2.2. The translation of international words

Taking into account peculiarities of the meaning and form of international lexemes, several ways of conveying their meaning can be suggested:

1. Transliterating: symposium – симпозіум, gladiator – гладіатор, microscope – мікроскоп, poet – поет, drama – драма, theatre – театр; macaroni – макарони, pizza – піцца, solo – соло; tango – танго, embargo – ембарго etc.

2. Transcribing: boom – бум, jeans – джинси, knock-out – нокаут, leader – лідер, round – раунд, boulevard – бульвар, bouquet – букет, bureau – бюро, prize – приз, etc.

3. Practical transcribing. International morphemes and lexemes are adopted in all languages according to the historically established traditions of their own. The adopted word obtains in the target language an orthographic, sound and morphological/structural form, which is only similar to that in the source language. This kind of adopting internationalisms is traditionally called practical transcribing: cocoa – какао, crown – корона/крона, dance – танець, grade – градус, mother-of-pearl – перламутр, oil – олія, pound – фунт, etc.

4. Descriptive translation. Many genuine international lexemes are semantically condensed and can be translated into the target language only in a descriptive way: classifiable – той, що піддається класифікації; examinee – той, хто екзаменується/складає іспит; deputize (v) – бути представником від когось.

5. Synonymous substitution. An international lexeme of the target language can be often substituted in the process of translation for another international lexeme of synonymous/close/ the same meaning: athletics – гімнастика (and not атлетика), diagram – схема (and not діаграма), phase – період (and not фаза), base – фундамент (and not база), committee – комісія (and not комітет). The use of such and the like forms of internationalisms is always predetermined by context.

6. Loan translation. International loan units can be rendered into Ukrainian by direct translation of the component parts without changing considerably their structural form (coefficient of efficiency – коефіцієнт корисної дії); with the help of component translation and some replacements, omissions or substitutions (‘foreign trade’ is not іноземна торгівля, but зовнішня торгівля); with the help of descriptive translation (pluralia tantum – іменники, що вживаються тільки в множині).

2.3. Pseudo-internationalisms and their translation.

Pseudo-internationalisms are words of the source language and the target language which coincide or are similar in terms of their sound or graphic form, but they have different meanings. Such words are also called ‘false friends of interpreters’ since the translator may erroneously perceive the similarity of the form of two words as the sign of similarity of their meanings.

There are two main groups of pseudo-internationalisms:

1) complete pseudo-internationalisms (when the meanings of words do not coincide though the form of the words is identical or similar: actual – справжній, реальний; актуальний – topical, urgent, burning; complexion – колір шкіри обличчя; комплекція – physique, constitution of the body; spectacle – видовище; спектакль – performance; magazine – журнал; магазин – store, shop; repetition – повторення; репетиція – rehearsal.

2) partial pseudo-internationalisms (when the meanings of two words from the source language and the target language have partial coincidence): курс – 1. course; 2. rate (exchange rate); гімн – 1. hymn; 2. (national) anthem; article – 1. артикль; 2. стаття; 3. виріб, предмет.

A separate form of ‘false friends of interpreters’ is constituted by lexicalized forms of the plural of some words which the translator should be aware of: work “робота” – works “праці” and “завод”; development “розвиток” – developments “події”; damage “ушкодження” – damages “збитки”.