Introductory Notes

There are words in the source and target languages which are more or less similar in form. Such words are of great interest to the translator since he is naturally inclined to take this formal similarity for the semantic proximity and to regard the words that look alike as permanent equivalents.

The formal similarity is usually the result of the two words having the common origin, mainly derived from either Greek or Latin. Since such words can be found in a number of languages, they are referred to as " international".

As a matter of fact, very few international words have the same meanings in different languages. In respect to English and Russian we can cite the words like the English "parliament, theorem, diameter" and their Russian counterparts «парламент, теорема, диаметр». In most cases, however, the semantics of such words in English and in Russian do not coincide and they should rather be named "pseudointernational ". Their formal similarity suggesting that they are interchangeable, is, therefore, deceptive and may lead to translation errors. For that reason they are often referred to as the translator's false friends.

The pseudointernational words can be classified in two main groups. First, there are words which are similar in form but completely different in meaning. Here the risk of making a bad mistake is very great whenever the translator fails to consult his dictionary. Lots of mistakes have been made translating such English words as "decade, complexion, lunatic, accurate, actual, aspirant" and the like. E.g.:

(1 ) It lasted the whole decade.

(2) She has a very fine complexion.

(3) Well, he must be a lunatic.

The respective Russian words «декада, комплекция, лунатик» are pseudointernational and cannot be used in translation. Cf.:

(1) Это продолжалось целое десятилетие.

(2) У нее прекрасный цвет лица.

(3) Да он, должно быть, сумасшедший.

Second, there are many pseudointernational words which are not fully interchangeable though there are some common elements in their semantics. They may become the false friends if the translator substitutes one of them for the other without due regard to the difference in their meaning or to the way the English word is used in the particular context. The translator should bear in mind that a number of factors can preclude the possibility of using the formally similar word as an equivalent. Among these factors the following are most important:

1. The semantic factor resulting from the different subsequent development of the words borrowed by the two languages from the same source. For instance, the English " idiom " can be well rendered by its Russian counterpart to convey the idea of an expression whose meaning cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements but has developed such additional meanings as dialect (local idiom) and individual style (Shakespeare's idiom). When the word is used in either of these meanings its equivalent in Russian will not be «идиом», but «диалект, наречие» or «стиль», respectively.

As often as not, the translator may opt for an occasional equivalent to a pseudointernational word just as he may do while dealing with any other type of the word:

South Vietnam was a vast laboratory for the testing of weapons of counter-guerrilla warfare.

Южный Вьетнам стал полигоном для испытания оружия, используемого в войне против партизан.

2. The stylistic factor resulting from the difference in the emotive or stylistic connotation of the correlated words. For example, the English " career " is neutral while the Russian «карьера» is largely negative. The translator has to reject the pseudointernational substitute and to look for another way out, e.g.:

Davy took on Faraday as his assistant and thereby opened a scientific career for him.

Дэви взял Фарадея к себе в ассистенты и тем самым открыл ему путь в науку.

3. The co-occurrence factor reflecting the difference in the lexical combinability rules in the two languages. The choice of an equivalent is often influenced by the usage preferring a standard combination of words to the formally similar substitute. So, a " defect " has a formal counterpart in the Russian «дефект» but "theoretical and organizational defects" will be rather «теоретические и организационные просчеты». A " gesture " is usually translated as «жест» but the Russian word will not be used to translate the following sentence for the combinability factor:

The reason for including only minor gestures of reforms in the program...

Причина включения в программу лишь жалкого подобия реформ...

4. The pragmatic factor reflecting the difference in the background knowledge of the members of the two language communities, which makes the translator reject the formal equivalent in favour of the more explicit or familiar variant. The reader of the English original will usually need no explanation concerning the meaning of such terms as " the American Revolution", "the Reconstruction " or "the Emancipation Proclamation " which refer to the familiar facts of the US history. In the Russian translation, however, these terms are usually not replaced by their pseudointernational equivalents. Instead, use is made of the descriptive terms better known to the Russian reader:

The American Revolution was a close parallel to the wars of national liberation in the colonial and semi-colonial countries.

Война за независимость в Америке была прямым прототипом национально-освободительных войн в колониальных и полуколониальных странах.

This counter-revolutionary organization was set up to suppress the Negro — poor white alliance that sought to bring democracy in the South in the Reconstruction period.

Эта контрреволюционная организация была создана для подавления совместной борьбы нефов и белых бедняков, которые добивались установления демократии на юге после отмены рабства.

The Senator knew Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation by heart.

Сенатор знал наизусть провозглашенную Линкольном декларацию об отмене рабства.

With the knowledge of, and due regard to, these factors, the translator stands a good chance of making the pseudointernational words his good friends and allies.

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