Федеральное агентство по образованию

Государственное образовательное учреждение

высшего профессионального образования

«Ивановский государственный энергетический

университет имени В.И.Ленина»

Т.В.Смирнова, С.Ю.Тюрина

Учебное пособие по техническому переводу

Иваново 2008

УДК 811.111

С50

Смирнова Т.В., Тюрина С.Ю. Учебное пособие по техническому переводу: Учеб. пособие / ГОУВПО «Ивановский государственный энергетический университет имени В.И.Ленина». – Иваново, 2008. – 132 с.

ISBN

Учебное пособие содержит сведения по теории научно-технического перевода и сборник упражнений для комплексной тренировки. Предназначено для студентов старших курсов специальности «Переводчик в сфере профессиональной коммуникации»

Ил. 2. Табл.1. Библиогр.: 8 назв.

Печатается по решению редакционно-издательского совета ГОУВПО «Ивановский государственный энергетический университет имени В.И.Ленина»

Научный редактор доц. Н.А. Дударева

Рецензент

кафедра интенсивного изучения английского языка ГОУВПО «Ивановский государственный энергетический университет имени В.И.Ленина»

ISBN © Т.В.Смирнова, С.Ю.Тюрина, 2008

Contents

Introduction to the course of scientific and technical translation	3
Unit 1. Some characteristics of scientific language: lexical aspects	8
Unit 2. Some characteristics of technical language: grammatical aspects	21
Unit 3. Precision information. Translation notation	47
Unit 4. Graphs description	49
Unit 5. Classes of technical literature	54
Unit 6. Technical Description. Instructions. Specifications	59
Translation manual	75
Приложение	125

Introduction to the course

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL TRANSLATION

What English to study and translate can be chosen after valid needs analysis. So far you have been studying everyday English, Survival English, language of fiction, Business English, and basics of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). Now, the subject matter for your studies is English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

EST is the senior branch of ESP, senior in age, larger in volume of publications, and greater in number of translators. We live in the Age of Information; most of students throughout the world study science and technology. It is easier to study science and technology than it is to study business and humanities because science is more regular across the languages, i.e. there are many similarities between, for example, scientific English and scientific Russian.

At the lessons you will be offered authentic ESP (EST) texts for translation analysis. You are to choose articles for work on your own according to your professional interests and with high claim to authenticity.

We cannot stay fixed on technical texts only. There will be videoclips or audio passages of the informative content based on the BBC programs, such as "Science World", "Science News", "Future File", "Click-on-line", "Horizon" for you to translate or interpret.

Every lesson you will be exposed to unpredictable authentic passages to practice translation.

Technical English: does it exist?

This is the age when technology dominates the universe. All of us witness the rise of С culture (including makes, pipes, shells, scripting languages, etc.) Our life is full of terms, though we may not always be aware of it. Technical terms have been coined to fit modern scientific, political, and cultural developments. While translating terms we search for absolute equivalents, because these words are monosemantic, neutral and context-free.

Here are some typical examples at random. What sphere, field, branch of science are they from?

Аir-condition, allergy, Dadaism, electrolysis, intercom, iron curtain, spin, Gallup poll, weather station, Fifth column, existentialism, drive.

Technical English differs from the language of fiction. It is usually intelligible to other members of profession but often meaningless to laypersons.

• Technical English uses special terms and frequently puts emphasis on form.

• It is always terse, "boiled down" to the point.

• It relies on graphs, curves, drawings, photos, charts, diagrams (in Technical English a picture is worth a thousand words!).

• It is adapted to engineering profession.

Fields of engineering are wide, each having its own specific terminology (e.g. civil, mining, electronic, nuclear engineering). Some of them have become so interwoven or overlapping, that they can be called polytechnic:

welding/lubrication,mechanical/electrical/heat engineering

Discuss: What does computing as a science comprise? What are the main areas of electromechanics? In what sciences is AC used as:

air-conditioning(?), access control, adaptive control, analog computer(?), absolute ceiling(?), alternating current(?), author's correction(?), adjacent channel(?), account(?).

Technical English is influenced by professional slang (jargon) and tricks of expressions borrowed from business, advertising, etc.

(IT) Big Blue, vapourware, zap, smoke test, megs, kludge, glitch.

Telegraph style and extensive use of abbreviations also complicate Technical English. We do not expect a story in technical literature. There are no protagonists and antagonists; our emotions, likes and dislikes have no place in technical books. They merely concern' things and materials. But "woe betide the man who forgets that technical literature is also literature!".

e.g. well kicked	hand-to-mouth deliveries
We/I claim	keep-alive electrode
The Big Bang Theory	to employ long live
	cheep and cheerful

Do not think of Technical English as something alien to your English language studies or the subject for special study (which is better). Technical English exists in reality and demands both serious attention and organization in step and proportion with the advance of science and technology.

Judging the quality of translation and establishing a standard for it is always a vexing problem. But it is very important matter in technical translation, where the question of economics must be in the forefront of the translator's mind.

Three factors determine adequacy:

• accuracy (the translation must convey the information contained in the original with as little distortion as possible);

• intelligibility or readability (the reader should not have to struggle to work out what it is all about because it had been expressed badly by the translator);

• speed (the client requires the finished work as soon as possible).

The major errors that can occur in the process of translation are:

• loss of information;

• lack of intelligibility;

• interference between source language and target language;

• incorrect level of translation;

• errors in use of target language.

Home assignment

Write 10-15 basic terms that define your speciality. Explain them. Discuss: ESP classification, main features of Technical English and problems of its translation.

Abbreviations used in this book:

IT - Information Technology

EM - Electromechanics

HE - Heat Engineering '

EC - Economics

S - Sociology

PR-Public Relations

UNIT 1. SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE: LEXICAL ASPECTS