Generalization of meaning

Generalization is the opposite procedure; i.e. the use of an equivalent with a more general meaning; when a generic name is preferred to a specific name.

It is rather common in translation from English into Ukrainian.

E.g.: I packed my two Gladstones.

Я спакувала свої два чемодани.

For obvious reasons the translator preferred a generic name to the specific name of the kind of the suitcase that the Ukrainian reader is unfamiliar with.

English often makes use of general terms to describe very definite objects or actions:

· these may be British units of measument such as:

– linear measure,

– square measure,

– liquid measure,

– cubic,

– weight measure etc.

which are, in many cases, not transformed into our metric system, when being translated into Ukrainian. Their meanings are often conveyed by lexical units with more general meanings:

E.g.1: The walls were painted with anti-war slogans 12 inches high.

На стінах були написані великими літерами анти-воєнні лозунги.

E.g.2: The temperature is an easy ninety – Спека нестерпна.

· typical of English is also the usage of numerals for the sake of precise description of objects and actions. Transplanting them to Ukrainian would lead to literalism and violate stylistic norms of the Ukrainian language.

E.g.1: He was just six foot tall and he had a gallant bearing (Maugham).

Він був високий на зріст і стрункий.

E.g.2: Asked whether in his 100-minute talk with the Prime Minister on Tuesday he had invited him to visit Kyiv the Foreign Minister said: “Such a matter did not arise yesterday”.

Коли Міністра закордонних справ запитали, чи його запросили відвідати Київ під час переговорів з Прем’єр-міністром, які тривали понад півторигодини, той відповів: “Цього питання не торкались вчора”.

100-minute talks – переговори, що тривали понад годину (півтори години)

· orientation towards the reader is another serious reason why a translator resorts to generalization;

· it is often stylistically predetermined.

Examples to illustrate generalization

1. …on his daily adventure from the bow window (вікно з виступом; еркер) at the Haversnake to the billiard room at the Red Rottle (Galsworthy)

…Джордж, з його щоденними мандрівками від вікна в Геверснейку до більярдної в “Червоному Кухлі”.

2. Та лише роззявив рота, як отримав доброго запорозького стусана під ребра (Гоголь)

But hardly he opened his mouth as they gave him a heavy punch in the belly.

3. He boasted that his weight had not changed since he was twenty, and for years, wet or fine, he had got up early morning at eight to put on shorts and a sweater and have a run round Regent’s Park (Maugham).

Майкл пишався тим, що його вага залишається незмінною відтоді, як йому стукнуло двадцять, і вже багато років, в будь-яку погоду, він підводився о 8, вдягав шорти і виконував свій моціон, оббігав Ріджерс парк.

4. Margery gave him his black Homburg hat and opened the door for Julia and Michael to go out (Maugham).

Марджері подала йому чорного фетрового капелюха й відчинила перед ними двері. – врахування прагматичного фактора (Бархударов, с. 130)

5. She was jealous of his friends at the Green Room Club (Maugham).

Вона ревнувала його до приятелів з артистичного клубу (замість: “з клубу ˝Зелена кімната˝”)

Modulation (sense extension/ expansion) is replacing a source language unit with a target language unit which is not its dictionary equivalent but the meaning of which can be logically inferred from it.

It is just another way of referring to the same object or an aspect of the same situation.

The relationship of the substitute with the original may be of different types:

· the substitute has often a cause-and-effect or effect-and-cause relationship with the original;

Other types may be:

· cause and process;

· process and cause;

· a part and the whole;

· an object and the container;

· the container and the thing contained;

· the material and the thing made of it;

· the agent and the action;

· the action and the agent etc.

The list is in no way complete.

A great many of such substitutions are based on metonymic relations.

Such transformations cannot always be treated as deliberate or subjective, more often than not they are objectively required. In most cases they are conditioned by differences in lexical valency and are often used for stylistic reasons.

Examples to illustrate modulation

1. He is in jail in Valencia now. I hope he likes it (Hemingway).

Тепер він сидить у Валенсійській в’язниці. Гадаю, йому там непогано. (effect- cause)

2. The room in which she sat was connected by three archways with the big dining-room where they supped and danced; amid the crowd doubtless were a certain number who had been to the play. (Maugham).

Зала, у якій вона сиділа, з’єднувалась склепінчастим проходом з великою танцювальною залою; серед публіки, безперечно, були люди, що прийшли сюди прямо з “Сіддонс-театру”. (“які бачили її сьогодні в театрі”)

3. Soames has stopped to look in at a picture shop (Galsworthy

Соамсзупинився, щоб поглянути на виставлені у вітрині картини. ) (container-object contained)

4. Hindley and Cathy contented themselves with looking and listening till peace was restored (Emily Bronte).

Хіндлі і Кеті лиш спостерігали і слухали, доки старші не помирились. (result-prosess)

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