I.2. Replacements

Replacements are the most widespread and varied type of translating transformations. In the process of translation grammatical units, such as forms of words, parts of speech, parts of sentence, types of syntactic relations etc., can be subjected to replacement.

a) Replacements of forms of a word.

The replacements of forms of a word imply replacements of number of nouns, time of verbs etc. For example:

The Nile Valley appears to have been unfit for human habitation during the Stone Ages.

Долина Ніла, очевидно, була непридатною для життя людини на протязі всієї кам’яної доби.

In Ukrainian the combination «stone age» is a historical term and is never used in a plural.

The norms of English dictate the use of a form of Present in subordinate adverbial clause of time etc., where the Ukrainian equivalent verb will have the form of Future tense. For example:

If you have some free time, please drop me a note.	Якщо в тебе з’явиться вільний час, будь ласка, напиши мені.
Nobody knew what he meant.	Ніхто не знав, що він має на увазі.

In other cases the change of the grammatical form of a word is caused by the stylistic reasons only.

The candidate hopes the residents of New Hapmshire will cast their votes for him.

Кандидат сподівається, що мешканці Нью-Хемпшира віддадуть свій голос йому.

b) Replacements of parts of speech.

This type of replacement is greatly widespread. The simplest type of it is so-called «pronominalization», or replacement of the noun by the pronoun. For example:

At first it hung in the room of my grandfather, but soon a grandfather ousted it to the garret because a starling learned to tease a granddad.

Спочатку він висів у кімнаті діда, але незабаром дід вигнав його до горища, тому що шпак навчився дражнити дідуся.

During translation from English into Ukrainian there is the reverse replacement of the pronoun by noun.

The replacement of verbal noun by a verb in the personal form is very typical replacement during translation from the English language into Ukrainian one. For example:

Не had one of those very piercing whistles that was practically never in tune.

Свистів він жахливо пронизливо і завжди фальшиво.

In this case, the replacement of noun by a verb requires also replacement of adjective that determines a noun by an adverb as «piercing – пронизливо».

The replacement of the English verbal noun for example, the name of a person (usually with a suffix – «er») into the Ukrainian personal form of a verb is natural and usual. Such the examples are often met:

Oh, I’m no dancer, but I like watching her dance.	А я ж не танцюю, я люблю лише дивитись, як танцює вона.
I am a very good golfer.	Я дуже добре граю в гольф.

During translation the other types of replacements of parts of speech take place, that are often accompanied by replacement of parts of sentence or reorganization of syntactic structure of a sentence.

c) Replacements of parts of sentence (reorganization of the syntactic structure of a sentence).

At replacement of parts of sentence, a word and group of words in the text of translation there is a reorganization of the syntactic scheme of clause construction. The reasons of such reorganization can be different. Most often it is caused by the necessity of transmission of «the communicative partition» of the clause.

The most ordinary example of such syntactic reorganization is the replacement of English passive construction by Ukrainian active one, at which the English subject is replaced by an object in Ukrainian sentence, which stands at the beginning of a sentence. The English object with the preposition «by» becomes subject during translation into Ukrainian or a subject is generally absent (the so-called «indefinite personal construction»). The form of the Passive voice of the English verb is replaced by the form of active voice of the Ukrainian verb. For example:

Не was met by his sister.	Його зустріла сестра.
He was given money.	Йому дали грошей.
He is considered to be a good student.	Його вважають гарним студентом.

During translation from Ukrainian into English there is the reverse replacement of «Active voice – passive voice».

The cases when the Ukrainian adverbial modifier replaces the English subject during translation are enough usual matter.

This transformation requires replacement of a transitive verb of English sentence by an intransitive verb (or, rarer, by a verb in the form of Passive voice) in the Ukrainian clause. For example:

The last week has seen an intensification of the diplomatic activity.

На протязі минулого тижня мала місце активізація дипломатичної діяльності.

Such expression with the verb «see», deprived of concrete lexical meaning and designating only the fact of presence, existence of that or the other event or phenomenon, is very typical for the language of the English press.

The next week will see...	На наступному тижні...
Tonight sees...	Сьогодні ввечері...

The noun of verbal character of such type as «publication», «beginning», «renewal» «performance» etc. that is transformed in a verb-predicate, for example, «було опубліковано», «почалося», «відновилось», «було виконано» etc., in Ukrainian language is usually used in the function of an object to the verb «see».

A similar transformation takes place in the other cases as well, when the English subject expresses different adverbial meanings. In Ukrainian translation the English subject is substituted by the adverbial modifier of place. For example:

The little town of Clay Cross today witnessed a massive demonstration.

Сьогодні в невеличкому містечку Клей-Крос відбулася масова демонстрація.

Certainly, during translation from Ukrainian language into English one there is «the opposite replacement» of adverbial modifier by a subject that is accompanied by the other required replacements.

In many cases the reorganization of the syntactic structure is conditioned by not grammatical, but stylistic order. Thus, in the example below there is a simultaneous replacement of both parts of sentence and parts of speech:

After dinner they talked long and quietly.

Після обіду у них була довга, душевна розмова.

Thus, in the most of cases during translation from the English language into Ukrainian one the Ukrainian sentence is not laid onto English one and does not coincide with it by the structure. Very often the structure of the Ukrainian sentence fully differs from the structure of the English sentence in translation. There is the other order of words, sequence parts of the clause and even the other order of arrangement of the sentences themselves both the main and subordinate one in it. In a number of cases the parts of speech, which the parts of the English sentence are expressed with, are passed by the other parts of speech accordingly.

All it explains the wide use of grammatical transformations during translation. The basic types of grammatical transformations include:

1) The syntactic assimilation (word-for-word translation).

2) The partition of a sentence.

3) The combination of sentences.

4) The grammatical replacements (forms of a word, parts of speech or parts of sentence).

Syntactic assimilation (word-for-word translation) is the method of translation at which the syntactic structure of the source language text will be transformed into a similar structure of the target language one. This type of «zero transformation» is used in those cases, when there are parallel syntactic structures in the original text and its translation.

The syntactic assimilation can lead to the complete accordance of the quantities of linguistic units and order of their location in source language text and the target language one. For example:

I always remember his words.

Я завжди пам’ятаю його слова.

However, as a rule, the application of the syntactic assimilation is accompanied by some changes of structural components.

For example, the articles, link-verbs, the other elements, can be omitted, as well as the changes of morphological forms and some lexical units can take place during translation from the English language into Ukrainian one. Syntactic assimilation is widely used in English and Ukrainian translation.

The change of sentence structure during translation is explained, as a rule, by the impossibility to provide the equivalence of translation by word-for-word translation.

The partition of a sentence is the method of translation at which the syntactic structure of a sentence in the source language text will be transformed in the two or more predicative structures of the target language.

Transformation of the partition results either in reorganization of the simple sentence in source language into the difficult clause of the target language, or to reorganization of the simple or difficult sentence of the source language text in the two or more independent clauses of the target language. For example:

The annual surveys were not discussed with the workers at any stage, but only with the employers.	Щорічні огляди не обговорювались серед робітників ні на якому етапі. Вони обговорювались лише з підприємцями.
Both engine crews leaped to safety from a collision between a parcels tram and a freight train near Morris Cowley, Oxfordshire.	Поблизу станції Моріс Коулі в графстві Оксфордшир сталося зіткнення поштового і товарного потягів. Члени обох поїзних бригад залишилися неушкодженими, зістрибнувши на ходу з потягу.

In the first example the accentuation of the last part of the English utterance in separate sentence in translation allows to express exactly opposition present in the original text. In the second example the transformation of partition gave possibility to pass the meaning of the English combination «leaped to safety» that is difficult for translation and to provide the description of events that is more natural for the Ukrainian language.

The combination of sentences is the method of translation at which a syntactic structure of the original text is transformed by connection of two simple sentences into the compound one. This transformation is reverse in comparison with the previous one. For example:

That was а long time ago. It seemed like fifty years ago.	Це було давно – здавалось, що пройшло років п’ятдесят.
The only thing that worried me was our front door. It creak like a bastard.	Одне мене хвилювало – наші парадні двері скрипіли немов шаленіючи.

The Grammatical replacements are the method of translation at which the grammatical unit in the source language text is transformed in the target language unit with the other grammatical meaning. The grammatical unit of the source language of any level, for example, word form, part of speech, part of sentence, the sentence of the definite type, can be subjected to replacement. Clearly, there is always replacement of the source language forms into the target language ones during translation.

The grammatical replacement as the special method of translation does not simply imply the use of the source language forms in translation, but the refusal to use the original language forms that are similar to the initial ones, the replacement of such forms by the others that are different by their content or grammatical meaning expressed by them.

Thus, there are the forms of singular and plural number in English an Ukrainian languages, and, as a rule, the correlated nouns in the source language text and the target language one are used in the same number, except for the cases when the plural form in Ukrainian corresponds to the singular form in English or, vice versa, the singular form in Ukrainian corresponds the plural form in English. For example:

Money	Гроші
Ink	Чорнила
Struggles	Боротьба
Outskirts	Околиця

But the replacement of form of number in the process of translation can be used as a mean of creation of occasional correspondence in definite conditions. For example:

We are searching for talent everywhere.	Ми всюди шукаємо таланти.
They left the room with their heads held high.	Вони вийшли з кімнати з високо піднятою головою.

The replacement of part of speech is the widespread type of grammatical replacement in the process of translation. The replacements of noun by a verb and adjective by a noun are the characteristic feature of the English and Ukrainian translations. In English the names of figures (usually with the suffix «er») are widely used not only for denotation of persons of definite profession, but also for description of actions of «amateurs». The meanings of such nouns are regularly passed in translation by the Ukrainian verbs. For example:

He is а poor swimmer.	Вона погано плаває.
She is no good as a letter-writer.	Вона не вміє писати листи.
I am а very rapid packer.	Я дуже швидко збираюся.

As it is evident from examples, the replacement of noun by a verb is often accompanied by the replacement of adjective at this noun into the Ukrainian adverb. The verb often replaces the verbal nouns of the other type. For example:

It is our hope that an agreement will be reached by Friday.

Ми сподіваємося, що до п’ятниці згода буде досягнута.

The English adjectives that are replaced by the Ukrainian nouns are most often formed from the place-names. For example:

Australian prosperity was followed by a slump.	За економічним процвітанням Австралії послідкувала криза.
The British Government	Британський уряд
American decision	Рішення США

A similar replacement is often used in regard to the English adjectives in a comparative degree with the meaning of increase or reduction of the volume, size or extent. For example:

The stoppage, which is in support of higher pay and shorter working hours, began on Monday.

Страйк на підтримку вимог про збільшення заробітної плати і скорочення робочого дня почався у понеділок.

The replacement of parts of sentence results in reorganization of its syntactic structure. Such the reorganization takes place in a number of cases at replacement of the part of speech. For example, in examples above the replacement of the noun by verb was accompanied by the replacement of determination by the adverbial modifier.

More substantial reorganization of the syntactic structure is related to replacement of the main parts of sentence especially a subject. In translation the use of similar replacements is largely conditioned by the circumstance that a subject accomplishes the other functions than an indication of a subject of action, for example, an object of action (when a subject is substituted by an object) in the English language more frequently than in the Ukrainian one. For example:

Visitors are requested to leave their coats in the cloak-room.	Відвідувачів просять залишати верхній одяг в гардеробі.
Indication of time (a subject is substituted by the adverbial modifier of time)
The last week saw an intensification of diplomatic activity.	На минулому тижні спостерігалась активізація дипломатичної діяльності.
Indication of space (a subject is substituted by the adverbial modifier of place)

The replacement of type of a sentence results in the syntactic reorganization similar with transformations at the use of transformation of partition or combination. In the process of translation the clause can be replaced by the simple one. For example:

It was so dark that I could not see my notes.

Я не міг бачити свої записи у такій темряві.

The main sentence can be replaced by the subordinate one and vice versa. For example:

While I was eating my eggs, these two nuns came in.

Я їв яєчню, коли ввійшли ці дві черниці.

The compound sentence can be replaced by the complex sentence and vice versa. For example:

I didn’t sleep too long, because I think it was only around ten o’clock when I woke up. I felt pretty hungry as soon as I had opened my eyes.

Спав я недовго, було годин десять, коли я прокинувся. Відкрив очі і відразу відчув, як я зголоднів.

The compound conjunctional sentence can be replaced by the asyndetic sentence and vice versa. For example:

It was as hot as hell and the windows were all steamy.	Спека була пекельна, всі вікна запотіли.
Had the decision been taken in time, this would never have happened.	Якщо рішення було б прийняте своєчасно, цього ніколи б не сталося.

IІ. Lexical transformations

As it is known the grammatical transformations are conditioned by the distinction in the structure of two languages that are the language of the original text and the language of translation. In the lexical systems of the English and Ukrainian languages there are the lacks of coincidence that become apparent in the type of semantic structure of a word. Any word that is a lexical unit is part of the lexical system of language. The originality of semantic structure of words in different languages is explained by it.

Therefore, the essence of lexical transformations consists in «the replacement of separate lexical units (words and steady combinations of words) of the source language text into the lexical units of the target language one, which are not their vocabulary equivalent, i.e., which have the other meaning, than the units of the source language text passed in translation by them.

There are a lot of reasons that cause lexical transformations, but to cover them completely is impossible.

In the meaning of a word in different languages different signs of the same phenomenon or notion are often distinguished, where the vision of world, that is peculiar to the given language or, to say more faithful, to the native speakers, is reflected, that inevitably presents problems during translation. For example:

Glasses

Окуляри

In the English word the material, which an object is done off, is notable, in the Ukrainian one its function is distinguished as «the second eyes».

Another example:

Hot milk with skin on it.

Гаряче молоко з пінкою.

The given phenomenon of reality is associated with a skin covering a body or fruit in English, while in Ukrainian the basis of meaning of a word is the result of boiling, in this case, a skin appears, when milk boils and froths.

But in spite of different feature indentation, both languages adequately reflect the same phenomenon of reality in an equal extent. The given linguistic fact is observed in very many words.

The second reason, that causes lexical transformations, is a difference in the semantic volume of a word. There are no absolutely identical words in source language and the target one. More frequently the first lexical and semantic variant of such words and their basic meaning coincides. It is conditioned by the different functioning of a word in a language, by distinction in the use, by different compatibility etc., but even the basic meaning of the English word can be wider than the corresponding Ukrainian word (of course, the reverse cases are not eliminated).

At the analysis of semantic structure of the adjective «mellow» it is evident that this word is polysemantic and can determine the very wide circle of objects and notions, such as garden-stuff, soil, voice, man etc. Every sphere of its usage corresponds to the separate meaning. In the same turn, two or more Ukrainian words correspond to each meaning.

It tells about that each lexical and semantic variant is not covered by one Ukrainian word, as two or more semes, which require the transmission of two or the more Ukrainian words, are present in it. For example:

The first meaning	Ripe, soft, sweet, juicy (about fruits)	Спілий, м’який, солодкий, соковитий (про фрукти)
The second meaning	Mature, seasoned, old (about wine)	Витриманий, старий, приємний на смак (про вино)
The third meaning	Kind, softened with age (about a man)	Добрий, той, що пом’якшився з часом (про людину)
The fourth meaning	Soft, juicy, thick (about voice and paints)	М’який, соковитий, густий (про голос і фарби)
The fifth meaning	Fertile, fat (about soil)	Родючий, жирний (про ґрунт)

Thus, in all cases the different words, depending on the noun that they determine, correspond to the word «mellow» in Ukrainian.

It tells about the very wide semantic volume of every word. The semantic structure of a word predetermines the possibility of its semantic using and the translation of the contextual meaning of a word is a difficult problem. The contextual meaning of a word greatly depends on the character of the semantic context and the words that combine with it semantically. The occasional meaning of a word that unexpectedly appears in a context is not arbitrary. It is potentially contained in the semantic structure of the given word.

The penetration of an author into the depth of its semantic structure often appears in the contextual use of a word in a poetry or literary prose.

Both paradigmatic and semantic connections are peculiar to a word, as well as lexical potentialities of it that can be revealed in both cases. But the exposure of these potential meanings is interlinked with the originality of lexical and semantic aspect of every language, and the difficulty of transmission of contextual meaning in translation appears from it, as what is possible in one language is impossible in the other one because of distinctions in their semantic structure and in their use. For example:

In any war women and children are the first hostages.

В будь-якій війні першими жертвами стають жінки і діти.

The word «hostage», according to the dictionaries, has only one meaning that is «заручник». However, in the given semantic surroundings this word acquires the meaning «жертва». This contextual meaning obviously is in its paradigmatic meaning, as in the given case, every hostage can become a prey and perish; therefore the word «жертва» had to be used in translation, because a word «заручник» is not used in such contextual meaning.

The group of words, which include the great number of the most various words such as the international words, some verbs of perception, feeling and mental work and the so-called adverbial verbs belong to the words that have the different volume of meaning in English and Ukrainian languages.

The third reason that causes a necessity in lexical transformations is the distinction in compatibility. The words are in the definite connections for the given language. It is important to mark out that the compatibility of words takes place in the case of compatibility of the notions designated by them. Obviously, this compatibility in different languages can be different, and what is possible in one language, is unacceptable in the other one.

In every language there are the typical norms of compatibility. Every language can generate the endless quantity of new combinations, clear for people who talk it and do not violate its norms. In every language there is the circle of ordinary, set traditional combinations, which do not coincide with the proper combinations in the other language, as for example:

Trains run	Потяги ходять
Rich feeding	Багата їжа
The air was rich with the scent of the summer flowers.	Повітря було напоєне ароматом літніх квітів.

The wider is the semantic volume of a word, the wider is compatibility, as owing to it the words can come into the most different connections. In its turn, it assumes wide possibilities of its transmission in translation or different variants of translation. The large meaning has the usual word usage for every language. Of course, it is related to the history of development of the given language, formation and development of its lexical system. The original clichés or the prepared formulas, words and word-combinations that are used by the talkers in the given language are developed in every language. The latter are not Phraseological units, but possess a completeness and unlike Phraseological units and steady combinations are never violated by the introduction of additional words or substitution of one of their components.

The traditional use is partly related to the other approach to the phenomena of the surrounding reality. For example:

The city is built on terraces rising from the lake.	Місце побудовано на терасах, що спускаються до озера.
Не wrote under several pseudonyms, many of his essays appearing over the name of Little Nell.	Він писав під різними псевдонімами, багато його нарисів з’явились під псевдонімом «Крихітка Нелл».

The so-called clichés, for example, orders, instructions, as well as clichés in more wide understanding are related to the traditional use. For example:

Never drink unboiled water.	Не пийте сирої води.
No smoking.	Курити забороняється.
The New Zealand earthquake was followed by tremors lasting an hour. No loss of life was reported.	Після землетрусу в Новій Зеландії на протязі часу відчувались поштовхи. Жертв не було.

As it is notable from the examples, the proper traditional combinations or clichés of Ukrainian language are used. However, it is not always possible to expressly characterize the lexical transformations because they are often combined. In general it is possible to distinguish 7 basic varieties of lexical transformations:

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