Translator' false friends

V.V.Dubchinsky recommends joining such well – known terms as “international lexicology”, “interlingual homonyms”, “translator’s false friends” into the one terminological system. V.V. Dubchinsky offered to call all this terms as “lexical parallels”.

Here, interlingual homonymy is always, i.e. is perceived as such by native speakers of both languages. It can arise directly upon interrelation and of confrontation languages. For example: English “mark” – Russian “марка”; English “family” – Russian “фамилия”, “machine” – «машина» are entirely homonymous in modern application.

Also, interlingual paronyms can be double-sided and reversible, i.e. mislead native speakers of both languages; it is obvious for cases, when interlingual paronymy is based on interlingual paronymy. For example: English word “specially” – “especially” or “concert” – “concerto”. However, interlingual paronymy is one-sided. Thus, confusing words like “intelligence” – “intelligenstia”, “history” – “story”, “major” – “mayor”, “principled” – “principal” is possible for Russian man, who draws an analogy with words “**************, *********,*******,****************, but not acceptable for English man. And vice versa, only English man can confuse Russian pair’s words such as “стандарт” – “штандарт”, “фарс” –“ фарш”, “пенсия” -  “пансион” by analogy with words “standard”, “farse”, “pension”.

Divergence in object – logical content of English and Russian “translator’s false friend” in some cases is related to peculiarities of the life style. In this case, comments on realities, without which any lingual comparison will be defective, are quite essential. In some cases incorrect understanding of realities appears as traditional mistake of lexicographers, and as a result, many translators. Besides, it is required to take into account possible divergence can accompany partial semantic differences; however, they can appear in words with same meaning. Thus, it is impossible to understand correct meaning of the word and to use it appropriately, if you don’t know its functionally stylistic and emotionally expressive features. Quite often divergences of functional and stylistic features are found in English – Russian comparisons, i.e. possibility to apply words predominantly or exclusively in definite styles of speech. An essential type of stylistic divergences is difference I evaluative, emotional and expressive features.

Evaluative features can penetrate even in terminology of social sciences, reflecting differences in ideology and social reality of languages in both countries. For example: English word “speculation” – Russian “спекуляция”. These words are similar in semantics, but different in evaluative features. Famous English lawyer D. Pritt noticed: “Speculation is not treated unambiguously in British law, though it can bring the man either to the dock or to the House of Lords”. In Russian language, the word “спекуляция” presents powerful negative attitude, which is absent in English language, where it is neutral and widely – used in scientific speech.

Differences in lexical compatibility of related Russian and English words create significant difficulties both in studying languages and in translation, but, as a rule; they are not sufficiently explained in bilingual dictionaries. Moreover, it is presumed, that such difficulties are always surmounted in general translation, as the translator “feels” correct combination of words, recommended in the dictionary. Such approach is rather applicable for foreign languages.

For example: words “industry” – “********** in the sense of   “промышленность” are similar in the meaning, but the first word is not always translated same as the second one. For example: heavy, light, machine building – industry, in Russian “индустрия”, “промышленность”, but atomic, mountainous, oil, electrical, automobile – industry, in Russian only “промышленность”, but not “индустрия”.

For example:

“A large part of industrial North Korea is rushing to get on the nuclear bandwagon”.

«Большая часть промышленности Северной Кореи стремиться преуспеть в ядерном производстве».

In this example the word “industrial” has only one meaning. We can translate this word as “промышленность”, because we cannot say “индустриальная Северная Корея”. So, if we translate this word like “индустриальный”, our sentence will be not right.

 

And another example:

“In Kazakhstan the machine building industry is not advanced at all”.

«Машиностроительная индустрия в  Казахстане совсем не развита».

From this example we can see that the word “industry” may have another meaning like “индустрия”. Of course here we can use the word “industry” with meaning “промышленность”. But I think that in this case more suitable the word “industry” like “индустрия”.

And one pair of examples:

“A breakdown is an electric discharge through an insulator”.

«Прерывание – электрическая разгрузка  через непроводник».

“The clouds discharge electricity”.

«Облака разряжаются электричеством».

From these examples we can see one word with different meanings. In one case the word “discharge” the noun and we can translate it like “разгрузка”. And in another case the same word is a verb and we can translate it like a “разряжаться”. Besides these meaning the word “discharge” also means “выделение”, “исполнение”, “освобождение”.

 

TYPES OF “TRASLATOR’S FALSE FRIENDS”

We are trying to plan some types of disparities in “translator’s false friends” in related languages:

1. First type:

In one language the word has more general meaning, than in other language. For example: mark – in Russian it may be “trade mark”, but in English it has many meanings like «пятно», «шрам», «клеймо»,, «штамп», or it may be German “deutch mark”. Another example: director – in Russian it may be «директор», but in English it means «духовник», «прибор управления», «художественный руководитель», «режиссер».

2. Second type:

Ancestral meaning in one language, aspectual meaning in other language. For example:  Spanish noun “vianda: - «пища», «всякая пища» (ancestral), French «viande” - “meet” (aspectual).

3. Third type:

Monosemantic in one language, significant in other language.

For example:  bank in Russian it means “financial building”, but in English it means “bank of the river”, «скамья», «банка», «стеклянный сосуд для собирания крови», «вал», «занос». Another example: press – in Russian it means «прессовать», «сжимать». But in English it means «подвергать давлению», «настаивать».

4. Fourth type:

Interlingual stylistic nonequivalence of word and combination of words.

 

5. Fifth type:

Free lexical meaning in one language – bounded lexical meaning in another language.

6. Sixth Type:

Word that is the term in one language, but is not a term in another language.

For example:

Бензин – in French language it translates as “essence”, its primary meaning is «сущность», while secondary meaning is «горючее». In Russian, essence means «эфирное масло». Non –coincidence between languages is explained in the following way: in French “benzine” doesn’t mean «горючее», while in another language it is not the term at all.

7. Seventh type:

Word in one language, combination of words in another language.

The reason of arising “translator’s false friends” is explained by lexicological peculiarities of the national language. Interference between languages in vocabulary is a well-known fact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also many linguists divide “translator’s false friends” into two groups:

First group: words, which have the same way of writing and the same pronunciation, but different meanings.

“Translator’s false friends”	“The wrong translation”	“The right translation”	“Translation of the wrong association”
Activities	Активность	Деятельность	Activity
Advocate	Адвокат	Сторонник, защитник	Attorney
Aspirant	Аспирант	Претендент	Postgraduate
Bullion	Бульон	Слиток (золота, или серебра)	Beef-tea
Depot	Склад, амбар	Депо	House, station
Double standard	Двойной стандарт	Двойственный подход	Doubletalk
Dynamic	Динамичный	Гибкий, действенный	Fast-moving

 

Here are some sentences:

In the storehouse were 50 cisterns of resin.

На складе было 50 баков со смолой.

 

Эта коробка  с резиной стоит очень дорого.

This box of rubber is very expensive.

In these two examples we see that the word “resin” has another meaning, but many people think that it is the Russian word «резина». From these examples we see that the Russian word «резина» has another translation in English.

Second group:

Word which have the same meaning only in one or two cases, but the different meaning in other cases.

For example:

THE WORD	ITS TRANSLATION	OTHER MEANING
Authority	Авторитет	Власть
Aggressive	Энергичный	Агрессивный
Balance	Остаток	Баланс
Collect	Взимать	Собирать
Concrete	Бетон	Конкретный
Control	Управлять	Контролировать
Convention	Съезд	Конвенция
Copy	Экземпляр	Копия
Credit	Кредит	Заслуга

 

Historically, “translator’s false friends” appear as a result of interaction between languages. In rare cases “translator’s false friends” can arise in result of accidental coincidence. In related languages “translator’s false friends” are based on words, which go back to common prototypes in original language. Their common number and role of every possible source of their formation prove to be different for every pair of languages, being defined by historical and genetic interlanguage relations.

In Russian and English language such words in both cases are considered as “borrowed” form the third source; often these words are related to international or pseudo international lexis or parallel derivatives of such borrowing.

“TRANSLATOR’S FALSE FRIENDS” AND TYPES OF TRANSLATION.

 

We can find “translator’s false friends” in all texts. “Translator’s false friends” are adapted in different methods of translation. First of all, there can be identified two methods of translation: direct and indirect. In reality, there can be a case, when communication in original language is well translated into another language. However, in certain cases translator ascertains presence of “gaps” in order to reach identical perception of two statements.

Besides direct and indirect methods of translation there other methods, which are discussed below:

1 First method – borrowing.

It is the easiest method of translation. Borrowing would not be method or translation of high interest for research, if the translator did not need it to create stylistic effect.

2. Second method – loan translation.

It is special kind of borrowing. Thus, there is a case of either loan translation of expression, using syntactical structures of translation language and adding new expressive elements. By means of borrowing words form language we are translating elements of words, which makes up it. For example: English word “excavator” – Russian word “экскаватор”.

3. Third method– literal translation (word-for-translation).

It means transfer from original language to language of translation, which allows creating correct and idiomatic text, in the meanwhile, translator controls over observance of compulsory language norms.

For example:

 “I left my spectacles on the table downstairs.”

 «Я оставила свои очки на столе».

4. Fourth method – transposition.

This method of translation assumes replacing one part of speech without changing the meaning of the whole text. This method can be applauding both to one language in general and to translation in particular.

5. Fifth method – equivalention.

Two texts described the same situation using absolutely different stylistic and structural features. In this case we apply an equivalention. Classical example of equivalention is a situation, when clumsy men, who drives nails and hits the finger – in French he screams “Aie”, in English he screams “ouch”, in Russian he screams “Ай” or “ой”.

In Russian language we are doing many translations from English. There are many themes: technical, economical, jurisprudence, business…Sometimes we have texts, which do not relate to particular professional sphere. Doing such translation, one cannot operate either grammar or lexis of the language only. Translator should have professional skills “feeling” language intention of the author. Moreover, the translator must know special words, which are referred as “translator’s false friends”.

A problem for many beginning translators is that they substitute words or structures of another language with literal equivalents typical for their native language. However, the only task is quite opposite that is to express the correct meaning:

Beginning – the most important is to establish the right tone that is the half of work. Thus, it is important to pay particular attention to first work. First paragraph is one of the most important text elements. First of all, we must pick out everything that we cannot understand during quick reading. And, of course, we must study all unknown words. But, it is very danger to rely upon conjecture and draw conclusions from text’s logic.

For example: the word “element”. In Russian it is “элемент”, but it also means “часть”, “звено”, and “простое общество”, “обстановка”, “подразделение”. And if you translate this word incorrectly, you can lose both the meaning of the sentence, and the meaning of the text.

  “Machine”- in English and Russian it means “машина”, but it also means “механизм”, “аппарат”, “техническое устройство”, “автомобиль”, “самолет”.

  “Maintenance” – in both languages means “поддержка”, however, it can also means “эксплуатация”, “техническое обслуживание”.

“Key” – in English and Russian it means “ключ”, however, it can also means “разгадка”, “клин”, “чека”, “шпонка”.

Issues discussed in this course paper, present only a small part of the big problem that is referred as “translator’s false friends”. If you are aware of “translator’s false friends” you will make correct translation of any text.

 

 

INFLUENCE OF “TRANSLATOR’S FALSE FRIENDS” ON TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS TEXTS.

Influence of “translator’s false friends” in translation of business and technical texts results in absolute misunderstanding. For example: Russian editor of A. Robertson’s book “The origins of Christianity” pointed out, that “inaccurate use or application of terms in the wide sense can cause methodological and actual mistakes”. He accuse the author in improper us of word «революция» and its meaning. However, editor’s comment must be addressed not to the author bot to the translator, who interpreted the English word “revolution” in all meaning as «революция» into Russian. The English word “revolution” means «вращение», «оборот».

From the point of view of theory of language contacts, loan translation under the influence of “translator’s false friends” can cause particular case of interference, transformation of models, i.e. deviation from the structure or the norm of the given language under the influence of the second language.

Some cases of “translator’s false friends” have formed already the basis of rather constant linguistic than logical speech interference. For example: Russian word «администрация», which gained new meanings under the influence of English analogues. “Administration” is used in mass media as “administration of the USA”. But it has other different meanings: «руководство», «министерство», «должностные лица», «назначение (лечение) », «прием (лекарства) », and «приведение к присяге».

From my practice I found a lot of interesting information about “translator’s false friends”.

Examples:

The bullions of gold are kept in the bank

Слитки золота хранятся в банке.

 

Куринный бульон был слишком горяч.

The chicken stoke was too hot.

In these two examples we see that the word “bullion” has another meaning, but many people think that it is the Russian word «бульон». From these examples we see that the Russian word «бульон» has another translation in English.

 

“The regulations on insider information were approved by the decision of The Board of Directors based on minutes of the meeting as of ХХ January 2012.”

«Положения об инсайдерской информации были подтверждены решением Совета Директоров, основанным на протоколе заседания от ХХ января 2012 года».

 

“Sometimes one minute is enough to change your life totally”.

«Иногда, достаточно лишь минуты, чтобы в корне изменить свою жизнь».

 

“Firstly you should to bleach walls and then you should put a coat of paint”.

«Сначала вы должны побелить стены, затем нанести слой краски».

 

“After strong rain my coat became wet”.

«После проливного дождя моё пальто промокло».

 

“The facing of a building was from a strong material”

«Облицовка здания была из крепкого материала».

 

“This girl has attractive face with beautiful black eyes”.

«У девушки красивое лицо с черными глазами»

“Unscrew all nuts, and then remove a wheel”.

«Открутите все гайки, затем снимите колесо».

“My little brother, Damir, likes chocolate with nuts”

«Мой младший братик, Дамир, любит шоколад с орехами»

 

“If the sanding belts were damaged it is necessary to replace them urgently”.

«Если шлифовальные ленты были повреждены, их надо срочно заменить»

 

 

“The sand on the beach was too hot”.

«Песок на пляже сильно нагрелся».

 

CONCLUSION

I have chosen the theme of “translator’s false friends, because I want to become a translator. Moreover, to know information about such problem is very necessary for me and for any translator. I think it is one of the most important problems for translation and it is one of the most interesting themes for course paper. Studying this theme I’ve got familiar with new interesting detail like types of “translator’s false friends” and in what texts I can face the problem of “translator’s false friends” problem.

After all examples from my practice I can see that there are a lot of words in English language which have not only one meaning. For example: such words as “coat” – in one case it may be «пальто», in another case it may be «слой». “Minute” –«минута», in another case it can be «протокол». Such words we call homonyms in Russian language or “translator’s false friends”. For instance one word can have two or more meanings. The meaning of the word is depends on context. So when you translate the text you should look for all meanings of the word in the dictionaries. Otherwise you will do many mistakes and the translation of a text will be wrong.

Concluding all that was said above I came to the conclusion that the translator during his work has to select the best linguistic means to express well the idea, given in the original text. Making the translation the interpreter had to remember the main task – to reconstitute the substance of the translated work.