Rendering of stylistic meaning in translation

Every word is stylistically marked according to the layer of the vocabulary it belongs to. Stylistically words can be subdivided into literary and non-literary. The greater part of the literary layer of the Modern English vocabulary is formed by words of general use (i.e. words of general purpose) possessing no special stylistic reference and known as neutral words. Neutral words comprise common colloquial words and common literary words as well. Colloquial words and some groups of literary words are expressive while neutral words are not.

The stylistic function of the different strata of the English vocabulary depends not so much on the inner qualities of each of the groups as on their interaction when opposed to one another.

“My dear Copperfield”, said Mr. Micawber, “this is luxurious. This is a way of life which reminds of a period when I was myself in a state of celibacy, and Mrs. Micawber had yet not been solicited to plight her faith at the Hymeneal altar.

(Ch. Dickens)

Mr. Micawber’s speech is characterized by highly literary, pompous words and phrases.

„Мій любий Коперфілд”, – сказав містер Мікобер, – „Це розкішно”. Цей спосіб життя нагадує мені ті часи, коли я сам був у стані не шлюбності, а місіс Мікобер ще не благали принести клятви на олтарі Гіменея.

If you don’t keep your yap shut … (J.Salinger)

Якщо ти не заткнеш пельку...

Then he really let one go at me.

Тут він мені врізав по-справжньому.

The examples from Salinger are in marked contrast to the quotation from Dickens. The words are not colloquial, but slang words, i.e. emphatically non-literary.

It would be an error to translate a neutral or a literary word by a colloquial one or a colloquial word by a literary one or to introduce a colloquial word in a literary context. A mistake of this nature occurs in the excellent translation of “The History of Henry Esmond” by E.Kalashnikova:

“She had recourse to the ultimo ratio of all women and burst into tears”.

Она прибегла к ultimo ratio всех женщин и ударилась в слезы.

The combination of a Latin phrase with a non-literary phrase is certainly jarring. The set expression “to burst into tears” is neutral and its equivalent would be залиться слезами. They possess an equal degree of expressiveness.

14. Translation of Phraseological Units

Phraseological units are usually classified into three big groups: phraseological fusions, phraseological unities and phraseological collocations.

Phraseological fusions are non-motivated groups forming indivisible wholes both semantically and syntactically. Their meaning in Modern English does not depend on the meaning of the component elements. They seldom, if ever, have equivalents in the S and T languages and are usually rendered by interpreting translation or by paraphrasing, e.g. to paint the lily – намагатися покращити чи прикрасити щось, що потребує покращення або прикрашення; займатися безплідною справою; витрачати час чи сили марно. To show the whitefeather – перелякатися, проявити боягузтво.

The meaning of a phraseological fusion may naturally be rendered by different synonyms, e.g. to go the whole hog – робити щось розважливо, проводити до кінця, не зупинятися на полузаходах, йти на все.

Phraseological unities are motivated units of Modern English; their components are not semantically bound. They are often figurative and the transference of meaning is either metaphorical or metonymical, e.g. to drop a brick – припуститись нетактовності, зробити ляпсус, промах; monkey business – усілякі штучки, фокуси, витівки, пустощі; to eat humble pie – проковтнути образу, примиритися.

This group of phraseological units is heterogeneous and comprises proverbs, proverbial sayings, allusions, euphemisms, professionalisms, e.g.

Little pitchers have long ears – діти люблять слухати оазмови дорослих; What will Mrs. Grundy say? – Що скажуть люди?

Phraseological unities differ by their structure, by their syntactical function in a sentence and by their stylistic features.

According to the principle of their translation phraseological unities can be divided into three groups:

· Phraseological unities having Ukrainian counterparts, which have the same meaning expressed by a similar image. They can often be traced to the same source – biblical, mythological, Latin proverbs or sayings, e.g. a living dog is better than a dead lion (bibl.) – живий пес краще мертвого льва; not all is gold that glitters – не все те золото, що блищить; to cut the Gordian knot (myth.) – розрубити гордієв вузол.

· Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings having the same meaning but expressing it by a different image.

Too many cooks spoil the broth. - У семи няньок дитя без глазу.

To buy a pig in a poke – Купити кота в мішці.

Liberal M.P.’s claimed to be united behind their leader while, at the same time, strewing banana skins in his path.

Ліберали – члени парламенту – стверджували, що вони поєдналися вкруг свого лідера, а в той же час вони підставляли йому ніжку на кожному кроці.

· SL phraseological unities sometimes have synonymous TL equivalents, the choice is open to the translator and is usually determined by the context, e.g.

Between the devil and the deep sea – між двох вогней, між молотом та наковальнею, між Сциллою й Харибдою, у безвихідному стані.

In the absence of a correlated phraseological unity the translator resorts to interpreting translation, e.g. a skeleton in the closet (cupboard) – сімейна таємниця, неприємність, що приховується від посторонніх.

Target language equivalents possessing national colouring though expressing the same idea should be avoided as they cannot be considered true equivalents because they introduce alien associations and alien national colouring, e.g. to carry coals to Newcastle should not be translated by the Ukrainian proverbial saying – їздити до Тули з власним самоваром. In such cases two solutions are possible: a) to preserve the image of the English phraseological unity – ніхто не возить вугілля до Ньюкаслу; b) to resort to interpreting translation – займатися безглуздою справою.

The same principles are applied to the translation of phraseological unities in the form of simile: cold as ice – холодний як льод; as old as the hills – старий як мир; brown as a berry – засмаглий, бронзовий.

Interpreting translation of phraseological fusions and unities is justified by the fact that their literal meaning is suppressed by what may be termed their transferred meaning which conveys the idea expressed by them.

Phraseological collocations are motivated word combinations but they are made up of words possessing specific lexical valency which accounts for a certain degree of stability in such word groups. They are translated by corresponding collocations in Ukrainian, e.g. to make faces – корчити пику; to make amends – приносити свої вибачення; to make a bed – застелити ліжко; to make allowances – робити знижку.

As seen from the above examples it is always the key word which determines the choice of the Ukrainian verb.

Lexical transformations can be reduced to five distinct types which have a purely linguistic basis. These five types are the following: concretization, generalization, antonymic translation, metonymic translation and paraphrasing.

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Different valency	\|	Non-equivalents

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