§3. TERMS IN FICTION AND MAGAZINES

Analogue 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.’ ” Russian 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 non-expert. 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.
Literature.

1. Прошина З.Г. ТЕОРИЯ ПЕРЕВОДА (с английского языка на русский и с русского языка на английский): Уч. на англ. яз. – Владивосток: Изд-во Дальневост. ун-та, 2008 (3-е изд., перераб.), 2002 (2-е изд., испр. и перераб.), 1999 (1-е изд.)

ISBN 5-7444-0957-2

FALSE FRIENDS OF TRANSLATOR

There are words in the source and target languages which are more or less similar in form. Such words are of great interest to the translator since he is naturally inclined to take this formal similarity for the semantic proximity and to regard the words that look alike as permanent equivalents.

The formal similarity is usually the result of the two words having the common origin, mainly derived from either Greek or Latin. Since such words can be found in a number of languages, they are referred to as “international”.

As a matter of fact, very few international words have the same meanings in different languages. In respect to English and Ukrainian we can cite the words like the English “parliament, theorem, diameter” and their Ukrainian counterparts „парламент, теорема, діаметр“. In most cases, however, the semantics of such words in English and in Ukrainian do not coincide and they should rather be named “pseudo-international”. Their formal similarity suggesting that they are interchangeable, is, therefore, deceptive and may lead to translation errors. For that reason they are often referred to as the translator’s false friends.

The term ‘translator’s false friends’ (les faux amis) was introduced by the French theorists of translation M. Koessler and J. Derocquigny in 1928. This term means a word that has the same or similar form in the source and target languages but another meaning in the target language. Translators’ false friends result from transferring the sounds of a source language word literally into the target language. P. Newmark calls them deceptive cognates, as their meanings are different and they can easily confuse the target text receptor.

Misleading words are mostly international, or it is better to say that they are pseudointernational. They are loan words that can be borrowed from the source text but have developed their own meanings in the target texts. For example, interview = ‘a series of questions in a formal situation in order to obtain information about a person’; интервью = a journalist’s questioning some public figure in order to be published in mass media’. Or they can have the same origin of the third language (mainly Greek and Latin) and be borrowed both into the source and target languages: aspirant = ‘a person who has great ambition, desires strongly, strives toward an end, aims at’; аспирант = ‘a graduate student’. Sometimes the form similarity can be accidental: herb = ‘an aromatic plant used in medicine or as seasoning’; герб = ‘an object or representation that functions as a symbol’.

Reference to some ‘false friends’ can be found in some dictionaries, like a special dictionary of ‘false friends’ or Cambridge International Dictionary of English.

‘False friends’ could be called interlanguage synonyms, homonyms and paronyms.

Interlanguage synonyms are words that coincide in one or more meanings. However, beside similar meanings, they have some special meanings. For example, concert – концерт. Both words have the meaning of ‘a musical performance’, but the English word has the second meaning: ‘agreement in purpose, feeling, or action’. The Russian one has acquired a generic meaning of ‘any performance (reciting, drama extracts, etc.)’. Thus they can be equivalents in only the first meaning and somewhat erroneous in their second meaning.

Interlanguage homonyms are words that have no common meanings, like accord – аккорд. The English word means ‘agreement, harmony; a settlement or compromise of conflicting opinions; a settlement of points at issue between the nations. The Russian word is more specific, meaning ‘musical chord’.

Interlanguage paronyms are words with similar but not identical sound, and with different meanings. The case can be illustrated by example – экземпляр. The Russian word denotes ‘a copy’, whereas the English indicates ‘a representative of a group as a whole; a case serving as a model or precedent for another that is the same or similar’.

When compared in the source and target texts, translators’ false friends can differ semantically, syntactically, stylistically, and pragmatically.

Semantic difference presupposes the following oppositions:

generic vs. specific meaning: actual (real, existing in fact) – актуальный (topical); моторист (air-fitter; machinist) – motorist (one who drives or travels in an automobile).

monosemantic vs. polysemantic: галантный (couth) – gallant (1. Showy and gay in appearance, dress, or bearing a gallant feathered hat; 2. Stately, majestic; 3.high-spirited and courageous gallant soldiers; 4. Attentive to women, chivalrous, flirtatious.)

different connotation (positive vs. negative): aggressive (determined to win or succeed) – агрессивный (inclined to act in a hostile fashion)

Structural difference leads to different word combinations: comfortable – комфортабельный have the same meaning ‘producing a feeling of physical relaxation’. But in English this word is combined with the noun income (comfortable income), and in Russian this combination is impossible – the English expression has the equivalent of хороший доход. Likewise, sympathetic – симпатичный, but sympathetic strike – забастовка солидарности.

impossibility of calque translation: ходячая энциклопедия – walking library. In this case idiomatic meanings are expressed by different structures.

multi-component phrase vs. one-word structure: аудитория читателей – readership, readers.

Stylistic difference results in stylistic overtone of the words:

neutral vs. emotionally colored words: ambition (stylistically neutral) – амбиция (often negative); protection (neutral) – протекция (bookish)

modern vs. archaic: depot – депо (in the meaning of ‘a building where supplies are kept’)

common word vs. term: essence – эссенция (vinegar).

Pragmatic difference implies the different associations a word carries for various groups of people, nations, etc. For example, when saying “Моя мама родилась через два года после революции”, a Russian person will definitely mean the Russian Revolution of 1917. S/he might be misunderstood by an American for whom the word ‘revolution’ is associated with American Revolution. The same with the common Russian expression после войны: Он поступил в институт сразу после войны. Probably, it will take time and effort for an American to associate the event with World War II, since America also knew the Korean and Vietnam wars in this century.

1. Прошина З.Г. ТЕОРИЯ ПЕРЕВОДА (с английского языка на русский и с русского языка на английский): Уч. на англ. яз. – Владивосток: Изд-во Дальневост. ун-та, 2008 (3-е изд., перераб.), 2002 (2-е изд., испр. и перераб.), 1999 (1-е изд.)

ISBN 5-7444-0957-2
Environmental Problems in Today’s World

Man should carefully study the impact of his activity on the surrounding nature. The ecological problem is not simply the environmental pollution problem, but the problem of turning man's uncontrolled impact on nature into a purposeful and planned interaction with the latter.

Some scientists say that human civilization will perish as a result of environmental pollution and depletion of non-renewable natural resources.

The rational utilization of resources and the conservation of nature are a matter of state policy in many countries. All the problems concerning the interaction of man and nature are now of international importance.

The pollution of the Ocean by one particular country affects fishing in the other countries. The Chernobyl disaster was felt in Belorussia, Tula region and even in Scandinavia. So many ecological problems are global problems and can be solved by efforts of all countries.

The ecological problem is one of the pressing problems of our days. It is closely linked to the problems of economic growth, progress in science and technology, natural resources, energy and food supply. An increasing influence on nature and the application of new technological processes may cause catastrophic results.

The accumulation of C02 in the atmosphere, as well as of aerosols, has increased globally by 20 %. The formation of C02 layer around the Earth may transform our blue planet into enormous greenhouse and may cause an increase in temperature and raise the level of water in the oceans. The pollution of the environment through chemical, physical and biological agents, together with he increases in ionizing radiation produce mutagenic influence and cause genetic defects.

A modern economy is impossible without the concentration of chemicals. We may say that life without chemistry is impossible at present.

On the one hand, chemical industry is making life easier, more comfortable, on the other, it is associated by many people with the environmental pollution. For instance, modern agriculture needs fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides. These chemicals help solve the problem of feeding the population on the Globe. But at the same time these chemicals may destroy the flora and fauna. They yield new types of waste products that pollute air, water and soil.

One kilogram of polymer constructional material can replace 4 to 5 kg of ferrous metals, the production of one ton of plastic parts requires 2 to 3 times less energy than for the production of metal parts. Such features of polymers as their long durability and resistance to high temperature are needed for the structural materials. But the same qualities may make plastics the cause of environmental pollution. Plastics contribute to our waste disposal problem, because they are non-degradable and remain undecomposed indefinitely. Of all domestic wastes the greatest trouble is given by plastics. They cannot be burned, they only melt and release a smoke which poisons the air. Higher concentrations of heavy metals in the soil pollute it, result in disappearing some species of plants and animals. So chemistry should work out environmentally safe chemical products, low-waste or waste-free technology, watersaving methods new recycling processes, and create new ways for waste utilization. Some waste can be treated by microbes, because some microbes may be considered as a chemical plant. This is a new trend in technology.

Not long ago scientists have grown microbes that are, destroy the plastic. Some plastics may be exposed to UV radiation. The polymer chains that form plastics do not normally break apart when exposed to UV light. If light-sensitive linking molecules are inserted, the polymer chains unzip in sunlight and the plastic disintegrates.

The most promising way to solve the problem of clean air is to improve technology, because the cleaning systems are complex and costly.

In conclusion, it may be summarized that environmental protection is a solution of waste disposal problems and educational activity among people.
Literature.

1. Алимов Вячеслав Вячеславович, Артемьева Юлия Вячеславовна Общественно-политический перевод: Практический курс переводf: Учебное пособие. Изд. 3-е. — М.: Книжный дом ≪ЛИБРОКОМ≫, 2009. — 272 с.

 Many people think that they can't solve the world's environmental problems on their own and that the government and big companies must care about these problems. However, others say that individuals can do much to help the environment.

 There is a lot of discussion about the destruction of rain forests. Some people don't care about this problem, while others feel that the rain forest must be preserved.

 Everybody understands that we should recycle our waste. However, most people continue disposing of it in the usual way.

Literature.