Lecture 1.

 The subject of the theory of translation

 Translation profession and its essence
 Types of meaning and translation
 Extra linguistic Situation in Translation
 Levels of translation and language system

Translation Theory as a Theory of Transformations

The process of translation is an inter language transformation, it is the transformation of a
text written in one language into the text written in another.
Linguistic theory of translation aims at constructing a definite translation process model,
some scientific scheme, which more or less exactly reflects the existing issues of the given
process.
Translation theory (TT) is not called upon considering every single correlation between the
texts of SL and TL, but only the routine, typical correlations, repeated on a regular basis. But
apart from these phenomena in comparative analysis of both texts, usually a great many
correlations or relations emerge — single and irregular, peculiar for a specific case.
These “irregular” correlations represent the most embarrassing complications in the
translation practice. In the ability to find individual variants, single and “not foreseen” by the
theory, there is a creative character of interpretation activity. On the other hand, in the
development of the TT many phenomena of the kind, that at first are considered as individual
and irregular, gradually “blend” into a general picture, obtain explanation and are included into
the objective consideration of the TT. In other words, the same way as in any other science, the
translation process consists, specifically, of the fact, that behind the multitudes of the imaginary,
fictitious exceptions and irregularities some regularity, pattern, rule, some general conformity to
natural laws, which controls them and determines their character are gradually revealed.
Therefore the translation process may be regarded as an art and just mechanical arts, mere
occupation and handicraft.
In TT we have to define the basic thing: on what grounds do we think that a target text is an
equivalent to the original text? For example, what gives us a grounds to say, that the sentence „
Qardaşım Poltavada yaşayır.“ is a translation of the English sentence “My brother lives in
Poltava”, but at the same time, the sentence “I study at the University” is not a translation of the
English sentence mentioned above, — in other words, it is not equivalent to it? Still, by analogy,
we dare say that the sentence „ Çəkiclə ağır yer arasında “ is the same as “Between the rock and
hard place” or „ Böyük gəmi böyük bir səyahətdir “ is the same as “A big dog is a big dog”.
Probably, not every replacement of the text in one language by the text in another one will be a
translation. The same idea can be expressed in another way: a translation process or inter
language transformation takes place not at will, it is not arbitrary, but according to certain rules,
within strictly definite frames, and if we exceed them, we have no right to say about translation.
Apart from the word “adequate” other synonyms as “correct, exact, right, equivalent”, etc., are
used in scientific literature. Translation is the process of transformation of any spoken or written
text in one language into the text in another preserving invariable, unchanged meaning of the
text. Still, we may talk about the invariable or unchanged meaning or content, its safety and
maintenance only in a relative, not absolute sense. During language transformation (as well as
during any other transformation) inevitable losses take place, i.e. the full translation of
meanings, expressed in original text is impossible. Hence, sometimes a translated text can not be
totally and absolutely equivalent to the original one. The task of a translator is to try and do the
best to make this equivalence more precise and allow minimum losses.
 We should keep in mind that in the translation the most essential thing is the equivalence of
the meanings, and not of isolated words or even isolated sentences, the equivalence of the entire
text translated.
To support the idea let us take two examples. In the story of the well-known English writer
Somerset M. “A Casual Affair” there is such a sentence:
He’d always been so spruce and smart; he was shabby and unwashed and wild-
eyed.
this passage sounds like that:
Previously, he was such a chipmunk, so elegant. And now wandering along the streets of
Singapore is dirty, miserable, with a wild look. (M. Litvinov's station)
At the first sight the Azerbaijani text seems not quite equivalent to the English one: here we
encounter such words as „ əvvəllər, indi, Sinqapur küçələrində gəzir “, which have no direct
equivalents in the original text.
But in fact the semantic equivalence is precisely preserved and well-kept here, though the
vocabulary equivalence, the word equivalence is absent.
The issue is that the Azerbaijani words „ əvvəllər “ and „ və indi “ convey here the
meanings, which in the English text are expressed not by mere words, but through grammatical
forms: opposition of verb forms to be — had been and was expressing antecedence of the first
event or action to the second one, which in Ukrainian are expressed by lexical means, with the
help of the adverbs of time. So, some grammatical forms in one language are expressed through
lexical means in another.
In the story of the American writer Harper Lee “To Kill a Mockingbird” there is such a
sentence:
“Mr. Raymond sat up against the tree-trunk”.
In Ukrainian it sounds as follows:

„ Cənab Raymond oturdu və palıda söykəndi “.

In the translation there is a word „притулився“, which is absent in the original text, the
English adverb “up“ in the phrasal verb sat up indicates the fact, that the subject of the verb,
assumed a sitting position after lying (compare: sat down) when in the Ukrainian sentence this
information is absent. The English word “tree-trunk“ does not mean “an oak“ but „ ağac
gövdəsi “. From the previous sentence it is clear, that he had been in a lying position under the
oak.
Semantic equivalence may not exist between separate elements of these texts, but between
the texts as a whole. Besides, in the text itself multiple regroupings, transpositions and
redistribution of separate meaningful elements not only admissible, but are frequently inevitable.

Types of meaning

Translation is an effort of finding equivalent meaning of a text into the second language.
In this case, meaning plays an important role in translation. The meaning relate to the language
function as a means of communication. It is closely influenced by the grammars, context,
situation and society culture to where the meaning occurs. There are the different kinds of
meanings categorized, they are referential meaning and connotative meaning.

Nida and Taber (1982: 56) classifies meaning into two classes, referential meaning and
connotative meaning.

1. Referential meaning is word as symbol which refers to an object, process, abstract thing, and
relation. Referential meaning is dealing with grammatical, and lexical.

a. Syntactic marking

In some cases, the meaning of a word is governed by their grammatical structure. Here
are the examples.

I II
1 He picked up a stone. 1 They will stone him.
2 He saw a cloud. 2 The quarrel will cloud the
issue.
3 She has a beautiful face. 3 He will face the audience.
4 He fell in the water. 4 Please, water the garden.

From the examples above, it can be seen that in column I the words ‘stone’,
‘cloud’, ‘face’, and ‘water’ are nouns which are usually translated into daş ',' bulud ',' üz
'və' su 'While in column II, the underlined words are not nouns, but verbs which in
Azerbaijani language mean ‘atmaq (daşla)’, ‘çaşdırmaq’, ‘üzü yuxarı’, and ‘suvarma’. In
this case, grammatical structure of each word refers to the intended meaning explicitly. It
remarks that one word also can defined by the word class.
b. Semiotic marking
Meaning of a word is also determined by its relationship with other words in a
certain context. In other words, semiotic environment differentiates meaning. Here
are the examples.

I II
1 The horse runs fast. 1 The water runs through the
path.
2 Your hand is dirty. 2 All hands up!

The words ‘runs’ in sentence 1 in column I and II have different meaning because
they have different subjects. In column I, the word ‘runs’ means ‘qaçır” while in column
II, it means ‘axır’. The words ‘hand’ in example 2 are also different in meaning.

2. Connotative Marking.

Connotative meaning refers to a meaning that is implied by a word apart from the thing
which it describe explicitly. In understanding meaning of a word, it is not only based on the
referred object of the word but also an emotional reaction of the word.  In other word, a meaning
also involves the sender’s emotional condition not only from its concrete or abstrat dimension.
To understand connotatve meaning, there are three main principles:
 1. The relationship between the word and the speaker

When certain words relates with certain types of speaker, this will be accepted by the
member of the group. Words which are used and understood by member of certain social class,
level of education and religion. For example, a word such as wall street. It has different meaning
in cetain social class. For people in Manhattan, wall street is a name of street in Manhattan. For
shareholders or financial institution, wall street is center of stock market.

2. Condition of the speaker

The same word expressed by the same speaker but in different condition may rise
different meaning. Some expression related to certain place as in court police station, market,
etc. For example, when I tell my friend that there is a robbery at my neighbor’s house, it will just
become an information to my friend. But if I tell the story in a police officer, it will have
different response. The story will become a report that need to be handled.

3. Linguistics factor

Parallel words which are always in pairs with other ords give different various
connotation. For example, the word “white” will have different meaning when it pairs with other
following words.

White house -> a building for a president to live

A white shoes -> a shoes that is white

The word “white” is actually a kind of colour. But, it has different meaning when it
occurs beore certain words that the receiver might react differently.

Suryawinata also classifies type of meanings into five, they are lexical meaning,
grammatial meaning, textual meaning, situational meaning, and socio-cultural meaning.
1. Lexical meaning.
Meaning as defined in the dictionary is called lexical meaning. Usually it occurs when the
word is used in isolation.
For example: Hand- the moveable parts at the end of the arms, including the fingers.
2. Grammatical meaning is a meaning that reached by a form or the structure in a phrase or a
sentence.
For example:
a) She sweeps the floor. It indicates that she sweeps the floor in the recent time.
b) She swept the floor. It indicates that she sweeps the floor in the past time.
c) The floor sweeped by her. It indicates past voice.
3. Textual meaning can be reached by the influence of another word in a certain sentence.
For example:
a) Hand me your paper.
b) Just give me a hand.
c) All hands up!
 d) They’re always ready at hand.
e) Hands up!
Those sentences has the same “hand” but with the different meaning.
4. Situational meaning

Meaning or a word or phrase or sentence that exists in situation or context when it used.

Example :

The phrase “Good Morning” is usually used as a greeting when someone meets friends in
the morning. But in different situation that greeting changes the meaning. Learn the new
situation below. “A Staff, who always comes late and is lazy, is questioning by his
manager but he is arguing and sure with his own reasons. This makes the manager
irritates. At last he shouts : “That is enough. Good morning!

Those words are absolutely not a greeting, but it is a command for him to go out of the
room as quickly as possible. The result of the translation in Azerbaijani is “Yetər, çıx!”.

5. Socio-cultural meaning can be found in any certain culture and uses by people in it.
For example: In Java, people usually say: “Endi oleh-olehe?”or “Where is the souvenir?” after
their friends or relations went to some places, it isn’t mean that they purely ask for souvenir but
just for closely greeting. [2,2-7].

Extralinguistic Factor
Sometimes we have to resort to so called extra-linguistic factor (auxiliary information or
background knowledge) to make a correct translation. In other words, in order to translate, we
should know not only SL and TL and the translation rules, but also the subject, situation,
circumstances, in which the given text functions:
...that Rob had anything to do with his feeling as lonely as Robinson Crusoe
(Dombey & Son).
“Rome wasn’t built in and day, ma’am... In and similar manner, ma’am” said
Bounderby, “And can wait, you know. If Romulus and Remus could wait, Josiah
Bounderby can wait” (Hard Times).
“And do not wonder that you... are incredulous of the existence of such and man.
But he who sold his birthright for and mess of pottage existed, and Judas Iscariot
existed and Castlereagh existed, and this man exists” (Hard Times).
Neither of these sentences can be fully understood, if “a recipient”, reader, has no specific
information about subjects, persons and phenomena mentioned here. To comprehend the first
sentence, one should know why the name Robinson Crusoe is identified with the idea of solitude
in D. Defoe’s well-known book. To understand the second example one should know, who were
Romulus and Remus, one should know the history and ancient mythology of Rome. In the third
sentence we should know the biblical myths about Isahav, who sold his birth right for the mess
of pottage, as well as about Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty silver coins; to
understand this sentence, one should also know, who Castlereagh was and what mean things and
actions his name is associated with, as it is associated with the ideas of venality and betrayal, so
we need to know curtain facts of the English history.
 “Open the door”, replied a man outside; “it’s the officer from Bow Street, as was
sent to, today!”
A translator should take into account the fact that a reader is unaware of specific realities of
another country he lacks knowledge to understand this passage. He does not know, that in Bow
Street there is a central police board of London. The volume of knowledge of native speakers
and readers of the translated material is different and it is a normal situation. The passage sounds
strange and is not understandable. The task of a translator to remove this misunderstanding in
some way:
„ Qapını açın! - adam qapı arxasında cavab verdi. "Bu, bu gün göndərilmiş olan
London Baş Polis İdarəsinin nümayəndəsidir!"
My nose’s running. Have you got Kleenex or something?
Without any difficulty an American will understand that Kleenex is a well-known firm,
producing napkins, tissue paper, disposable diapers, absorbent paper, table paper cloths, articles
of hygiene, etc. The best variant of the translation is as follows:
Çox pis asqırıram bir dəsmal kimi bir şey tapa bilməzsən?
And here it is an opposite translation:
O, 1941-ci il iyunun 22-ordu qatıldı.
The best translated option is as follows:
On the day when Germany attacked Russia he joined the army.
The date unforgettable for every citizen here, on the territory of the former Soviet Union,
might mean nothing for the English speaking reader and needs deciphering in translation,
because here it is important to emphasize, that the person left for the war on the very first day it
started.
The British people are still profoundly divided on the issue of joining Europe.
For the Ukrainian reader it is unclear in what meaning the word Europe is used here. Citizens
of the UK are aware of the political atmosphere in the country in 1973, the meaning of
expression joining Europe is clear without any explanations:
İngilislər arasında İngiltərənin Avropa ümumi bazarına daxil olması ilə əlaqədar hələ də
dərin yanlış anlaşma var.
In the translation we should resort to some kind of explanation of the word combination “to
join Europe” by means of the so called broadening of the meaning adding the words which will
make this expression clearer. [1, 23-25].

UNITS OF TRANSLATION

4.1. Classification of Translation Units

The major task of the translator is to be able to find in the original text a minimum language
unit (this does not mean the simplest one), which must be translated. In translation theory this
unit is called the unit of translation. It is such a unit in SL, which has an adequate equivalent in
TL. Such unit may have a complicated form, i.e. it may be composed of simpler language units
in the original text. But its parts, if taken separately, are not translated. That is in the target text
one can not find equivalents to them, even if in the original language they have their own,
relatively independent meanings. Each word, taken separately in word-combinations, given
below, does not mean what the entire expression does. Here a word-for-word translation is
inadmissible. It means we must not descend here to the word level, but consider the expression
on the level of word-combinations; otherwise we will get nonsense, unreadable literal
translation:
On cloud nine — very happy: When he got his promotion, he was on cloud nine.
At loose ends — restless, unsettled, unemployed: Jane has been at loose ends
ever since she lost her job.
To be at sea (about smth.) — confused, lost and bewildered (as if one were lost
at sea): Mary is all at sea about getting married.
To be at sixes and sevens — disorderly, lost and bewildered: Mrs. Smith is at
sixes and sevens since the death of her husband.
Begin to see the daylight — to begin to see the end of a long task: I’ve been so
busy. Only in the last week have I begun to see daylight.
Every level of language hierarchy assumes a curtain (ascending) position in the language
hierarchy and includes the previous levels. Each level of language has its own translation units.
In linguistics we used to think, that a morpheme is a minimum meaningful unit. Even
phoneme as a minimum meaningful unit, counts for nothing, though we dare prove the contrary.
In translation theory we will move still deeper. We will distinguish even the level of intonation:
1. level of intonation;
2. level of phonemes (for written language — graphemes);
3. level of morphemes;
4. level of words;
5. level of word-combinations;
6. level of sentences;
7. level of a text.
Accordingly, we are interested in the translation on the level of intonation, phonemes
(graphemes), morphemes, words, word-combinations, sentences and a text. [1,28-29].
The level of intonation is not considered by linguists as a constituent part of the language
hierarchy, but in the translation theory it should be paid attention to and analyzed. The level of
intonation exists and has a specific, if not great, influence on our speech. The intonation can
impart more information, than our words.
Intonation says much more, than words. We have the expression “to read behind the text” or
“between the lines”. A person says something, but his intonation, the way he says it, says
something different, it unveils the true meaning of words. It is intonation, and not words, which
discloses character of a person, his attitudes, true emotions, etc. So, what is said and how it is
said are two big differences, as they say in Odessa. Regarding Odessa and its humour, which is
in general is based on a specific Odessa intonation, which might say soooo much. We remember
in one of Kartsev’s monologues there is an old a bit naughty joke:
Two very old men are passing by a very old house, in which before the revolution
there had been a brothel. One of the elderly sighs heavily (specific intonation).
Another old man interrupts him impatiently, “Oh, the hell, stop reminding me, as
if I do not remember!!!”
Intonation would unveil absolutely opposite to what is said, fully turning round the entire
meaning. There are many anecdotes, where the major humour is based on intonation.
Translation on the Level of Phonemes (Graphemes)
Phoneme is a sound of spoken language, which in the written language refers to a
grapheme, or a letter symbol. Phoneme or grapheme is not a carrier of independent meaning. In
language it plays only a meaning distinguishing role. But, nevertheless, in translation practice
there are cases, when phonemes (or graphemes) become the translation units. Phonemes of SL
are replaced by phonemes which are the closest to them in articulation and acoustic properties in
the TL (or graphemes in the SL are replaced by the graphemes in the TL, which convey the
identical sounds). For example, in the English name Ruth it is possible to pick up to each
phoneme the ones closest in articulation and sounding in Ukrainian. In Ukrainian it will sound
like Рут, in Russian — Руфь. Greek letter beta [], read differently depending on the place in a
word, therefore different spelling and pronunciation are observed in languages: Basil — Василь,
Benjamin — Вен’ямін, Martha — Марта and Марфа.
The type of translation, where the correlation between units of SL and TL is established on
the level of phonemes, is called transcription.
In case, when the correlation is established on the level of graphemes, i.e. of the graphic form
or spelling of an outgoing word, and not of its pronunciation, then we speak about
transliteration.

TRANSLATION ON THE LEVEL OF MORPHEMES

Morpheme as a Unit of Translation

In some cases a morpheme becomes the unit of translation. It means that for every
morpheme of the word to be translated a curtain morpheme in the word of the target language
should be found. For example, the following correlation of morphemes is easy to set for the pair
of words: ball — top, balls — toplar, where the root of the word ball corresponds the root top-,
and the morpheme of plural -s corresponds the morpheme of plural -і. The same accordance can
be observed and applied when translating the English word backbencher — parlamentin müstəqil
deputatı.
This type of translation is still more seldom, than the translation on the level of phonemes:
morphological structure of semantically equivalent words in different languages usually does not
coincide, especially in the domain of grammatical (word-changing and word-forming)
morphemes, their set being different in different languages.
The terminological systems make exception, especially medical sciences (MS) and
chemistry. In general, any vocabulary, in which the international (of Latin and Greek origin)
morphemes are present, is translated with preserving these morphemes. For example morpheme
-ома in MS in the words: adenoma, sarkoma, qlaukoma, fibromaoma, karsinoma indicates that
this a type of tumours, either malignant types of cancer or innocent tumours. In the scientific
technical literature roots and prefixes are the most informative. A great number of roots and
prefixes are of Greek and Latin origin, even if terms are adopted from English, German, French,
Russian or other European languages. Clear understanding of original roots and prefixes helps
and redounds to present information in a mono-semantic way (without additional meanings) and
perceive it adequately:
ambi (lat.), amphi (Gr.) — [on both or all sides] — ambiguity, ambience;
Quasi (Lat.), pseudo (Gr.) — [conventionally “as if”] — quasi-instruction, quasi-
language, pseudonym, pseudocode;
para (Gr.) — [near, beside, in parallel] — paragraph, paradox, paradise, parameter;

TRANSLATION ON THE LEVEL OF WORDS

6.1. Examples of Translating on the Level of Words

Much more often we translate on the level of words. Here there a couple of examples on the
word level:
He came home. Evə gəldi.
My brother lives in Qardaşım Moskvada
Moscow. yaşayır.
I looked at her. Mən ona baxdım.
Who told you this? Bunu sizə kim deyib?

In these and other identical examples we set equivalents on the word level, words here are
the only units of translation, because it is impossible to set morpheme correlation (and more over
— phoneme) in general (came — при-йшо-в, home — до-дом-у).
You should keep in mind, that when saying about translation unit, we keep in mind the units
of the SL. Therefore we say about translation on level of words also in those cases, when the
word in the SL corresponds not to one, but a few words (or the whole word-combination) in the
TL:
Tributaries of Thames snake their way under central London.
Притоки Темзы пробираются в центр Лондона.
In order to adequately translate the verb “to snake” we should ascend to the level of word
combinations, as one verb „прокладати“ is not enough to convey the broader meaning of the
English verb, implying the currents of these rives are meandering.
... Jane and her mother were sort of snubbing her (J. Salinger “The Catcher in the
Rye”).
... Джейн ті її мати дивляться на неї з погордою.
The English word snub complies with the word-combination „ xor baxmaq “; however, we
consider this case as the translation on the word level, because the unit of the SL, for which the
equivalent has been found, is a word. In such cases (which occur very often) one can say about
poly-level correspondence, having in mind, that the translation unit in the SL is rendered in the
TL by the unit, which belongs to another level (as a rule, higher, though reverse cases are also
possible). In the cases, when translation unit in SL and its equivalent in TL are on the same level
of the language hierarchy, one can say about mono-level correspondence (for example,
morpheme in SL complies with the morpheme in TL, word — with word).
Translation on the word level is limited in the sphere of application, though. As a rule, in a
sentence only part of words receive word equivalents, and others do not have them, and
translation of another part of a sentence is fulfilled on higher level: level of word-combinations.
Only in a few cases the whole sentence is translated on the word level. As usual, these are very
simple sentences with elementary structure. A rare example of word-for-word translation of the
sentence with rather complicated structure is given in the book of Levitskaya, Fiterman:
The Soviet proposal is an endeavor to create an atmosphere which will lead to
further negotiations between the former allies and between two German
Governments (Newspaper).
Радянська пропозиція є намаганням створити таку атмосферу, яка
приведе до подальших переговорів між колишніми союзниками та між
обома германськими урядами.
However, even here in the Ukrainian sentence, in accordance with grammatical structure of
the Ukrainian, there are no equivalents to English articles. The infinitival particle to and
auxiliary verb will are rendered in Ukrainian not by words, but morphemes (forms of Infinitive
and the Future tense).

TRANSLATION ON THE LEVEL

OF WORD COMBINATIONS
Problems of Translating Idioms
It is difficult to understand and give correct translations of the following idioms (fixed word
combinations, phrasal units) without having a context:
He bugs me = He drives me nuts = He gets under my skin;
We are on different pages = We are in different books;
Our chemistry does not mix;
I want to hit a bull’s eye;
I am off my nut;
Kick the tire, light the fire.
American English is highly idiomatic which complicates comprehension. Therefore learning
idioms is extremely urgent and helpful to become a good interpreter.
We already know that in a fixed word-combination meanings of its components are not equal
to the meaning of the entire phrase, therefore a word-for-word translation of such word-
combinations in most cases is impossible, and the whole word-combination turns to be the unit
of translation:
to catch fire— загорітись
first night — прем’єра
to come to the wrong shop — звертатись не за адресою
to spill the beans — видати секрет, проговоритись
 to be at bay — бути в розпачливому, безвихідному становищі, бути припертим
до стіни
Word-for-word translation of such word-combinations is possible only in cases, when their
“inner form” for some reasons coincides in both languages:
to play with fire = skate on thin ice — ходити по краю провалля, грати з вогнем,
ходити по лезу бритви,
feel like a fish out of water — бути не в своїй тарілці, a new broom — нова
мітла, нове начальство,
cannot see the wood for the trees — за деревами не бачити лісу,
to swallow a bitter pill — проковтнути гірку пігулку.
The following phraseologisms and the contexts they are used in, will help to understand their
meaning and remember them:
Second to none — ніким не перевершений:
He was second to none — if he said so himself, as I heard him once (J. Conrad).
Good sport — славний хлопець, гарна людина:
Bertie, surely you’re not going to be difficult about this? You’re much to good a
sport (P. Wodehouse).
A broken reed — (очерет, комиш) — ненадійна людина, неміцна річ:
Theo! He’s a broken reed if ever there was one. He’s just can talk directly to
people and tell them what to do... (J. Murdock)
Cock of the walk — (a big boy, big noise — пава, важна персона, хазяїн
положення):
If you wanted to be thought cock of the walk and do the honours of the field, when
any distinguished stranger, or wealthy investor arrived, nobody minded (K.
Prichard).
One’s cup of tea — той, хто подобається; той, кого кохають:
“She’s not my cup of tea”; And I’m not hers.
A wet blanket — людина, яка діє розхолоджуюче на інших; людина, що отруює
іншим радість, задоволення; людина, що постійно ниє:
“You’ll think me an awful wet blanket, but, do you know, we never discuss our
past lives here” (I. Murdock).

TRANSLATION ON THE LEVEL

OF SENTENCE AND TEXT
Translation of Clichés and Formulas
In some cases it turns out, that even word-combinations can not serve as units of translation,
and the equivalence can be set only on the level of sentences. It happens, when sentences under
translation are idiomatic in their meaning, their meaning being not equal to the meanings of the
words and word-combinations, constituting a sentence. As usual these are proverbs.
 As it is evident from the examples, given below, in such kind of translation the whole
sentence is the translation unit — meaning of the Russian sentence coincides with such of the
English sentence, but within the sentences themselves any correlation between words or word-
combinations is impossible to find.
Other types of clichés or formulas — different graffiti, signs, road signs, and courtesy
formula (polite requests) belong to this category of phrases:
Keep off the grass. По газонах не ходити.
Wet paint. Обережно, пофарбовано
Slow, men at work. Тихий хід, дорожні роботи.
Many happy returns of the Поздоровляю з днем
day. народження.
There’s a good boy. От хороший, от молодець.
Keep your nose out of it. Не лізь, куди не просять. Не
пхай свого носа туди,
куди не слід.
Stay out of our business. Не втручайся не в свої
справи.

A couple of examples of translation on the sentence level:

I have to admit it. Тут нічого не скажеш.
Don’t even mention them to me. Терпіти не можу.
But outside of that I don’t care ...Але в цілому це
much. нісенітниця.

It should be noted, that in original sentences there is nothing idiomatic — their meaning is in
total accord with the sum of meanings of isolated words; however, the translation is made on the
level of the whole sentence, which comes forward as an inseparable translation unit.
Types of Proverbs and Their Translation
1. Absolute mono-equivalents — not numerous:
Habit is second nature. Звичка — друга натура.
A good name is better than Добра слава краща за
riches. багатство.
Extremes meet. Крайнощі сходяться.
Time is money. Час — гроші.

2. Relative mono-equivalents — with partial divergence of figurativeness:

Великому кораблю велике A great ship asks deep waters.
плавання.
Мовчання — знак згоди. Silence gives consent.
 Одна ластівка весни не One swallow doesn’t make a
робить. summer.
Один розум добре, а два— Two heads are better than one.
краще.
Порожня бочка сильніше Empty vessels make most
гримить. noise.
Гарно сміється той, хто He laughs best who laughs
сміється останнім. last.

3. Some proverbs are rendered by means of the antonymous equivalent:

Не та собака кусає, яка His bark is worse than his bite.
гавкає.
Курчат рахують восени. Don’t count your chickens before
they are hatched.

4. With full divergence of figurativeness — the most numerous group:

Хто старе згадає, тому Let bygones be bygones.
око геть.
Любиш кататись, люби й After dinner comes the
санчата возити. reckoning.
Лякана ворона і куща Once bitten, twice shy.
боїться.
Рибак рибака здалеку Birds of a feather flock
бачить. together.
Дерево, що скрипить, два A creaking door hangs long on
віки стоїть. its hinges.
У семи няньок дитя без ока. Too many cooks spoil the
broth.
Не помажеш, не поїдеш. Creaking wheel needs grease.

5. Antonymic translation is used in the following proverbs:

В чужий монастир зі своїм Do in Rome as the Romans do
статутом не ходять. (When in Rome do as the
Romans do).
Нема худа без добра. Every dark cloud has a silver
lining.
Шила в мішку не сховаєш. Murder will out.

6. With divergence in number or word order:

Гра не варта свічок. The game is not worth the
 candle.
Краплина по краплині і Little strokes fell great oaks.
каміння зітре.
Нема троянди без колючок. There is no rose without a
thorn.
Прийшла біда, відчиняй Misfortunes never come alone.
ворота.
Все добре, що добре All’s well that ends well.
закінчується.
Куй залізо, допоки гаряче. Strike while the iron is hot.
Не все те золото, що All that glitters is not gold. (All
блищить. is not gold that glitters).

7. Selective translation: There are many synonymous proverbs in English, the same as in
Russian, which may cause difficulties in choosing the most appropriate variant. The Russian
proverb:
Краще синиця в руці, ніж журавель в небі.
corresponds to three English proverbs:
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Better an egg to-day than a hen to-morrow.
One to-day is worth two tomorrow.
The reverse examples with several synonymous Russian proverbs, obtaining one translation
in English, also take place.
Translation on the Level of Text
Finally there are the cases, when even sentences fail to be the units of translation, and then
the whole text becomes the unit, in which the whole group of independent sentences is combined
within the framework of one text. Such phenomenon in prose is improbable or rare exception;
however in such specific type of translation as translation of poetry it is quite ordinary. Let us
compare Shakespeare’s sonnet No 49 in the SL and in S. Y. Marshak’s translation:
Against that time, if ever that time come,
When I shall see thee frown on my defects,
When as thy love hath cast his utmost sum,
Call’d to that audit by advis’d respects;
Against that time when thou shalt strangely passs
And scarcely greet me with that sun, thine eye,
When love, converted from the thing, it was,
Shall reasons find of settled gravity is
Against that time do I ensconce me here
Within the knowledge of mine own desert,
And this my hand against myself uprear,
To guard the lawful reasons on thy part:
 To leave poor me thou hast the strength of laws,
Since why to love I can allege no cause.
В тот черный день (пусть он минует нас!),
Когда увидишь все мои пороки,
Когда терпенья истощишь запас
И мне объявишь приговор жестокий,
Когда, со мной сойдясь в толпе людской,
Меня едва подаришь взглядом ясным,
И я увижу холод и покой
В твоем лице, по-прежнему прекрасном,
В тот день поможет горю моему
Сознание, что я тебя не стою,
И руку я в присяге подниму,
Все оправдав своей неправотою.
Меня оставить вправе ты, мой друг,
А у меня для счастья нет заслуг.
Here it is impossible to set correlation between the original text and the translated text either
on the level of isolated words (except for only the words: defects — пороки, hand — руку and
leave — оставить), or on the word-combination level, or even on the sentence level, because
none of the sentences of the Russian text, taken separately, outside the given context, can be
considered as equivalent to the meaning of the sentence of the English text. Here the whole
translated text is the unit of translation: in spite of the absence of correlation among their parts,
the Russian poem as a whole, can be considered as an equivalent to English one, because in
general, both of them impart one and the same content and figurative information. [1,90-98].
Glossary
1. Sydoruk G.I. Basics of Translation Theory. Part I: Lecture Synopsis. – K.: NAU, 2005. – 96
p.
2. Rafli Ariza. Types Of Meaning. Jenderal Soedirman University English Literature
Purwokerto, 2017.- 7p.2