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This Lecture:
introduces basic translator's devices:
• partitioning;
• integration;
• transposition;
• replacement;
• addition;
• omission, and
• antonymous translation;
This Lecture:
introduces basic translator's devices:
• partitioning;
• integration;
• transposition;
• replacement;
• addition;
• omission, and
• antonymous translation;
shows where and how these devices are applied as tools to ensure adequate translation.
You will have already guessed from previous discussion that translation is a rather individual matter brinking on art and almost in any case requiring unique and unprecedented decisions. And yet even in translation of poetry, which undoubtedly demands the most individual approach, a translator is bound to use a more or less standard set of devices which helps to convey the ideas of the source text in the best possible way and, generally speaking, makes it possible to translate.
Although the choice of particular devices depends on the text type, genre and style as well as on the translation variety (oral, written, consecutive, simultaneous) and translation direction (into or from a foreign language), the basic set of translation devices (a kind of 'translator's tool kit) usually comprises partitioning and integration of sentences, transposition of sentence parts, replacement, addition and omission of words and word combinations as well as a special type of transformations called antonymous translation.
Partitioning
Partitioning is either replacing in translation of a source sentence by two or more target ones or converting a simple source sentence into a compound or complex target one.
One is to distinguish between inner partitioning (conversion of a simple sentence into a compound or complex one) and outer partitioning (division of a sentence into two or more). For example, inner partitioning is used when translating English verbal complexes into Russian:
Come along and see me play one evening. - Приходи как-нибудь вечером — посмотришь, как я играю.
More often than not inner partitioning is a regular translation transformation accounted for by the differences in the Russian and English syntactic structures, although it may be also used on individual occasions as required by the text genre and style and communication variety of the source sentence.
When translating from English into Russian outer partitionmg (unlike inner) is more a matter of personal translator's choice_based, of course, on the proper account of stylistic and genre peculiarities and communication intent of both the source text and its translation.
Outer partitioning is out of the question in case of translating official legal or diplomatic documents (laws, contracts, memos, etc.) but it becomes a totally justified translation option, say, in consecutive translation of a long and complex sentence.
The following example from Graham Greene is one of the cases where outer partitioning seems a proper translation device (although, of course, not a universal recipe):
There was a real game too, not a party game played in the old school hall and invented by my eldest brother Herbert, who was always of an adventurous character until he was changed by the continual and sometimes shameful failures of his adult life.
Была у нас и настоящая, не салонная игра - мы играли в нее в старом актовом зале. Придумал ее мой старший брат Герберт -
человек изобретательный и склонный ко всяким авантюрам, пока постоянные и иногда позорные промахи во взрослой жизни не изменили его натуру.
Integration
Integration is the opposite of partitioning, it implies combining two or (seldom) more source sentences into one target sentence.
Generally, integration is a translation device wholly depending on stylistic peculiarities and communication intent of the text being translated. In oral translation, however, integration may be a text compression tool {see below), when an interpreter (consecutive or simultaneous) is to reduce the exuberant elements of the source text to keep in pace with the speaker.
An example will do to illustrate the idea of integration:
Елена Филипьева любит все свои партии. Если какую-нибудь из них долго не исполняет - начинает по ней скучать.
Olena Filip 'eva loves all her roles and even misses then: should too much time pass without performing them.
Transposition
Transposition is a peculiar variety of inner partitioning in translation meaning a change in the order of the target sentence syntactic elements (Subject, Predicate, Object, etc.) as compared with that of the source sentence dictated either by peculiarities of the target language syntax or by the communication intent.
An example will suffice to illustrate the idea of transposition.
Typically, an English sentence has
a "subject+predicate+object+
«The flight will be boarding at Gate 17 in about fifteen minutes,» the girl added with a smile1 - «Приблизительно через пятнадцать минут на этот рейс будет посадка у выхода номер 17», - улыбнувшись, добавила девушка.
Replacement
Replacement is any change in the target text at the morphological, lexical and syntactic levels of the language when the elements of certain source paradigms are replaced by different elements of target paradigms.
It seems worthwhile to refresh our knowledge of language paradigms .In the two sentences below Diplomatic practice knows two types of aides-memoirs and В дипломатической практике известны два вида памятных записок we may compare the paradigm sets used to form the above English and Russian sentences and paradigm elements activated in the syntagmas of these sentences and may easily spot numerous replacements.
Of interest for student translators are changes observed in Complex Sentences where transposition of the Subjects is combined with their mutual replacement. To prove the statement, let us consider the following example:
No sooner did he start his speech than the President was interrupted. — He успел президент начать свою речь, как его прервали.
The replacements are necessary because English and Russian possess different language systems. It goes without saying that this fact is very important for translation and explains many translation problems.
Thus, replacement is a universal and widely used translation device. One may even say that replacements in that or another form are observed in any translation from English into Russian and even more so -from Russian into English.
The following basic types of replacements are observed in English-Russian translation: concretization, generalization, antonymic translation, meaning extension (sense development), loss compensation.
Concretization
Concretization is used when something in the TL is usually expressed using concepts with narrower meaning or when preserving the original concepts with broader meaning would result in an awkward translation:
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
Generalization is used when something in the TL is usually expressed using concepts with broader meaning or when preserving the original concepts with narrower meaning would result in an awkward translation:
She ordered a daiquiri. (= a sweet alcoholic drink made of rum and fruit juice) - Она заказала коктейль. Or. There used to be a drugstore (a Walgreens pharmacy) around here. I need to buy some soda water. - Здесь раньше был магазин. Мне надо купить газированной воды. In the latter example, translating drugstore or Walgreens pharmacy as аптека or аптека "Уолгринз " would not only be baffling to a Russian - because in Russia they do not sell газированную воду in аптеках - but it would also be unnecessary as for the purposes of communication магазин is just as good in this context. The more specific drugstore or Walgreens pharmacy is translated here by the more general term магазин.
Antonymous translation.
Antonymous translation is replacement in translation of a negative statement by an affirmative one or vice versa.
It was not until... - только после... Valid with diploma only - без диплома не действителен. Staff only - посторонним вход воспрещен (also translated as служебное помещение).
I don't think you're right. - Я думаю, что вы не правы.
Meaning extension or sense development (modulation)
Meaning extension or sense development involves translating a cause by its effect or vice versa:
You can't be serious. - Вы, должно быть, шутите. (Cause is translated by its effect: Since you can't be serious, it follows that you must be joking). In the above example, meaning extension is combined with an antonymic translation. Another example: He answered the phone. - Он поднял трубку. You can't speak on the phone unless you have lifted the receiver. The effect "answered" in the ST is translated by its cause "lifted the receiver" (="поднял трубку") in the ТТ.
Loss-of-meaning compensation
Loss-of-meaning compensation involves adding to or reinforcing a TT in one place to compensate for something that hasn't been translated in a different place in the ST:
I ain't got no time for that kind of thing! - to compensate for the double negation in You ain't seen nothin' yet! an emphatic syntactic construction can be used in the Russian translation - To ли еще будет!
Replacement is a means of text compression extensively used in interpretation .Replacements of all kinds are so common in English-Russian translation that even a beginner is sure to use this device more than once.
Addition
Addition in translation is a device intended for the compensation of structural elements implicitly present in the source text or paradigm forms missing in the target language.
Additions in translation from English into Russian stem from the differences in the syntactic and semantic structure of these languages. In English, being an analytical language the syntactic and semantic relations are often implicitly expressed through order of syntactic elements and context environment whereas in predominantly synthetic Russian these relations are explicit (expressed in relevant words). When translating from English into Russian a translator is to visualize the implicit objects and relations through additions. So-called 'noun clusters' frequently encountered in newspaper language are especially rich in 'hidden' syntactic and semantic information to be visualized by addition in translation:
Green Party federal election money - деньги Партии зеленых, предназначенные для выборов на федеральном уровне.
Fuel tax protests — протесты, связанные с повышением налога на топливо.
Peer-bonded goods - товары, рассчитанные на потребление в определенной возрастной группе.
The policeman waved me on. - Полицейский помахал мне рукой, показывая, что я могу проезжать. Or: ''Полицейский рукой просигналил (показал), что я могу проезжать. The compact English phrase "to wave on" has no compact equivalent in Russian
Omission
Omission is reduction of the elements of the source text considered redundant from the viewpoint of the target language structural patterns and stylistics.
Omission is the opposite of addition - to understand it consider the literal translation into English of the above noun clusters from their Russian translation and compare these translations with the original English text.
Green Party federal election money - деньги Партии зеленых, предназначенные для выборов па федеральном уровне - Green Party money intended for the elections at the federal level.
Fuel tax protests - протесты, связанные с повышением налога на топливо - protests related to the increase of the fuel tax.
Peer-bonded goods - товары, рассчитанные на потребление в определенной возрастной группе - goods designed for use by certain age groups.
Summer rains in Florida may be violent, while they last. Летом во Флориде бывают сильные ливни. From the point of view of the Russian language, the clause "while they last" is redundant and would make the Russian sentence sound very unnatural if it were to be translated.
Furthermore, the meaning of their constituents being the same, a number of expressions do not require translation into Russian in full, e.g., null and void — недействительный.
So, as one can see, proper omissions are important and necessary translation devices rather than translator's faults as some still tend to believe.
Thus, basic translation devices discussed in this lecture are, indeed, the only 'tool kit' available to a translator, however, a big question remains unanswered: Where and when to use that or another device? A complete answer is hardly possible, only some recommendations can be given.
Ex. I. Compare the English text and its translation into Russian. Comment on translation devices used.
WHY THE BEST?
The New York Times Magazine, June 1, 1999. By FRANK RICH
There may be less agreement than ever about what it is. But the concept has become an essential tool. The Best has become a search engine.
Some nine decades later, the historian Peter N. Stearns disinterred the old Times essay and, while finding it not without insight, noted the conspicuous omission of «an amazing number of developments that we now consider to have been crucial in the 19th century.» Among the missing were the abolition of slavery, the artistic revolution of Impressionism and virtually the entirety of Asia.
Now The Times is upping the ante exponentially and ransacking an entire millennium in search of the Best. Not the 10 best, or the 100 best, but the Best. If you detect a distinctly 20th-century absurdist grace note in this endeavor, it's intentional. In 1999, the very term «the Best» amounts to fighting words - or, to put it more constructively, a provocation to debate.
ЗАЧЕМ НАМ «САМЫЙ-САМЫЙ»?
«Нью-Йорк Тайме Мэгэзин», 1 июня 1999 г. Автор: Френк Рич
Может быть, сейчас больше, чем когда-либо, споров о том, что считать «самым-самым». И тем не менее это понятие стало главным критерием отбора.
Спустя почти столетие историк Питер Стерне раскопал в старых номерах «Тайме» эссе на эту тему и, заметив, что оно не лишено глубины, обратил внимание на красноречивое отсутствие в нем «удивительно большого числа событий, которые мы сейчас считаем важнейшими для XIX столетия». Среди них - отмена рабства, художественная революция импрессионистов и почти все, что касается Азии.
А теперь «Тайме» стала раскапывать завалы на чердаке истории, перетряхивая минувшее в поисках «самого-самого» - не десятки лучших и не сотни наидостойнейших, а одного-единственного «самого-самого». Если вы заметите в этом предприятии элегантные абсурдистские нотки, свойственные двадцатому веку, то ведь так и было задумано. В 1999 году само понятие «самого-самого» ассоциируется со словесными баталиями или является, мягко говоря, спорным.
Ex. 2. Translate into Russian/English, using the suggested, and, if needed, other devices:
a) partitioning:
Similar artifacts have been found at sites throughout North and South America, indicating that life was probably well established in much of the Western Hemisphere by some time prior to 10,000 B.C. One result of these restrictions was to reduce the appeal of nativists organizations. (Nativist organizations - организации «американцев по происхожде-
нию»).
b) replacement:
1. Everyone was talking but stopped the moment she entered the room. 2. The establishment of the United Nations Office in November 1992 followed the signing in New York a host agreement between Ukraine's Foreign Minister and the United Nations Secretary-General. 3. 1 hear that you have been promoted. Congratulations! 4. Please be quiet. You're continually interrupting! 5. Pay no attention to him. He is just being naughty. 6. When he was rich, he used to stay in this hotel. 7. Scientists are on the point of making a vital breakthrough. 8. No sooner did the President start his speech than he was interrupted. 9. Principal hereby appoints Agent as its non-exclusive service provider. 10. This Agreement
may not be amended or supplemented except by written agreement signed by both parties hereto. II. The terms used hereunder shall have the following meaning. 12. Each Party may, within 20 days after receiving the minutes, suggest amendments thereto.
c) addition:
Publications on Foreign Policy; the United Nations; Ministry of Health.
d) omission:
1) The Court of Justice; null and void; rejected and omitted; as far back as; as early as; he is head and shoulders above his comrades; prim and proper; power to execute and perform the duties and responsibilities; continue in full force and effect; foreign policy problem; electoral base; political scientist;
2) Устав Организации Объединенных Наций; члены Организации Объединенных Наций; юристы - признанные авторитеты в области международного права; постоянная Палата Третейского Суда; взять на себя обязательства; подать заявление об отставке; в порядке упрощенного судопроизводства; в случае равенства голосов судей голос старшего из судей дает преимущество; срок полномочий пяти судей заканчивается через три года.
e) antonymous translation:
Valid with diploma only. Keep off the grass. Take it easy. Take it or leave it. She was not like a bird. Staff only. It won't be long before the help arrives. It wasn't until 1983 that Connor could afford a holiday abroad. It would take these first North Americans thousands of years more to work their way through the openings in great glaciers south to what is now the United States. The armed forces shall not be used save in the common interests. It was a near rniss.
Ex. 3. Translate into Russian, making necessary transformations.
Primaries; academia; turnout (at the polls); caucus; Ministry of Health; the Exchequer; to investigate; to accommodate; airborne; breeze; refinery; publicist; body of independent judges.
Define the transformations used
1. Some years ago I met him. At that time I understood, I wanted to be with him. – Я поняла, что хочу быть с ним с первых дней нашей встречи.
2. My girlfriend wants me to be her husband. – Моя девушка хочет, чтобы я женился на ней.
3. Aren’t you going to forgive me? – Ты ведь простишь меня, правда?
4. We are searching for talent everywhere. – Мы повсюду ищем таланты.
5. V.I.Vernadsky is regarded as one of the most famous Russian scientists. – Вернадского считают одним из самых популярных русских ученых.
6. Privatization is in full swing. – Полным ходом идет приватизация.
7. Julia wondered if she could be such a fool as to be in love with him. – Интересно, хватило ли у нее ума влюбиться в него.
8. One more crime was committed in the city yesterday. – Вчера в городе произошло еще одно преступление.
9. It is our hope that an agreement will be reached by Friday. – Мы надеемся, что к пятнице будет достигнуто соглашение.
10. A demonstration of British conservationists was held in Trafalgar Square yesterday. – Вчера на Трафальгарской площади состоялась демонстрация сторонников охраны окружающей среды.
11. By and by they were drawn out of the current. – Берег мало-помалу приближался.
12. I wanted him to buy some bread in the bakery, but he refused. – Я хотел, чтобы он взял хлеба в булочной, но он не захотел.
13. I will visit him when I get home. – Я навещу его, как только доберусь до дому.
14. People don’t like to be stared at. – Людям не нравится, когда на них смотрят.