LECTURE 1

Semantic, Syntactic and Pragmatic

Aspects of Translation
 The Role of Semantic, Syntactic
and Pragmatic Relations
SEMIOTICS
Investigates the general properties of sign systems
Distinguishes the relations between:
SIGN TO SIGN =
SIGN to OBJECT= SYNTACTIC
SEMANTIC relations SIGN TO MAN =
PRAGMATIC
The wolf ate the
WOLF lamb
As hungry as a wolf
The lamb ate the
wolf
 SEMANTIC EQUIVALENCE
• Translation must be semantically
EQUIVALENT
• Bear the same relation to the extralinguistic
situation as the original
• Translation may include not only the
semantically identical signs
• He lives in Paris – Він живе в Парижі
• BUT the SAME EXTRALINGUISTIC SITUATION
• Wet paint! Обережно! Пофарбовано!
• Wet Floor! Обережно! Слизько!
 SYNTACTIC RELATIONS
• Are important at the stage of analysis
• Are essential for the semantic interpretation
• Bill hit John – John hit Bill

• SUBJECT OBJECT

• Syntactically non-equivalent utterances prove

to be semantically equivalent
• He was considered wise Його вважали ….
 PRAGMATIC RELATIONS
The relation of The relation of
the SL SENDER to the TL RECEPTOR
the MESSAGE to the MESSAGE
THE RELATION OF THE TRANSLATOR TO THE
BOTH

He made a fifteen-yard end run – Він зробив

п’ятнадцятиярдовий ривок по краю
 The Effect of the Pragmatic
Motivation of the Original Message
• The Relation of the SL SENDER to the
MESSAGE
• Sender’s COMMUNICATIVE INTENT = the PRAGMATIC MOTIVATION
• Communicative intent sometimes differs from the SEMANTICS

Я не знаю.
Як вам сказати?

• I don’t know

• Is Mr.Brown here, please IT IS NOT A QUESTION

 The effect of the
RECEPTOR-TO-TEXT relation
• Albrecht Neubert (“Translation As Text”, 1985): We do not translate words
BUT the TEXT

• CLASSIFICATION OF TEXTS

HAVING THE TEXTS

DOMESTIC
UNIVERSAL WITHOUT
CONSUMPTION
HUMAN NATIONAL
TEXTS
APPEAL ADRESSEE
 Pragmatic Factors can affect the
scope of Semantic Information
DIFFERENCES IN BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

ADDITION / DELETION OF INFORMATION

Part of the nuclear station in Cumperland has been closed down

TRANSLATION BY FUNCTIONAL ANALOGIES

A watchdog of US imperialism
The effect of the TRANSLATOR’S
ANGLE OF VIEW

K.I. Chukovskiy (1936) : “Every translator translates

himself. The translation is the Self-Portrait of the
Translator”

IDEALLY the translator should identify himself with

the author
 Non-Uniqueness
of the Translator’s Decisions
DENOTATIONAL
MEANINGS
SEMANTIC
INFORMATION
EMOTIVE-STYLISTIC
CONNOTATIONS

AUTHOR’S TYPE OF THE

COMMUNICATIVE AUDIENCE (SOCIAL
INTENT CHARACTERISTICS /
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE

TRANSLATION = PROCESS
 The Poetic translation VS Modernized

SHAKESPEARE W. PASTERNAK B. UNKNOWN

Tired with all these, for Измучась всем, я умереть Когда ж я сдохну?!.. До того
restful death I cry, -As to хочу… Тоска смотреть, как достало, что "бабки"
behold desert a мается бедняк,. оседают у жлобов,
И как шутя живется богачу. И Что старики ночуют по
beggar born,
доверять, и попадать вокзалам, Что
And needy nothing впросак. "православный"- значит -
trimm'd in jollity, И наблюдать, как наглость "бей жидов!"
And purest faith лезет в свет. И честь девичья Что побратались мент и
unhappily forsworn, катится ко дну. бандюган. Что колесят
And gilded honour И вспоминать, что Мысли "шестерки" в "шестисотых"…
shamefully misplac'd, заткнут рот, и Разум сносит Что в ЗАГС приходят по
And maiden virtue rudely Глупости хулу.. любви к деньгам.
и Прямодушье простотой Что делают бестселлер из
strumpeted…Tired
слывет… и Доброта дерьма.
with all these, from these прислуживает Злу..
would I be gone,Save that, Измучась всем, не стал бы Другой бы сдох к пятнадцати
to die, I leave жить и дня!.. Да другу трудно годам…
my love alone…" будет без меня.." Но я вам пережить себя не
дам!"
SHAKESPEARE WILLIAM S. MARSHAK B. PASTERNAK
That time of year thou mayst in me То время года видишь ты во мне, То время года видишь ты во мне,
behold Когда один-другой багряный Когда из листьев редко где
When yellow leaves, or none, or лист какой,
few, do hang От холода трепещет в вышине - Дрожа, желтеет в веток голизне,
Upon those boughs which shake На хорах, где умолк веселый А птичий свист везде сменил
against the cold, свист. покой.
Bare ruined choirs, where late the Во мне ты видишь бледный край
sweet birds sang. Во мне ты видишь тот вечерний небес,
In me thou seest the twilight of час, Где от заката памятка одна,
such day Когда поблек на западе закат И, постепенно взявши перевес,
As after sunset fadeth in the west, И купол неба, отнятый у нас, Их опечатывает темнота.
Which by and by black night doth Подобьем смерти - сумраком Во мне ты видишь то сгоранье
take away, объят. пня,
Death's second self, that seals up Когда зола, что пламенем была,
all in rest. Во мне ты видишь блеск того Становится могилою огня,
In me thou seest the glowing of огня, А то, что грело, изошло дотла.
such fire Который гаснет в пепле прошлых И, это видя, помни: нет цены
That on the ashes of his youth doth дней, Свиданьям, дни которых
lie, И то, что жизнью было для меня, сочтены.
As the death-bed whereon it must Могилою становится моей.
expire,
Consumed with that which it was Ты видишь все. Но
nourished by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes
близостью конца
thy love more strong, Теснее наши связаны сердца!
To love that well which thou must
leave ere long.
SEMANTIC ASPECTS
OF TRANSLATION
IDIOMS= PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS
• Structurally
• Lexically FIXED PHRASES
• Semantically

• Meaning is NOT made by the sum of meanings

of the component parts
 The main feature METAPHORICAL MEANING

• Distinguishes it from the FREE Word-Groups

• Red tape – Бюрократизм

• To play with fire – наражатися на небезпеку

 PROPER NAMES OF PEOPLE
Can NOT be confused with usual
Can acquire figurative meaning
proper names

DESCRIPTIVE WAY of Translation

Croesus – надзвичайно багата людина

Tommy Atkins – англійський
Yankee - американець
солдат
 NATIONAL PROVERBS, sayings, idioms

• Translate DESCRIPTIVELY
Due to the absence of equivalent in the target
language

To cut off with a shilling

To dine with Duke Hamphrey
Ноги на плечі
Зуби з’їсти на чомусь
An odd fish
Canterbury tale Ніде курці клюнути
• IF more than one equivalent

the CHOICE depends on

1. the similarity of meaning
2. the expressiveness

Either with the saddle or loose

Many hands make the work easier
A man can die but once
Haste makes waste
 To cast pearls before swine
To be born under the lucky star
Between Scilla and Charybdis
To cross the Rubicon
Pandora’s box

ONE SOURCE OF ORIGIN

Partial or complete IDENTITY in structure

meaning
expressiveness
Preserve the same WO in SL and TL
Can be understood and translated easily
 INTERNATIONAL IDIOMS
• Belong to the higher stylistic level
GENUINE INTERNATIONALISMS NATIONAL VARIANTS
Strike the iron while it is hot Make haste while the sun shines
Neither fish nor flesh
To cross the Styx To turn one’s toes up
To kick the bucket

NATIONAL VARIANTS = COLLOQUIAL STYLE

 NATIONAL LAYER OF IDIOMS
• Proverbs and Sayings
NATIONAL • Formed with a components pertaining to the national language

• NO ESTABLISHED RULES
TRANSLATION

• LACK OF semantic and structural identity

RESULT

To have guts Малі діти – малий клопіт

To have nerve Своя хата – своя правда
To have strong stomach Стати на рушник
Подати гарбуза
Home from home
 CONCLUSION
• THE WAYS OF FAITHFUL TRANSLATION OF
IDIOMS:
1. By Choosing Absolute Equivalent
Deals with the Idioms that have the same origin:
1) Greek or other Mythology
Augean stables
Cassandra warning
Alladin’s lamp
The Trojan horse
• 2) Ancient History or Literature

An ass in lion’s skin

To cross the Rubicon
The golden age
I came, I saw, I conquered (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
3) The Bible works
Prodigal son
A lost sheep
Thirty pieces of silver
4) Contemporary Literal or Historical Sources:
• Self-made man
The banana Republic (O.Henry)
English The almighty dollar (W.Irving)
The last of Mohicans (F.Cooper)
Gone with the wind (M.Mitchell)

• After us the deluge

French •
•
The fair sex
The game is worth the candles
• More royalist than the king

• The blue blood

Spanish • The fifth column (E.Hemingway)
• To tilt at the windmilIls (Servantes)

• Dante’s Inferno
Italian • Finita la comedia

Arabic • Alladin’s lamp

 2. By Choosing Near Equivalents
Origin THE SAME Components DIFFERENT

Baker’s dozen – чортова дюжина

The devil is not so black as he is painted – не
такий страшний чорт…
In broad daylight – серед білого дня
Measure twice, cut once – сім раз одміряй….
Let George do it…
 3. By Choosing Idiomatic Analogies
• Analogies – expressions close in their connotative / figurative meaning

Proverbs Stable Expressions

To have the ready tongue / Like mistress, like maid / As red as a poppy / There is no
crying over the spilt milk

OFTEN HAVE MORE THAN 1 ANALOGIES

The Choice is predetermined by the Style

Don’t cross the bridges before Не лізь поперед батька…

you come to them
Не кажи гоп…
A crooked stitch throws a Який Савва, така і слава.
crooked shadow Яка хата, такий і тин.
Який батько, такий і син.
І на сонці є плями Every man has a fool in his
sleeve.
Every bean has its black.
 4. Descriptive Way of Translating Idioms
1) By a single word
Out of a blue sky
Poor fish
Hot blood
To peel and pall
2) By a free word combination
Short odds
Go West
To sham Abraham
3) By a sentence (when the meaning is based on a specific national
notion)
To cut with a shilling
to fight like Kilkenny cats
Yes-man
White elephant
 Transformation of Idioms in the
Process of Translation
“Phraseological units have a transparent meaning
that reflect various national features of the
source language” – V. Vinogradov.
IDIOMS REFLECT
- Geographical position
- Customs
- Traditions
- Historical events
- National expressiveness
 Being nationally distinct – DO NOT
HAVE equivalents in the translation
• RESULT more than 1 translator’s version

Regular sentence-to-sentence translation

ARTISTIC LITERARY VERSION

renders Expressiveness
Picturesqueness
Vividness of the SL Idiom
 The Transformations are made to achieve
the Sense, the Structure, the National Image
easier to comprehend
The wind cannot be prevented by blowing
INTERLINEAR LEVEL ARTISTIC LEVEL
Вітрові не перешкодиш віяти Вітру не затулиш
The pleasures of the mighty are the tears of the poor
Розваги багатих – то сльози Вельможні скачуть – убогі
бідних плачуть
They must hunger in winter that will not work in summer
Той голодує взимку, хто не Лежатимеш на печі – не
працює влітку їстимеш калачі