Translation Studies
17. Lexical TOs: omission,
addition and exchange
of meaning
Krisztina Károly, Spring, 2006
Sources: Klaudy, 2003
1. Lexical omission
= a standard transfer operation whereby
meaningful lexical elements of the SL text are
dropped.
The term is different from Vinay and
Darbelnet’s term économie (1958) and
economy (1995), which means “the relatively
smaller quantity of expression forms required
in one language for conveying the same
content which is expressed by more words in
another language” (1995:342).
In the case of omissions, we cannot speak
about the “same content”, because, as a result
of omission, certain meanings are lost in the
TL text without being incorporated into other
meanings.
The reason for lexical omissions:
= the difference in background knowledge
in SL and TL readers.
E.g., brand names, historical periods,
(realia!) well known in the culture of the SL,
may mean nothing to TL readers.
In such a situation the translator may use a
variety of approaches: generalisation,
paraphrase, search for analogies etc.
If the given realia contains no significant
information for the TL readers it may be
omitted.
Subtypes:
1. Omission of brand names
2. Omission of toponyms
3. Omission of toponyms and ethnonyms
used in attributive function
4. Omission of institutional names
5. Omission of forms of address
6. Omission of references to SL
7. Omission of names of parts of the body
1. Omission of brand names
foods, beverages, clothing or furniture may
have significant implications in the SL text
they may indicate inexpensiveness, or,
conversely, its rarity, value or its social
prestige
this meaning is frequently lost on the TL
reader, even if the brand name is left
unchanged in the translation
The use of a brand name instead of the
generic name of a particular item of food or
beverage can be misleading, since
knowledge of brand names varies from
culture to culture.
English ST: Two Maltesers. Half pound
Earl Grey. Cheese – Wensleydale? or
Double Gloucester? Yardley pre-shave
lotion. (Greene 9)
Hungarian TT: Két csomag Máltai cukorka,
negyed kiló Earl Grey tea. Sajtok – angol
sajt? ömlesztett sajt? Yardley arcvíz a
villanyborotvához. (Ungvári 119)
English ST: Suddenly even her, even her
lipstick seemed a shade or two lighter, as
though she had just blotted it with a sheet
of Kleenex. (Salinger 20)
Hungarian TT: Hirtelen a rúzsa is egy
árnyalattal vagy kettővel is halványabbnak
látszik, mintha letörölte volna egy
lemosópapirral. (Elbert 20)
2. Omission of toponyms
E.g., Hungarian readers generally know that
Sportuszoda (‘Sport Swimming Pool’) is on
Margitsziget (‘Margaret Island’), that crossing
Margithíd (‘Margaret Bridge’) they come to
Nagykörút (‘Grand Boulevard’), and that the
Ferenciek Temploma (‘Franciscan Church’) is in
Belváros (‘Inner City’), etc.
SL readers know not only the location of
toponyms, but their connotative meanings as well.
The names of London’s districts, such as Chelsea
or Belgravia suggest the elegance of the
environment to an English reader, but do not
suggest anything to a Hungarian reader. The
translator, who knows that the TL reader may not
be familiar with these districts, either omits the
district or street name, or adds an explanatory
comment.
English  Hungarian:
English ST: He was alone in the great
Belgravia house with Baines and
Mrs Baines. (Greene 457)
Hungarian TT: ... így egyedül maradt
a nagy házban Baines-szel és a
feleségével. (Szobotka 280)
3. Omission of toponyms and ethnonyms
used in attributive function
The names of countries, cities or nations used
as attributes, are frequently omitted from
translations.
E.g., Párizsi felvágott, angol szalonna or
berliner kendő (‘large-size shawl’) are meaningful
and identifiable items only for the Hungarian
reader.
Toponyms and ethnonyms used in attributive
function reflect the history of contacts between
nations, image and self-image as well as value
judgements (see Dutch courage, Dutch music,
Dutch gold in English all with negative
connotations).
Hungarians say angolosan távozik, while the
same concept is expressed in English as to take
French leave.
English ST: Do that again, you Welsh
ruffian, and I'll pull your ears off.
(Osborne 12)
Hungarian TT: Te falusi bugris!
Vigyázz mert kitépem mind a két
füledet. (Ottlik 13)
The translators’ task is made even more
difficult in cases where the attributive form
of toponyms and ethnonyms represent a
concept without the attributed noun.
To Hungarian SL readers tokaji means
obviously ‘wine from Tokaj, a wine growing
region in Hungary’ zalai means ‘cold cuts
from Zala, a county in western Hungary’
and pálpusztai means ‘cheese from
Pálpuszta, a village in western Hungary’.
4. Omission of institutional
names
Proper names designating establishments
like restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels and
swimming pools are also frequently omitted
in the process of translation.
Reasons for such omissions: translators do
not feel it important to broaden the TL
reader’s horizon, or do not want to give
explanatory, additional information (e.g.,
York bar), or they think that the name of a
swimming pool or a garage is an
unnecessary detail, which has no
importance from the point of view of the
plot.
English ST: ... he had preferred
himself a glass of stout and some
oysters at the York bar... (Greene
472)
Hungarian TT :.. jómaga szívesebben
fogyasztott volna egy pohár sört,
néhány osztrigát egy
kocsmában.(Szobotka 293)
the names of establishments, restaurants,
bars etc. are often accompanied by place
names
moreover, place names often substitute for
the name of the establishment,
e.g., Ferihegy means ‘airport’, Lipótmező
means ‘lunatic asylum’, Markó utca means
‘prison’
In such cases the place name is frequently
omitted from the translation and the
specific or the generic name of the
establishment appears instead in the TL
text.
English ST: ‘Yes, Pokey, where
should we go?’, agreed the
bridegroom. Pokey considered. ‘go to
the Coney Island ‘, she said.
(McCarthy 33)
Hungarian TT: – Na, Pokey, hová
menjünk? – csatlakozott Harald.
Pokey tűnődött. – Menjetek a Vidám
Parkba – mondta.(Dezsényi 36)
Abbreviations of names are also
frequently omitted in translation.
The use of the full name would obviously
lead to an unnecessary lengthening of the
text, and even so an explanatory
translation would be necessary.
Thus abbreviations are often left out and
generic terms are used instead in the
translated text.
Hungarian ST: A házban nem szeret senki.
A KIK nem hajlandó rendbehozatni a
plafont, mely beázik. (Örkény 1. 31)
English TT: The tenants do not like me.
The landlord refuses to fix my leaky
tap.(Sollosy 23)
Commentary: KIK (abbreviation of Kerületi
Ingatlan Kezelő Vállalat is replaced by
landlord, thereby changing the original to
a concept familiar to the TL reader.
5. Omission of forms of address
Forms of addresses and forms of courtesy
are frequently omitted from translations, as they
are highly characteristic of a culture and also
representative of an age, therefore very nearly
untranslatable meaningfully.
E.g., tekintetes (respectful), nagyságos
(greatful), méltóságos (worthful),
nagyméltóságú (of great dignity) kegyelmes
(graceful), ranks: báró (baron), gróf (count),
lovag (knight), herceg (prince), főherceg (high
prince), and forms of courtesy, such as:
alázatosan kérem (I humbly request),
esedezem (I beseech), méltóztassék (be
pleased to, deign to), szolgálatjára (at your
service), etc.
Hungarian ST: – Szóval esedezem,
igazgató úr, méltóztassék megnézetni,
megvan-e az apám csontváza talán...
(Csáth 11)
English TT: ‘I beg you, sir, have
somebody look for it and find out if my
father's skeleton still exists...’ (Kessler 184)
Commentary: esedezem (lit: beseech) is
replaced by I beg you, while méltóztassék
(lit: be pleased ) is omitted.
Prizes, honours and medals and the
distinctions attached to them are among
the most personal affairs in all cultures.
Kossuth díj (lit: Kossuth Prize) the highest
state prize for excellence in the arts and
sciences, means little to an English reader
and was presumably omitted from the
following translation for that reason.
Hungarian ST: Megcsókolta
Zsolozsmait – egy Kossuth-díjas
kritikust! – az orra hegyén, aztán
visszament a kirakatba.(Örkény
1.210)
English TT: And with that she kissed
Zsolozsmai on the tip of his nose and
strolled back to her store window.
(Sollosy 49)
The title of married women is another
culture-bound phenomenon: e.g.,
Kászonyné Kakas Hanna may cause
problems in translations, as the translator
has to use either the married name
In the one-minute short stories by István
Örkény, where every name represents a
compressed biography, the name
Kászonyné Kakas Hanna is eminently
characteristic of the serious, established,
energetic, scholarly woman from the
capital, who kindly condescends to listen to
the wrinkled, old peasant woman talking
about goose blood. This shade of meaning,
suggested by the form of the Hungarian
name, is lost in translation:
Hungarian ST: Kászonyné Kakas
Hanna barátságosan rámosolygott,
és elébe tartotta a mikrofont. (Örkény
1. 150)
English TT: With a friendly smile, Mrs.
Kászony held out the microphone.
(András T., Erickson 63)
6. Omission of references to SL
Translators frequently omit SL references
that would be incomprehensible to the TL
reader.
In Frigyes Karinthy’s novel Utazás a
koponyám körül (A journey round my skull)
the writer tries to solve a crossword puzzle,
in which the solutions are non-existing
Hungarian proverbs. The text of the novel
contains very wittily and authenticsounding, though non-existing Hungarian
popular sayings: "Ha csálé balra, jobbra
bakafánt" and "Asszonysírás
repcepogácsa". The translator, very
naturally, does not undertake their
translation.
Hungarian ST: Kitűnő, jóízű népi mondások
ezek, csak éppen az a bajuk, hogy nem
léteznek a valóságban...Ilyen közmondásai
vannak: Ha csálé balra, jobbra bakafánt"
vagy "Asszonysírás repcepogácsa". Most
tessék elképzelni, milyen nehéz egy
keresztrejtvényben rekonstruálni egy ilyen
ismeretlen közmondást a hiányzó betűkkel.
(Karinthy 272)
English TT: These are racy proverbs of the
finest colloquial flavour. Their only drawback is
the fact that they have no existence in reality.
(...) The reader will sympathise with anyone
who attempts to reconstruct an unknown
proverb from the missing letters in a crossword puzzle. (Barker 11)
7. Omission of names of parts of the body
Predominant direction: from IEinto Hungarian
The cases of omission hitherto discussed were
independent of L pair and of the direction of
translation. In the previous sub-types, we dealt with
omissions due to Lic reasons, but their reasons were
not systemic differences, but the impossibility of
rendering the linguistic references of one L in another
L.
The final sub-type will deal with omissions for which we
must seek the reason in the differences between the
two Lic systems: lexical redundancy
Verbs have mandatory or optional complements in
every L. The complements, mandatory only in the SL,
naturally have to be omitted in the translation. In the
case of activities involving a part of the body int (‘to
wave with the hand’), megszorít (‘to press with the
hand’) megsimogat (‘to caress with the hand’), English
requires that the part of the body be mentioned,
Hungarian generally does not.
English  Hungarian:
English ST: He sat by the candle in
the middle of the room, tapping with
his hands on the edge of the table.
(Wilder 116)
Hungarian TT: Ült a gyertya mellett a
szoba közepében, és dobolt az
asztal peremén. (Kosztolányi 117)
Summary comments on lexical omission
This operation must be used with the greatest
caution, since the references to realia in the TL
may be important for several reasons:
(1) the poetic function of SL realia (brand names,
food, beverage, household goods or geographic
names, etc.) may play an important role in the
description of characters and situations.
(2) the atmosphere creating function of realia less
familiar to the TL reader is to create 'local colour"
(cf. sheriff, coyote, grizzly, prairie, savannah,
mustang in Wild West novels).
(3) the informative function of SL realia is to inform
us about the way of life of a SL community, their
customs and habits.
(4) the culture-transmitting function of SL realia is
to bring the SL and TL communities closer to each
other and overcome communication difficulties
between the two cultures.
2. Lexical addition
= is a standard transfer operation whereby
new meaningful elements, which cannot be
found in the SL text appear in the TL text.
The increase in the number of words in the
TL text is also characteristic of another
standard transfer operation, distribution
of meaning, although there is a conceptual
difference between the two operations.
While in the case of distribution there is
no extra information in the TL text, and the
same amount of information is divided into
its elements, in the case of addition there
will always be new elements in the TL text.
The reason for adding meanings is the
same as for omitting them, namely
differences in the background knowledge
of the SL and TL readers.
Lexical additions are not obligatory transfer
operations.
Examination of lexical addition as a
transfer operation from the point of view of
universal translation strategies (Baker
1993, Laviosa 1998), found that additions
are typical manifestations of the universal
translation strategy explicitation.
Subtypes:
1. Addition in the case of brand names
2. Addition in the case of toponyms
3. Addition in the case of institutional
names
4. Addition in the case of historical
realia
5. Addition of names of parts of the
body.
1. Addition in the case of brand
names
English ST: Two Maltasers, Half
pound Earl Grey. Cheese Wensleydale or Double Gloucester?
Yardley pre-shave lotion. (Greene 9)
Hungarian TT: Két csomag Máltai
cukorka, negyed kiló Earl Grey tea.
Sajtok – angol sajt? ömlesztett sajt?
Yardley arcvíz villanyborotvához.
(Ungvári 119)
2. Addition in the case of
toponyms
Explanatory additions are commonly used for
geographical names (common in travel
books)
English  Hungarian:
English ST: He was the son of a proprietor
of a certain well-known cotton mill in
Massachusetts. (James 107)
Hungarian TT: Caspar Goodwood atyja
ismert pamutfonógyár tulajdonosa volt
Massachusetts államban. (Balabán 164)
The toponym by itself does not give any
information about the size of the
settlement, and frequently does not reveal
even whether it refers to a lake, a river, a
mountain, a park or a district.
The English translator of Édes Anna,
György Szirtes, used various additions to
increase the English reader's
understanding of the place in question,
instead of omitting any of the Hungarian
names.
Hungarian ST: Legalább Krisztinában ezt
beszélték. (Kosztolányi 7)
English TT: Such at least were the rumors
in the Krisztina area. (Szirtes 1)
Hungarian ST: ... és ott egy öreges úr, régi
krisztinai polgár...meg is
találta...(Kosztolányi 7)
English TT: ... where it was found by an
elderly long-established resident of the
Krisztina area...(Szirtes 1)
3. Addition in the case of
institutional names
Translators are more familiar with the
culture of the TL than the majority of the TL
readers by virtue of their occupation, know
that in London, St. Pancras is a railroad
station, Bentley a restaurant and
Fortnum’s a high-class foodstore.
An explanatory addition will assist TL
readers and will increase their
understanding of the SL culture.
English  Hungarian:
English ST: Even today, when I went
to the booking office at St.
Pancras...(Osborne 218)
Hungarian TT: Még ma is, amikor
jegyet váltottam a St. Pancras
pályaudvaron… (Ottlik 219)
Translators are generally aware of the TL
reader's level of knowledge about the SL
culture. One can take it for granted that
Scotland Yard is not unknown to the
Hungarian reader, but it is unusual to refer
to it in Hungarian simply as the Yard. Thus,
in this instance, there is no need for an
explanatory addition, but the full name
should be restored by adding the missing
word.
English ST: We'll send these up to the
Yard and see what they have to say.
(Christie 34)
Hungarian TT: Ezt felküldjük a
Scotland Yardra, és majd meglátjuk
mit szólnak hozzá. (Borbás 35)
4. Addition in the case of
historical realia
In the translation of historical realia
(events, personalities, historical garments,
armory, etc.) the amount of necessary
omissions and additions depends on the
direction of translation.
While many of the events of English,
French, German and Russian history are
well known in Hungary, the events of
Hungarian history often require explanatory
additions in English, French, German and
Russian translations
Hungarian ST: Az orosz áttörés után
csapódtunk egymáshoz, ... (Örkény 1.
102)
English TT: We were thrown together
by the Russian offensive of 1944 ....
(Sollosy 76)
Hungarian ST: Nem különben kalandos
története van a magyar katolikus egyház
legbecsesebb ereklyéjének, a ma a
Bazilika egyik oldalkápolnájában őrzött
Szent Jobbnak – a szent király
mumifikálódott jobb keze ... (Bart 16)
English TT: The most highly revered relic of
the Hungarian Catholic Church, the Holy
Right – the clenched right hand of King
Stephen preserved through the
centuries – has a no less spectacular
history. (Gorman 15)
5. Addition of names of the parts
of the body
Predominant direction: Hungarian  IE
The only lexical addition, which is not
triggered by cultural differences but
linguistic ones, is the addition of names of
parts of the body in H-IE translation.
In the case of activity involving certain
parts of the body int, bólint (‘to nod’) ,
megszorít (‘to press’), megsimogat (‘to
stroke’) in Hungarian it is not essential to
mention the part of the body involved,
unlike IE languages.
Hungarian English:
Hungarian ST: Nem szerette a
feltűnést, az autóbuszon mindig az
ablak felé fordult. (Örkény 1. 238)
English TT: She hated calling
attention to herself so much that even
on the bus she'd sit with her head
turned to the window. (Sollosy 59)
3. Exchange of meanings
= is a standard transfer operation whereby a
meaning in the SL text is replaced by another
meaning in the TL text, which is seemingly
different from the SL meanings but is logically
related (e.g., an expression of reason may be
replaced by an expression of consequences in
TL).
The operation of exchanging meanings is a more
radical departure from the original text than the
operations described previously.
The translator not only broadens or narrows the
source language meaning but endeavours to
render the meaning of the source language
sentence using completely different means (=
logical expansion)
English ST: He had not heard her
coming. (Greene 557)
Hungarian TT: Nem hallotta, hogy
Mabel ott van a közelben. (Osztovits
311)
Commentary: The process of coming
is replaced by the result in the
Hungarian translation. (lit: He did not
know that she was in the proximity).
Subtypes:
1. Exchange of action for result
2. Exchange of result for action
3. Exchange of action for object
4. Exchange of object for action
5. Exchange of action for place
6. Exchange of place for action
7. Exchange of action for actor
8. Exchange of actor for action
9. Exchange of state for action
10. Exchange of cause for action
11. Exchange of sound for action
12. Static vs dynamic and dynamic vs static
exchange
1. Exchange of action for result
English  Hungarian:
English ST: The Indian summer was nearly
over, the clocks had all been altered, and
you could feel the approach of winter
concealed in the smallest wind. (Green 73)
Hungarian TT: A vénasszonyok nyara már
csaknem véget ért, visszaállt a téli
időszámítás, s a legenyhébb szél
rezzenéseiben is már érezhető volt a
készülő tél lehelete. (Ungvári 119)
Commentary: “action” in English (clocks
had all been altered) is replaced by
“result” in Hungarian (téli időszámítás
‘winter time’).
7.2 Exchange of result for action
English  Hungarian:
English ST: I hate it when they are
absolutely all gin. (Salinger 16)
Hungarian TT: Utálom, amikor
telerakják ginnel. (Elbert 15)
Commentary: “result” in English
(absolutely all gin) is replaced by
“action” in Hungarian (telerakják
ginnel ‘fill up with gin’).
3. Exchange of action for object
English ST: ... he carried his body with him
like something he hated. (Greene 412)
Hungarian TT: ...úgy cipelte magával a
testét mint valami undorító tárgyat.
(Borbás 226)
Commentary: “action” in English
(something he hated) is replaced by
“object” in Hungarian (undorító tárgyat
’disgusting thing’).
4. Exchange of object for action
English ST: It was as if he had discovered
my secret interest. (Greene 125)
Hungarian TT: Rajtakapott, amint titkos
szenvedélyemnek hódolok. (Borbás 236)
Commentary: “object” in English (secret
interest) is replaced by “action” in
Hungarian (titkos szenvedélyemnek
hódolok ’I follow a secret passion’).
5. Exchange of action for place
Hungarian  English:
Hungarian ST: ... gőzvonat volt, a Baross
utcán közlekedett, ahol laktunk. (Karinthy
273)
English TT: It was drawn by a steam
engine and ran along the Baross utca,
where my home was. (Barker 12)
Commentary: “action” in Hungarian (ahol
laktunk ‘where we lived’) is replaced by
“place” in English (where my home was).
6. Exchange of place for action
English ST:  I am not afraid of death,
Lucius  in your arms. (Greene
417)
Hungarian TT:  Ha te ölelsz, Lucius,
nem félek a haláltól. (Borbás 230)
Commentary: “place” in English (in
your arms) is replaced by “action ” in
Hungarian (Ha te ölelsz. ‘if you
embrace me’).
7. Exchange of action for actor
English ST: ... and the bedclothes had
been neatly turned back on one side, all
ready for someone to get in. (Dahl 64)
Hungarian TT: ... és a paplan takarosan
felhajtott sarokkal várja az új vendéget.
(Borbás 65)
Commentary:“action” in English (someone
to get in) is replaced by “actor ” in
Hungarian (az új vendéget ‘waiting for the
new guest’).
8. Exchange of actor for action
English ST: You sound so crazy.
(Vonnegut 79)
Hungarian TT: Annyira őrülten
hangzik, amit mond. (Szilágyi 72)
Commentary: “actor” in English (You)
is replaced by “action” in Hungarian (
amit mond ‘what you are saying’).
9. Exchange of state for action
English  Hungarian:
English ST: Yet weeks went by and the
store stayed empty. (Malamud 14)
Teltek, múltak a hetek, és az üzlet csak
nem talált bérlőre. (Balassa 13)
Commentary: “state” in English (stayed
empty) is replaced by “action” in
Hungarian (nem talált bérlőre ‘did not find
tenant’).
English ST: ... but surely Tobaccos are
about as low as possible. (Green 126)
Hungarian TT: ... de annyi biztos, hogy a
dohánynemű már nem mehet lejjebb.
(Borbás 237)
Commentary: “state” in English (as low as
possible) is replaced by “action” in
Hungarian (nem mehet lejjebb ‘can not go
lower’).
10. Exchange of cause for action
English  Hungarian:
English ST: He couldn't get his story out for
laughter. (Greene 127)
Hungarian TT: Egyszerűen egy szót sem
bírt kinyögni, annyira kacagott. (Borbás
237)
Commentary: “cause” in English for
laughter is replaced by “action” in
Hungarian: annyira kacagott (‘laughed so
much’).
11. Exchange of sound for action
English ST: Behind him were the lights of
the hall and the sound of a servant laying
the table for dinner. (Greene 555)
Hungarian TT: Mögöttük kivilágított hall,
egy szolgáló vacsorához terített.
(Osztovits 313)
Commentary: “sound” in English (sound of
a servant laying) is replaced by “action” in
Hungarian (terített ‘she layed the table for
dinner’).
12. Dynamic vs. static and static
vs. dynamic exchanges
All the exchanges described above
can be categorised as either static or
dynamic exchanges. When we
exchange “action” for the “result”,
“cause”, “place” or “object” of the
action, etc. we choose a static
approach over a dynamic one.
English  Hungarian:
English ST: He didn't want anybody to hear
what he was going to say now. (Greene
125)
Hungarian TT: Nem akarta, hogy bárki is
meghallja a következőket (Borbás 236)
Commentary: “dynamic approach” in
English (what he was going to say now)
is replaced by “static approach” in
Hungarian (a következőket ‘the
followings’).
When we exchange the “result”, “object”,
“cause” or “site” of an action for the “action”
itself we do the opposite and move from a
static approach to a dynamic one.
English ST: He couldn't get his story out for
laughter. (Green 127)
Hungarian TT: Egyszerűen egyetlen szót
sem bírt kinyögni, annyira kacagott.
(Borbás 237)
Commentary: “static approach” in English
(for laughter) is replaced by “dynamic
approach ” in Hungarian (annyira
kacagott ‘he laughed so much’).
***