5. Different usage

Traditional usage of words of word combinations is typical of each language. Traditional S.L. and T.L. usage or clichés do not coincide. The words forming such clichés often have different meanings in the two language but they are traditionally used to describe similar situations. The problem of the proper selection of equivalent words and clichés can be solved only if the peculiarities of the correlated languages are taken into consideration, e.g.

He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

Він залишив після себе дружину, сина й дочку.

Sometimes different usage in partly due to different vision:

The city is built on terrace rising from the lake.

Місто збудоване на терасах, що спускаються до озера.

As a matter of fact there two verbs (to rise and спускатися) may be called conversives, that is, they describe the same situation from diametrically opposite angles.

Sometimes different usage is apparent in the use of semantically complete prepositions.

He wrote under several pseudonyms, many of his essays appearing over the name of “Little Nell”. (F.Johnson).

Він писав під різними псевдонімами, багато його нарисів з’являлися під підписом «Крихітка Нелл».

Usage is particularly conspicuous in set expressions.

The New Zealand earthquake was followed by tremors lasting an hour. No loss of life was reported.

Після землетрусу в Нової Зеландії протягом години відчувалися поштовхи. Жертв не було.

The fact that the US Government was finally and firmly coming to grips with crime impressed many.

На багатьох справило враження те, що уряд Сполучених Штатів, нарешті, вельми енергійно розпочав боротьбу зі злочинністю.

Usage plays an important part in translating orders and instructions.

Commit no nuisance – зупинятися заборонено.

Usage is closely linked with the history and development of the language, of its lexical system. Hence every language creates peculiar clichés, ready-made formulae. They are never violated by the introduction of additional words or by the substitution of their components.

6. Translation of monosemantic words

Monosemantic words are comparatively few in number and the bulk of English words are polysemantic. English monosemantic words usually have full equivalents in Ukrainian. There are the following lexical groups of monosemantic words: 1. proper names, 2. geographical names, 3. names of the months and the days of the week, 4. numerals, 5. some scientific and technological terms, 6. names of the streets, 7. names of hotels, 8. names of sports and games, 9. names of periodicals, 10. names of institutions and organizations.

The group of monosemantic words presents considerable variety because of its heterogeneous character.

Rendering of Proper Names in Translation

The function of proper name is purely nominative. They help to distinguish a person, a pet or a place, to recognize them as unique. Thus they have only nominal meaning and are designated by a capital letter.

There are two ways of rendering proper names in translation: transcription and translation.

Transcription is now universally accepted: Mary – Мері. Phonetic peculiarities, however, sometimes interfere and modify this principle by causing certain departures, e.g. the name of the well-known novelist Iris Murdoch is rendered with the inserted letter (and sound) “p” – Айріс Мердок.

Translation or representing a SL word by means of the more or less corresponding TL characters, that is, in a graphic way, is no longer regarded as an acceptable method of rendering proper names in translation. But tradition has preserved it in some cases and therefore this method still survives, e.g. Lincoln is rendered as Лінкольн and Wellington as Веллінгтон. O’Henry – О’Генрі.

Traditionally, names of prominent people are rendered by their Ukrainian counterparts: Isaak Newton – Ісаак Ньютон, Abraham Lincoln – Авраам Лінкольн, King James – Король Яков. All these factors explain the existence of double forms of proper names.

A problem by itself is presented by the translation of the so-called token names which reveal some typical features of the character named. Sometimes attempts are made to translate them, in this way following the writer’s intent, e.g. Humpty-Dumpty – Шалтай Болтай, Тяпкин-Ляпкин – Slap-Dash, etc. unfortunately this tendency inevitably conflicts with the principle of preserving the national character of the origin. So Mr Surface in Sheridan’s “School for Scandal” would hardly be recognizable as an English dandy if he were called Вертопрахов.

Rendering of Geographical Names in Translation

Geographical names are an integral part of the Ukrainian language, so tradition is very strong in this group of words. They are usually rendered according to the usage of earlier days, e.g. England – Англія, Scotland – Шотландія, Ireland – Ірландія.

Some geographical names have their translation equivalents in Ukrainian: Cape of Good Hope – Мис Доброї Надії, Easter Island – Острів Пасхи, etc. usually geographical names of this type are token names, as they are named after the name of the holiday on which they were discovered.

Rendering of Names of Months, Seasons and Days of the Week

The names of the seasons, months and days of the week come very close to proper names. They are rendered by their Ukrainiancounterparts: spring – весна, Monday – понеділок, Varch – березень, etc.

Rendering of Numerals

This group of words comes very clise to terms. Their Ukrainiancounterparts are naturally used in translation: ten – десять, hundred – сто, thousand – тисяча.

Rendering of Scientific and Technical Terms

Terms are generally associated with a definite branch of science or technology. They tend to be monosemantic in the given branch of science or technology and therefore easily call forth the required concept. They are translated by corresponding Ukrainian terms: calorie – калорія, equator – екватор, polysemantic – багатозначний, etc. but it should be borne in mind, that one and the same term may have different meanings in different branches of science and technology, e.g.: line – 1) контейнер, поточна лінія; 2) трубопровід, etc. thus a term may sometimes be polysemantic, e.g.: power (phys.) – сила, потужність, энергія; power (math.) – ступінь.

There is a special group of words of terminological nature: names of animals, birds, plants, natural elements, e.g.: tiger – тигр; cat – кішка; swallow – ластівка; lily-of-the-valley – конвалія; drought – засуха; rain – дощ; lightning – блискавка, etc.

The names of the rare or little known animals or plants are as a rule monosemantic and have full equivalents: coyote – койот; armadillo – броненосець; porcupine – дикобраз; baobab – баобаб.

Rendering the Names of Streets

The names of streets are transcribed: Bayswater Road – Бейсуотер роуд.

The names of streets in historical novels which sometimes happen to be token names are translated, e.g. the “Economist” publishing office is in Threadneedle street – редакція журналу «Экономіст» розташовується на Треднидл стріт but “tailors lived in Threadneedle street” – кравці жили нав улиці Голка з Ниткою.

Rendering of Names of Hotels

Names of hotels are usually transcribed, e.g. Hotel Carlton – готель Карлтон. Names of old inns are as a rule translated, e.g.: The Red Lion – готель Червоний Лев.

Rendering of Names of Sports and Games

These are also usually transcribed, e.g.: football – футбол, hockey – хокей.

Rendering of the Names of Periodicals

The Times – газета Таймс. It should be noted that for pragmatic reasons such words as газета, журнал, щотижневик are added respectively. The United States News and World Report – американський щотижневик «Юнайтед Стейтс Ньюс енд Уорлд Ріпорт».

Rendering of Names of Institutions and Organizations

These classes of proper names are usually transcribed, e.g.: General Motors – Дженерал Моторс, British Airways – Бритіш Еруейз.

But certainly there are exceptions to this rule: The Common Market – Спільний Ринок; The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – федеральне бюро розслідувань (ФБР). These are accepted translated equivalents.