Lecture 7. Translation into English.

translating into English:

• pre-determined order of words in a sentence;

• verbal style of expression;

• analytical way of expressing semantic and syntactic relationsbetween words;

• the use of prepositional structures.

When translating into any language one is expected to treat with due regard the peculiarities of its grammatical and lexico-semantic systems. Of numerous peculiarities of the system of English the following three are, perhaps, the most important for translation into this language.

1. Definite (pre-determined) order of words in a sentence.

2. Predominantly verbal style of expression.

3. Analytical way of expressing semantic and syntactic relations between words (by positioning rather than by prepositions and case forms).

If one compares the above features of English with

• free word Order,

• predominantly nominative style of expression and

• expression of semantic and syntactic relations by prepositions
and/or case forms

typical for Ukrainian the principle objectives of Ukrainian-English translation may be phrased as follows.

•► When translating from Ukrainian into English the translator is:

♦ to change the word order in the source sentences in accord with the English syntax;

♦ to change the source text style into predominantly verbal and

♦ to express the syntactic and semantic relations between nouns by their proper positioning.

Speaking of translation means and devices the most applicable ones for Ukrainian-English translation are restructuring (rewording) of the source sentences, replacement of noun combinations by verbal struc­tures and substitution of target noun clusters for source prepositional combinations.

It should be noted, however, that all said above is valid only for the general case - each particular translation case demands individual con­sideration.

Let's take an example to illustrate a typical Ukrainian-English trans­formations.

Необхідно негайно провести голосування з цього питання. «The issue is to be voted immediately.»

Note rewording and replacement of the nominative combination by the verbal construction in the above example.

As concerns the approaches used in Ukrainian-English translation one is to remember that the denotative approach and transformations are used in combination.

To explain the necessity of denotative approach when translating into English one is to apply the communicational scheme of translation.

The matter is that the target audience of Ukrainian-English transla­tion is foreigners having cultural and educational background which sometimes radically differs from Ukrainian culture and ways of life. Hence, in order to convey the source text content in an optimal way one should translate it using the phrasing common to and easily understood by the target audience. The best way to do this provides a combination of denotative approach (interpretation of the content) and transforma­tional scheme (transforming Ukrainian phrases into standard English expressions).

•► In English-Ukrainian translation the translator is expected to interpret the content of the source text using standard phrasing of the target language speakers.

Let's take an example of Ukrainian - English translation to illustrate the above recommendation.

Міцне, повите спокійною усмішкою обличчя. Вилитий Іван! Чистісінько батькова кру-тобровість. Наче той ожив, на­че воскрес...

...Вже викликають інших. З числа цивільних одержує гра­моту і той модерняга, що приїздив мотоциклом до кіношників, пропонував зіграти роль анонімника. Одержавши нагороду й відходячи від столу, підморгнув Колосовському: а ви, мовляв, не хотіли брати... Не знаєте, братці, людей... (Oles Honchar)

The strong face, the smile.... The arched brows. He was the im­age of Ivan! Ivan himself may have come to life again, risen from the dead.

...Others were called. One of the civilians was the dashing young fellow who had come on his motorcycle asking to be given the role of anonymous letter-writer. He took his certificate and as he left the table winked at Ko-losovsky, as though to say: And you didn't want to take me. You're a poor judge of people...

As one can see a non-native speaking translator can achieve good re­sults in Ukrainian-English translation only through using standard (cli-cheed) English phrasing. The reason of this requirement becomes clear if you recall the information on hypertext discussed earlier in this Manual.

A non-native speaking translator simply may not know the hypertext underlying the equivalents and only standard language cliches (to a cer­tain extent!) guarantee proper choice of equivalents with relevant conno­tations.

• The use of standard (clicheed) phrases in translation into English is desirable since they are repeatedly tested by native speakers and carry with them correct associations and allusions.

Of course, in literary translation this aspect is more important than in translation of technical or official documents. Generally speaking, the effectiveness of translation into English by a foreigner depends on the type of the source text. The lowest level of connotations is observed in legal texts where no ambiguity is tolerated, besides, legal texts are highly clicheed. In a way the same is true for technical texts and official docu­ments. This is where one may expect good results translating into English by standard 'well-worn' expressions.

All said above about translation into English applies both to written translation and interpretation, although some peculiarities of interpreta­tion proper are discussed in the lecture that follows.

Література:

1. Комиссаров В.Н. Современное переводоведение. Учебное пособие. – М.: ЭТС. – 2002. – 424 с.

2. Комисарова В.Н., Кораллова А.Л. Практикум по переводу с английского языка на русский. - М., 1990.

3. Комиссаров В.Н. Лингвистика перевода. - М, 1981.

4. Корунець І.В. Теорія і практика перекладу. - Вінниця, 2003. - 448 с.

5. Мірам Г.Є. Дейнеко В.В. Основи перекладу. - К., 2003.

6. Мирам Г.Е. Переводныe картинки. Профессия: переводчик. - К., 2001.

7. Мирам Г.Е. Профессия: переводчик. - К., 1999.

8. Нелюбин Л.Л. Переводческий словарь. - М., 1999.

9. Федоров А.В. Основы общей теории перевода. - М., 1975.

Questions

1. What are the peculiarities of the English language system which are to be taken into account in Ukrainian-English translation?

2. What are the most important changes of the source text in Ukrainian-English translation?

3. What is the optimal approach in Ukrainian-English translation?

4. Why is it desirable to use standard (clichéd) expressions when translating into a foreign language.

5. Grade the texts according to difficulties they present for Ukrainian-English translation.