Challenges of Translating Phraseological Units Academic research paper on "Languages and literature"

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Procedía

Social and Behavioral Sciences

ELSEVIER Procedía - Social and Behavioral Sciences 70 (2013) 1487 - 1492

Akdeniz Language Studies Conference 2012

Challenges of translating phraseological units

Victoria Subbotina*

Victoria Subbotina, Kazakh-British Technical University, English Language Department, Tole bi street 59, Almaty city, 050000,

Kazakhstan

Translation of phraseological units is topical for the contemporary translatology nowadays. According to many outstanding specialists, phraseological units are lexical combinations, the meaning of which is defined by the whole expression. The most distinctive feature of phraseological unit is its emotional expressiveness and conciseness of thought expression. Fairly often, phraseological units are functioning in the newspaper style. It should be noted that phraseological units are very often transformed into "stock phrases". Defining phraseological units in the text and the ability to find an equivalent to it during the translation process is the most important stage for the translator. In order to translate a phraseological unit, the translator should use phraseological dictionaries and context plays an important role during the translation process. In conclusion it should be noted that phraseological units reflect culture and a national mentality of a definite nation. Due to this reason, translation of phraseological units is one of the topical issues for the contemporary translatology. Phraseological units are an integral part of any language or culture and knowing these units and appropriate interpretation of them is an evidence of appropriate translation of the whole expression or a work of art.

© 2012 The Authors.Published b y Els evier Lto. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of ALSC 2012

Keywords: translation; source text; target text; phraseological units; contemporary translatology; interpretation

1. Introduction

The scientific publication includes information about the fundamental translation techniques of phraseological units that are significantly topical for the contemporary translatology. The author describes different points of view of the famous linguists and translatologists who analysed this important issue.

Nowadays translation of phraseological units is an important subject for contemporary translation studies. Therefore, this subject is being discussed by translatologists and it is closely connected with the fact that translator should interpret the meaning of the whole expression or a group of words and the

* Corresponding author. Tel. +7 777 237 33 87 E-mail address: victoria_07@mail.ru

Abstract

1877-0428 © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of ALSC 2012 doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.01.216

primary task for the translator is to choose a meaningful equivalent for the adequate translation of a definite phraseological unit during the translation process. The translator should define the ways of translation and express the connotative and evaluation functions of the whole expression. It is expedient, according to our opinion, to give an accurate definition to the notion of phraseological unit proposed by A.V. Koonin: "Phraseological unit is a separable combinability of words with the analysed meaning and a definite stability at a phraseological level" (Kuzmin, 2007).

Many famous and outstanding translatologists consider that phraseological units are "translator's false friends", which represent some phraseological units of the source text and these phraseological units in whole or in part coincide with the units of the target text and the analysed phraseological units can create false associations during the translation process due to the reason of their similarity with free collocations. Phraseological units - "translator's false friends" - have a definite meaning and this meaning can definitely or particularly differ from the meaning of a phraseological unit in the target text. According to a famous translatologist V.N. Komissarov, some phraseological units can belong to the "translator's false friends" due to the fact that analysed phraseological units have a similar form which makes it difficult to choose an adequate equivalent in the other language (Komissarov and Koralova, 1999).

The most relevant reason is that "translator's false friends" can be observed either among motivated or opaque phraseological units. For example, phraseological unit "to show the white feather" corresponds to the Russian phraseological unit «трусить, малодушничать, бояться», and the following phraseological unit "to lead smb. by the nose " should be translated into the Russian language as «вести кого-либо на поводу» (Komissarov and Koralova, 1999).

2. Types of phraseological units

With regard to many linguists, phraseological units are word combinations, the meaning of which is defined according to the whole expression but not according to their components or language parts. With relation to notional component binding, phraseological units should be divided into figurative and non-figurative. Non-figurative phraseological units are called as phraseological collocations. Analysing these phraseological units, we mention that their language components express their meaning, but these units collocate with definite words and the translator cannot change them: «принимать меры» - "to take measures", «приниматьрешение» —"to make a decision" (Slepovich, 2005).

Consequently, there is a need in the analysis of some ways of non-figurative phraseological units' translation, elaborated by a famous translatologist V.S. Slepovich:

1) translation of phraseological units can be processed on the basis of existing English collocation: «рисковать» - "to take a chance", «отдыхать» - "to have a rest", «обидеться» - "to take offence ", «вздремнуть» - "to take a nap ";

2) with the help of equivalents (definite and indefinite): «попасть в цель» - "to hit the target", «положить конец чему-либо» - "to put an end to smth.", «читать между строк» - "to read between lines", «принимать во внимание» — "to take into account", «обратить особое внимание» - "to make a point", «делать поспешные выводы» - "to jump at conclusions", «взлеты и падения» — "ups-and-dmms" (Slepovich, 2005).

The next type of phraseological units is figurative. For this reason, figurative phraseological units are known as idioms. As we know, idiom is a language expression, the meaning of which is not the sum of meanings constituting their components. For example, in the Russian language there are some idioms like: «погнаться за двумя зайцами», «попасть как кур в ощип», «кишка тонка», «бить баклуши», «семь пятниц на неделе», «кот наплакал», «как зеницу ока», «бить ключом», «попадать впросак», «без сучка без задоринки» and the translation of the abovementioned idioms into the English language: "to try to kill two birds with one stone", "not to have the guts", "to twiddle one's thumbs", "rain at seven, fine at eleven", "as scarce as hen's teeth", "like the apple of one's eye", "to be in full swing", "to

make a fool of (oneself)", and "as clean as a whistle". As a rule, an analysed expression "to twiddle one's thumbs " is used in political speeches and newspaper style.

3. Accepted ways of translating phraseological units

It should be pointed out that translation correspondences in the target language are used for the translation of idioms:

1) translation with the help of absolute equivalents: «лить крокодиловы слезы» — "to shed crocodile tears", «подсластить пилюлю» - "to sugar the pill", «львиная доля» - "lion's share", «играть с огнем» - "to play with fire" (Kuzmin, 2006);

2) translation with the help of relative equivalents is processed in the case when there are some differences in the meaning of expressions in the source and target languages: «начать с нуля» -"to start business from scratch", «политика кнута и пряника» — "whip-and-camot policy" (Gurevich and Dozorets, 2006);

3) translation with the help of phraseological analogues is topical when the translator translates proverbs and vivid expressions: «Лучше синица в руке, чем журавль в небе». - "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." «Куй железо, пока горячо». - "Make hay while the sun shines." «В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше». - "East or West — home is best." «Не мытьем, так катаньем». - "By hook or by crook " «Ходить вокруг да около». - "То beat about the bush." «Ломиться в открытую дверь». - "То bark on the moon " (Slepovich, 2005).

Emotional expressiveness and brevity of though expression are the most distinctive features of phraseological units. Phraseological units are functioning in the newspaper style, notably in the newspaper headlines due to the fact that newspaper headlines are expressive and concise. As a rule, newspaper headlines grab reader's attention and reflect the author's attitude towards the events described in the article.

It should be noted that phraseological units are frequently changing into clichés. Therefore, defining phraseological units in the source text and the ability to find a corresponding equivalent during the translation process are the most tangible stages for the translator. However, translator should use phrasebooks for the purpose of adequate interpretation and translation of phraseological units and, in addition, the context plays an important role in the translation process.

According to S.S. Kuzmin, interpretation of notional "conflicts' between literal meaning of phraseological unit components and notional elements of the context, which have a "conflict" with literal meaning of phraseological unit components, is the most important stage for the translator's analysis (Kuzmin, 2007).

According to our opinion, it should be expedient to analyse citations, which are functioning in the newspaper style. As a rule, famous citations are called as "epigrams" in the English language. There are some citations that are functioning in the Russian language they can be either phraseological units or proverbs. There are some examples of citations and a detailed analysis of their translation: «делать что-либо галопом no Европам» - "to make a whistle-stop tour", «остаться у разбитого корыта» - "to lose on the round-abouts", "to be right back where one started", "be back to square one", «слона-то я и не приметил» - "to be asleep at the wheel". These citations are translated with the help of translation analogues (Kuzmin, 2007).

It should be mentioned that there are some difficulties when the translator interprets or translates citations using phraseological analogues due to the fact of elaborating and developing "translator's false friends".

There is an analysis of a situation that one phraseological unit of the source language can have several correspondences in the target language. Therefore, the choice of one of the phraseological synonyms, that can be "translator's false friends", is frequently defined by the context. There are some examples of phraseological synonyms: a phraseological unit "to go to a better world" in the English

language corresponds to the following phraseological synonyms in the Russian language: «уйти в мир иной», «покинуть этот бренный мир», «отправиться на тот свет», «отправиться к праотцам» (Kuzmin, 2007).

According to S.S. Kuzmin, phraseological synonyms are approximately meaningful but imaginary different phraseological units. There are some examples and analyses of the Russian synonyms: «в мгновенье ока», «в два счета», «одним махом», «в один момент» and the enumeration of the English synonyms: "in the twinkling of an eye", "in the nick of time", "in the turn of a hand", "in less than no time", "in a flash", "in a trice", "at the drop of a hat", "at a moment's notice" (Kuzmin, 2007).

Analysing the abovementioned phraseological synonyms, it should be noted that all of these phraseological units have different connotations.

It should be noted that the translator has a good opportunity for the choice of a corresponding equivalent from the analysed group of synonyms. As a rule, translation of phraseological units is a difficult stage for the translator and due to this fact authors of their masterpieces try to explain the meanings of phraseological units in the context.

According to S.S. Kuzmin, various "explanations" are often functioning in the Russian texts in comparison with the British and American source texts. While translating opuses in the English language, translators take into account or rely on the context in many cases (Kuzmin, 2007).

In addition to this, there are some ways of phraseological units' translation, elaborated by a famous Russian translatologist S.S. Kuzmin:

1) translation with the help of a monoequivalent, i.e. translator chooses the English phraseological unit that image and meaning coincide with the image and meaning of the Russian phraseological unit, for example: «складывать оружие» - "to lay down one's arms", «хитрый как лиса» -"to be as cunning as a fox " (Muller, 2002);

2) translation with the help of a relative equivalent (or "analogue"), i.e. with the help of the English phraseological unit that image does not coincide with the image of the Russian phraseological unit but presentive and logical meanings coincide. For example, the Russian expression «обвести кого-либо вокруг пальца», that means «обмануть», is rather hard to translate into the English language because the following expressions are existing in the English language: "to twist smb around one's (little) finger", "to take smb for a ride", "to pull smb's leg". In order to translate this expression and choose the adequate analogue, the translator analyses the context of the source text because these expressions are different in the meanings in the English language;

3) there are some cases when the Russian phraseological unit has several meanings and a corresponding phraseological unit should be chosen by the translator. Therefore, the translator can interpret the meaning of a phraseological unit from the context and choose the best equivalent, for example: «метать громы и молнии» can have three meanings: «быть очень сердитым» - "be beside oneself with rage", "be in a diabolical rage", "to go up into the air", "to fly off the handle", «выкрикивать проклятия и угрозы» - "to jump down smb's throat", "be ranting and raving", "be raging and filming" and «совершать эти действия представляется делом напрасным и неразумным» - "to go off the deep end" (Kuzmin, 2006);

4) phraseological units can be translated with the help of metaphor, in the case when it is necessary for the translation process to transfer the image of the Russian phraseological unit: «в тесноте, да не в обиде» - "it's a bit tight, but all right if we don't fight", «седина в бороду, бес в ребро» - "a grey beard, but a lusty heart" (Kuzmin, 2007);

5) explicatory translation can be used for the translation of phraseological units; however, expressiveness and positive or negative connotation of the sentence can be lost where a phraseological unit is functioning (Kuzmin, 2007).

Explicatory translation is essential in the case when the translator cannot find either corresponding equivalent, or analogue in the target language but the use of a blue print translation can be the result of so called "literalism. In addition to it, many outstanding linguists and translatologists consider that the use of explicatory translation can deprive the expression of expressiveness and connotation. It is important to point out that the most tangible aspect for our research is the issue on "translator's false friends" and due to this fact the explicatory translation helps the translator to avoid their functioning in the target text. There are some examples from the English language: an expression "a skeleton in the cupboard (in the closet) " should be translated in the following way: «семейная тайна», «неприятность, скрываемая от посторонних», because the literal translation of this expression is «скелет в шкафу» and it cannot be interpreted by the Russian readers (Kuzmin, 2007).

Traditionally (following the academician V.V. Vinogradov), phraseological units can be divided into motivated phraseological units and non-motivated phraseological units. There are some examples of motivated phraseological units: «встречать в штыки» — "to be up in arms", «метать громы и молнии» - "to hurl thunderbolts", and non-motivated phraseological units are: «вус не дуть» — "not to turn a hair", «и был таков» - "the last we saw of him " (Kuzmin, 2007).

Our primary target is to analyse the examples of universal phraseological units: «обвести кого-либо вокруг пальца» - "to take smb for a ride ", «беречь что-либо как зеницу ока» - "to keep smth in mint condition ", «камня на камне не оставить» - "to rip smth to shreds ", «хитрый как лиса» - "be (as) cunning as a fox "

Paying a special attention to the translation of phraseological units, it should be explained that translation paraphrasing can be used due to the fact that translator paraphrases proverbs and non-literal perception of its image is expressed. Therefore, translator can use the image (calques) as a building material and "with bricks" form from it a translation of a proverb or, in other words, translator can paraphrase the English proverb for the purpose of adequate interpretation and translation, for example, adequate presentive and logical meaning, translation vividness and non-literal perception of the new image of paraphrased English phraseological unit by the recipient. There is an example of a phraseological unit translation with the help of translation paraphrasing: «рыба с головы гниет» - "а fish rots from the head" (Kuzmin, 2007).

There is a need in the analysis of the following method of phraseological units' translation - blue print, loan translation or, in other words, this is a literal transmission of image that is included into the phraseological unit of the source language. However, this way of translation might be used in the case if there can be an expression which image is clearly interpreted in the target language. Therefore, there is an example of the following expression: "love me, love my dog" can be translated with the help of the Russian calque «любишь меня, люби и мою собаку». This is a good example of a loan translation into the Russian language (Chitalina, 1995).

Translators try to use the English phraseological units for the translation of the Russian phraseological units that have a negative connotation. The English phraseological units can transfer negative connotations of the Russian phraseological units during the translation process, for example: «ему палец в pom не клади» - "he is as smart as a steel trap", «она наводит тень на плетень» - "she throws dust in our eyes ", «у него рыльце в пуху» - "he does not keep his nose clean " (Kuzmin, 2007).

It is expedient to note that it would be easier for the translator to have a deal with the Russian phraseological unit that has many equivalents in the English language: «жить на скромные средства» - "to make both ends meet", "to live from hand to mouth", "to keep the wolf from the door". Phraseological unit «жить на скромные средства» has synonyms «сводить концы с концами» and «перебиваться с хлеба на квас» and antonym «жить на широкую ногу» -"live on the fat of the land" or "live in style" (Kuzmin, 2007). However, it is a primary target for the translator to choose the best equivalent due to the fact that he/she should reflect the author's style in the target text.

4. Conclusion

Therefore, drawing the conclusion to the abovementioned information, it should be noted that translation of phraseological units is the most important and rather difficult task for the translator. The reason is that translators should pay their attention to the coincidence of presentive and logical meanings of phraseological units in the source and target languages during the translation processes and types of contexts in which they are functioning. However, loss and change of stylistic or connotative functions of phraseological units can be the result of misinterpretation of an idiom or the whole expression in the target language. Taking into consideration some peculiarities of a phraseological unit functioning and an adequate translation of it, translator should interpret and translate this phraseological unit in a proper way and prevent functioning and elaboration of "translator's false friends" (Ivanova, 1999).

In conclusion it should be mentioned that phraseological units reflect the culture and national mentality of a definite country and nationality; therefore, translation of phraseological units is one of the most important issues of a contemporary translatology. Furthermore, phraseological units are an integral part of any language and knowing these collocations and their adequate interpretation and translation is the proof of proper and adequate translation of the whole expression, fictions and pieces of art. In this context it should be summarized that translators have to follow the norm and usage of the target language when they translate phraseological units.

To sum up the aforementioned information, we conclude that the most widespread ways of phraseological units' translation are the following: translation with the help of absolute and relative equivalents, phraseological analogues, metaphors, loan translation, explicatory translation, translation paraphrasing and synonymous translation.

References

Chitalina, N. A. (1995). Translation Manual. Lexical Challenges of Translation (p. 44). Moscow: International Relations.

Ivanova, I. V. (1999). Translation Challenges of Phraseological Units (on the Basis of German Economic Texts). Proceedings ROSI, 3, 47-51.

Komissarov, V. N., Koralova, A. L. (1999). Practical Manual on the Translation from English into Russian (p. 14). Moscow: Vysshaya shkola.

Kuzmin, S. S. (2007). Idiomatic Translation from Russian into English (Theory and Practice) (pp. 7291). Moscow: Flinta: Nauka.

Slepovich, V. S. (2005). Translation Manual (the English and the Russian Languages) (pp. 74-79). Minsk: TetraSystems.

Dictionaries

Gurevich, V., Dozorets, Zh. F. (2006). Russian-English Phraseological Dictionary (p. 624). Moscow: Eksmo.

Kuzmin, S. S. (2006). Translators' Russian-English Phraseological Dictionary (p. 776). Moscow: Flinta: Nauka.

Lubenskaya, S. I. (2004). Russian-English Phraseological Dictionary (p. 1024). Moscow: ASTPressBook.

Muller, K. V. (2002). New English-Russian Dictionary (p. 880). Moscow: Russian Language.