Ê.ô.í. Òèìîøåíêî Æ.².

ÄÍÓ

Theoretical aspects of translation

Translation as a term and notion is of polysemantic nature, its common  and most general meaning is mostly associated with the action of process of rendering the meaning of a source language word, a word-group, a sentence, a passage or a larger text in the target language or with the result of the process of rendering. In other words with the work performed by the translator (ex. this is my translation). “Translation” is also used to denote  the subject taught oe studied, the examination in the subject (ex. we have translation in the time-table today; i have to pass translation tomorrow).  “Translation” may refer to the title of manual/theoretical work on the subject (ex. i bought Translation by Karaban) besides, the Romanozation of proper nouns, geographical names, different internationalisms, etc., when Latin letters are used to convey the Ukranian nouns, verbs, adverbs is “translation” to : Êè¿â Kyiv, Ëüâ³â Lvov, Á³ëà Öåðêâà Bila Tserkva, Ïîëòàâà Poltava, algebra  àëãåáðà,  geographer ãåîãðàô, computer êîìï’þòåð, opera îïåðà,  telephone (v)  òåëåôîíóâàòè, mechanically ìåõàí³÷íî, ignore ³ãíîðóâàòè, historivally ³ñòîðè÷íî. “Translated” in this way, i.e., transliterated with the help of Cyrillic letters are many English and other foreign names and different terms. Cf.: Archibald Cronin Àð÷³áàëüä Êðîí³í, Robert Frost Ðîáåðò Ôðîñò, Ottawa Îòòàâà, Susan Ñ’þçàí, Helmut Kohl Ãåëüìóò Êîëü, shilling øèë³íã, pizza ï³ööà, therapeutic òåðàïåâòè÷íèé, etc.

No less ambiguous is also the term “interpretation” which is synonymous to “translation” and is used to denote the way or manner of presenting the ides of the work in translation orally. These may be artistic, genre and stylistic peculiarities rendered by the translator in his particular way, which is somewhat different from that of the autor’s. The thing id that “interpretation” unkile “translation”, admits some more freedom of the translator in his treatmrnt (at least in certain places or cases) of the matter under translation. Hence, the existence of free verifications (ïåðåñï³âè) and free adaptation (ïåðåëèöþâàííÿ) and rightly treated as new creations (when they are of high artistic value). To the letter belong thr famous free interpretations of Virgil’s Aeneid in Ukranian by I.Kotlyarevskyi. practically “adapted” are also Shakespearean’s masterpieces. Byron’s writings and many other poetic and prose works. Consequently, “interpretation” may denote apart from the oral method of translation also a peculiar, as well as the only way of presenting a prose or poetic work in translation (“Interpretation” may also denote the style of a peculiar translator and his way of presenting a particular literary work).

Apart from the two mentioned above, there are some other terms in the theory of translation which may seen ambiguous to the inexperienced student. These usually common terms are : accurate or exact (to what degree?) translation òî÷íèé ïåðåêëàä; faithful (or realistic) translation àäåêâàòíèé,â³ðíèé ïåðåêëàä; faithfulness of translation  àäåêâàòí³ñòü, â³ðí³ñòü ïåðåêëàäó; fidelity of translation/interpretation â³ðí³ñòü, àäåêâàòí³ñòü ïåðåêëàäó; equivalent translation åêâ³âàëåíòíèé ïåðåêëàä; free interpretation â³ëüíèé ïåðåêëàä, ïåðåëèöþâàííÿ; free adaptation â³ëüíèé ïåðåêëàä, ïåðåðîáêà; free interpretation â³ëüíèé ïåðåñï³â, ïåðåëèöþâàííÿ; free/loose translation â³ëüíèé ïåðåêëàä, ïåðåêàç; consecutive intepretation ïîñë³äîâíèé ïåðåêëàä, óñíå òëóìà÷åííÿ; off-hand translation ïåðåêëàä, òëóìà÷åííÿ áåç ïîïåðåäíüî¿ ï³äãîòîâêè (ç ãîëîñó ÷è ç àðêóøà); rehash â³ëüíà ïåðåðîáêà (âäàëà ñè íåâäàëà) òâîðó; sight translation (translation at sight) ïåðåêëàä, óñíå òëóìà÷åííÿ ç àêðóøà, òåêñòó; simultaneous translation ñèíõðîííèé ïåðåêëàä; rough translation ðîáî÷èé âàð³àíò ïåðåêëàäó, ÷îðíîâèé ïåðåêëàä and some others.

Each of the above-mentioned terms may be understood and interpreted differently. Thus, “free interpretation” may mean both “free translation”, “free adaptation” and sometimes even “loose translation”. Similary with the terms and notions as “faithful translation” and “equivalrnt translation” which are synonymous if not identical by their general meaning, but there is some difference between them. The term “faithful translation” (àäåêâàòíèé, â³ðíèé ïåðåêëàä) is used to denote the hihgest level/degree of rendering the denovative or connovative meanings of words, the sense of word-groups and sentences, the content, the expressiveness of works of the source language with the help of the available means of the target language. The term “equvivalent translation” is niwadays practically used in the same meaning as “faithfull translation” with one exception only : it also includes thr necessity of quantitative and qualitative representation of all constitutuve parts of elements of the source language units in the target language. Consequently, a “faithful translation” very often means the same as “equivalent translation” which can be best illustrated on th esingle words, wordgroups or sentences as the following : democracy äåìîêðàòè, work ïðàöÿ, professors and students ïðîôåñîðè òà ñòóäåíòè, to work hard âàæêî ïðàöþâàòè, take part áðàòè ó÷àñòü, thought light ïðîëèâàòè ñâ³òëî.

In regard tj the above-said, there can be no equivalence but only faighfulness in the translation of such English language units as : complexion êîë³ð îáëè÷÷ÿ, to take measures âæèâàòè çàõîä³â, little bird äîíîùèê („ñòóêà÷”), live in the street áóâàòè âäîìà. In a large number of cases “translation” is traditionally applied to various substitutions of the source language images of the target language, which helps achieve the necessary faithfulness in conveying their meaning. Ex. penny-in-the slot ïðèëàä, ïðèñòð³é-àâòîìàò äëÿ ðîçðàõóíê³â çà òîâàðè (òîðã³âëÿ); the land of Golden Fleece Àâñòðàë³ÿ; red blood ìóæí³ñòü, â³äâàãà, õîðîáð³ñòü (êîãîñü). Therefore, “faithful” is not always “equivalent”.

The term “translation” is used even to denote purely functional substitutions which have absolutely nothing in common with any expression/rendering of meaning of the sourse language sense units in the target language. A graphic example of this kind of “translation” can be the following passage : “There’s the tree in the missle ... It could bark... It says “Bough-Waugh”... “That’s why its branches are called Boughs” (L.Carrol, Alice in Wonderland). In Ukranian : îí ô³êóñ ñòî¿òü!... Ìè òîìó ³ ïðîçâàëè éîãî Ô³-êóñ, ùî â³í êóñàºòüñÿ. It goes without saying that the lexical meaning of “tree” is not „Ô³êóñ” and “Bough-Waugh” or “boughs” do not correlate with „êóñàòèñü” which they were substitute for in this Ukranian translation by H.Bushyna.

Similar “translated” i.e. functionally suntituted are different English and Ukranian metaphorically used nouns, verbs and set expressions as in the example knight of the pencil æóðíàë³ñò, êîððåñïîíäåíò, haby-snatcher ñòàðà æ³íêà, ùî îäðóæóºòüñÿ ç ìîëîäèì ÷îëîâ³êîì, the Square Mile ëîíäîíñüêå ѳò³ (ô³íàíñîâ³é öåíòð Ëîíäîíà), the Square Mile of Vice Ñîãî (ðàéîí í³÷íèõ ðîçâàã ì³ñòà Ëîíäîíà), soft head íåäîóìêóâàòà ëþäèíà (äóðíèê) ect.