed, into the target language structure: She stared at me. – Она пристально
смотрела на меня.

In the second concept, transformation is not understood as broadly as replacing the

source language structures by the target language structures. Transformation here is
part of a translation process, which has three phases:
• Analysis: the source language structures are transformed into basic units of the
source language. For example, the sentence I saw him enter the room. is transformed
into I saw him. He entered the room.
• Translation proper: the basic units of the source language are translated into the
basic units of the target language: Я видела его. Он вошел в комнату.
• Synthesis: the basic units of the target language are transformed into the terminal
structures of the target language: Я видел, что он вошел в комнату.

As is seen, this concept develops the ideas of generative grammar introduced by N.

Chomsky.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this model? It is employed in

contrastive analysis of two language forms that are considered to be translation
equivalents, as it verbalizes what has been transformed in them and how. This model
provides us with transformation techniques. It explains how we translate equivalent-
lacking structures into another language. This model is important for teaching
translation because it recommends that one transform a complex structure into a
simple one.

However, a disadvantage of this model consists in inability to explain the choice of

the transformation made, especially at the third synthesis phase. It does not explain
the facts of translation equivalence on the situational level. It also ignores
sociocultural and extralinguistic aspects of translation.

Semantic model of translation

This model places special emphasis on semantic structures of the source and target
texts. According to it, translation is conveying the meaning of the source text by the
target text. The two texts can be called equivalent in meaning if their semantic
components are close or identical. In order to translate, one must single out the
meaningful elements of the original and then choose the target language units that
most closely express the same content elements. (This model is sometimes called
Content-Text Model) For this procedure, a componential (or seme) analysis is widely
employed.

Like in the transformation model, the process of translation is subdivided into some
phases:
• Analysis: the semantics of the source language units are represented by deep
semantic categories.
• Translation: the relevant semantic categories of the source language are made equal
to the deep semantic categories of the target language.
• Synthesis: the semantic categories of target language are verbalized.

This model gives a good explanation of the translation equivalence and of the reasons
for translation failures when irrelevant (or not all relevant) semes have been taken into
consideration. It explains the mechanism of selecting one variable among synonyms:
that synonym is chosen which has the greatest number of relevant semes similar to the
source language word.

But the insufficiency of this model is that the process of singling out semes is a very
difficult one. It does not explain the cases of situational equivalence – why instant
coffee is equal to растворимый кофе, with their semes not coinciding? It also ignores
connotations of the word and the function of the text.

Psycholinguistic model of translation

Translation is a kind of speech event. And it develops according to the psychological
rules of speech event.

The scheme of the speech event consists of the following phases:

• The speech event is motivated.
• An inner code program for the would-be message is developed.
• The inner code is verbalized into an utterance.

Translation is developed according to these phases: a translator comprehends the

message (motif), transforms the idea of the message into his/her own inner speech
program, then outlays this inner code into the target text.

The point of this theory is that it considers translation among speaking, listening,
reading and writing as a speech event. But there is evidence to suggest that translators
and interpreters listen and read, speak and write in a different way from other
language users, basically because they operate under a different set of constraints.
While a monolingual receiver is sender-oriented, paying attention to the
speaker's/writer's message in order to respond to it, the translator is essentially
receiver-oriented, paying attention to the sender's message in order to re-transmit it to
the receiver of the target-text, suppressing, at the same time, personal reactions to the
message.

There are two essential stages specific to the process of translating and interpreting:
analysis and synthesis – and a third stage, revision, available only to the translator
working with the written text. During the analysis stage, the translator reads/listens to
the source text, drawing on background knowledge, to comprehend features contained
in the text. During synthesis, the target text is produced. Then the draft written
translation is revised /edited.

However, the explanational force of this model is very restricted, inner speech being
the globally disputable problem in both psychology and linguistics.

AIS Lecture 5
TRANSLATING ENGLISH ARTICLES AND PRONOUNS

Points:
Translating the English articles
Translating the English pronouns
One of the grammar challenges in translating from English, and especially into
English, is the article, since this category no longer exists in the Russian language.

Article translation depends on the function the article has in the sentence.

Translating the indefinite article

The indefinite article can have the following functions in the sentence:
•classifying
•numeric
•aspect
•individual generalizing

When in classifying function, the article signifies an object as a representative of a

class. Usually it is not translated into Russian: He is a taxi-driver. – Он водитель
такси. Some translation theorists call this a zero transformation. Another possible
version of translation is the article compensation by the pronoun какой-то/какой-
нибудь: Tell me a joke. – Расскажи какой-нибудь анекдот. The article can also be
compensated by the partitive один из: He is a director of the company. – Он один из
директоров этой компании.

In Russian, we sometimes use the intoductory word один in the classifying function:
Я знаю одного человека, который знает это. This pronominative adjective has the
classifying function and corresponds to the indefinite article a/an but not to the
numeral one: I know a person who knows it.

When used with proper nouns, the classifying article is always compensated, either by
the pronoun некий/какой-то: A Mr. Jones called you this morning. – Сегодня утром
тебе звонил некий мистер Джоунз., or by the adjective настоящий: You will never
be a Dombey. – Ты никогда не станешь настоящим Домби.

The classifying article can change the meaning of a proper name and turn it into a
common name denoting a work of art: This museum has a Picasso. – В этом музее
есть (картина) Пикассо. If the context allows, the zero transformation can be
employed; if not, the translated sentence requires extension.

Thus, lexical compensators of the classifying article might be as follows: один из,
некий, какой-то, некто, один, настоящий, такой.

If a noun with the classifying article is in the beginning of the sentence, the word
order in the sentence is usually changed, with the subject taking the final position in
the Russian sentence: A passenger looked out of the window. – Из окна выглянул
пассажир.

The article in the numeric function retains its historical meaning of “one”: I’ll be back
in a minute. – Я вернусь через (одну) минутку. This meaning is either rendered in
Russian by the corresponding numeral or is not translated at all. With the names of
material the numeric article denotes one portion or one sort, so it can be compensated
by a noun phrase: I’d like a coffee, please. – Мне, пожалуйста, чашечку кофе.

When the numeric article is used with the ordinal numeral, it conveys the meaning of
addition and corresponds to the Russian ещё один, другой: He ordered a second
coffee. – Он заказал еще один кофе.

On the whole, lexical compensators of the numeric article can be the following: один,
ещё один, очередной, второй, новый, такой же, одинаковый, целый.

The article in the aspect functions helps to single out some aspect or quality of the
phenomenon, a particular example of a quality, idea or feeling. Very often it is
compensated by a pronoun какой-то, некоторый, or a phrase своего рода, так
называемый to emphasize something unusual, strange or peculiar in the object: There
was an indefinable sadness in his voice. – В его голосе была какая- то непонятная
печаль. Failing the final exams was a bitter disappointment for me. – Провал на
выпускных экзаменах оказался своего рода горьким разочарованием для меня.
He proposed a National Intelligence Tasking Center. – Он предложил создать так
называемый Национальный центр по проверке интеллекта. Followed by a form
similar to that of the superlative degree, a group with the indefinite article denotes an
object of fairly high quality and is translated by the particles довольно, весьма:
That’s a most amusing story. – Это весьма забавная история.

In summary, the compensatory means of the aspect article are as follows: некоторый,
какой-то, своего рода, как бы, свой, крайне, весьма, довольно, известный.

The article in the individual generalizing function signifies a class made up of

individual objects. Any object of the class gives the idea of the whole class. This kind
of article is usually not translated into Russian: A drowning man catches at a straw. –
Утопающий хватается за соломинку. This article can also be compensated by the
pronouns любой, каждый, всякий, сам: A book is a mirror. – Любая книга подобна
зеркалу. …even a Colbert could not put things right. – Даже сам Кольбер не смог
бы ничего исправить.

Translating the definite article

The definite article is usually used in one of the two functions:
• specifying
• generic

The specifying article specifies the definite object, either known to the speaker and
listener or inferred from the situation. In this case it is oftencompensated by a Russian
pronoun (вот) этот, (вон) тот, тот самый: Here is the man we are looking for. – Вот
тот человек, которого мы ищем. Sometimes in Russian the specifying function is
not expressed; in this case a zero transformation takes place: This is the house that
Jack built. – Вот дом, который построил Джек. (Though not verbalized, the
specifying function is implied here and can be easily compensated: Вот этот дом,
который построил Джек.) The definite article can also be compensated by a
possessive pronoun: “How's the leg today, Mrs. Steel?” “Not too bad, thank you,
doctor.” – «Как ваша нога сегодня?» «Спасибо, доктор, неплохо.» The specifying
article can also be бcompensated by the adjectives известный, данный,
вышеупомянутый, вышеуказанный or some others according to the context: P.
Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer, is loved all over the world. – П.
Чайковского, известного русского композитора, любят во всем мире. You don’t
mean you met the Richard Gere, do you? – Ты хочешь сказать, что встретила того
самого Ричарда Гира, известного всему миру актера?

The generic definite article helps to designate a class as a whole. As such it is often
translated by substituting the noun in the singular with that in the plural: The olive
grows only in warm climates. – Оливки растут только в теплом климате.

The article in this function can also be compensated by the noun семья or its
synonym when used with the name of the family: The Schmidts are coming to lunch
onSaturday. – В субботу к нам на обед придет чета Шмидтов.

When used with the substantivized adjectives, the definite article denotes the plural
(referring to people or things in general): The absent are never without fault. Nor the
present without excuse. – У отсутствующих всегда найдется какая- нибудь вина.
Как у присутствующих – какое-нибудь оправдание. It may denote the singular
when referring to some abstract thing: I suppose we’ll just have to wait for the
inevitable. – Думаю, нам только остается ждать неизбежного.

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. As such, the sentence can be translated either word for word or with
the help of a presumptive word: He gave us ink, paper and pen and asked us to put
down everything we could remember about the accident. – 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 Uncle will 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.

Translating personal pronouns

One of the most difficult problems is translating pronouns of the second person. The
modern English you corresponds to the Russian ты and вы, though Russian ты also
corresponds to the English archaic thou, now used only in poetry. To select a proper
equivalent to the English you, a translator should clearly understand the function of
this pronoun in the sentence. The Russian ты and вы differ in their social status, ты
indicating a person of lower status. For example, “The American Tragedy” by T.
Dreiser has an episode describing Clyde’s transfer from one prison to another. “And
girls and women …[were] calling to him gaily and loudly as the train moved out from
one station to another: ‘Hello, Clyde! Hope to see you again soon. Don’t stay too long
there.’” This episode has been translated the following way: «И бывало, что какая-
нибудь женщина или девушка ,,, громко и весело кричала вслед отходящему
поезду: “Хэлло, Клайд! Мы еще увидимся. Смотрите, не задерживайтесь там”.»
Evidently, it is unnatural that passersby address a prisoner using the polite вы.

Sometimes the meaning of ты as an indicator of a person’s low social status can be

derogatory. In Russian-to-English translation it can be compensated by expressive
means. For instance, Да вечно ли ты мне дорогу перебегать будешь? – Damn it…
you’re not always going to stand in my way, are you? The English sentence expresses
irritation and manifests the addressee’s low social position, as it begins with a very
emphatic interjection and ends in a tag-question.

Another function of the Russian ты is to demonstrate friendly or intimate relations

between the speakers: Я ведь думала, что ты там… у дяди! – You see, darling, I
thought you were at your uncle’s. As you see, again compensation is of great help
here.

In some cases explicatory translation can be used to render the meaning of the
Russian ты: Они говорили друг другу ты. – They spoke to each other like two old
friends.

A translator should be familiar with ethical norms characteristic of the cultures in

question. These norms may affect the usage of the pronouns. For example, English-
speaking countries’ ethical norms allow people to talk about a person who is nearby
in the third person singular (by employing the pronouns he or she). In the Russian
community the usage of он/она is considered impolite if the person spoken about is in
the same room.
Pronoun usage in a political and economic context can imply certain conclusions. For
example, the pronoun she is sometimes employed when developed countries are
spoken about. In contrast to she, the pronoun it often refers to developing countries
(though it may also be neutral in political sense). For example, When Italy invaded
Ethiopia, she was not yet checked by the League of nations. … it [Ethiopia] was not
sufficiently advanced to enter the League. – Когда Италия вторглась в Эфиопию,
Лига наций не остановила ее. ... Та (Эфиопия) еще была недостаточно развитым
государством, чтобы войти в Лигу наций.

Furthermore, there is a traditional reference in English to a vehicle (a boat, car, etc.)

in the form of she: Look at my new car – isn't she beautiful? – Посмотри на мою
новую машину – не правда ли красивая?

There is also some pragmatic difference between using English and Russian personal
pronouns. English, being an egocentric language, is speaker-centered; Russian is
considered to be an “alter-egocentric” listener-centered language. Therefore, in
English speech the pronoun I sounds much oftener than in Russian, so in translation it
is frequently substituted by ты/вы: How do I know this? – А как вы это докажете? I
wonder what he did? – Что он такое сделал, как ты думаешь? I’ll take eggs and
ham. – Давай яичницу с ветчиной. No doubt, one shouldn’t overuse this
transformation. This is merely a tendency, not a fixed rule.

It should be kept in mind that pronoun repetition can lead to differences in the
sentences. Cf., Mom came in the room and turned off the lights. – Мама вошла в
комнату и выключила свет. Mom came into the room and she turned off the lights. –
Мама вошла в комнату, и это она выключила свет. The first sentence expresses a
succession of two actions; the second, a sort of complaint about Mom’s turning off
the lights, is emphasized in Russian by an expressive construction.

An English co-referential pronoun can precede the noun, which is alien to Russian.
Therefore, a translator should not be confused by who is meant in the sentence: When
he arrived, John went straight to the bank. – Приехав, Джон сразу отправился в
банк. A visit to her invalid parents in Indiana… gave New York City actress
Gretchen Cryer an idea. – Когда нью-йоркская актриса Гретхен Крайер навестила
своих больных родителей в Индиане, ей пришла в голову одна идея. If a pronoun
must be verbalized, there should be a change of word order.

When translating from Russian into English, students are sometimes baffled by a form
of English pronouns, used in certain positions. Such is a long-standing problem of
competitive pronouns in the Nominative case and those in the Objective case in the
predicative function: Это я (он, она и т.д.). - It’s I (he, she, etc.) or It’s me (him, her,
etc.). After long arguments, grammarians came to the conclusion that the first version
(It’s I) sounds very formal, whereas the second version (It’s me) is neutral and
informal.

The same holds true in reference to comparative structures: Он старше меня. – He is

older than me. / He is older than I. The latter English version is more formal. The
same stylistic coloring differentiates sentences with a personal pronoun after but:
Никто кроме меня не сделает этого. – Nobody but me can do it. / Nobody but I can
do it. The latter form, being hypercorrect, is no longer used.

Translating possessive pronouns

Unlike Russian, English possessive pronouns are normally used with nouns denoting
a body part or some personal thing. They are usually not translated into Russian:
Mary broke her leg when she was skiing in Austria. – Мэри сломала ногу, когда
каталась на лыжах в Австрии. There stood a man at the door with his hat in his
hand. – В дверях стоял мужчина со шляпой в руке.

When making a translation, Russian students are sometimes uncertain of the choice
between the English definite article the and the possessive pronoun. The definite
article is usual in prepositional phrases related to the object (or, in passive
constructions, the subject): Девчушка взяла меня за руку. – The girl took me by the
hand. Должно быть, что-то ударило меня по голове. – Something must have hit me
on the head.

In oral translation from English into Russian, care should be taken about homophones
that sound very much alike:
• his – he’s (= he is): His is a good suggestion. He’s not here.
• its – it’s (=it is): Its function is unknown. It’s raining.
• your – you’re (= you are): Your mother’s here. I don’t think you’re ready.
• their – they’re (=they are) – there (adv.): Have you met their daughter? They’re
supposed to come. There are our friends.

Another problem is the alteration between Russian synonymous possessive pronouns:

свой and его, её. When the pronoun is co-referential with the sentence subject, свой
is used. Его, её imply different subjects: He is speaking about his business. – Он
говорит о своем деле. She is speaking about his business. – Она говорит о его деле.

Свой – мой, твой, наш, ваш differ pragmatically: the pronouns of the first and
second person are much more expressive than the pronoun свой: «…У Лермонтова
противопоставление всей вашей черной кровью поэта праведную кровь выходит
сильнее, чем если бы было сказано: всей своей черной кровью,» A. Peshkovsky,
an outstanding Russian linguist, remarked.
The Russian pronoun свой is convenient for referring to nouns of general gender. In
today’s English, due to anti-sexist tendencies, double pronouns are used: A student
who wishes to apply for a grant must send in his/her application form before the
session begins. – Студенты, желающие обратиться за стипендией, должны
представить свои заявления до начала сессии.

Translating relative pronouns

When using pronouns, it is necessary to avoid ambiguity in sentences. This ambiguity

can be caused by the inappropriate position or form of the pronoun: Вследствие
интенсивного лова в Охотском море возникла угроза исчезновения минтая,
которая является наиболее ценной рыбой в этом море. The sentence is
agrammatical because of the incorrect form of the pronoun которая following the
masculine and feminine nouns. The relative pronoun here should have been used in
the masculine gender, since it refers logically to the word минтая. The feminine
gender forces the reader to look for a nearby noun in the feminine, which proves to be
the word угроза, though evidently the author of this translation intended to make
agreement between the relative pronoun and the noun that follows, рыба.

Translating the pronoun one

A sentence with the English impersonal pronoun one can be rendered by a Russian
impersonal sentence: One can easily understand peoples’ aspirations for world peace.
– Легко можно понять стремление народов к миру во всем мире.

Another way of translating English indefinite sentences with one is the Russian
generalizing personal sentence implying the general ты: One is free to do as one likes
so long as one’s habits do not irritate one’s companions. – Делать волен все, что
хочешь, пока твои привычки не досаждают окружающим.

Pay attention to using the pronoun one’s in the possessive form, if the sentence
subject is expressed by one (the possessive pronoun is not substituted for any other
pronoun, for instance, your.): e.g., One has to do one’s best.

There is another way of rendering a universal meaning of an English sentence: with

the help of the pronoun you. However, this can be understood as being directed to the
receptor and, therefore, it can cause misunderstanding, as was brilliantly shown by J.
London in his novel 'Martin Eden': “By the way, Mr. Eden,” she called back, as she
was leaving the room, “what is booze? You used it several times, you know.” “Oh,
booze,” he laughed. “It’s slang. It means whiskey, and beer – anything that will make
you drunk.” “And another thing,” she laughed back. “Don’t use ‘you’ when you are
impersonal. ‘You’ is very personal, and your use of it just now was not precisely what
you meant.” “I don’t just see that.” “Why, you said just now to me, ‘whiskey and beer
– anything that will make you drunk’ – make me drunk, don’t you see?” “Well, it
would, wouldn’t it?” “Yes, of course,” she smiled. “But it would be nicer not to bring
me into it. Substitute ‘one’ for ‘you’, and see how much better it sounds.”

A translator should also know that you and one differ stylistically, you being informal
and colloquial, and one sounding very formal and official.

The English one can also function as a noun substitute. In translating to Russian, it is
desirable not to repeat the word, but to use a synonym if the noun reduction is
impossible: Tokyo – Japan’s most serious problem – and the one that is least
discussed – is overpopulation. – Самая серьезная проблема Токио и всей Японии –
вопрос, который обсуждается менее всего – это перенаселение.

Russian-to-English translation is challenged by the choice between one and it.

Compare, Надень шлем. Нельзя ездить без него. – Put on your helmet. It’s illegal
to ride a bike without one. «Мне нравится этот шлем.» «Ну, и купи его.» “I like the
helmet.” “So buy it.” The pronoun one represents a general notion; it refers to a
specific thing.

Translating the pronouns каждый / все

These pronouns correspond to English each and every. But they are not
interchangeable in all cases.

The pronoun every makes reference to a number of three or more. It correlates with
unknown persons or things and has a collective reference. Therefore, every is usually
translated by the Russian pronoun все. Each refers to a number of two and more. It
stresses the idea of discreteness and refers to individuals already specified.

This can be illustrated by the following sentences: Все дома на той улице были
выкрашены в белый цвет. Они входили по очереди в каждый дом. – Every house
in the street was painted white. They went to each house in turn.

As compared with every, the pronoun all refers to the complete amount or number
(of), or the whole (of): Весь импортируемый лес должен быть подвергнут
химической обработке от всяких болезней. – All imported timber must be
chemically treated against disease.

Translating partitive pronouns some / any

The indefinite (partitive) pronouns some/any correspond to the Russian
какой-то/какой-нибудь/какой-либо/немного. Their usage is determined by a
positive or negative meaning implied by the speaker. Some is associated with the
positive meaning; any, with the negative meaning. Cf., If you eat some porridge, I’ll
give you a candy. – Если съешь немного каши, я дам тебе конфетку. (the implied
consequence is positive.) If you eat any candy, I’ll punish you. – Если съешь хоть
какую-нибудь конфету, я тебя накажу, where the consequence is sure to be
negative.

The same thing happens in negative sentences where a contrast of form and meaning
takes place: I don’t mind some coffee. – Я не против выпить немного кофе. (the
affirmative meaning: I am going to have a cup of coffee). I do mind any coffee. – Я
возражаю против какого-либо кофе (the negative meaning: I won’t have coffee).

In interrogative sentences, by using some the speaker anticipates an affirmative

answer. When s/he uses any, the expected answer is likely to be negative. For
example, Didn’t you publish some poems in this volume? – Разве неправда, что вы
опубликовали несколько стихотворений в этом томике? Didn’t you publish any
poetry in this book? – Правда, что вы не опубликовали никаких стихов в этом
сборнике?

In the interrogative sentence, the partitive any can presuppose the meaning of even the
smallest amount or number of something: Is there any of that lemon cake left? In
Russian, this partitive meaning can be stressed by the particle хоть: Остался хоть
какой-нибудь кусочек лимонного торта?

Another meaning of any – that of ‘not important’ which corresponds to the Russian
любой: You can come any day you like. – Можешь прийти в любой день, когда
захочешь.

The partitive pronoun some can be substituted in Russian by the word одни if the
sentence implies enumeration: Some blame it on television, or the weather, or bad
films, or slimmer purses. – Одни винят в этом телевидение, другие – плохую
погоду, третьи – плохие фильмы, четвертые – отощавшие кошельки. In this case,
a translator must supply a sentence subject to all parallel objects.

Translating demonstrative pronouns

The difference between the English this/these – that/those can be traced in four
aspects which should be known to a translator:
a) distance
b) direction
c) time
d) connotation

This indicates something within the speaker’s reach; that, out of speaker’s reach, is
separated from him by space. This difference is not as evident in Russian: (on the
phone) Hello, this is Clair. Who is that speaking? Is that Mike? – Алло, Клер
слушает. Кто это? Это Майк?

When English-speaking people refer to this country, they mean their own country. In
translation it should be substituted by the proper name: almost 53 years later, the
King’s abdication has come to be widely seen as an inevitable event. At the time, it
was a shock to many in this country and the Commonwealth. – Спустя почти 53 года
всем стало очевидно, что отречения короля было неизбежно, а в то время
многих в Англии и в Содружестве это приводило в ужас.

This and that also indicate different directions of motion. Despite the space between
the speaker and a person, the approaching person will be called this man. If a person
is going away, he is referred to as that man. Compare the usage of the pronouns in the
following sport commentator’s remark, which became a joke: Ladies and gentlemen,
this is Stirling Moss, that was. Construed as the juxtaposition of the two pronouns, the
joke could be rendered in Russian by means of compensation: Дамы и господа, к
нам приближается Стирлинг Мосс… и вот его уже нет.

The temporal difference between this and that is illustrated by the contrast between
the present/future, on the one hand, and the past, on the other: This is odd. This will
be interesting. That was nice. (Compare the Russian: Это странно. Это будет
интересно. Это было неплохо.)

In informal speech, notwithstanding space and time, this/these is used with positive
connotations, to emphasize a good attitude to somebody/something, whereas
that/those indicates a negative attitude: Then I saw away in the distance, this lovely
girl. The speaker’s positive attitude to the girl can be compensated by an emphatic
adjective or by some emotional affix, typical of Russian: И тогда я увидел вдалеке
прелестн(ейш)ую девушку. Here is that awful Jones and those ugly children of his.
– А вот и гадкий Джоунз и его скверные дети.

A typical mistake made by Russians attempting to translate into English is overuse of

the pronoun such corresponding to такой. Such is much more emphatic than the
Russian такой. It can be used in emotional speech: Это такой хороший фильм! - It’s
such a good film! But in neutral speech it is better to substitute такой by the pronouns
this/that, that kind of, like that. For example, Он опять сделал такую же грубую
ошибку. - He made that kind of blunder again. He made a blunder like that again.
 AIS Lecture 6
TRANSLATING ENGLISH FINITE AND NON-FINITE VERB FORMS

Points:
Translating tense and aspect forms
Translating passive voice forms
Translating the subjunctive mood forms
Translating the infinitive
Translating the gerund
Translating the participle

Formal differences between source text and target text

Source language and target language texts differ formally due to a number of reasons
of both objective and subjective character. Objective reasons are caused by the
divergence in the language systems and speech models. Subjective reasons can be
attributed to the speaker’s choice of a language form.

Thus, systemic dissimilarity of forms takes place when one of the languages lacks
some grammar category and, therefore, has no corresponding form. For example,
English possesses the morphological categories of the article or the gerund lacking in
the Russian language; whereas in Russian there is a category of adverbial participle
(деепричастие) missing in the English language. To translate these forms, one has to
compensate them or restructure the sentence. Unique categories in one of the
languages can occur at the syntactic level as well. For example, English absolute
constructions, complex object and complex subject (with the infinitive and participle),
are alien to the Russian language. Therefore, they require special attention from
students of English.

On the other hand, there are linguistic phenomena that exist in both languages but
differ in some details, which also causes difficulties in translation. For example,
passive voice is found both in English and Russian, but in English it is represented by
the indirect and prepositional passive construction (He is given a book. He is asked
for.) but the Russian language has only the direct passive construction (Книга дана
ему).

Objective reasons for formal dissimilarities include differences in word combination

norms and models that make up language traditions. For example, in English it is
possible to say Table I lists… but in Russian the similar structure is ridiculous
(Таблица 1 перечисляет…). It is much more “Russian” to verbalize the source of
information as the adverbial modifier of place: В таблице 1 перечислены…

Similar structures in both languages can be used with different frequency in different
types of text. Violation of the frequency rate can lead to awkward language usage. For
example, an English scientific text utilizes more simple sentences, whereas in Russian
one can find an abundance of complex sentences.

Thus the objective reasons for formal dissimilarities can be classified into those
caused by the language system, by norm and by usage.

Subjective reasons for formal alterations in the target text are accounted for by a
communicator’s (or translator’s) personal intention, emphasis or preference. These
reasons include the communicative structure of the utterance, that is, emphasis on the
logically stressed word that can lead to the change of syntactic structure: A woman
entered the room. – В комнату вошла женщина.

They also include pragmatic adaptations of the sentence to the receptor by

adding or reducing some information in the utterance (which results in complex rather
than grammar transformations): WSU is located in Pullman, WA. – Вашингтонский
университет расположен в городе Пулман, штат Вашингтон.

Translator’s idiolect, or his/her individual language system distinguishing him/her

from another person, is also responsible for the difference in formal alterations: He
fell a week before Armistice was declared. – Он пал за неделю до того, как
объявили перемирие. The translator chose here a complex sentence instead of a
simple one (Он пал за неделю до объявления перемирия), perhaps because this
structure was more typical for his idiolect than the second one.

Thus, difference in formal structures of the source and target texts can also be
accounted for by the communicator’s logical accentuation, as well as by the pragmatic
adaptation of the utterance to the receptor and translator’s idiolect. These reasons are
of a subjective character, as compared with the first group.

Translating tense and aspect forms

Every student of English has been challenged by the difference between English and
Russian tense and aspect categories. To begin with, in English there are four major
aspect groups (Simple, Progressive, Perfect, Perfect Progressive), showing how the
action is performed, multiplied by four time indicators (Present, Past, Future, Future
in the Past.) In Russian there are three time indicators, called tenses (Present, Past,
Future), and two aspects, perfective and imperfective. Therefore, English and Russian
forms are not parallel, though some regularities might be observed between them.

English Simple (Indefinite) tenses denoting regular, permanent actions correspond to

the Russian imperfective aspect: Water boils at 100º Centigrade. – Вода кипит при
100ºC. When expressing an action as a single fact, a Simple tense corresponds to the
Russian perfective form: When I heard the news, I walked faster and faster. – Когда я
услышала эту новость я пошла быстрее. Very often the contrast between the
meanings expressed by a Simple tense is seen in the microcontext: a single action is
indicated by a verb-noun predicate: She gave a cry. – Она вскрикнула. (Cf. She cried
hoarsely. – Она хрипло кричала.); by a phrasal verb: She cried something out. – Она
что-то выкрикнула.; or by parallel (homogeneous) predicates: He cried something
unintelligible and rushed past. – Он крикнул что-то невнятно и пронесся мимо.

Progressive tenses, denoting temporary continuous actions, correspond to the Russian

imperfective form: He first became interested in drama when he was working abroad.
– Он впервые заинтересовался драматургией, когда работал за границей. The
same holds true in reference to permanent actions expressed in emotional speech: You
are always coming late! – Вечно ты опаздываешь! But when expressing a future
action, especially a ‘matter-of-fact’ future, the English Progressive corresponds to the
Russian perfective: Spring is coming. Birds will be flying back soon. – Идет весна.
Вскоре прилетят птицы.

English Perfect forms, when expressing a completed action, correspond to Russian

perfective verbs: I haven’t finished yet. – Я еще не закончила. By the time we got
there the rain had stopped. – К тому времени, как мы добрались туда, дождь уже
прекратился. To render the meaning of completion expressed by the Perfect verb, a
translator has to use the technique of compensation and extension by introducing
adverbs implying completion: уже, еще, etc. Therefore, there is no need, when
translating from Russian into English the sentence Я уже прочел эту книгу, to use
the adverb already. I have read the book is enough to express the completed action.

When a Perfect tense expresses a multiple action that took place in the past and can
happen in the future, the English verb corresponds to the Russian imperfective form:
I’ve met Ann’s husband. – Я встречала мужа Энн. I have eaten at that restaurant
many times. – Я ел в этом ресторане много раз.

It is not infrequent that Perfect tenses require lexical compensation in translation:

Russian literature has possessed the feeling of the sole. – Русская литература всегда
характеризовалась чувством одиночества. I have lived here for two years. – Я
прожил здесь два года и до сих пор живу. He had been a captain. – Когда-то он
был капитаном.
Perfect Progressive tense forms denote an action begun before another action and
continued into it; they correspond to the Russian imperfective forms: He has been
studying Japanese for three years. – Он изучает японский язык уже три года.

There is also asymmetry in expressing tense distinctions in English and Russian.

Russian future tenses correspond to English present tense forms in adverbial clauses:
Если он придет, я дам вам знать. – If he comes, I’ll let you know. When the English
present tense is used to denote the near future, in Russian the present tense form
alternates with the future: We are going downtown in some minutes. – Мы
пойдем/идем в город через несколько минут. The train arrives in five minutes. –
Поезд прибудет через пять минут.

The English Present Perfect or Present Perfect Continuous verb is usually translated
by the Russian past tense verb, since it indicates a ‘prepresent’ action: Who has eaten
my soup? – Кто съел мой суп? Who has been eating my soup? – Кто ел мой суп?

What are the possible traps for the translator beside this asymmetry? Care should be
taken with the connotation of the tense forms: in emotional speech the English
Progressive and Simple tenses seem to exchange their aspect characteristics: the
Progressive form indicates an exaggerated permanent action and the Simple verb
denotes an action taking place at the moment of speech, the speaker’s emphasis being
placed on the circumstances rather than the action itself. In this case the
corresponding degree of expressiveness in Russian can be reached by lexical
compensation: She is always complaining! – Вечно она жалуется! Why don’t you
write? – Ну, почему ты не пишешь?

Lexical compensation is often a way out in contrasting tense and aspect forms:
«Почему ты не знаешь правила?» – «Я учил.» – «Учил, да не выучил.» “Why
don’t you know the rule?” – “I learnt it.” - “You tried to, but failed.” I sobbed a little
still, but that was because I had been crying, not because I was crying then. – Я еще
всхлипывала, но это потому, что я плакала перед этим, а не потому, что я ревела
в этот момент.

Inexperienced students of translation, though they have studied the rule of Sequence
of Tenses in their grammar class, are sometimes not aware that this rule does not exist
in Russian. Therefore, when translating from Russian into English, they are likely to
do word-for-word translation (or rather “tense-for-tense” translation), which is not
correct in Russian: I knew he was in the village. – Я знал, что он в деревне (rather
than Я знал, что он был в деревне.) The latter Russian sentence corresponds to the
English I knew he had been in the village.
 Translating passive voice forms

English and Russian passive forms are different both in type of form constructions
and in frequency.

English passive voice is used more frequently due to the various types of construction
it occurs in. Whereas Russian passive voice construction is formed only by transitive
verbs requiring a direct object when used as an active voice structure, English passive
is classified into four types of construction:
a) direct passive: A book was given to him. It has a corresponding Russian passive
voice form: Книга была дана ему.
b) indirect passive: He was given the book. This form is translated by the
corresponding Russian active voice verb in the impersonal sentence: Ему дали эту
книгу.
c) prepositional passive: The article was not referred to. – На эту статью не
ссылались. The corresponding Russian impersonal sentence is also with the active
verb.
d) adverbial passive: The room hasn’t been lived in. When translated into Russian, the
passive construction is substituted by an active one, sometimes a subject of the
sentence is introduced: В комнате никто не жил/не живет.

Thus, only one type of English passive construction has a direct correspondence in
Russian. But not all English direct passive constructions can be transformed into
Russian passive, since the verb transitivity in English and Russian does not coincide.
Cf. to enter the room – войти в комнату, to join the party – вступить в партию, to
follow somebody – следовать за кем-то, to attend the meeting – присутствовать на
собрании, to influence somebody – влиять на кого-то: The next morning this event
was reported by all the papers. – На следующее утро об этом событии сообщили
все газеты.

Care should be taken when translating English parallel passive verbs, since they may
correspond in Russian to the verbs of different cases: He was trusted and respected. –
Ему доверяли и его уважали. In this case the Russian sentence requires repetition of
the pronominal object (ему – его); otherwise, the sentence would sound
grammatically incorrect (Ему доверяли и уважали).

As for passive forms, there are two types in English: be-passive and get-passive. The
latter is mostly used to indicate the starting point of the action: They got married. –
Они поженились. The get-passive is also used to express negative connotation, when
the object of the action undergoes something unpleasant or dangerous: He got hurt. –
Он ушибся. (Он обиделся.) He got injured in a road accident. – Он получил травму
во время дорожной аварии.
In Russian there are also two passive verb forms. They derive from the parallel
synthetic and analytical forms: строился – был построен. The difference between
the forms is either semantic or stylistic. As for their meanings, the analytical form
denotes a state, whereas the synthetic form expresses a process: Дом был построен
этой бригадой. – Дом строился этой бригадой. In English this difference is
rendered by the Simple and the Progressive forms, respectively: The house was built
by this team. – The house was being built by this team. When no agent of the action is
mentioned, the Russian synthetic verb form can be substituted in English by the
prepositional noun predicative: Мост строится с прошлого года. – The bridge has
been under construction since last year. Or the difference between the forms can be
stylistic: while the analytical form is used in

literary or academic works, the synthetic form in colloquial speech can also denote a
fact, not a process, thus corresponding to the English The house was built by this
team.

As for the synonymy of the indefinite personal active and passive forms in Russian,
the difference lies in style: the passive form is more formal: George was invited to
spend the month of August in Crome. – Cf. 1) Джордж был приглашен провести
август в Кроуме. 2) Джорджа пригласили провести август в Кроуме.

One challenge of translating is the English “double passive”. It takes place when the
main predicate is used in the passive voice and the following infinitive is also passive:
The treaty is reported to have been signed by both parties. In translation, the predicate
can be substituted by the active verb: Сообщают, что договор уже подписан
обеими сторонами. The principal clause can also be substituted by a parenthetical
one: Как сообщают, договор уже подписан обеими сторонами. Or the passive
infinitive can be substituted for the active one, so that the sentence subject turns into
the sentence object: The prisoners were ordered to be shot. – Было приказано
расстрелять пленников. Finally, there might be a substitution by the noun: The
music is intended to be played on the piano. – Музыка предназначена для игры на
фортепьяно.

Translating the subjunctive mood forms

In both English and Russian the Subjunctive Mood expresses a hypothetical, unreal
action. In Russian, there is only one form: the past form of the verb + the particle бы:
Я хотел бы пойти туда. (In informal speech, though, the verb can be omitted, with
only the particle expressing the hypothetical action: Чайку бы! Sometimes the
Russian subjunctive form can be reduced to the conjunction чтобы only.) In English,
unlike Russian, there are many verb forms to express the subjunctive mood: synthetic
forms be/do, were/did; analytical forms should/would, do/have done, might/could
do/have done, may/can do, had done, which is a challenge for a fledgling translator.

Usage of the English subjunctive forms depends on the clause structure and semantics
of the main verb. Thus, adverbial clauses of condition presuppose the usage of the
were/ did or had done forms: Если бы я только знала… - If only I knew (had
known), nominative (object, subject, attributive, predicative, that is, nominal part of
the predicate) clauses predetermine the usage of (should) do forms: Предлагаю,
чтобы он это сделал. – I suggest that he (should) do it. On the other hand, clauses of
the same syntactic function vary depending on the meaning of the main verb. For
example, in object clauses that depend on the verb wish, the were/did form can be
used (I wish it were summer), as well as had done forms (I wish he had not discussed
it with you yesterday.) In clauses depending on information verbs and expressing
proposition the (should) do form is used (In the year 325 A.D. it was decreed that
Easter fall on the first Sunday after the full moon following the first day of spring.). If
a clause depends on the verb denoting anxiety, the can (could) / may (might) forms
are used: I am afraid that he could forget it.

The Russian subjunctive mood form does not indicate time relations, there being only
one verb form. In English a speaker shows time distinctions by the verb forms: If I
had known it yesterday and if I knew it now… I wish I could help you (now). I wish I
could have helped you in that accident. To render in Russian the meaning of the
English sentence one has to compensate the English verb form by some modifier
indicating time: If she were in New York, she would certainly call you. – Если бы
она сейчас была в Нью-Йорке, она бы, конечно, позвонила вам. If you had
followed your father’s advice and gone into the army, you would probably be a
colonel by now. – Если бы ты тогда послушал совета своего отца и пошел бы в
армию, сейчас ты, возможно, был бы уже полковником. If the meaning of time is
clear from the context, a zero transformation is employed in Russian: The
demonstration would have passed off quite peacefully, had the organizers taken a few
elementary precautions. – Если бы организаторы предусмотрели элементарные
меры безопасности, демонстрация прошла бы вполне мирно.

To render some structures, the “problematic condition” in particular, it is necessary to

substitute the subjunctive mood by the future tense form of the indicative mood,
compensating lexically the specific construction meaning: Should I not be promoted,
I'm going to have to go out and look for a better-paying job. – Если все же меня не
повысят в должности, я буду вынужден уехать в поисках лучше оплачиваемой
работы.
Constructions with the ‘wish’-clauses often require antonymous translation: I wish
she were here. – Жаль, что ее здесь нет. I wish you had not said it to him. – Жаль,
что ты ему это сказал.

It is not infrequent that English and Russian sentences differ in degree of certainty or
uncertainty expressed by the mood construction. An English sentence shows more
vividly the speaker’s attitude to the situation, whether s/he considers the situation real
or unreal. Cf. It looks as if he were sick. (I am not sure). – It looks as if he is sick. (He
really is but I wouldn’t like to sound categorical.) In Russian this subtle difference in
meaning is lost: Кажется, он болен.

Translating the infinitive

The challenges in translating the English infinitive are due to its specific forms,
functions and structures.

Unlike Russian, the English language possesses a number of forms of the same verb:
the Simple infinitive, the Continuous infinitive, the Perfect infinitive, the Perfect
Continuous infinitive. The first two forms indicate actions simultaneous with that of
the main predicate: Я рада, что вижу вас. – I am glad to see you. Я рада, что читаю
эту книгу. – I am glad to be reading the book, or the future actions: Я рада, что
пойду туда. – I am glad to go there. The Perfect and Perfect Continuous infinitives
denote actions prior to that of the predicate: Я рада, что увидела вас. - I am glad to
have seen you. Я рада, что читала эту книгу. – I am glad to have been reading the
book. On the other hand, the difference between the Simple / Perfect and Continuous /
Perfect Continuous forms of the infinitive lies in expressing either a fact (incomplete
or completed) or a process, respectively:
рад, что делаю (каждый день) – glad to do (every day)
рад, что делаю сейчас – glad to be doing
рад, что буду делать – glad to do
рад сделать (что сделаю) – glad to do
рад, что сделал – glad to have done
рад, что делал – glad to have been doing.

The actual meaning of the infinitive can be determined by the context only. English
infinitive functions can also be a stumbling block for a fledgling translator. The
attributive function of the infinitive can cause difficulties in translation due to its
modal meaning: This is a book to read. – Вот книга, которую можно (нужно)
почитать. The type of modal meaning can be seen from the context: When nature has
work to be done, she creates a genius to do it. (Emerson) – Когда природе предстоит
что-то сделать, она создает гения, который может сделать это. However, it is not
always necessary to verbalize the modal meaning in Russian: The latest reports from
Europol, the organization to be established for the coordination of police work in all
the countries of the European Union, indicates that it has not yet been able to agree on
a single working language. – В последних докладах Европола, организации,
созданной для координации работы полиции во всех странах Европейского
Союза, отмечается, что в вопросе о едином рабочем языке согласия еще не
достигнуто. As is seen from the examples, the attributive infinitive usually has the
meaning of a future action/state.

The function of some adverbial infinitives presents difficulties in translation. For

example, the English infinitive can be used to denote a subsequent event or a parallel
action, which is often confused with the infinitive of purpose: Iron combines with
oxygen to form rust. – Железо соединяется с кислородом и образует ржавчину.
The infinitive in this function is usually rendered by a parallel finite verb: (In many
rooms, one wall or another was overgrown with black-green mold.) … In some
rooms, the mold grew thickly halfway down a wall, only to stop in a sharp horizontal
line, as if cut by a knife. – (Во многих комнатах одна-две стены были покрыты
темно-зеленой плесенью)…В некоторых комнатах плесень густо покрывала
полстены, и резко прерывалась, словно ножом была проведена горизонтальная
линия.

This infinitive should be distinguished from the infinitive of purpose: Live not to eat,
but eat to live. – Живи не для того, чтобы есть, но ешь для того, чтобы жить.

When translating the infinitive of result, a translator should take care to render
properly the connotation of the construction: the infinitive with too implies a negative
meaning, while the infinitive with enough suggests a positive one: She is too old to go
there. – Она слишком стара и не поедет туда. She is old enough to go there. – Она
достаточно взрослая и может поехать туда.

Infinitive constructions are the most challenging problem. They are usually translated
by a clause. For instance, the Complex Object construction: We expect

them to pay us by Friday. – Мы ожидаем, что нам дадут зарплату к пятнице.

When translating the Complex Subject construction, it is recommended that the finite
verb be translated first, and then the subject and the infinitive be joined to form a
clause: After a few minutes the men were seen to be running in all directions. – Через
несколько минут увидели, что эти люди бегут в разные стороны. The letter seems
to have been opened. – Кажется, письмо уже вскрыли. The main verb of the
sentence is translated with the indefinite or impersonal form (кажется, видели) or
with a parenthetical phrase (конечно, по- видимому, очевидно): The reporters were
certain to misunderstand his attendance... – Конечно, журналисты неправильно
истолковали его присутствие .., or by an introductory phrase (согласно
сообщению, как сообщают): The EPO is expected to make a final decision in the
near future. – Как ожидают, Европейское патентное ведомство примет решение в
ближайшем будущем.

When dealing with the for-to-infinitive construction, a translator substitutes an

English simple sentence with a Russian complex one, i.e. s/he does the partitioning of
the sentence: She arranged for the office to be opened by one of the security people. –
Она устроила так, что офис открыл один из охранников. In some cases this type
of construction can be rendered by a compound sentence: He was a very nice fellow,
you had only to say you wanted something for him to give it to you. – Он был очень
славный малый: стоило вам только сказать, что вам что-то нужно, и он тут же
давал это вам.

Special difficulties can arise from the Absolute construction with the infinitive. This
construction usually has the meaning either of concession or of successive events:
With so much to say, the two said nothing. – И хотя этим двоим так много надо
было сказать, они не сказали ничего. The resolution calls for the withdrawal of
Israeli troops from occupied territories, with a peace conference to follow. – В
резолюции содержится призыв вывести израильские войска с оккупированных
территорий, после чего будет созвана мирная конференция.

To summarize, the ways of translating English infinitives are as follows:

• by the infinitive: To err is human. – Человеку свойственно ошибаться.
• by the noun: The best way to make children good is to make them happy. – Лучший
способ воспитания хороших детей – это сделать их счастливыми.
• by the participle: The problem to be considered in Chapter 2 is concerned with the
article. – Вопрос, рассматриваемый в главе 2, касается артикля.
• by the clause: Вопрос, который будет рассмотрен в главе 2, касается артикля.
• by homogeneous, that is, parallel, verbs: He went to Australia to fall sick there. – Он
поехал в Австралию и там заболел.

Translating the gerund

The gerund is not a regular equivalent of the Russian adverbial participle

(деепричастие). It is closer to the verbal noun than to the adverbial participle. The
gerund can be translated by the following means:
• the noun: A woman’s idea of keeping a secret is refusing to tell who told it. –
Представление женщины о том, как надо хранить секрет, - это отказ сообщить,
кто ей его рассказал.
• the infinitive: There’s nothing more tragic in life than the utter impossibility of
changing what you have done. – Нет ничего трагичнее в жизни, чем абсолютная
невозможность изменить то, что ты сделал.
• the adverbial participle: Learn to swim by swimming. – Учись плавать, плавая.
• the clause: I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught.
(Churchill) – Я всегда готов учиться, но мне не всегда нравиться, когда меня
учат. The gerundial construction is always translated by the clause: He was amused at
my becoming so impatient with him. – Он удивился тому, что я стал так
нетерпелив с ним. He stayed there without our knowing it. – Он остался там, а мы
даже не знали об этом.

When translating from Russian into English, it is necessary to pay attention to the
careful selection of either the single gerund or the gerundial construction. While in the
Russian sentence the subject is named twice, the English sentence does not take the
same subject before the gerund. Cf.: Я настаиваю на том, чтобы мне позвонили. – I
insist on being phoned. The gerundial construction in English is used only in case of
two different subjects in the sentence: I remember his asking the question. – Помню,
как он задал этот вопрос.

Some practical grammars of English do not distinguish the –ing participle and the
gerund. However, in translation the difference can be essential, since the gerund and
the participle have different functions and, therefore, convey different meanings. For
instance, Flying planes can be dangerous can be translated as Летать на самолетах
опасно, if flying is used here as a gerund. The sentence could also be translated
Летающие самолеты опасны, the word flying being treated as a participle.

Translating the participle

The difference between the English and Russian participle concerns its form and
usage.

As for the form, the English participle exists in two special forms – the Present
Participle and the Past Participle, the former varying into Simple and Perfect, active
and passive forms. The Russian participle is altered according to time and voice
distinctions. Furthermore, there is a form, called the adverbial participle
(деепричастие) which varies by the tense.

For example, The main problem is rising prices. – Основная проблема – растущие
цены.

Rising crime has driven many families out of downtown areas. – Возросший
уровень преступности вынудил многие семьи уехать из центра города.
The Chairman, having risen from his seat, was beginning to speak. – Уже вставший
со своего места председатель начал свою речь.

The government, raising taxes, cuts public spending. – Правительство,

увеличивающее налоги, сокращает расходы на общественные нужды.

Raising her voice, she made herself heard over the noise in the classroom. – Повысив
голос, она заставила класс услышать себя, несмотря на шум.

Raised taxes is no news for us. – Увеличенные налоги – для нас не новость.

Risen by 10% every year, salaries did not keep up with prices. – Возраставшие
ежегодно на 10% зарплаты, тем не менее, не поспевали за ценами.

Note, however, that not all Russian verbs have the entire set of participial forms;
some of them lack adverbial participles (e.g., ждать, писать, беречь, мерзнуть,
бежать).

The English participle can be translated not only by the Russian participle or
adverbial participle, but also by the clause: The cat shuts its eyes when stealing
cream. – Когда кошка крадет сливки, она закрывает глаза. In this case, the English
sentence is more laconic, since in Russian the subject is repeated twice, whereas in
English only once: Если человек нужен, его ищут. – When wanted, a man is looked
for.

Sometimes a Russian noun accompanied by a preposition may correspond to the

English participle: Aspirin can be poisonous when taken in excessive amounts. – При
приеме в больших количествах аспирин может быть ядом.

A parallel verb may also be used: She sat reading. – Она сидела и читала.
Sometimes, to translate a participle, it is necessary to transform the entire sentence:
When seen from this angle, the picture looks rather good. – Если смотреть на
картину с этой стороны, она кажется достаточно интересной. When shot, Mrs.
Doran was apparently taking a walk. – Миссис Доран была убита, очевидно, во
время прогулки.

AIS Lecture 7
TRANSLATING REALIA

Points:
Culture-bound and equivalent-lacking words
Types of culture-bound words
Ways of translating culture-bound words
Translating people’s names
Translating geographical terms
Translating ergonyms

Culture-bound and equivalent-lacking words

Equivalent-lacking words signify notions lacking in the target language and culture.
They are sometimes called untranslatable words or ‘unfindable’ words.

Sometimes equivalent-lacking words are associated with culture-bound words, the

Russian equivalent being реалии (derived from Latin realis, pl. realia), or culturally
loaded words. However, the term of culture-bound word is of narrower meaning than
the term of equivalent-lacking word. A culture-bound word names an object peculiar
to this or that ethnic culture (хохлома, гжель, матрешка; babyshower, Christmas
yule log; kimono).

Equivalent-lacking words include, along with culture-bound words, neologisms, i.e.

newly coined forms, dialect words, slang, taboo-words, foreign (third language)
terms, proper names, misspellings, archaisms, etc.

Reasons for using equivalent-lacking words can be various:

• extralinguistic: lack of a similar thing in the target culture;
• lexical: lack of a corresponding one-word name for a thing in the target language:
exposure – оказание внешнего физического воздействия.
• stylistic: difference in connotations, like in buck – доллар (colloquial vs. neutral),
beauty sleep – ранний сон до полуночи; бабушка, бабулечка, бабулька – Granny,
old woman.

Types of culture-bound words

Culture-bound words are culturally loaded words borrowed from another language
due to language contacts.

Comparison of languages and cultures reveals the following types of culture-bound

words:
• unique culture-bound words: вытрезвитель,
• analogues: drug-store – аптека, дедовщина – hazing;
• similar words with different functions: cuckoo’s call (asked for by an American girl
to find out how soon she will get married) – крик кукушки (counted by a Russian to
find out how long s/he will live)
• language lacunae of similar notions: clover-leaf = автодорожная развязка в виде
клеверного листа.

According to the semantic fields, culture-bound words are classified into:

• toponyms, or geographical terms (Munich, the Great Lakes, the Sikhote Alin,
Beijing);
• anthroponyms, or people’s names (Aristophanes, Victor Hugo, Alexander
Hamilton);
• zoonyms, or animal names (kangaroo, grizzly, cougar);
• social terms (Государственная Дума, House of Commons);
• military terms (есаул, подполковник, lance corporal);
• education terms (junior high school, eleven-plus, child/day care; пионерский
лагерь);
• tradition and customs terms (Halloween, масленица);
• ergonyms, or names of institutions and organizations (Heinemann, крайисполком,
санэпидстанция)
• history terms (civil war, War of Independence, Великая Отечественная война)
• words for everyday life (cuisine, clothing, housing, etc.) (sushi, kilt, trailer, валенки,
лапти)
• titles and headlines (Война и мир, Vanity Fair).

Culture-bound words are characterized by a location and time. Based on the local
coloring, their classification includes:
• exoticisms: chinook, bonsai, kabuki
• barbarisms, i.e. words partially incorporated into a borrowing language: авеню,
миссис, хобби.

Based on the time coloring, culture-bound words classification falls into the following
groups:
• neologisms: junk food, internet
• historisms, or outdated words denoting realia that no longer exist: Beat Generation,
WASP; уезд, бурлак. Historisms have no synonyms in a modern language.
• archaisms, or out-of-use words having synonyms in the modern language: Sire =
father, clime = climate and country; злато = золото, град = город.

Ways of translating culture-bound words

Culture-bound words are generally rendered in the borrowing language through

transcription, transliteration and calque translation: авеню, sputnik, Статуя Свободы.
As compared with transcription and transliteration, calques are more convenient. But
at the same time, calques can be misinterpreted by a receptor. For example an English
calque from the Chinese Red Guard, meaning ‘a member of an activist pro-Maoist
youth movement in China’, is far more convenient than its transcription counterpart
Hongwei Bing. However, a Russian receptor can easily confuse this calque with
another one, referring to the Russian revolution: красногвардеец, whereas this word
is known in Russian as atranscription borrowing: хунвэйбин. There are cases when a
translator resorts to calque translation without thinking thoroughly of the meaning of
a culture-bound word or, worse, without understanding it.

An explicatory translation reveals a culture-bound word meaning in full: 13 зарплата

= annual bonus payment; breadline = очередь безработных за бесплатным
питанием. Explication of culture-bound words can be made in commentaries (both
in-text and after-text), and in footnotes. The disadvantage of in-text notes is that they
distract a receptor’s attention from the main text. However, after-text commentaries
are not for a “lazy” reader. So the most convenient, probably, are footnotes which
save a reader’s time and effort.

Lexical substitutions can be used to have proper impact upon the receptor. For
example, the main character of Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” is called
Scout. This name would call specific associations with a Russian reader. To avoid
confusion, the translator substituted the girl’s name by Глазастик, conveying her
main feature to notice everything.

In news texts there can be possible analogue substitutions of official positions: Under-
Secretary – зам. министра, Secretary of State – Министр иностранных дел.

There are known cases of reduction in translating culture-bound words. For example,
Mark Twain’s novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court is mostly known
in Russian translation as Янки при дворе короля Артура, since the phrase
“Connecticut Yankee”, which originally meant “heady Americans who made wooden
nutmegs and sold them for real ones”, could, possibly, not make sense for today’s
Russian receptor.

What is most important in translating culture-bound words is the receptor’s perception

and reaction. A translator should be aware of the receptor’s potential problems and,
taking into account the receptor’s background knowledge, choose the best means of
translation.

Before translating, it is necessary to check whether a loan word exists in the target
language, whether its meaning corresponds to that of the source language word, and
what its phonetic and graphic form is (care should be taken for the different spellings
of a source language word and the loan word, like lunch – ленч).

Translating people’s names

Anthroponyms are usually rendered through transcription or transliteration: Thomas

Heywood – Томас Хейвуд, George Gordon Byron – Джордж Гордон Байрон.
These days preference is given to transcription. (In the last century it was possible to
see and hear Шакеспиаре – Shakespeare, Невтон – Newton.) In rendering names of
living people, personal preferences should be taken into account. When Van Cliburn,
the Tchaikovsky Contest first prize winner, came back to Moscow after a long
absence, he was offended by the papers calling him Ван Клайберн, as he had become
accustomed to being called in Russia Ван Клиберн.

Names of foreign origin, spelt in the Latin alphabet, are usually written in English in
their original form: Beaumarchais, Aeschylus, Nietzsche, Dvořak. In Russian they are
rendered mostly by their sound form, in transcription: Бомарше, Эсхил, Ницше,
Дворжак. Some Renaissance and eighteenth-century figures adopted classical names
which are then sometimes naturalized: Copernicus – Copernic – Коперник, Linnaeus
– Linné – Линней.

Oriental names differ from English names in that the former given the family name
first and then the person’s first name, whereas the latter normally use a person’s first
name and only then the last (family) name. Thus the name of Mao Zedong (Мао
Цзэдун) suggests that Mao is the family name and Zedong is the first name.
Therefore, the courtesy title word ‘Mr/Ms’ should be added to the family name not to
be mistaken with the first name. Most Chinese personal names use the official
Chinese spelling system known as Pinyin. The traditional spellings, however, are used
for well-known deceased people such as Chou En-lai, Mao Tse-tung, Sun Yat-sen.
Some Chinese have westernized their names, putting their given names or the initials
for them first: P.Y. Chen, Jack Wang. In general it recommended following a
preferred individual spelling.

As for Russian names, when the first name has a close phonetic equivalent in English,
this equivalent is used in translating the name: Alexander Solzhenitsyn rather than
Alexandr, the spelling that would result from a transliteration of the Russian letter
into the English alphabet. For the last names, the English spelling that most closely
approximates the pronunciation in Russian is used.

Some proper names are adapted to the translated language by adding or dropping
female endings: Lizette – Лизетта; госпожа Иванова – Mrs. Ivanov. Feminine
endings in Russian names are used only if the woman is not married or if she is
known under that name (the ballerina Maya Plissetskaya). Otherwise, in the formal
style the masculine forms are used: Raisa Gorbachev, not Raisa Gorbacheva.
However, if an individual has a preference for a name with a feminine ending, the
individual preference should be followed.

There are names, which when translated, sound bad in the target language (like the
Russian family names of Факов, Вагина), it is desirable that the translator inform the
person with such a name about possible negative associations and slightly change the
name by adding or deleting a letter: e.g., Faikov, or Mrs. Waggin.

Russian names never end in -off, except for common mistranslations such as
Rachmaninoff. Instead, the transliterations should end in -ov: Romanov.

The names of kings are of special interest, as they are traditional in form: King
Charles – король Карл, King James – король Яков, King George – король Георг,
King William – король Вильгельм, King Louis – король Людовик, King
Henrie/Henry – король Генрих.

Of great help for a translator is Yermolovich’s dictionary of personal names, The

English-Russian Who’s Who in Fact and Fiction.

Transparent names (говорящие имена) pose a special problem. Peter Newmark, a

well-known translation theorist, suggests the following procedure: “first to translate
the word that underlies the source language proper name into the target language, and
then to naturalize the translated word back into a new source language proper name –
but normally only when the character’s name is not yet current amongst an educated
target language readership.” For example, Michail Holman (1983) has done this
effectively with characters from L. Tolstoy’s Resurrection: Nabatov → alarm →
Alarmov; Toporov → axe → Hachitov; Khororshavka → pretty → Belle.

The same tactics can be employed in English to Russian translation. The names of E.
Waugh’s and A. Huxley’s characters are translated into Russian: Miles Malpractice –
Злопрактис, Mr. Chatterbox – г-н Таратор, Mr. Slum – г-н Хлам.

However, unfortunately, personal name connotations are often lost (remember Mr.
Murdstone in Dickens’ David Copperfield – мистер Мердстоун). Tony Last in E.
Waugh’s Vile Bodies is indeed the last honest and decent person, which is transparent
in his surname. In transferring (Тони Ласт) this connotation is lost.

In case of such a loss, some translators tend to explain the loss in commentaries, but a
number of critics consider commentaries to hinder text perception.
Another problem is with Russian second names. Unless particularly required by some
documents, it is desirable to abbreviate patronymics to the first letter (Marina P.
Ivanova), as it is difficult for foreigners to pronounce and is sometimes confused for a
family name (especially Belorussian names like Pavlovich, Petrovich, etc.)

Besides patronymics, a proverbial problem for translators is Russian short first names
that can have affectionate, patronizing or friendly overtones (Александр[а], Саша,
Сашенька, Сашок, Сашка, Шура, Шурик, Шурочка, etc.) It is not recommended to
retain the variations of the name referring to same character in the target language
text.

Translating geographical terms

Toponyms are normally transcribed or transliterated: Oxford – Оксфорд, Находка –

Nakhodka. Now the tendency towards transcription prevails over the tendency
towards transliteration – some decades ago one should render Stratfordon-Avon as
Статфорд-на-Авоне, now it is Стратфорд–он-Эйвон. Likewise: Комсомольск-на-
Амуре should be rendered Komsomolsk-na-Amure rather than Komsomolsk-on-the-
Amur.

Care should be taken to revert to non-naturalized place-names: Beijing is not Бейцзин

in Russian, but Пекин, Leghorn is Ливорно, and Munich is known to Russians as
Мюнхен. In rendering, a translator should check all terms in the most recent atlas.
Bilingual general and specialized dictionaries may be consulted (especially –English-
Russian and Russian-English Geographical Dictionary by M.V.Gorskaya). A term
found must be carefully checked in monolingual dictionaries.

Transparent local geographical names can be translated by calques: Rocky Mountains

– Скалистые горы, Saint Helena Island – остров Святой Елены, залив Золотой Рог
– Golden Horn Bay.

Half-calques can be used to translate toponyms with classifiers, such as river, lake,
bridge: Waterloo Bridge – мост Ватерлоо, Salt Lake City – город Солт-Лэйк-Сити.

If a toponym is a little-known proper name, it is normally transferred (transcribed)

with the addition of some generic information (Dalnegorsk, a small mining town in
Primorski Region). Names of states are usually clarified: Seattle, Washington –
(город) Сиэтл, штат Вашингтон.

Some toponyms are substituted in translation: Strait of Dover – Па-де-Кале, the

English Channel – Ла-Манш. However, it is important to avoid wrong associations in
substitution. For example, Приморский край is sometimes translated as Maritime
Territory, which sometimes confuses English-speaking receptors mistake it for the
Canadian Maritime Province.

Chinese place names are usually written in the Pinyin spelling. If the new Pinyin
spelling is so radically different from the traditional spelling that a reader might be
confused, it is necessary to provide the Pinyin spelling followed by the traditional
spelling in parentheses. For example, the city of Fuzhou (Foochow). Traditional
spelling is used for the following place names: Canto, China, Inner Mongolia,
Shanghai, Tibet.

Translating published editions

Periodicals are normally transcribed: Financial News – Файнэншл Ньюз, Economist

– Икономист. The definite article testifying to the name of a newspaper is not
transferred: The Times – «Таймс». Also, the names of periodicals are usually
extended: газета «Таймс», журнал «Икономист». Note the difference in the position
of the generic name: Asian Business magazine – журнал «Эйжн Бизнес».
Transplanting foreign names is one of the latest trends: журнал “Asian Business”.

Titles of literary works are translated: The Man of Property – Собственник. When
used in the English text, all notional words in titles are capitalized and either italicized
or underlined. More rarely are they written with quotation marks. In Russian, titles are
usually quoted in a text.

For pragmatic reasons, a translator can substitute the title. For instance, «Двенадцать
стульев» by Ilf and Petrov was translated into English under the title Diamonds to Sit
On, so as to make the book commercially more enticing.

It is also necessary to observe literary traditions of a country. The world famous tales
«Тысяча и одна ночь» are known in English-speaking countries as The Arabian
Nights.

Scientific works in references are not translated. When a work of science is translated
from English, the source language title of reference to remains in its original form.
When a scientific work is translated from Russian, references to Russian scientists are
usually transliterated.

Translated document titles must render the general meaning of the official document,
so various translation transformations are admissible: e.g., the British No Hanging
Bill is translated by generalizing «Закон об отмене смертной казни», since it spoke
of abolishing the death penalty in general.
 Translating ergonyms

When the name of an institution is identified, it is usually transferred with a word

about its function and status: DalZavod (Far Eastern Dock), детский спортклуб
“Юность”- Yunost, Children’s and Youth’s Sports Club, магазин “Океан” - the
Ocean seafood store, Востоктрансфлот – VostokTransFlot shipping company.

Ergonyms comprising highly informative names are calque-translated:

Дальневосточный центр поддержки бизнеса - The Far Eastern Business Support
Center. Official administrative bodies are normally translated: Гоcударственный
комитет РФ по рыболовству - The Russian Federal Committee on Fisheries,
Краевой комитет по архитектуре и строительству - The Krai Committee for
Architecture and Construction.

AIS Lecture 8
FUNCTIONAL STYLES AND TRANSLATION

Points:
Functional style, register: definition
Translating scientific and technical style
Translating bureaucratic style
Translating journalistic (publicist) style

Functional style, register: definition

A translator has to deal with diverse texts, belonging to various styles and registers.
The term ‘style’ has acquired several definitions. First, it means the how of the text,
that is, the way something is said, done, expressed (elevated, or bookish, neutral, and
low, or colloquial styles). Second, the combination of distinctive features of literary
expression, execution, or performance characterizing a particular school, person, etc.
(Byron’s style, baroque style). Third, the term ‘style’ is often a reduction for
‘functional style’, i.e., a language variety specific of a certain social sphere and
characterized by a definite predominant function.

The concept of functional style has been developed in Russian (V. Vinogradov, M.
Kozhina, D. Shmelyov et al.) and Czech (B. Gavranek, V. Mathesius and others)
linguistics. American and British linguists use the term ‘register’, which is close in
meaning to functional style. Register is defined as the style of language, grammar and
words used for particular situations.
There have been a number of classifications of functional styles. Most linguists single
out every day colloquial style, journalistic (publicistic) style, scientific and technical
style, official, or bureaucratic style. All of them, except for the everyday colloquial
style, are represented by informative texts, carrying an informative function. The
status of literary style, or the style of imaginative literature, is controversial. Also
disputable is the style of advertizing, as well as colloquial style.

All styles are subdivided into substyles and genres. They can be of written and oral
forms.

A translator has to know not only special features of each style, but also the
differential peculiarities of a style in the source and target languages.

Translating scientific and technical style

The main function of the scientific and technical style is informative. To convey
logical information, prove its novelty and significance is the main goal of a scholarly,
scientific or technical author. This style is used in professional spheres of science,
humanities, technology.

The scientific and technical style involves the following substyles: scientific,
technical, instructional (educational), popular science substyle. The substyles are
classified into the following genres: monograph, manual, textbook, article, report,
technical description, discussion, etc.

The distinctive features of scientific and technical style are preciseness, clear logic,
compressive character, impersonality, formality.

Preciseness is a basic property of a scientific and technical text, and it should be

strictly maintained in translation. A translator must be fully aware of what s/he is
translating to render precisely the content of the text. Special attention must be paid to
terms. To translate precisely, it is not enough to know an equivalent of the term. It is
crucial to know the exact place of the concept, denoted by the term, in relation to
other concepts. Therefore, translators in science and technologies have to specialize in
a foreign language and a particular subject field. In fact, there are two types of
translators: linguist translators and engineering translators. The former usually require
penetration into the subject matter, the latter need good language skills.

In specialized translation, search for inter-lingual equivalents is a time-consuming

activity even for an experienced translator. Therefore, the mid-1960s and early 1970s
gave rise to term banks, or terminological data banks, that is systems for storing
specialized vocabulary in electronic form. Term banks are commercially available
(TERMIUM, for example, is available on CD-ROM). Preciseness and reliability of a
scientific text is also established with references and citations. The Russian style
researcher N. Razinkina compared references with currency, by which scientists pay
their intellectual debt to their predecessors. The bibliography is considered to be a
kind of social control over scientific value and reliability of the results of research.

In the target text, references in the source language and foreign languages are retained
in the original form, so that the receptor would not search for a non-translated book,
thinking that it has been translated. For the same reason a translator keeps
untranslated quotations in a third language. (Though, for the receptor’s convenience,
the translator may do a quote translation in parentheses, footnotes or after-text
commentaries.)

The translation of units of measurement depends on the system they are expressed in.
If in metric system, weights, measures and quantities are usually retained. If
expressed in imperial system (miles, pints, pounds, etc.), they are normally converted
to the metric system.

Clear logic is achieved through a system of logical connections and interrelations. A

stock of linking phrases will help a translator make a connection between a point in
the past and future, to refer a receptor forward or back. For example, As we will see…
– Как будет видно… As I said earlier… - Как было сказано раньше… Linking
phrases help to develop a point (Moreover… – Кроме того… Despite this… -
Несмотря на это…According to our estimates,… - Согласно нашим подсчетам…)

A specialized text tends to emphasize thematic components by various means because

the theme serves as a linking element between what has been said in the text and what
will follow (new, rhematic element). English texts, though, often manifest their
implicit character and do not verbalize the thematic component of the sentence.
Therefore, in the more explicit Russian text, a translator has to extend the sentence by
adding an implied thematic element: The fundamental principles of alternating current
are presented in this chapter. Included are the basic principles of some alternating
current machines. – В данной главе изложены основные принципы переменного
тока. Здесь же изложены основные принципы действия некоторых моторов
переменного тока.

Logical enumeration of classification in a scientific text is a matter of graphical

hierarchy: first come Roman numerals (I, II, etc), then Arabic numerals (1. 2.), then, if
necessary, Arabic numerals with a parenthesis: 1), 2), followed by capitalized letters
(A, B), lowercase: a, b, or lowercased letters with parenthesis: a), b). It is advisable
not to change the hierarchy of enumerating elements, since a different order will seem
illogical. In marking the enumeration, the translator (like the author) should be
consistent: the numeral I implies the numeral II. If the text receptor sees only the
numeral 1), not to be followed by the numeral 2), s/he might be confused. After
saying (or writing) a, it is necessary to say (write) b.

Economy and compressive character of the text. A scientific text must provide a
reader with maximal information within a minimal time period and with minimal
effort. This stylistic feature is achieved with lexical and grammatical means, such as:
using compressive structures, like attributive clusters (a liquid rocket – ракета на
жидком топливе), Complex Subject (these devices were proved to be sufficiently
reliable), Complex Object (assume this to make…), reduced adverbials (if found),
article ellipsis (General view is that…); abbreviation (PC = personal computer; CD-
ROM = Compact Disk-Read-Only Memory; NC = Norton Commander).

It is necessary that a translator decipher all the abbreviations in the original (by using
every available dictionary and reference book) and render them according to the
standards. If the form has no standard abbreviated form in the target language, it is
given in full form. The abbreviations that cannot be deciphered are retained in the
source language.

Impersonality is a measure of the extent to which the producer of a text avoids

reference to him/herself or to the receptor.249 Such avoidance is far commoner in
written than in spoken texts, and in Russian than in English. Using impersonal and
indefinite structures, passive constructions, infinitive clauses, etc. provides the
impression of the impersonal and objective style. Several experiments were run. –
Было проведено несколько экспериментов.

As has been mentioned, in English texts a smaller degree of impersonality is

acceptable, as compared with Russian. This results in a more frequent usage of
personal pronouns (I, we, you) in English. Such sentences are often translated from
English into Russian by infinitive clauses or impersonal constructions: If we introduce
an extra member… - Если ввести лишний элемент…

English instructions and directions normally list instructions in the imperative mood.
To observe impersonality as a characteristic feature of a Russian technical style, it is
recommended translating the imperative verbs by Russian infinitives:

To run test 3,… you need to attach the loopback plug to your EtherLink board.

To Attach the Loopback Plug

1. Locate the personal computer that contains the board you are going to test.
2. Identify the EtherLink board connector on the rear or side panel of the computer…
3. Push the loopback plug onto the round BNC connector and twist the sleeve
clockwise one-quarter turn until it stops.

Для проведения теста 3 необходимо прикрепить разъем к плате Эзерлинк.

Чтобы прикрепить разъем, нужно

1. Установить компьютер с платой, подлежащей тестированию, на его
постоянное место.
2. На задней или боковой панели компьютера найти гнездо платы Эзерлинк…
3. Вставить разъем в круглое гнездо BNC и повернуть муфту на ¼ оборота по
часовой стрелке до фиксации муфты.

Some authors prefer to use the so-called ‘royal plural’: we – мы. Today this usage is
considered somewhat outdated. It is better to keep an impersonal style.

Formality. This feature results from the author’s tendency to avoid connotative words
in the scientific text. However, research by N. Razinkina and other linguists has
shown that English scientific text is not void of expressive elements, which greatly
differs from the Russian style. Metaphors and bright similes are not infrequent in the
English scientific text: Many of us are amused by grammatical acrobatics. (R.Quirk).
Since this feature is so different in English and Russian, translators generally leave
out metaphors in the Russian translation according to the rule of functional
equivalence.

Translating bureaucratic style

The basic function of this style is to regulate interrelations between the State and its
citizens, among citizens, the community and its members, between governments,
parties, enterprises, etc. This style serves in two spheres of activity –1) administrative
and legislative spheres; 2) business, public life, and community service. Respectively,
there are two substyles: officialese and commercialese, or business language. The
substyles are presented by the following genres: law, treaty, agreement, contract, act,
bylaw, decree, constitution, charter, edict, interim, instruction, memorandum,
certificate, letter, fax, telex, business plan, etc. These genres have a mostly written
form.

The distinctive features of texts of this style are accuracy, standardization, directive
character, impersonality, clear structure.

Accuracy is the utmost requirement of the bureaucratic style, for the ambiguity of
documents can cause disastrous effects in business and community. A translator is
responsible for making an accurate translation as close as possible to the source text.
Even small details should not be neglected. For example, country names. If the source
language document contains the full name of the State, it should be translated in full;
if the name is shortened, the translation must be equal: the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland – Соединенное Королевство Великобритании и
Северной Ирландии; the United Kingdom – Соединенное Королевство (not
Великобритания); Great Britain – Великобритания (not Англия). The only
exception to the rule is Britain, translated as Англия, as the word Британия in
Russian is stylistically marked.

In business, there is often need for pre-translation editing. The original author may be
quite clear in his mind about what he is trying to say but, nonetheless, the translator
may have great difficulty in understanding what the author intended. In many cases,
the author will not have read through the text after having written it and will seldom,
if ever, write with the translator in mind. In case of any doubt, the translator must ask
the client.

Some legal translations demand notarisation and certification. In this case a translator
signs his/her name to confirm the quality of the translation produced and certifies the
translation (by witnessing the translator’s signature and sealing) at the Notary or
appropriate language center.

Standard character. To produce a translation of good quality, it is necessary to use

standard terms. There may be concepts in law and business which exist in one country
yet not in another. In this case a translator, producing the nearest accepted equivalent
in the target language, makes footnotes, which give immediate reference to the item in
question and draw the reader’s attention to the fact.

The standard character of the “officialese” is made up of a number of set phrases,

which must be kept in the translator’s memory: on behalf and instruction of… - от
имени и по поручению; I have the privilege to introduce…- имею честь
представить…; Mr. X has the floor – слово предоставляется г-ну Х; the motion is
open to debate – вопрос выносится на обсуждение; I second the motion – я
поддерживаю предложение.

There are many archaic words typical only of this style: aforesaid – вышеуказанный,
henceforth – впредь, hereby – настоящим, hereinafter – в дальнейшем, herein – при
сем, therein – в нем, therewith – с ним, thereat – при этом. Though Russian
equivalents may have no bookish ring, it is necessary to preserve the tone of official
discourse, often by employing contextual substitutions, as was done in translating the
phrase the earth and all therein – земля и все сущее на ней.
Standard vocabulary of the English bureaucratic style incorporates a number of
foreign (mostly Latin and French) words and phrases. These phrases are less frequent
in Russian business and official texts. Therefore, these phrases are normally translated
into Russian unless they are well-known expressions. For example, condition sine qua
non (mind the English reading rather than Latin)– непременное условие; ad hoc –
специальный; per capita – на душу населения; pro rata – пропорционально; laissez
faire – невмешательство; en attendant – в ожидании; fait accompli –
совершившийся факт.* Widely known Latin expressions may be transliterated in
Russian (persona nongrata – персонанонграта, status quo – статус-кво), sometimes
with changed spelling (a priori – априори), or transferred to Russian text in Latin
letters (terra incognita, homo sapiens).

Words used in official texts are void of expressive connotation. Among variable
equivalents a translator chooses the one with the most neutral meaning. For example,
to grant is equivalent to даровать, жаловать, дарить, but the expression to grant a
credit corresponds to предоставлять кредит. Similarly, fresh wording is translated as
новая формулировка (not свежая), etc.

Russian bureaucratic language differs from English in using a great number of

nominal structures instead of verbs. Nominal phrases, like производить осмотр
площадки – to examine a site, наносить повреждение собственности – to damage
property, осуществлять обслуживание техники – to maintain the equipment,
provide a special formal overtone to the style.

The directive character of the bureaucratic style occurs by using the modal verb shall
in English (even American English) and either the so-called directive present verb:
The right of ownership for the goods and all risks of loss and damage to the goods
shall pass from the Sellers to the Buyers … право владения товаром и все риски,
связанные с потерей или повреждением товара, переходят от Продавца к
Покупателю… or modal adjective in Russian: Packing shall secure full safety of the
goods … Упаковка должна обеспечивать полную сохранность товара…

Impersonality of style is obtained by using the third person deixis, impersonal

constructions, passive verb forms.

Clear structure is incidental to all genres of bureaucratic texts. Every genre has a
special type of beginning [e.g., This is to certify that…- Данн(ая справка) выдан(а)
… в том, что …- in certificates], ending [Sincerely yours – C уважением – in
letters]. The structure of the document is also predetermined by its genre. For
instance, contracts, as a rule, include the following parts:
• Subject matter of the contract – Предмет контракта
• Terms of payment – Условия платежа
• Dates of delivery – Сроки поставки
• Liabilities – Ответственность сторон
• Packing, marking, shipment – Упаковка, маркировка и отгрузка
• Quality – Качество
• Acceptance – Приемка
• Guarantee – Гарантия
• Force majeure – Форс-мажорные обстоятельства (Обстоятельства
непреодолимой силы)
• Arbitration – Арбитраж
• Other conditions – Прочие условия
• Legal address – Юридические адреса сторон

Large documents are divided into sections, subsections, chapters, paragraphs, articles,
clauses, items, points. These terms, but for the last three, have regular Russian
equivalents – разделы, подразделы, главы, параграфы, статьи. As for the last three
terms, they have multiequivalents: статьи, пункты, подпункты. It is almost
irrelevant which term to choose; what is important is that the term correspondence be
carried throughout the whole document.

Numbering by Latin letters infrequently occurs in English documents. In Russian

translations, it is inappropriate to substitute Latin letters with letters of the Cyrillic
alphabet, since it can interfere with quotation and interpretation at negotiations.

Translating journalistic (publicist) style

The term ‘publicist style’ is a coinage of Russian linguists. Foreign researchers speak
of different variations, like ‘journalistic language’, ‘news media language’,
‘newspaper language’, ‘broadcasting language’, etc.

In Russian linguistics, the publicist style is understood as a variety of language that

carries out simultaneously two functions – informative and expressive – and is used in
public and political spheres of activity.

This style incorporates such substyles (sometimes called styles) as newspaper,

journalistic, oratorical, and propagandist substyles. Each substyle has particular
genres. The newspaper substyle includes editorials, news stories, chronicles, reports,
summaries (e.g., weather broadcasts, sports results, etc.). The journalistic substyle is
made up of commentaries, comic strips, analytical articles, pamphlets, reviews, essays
and the like. The oratorical substyle comprises speeches, sermons, and orations. And
the propagandist substyle implies slogans, proclamations, appeals, promotions,
commercials - the last genre, though, is now referred to as a new style of advertising.
The main distinctive features of the publicist style are standardization and
expressiveness. These features fulfill the two basic functions: to inform the readership
as quickly as possible, which demands from a journalist the use of ready-made
phrases, or clichés, sometimes called journalese. Expressiveness results from the
necessity to influence public opinion. The two tendencies are in perpetual conflict -
this is the distinctive feature of newspaper and journalistic substyles, first and
foremost, which will be discussed here.

Expressiveness can be detected in lexical characteristics of newspapers, magazines

and broadcasting, and also in headlines.

English mass media are abundant in connotative colloquial words and phrases, even
slang: eyesore, blackleg, new words (drunk-driving, think-tank), abbreviations
(champ for ‘champion’, E. Germans for ‘East Germans’). Metaphorical and
metonymical associations are not infrequent [Russia’s perestroika has turned missiles
into sausages. (The Daily Telegraph)], especially those connected with sports: An
industrial port … received a serious blow… (Vladivostok News); Mortgage lenders
call for curbs on ‘low start’ advertisements (The Daily Telegraph). Epithets
sometimes accompany nouns (strenuous political activity, aggressive grain exporters,
the crystal-clear waters).

Though expressive, most metaphors in newspapers are trite and commonplace: We

have also suffered the virtual death of such vital industries as machine tools, motor
cycles, and shipbuilding. (The Guardian). It concerns both languages, English and
Russian. For example, Russian дары тайги, труженики моря – metaphors turned
into hackneyed phrases.

English and American journalists take liberties with well-known public figures,
calling them by nicknames (Old Fox, the nickname of Adenauer, Gorby, Gorbachev,
Rocky, Rockfeller, Ike, Eisenhauer), shortened names (Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter;
FDR – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, JFK – Jack Kennedy – John Fitzgerald Kennedy).
Most of these short forms and all the nicknames are translated into Russian in full
form, since Russian readership feel disrespect with these types of names.

Expressiveness of English and Russian headlines is based on different criteria. The

English headline includes more colloquial words than a Russian headline. Even if an
article may be very serious and informative, the headline, to catch the reader’s
attention, may contain slang: Scramble to Unseat the Confident Mrs. Bain (The
Guardian).
Many headlines are expressive due to alliteration: Buck Bush, Man Behind. Malta’s
Seasick Summit. When the War of Stones Becomes the War of Guns. Alliteration is
not inherent in Russian headlines, so there is no need to perform it in translation.

On the other hand, the expressiveness of Russian headlines is often achieved by puns
and allusions: Слонята учатся летать. Весна – время рубить деревья? Кому
продается наш гордый «Варяг»? (Владивосток). This stylistic device is lost in
translation because of the readers’ background.

A formulaic character of newspaper language is also seen in the vocabulary, syntactic

structures, and headlines.

It is typical of an English newspaper to have more verbs, and of Russian newspaper,

more nouns to express actions: Одна из крупнейших южнокорейских корпораций
– Halla Business Group – приняла решение отказаться от участия в строительстве
Владивостокского индустриального порта. (Владивосток) The article with this
sentence was shortened in translation for Vladivostok News, with the corresponding
sentence reading: An industrial port …received a serious blow recently when a major
investor decided to pull out.

Nominal sentences are also typical of Russian headlines, whereas English journalists
prefer verbal headlines:263 U.S. Sales of Vehicles Built in North America Slide 24%.
(The Wall Street Journal) – Падение на 24% объема продаж американских
автомобилей.

A distinctive feature of Russian newspaper is the abundance of informatively ‘empty’

words, like в частности, дело, со стороны, etc. In translation, these words are
reduced. The translated sentence should be made as simple and compressive
syntactically as possible. The following example, cited by A. Shveitser, illustrates the
idea. Source language sentence: Согласно таблице, составленной Организацией
экономического сотрудничества и развития, Финляндия занимает 8-е место в
мире по уровню жизни. The translator’s version was According to a table drawn up
by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Finland ranks eighth
in the world in its living standards. The editor, whose native language was English,
compressed the sentence to A table drawn up by the OECD shows Finland as the
world’s eighth best-off nation.

There is a standard for featuring numerals in newspaper articles and headlines. In the
English text, whole numbers below 10 are spelled out, figures are used for 10 and
above.265 In the Russian text we may find a figure in any case: в 5 км от берега –
five kilometers off-shore. In headlines, however, numerals are not spelled-out: 3 Die
in Ambulance Crash.
One special problem is translating English headlines. Some features of the headlines
have already been mentioned. Another characteristics is that some articles may have
several headlines of different levels: headline, lead and ‘catch words’ in the text.

A headline summarizes and draws attention to the story. It is often elliptical: auxiliary
verbs, articles and even the sentence subject may be reduced. This presents a
particular difficulty in translation. Headlines are normally translated only after
reading the whole article, so that the translator is able to restore the subject: Fury at
City Bus Cowboys. The article tells us about Manchester’s bus passengers coming out
on the streets in protest against bus chaos. It is this thematic component that is
missing in the headline. Hence the translation: Жители Манчестера возмущены
работой городских автобусов, or Возмущение жителей Манчестера работой
городских автобусов.

Most often verbs in headlines are in the so-called present historical tense: Salvador
Rebels Take Battle Beneath Streets. If the event described in the headline was
completed in the past, the verb is translated in the past form: Повстанцы Сальвадора
начали войну под землей. In case the event is not yet finished, the verb is translated
with the present form: Mutual Distrust Threatens Yugoslav Peace Accord. –
Взаимное недоверие угрожает подписанию мирного соглашения в Югославии.
(Угроза мирному соглашению в Югославии). Researchers mark that Russian
newspaper headlines are not as informative as English ones, probably because of their
nominal thematic character.

To express a future event, the infinitive can be used in English: Iraqi Minister to Visit
Moscow. – Министр Ирака собирается отправиться с визитом в Москву. –
Предстоящий визит в Москву иракского министра.

The lead is the first paragraph of the article. It both ummarizes and begins to tell the
story. The lead answers Who? When? Where? Why? What? How? Some years ago
the demand was that the lead consist of one sentence only, which required its
partitioning in translation. Now the lead may include two or three sentences.

“Catch words” are used in the English text as if they were small titles of paragraphs.
But in fact their usage is purely psychological. They do not summarize the paragraph;
out of the context, they are meaningless. They are simply expressive words taken out
of context in order to attract the reader’s attention and to make the reader believe that
the paragraph is not too large to be read. Because of this, these ‘catchy’ titles are not
translated.
 AIS Lecture 9
RENDERING STYLISTIC DEVICES IN TRANSLATION

Points:
Translation of metaphors and similes
Translation of epithets
Translation of periphrase
Translation of puns
Translation of allusions and quotations

Tropes are ornamental lexical means of figurative language, or figures of speech. In

the Russian linguistic tradition, they are the subject matter of stylistics, whereas
English linguists consider them to be the subject of rhetoric. Tropes are mostly used
in the literary style (prose, poetry and drama), but also journalistic style (newspaper,
journalism, oratory, propaganda), in advertising and everyday conversation.

This lecture will discuss the following tropes: metaphors, similes, epithets,
paraphrase, puns and allusions.

The crucial strategy of a translator in rendering all these types of trope is to make a
similar impact upon the reader/listener of the target text as did a source text on its
receptor.

Translation of metaphors and similes

Metaphor is transference of some quality from one object to another. It is an implicit

comparison of two unlike objects. The purpose of metaphor is to liven up the text,
make it more colorful, dramatic and witty - that is, metaphor carries out an emotive
function.

Simile is a more cautious form of metaphor. It is a comparison of two objects when

the linkage is made explicit, like drumming like a noise in dreams. Metaphor is
inherent in language. In this case it can go unnoticed in everyday conversation, like
she attacked my views; an ailing economy; to have a load taken off one’s mind.
Language metaphors are stock metaphors. They are trite and typical for many users,
and fixed by the dictionary, as mostly idioms. They are sometimes called dead
metaphors.

Other metaphors are occasionally constructed in individual speech. They are

neologistic and ephemeral unless they become language metaphors by being diffused
through popular speech and, later, the media.
Metaphor is the main feature of imaginative writing. In his/her work, a translator must
be fully aware of its sense and the emotive effect it produces through its image. Both
sense and image should be preserved as much as possible.

Peter Newmark, an outstanding British theorist of translation, suggests the following

procedures for translating metaphor, in order of preference:

1) Reproducing the same image in the target language. This procedure is employed if
the image has comparable frequency and similar associations in the appropriate
register. For example, ray of hope – луч надежды. But associations may differ from
language to language, becoming tricky for translation. For an English-speaking
person, the image of duck is associated with a darling: Look Jenny! What a little duck
of a dog! (R. Hitchin) – Смотрите, Дженни, какая прелестная собачка! For a
Russian receptor, the image of duck raises negative connotations: Ольга Федоровна
чудовищно растолстела, была обжорлива, как утка, и нечистоплотна. (В.
Вересаев) Выбежала из светлицы Настя, и, лениво переваливаясь с ноги на ногу,
как утка, выплывала полусонная Параша. (П.Мельников-Печерский)

2) Replacing the image in the source language with a standard target language image.
What you hear is not genuine. She makes clouds with one hand, rain with the other.
She is trying to trick you, so you will do anything for her. (A. Tan) – Ее слова
лживы. Левая рука не знает, что творит правая. Ей хочется поймать тебя в
ловушку, чтобы ты делала для нее все, что ей угодно. This procedure is not
infrequent in translating similes: ноги как ватные – legs like jelly. The tongue is a
fire. – Язык как бритва. Sometimes the image substitution helps the translator to play
upon the extended metaphor: She was inclined to think … that her brother was the
apple of Mrs. Ashbury’s eyes, and (that she thought) the apple was full of worm-
holes. – Она была склонна думать, что миссис Эшбери … носится со своим
сыном как с писаной торбой, и что торба эта гнилая.

3) Translating metaphor with a simile, retaining the image. Books are mirrors. –
Книги как зеркало. Translating a metaphor (simile) by simile plus sense (i.e. plus
explanation of the sense). This transformation is used if there is risk that a simple
transfer of metaphor will not be understood by most readers.

4) Converting metaphor to sense, that is explicatory translation: I guess I keep hoping

that if we stay right where we are, she’ll come back, and we can turn the clock back.
(D. Steel) – Мне кажется, я все еще надеюсь, что если мы останемся здесь, она
вернется и все будет как прежде. This procedure is justified only in case of a dead
metaphor. In other cases, the expressiveness of the metaphor should be compensated
in a nearby part of the text.
5) Deletion, or reduction. This transformation is employed only if the metaphor is
redundant. A deletion of metaphor can be justified only on the ground that the
metaphor’s function is being fulfilled elsewhere in the text.

6) Using the same metaphor combined with sense. Calque translation of metaphor
supported by explanation is recommended only if the translator lacks confidence in
the metaphor’s power and clarity.

Translation of epithets

Today’s imaginative literature is characterized by the great role of epithet as an

ornamental element able to express the author’s attitude to the character, idea and
overall narration. To convey the author’s intent, the translator must be very careful in
selecting words with the same denotative and connotative meanings.

There are some specific problems of translating the epithet. One of them is
enantiosemy, or using a word in its paradoxical meaning when the word is capable of
carrying two opposite significations. Usually the enantisemic epithets reveal a
negative attitude of the speaker. He is a fine fellow as ever I saw. He simpers and
smirks and makes love to us all. I am prodigiously proud of him. I defy even Sir
William Lucas himself to produce a more valuable son-in-law. (J. Austen) The words
simpers and smirks show an ironic attitude of the speaker to the character. The
epithets valuable and prodigiously proud are understood in the opposite sense. This
irony must not escape from a target text reader.

Enantiosemy is characteristic of both English and Russian literature. For example,

Откуда, умная, бредешь ты голова? – addressing an ass. In translation the
paradoxical meaning can be shown with the help of particles, word order, etc.: My
good fellow! – Любезный ты мой! A nice place to live away from. – Ну и местечко!
A pretty story! – Хорошенькая же история!

Another problem is the transferred qualifier, or an epithet syntactically joined to a

word to which it does not belong logically. He ran a tired hand through his hair. (D.
Steel) – Устало он провел рукой по волосам. The word tired logically is linked with
he, syntactically with hand. In translation the logic disagreement is normally
corrected, since the structures of this type are not typical of modern Russian, though it
is interesting to note that in the 19th century they were used in Russian fiction:

Здесь кажут франты записные

Свое нахальство, свой жилет
И невнимательный лорнет.
(А.Пушкин. Евгений Онегин)
In English transferred epithets are used not only in poetry and prose, but also in
journalism and in everyday conversation.

Translation of the transferred epithet often requires word order change: a British
breakfast of depressing kidney and fish – наводящий тоску завтрак из почек и
рыбы; or extension: He raised a supercilious eyebrow. – Он поднял бровь, и лицо
его приняло высокомерное выражение. Stock epithets are calqued: her sapphire
glance – ее сапфирный взгляд; dumb love – немая любовью

Inverted epithet is a word syntactically functioning as a headword, but semantically

serving as a modifier to a dependent noun: a darling of a girl, a bear of a man. This
epithet is very expressive and should be rendered in Russian by an appropriate
expressive means: прелестнейшая девчушка; не человек, а медведь.

Gradation of epithets, that is a sequence of synonymous epithets, is constructed on a

different basis in English and in Russian. In English, gradation is based on rhythmical
sequence; in Russian, this device is logic-centered: the word, most important
logically, is positioned in the end of the sequence. This inevitably causes word order
change in translation: Privacy is viewed as a requirement which all humans would
find equally necessary, desirable, and satisfying. – Частная жизнь – это требование,
которое абсолютно все люди считают положительным, необходимым и
желательным.

Translation of periphrase

Periphrase, or periphrasis, is circumlocution, or extended rewording of an object

through one of its aspects: Green continent = Australia, pub-crawler = drunkard;
канцелярская крыса = чиновник, цветы жизни = дети. The term is derived from
the Greek periphrasis, ‘roundabout expression’. It should not be confused with
‘paraphrase’, or a restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words in
order to clarify the meaning. The Russian equivalent to periphraseis перифраз(а), and
‘paraphrase’ is equivalent to ‘парафраз’ or ‘перефразировка’.

The periphrase carries out two main functions in the text – cognitive and expressive.
The cognitive function implies that the periphrase deepens our knowledge of the
phenomenon described: three R’s = reading, writing and ’rithmetic, forming the base
of children’s education; Madison Avenue = advertising, as this New York street is
famous as the center of the advertising industry. The expressive function of periphrase
allows authors to use it as a stylistic device: Меж тем как сельские циклопы (=
кузнецы) перед медлительным огнем российским лечат молотком изделье
легкое Европы (= кареты), благословляя колеи и рвы отеческой земли …
(А.Пушкин) By using periphrase, Pushkin shows us his humorous attitude towards
Russian country life.

To translate a periphrase, it is important to understand both denotative and

connotative meanings. The translator must realize the degree to which the receptor is
aware of the meaning and associations connected with the periphrase. Dictionaries
and reference-books can be helpful, especially dictionaries of language and culture.

Some periphrases have analogue equivalents in the second language: канцелярская

крыса – desk drudge, pencil pusher, red-tapist; черный ящик – 'black box’, human
mind. Others are transliterated: John Bull – Джон Буль; or most commonly, calqued
and explained: the Last Frontier – последняя граница, прозвище штата Аляска; the
Aloha State – гостеприимный штат, прозвище штата Гавайи; the Evergreen State –
вечнозеленый штат, прозвище штата Вашингтон.

However, calque translation may cause false associations with the receptor if a similar
designation exists in his/her culture: the three sisters for a Russian receptor is
associated with A. Chekhov’s play, whereas in English the phrase means ‘the fatal
sisters, the Fates’ (from Greek mythology), which corresponds to Russian 'мойры,
богини судьбы’.

Translation of puns

A pun is a play on words to produce a humorous effect.

There are several ways to create a pun:

1) Play on a word polysemy: the direct meaning is contrasted to a transferred meaning

of the word:
“Owl,” said Pooh solemnly, “you made a mistake. Somebody did want it [the tail].”
“Who?”
“Eeyore. My dear friend Eeyore. He was fond of it.”
“Fond of it?”
“Attached to it,” said Winnie sadly. (A. Milne)

The following two meanings of the word form ‘to be attached’ are played upon: a) to
be connected; b) to be fond of. The same principle of word playing is possible in
Russian, as the participle ‘привязан’ has the same two meanings:
- Сова, - сказал Пух торжественно, - он [хвост] кому-то очень нужен.
- Кому?
- Иа, моему дорогому другу Иа-Иа. Он … он очень любил его.
- Любил его?
- Был привязан к нему, - грустно сказал Винни-Пух. (Пер. Т.Ворогушин,
Л.Лисицкая)

2) Play on direct and figurative meaning of a phraseological unit:

Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by
himself under the name of Sanders.
“What does ‘under the name’ mean?” asked Christopher Robin.
“It means he had the name over the door in gold letters, and lived under it.”
The figurative meaning of the phrase ‘to live under the name’ is ‘to live with a false
name’.

This meaning is contrasted with the direct one explained in the extract, which is
derived from the meanings of its components. The Russian correspondence of the
phrase admits the similar play:
Винни-Пух жил в лесу один одинешенек, под именем Сандерс.
- Что значит «жил под именем»? – немедленно спросил Кристофер Робин.
- Это значит, что на дощечке над дверьюбыло золотыми буквами написано
«Мистер Сандер», а он под ней жил.

3) Play on homonymy is most difficult for translation. Generally, contextual

substitution is employed like this:
“If she [governess] couldn’t remember my name, she’d call me ‘Miss’ as the servants
do.”

“Well, if she said ‘Miss’ and didn’t say anything more,” the Gnat remarked, “of
course you’d miss your lessons. That’s a joke.” (L.Carroll)

The form ‘Miss’ is homonymous. As a verb, it has the meaning ‘to fail to attend or
perform, to leave out or omit’ (to miss a class, a day of work). As a noun, it denotes a
title of courtesy. The clash of the two meanings gives a humorous ring to the extract.
The translator into Russian had to use a contextual substitution to preserve a pun:
- Это мне не поможет, - возразила Алиса, - даже если она забудет мое имя, она
всегда может сказать: «Послушайте, милочка»
- Но ведь ты же не Милочка, - перебил ее комар. – Ты и не будешь слушать.
Хорошенькая вышла шутка, правда? (Пер. Демуровой)

As we see, in the translation, a common and a proper name are opposed. The common
name performs a phatic function that is also observed in the English sentence.

4) Play on paronymy. Paronyms are assonant words with differing meanings. Another
example from Through the Looking-Glass by L. Carroll:
“I beg your pardon,” said Alice very humbly, “you had got to the fifth bend, I think?”
“I had not!” cried the Mouse sharply.
“A knot?” said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking anxiously
about her. “Oh, do let me help to undo it!”

Alice’s misinterpretation of the negative particle not, pronounced by the Mouse, is

manifested by the collocation to undo a knot. It is almost next to impossible to find a
Russian correspondence in the paronymous form for this couple of words not-knot.
Translator Demurova based the pun on homonymy:
- Нет, почему же, - ответила Алиса с недоумением. Вы дошли до пятого завитка,
не так ли?
- Глупости! – рассердилась мышь. – Как я от них устала! Этого просто не
вынести!
- А что нужно вынести? – спросила Алиса. – Разрешите, я помогу!

Contextual substitution is accompanied by the change of image.

5) Play on the word sound similarity: contamination. If two words have similar
sounds or sound clusters, the common sounds are joined and a new word comes into
life. This occurs according to the formula: (a-b) + (b-c) = a-b-c. For example, bread-
and-butter + butterfly = bread-and-butterfly; баобаб + бабочка = баобабочка. A
translator uses the same procedure of contaminating assonant words and coins a new
“nonsense” (at first glance) word. Similarly, we see a hybrid word in the extract from
Winnie-the Pooh by A. Milne:

“Bother! Said Pooh… “What’s that bit of paper doing?”

He took it out and looked at it. “It’s a missage,” he said to himself, “that’s what it is.”

The contaminated word missage is coined by Winnie-the-Pooh from the noun

message and the verb to miss. Boris Zakhoder, when translating the story, substituted
the verb by the one that is assonant to the noun послание – спасти. What has come of
it is this:
Он вытащил бумажку и посмотрел на нее.
- Это Спаслание, - сказал он, - вот что это такое.

This pun principle may involve not only words, but also phrases. Mock Turtle, a
character from Alice in Wonderland by L. Carroll, reminisces about his school
teacher: We called him Tortoise because he taught us. Demurova makes a play with
the noun, on the one hand, and noun and preposition, on the other: Учителем у нас
был старик Черепаха. Мы звали его Спрутом, … потому что он всегда ходил с
прутиком.
6) Play on associative meanings. By “corrupting” a word, the author aims at the
receptor’s background associations. This metalingual function of the text must be
retained in translation. That is why the translator looks for an assonant word, bringing
about similar associations on the part of the translation receptor: Reeling and
Writhing studied at sea school in Alice in Wonderland is definitely associated with
Reading and Writing, difficult subjects of an elementary school. The translators
substituted the nouns with verbs according to the context: сначала мы, как
полагается, чихали и пищали (associated with читали и писали) (пер.
Демуровой); учились чесать и питать (пер. В.Набокова).

In search for a proper means of compensation or substitution, translators are apt to be

rather free: Carroll says that at school children studied Mystery, Ancient and Modern
(associated with History, Ancient and Modern), Seaography (Geography), Drawling
(Drawing). Here the translators seem to be competing with each other as for the
number of school subjects and their expressiveness: Demurova’s version of
translation: У нас было много всяких предметов: грязнописание, триконометрия,
анатомия и физиология. The list of subjects in Orel’s translation is increased: Еще
была Болтаника и Уродоведение; …Палкебра и Драконометрия; Водная Речь;
Хроматика, Морквология, Свинтаксис; Физия и Хихика. And V. Nabokov
compensated the nouns by saying that they studied the following subjects:
Лукомория, древняя и новая; арфография (это мы учились на арфе играть)…
Затем делали мы гимнастику. Самое трудное было – язвительное наклонение.

So the crucial principle of a pun translator is receptor-centered translation, taking into

account the equivalent effect upon the receptor.

Translation of allusions and quotations

Allusions and quotations play a special role in the English culture. No other language
in the world has such a great number of quotation dictionaries as English. Allusions
and quotations are widely used not in fiction only, but in everyday speech of common
people. To illustrate their own thoughts, people use allusions and quotations and they
often play upon them. This makes a translator’s work more difficult – the quotations
are generally altered, turned into allusions, and often hardly recognized by a
representative of another culture. Many quotations and allusions are derived from
Shakespeare, the Bible, classical literature, poetry. For a translated text to be of good
quality, the translator and a source text receptor must share background knowledge.
No less important is to convey the allusion or quotation to the receptor of the target
text.

To translate a quotation or allusion, it is possible to use commentaries, to do

explicatory translation: Oh, Mamma, you’re too kind to me! I don’t deserve it/ It’s
like heaping coals of fire on my head after the way I’ve gone on. (A.Cronin) – О,
мама, ты слишком добра ко мне! Я этого не заслужил. Ведь я так себя плохо
вел. Твоя доброта жжет мне совесть, как раскаленные уголья. (Пер. А. Кунина)
The source of this allusion is the Bible. The dictionary of idioms suggests the
following translation, close to the Russian Bible: ‘отплатить добром за зло’.
However, the context provided another translated version.

If necessary, the translator mentions the allusion or quotation source: Как говорится
в Библии….

It should be kept in mind that biblical allusions and quotations are far less known in
Russian culture than in English. Therefore, it is recommended that the translator use a
Russian analogue to a biblical quotation rather than a direct quotation, which might be
absolutely unfamiliar to a Russian reader, as it occurred with the following extract
from Galsworthy: From Condaford the hot airs of election time had cleared away and
the succeeding atmosphere was crystallized in the General’s saying:

“Well, those fellows got their deserts.”

“Doesn’t it make you tremble, Dad, to think what these fellows desert will be if they
don’t succeed in putting it over now?”
The General smiled.
“Sufficient into the day, Dinny.”

To render the final quotation, a translator used the direct quotation from the Russian
Bible, “Довлеет дневи злоба его, Динни”, which is not comprehensible to a
common reader. It would be better to substitute the quotation with its proverbial
analogue: Всему свое время.

There is one more translation trap. When a source text contains a quotation from the
target language, it is essential to be very careful and accurate in translation, consulting
dictionaries of quotations, catch phrases, and idioms. For example, in the Russian
text, which is to be translated into English, a translator comes across the phrase “быть
или не быть”. It is unacceptable to use one’s own translation, like “Shall I be or shall
I not be?”, since it is the world famous question of Hamlet “To be or not to be…”

Translation of Internationalisms (Borrowings) and the Problem of False Friends

Internationalisms (Borrowings)
Borrowing is a word or phrase which has been taken from one language and used in
another language.

Borrowed terms often pass into general usage, for example in the fields of technology
("software") and culture ("punk"). It can be pure (without any change, when speakers
pronounce them as they are pronounced in the original language), e.g., lobby
(English) and лобби (Russian), or it can be naturalized (when speakers pronounce it
according to the sound system of their own language), e.g., globaliza- tion -
глобализация (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics, p.
57).

False Friends

False friend is a word or expression in one language that, because it resembles one in
another language, is often wrongly taken to have the same meaning

Classification of False Friends

 False friends of interpreters.

Но иногда все не так просто. Многим пришлось испытать глубокое

разочарование, когда они узнали, что magazine на самом деле не является
никаким магазином. Подобные слова, по понятным причинам, принято называть
ложными друзьями переводчика (false friends of interpreters). Научное название
этого явления – межъязыковые омонимы. Они, кстати, не являются
особенностью исключительно английского языка, ведь такие примеры
встречаются в абсолютно разных языковых парах, например: украинском и
польском, немецком и французском и т. д. Для русскоязычного человека,
изучающего английский язык, ложные друзья переводчика – это английские
слова, похожие на русские произношением, но имеющие иное значения. Откуда
это сходство? Возможно, слово было заимствовано как русским, так и
английским из, скажем, латинского языка. Но в русском по сравнению с
английским это слово было наполнено другим значением. Хотя в некоторых
случаях значения были одинаковы изначально, а разница появилась со
временем. Ведь язык – это живой организм, поэтому эти процессы вполне
закономерны.

Когда говорят о несовпадении значений, не всегда имеют в виду полное

отсутствие схожести слова и его лже-двойника. Учитывая это, можно выделить
три группы русско-английских омонимов:

Слова с полным несовпадением значений.

Слова с частичным несовпадением значений.
Слова, которые употребляются в нескольких значениях, среди которых есть и
похожие, и не похожие на русские аналоги.
Предлагаем вам пройтись по всем этим группам и рассмотреть некоторые
интересные примеры ложных друзей переводчика.

Слова с полным несовпадением значений

Здесь всё очень категорично. Английское слово не имеет точек
соприкосновения с русским созвучным вариантом. Зелёным цветом отмечены
правильные дефиниции слов, тогда как красным – ложные. Коричневым цветом
выделены слова, соответствующие «ложным» дефинициям.

1.Accurate – точный.
Correct and true in every detail.
Someone who is tidy and keeps their house, clothes etc. neat and clean.
Аккуратный – tidy.

I am afraid the description of goods on this website is not accurate. – Боюсь, что
описание товаров на этом сайте не является точным.

Please try to keep your room tidy. – Пожалуйста, попытайся держать свою
комнату в порядке.

2.Actually — в действительности, на самом деле.

Word used for emphasizing what is really true or what really happened.
Something real and not merely possible or imagined, existing in fact.
Актуальный(-о) – topical(ly).

I haven’t seen you for ages. Since we graduated from the university actually. – Я не
видел тебя целую вечность. На самом деле, с тех пор как мы окончили
университет.

This book deals with really topical problems. – Эта книга имеет дело с
действительно актуальными проблемами.

3.Insult — оскорбление, оскорбить.

To offend someone by saying or doing something they think is rude.
Illness.
Инсульт, удар — stroke.

I am sorry. I didn’t want to insult you. – Мне жаль. Я не хотел оскорбить вас.

He looked after his grandmother after she had a stroke. – Он присматривал за своей
бабушкой после того, как у нее случился инсульт.

Слова с частичным несовпадением значений

Здесь выделим слова, некоторые лексические значения которых схожи, но они
являются устаревшими, реже употребляются, не совсем корректны и т. д.
Последние отмечены синим.

1.Invalid – недействительный, неподходящий. В значении «инвалид»

употребляется редко. Это значение устаревшее и к тому же неполиткорректное.
Лучше употреблять: disabled person.
A contract, ticket, claim etc. that is invalid is not legally or officially acceptable.
Someone who cannot look after themselves because of illness, old age, or injury.

This ticket is invalid. It’s torn. – Билет является недействительным. Он порван.

This building has an access for disabled people. – Это здание имеет доступ для
людей с ограниченными возможностями.

2.Lyrics – слова песни. В значении «лирический» употребляется чаще всего

прилагательное lyrical или lyric.
The words of a song.
Poem in a lyric style.
I don’t like the music, but the lyrics are great. – Мне не нравится музыка, но слова
песни замечательные.

Shakespeare’s sonnets are a great example of lyric poetry. – Сонеты Шекспира – это
прекрасный пример лирической поэзии.

3.Brilliant – выдающийся, замечательный, яркий (о свете). В значении

«бриллиант» употребляется редко. Более подходящее для этого слово –
diamond.
I think Tom Cruise is a brilliant actor. He is very talented. – Я думаю, что Том Круз
великолепный актер. Он очень талантливый.

He proposed her with a beautiful diamond ring. – Он сделал ей предложение с

помощью красивого кольца с бриллиантом.

Слова, которые употребляются в нескольких значениях, среди которых есть и

похожие, и не похожие на русские аналоги
В этом случае похожее и непохожее значения равноценны.

1.Vacancy – свободная комната в гостиннице, а также – вакансия.

A room available for someone to stay in.
A job available for someone to start doing.

I am afraid we have no vacancies for tonight. – Боюсь, что у нас не осталось

свободных комнат.

I am looking for a job. I’ve heard that Shell has some interesting vacancies. – Я ищу
работу. Я слышал, что в Shell есть несколько интересных вакансий.

2.Argument – cсора, спор, а также – аргумент.

A situation in which two people having different views disagree.
A reason that shows that something is true or untrue.

Why does she look so angry? – She has had an argument with her husband. – Почему
она выглядит такой злой? – У нее была ссора с мужем.

He listened to my arguments and changed his mind. – Он услышал мои аргументы

и изменил свое мнение.

3.Complex – cложный, комплекс, группа.

Consisting of many details and difficult to understand.
An emotional problem, when someone worries about something, usually without a
real reason.
A group of things.

1. асаdеmіс-ученый работающий в университетской системе, а не академик

(academician) положение ученого в научной иерархии.

2. accurate - точный, а не аккуратный (tidy);

3. aggressive - энергичный, инициативный, а не только агрессивный (например,

aggressive salesman);

4. alley переулок, а не только адлся; blind alley тупик;

5. ammunition боеприпасы, а не амуниция;

6. anecdote - интересный или поучительный случай из жизни известных людей, а

не анекдот в современном значении слова (joke); это слово переводят
неправильно почти всегда отк

7. angina стенокардия, а не ангина (tonsillitis);

8. artist - человек, занимающийся искусством, особенно художник; творческая

личность; мастер своего дела; очень редко это слово означает «артист» (artiste,
performer artist, performer);

9. audience это как правило дудитория-публика в зале наблюдающая за

просходящим на сцене, а не только пудиенция appointment, иногда это слово
(Audience (meeting)) применяется по отношению к аудиенции предоставляемой
крайне высокопоставленным лицом (напр. папой римским посетителям (слово
audition относится к оценке актера или музыканта лицами нуждающемися в его
услугах)

1. banner - девиз; крупный заголовок (не только баннер);

2. benzene - это не бензин, а бензол; в то же время gasoline - это бензин, а не

газойль;

3. barrack казарма, а не барак;

4. brilliant - блестящий, а не бриллиантовый;

1. cabin - каюта корабля, салон самолёта, кабинка (в туалете и т. д.), будка,
лачуга (кабина одноместного самолёта гоночного автомобиля cockpit, кабина
тяжёлого (пассажирского) самолёта (crew) compartment was flight deck, кабина
грузовика/автобуса/поезда сав, кабина лифта car);

2. Cabinet шкаф (а также Кабинет Министров), но не кабинет (комната):

3. cable трос (не только кабель):

4. carton небольшая коробка (а не картон cardboard):

5. to champion поддерживать кого-либо (а не побеждать),

6. chef-шеф-повар (а не шеф chief, boss, patron);

7. class (в военной технике) — тин (а не класс; Ohio-class ship - корабль тина

«Огайо»), незнакомые с военной терминологией люди часто переводят
неправильно;

8. closet- кладовка, а не клозет (даже британское выражение WC или watercloset

понятно далеко не всем американцами);

9. compositor наборщик, а не композитор (composer, musician);

10. conductor гид. ж.-д. проводник, погонщик, дирижер, интендант (не только
кондуктор, который чаще controller);

11. control- управлять (не контролировать или проверять verify, check);

12. controller-управляющий, а не контроллер: