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1. Translation Theory. Object and objectivesTranslation theory — study of translation, which is aimed to investigate the translation process and give the theoretical explanation of it. It investigates such aspects as translation and its notions, transformations, equivalence and equivalents, translation models, transformations and pragmatics of the text.
Aspects: general (general notions typical of translation from any language), specific (regularities of translation characteristics of particular languages), special (texts of various registers and genres).
Translation invariant — what is in common b/w the two expressions after all the manipulations.
Translation unit — a group of words united in speech by their meanings, rhythm and melody (syntagm).
Objectives:- to provide an overview of translation studies as an academic discipline;- to present translation theory as a component of this discipline and outline some of the issues it aims to address;- to outline the various perspectives from which different scholars have attempted to develop a theory of translation;- to formulate aims and tasks of rendering;- to show ways and means of solving problems of translation;- to establish lexical, grammatical and stylistic correspondences and divergences between two languages;- to point out possible ways of their rendering from one language into the other.
2. The Notion of TranslationTranslation — 1) a means of interlingual and intercultural communication — communicative approach; switching of a language code that transfers an idea from the ST to the TT with the help of equivalents — semiotic approach; process of rendering information from one language to another; 2) the result of this process.
The main objective of translation is to achieve the maximum of identification (~95%).
There are three types of identification: functional (TR handle TT in such a way as if it were ST), structural (structural parallelism b/w ST and TT; comparison of respective units), semantic (TT has the same meaning as ST; based on the various degree of equivalence).
Adequate translation — a type of translation which conveys the ideas, the form and some additional background, which helps the receptor to feel the same way as the native speaker of the SL does when listening or reading.
Equivalent translation — a type of translation, which conveys the meaning and the form of the ST by means of equivalents.
3. Equivalence in translation: Theory of Equivalence Equivalence — a degree of similarity between source and target texts, measured on a certain level.
Levels of equivalence:1. pragmatic (purport of communication): no common semes or invariant structuresA rolling stone gathers no moss. Кому дома не сидится, тот добра не наживет.2. situational (indication of the situation): no parallelism of lexical or structural units, but identical reality, the same actionIt was late in the day. Близился вечер. He answered the telephone. Он снял трубку.3. semantic (description of the situation): the same general notionsLondon saw a cold winter last year. В прошлом году зима в Лондоне была холодной.4. syntactic (the invariant meaning of the syntactic structures): parallel constructionsHe was never tired of old songs. Старые песни никогда ему не надоедали.5. lexical/grammatical: identical constructionsI saw him at the theatre. Я видел его в театре.
4. Equivalence in Translation: Types of EquivalentsAccording to the degree of correspondence:1. regular: a) permanent (one-to-one correspondence); b) variable (one-to-many correspondence);2. occasional.According to the units being used:1. lexical;2. phraseological;3. grammatical.
5. Models in TranslationTranslation model — a conventional description of mental operations on speech and language units, conducted by a translator, and their explanation.
Translation model is used in machine translation to help the machine perform exactly the same way as a real translator does in the process of translation. Some of them are good for this and some are not.
Four types: situational, semantic, transformational, semantic-transformational.


6. Situational model (definition, stages, pros and cons)Situational model — a type of model, when not words, but ideas are translated. It is based on the identity of the situations described in the ST and TL. Extralinguistic factors are important.
Stages:breakthrough to the situation;description of the situation in TL.
Advantages: the translator can make several choices: he can borrow the foreign word, equate it with a similar TL realia, invent a new TL word, etc.Disadvantages: it does not describe the mechanism of translation itself, it doesn’t help machine translation.
7. Semantic model (definition, example, stages, pros and cons)Semantic model is one that places special emphasis on semantic structures of the source and target texts.
Stages:analysis: to single out the meaningful elements of the original (switch from idiomatic SL to the SL basic language) — John likes Ann → John, like, Ann;translation: choose the TL units that most closely express the same content elements (switch from the SL basic language to the TL basic language) — John → Джон (он, парень…), like → нравиться, Ann → Энн (она, девушка…);synthesis: to verbalize the semantic categories of TL (TL basic → TL idiomatic — Джон нравится Энн; Джону нравится Энн).
Advantages: gives a good explanation of the translation equivalence and reasons for translation failures when irrelevant semes have been taking into consideration; explains the mechanism of selecting one variable among synonyms: chosen synonym has the greatest number of relevant semes similar to the SL word.
Disadvantages: process of singling out semes is very difficult; ignores connotations of the word and the function of the text.
8. Transformational model (definition, example, stages, pros and cons)Stages:analysis: SL structures are transformed into nuclear structures of SL (I saw him enter the room. I saw him. He entered the room.);translation: basic units of SL are translated into the basic units of TL (Я видела его. Он вошел в комнату.);synthesis: basic units of TL are transformed into the terminal structures of TL (Я видела, что он вошел в комнату.)
Advantages: provides us with transformation techniques; explains how we translate equivalent-lacking structures; important for teaching translation because it recommends to transform a complex structure into simple ones; good for machine translation.
Disadvantages: inability to explain the choice of the transformation made; the facts of translation equivalence on the situational level; ignores sociocultural and extralinguistic aspects.
9. Semantic-transformational model (definition, example, stages, pros and cons).Semantic-transformational model postulates the identity of basic notions and nuclear structures. Translator makes a travel from the SL to some interlingual level of equivalence and then to the TL.
Stages:analysis: SL original structures → SL nuclear structures, SL idiomatic language → SL basic notions — John is a proud owner of a new car: John + proud + owner + new + car, John has a new car. He is proud;translation: SL nuclear structures → TL nuclear structures, SL basic notions → TL basic notions — Джон (он, мужчина…) + гордиться (радоваться, быть счастливым…) + владелец (обладатель…) + (новый, только что купленный…) + машина (автомобиль…), У Джона новая машина. Он гордится ей;synthesis: TL nuclear structures → TL terminal structures, TL basic notions → TL idiomatic language — Джон гордится своей новой машиной. Джон — счастливый обладатель нового автомобиля.
Advantages: doesn’t ignore extralinguistic context, can be used in teaching, in machine translation (there are less mistakes, than with transformational model).
10. TransformationsTransformation — a way of translation, which can be used when there is no regular equivalent or it can't be used in a certain context conditions; it deals only with the form and the meaning of the SL unit, but not with its effect upon the receptor.
There are four types of transformations: imitations, lexical (semantic) transformations, grammatical transformations, complex (lexical and grammatical) transformations.
Imitations (not exactly transformation, because nothing is really transformed, it only imitate the form of the ST word): transcription (represents the pronunciation — eau de cologne – одеколон); transliteration (represents the spelling — London – Лондон); calque (translation by parts — extralinguistic – внеязыковой).
Grammatical transformations (morphological or syntactical changes in translated units): replacement (changes in grammatical category — passive voice → active voice, noun number category, nominal expression → verbal one);transposition (word order change so that it could sounds more naturally in TL);sentence partitioning (replacement of a simple sentence in the source text with a complex sentence (with some clauses), or a complex sentence with several independent sentences in the target text for structural, semantic or stylistic reasons);sentence integration (making one sentence out of two or more, or convert a complex sentence into a simple one);zero translation (omission of the grammatical category: articles).
Lexical transformations (changes in the semantic core of a translated word):substitution (depends on word combinability: молодой → [человек] — young, [картофель] — new);specification (wider meaning → narrower meaning: get the papers — купить газеты);generalization (narrower meaning → wider meaning: stare — смотреть);(?)differentiation (parallel meaning: bamboo curtain – железный занавес);modulation (logical development of the notion expressed by the word: outside — на улице).
Complex transformations:explication (rewording the meaning into another structure so that the receptor will have a better understanding of the phrase; accompanied with addition: nine-to-five job — работаю с 9 до 17)(?)reduction (omission, implication; giving up communicatively irrelevant words);antonymic translation (from the contrary angle: the inferiority of friendly troops – превосходство сил противника);compensation (deliberate change of the word or structure by another one because the exact equivalent of the target language word or phrase is unable to produce the same impact upon the receptor: Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you. – Во дворе трава, на траве дрова.)
11. Pragmatics of translation: definition, types.Pragmatics — the analysis of language in terms of situational context within which utterances are made, including the knowledge and beliefs of the speaker and the attitude between speaker and listener.
Pragmatics is the relations of the sign and its users.
Types: pragmatics of linguistic signs (meaningful elements whose preservation in translation is desirable at any level of equivalence), pragmatics of an individual speech act (translation event may be pragmatically oriented toward a concrete TR and pursue some aims beside; extralinguistic context is important).
Pragmatic adaptations: addition, omission, explanation, generalization, specification.
Pragmatic value is a concept, which assesses its success in achieving the pragmatic purpose.
12. Main types of translation
According to the predominant communicative function: literary translation — rendering into the TL literary texts, i.e. works of fiction or poetry whose main function is to make an emotional or aesthetic impression upon the reader (prose, poetry, plays);informative translation — rendering into the TL non-literary texts whose main purpose is to inform a reader (scientific, technical, newspapers materials, official papers, public speeches, political and propaganda materials, ads).
According to the form of speech: written (continuous), oral (momentary).
Technical translation: to identify the situation described in the original, observe stylistic requirements of scientific and technical materials to make text acceptable to the specialist.
English newspapers use more colloquial style than Russian ones.
Official diplomatic papers: every word should be carefully chosen.
Journalistic texts: may feature elements of literary texts (stylistic devices).
Film scripts: necessity to fit the pronunciation of the translated words to the movement of the actor’s lips.
Comic strips: numerous allusions to the facts well known to the regular readers, but less familiar to the Russian reader.
Ads: their sole purpose is to win over the prospective customers.
Oral translation: consecutive, simultaneous.