Theory of translation
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Chapter 3. TRANSLATING TERMS§1. TRANSLATION FACTORSA term is a word or expression denoting a concept in a particular activity, job, or profession. Terms are frequently associated with professionalisms.156 Terms can be single words: psychology, function, equity; or they may consist of several words: computer aided design system – система автоматического проектирования. Terms are considered to have one meaning in one field. Therefore, they are context-free words, whose meaning does not depend on the context: cod – треска, herring – сельдь, squid – кальмар in any context. Contrary to this belief, terms may have more than one meaning, since they can be understood differently in various schools and varies technologies: e.g., the grammatical term verb is considered to belong to morphology in the Russian school of linguistics, so it is translated as глагол. In the American school of linguistics it is often understood as a syntactical concept expressing a part of the sentence; therefore, in this case it corresponds to the Russian сказуемое. This gives rise to the problem of term unification. A translator must be very careful about terms expressing the same notion in different languages. One notion should be designated by a single term throughout the whole text. Different fields of knowledge ascribe different meanings to one and the same term. For example, лист in the publishing field corresponds to the term sheet (author’s sheet); in biology, it is a leaf; in technique, it is a plate; in geology, it is lamina. Similarly, the term drive is equivalent to different Russian terms, since it has different meanings in various fields: привод (in mechanics), органы управления (in the automobile), сплав (in forestry), горизонтальная горная выработка (in mining), дисковод (in the computer), etc. Term homonymy is sometimes due to the fact that words of general stock assume a technical meaning, thus becoming terms: for instance, memory – память, cell – ячейка памяти, driver – драйвер, управляющая программа (in computers). Also, terms of one field are borrowed by other fields, like variant and invariant were borrowed into linguistics from mathematics. Such term homonymy challenges translation. A translator must know the exact meaning of term in this or that field, as well as its combinability, for the nearby attribute or another word may specify the term and affect its translation: антикоррозийное покрытие – corrosion-resistant coating, дерновое покрытие – sod-matting, дорожное покрытие – road pavement, покрытие крыши – roofing, маскировочное покрытие – camouflage cover, пенное покрытие – foam blanket. To do accurate translation, it is necessary not only to know the meaning of the terms but also to link them with other words in speech. Erroneous word combination can cause difficulties in understanding the text. For example, the word combination прозвонить цепь cannot be rendered by its calque *to ring through the line. Its equivalent is to test the line. Therefore, translators always put high value on dictionaries containing word equivalents along with phrases and illustrating sentences.157 Terms in dictionaries are usually arranged in alphabetical and keyword order. To find a word combination, it is necessary to look up a keyword, which is usually a noun. For example, to translate a compound term barking machine, it is necessary to look up the term machine. Its vocabulary entry will give the attributive group corresponding to корообдирочный станок, корообдирка. Term translation may also depend on the regional character of the language. For example, антенна corresponds to aerial in British English, to antenna in American English; ветровое стекло (автомобиля) – windscreen (British English), windshield (American English); багажник (автомобиля) – boot (British), trunk (American). Term form depends on the people using it. P. Newmark suggests three levels of term usage:
In science, terms are neutral, non-expressive. Medical students feel no particular ways, whatever terms they use. But when a term is transferred to another register, it takes on a stylistic and emotional coloring. In common everyday situations, people feel abhorrence for pox, in Russian called дурная болезнь, and other things. Term translation depends on the register it is used in. In science, translators tend to translate as precisely as possible. Absolute equivalence of terms is a requirement in scientific translation. In other registers, term translation depends on the receptors background, and on the function the term plays in the text. §2. TRANSLATION TECHNIQUEThe main ways of translating terms are as follows:
Many international loan terms are of Greek or Latin origin. This facilitates mutual understanding among specialists: arthrogryposis – артрогрипоз, osteodystrophy – остеодистрофия, hematoma – гематома. However, when using this technique a translator should be aware of ‘false friends’, that is words similar in form but different in meaning, for example: benzene in chemistry is equal to бензол, not бензин, the latter corresponding to benzine, gasoline. Likewise, мутиляция = отторжение части тела или органа - rejection, mutilation – увечье, калечащее повреждение; hemeralopia – дневная слепота (ухудшение зрения при дневном свете), гемералопия = ночная (куриная) слепота – nyctalopia. A translator of science texts must use only standard terms, avoiding slang or colloquial words. For instance, brown coal – бурый уголь (not *коричневый уголь); natural gas – природный газ (not *натуральный газ); airplane – самолет (not аэроплан); машинное масло – engine oil (not *machine oil).
This translation technique, even more than transcription or transliteration, may be detrimental to the correctness of the meaning, for it can lead to “false friends”: letter-of-credit is not письмо доверия but аккредитив; песочные часы – not *sand clock but hour-glass; цветные металлы – not *colored metals but non-ferrous metals. Transparent inner form of the word can cause no less trouble with translation equivalents: gooseberry – крыжовник (not гусиная ягода), quicksilver – ртуть (not быстрое серебро), bear’s onion – черемша (not медвежий лук).
§3. TERMS IN FICTION AND MAGAZINESAnalogue translation is given preference in a more popular text, such as one in literary or magazine register. When it comes to the selection between a loan form and its analog, authors would prefer a form clearer to the receptor. For example, whereas medical professionals would use the word летальный, journalists and writers would rather write смертельный to render lethal. Similarly, the equivalents to the term hemostasis would be split for two registers: гемостаз used in medicine, and остановка кровотечения used for a common receptor. To comment on the meaning of a new or unknown term, a translator must explain it: runaways – предприятия, переведенные на другую территорию или за границу. In fiction, terms and professionalisms can function as the speech record of a character showing his or her vocation, education, breeding, environment and sometimes even psychology. For example, in A. Hailey’s The Final Diagnosis, medical terms in the speech of the heroes characterize their profession, some of their traits as well as their experience and sometimes sufferings: “Goleman spoke carefully. ‘The nurse student – the one who had her leg amputated. I dissected the limb this morning. You were right. I was wrong. It was malignant. Osteogenic sarcoma without a doubt.’ ”159Russian literature is famous for A. Checkov’s speech portraits, the example being noncom Prishibeyev’s self-portrait: “Я не мужик, я унтер-офицер, отставной каптенармус, в Варшаве служил, в штабе-с, а после того, изволите знать, как в чистую вышел, был в пожарных-с, а после того по слабости болезни ушел из пожарных и два года в мужской классической прогимназии в швейцарах служил…” Another function of the term in fiction is to create a technical overtone, showing the surroundings in which the plot develops. For instance, in his novel Wheels, A. Hailey depicts a large automobile plant. J. Grisham in his A Time to Kill describes the court of law. Use of the appropriate mechanical and law terms facilitates this. To preserve this function it is not necessary to translate each term by its precise technical equivalent. What is important is to keep the professional overtone of the text, so that it is possible to translate some terms and reduce those that are irrelevant to the content. A well-considered substitution of the term may be required if the term is unknown to both the translator and the receptor. An extract from Ilf and Petrov’s Двенадцать стульев can illustrate the idea: Елена Станиславовна имела о плашках в 3/8-х дюйма такое же представление, какое имеет о сельском хозяйстве слушательница хореографических курсов им. Леонардо да Винчи. The word плашки denotes a rare plumbing tool, not normally known to a nonexpert. So it can be substituted with another name. In this case the translator uses the transformation called differentiation. If used in its connotative poetic meaning, the term may be substituted with a word associated with another poetic image. For instance, in a lyrical text about spring the Russian черемуха can be translated into Japanese by sakura, into English by cherry-tree. If the term is used in fiction to create a contrast between a neutral and colloquial vocabulary, the translator’s aim is to preserve the contrast: Вот сделаю тракцию и начну зуб тянуть. (Чехов) I’ll do the traction and will start pulling out the tooth. |