методичка 3 (1)

The saga of the Northwest Indians probably began millennia ago when hunting families in search of food set out from Siberia, walked across a land bridge, the Bering Strait, to a new country that became known as Alaska. Later, many Indian tribes lived south of the Arctic Circle and divided into two distinct language groups: the Algonquians extended eastward to below Hudson Bay, and the Athapascans stayed in Northwest Canada. Gradually, some of each group moved southward.

The Lewis and Clark explorers of 1803 to 1806 probably were the first white men to be seen by some descendants of those ancient Athapascan tribes. Mainly they lived on the north side of the Columbia River; on the south side of the river tribes of the Salishan language family located. Salishan Indians derived their name from the Salish, another name for the Flathead tribes of Montana. Among other tribes of this group are Chelan, Okanogan, Wasco, Kwakiutle, Aleut, etc.

Термін виконання: семінарське заняття 2

Очікуваний результат: розвинуті уміння практичного застосування знань про труднощі перекладу географічних термінів, сформовані навички перекладу з коментарем, вдосконалені навчально-стратегічні компетентності білінгва.

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LECTURE 4

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF WORD MEANING. TYPES OF

MEANING. TRANSFORMATIONS

Three approaches to the study of word meaning: reference theory, component analysis and meaning postulates.

Denotative and connotative meanings.

Basic transformations in the proress of translation.

Three approaches to the study of word meaning: reference theory,

component analysis and meaning postulates

Although the meanings of words may appear problematic for the translator, the greater problem is the meaning which derives from the relationship of word to word, i.e. the meaning of a word in a context.

Among the possible ways of approaching the description and explanation of the word meaning three stand out as particularly interesting: 1) reference theory; 2) component analysis; 3) meaning postulates.

1) Reference theory seeks to provide the answer to the question: “What is the relationship between the phenomena observed through the senses and the words used to refer to those phenomena?”

During the last hundred years linguists have taken as a starting point for the theory the conventional acceptance of the need for the relationship between a word and the nominated object/ phenomenon to be indirect and mediated by a concept. Building on the assumption de Saussure provides a rather explicit model of the relationship between the linguistic sign and the “object”. The relative sophistication of de

Saussure’s model is that it sees the linguistic sign itself as being composed of two indivisible elements: the concept and the acoustic image which realizes it. De

Saussure’s linguistic sign may be compared with the models of mental representation currently developed by cognitive scientists

2) The theory of component analysis

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Making sense of chaotic and continuous sensory data requires processes of pattern recognition and segmentation of the data into discreet, codable elements. An

“atomic” and “molecular” approach to the description of word meaning was developed back in the 1950s. The essential assumption of component analysis is that the meaning of a word is made up of a number of semantic distinctive features. These elements are binary, i.e. marked as present or absent.

Applied to translation, component analysis compares distinctive features of sets of words in the two languages considered.

3) The theory of meaning postulates

A fundamental problem for the translator is that the relationship of similarity and difference between concepts and the words that express them do not necessarily coincide in the languages involved in translation. There can be isolated three types of relationhip between concept and concept and, therefore, between words.

The first of these is hyponymy which involves total inclusion: one concept or the meaning of one word is included into another. For instance, the notion animal includes the notion tiger. Naturally, where language systems are in agreement, hyponymy presents no problems for the translator. The difficulties start when they differ. Consider, for example, Dr.Johnson’s famous inclusion in his dictionary of

“oats” within the class “food for animals” rather than “food for men” or, even in contemporary dictionaries “foxhunting” or “bullfighting” within the class of sports.

The second, synonymy, is particularly problematic for the translator, since it involves overlap rather than total inclusion or exclusion. As there is no 100% identity between the two synonyms they are hardly interchangeable.

The third type of relationship, antonymy, implies exclusion rather than inclusion. When words are in contrast to each other we deal with polar oppositions: black − white, dark − bright, evil − good. Relative oppositions demonstrate converse relations between the items; these may be assymetric social roles (teacher − student, driver − passenger), kinship terms (son − daughter, father − mother), temporal (before − after) and space (under − above) relations. In gradual oppositions, possibly made up of several words, the latter occupy positions according to their grade (gold − silver −

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copper − iron). The difficulties in translation may arise with relative oppositions where relations are more culturally bound and variable. For instance, many languages provide separate sets of distinctive terms for relatives on father’s side and relatives on mother’s side.

Denotative and connotative meanings

A word-sense usually includes denotative and connotative elements of meaning. To denote means to serve as linguistic expression for a notion, idea or as a name for an actually existing object refferred to by the word-sense. To connote means to suggest or imply in addition to the denotative meaning. Connotation meaning, also called expressive meaning, is what is suggested by or associated with a particular word-sense.

Denotative meaning of the word is referential, objective and cognitive. It is the shared property of the speech community which uses the language of which the word or sentence forms a part.

Connotative meaning, in contrast, refers to the meaning which is not referential but associative, subjective and affective. This kind of meaning may or may not be shared by the whole community. E.g. the denotative meaning of the item “dog” is straightforward and a common property while the connotations may vary from person to person and from society to society, extending from the description of survile dedication to the well-being of the species and to utter abhorrence towards somebody.

The connotative components of a word-sense have the capacity to evoke or directly express:

emotion, e.g. mom as compared to mother is more emotional, i.e. it expresses greater closeness, love, tenderness;

intensity, e.g. to abhore as compared to to hate, to dislike expresses a more intense or poignant feeling;

evaluation, e.g. cronies as compared to friends may have a pejorative shade of meaning in certain contexts;

a stylistic colouring, e.g. to slay as compared to to kill is felt to be distinctly

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formal, bookish, or even poetic;

a dialectal reference, e.g. a lift is British while an elevator is American English. In everyday usage, all these meanings often overlap and are often difficult to disentangle. Thus the forcefulness and emotionality of a word-sense are often difficult to separate and are, as a result, referred to as the emotive charge of a wordsense. It is important to understand the difference between emotive charge and individual emotive implications (субъективные эмоциональные ассоциации).

Emotive charge is an objective semantic feature of connotation, i.e. it is perceived by members of the same speaking community more or less in the same way.

Individual emotive implications are associations and ideas that a word may acquire in the mind of a particular person due to their subjective experience. The word prison, for example, would have different emotive implications for the architect who designed it, the warden working in it, and somebody who used to be a prisoner there.

The majority of word-senses have both types of meaning. However, there are some notable exceptions. Words which are grammatical operators like special terms or the, and, can, etc. possess little denotative meaning and no connotative meaning. On the other hand, interjections like wow!, ouch!, damn!, etc. alongside sound imitating words for all intents and purposes possess mostly connotative meaning.

The ultimate challenge for the translator is to try to preserve in the target text not only the denotative but also as much of connotative content of the original as possible.

Basic transformations in the proress of translation.

At the sentence level, the most common transformations every translator makes are: 1) omission, 2) addition, 3) transposition, 4) change of grammatical forms, 5) loss compensation, 6) concretization, 7) generalization, 8) antonymic translation, 9) meaning extension, 10) metonymic translation, 11) sentence integration, 12) sentence fragmentation.

These transformations are caused by differences in the grammar and vocabulary of the SL and TL. Examples:

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omission – Summer rains in Florida may be violent, while they last / Летом во Флориде бывают сильные ливни.

addition – The policeman waved me on / Полицейский помахал мне рукой,

показывая, что я могу проезжать.

transposition – A delegation of Moscow State University students arrived in Gainesville yesterday / Вчера в Гейнзвиль прибыла группа студентов из Московского государственного университета. Typically, an English sentence has a “SVO+Adv adjunct+place+time” word order. A typical Russian sentence would generally have a reverse word order – “time+place+VSO+Adv adjunct”.

change of grammatical forms – Prime Minister Tony Blair was hit by a tomato / в британского премьера попал помидор.

loss-of-meaning compensation – I ain’t got no time for that kind of thing! / Нет у меня времени на такую фигню.

concretization – There were pictures on all the walls and there was a vase with flowers on the table / На всех стенах комнаты висели картины, а на столе стояла ваза с цветами.

generalization – She ordered a daiquiri / Она заказала коктейль.

antonymic translation – I don’t think you are right / Я думаю, что Вы не правы.

meaning extension – You can’t be serious / Вы, должно быть, шутите. He answered the phone / Он поднял трубку. Cause is translated by its effect and visa versa.

metonymic translation – School broke up for the summer recess / Занятия прекратились. Все ушли на летние каникулы.

sentence integration – You presence isn’t required. Nor is it desirable / Ваше присутствие не требуется и даже нежелательно.

sentence fragmentation – People everywhere are confronted with the need to

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make decisions in the face of ignorance and this dilemma is growing / Люди везде сталкиваются с необходимостью принятия решений при отсутствии достаточной информации. Эта проблема возникает всё чаще и чаще. Both sentence integration and sentence fragmentation are prompted by considerations of text cohesion.

Literature

Бурак А.Л. Translating culture. Перевод и межкультурная коммуникация.

Этап 1: уровень слова / А.Л. Бурак. – М. : «Р.Валент», 2002. – 152 с.

Комиссаров В.Н. Теория перевода (лингвистические аспекты): Учеб. пос.

для ин-тов и ф-тов ин. яз. / В.Н. Комиссаров. − М. : Высш. шк., 1990. − С. 7993.

Латышев Л.К. Перевод: проблемы теории, практики и методики преподавания: Кн. для учителя шк. с углубл. изуч. нем. яз. / Л.К. Латышев. − М. : Просвещение, 1988. − С. 55-80.

Рецкер Я.И. Теория перевода и переводческая практика / Я.И. Рецкер. − М. : Международные отношения, 1974. − С. 17-23.

Bell, Roger T. Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice / Roger T. Bell.

− London, NY : Longman, 1991. − P. 79-158.

Hervey, Sandor. Thinking Translation. A Course in Translation Method: French-

English / S. Hervey. − London, NY : Routledge, 1992. − P. 87-114.

ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION

What are translation transformations?

When do you think we cannot use transformations in translation?

What causes the translation transformations?

What is contextual meaning of the word?

Comment on each type of transformation and provide your own examples.

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ВПРАВИ ДЛЯ САМОСТІЙНОГО ОПРАЦЮВАННЯ ВПРАВА 7: Перекладіть текст на рідну мову враховуючи необхідність

застосування трансформацій.

The Naked and the Dead (1948) brought Norman Mailer unexpected and unnerving acclaim. But he turned his back on his easy success and began a deeper exploration of the contemporary consciousness than the technique of his first novel would allow. He has been savagely attacked for the "failure" of his later work, as well as for his unorthodox public opinions and behaviour. It was over a decade after the publication of his first novel before critics began to realize that Mailer's own instincts were surer than those of his reviewers. Structurally, The Naked and the Dead is well made. The events of the novel, reinforced by Mailer's ironic commentary, illustrate a deterministic view of the war. The war is shown to be irrational, a series of almost random accidents, despite the huge, intricate military organizations which nominally direct it. It is, in the structural metaphor of the whole novel, like a wave whipped up somewhere far offshore, gathering amplitude and direction, crashing upon a beach, receding once again. Mailer's soldiers - even his general - are like the molecules of water involved. The only fact is death, and confronted by the fact, man is naked. Much of Mailer's technique is derived from Dos Passos, Steinbeck, Hemingway, and later Fitzgerald - much, much later. And Thomas Wolfe, of course.

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SEMINAR 3

WORD MEANING IN TRANSLATION

Denotative and connotative elements of meaning.

The most common transformations in translation.

Equivalence of translation.

Types of equivalence in translation.

Practical part

Translate the given passage from DWTV into your native language taking into consideration possibilities for translation equivalence.

Analyze the translation from the point of view of types of equivalence.

Literature

Комиссаров В.Н. Теория перевода (лингвистические аспекты): Учеб. пос.

для ин-тов и ф-тов ин. яз. / В.Н. Комиссаров. − М. : Высш. шк., 1990. − С. 5193.

Комиссаров В.Н., Коралова А.Л. Практикум по переводу с английского языка на русский: Учеб. пос. для ин-тов и ф-тов ин. яз. − М.: Высш. шк., 1990. −

С. 10-30.

Корунець І.В. Теорія і практика перекладу (аспектний переклад):

Підручник / І.В. Корунець. − Вінниця : Нова книга, 2000. − С. 391-418.

Федоров А.В. Основы общей теории перевода (лингвистические проблемы): Учеб. пос. для ин-тов и ф-тов ин. яз. / А.В. Федоров. − М. : Высш.

шк., 1983. − С. 132-170.

US Defence Secretary Donald Ramsfeld plans to visit Baghram air base near the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, a US military spokesman has confirmed. Ramsfeld, currently on a tour of Central Asia, is expected to address US troops guarding

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Baghram airport before flying on to Pakistan. In Afghanistan US special forces are searching al-Qaeda’s caves and tunnels in the Tora Bora area backed by heavy airraids. They are gathering documents and other potential evidence in the caves. There is a report from Washington that Osama bin Laden has been heard giving orders over a short-range radio in the Tora Bora mountains during the last week.

It’s been the same picture around the clock for days. Every thirty minutes US bombers drop their payloads on to al-Qaida positions. Poorly equipped Afghan fighters are supporting the US on the ground in the fight against Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization.

This man said they’d caught the al-Qaida surrounded in those mountains. They were stuck in their caves, he said, and couldn’t get out. But he didn’t answer our question as to bin Laden’s whereabouts. No-one here could tell us whether he was still in Tora Bora or whether he’d been able to escape across the border to Pakistan.

Instead of answering questions the local commander took us into the mountains up to the front line. The Afghan fighters here wanted to show users that they had gained the upper hand. But we gained a very different impression. These soldiers were nervous. They didn’t know how strong the enemy was or what might be in store foe them. Some said, a number of Arab soldiers, deserters from the Taliban, were hiding under the sacks in these trucks. Others said, they were US ground forces. No-one could confirm either story. A few miles away the US are intensifying their strikes. Washington wants a swift resolution and an end to rumour and speculation.

ЗАВДАННЯ З САМОСТІЙНОЇ РОБОТИ

Завдання 2: Знайдіть слова в тексті, які відносяться до розряду власних імен та потребують транскрипції при перекладі. Оберіть найкращий варіант, який відповідає казковому стилю. Перекладіть текст.

After only a brief rest they started on their way again. All were eager to get the journey over as quickly as possible, and were willing, tired as they were, to go on marching still for several hours. Gandalf walked in front as before. In his left hand he held up his glimmering staff, the light of which just showed the ground before his fe-

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