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TRANSLATION AND STYLE

Stylistic peculiarities are rendered in translation by proper choice of the

target language translation equivalents with required stylistic coloring. This
choice will depend both on the functional style of the source text and the
individual style of the ST author.
The types of texts distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication
are called functional styles. Modern stylistics distinguishes between the following
varieties of functional styles: belles-lettres, publicistic style, newspaper style,
scientific style, official documents.
Any comparison of the texts belonging to different stylistic varieties listed
above will show that the last two of them are almost entirely devoid of stylistic
coloring being characterized by the neutrality of style whereas the first three are
usually rich in stylistic devices to which a translator ought to pay due attention.
Handling stylistically –marked language units.
In different communicative situations, the language users select words of
different stylistic status. There are stylistically neutral words that are suitable for
any situation, and there are literary words and colloquial words, which satisfy the
demands of official, poetic messages and unofficial everyday communication
respectively. Sl and TL words of similar semantics may have either identical or
dissimilar stylistic connotation ( slumber – сон, morn – ранок, swop – міняти). The
translator tries to preserve the stylistic status of the original text, by using the
equivalents of the same style, or, failing that, opting for stylistically neutral
units.
As a rule, the object of translation is not a list of separate lexical units but a
coherent text in which the SL words make up an integral whole. Though each word in
the language has its own meaning, the actual information it conveys in a text
depends, to a great extend on its contextual environment. Generally speaking, the
meaning of any word in a text can not be understood and translated without due
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regard to the specific context in which it is actualized. Some words are less sensitive
to the contextual influence than others. There are words with definite meanings
with which are retained in most contexts and are relatively context free. Context-
free words are mainly found among proper and geographical names, titles of
magazines and newspapers, names of various firms, organizations, ships, aircraft and
the like, as well as among technical terms used by experts in all fields of human
endeavor.
Context-free words have an important role to play in the translating process.
They usually have permanent equivalents in TL which, in most cases, can be used in
TT. The permanent equivalents of context-free words are often formed by
transcription (with possible elements of transliteration) or loan translation.
The meaning of most words in the English vocabulary largely depends on the
context in which they are used. True, all words have meanings of their own which are
defined in dictionaries but the context may specify or modify the word’s meaning,
neutralize or emphasize some part of its semantics. And before looking for an
equivalent, the translator has to make a careful study of the context to identify the
contextual meaning of the word that should be rendered in translation. This meaning
is the result of interaction between the word semantics and the methods of its
actualization in the speech act.
Most of the words are polisemantic, that is they have several meanings. As a
rule, the word is used in the sentence in one of the meanings and the context must
show what meaning has been selected by the speaker and cut off all other meanings
irrelevant for the particular act of communication.
The context may modify the meaning of a word to such an extend that its
regular equivalents will not fit TT. In the following sentence: “History has dealt with
Hitler”, the translator has to do with the verb “to deal” and instead of its regular
equivalent “ обійтися“ use a contextual one “покінчити”.
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The contextual modification may extend to the connotative meaning of the

word. For example the English adjective ambitious can contextually assume either a
positive or negative connotation.
Thus professional skill in using both the dictionary data and the information
extracted from the context to solve his translation problem is the hallmark of a good
translator.
The principal stylistic effect of the text is created with the help of special
stylistic devices as well as by the interaction of the meaning of the words in a
particular context. The speaker may qualify every object he mentions in his own way
thus giving the utterance a specific stylistic turn. Such stylistic phrasing gives much
trouble to the translator since their meaning Is very often subjective and elusive.
Some phrases become fixed through repeated use and they may have permanent
equivalents in TL. : true love, dead silence, good old England. In most cases the
translator has to look for occasional substitute, which often requires an in-depth study
of the broad context.
Stylistically marked units may also be certain types of collocations
(phraseological units). Phraseological units may have permanent or variable
equivalents. Such English idiom as ‘the game is not worth the candle” is usually
translated by Russian idiom “ “ This equivalent reproduces all aspects of the English
idiom semantics and can be used in most contexts. Other permanent equivalents,
though identical in their figurative meaning, are based on different images, that is
they have different literal meaning: “to get up on the wrong side of the bed”
“встати з лівої ноги”. Sometimes an English idiom may have several Ukrainian
equivalents among which the translator has to make his choice in each particular
case. For instance the meaning of the English “Do in Rome as the Romans do” may
be rendered in some contexts as “З вовками жити – по-вовчому вити”. But here,
again, the translator may prefer an occasional equivalent which can be formed by a
word-for-word reproduction of the original unit: “У Римі роби так, як римляни”.
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There are quite a number of equivalent lacking idioms. Such English

phraseoligical units as “You can not eat your cake and have it” and many others have
no regular equivalents in Ukrainian. They are translated either by reproducing their
form in TL through a word-for-word translation or by explaining the figurative
meaning of the idiom. People who live in glass should not through stones; to see eye-
to-eye with smb – “мати однакові погляди”.
Complicated translation problems are caused by ST containing substandard
language units used to produce a stylistic effect. The ST author may imitate his
character’s speech by means of dialectal or contaminated forms. SL territorial
dialects can not be produced in TT, nor can they be replaced by TL dialectal
forms. It would be inappropriate if an Afro-American or a London cockney spoke in
the Ukrainian translation in the dialect of the Western regions of Ukraine.
Fortunately, the English dialectal forms are mostly an indication of the speaker’s
low social or educational status and they can be rendered into Ukrainian by a
judicial employment of low-colloquial elements.

STYLISTIC DEVICES IN TRANSLATION

Stylistic devices are based on the comparison of primary (dictionary)

meaning and that dictated by the contextual environment; on the contradiction
between the meaning of the given word and the environment; on the association
between the words in the minds of the speakers and on purposeful deviation
from accepted grammatical and phonetic standards.
The following varieties of stylistic devices and expression means are most
common and frequently dealt with even by the translators of non-fiction texts:
Metaphor – is the transfer of some quality from one object to another.
Usually the metaphors especially trite ones are rather easy for translation : they are
translated either by keeping to semantic similarity (ray of hope ) or by choosing an
appropriate pragmatic equivalent. (flood of tears).
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Simile like metaphor asserts the resemblance between two objects or

processes but in simile the similarity is made explicit with the help of
prepositions “as” and “like”. Many metaphors and similes are conventional figures
of speech regularly used by the members of the language community. Such figurative
units may be regarded as idioms and translated in a similar way. As in the case of
idioms, their Ukrainian equivalents may be based on the same image a powder
magazine, white as snow, or on a different one (thin as a rake – худий, як щепка).
Similarly, some of the English standard metaphors are rendered into Ukrainian word
for word ( as busy as a bee), while the meaning of others can only be explained in a
non-figurative way (as large as life – в натуральну величину).
More complicated is the problem of translating individual figures of speech
created by the imagination of the SL author. They are important elements of the
author’s style and are usually translated word for word. Nevertheless, the original
image may prove to be unacceptable in the target language and the translator will
have to look for a suitable occasional substitute.
Metonymy is similarity by association; usually one of the constituents of an
object replaces the object itself. As a rule translators keep to literal translation
when translating the cases of metonymy. For example, crown (meaning the royal
family) is usually translated as , hand – ( He is the right hand of the president)
Irony is expressed through words contradicting close text environment.
Cases of irony do not present serious problems for translation and the approaches
similar to those mentioned above (semantic or pragmatic equivalence) are
commonly used. For example the ironical expression paper war may be translated as
паперова війна, війна паперів.
Semantic and syntactic irregularities of expression used as stylistic devices
are called transferred qualifier and zeugma, respectively.
A common occurrence in English texts is the transferred qualifier syntactically
jointed to a word to which it does not belong logically. Thus, the English speaker
may mention “ a corrupt alliance”, “a sleepless bed” or a “thoughtful pipe”. Such
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combinations will be thought of as too bizarre in Ukrainian or alien to the type of the
text and the qualifier will have to be used with the name of the object it refers to: “
the sound of the solemn bells” will become “урочисте звучання дзвонів”. A good
example of transferred qualifier is he paid his smiling attention to.. – here the
qualifier smiling refers to a person, but is used as an attribute to the state (attention)
Translator’s task in this case is consists in rendering the idea in compliance with
the lexical combination rules of the target language. For example, in Ukrainian it
may be expressed as Посміхаючись, він звернув увагу...

Note should be taken of the inverted qualifier which syntactically is not the
defining but the defined element. Such a qualifier precedes the qualified word, which
is joined to it by the preposition of “ this devil of a woman” “ the giant of a man”.
The phrase can be transformed to obtain an ordinary combination ( a devilish
woman, a gigantic man) and then translated into Ukrainian.
Zeugma is also a semantic irregularity: if one and the same verb is
combined with two or more nouns and acquires a different meaning in each of
such combinations. For example, He has taken her picture and another cup of tea.
Here again the translator’s task is to render this ironical comment either by finding a
similar irregularity in the TL or, failing to show zeugma (and irony of the author)
stick to regular TL means. (separate two actions - Він зробив її фото і випив ще
одну чашку чаю, or try to render them as a zeugma as well - Він зробив її фото і
ще один ковток чаю з чашки).
A pun, so called play of words, is righteously considered the most difficult for
translation.
Pun is the realization in one and the same word of two lexical meanings
simultaneously.
A pun can be translated only by a word in the TL with similar capacity to
develop two meanings in particular context. English is comparatively rich in
polysems and homonyms, whereas in Ukrainian these word types are rather rare.
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- What gear were you in at the moment of impact?

- Gucci’s sweats and Reebok.
- На якій передачі були ви під час зіткнення?
- “Останні новини”.
Another stylistic device is a paraphrase. Its frequent sue is characteristic of the
English language. Some of the p are borrowed from classical sources (myths and the
Bible) others are typically English. To give an example the paraphrases of classical
origin are “ Beware Greeks..”, “бійтеся данайців” “Prodigal son” “Блудний
син”, the three sisters –, the Prince of darkness whereas “Lake country” (“Озерна
країна”), the three R’s – читання, письмо, арифметика, the Iron Duke – герцог
Веллінгтон are typically English paraphrases. They are usually transcribed or
explained in translation. As a rule paraphrases do not present difficulties for
translation, however, their correct translation strongly depends on situation and
appropriate background information. A special group of paraphrases are the
names of countries, states and other geographical or political entities. The Land
of Cakes ( Scotland), the Empire City (New York). As a rule such paraphrases are not
known to the Ukrainian reader and are replaced by official names.
Special attention is to be paid by a translator to overt and covert quotations.
Whereas the former require only correct rendering of the source quotation in the
target language, the latter usually takes the shape of the allusion and the pragmatic
equivalence seems to be the most appropriate for the case. For example “ The Troyan
horse raid” one may translate as напад підступний як кінь троянців (preserving
the allusion) or as підступний напад ( loosing the meaning of the original
quotation).
In order to translate allusions the translator has to identify the source and
the associations it evokes with the SL receptors and can produce the similar
effect. He may find the allusion untranslatable even if the source is sufficiently
popular. For instance, Alice in Wonderland was many times translated into Russian
and is much enjoyed by by both children and adults. However, the translator will
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hardly preserve the obvious allusion to the book in the following sentence: The
Tories are accused in the House of Commons yesterday of living in an Alice in
Wonderland world on the question of nuclear arms for Germany. – Вчора у палаті
общин консерваторів звинуватили в тому, що вони плекають марнв мрії...).