Theoretical and methodological aspects of translation
Theoretical and methodological aspects of translation
Plan
1
Translation as a notion and subject
2
Significance of translation and interpreting
3
Translation in teaching of foreign languages
4
Descriptive and Antonymic Translating
Conclusions
1
Translating as a notion and subject
Translation as a notion is a polysemantic nature. It may
imply the process of conveying the meaning of a word, word- group or sentence/
text from one language into another and also the result of the conveying.
“Translation” may also denote the subject taught at school.
Translation can be performed either in writing or in viva
voice (orally). Hence the people whose office is to convey some written or
spoken/ recorded matter in writing are referred to as translators and the people
whose office is to render the meaning of any matter in viva voice are referred
to as interpreters. Both the activities are equally important though the aims
pursued by each of them are somewhat different. Say, an oral “interpretation”
can not ba done otherwise than in writing. As a result the process of a written
translation has always a materialized expression in the form of a word, word-
group, sentence or passage which is left behind as a testimony to some work
performed. The translated matter can sometimes become rather important for a
country and enrich its history, literature and culture ( the translation of the
Iliad an the Odyssey into Latin by Livius Andronicus in the 3rd century B.C. or
Martin Luther’s translations of the Old and the news Testament into German in
the 16th century).
There are some terms and notions which are frequently used in
the theory and practice of translation and should be clearly distinguished. Since
some of them have a different wording in English and Ukrainian it is expedient
to give them here in either of the two languages: exact/ accurate translation /
interpretation точний переклад; faithful translation / interpretation адекватний
переклад; faithfulness of translation / interpretation адекватність перекладу; free
adaptation/ free interpretation перелицювання; free interpretation/
interpreting вільний переказ; free translation/ interpretation вільний переклад,
consecutive
translating/ interpreting послідовний переклад; descriptive translation/
translating описовий перклад; good / successful translation вдалий переклад (
тексту, книжки); interlinear translating/ translation підрядковий переклад/
підрядник; interpreting/ interpreter тлумачення/ тлумач; interpretation/
oral translation усний переклад; literal translation/ translating буквальний
переклад, verbal translating/ translation дослівний переклад; literary
translation/ translating літературний перклад; literary artistic
translation / translating художній переклад, off-hand translation /
interpreting, переклад без підготовки; rehash вільна переробка твору (
в перекладі); sight translation/ interpreting at sight переклад з аркуша; the source
language мова оригіналу( з якої перекладається), the target language мова, на яку
здійснюється переклад, synchronous interpreting/ interpretation синхроннний
переклад; versification віршовий ( поетичний переклад); rough
translation/ translating робочий варіант перекладу.
There can be noticed a certain ambiguity in the meaning of
some terms above concerning translation (cf. “free translation” вільний переклад,
вільний переказ). It should be added that the meaning of the seemingly common
term “translation” itself is far from monosemantic either. It may denote any
sense-to-sense substitution of a source languages unit for its semantic
equivalent in the target language: brotherhood братство, to study вчити, quickly швидко, red flowers червоні квіти, to fight for
peace боротися
за мир, His brother lives in Kiev Його брат живе у Києві.
“Translation” is also referred to any sense-to-sense
conveying even if the lexical meanings of the componential parts which make up
the language units are not substituted for their equivalents lexical meanings
in the target language: penny-in-the slot прилад/ пристрій автомат
(торгівля); the land of the golden fleece Австралія; red blood мужність; Let George do
it Іван
киває на Петра; agonic що не утворює кута (геометрія).
Functional substitution performed at the text level (as in
puns) are often treated as “translation” too: There is the tree in the
middle…It could bark…It says “Boughwouhg”… “That’s why it is branches are
called boughs.” (Carol? Alice in Wonderland). – Он Фікус стоїть!.. Ми
тому й прозвали його Фікус, що він кусається.
It goes without saying that the lexical meaning of “tree” is
not “Фікус” and
“Bough-wough” or “boughs” do not mean “кусатися” which they were
substituted for in the Ukrainian translation.
Similarly with the term “interpretation” which can among
others denote “the way of presentation” the social or aesthetic, moral etc.
background, i.c.the trend of the source language work in the target language.
No less ambiguous remains the term “free interpretation”
which is employed to denote any rendering of the essentials of content of some
written or oral / recorded matter. Besides, “free interpretation” is used to
denote a strongly subjective conveying of the sense, the structural, stylistic
or artistic peculiarities characteristic of a source language work/text (i.e. вільний переклад,
вільний переказ).
Finally “free interpretation” may denote a free adaptation of
foreign literatures works to other national literatures like that of I. P.
Kotlyarevsky’s Eneid which has very little in common with Vergil’s work.
2
Significance of translation and interpreting
The importance of translating and interpreting in modern
society has long been recognized. Practically not a single contact at the
international level or even between two persons speaking different languages
can be established or maintained without the help of translators or
interpreters.
Numerous branches of national economies too can keep up with
the up-to-date development and progress in the modern world thanks to everyday
translating/ interpreting of scientific and technical matter covering various
fields of human knowledge and activities. The latter comprise nuclear sciences,
exploration of outer space, ecological environment, plastics, mining, chemistry,
biology, medicine, machine building, electronics linguistics, etc. Nowadays
translation of scientific and technical matter has become a most significant
and reliable source of obtaining all-round and up-to-date information on the
progress in various fields of science and technology.
The social and political role of translation/ interpreting
has probably been most strongly felt for the last hundred years or so. Since
the birth of Marxism in the second half of the 19th century and Leninism in the
20th century translation has acquired an extraordinary significance providing
for the dissemination of revolutionary materialistic ideas and philosophy in
the minds of proletarian and working masses throughout the world.
Translating is also a perfect means of sharing achievements
and enriching national literatures and cultures. The many translations of the
best prose, poetry and drama works of world’s famous authors into different
national languages provide a vivid illustration of this permanent process. Due
to masterly translations the works by W. Shakespeare, W. Scott, G. G. Byron, P.
B. Shelley, C. Dickens, W. Theckeray, H.W. Longfellow, Mark Twain, J. London,
T. Dreiser and many other authors have become part of many national
literatures. The works by Ukrainian authors have also been translated into
English and some other languages, the process being increasingly intensified
with each passing decade after the Great Revolution. As a result when before
1917 a few poems by Taras Shevchenko were translated and published in English
outside our country. Brilliant works by Lesya Ukrainka, Ivan Franko, Mykhailo
Kotsyubinskiy, Vasyl Stefanyk, Andrii Holovko, Oles Honchar became available
for foreign readers.
But whatever the kind of the matter (belles–lettres,
scientific or technical, didactic, etc.) and irrespective of the form in which
it is performed (written or oral) the linguistic significance of translation
remains unchanged. It promotes enriching the lexicon of the target language. As
a result of the unceasing translating / interpreting throughout the world the
wordstock of national languages is constantly increasingly. Thousands of words
being originally specific national notions only have become an integral part of
practically each language’s lexicon. Hence one one can speak of translating/
interpreting as a means of enriching the lexicon of national languages too. But
it is not only the wordstock of languages that is constantly (and most
evidently) enlarged due to translating/ interpreting. Many stylistic figures of
speech, ways of saying and even (though rather rarely) syntactic structures are
brought to target languages through translating/ interpreting. It can be proved
by the existence of a lot of words and word-combinations having in different
languages the same or similar lingual form and identical lexical meaning:
leader лідер, box бокс, boycott бойкот, sport спорт, borshch борщ, borzoi борзой, deep gratitude
глибока
вдячність, black ingratitude чорна вдячність.
Whole sentence structures have been adopted in the process of
translating/ interpreting. He laughs best who laughs last – Той сміється найкраще,
хто сміється останнім; Strike the iron while it is hot - Куй залізо,
доки гаряче.
All that can also be a testimony to the versatile influence
of language contrasts. But whatever the origin, the structural identify of word
– groups and sentences facilities their translation from English into Ukrainian
or vice versa.
3
Translation in teaching of foreign languages
Translation as means of teaching foreign languages has no
independent means of translating only. Still translating in a foreign language
teacher’s arsenal should not be ignored completely since in many a case it
remains not only the most effective but also the only teaching means for
achieving the necessary aim. That is why translating is often resorted to in
the following cases:
1. When introducing abstract lexical notions which cannot
easily be explained in a descriptive way or by actions (gestures): think, hate,
love, actual, invincible, generally, peace, turn, etc.
2. In order to save time and avoid diverting the attention of
students by lengthily explanation of the meaning of words, word-combinations or
sentences in the process of reading or listening to an unfamiliar passage.
3. When checking the comprehension of the lexical material
(new words, expressions) and in order to avoid the unnecessary ambiguity which
may arise in the process of teaching through pictures since a picture of a
tree, for example, may be understood as “a tree” or a kind of tree (oak-tree,
birch-tree, pine-tree, etc.).
4. To explain while introducing (usually at the initial stage
of learning) the new grammar/ phonetical material especially the phenomena
which do not exist in the native tongue (e.g. the continuous or the perfect
forms of the verb, the tunes in questions, etc.).
5. When revising the lexical or grammar material studied at
the lesson/ at previous lessons in answering questions like “What is the
Ukrainian/ English for the “gerund,” the “continuous/ the perfect forms of the
verb?”
6. While discriminating the meaning of synonyms or antonyms
of the foreign languages.
7. To control the knowledge of students in written and oral
tests on lexical or grammar material.
8. When introducing phraseology which is quite impossible to
teach and learn otherwise than on the basis of translating.
9. Before learning any text by heart (poems, excerpts of
prose, the roles of characters in plays).
10. When dealing with the figures of speech like metaphors,
epithets, similes, hyperboles, etc. in the process of reading or translating
the belles-lettres passages at the advanced stage.
11. When comparing the expressive means in the source
language to those in the target language, etc.
Translating helps the student to master the expressive means
in the source language and the corresponding means in the target language. In
the process of translating the students establish sets of equivalent
substitutes in the target language for the corresponding lexical, grammatical
or stylistic phenomena of the source language. No wonder that the students at
any stage of learning a foreign language when not understanding some word,
word-combination or sentence always resorts to intuitive translating of it.
One must bear in mind that it is the notional meaning of the
source language unit and not its morphological nature or structural form that
is to be conveyed in the target language. As a result the target language unit
which equivalently / faithfully conveys the denotative/ connotative meaning of
the corresponding source language unit may not necessarily belong to the same
stratification level. Depending on the notion expressed by the source language
word/ lexeme it may be conveyed in the target language sometimes through a
word-combination or even through a sentence i.e. descriptively: indulge робити собі
приємність у чомусь, віддаватися втіхам; infamous той (та, те), що
має ганебну славу; inessentials предмети не першої необхідності, предмети
роскоші; вщерть up to the brim, full to the brim, в’язи the nape of
one’s head, the back of the head; окраєць crust of a loaf, hunk of
a bread; окривіти(осліпнути) to become
lame (grow blind).
Therefore the descriptive way of conveying the sense of
language units implies their structural transformation which is necessary to
explain their meaning with the help of hierarchically different target language
units.
Descriptive translating/interpreting is very often employed
to render the content of idioms/phraseologism which has no equivalents in the
target language. In English: as(mad) as a hatter цілком божевільний; All my eye
and Betty Martin! нісенітниці ( дурниці); like one (twelve) o’clock миттю, вмить,
прожогом; In Ukrainian: зуб на зуб не попадати to feel very cold ( to feel
freezing); навчить біда коржі з маком їсти hard times make one
intentive; наговорити сім кіп/мішків гречаної вовни to say much nonsence.
Descriptive transtating is also often employed when dealing
with the notions of specific national lexicon: haggisrerric (запечений
вівсяний кендюх, начинений вівсяними крупами впереміш з січений овечим
потрухом); porrige порідж, густа вівсяна каша, зварена на воді чи молоці); Senate сенат ( рада
університету в Англії; складається переважно з професорів); sweet-meat солодка
страва, приготовлена на цукрі чи медові.
Alongside the literal translating the explication of the
meaning of specific necessary: вареники varenyky, middle-sized
dumplings with curd, cherries; дума, duma, Ukrainian historic epic song; кобзар
kobzar, a performer of Dumas to the accompaniment of the bandore or kobza.
Descriptive translating is also made use of in foot-notes to
explain obscure places in narration.
The antonymic translating is employed for the sake of
achieving faithfulness in conveying the content or expressiveness when an
affirmative in sense or structure language unit (word, word-combination or
sentence) is conveyed as a negative in a sense or structure but identical in
content language unit or vice versa: to have quite a few friends мати багато
друзів; mind your own business не втручайся не в свої справи; take it easy
не хвилюйся, не переживай; not infrequently часто; no time like
the present лови момент ( використовуй нагоду); не спитавши броду, не
лізь у воду look before you leap; немає лиха без добра every dark cloud has a
silver lining.
The antonymic device is employed in the following cases:
1.
When in the target language there is no direct equivalent for the
sense unit of the source language. For example, the noun “inferiority” and the
adjective “inferior” (like the verb phrase “to be inferior”) have no single
word equivalents in Ukrainian. So their lexical meaning can be conveyed either
in a descriptive way or with the help of the antonyms “superiority,”
“superior”: The defeat of the Notts in last season’s cup semi-finals was
certainly the result of their physical and tactical inferiorit…(M.Star). Поразка клубу
«Ноттінгем Форест» у торішньому півфінальному матчі на кубок була наслідком
переваги супротивників у фізичній та тактичній підготовці.
The meaning of some English word groups can also be conveyed
in Ukrainian automatically only: Baines was reading a newspaper in his shirt
sleeves. – Бейнз сидів без піджака і
читав газету. Half an hour ago Walter for his life would have hardly called her
by name. – Ще півгодини тому Уолтер нізащо в світі не назвав би її по імені. “Do you mind
this?” – Ви не заперечуєте?
2.
when the sense unit of the source language has two negations of
its own which create an affirmation: In those clothes she was by no means
nonelegant. У цьому вбранні вона була досить елегантною. My mother…not to be
dislike this character. – Моїй матері …ніби
( здавалось) сподобалась ця думка.
3.
in order to achieve the necessary expressiveness in narration: I
don’t think it will hurt you, baby. – Думаю, вам воно не зашкодить,
люба. A shell fell close. – Неподалік вибухнув снаряд. I hope you’ll
stay.- Сподіваюсь, ви не втечете. It makes all the difference in the world. – Ні, не все одно;
4.
to avoid the use of the same structure close to each other in a
text: Keep your head.- не падай духом/ вище голову. Mr. Strickland was a woman of character. – Міс Стрікленд
була жінкою не без характеру; тобто була жінкою з характером. Most of the staff is not away. – Більшість
співробітників ще на роботі ( ще не розійшлися). Savina said nothing. –
Савіна мовчала; тобто нічого не відповіла.
Conclusions
Translation has a polysemantic nature. It means the process
of conveying the meaning of a word or sentence from one language into another
language. Translation can be performed in written or oral form. It also
referred to any sense-to-sense conveying even if the lexical meanings of the
componential parts which make up the language units are not substituted for
their equivalent lexical meanings in the target language.
The importance of translating and interpreting in modern
society has long been recognized, because not a single contact between persons
speaking two languages can be established without the help of translators or
interpreters. It helps the student to master the expressive means in the source
language and corresponding means in the target language.
There are the following ways of translating: literal
translating, verbal translating, consecutive verbal translating, interlinear
way of translating and literary translating. Numerous branches of national
economies keep up with the up-to-date development and progress in the modern
world thanks to everyday translating/ interpreting of scientific and technical
matter covering various fields of human knowledge and activities.
Nowadays translation of scientific and technical matter has
become a most significant and reliable source of obtaining all-round and
up-to-date information on the progress in various fields of science and
technology. It is also used to share achievements and to enrich national language
and culture. The linguistic significance of translation remains unchanged. It
promotes enriching the lexicon of the target language.
Translating helps the student to master the expressive means
in the source language and the corresponding means in the target language. In
the process of translating the students establish sets of equivalent
substitutes in the target language for the corresponding lexical, grammatical
or stylistic phenomena of the source language. Depending on the notion
expressed by the source language word it may be conveyed in the target language
sometimes through a word-combination or even through a sentence i.e. descriptively.
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