Rendering of Contextual Meanings

Translation of Pseudo-International Words

There is a distinct group of words, which constitute a special difficulty for the translator, the so-called pseudo-international words. As distinct from genuine international words which have a more or less similar phonetic form and carry the same meaning (electronics -электроника, cybernetics - кибернетика, algebra - алгебра, the pseudo-international words differ in meaning from language to language either completely, e.g. commutator- коллектор, complexion - цвет лица, or partially elevator- 1) элеватор, 2) лифт.

They are known as the translator's "false friends". Although they are warned against them, translators are often deceived by formal resemblance into making errors. Here are some examples of such words and their equivalents in Russian: There were attempts to sabotage key services in Santiago (the Economist, 1974) - Делались попытки вывести из строя основные объекты коммунального обслуживания в Сантьяго.

We are told that BBC television this autumn will give a massive coverage to the general election (Morning Star, 1968) - Сообщили, что нынешней осенью передачи Би-Би-Си по телевидению будут широко освещать парламентские выборы.

The Russian word «прогресс» is monosemantic and has positive connotations. The meaning of the English "progress" is neutral and can apply to any movement as can be seen from the title of Hogarth' picture "Rake's Progress" - «Жизнь повесы», or from the following examples: Her progress about London during that first week was one thrilling adventure (H. Walpole) Её знакомство с Лондоном в ту первую неделю было сплошным увлекательным приключением.

Sometimes the meaning of international words is identical in English and in Russian but the collocation pattern is different which prevents the use of the Russian word in translation.

Never before in the history of the world have there been so many persons engaged in the translation of both secular and religious materials (E. Nida and Ch. Taber, The Theory and Practice of Translation).

Although the meanings of the words "religious" - религиозный and" materials" - материалы are identical, the collocation «религиозные материалы» is quite impossible in Russian. An adequate translation would be: Ещё никогда в истории человечества столько людей не занималось переводом как светской, так и духовной литературы.

A contextual meaning arises in the context. It should not be regarded as part of the semantic structure of the word. Every word possesses an enormous potentiality for generating new contextual meanings. These occasional contextual meanings are not arbitary, but are always predetermined by the semantic structure of the word. It largely depends upon the semantic context. A contextual meaning possible in one language is impossible in another.

In an atomic war women and children will be the first hostages (D.W.) Первыми жертвами в атомной войне будут женщины и дети.

In this sentence the contextual meaning of the word "hostage" is the "victim". This contextual is evidently implicit in its dictionary meaning. A similar contextual meaning cannot be generated by the Russian word «заложник». Thus the word «жертва» is the only possible equivalent.

The word "exploitation" acquires an unexpected contextual meaning in the following sentence: Britain's worldwide exploitation was shaken by colonial Liberation Movement. (D.W.)

The contextual meaning was formed metonymically: every colonial system is based on exploitation which is the foundation of colonial power. The Russian word «эксплуатация» can not generate similar contextual meaning. A possible equivalent will also be formed metonymically: Колониальное могущество Англии было потрясено до основания национально-освободительным движением в колониях.

Contextual meanings often produce a strong effect, performing a stylistic function of "deceived expectancy". The translator is confronted with a double difficulty: he should avoid toning it down and must not violate the norms of the target-language.

Translation of "Non-equivalents"

The so-called "non-equivalents" are the words of the source-language which either have no equivalents in the target language or no equivalent denotatum in the target culture. They may be divided into two groups. The first group consists of the so-called realia-words denoting things, objects, features of national life, customs, habits, etc., e.g. House of Commons, thane, coroner, teach-in, drive-in, cricket, etc.

The second group embraces words, which for some linguistic reason have no equivalent in the target language: conservationist, readership, glimpse, etc.

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