16. Text compression and text development as basic interpretation devices.

Text compression aimed at saving interpretation time and re­moving source text redundancy is one of the main instruments of simultaneous interpretation which allows the interpreter to keep in pace with the source text not sacrificing the content.

Text development in the course of interpretation is the restora­tion of the full composition of a source sentence starting from its syntactic and semantic core accompanied by restructuring of the source sentence in compliance with syntactic and semantic standards of the target language.

Text development is the optimal method of interpretation be­cause it allows to organize the translation in accordance with the tar­get language style and grammar standards rather than copy the source sentence structure.

Text development is reflected in note-taking procedure, which usu­ally includes the following information items.

1. main ideas (skeleton outline) - subject, verb, object;

2. links and separations;

3. viewpoints of the speaker;

4. tenses and modalities;

5. proper and geographical names.

17. The main lexical problems of translation.

Lexical problems

These problems are due to the misunderstanding or the total ignorance of the words

meaning. Lexical problems which may be encountered when translating can be

classified as follows:

1- Literal meaning.

2- Synonyms.

3- Polysemy and monosemy.

4- Collocations

5-Idioms

6-Proverbs

7-Metaphors

8-Technical terms

9- Proper names, titles, political establishments, geographical terms and UN acronyms

17. Equivalent-lacking words, forms and structures, translator’s false friends and their translation.

Since language units often function in their accepted meanings, many SL units have regular equivalents in the TL. A number of SL units have no regular equivalents in the TL. The absence of regular equivalents makes the translator resort to occasional equivalents.

Equivalent-lacking words may be translated in one of the following ways:

1. by imitating the form of a SL word/word group through transcription, transliteration or loan translation. In the course of time such occasional formations may get the status of regular equivalents:

Ex. impeachment – імпічмент ( transcription), inauguration – інавгурація (transliteration), brain wash – промивка мізків (loan translation)

2. by using approximate substitutes, i.e. TL words with similar meaning which is extended to convey some additional information

Ex. drug store – аптека (drug store sells medicine as well as other goods, so the choice of the variant depends on the context)

3. using lexical transformations (ex. The word “exposure” is equivalent-lacking in the meaning of “the medical condition caused when smb has been exposed to severe weather conditions”, so its meaning is modulated in the process of translation. Accordingly the sentence “He died of exposure” may be translated as “Він помер від переохолодження/сонячного удару”)

or the same word drugstore may be translated as крамниця, so its meaning may be generalized.

4. by using an explanation (landslide – переконлива перемога на виборах, перемога зі значним відривом)

Equivalent-lacking phraseological units are translated in one of the following ways:

1. by word-for word translation (ex. people who live in glass shouldn’t throw stones – людям, які живуть у склі краще не кидати каміння)

2. by explaining their figurative meaning (ex. to dine with duke Humphrey – залишитись без обіду, white elephant – подарунок, який замість задоволення приносить багато клопоту)

Equivalent-lacking grammatical units are translated in one of the following ways:

1. by using zero translations – the meaning of an equivalent-lacking unit is not rendered because it is practically identical to the meaning of some other SL units

Ex. By that time he had already left – До того часу він вже поїхав (Here the Past Perf. Tense is equivalent-lacking, the meaning of the Past Perf.

Tense (priority - попередність) is not conveyed by the verb left, because it is identical to the word “already” and “by that time”).

2. by using approximate translations – TL units with similar meaning

Ex. I heard him playing the piano – Я чув як він грав на піаніно (Here a complex object clause – him playing corresponds to a subordinate object clause – як він грав (Objective Participial Construction).

3. by using grammatical transformations

Ex. Your presence is not obligatory. Nor is it desirable – Ваша присутність є необов’язковою та навіть небажаною (it represents integration)

The translator’s false friends are words and expressions which have similar form but different meaning in the SL and in the TL. Their formal similarity is deceptive (оманлива) and may lead to translation mistakes.

The translator’s false friends are divided into 2 groups:

1. words similar in form but absolutely different in meaning (The Eng. magazine and the Ukr. магазин, lunatic - лунатик)

2. words similar in form but partially different in meaning (student–студент,учень,той,хто чимось цікавиться(of); bank – банк, берег (річки))

The translator’s false friends are not interchangeable due to the following factors:

the semantic factor which results from different historical development of such words in the SL and in the TL

minister – священик, посланник, член уряду

1. the stylistic factor which results from the difference in connotation (an ability to evoke negative/positive emotion) of such words in the SL and in the TL

ambitious - амбітний (The Eng. ambitious is positive and the Ukr. амбітний – used to be/was negative )

2. The colocability factor/ valency factor which results from the difference in combinability rules in the SL and the TL

defects – дефекти (The Eng. defects and the Ukr. дефекти – defects in the election campaign – прорахунки/ помилки у виборчій кампанії, but not дефекти)

3. The pragmatic factor which results from the difference in background knowledge in the SL and the TL speech communities

American Revolution – війна за незалежність США

coup d’etat – державний переворот