Voyedilova D.D.

Vinnytsia national technical university

LEXICAL, GRAMMATICAL AND STYLISTIC PECULIARITIES OF THE TECHNICAL TEXT TRANSLATION

 

Theoretical issues of translation. Translation is the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language and the production, in another language, of an equivalent text that communicates the same message. Translation must take into account a number of constraints, including context, the rules of grammar of the two languages, their writing conventions, their idioms and the like. Traditionally translation has been a human activity, though attempts have been made to computerize or otherwise automate the translation of natural-language texts (machine translation) or to use computers as an aid to translation (computer-assisted translation). Perhaps the most common misconception about translation is that there exists a simple “word-for-word” relation between any two languages, and that translation is therefore a straightforward and mechanical process. On the contrary, historical differences between languages often dictate differences of expression. Hence, source and target texts may differ significantly in length. The translation of technical texts (manuals, instructions, etc). More specifically, texts that contain a high amount of terminology, that is, words or expressions that are used (almost) only within a specific field, or that describe that field in a great deal of detail. The specialized technical vocabulary used by researchers in each discipline demand that the translator of scientific texts have technical as well as linguistic expertise.

Сonducting the analysis of lexical, syntactic and grammatical features of English scientific and technical texts. On the basis of common study we may draw the conclusion that nouns, adjectives and non-finite verb forms prevail in such texts. Finite verb forms are not as widely used in the scientific and technical texts as in the belletristic literature and if used, as a rule, they take passive form. It is explained by the fact that in the scientific and technical literature the close attention of the author is directed to the specific facts which are to be explained. Thus the personality of the author is not so essential. It is important for the names of the objects and processes to take the first place and become the subject of the sentence.

There are 3 types of peculiarities of the translation: stylistic, grammatical, and lexical.

Stylistic peculiarities. The main stylistic character of the scientific and technical literature is the brevity of material exposition and clearness of formulations. One of the differences of the technical literature language from the fiction language is the significant saturation of the text with the special terms, which are frequently absent not only in usual, but also in the terminological dictionaries. In accordance with expansion of human knowledge border the needs for new-definitions of concepts both in known, and in new areas of a science and engineering rise, and, according, the dictionary structure extends, and this expansion mainly goes at the expense of the new terms and neologisms. While translating the scientific and technical texts the knowledge of a new terminology and exact transmission of it are required. Those are the main difficulties of translation.

So, theoretical aspects of scientific-technical literature are very important in the correct translating process.

Grammatical peculiarities. Grammar transformations are morphological or syntactical changes in translated units.

1. Grammar substitution, when a grammar category of the translated unit is changed. Thus an active voice verb form can be translated by a passive construction: «Ресурсний підхід зорієнтований на визначенні стратегічного по­тен­ціалу як сукупності виробничих ресурсів.» - The resource approach is aimed at defining the company’s strategic potential as the total production resources (p. 20);

The reason for this transformation is stylistic: in English the passive voice is used much more often in neutral speech, whereas in Ukrainian this category is more typical of the formal style.

2. Word order change. Usually the reason for this transformation is that English and Ukrainian sentences have different information structures, or functional sentence perspective. For example, «Отже, виникає питання, як вони розраховуються.»      - So the problem of their calculation appears;

3. Sentence partitioning (the replacement of a simple sentence in the source text with a complex sentence (with some clauses), or a complex sentence with several independent sentences in the target text for structural, semantic or stylistic reasons) and Sentence integration (a contrary transformation. It takes place when we make one sentence out of two or more, or convert a complex sentence into a simple one).                                

For example: «Так, плануючи свою діяльність, підпри­ємства ви­ходять з того, що оточення не змінюється взагалі або ж зміни, що відбуваються, є несуттєвими; розробляючи план заходів, аналізуються лише внутрішні можливості та ресурси підприємства.» - So, when planning its activities, they think that the environment does not change at all or the same changes are insignificant. Developing a plan of measures, only the company’s internal capabilities and resources are analyzed.

         Lexical transformations change the semantic core of a translated word. Lexical substitution, or putting one word in place of another. It often results from the different semantic structures of the source language and target language words.                 For example: «І. Ансофф під стратегічним управлінням розуміє …» - Ansoff describes (описує, пояснює) strategic management;

«Коливaється нaстрій населення» - Сhanges of the consumers’ preferences;

«У вітчизняній економічній літературі термін стратегічний потен­ціал у широкому розумінні трактують…» -  In the domestic economic literature the term “strategic potential” is used mostly in a wide sense.

This type of translation can hardly be called substitution, since it is a regular equivalent for this phrase. Particular semantics are recognized from the context.

            Abbreviation, or shortening a word, is one of the most noticeable features of the English language, and it is used both in formal and informal registers. Based on the level of their usage, abbreviations can be divided into three groups:

1) Graphical abbreviations, used only in writing, and, therefore, pronounced and translated in its full form.

СПП (стратегічний потенціал підприємства) - The company’s strategic potentiall.

2) Lexical abbreviations, including initialisms, spoken as individual letters.

КЦП  (комплексні цільові програми) -  ITP (integrated target programs) (p.35);

СППР (системи підтримки прийняття рішень) – DMSS (decision making support systems).

However, though rarely, some of these abbreviations enter the common stock of vocabulary and, pronounced in a shortened way, they become new words of the language.

Translating people’s names.Anthroponyms are usually rendered through transcription   or transliteration.

For example: Т. Пітерс  -  T. Peters; Р. Уотермен - R. Waterman;  А. А. Томпсон – A.A. Thompson;  П.Ф. Друкер - P. F. Drucker .

In general it recommended following a preferred individual spelling.

Thus summing up, it is necessary to underscore, that the mastering of a strictly select and rather restricted amount of words enables the specialist to read the scientific and technical literature, not reverting to common Ukrainian-English language and using only by special dictionaries.

 

REFERENCES

1. Азарова А. О. Математичні моделі оцінювання стратегічного потенціалу під­приємства та прийняття рішень щодо його підвищення : монографія /   А. О. Азарова, О. В. Антонюк. — Вінниця : ВНТУ, 2012. – 168 с.

2. Карабан В. І. Переклад англійської наукової і технічної літератури. Граматичні та жанрово-стилістичні проблеми : посібник-довідник/ В.І. Карабан. – Вінниця, Нова книга, 2002. – 564 с.

3. Корунець І.В. Теорія і практика перекладу (аспектний переклад): підручник/ І.В. Корунець.  – Вінниця, «Нова Книга», 2001. - 448 с.