Theory Final (Alll Topics)

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 19

4.

The role of semantic factor in translation


The theoretical principles of faithful translation and their realization through various devices of the target language
testify to the fact that referential meanings of many language units can be equivalents expressed via the same level
units of the target language. For example, the proper names of people and most of geographical names, like the
international words can be faithfully translated at the level of words. The phraseological/idiomatic expressions and
the bulk of words expressing specific nationally biased units of lexicon are mostly translated at the level of words-
combinations/phrases and sentences. Though sometimes the lexical meaning of an idiom or a unit of specific
national lexicon can be faithfully turned into the target language with the help of a single word as well (when
international).

In other words, a considerable number of simple lexemes and word combinations, stable and idiomatic expressions
can be faithfully translated when they are taken isolated, viz. at language level. Thus, the meaning of most pronouns
and numerals remains unchanged whether they are used in context or taken as separate words at language level Cf.:
глгеетри, fifteen п'ятнадцять, fifty п'ятдесят, fifth/ sixth п'ятий/ шостий, one-third'одна третя, zero point nine нуль
цілих дев'ять десятих; І я, he він, she вона, nobody ніхто, etc.

Similarly with many nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and function words which are monosemantic both in the
source language and in the target language: the sky небо, the moon місяць, geese /swans гуси/ лебеді, lake озеро,
the island острів, po//f/ca/політичний, black чорний, white білий, bathe купатися, sing співати, sleep спати, here
тут, often часто, firstly по-перше, among серед/споміж, under під, or чи, that (conjunction) що; hallo! anno, ah ax,
oh ox, even навіть, yet однак, etc.

A bulk of words belonging to the above-mentioned logico-gram-matical classes of words may also have two or more
semantically identical referents, i.e., synonymous meanings. The latter are often stylistically marked and .should
possibly be distinguished in the text under translation as well. Among these may be even such seemingly simple
words as the English because бо, тому що, через те що; courage сміливість, відвага; dad/daddy тато,
татунь/татусь; drake селезень/ качур; everywhere повсюди, скрізь or Ukrainian: дитя

baby/kid/child; осел ass, donkey; тьху! phew, pie, pshaw, pooh!; чиж/икgreenfinch, siskin. These words have one
referent similarly to many different terms which are translated both at word level and at word-group/sentence level.
E.g.: sprint спринт, біг на короткі дистанції; steeple-chase біг з перешкодами; service first stroke (tennis) удар,
яким уводиться м'яч у гру.

A faithful conveying of a referential meaning at word level may often depend upon some extralingual factors as well.
Thus, depending on the readers/listeners addressed, the translator/interpreter should use correspondingly either
British or American lexical variants: lorry вантажна машина (Br. Engl.), truck (Amer. Engl.), tin консервна банка (Br.
Engl.), can (Amer. English), timetable розклад (Br. Engl.), schedule (Amer. Engl.), sweets цукерки (Br. Engl.), candies
(Amer. Engl.), bathroom ванна (Br. Engl.), туалет (Amer. English), maize кукурудза (Br. Engl.), corn (Am. Engl.), cloak-
room роздягальня (Br. Engl.), coat-room (Amer. English), etc.

Regional peculiarities of the kind must be taken into consideration in order to achieve the necessary national
orientation of a purposeful written or oral translation.

Most of compound English words having transparent componental semes are translated into Ukrainian either at the
level of words (compounds) or at the level of word-combinations, the latter being formed from the componental
parts which become separate words in Ukrainian: air-base авіабаза; but air-raid повітряний наліт; birthplace місце
народження; cross-road перехрестя шляхів/доріг; steamship пароплав; foofn paste зубна паста; hour-hand
годинникова стрілка.
Conveying the meanings of language units
5.

at passage
Conveying the Meanings of Language Units at Passage/Text Level

The text as a term is in the true sense of the word a segment of written/oral speech or a whole work consisting of
grammatically and logically arranged language units forming with their meanings its general content. Text as a speech
unit may be smaller or larger, but irrespective of its dimension it always remains a macrostructure, which is not an
indivisible monolith but a harmonious unity of different language units. A larger text usually falls into several
constituent parts -supra-phrasal units and different types and kinds of sentences. All of them due to their
communicative completeness and logical succes¬sion1 constitute something of a semantic and structural backbone of
any text. These parts together with their various meanings make the general contextual stream of the text, whose
content can be fully and faithfully conveyed only when all contents of each block are fully and exaustively expressed.
As the blocks/supra-phrasal units are made of sentences, hence, the necessary degree of faithfulness in any translation
of texts/passages can be achieved only through faithful translation of all types of their ingredient sentences.

It must be emphasized, however, that it is not only content (the semantic plane), in other words, not only the lexical
meanings of various sense units, that have to be fully and faithfully transplanted in the process of translation. No less
important is to fully convey apart from many denotative meanings of language units also their connota-tive
characteristics, as well as their stylistic and structural peculiari¬ties. A faithful translation of supra-phrasal units or
passages/text of any speech style, therefore, presents a complex process, which in¬volves a full and faithful
expression in the target language of all the main constituent parts forming the semantic, structural, stylisitic and other
planes of a text. In view of all this it will be expedient to empha¬size that all characteristics (nothing to say about the
denotative and the connotative meanings of words and the means of expression in general) are identified, as a rule, by
way of a thorough analysis of the original text. This analysis inevitably involves apart from the particu¬larities of
content also the pragmatic toning/orientation, which can be exhaustively established, however, only at deep level
structure of the communicative units.

It must also be added that despite the differences in their actu¬alization, the planes of a text are impossible to separate
from each other, since they are closely interconnected and form the surface and the deep structures complexity of any
text. Hence it follows, that the characteristic features of each plane manifest themselves and are fully realized at text
level, which can sometimes be restricted, as has been said, to a supersyntactic unit/paragraph reflecting its main
structural, stylistic, pragmatic and other peculiarities. These peculiarities should be rendered in the faithful variant of
the target language text/ passage as well, though usually by other than in the target language means of expression.

But whatever the divergences in the means of expression of the source language and of the target language, and
irrespective of the fact that far from all the characteristic features of any text are fully reflected in its main
componental parts, the translation of a text can be succefully performed only on the basis of its constituent sentences.
This is because all syntactic level units are endowed with predication and modality, they have mostly a stuctural and
sense completion, they are stylistically and pragmatically in full conformity with the whole text. In view of all this
only the sentence can fully meet the require¬ments laid before a unit of translation, when the object assigned to
translation is a text which usually consists of different types and kinds of sentences joined in supra-syntactic
structures.

Since a faithful translation of any passage/text is performed sentence after sentence, their ideas/thoughts, the main
structural, stylistic, genre and pragmatic characteristics are mostly conveyed in a consecutive succession too. Their
constituent words, word-groups and set expressions/idioms functioning as different parts of the sen¬tence or forming
constituent elements of the latter (or even being in¬dependent elements in the sentence) are all first translated as single
units. In other words, prior to translating the sentence as a whole (provided it is not a one-member sentence, like
Winter. Bitter frost. Evening time), its parts and functionally independent elements are to be translated as separate
sense units. E.g.:

All day we had been sitting in Цілісінький день ми просиділи


the piano box waiting for the rain в ящикові з-під піаніно, чекаючи,

to stop. (Е. Caldwell) доки перестане дощ.

As can easily be ascertained, only through translation of the component parts 1) All day, 2) we had been sitting, 3) in
the piano box, 4) waiting, 5) for the rain to stop could the translation of the sentence be fully and faithfully
accomplished.

Similarly in the following simple two-member sentence:

There was an old two-storey Того року на ФілдінґАве-

yellow house on Fielding A venue ню ще стояв старий двопо-

thatyear. (W.Saroyan) верховий жовтий будинок.

This sentence too could be translated faithfully into Ukrainian only after its component parts, which also function as
parts of the sentence, were translated one after another, though not necessarily in absolutely the same, as in the source
language, succession. Cf.: 1) that year, 2) on Fielding Avenue, 3) was, 4) an old two-storey yel¬low house. There is no
need to adduce any further proofs in support of the existence of a preliminary stage of translation preceding the final
one, i.e., complete and faithful translation of the whole communica¬tive sense unit. One must acknowledge, therefore,
the existence of translation at all main language levels represented by the correspond¬ing sense units. Consequently,
one can speak of the existence of some language units having their separate levels of translation. This was already
exemplified more than once on the foregoing pages and it will be shown in the process of translating several
supersyntactic level units/paragraphs a little further. And yet a language unit in which all possible meanings pertained
to other language units, which are hier¬archically lower in rank than the sentence and thus function as its componental
parts, are fully realized at the level of the communicative unit or text as a whole. There will be more than one chance
to ascer¬tain in that in the process of the commented translation of an excerpt from D.Parker's short story
Arrangement in Black and White below. Some other excerts representing different language styles and as¬signed for
independent translation will also testify to the pointed above statements.

The selected passage to be analysed belongs to the belles-lettres style and consequently abounds in various features
character¬istic of it1. Besides it represents a dialogue with many colloquialisms peculiar of spoken American English.
The authoress employed many other stylistic means to make the narration lively and the develop¬ment of the plot
dynamic and interesting. The story is a masterly piece of psychological motivation of each character's behavior and
speech part. The text abounds in many shortened and elliptical sen¬tences and other stylistic means which are used to
create some prag¬matic subtext which the translator has to comprehend and then fully convey with the help of some
functionally relevant stylistic, syntactic and lexical/semantic means of the Ukrainian target language.

Before starting the commented translation of the text it is expe¬dient to repeatedly make mention of the obligatory
stages that should precede the very process of translation. The first of them is to read through the passage/work
selected for translation and to analyse it. All attention in the course of this analysis should be paid to picking out the
language units whose denotative or connotative meanings present some difficulties for translating. After this all
attention must be paid to choosing in dictionaries/reference books the possible se¬mantic, structural and stylistic
variants for the language units or signs as they are sometimes called1, which present difficulties for translat¬ing. The
second stage implies a regular selection from the chosen variants, which are usually more than one, the most fitting
into the given sentence/passage semantic, functional or stylistic equivalents and substitutes. Only when this
preparatory work is completed, the translation proper can be started.

It must also be noted that the peculiar sentence structures, the tropes, the prosodic and other means in belles-lettres
texts serve the aim of creating the necessary impact on the reader/listener. That is why the regular preparatory work on
the text selected for translation always takes some time, the latter being often predetermined not only by the skill and
theoretical grounding of the translator but by some other factors as well. These include the ease (or otherwise) of the
author's style, the abundance or absence of difficult for translation linguistic phenomena in his work as neologisms,
archaisms, dialectal material or any other obscure places created by some historic events or customs, culturally biased
national notions and the like. Because of this the preparatory time needed for a translation proper to begin may vary
from text to text. The main methods by which the «resis¬tance» of the source language text may be overcome in
translation (with particular attention to selecting the means of expression) will be shown further on the pages to come.

And now in accordance with the requirements of the first stage in the preparatory work for translation, read and
thoroughly analyse the passage below paying attention to difficult or obscure (if any) places you come across in each
separate sentence. Put the picked out sense units down and offer one or some suitable lexical/semantic equiva¬lents
for each of them. See to it that they also suit in the speech style of the corresponding sentences and in the excerpt of
this D.Parker's story as a whole.

6 Translation and contrastive typology (зіставне


мовознавство,контрастивна лінгвістика, конфронтативна
лінгвістика)
Subject and aims

Contrastive typology (CT) represents a linguistic subject of typology, based on the methods of comparison or
contrasting. Like typology proper, CT also aims at establishing the most general structural types of languages on the
bases of their dominant or common phonetic, morphological, lexical and syntactic features

Contrastive typology of the English and Ukrainian morphology compares morphological systems of the English and
Ukrainian languages.

Basic notions

Like any other science, contrastive typology employs some terms and notions of its own:

(1)absolute universals (абсолютні/повні універсалії), i.e. features which are common to any languages of the world,
cf. parts of speech, parts of the sentence etc.);

(2)near universals (неповні/часткові універсалії), i.e. features which are common to some languages under
typological investigation;

(3)metalanguage (метамова), i.e. the language in which analysis of contrasted languages is carried out;

(4)typologically dominant features (типологічні домінантні), i.e. features dominating in one/some/all the contrasted
languages and predetermining its structural type as analytical or synthetic; cf. rigid word order, prominent role of
prepositions in expressing case relations, word morphemes in expressing grammar categories, etc. in English and
case, person, gender, number, tense etc. inflexions in Ukrainian;

(5)typologically recessive features (типологічно рецесивні), i.e. features losing their former dominant role; cf. case
forms in English or dual number forms of some nouns in Ukrainian;

(6)isomorphic features (ізоморфні), i.e. common features, observed in all the compared languages; cf. categories of
number, person, tense, parts of speech.

(7)allomorphic features (алломорфні), i.e. divergent features, observed in one language and missing in others; cf.
analytical verb forms in English;

(8)typological constants (типологічні константи), i.e. features which are contrasted. The main typological constants
of the English and Ukrainian morphology are: 1) morphemes; 2) parts of speech; 3) morphological categories of the
parts of speech.

Methods
Contrastive typological investigations are carried out with the help of some methods. The main one is the contrastive
method which is also employed in historical and comparative linguistics. The main aim of the contrastive method is
to establish isomorphic and allomorphic, dominant and recessive features of the languages compared and drawing
conclusions as to their structural types.

Comparing is done on the basis of deduction and induction. Inductive method draws on the empirical facts: scientists
observe the facts, make conclusions and verify these conclusions by more facts. Practically, this method needs no
verification since the investigated phenomena were already proved by preceding generations of researchers.

Deductive method presupposes making conclusions on the basis of logical calculations which suggest all theoretically
admissive variants of realization of a certain feature in contrasted languages and consequently need verification.

The (ICs) immediate constituents method is employed to contrast constituent parts of the language units. At the
morphological level the ICs method helps determine morphemic structures of the words of the languages compared;
cf. the nouns in-nova-tion-s and пере-напр-уг-а consist of 4 ICs.

Method of oppositions is used to establish grammatical categories. Opposition is made by two forms carrying two
manifestations of one categorical meaning, cf. works :: is working carry two particular manifestations (non-
Continuous :: continuous) of the general categorical meaning of aspect.

8. Translation of substandard language and


phraseology
M.M. Makovsky explains relations of standard and substandard English language according to table presented in
Shorter Oxford Dictionary, where standard is – literary, common, colloquial language and substandard is – low
colloquial, slang, jargon, vulgar.

One of the basic principles of translation is equivalency, rendering – neutral by neutral, and substandard by
substandard. Violation of this principle makes translation inadequate. However, considering national peculiarities of
colloquial language and problems connected with its rendering, it is possible to find translations with smoothed,
distilled language; which is always appear to be an object of critic, because loses all artistic value of original. Such
colorless language does not provide artistic adequacy of original, because all characters speak middle-literary-
newspaper language, despite their social background, education or age.

Functionally-stylistical approach is considered to be relevant towards rendering of substandard language; it gives an


opportunity to analyze adequacy of translation and develop quality evaluation criteria. By the term functionally-
stylistical approach we understand approach to the analysis of communicational acts from the view point of social-
psychological factors in which they develop.

One of the distinctive features of substandard language is that it always maintains strong emotional connotation,
with exception for the local dialects, and there is a tendency in it to over-emphasize the idea of expression. This is
proved by usage in colloquial speech words with clearly defined positive or negative connotations. In artistic
translation of substandard language to render it functionally-adequate, a translator has to be in a way psychologist so
he will be able to understand all emotions in a proper way.

Phraseological units – are structurally, lexically and semantically stable language units, the meaning of which is not
made up by the sum of meanings of their component parts. Taking into account various peculiarities of meaning and
form of ph. units, several ways of rendering their meaning can be distinguished:

1. By choosing absolute or complete equivalents — the method of translating when every componential part of the
SL idiom is retained unchanged in the TL. (Augean stables – авгієві стайні, iron curtain – залізна завіса).
2. Translation of idioms by choosing near equivalents — a considerable number of ph.units originating in the SL and
the TL from a common source may have one or more of their components different. (as pale as paper – блідий як
стіна, love is the mother of love – любов породжує любов).

3. Translation by choosing (genuine idiomatic) analogies — a number of SL ph.units have idiomatic analogies in the
TL. As a rule these ph.units are based on different images and may have quite different structures. (like mistress, like
maid – яблуко від яблуні недалеко падає; don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs – не вчи вченого, не вчи
рибу плавати, яйця курку не вчать).

4. Translating idioms by choosing approximate analogies — some idioms may have a peculiar nature and can be
expressed only by means of approximate analogies (to lose one’s breath – кидати слова на вітер, to come off scot
free – вийти сухим з води).

5. Descriptive translating of ph.units — the meaning of a considerable number of ph.units can be rendered only in
descriptive way: by single word (to pall and peal – грабувати, to go aloft – померти); by word-combination or
sentence (to shoot Niagara – вдаватися до ризикованих дій, well-day – час між приступами хвороби).

9. Well - known translation schools in Ukraine


A considerable intensification was witnessed in Ukrainian translation during the seventeenth century, which could
have been influ¬enced by the initial activities in the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (founded in 1632), where translations
were at first employed to further teaching processes. Thus, in the first half of the seventeenth century there
appeared translations from the Greek (G.Nazianzinus' works, trans¬lated by Skulskyi and D.Nalyvaiko) and from Latin
(L.A.Seneca's works) translated by K.Sakovych. The seventeenth century in Ukraine was also marked by regular
versifications of prominent Italian and Polish poets of late Renaissance period as Torquato Tasso (10 chapters of his
poem The Liberated Jerusalem, which was translated on the basis of the perfect

It is impossible to list all the translators who work fruitfully, allow Ukrainian readers to get acquainted with the
classics and modern works. The Ukrainian translation school has a rich tradition, although its development took place
under difficult social and historical conditions, when the Ukrainian language itself experienced oppression. But
writers and translators of different periods sought to enrich the best works of world literature Ukrainian culture.
Since independence, new opportunities have opened up for the development of the translation school, and writers-
translators see their task in expanding the ties between Ukrainian and foreign literatures.

Also in Lviv since 2000 the international school of translators and interpreters of texts "Translation workshop" works.
This school explores the actual problems of translation. In Ukraine there is a "Laboratory of scientific translation" at
the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The main subject of her interests is mainly the translation into Ukrainian of world
humanism.

The aim of the project is to expand and deepen the competence of young translators of Ukrainian literary texts.
Translators train their translation skills by working in translation workshops, under the guidance of an individual
mentor and in a German-Ukrainian tandem. They will get contacts and insight into the processes and cooperation in
the field of Ukrainian literature and will get acquainted with Ukrainian literary translators for further cooperation

The only functioning organ except some small capacity private publishing houses, which continued to publish the
works of foreign literatures in Ukrainian translation unabated at the close of the twentieth century remained the
Vsesvit journal. During its forty-two years of active and fruitful participation in the literary process of Ukraine the
journal has succeeded in publishing thousands of belles-lettres works - novels, narratives, short stories and poetic
works of classics and promising foreign authors, poets and playwrights from one hundred and ten foreign languages.

The main of these principles, which may equally be applied, at least partly, when translating any other type of written
matter, may be defined as follows:
• To maintain in the target language version all the structural pe¬culiarities of the matter/work under
translation.

• To hold strictly to the author's conception and render faithfully the content of the source language
matter/work under transla¬tion.

• To maintain in the version of the target language the main pecu¬liarities/features of the syntactic
organization and stylistic means of expression of the source language matter/work.

• To maintain in the version of the target language the fidelity in the means and ways of the author's depicting
the artistic im¬ages and expressiveness pertained to the source language matter/work.

• To avoid deliberate omissions and any other forms of free inter¬pretation/rendering unless required of the
source language mat¬ter/work.

• To restrain in the process of translation of a text/work from any deliberate shortening or enlargement of it, as
well as of any embellishment of its stylistic or artistic qualities in the target language version.

e To render/maintain as fully as possible in the target language variant the ease of expression pertaining to the
source language matter/work.

• To render/maintain in the target language version the pragmatic

intention/orientation of the author and his force of influence on the reader.

Translation and translators in post-war ukraine. The development of the principles of faithful translation

The Second World War and the German occupation of Ukraine had for three years completely stopped any belles-
lettres translation in the country. Hence, all work had to begin anew in 1944-1945 with the establishing of the
publishing houses and republishing of some translations, which were completed before the war. Only in late 1940's
the first newly translated foreign belles-lettres works began to appear in Ukrainian, though their number was very
small. Therefore, the years 1944-1950 constitute a transitional period in the history of Soviet Ukrainian translation.
Only in early 1950's, and especially after Stalin's death in 1953, the first signs of revival in belles-lettres translation
began to be really felt. It became finally a reality only during Khrushchov's «thaw» and after the return from the
concentration camps of some outstanding translators. This coincided with the peak in the literary activity of Ukraine's
most versatile translator Mykola Lukash. The condemnation of Stalin's cult of personality in late 1950's loosened for a
short time the ideological grip on Ukrainian intelligentsia. As a result, there appeared a war-hardened generation of
talented and patriotically minded editors and translators, who graduated after the war from philological faculties of
universities and institutes. It was during those years that several new editorial departments for translating works
from foreign languages were opened at some major publishing houses. It was then that the question of quality of the
translated belles- lettres works seriously and officially arose. As a consequence, in 1956 Oleksa Kundzich published
his critical articles on the state of literary translation in Ukraine, in which he put forward a categorical demand to
reject literalism and improve the artistic level of translation. In 1958, after a twenty-four years hiatus the translators'
Vsesvitjournal came to life again. Thus, during the late 1950's and early 1960's, when the natural revival of artistic
translation and its scientific criticism had almost taken root, the third periodin Ukraine's history of translation began.
It was soon marked in the mid 1960's, however, with new persecutions and reprisals against such prominent transla -
tors as H.Kochur, M.Lukash, I. Switlychnyi, V.Marchenko, I.Yushchuk, A.Perepadya, R.Dotsenko, O.Terekh and others,
who were in the vanguard of the Sixties Movement. They came under longer and heavy fire of the Communist
ideologists. This last wave of Soviet persecutions and reprisals against Ukrainian intellectuals slowed down only in the
period of Gorbachov's restructuring (Perestroika) during 1985-1989.

The third periodin Soviet Ukrainian translation was also marked by the common understanding of the need for higher
standard of artistic requirements, which were finally put before all translators of belles- lettres by noted literary
critics in the late 1950's and early 1960's. It was then that many regular samples of faithfully translated works of
great foreign literary masters were published. This inspired the succeeding generation of post-war translators to
follow the fine example of Ryl'skyi, Lukash, Mysyk, Tereshchenko, Borys Ten, and others. The older generation of
translators, who were active already during the late 1920's and early 1930's and who produced highly faithful
translations, were represented by some masters of the pen. First place among them belongs to Maksym Ryl'skyi
(1895-1964), the patriarch of the twentieth century Ukrainian translation, who has created highly skilled poetic
versifications from Polish (A.Mickiewicz's, Yu.Slowacki's and Yu.Tuwim's major works) and Russian (works of
Pushkin,Lermontov, Fet, Blok, Voloshyn). But undoubtfully the greatest number of smaller and larger poetic works
were translated from French:J.P.Molliére's Tartuffe, The Marriage ofFigarobyP.Beaumarchais, as well as Sidby
PComeille, Fedraby J.Racine, The MisanthropeandThe Poetic ArtsbyN.Boileau, the Virgin of Orleans byF.- M.Voltaire,
and also several smaller poems of V.Hugo, A.deMusset, T.Gautier, J.Heredia,P.Verlaine, M.Maeterlinck, and others.
Ryl'skyi has also translated some English poets (Shakespeare). Among the first-rate masters of the pen is also Valerian
Pidmohyl'nyi (1901-1938), a prominent Ukrainian prose writer and translator who found his martyr's death together
with M.Zerov, M.Drai-Khmara, L.Kurbas and hundreds of other Stalinist GULAG victims in Sandarmokh in late October
or early November 1937. He succeeded in recreating several masterpieces of French belles-lettres, among them
being The Prisonby P. Amp,Candidby D.Diderot, Letters from the Windmill byA. Daudet, Colomba byP.Mérimée, works
by J.Verne and J.Romanis. During 1927-1930 he prepared and edited Balzac's and E.Zola's (18 volumes) as well as

G.de Maupassant's 10volume works. He also translated H.Flaubert'sMadame Bovary and V.Hugo's Ninety-
Three(1928), Jargal(1928), The Man Who Laughs(1930) and Les Misérables (1930).

As a translator, V.Pidmohyl'nyi excelled in his artistically unsurpassed skill for conveying the individual peculiarities of
style and characteristics of each prose masterpiece of foreign writers. His translations are close to the originals,
utilizing an equally rich Ukrainian lexicon, reflecting the versatility of stylistic devices and the individual author's
means of expression.

Exceptionally masterful versifications from Western and Eastern belles-lettres were performed by one more veteran
translator and Soviet concentration camp inmate, Vasyl' Mysyk (1907-1983). His translation output comprises one
half of R.Burns' poems, which rank among the best versifications of the Scottish bard in all Slavic languages. Besides,
Mysyk left behind extraordinary translations of some works by Shakespeare, Byron, Milton, Shelley, Keats,
Longfellow. Moreover, he was the only qualified translator, who besides A.Krymskyi, was able to render works of
some Eastern classics directly from the original. He revealed in Ukrainian the works of old Persian and Tajik world-
wide known classics A.Firdousi, Abu Ali Husain Ibn Seana, Omar Khayam, M.Saadi, Sh. Hafiz as well as some French
classics (J.du Bellay, P.Scarron) and several others.

Meanwhile, another veteran translator and poet, who had a narrow escape from getting into the Stalinist GULAG,
Mykola Tereshchenko (1898-1966) performed versifications from French (a collection of the seventeenth-eighteenth
century poets F.Malhebre, B.Le Fontenelle, C.Perrot, J.Rousseau, D.Diderot, L.de Lisle, E.Parny, A.Chenier and others).
He also translated French classic poets of the nineteenth century (E.Verlaine, P.EIuard and others). Besides that
Tereshchenko edited many poetic versifications of other translators (including M.Lukash's first complete translation
of Gothe's

10. Rendering proper names


Translation of proper nouns is regarded as a special section of translation theory and practice and is characterized as
a very complicated field of study in translation literature.

Personal names are divided into two groups depending on their translation: those translated according to tradition
and those translated in keeping with the modern tendency. The traditional approach did not follow any solid
principles and the results of such a translation are often in conflict with the modern demand. The effect of the force
of tradition is still felt today in translating two groups of units:
1) names of crowned kings, queens, emperors, monarchs which used to be translated in a special way
contrasted to names of common people, cf. Elizabeth – Елизавета и Элизабет, William – Вильгельм и Уильям,
James – Яков и Джеймс;

2) biblical and mythological names, e.g. Icarus – Икар, Mary – Мария. This accounts for doublets used to
translate names that relate in origin.

Pet names and nicknames are used not only to single out a person in question, but also to give some additional
information. In translation it is sometimes possible to find correlated affixal means in SL and in TL, e.g. Shorty –
Коротышка, but in many cases a translator has to look for adequate means of compensation in order to retain the
proper effect, cf. Scout – Глазастик. In this case there is a shift in translation from the implicit means of indicating
connotations to the explicit means in Russian. Yet, the difference between the derivational systems of SL and TL does
not always permit a translator to find a good solution, cf. Матрёшенька – little (tiny) Matreshka.

Names of ships, titles of periodicals, names of weaponry and military equipment, firms, companies, associations are
transcribed though they may contain common nouns with transparent meanings, e.g. Queen Elizabeth (the name of
a ship) – Куинн Элизабет, General Electric – Дженерал Электрик, Trident – Трайдент, Stinger – Стингер, Sunday
Telegraph – Санди Телеграф. It should be noted, however, that newspapers today tend not to translate such names
into Russian and leave them in their original SL form.

Names of organizations, societies, movements are loan-translated, e.g. Фонд обязательного медицинского
страхования – Obligatory Medical Insurance Fund, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade – Генеральное
Соглашение по тарифам и торговле.

Geographic names and microtoponyms are translated depending on several factors:

a) the type of nomination – one-word nominations and multi-word complexes,

b) the structure of multi-word complexes.

One-word nominations are transcribed and / transliterated, e.g. Newfoundland -- Ньюфаундленд, Norfolk —
Норфолк. True, even in translation of one-word geographic nominations there are many points which are difficult to
explain from the modern point of view.

Multi-word complexes containing common nouns are translated differently depending on the way a common noun is
handled. Thus, a common noun may be:

1) transcribed and / or transliterated, e.g. Downing Street – Даунинг-Стрит, White Hall – Уайт Холл, Gordon Square
– Гордон – Сквер;

2) translated, e.g. Cape of Good Hope – Мыс Доброй Надежды,

3) both transcribed / transliterated and translated, e.g. Bull Lake – озеро Булл Лейк, Black Hills – горы Блэк Хилз.

The actual practice of translation shows that there may be examples of translating common nouns that are treated
differently within various proper names. Compare, White House – Белый дом, Trafalgar Square – Трафальгарская
площадь, the English Channel – Пролив Ла- Манш. Such differences are hard to explain and they can hardly be
neutralized in translation since the force of tradition is too strong.

14. Lack of equivalence and means of its


conveying
A considerable number of SL units have no regular equivalents in TL. Equivalent-lacking words are often found
among SL names of specific national phenomena, such as the English words “beefeater”, “touch-down”, “qualifier”.
Some of such words are rendered with the help of descriptive translation; the other cause the appearance in
Ukrainian the new words which express the idea (impeachment, exit-poll, baby-sitter). The absence of regular
equivalents does not imply that the meaning of an equivalent-lacking SL unit cannot be rendered in translation or
that its translation must be less accurate. We have seen that the words which have regular equivalents are
sometimes translated with the help of contextual substitutes. When the translator comes across an equivalent-
lacking word, he can use an occasional equivalent which can be created in one of the following ways:

1. Using loan-words imitating in TL the form of the SL word or word combination, e.g. impeachment, brain-drain.
Such occasional formations are often adopted by the members of the TL community and get the status of the regular
equivalents.

2. Using approximate equivalents that are TL words with similar meaning which is extended to convey additional
information, e.g. “drugstore”, “afternoon”, “tree-hugger’.

3. Using all kinds of lexical transformations modifying their meaning of the SL word, e.g. “He died of exposure” may
be rendered into Ukrainian as……..

4. Using an explanation to convey the meaning of the SL unit, e.g. land-slide, brinkmanship.

Equivalent-lacking grammatical forms give less trouble to the translator. Here occasional substitutes can be classified
under three main groups:

1. Zero translations when the meaning of the grammatical unit is not rendered in the translation since it is practically
identical to the meaning of some other unit and can be safely left out.

2. Approximate translation when the translator makes use of a TL form partially equivalent to the equivalent-lacking
SL unit, e.g. “I saw him enter the room”. The Ukrainian language does not have complex objects but the meaning of
the object clause is a sufficient approximation.

3. Transformational translation when the translator uses one of the grammatical transformations. “Your presence at
the meeting is not obligatory. Nor it is desirable.” It is better to use the syntactical transformation in the translation of
this sentence.

15. Typical mistakes in translation


1. Doing Translation Verbatim

Many novice translators make the mistake of translating script word for word. As a translator, you need to interpret a
script into other language in the same style as it is intended. There are different syntactic rules for different languages
which you must understand before doing the translation. You have to understand the use of subject and object of
different languages. For instance, you cannot justify a translation of English into Arabic as both have different
syntaxes.

Use a dictionary whenever you have to translate a script because it helps you understand the proper use of words. You
can also get it reviewed by a native speaker o to make sure that the style of script is correct

2. Exaggerating the Meaning of Words

Beginner translators tend to overdo translation task as a result of inexperience. As they are stepping into this
profession, they want to give their best. However, this is not appreciated when you are a professional translator. To
effectively translate a script, it is important to not exaggerate it with technical words or complex sentences.
You first need to understand requirements of your client and then do the translation accordingly. Understand what his
specifications are and what he expects from you. Ask him about where he would use the script. If it is for personal use,
keep it simple. But if it is required for publishing purpose, you need to follow the guidelines or standards of the
publisher.

3. Using Wrong Words

Beginner translators oftentimes use vocabularies in wrong context. There are certain words which cannot be translated
into other language. For example, there is no equivalent for the word “Holy Grail” in other languages. Similarly, you
cannot translate the word “Netilat Yadayim Shacharit” into any other language. Since these words are associated with
cultural and religious process, you cannot interpret them in context of other religions.

Similarly, a translator may find it difficult to differentiate between masculine and feminine nouns. A language may
treat a word as “masculine” which might mean opposite sex in other language. For example, the word “moon” is
masculine in English while the same is feminine in Spanish. Get yourself familiarized with these subtleties of words to
become an effective translator.

4. Lacking the Communication Skills

Novice translators could sometimes be poor communicators. They overlook the importance of effective
communication and therefore end up in poor translation. As in any business, communication is a bridge between you
and customer. To establish good understanding with a client, it is important to engage with him in two-way
communication. You need to interact with a client at every level of translation process. With a strong communication
channel, you can lower any misunderstanding with a client which will result in better translation.

5. Not Translating In An Appropriate Style

Beginner translators might not fully understand the aspects of styling in a script. Due to unfamiliarity with target
language, they interpret a document without knowing its appropriate style. This changes the essence of a script and,
ultimately, purges its very soul. To convey real meaning of a topic, it is important to translate a document in the right
tone. For example, a script of a legal document will sound totally different from a script of a movie. To excel as a
translator, you need to work hard on this aspect of translation.

Common Technical Mistakes

These mistakes are due to the fact that the translator sticks to the format of the original text and makes some
(in)voluntary punctuational, structural, or grammatical errors. The most common ones include:

Keeping the same word order of the source language

Using the same punctuation as in the original text

Keeping the same sentence length

Using the same idioms as in the source language

Not changing the verb tense

Keeping the same format of dates, names, currencies

Common Personal Mistakes

Sometimes, translators make mistakes because of personal reasons that most frequently include:

Fatigue because of working too many hours in a row

Overconfidence due to the fact that they have translated similar texts a lot before and avoid paying too much attention
to this particular one
Not paying attention to the new terminology adopted as of recently

Approaching the text with lack of enthusiasm because it looks too boring, too long, or they feel they are being under
paid

Relying on previous experience with the language – this is common for new translators, who have just started work.
They can feel confident due to the fact that they have previously worked with the language as teachers, for example,
but are not familiar with the best practices or tips of translation

These errors can easily be avoided if you are aware of them. A wonderful trait to have as a translator is curiosity.
Learning new things and always developing new and old skills is very important.

How to Get it Right?

If you are aware that mistakes exist, then you can surely learn how to avoid them and get things right. The main
purpose of the translation is to convey a clear message to the intended audience in their own language. In order to do
that, professional translators rely on their language knowledge and skills in order to:

Change the word order in accordance with the target language requirements

Reorganize phrases so that they sound right

Use the correct punctuation

Split the sentences into two or three if necessary

Rewrite phrases or sentences so that they sound right in the target language and convey the same message with the
same feeling or intensity

Format the numbers correctly – dates, street names and numbers, currencies are written in a different way in different
languages and it is very important to render them correctly in the target language

Transcribe or transliterate names – make sure to check with the client which option they have chosen in the past and
stick to it

Write names properly – in some languages, like Chinese for example, the family name is written before the first name.
When you translate a text into English, make sure to reverse the order to avoid confusion

20. Transformations in Translation


At the sentence level, the most common transformations every translator makes are 1) omission, 2) addition, 3)
transposition, 4) change of grammatical forms, 5) loss compensation, 6) concretization, 7) generalization 8)
antonymic translation, 9) meaning extension, 10) metonymic translation, 11) sentence integration, and 12) sentence
fragmentation. These transformations are caused by differences in the grammar and vocabulary of the source
language (SL) and target language (TL).

1. Omission. Summer rains in Florida may be violent, while they last. Летом во Флориде бывают сильные ливни.
From the point of view of the Russian language, the clause "while they last" is redundant and would make the
Russian sentence sound very unnatural if it were to be translated.

2. Addition. The policeman waved me on. - Полицейский помахал мне рукой, показывая что я могу проезжать.
Or: ''Полицейский рукой просигналил (показал), что я могу проезжать. The compact English phrase "to wave on"
has no compact equivalent in Russian.

3. Transposition. Transposition involves changing the order of words in the target text (TT) as compared to the
Source text (ST). Typically, an English sentence has a "subject+predicate+object+adverbial adjunct+place+time" word
order: A delegation of Moscow State University students arrived in Gainesville yesterday. Вчеpa в Гейнзвиль
прибыла группа студентов из Московского государственного университета. A typical Russian sentence would
generally have a reverse word order: time+place+predicate+subject+object+adverbial adjunct.

4. Change of grammatical forms. For example, in the Russian translation of Prime Minister Tony Blair was hit by a
tomato, the original Passive Voice construction is changed to an Active Voice construction: ... в британского
премьера попал помидор...

5. Loss-of-meaning compensation involves adding to or reinforcing a TT in one place to compensate for something
that hasn't been translated in a different place in the ST: I ain't got no time for that kind of thing! - to compensate for
the double negation in You ain't seen nothin' yet! an emphatic syntactic construction can be used in the Rus sian
translation - To ли еще будет!

6. Concretization is used when something in the TL is usually expressed using concepts with narrower meaning or
when preserving the original concepts with broader meaning would result in an awkward translation: There were
pictures on all the walls and there was a vase with flowers on the table. - На всех стенах комнаты висели картины,
а на столе стояла ваза с цветами.

7. Generalization is used when something in the TL is usually expressed using concepts with broader meaning or
when preserving the original concepts with narrower meaning would result in an awkward translation: She ordered a
daiquiri. (= a sweet alcoholic drink made of rum and fruit juice) - Она заказала коктейль. Or. There used to be a
drugstore (a Walgreens pharmacy) around here. I need to buy some soda water. - Здесь раньше был магазин. Мне
надо купить газированной воды. In the latter example, translating drugstore or Walgreens pharmacy as аптека or
аптека "Уолгринз " would not only be baffling to a Russian - because in Russia they do not sell газированную воду
in аптеках - but it would also be unnecessary as for the purposes of communication магазин is just as good in this
context. The more specific drugstore or Walgreens pharmacy is translated here by the more general term магазин.

8. Antonymic translation involves translating a phrase or clause containing a negation using a phrase or clause that
does not contain a negation or vice versa: I don't think you're right. - Я думаю, что вы не правы.

9. Meaning extension or sense development involves translating a cause by its effect or vice versa: You can't be
serious. - Вы, должно быть, шутите. (Cause is translated by its effect: Since you can't be serious, it follows that you
must be joking). In the above example, meaning extension is combined with an antonymic translation. Another
example: He answered the phone. - Он поднял трубку. You can't speak on the phone unless you have lifted the
receiver. The effect "answered" in the ST is translated by its cause "lifted the receiver" (="поднял трубку") in the ТТ.

10. Metonymic translation. A metonymic translation is similar to meaning extension. Metonymy is a figure of
speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of
Moscow for the Russian government. Using a part for the whole, the whole for one of ifs parts, or one of two
contiguous concepts for the other are typical metonymic figures of speech. E.g.: School broke up for the summer
recess. - Занятия прекратились. Все ушли на летние каникулы. (Или: Начались летние каникулы.)

11. Sentence integration involves combining two or more sentences into one: Your presence isn't required. Nor is it
desirable. - Ваше присутствие не требуется и даже нежелательно.

12. Sentence fragmentation involves splitting one complex or compound sentence into two or more simpler sen-
tences: People everywhere are confronted with the need to make decisions in the face of ignorance and this
dilemma is growing. - Люди везде сталкиваются с необходимостью принятия решений при отсутствии
достаточной информации. Эта проблема возникает все чаще и чаще. Both sentence integration and sentence
fragmentation are prompted by considerations of text cohesion and coherence. Cohesion is the network of surface
relations which link words and sentences in a text. Coherence is the network of conceptual relations which underlie
the surface text. Both concern the ways stretches of language are connected to each other. In the case of cohesion,
stretches of language are connected to each other by virtue of lexical and grammatical dependencies. In the case of
coherence, they are connected by virtue of conceptual or meaning dependencies as perceived by language users.
8. Translation of substandard language and
phraseology
M.M. Makovsky explains relations of standard and substandard English language according to table presented in
Shorter Oxford Dictionary, where standard is – literary, common, colloquial language and substandard is – low
colloquial, slang, jargon, vulgar.

One of the basic principles of translation is equivalency, rendering – neutral by neutral, and substandard by
substandard. Violation of this principle makes translation inadequate. However, considering national peculiarities of
colloquial language and problems connected with its rendering, it is possible to find translations with smoothed,
distilled language; which is always appear to be an object of critic, because loses all artistic value of original. Such
colorless language does not provide artistic adequacy of original, because all characters speak middle-literary-
newspaper language, despite their social background, education or age.

Functionally-stylistical approach is considered to be relevant towards rendering of substandard language; it gives an


opportunity to analyze adequacy of translation and develop quality evaluation criteria. By the term functionally-
stylistical approach we understand approach to the analysis of communicational acts from the view point of social-
psychological factors in which they develop.

One of the distinctive features of substandard language is that it always maintains strong emotional connotation,
with exception for the local dialects, and there is a tendency in it to over-emphasize the idea of expression. This is
proved by usage in colloquial speech words with clearly defined positive or negative connotations. In artistic
translation of substandard language to render it functionally-adequate, a translator has to be in a way psychologist so
he will be able to understand all emotions in a proper way.

Phraseological units – are structurally, lexically and semantically stable language units, the meaning of which is not
made up by the sum of meanings of their component parts. Taking into account various peculiarities of meaning and
form of ph. units, several ways of rendering their meaning can be distinguished:

1. By choosing absolute or complete equivalents — the method of translating when every componential part of the
SL idiom is retained unchanged in the TL. (Augean stables – авгієві стайні, iron curtain – залізна завіса).

2. Translation of idioms by choosing near equivalents — a considerable number of ph.units originating in the SL and
the TL from a common source may have one or more of their components different. (as pale as paper – блідий як
стіна, love is the mother of love – любов породжує любов).

3. Translation by choosing (genuine idiomatic) analogies — a number of SL ph.units have idiomatic analogies in the
TL. As a rule these ph.units are based on different images and may have quite different structures. (like mistress, like
maid – яблуко від яблуні недалеко падає; don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs – не вчи вченого, не вчи
рибу плавати, яйця курку не вчать).

4. Translating idioms by choosing approximate analogies — some idioms may have a peculiar nature and can be
expressed only by means of approximate analogies (to lose one’s breath – кидати слова на вітер, to come off scot
free – вийти сухим з води).

5. Descriptive translating of ph.units — the meaning of a considerable number of ph.units can be rendered only in
descriptive way: by single word (to pall and peal – грабувати, to go aloft – померти); by word-combination or
sentence (to shoot Niagara – вдаватися до ризикованих дій, well-day – час між приступами хвороби).

9. Well - known translation schools in Ukraine


A considerable intensification was witnessed in Ukrainian translation during the seventeenth century, which could
have been influ¬enced by the initial activities in the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (founded in 1632), where translations
were at first employed to further teaching processes. Thus, in the first half of the seventeenth century there
appeared translations from the Greek (G.Nazianzinus' works, trans¬lated by Skulskyi and D.Nalyvaiko) and from Latin
(L.A.Seneca's works) translated by K.Sakovych. The seventeenth century in Ukraine was also marked by regular
versifications of prominent Italian and Polish poets of late Renaissance period as Torquato Tasso (10 chapters of his
poem The Liberated Jerusalem, which was translated on the basis of the perfect

It is impossible to list all the translators who work fruitfully, allow Ukrainian readers to get acquainted with the
classics and modern works. The Ukrainian translation school has a rich tradition, although its development took place
under difficult social and historical conditions, when the Ukrainian language itself experienced oppression. But
writers and translators of different periods sought to enrich the best works of world literature Ukrainian culture.
Since independence, new opportunities have opened up for the development of the translation school, and writers-
translators see their task in expanding the ties between Ukrainian and foreign literatures.

Also in Lviv since 2000 the international school of translators and interpreters of texts "Translation workshop" works.
This school explores the actual problems of translation. In Ukraine there is a "Laboratory of scientific translation" at
the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The main subject of her interests is mainly the translation into Ukrainian of world
humanism.

The aim of the project is to expand and deepen the competence of young translators of Ukrainian literary texts.
Translators train their translation skills by working in translation workshops, under the guidance of an individual
mentor and in a German-Ukrainian tandem. They will get contacts and insight into the processes and cooperation in
the field of Ukrainian literature and will get acquainted with Ukrainian literary translators for further cooperation

The only functioning organ except some small capacity private publishing houses, which continued to publish the
works of foreign literatures in Ukrainian translation unabated at the close of the twentieth century remained the
Vsesvit journal. During its forty-two years of active and fruitful participation in the literary process of Ukraine the
journal has succeeded in publishing thousands of belles-lettres works - novels, narratives, short stories and poetic
works of classics and promising foreign authors, poets and playwrights from one hundred and ten foreign languages.

The main of these principles, which may equally be applied, at least partly, when translating any other type of written
matter, may be defined as follows:

• To maintain in the target language version all the structural pe¬culiarities of the matter/work under
translation.

• To hold strictly to the author's conception and render faithfully the content of the source language
matter/work under transla¬tion.

• To maintain in the version of the target language the main pecu¬liarities/features of the syntactic
organization and stylistic means of expression of the source language matter/work.

• To maintain in the version of the target language the fidelity in the means and ways of the author's depicting
the artistic im¬ages and expressiveness pertained to the source language matter/work.

• To avoid deliberate omissions and any other forms of free inter¬pretation/rendering unless required of the
source language mat¬ter/work.

• To restrain in the process of translation of a text/work from any deliberate shortening or enlargement of it, as
well as of any embellishment of its stylistic or artistic qualities in the target language version.

e To render/maintain as fully as possible in the target language variant the ease of expression pertaining to the
source language matter/work.
• To render/maintain in the target language version the pragmatic

intention/orientation of the author and his force of influence on the reader.

Translation and translators in post-war ukraine. The development of the principles of faithful translation

The Second World War and the German occupation of Ukraine had for three years completely stopped any belles-
lettres translation in the country. Hence, all work had to begin anew in 1944-1945 with the establishing of the
publishing houses and republishing of some translations, which were completed before the war. Only in late 1940's
the first newly translated foreign belles-lettres works began to appear in Ukrainian, though their number was very
small. Therefore, the years 1944-1950 constitute a transitional period in the history of Soviet Ukrainian translation.
Only in early 1950's, and especially after Stalin's death in 1953, the first signs of revival in belles-lettres translation
began to be really felt. It became finally a reality only during Khrushchov's «thaw» and after the return from the
concentration camps of some outstanding translators. This coincided with the peak in the literary activity of Ukraine's
most versatile translator Mykola Lukash. The condemnation of Stalin's cult of personality in late 1950's loosened for a
short time the ideological grip on Ukrainian intelligentsia. As a result, there appeared a war-hardened generation of
talented and patriotically minded editors and translators, who graduated after the war from philological faculties of
universities and institutes. It was during those years that several new editorial departments for translating works
from foreign languages were opened at some major publishing houses. It was then that the question of quality of the
translated belles- lettres works seriously and officially arose. As a consequence, in 1956 Oleksa Kundzich published
his critical articles on the state of literary translation in Ukraine, in which he put forward a categorical demand to
reject literalism and improve the artistic level of translation. In 1958, after a twenty-four years hiatus the translators'
Vsesvitjournal came to life again. Thus, during the late 1950's and early 1960's, when the natural revival of artistic
translation and its scientific criticism had almost taken root, the third periodin Ukraine's history of translation began.
It was soon marked in the mid 1960's, however, with new persecutions and reprisals against such prominent transla -
tors as H.Kochur, M.Lukash, I. Switlychnyi, V.Marchenko, I.Yushchuk, A.Perepadya, R.Dotsenko, O.Terekh and others,
who were in the vanguard of the Sixties Movement. They came under longer and heavy fire of the Communist
ideologists. This last wave of Soviet persecutions and reprisals against Ukrainian intellectuals slowed down only in the
period of Gorbachov's restructuring (Perestroika) during 1985-1989.

The third periodin Soviet Ukrainian translation was also marked by the common understanding of the need for higher
standard of artistic requirements, which were finally put before all translators of belles- lettres by noted literary
critics in the late 1950's and early 1960's. It was then that many regular samples of faithfully translated works of
great foreign literary masters were published. This inspired the succeeding generation of post-war translators to
follow the fine example of Ryl'skyi, Lukash, Mysyk, Tereshchenko, Borys Ten, and others. The older generation of
translators, who were active already during the late 1920's and early 1930's and who produced highly faithful
translations, were represented by some masters of the pen. First place among them belongs to Maksym Ryl'skyi
(1895-1964), the patriarch of the twentieth century Ukrainian translation, who has created highly skilled poetic
versifications from Polish (A.Mickiewicz's, Yu.Slowacki's and Yu.Tuwim's major works) and Russian (works of
Pushkin,Lermontov, Fet, Blok, Voloshyn). But undoubtfully the greatest number of smaller and larger poetic works
were translated from French:J.P.Molliére's Tartuffe, The Marriage ofFigarobyP.Beaumarchais, as well as Sidby
PComeille, Fedraby J.Racine, The MisanthropeandThe Poetic ArtsbyN.Boileau, the Virgin of Orleans byF.- M.Voltaire,
and also several smaller poems of V.Hugo, A.deMusset, T.Gautier, J.Heredia,P.Verlaine, M.Maeterlinck, and others.
Ryl'skyi has also translated some English poets (Shakespeare). Among the first-rate masters of the pen is also Valerian
Pidmohyl'nyi (1901-1938), a prominent Ukrainian prose writer and translator who found his martyr's death together
with M.Zerov, M.Drai-Khmara, L.Kurbas and hundreds of other Stalinist GULAG victims in Sandarmokh in late October
or early November 1937. He succeeded in recreating several masterpieces of French belles-lettres, among them
being The Prisonby P. Amp,Candidby D.Diderot, Letters from the Windmill byA. Daudet, Colomba byP.Mérimée, works
by J.Verne and J.Romanis. During 1927-1930 he prepared and edited Balzac's and E.Zola's (18 volumes) as well as
G.de Maupassant's 10volume works. He also translated H.Flaubert'sMadame Bovary and V.Hugo's Ninety-
Three(1928), Jargal(1928), The Man Who Laughs(1930) and Les Misérables (1930).

As a translator, V.Pidmohyl'nyi excelled in his artistically unsurpassed skill for conveying the individual peculiarities of
style and characteristics of each prose masterpiece of foreign writers. His translations are close to the originals,
utilizing an equally rich Ukrainian lexicon, reflecting the versatility of stylistic devices and the individual author's
means of expression.

Exceptionally masterful versifications from Western and Eastern belles-lettres were performed by one more veteran
translator and Soviet concentration camp inmate, Vasyl' Mysyk (1907-1983). His translation output comprises one
half of R.Burns' poems, which rank among the best versifications of the Scottish bard in all Slavic languages. Besides,
Mysyk left behind extraordinary translations of some works by Shakespeare, Byron, Milton, Shelley, Keats,
Longfellow. Moreover, he was the only qualified translator, who besides A.Krymskyi, was able to render works of
some Eastern classics directly from the original. He revealed in Ukrainian the works of old Persian and Tajik world-
wide known classics A.Firdousi, Abu Ali Husain Ibn Seana, Omar Khayam, M.Saadi, Sh. Hafiz as well as some French
classics (J.du Bellay, P.Scarron) and several others.

Meanwhile, another veteran translator and poet, who had a narrow escape from getting into the Stalinist GULAG,
Mykola Tereshchenko (1898-1966) performed versifications from French (a collection of the seventeenth-eighteenth
century poets F.Malhebre, B.Le Fontenelle, C.Perrot, J.Rousseau, D.Diderot, L.de Lisle, E.Parny, A.Chenier and others).
He also translated French classic poets of the nineteenth century (E.Verlaine, P.EIuard and others). Besides that
Tereshchenko edited many poetic versifications of other translators (including M.Lukash's first complete translation
of Gothe's

10. Rendering proper names

Translation of proper nouns is regarded as a special section of translation theory and practice and is characterized as
a very complicated field of study in translation literature.

Personal names are divided into two groups depending on their translation: those translated according to tradition
and those translated in keeping with the modern tendency. The traditional approach did not follow any solid
principles and the results of such a translation are often in conflict with the modern demand. The effect of the force
of tradition is still felt today in translating two groups of units:

1) names of crowned kings, queens, emperors, monarchs which used to be translated in a special way
contrasted to names of common people, cf. Elizabeth – Елизавета и Элизабет, William – Вильгельм и Уильям,
James – Яков и Джеймс;

2) biblical and mythological names, e.g. Icarus – Икар, Mary – Мария. This accounts for doublets used to
translate names that relate in origin.

Pet names and nicknames are used not only to single out a person in question, but also to give some additional
information. In translation it is sometimes possible to find correlated affixal means in SL and in TL, e.g. Shorty –
Коротышка, but in many cases a translator has to look for adequate means of compensation in order to retain the
proper effect, cf. Scout – Глазастик. In this case there is a shift in translation from the implicit means of indicating
connotations to the explicit means in Russian. Yet, the difference between the derivational systems of SL and TL does
not always permit a translator to find a good solution, cf. Матрёшенька – little (tiny) Matreshka.
Names of ships, titles of periodicals, names of weaponry and military equipment, firms, companies, associations are
transcribed though they may contain common nouns with transparent meanings, e.g. Queen Elizabeth (the name of
a ship) – Куинн Элизабет, General Electric – Дженерал Электрик, Trident – Трайдент, Stinger – Стингер, Sunday
Telegraph – Санди Телеграф. It should be noted, however, that newspapers today tend not to translate such names
into Russian and leave them in their original SL form.

Names of organizations, societies, movements are loan-translated, e.g. Фонд обязательного медицинского
страхования – Obligatory Medical Insurance Fund, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade – Генеральное
Соглашение по тарифам и торговле.

Geographic names and microtoponyms are translated depending on several factors:

a) the type of nomination – one-word nominations and multi-word complexes,

b) the structure of multi-word complexes.

One-word nominations are transcribed and / transliterated, e.g. Newfoundland -- Ньюфаундленд, Norfolk —
Норфолк. True, even in translation of one-word geographic nominations there are many points which are difficult to
explain from the modern point of view.

Multi-word complexes containing common nouns are translated differently depending on the way a common noun is
handled. Thus, a common noun may be:

1) transcribed and / or transliterated, e.g. Downing Street – Даунинг-Стрит, White Hall – Уайт Холл, Gordon Square
– Гордон – Сквер;

2) translated, e.g. Cape of Good Hope – Мыс Доброй Надежды,

3) both transcribed / transliterated and translated, e.g. Bull Lake – озеро Булл Лейк, Black Hills – горы Блэк Хилз.

The actual practice of translation shows that there may be examples of translating common nouns that are treated
differently within various proper names. Compare, White House – Белый дом, Trafalgar Square – Трафальгарская
площадь, the English Channel – Пролив Ла- Манш. Such differences are hard to explain and they can hardly be
neutralized in translation since the force of tradition is too strong.

You might also like