Some fundamentals of the theory of translation

ПОСОБИЕ ПО ТЕОРИИ ПЕРЕВОДА

для студентов старших курсов переводческого факультета МГПИИЯ им. М. Тореза

(на английском языке)

Москва – 1985

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

Some fundamentals of theory of translation……………………………….

Types of equivalence……………………………………………………….

First Type of Equivalence…………………………………………………..

Second Type of Equivalence……………………………………………….

Stylistic Aspect of Equivalence.............…………………………….

Pragmatic Aspect of Equivalence……………………………………

Third Type of Equivalence…………………………………………………

Levels of Equivalence………………………………………………………

Types of Translation……………………………………………………….

CHAPTER TWO

Grammatical Problems……………………………………………………..

Grammatical Features Typical of Modern English…………………………

Non-equivalents….........................................................................................

Partial Equivalents………………………………………………………….

The Infinitive……………………………………………………………….

The Participle as Part of an Absolute Construction…………………………

Free and Bound Use of Grammatical Forms……………………………….

Types of Grammatical Transformations……………………………………

Transpositions……………………………………………………………….

Replacements………………………………………………………………

Additions……………………………………………………………………

Omissions……………………………………………………………………

CHAPTER THREE

Lexical Problems…………………………………………………………...

Three Types of Lexical meaning……………………………………………

Referential meaning and its Rendering in Translation……………………...

Divergences in the Semantic Structure of words…………………………...

Different Valency…………………………………………………………...

Different Usage……………………………………………………………...

Translation of Monosemantic Words……………………..............................

Rendering of Proper Names in Translation………………………………….

Geographical Names…………………………………………………

Names of Months, Seasons and Days of the Week………………….

Numerals……………………………………………………………..

Names of Street……………………………………………………....

Names of Hotels……...………………………………………….…...

Names of Sports and Games…………………………………………

Names of Periodicals………………………………………………...

Names of Institutions and Organizations…………………………….

Translation of Polysemantic Words…………………………………….…..

Contextual Meaning of Polysemantic Words………………………….…...

Words of Wide Meaning………………………………………………..…..

Translation of Pseudo-International Words………………………………..

Non-equivalents……………………………………………………………

Translation of Words of Emotive meaning……………………….………..

Rendering of Stylistic Meaning in Translation………………………….….

Translation of Phraseological Units………………………………………..

Concretization……………………………………………………………...

Generalization……………………………………………………………...

Antonymic Translation…………………………………………………….

Metonymic Translation…………………………………………………….

Paraphrasing………………………………………………………………..

CHAPTER FOUR

Stylistic Problems…………………………………………………………..

Official style…………………………………………………………….….

Scientific Prose Style……………………………………………………..…

Newspaper and Publicistic Styles……………………………………….….

Rendering of Form in Translating Emotive Prose…………………….……

National Character of Stylistic Systems…………………………….……...

Rendering of Trite and Original Devices……………………………..…….

Original Metaphors and Their Translation…………………………….…...

Transferred Epithet and its Translation………………………………..……

Violation of Phraseological Units and its Rendering……………………….

Foregrounding and Translation……………………………………………..

Foregrounding of Articles……………………………………………….….

Degrees of Comparison…………………………………………………..…

The Plural Form…………………………………………………………….

Word Building...………………………………………………………….....

Suffixes……………………………………………………………………..

Conversation and Foregrounding…………………………………………..

Emphatic Constructions…………………………………………………..…

Inversion as a Means of Emphasis……………………………………….…

Emphatic Use of the “As…as” Model………………………………….…..

Emphatic Negative Constructions……………………………………..……

Semantic Foregrounding……………………………………………….…...

CHAPTER ONE

SOME FUNDAMENTALS OF THE THEORY OF TRANSLATION

Translation is a peculiar type of communication – interlingual communication.

The goal of translation is to transform a text in the Source Language into a text in the Target Language. This means that the message produced by the translator should call forth a reaction from the TL receptor similar to that called forth by the original message from the SL receptor. The content, that is, the referential meaning of the message with all its implications and the form of the message with all its emotive and stylistic connotations must be reproduced as fully as possible in the translation as they are to evoke a similar response. While the content remains relatively intact, the form, that is, the linguistic signs of the original, may be substituted or replaced by other signs of the TL because of structural differences at all levels. Such substitutions are justified; they are functional and aim at achieving equivalence.

Equivalent texts in the two languages are not necessarily made up of semantically identical signs and grammatical structures and equivalence should not be confused with identity.

Equivalence is the reproduction of a SL text by TL means. Equivalence is not a constant but a variable quantity and the range of variability is considerable. The degree of equivalence depends on the linguistic means used in the SL texts and on the functional style to which the text belongs. E.g.:

Early December brought a brief respite when temperatures fell and the ground hardened, but a quick thaw followed.

В начале декабря наступила краткая передышка, температура понизилась, земля замерзла, но потом быстро началась оттепель.

The messages conveyed by the original and the translaton are equivalent as every semantic element has been retained although some changes have been made in strict conformity with the standards and usage of the Russian language.