Lexical problems of translation

LEXICAL PROBLEMS OF TRANSLATION

The study of the language is arguably the most hotly contested property in the academic realm. It becomes a tangle begetting multiple language discrepancies. That is why linguistics compares languages and explores their histories, in order to find and to account for its development and origins to give the answers to this or that language point. 

Due to the semantic features of language the meanings of words, their ability to combine with other words, their usage, the “place” they hold in the lexical system of a language do not concur for the most part. All the same “ideas” expressed by words coincide in most cases, though the means of expression differ.

The principal types of lexical correspondences between two languages are as follows: 1) Complete correspondences; 2) Partial correspondences; 3) The absence of correspondences [1: 96].

Let’s deal with them more exactly.

1) Complete lexical correspondences.

Complete correspondence of lexical units of two languages can rarely be found. As a rule they belong to the following lexical groups:

-  proper names and geographical denominations:

-  the months and days of the week, numerals.

- scientific and technical terms (with the exception of terminological polysemy).

2) Partial lexical correspondences.

While translating the lexical units partial correspondences mostly occur. That happens when a word in the language of the original conforms to several equivalents in the language it is translated into. The reasons of these facts are the following [2:5].

1. Most words in a language are polysemantic. That’s why the selection of a word in the process of translating is determined by the context.

2. The specification of synonymous order. However, it is necessary to allow for the nature of the semantic signs which an order of synonyms is based on. Therefore, it is advisable to account for the concurring meanings of members of synonymic orders, the difference in lexical and stylistic meanings, and the ability of individual components of orders of synonyms to combine.

3. Each word affects the meaning of an object it designates. Not infrequently languages “select” different properties and signs to describe the same denotations. The way, each language creates its own “picture of the world”, is known as” various principles of dividing reality into parts”. Despite the difference of signs, both languages reflect one and the same phenomenon adequately and to the same extent, which must be taken into account when translating words of this kind, as equivalence is not identical to having the same meaning.

4. The differences of semantic content of the equivalent words in two languages. These words can be divided into there sub-group:

a) Words with a differentiated (undifferentiated) meaning: e.g. In English: to swim (of a human being), to sail (of a ship), to float (of an inanimate object);

b) Words with a “broad” sense: verbs of state (to be), perception and brainwork (to see, to understand), verbs of action and speech (to go, to say).

c)”Adverbial verbs” with a composite structure which have a semantic content, expressing action and nature at the same time: e.g. the train whistled out of the station.

5. Most difficulties are encountered when translating the so called pseudo-international words. The regular correspondence of such words in spelling and sometimes in articulation coupled with the structure of word-building in both languages may lead to a false identification.

6. Each language has its own typical rules of combinability. A language has generally established traditional combinations which do not concur with corresponding ones in another language.

Adjectives offer considerable difficulties in the process of translation. It does not always coincide with their combinability in the Ukrainian or Russian languages on account of differences in their semantic structure [3:236]. Frequently one and the same adjective in English combines with a number of nouns, while in Ukrainian and Russian different adjectives are used in combinations of this kind. For this reason it is not easy to translate English adjectives which are more capable of combining than their Ukrainian and Russian equivalents.

A specific feature of the combinability of English nouns is that some of them can function as the subject of a sentence though they do not belong to a lexico-semantic category.

The habitual use of a word, which is bound up with the history of the formation and development of its lexical system. This gave shape to clichés peculiar to each language, which are used for describing particular situations.

                                            Literature used

1. Curme G.O. English Grammar. – N.Y., 2003, p. 251

2. English Learner’s Digest. – 2004. - №3 (243), p.15

3. Ganshina M.A. English Grammar. – Moskow, 1994,  p. 369

4. Jespersen O. Essetials of English Grammar. – Ldn., 1996. Koshevaya I.G. The Theory of English. P. 240