14. Theory of translation. Its subject and objectives

The study of translation or translatology is concerned with both theoretical and applied aspects of translation. On the one hand, it places the emphasis on evaluation of the product of translation. On the other hand, it seems essential that the systematic study of the process is needed. Translation theorists state that advances in translation theory cannot be achieved without studies of the process of translation, they seek to describe the process of translating and explain it, in other words, to answer the following questions: a) what happens during the process of translating? b) why is the process as it is?

It is the process which creates the product and it is only by understanding the product that we can help ourselves or others to improve translators’ skills.

Depending on the focus of investigation - the process or the product - three branches of the theory of translation can be distinguished. These would be:

1)theory of the translation process (theory of translating) which requires studies of information processing and, within that, such phenomena as: a) perception; b) memory; c) encoding and decoding of messages. This translatology branch is most closely connected with psychology and

psycholinguistics;

2)theory of the translation product (theory of translated texts) that requires studies of texts not merely at the traditional levels of linguistic analysis (syntax and semantics) but also at the level of stylistics, making use of recent advances in text linguistics and discourse analysts;

3)theory of both the translation process and the translation product (theory of translating and translated texts). This is the goal of translation studies [Bell, 1991: 26-27].

15. Translation of units of specific national lexicon (реалії)

Units of specific national lexicon – are words and phrases standing for (що означають) specific national phenomena, namely notions of material and spiritual life. They are: customs and traditions (Thanksgiving Day, Ivana Kupala), administrative and political systems (Verkhovna Rada, Congress, primaries), public bodies (назви партій), monetary systems (hryvnia, dollar), clothes (vyshyvanka), food (varenyky), drinks (Horilka), systems of weights and measures (English mile, Ukrainian verstva, pud), proper names (Klychko, Sergii) etc.

In the course of time such words may get the status of internationalisms, if they are important for communication (Coca-Cola, jeans, vodka, champagne, whisky, pizza).

Taking into account various peculiarities of meaning and form of units of specific national lexicon, several ways of conveying their meaning can be distinguished:

1. transcription/ transliteration (if the meaning of these units of specific national lexicon is already familiar to the translation receptor and does not require any additional explanation):

Lord – лорд

Гривня – Hryvnia

2. transcription/ transliteration and description (when the unit of specific national lexicon is introduced in the TL for the 1^st time or it is not yet known to the general public; the explanation may be given either in the TT or in a footnote):

Tower of London – Лондонська фортеця Тауер

Downing Street – резиденція прем’єр-міністра Великобританії на Даунінг стріт

Хрещатик – Khreshchatyk (the main street of Kyiv)

вареники – varenyky (dumplings/ a traditional Ukrainian dish)

3. description only (when transcription/ transliteration is not helpful or could bring about unnecessary ambiguity (двозначність, неясність):

The Union Jack – державний прапор Великобританії

стати на рушник – to get married

4. word-for-word translation and additional explanation (description) (due to the complexity of meaning):

Inner Cabinet – внутрішній кабінет (кабінет у вузькому складі, до якого входять керівники найважливіших міністерств)

The Gulf War – війна у Перській затоці

5. word-for-word translation (when constituents have transparent lexical meaning):

колгосп – collective farm

стінгазета – wall newspaper

орден Ярослава Мудрого – Yaroslav the Wise Order

6. translation by means of semantic analogies (TL units analogous or similar in meaning):

Князь – prince, диплома робота – graduation essay/project

Mr – пан miss – панна

Mrs – пані ms /miz/ - звернення до жінки, не зважаючи на те чи має вона чоловіка

Ex. Wall Street – Волл-Стріт, Уолл-Стріт/-стріт

Threadneedle Street – Третнідл-стріт (вулиця банків)

The Diamond State – Діамантовий штат, штат Делавер

The Lone-Star State – штат самотньої зірки, штат Техас

The Depression – Велика депресія