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By Transcription or Transliteration and Explication of Their Genuine Nationally Specific Meaning




In many a case the lingual form of a unit of nationally specific
lexicon conveyed through transcription or transliteration can not provide
a full expression of its lexical meaning. Then an additional explication
of its sense becomes necessary. It happens when the unit/notion of the
culturally biased lexicon is introduced in the target language for the first
time or when it is not yet known to the broad public of the target lan
guage readers/listeners. The explanation may be given either in the
translated passage/speech flow, where the culturally biased unit is used,
or in a footnote - when a lengthy explication becomes necessary:
They took her to the Tower of
London. (Jerome K.Jerome) .

Downing Street is g uarded '-

outside by a single policeman.
(London Illustrated) .

As the dawn was just breaking ,
he found himself close to

Covent Garden. (O.Wi Ide) -.

said that Wall Street and ³ , -

Threadneedle Street between -Cmpim1

them could stop the universe. (' )

(R.AIdington) .

It goes without saying that the transcribed or transliterated forms of Downing Street, Covent Garden or Threadneedle Street can not be sufficient for many foreign readers \p obtain a fairly correct idea of what really each of them denotes. Hence, some explication of their specific connotative meaning in footnotes becomes inevitable. Footnotes or lengthy explications should always be used when the culturally biased notions are not yet well-known in the target language. For example, surfing when only transliterated/transcribed as will not express its denotative meaning which it in reality is - the sport of riding waves into shore on a surfboard. Hence, a combined translation must be resorted to: ( ); similarly with snow boarding which denotes .

The kind of explication, naturally, can be acceptable in a dictio-


1 - - ѳ, .


158


159


 


ϳ ; prorogation / ) quartermaster - (and also ) . 쳿.

It goes without saying that such lengthy explications of or as well as may be considered superfluous, as their use in translation would aggravate to some extent the elucidation of their proper meanings.

There is no need to emphasize, however, that such lengthy explanations of specifically national notions are always required in the text of the translation/interpretation. And far from all culturally biased/specific units of national lexicon are so heavily loaded with information so that they have necessarily to be explicated in a footnote. Quite often an explanation within the target language text may be sufficient enough too, as in the following examples: I thought of Phuong who would ,

nary but scarcely acceptable in a broader text. That's why footnotes
become helpful here, though a frequent usage of them should be avoided
as well, since footnotes may divert the reader's attention from the con
tent of the passage/work in which the specific national notions occur.
A combined translation may often be resorted to when a short
excerpt or sentence contains some specific notions of the kind:
A number of restaurants and caf-
eterias in Kyiv specialize in ,
varenyky (dumplings), kulish (
thick meal stew) and other ,
dishes. (News from Ukraine) .

No. 11 Downing Street is N 11 -

guarded outside by a single cmpim (

policeman too. (London lllus- )

trated)

Anybody in this country can see from the definition above that are not simply dumplings, i.e., small balls of dough which can be cooked in soup or stew but a piece of flat dough wrapped around some salted/sweetish curd with fresh egg boiled and served hot with butter and sour cream. Varenyky can also be dumplings wrapped around mashed potatoes/stewed sauerkraut, etc. And also boiled and served hot with butter or small pieces of fried bacon and onions respectively1. Neither is something like a thick me&l stew. Besides, kulish apart from some other features, not reflected in the translation above, is not always and not in all regions of Ukraine prepared thick, it may also be thin (soup-like).

3. By Descriptive Explaining/Explication Only For some reason or other the orthographic form of a considerable number of sense units belonging to the nationally specific lexicon of the source language can not be rendered into the target language. That happens mostly when the transcription/transliteration can not be helpful in expressing the sense of the culturally biased national unit, or when it might bring about an unnecessary ambiguity in the target language narration/text cf.: matron ( ); Pilgrim Fathers - - 볿, 1620

1 Note: in some American restaurants Ukrainian varenyky are called ravioli (Ital.)-


be haggling over the price of fish in the third street down on the left before going for her elevenses to the milk-bar. (G.Greene)

No coffins were available, so they wrapped George in a blanket and in the Union Jack. (R.AIdington)

The Tommies were numbered, formed fours, right turned and marched away. (Ibid.)

I've got some shepherd's p/efor lunch today - that you used to like so much. (A.Cronin)

He's upset because we don't run Jim Crow buses. (B.Gerry)

, . (. ) ϳ , . (. )


, , -/ . , /.

, , .

' , .

³ , .

Everybody saw me and you being married in the church. The sand was warm like a clay stove of a country cottage.


 


160


161


As can be seen, not all the details constituting the semantic structure of the translated above units of specific national lexicon have been fully conveyed in English and Ukrainian translations. Thus, the clay stove does not sufficiently explicate the proper role of , for any stove predominantly implies its being used for cooking. In reality, however, the clay stove was designed in Ukrainian country cottages (khata) for heating and warming purposes only. Similarly with the former (historical) specific American racists' contemptuous unit Jim Crow buses, which is not simply , because Jim Crow was a contemptuous name for a Negro. When translated into Ukrainian simply as ( ) the collocation would loose its connotative (contemptuous) meaning which is inherent in it. The same can be said about the Ukrainian culturally biased notion of which is certainly not quite equivalent to the descriptive meaning of embroidered in national colours towel, because it is an indispensable item in every folk rite like birthday, weddings or burials. Besides, is used in Ukraine on any other solemn or ceremonial occasion. That is why its translation in the above sentence is not fully and absolutely faithful. To convey the complexity of meaning contained by the national lexicon units of the kind, footnotes may be resorted to as well. That is one more proof of the difficulties which the student sometimes comes across while dealing with some specifically national units of lexicon, which are always culturally biased notions.

4. By Translation of Componental Parts and Additional Explication of Units of the Nationally Biased Lexicon

The proper meaning of some specific units of the national lexicon can be faithfully rendered by way of regular translation of all or some of their componental parts and explication of the denotative meaning pertaining to the source language unit. The combined approach in the treatment of this group of specific national lexicon units is called forth by the complexity of meaning inherent in the source language units. It is also due to the inadequacy of componental translation, which does not reveal the essentials that are absolutely indispensable for correct comprehension of the real meaning of the culturally biased lexical units of the source language.

Due to this the way of rendering the meanings of this kind of units practically involves two simultaneous performances. The first is a regular translation of the main, if not all, componental parts and the next, which follows it, is a more or less exhaustive explanation of the essence pertained to the specific national element of the source lan-


guage. The extent of the explanation in the target language is first of all predetermined by the nature of the specific unit of national lexicon, by the purpose of translation, and also by some characteristic possibilities of the text in which the unit is used. When translating at language level (out of context) the explanation may be practically unrestricted: Battle of Britain ( , ϳ 볿 1940-1941 pp.); bull's eye ( ' ); collective membership (, ), , ; ); ginger ale, / ( ); inner Cabinet ( ), '-.

Such and the like explanations can not, naturally, be made in the text of a translation, hence they are given usually in the footnotes, as in the following examples:

Well, I can tell you anything ,
that is in an English bluebook, ,
Harry. (O.Wilde) .1

Labour Day was past, but

summer still pressed down on (),
the city. (M.Wilson) .

Frances wanted very little: ࠠ :

salad, foasf melba, no wine, , 3,

only ice water. (A.Cronin) , .

When the lexical meaning of the unit of specific national lexi
con is not so complex, as the given ones, it is usually explained in
the target language text. The explanation then, of course, is not al
ways as exhaustive as it can be in a footnote, cf.:
Keep your fingers crossedior ,
me! (M.Wilson) ()
___________ !.

1 - ,
.

2 - (
).

3 ' . .


 


162


163


(I) Knew the Professor before he

turned into a wooly West-Ender. ,

(A.Cronin) -.

Though veneered by his thirty

years in the Civil Service - he

had worked his way from boy

clerk to principal - Gill was ,

human underneath. (A.Cronin) .

will be in the Ladies Gallery

tomorrow night at half past

eleven. (O.Wilde) .

It was probably for the first time

in all his mature boyhood that

. (. ) Levko felt somewhat dull.

... recollected the pieces of advice

, he had once given - and the rural

. (M. weddings at which he would perform

) the honorary duty of the missing

bridegroom's or bride's father.

A fuller and more detailed explanation of the kind of nationally specific notions, as given above, is not desirable, since it would considerably extend the text of the translation. That is why the student should be warned not to unnecessarily enlarge the explanation of the culturally biased notions, unless required for their exhaustive and correct comprehension. Laconism, therefore, should be the prevailing principle when dealing with the kind of specific national elements, but not to the detriment of explicitness/lucidity and faithfulness of their translation.





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