Translation of Phraseological Units

     Translation of Phraseological Units 

     Phraseological units are usually classified into three big groups: phraseological fusions, phraseological unities and phraseological collocations.

     Phraseological fusions are non-motivated groups forming indivisible wholes both semantically and syntactically. Their meaning in Modern English does not depend on the meaning of the component elements. They seldom, if ever, have equivalents in the S and T languages and are usually rendered by interpreting translation or by paraphrasing, e.g. to paint the lily – пытаться улучшить или украсить что-л., нуждающееся в улучшении или украшении; заниматься бесплодным делом; тратить время или силы попусту. To show the white feather – струсить, проявить трусость.

     The meaning of a phraseological fusion may naturally be rendered by different synonyms, e.g. to go the whole hog – делать что-л. основательно, проводить до конца, не останавливаться на полумерах, идти на все.

     Phraseological unities are motivated units of Modern English; their components are not semantically bound. They are often figurative and the transference of meaning is either metaphorical or metonymical, e.g. to drop a brick – допустить бестактность, сделать ляпсус, промах; monkey business – всякие штучки, фокусы, глупости, дурачества; to eat humble pie – проглотить обиду, смириться.

     This group of phraseological units is heterogeneous and comprises proverbs, proverbial sayings, allusions, euphemisms, professionalisms, e.g. 

     Little pitchers have long ears – дeти  любят слушать разговоры взрослых; What will Mrs. Grundy say? – Что скажут люди? 

     Phraseological unities differ by their structure, by their syntactical function in a sentence and by their stylistic features.

     According to the principle of their translation phraseological unities can be divided into three groups:

• Phraseological unities having Russian counterparts, which have the same meaning expressed by a similar image. They can often be traced to the same source – biblical, mythological, Latin proverbs or sayings, e.g. a living dog is better than a dead lion (bibl.) – живой пес лучше мертвого льва; not all is gold that glitters – не все то золото, что блестит; to cut the Gordian knot (myth.) – разрубить гордиев узел.
• Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings having the same meaning but expressing it by a different image.

 

Too many cooks spoil the broth. - У семи нянек дитя бег глазу.

To buy a pig in a poke – Купить  кота в мешке. 

       Liberal M.P.’s claimed to be united behind their leader while, at the same time, strewing banana skins in his path.

Либералы  – члены парламента – утверждали, что они объединились вокруг своего лидера, а в то же время они подставляли ему ножку на каждом шагу.

• SL phraseological unities sometimes have synonymous TL equivalents, the choice is open to the translator and is usually determined by the context, e.g.

     Between the devil and the deep sea – между двух огней, между молотом и наковальней, между Сциллой и Харибдой, в безвыходном положении. 

     In the absence of a correlated phraseological unity the translator resorts to interpreting translation, e.g. a skeleton in the closet (cupboard) – семейная тайна, неприятность, скрываемая от посторонних.

     Target language equivalents possessing national colouring though expressing the same idea should be avoided as they cannot be considered true equivalents because they introduce alien associations and alien national colouring, e.g. to carry coals to Newcastle should not be translated by the Russian proverbial saying – ездить в Тулу со своим самоваром. In such cases two solutions are possible: a) to preserve the image of the English phraseological unity – никто не возит уголь в Ньюкасл; b) to resort to interpreting translation – заниматься бесполезным делом.

     The same principles are applied to the translation of phraseological unities in the form of simile: cold as ice – холодный как лед; as old as the hills – стар как мир; brown as a berry – загорелый, бронзовый.

     Interpreting translation of phraseological fusions and unities is justified by the fact that their literal meaning is suppressed by what may be termed their transferred meaning which conveys the idea expressed by them.

     Phraseological collocations are motivated word combinations but they are made up of words possessing specific lexical valency which accounts for a certain degree of stability in such word groups. They are translated by corresponding collocations in Russian, e.g. to make faces – строить рожи; to make amends – приносить свои извинения; to make a fortune – составить состояние; to make a bed – застелить постель; to make allowances – делать скидку.

     As seen from the above examples it is always the key word which determines the choice of the Russian verb.

     Lexical transformations can be reduced to five distinct types which have a purely linguistic basis. These five types are the following: concretization, generalization, antonymic translation, metonymic translation and paraphrasing. 

     Concretization  

     Some groups of lexical units require concretization in translation. This is due to the difference in the proportion between abstract and desemantized words on the one hand and concrete words on the other in the S and T languages.

     Abstract words in English distinctly fall into several groups:

     1. Numerous nouns formed by specific suffixes of abstract meaning. Many such nouns have no counterparts in the Russian language, e.g. ministership, presidency, electorate, statehood, etc.

     2. Abstract words which have no equivalents in Russian, the so-called lacuna, such as exposure, occupant (unless as a military term).

     3. Generalizing words having equivalents in Russian but differing in usage, e.g. man, woman, creature, person.

     4. Words of wide meaning which require concretization in translation, some words of this group are on the way to becoming desemantized, e.g. place, piece, stuff, affair, etc.

     5. Words of wide meaning which in fact have become partly deictic signs:    -thing, -body (something, somebody).

     Words belonging to the first group require lexical and grammatical replacements by words possessing a concrete meaning: 

     C.P.Snow resigned from his ministership because he did not like the way the Labour Government was developing.

     Чарльз  Сноу ушел со своего министерского поста потому что ему не нравилась нынешняя политика лейбористского правительства. 

     The abstract noun “ministership” is rendered by a concrete noun (пост) with adjective.

     An ageing Speaker cannot take the burdens of the presidency (in case of the president’s and vice-president’s assassination).

     Стареющий спикер не может принять  на себя всю тяжесть  президентской власти. 

     The abstract noun “presidency” is rendered by means of a concrete noun with an adjective as in the preceding example. 

     Every form of pressure and violence is used by reactionary regimes to compel a reluctant electorate to go to the polls.

     Реакционные режимы используют все  формы давления и  насилия, чтобы принудить  упрямых избирателей принять участие в выборах. 

     Puerto Rico may launch a drive for US statehood.

     Возможно, Пуэрто Рико начнет кампанию за то, чтобы стать штатом США. 

     The abstract word “statehood” is concretized by means of an adverbial subordinate clause of purpose.

     Words of abstract meaning which for some reason or other have no equivalents in the Russian language are translated by some concrete word determined by the context. Their meaning is usually conveyed with the help of replacements or additions. It should be borne in mind that in this case the use of the same parts of speech is of no relevance. 

     He was heavily built. – У него грузная фигура. 

     The role and the significance of the context is well illustrated by the following example, the translation of which is determined by the macro context. 

     Two of the shipwrecked seamen died of exposure.

     Двое  из потерпевших крушение моряков погибли (от холода или от зноя).

     It was a good solid house built to withstand time and exposure.

     Это был хороший, прочный  дом, рассчитанный на то, чтобы противостоять  действию времени и непогоды. 

     Willa, the canary, had flown away. But now there was a vigorously alive little occupant. (D.Eden).

     Канарейка Вилла улетела, но вместо нее в клетке была очень живая  и всегда веселая  птичка. 

     Generalizing words such as man, woman, child, creature etc. which do not have equivalents in Russian but which differ in usage are concretized either by a proper name, the name of the breed (собака, кошка) or some concrete word according to the context. 

     “Anything”, Benjamin said, falling into a highbacked chair across from the man’s kingly desk.

     «Что  угодно», сказал Бенджамин, опускаясь в кресло с высокой спинкой, стоявшее с другой стороны великолепного письменного стола Мастерсона.

     The replacement of the noun “man” by a proper name is natural as Benjamin knew Masterson and was in his house. 

     “Burn it, man, and who will be the wiser, eh?”

     «Сожги  бумагу, и никто  ничего не узнает?» 

     Another group is formed by a large number of words of wide meaning. Their reference has widened to such an extent that they have come to be used in a variety of contexts. This ability to be used in different contexts has, in its turn, affected their reference: on the one hand, they have developed new lexical-semantic variants, on the other, their semantic boundaries have become vague and indefinite. This is due to the fact that their meaning is often contextual. Some of them move towards desemantization, such as piece, place, thing, affair, stuff, stunt etc. 

     The place was full, and they wandered about looking for a table, catching odds and ends of conversation as they did so.   (A.Christie).

     Ресторан был переполнен; они ходили по залу в поисках свободного столика и невольно слышали отрывки разговоров. 

     Desemantized words form one more group.

     The word place which is practically desemantized is translated by the concrete word ресторан. 

     We had a quick breakfast and then our oxygen sets on to our backs. “This oxygen is certainly the stuff”, was my thought. (Edmund Hilary).

     Мы  быстро позавтракали и затем взвалили на спину баллоны  с кислородом. «Да, без кислорода нам не обойтись», подумал я. 

     Equivalence in this case is achieved by means of both lexical and grammatical substitutions. 

     The point of exchanging the E.E.C. is to make it stronger.

     Весь  смысл расширения Европейского Экономического Сообщества в его укреплении. 

     She (grandmother) was a peppery old party with a will of solid granite and a hot flaring temper.    (Ilka Chase).

     Бабушка была с перцем, как  кремень, с горячим  вспыльчивым характером.

     The desemantized colloquial word “party” (особа) is omitted in the translation as it serves here merely as a prop-word.

     Such words as piece, thing, body fulfill a double function – lexical and grammatical; they can be used as lexical units possessing reference or as a grammatical sign. The noun piece in its lexical function means “a bit of something” (a piece of bread); in its grammatical function it concretizes an uncountable noun, turning it into a countable one (a piece of furniture, a piece of advice, two pieces of furniture, two pieces of advice).

     The words “thing” and “body” have, as a matter of fact, moved from one morphological class into another; apart from belonging to referential nouns, they are used as deictic signs or prop-words and in such cases are omitted in translation. 

     She took things terribly seriously.       (A. Huxley).

     Она все принимала очень близко к сердцу. 

     In this case the noun “things” is translated by a generalizing word. But there are also cases when this word requires concretization.  

     He came in sight of the lodge, a long, low frowning thing of red brick.

     (A.Wilson).

     Он  увидел домик привратника, длинное низкое, хмурое здание из красного кирпича. 

     Special attention should be paid to the translation of verbs of wide meaning, such as: to come, to go, to turn, to say, to tell, to get, to die and others. They are rendered either by concrete words suitable to the context or by verb equivalents used in corresponding collocations. 

     So far 65 people have died in floods in Dacca province.

     По  имеющимся сведениям, 65 человек утонуло (погибло) во время наводнения в провинции Дакка. 

     At the by-election victory went to the labour candidate.

     На  дополнительных выборах  победу одержал кандидат лейбористской партии. 

     The rain came in torrents. – Полил сильный дождь. 

     The canary got out of the cage.     (D.Eden).

     Канарейка выпорхнула из клетки. 

     Concretization is often resorted to in the translation of verbs of saying. 

     “Father!” she cried, “the diamond is gone!”

     “Are you out of your mind?” I asked her.

     “Gone!”  says Penelope. “Gone, nobody knows how!” (W.Collins).

     «Отец!»  закричала она, «алмаз пропал».

     «Да ты с ума сошла!»  воскликнул я.

     «Исчез», повторила Пенелопа. «Исчез, и никто не знает каким образом». 

     Another verb which has become partially desemntized is the verb “to involve”. Its concrete lexical meaning, its lexical-semantic variant is largely dependent on the context. 

     “I’ll tell you what… you are not involved. You are remote”.  (Irwin Show).

     «Вот  что я вам скажу…вас  это не трогает. Вы стоите в стороне».