Grammatical Translation TechniquesTheory of translation Topic 3 Grammatical Translation Techniques 1. Grammatical transformations can be necessitated by the following factors:
Read the sentences and say what necessitated transformations:
2. Study the information and be ready to discuss expansion, and addition. Provide your own examples. · Unlike explication, which is performed for lexical reasons, expansion is of grammatical character. It consists in using a TL word combination to render the meaning of a SL word, or in using a TL sentence to render the meaning of a SL phrase. We resort to expansion if the traditions of the TL do not allow us to preserve the SL grammar (We can’t translate the sentence He is a poor speller word for word, because in the Russian language there is no noun with the same meaning. That is why we restructure it in the following way: Он делает много орфографических ошибок). To perform expansion the translator should analyze the grammatical and lexical semes of a SL word or word combination and look for a means to preserve them in the TL. · addition is used when the original is felt to be insufficient because the TL system requires redundancy (He felt fine – Он чувствовал себя прекрасно; В руках она держала книгу – She had a book in her hand). Besides, we use addition to supply additional information, which a non-native listener may fail to get from the context: (He lived in Kent – Он жил в графстве Кент). What factors from task 1 can necessitate expansion and addition? Explain. 3. Translate the following items commenting on the techniques. · Such was Tolstoy’s fame (expansion) that Yasnaya Polyana became a place of pilgrimage (expansion). · Он поднял руку (addition) и почесал затылок (addition). · He worked at “ Mars ” (addition + transliteration). · It was a busy night (expansion): the bar was busy, the crap table was busy, the ping-pong table was busy (expansion). · Adamson, sixtyish (expansion), was prominent in community affairs (expansion). · After (expansion) Paris or London, Washington looks provincial.
4. Read the information and be ready to explain the essence of expansion and compression. Prepare your own examples: · The opposite of expansion is compression (Германия занимает одно из ведущих мест по экспорту оптических приборов – Germany is a key exporter of optical instruments). We resort to compression in order to avoid redundancy, i.e. to imply what had to be explicit in the SL. · Language economy also manifests itself in Omission, which is the opposite of addition. Omission is used when a complete reconstruction of the original sounds inappropriate semantically or is felt to be redundant (Он чувствовал себя прекрасно – He felt fine; She had a book in her hand – В руках она держала книгу). What factors from task 1 can necessitate compression and omission? Explain. 5. Translate the following items relying on the suggested techniques. · Он решил, что не вымолвит больше ни слова, так как, по его мнению, всё равно от этого не было никакого проку (compression). · СССР занимал первое место в мире по производству угля (compression). · Он умел с достоинством проигрывать, но когда выигрывал, был совершенно невыносим (compression). · Harry kneaded (concretization) his forehead (omission) with his knuckles (omission + concretization). · I’m from Devonshire (addition + transliteration).
6. Translate the sentences into the TL and comment on the transformations. · It was a white tiled, gleaming-tapped bathroom. · It was a dehumanized apartment. · Modern Italy is an underbathroomed and overmonumented country. · He has always been a hearty eater. · The actors will appear in the soon-to-be-released film. · It was a handsome man; he clerked at some forwarding department and roomed a very small lodging not far from his office. · Накинув на волосы косынку, она выбежала во двор. · С тех самых пор мы ни разу не встречались. · На таких людей, как он, нельзя полагаться. · Змея с шипением уползла. · Harry tookhis face out of his hands, opened his eyes, and stared around his bedroom as though expecting to see something unusual there. · В пятницу мы должны были все вместе ехать в Рыбное, но с утра Кира почувствовала себя неважно и мы поехали вдвоем.
7. Read the information and be ready to explain the essence of sentence breaking and sentence joining. Prepare your own examples: · One more translation device similar to expansion is sentence breaking, which consists in translating one simple SL sentence as a complex or compound TL sentence. There are some structures that require this transformation: · complex objects: I hate his behaving in this way; · infinitive structure with the preposition “for”: I am anxious for her to pass the exam; · infinitive structures indicating a subsequent action: She woke up to find her mother making breakfast; · nominative with the infinitive constructions: The number of hospital beds is expected to increase twofold; · infinitive of purpose constructions: He ran faster to finish first, etc. · The opposite of sentence breaking is sentence joining (it is similar to compression). This device consists in using a simple TL sentence to render the meaning of a complex or compound SL sentence. 8. Translate the sentences and say what techniques were used.
9. Read the information and be ready to explain the essence of replacement. Prepare your own examples: The essence of replacement (= functional substitution) is substituting one thing by another. There are several types of replacement: · substitution of word forms (сани – sledge, часы – watch), · substitution of parts of speech (to shrug a careless shoulder – небрежно пожать плечами), · substitution of sentence parts (The book made him feel sorry for the characters – Ему было жаль героев книги), · substitution of sentence types (While I was eating my eggs, these two nuns with suitcases came in - Я ел яичницу, когда вошли эти две монахини с чемоданами).
10. Translate the sentences using the types of replacement suggested.
11. Read the information and be ready to explain the essence of antonymic translation. Prepare your own examples: One more translation device is antonymic translation. Antonymic translation is substituting a negative sentence with an affirmative one and vice versa (She is not unworthy of your attention – Она вполне заслуживает вашего внимания). 12. Use antonymic translation as a transformation technique.
13. Read the information and be ready to explain the essence of transposition. Prepare your own examples: Transposition consists in changing the word order necessitated by topic-comment relationships. In the Russian language we place the known information in the beginning of a sentence while the new one is placed at the end. In the English language it is customary to use such structures as there is/are and articles to show which information is new to the listener or reader.
14. Use transposition where necessary.
15. Match the terms denoting translation techniques with their Russian equivalents. Расширение, перестановка, объединение предложений, антонимический перевод, компрессия, членение предложений, опущение, добавление, функциональная замена.
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