GRAMMATICAL MEANS OF TRANSLATION

Ecaterina bric gr. 211 mp

GRAMMATICAL FORMS Grammatical form is a discrete element, which exists

in the grammatical system of this or that language. A form  never appears as an existing thing, or as a

point in time, but rather as an event of choosing. Thus, the grammatical forms, from the point of view of

the translator, do not 'exist', they 'happen', they develop in time as a process of making a choice.

The translator is a linguistic agent whose choices are governed by the interplay of communicative intention and expected inference on the part of the recipient interlocutor. On the other hand, there is a complex of factors influencing the translator’s choices. These factors constitute a hierarchy of various degrees of relevance for the final grammatical action:

LEXICAL FACTOR

As an example of a lexical factor partaking in grammatical action the following parallel might be taken where the Russian language prefers the simple past (supported, in its perfective function, by ‘now’ and ‘here you are’), whereas in the English translation we find a ‘pure’ present perfect.

E.g. Вот я сейчас из деревни приехал. (Л.

Толстой) I’ve just come back from the country.

CONTEXT Traditionally, the usage of the grammatical

form is correlated with the context. The context is not given, it is created by the

speaker while conceptualizing and coding his or her message.

Due to asymmetry in form and content between different languages, the translator should take, as a minimum basic unit of comparison and translation, a unit smaller than a complete sentence (which includes at least two grammatical events), but bigger than a separate grammatical form or a discrete contextual element.

this optimal unit is defined as a grammatical contextual complex (GCC) which correlates with a universal grammatical integral.

The following formula reflects the structure of GCC in a particular language:

GCC = FORM + LEXICAL FILLING + CONTEXT

E.g. По небу полуночи ангел летел

(Лермонтов) One midnight an angel flew over the sky.

LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL EQUIVALENCE On this level, the most possible semantic

semilarity between the source and target sentences is found:

e.g. Every mother loves her children. – Каждая мать любит своих детей.

this is a word for word translation where each word and the whole structure retains its lexical and grammatical meaning, the situation designated by the sentences is identical, and the communicative function of the utterances is the same.

WAYS OF ACHIEVING EQUIVALENCE: TYPES OF TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES

Transcription, or copying the sound form the source language word by means of the target language letters: e.g. eau de cologne – одеколон, hake - хек;

Transliteration or copying the letters of the source language by the target language letters of another system: e.g. London – Лондон

In the dispute between transcription and transliteration, some factors should be kept in mind:

- modern and outdated traditions: these days the English great physicist Newton is known in Russia as Ньютон (transcription), though in the 18th century M. Lomonosov wrote about Невтон (transliteration).

- national traditions: in the source language the form of a name can follow the spelling traditions of its original country. The target language form often follows the original pronunciation tradition: Mozart – Моцарт; Singer – Зингер.

- Calque is translation by parts: старовер – Old Believer.

GRAMMAR TRANSFORMATIONSGrammar transformations are morphological or syntactical changes in

translated units. They are subdivided into the following types: Grammar substitution, when a grammar category of the translated

unit is changed. -Thus a passive construction can be translated by an active voice verb

form. e.g. The port can be entered by big ships only in tide. – Большие корабли могут заходить в порт только во время прилива. -Or there may be substitution of the noun number category, the singular

by the plural or vice versa: e.g. Her hair is fair and wavy. – У нее светлые волнистые волосы. Word order change. English and Russian sentences have different

information structures.e.g. A new press conference was held in Washington yesterday. It is naturally

equivalent to Вчера в Вашингтоне состоялась новая пресс-конференция. Sentence partitioning is the replacement of a simple sentence in the

source text with a complex sentence .e.g. I want you to undestand this transformation. Я хочу, чтобы вы поняли эту трансформацию.

GRAMMAR TRANSFORMATIONo Sentence integration is a contrary transformation. It

takes place when we make one sentence out of two or more, or convert a complex sentence into a simple one: e.g.

If one knows languages, one can come out on top. – Зная языки, можно далеко пойти.

Grammar compensation is a deliberate change of the grammar category by some other grammar means. Compensation takes place when a grammar category or form does not exist in the target laguage and, therefore, cannot produce the same impact upon the target text receptor. E.g.

''Take some of the conceit out of him,'' he gurgled. ''Out of who?'' asked Barbara, knowing perfectly well that she should have said 'whom' '' - «Поубавь немного у него тщеславия,» - буркнул он. «С кого?» – спросила Барбара, хорошо зная, что ей следовало сказать ‘у кого’».

GRAMMAR PROBLEMS OF TRANSLATION

Translating tense and aspect forms. Asymmetry in expressing tense distinctions in English and Russian.

Russian English

future Если он придет, я дам вам знать.

Presentsimple

If he comes, I’ll let you know.

Past simple

Кто съел мой суп? Present Perfect

Who has eaten my soup?

TRANSLATING PASSIVE VOICE FORMS

English passive is classified into four types of construction:

a) direct passive: A book was given to him. It has a corresponding Russian passive voice form: Книга была дана ему.

b) indirect passive: He was given the book. This form is translated by the corresponding Russian active voice verb in the impersonal sentence: Ему дали эту книгу.

c) prepositional passive: The article was not referred to. – На эту статью не ссылались. The corresponding Russian impersonal sentence is also with the active verb.

d) adverbial passive: The room hasn’t been lived in. When translated into Russian, the passive construction is substituted by an active one, sometimes a subject of the sentence is introduced: В комнате никто не жил/не живет.

Thus, only one type of English passive construction has a direct correspondence in Russian.

TRANSLATING THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD FORMS  

In both English and Russian the Subjunctive Mood expresses a hypothetical, unreal action.

In Russian, there is only one form: the past form of the verb + the particle бы: e.g. Я хотел бы пойти туда.

In English, there are many verb forms to express the subjunctive mood:

-synthetic forms be/do, were/did; -analytical forms should/would, do/have done,

might/could do/have done, may/can do, had done. e.g. I wish I could help you .Usage of the English subjunctive forms depends on

the clause structure and semantics of the main verb.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Kashkin V., Choice factors in translation, pp-

17. Kashkin V.,Grammatical Choice in

Translation, pp-62. Proshina Z., Theory of translation, 2008,

Vladivostok, Far Eastern University Press. pp- 276.