III. The ways of faithful reproduction of phraseological expressions.

TRANSLATION BY WAY OF EQUIVALENTS embraces several varieties.

1. Translation by way of absolute equivalents

presents a kind of reproduction in which every semantic (i.e. image-bearing, referential, emotional, evaluative, functional-stylistic, national) and structural component of the SL idiom is retained in the TL.

Translation by way of absolute equivalents is resorted to when dealing with the so called “international phraseologisms”, i.e. the phraseological expressions that originate from the same source in both languages in question. The source may be mythological, historical, literary, etc. as can be seen from the following examples.

1. Phraseological expressions originating from Greek mythology:

Augean stables – авгієві стайні (конюшні);

Cassandra warning – попередження Кассандри;

2. Phraseological expressions originating from ancient history or literature:

an ass in a lion’s skin (Aesop) – осел у левовій шкурі;

between Scylla and Charybdis (Homer) – між Сціллою і Харібдою;

to cross the Rubicon (Caesar) – перейти Рубікон;

3. Phraseological expressions from the Bible or based on biblical plot:

a lost sheep – заблудла (блудна) вівця;

the massacre (slaughter) of innocents – винищення немовлят;

the ten commandments – десять заповідей;

thirty pieces of silver – тридцять срібляників (плата за зраду).

A great many of absolute equivalents originate from contemporary literary or historical sources relating to different languages (mainly to French, Spanish, Danish< German, Italian, Arabic):

After us the deluge – після нас хоч потоп;

The game is not worth the candle – гра не варта свічок;

To pull smb’s chestnuts out of the fire – вигрібати для когось каштани з вогню;

One’s place in the sun – місце під сонцем; – from French

Blue blood – блакитна кров;

The fifth column – п”ята колона;

To tilt at (fight with) the windmills – воювати з вітряками; – from Spanish

Some mots belonging to prominent English and American authors have also turned into idiomatic expressions. Due to their constant use in belles-lettres they have become known in many languages.

Especially considerable is the amount of mots from the works by Shakespeare:

Betty a witty fool than a foolish wit (Twelfth Nigt) –

Краще дотепний дурень/ блазень, ніж дурний дотеп;

Cowards die many times before their deaths (Julius Caesar) –

Боягузи вмирають багато разів ще до своєї справжньої смерті.

b) A great number of phraseological expressions can be reproduced with the help of

Near (Quasi) Equivalents

Near equivalents are the phraseological expressions preserving in the TL the main component parts of the SL phraseological expressions but having some divergences (involve various lexico-grammatical transformations).

The difference between them can manifest itself:

– in the reduction of the structure of the TL phraseological expression:

E.g.: to make a long story short Vs коротко кажучи.

– in the omission of the component part in the TL:

E.g.: a lot of water had run under the bridge since then Vs багато води спливло відтоді.

– in the or addition of the component part in the TL:

E.g.: a voice in the wilderness Vs глас волаючого у пустелі

– in the change in the order of the components (rearrangement):

E.g.: a sound mind in a sound body Vs у здоровому тілі здоровий дух

– in the substitution of a feature (image) of the SL phraseological expression by some other (more fitting or traditionally accepted) in the TL with the preservation of other components of semantics and structure:

E.g.: as pale as paper Vs блідий мов стіна;

– in the generalization of the features of the SL phraseological expression/ idiom:

E.g.: one’s own flesh and bone Vs рідна кровинка.

– in the concretization of some feature of the original:

E.g.: you cannot catch an old bird with chaff Vs старого горобця половою не піддуриш

– in the usage of antonymic structure:

E.g.: the proof of the pudding is in the eating – не попробуєш, не взнаєш