X. Translation of Phraseological Units

The science of phraseology is connected with the lexical vocabulary of the language. In common, phraseology means studying stable expressions.

The specificity of the Phraseological units lies in their peculiarity to represent micro-texts. These texts include all types of information, which are typical for representing situation in their content. In the Phraseological units they are introduced as a pattern that is ready for using.

Textual nature of the Phraseological units gives them a status of specific language signs. It explains their suitability to the function, which characterizes the fact that they serve for explaining factors of a subject, the speaker’s or listener’s intentions that are useful for understanding the Phraseological units’ meaning. The factor of an object means identification of the components, which serve as impetus for expressing those intentions.

It is the nature of the Phraseological units that conditions a necessity of their studying, as «a human factor in a language» is in the center of attention.

The Phraseological units are the most appropriate material for studying the problem of influencing human evaluative and emotional attitude to the surrounding world that explains a role of «a human factor in a language». They accumulate not only knowledge about perception of the world and all types of the subject’s relations to it, but stipulate for using of these language substances and transferring the stereotypes of the national culture.

The issues of Phraseology and common problems of the Phraseological units’ combination are essential for the theory and practice of translation as they represent the big difficulties linked with various semantic and stylistic functions the words of the same semantic meaning carry out in different languages and with different word-combinations, such words are united in.

Thus, the translation of the Phraseological units is one of the most difficult and interesting problems developed within the framework of modern theory of translation. The difficulties of the Phraseological units translation are explained by the complication of their semantic structure. The Phraseological units are original «micro-texts» that absorb various kinds of information about the real objects. They does not only name the real objects, but pass information about the psychological and emotional state of a speaker and his emotional attitude toward the object of the speech.

It is necessary to stress on the definition of the Phraseological unit as it is a very complicated language phenomenon that is conditioned by specific relation to the objects or typical situations which are defined, by the character of inward figurative basis and their completely or partially re-comprehended meaning.

The Phraseological unit is defined as a language unit that has the Phraseological meaning that is the meaning which consists of a figurative conception of metaphorical, analogical or comparative type by the way of which a denotation is designated and its connotative characteristics are introduced.

Thus, the rate of combining words in the Phraseological units can be different. In some expressions the elements had lost their previous meaning and combine extraordinary closely. Only special analysis can help to trace and define their origin.

In a great number of the Phraseological units the words acquire the figurative meaning. In such Phraseological units the meanings of separate words are not enough comprehensible and, at a particular sense, they motivate common meaning of the Phraseologiсal unit. The connection between words is not so close.

And, finally, there are many Phraseological units in the English language, which are characterized by the particular independence of their elements. They can be renewed by the other words and some of their elements can be replaced by synonymous words or constructions. Predominantly, these Phraseological units are used in a written language.

In translation of the Phraseological units the peculiarities of cultural specificity must be taken into account. It is explained by the fact that translation is an important means of intercultural communication. Not all the elements of cultural resources of one community are presented in a cultural reserve of another one. Besides, language devices of the other nation can describe not all the elements of cultural resources of one community. That is the reason why transference of cultural specificity of the target language is a very difficult task.

Phraseological units are characterized by the following features:

1. Re-production (Phraseological units are ready units).

2. Semantic unity (Phraseological units have the meaning of the whole).

3. Impossibility of word-by-word translation.

4. Figurativeness; emotional and expressive colouring.

5. Rhythm.

The most important feature of the Phraseological units, such as «untranslatability» or «untranslatability in the literal meaning» is distinguished. «The literal meaning» that is the direct nominative meaning of a word is not perceived by the language speakers in the result of losing its motivation.

The choice of the way of translation of the Phraseological expressions may be predetermined by the source language context, as well as by the existence or absence of contextual equivalents for the stable expression in the target language.

The Phraseological units are foremost considered as a semantic phenomenon and are classified into:

1) Phraseological cohesions.

2) Phraseological unities.

3) Phraseological combinations.

1) The Phraseological cohesions differ from the Phraseological unities by the semantic cohesion of the components. The basic linguistic factor that determines the extent of semantic cohesion of the Phraseological units’ components is an absence or presence of the figurative validity of their meanings.

Thus, the Phraseological cohesions are the Phraseological units with integral, generalized and figurative meaning that is not reasoned by the lexical meaning of the components that form it.

For example:

The real McCoy	Чудова річ; дещо вельми цінне
The Peeping Tom	Людина з нездоровою цікавістю
Skeleton in the cupboard	Сімейна таємниця; неприємність прихована від сторонніх

If the figurative motivation of the Phraseological units’ meaning is available, its lexical meaning is well perceived as separate words, the role of which is sharply realized for forming integral, generalized and figurative meaning of the whole Phraseological init.

If the figurative motivation of the Phraseological units’ meaning is unavailable, its components at greater extent lose their lexical properties, and the real distinction that divides them are erased forming the united «cohesion» that represents a plan of expression of the corresponding Phraseological cohesion.

2) Phraseological unities are the Phraseological units with its integral, generalized and figurative meaning that is motivated on the basis of the lexical meaning of the components that form the Phraseological unit.

For Example:

To tear one’s hair	Рвати на собі волосся
To pour oil on the flame(s)	Підливати масла у вогнище
To live cat and dog life	Жити як кішка з собакою

Their high connotation is conditioned by the Phraseological image or its internal form, i.e. by evident presentation, the «picture» on the basis of which the integral, generalized and figurative meaning is comprehended.

Theoretically, availability of the Phraseological units identical on meaning and internal forms may be explained by the definite commonness of figurative and conceptual associations that appear in different languages and nationalities as a result of similarity in their life experience.

When pigs fly	Нікóли; коли риба почне співати
To carry coals to Newcastle	Займатися марною й непотрібною справою; потикатися в чужий монастир зі своїм уставом

For example:

The given Phraseological unities are absolutely identical on their meaning and stylistic colouring (mostly, they belong to the colloquial style of language, but may be used in popular language as well).

However, they are not identical on images that motivate their meaning as each one has its unique nationally conditioned character.

3) Phraseological combinations are fixed expressions, one component of which has phraseologically combined meaning and is understood only in relation to strictly defined frame of concepts and their verbal notation.

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