Krapivkina O.A., Candidate of Philological Sciences

Irkutsk State Technical University

LINGUISTIC AND PRAGMATIC ASPECTS OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL TRANSLATION

The paper aims at studying linguistic and pragmatic characteristics of scientific scientific and technical texts published in various English language journals for engineers. The linguistic and pragmatic text characteristics play a crucial role in translation causing a number of challenges for translators. The paper will try to show how to deal with some of those difficulties. Scientific and technical texts are the texts which contain characteristics of both scientific and technical functional styles, among which informative value, logic, consistency, accuracy, objectivity, and clarity. As for lexical and grammatical features, terminology usage and special grammar (attribute groups, nominative and elliptical constructions) should be mentioned. Among the stylistic features of scientific and technical texts one can mention impersonal narration, objectivity, logic, use of clichés.

The aim of scientific and technical texts is to present certain information or data. The presentation of information is focused on logical perception, rather than emotional one.

Scientific and technical translation challenges are caused by differences in language structures, terminological gaps, stylistic peculiarities of source texts and target texts, differences in topic and comment relations in the source language and the target language, etc. Translation transformations help to overcome these difficulties at three different levels – lexical, grammatical, and stylistic.

Scientific and technical translation requires maximum accuracy in rendering the content of the source language, compliance with stylistic norms of the target language, accuracy and consistency of terminology. The translation should be adequate to the source language, convey the meaning of the source text, including the implicit one. Let us now present the analysis of some translated sentences.

Section II discusses the technical aspects of ultrahigh-voltage DC transmission (UHVDC), in particular: converter configurations, insulation coordination in all its aspects (control of normal, abnormal, switching and lightning voltages, margins between stress and withstand), insulation design for internal and external insulation, and proper voltage grading.

В Разделе II рассматриваются технические вопросы передачи УВН постоянным током. Особое внимание уделяется конфигурациям конверторов, различным аспектам координации изоляции (контролю нормального, высокого напряжения и коммутационного и грозового перенапряжения, а также коэффициенту запаса между механическим и выдерживаемым напряжением), проектированию внутренней и внешней изоляции, необходимому уменьшению неравенств градиента потенциалов внутри или на поверхности изолятора или изоляции.

In most cases, the term “voltage” is rendered as “напряжение.” However in this case, “normal” and “abnormal voltage” are to be translated as “нормальное и высокое напряжение”, and “switching” and “lightning voltage” - as “коммутационное и грозовое перенапряжение”. So, the translator should possess certain knowledge to understand this peculiarity. It is worth paying attention to the phrase “voltage grading”. “Grading” has several Russian equivalents: упорядочивание, распределение, нивелирование, выравнивание. Therefore, it may be translated as «выравнивание напряжения». However there is one more equivalent «распределение потенциалов» and voltage grading is explained as «уменьшение неравенств градиента потенциалов внутри или на поверхности изолятора или изоляции». As the previous sentence of the text dealt with the insulation, the later equivalent was used. It is also worth mentioning a grammatical transformation: the English subject “section II” was transformed into a modifier of place “В Разделе II” following the Russian language norms.

The core or the “workhorse” of line-commutated HVDC converters (LCCs) are high-power thyristors.

Ядром или рабочим механизмом линейно коммутируемых преобразователей высокого напряжения постоянного тока (LCC) являются тиристоры большой мощности.

The definition of a word “workhorse” is “a horse used chiefly for labor as distinguished from driving, riding, or racing”. Besides this, there is also a figurative meaning: 1) a dependable person who does a lot of work; 2) a dependable machine or vehicle that is used to do a lot of work. The word-by-word translation is “рабочая лошадь”. There are other equivalents such as «средство, выполняющее наибольшую часть работы», «наиболее надёжное в эксплуатации». To avoid use of metaphors which are inadmissible in Russian scientific texts, a neutral phrase “рабочий механизм” was used. The abbreviation LCCs is widely used by Russian engineers so I left it untranslated omitting the plurality index.

The availability of electric power has become the crucial prerequisite for the functioning of a modern society and power grids are virtually its lifelines.

Доступность электроэнергии стала важным условием функционирования современного общества, а ЭЭС являются жизненно важными коммуникациями.

The lexical item “lifeline” is defined as: «a rope used for saving the life of someone»; «something which provides help or support that is needed for success or survival». Using modulation, it was rendered as «жизненно важные коммуникации».

Thus, it can be concluded that the translator should have not only a very thorough knowledge of English, but of scientific and technical writing as well. Every technical and scientific industry has its own communication standards and audience expectations. The translator should learn them. Second, to translate such texts, the translator has to know how it is constructed in the target language, to familiarize him/herself with the correct terminology as well as with linguistic and cultural nuances. One of the most important requirements is an understanding of the technical background of the subject area. It is a must for achieving quality in translation. If the translator doesn't understand a specific technical concept or is unsure how to correctly translate it, s/he should consult an expert. If it is not possible to exactly translate a scientific and technical text due to the lack of availability of terms, the translator has to use his common sense. It’s also worth pointing out that the problem of scientific and technical translation is really crucial because there is a great demand for this kind of translation. The difficulties a scientific and technical translator faces show the need for a more deep analysis of translation issues which should not be restricted only to dealing with terminological difficulties.