- •Table of Contents
- •Preface
- •Translation theory Chapter 1. Historical overview of translation
- •1.1. The notion of translation theory
- •1.2. Trends in the development of translation theory
- •1.3. Branches in translation studies
- •The map of translation
- •1.4. The object of investigation, aims and tasks of linguistic translation theory. Methods of analysis
- •Chapter 2. Contrastive linguistics and translation studies
- •2.1. Interconnection of contrastive linguistics and translation studies
- •2.2. Major points of difference between contrastive linguistics and translation studies
- •2.3. Levels of comparative translation studies
- •Chapter 3. Theoretical models of translation
- •3.1. Models based on componential analysis
- •3.2. Sense-text model of translation
- •3.3. Situational models of translation
- •3.4. Pragmatic models of translation
- •3.5. Cultural-semiotic and cognitive models of translation
- •Chapter 4. Basic notions and categories of linguistic translation theory
- •4.1. The notion of translation
- •4.2. Typology of translation
- •4.3. The problem of the unit of translation
- •Chapter 5. Equivalence and adequacy of translation
- •5.1. Equivalence and adequacy of translation: points of difference
- •5.2. The problem of translatability
- •5.3. Adequate translation and the role of context
- •Chapter 6. Transformations in Translation
- •6.1. Translation transformations: definition, causes, classification
- •6.2. Levels of translation transformations, operations and techniques of translation
- •6.3. Classification of translation transformations according to techniques of translation
- •Chapter 7. Translation theory and lexis
- •7.1. Main types of semantic correlation of English and Russian words
- •7.2. The notion of lexical correspondences. The theory of regular correspondences by Ya.I.Retsker
- •7.2.1. Equivalent correspondences: definition, classification, types of equivalents
- •7.2.2. Variant correspondences: definition and the difference between variant correspondences and partial equivalents
- •7.2.3. Contextual correspondences: definition and types of contextual correspondences
- •7.3. Analogues as a special type of lexical correspondences. Drawbacks of translation analogues
- •Chapter 8. Translation studies and lexis (cont.)
- •8.1. Lexical problems of translation at word level
- •8.2. Translation of words having no equivalents in tl
- •8.3. Problems of translating neologisms
- •Chapter 9. Translation studies and lexis (cont.)
- •9.1. Ways of rendering proper names
- •9.2. International and pseudo-international words in translation
- •9.3. Translation of terms
- •Chapter 10. Translation studies and lexis (cont.)
- •10.1. Lexical problems of translation at word-group level
- •10.2. Problems of translating phraseological units
- •10.3. Modality in translation
- •Chapter 11. Translation studies and grammar
- •11.1. Two levels of grammatical problems of translation
- •11.2. Grammatical divergences of English and Russian
- •11.3. Translation problems at textual level
- •Chapter 12. Translation studies and grammar (cont.)
- •12.1. Passive voice forms in translation
- •12.2. Problems of rendering word order in translation
- •12.3. Ways of rendering tense-aspect forms
- •Chapter 13. Translation studies and grammar (cont.)
- •13.1. Ways of rendering the English article(s) in Russian translation
- •13.2. Problems of translating English absolute nominative constructions into Russian
- •13.3. Rendering Russian verbal adverb phrases in English
- •Chapter 14. Translation studies and style
- •14.1. Rendering newspaper headlines
- •14.2. Grammatical peculiarities of translating newspaper articles
- •Who?- (did) what? (how?) where? when?-why?
- •14.3. Lexico-phraseological and stylistic peculiarities of translating newspaper articles
- •Part II. Workshop in translation Unit # 1. Basic notions of translation studies Points for discussion
- •1. Read and compare the following Russian and English texts: analyse the units of translation chosen on different levels
- •Unit # 2. Translation correspondences Points for discussion
- •1. Translate the following text into Russian. Find and write out units of translation which have been translated by different types of lexical correspondences.
- •3. Translate the following sentences into English using appropriate correspondences
- •Unit # 3. Transformations in translation Points for discussion
- •I. Compare the following slt and tlt, state the types of all transformations made in translation
- •II.Translate into Russian making the necessary changes
- •III. Translate into English making use of appropriate transformations
- •Unit # 4. Lexical problems of translation Points for discussion
- •I. Suggest, where possible, different ways of translating the following proper names into Russian
- •II. Translate the following sentences into English. Explain the ways of translating words and word-groups having no correspondences in tl.
- •III. Translate the following sentences from English into Russian, analyse the ways of translating neologisms.
- •IV. Translate different kinds of shortened names:
- •V. Translate the following groups of “cultural words” and phrases:
- •Unit # 5. Lexical problems of translation (cont.) Points for discussion
- •I. Think of the ways of translating into English nationally specific Russian phraseological units:
- •II. Offer variants of translating the following terms:
- •III. Translate the text from English into Russian; qualify the underlined terms as international words proper and pseudointernational words:
- •IV. Translate into Russian the English headlines paying attention to premodified noun phrases:
- •V. Discuss different ways of rendering in Russian the imagery component of the following English phraseological units:
- •VI. Think of the ways of translating nationally specific Russian phraseological unis:
- •Unit # 6. Grammatical problems of translation (cont.)
- •1. Compare the following slt and tlt, find cases of different grammatical divergences and analyse the ways of their rendering
- •II. Compare the Russian slTs and English tlTs. Discuss levels of eguivalence achieved in various cases:
- •III. State the type and genre of the following texts, translate them into Russian/English, discuss translation problems at textual level
- •Please have your boarding pass ready
- •In return we offer varied interesting work which includes dealing with
- •33 Cambridge Gardens Hastings East Sussex
- •Unit # 7. Grammatical problems of translation (cont.) Points for discussion
- •I. Translate the following sentences into Russian paying attention to Absolute Nominative constructions
- •II. Translate the following sentences into English, identify the means of compensating for Russian verbal adverb phrases
- •III. Translate the sentences into Russian using various means available in tl to make up for the English articles
- •IV. Translate specific English structures into Russian
- •Unit # 8. Grammatical problems of translation (cont.) Points for discussion
- •1. Translate the following texts into Russian paying attention to Passive voice structures:
- •II. Translate the following sentences into English /Russian, explain the ways of rendering tense-aspect forms:
- •III. Translate the following into English/Russian, state the ways of dealing with modality:
- •Unit # 9. Problems of style in translation
- •I. Suggest ways of translating English headlines:
- •IV. Compare the variants and choose the better of the two:
- •V.Translate into Russian the following abbreviations, state the types of tl correspondences
- •Unit # 10. Stylistic devices and expressive means in translation Points for discussion
- •I. Identify expressive means and stylistic devices in slTs and render them in English/Russian
- •II. Render the text in English, discuss transformations made to compensate for its stylistic features
- •III. Translate into English rendering properly imagery components of Russian lexical units:
- •IV. Compare the ways of rendering connotational properties of the English zoonames in Russian. Which of them do you find the most appropriate? Give your reasons.
- •V. Translate into English retaining the emotional effect of the means of creating emphasis in slTs
- •Part III sample tests test # 1: Lexical problems of translation
- •I. Translate into English. Explain the ways of translating phraseological units:
- •III. Translate the text into Russian. Find 3 examples of international words and 3 examples of pseudointernational words. Illustrate the differences in the latter case.
- •Test # 2: Lexical problems of translation
- •III. Translate the text into Russian. Find 3 examples of international words and 3 examples of pseudointernational words. Illustrate the differences in the latter case:
- •IV. Translate the following sentences into English/Russain. State the ways of translating terms:
- •V. Translate into Russian using and stating the types of transformations:
- •VII. Translate the text into Russian, write out examples of different types of tl correspondences:
- •Test # 3: Grammatical problems of translation
- •I. Translate the following text into Russian, state the types of grammatical transformations used and explain their causes
- •II. Render the following sentences in English paying attention to compensatory means to make up for grammatical divergences:
- •III. Translate the sentences into Russian choosing means available in tl instead of the English article(s).
- •IV. Translate the text into Russian focusing on English attributive groups.
- •V. Render the sentences in Russian paying attention to English adverbial verbs
- •VI. Translate the following sentences into Russian using various compensatory means for Passive voice structures
- •Test # 4: Final Revision Test
- •I. Translate the text into Russian, analyse ways of translating terms
- •II. Translate into Russian the newspaper article, state different types of transformations used in translation
- •III. Render the following sentences in English, discuss the ways of rendering cultural words
- •IV. Translate the text into Russian, analyse the ways of rendering grammatical lacoonae
- •Test # 5: Final Revision Test
- •I. Render the following Russian/English headlines in English/ Russian, discuss transformations made in translation
- •II. Translate “cultural” terms into Russian, analyse the ways of their compensation
- •III. Translate into English paying attention to new Russsian coinages
- •IV. Translate the text into Russian, write out examples of different kinds of lexical correspondences
- •VI. Translate the follwing sentences into English/Russian, state the ways of translating terms
- •VII. Translate into English. Explain the ways of translating phraseological units
- •Appendix I
- •I. Study the scheme of translation analysis of a tlt, discuss the main requirements set for evaluating the quality of a translation text: scheme of translation analysis of a tlt
- •II. Compare the following English/Russian texts and their translations, make the translation analysis of the tlTs applying the scheme given above
- •1. Balance sheet layout
- •III. Translate the following texts from Russian /English into English/Russian. Make the translation analysis of the tlTs according to the points of the scheme relevant for the texts.
- •Compare the following definitions of translation offered by Russian and foreign scholars. Choose the one(s) that you like best giving your reasons
- •Requisites for Professional Translators
- •Competence in translation: a complex skill, how to study and how to teach it
- •Conclusion
- •References
- •Lexicographic sources
- •List of fiction
Chapter 7. Translation theory and lexis
7.1. Main types of semantic correlation of English and Russian words
The semantic structure of any language including its vocabulary system is a complicated whole which according to F.de Saussure is determined by two factors: extralinguistic and intralinguistic [Соссюр 1977]. The first factor shows how the language segments the outside world and embodies the results of its reflection by human mind in the meanings of lexical units. The second factor takes into account semantic links within the vocabulary system and thus determines semantic value of particular units. English and Russian differ from each other in both of these dimensions, and norms of speech make these differences greater. Cf. He tiptoed into the room. Он вошёл в комнату на цыпочках. The English adverbial verb both names the action and characterizes it, while in Russian this information is distributed between several words.
The semantic structure of individual lexical units is also a complicated structure, because it is made up of two aspects of lexical meaning (denotational and connotational) which are described in their turn as sets of semantic components or semes. So any correlated units in Sl and TL should be compared both in their denotational and connotational components, the latter comprising emotive charge, evaluative component, expressive component and stylistic reference.
The problem of relationship between word-senses in translation is regarded as a fundamental issue which is a constant challenge to a translator. According to A.L. Bourak, there are three key types of relationship between word-senses in the SL and TL: (1) inclusion (hyponymy), (2) partial inclusion (cross-language synonyms) and (3) exclusion (antonymy) [Бурак 2002].
Thus, taking into account various aspects of lexical meaning and semantic structures of correlated English and Russian words, scholars establish 3 types of semantic correlation:
full semantic coincidence,
partial semantic coincidence,
absence of semantic coincidence.
The 1-st type of semantic correlation is established between correlated words in two languages the semantic structures of which coincide fully. Such cases are quite rare and this type of semantic correlation is usually confined to various classes of proper and geographic names, monosemantic terms, numerals and other varieties of precision lexis that form closed sets of units, e.g. per mille – промилле, hi-fi – высококачественный (о звукозаписи), Greenwich mean time – среднее время по Гринвичу.
The 2-nd type of semantic correlation characterizes the vast majority of correlated words in English and Russian which are not always interchangeable in translation because their semantic structures do not coincide fully so they correlate only in some of their meanings. According to prof. L.S. Barkhudarov, in regard to denotational component of lexical meaning partial semantic coincidence of correlated words can be of two kinds:
intersection – a type of relationship established between related polysemantic words in English and Russian refers to cases of interlingual relative synonymy, e.g.
coat – 1) пиджак; жакет; куртка; китель
2) мех; шерсть; шкура
3) покров; слой; обшивка
The English dictionary correspondences for various meanings of the Russian word (see underlined meanings above) have their own correspondences in TL that wll be different from those given in the above example, cf.
шерсть – 1) hair слой – 1) layer
2) wool; card 2) stratum
3) worsted 3) skin; covering
4) woolen stuff 4)cover; cloak
inclusion – a type of relationship established between English and Russian related words refers to cases of interlingual hyponymy / hyperonymy, i.e. words differ in their semantic volume in SL and TL, cf. часы – watch, clock (the Russian word does not specify the component of place, locality).
The English word vocal is broader than its Russian counterpart вокальный and can be translated by the following Russian correspondences:
голосовой, речевой;
звучащий, наполненный звуком;
обладающий голосом;
красноречивый, выразительный;
звонкий [NERD].
These varieties of semantic relationships underlie different types of linguistic relations of correlated English and Russian words:
relative interlingual synonymy: e.g.палата – 1.palace, 2. chamber, hall; 3. ward; 4.chamber, house.
interlingual hyponymy/hyperonymy: авантюра ( 2 meanings) – adventure (4 meanings)
interlingual antonymy: rich has the following antonyms for its various meanings: 1) wealthy – бедный, 2) fertile – бесплодный, 3) valuable – дешевый, 4) delicious, spicy – безвкусный, пресный.
Interlingual paronymy (partial similarity in form with no coincidence in meaning): affair (дело, бизнес; эпизод, событие, история; любовная связь) – афера (shady transaction, fraud, speculation, swindle).
Partial semantic coincidence may concern correlation of English and Russian words on the basis of their connotational component of meaning, cf.
bobby (Br informal, old-fashioned)
полицейский (neutral) policeman (neutral)
cop (informal), ranger (Am, sl)
This type of partial semantic coincidence is connected with great differences in the stylistic stratification of vocabulary systems in English and Russian. Quite often neutral words in one language correlate with stylistically marked units in another, cf. поймать тачку (youth slang) – to hitch a ride (neutral); to chat (neutral) – чатиться (общаться по Интернету)(slang).
The 3-rd type of semantic correlation refers to numerous cases of empty cells (lacunae) in the vocabulary system of one of the two languages compared to that of the other language which may be due to various causes:
1) the difference in the systems of nominative means in English and Russian (cf. a fortnight – две недели, четырнадцать дней; by-line – строка в начале статьи (на которой помещается фамилия автора, художника или фотографа);
2) appearance of new coinages (self-cover – обложка из тиражной бумаги; hoops – баскетбол);
3) cultural words (Civil List – цивильный лист, самофинансирование – self-financing performance, декретница – woman on maternity leave).
The third type of relationship can be qualified as semantic mismatch of two language systems which requires search for various solutions:
the use of functional – semantic analogues: авось – divine providence, blind trust in sheer luck;
descriptive definitions, Голубой огонёк – a popular New-Year’s Eve TV show;
loan translation; бизнес по-русски – business Russian-style;
transplants from SL: PIN-code – PIN – код, карта VISA.
The comparison of the three types of semantic correlation of English and Russian words shows that translation problems involved in them are different and their discussion should be linked with the main types of lexical correspondences.