22. Handling equivalent-lacking forms and structures. Articles

The source language may have a number of grammatical forms and structures which have no analogues in the target language. The article is part of the English grammar and is absent in Russian. As a rule, English articles are not translated into Russian for their meaning is expressed by various contextual elements and needn't be reproduced separately. Translating the phrase "the man who gave me the book" with the Russian «человек, который дал мне книгу» the translator needn't worry about the definite article since the situation is definite enough due to the presence of the limiting attributive clause. There are some cases, however, when the meaning of the article has an important role to play in the communication and should by all means be reproduced in TT.

When conveying the lexical meanings of the definite and indefinite articles into Ukrainian, attention should be paid to their functional meanings in the sentence/word-combinations. Thus, the meanings of the definite article are usually expressed through different Ukrainian attributive pronouns, adjectives, participles, adverbs or cardinal/ordinal numerals. The meaning of the numeral one, on the other hand, is always expressed only through the indefinite article, which is historically derived from this part of speech. Cf.: Most of felllows in the Quarters share a studio. (Maugham) Багато хлопців з латинського кварталу орендують удвох одну студію.

The nominalizing articles are mostly rendered through the parts of speech having the functions of attributes to the noun: «...I believe that a young person in a city tea-shop has left her situation. (Maugham) ...Гадаю, водній із кав'ярень якась офіціантка зникла.

The emphatically used articles, on the other hand, have usually particles for their contextual equivalents in Ukrainian: But I must content myself with a few paragraphs. (Maugham) Жаль, що можу обмежитьсь дише кількома епізодами.

The rhematic use of the articles introducing the new information, a new core of an utterance, and its thematic use repeating the already known information about an object or event is often disclosed in Ukrainian sentences by other than lexical means, as will be shown further. Still, the bulk of meanings which the lexically charged articles can acquire due to their syntagmatic environment in speech are those of pronouns. This can also be seen from the citied illustrations on the forthcoming pages.

23. Handling equivalent-lacking forms and structures. Aspect forms

The source language may have a number of grammatical forms and structures which have no analogues in the target language. Even if some grammatical category is present both in SL and in TL, its subcategories may not be the same and, hence, equivalent-lacking. Both the English and the Russian verb have their aspect forms but there are no equivalent relationships between them. Generally speaking, the Continuous forms correspond to the Russian imperfective aspect, while the Perfect forms are often equivalent to the perfective aspect. However, there are many dissimilarities. Much depends on the verb semantics. The Present Perfect forms of non-terminative verbs, for instance, usually correspond to the Russian imperfective verbs in the present tense:

I have lived in Moscow since 1940.

Я живу в Москве с 1940 г.

Progressive organizations and leaders have been persecuted. Прогрессивные организации и передовые деятели подвергаются преследованиям.

The Past Indefinite forms may correspond either to the perfective or to the imperfective Russian forms and the choice is largely prompted by the context. Cf.:

After supper he usually smoked in the garden.

После ужина он обычно курил в саду.

After supper he smoked a cigarette in the garden and went to bed.

После ужина он выкурил в саду сигарету и пошел спать.

The Past Pefect forms may also be indifferent to these aspective nuances, referring to an action prior to some other action or a past moment. Cf.:

I hoped he had read that book.

(а) Я надеялся, что он читал эту книгу, (б) Я надеялся, что он (уже) прочитал эту книгу.

And, again, the broader context will enable the translator to make the correct choice.