File 13 UNIT 10
File 13 UNIT 10
File 13 UNIT 10
CULTURE 1 CULTURE 2
TEXT 1 TEXT 2
TRANSLATION
(transformations)
For the sake of explaining this scheme, we may summarize that translation is a
two-stage process of interlingual and intercultural communication when on the
basis of analysed and transformed text in the SL a translator creates another text
in the TL which substitutes the source text in the target language and culture. We
may even argue that translating is an analytical process of inevitable applying
translation transformations which is predetermined by the very nature of translation.
The term “transformations” was first used by Zellig Sabbetai Harris (1909-1992)
in his paper “Co-occurrence and transformations in linguistic structure” [Harris 1957],
which put formal syntax on an entirely new, generative basis.
So far there exists no universal approach to the typology of transformations in
translation. Thus, L.S. Barkhudarov [Бархударов 1975] believed that all
transformations in translation may be confined to four types: transpositions,
replacements, additions and omissions. Ya. I. Retsker [Рецкер 2004: 45-129]
distinguished between two broad types of transformations – lexical and grammatical
ones. V.N. Komissarov [1990] singled out lexical, grammatical and “lexico-
grammatical” transformations. A.D. Shveitser considered translation transformations
primarily at the “referential level of semantic equivalence” [Швейцер 1988 :123-144].
L.K. Latyshev [1981: 131-137] subdivides all translation transformations into
morphological, syntactic, stylistic, semantic and mixed (“lexico-semantic”, syntactic
and morphological).
Translation transformations should be separated from translation deformations,
which concern, first of all, the form of text and presume that there occur certain losses
in translation, however certain semantic deformations cannot be excluded [Гарбовский
2004: 507]. Obvious translation mistakes caused by the lack of linguistic and cultural
competence of a translator should be also considered separately [Гарбовский 2004:
514-536].
Translation transformations are analytical changes of the textual items and are
performed by translators in the process of translation (not at the pre-translation stage).
The overview of the traditional approach to the basic types of translation
transformations [Селіванова 2011: 545] is given below.
Lexical transformations are divided into formal and lexical and semantic
ones.
10.3.1. Formal lexical transformations provide for changing the form of the
source language unit by using devices of the target language. Here belong
transformations at the phonetic and graphic levels (sometimes called “transcoding”)
such as:
1. Practical transcription – reproduction of the SL lexical item phonemes by the
TL graphemes (letters), e.g., file – файл; interface – інтерфейс; Jack –
Джек; Russel – Рассел, etc.
2. Transliteration – reproduction of the letters of the SL lexical item by the TL
graphemes (letters), e.g., broker – брокер; London – Лондон; Disney –
Дисней, etc.
3. Traditional phonetic and graphical reproduction, e.g., Texas – Техас; Walter –
Вальтер, etc.
4. Combination of the three ways of reproduction described above, e.g.
Shakespeare – Шекспір; Москва – Moscow, etc.
5. Loan translation (калькування), e.g., skyscraper – хмарочос; Merry Monarch
– Веселий Король (nickname of Charles II), Верховний Суд – Supreme
Court; вотум недовіри – non-confidence vote, etc
The transformations listed below have been labelled as lexical and grammatical
because lexical changes often are caused by the need to adapt the meaning to the
grammatical peculiarities of the target culture. Most of the scholars single out the
following transformations of this kind:
Further on it seems worthwhile to discuss briefly the problem of rendering the so-
called “buzzwords” in translation. Ways of rendering buzzwords can be in the most
general terms viewed as specific kinds of lexical and semantic transformations. A
buzzword (also a vogue word, catch phrase or «словo сьогодення») is a vague
idiom, usually a neologism (often an abbreviation or acronym), that is common to the
mass media, managerial, technical and administrative discourse. Although meant to
impress the listener with the speaker’s pretence to knowledge, buzzwords often make
speech messages difficult to understand, translate or interpret [Палажченко 2006: 255;
Buzzword].
Traditional linguistics uses the term neologism (from Greek neo “new” + logos
“word”) with reference to a “newly coined word that may be in the process of entering
common use, but has not yet been accepted into the mainstream language. Neologisms
are often directly attributable to a specific person, publication, period, or event.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term neologism was first used in print
in 1772” [Neologism]. Quite a lot of academic literature deals with neologisms,
however the focus is being made mainly on the structural and semantic models of
coining (building up) new words [see, e.g., Английские неологизмы 1983], though
lately some new English-Ukrainian dictionaries of neologisms and buzzwords started to
come to the agenda [Зацний, Янков 2008].
It is obvious that the fast-changing world of today due to globalisation processes
turns into a single (or rather “common” for most developed and emerging economies)
social and economic environment. However, it is also obvious that the so-called
mainstream (standard or generally understood language) language makes up only the
core section of any language system, while a great variety of subject field (professional)
sublanguages appear in various fields of the mass media, politics, science, technology,
advertising, etc. due to social, scientific and technological progress [Максимов 2001;
2002]. These factors require looking at the newly coined words from somewhat
different perspective.
Translation practice gives grounds to introduce a new notion of the buzzwords,
which seems to be broader than the traditional notion of neologisms. Thus, buzzwords
include neologisms, coined according to traditional models (affixation, conversion,
blending, abbreviation, borrowing from other languages, etc.), and new words (phrases)
coined according to the most productive patterns of today, such as, for instance,
“semantic pattern” and “idiomatic pattern”. Needless to say, that buzzwords include
“usual” lexical units (those that have already become customary due to their frequent
usage in speech and are registered by most dictionaries, e.g., collateral damage,
cyberspace, defamation, deforestation, globalization, marginalization, etc.) and
“occasional” lexical items, which may be absorbed by the language and thus become
“usual” or denied by the language speakers and fade away. In this case such units may
be regarded as “fly-by-night” ones or nonce words, i.e. words coined and used only for
particular occasion, e.g., glocialization, sexretary (compare with Ukr. секретутка),
xenocide, etc.
Another challenge of the contemporary translation studies concerns weasel
words – lexical items which are described as informal term for equivocating words and
phrases aimed at creating an impression that something specific and meaningful has
been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim, or even a refutation has been
communicated. Take, for instance a letter of recommendation where the letter writer
states “I cannot recommend this person highly enough”, which would ordinarily be
taken to mean that no amount of recommendation is sufficient to communicate the high
stature of recommendation, while at the same time it could literally mean that there is
no recommendation at all. In other cases, words with a particular subjective effect are
chosen. For example, one person may speak of “resistance fighters” or “freedom
fighters”, while another may call the same subjects “terrorists”. The underlying facts
are the same, but a quite different impression is given [Weasel word].
Lynn Visson [2010] gives quite a subtle analysis of weasel words in her book and
their usage in the mass media, political, business and colloquial discourse giving
examples like fuzzy (meaning unclear), huge (meaning cool or very nice), terrific and
awesome (meaning excellent), slam dunk (meaning easily achieved success),
nonjudgmental (meaning correct, good), etc. [Visson 2010:10-21].
Quick emergence of the buzzwords and weasel words is a common process
practically in all languages. In the most general terms the word stock of any language
may be graphically presented as follows:
3
2
1
where 1 is the generally used (mainstream) lexicon, 2 represents subject field lexical
units or terms (understandable for all members of a particular subject field community,
such as specialists in policy making, computer science, linguistics, medicine, etc.), 3
represents jargon or slang (understandable only by a narrow professional community or
social and age groups).
Translation practice shows that buzzwords and weasel words first appear in section 3
and then they may be “absorbed” by section 2 and further on – by section 1, or,
alternatively, they may be “denied” by section 2 and 1 and fade away or rather become
elements of the “passive” or “historical” vocabulary of the language.
Here one may observe a kind of a two-way traffic: the words may move from the
centre of the circle until they become obsolete (perhaps, due their inappropriateness or
redundancy) and enter the passive historical vocabulary. On the other hand, old
“forgotten” words and phrases may move from the historical linguistic past and become
a part of the mainstream lexicon. Examples of the first case may be English words
pupil, scientist and sportsman, which are gradually replaced by student, academic and
athlete. The second group may be represented by the words coach (м’який автобус)
and challenge (проблема, актуальне завдання),
This two-way movement of words can be explained by the following main
reasons:
1. A new notion (object, phenomenon) should be given a name (e.g., web-site, to
browse, computer mouse).
2. There is a need to differentiate names between two objects (e.g., coach
technically differs from the bus).
3. The denotatum acquires some new shade of meaning (e.g. challenge differs
from problem in terms that a challenge must be met as soon as possible and in
the most constructive way, while problem does not require such urgent
response).
4. Influence of sociolinguistic aspects and, in particular, gender factors (thus,
masculine-biased sportsman, chairman and fireman are replaced by gender
neutral athlete, chair (chairperson) and fire-fighter.
5. Disappearance of the denotata with the relevant lexical items entering the
group of obsolete words (e.g., wireless, typewriter, punched card, or калоші,
примус, лікнеп, колгосп, радгосп, госпрозрахунок).
A.I. Cherdnychenko [Чередниченко 2007: 66-69] gives such examples of
Ukrainian buzzword neologisms that have appeared in the Ukrainian media space
within the latest decades and were registered by most dictionaries as appropriate:
б’ютівець, піарити, регіонал, бізнес-план, бізнесовець, VIP-жінка, глобальне
павутиння, імпічмент, хіт, комп’ютеризація, маржа, транш, to which we may
add such lexical items of today as: потяг, вогнеборець, перемовини, верхогони,
гвинтокрил, etc. However, some of the foreign borrowings and Ukrainian buzzwords
really do not enrich the Ukrainian language and easily can be avoided because there are
genuine Ukrainian equivalents for the notions and objects they denote, e.g.,
перформанс, ньюзмейкер, месидж, лайв (прямий ефір, наживо) [ibid.: 70-71], to
which we may add such obscure words as кава-брейк, іншуренс, бізнес-лаундж,
педалювати питання, хостес (господиня), міжповерховий дротохід (ліфт),
жінкознавець (лікар-гінеколог), розчепірка (парасолька), штрикавка (шприц), etc.
Translation practice also shows that alongside with the traditional ways of
coining up buzzword neologisms (such as for example affixation: defamation,
globalilization, deglobalization, marginalization, to reinvent, subsidiarity, answerable,
etc.), the most productive way in the 21 st century is a wide spread of semantic buzzword
neologisms [Зацний, Янков 2008:58] – that is lexical items, which are created by way
of acquiring new senses by the existing words of the mainstream vocabulary. That
means that the translator often has to render the contextual sense of the new lexeme but
not always its traditional meaning recorded in the dictionary. Thus, to be in the pipeline
is understood by the business circles community as бути «в роботі», бути на
«підході» with reference to a project; coherent response means відповідна, адекватна
реакція; emerging economies – країни, що економічно розвиваються; to fashion the
strategy – формулювати, розробляти стратегію; grassroots movement – народна
ініціатива; reality check – перевірка експертом даних в реальних умовах; to sit
easily with somebody – легко налагоджувати гарні стосунки, не втручатися, etc.
Another tendency in English is an extensive usage of the word-building models of
N+N type (instead of preposition + N model): black spots, board member, crisis
management, the Interior Ministry, the Justice Department, prison escaper, stimulus
package, trouble spots, etc., which require certain syntactic transformations while
translating them into Ukrainian.
There is also one more reason for the domination of semantic pattern in coining
up buzzword neologisms linked up to the tendency of creating euphemisms to avoid
unwanted social, political, ethnic, ethical, gender, cultural and religious connotations
[Селіванова 2011: 144] or, in other words, to ensure political correctness 1. Examples
are: collateral damage (супровідні ушкодження; супутня шкода – тобто
1
We believe that the term “political correctness” in the 21 st century should be treated in broader terms – as “communicative
correctness” because it applies not only to verbal and linguistic correctness in politics but practically to all spheres of
human life. Thus one may speak of “cultural correctness”, “racial correctness”, “religious correctness”, “gender
correctness” and other instances when people have to observe certain ethical rules of communication.
«ненавмисно заподіяна шкода населенню або випадкове знищення майна під час
бойових дій, боротьби з тероризмом або ліквідації техногенних катастроф»); СSW
(commercial sex worker – instead of a prostitute); IDU – intravenous (injecting) drug
user – instead of a drug addict; MSM – men who have sex with men – instead of a male
homosexual, etc.).
The latest (quite specific, though) tendency is to use buzzword neologisms
without translation (that is in the letters of the source language). This method started to
be widely used in the latest decade with the expansion of various brand names
(especially computer software, the Internet and other high-tech products, names of
songs and other peaces of art, fashion, automobile and pharmaceutical industries
products, etc.) and is usually labelled as “incrustation” («інкрустація» or «пряме
включення» ). One can find practically at every page of computer, high-tech literature
or in adverts examples like the following: Перевірте правильність установки
системи електронної пошти на Microsoft Word; Ця операційна система не
підтримує встановлення драйвера через Setup; Цей браузер не підтримує пошук
API CSO.
To summarize ways of rendering (transforming) buzzword neologisms and weasel
words from English into Ukrainian and back we may conclude that in the end of the
first decade of the 21-st century the following ways of rendering are commonly used:
1. Wide use of practical transcription and transliteration (transcoding): actuary –
актуарій; diversification – диверсифікація; upgrade – апгрейд; web-site –
веб-сайт; browser – браузер.
2. Rendering based upon finding analogies: bottlenecks – «вузькі місця»;
households – домогосподарства; good governance – належне
у(в)рядування; roundabout – транспортна розв’язка («клумба»).
3. Rendering based upon translation loans: delivery versus payment – доставка
проти платежу; task manager – диспетчер завдань; underwriter –
надписувач цінних паперів; безготівковий розрахунок – non-cash payment.
4. Finding Ukrainian correspondences built by adding a transcoded or loan
element to the Ukrainian element: web-page – веб-сторінка; frame analysis –
фреймовий аналіз.
5. Combined method of rendering with the use of Latin, Cyrillic letters and
digits: USB-port – USB-порт; X-modem – X-модем.
6. Incrustation (leaving the lexeme in the SL, usually Latin, letters): Microsoft
Word; Internet Explorer; ASUS; LEXUS; BMW; Toyota.
7. Descriptive translation (explication): absentee voter – виборець, який голосує
за відкріпним талоном; stakeholder – зацікавлена сторона, учасник
соціальної або ділової програми (проекту); резонансна справа – a high
profile case; кишенькова опозиція – easy-to-manipulate opposition.
8. Coining of Ukrainian equivalents on the foreign language basis: emoticon –
смайлi(и)к; генделик (from a German word Handel – торгівля).
It is also worthwhile mentioning quite a new way of coining buzzwords in the so-
called textspeak (txtng, textese, chatspeak, SMS language, txt talk), which is a term
for abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of
mobile text messaging, though its use is common on the Internet, including e-mail and
instant messaging. It can be linked to a rebus, which uses pictures and single letters, or
numbers to represent whole words. For words which have no common abbreviation,
users most commonly remove the vowels from a word, and the reader (translator) is
forced to interpret a string of consonants and sometimes numerals by re-adding the
vowels (e.g., dictionary becomes dctnry, or keyboard becomes kybrd). The reader must
interpret the abbreviated words depending on the context in which it is used, as there are
many examples of words or phrases which use the same abbreviations (e.g. lol could
mean “laugh out loud” or “lots of love”. So if someone writes ttyl, lol they probably
mean “talk to you later, lots of love” but not “talk to you later, laugh out loud”; and if
someone writes omg, lol they probably mean “oh my god, laugh out loud” but not “oh
my god, lots of love”. Context is key when interpreting textspeak, and precisely this is a
shortfall which critics cite as a reason not to use it. The words of textspeak usually are
not recorded by standard dictionaries and language academies are reluctant to recognize
them.
The objective of textspeak is to use the fewest number of characters needed to
convey a comprehensible message, also as many telecommunication companies have an
SMS character limit, another benefit of textspeak is to reduce the character count of a
message, hence, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization are largely ignored [Сrystal
2008; Textspeak]. Here are some typical examples of textspeak lexical units: atm (at the
moment); brb (be right back); btw (by the way); g2g (got to go); gr8 (great); idk (I don’t
know); t2yl (talk to you later); 4u (for you); cul8r (see you later), 2b or not 2b (to be or
not to be).
Such textspeak lexical items are usually translated into Ukrainian in a descriptive
way (by way of explication), however, nowadays there are instances when textspeak
lexical items may be encountered in the Ukrainian Internet chats and mobile
telecommunication messages, for example: язов71 (я зовсім один).
All that has been mentioned above give reasons to consider the way of giving a
name to these lexical, semantic and cultural transformations of the buzzword
neologisms that are observed nowadays. Some writers on the subject traditionally
attribute these transformations to “different ways of translating”, some write of
“implantation” [Денисова 2006], however, one of the most acceptable terms seems to
be “language localisation”.
Language localisation can be defined as the second phase of a larger process
(internationalisation and localisation) of product translation and linguistic and cultural
adaptation (for specific countries, regions, social groups) to account for differences in
distinct communities. Thus, it is important not to reduce it to a mere translation activity
because it involves a comprehensive study of the target culture in order to correctly
adapt the product [Language localisation].
The language localisation process was first most generally related to cultural
adaptation and translation of computer software, websites and video games [Онищенко
2008]. Several examples (some quite appropriate but some ridiculous) to localise the
English software terms to the Ukrainian target users are: application – прикладна
програма; to click – клацнути, виконати щиглик; bold – грубий, погрублений
(шрифт); default – усталений; Internet explorer – проводир павутиння; wizard –
майстеp, etc2.
2
For more examples see: Microsoft Community Glossary Project for Ukrainian [Електронний ресурс] – Режим доступу:
http://members.microsoft.com/wincg/home aspx?langid=1058 .
Nowadays the language localisation process is widely applied to rendering various
brand names (especially in the computer, car-making, pharmaceutical and food industry,
fashion and other sectors). There is no doubt that the principle of appropriateness
(доречність вживання) [Максімов 2004] should be strictly observed in doing this.
Below there are some examples of inappropriate language localisation instances,
which create unwanted reactions among the target customers/users: Glister (toothpaste
for children) – зубна паста Глістер; Zhiguli (VAZ 2101 car that was soon renamed as
Lada for the foreign market); KIA – the South Korean car brand, which would be
inappropriate in the English speaking countries, as one of the meanings of this acronym
is killed in action (загиблий під час бойових дій), Ukrainian abbreviation ЗАТ
(закрите акціонерне товариство) is today most commonly replaced by АТЗТ
(акціонерне товариство закритого типу) due to certain inappropriateness of the
sounding of the first variant.
In principle, it is highly recommended that translators and interpreters compile
their own (preferably electronic) subject field glossaries of buzzwords, weasel words
neologisms, acronyms and abbreviations, textspeak items, where the principles of their
translation or localisation (whatever term may be chosen) with due respect to the
principles of communicative correctness and appropriateness are considered.
Having completed translation of a text, it is quite appropriate to leave it for some
time and to look at it later on “with a fresh look” so that all mistakes and defects of
translation can be clearly seen. Then the process of editing (correcting and amending)
translated text begins until translator considers the results of the job to be satisfactory.
Technological advances and globalisation processes that rapidly progress in the
st
21 century provide unlimited opportunities for translators to facilitate and improve
results of their professional work. Numerous web sites on translation are available on
the Internet, general and special dictionaries, which are rapidly improved and updated,
special computer software is being constantly designed to assist translators. On the one
hand cultures and languages become closer to each other, but on the other – greater
separation of professional subcultures and sublanguages becomes obvious. All these
factors make the mission of translators and interpreters, who serve as mediators and
facilitators of human progress, even more important in the fast-changing world of today.
PRACTICE SECTION 10
8. Analyse and translate into Ukrainian the following text (Text 1) paying special
attention to obvious translation transformations and ways of rendering buzzwords.
Text 1.
Structural and Behavioral Factors Affecting the Epidemic
9. Analyse and translate into English the following text (Text 2) paying special attention
to obvious translation transformations and ways of rendering buzzwords.
Text 2.
ЛЮДИНА І БРЕНД
Кайлі Міноуг визнали найвідомішою австралійкою
addition додавання
antonymic translation антонімічний переклад
appropriateness доречність вживання
buzzword (vogue word, fashion word, «словo сьогодення» (модне, часто
catch phrase ) вживане слово або фраза)
compensation for losses in translating компенсація втрат при перекладі
concretization (substantiation) of meanings конкретизація понять
differentiation of meanings диференціація понять
generalization of meanings узагальнення (генералізація) понять
grammatical replacement граматична заміна
localisation (localization) локалізіція
logical (sense) development логічний (змістовий) розвиток
modulation модуляція
omission випущення
textspeak; textese; SMS language, txtng мова текстових повідомлень; мова SMS-
повідомлень, текстомова
total reorganization цілісне перетворення (рос. целостное
преобразование)
transformations in translation; translation перекладацькі трансформації
transformations
transposition транспозиція, перестановка
weasel words слова-хамелеони та метаморфози
ANNEX 1
1) establishing extralinguistic factors that determine the type of discourse the text
belongs to (pictures, photographs, schemes, formulas, etc.);
2) determining the type of discourse the text belongs to (legal, administrative,
business, military, scientific discourse; discourse of the mass media; political
discourse; fictional (aesthetic) discourse; colloquial discourse, etc.).
1) structural level: means of ensuring lexical and semantic cohesion in the text:
repetition links used in the text (simple and complex lexical repetition, simple
and complex paraphrase, co-reference, substitution, etc.); grammatical and
syntactical structure of the text (patterns of the sequence of tenses, the use of
articles, compound and complex sentences, etc,);
2) semantic level: establishing the macroproposition of the text and its referential
relationships with the text segments.