16. Generalization

Generalization is the opposite of concretization. In this case a SL word of concrete meaning is rendered by a TL word of general meaning. This type is not so wide-spread and occurs less frequently than concretization. May be this is due to the fact that abstract and desemantized words in English form, a numerous and diversified group, thus supplying a linguistic base to this type of transformation, whereas generalization appears to be lacking a similar linguistic foundation.

Sometimes generalization is resorted to for pragmatic reasons in order to avoid expanded explanations or footnotes.

And so the Mad Hatter Scheme – as it was later to be called – was launched.

І ось так почалося здійснення цього божевільного задуму, як дедалі Гаррі Поллітт і члени редколегії жартівливо називали план видання першої щоденної газети Комуністичної партії Британії.

In those days the British communist Party had neither money, no premises. “The Mad Hatter is an allusion to a character in Lewis Carrol’s well-known book “Alice in Wonderland”. The suggested translation is based on generalization. Besides, recourse has been taken to interpreting translation.

Here are some examples of this type of lexical transformation.

In the Arctic of today the frozen face of the deep is changing and man seeks a scientific explanation for its growth and shrinkage.

Крижаний покров Льодовитого океану зараз змінюється, і люди шукають наукове пояснення цьому явищу.

Much more than an effective gun control is going to be needed to cure America of the plague of violence that afflicts it.

Для того щоб позбавити Америку епідемії насильства, не достатньо одного тільки суворого контролю над продажем зброї.

There is a tendency in the English language to use nouns denoting measures of weight, distance, length, etc. in describing people and things which do not require such precision in their description. This method of description is foreign to the Ukrainianpractice and recourse is usually taken to generalization.

He was a young man of 6 feet two inches.

Це був високий молодий чолов’яга.

It led him time and again into positions of fantastic danger and yet enabled him to win every ounce of advantage, especially against an irresolute enemy.

(Desmond Young).

Це постійно приводило його у надзвичайно небезпечний стан і в той же час давало йому можливість скористатися усіма перевагами, особливо, якщо супротивник проявив нерішучість.

17. Antonymic translation

Antonymic translation usually implies a comprehensive lexical and grammatical transformation: an affirmative construction is translated by a negative one or a negative construction – by an affirmative one. But such grammatical transformation is usually accompanied by lexical transformation – the key word of the SL utterance is translated by its antonym in the TL utterance, e.g. … the undead past – ще живе минуле.

Let a sleeping dog lie. – Не буди спящую собаку.

Nobody was ever sorry to see him. – Усі завжди були раді його бачити.

Antonymic translation is more frequently used when rendering negative constructions by affirmative ones. This may be accounted for by the stylistic use of negative constructions in English for purposes of expressiveness. The English language uses grammatically only one negative in a sentence – either with a verb or with a noun but it maces a stylistic use of two negatives of which one is formed by grammatical means and the other – by means of affixation (negative prefixes or suffixes) or by lexical means, i.e. by words with a negative meanings.

A sentence containing two negatives is negative only on the face of it, actually it is affirmative as the two negatives neutralize each other. The grammatical form in this case is not used in its direct meaning and consequently attracts attention, as does, for example, the rhetorical question which is no question at all but an emphatic statement. The clash between the denotative meaning of the grammatical form and its use in speech makes it highly emotive and increases its expressiveness. Thus a double negation has a special connotative meaning. It is not identical, however, with an affirmative statement. It contains a certain modification. It may be an overstatement or an understatement.

British imperialists never failed to recognize the value of tea and fought many a bloody battle to grab the plantations of India.

Британські імперіалісти завжди чудово розуміли цінність чаю і не раз вели криваві битви, щоб захопити індійські чайні плантації.

The double negation is expressed grammatically by the negative adverb “never” and lexically by the semantics of the verb “to fail” is desemantized to such an extent that in some cases it is equivalent to a simple negative and is translated accordingly, e..g. he failed to appear – he did not appear.

The combination of a grammatical negative with the comparative or superlative degrees of the adverb “little” is always emphatic and is rendered antonymically.

Dickens is hampered by his age, which demands sentiment and reticence, but in the space that is allowed to him he scampers as if he knew no restraint…Never was he less embarrassed by restrictions than in the exuberance of “Pickwick Papers”.

Діккенс був зв’язаним своєю епохою, яка вимагала чуйності і стриманості, але у дозволених йому межах він веселиться, не знаючи спину ... Ніколи він не почував себе вільнішим від обмежень, чим у „Записках Піквікського Клубу”, де веселості били ключем.

The double negative construction “not … until” may be regarded as a cliché which is practically always rendered antonymously as лишь тогда, только (тогда), когда possessing the same degree of emphasis.

It was not until I reached the farmyard that I made the discovery. (Susan Howatch)

І тільки коли я дістався ферми, я зробив це відкриття.

He spoke in no uncertain terms. (Susan Howatch)

Він говорив вельми рішуче.