Lexical Transformations.
Methods of logical thinking that enable the translator to reveal the meaning of a foreign word in context and to provide it with a TL correspondence somewhat different form the original one are often referred to as lexical transformations.
All lexical transformations may be reduced to the following types: concretization, generalization, modulation, antonymic translation, compensation, omission and addition.
In concretization a word or word combination with a wider primary meaning is replaced by a word or word combination with a narrower meaning.
Thanks for telling me. Спасибо, что предупредила.
Dinny waited in a corridor which smelled of disinfectant. Динни ожидала её в коридоре, пропахшем карболкой.
The first electrons go into the lowest shells.
Перші електрони залітають на найнижчі оболонки.
In other situations a SL word or word combination with a narrower meaning receives a TL correspondence with a wider meaning, i.e. the word is generalized on the basis of its contextual environment.
She had expressed an admiration for Lou’s hat, bag, gloves and shoes which were all navy blue. Она похвалила тёмно-синий ансамбль Лу.
He comes over and visits me practically every week-end. Он часто ко мне ездит, почти каждую неделю.
He showed us this old beat-up Navajo blanket. Он показал нам потрёпанное индейское одеяло.
The first factories were driven by water.
Перші фабрики працювали на воді.
Another type of lexical transformations is often called 'modulation'. It involves the creation of an equivalent by replacing a unit in SL with a TL unit the meaning of which can be logically deduced from it and which is just another way of referring to the same object or an aspect of the same situation. The substitute often has a cause-and-effect relationship with the original.
The window was full of clothes I wouldn’t want to be seen dead in.
В витрине были выставлены платья, в которых я не хотела бы даже лежать в гробу.
I don’t blame them.
Я их понимаю.
The translator is often made to turn for use of complex lexical and grammatical transformations to meet the norms of the TL. When we use antonymic translation, a SL syntactic negative or positive construction is transformed into a TL positive or negative construction which is accompanied by the replacement of a SL lexical unit by its TL antonymic lexical correspondence.
They differed slightly from each other. Они не во всём бывали согласны.
She didn’t say anything. Она промолчала.
I am not kidding. Я вам серьёзно говорю.
Another method of achieving translation equivalence is compensation. It is defined as a deliberate introduction of some additional elements in translation to make up for the loss of similar elements at the same or an earlier stage. For instance, Eliza in B. Shaw’s “Pygmalion” makes a mistake typical for the speech of an uneducated person: “I’m nothing to you – not so much as them slippers.” And Professor Higgins corrects her saying: “those slippers”. The linguistic error in the episode is untranslatable and its loss makes this dialogue meaningless. But the loss can be compensated for by introducing a mistake – and its correction – at a point where everything is correct in the original but where an uneducated Russian speaker is likely to make it. As a result in the translation Eliza says: «Я для вас ничто, хуже вот этих туфлей». And Higgins corrects her: «туфель».
Often occurring among various translator’s transformations are omissions. Omission is reduction of the elements of the ST considered redundant from the viewpoint of the TL structural patterns and stylistics. (Miram). Omissions are made possible in translation because the SL text may be semantically abundant and the translator may do without some excessive information to produce an equivalent translation. One of the cases of superfluity is the use in English of twin-pair synonyms. In R\U such synonyms are represented by one equivalent word or word combination: by force and violence – насильственным путём, an outcast and criminal system – преступная система, null and void – недійсний.
Additions are lexical grammatical transformations. Addition in translation is a device intended for the compensation of structural elements implicitly present in the ST or paradigm forms missing in the TL. (Miram). In English some semantic units available or implied in the deep structure, drop out when it is transformed into the surface structure. Such semantic units may be deduced from the deep structure in the process of translation: modern weapons – современные виды оружия, solid engine – двигатель на твёрдом топливе, defences – оборонительные сооружения, Green Party federal election money – гроші Партії зелених, призначені на вибори на федеральному рівні, fuel tax protests – протести, пов’язані з підвищенням податку на паливо, peer-bonded goods – товари, розраховані на споживання певною віковою групою.
Grammatical transformations.
The achievement of translation equivalency requires of a translator the skill to make multiple and various interlinguistic adjustments or the so-called ‘translation transformations’.
There are 4 elementary types of grammatical transformations:
Transpositions.
Replacements.
Additions.
Omissions.
Transpositions consist in changing the word order or the order of succession of linguistic signs in the TL text.
A sharp, impatient knock came at his door.
В дверь его комнаты кто-то постучал, нетерпеливо и громко.
‘The flight will be boarding at Gate 17 in about fifteen minutes,’ the girl added with a smile.
„Приблизно за п’ятнадцять хвилин на цей рейс буде посадка біля виходу номер 17”, - посміхаючись, додала дівчина.
If he ever gets married, his own wife will probably call him “Ackley”.
Наверное, и жена будет звать его Экли – если только он когда-нибудь женится. (In this example the principal clause follows the subordinate clause of the SL, while in the TL the succession of the clauses is reverse.)
In the following example there takes place another kind of transposition (a complex sentence in the SL is changed into a compound sentence in the TL):
Montanelli was a universal encyclopedia to him, though he had never been a pupil of the seminary.
Он не учился в семинарии, но Монтанелли был для него подлинной энциклопедией.
Replacements are the most wide-spread transformations, consisting in replacing the grammatical units (word-forms, parts of speech) of the SL by some other grammatical units of the TL. Grammatical replacements may be of the following types:
Word-form replacement.
After he had finished his work last night, he went to the club.
Вчера вечером, закончив работу, он пошёл в клуб.
He said he lived in Kiev.
Он сказал, что живёт в Киеве.
Parts of speech replacement: in the process of translation a pronoun may be replaced by a noun, a noun by a verb, etc.
Author had expected to be threatened, abused and sworn at.
Артур ожидал угроз, оскорблений, брани.
She is a dancer.
Она танцует.
Bionics has many applications beyond the field of medicine.
Біоніка широко застосовується й поза межами медицини.
‘Parts of a sentence’ replacement.
When replacing parts of the sentence, the words or word groups making up the sentence are used in other syntactic functions than their corresponding units of the SL. The most common case of this syntactic restructuring is the replacement of the English passive construction by the R\U active one; in this case the subject of the English sentence turns out to be the object of the TL.
He was looked up to by all the boys.
Все мальчики смотрели на него снизу вверх.
There are also cases when the subject of the SL is rendered by the adverbial modifier in the TL.
The last week has seen an intensification of the diplomatic activity.
На прошлой неделе наблюдалась активизация дипломатической деятельности.
Such constructions are widely spread in the language of newspapers and scientific and technical texts.
Cyprus is rather hot in summer.
Летом на Кипре очень жарко.
In the above sentence we see sort of personification of inanimate objects, since their function in the sentence is that of the subject. It is due to this that it has become possible in English to say “The article stresses…”, “The communiqué says…”.
Afternoon saw Jack and Somers polishing floors.
Днём Джек и Сомерс приступили к натирке полов.