UNIT OF TRANSLATION How to translate

UNIT OF TRANSLATION

How to translate? What to start the translation with? How to segment the stream of oral or written discourse? DEFINITIION OF TRANSLATION

Translation is the transference of written or oral text by means of other languages (Fedorov) 1. 2. Achmanova: Translation is the transference of INFORMATION existing in the utterance by means of other languages Translation is the process in which the translator chooses in the TL those means of expression that secure both the transference of multilevel INFORMATION contained in the SL utterance and the rendering of all FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS of the SL utterance as full as possible, as well as the reproduction of the notions that have no direct and stable ways of expression.

3. Translation is the special cognitive and communicative activity aimed at the recreation of the SL text, it is the recreation of the SL text semantics and structure.

Levels of translation The level of language: separate units of language in most cases have their direct or partial equivalents in TL and are translated separately, independently of a certain context (privacy конфіденційність, секретність, таємниця; приватність, сфера особистого життя, приватне життя (особи) ; недоторканість приватного життя (особи) ; інтимність приватного життя, інтимна сфера Privacy Act Закон про недоторканість приватного життя S&P sale and purchase (купівля-продаж)

The level of speech: Language units in context realize specific semantic and grammatical properties and perform specific functions; a word within the structure of an utterance as a minimal unit of speech in the syntagmatic connections/relations with other units may expose its inherent, implicit properties or even change its properties under the influence of the context

Ø Different lexical and grammatical functions: The boy is waiting for you / A boy is waiting for you; Ø deictic elements: IT: It is necessary to do it / We shall walk it very quickly Ø idiomatic language ( expressing things in the way that sounds the most naturally): Many happy returns; Pull – Push ; Symptoms. Remedy

Difference in morphemic structure of words: Сніг. Сніжок. Snow. Light flurries falling На княжий теремок. on the Prince’s palace. День і ніч круг нього ходить, Around it day and night плаче голосок: walks a tiny voice crying: – Ой князю, князьочку, … – Prince, my dearest Prince, … Дай про себе вісточку, бо умру. Send me some news of you or I’ll die. Десь князь одступає з жменькою княжат (П. Тичина). Somewhere the Prince is retreating with a handful of his men,

Free translation vs. literal translation Literal translation is much focused on individual words, or even sometimes morphemes. Therefore in literal translation UTs are as short as words. Free translation aims at capturing the sense of a longer stretch of language. It always chooses the sentence/ text.

Types of languages Translating from a SL which is not that much related to TL will usually result in choosing larger units of translation, while closeness of SL and TL involves smaller UTs.

When a translator commences his work, i. e. translation, in accordance with the type of ST he's working on, he decides about the basic segments in ST to be translated into TT. These segments range from a whole text, as in poetry, to a single phoneme.

Semantic approach a translator doesn't need dictated criteria about a UT since what he does during the translation process is all done semantically identified and distinguished as a unit for a translator, who's translating thoughts and concepts, is a unit of thought or unit of information Unit of thought is "the smallest segment of the utterance whose signs are linked in such a way that they should not be translated literally (Vinay and Darbelnet ).

Simple units: Vinay and Darbelnet correspond this type to a single word. It's the simplest, as they state, and at the same time the most widely used unit. In this case, number of units equals number of words. Replacement of words will not lead to a change in the sentence structure. Diluted units: These units contain several words which in turn shape a lexical unit, since they pursue a single idea. Fractional units: "A fraction of a word" is what this type of UTs are consisted of.

For Newmark (1988), "sentence is a natural unit of translation" grammatical and lexical sub-units of translation : morpheme (unless placed in special cases morphemes shouldn't be considered seriously) clause, group collocation and words including idioms and compounds

paragraphs and texts as higher UTs, while sentences, groups, clauses and words as lower UTs. "the mass of translation uses a text as a unit only when there apparently insuperable problems at the level of the collocations, clause or sentence level" most of the translation is done at the smaller units, i. e. word and clause.

all lengths of language can, at different moments and also simultaneously, be used as units of translation in the course of the translation activity. The unit of translation is a sliding scale, responding to specific varying factors both of linguistic and extralinguistic nature

Communicative, stylistic and pragmatic function of newly emerged derivational elements and their translation euro- (eurocompatible, eurodominated, eurozone, - євросумісний, євродомінуючий та єврозона); євроремонт - … -free (mud-free approach -“чистий” підхід, spin-free campaign -кампанія без застосування політтехнологій, risk-free operation - дія без ризику).

-crat functions in the role of suffix with the meaning “офіційна особа, урядовець, адміністратор, управлінець” bureaucrat , businesscrat, Dixiecrat, phetocrat, Republicrat, virtuecrat. -cracy used to create words denoting special social group or structure endowed with the special power corpocracy (суспільство, в якому корпорації відіграють провідну економічну й політичну роль), Kakistocracy (поганий уряд), meritocracy (група відомих політичних діячів), punditocracy (група вашингтонських журналістів, чиї погляди вважаються вірними навіть якщо вони і не співпадають з громадською думкою), xerocracy (суспільство із суворою цензурою, де правдива інформація поширюється шляхом ксерокопіювання).

“Friday morning, when Judge Lewis ruled that Harris could certify the state results, the punditocracy was declaring that Gore’s hopes of winning were over”. (Time, Nov. 27, 2000) “Вранці у п’ятницю, коли суддя Люіс дозволив сенатору Херріс затвердити результати виборів у штаті, вашингтонські журналісти вже стверджували, що надії Ґора на перемогу втрачені”.

“And he [Chris Carsson] also had the concept of “xerocracy” — which means that anybody who can be bothered to pick a time and have the fliers Xeroxed is in charge”. (The Independent, Nov. 1, 1994) – “Також йому [Крісу Каррсону] належить концепція “ксерократії”, яка означає, що будь-хто, кого можна потурбувати з приводу знаходження часу для копіювання флаєрів, є відповідальною особою”.

-gate “скандал”, derived from the notion Watergate брудні технології, політична чи кономічна корупція Aguagate( скандал, пов’язаний з перерахунком голосів на виборах президента США 2000 р. ), Filegate (скандал, пов’язаний із можливим доступом адміністрації Клінтона до 400 досьє ФБР на провідних членів Республіканської партії США), Monicagate, sexgate(скандал, пов’язаний із стосунками Б. Клінтона та Моніки Левінські),

Rubbergate (банківський скандал у Палаті представників Конгресу США на поч. . 90 -х рр. . ), tollgate (скандал, що зашкоджує репутації), Travelgate (скандал, пов’язаний із звільненням працівників відділу поїздок Білого дому за часів президентства Б. Клінтона)

“One of two vans the 36 boxes of independent counsel Kenneth Star’s Sexgate report arrives at Capitol Hill amid tight security. ” (New York Post, Sep. 9, 1992) – Один з двох фургонів, що містить 36 коробок звіту незалежного слідчого Кеннета Старрa, прибув під охороною до Капітолійського пагорбу.

Interference in translation The notion of interference Unintentional and unconscious influence of the source language structure on the translation that results in the distortion of meaning and violation of lexical and grammatical rules of the target language

In case of interference The translator either fails to use forms and structures natural for the target language or substitutes them with patterns dominating in the source language

Causes of interference Difference in the nomenclature of parts of speech: Earth afire – Земля у вогні Difference in word order: У кімнату увійшла жінка. Жінка увійшла у кімнату – A woman came into the room. The woman came into the room. Difference in grammatical patterns: He is rumored to have gone to Paris – Ходять чутки, що він поїхав до Парижу (passive – active patterns)

Difference in combinability and distribution: Third world countries – Країни третього світу ( asyndetic noun clusters – case forms of the noun); iron heel/irony chains/ grip of steel – залізна п’ята/ залізні ланцюги / залізна хватка (word combinations and idioms) Difference in word building patterns: explicable, trainee, employer, employee

Difference in the traditional syntactic models: У Львові ви знайдете численні кав’ярні та ресторани з національними стравами з усього світу – In Lviv one can find numerous cafes and restaurants offering national cuisine from all over the world Він отямився першим - He was the first to recover Ця зустріч увійде в історію як саміт народження нової організації – This meeting will go down in history as a summit giving birth to a new organization (finite – non-finite forms of the verb)

Difference in the semantics of the functional elements : it was not until the 12 th century – лише у 12 столітті; все голосніше – louder and louder; Проте таке правило не завжди застосовується щодо торговців, і ще рідше - до солдатів. - But this rule applies not only to the tradesmen, and still less often to the soldiers

Interference in translation is a negative phenomenon that should be avoided

Illegal use of B&Bs to house homeless soars by 800% The use of bed and breakfasts to house homeless families beyond the legal time limit has risen by 800% since the coalition took office – with a third of the country's councils unlawfully placing adults and children in B&Bs for more than six weeks, new figures reveal.

An analysis shows that local authorities across England are now spending on average up to £ 650 a week to keep people off the streets. Freedom of information requests by Labour to 325 councils, to which 242 responded, reveal that 125 had resorted to placing destitute families in hotel rooms for six weeks or more since April 2010. This figure challenges claims by ministers that only a "small number" of town halls put families in bed and breakfast accommodation beyond the legal limit.

David Cameron criticises Hilary Mantel over Duchess of Cambridge speech David Cameron has criticised Hilary Mantel as "completely misguided and completely wrong" after the Booker prize-winning author described the Duchess of Cambridge as a "plastic" princess. In an interview with the BBC in Delhi, the prime minister lavished praise on the duchess and said Britain should be proud of her.

Cameron said of Mantel: I think she writes great books, but I think what she's said about Kate Middleton is completely misguided and completely wrong. "What I've seen of Princess Kate at public events, at the Olympics and elsewhere is this is someone who's bright, who's engaging, who's a fantastic ambassador for Britain. We should be proud of that, rather than make these rather misguided remarks. "

Mantel said in a speech that the duchess appeared to have been "designed by a committee and built by craftsmen, with a perfect plastic smile and the spindles of her limbs handturned and gloss-varnished". The speech, titled Royal Bodies, was given at a London Review of Books event at the British Museum on 4 February.