Здесь можно найти учебные материалы, которые помогут вам в написании курсовых работ, дипломов, контрольных работ и рефератов. Так же вы мажете самостоятельно повысить уникальность своей работы для прохождения проверки на плагиат всего за несколько минут.
Предлагаем нашим посетителям воспользоваться бесплатным программным обеспечением «StudentHelp», которое позволит вам всего за несколько минут, выполнить повышение оригинальности любого файла в формате MS Word. После такого повышения оригинальности, ваша работа легко пройдете проверку в системах антиплагиат вуз, antiplagiat.ru, РУКОНТЕКСТ, etxt.ru. Программа «StudentHelp» работает по уникальной технологии так, что на внешний вид, файл с повышенной оригинальностью не отличается от исходного.
Результат поиска
Наименование:
курсовая работа The peculiarities of technical translation in the sphere of trade
Информация:
Тип работы: курсовая работа.
Добавлен: 15.12.2014.
Год: 2014.
Страниц: 31.
Уникальность по antiplagiat.ru: < 30%
Описание (план):
Управление Образования
г. Алматы
Алматинский Государственный
Гуманитарно-Педагог ческий Колледж №2
Специальность 0832002
«Переводческое дело»
« The peculiarities of technical translation
in the sphere of trade ».
Курсовая работа
По предмету: «Теория и практика перевода»
Выполнила:
студентка гр. ПД-35
___
Руководитель:
___
Алматы
2010
Contents
Introduction………………2
II. Theoretical Part. Lexical problems
in translation of Technical texts
II. 1. Translation of technical literature as a special
discipline……….4
II. 2. Disclosure of the concept «Technical translation»………...7
II. 3. Lexico-grammatical transformations………9
II. 4. Linguistic peculiarities of technical texts……….………...13
II. 5. «False friends» of translator……….15
II. 6. Lexicology and grammar of technical literature………..17
II. 7. Translation of titles in technical articles………...25
III. Practical Part
III. 2. Translation of the text of mechanical engineering in the sphere of trade…27
IV. Conclusion ……….…...40
V. Bibliography………………..42
Appendix ………..43
I. Introduction.
The present course work deals with the lexical problems
in translation of technical texts and research the main methods of translation
of Technical texts at a deeper level. In connection with the rapid developments in technology
and increase the technical information practical value of technical
translation was raised.
Translation is a mean of interlingual communication.
The translator makes possible an exchange of information between users
of different languages by producing in the target language a text which has an identical communicative
value with the source text. Technical translation or research in language
for specific purposes has long been considered as a field of the exact
sciences, and the idea of cultural embedding of technical texts was
dismissed. When someone calls language technical in everyday life, it
is usually understood to mean that its message is hard to grasp. In
scientific circles however the modifier has a happier connotation. The
expressiveness and flexibility of natural language make it hard to process
in a methodical fashion, and researchers generally understand ‘technical
text? to mean writing which is more tractable because, for example,
it lacks figurative language and can be understood in its literal sense.
The aim of our course work is to study and analyse the
lexical problems in translation of technical texts.
There are 3 following objectives:
1. To characterize the translation of technical texts.
2. To give a detailed explanation of constructions
which cause special difficulties while translating.
3. To suggest some strategies for translating technical
texts.
The subject of research – peculiarities in translation of technical texts
in the sphere of trade.
The purpose
of this work - the study of language features and technical literature
on the lexical level.
In way translation of technical texts is the opposite
of literary translation in what concerns the freedom
of translator’s actions and choices. The technical texts are highly
standardized this applies both to the structure of the whole text (macrostructure)
and to the arrangement of individual paragraphs and sentence (microstructure).
At the macro level in technical texts usually consists of a preamble,
main text body and a finalizing (concluding) part. Depending on the
type of document the composition and content of its individual parts
may slightly vary.
This course work is intended for students who are already aware of the
basics and peculiarities of the grammatical and syntax of the English
language. That is why it offers some introduction in translation of
technical texts which can cause special difficulties while translating.
In my course work I have used the following resources:
The usage of different information such as books,
references and Internet.
The own experience of work as a translator from English into
Russian.
As for the structure of this project, it consists of the following
parts:
Introduction
Theoretical part
Practical part
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction gives the full review of all course work; it contains objectives, short description
of each part of my course work.
The theoretical part present the analyze of theoretical
aspects in translation of technical texts. The theoretical part gives
a detailed review of the study of the theory of translation and also
reveals the role of technical literature and terms in everyday life
of the humanity which are believed to be interesting to future translator/interpret rs.
It also discussed the methods of translation of technical text with
purpose to make it easier for translator to achieve adequate translation
in the target language.
Also theoretical part deals with the detailed study
of grammatical and lexical, difficulties involved in translation of
political literature.
It have been also attached some samples of translation of technical expressions
and variants of possible translations so that to enable the future translator
to benefit from the given paper in their further researches in the fields
of translation.
In practical part I tried to apply all knowledge that I have obtained. I prepared translation
of automobile, because it is good example of technical text and common
for everyday life of humanity.
In conclusion we have summed up the results of our
laborious investigation translation of technical literature.
II. Theoretical part. Lexical problems in translation
of technical texts.
II.1. Translation of technical literature
as a special discipline.
The translation of technical literature is a special
discipline that arose at the intersection of linguistics, on the one
hand, and science and technology, on the other.
The translation of technical literature must be viewed as
a linguistic as well as scientific and technical positions, with the
primacy of the first in study of common issues, and secondly, when considering
the narrow nomenclature.
Most translators prefer to think of their work as
a profession and would like to see others to treat them like professionals
rather than as skilled or semi-skilled workers. But to achieve this, translators need to develop an ability
to stand back and reflect on what they do and how they do it. Like doctors
and engineers, they have to prove to themselves as well as others that
they are in control of what they do; that they do not just translate
well because they have ‘flair’ for translation, but rather because,
like other professionals, they have made a conscious effort to understand
various aspects of their work.
Unlike medicine and engineering, translation is a
very young discipline in academic terms. It is only just starting to feature
as a subject of study in its own right, not yet in all but in an increasing
number of universities and colleges around the world. Like any young
discipline, it needs to draw on the findings and theories of other related
disciplines in order to develop and formalize its own methods; but which
disciplines it can naturally and fruitfully be related to is still a
matter of some controversy. Almost every aspect of life in general and
of the interaction between speech communities in particular can be considered
relevant to translation, a discipline which has to concern itself with
how meaning is generated within and between various groups of people
in various cultural settings. This is clearly too big an area to investigate
in one go. So, let us just start by saying that, if translation is ever
to become a profession in the full sense of the word, translators will
need something other than the current mixture of intuition and practice
to enable them to reflect on what they do and how they do it. They will
need, above all, to acquire a sound knowledge of the raw material with
which they work: to understand what language is and how it comes to
function for its users.
Translation is a process of rendering a text, written piece or a speech by means of other languages.
The difference of translation from retelling or other kinds of transfer
of a given text is that that translation is a process of creating an
original unity in contexts and forms of original.
The translation quality is defined by its completeness and value.
“The completeness and value of translation means definite rendering
of the contextual sense of the original piece and a high-grade functional-stylistic
conformity.”
The concept “high-grade functional-stylistic conformity” clearly points on two existing
ways of rendering the form in unity with the meaning: the first one
is a reproduction of specific features of the form of the original piece
and the second one is the creation of functional conformities of those
features. It means when translating the specific features of an original
literature we should rather consider the style inherent for the given
genre but than direct copying the form of an original. While translating,
we should also remember that different lexical and grammatical elements
of an original might be translated differently if accepted by the norms
of conformity to the whole original. The translation adequacy of separate
phrases, sentences and paragraphs should not be considered separately
but along with achievement of the adequacy and completeness of the translating
piece as a whole because the unity of a piece is created through collecting
the components.
No matter how a translator (interpreter) is talented
he should remember two most important conditions of the process of translation: the
first is that the aim of translation is to get the reader as closely
as possible acquainted with the context of a given text and then second
– to translate – means to precisely and completely express by means
of one language the things that had been expressed earlier by the means
of another language.
Bilingvistical study of language and style of scientific
and technical literature provides an opportunity to obtain comparative
data, which then form the basics of transfers so as a foreign language in Russian,
with Russian as a foreign language.
Wall bilingvistical study of theoretical and practical
patterns of language and style of scientific and technical literature
and the development of translation from one language to another requires the combined efforts
of linguists and logic, phycologists and teachers, translators and engineers.
New program of teaching foreign languages in high
schools, approved in 1967, focuses its efforts on training teachers
of reading and translation of scientific and technical literature.
The new goal will require the development of new methods of teaching
foreign languages. This new method should be based on the data bilingvistical
study of languages and style of technical literature identifying the
specific laws of its reading and interpretation.
Based on the characteristics of the language and
style of technical literature and its attendant formal and logical style
is necessary, starting with the first lessons to teach students a strictly
logical analysis of language material, focusing on those phenomenal
that are specific to language and style naunoy and technical literature
cause errors in translation.
We can not allow the mechanical transfer method of
teaching spoken language and leaning to read literature on the development
of patterns of reading an translation of scientific and technical texts.
In this regard, it is necessary first of all to abandon the emphasis
on consolidation of “frequency” words and grammatical forms that
do not cause difficulties in translation, and the popularization of
“wireless reading”, which was build on the conviction that one can
correctly understand the scientific and technical thought not knowing
special words and combinations based on intuition and speculation.
Translation is the process and the result of turning
a text from one language into another, which means expressing the same
by the signs of a different language. Bearing in mind that every sign
has two planes (plane of expression and plane of content) the essence
of translation could be described as changing the elements of the plane
of content remains constant.
The language of the original text is called «source
language», the language into which the text is translated is called
«target language » (the corresponding Russian terms are «исходный
языкe» and «переходящий язык»). One of the main
difficulties of translating lies in the fact that the meaning of the
whole text is not exhausted by the sum of meaning of its elements. The
meaning of a text is made up by words (characterized by their denotative
and connotative meaning and stylistic reference), syntactic meaning
of sentences and utterances larger than sentences, suprasegmental elements
and lexico-semantic connections between words and phrases.
II. 2. Disclosure of the concept
«Technical translation ».
Technical translation is a type of specialized translation involving
the translation of documents produced by technical
writers (owner's manuals, user guides, etc.), or more specifically, texts which relate
to technological subject areas or texts which deal with the practical
application of scientific and technological information. While the presence
of specialized terminology is a feature of technical texts, specialized terminology
alone is not sufficient for classifying a text as "technical"
since numerous disciplines and subjects which are not "technical"
possess what can be regarded as specialized terminology. Technical translation
covers the translation of many kinds of specialized texts and requires
a high level of subject knowledge and mastery of the relevant terminology
and writing conventions.
Technical writing, a form of technical communication, is a style of formal writing used in fields as
diverse as computer hardware and software, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology. Technical writers explain technology and related ideas to technical
and nontechnical audiences. This could mean, for example, telling a
programmer how to use a software library or telling a consumer how to
operate a television remote control.
Technical writers gather information from existing documentation and
from subject matter experts. A subject matter expert (SME) is any expert
on the topic that the writer is working on. Technical writers are often
not SMEs themselves (unless they are writing about creating good technical
documentation). Workers at many levels, and in many different fields,
have a role in producing technical communications. A good technical
writer needs strong language and teaching skills and must understand
the many conventions of modern technical communications.
Technical writing teams or departments are often
referred to as Information Development, User Assistance, Technical
Documentation, or Technical Publications. Technical writers themselves
may be called API Writers, information developers, documentation specialists,
documentation engineers, or technical content developers.
For technical documents to be useful, readers must
understand and act on them without having to decode wordy and ambiguous prose. Good technical
writing clarifies technical jargon; that is, it presents useful information
that is clear and easy to understand for the intended audience.
Technical writing is often subject to parody, perhaps due to the publication of poor quality technical documents.
A classic parody of poor technical writing is the assembly instruction
sheet for a complicated device such as a bicycle or barbecue grill produced
by a writer whose native language is not that of the target audience,
and who lacks any sense of effective use of overview, naming, and sequencing
in technical instruction documents. The phrase "some assembly required"
has come to symbolize difficulty with essentially technical writing
issues.
Technical translations, in the broader sense, involve any non-literary
translation, i.e., translation of texts dealing with electronics, medicine,
law, economics, or sports. In a narrower sense, technical translations deal with
texts from the world of engineering, including chemistry, computer science,
automotive engineering, geology, etc. The number of technical fields
is infinitely large, and terminology is expanding and changing daily.
Moreover, even within the same field, competing companies often use
different terms for the same object to differentiate their products
from those of their competitors.
Ideally, a technical text should therefore be translated by a specialist
in the specific area in question, who is familiar with the terminology of the company for which the
translation is being done. For example, it is highly desirable that
a text dealing with IBM computer parts be translated by an IBM computer
specialist, because chances are the same part is called a different
name by Apple, Dell, or NEC. Obviously, this is not always possible
in practice. What is important, however, is that the translator be familiar
with the technical concepts involved in the text, so that the translation
conveys the right idea to the engineer or technician reading it. The
client can greatly contribute to the quality of the translation by providing
the translator with any related documents written in the target language,
as well as with the drawings and source-language documents dealing with
the same topic. Then, especially if the translation is for publication,
the terminology must be refined via a dialog between the translator
and the client.
Dictionaries do not always provide the right answers to technical
terminology problems. A technical translator will know the proper term to use.
Translation/convers on of units of measurement poses a special challenge
to the translator. It's not only finding the correct conversion factor
from pound per square inch to kilopascal, but also choosing the right fractional units to avoid expressing the weight
of a microchip in tons or its dimensions in miles. Competent technical
translators know that converting a temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius
units or vice-versa requires a different formula from converting a temperature
difference between the same units. They realize that some units (like
standard screw sizes) are not to be converted. They know when to round
numbers and how.
Even if the terminology and all information contained in the document is correct,
technical writing has a style that is difficult, if not impossible,
for a non-technical person to imitate. A high-quality technical translation
combines correct terminology and a style appropriate for the type of
document and the intended audience. A text describing a surgical procedure
will use a different terminology and style depending on whether it is
intended for physicians or laypersons. Excessively technical terminology
may not be understood by the layman, while the specialist may be offended
by use of popular.
II.3. Lexico-grammatical transformations.
Every language is characterized by a specific structure
of its lexico-grammatical fields and has its own lexical, morphological
and syntactic system. It may result in lack of coincidence between the means of expressing the same
content in SL (source language) and TL (target language). That is why
good practical knowledge of the two languages is quite necessary but
not sufficient for translating. Besides this knowledge one must possess
a number of skills and be guided by a number of principles worked out
by the theory of translation. These principles are connected both
with linguistic and extra linguistic aspects.
While translating one must keep in view typological characteristics
of both the language and remember that the same idea may be expressed
lexically in one of them and grammatically in the other.
It is well known that language
differ in their grammatical structure. Apart from aving different grammatical
categories that seem to be similar. This naturally results in the necessity
to introduce some grammatical change in the translated version of any
text. These changes depend on the character of correlation between the
grammatical norms of SL and TL. Various as they are, all the possible
changes may be classed under four main types: transposition (перестановки),
replacement (замены), additions (добавление), and omission
(опущение).
1. Transposition. There may appear a necessity to rearrange elements
of different levels: words, phrases, clauses or even sentence. Transposition
of words and phrases may be caused by various reasons: differences in
the accepted word order in SL and TL, presence or absence of emphasis,
differences in the means of communicative syntax.
Speaking of word order, it would be more accurate
to say that to change word order really means to rearrange not so much
words but part of the sentence when translating from English into Russian one has to change
word-order because normally it is fixed in English while in Russian
it is relatively free: Most of the modern radio-transmitters
can communicate both telegraph and telephone signals.- Большинство
современных радиопередатчиков может
работать как в телеграфном, так и в
телефонном режиме, which depends (in this particular
case) on the rhythm of the whole utterance. But such freedom of choice
is rather rare, since the word order of the Russian sentences is not
as arbitrary as it seems to be. The position of a word in the sentence
is often predetermined by its communicative function.
Transposition of clauses is also used to preserve
the semantic and communicative balance of the whole sentences: We know the primary
coil in the ordinary transformer to have more turns than the secondary
one. - Известно, что первичная обмотка обычного
трансформатора имеет больше витков, чем
вторичная.
Transposition of sentences does not become necessary
very often. However, it helps sometimes to render the meaning which
is expressed by the Past Perfect from in the English text, so as to
indicate the succession of action or events: This question was
discussed at the conference - Этот вопрос был
обсужден на конференции. (Этот
вопрос обсуждался на конференции. Этот
вопрос обсуждали на конференции.Конференц я
обсудила этот вопрос)
2. Replacement. Replacements are also made at different levels.
To conform to the demands of the grammatical system
of TL it may become necessary to change the grammatical form of a word:
“fifteen thousand dollars”
– “пятнадцать тысяч долларов”
(“thousand” – singular, “тысяча” - plural), etc.
They often have to replace one part of speech by
another.
The zinc in the dry cell accumulates
a great many excess electrons which will
move to the carbon electrode.- Цинк в сухом
элементе аккумулирует большое число
избыточных электронов, которые
движутся к угольному электроду.
Occasionally some other replacements may become necessary.
However, it must be remember that the choice of parts
of speech influences the general stylistic coloring of the text, cf.
“бросить взгляд” аnd “взглянуть”, “хранить
молчание” and “молчать”, etc. Russian abstract
nouns are usually more appropriate in newspapers and official texts,
short-form adjectives and passive participle are somewhat bookish and
should be avoided if possible when rendering colloquial speech, which
means that part of speech replacements may be caused sometimes by purely
stylistic considerations.
Replacement of parts of sentence. The most of frequent
among such of replacements is that of substituting an object for the
subject and vice versa. It is very helpful in translating English passive
constructions. Statistics shows that in English they use passive constructions
much more often that in Russian. Moreover, in English these constructions
in themselves are not marked stylistically while in Russian they are
mainly bookish and official. The essence of this replacement is in making
the subject of the English sentence the object of the Russian version:
This transformation is regularly used when the subject of the English
sentence is expressed by a noun denoting some message: “the text (the
telegram, the letter, etc.), “в тексте (в телеграмме,
в письме и т.д.) говорят (сказано)”. Occasionally
this transformation is applied to other nouns in the function of the
subject.
One of the most important syntactic peculiarities
of the English language is the existence of the secondary predication
created by various participial and infinitive constructions. These constructions
are included in the structure of the simple sentences in English while
Russian simple sentences have only one predicative center. This may
lead to the necessity of the substituting Russian composite sentence
for simple sentence of the original text.
A long and syntactically complicated sentence containing
secondary predication may be translated by several simple sentences: “A few months ago I was nominated
for the Governor of the great State of New-York, to run against Mr.Stewart
L.Woodford and Mr.John T.Hoffman on an independent ticket” – “Несколько
месяцев назад моя кандидатура была выдвинута
на пост губернатора великого штата Нью-Йорк,
мне предстояло выступить против мистера
Стюарта Л.Вудфорда и мистера Джона Т.Хоффмана.”
A different type of syntactic bond may be used in
translation instead of that used in original text; i.e. subordination
may be replaced by coordination and vice versa. Generally speaking,
subordination is more frequently used in English than
in Russian, since subordinating words in English are rather vague semantically
while in Russian they state rather definitely the character of semantic
connection between the clauses.
Syndetic connection used in English sentence is not
always appropriate in Russian, so it would often create a wrong stylistic
effect if preserved in translation. That is why asyndetic connection
of part of the sentence is rather regularly used in Russian instead
of English polysyndeton.
So, the following types of replacement may be used
in order to overcome difficulties created by differences in the grammatical
system of SL and TL: A. Replacement of word-forms (замена форм
слова). B. Replacement of part of speech (замены части
речи). C. Replacement of part of sentence (замены членов
предложения). D. Replacement of a simple sentence by composite
one and vice versa (замена простого предложения
сложным и наоборот). E. Replacement of the principal
clause by a subordinate one and vice versa (замена главного
предложения придаточным и наоборот).
F. Replacement of subordination by coordination and vice versa (замена
подчинения сочинением и наоборот). G. Replacement
of syndetic connection by asyndetic and vise versa (замена союзной
связи бессоюзной и наоборот). Within the fourth
type (replacement of a simple sentence by a composite one and vise versa)
they also single out two additional varieties: joining several sentence
together (объединение) and dividing a long sentence into
several shorter sentences (членение).
3. Addition. It is very difficult to say whether this transformation
is lexical or grammatical: it is both. Its lexical aspects have already
been discussed: it is necessary to make some explanation of transcribed
words, describe those notions which have no name in TL, add the words
which are implied but not expressed in the structure of attributive
phrases, etc. However, in all these cases the structure of the sentence
is involved, that is why the transformation is considered to be grammatical.
Sometimes there appear grammatical reasons for adding new words: it
happens when some meaning is expressed grammatically in the original
text while there is no way of expressing it grammatically in TL.
The IMF mission is to arrive
in Almaty on November 17.The stuff will focus of the general
macroeconomic indicates. (International Monetary Fund – Международный
Валютный Фонд)
17 ноября
в Алматы должна прибыть миссия МВФ. Сотрудники фонда сосредоточат внимание
на общих макроэкономических показателях.
«You might ask why
engineers have generally chosen to supply us with a.c. rather
than d.c. for our household needs». - «Можно спросить,
почему для домашних надобностей обычно
используется переменный, а не постоянный
ток».
In this way the translated version restores as it
were the complete structure of the original sentence some elements of
which might be only implied and not expressed materially. When using
the transformation of addition one should be very careful to add only
that which should really be added. It requires good knowledge of deep
structure and surface structure grammars of both SL and TL and ability
to analyze semantic and pragmatic aspects of text.
4. Ommision. This transformation is seldom structurally obligatory;
it is usually caused by stylistic consideration and deals with redundancy
traditionally normative in SL and not accepted in TL. A typical example
of such redundancy is the use of synonymic pairs in English: “…their
only stay and support…” – both the words mean "поддержка”,
“опора”. There is no need to translate them both, one is quite
enough: “их единственна поддержка” or, according
to the demands of the context, “единственное, что спасло
их от голодa”.
Sometimes it is recommended to omit semantically
empty “tags” of declarative and interrogative sentence: The first thing I did was to give her
a call. – Первое,
что я сделал, позвонил ей.
They sometimes recommend omitting logical redundancies
and repetitions to achieve what is called “compression of the text”.
However, it must be remembered that logical redundancy
of speech and various repetitions are used by writers to characterize
the personage`s individual manner of speaking, his way of thinking,
etc. In such cases omissions are not allowed.
These are the main types of grammatical transformations. It should
be born in mind, however, that is practice it is hardly possible to
find these elementary transformations in their “pure form”: in most
cases it is necessary to combine them
II.4. Linguistic peculiarities of
technical texts.
Within the fields of research and teaching the concept
"technical text" covers texts which exist within a technical
knowledge area and which as a result make use of the technical terminology
belonging to that area. Furthermore, technical texts are considered as being informative,
impersonal, objective and with a relatively standardized syntax, e.g.
with many pre- and post-modifications, nominalisations and passive constructions.
So, in crude terms technical texts are -as mentioned - considered a
rather stereotyped and homogeneous group. In 1994 Baakes wrote:
"Scientists and engineers are trained to be
objective and to accept as facts only impersonal, objective statements
about things which can be seen by any observers who choose to look. This objective attitude is naturally reflected
in the way they express themselves...”
A natural consequence of the conventional view on
technical texts - in a translational perspective - must be that if you
master the conventions of technical language, i.e. technical style, the greatest problem
to the translator must be of a terminological kind. What I realised
during my work as a translator in a technical company was that the expression
"technical texts" in business life and among professional
translators covers texts within a technical knowledge area (just as
was the case within research and teaching), BUT that the expression
- in practice - is in no way limited to informative, impersonal and
objective text types with a fixed syntax and style. On the contrary
it covers a very wide range of text types. In my work I have used the
skopos theory (Vermeer 1989) to show that it is the skopos - i.e. purpose/function
- which ought to decide which translation strategy is to be used and
not an illusion of equivalence between the source and the target text.
In the same way you could say that it is the function of the source
text which determines the contents and style of a text and not the fact
that a text contains technical terminology and certain syntactic characteristics.
In translation-oriented text classifications technical texts are traditionally
classified as informative texts - and frequently as the extreme opposite
to literary language and poetry - which is probably one of the reasons
for the very stereotyped view on technical texts. Fortunately, today
many researchers are moving away from that view and are becoming more
conscious of the fact that most texts – whether they are technical
or not - are multifunctional:
"The traditional view of objective, a thetorical scientific
discourse...has come increasingly into question..."
Some might claim that the texts are only classified
according to their dominant function, but you could then ask the question
whether such a classification is possible at all - for how do you assess
which function is the most important in a text - is it necessarily the
function which takes up most space? Buhler and Jakobson's well-known
language functions are extremely useful concepts for the description
of functions present in a text, but as the basis of a translation-relevant
classification they are of no value and even misleading.We have worked
with the following overall hypothesis "Though the informative function
is evidently important in technical texts it is not the only relevant
one. The majority of technical texts are more expressive than assumed
up to now and are multifunctional to an extent which should be taken
into account by the translator." Before we proceed we would like
to explain what is meant by the concept "expressivity&qu t;.
Expressivity Defined and Explained
Non-informative purposes can of course be explicitly
expressed in a text, but due to the tradition of objectivity there is
a tendency to express non-informative purposes in technical texts in
a more subtle or implicit way - which does not exactly make it easier
for the translator to discover the underlying messages of a text. Stylistic
features which express something non-informative we call expressive
features. Inspired by Gliser and to a certain extent Nord we have divided
the expressive features into syntactic expressivity and lexical expressivity.
Syntactic expressivity structures and emphasizes part of the text. A
text can thus be organized in a way which supports the non-informative
purposes of the text. Examples of syntactic expressivity can be: parallelisms,
rhetorical questions, antithesis or inverted word order.
Lexical expressivity occurs when the attitudes and
expressive messages of the writer are expressed at the level of lexis.
E.g. by means of metaphors, puns, alliteration, hedging or by the use
of lexemes with many connotations and a large number of other lexical
means. By means of a mini-corpus consisting of 6 different technical
texts in Danish (from the same company) we have tried to show that the
technical writer - like any other writer - makes use of syntactic as
well as lexical expressive linguistic means. It goes without saying
that in most technical texts these features are a bit more subtle than
e.g. within literature and poetry, but of course this does not mean
that they do not exist. You might even say that a pun or a creative
metaphor has a stronger effect in a text type where they are not so
frequent. Each expressive feature often seems rather unimportant seen
in isolation, but it is important to understand that it is the sum and
interplay of the expressive elements in a text which point at the expressive
messages.
When working as a staff translator it gradually dawned
upon me that we was often left with impressions of a text which did
not stem from the purely informative level of the text. We quite often
got the impression that a writer was expressing this or that attitude
in a very subtle way. I.e. in addition to the obvious subjects and purposes,
the texts were filled with "hidden agendas" (not to be understood
in any negative sense). Presumably most professional translators would
recognize the intuitions just described as it is well known that there
is more to a text than meets the eye. However, this is traditionally
the way we describe phenomena we do not know enough about and when taking
a closer look at the texts we was dealing with we discovered that my
intuitions probably originated (at least partly) from a number of lexemes
pointing in the same direction, though frequently with only part of
their meaning. As we were later to become aware, the phenomenon just
described is that of isotopy.
II.5. «False friends» of translator.
“False friends” – words or expressions that
appear the same in two languages, but have different meanings in each. French and English form a happy hunting-ground.
As language evolves, meanings change, and words from the past become
false friends although in the same language.
In France, the word “demander” means only to ask or request. Woe betides the translator who renders it into English as “demand” – which is far more peremptory, and in some contexts can sound rude. This error is rumoured
to have provoked a diplomatic incident. Another, which I witnessed myself,
was made by the official interpreter whom the late President Georges Pompidou brought
with him to London when Britain was seeking to join the European Community,
as it was then called. The President had said – on television –
that he well understood the emotional bonds between Britain and the Commonwealth. His interpreter translated “liens sentimentaux” as “sentimental
links”. He should perhaps have said “links of sentiment”: but
his actual words implied that those links were mawkish, false, or a blend of both.
These are plain instances of how “false friends”
can affect diplomatic relations. But there are many that merely confuse
ordinary people. “Actuel” means “present-day”, not “actual”;
“une bribe” is a fragment (of music or talk), not a bribe; “un
courtier” is not a courtier, but a broker; “descente de lit” (“bedside
mat”) was misread, by a translator of Jean Cocteau, as “getting
out of bed”. The alphabet could continue indefinitely.
Translation remains the problem, especially when
the words in each language appear the same. And “false friends”
are not the only culprits. Less usual suspects also carry burdens from
the past. These are words and expressions that are directly translatable,
and sometimes virtually identical.
For example, the words:
1. Actual -- means "фактический&qu t;, not "актуальный&quo ;.
It is interesting to illustrate, at this point, how
Flory's original equation can
lead to serious discrepancies if applied without due regard to the actual concentration
of materials. На этой стадии интересно проиллюстрировать,
как первоначальное
уравнение Флори может привести к серьезным
отклонениям, если его применять без учета фактической
концентрации реагентов.
2. Original -- means "первоначальный quot;, not
"оригинальный& uot;.
The relationship is responsible for the original shifting of this band. Это взаимоотношение
обусловливает первоначальный
сдвиг этой полосы.
3. Progressive -- means "постепенный&quo ;,
not "прогрессивный&q ot;.
A progressive increase in
volume was noticed at all extensions. При всех растяжениях
было замечено постепенное
возрастание объема.
4. Actually -- "фактически&quo ;,
not "актуально" .
This compound actually proved to be
an isomer. Фактически это
соединение оказалось изомером.
5. Originally -- "первоначально& uot;,
not "оригинально&qu t;-It is the method originally developed by
Hahn and his co-workers. Это метод, первоначально
разработанный Ханом и сотрудниками.
6. Progressively -- "постепенно" ,
"все более", not "прогрессивно&qu t;.
The stability of an ion of the present type decreases
as the number of aromatic rings decreases, so that benzhydrol and benzyl
alcohol appear to behave as progressively weaker bases.
Устойчивость иона данного типа уменьшается
по мере того, как уменьшается число ароматических
колец, так что, повидимому, бензгидрол
и бензиловый спирт ведут себя как все более и более
слабые основания.
7. Specific -- means "удельный" not
"специфический quot;.
If one knows the value for the specific rotation of optically pure phenylmethylacetic acid,
it then becomes possible to set minimum values for the rotations of
the optically pure aphenylethylphenols. Если известно значение удельного вращения
оптически чистой фенилметилуксусной
кислоты, то возможно установить минимальные
величины вращения оптически чистых афенилэтилфенолов.
8. Technique -- "метод", "методика"
"процесс", not "техника"
9. Procedure -- "методика" "метод",
not"процедура& uot; (см. ї 60).
10. Figure -- "рисунок", "цифра",
"число", not "фигура".
11. Object--"цель&qu t;, "предмет",
not "объект".
12. Subject-- "вопрос", "предмет",
not "субъект".
13. Extra -- "добавочный&quo ;, "дополнительный quot;,
"лишний", not "высшего качества"
II.6. Lexicology and grammar of technical
literature.
Any translator comes across various problems within
translating any text documents; many lexical problems can be seen during
his course of work. To check out these lexical problems we should first of all know
what does lexicology means: The term «lexicology»
is of Greek origin / from «lexis» - «word» and «logos» - «science».
Lexicology is the part of linguistics which deals with the vocabulary
and characteristic features of words and word-groups.
The term «vocabulary» is used to denote the system
of words and word-groups that the language possesses.
The term «word» denotes the main lexical unit of
a language resulting from the association of a group of sounds with a meaning. This unit is used in grammatical
functions characteristic of it. It is the smallest unit of a language
which can stand alone as a complete utterance.
The term «word-group» denotes a group of words
which exists in the language as a ready-made unit, has the unity of meaning, the unity of
syntactical function, e.g. the word-group «as loose as a goose» means
«clumsy» and is used in a sentence as a predicative / He is as loose
as a goose/.
Lexicology can study the development of the vocabulary, the origin of words and word-groups, their semantic
relations and the development of their sound form and meaning. In this
case it is called historical lexicology.
Another branch of lexicology is called descriptive
and studies the vocabulary at a definite stage of its development.
a) Language units
The main unit of the lexical system of a language
resulting from the association of a group of sounds with a meaning is
a word. This unit is used in grammatical functions characteristic of
it. It is the smallest language unit which can stand alone as a complete
utterance.
A word, however, can be divided into smaller sense
units - morphemes. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful language
unit. The morpheme consists of a class of variants, allomorphs, which
are either phonologically or morphologically conditioned,
e.g. please pleasant, pleasure.
Morphemes are divided into two large groups: lexical
morphemes and grammatical (functional) morphemes. Both lexical and grammatical
morphemes can be free and bound. Free lexical morphemes are roots of words which express
the lexical meaning of the word; they coincide with the stem of simple
words. Free grammatical morphemes are function words: articles, conjunctions
and prepositions (the, with, and).Bound lexical morphemes are affixes:
prefixes (dis-), suffixes (-ish) and also blocked (unique) root morphemes
(e.g. Fri-day, cran-berry). Bound grammatical morphemes are inflexions
(endings), e.g. -s for the Plural of nouns, -ed for the Past Indefinite
of regular verbs, -ing for the Present Participle, -er for the Comparative
degree of adjectives.
In the second half of the twentieth century the English
word building system was enriched by creating so called splinters which
scientists include in the affixation stock of the Modern English word building system. Splinters are the
result of clipping the end or the beginning of a word and
producing a number of new words on the analogy with the primary word-group.
For example, there are many words formed with the help of the splinter
mini- (apocopy produced by clipping the word «miniature»), such as
«miniplane», «minijet», «minicycle», «minicar», «miniradio»
and many others. All of these words denote obects of smaller than normal
dimensions.
On the analogy with «mini-» there appeared the splinter «maxi»- (apocopy produced by clipping
the word «maximum»), such words as «maxi-series», «maxi-sculpture»,
«maxi-taxi» and many others appeared in the language. When European
economic community was organized quite a number of neologisms with the
splinter Euro- (apocopy produced by clipping the word «European»)
were coined, such as: «Euratom» «Eurocard», «Euromarket», «Europlug»,
«Eurotunnel» and many others. These splinters are treated sometimes
as prefixes in Modern English.
There are also splinters which are formed by means of apheresis that
is clipping the beginning of a word. The origin of such splinters can
be variable, e.g. the splinter «burger» appeared in English as the
result of clipping the German borrowing «Hamburger» where the morphological
structure was the stem «Hamburg» and the suffix -er. However in English
the beginning of the word «Hamburger» was associated with the English
word «ham» and the end of the word «burger» got the meaning «a
bun cut into two parts». On the analogy with the word «hamburger»
quite a number of new words were coined, such as: «baconburger», «beefburger»,
«cheeseburger», «fishburger» etc.
The splinter «cade» developed by clipping the beginning
of the word «cavalcade» which is of Latin origin. In Latin the verb with the meaning «to ride a horse» is «cabalicare»
and by means of the inflexion -ata the corresponding Participle is formed.
So the element «cade» is a combination of the final letter of the
stem and the inflexion. The splinter «cade» serves to form nouns
with the meaning «connected with the procession of vehicles denoted
by the first component», e.g. «aircade» - «a group of airplanes
accompanying the plane of a VIP» , «autocade» - «a group of automobiles
escorting the automobile of a VIP», «musicade» - «an orchestra participating
in a procession».
In the seventieths of the twentieth century there
was a political scandal in the hotel «Watergate» where the Democratic
Party of the USA had its pre-election headquarters. Republicans managed
to install bugs there and when they were discovered there was
a scandal and the ruling American government had to resign. The name
«Watergate» acquired the meaning «a political scandal», «corruption».
On the analogy with this word quite a number of other words were formed
by using the splinter «gate» (apheresis of the word «Watergate»),
such as: «Irangate», »Westlandgate», »shuttlegate», »milliongate»
etc. The splinter «gate» is added mainly to Proper names: names of
people with whom the scandal is connected or a geographical name denoting
the place where the scandal occurred.
The splinter «mobile» was formed by clipping the
beginning of the word «automobile» and is used to denote special types
of automobiles, such as: «artmobile», «bookmobile», «snowmobile»,
«tourmobile» etc.
The splinter «napper» was formed by clipping the
beginning of the word «kidnapper» and is used to denote different
types of crimesters, such as: «busnapper», «babynapper», «dognapper»
etc. From such nouns the corresponding verbs are formed by means of
backformation, e.g. «to busnap», «to babynap», «to dognap».
The splinter «omat» was formed by clipping the
beginning of the word «automat» (a cafe in which meals are provided
in slot-machines). The meaning «self-service» is used in such words
as «laundromat», «cashomat» etc.
Another splinter «eteria» with the meaning «self-service»
was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «cafeteria». By means
of the splinter «eteria» the following words were formed: «groceteria»,
«booketeria», «booteteria» and many others.
The splinter «quake» is used to form new words
with the meaning of «shaking», «agitation». This splinter
was formed by clipping the beginning of the word «earthquake». Ther
following words were formed with the help of this splinter: «Marsquake», «Moonquake», «youthquake» etc.
b) Word-building
Word-building is one of the main ways of enriching
vocabulary. There are four main ways of word-building in modern English:
affixation, composition, conversion, abbreviation. There are also
secondary ways of word-building: sound interchange, stress interchange,
sound imitation, blends, and back formation.
c) Affixation
Affixation is one of the most productive ways of
word-building throughout the history of English. It consists in adding
an affix to the stem of a definite part of speech. Affixation is divided
into suffixation and prefixation.
d) Suffixation
The main function of suffixes in Modern English is
to form one part of speech from another; the secondary function is to change the
lexical meaning of the same part of speech. (e.g. «educate» is a verb,
«educatee» is a noun, and « music» is a noun, «musicdom» is also
a noun).
There are different classifications of suffixes:
1. Part-of-speech classification. Suffixes
which can form different parts of speech are given here:
a) noun-forming suffixes, such as: -er (criticizer),
-dom (officialdom), -ism (ageism),
b) adjective-forming suffixes, such as: -able (breathable),
less (symptomless), -ous (prestigious),
c) verb-forming suffixes, such as -ize (computerize), -ify (micrify),
d) adverb- forming suffixes , such as : -ly
(singly), -ward (tableward),
e) numeral-forming suffixes, such as - teen (sixteen),
-ty (seventy).
2. Semantic classification. Suffixes changing the
lexical meaning of the stem can be subdivided into groups, e.g. noun-forming suffixes can
denote:
a) the agent of the action, e.g. -er (experimenter),
-ist (taxist), -ent (student)
b) nationality, e.g. -ian (Russian), -ese (Japanese),
-ish (English),
c) collectivity, e.g. -dom (moviedom), -ry (peasantry, -ship (readership), -ati ( literati),
d) diminutiveness, e.g. -ie (horsie), -let (booklet),
-ling (gooseling), -ette (kitchenette),
e) quality, e.g. -ness (copelessness), -ity
(answerability).
3. Lexico-grammatical character of the stem. Suffixes which can be added to certain groups of stems
are subdivided into:
a) suffixes added to verbal stems, such as : -er
(commuter), -ing (suffering),
- able (flyable), -ment (involvement), -ation (computerization),
b) suffixes added to noun stems, such as : -less (smogless), ful (roomful), -ism
(adventurism), -ster (pollster), -nik (filmnik), -ish (childish),
c) suffixes added to adjective stems, such as : -en
(weaken), -ly (pinkly), -ish
(longish), -ness (clannishness).
4. Origin of suffixes. Here we can point out the following groups:
a) native (Germanic), such as -er,-ful, -less,
-ly.
b) Romanic, such as: -tion, -ment, -able, -eer.
c) Greek, such as: -ist, -ism, -ize.
d) Russian, such as: -nik.
5. Productivity. Here we can point out the following groups:
a) productive, such as : -er, -ize, --ly, -ness.
b) semi- productive, such as: -eer, -ette, -ward.
c) non- productive , such as: -ard (drunkard), -th (length).
Suffixes can be polysemantic, such as: -er can form
nouns with the following meanings: agent, doer of the action expressed
by the stem (speaker), profession, occupation (teacher), a device, a
tool (transmitter). While speaking about suffixes we should also mention
compound suffixes which are added to the stem at the same time, such
as -ably, -ibly, (terribly, reasonably), -ation (adaptation from adapt).
There are also disputable cases whether we have a
suffix or a root morpheme in the structure of a word, in such cases
we call such morphemes semi-suffixes, and words with such suffixes can be classified either as derived words
or as compound words, e.g. -gate (Irangate), -burger (cheeseburger),
-aholic (workaholic) etc.
e) Prefixation
Prefixation is the formation of words by means of
adding a prefix to the stem. In English it is characteristic for forming verbs. Prefixes are
more independent than suffixes. Prefixes can be classified according
to the nature of words in which they are used: prefixes used in notional
words and prefixes used in functional words. Prefixes used in notional
words are proper prefixes which are bound morphemes, e.g. un - (unhappy).
Prefixes used in functional words are semi-bound morphemes because they
are met in the language as words, e.g. over- (overhead) (cf over the
table).
The main function of prefixes in English is to change
the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. But the recent research
showed that about twenty-five prefixes in Modern English form one part
of speech from another (bebutton, interfamily, postcollege etc).
Prefixes can be classified according to different principles:
1. Semantic classification:
a) prefixes of negative meaning, such as : in- (invaluable),
non- (nonformals), un- (unfree) etc,
b) prefixes denoting repetition or reversal actions,
such as: de- (decolonize), re- (revegetation), dis- (disconnect),
c) prefixes denoting time, space, degree relations,
such as : inter- (interplanetary) , hyper- (hypertension), ex- (ex-student),
pre- (pre-election), over- (overdrugging) etc.
2. Origin of prefixes:
a) native (Germanic), such as: un-, over-, under-
etc.
b) Romanic, such as: in-, de-, ex-, re- etc.
c) Greek, such as: sym-, hyper- etc.
When we analyze such words as : adverb, accompany
where we can find the root of the word (verb, company) we may treat ad-, ac- as prefixes though they were never
used as prefixes to form new words in English and were borrowed from
Romanic languages together with words. In such cases we can treat them
as derived words. But some scientists treat them as simple words.
Another group of words with a disputable structure are such as: contain,
retain, detain and conceive, receive, deceive where we can see that
re-, de-, con- act as prefixes and -tain, -ceive can be understood as
roots. But in English these combinations of sounds have no lexical meaning
and are called pseudo-morphemes. Some scientists treat such words as
simple words, others as derived ones.
There are some prefixes which can be treated as root
morphemes by some scientists, e.g. after- in the word afternoon. American lexicographers working on Webster dictionaries
treat such words as compound words. British lexicographers treat such
words as derived ones.
f) Composition
Composition is the way of word building when a word
is formed by joining two or more stems to form one word. The structural unity of a compound word
depends upon:
a) the unity of stress,
b) solid or hyphenated spelling,
c) semantic unity,
d) unity of morphological and syntactical functioning.
These are characteristic features of compound words
in all languages. For English compounds some of
these factors are not very reliable. As a rule English compounds have
one uniting stress (usually on the first component), e.g. hard-cover,
best-seller. We can also have a double stress in an English compound,
with the main stress on the first component and with a secondary stress
on the second component, e.g. blood-vessel. The third pattern of stresses
is two level stresses, e.g. snow-white, sky-blue. The third pattern
is easily mixed up with word-groups unless they have solid or hyphenated
spelling. Spelling in English compounds is not very reliable as well
because they can have different spelling even in the same text, e.g.
war- ship, blood-vessel can be spelt through a hyphen and also with
a break, insofar, underfoot can be spelt solidly and with a break. All
the more so that there has appeared in Modern English a special type
of compound words which are called block compounds, they have one uniting
stress but are spelt with a break, e.g. air piracy, cargo module, coin
change, pinguin suit etc.
The semantic unity of a compound word is often very
strong. In such cases we have idiomatic compounds where the meaning
of the whole is not a sum of meanings of its components, e.g. to ghostwrite,
skinhead, brain-drain etc. In no idiomatic compounds semantic unity is not
strong, e. g., airbus, to blood transfuse, astrodynamics etc.
English compounds have the unity of morphological
and syntactical functioning. They are used in a sentence as one part
of it and only one component changes grammatically, e.g. these girls are
chatter-boxes. «Chatter-boxes» is a predicative in the sentence and
only the second component changes grammatically.
There are two characteristic features of English
compounds:
a) Both components in an English compound are free stems that are they can be used
as words with a distinctive meaning of their own. The sound pattern
will be the same except for the stresses, e.g. «a green-house» and
«a green house». Where as for example in Russian compounds the stems
are bound morphemes, as a rule.
b) English compounds have a two-stem pattern, with
the exception of compound words which have form-word stems in their
structure, e.g. middle- of- the- road, off-the-record, up-and-doing
etc. The two-stem pattern distinguishes English compounds from German ones.
g) Ways of forming Compound words
Compound words in English can be formed not only
by means of composition but also by means of:
a) reduplication, e.g. too-too, and also by means
of reduplication combined with sound interchange , e.g. rope-ripe,
b) conversion from word-groups, e.g. to Mickey-mouse,
can-do, makeup etc,
c) back formation from compound nouns or word-groups,
e.g. to blood transfuse, to fingerprint etc ,
d) analogy, e.g. lie-in ( on the analogy with sit-in)
and also phone-in, brawn-drain (on the analogy with brain-drain)
etc.
Terminological words are also relatively context
– free though the context often helps to identify the specific field
to which the term belongs. In the sentence “These rifles are provided with a new type of foresight”, the context
clearly shows that the meaning of “foresight” is that of military
term and therefore all other meaning of the word can be disregarded.
The context may also help to understand the meaning of the term in the
text when it can denote more than one specific concept. For instance,
in the US political terminology the term “state” can refer either
to a national state or to one of the states within a federal entity.
The following context will enable the translator to make the correct
choice:
“Both the state and Federal authorities were
accused of establishing a police state.”
In the first case term “state” is contrasted
with “Federal” and will be translated as “штат”, while in
the second case it obviously means “государство”.
As a rule, English technical terms (as well as political
terms and terms in any other specific field) have their permanent equivalents
in the respective Russian terminological systems:
Magnitude – величина, oxygen – кислород,
surplus value – прибавочная стоимость, Embassy
– посольство, Legislation – законодательство.
Many Russian equivalents have been formed from the
English terms by transcription or loan translations:
Computer – компьютер, electron –
электрон, Congressman – конгрессмен, impeachment
– импичмент, shadow cabinet – “теневой кабинет”,
nuclear deterrent – ядерное устрашение.
e) Handling context – bound words
The words dealt with in the previous chapter are
relatively independent of the context so that they have a definite meaning
which is reproduced in many texts as it stands. This in not the case,
however, with most words in the English vocabulary who’s meaning in
any sentence largely depends on the context in which they are used.
True, all words have meaning of their own which are defined in dictionaries
but the context may specify or modify the word`s meaning, neutralize
or emphasize some part of its semantics. And before looking for an equivalent,
the translator has to make a careful study of the context to identify
the contextual meaning of the word that should be rendered in translation.
This meaning is the result of the interaction between the word semantics
and the methods of its actualization in the speech act.
Most of the words arc polysemantic, that is, they
have several meanings. As a rule, the words are used in the sentence
in one of its meanings and the context must show what meaning has been
selected by the speaker at cut off all other meanings irrelevant for
the particular act of communication. If somebody complains that “Few
Europeans speak Mandarin”, the context inequivocally shows that it
is the Chinese language that is meant and not a Chinese imperial official
or the Chinese fruit. If the same idea is expressed in a more ambiguous
way, for instance, “Few Europeans know the first thing about Mandarin”,
the context of the sentence may fail to indicate the relevant meaning
beyond any doubt but the rest of the text or the circumstances of communication
will certainly do that.
The context has also a decisive role to play in the
selection of TL equivalents to the words of the original. We know that
in most cases, the meaning of a SL word can be rendered in TL by a number
of regular equivalents. Variable equivalents can be found only to the
polysemantic words but also to the monosemantic words as well as to
a semantic variant of a polysemantic word, that is, to one of its meanings
which can be actualized in the course of communication.
In such cases after the translator has ascertained
word meaning the word has in the original text he still has to choose one of the regular equivalents which fits the
context best of all.
Accordingly, “the UN ambitious program of providing
food for the people of the earth” will be translated as “грандиозная программа ООН”
while the “ambitious plans of South African racists” will be rendered
as “чистолюбивые планы южно-африканских
расистов”.
The English-Russian dictionary is the translator`s
best friend and assistant in finding the appropriate equivalent. Sometimes
the context tells the translator that one of the dictionary equivalents to the given word can be well used
in TT. Even if the entry in his dictionary does not provide him with
an equivalent that fits his context, the translator can use the dictionary
data to facilitate the solution. Suppose he comes across a sentence
in ST which runs as follows:
The United States worked out a formula which later
came to be known as dollar diplomacy.
None of the equivalents suggested by I.R.Galperin`s
“New English-Russian Dictionary” (формула, рецепт, шаблон) fits
the context of the sentence which deals with a stage in the US political
history. But combining this data with context the translator will look
for a Russian substitute for a “political formula” and may arrive
at such terms as “политическая доктрина” or
“политическая программа”: США выработали
политическую доктрину, которая впоследствии
стала именоваться “долларовой дипломатией”.
The translator should consult the context with special
care if his dictionary suggests only one equivalent. He should not be in a hurry to use this
equivalent in his text without first ascertaining that the English word
really is context – free and is always translated in the same way.
In case it is not, the entry is not exhaustive and the translator should
look for another way out. The “New English-Russian Dictionary”,
for example, treats the English words “opportunism” and “opportunist”
as political terms and gives only one equivalent to each: “оппортунизм”
and “оппортунист”. When the word is used as a general
term of disapprobation implying little regard for principles or consequences,
the equivalents suggested by the dictionary have to be rejected in favor.
Professional skill in using both the dictionary data and the information
extracted from the context to solve his translation problems is the
hallmark of a good translator.
II. 7. Translation of headlines
in technical articles.
The headlines of the Anglo-American technical articles
are presented well-known difficulties for the translation.
The main features of the headings of the Anglo-American
technical articles are: a particular style, bright, showy manner in
which they present to the reader expressiveness of lexical and grammatical
means
Headlines are usually characterized by extremely
short form of presentation. They may be omitted auxiliary verbs, verb,
conjunctions and articles. Reductions and Abbreviated compounds are widely used in headlines.Neverthele s, headings of technical articles, as
a rule, give concept about the basic maintenance of article.
It is possible to translate the headline only after
acquaintance with article.
In modern British and American technical literature
can be found in the form of headlines: questions, statements, exclamatory
sentences.
Samples of the headlines of interrogative character
and ways of their transfer:
*What’s coming for light weight clay blocks? – Каковы перспективы
развития легких керамических блоков.
*Why wash aggregates? – Вопросы промывки
заполнителей.
*How to figure duct fitting losses? – Как рассчитать номограмму
для потери напора в соединительных частях
воздуховодов.
*Modernize? – Стоит ли реконструктировать
(здание)
The headlines of interrogative character are translated into
Russian as the declarative sentences.
The headlines of statements:
*Exhibition halls go underground – Cооружение подземных
выставочных залов.
*We give an old swimming pool new ideas. – Как предопалагается
реконструировать старый плавательный
бассеин or *Рекострукция старого плавательного
бассеина.
*The roof you save – Сохранение кровли
крыши.
*All-weather site protection. – Пластмассовый тент-тепляк.
* Continuous turbidity monitoring controls chemical
coagulation. – Регулирование подачи
химикалиев в процессе коагуляции на основе
показаний непрерывного замера.
*Large- scale pipe-laying for California aqueduct
– Укладка крупногабаритных
железобетонных труб на трассе Калифорнийского
акведука.
It is not obligatory to result figures in translating
of headlines.
*Development of a 230-k V 20.000 Mva Oil Circuit
Breaker. – Конструкция мощного
масляного выключателя.
The headlines of the exclamatory sentence:
*Here’s a simple way to interpret data! – Найден простой способ
расшифровки данных
IІІ. The Practical Part
BMW X6
BMW X6 is the first car in the world to feature Dynamic
Performance Control for unique directional stability and precision under
all driving conditions as well as BMW’s intelligent xDrive all-wheel-drive
technology. BMW X6 captures the eyes of the beholder through its highly
innovative combination of design and concept features. The car combines
four doors and a dynamically flowing coupe roofline with a high sill-line,
muscular wheel arches, and a strong centre of gravity positioned right
in the middle and making a clear reference to four-wheel-drive technology.
The result is a unique vehicle clearly presenting
the DNA of a BMW X model but interpreting the character of such a vehicle
in a unique and truly sporting manner. The design of BMW X6 is the authentic
visualisation of outstanding driving qualities borne out by the car
mainly through BMW’s intelligent xDrive technology as well as
Dynamic Performance Control.
Unique, aesthetic look: dynamic coupe line and the
typical features of a BMW X model. The front end of BMW X6 is dominated
by highlights in design clearly symbolising the car’s dynamic orientation
to the road. From the side, in turn, the proportions are definitely
elegant, the short front body overhang emphasising the dynamism of the
car, the long overhang at the rear, its stretched and sleek look. The
long line of the engine compartment lid merges smoothly and gently into
the elegantly rising A-pillars, the greenhouse moved far to the back
and the roofline tapering out clearly and consistently from the B-pillars
interacting with the high window line to provide low and, indeed, almost
flat window graphics.
The roofline, in turn, flows down gently to the rear
spoiler, finally moving up again slightly in a small upward swing perfecting
the overall line of a coupe and at the same time optimising the car’s
aerodynamic qualities.
The dynamically stretched side lines highlight the
aesthetic effect of this concept car, with BMW X6 obtaining its impressive
presence clearly through the unique combination of these lines and the
design elements of a BMW X car.
Apart from the high window line, the large wheel
arches and the centre of gravity visibly in the middle of the car, particularly
this distinctive and powerful interaction of convex and concave surfaces,
of the muscular side-sills with running boards made of drilled aluminium
beneath the doors and the strong underfloor protection elements front
and rear also made of aluminium express all the genuine DNA of BMW X.
Consistent focus on sporting performance. BMW X6
combines the design features so typical of a BMW X model with a truly
individual, aesthetic look. In its character and design, this concept
car stands out clearly from BMW’s highly successful SAV models, although
the core features of those models provide a strong and sound foundation
for the development of a unique personality in the guise of BMW X6 as
the Sports Activity Coupe.With its impressively dynamic driving characteristics,
the BMW X5 already excels as a true exception in its segment, and was
indeed the forerunner creating the entire segment in the first place.
Now BMW X6 provides a clear impression of how an even more consistent
focus on sporting performance in this class is able to set standards
once again.
Through its design alone, this new concept car arouses
the greatest expectations of the driving experience in a Sports Activity
Coupe, bearing out the robustness and superior traction of a BMW X model
in combination with dynamic driving qualities never seen before in this
segment of the market.
World debut: Dynamic Performance Control in BMW X6.Dynamic
Performance Control making its world debut in BMW X6 provides ideal
qualities for experiencing new dimensions in driving dynamics. This
drivetrain and chassis control system, combined with BMW’s intelligent
xDrive all-wheel drive technology, offers a truly unique standard of
driving stability in every situation, benefiting both driving dynamics
and safety at the same time.
Dynamic Performance Control, a truly innovative system,
spreads out drive forces as required in all situations, feeding a varying
degree of power whenever required to the two wheels at the rear.
Dynamic Performance Control is the only system of
its kind in the world able to provide its stabilising effect both under
power and with the engine in overrun.
As soon as the system detects possible over- or understeer
of the vehicle, for example in a bend, it will vary the distribution
of drive forces between the wheels for perfect stability, dynamic traction,
and forward motion. And in the process Dynamic Performance Control improves
driving stability at all speeds, this unique chassis and suspension
innovation ensuring not only safe traction when setting off and precise
control when ent и т.д.................
