"Обертональные" переводы

   Большое место в "Англо-русском фразеологическом словаре" занимают переводы, которые мы называем "обертональными" ("контекстуальные замены" по терминологии Я. И Рецкера). "Обертональные" переводы - это своего рода окказиональный эквивалент, используемый для перевода фразеологизма только в данном контексте. Поэтому "обертональный" перевод дается в переводе цитаты, а не данного фразеологизма. Следует учитывать, что окказиональность данного эквивалента определяется исключительно особенностями контекста и что в другом контексте аналогичный перевод может и не быть "обертональным", а полным или частичным эквивалентом. Нахождение "обертонального перевода", в отличие от использования готового эквивалента - творческий процесс.

    

   Библейский фразеологизм the apple of one's eye переводится 'зеница ока', например:   

   What did he know of her - he had only loved her all her life - looked on her as the apple of his eye! (J. Galsworthy, part III, ch. VIII.)

   Что он знает о ней. Он так любил ее всю жизнь, берег ее, как зеницу ока.

   

   Однако в следующем отрывке из Диккенса этот библеизм используется саркастически карликом Куилпом как обращение и требует уже обертонального перевода. По этому пути и пошла переводчица Н. Волжина.

   

   "Dick," said the dwarf, thrushing his head in at the door - "my pet, my pupil, the apple of my eye, hey, hey!" (Ch. Dickens, The Old CuriosityShop, ch. I)

   -Дик, - воскликнул карлик, просовывая голову в дверь, - мой любимец, мой ученик, свет очей моих.

Выборочные эквиваленты

   Часто у английского фразеологизма может быть несколько эквивалентов, и переводчику приходится выбирать наилучший перевод для данного контекста.

   Оборот break the ice переводится 'пробить лед', 'нарушить молчание', 'сделать первый шаг', 'положить начало (знакомству)'.

   On the instant he was thinking how natural and unaffected her manner was now that the ice between them had been broken. (Th. Dreiser. AnAmerican Tragedy, book И, ch. XVII.)

   Это предложение можно перевести при помощи полного эквивалента:

   И Клайд подумал, как просто и естественно держится она теперь, когда лед между ними сломан.

   Однако при переводе следующего предложения такой перевод невозможен.

   They nodded to each other by way of breaking the ice of unacquaintance. (Th. Hardy, The Three Stran-gers.)

   Они поклонились друг другу, чтобы завязать знакомство.

   

II. Перевод безэквивалентной фразеологии

   Многие английские фразеологические единицы не имеют эквивалентов в русском языке. Это в первую очередь относится к фразеологизмам, обозначающим несуществующие у нас реалии. При переводе подобных фразеологизмов использовались калькирование и описательный перевод. Калькирование дает возможность донести до русского читателя живой образ английского фразеологизма, что невозможно при использовании свободного необразного словосочетания, являющегося русским объяснением значения английского фразеологизма.

Например: The old lady of Threadneedle Street шутливо 'старая леди с Треднидл-стрит' (английский банк). Пониманию перевода помогает примечание: Он назван 'старой леди' из-за своего консерватизма (Треднидл-стрит - улица, на которой он находится).  Перевод 'английский банк' не передает специфики данного фразеологизма. 

Ср: When dinner was announced Mr. Dombey took down an old lady like a crimson pin-cushion stuffed with banknotes who might have been the identical old lady of Threadneedle Street, she was so rich and looked so unaccommodating... (Ch. Dickens, Dombey and Son, ch. XXXVI.)

   Когда доложили, что обед подан, мистер Домби предложил руку старой леди, похожей на малиновую бархатную подушку для булавок, набитую банковыми билетами, которая могла сойти за подлинную леди с Треднидл-стрит - так была она богата и такой казалась непокладистой...

Такие прозвища, как John Bull 'Джон Буль', Uncle Sam 'дядя Сэм' и др. передаются с помощью  калькирования.

PERFECT TENSE FORMS

III.I. The present perfect describes:

1. an activity at a non-specific time in the past, e.g. Our contractor has built a new supporting wall.

2. an activity which started in the past and continues to the present, e.g. They have known this scientist since 2005.

Notes:

To put emphasis on the duration of an action the present perfect continuous is used, e.g. We have been working on this project since last year.

We use the present perfect tense with these expressions:

Already, always, for, since, yet, ever, never, yet, lately, recently, etc.

Exercises

1. Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect tense.

1. Medicine (make) great progress in the last twenty years.

2. Scientists (study) the universe for many centuries.

3. The World Health Organization (supply) advice and aid to several countries.

4. Since it was founded in 1943, F.A.O. (carry out) many projects designed to increase food production throughout the world.

5. The increasing interdependence of nations (lead) to international co-operation on a much bigger scale than hitherto.

6. Programmatic research (have) some unexpected side-effects: one of them is that scientists (become) increasingly involved in applied research, and (tend) to neglect basic research.

7. Money is a factor which (play) an important part in establishing the pattern of modern scientific investigation.

8. During the past few years, several counties (pool) their resources in order to carry out certain types of scientific investigation more efficiently.

9. Recently, more than forty countries (co-operate) in the projects connected with the International Geophysical Year (I.G.Y.).

10. Agricultural and engineering experts (make) great advances in utilizing desert areas for crop production during the last few decades.

2. Put the verbs in brackets into their correct tense forms (present indefinite, present continuous, or present perfect).

1. Unit 9, which we just (complete), (demonstrate) the importance of straight thinking.

2. In the last few decades man (succeed) in utilizing the atomic nucleus as a source of energy.

3. At present, a number of research teams (look) for a new approach to the synthesis of proteins.

4. Many developing countries (retain) old and inefficient economic structures which (prevent) them from making the best use of modern agricultural and industrial methods.

5. The new machine, which (break down) several times recently (run) smoothly now.

6. Some types of steel (melt) at 1200⁰ C.

7. In the last few years, chemists (develop) hundreds of synthetic materials.

III.II. The The past perfect describes:

1. an activity that happened earlier than another activity in the past, e.g. Our studies showed how well the equipment had performed.

Notes:

To put emphasis on the duration of an action which started and finished in the past, before another past action or a stated time the past perfect continuous is used, e.g. He had been investigating genes for several years before he got positive results.

We use the past perfect tense with these expressions: Before, after, till/until, when, by the time, never, etc.

Exercises

1. Put the verbs in brackets into their correct tense forms (past indefinite or past perfect).

1. Success (come) after we (perform) the experiment 20 times.

2. The engine (break down) before it (complete) all the reliability tests.

3. After the properties or characteristics of the new material (be worked out) theoretically, they (be tested) experimentally.

4. The field studies we (undertake) last year (be) very successful because they (be) carefully planned beforehand.

5. The construction of the bridge (begin) as soon as the engineers (make) the necessary calculations.

6. It (be) necessary to repeat the experiments because some of the original data (be lost).

7. Unfortunately, it (be) difficult to repeat the experiments since the original conditions (change) in the meantime.

2. Put the verbs in brackets in the following abstract into their correct tense forms (past indefinite or past perfect).

George E. Smith (receive) 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics – “For the invention of an imaging semiconductor circuit – the CCD sensor.”

I (be) born in White Plains, New York in 1930. I (attend) a variety of primary and secondary schools. After I (graduate) from high school I (join) the U.S. Navy. While (stay) in Miami, Florida, I (manage) to take enough courses at the University of Miami to qualify as a starting sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania in 1952. I (major) in Physics. After I (graduate) with honors I (marry). I (be) accepted into the graduate program at the University of Chicago with a job as a teaching assistant and (graduate) there in 1959 with a Ph.D. in Physics. During that time I also (receive) grants from the National Science Foundation and Bell Telephone Laboratories. As soon as I (graduate), I (be) offered a job with the Research area of Bell Labs and (accept) it.

Sentence translation

1. Freud divides human personality into three significant components: the id, ego, and super-ego. The id acts according to the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification of its needs regardless of external environment; the ego then must emerge in order to realistically meet the wishes and demands of the id in accordance with the outside world, adhering to the reality principle.

Finally, the superego (conscience) inculcates moral judgment and societal rules upon the ego, thus forcing the demands of the id to be met not only realistically but morally. The superego is the last function of the personality to develop, and is the embodiment of parental/social ideals established during childhood. According to Freud, personality is based on the dynamic interactions of these three components.

2. Light, the basis for all vision, is an element of our lives that we take for granted. We

are so familiar with brightness, darkness and the spectrum of visible colours that another form of perception in a different frequency range and with different colour sensitivity is difficult for us to imagine. Visible light is in fact just a small part of an essentially broader spectrum of electromagnetic waves, which range from cosmic rays to radio waves.

The first artificial light source was the flame of fire, in which glowing particles of

carbon produce light that, like sunlight, has a continuous spectrum. For a long time the production of light was based on this principle, e. g. flaming torches and kindling, the candle and the oil lamp and gas light.

In contrast to incandescent lamps, light from discharge lamps is not produced by

heating a filament, but by exciting gases or metal vapours. This is effected by applying voltage between two electrodes located in a discharge tube filled with inert gases or metal vapours.