Филологические науки / Актуальные
проблемы перевода
Mykytiuk I.M., Ph.D., Lypka Ya.R.
Chernivtsi National University, Ukraine
Text
Analysis and Translation
The analysis of the traditional issues in
translation studies proves that the text definitively commits the translator. According to I. V. Korunets’,
“Translation […] is associated with the action or process of
rendering/expressing the meaning/content of a source language word, word-group,
sentence or passage (larger text) in the target language or with the result of
the process/action of rendering” [1 , p. 10].
The
aim of this article is to reveal the importance of linguostylistic text
analysis for the process of translation. The research is carried out on the
material of English and Ukrainian publicistic style text.
The
article under analysis comes from THE
DAY (the issue of 15.03.2012) [2] and is
published in the section Economy. It is written by the reporter Vitalii Kniazhansky
and exists in English and Ukrainian versions.
The issue discussed in this article is rather topical – it deals with the new social policy of the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and
economic security of Ukraine. The function of this article
is to inform the readers about the situation in the country and to state certain
facts while simultaneously giving some comments.
Each
paragraph of the article under analysis (there are 11 paragraphs in both
English and Ukrainian versions) introduces a new piece of information or an
expert’s opinion on the topic discussed.
The
author of this article makes effective use of direct speech: “over the past 20 years there have been no such
large-scale systemic and comprehensive social reforms” – Azarov’s opinion on the new policy;“It’s extremely important
to keep the exchange and inflation rates”; “... some people will be convinced
to keep their money on their bank accounts rather than close them, demanding
hard cash … we will provide favorable terms and conditions” – President’s commentary, the way he is going to implement his policy
without damaging Ukraine.
While
reading this article the readers immediately perceive that the author is not
indifferent to the problem discussed. To make his sentences sound persuasive
and significant, he makes use of rhetorical questions: The big question
is: “Won’t these provocative inflation seeds end up in a fertile soil?”;
I wonder who has done this disservice to our
president?; Then what?; What can Ukraine offer Russia? It should be
mentioned that rhetorical questions are retained in the Ukrainian variant of the
article but their structure is somewhat modified: Чи не проросте з часом це провокаційне
інфляційне «зерно»?; І хто так підставив Президента?; Що тоді?; А що ми
запропонуємо Росії?
The
skeptical attitude to the President of Ukraine (the fragment where V. Kniazhansky writes about
opposition) is quite palpable in the second paragraph of the article: “According to the opposition, Yanukovych got carried away with his
initiatives, forgetting that some of his ideas actually belonged to someone
else …”. The same thought is
topical in the Ukrainian variant but the wording is different: the phrase got carried away is omitted, while the
lexeme політкоректність is inserted: «За її даними, Янукович зі своїми
ініціативами, схоже, взагалі забув про політкоректність і фактично привласнив
собі чужі пропозиції». Also the
noun opposition
of the English variant is replaced by the pronoun її in Ukrainian.
The
headline of this article is expressed by imperative sentence: Do no harm! – and is retained in the translation Не зашкодь! The sentence itself is
not reiterated in the article, but we may assume that the whole text is in
conformity with the headline. Almost each sentence of the article contributes
to the idea that “new social policy” may cause damage to the economy of
Ukraine.
The
vocabulary of the article alongside with neutral common literary words contains
the following lexemes:
1)
political and economic terms: budget – бюджет, president – президент, prime
minister –
прем’єр-міністр, social policy – соціальна політика, reforms –
реформи,
inflation –
інфляція,
constitutional duty – конституційний обов’язок, Financial Reporting Conditions in Hyperinflation – фінансова звітність в
умовах гіперінфляції, Ministry of Finance – міністерство фінансів, bank accounts – банківські рахунки, cash –
готівка,
investment –
інвестування,
The National Bank of Ukraine – Національний Банк України;
2) abbreviations: MP – народний депутат, BYuT-Batkivshchyna – БЮТ—Батьківщина, NU-NS – НУ-НС, VAT – ПДВ, NBU – НБУ, IMF – МВФ;
3) markers of time: On March 7 – 7 березня, past 20 years – за 20 років, current weak – нинішній, the past three months – третій місяць поспіль;
4) markers of quantity: 10-11 billion – 10-11 мільярдів, 0.5 billion – 0,5 млрд, 5-5.5 billion hryvnias – 5-5,5 млрд грн., 0.8 percent – 0,8%.
In
Ukrainian variant complex sentences undergo transformation. For example:
MP Arsenii Yatseniuk made a statement, on behalf of
the BYuT-Batkivshchyna and NU-NS factions, saying that a miracle happened after
the opposition had come up with its social initiatives; that Yanukovych
recalled that he was the president and that he had to keep the promises he had
made to the people of Ukraine.
Цим практично докорив Президента в заяві від імені
фракцій «БЮТ—Батьківщина» й НУ-НС народний депутат Арсеній Яценюк. За його
словами, після того, як опозиція виступила зі своїми соціальними ініціативами,
«сталося диво — Янукович згадав, що він Президент, він згадав про те, що треба
виконувати обіцянки перед народом України».
As
we may see, one English sentence is split into two in Ukrainian translation.
Besides, in the Ukrainian variant there is direct speech, while the English one
features a paraphrase of the quote.
The
next step of our reserch is to discuss peculiarities of translation of
stylistic devices.
Inversion
in the English variant: Also, should
this initiative money appear on the market, the latter would respond by
another inflation upsurge is not retained in the translation: Якщо «ініціативні» кошти
одразу виплеснуться на ринок, то не уникнути й сплеску інфляції. By way of compensation for this device a separate sentence is
introduced: Але
це ще не все.
Personification
in the English variant: prices will jump is
replaced by the tentative phrase ціни все одно можуть зрости.
Metaphors,
mostly trite, are sometimes recreated by means of metaphors on the crest of the opposition’s verbal wave
– на гребені вербальної хвилі;
while in other cases they are not retained The National Bank of Ukraine is the biggest obstacle
on the road leading to these social initiatives
– головним
обмежувачем соціальних ініціатив виступає Нацбанк.
Verbal
irony is characteristic of both English and Ukrainian variants: He did and the
people of Ukraine should thank him, as well as the opposition for carrying out
its constitutional duty by lashing out at the current administration, now and
then – Але ж згадав, і народ, напевно, скаже «дякую» за це не лише йому, а й
опозиції, яка також виконала свій конституційний обов’язок, що полягає в тому,
аби пощипувати, а часом і кусати владу.
Anaphora
in the English variant: The Ministry of Finance had to make statements refuting
such allegations, explaining that the adoption of this standard is
common practice across the world; that it has nothing to do with the
current economic status; that this is a measure to be taken in order to
harmonize the accounting procedures is not
retained in the Ukrainian variant: Мінфіну довелося давати спростування й
пояснювати, що впровадження такого стандарту є загальноприйнятою практикою, не
пов’язане зі станом економіки, а слугує всього лише мірою гармонізації
бухгалтерського обліку.
Summing
up, it should be mentioned that this article
provides information on a newsworthy topic. Translation of this publicistic
style text is adequate, since all important issues are represented according to
their pragmatic loading. We
adopt the view that translating is a communicative process which is determined
by the social context.
Bibliography:
1.
Корунець I. B. Теорія i практика перекладу / Корунець I.
B. — Вінниця : Нова книга, 2001. — 448 с.
2.
Kniazhansky V. Do No Harm! [Електронний ресурс] — Режим
доступу: http://www.day.kiev.ua/225190
— Заголовок з екрану.