A context-free word is a word less sensitive to the contextual influence, such a
word have one meaning which it retains in most contexts. Context-free words are
mainly found among proper and geographical names (Anton – Антон, Volga –
Волга), titles of magazines and newspapers(BBC Ariel – Би-би-си Ариэль),
names of various firms and organizations (General Motors Corporation –
Дженерал моторc корпорейшн, ships ( Prince Royal – Принс Ройял)...
TYPES OF TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES
Transcription, or copying the sound form of the source language word by
means of the target language letters: Bill Clinton – Билл Клинтон, Campbell –
Кэмпбелл, Byron - Байрон
Transliteration or copying the letters of the source language by the target
language letters of another system: Malta |ˈmɔːltə| (страна) – Мальта.
Loan translation is a word taken from one language and translated in a literal
or word for word way to be used in another. Carry-out – на вынос, старовер – Old
Believer, Cape of Good Hope – Мыс Доброй Надежды.
But the context usually changes the meaning of a word as a language unit.
Much can be said between the lines. So such language units need various semantic
modifications in the translation (a heart-rending sight = душераздирающее
зрелище (а не «сердце-раздирающее»). Modifications can be:
Narrowing, or concretization, is used when the SL unit is broader in
meaning, less specific. Thus, «исследовать» can mean «исследовать местность»
(explore) «исследовать рынок» (investigate the market) «исследовать явление»
(do research).
Generalization (broadening) of meaning is used as a translation device
when the SL item is more specific than its TL counterpart. Thus, the Russian word
«лечение» is narrow in meaning than the English word “treatment”, which can
also mean «обращение с кем-то », «трактовка», «понимание» etc.
Antonymic translation. Very often negative constructions in Russian
become affirmative in English. This is a lexical-grammatical substitution, which
consists in using a negative structure instead of an affirmative one (or vice versa) +
using a TL word opposed in meaning to the SL word: He didn’t say a word = Он
промолчал. Он почти всегда опаздывает = He hardly ever comes in time.
Addition. For instance, some aspects of meaning needn’t be expressed in the
SL and have to be necessarily expressed in the TL: «В руке у него была книга» =
“He had a book in HIS hand.”
Omission. We often omit redundant information: a just and equitable
treatment = справедливое отношение; by force and violence = насильственным
путем.
Lexical substitution. We resort to it when none of the options given in the
dictionary suits the context=can render the meaning of the SL word properly. “A
pattern of geese”: “pattern” has the following dictionary meaning: образец,
модель, шаблон, рисунок, система, структура; принцип. As none of these can
be accepted, we change it to «клин гусей».
Emphasis. This means that we lend a stronger emotional or expressive
impact to the translation as compared with the original. One has to be careful to
render the right attitude depending on the context. The following words can be
translated with a positive and negative connotation: politician (политик vs.
политикан).
Neutralization is exactly the opposite of emphasis. When uncertain what
the speaker’s attitude is, make it as neutral as possible. «a cow-eyed girl» =
девушка с большими глазами.
When none of these work, we use description, which accompanies
transliteration or transcription («kruzhalo» — ring-shaped base of the cupola of the
wooden church). Comment, unlike description, can be more detailed and is
therefore used as a footnote (сноска) rather than as part of the text itself.
Grammatical transformations are changes in the grammatical structure of a
sentence in the process of translation. They consist of transposition, omission,
addition and replacement.
TRANSPOSITIONS
Usually we can see the division of the sentence into 2 main parts from the point
of view of communication (theme-rheme). This division is usually supported by
word – order. The theme is supposed as smth known, the rheme is the new
information. Very often the theme is placed at the beginning of the sentence,
semantically most important that the rheme is placed at the end
A boy came in - Вошел мальчик.
But: The boy came in - Мальчик вошел.
ADDITIONS
Additions are caused by various factors. Very often they are necessitated by
what may be called "lexical incompleteness" of certain word groups in the source
language. Thus, in English in many cases words are omitted that can be easily
restored from the context, while in Russian their actual presence in the word is
necessary, which calls for additions in translation; compare: pay claim требование о повышении заработной платы, Solid engine — двигатель на
твердом топливе
OMISSIONS
Omissions are omitting words which can be easily restored from the context.
"So I paid my check and all. Then I left the bar and went out where the telephones
were" «Я расплатился и пошёл к автоматам».
creative activity – творчество.
The words "left the bar" are omitted because of their redundancy (the bar was
mentioned in the preceding context and "leaving" is implied by the subsequent use
of "went out"). Note also other transformations here, such as unification of
sentences and replacement of a complex sentence by a simple one, all of which
greatly reduce redundancy of the original text.
REPLACEMENT is considered to be the most popular and the most various
type of grammatical transformations.
(a) Word forms
gender, number, case of nouns; tense of verbs, passive/active voice, etc.
The novel is about lives – роман о жизни
The door was opened by a middle-aged woman - Дверь отворила пожилая
женщина. (replacement of Passive by Active).
(b) Parts of Speech
This type of replacement is also fairly common. Especially typical is the
replacement of English nouns, derived from verbs and denoting actions
It is our hope that... Мы надеемся, что...
(c) Sentence elements
This is sometimes referred to as syntactic restructurings of the sentence in the
process of translation. It consists in changing the syntactic functions of words in a
sentence
He was met by his sister - Его встретила сестра.
He was given money - Ему дали денег.
(d) Sentence types
A replacement of a simple sentence by a complex one and vice versa. Thus,
while translating from English into Russian it often becomes necessary to render
English structures with non-finite verbal forms by means of subordinate clauses,
thus turning a simple sentence into complex, as, for instance:
I want you to speak English - Я хочу, чтобы Вы говорили по-английски.
(e) Sentence partitioning (=sentence breaking) is the replacement of a
simple sentence in the ST with a complex sentence (with some clauses), or a
complex sentence with several independent sentences in the TT for structural,
semantic or stylistic reasons: Моя машина не завелась, поэтому я не смогла
заехать за вами. – My car wouldn’t start. Therefore, I couldn’t pick you up.
(f) Sentence integration (=sentence joining). It takes place when we make
one sentence out of two or more, or convert a complex sentence into a simple one:
If one knows languages, one can come out on top. – Зная языки, можно далеко
пойти.
(g) Types of syntactic relations
Both English and Russian have such types of syntactic relations as coordination and subordination. However, the former is more characteristic of spoken
Russian; hence it is often necessary or desirable to replace subordination of
sentences by co-ordination while translating from English into Russian: Своё
мастерство демонстрировали экипажи судов, лётчики, парашютисты.
Masterly performance was displayed by boat crews, airmen and paratroopers.