Conferences

TRANSLATION TRANSFORMATIONS

Mariana Zhuzhevych
Kamianets-Podilskyi Ivan Ohiienko National University
Scientific Supervisor: PhD, Barbaniuk O. O

TRANSLATION TRANSFORMATIONS

The article deals with inter-lingual changes, made to achieve adequacy in translation – lexical and grammatical transformations, their distinctive features and classifies them according to their nature.

Key words: translation, transformation, lexical, grammatical, Source Language (SL), Target Language (TL).

Nowadays, at the age of mass media, news travels fast. Digital world transfers information at lightning speed. Many articles, books, magazines and newspapers are translated and spread all over the world. In this context, translation is defined as a vehicle of communication across cultures. In linguistics, translation is a process of decoding a message from the source language (SL) into the target one (TL), conveying the meaning of a translated unit.

One of the main figures in the founding of Translation Studies, Peter Newmark, determines translation as “rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text” [8, p. 5]. However, other researchers, Susan Bassnett and Harish Trivedi claim that “translation does not happen in a vacuum, but in a continuum; it is not an isolated act, it is part of an ongoing process of intercultural transfer. Moreover, translation is a highly manipulative activity that involves all kinds of stages in that process of transfer across linguistic and cultural boundaries” [5, p. 2]. These scientists also emphasize that “translation is not an innocent, transparent activity <…> it rarely, if ever, involves a relationship of equality between texts, authors or systems” [5, p. 2].

  1. A. Cuddon in the dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory distinguishes three basic kinds of translation: “a) a more or less literally exact rendering of the original meaning at the expense of the syntax, grammar, colloquialism and idiom of the language into which it is put; b) an attempt to convey the spirit, sense and style of the original by finding equivalents in syntax, grammar and idiom; c) a fairly free adaptation which retains the original spirit but may considerably alter style, structure, grammar and idiom” [7, p. 936].

Hence, lexical and grammatical transformations occur during translation since the structure of any language differs. Therefore in order to convey the meaning of a translated unit and to provide an adequate translation a range of transformations is employed.

According to J. C. Catford “grammatical translation is restricted translation in which the SL grammar of a text is replaced by equivalent TL grammar, but with no replacement of lexis” [6, p.71]. The researcher states, that lexical translation is restricted translation in which the SL lexis of a text is replaced by equivalent TL lexis, but with no replacement of grammar [6, p.71]. Thus, lexico-grammatical conversions in translation can be defined as the replacement of grammatical structures and lexical units by equivalent TL grammar and lexis.

There have been many classifications of these transformations the most detailed of which was proposed by V. Komissarov, a foremost linguist and translator, who contributed significantly into the development of translation theory. According to this theory, we distinguish lexical, grammatical and lexico-grammatical transformations [2, p. 172].

The group of lexical transformations concerns such modifications as [2, p. 172–185]:

  1. Transliteration (spelling a foreign word using TL alphabet: bullying –булінг, kidnapping – кіднепінг, London – Лондон, Macbeth – Макбет);
  2. Transcription (pronunciation of the foreign word, represented by TL letters: Greenpeace – Грінпіс, gentleman – джентльмен, businessmen – бізнесмен, Sean – Шон);
  3. Loan translation / calque (a new word unit, formed referring to the structure of SL: skyscraper – хмарочос, green card – зелена карта);
  4. Lexico-semantic transformations (depending on the context semantic meaning of a certain lexical unit in a SL is transformed, thus corresponding notions in the TL are rendered):
  5. a) concretization (a detailed description of a peculiar phenomenon / notion: Коли ми були в Києві, я замовила борщ в ресторані традиційної української кухні – As we visited Kyiv I ordered Borscht (red beet soup) in the restaurant of traditional Ukrainian cuisine;
  6. generalization (a SL unit/word combination, replaced by more general notion in the TL: I wouldn’t go there, not for all the tea in China – я ні за що на світі не пішла б туди;
  7. modulation (when conveying the meaning of a translated unit a logical assumption is made, thus the meaning can be deduced and conclusions concerning some statements can be drawn: Jane never blames me – Джейн завжди мене розуміє);

The group of grammatical transformations comprises such modifications as:

  1. Word-for-word translation (syntactic structure of a SL sentence, preserved as corresponding grammatical constructions of the TL; g. He read a newspaper – Він читав газету);
  2. Partitioning (inner partitioning – a conversion of a simple SL sentence into a complex or compound one (I want you to listen to this song– Я хочу, щоб ти послухав цю пісню); outer partitioning – a SL sentence is divided into two or more.
  3. Integration (two or more SL sentences, translated as one TL sentence: That was long time ago. It seemed like fifty years ago. – Це було так давно, що здавалося, ніби з того часу минуло вже більше 50-ти років).
  4. Grammatical replacement (substitution of SL grammatical structures by constructions peculiar to the TL; therefore parts of speech are changed, noun number is replaced, voice is transformed, a sentence is modified etc.: money– singularia tantum in English and гроші – pluralia tantum in Ukrainian, police– pluralia tantum in English and поліція – singularia tantum in Ukrainian).

In some cases it is impossible to use either purely grammatical or lexical transformations, hence to provide an equivalent translation a translator is to employ such lexico-grammatical transformations as 1) antonymous translation, 2) explicatory translation and 3) compensation.

Antonymous translation is used to transform a negative SL sentence into an affirmative one in the TL and vice versa. This kind of translation is based on the opposition of statements. Therefore any notion or idea in the original text is represented by the opposite statement in TL: Before you can say a word – Не встигнеш і слова сказати…         

Explicatory translation is used to describe a situation in a TL sentence more vividly, giving a lucid explanation for a phenomenon and clarifying SL expression in such a way. This transformation is usually used to define a SL notion that has no analogue in the TL: I have a nine-to-five job. – Я працюю з 9 ранку до 5 вечора.

Compensation is a transformation employed to insert the elements of SL text that were lost during translation into the TL text: (Waiter) Would you like to take anything? – Чи готові ви зробити замовлення?

Since the structures of the English and the Ukrainian languages differ at the level of grammar, syntax, and lexis it is almost impossible to avoid modifications when translating. Lexical, grammatical and lexico-grammatical transformations are employed to provide a faithful translation. Taking into consideration peculiarities of SL structure and correlating them with the TL structure it is obvious that the task of a translator is to convey the sense of a translated unit, not a form.

References:

  1. Комиссаров В.Н. Современное переводоведение. 2-е изд., испр. М.: Р.Валент, 2011. 408 с.
  2. Комиссаров В.Н. Теория перевода (лингвистические аспекты): Учеб. для ин-тов и фак. иностр. яз. М.: Высш. шк., 1990. 253 с.
  3. Корунець І. В. Теорія і практика перекладу (аспектний переклад): Підручник. -Вінниця. «Нова Книга», 2003. 448 с.
  4. Прошина З.Г. Тeория перевода (с английского языка на русский и с русского языка на английский): Уч. на англ. яз. Владивосток: Изд-во Дальневост. ун-та, 2008 (3-е изд., перераб.), 2002 (2-е изд., испр. и перераб.), 1999 (1-е изд.)
  5. Bassnett S. and Trivedi H. (eds). Post-Colonial Translation: Theory and Practice. London, Routledge, 1999. XII, 201 p.
  6. Catford J. C.  A Linguistic Theory of Translation: An Essay in Applied Linguistics. Fifth Impression. Oxford University Press, 1978. IX, 103 p.
  7. Cuddon A. Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms & Literary Theory London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2004. 1024 p.
  8. Newmark P. A Textbook of translation. New York and London: Prentice-Hall, 1988. 292 p.