TRANSLATION OF EQUIVALENT-LACKING UNITS
Since language units often function in their accepted meanings, many SL units have regular equivalents in the TL. A number of SL units have no regular equivalents in the TL. The absence of regular equivalents makes the translator resort to occasional equivalents. Equivalent-lacking words may be translated in one of the following ways: 1. by imitating the form of a SL word/word group through transcription, transliteration or loan translation. In the course of time such occasional formations may get the status of regular equivalents: Ex. impeachment – імпічмент (transcription), inauguration – інавгурація (transliteration), brain wash – промивка мізків (loan translation) 2. by using approximate substitutes, i.e. TL words with similar meaning which is extended to convey some additional information Ex. drug store – аптека (drug store sells medicine as well as other goods, so the choice of the variant depends on the context) 3. using lexical transformations (ex. The word “exposure ” is equivalent-lacking in the meaning of “the medical condition caused when smb has been exposed to severe weather conditions”, so its meaning is modulated in the process of translation. Accordingly the sentence “He died of exposure” may be translated as “Він помер від переохолодження/сонячного удару”) or the same word drugstore may be translated as крамниця, so its meaning may be generalized. 4. by using an explanation (landslide – переконлива перемога на виборах, перемога зі значним відривом) Equivalent-lacking phraseological units are translated in one of the following ways: 1. by word-for word translation (ex. people who live in glass shouldn’t throw stones – людям, які живуть у склі краще не кидати каміння) 2. by explaining their figurative meaning (ex. to dine with duke Humphrey – залишитись без обіду, white elephant – подарунок, який замість задоволення приносить багато клопоту) Equivalent-lacking grammatical units are translated in one of the following ways: 1. by using zero translations – the meaning of an equivalent-lacking unit is not rendered because it is practically identical to the meaning of some other SL units Ex. By that time he had already left – До того часу він вже поїхав (Here the Past Perf. Tense is equivalent-lacking, the meaning of the Past Perf. Tense (priority - попередність) is not conveyed by the verb left, because it is identical to the word “already” and “by that time”). 2. by using approximate translations – TL units with similar meaning Ex. I heard him playing the piano – Я чув як він грав на піаніно (Here a complex object clause – him playing corresponds to a subordinate object clause – як він грав (Objective Participial Construction) 3. by using grammatical transformations Ex. Your presence is not obligatory. Nor is it desirable – Ваша присутність є необов’язковою та навіть небажаною (it represents integration)
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