Chapter 11. Translation studies and grammar

11.1. Two levels of grammatical problems of translation

Translation problems that arise in the sphere of grammatical phenomena differ in principle from lexis. R.O. Jakobson in his article “On linguistic aspects of translation” pointed out a number of important features of translation which relate both to lexis and grammar and at the same time stress the difference between them:

• translation from one language into another should not be regarded as a mere replacement of individual SL units by TL units since it involves whole messages and relations between them;

• the equivalence of SL and TL messages which is established despite differences between their units is the key problem of translation studies;

• a translator interprets a SL text so he should rely on parallel dictionaries and parallel grammars that indicate similarities and differences of SL and TL systems;

• when dealing with grammar a translator has to render such categories which unlike lexis are compulsory in a given language. To illustrate this he gives the English sentence ‘He hired a worker’ which does not require the indication of the gender of a person, while in a similar situation such information is obligatory in Russian, cf. нанял рабочего / работницу. From this R. Jakobson draws an important difference between grammar and lexis of SL and TL, i.e. languages differ from one another not so much in what can be expressed in them as in what must be expressed in them.

• It’s very important to take into account in translation cognitive values which are associated with correlated grammatical phenomena in order to avoid misunderstanding, c.f. both Russian and German grammars have the category of gender, but it does not always coincide in related words, so it may seem strange to a Russian kid reading a German tale in translation why the symbol of death is represented as an old man (der Tod), while sin is represented as a woman (cf. die Sunde in German and грех in Russian) [Якобсон 1985].

Translation studies show that grammar plays a great role in creating a TL text so a translator, according to S. Campbell [Campbell 1998] has to solve two main grammatical tasks in the process of translation: firstly, he has to get the mechanics of the TL grammar more or less correctly at the sentence or pretextual level, secondly, to deploy the target language grammar for a particular text type, i.e. at the textual level. At the pretextual level a translator has to deal with matters related to morphology (tense-aspect forms, active-passive constructions, the article, etc) and syntax (word order, inversion, means of linking parts of a sentence, etc). At the textual level he has to take into account particular ways used in TL of putting sentences into larger complexes, composition and structure of different kinds of texts, the degree of emotional tension of a text, etc.

11.2. Grammatical divergences of English and Russian

at pre-textual level

It’s necessary to start discussing grammatical divergences of English and Russian at the most general nature which determines other particular divergences at the pre-textual and the textual levels. This is the basic difference in their grammatical systems according to which English is described as a predominantly analytical language and Russian is known as a mostly synthetic language. It implies major divergences of the two languages: there are very few inflections in English to indicate grammatical categories that lays a heavy burden on word order in a English sentence making it more fixed in order to signal the syntactic function of words. Russian possesses a highly developed system of inflections used in different parts of speech which accounts for a more free word order in Russian and allows to employ it for different purposes, for example, to indicate and change a communicative structure of an utterance. This difference in the character of English and Russian can easily explain other numerous divergences of the two languages.

At the pre-textual level all grammatical divergences in English and Russian can be grouped together into two classes: those phenomena found only in one of the two languages and thus referring to a group of grammatical lacunae, and those found in both languages but coinciding only partially. Both the classes can be discussed in more detail as they offer peculiar translation problems.

Cases of grammatical lacunae, i.e. the absence of a grammatical category in one of the two languages, embrace two types of relationships:

1. a grammatical category does not exist in SL, but it is compulsory in TL. The major translation problem is to make a proper choice of one of, at least, the two forms which express a given grammatical category in this language. For example, when Russian is a SL and English is a TL, a translator has to make an appropriate choice of the English article, the continuous or non-continuous forms, perfect or non-perfect forms, etc. E.g. За высокими заборами – каменные избы (А. Толстой) – Behind the high fences could be seen stone cottages. Синие глаза его блестели возбуждённо. – His dark blue eyes were glittering with excitement. When translating from English into Russian a translator must indicate the gender of the nouns, choose the perfective or imperfective forms, etc. E.g.

He will be coming soon (Gr. Greene, 23). – Теперь уж он скоро придёт. After dinner I sat and waited for Pyle in my room (Gr. Greene, p.23). – После ужина я сидел у себя в комнате и дожидался Пайла.

2. A grammatical category is obligatory in SL, but it is absent in TL. The translator has to think about means of compensation of grammatical meaning expressed in SL out of the means available for the purpose in TL. Thus, translating from Russian into English it is necessary to look for compensatory means in English in order to render Russian verbal adverbial phrases, indefinite personal sentences, etc, e.g. И маленьким литератором приятно быть в конце концов (Чехов, 475). – It must be quite nice to be a very minor writer, eh, what? When English is a SL and Russian is a TL, the translator must be able to render the grammatical and other functions of the English articles, complex object, absolute participle constructions, perfect forms and other forms of the infinitive, etc, e.g. I heard her put a tray down on the end of the bed (Gr. Greene, 25). – Я услышал, как она ставит поднос на край кровати.

Cases of partial coincidence of a certain grammatical category in SL and TL can also be of several types:

1. grammatical forms expressing a certain category coincide in SL and TL, but differ in the range of their grammatical meanings. For example, the Russian мог (-ла, -ли) and the English might correspond to each other as Past tense forms, though the same English word can also be used as Subjunctive II Present, cf. The police might pick you up (Gr. Greene, 24). – Тебя могут забрать в полицию.

2. Some grammatical category exists both in English and in Russian with the same meaning, but it is expressed in grammatical forms that do not coincide, cf. the category of number in money(sing) – деньги (plural.), outskirts (pl) – окраина (singul.).

3. A certain grammatical category is found in both English and Russian, its meanings and forms correlate in the two languages, but they have a different stylistic effect, cf. Passive Voice forms are found in English and Russian, but they differ in their character as in Russian they are felt as more bookish, cf. He explained that I was needed immediately – at once – rapidly (Gr. Greene, 27). – Он объяснил, что меня ждут – немедленно, тотчас же, сию минуту. In the following sentence there is a similar transformation which is obligatory for another reason, It would have damaged Anglo-American relations, the Minister would have been upset (Gr. Greene, p.34). – Ведь это нанесло бы вред англо-американским отношениям и расстроило бы посланника. The examples show that in many cases Passive form structures in English sentences are replaced by some other Russian forms (indefinite-personal sentences, active voice forms) although there are Passive voice correspondences in TL.