Эквивалентность перевода на морфологическом уровне
Translation is a means of interlingual communication. The translator makes
possible an exchange of information between of the users of different languages by
producing in the translating language (TL) a text which has an identical
communicative value with the source text (ST). The functional status of a
translation is supported by its structural and semantic similarity with the original.
The study’s topicality – the analysis of numerous grammatical changes of
word forms or speech units of English and Russian languages.
The object of study – the ST and the TT from the point of view of their
equivalence within the morphological level.
The subject of study – the translation equivalence within the morphological
level and the ways of its obtaining.
The objective of study – the ways of reaching the translation equivalence
within the morphological level between English and Russian languages.
In my study I’d like to touch upon the following points:
- There’re different approaches of the definition of the translation
equivalence;
- The main translation determinants are linguistic and speech norms;
- The grammatical change is one of the means of obtaining the translation
equivalence within the morphological level;
- Such speech units as Noun and Verb have greater differences in English
and Russian languages (on the basis of the book “About a Boy” by Nick
Hornby).
Every word in the text is used in a particular grammatical form and all the
words are arranged in sentences in a particular syntactical order. Grammaticality is
an important feature of speech units. Grammatical forms and structures don’t only
provide for the correct arrangement of words in the text, they also convey some
information which is part of its total contents.
V.N. Komissarov points out five main levels of equivalence that are
characterized by the part of information the retention of which distinguishes it
from the previous level.
In many cases equivalence in translation can be best achieved if the translator
doesn’t try to mirror the grammatical forms in the ST. There’re no permanent
grammatical equivalents and the translator can choose between the parallel forms
and various grammatical transformations. He may opt for the latter for there’s
never an absolute identity between the meaning and usage of the parallel forms in
SL and TL.
For example, both English and Russian verbs have their infinitive forms.
Despite of the Russian sentences in the English sentences the infinitive forms are
widely used in the context. This happens due to the fact of the speech norm of the
English language. As a rule, in such cases the non-finite forms are translated into
the Russian language by finite forms:
It was an OK thing to say.
Ведь она сказала то, что требовалось.
The notion of the gerund is absolutely absent in the Russian language. That’s
why the translator has to make a grammatical change, and as a result there’re two
ways of translating the gerund – with the help of finite or non-finite forms:
But leaving Marcus out of it for a moment…
Ну, а если, положим, оставить Маркуса в покое…
As for grammatical changes of speech units, traditionally they’re caused by
speech norm of the language. The linguistic system of TL must be realized in such
a way, that it would have certain basis for speaking and understanding:
He would tell her he had no intention of finding out one way or the other.
Он отвечал, что не желает убеждаться в этом на практике.
Thus, from the analysis of the book “About a Boy” by Nick Hornby we can
conclude that there’re three main types of grammatical differences between SL and
TL:
1) there’s no equivalent in the TL to the certain element in the SL (for
example, the gerund in the English language and its absence in the Russian
language).
2) there’s no equivalent in the SL to the certain element in the TL.
3) there’re some grammatical elements in the TL which have their
equivalents in the SL but are different from them in their functions.
So, as you can see, contemporary translation activities are characterized by a
great variety of types, forms and levels of responsibility. The translator has to deal
with works of the great authors of the past and of the leading authors of today. The
translator usually tries to produce in TL the closest possible equivalent to ST with
the help of transformations, especially numerous grammatical changes. The actions
performed by the translator while rendering ST into another language are largely
intuitive and the best results are naturally achieved by translators who are best
suited for the job, who are well-trained or have a special aptitude, a talent for it.
Masterpieces in translation are created by the past masters of the art, true artists in
their profession. At its best translation is in art, a creation of a talented, high-skilled
professional.