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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "Saratov State Technical University named after Yu.A. Gagarin"
Institute for Business Development and Strategies
department "Mass Communications and Linguistics"
Specialty 035701.65 "Translation and translation studies"
COURSE WORK
on the topic: Causes of translation errors and ways to overcome them (on the material of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix")
The work was done by a student of PRP-31 Elizarieva N.S.
Head of work Lecturer Baurova Yu.V.
Course work is done in Microsoft Word 2003 format. File name KR Elizarieva.
The presentation for defense (full version) was made in PowerPoint 2003 format. File name Presentation KR Elizariev.
Saratov, 2013
1. Basic concepts and difficulties of interpretation and translation
1.1 Types of translation and causes of translation errors
1.2 Features and classification of translation errors in translation
2. Mistakes made in the process of translation
2.1 Written errors that occur when translating on the material of fiction
2.2 Ways to eliminate and correct translation errors
INTRODUCTION
The relevance of the course work is due to insufficient knowledge of the specifics of the theory of translation. To this day, people strive to enrich their knowledge, especially with the advent of foreign literature. It would seem that there are no problems with understanding certain meanings of words, sentences give a clear meaning to what is read or said. However, the situation changes with the appearance of foreign literature on the market and the development of international relations; there was a problem of perception of information in connection with foreign influence. Thus, the need for translation has increased. Along with this, there was a need for people specially trained in this craft. Over the years, the language has absorbed more and more new words. Slang has appeared (today it is widely used in the speech or works of modern authors), because of which it is more difficult to convey the essence of the source text. And translators often make a lot of mistakes in the translation process.
The main task of oral or written translation is to convey not only what is said or written, but also how it is expressed; while respecting the stylistic and expressive features. The entire value of the translation will increase significantly if the translator can correctly and most accurately convey the entire intention of the author.
Since ancient times, it has been customary to respect an interpreter, because in order to establish contact between tribes, it was necessary to understand the conditions or proposals of the parties, in such situations one cannot do without an interpreter. And translation errors could, on the contrary, aggravate the position of the parties, cause discord between potential allies and even break out a war between them, although, initially, the tribes were determined to unite armies in order to direct it against a common enemy. As a rule, an illiterate translator was deprived of his life. In the modern world, translators are not in danger of death, however, mistakes, of course, are present.
The translation process includes two aspects. To translate, it is necessary, first of all, to understand, understand, analyze, critically evaluate what is heard or written. Next, you need to find, select the existing means of re-expressing the text in the target language. Thus, the work of a translator should be treated with understanding and patience, because in order to translate the simplest text, a translator needs a lot of effort, mental stress, and sometimes inspiration, which in itself deserves praise.
The purpose of this work is a direct consideration of translation errors and the principles of their classification; drawing the attention of novice translators to errors that arise in the translation process and ways to eliminate them.
Objectives of the course work:
1) get acquainted with the concepts and types of translation;
2) consider translation errors and identify the causes of their occurrence;
3) consider the classification of translation errors;
find ways to correct errors in translation.
The theoretical and information base of the course work is expert developments, fundamental concepts and assessments presented in the works of Russian and foreign scientists, such as I.S. Alekseeva, V.S. Vinogradov, A.D. Schweitzer and other well-known practitioners and theorists. And also, ways to eliminate and correct errors in the written and oral translations of famous linguists.
The object of the research is Russian and foreign and fiction.
The subject of the research is ways to correct errors.
The structure of the work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a list of references. The introduction discusses the relevance of the course work, goals, objectives and summary.
The first chapter deals with the basic concepts of oral and written translation, classification and errors in the translation process, identifying the causes of translation errors.
The second chapter deals with examples of written errors in the translation process and ways to correct them, analysis of examples. In conclusion, the results and conclusions identified in the course of the work are presented.
1. Basic concepts and difficulties of oral and written translation
written translation fiction
1.1 Types of translation and causes of translation errors
Interpreting from a theoretical point of view is quite simple to explain. It is much more difficult to apply interpretation in practice. The translation itself is a very laborious process that requires enough strength, knowledge and certain skills. With this type of translation, there are two more foundations that must be relied upon in the process of work: the speed of perception and the speed of interpretation of the source text.
At first glance, it seems that translation is a simple matter, you just need to learn the language, however, as practice shows, vocabulary and basic grammar rules are not enough. The problem is how to translate the text: orally or in writing? Some believe that there is no difference between the methods of translation, and this opinion is erroneous. Based on the English language, the interpreter and translator are designated by two different words: “interpreter” for the first option, and “translator” for the second. . A person makes extensive use of interpreting when transferring a speaker's speech from one language to another, so that listeners can clearly imagine what the "communicators" are talking about. With this type of translation, it is impossible to return to the original text in order to correct or correct something, supplement or ask again.
Returning to the concept of oral translation, we can say that this type of translation is a translation of a text in which it appears in the translation process in an unfixed form, where information is extracted differently than in visual perception. So, oral translation is the transfer of the meaning of oral information from one language using the means of expression of another language.
Having considered the definition of interpreting, it is necessary to know that there are several subspecies of interpreting: simultaneous and consecutive interpreting, sight translation and communicative interpreting.
Simultaneous translation is performed either simultaneously with the speaker, or with a delay of two to three seconds. With such a translation, the interpreter is either in a separate booth, where he can easily perceive the speaker’s oral speech using a language phone connection (thus, the speaker does not need to pause in his statement, and give the interpreter the opportunity to competently perform the translation, which is carried out from the booth through a microphone ). Or next to the speaker. This type of translation requires a lot of effort, attention, listening skills, understanding translation and speaking at the same time. Therefore, the simultaneous type of translation is considered the most difficult translation.
The translator's diction must be clear, well-placed, weedy words such as “mmm”, “in short”, etc. are not allowed in the speech. The lag of the translator from the speaker threatens to lose the thread of meaning, which is practically impossible to compensate for. . Since the translator acts not only as an intermediary between communicators, he must also focus on the emotional state, non-verbal gestures, as if copying the speaker in his speech, based on his authority and position in the hierarchy.
Consecutive interpreting comes second after simultaneous interpreting, but is no less complex type of interpreting. However, translators who have the skill of consecutive translation are valued many times more nowadays, as they have the skills of memorizing (unlike simultaneous interpreters, where short-term memory mainly works), voluminous fragments of text - paragraph-phrase translation. . With this type of translation, it is possible to get your hands on the text and familiarize yourself with the text in advance before the performance. However, this opportunity does not always come up. The translator can also keep notes in his notebook for a more accurate reproduction of what was said, and use these notes to make a more accurate translation.
Sight translation differs slightly from the previous two in that the translator has the source text in front of him, it is only necessary to determine the type of test, its focus, subject matter, area of expertise, the problem described in the text, which, in fact, is the difficulty in translation. Sometimes the translator does not have enough time to determine certain parameters of the text, and has to work in extreme conditions.
Communicative translation is the simplest of the proposed ones, because colloquial speech is found in films, programs, interviews, and so on. A feature of such a translation is the presence of slang, the Argo language, as well as dealing with dialectisms, idioms, neologisms and professionalism, which in turn makes the translator strive for versatility. After all, he is faced with the task of translating from official speech to simple. The translator must be fluent in the language of technology, court and medicine.
Summing up, we can determine that oral translation is a rather complex phenomenon. Starting this type of translation requires special training and trained memory, skills and even stress resistance, due to the lack of time for translation.
In addition to oral translation, there is a type of translation that also requires a lot of effort - written translation. The main distinguishing feature of written translation from oral translation is unlimited time. The translator who has chosen this type of text interpretation has advantages over interpreters. To translate a text, a translator has the ability to analyze the entire source text, correctly and clearly select equivalents in the target language, as well as use various dictionaries and Internet resources in his work, and, finally, check his work for inconsistencies or discrepancies with the original text. Written (manual) translation is widely used today.
Based on the concept of interpretation, the type of translation in which the source text is written, and the translation is presented in a fixed form, and, often, must correspond to the adequacy of the text.
In order for the translation to be as close to the original as possible, scientists have identified some methods that are allowed by the norms of the language, thereby not violating them. Such methods are called transformations. In total, seven such techniques are distinguished: differentiation, concretization, generalization of meanings, semantic development, antonymic translation, holistic transformation, compensation for losses in the translation process.
Having become acquainted with the basic concepts and types of translation, we realized that the translation process contains four components: education, activity, attentiveness, worldview. If one link is missing, then the translator can make a lot of gross mistakes in his work.
1.2 Features and classification of translation errors in translation
Translation activity, going into details, appeared many thousands of years ago BC, when instead of letters there were drawings (in our time they are called hieroglyphs), and instead of paper - boards, stones and rocks. The person who could interpret the sticks and circles scratched in the caves into a verbal form was one of the first translators.
So far, no one has been able to determine a specific date for the transfer. But, based on the time of the emergence of the activity we are studying, we can assume that at the same time there were difficulties in translation.
After so many years, translators never cease to amaze many scientists with their translations, who have spent many years trying to understand the incomprehensible, to translate the “irreducible”, to prove the unprovable. Exploring foreign literature, the works of foreign writers, many came across translated works, and, analyzing them, they realized that similar difficulties arise in certain fragments of texts or speech. Having identified several patterns, scientists began to type errors in translation, connected either with grammar, or with vocabulary, or with syntax, and a number of other patterns. In order to determine what type of error it belongs to, philologists, linguists, and linguists have identified a certain classification of translation errors. Researchers believe that errors mainly occur at the unconscious level, that is, the translator, without realizing it, makes errors and inaccuracies; and also misses, reduces, or, conversely, expands the meaning of the original text.
Many translators deal with texts every day, but when they decide to translate, they may misunderstand the subject of the author's thought, which in turn may have an incorrect effect on the translation as a whole.
O.V. Maksyutina in her work "Translation error in the methodology of teaching translation" mentioned that in translation "errors are considered as indicators of the formation of translation competence and are used to assess the quality of translation." On the one hand, translators, making certain mistakes, learn from their mistakes, analyze them, which in the future helps to avoid repetitions. To do this, it is necessary to constantly improve, since the language is a “dynamic system” and constant control over changes is required. However, if such errors periodically occur in translations, this makes it possible to accurately determine the entire "professionalism" of the translator or his illiteracy. A competent translator rarely encounters such a phenomenon, which, therefore, distinguishes him from the gray mass of translators, making him a unique specialist. But, even such specialists may have difficulties associated with the appearance of unfamiliar phraseological phrases for him, or an unfamiliar field of knowledge.
K. Nord believes that a specialist or a beginner, “it would be better if he could just translate”, since this quality is not for everyone. He believes that teaching a language is easier than teaching translation theory. He also writes that "pragmatism is much more important than linguistic perfection". Knowing the language and being able to translate, according to K. Nord, are two different concepts. To be able to communicate with the author of the text is a gift given not to everyone. Some translators are negligent about this requirement, which in turn does not distinguish them from machine translation programs, just as in a machine, insensitive translators on autopilot translate the text, without putting into it either feelings or the true message of the author's source text. As a result, the translation is dry and aimless.
The most important feature of translation is the selection of equivalents in the target language. The original text, at first glance, may seem easy to translate, however, having decided to translate, the specialist will not be able to define a particular word or even a whole phrase, but the feeling that the object or phenomenon described in the text will seem familiar. He will understand that in his culture there is a similar phenomenon or object, only explained in other words. If we translate a word or phrase not literally, but completely replace or partially replace the language units of the original text with other language units during translation, but with the same meaning and emotionally expressive coloring, then we can safely get the concept of equivalence.
V.S. Vinogradov believes that equivalence is different and has, and that the degree of convergence with the original text may depend on the level of translator's skills, on the time the text was created, on the comparison of cultures and languages, and many other factors. But, despite the previously identified concepts, such as "adequacy" or "identity", he is convinced that "any translation will never be absolutely identical to the canonical text of the original."
According to V.S. Vinogradov, translation errors arise solely due to inconsistencies (non-equivalence) with the original text, since first of all it is necessary to convey semantic equality, and spelling is not the most important point. .
Summing up, it can be determined that the opinions of scientists in this field of study do not contradict each other, one can even say that they complement each other, strive to find a common denominator, pass on experience to their predecessors, and learn to avoid mistakes in their translations.
Classification of translation errors.
There are many classifications of translation errors, however, all of them are united by almost the same factors.
VC. Lanchikov highlights semantic and linguistic errors. Since he made the division rather conditionally, "any translation decision can cause an unplanned perception of the text." When such mistakes are made, the whole meaning can be distorted, and, as you know, the violation of the meaning of the original is always more significant than errors of expression, or “language errors”. Language errors, as a rule, do not affect the understanding of the text as a whole, however, they affect its perception. Thus, a well-written original text can turn into an illiterate text in a translated text. In this regard, not only the quality of the translator's work automatically decreases, but also the authority of the speaker in front of readers or listeners is undermined; or you can even turn a speech or text into a pun, which in the end will suppress all the seriousness of the stated.
There are also other classifications. For example, L.K. Latyshev divided translation errors as follows:
translation of the original content - deviation from the content against the background of exposure;
distortions - a deviation from the original, introducing "the recipient of information is misleading about the subject of the message";
inaccuracies - deviations from the original that do not distort the meaning of the original text, but require clarification;
ambiguities - the meaning of the text is obscured, occurs when the translator does not use various techniques for translation.
However, not only domestic scientists proposed a classification. For example, K. Nord introduced the idea of the following species:
pragmatic (deviation from customer instructions);
language (violation of vocabulary, grammar, spelling);
cultural (violation of the stylistic norms of the language);
Despite numerous attempts to classify translation errors, both Russian and foreign linguists still came to the unanimous opinion that a translation error is “an unreasonable deviation from the normative requirement of equivalence, inconsistency of the translation with the original or deviation from the content of the original”. .
Let us consider in detail the classification that V.N. Komissarov. He sees the classification of errors as follows:
“errors that represent a gross distortion”, according to the scientist, the occurrence of such a situation is associated with a misunderstanding of the original, or due to ignorance of the lexical and grammatical features of a foreign language;
"errors leading to an inaccurate transfer of the meaning of the original, but not distorting it", V.N. Komissarov came to the following conclusion: the transfer of information from the original language was quite successful, but some details were lost due to not knowing the terms in two languages and incorrectly assessing their correspondences;
“does not violate the general meaning of the original, but reduce the quality of the translation”, the author of the classification emphasizes that the translator may make such a mistake due to the deviation of the norms of style in the target language, which will lead to a decrease in the quality of the translation. Neglecting the style of the author of the original text, the translator may abuse borrowed words or phrases, as well as jargon and literalism, but one cannot but agree that sometimes such errors may not violate the integrity of the original text, and are not at all considered errors, according to V.N. Komissarov;
“violation of the mandatory norms of the target language that do not affect the equivalence of the translation”, such errors, according to the scientist, indicate that the translator is illiterate and does not speak the original language well, since the norms must be observed.
The proposed classification can help to avoid some shortcomings in translation, however, one should not lose sight of the lexical and syntactic features of the original - this is also an important point in translation skills.
By a brief review of the previously presented classifications of translation errors, we see that each researcher, citing various evidence of discrepancies between the original and the translation, came to similar conclusions. One cannot but agree with these three points of view. Everyone should understand that in order to make a high-quality translation, a translator needs to learn how to correctly translate tests. Based on this conclusion, the researchers identify a number of rules to avoid deviations from the original text.
2. Mistakes made in the process of translation
2.1 Written errors in translation on fiction (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)
Having studied the theoretical aspects of a translation error, we will give examples in detail that will allow translators to cope with the difficulties that arise in the translation of fiction. Analyzing the examples, we will identify the features and errors in the written translation of this genre. For analysis, the fifth part of the novel John K. Rowling Johann K. Rowling) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was taken, in the original - Harry Potter and the order of phoenix Johann K. Rowling Harry Potter and the order of phoenix, as well as several translation options : Maria Spivak Joanne K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by M. Spivak, Vladimir Babkov Joanne K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by V. Babkov, who was officially invited by the Russian publishing house ROSMEN to translate this particular part of the novel, and folk translation. It should be noted that all the above translators worked on The Order of the Phoenix, but not every reader agrees to read the novel in any translation. On the Internet forums, you can find reviews about translators, among which people prefer the translations of Vladimir Babkov (hereinafter referred to as B.) from the ROSMEN publishing house, because. it is closer to the original. The second place is occupied by Maria Spivak (hereinafter referred to as S.), focusing her translations not only on adults, but also on children. And, finally, a folk (unofficial) translation (hereinafter referred to as N.) - for those who can not wait to get acquainted with the next part of their favorite novel, who could not wait for the official translation. Electronic resource -
Having studied the material under study, it is clear that not every translator ended up with a quality translation. Almost everyone made mistakes, and no one could avoid this.
Smoothly moving on to the analysis, let's start right away with the title of the first chapter, where it is clearly seen that the translation of Dudley Demented was divided - "Dudley got it" (V.B. and A.S), "Mad Dudley" in N.P. and M.S. - Dudley's Dementia. Which option is correct? It is not clear what the translators were guided by when translating the title of this chapter into Russian, but if you go deeper, the word “demented” means “feeble-minded, insane, insane” ,2005. - 960 pages. On the one hand, the translation is correct in all versions, but the popular translation is closer to what the first chapter is about. However, Maria Spivak, a favorite of readers, resorted to the medical term - "dementia", which means "disturbance of mental acts and loss of brain functions" (marasmus), according to Dahl's dictionary. Dahl Dictionary - Translation suggests that the chapter will describe how a certain Dudley falls into insanity. Thus, M.S. made the very “linguistic mistake” that N.V. Lanchikov. Based on the content of the chapter, it becomes clear that Dudley really lost his mind, under the influence of magic, however, the title of the chapter should be translated "Crazy Dudley" or "Mad Dudley", as in the popular translation, or - most correctly. Babkov's version - "Dudley got it", reveals the content of the chapter, the meaning is conveyed correctly, however, returning to the definition of the word "demented", while having equivalents in Russian, the translator should have used them, violating the rules of style.
The correct translation of the chapter title is as follows:
"Insane Dudley".
On the first page there is a description of the main character - Harry Potter. In the original it looks like this:
“He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone who has grown a lot in a short space of time.”
Translations are basically similar in all variants, but it is worth noting some shortcomings:
"This skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy had obviously put on a lot of height in a very short time, and it made him look a little unhealthy."
“He was a thin, black-haired, bespectacled man, with an exhausted, somewhat sickly look of a teenager stretching too quickly.”
“He was a thin, black-haired kid with glasses, a little sickly and angular in appearance - you look, and it’s immediately clear that he was very stretched out in a short time.”
Comparing the translations, you can see that the folk translation stood out among others, "calling" Harry Potter bespectacled. First, is such politically incorrectness considered correct? In this case, it was necessary to adhere to the literal translation, without resorting to the humiliation of the dignity of the character, and without using disparaging vocabulary.
Secondly, the word “pinched”, which primarily means “infringed”, “restricted”, took on a slightly different meaning - “exhausted”, or even “angular”, and some did not undertake to translate this word at all. In fact, the author meant that the boy was not particularly distinguished by authority and was beaten.
The best translation is:
"He was a skinny, dark-haired, bespectacled, downtrodden and slightly unhealthy-looking boy who had grown noticeably in a short space of time."
Translation errors occur mainly when the semantics of language units are misused, which distort the meaning of the original text.
Consider, for example, the passage when Harry Potter has to fight the Dementras in a dark alley. At the moment when the first attack occurred, Harry's remark:
“GET IT!”
In fact, there is nothing difficult in translation. Since such a phrase sounds in every film, when an exciting moment comes, and something needs to be done quickly. It can be translated in several ways: "grab it", "hold it". Babkov's translation:
"Here he is!"
In popular translation:
"Take him!"
But Maria Spivak did not convey exactly the emotions that Harry experienced at the moment when he saw Dementrov. She translated the phrase easily and simply:
"Take him!"
From our point of view, when reading, there is no feeling of excitement and empathy for the hero. This phrase is devoid of expression. The translator violated stylistic norms.
The following passage of text also shows stylistic errors and inconsistencies:
“Moon, stars, and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in neighboring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars in Magnolia Crescent filled air again”
“The moon, the stars and the street lamps came to life again. A warm breeze blew down the alley. There was a rustling of trees in the gardens, the usual noise of cars passing along Magnolia Street.
The translation is quite successful, except that the translator missed the definition of “neighboring” in the sentence, which confirms the classification of V.N. Komisarov about ambiguities, the meaning was not distorted, but an addition is required. The author did not mean that with the advent of the Dementras, the whole world was swallowed up by darkness, and everything around, namely the “neighboring gardens”, were plunged into darkness at that moment. The translator allowed himself to miss this important point. Plus a translation addition about cars that “pass” along the street. The word is missing in the original.
In another translation, the adjective "neighboring" was changed to "nearby". Moreover, adjectives were added, which are not mentioned in the original. Consider Maria Spivak's translation:
“The moon, stars and lanterns returned to their places in the blink of an eye. A warm breeze blew. In the nearby gardens, the trees rustled, and from Magnolia Lane again came - such an earthly and native rumble of cars.
When studying the material under study, one can understand that M. Spivak seems to be re-writing the novel. It can be traced that it exceeds the allowable level of additions during translation allowed by the norms. Paying attention to the last phrase, there is a clearly expressed logical inconsistency between the words “roar” and “cars”. This particular word can be used, for example, with the word "birds"? the roar of birds. And for a vehicle, it is still worth using a word that is appropriate in meaning: “noise”, “hum”, “roar”, etc.
In popular translation, things are different. The translators obviously lack knowledge in both English and Russian. Reading the novel in an unofficial translation, you can see how "a warm breeze swept along the path," like something animated. This technique allows the reader to mentally imagine a certain form, to imagine how exactly the “breeze” looks like, how it “rushes along the path”. Consider:
“The moon, stars and streetlights are back again. A warm breeze blew along the path. Trees rustled in neighboring gardens, and the usual rumble of automobiles came from Magnolia Crescent.
Comparing the last translation with other versions, it can be seen that unofficial translators did not burden themselves with inventing street names, deciding to use the transcription method.
The correct translation should be:
“The moon, stars and streetlights are back to life again. A warm breeze blew down the alley. Leaves rustled in the neighboring gardens, and Magnolia Lane filled again with the noise of cars and fresh air.
The sixth chapter of the famous novel is called:
"A peck of owls". [p.20]
One cannot but agree that the translation of the names may not coincide with the translation of the original, however, there is nothing complicated in this particular case. The word “peck” has many meanings in the dictionary, but since we are talking about birds, then at best it should be translated as “flock”. Nevertheless, the translators were divided this time as well. Compare:
“Owls, owls…” (B.);
“They stuck the dolbs in” (S.);
"Crowds of owls" (N.).
As we can see, Maria Spivak distinguished herself here with her talent, and did not translate the title of the chapter literally, but decided to play with words. She rearranged the letters so that from her initially rough translation of “Owls got sick”, a softer, however, completely incomprehensible title, “Stuck the Dolts,” turned out.
It should be translated literally: “Flock of owls” or “Owl flock”. Such a translation is sufficient to understand the content of the chapter.
On the same page, the expression:
“He left!” said Mrs. Figg, wringing her hands.”
All three of the studied translations are misleading:
"Away! - shouted Miss Figg, wringing her hands ”(B.);
“Flushed out! wringing her hands exclaimed Mrs. Figg. (FROM.);
“He left! said Mrs. Figg, wringing her fingers.
Having studied the theory of translation errors about ambiguities that distort the meaning of a sentence and undermine the authority of the original author, it became clear that this is exactly the case. What did the translators mean? Did Miss Figg really break her arms, or even her fingers? These translation options did not convey the meaning of the original text. Properly, instead of the meaning of the word "wring" - "break, break", you need to use the following:
“He left! exclaimed Mrs. Figg, clasping her hands tightly.
“The revelation that his batty old cat-obsessed neighbor knew what
dementors were almost as big a shock to Harry as meeting two of them down the alleyway” [page 20]
Below is a variant of the translation, the meaning of which is conveyed, but not completely, clarification is required. The author tried to make the reader understand that the main character was shocked that the dementras were in the city, and the old woman, in addition, knew that they were in the city. And both cases shocked Harry equally. But in translations the meaning is obscured.
“But, the crazy cat lady knew about the dementras. For Harry, it was a blow that the meeting with two dementras. (N.)
The fact that his old, scatty, cat-crazed neighbor knew who the Dementras were made the same impression on Harry as meeting the Dementras themselves in the alley. (B.)
"But the fact that the old cat lover knew who the Dementras were shocked Harry less than their appearance in these parts." (FROM.)
In the translations of M. Spivak and V. Babkov, the meaning differs from the author's ideas, but both translators considered it unnecessary to convey it to readers.
The sentence should be translated as follows:
"The fact that the crazy old cat lady knew the Dementras were here was almost as shocking to Harry as meeting two of them in the alleyway."
On page 21 of the novel, Miss Figg, trying to revive Dudley, who was lying motionless on the ground, after the attack of the dementras, uttered these words:
“Get up, useless lump, get up!”
This phrase can be translated in many ways, but you should think about who the author is writing for. And is it worth resorting to reduced vocabulary. V. Babkov and M. Spivak adhered to neutral vocabulary:
"Get up, useless deck!" (B.)
“Get up, senseless log” (S.)
However, unofficial translators did not maintain neutrality, they translated the phrase "a la Dmitry Puchkov" (Goblin) - "Get up, you useless piece (censorship)!"
One cannot but agree that the emotional range from the phrase to the highest level, but, fiction does not allow this kind of expression. The rules must be followed.
We also offered our own version of the translation, more suitable for the situation:
"Get up, you worthless mattress, get up!"
With such a translation, all the grumpiness of the old woman is understood, you can recognize the character of the heroine, giving her a certain charm. And the correct wording conveys all the emotions, as J.K. Rowling intended.
“Keep your wand out” can literally be translated as “keep your wand out”, but since literal translation is inappropriate here, V. Babkov translated as follows:
"Keep your wand ready"
and M. Spivak offered a translation:
"Don't put away your wand."
Both translations are correct. But, let's focus on the third version of the translation from unofficial translators. One gets the feeling that half were translated with knowledge of the language, while others, on the contrary, with its absolute absence. The translated phrase has lost all meaning. Based on the context, Harry Potter needed to be on the alert, and, in the event of an attack, prepare to attack by casting a spell. The translation was: "Put your wand away, Harry." The phrasal verb “keep out” by all definitions has a negative structure, and is translated as “not to allow”, “not to allow”. The author demanded this expression in this case, "do not clean up."
Another unsuccessful translation of the unofficial version of the translation is the following point, which did not go unnoticed:
“But Mrs Figg had alredy set off at a trot, carpet slippers flopping, stringh bag clacking.” [page 24]
And the translators surprised with their tautology, translating the phrase “slippers flopping” as “slapping with slippers”.
It would be more correct to say "slapping slippers."
A few paragraphs later, a fragment came across:
“Harry looked sideways at Dudley and ducked out from under his arm just in time. Dudley swayed for a moment on the spot; his face pale green, then he opened his mouth at last and vomited all over the doormat.”
Despite the simplicity of the presentation, the translators had some difficulties in translating.
Harry squinted at Dudley and ducked out from under his arm. Just in time. Dudley swayed in place, face pale green. Then he opened his mouth and vomited profusely on the rug by the door. (B.)
According to the translator, Harry suffered from some kind of eye disease. However, the second option did not excel, the hero's illness persisted:
"Harry squinted his eyes at Dudley and barely had time to slip out from under his arm, Dudley, whose face had taken on a pale green hue, swayed in place for a while, and then opened his mouth and vomited violently on the mat." (FROM.)
The last option generated the most interest for research, where Harry got new magical abilities, he could look sideways:
“Harry looked sideways at Dudley and slipped out of his hand just in time. Dudley stirred for a moment. His face was green. When he opened his mouth, he vomited all over the doormat." Thus, unofficial translators show all their "literacy".
Pay attention to the word "swayed". In this passage, it became known that the boy was seasick, therefore, in order to perform this action, it is necessary to translate the word not in the already proposed options, but to choose a different meaning of “bent down”. Replacing the word, bypassing the mistakes made by the translators, we translate the fragment:
“Harry looked sideways at Dudley, and just in time managed to slip out from under his arm. Dudley leaned over without hesitation, his face turned pale green, then, opening his mouth, he finally vomited on the rug.
There are a few more examples of translation errors to consider, for example:
“Harry stood rooted to the spot”
The most successful translation is V. Babkov's version. Which applied one of the methods of transformation - partial replacement. Let's look at an example:
Harry stood stock-still.
If we translate literally, although, let's say this option, we get:
"Harry stood there like he was nailed down."
Maria Spivak decided to use a comparison with a natural phenomenon:
"Harry froze as if struck by thunder."
The option is allowed, but it is worth noting that it is not sufficiently usable in Russian literary speech.
"Harry is rooted back to where he stood." - People's translators came to such a result. Comments are not appropriate, because. it is impossible to explain where Harry stood before, and for what reason he “grown again” is not known.
Also, the translation option can serve as a method of omitting information, and translate as - "Harry was dumbfounded."
An important feature in translation is the direct design of the text as a whole. When studying the material, we note that the author in the original text of the notes and letters encountered in the course of the development of the plot highlights in italics. V. Babkov - through indirect speech; even in the unofficial translation there is an emphasis in large print, which is surprising. However, M. Spivak did not pay due attention to the design, but her italicized intonation, the very accent, in order to preserve the integrity of the original, is worth praise.
Returning back to translation errors using the "method of contradiction". First, consider the translation options, and only then the sentence in the original, in order to understand whether the meaning of a separate sentence is clear.
“She left the place immediately” (B.);
“The owl immediately took off” (S.);
“She immediately took off.” (N.).
In all three sentences, the same word is found - "withdrew." As you know, the phrase with this word occurs when they are invited to shoot and "she starred." But, realizing that we are talking about an owl that should break away and convey the message, carrying it in its paw, it would be more logical to replace the word with - “flew out” or “rushed”, “fluttered” and many other options. Knowing the phrasal verb “take off” perfectly, you need to think that it is not always about clothes that can be “take off”.
According to the plot in the book, we are talking about "Muggles" - people who do not have magical abilities.
“Very clean, aren't they, these Muggles?” said Tonks.
If we disassemble the word phonetically, then the letter “u” in a closed syllable will give the sound [a], but for some reason M. Spivak translates this word as “muggles” - obviously, using the transcription method, we assume that this is true, but what prompted her to name the witch by the name of Tonks as "Boms" is unclear. This method should have been applied in this case as well. Since Harry Potter supporters may not understand where the new character came from, thereby completely confusing readers.
When translating foreign literature, where magic is present, one may encounter the difficulty of transferring the names of magical objects and spells, as, for example, in our case. It is worth noting that translation is a creative matter, and if you have a rich imagination, there will be no difficulties.
In the fragment where Harry had to fly to Hogwarts, after the meeting of the members of the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Moody had to cast a spell:
“Come here boy”, said Moody gruffly, beckoning Harry towards him with his wand. "I need to Disillusion you."
Using the main translation methods, the translation options are as follows:
"Come here, boy," Moody ordered hoarsely, beckoning Harry to him with a flick of his wand. “I will clear you up.” (S.) In this example, trying to keep the original verb in the translation, Maria Spivak came up with an interesting translation.
V. Babkov also coped well with the task, and suggested the word "disilluminate".
Unfortunately, the people did not manage to come to a common denominator, they left the word “to disillusion” without translation, although the original verb can be changed to the phrase “make invisible” or “pronounce the Invisibility Spell”.
Below is an example that reduces the quality of the translation. Such errors can be noticed even by readers who are literate a little below average.
“Shivering, Harry looked around. The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors, and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.”
Now we are interested in the translation of M. Spivak, since only she failed to translate this fragment correctly:
Harry, shivering slightly, looked around. The facades of the surrounding houses looked unfriendly; some had broken windows, the reflections of lanterns shone in the dark panes, the paint was peeling off the doors, and heaps of rubbish were lying near the front stairs.
It is worth noting that "Harry Potter" is not Mary's first translated book, but, with extensive experience, as practice has proven, anyone can make a mistake. Note that tautology is not the only mistake. As it turned out, due to inattention, the translators confuse colors, for example, in the sixth chapter, when Ron Weasley was about to go to bed, he put on burgundy pajamas. But, apparently, in the unofficial version, they thought that the burgundy color puts pressure on the psyche, deciding to change the color of pajamas to blue:
“We can't let them out to hunt every night,” Ron explained as he
pulled on his maroon pajamas” [p.99]
"We can't let them hunt every night," Ron explained as he pulled on his blue pajamas.
However, they are not alone, in the next sentence, the translators again disagreed, and Mrs. Weasley's robe began to change colors:
“All were fully dressed except for Mrs. Weasley, who was wearing a quilted, purple dressing gown”
"With the exception of Mrs. Weasley, who was wearing a crimson quilted robe, everyone was fully dressed."
According to V. Babkov's version, the word "purple" is translated as "dark red". In other translations, they preferred to “paint” the robe in a “violet” color. Based on the color perception of women, and since the author is a woman, if she wanted to see in her imagination a dark red robe, she wrote “dark-red”, or purple - “violet”. Apparently, J. Rawlin still imagined slightly different shades, both in this and in the previous case. Unfortunately, the translators did not live up to expectations, while not noticing some of the author's subtleties.
We have examined in detail the examples of translation errors that occur during the translation process. Summing up, we can safely say that, first of all, it is necessary to understand the idea, feel the emotions and feel the character of the author, only in this way the translation will turn out to be as close to the original as possible.
2.2 Ways to eliminate and correct translation errors
Earlier, we considered the main translation errors that occur during the translation process. After the translation is completed, it is necessary to clearly verify the correctness of the translation. Because translation is a complex task in itself, translators often fail to make up for some shortcomings in their work. Therefore, scientists have identified some stages of correction and elimination of such nuances: the elimination of semantic, lexical, grammatical, morphological and syntactic errors. However, it is worth making sure that the author did not deliberately create his text in such a way as to emphasize some details of the content. First of all, you need to save the author's effects. Perhaps he played on this, giving some depth to his work. Such moments should be distinguished from translation errors. Literary translation, as a rule, differs from the rest in that it contains many means of expression, for example, descriptions, hyperbole, metaphors, etc. And that is why the translator needs to have a broad outlook, vocabulary and phenomenal memory, as well as mastery of the style and a rich imagination, because when translating some passages of the text, the translator will have to become the author himself for a while, moreover, without overacting.
In fact, editing is as difficult as translating. It is pointless to translate the text - this is the work of the machine. This is what manual translations differ from machine translations, because they have a “soul”.
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The concept and types of translation errors (M.A. Kunilovskaya)
M.A. Kunilovskaya
Translation is a multifaceted phenomenon, it can be of different types (oral and written) and may involve working with texts of different styles and genres. In this regard, there are classifications of errors in oral and written translation. You can talk about the concept and typology of errors in a literary or technical text, you can build a classification of lexical or grammatical errors in translation (i.e. errors associated with translation, for example, phraseological units or puns or the specific meaning of a verb - i.e. by type original unit). Classifications of errors can be oriented towards the evaluation of the translation, and may involve an analysis not so much of the result of the translation as of the translation process and reflect the possible causes of errors.
In the framework of this report, we will try to highlight the existing ideas in science about what is called a translation error and present the most significant and practical, in our opinion, classifications of errors that apply to all genre and stylistic varieties of texts in any kind of translation.
In the scientific and educational literature, we have not been able to find a single formal definition of a translation error. However, the analysis of existing classifications and reasoning on this subject allows us to build the following chain of conclusions leading to the development of this concept.
Error is usually defined as incorrectness, unintentional deviation from the normative, standard, correct, deviation from the rules, violation of requirements. Therefore, in order to understand what a translation error (error in translation) is, it is necessary to answer the question of what is correct in translation, the solution of which tasks should ensure error-free translation. Translation in its most general form is defined as the transfer of the content of a text in one language by means of another language. This definition focuses on one of the basic requirements for translation − transfer the content of the original. Violation of this requirement, no doubt, is perceived as a mistake. Let us explain here that the content of the text in the translation sense is usually understood as a set of elements of the semantics and structure of the text, fixed by the recipient and participating in the formation of the meaning of the text, which, in turn, is not reduced only to the meanings realized in the text, but represents a global holistic understanding of the text, based incl. on background knowledge, ideas about the state of affairs in the real world, knowledge of the subject area in question, knowledge of the communication situation. Most authors, therefore, understand the error as an unreasonable deviation from the normative requirement of equivalence (i.e., meaningful correspondence of the translation to the original - Schweitzer), as a measure of the inconsistency of the translation with the original (Minyar-Beloruchev), a measure of misleading impact on the reader (Komissarov).
The “meaningful”, semantic errors, which were discussed above, are divided into two fundamental types - literalisms and liberties. The definition of these long-established concepts in translation theory can be found in any terminological dictionary, the entire history of translation thought can be seen as an attempt to find a way to balance between these two extremes in translation.
Literalism is a translator’s mistake, which consists in the transfer of the formal or semantic components of a word, word, phrase or phrase to the detriment of the meaning or information about the structure (Minyar-Beloruchev, 1999), the transfer of communicatively irrelevant elements of the original, which leads to a violation of the norm and usage of the TL, or the actual content of the original turns out to be distorted (Komissarov, 2002).
It is a good horse that never stumbles.
This is a good horse that never stumbles.
Liberty is the transfer of key information without taking into account the formal and semantic components of the source text.
In the West cut diamonds outnumber cars
There are more diamonds in the West than cell phones.
(Hereinafter, examples are from student translations of the article "Diamonds are forever", which tells how De Beers' monopoly position in the diamond market and its successful marketing strategy support high demand and high prices for diamonds in the world).
The allocation of liberties and literalisms is the most traditional and, at the same time, narrow approach understanding translation errors. On the one hand, it testifies to the violation of only one of the translation norms - the equivalence norm, and on the other hand, it is practically unsuitable for assessing the quality of translation, does not give an idea of the degree of misinforming impact of translation.
For methodological purposes, a broader concept of translation error is used to assess the quality of translation. It is based not only on taking into account violations in the transmission of IT content, but also on taking into account errors associated with “adapting this content to new linguistic and ethnic conditions”. In other words, the second type of error is the so-called. expression errors, which are both forced (provoked by the original) and unforced violations of the norm and usage of the TL.
Many universities that train translators use the following classification of errors, based on the works of L.K. Latysheva:
Translation errors original content - functionally unmotivated deviations from the content of the original, differing in the degree of misleading impact
Distortion - subjectively determined deviation of the content of the translation from the original, as a result of which the impacted potential of the TT does not correspond to the impacted potential of IT (misleads the recipient regarding the subject of the message, causes inadequate representations).
Invented by one of the richest companies in the world, Diamonds are Forever is a slogan which does not bear close examination.
Opened by one of the richest companies in the world, "diamonds are forever" is the motto, which does not need to be studied.
Inaccuracies - deviations from the content of the original, characterized by a lesser degree of misleading impact; unmotivated omission or addition of information that does not completely distort the content of the original, but requires clarification.
They are almost untradeable as a commodity. Their resale value is significantly lower than their original cost, and nowadays they can easily be substituted in all their industrial uses.
They are almost not used as a commodity . Their resale value is much lower than their initial cost and nowadays they can be easily replaced in all industrial areas.
Ambiguities - a functionally meaningful flaw in the translation, obscuring the meaning of the statement, quite clearly expressed in the source text, often arises due to the indigestibility of syntactic constructions. It may be associated with an unsuccessful choice of word or phrase structure, or due to inadequate use or non-use of a translation technique.
In fact, without the tradition and romance which have always given diamonds their sentimental value, they would be almost worthless.
Those. without the tradition and romance that gave diamonds their sentimental value, they might be worth next to nothing.
Lexical error- an error associated with the incorrect use of the main or contextual meaning of the word, as well as a violation of the rules of word compatibility in the TL.
Errors in adaptation the content and forms of its expression to new linguo-ethnic conditions of perception, their reason is the inability to compensate for the discrepancies between the LCC of the carriers of the FL and TL, the so-called. language errors, errors in the design of the text in TL. They are classified according to the types of units of language and speech.
The world supply of diamonds has consistently outstripped demand, so logically diamonds should be cheap.
World Offers diamonds are much higher than the demand, in accordance with this, diamonds should be cheap.
Grammar mistake- violation of grammatical (including syntactic) norms of the target language, which does not lead to a distortion of the meaning of the original.
If the Prime-Minister's speech made few new points on Britain's economic plight, it was a skilful exercise in rhetoric
If the Prime Minister's speech did not contain anything new about the plight of the British economy, it was still an example of skillful rhetoric (Commissars).
Stylistic error- the use of a word, construction or stylistic means that does not correspond in their functional and linguistic properties to the genre and stylistic variety of texts to which the translation belongs.
Diamonds are neither valuable nor rare.
Diamonds are not valuable and not rare .
Spelling mistake- an error in the spelling of the words PYa.
Punctuation error- non-compliance with the rules of punctuation PYa.
Successful translation decisions increase the value of the translation.
The cause of both translation and language errors can be literalisms (more often) and liberties.
Such a system (subject to an assessment of the "cost" of each type of error in relation to distortion) allows you to determine how many and what errors are allowed in the translation of texts of a certain volume. Excellent for 2 thousand characters (1 typewritten page) - the content and style are completely transferred, the norms of the TL are mostly observed: minor language errors are allowed, with a total “weight” of 1.5 of a complete error). Satisfactory: up to 4 complete errors, incl. 2 semantic.
We see the disadvantage of this classification as the lack of consideration for the quality of the translated text as a text, its textual integrity, consistency, and consistency. It is no secret that translations often contain errors that are detected even without referring to the original, but which are not related to language errors. These are logical errors. Some errors of this type can be correlated with semantic errors in the previous classification, but their selection is carried out in a different way. The classification of logical errors proposed by D.M. Buzadzhi, MSLU, in translation is valuable for editors, employers who do not have the opportunity to assess the compliance of the translation with the original, as well as for the translators themselves, who get an idea about the mechanism of such errors and how to prevent them.
This classification is based on the understanding that “a meaningful text is stitched with logical connections of two types: on the one hand, between parts of the text as a speech work, and on the other hand, between the elements of the situation described in the text” (Buzadzhi, 2007). The first type of consistency is called conceptual consistency, and the second type is called subject consistency. B.N. Golovin defines these types as follows: “Subject consistency consists in the correspondence of semantic connections and relations of language units in speech to the connections and relations of objects and phenomena in reality. Conceptual logic is a reflection of the structure of logical thought and its logical development in the semantic connections of language elements in speech” (Cited by Buzadzhi, 2007).
1. Errors that violate subject logic. A common cause of object consistency violations is the translator's unwillingness or inability to compare the meaning of his text with the reality described in the original.
1.1. General logical violations are inaccuracies against the reader's background knowledge of the world in general;
At two hundred and forty-seven feet , its wing span is fifty-two feet longer than that of a seven forty-seven jumbo jet.
At an altitude of 75 m, the wingspan of this aircraft is 16 m greater than that of the Boeing 747 / At (value in) 75 m, the wingspan of this aircraft is 16 m more than that of the Boeing 747.
1.2. Special logical violations - errors against the logic of the subject area that is described in this text;
The current is always switched at zero phase angle to prevent RFI. PULSER cannot control 3-phase loads, as one phase is regulated.
In order to avoid radio interference, the current is applied in the zero phase / The current always switches in the zero phase, which prevents electromagnetic interference.
1.3. Private logical violations - violations of logic within a particular segment of the text.
The girl describes how she arrived at the hospital, bleeding:
The people, the folks who let me go ahead of them in the emergency room. What the police insisted. I mean, they gave me this hospital sheet with “Property of La Paloma Memorial Hospital” printed along the edge in indelible blue (Ch. Palahniuk. “ Invisible Monsters”).
The people crowding in front of the emergency room parted as if on cue and let me through. The policemen handed me a sheet on which, at the very edge of the top, was written in indelible ink: “Memorial Hospital of La Paloma” (C. Palahniuk. “The Invisibles.” Translated by Y. Volkova).
When a translator is faced with the fact that this or that place in the original is not completely clear to him, he either translates verbatim and calmly answers all claims that “it says so there”, or generalizes or completely omits an incomprehensible phrase, instead of trying to restore the meaning based on the logic of the context, the described situation and give the reader a complete translation. However, “restoring the meaning” is not guesswork, and the translator must double-check all his assumptions, no matter how true they may seem, by both linguistic and logical analysis. Otherwise, the elements of the situation turn out to be connected, but not in the way they were in the original, and, most often, the broader context conflicts with the “logically” built segment of the text.
Errors of the second kind violations of conceptual logic- appear when the author of the translation does not think about how the language means chosen by him are suitable for solving a given translation task or how the translation is logically consistent in terms of language.
One of the most typical violations of conceptual consistency in translation is distortion of the structure of the actual articulation influenced by the word order in the original text.
|
Researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital set out to determine whether the antioxidant supplements lengthen one "s life. That"s difficult to answer, since most people taking vitamins are healthy. So the researchers identified antioxidant clinical trials large and small, as long as they reported at least one death. Any death counted, whether from heart disease orcancer, kidney failure or hip fractures, murders or suicides.Out of 747 antioxidant trials reviewed, 68 met the bill. |
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen intend to find out whether an antioxidant prolongs human life. Hard answer this question, because most people taking vitamins are healthy. Researchers divide antioxidant clinical trials into small-scale and large-scale trials. only one death has been recorded so far. Any death is taken into account, whether it is heart disease or cancer, kidney disease or a broken leg, murder or suicide. Of the 747 antioxidant samples reviewed, 68 passed. |
Many violations of conceptual logic are expressed in incorrect or unfortunate word usage. The translator does not take into account the immediate environment of the word, as a result of which a conflict sometimes arises between statements that are quite acceptable in form and content or their parts.
The mistake is that the word protection is used in adjacent sentences in two different senses. Changing the content of concepts in the process of proof is a well-known logical error. In our case, it leads to the fact that the image of a woman carrying guards flashes through the reader's head.
Typical errors of conceptual consistency are associated with inability to take into account discrepancies in syntactic structures two languages:
1) When she entered the classroom, the teacher saw that the children were writing.
2) Not started back and fell against the railings, trembling as he looked up.
Glancing up, he recoiled and, trembling, leaned against the fence / He recoiled and leaned against the fence, trembling all over after he looked up.
3) You are the only woman I have ever loved / I have never loved anyone before you.
In order to avoid such errors, the translator must proceed from the presumption of the logical adequacy of the original text and its author. In other words, when translating, it is important to remember that:
Thus, actual translation errors, translation errors in the narrow sense, include errors that lead to a discrepancy between the content of the translation and the original. In a broad sense, the concept of a translation error, in addition, includes errors that reduce the quality of translation as an independent text and violate other regulatory requirements for translation that are not related to equivalence. These are errors, which are violations of the norm and usage of the TL, as well as logical shortcomings of the PT.
The traditional types of translation errors are literalisms and liberties, their selection is focused on determining the cause of the incorrect translation. The classification of errors into semantic ones is most often used (errors in the translation of IT content, errors of understanding and language. Semantic errors are divided into distortions, inaccuracies and ambiguities, and linguistic errors are divided into errors of a lexical, grammatical, stylistic, spelling and punctuation nature. In addition, the text of the translation can be characterized in logical terms, as containing or not containing logical errors of the subject or conceptual type.
Translation is a multifaceted phenomenon, it can be of different types (oral and written) and may involve working with texts of different styles and genres. In this regard, there are classifications of errors in oral and written translation. You can talk about the concept and typology of errors in a literary or technical text, you can build a classification of lexical or grammatical errors in translation (i.e. errors associated with translation, for example, phraseological units or puns or the specific meaning of a verb - i.e. by type original unit). Classifications of errors can be oriented towards the evaluation of the translation, and may involve an analysis not so much of the result of the translation as of the translation process and reflect the possible causes of errors.
Unlike deformations, translation errors are made unconsciously. A few centuries ago, it was rightly noted that the causes of translation errors should be sought, first of all, in the lack of education of the translator. Therefore, the study of the nature of comprehension errors can be built on the basis of an analysis of the translator's cognitive experience, i.e. his individual experience in the cognition of the surrounding reality, both linguistic and extralinguistic.
Insufficient education of the translator is manifested, firstly, in poor knowledge of the original language and, secondly, in insufficient knowledge of the "subject of the author's thought", i.e. what is said in the original text. Moreover, and this is the main aspect of assessing the hermeneutic activity of the translator: the translator must understand not only what the author writes about, but also what he says about the subject, because the subject of thought and thought about the subject are two different things. An inattentive reading of the original text may also be due to a lack of philological education. As a result of the fact that the translator has not developed "linguistic sensitivity", he is unable to understand the peculiarities of the style of the translated work.
In the scientific and educational literature, we have not been able to find a single formal definition of a translation error. However, the analysis of existing classifications and reasoning on this subject allows us to build the following chain of conclusions leading to the development of this concept.
Error is usually defined as incorrectness, unintentional deviation from the normative, standard, correct, deviation from the rules, violation of requirements. Therefore, in order to understand what a translation error (error in translation) is, it is necessary to answer the question of what is correct in translation, the solution of which tasks should ensure error-free translation. Translation in its most general form is defined as the transfer of the content of a text in one language by means of another language. This definition focuses on one of the basic translation requirements - transfer the content of the original. Violation of this requirement, no doubt, is perceived as a mistake. Let us explain here that the content of the text in the translation sense is usually understood as a set of elements of the semantics and structure of the text, fixed by the recipient and participating in the formation of the meaning of the text, which, in turn, is not reduced only to the meanings realized in the text, but represents a global holistic understanding of the text, based incl. on background knowledge, ideas about the state of affairs in the real world, knowledge of the subject area in question, knowledge of the communication situation. Most authors, therefore, understand the error as an unreasonable deviation from the normative requirement of equivalence (i.e. meaningful correspondence of the translation to the original - Schweitzer), as a measure of the inconsistency of the translation with the original (Minyar-Beloruchev), a measure of misleading influence on the reader (Komissarov).
The “meaningful”, semantic errors discussed above are divided into two fundamental types - literalisms and liberties. The definition of these long-established concepts in translation theory can be found in any terminological dictionary, the entire history of translation thought can be seen as an attempt to find a way to balance between these two extremes in translation.
Literalism is a translator's mistake, which consists in the transfer of the formal or semantic components of a word, word, phrase or phrase to the detriment of the meaning or information about the structure (Minyar-Beloruchev, 1999), the transfer of communicatively irrelevant elements of the original, which leads to a violation of the norm and usage of the TL, or the actual content of the original turns out to be distorted (Komissarov, 2002).
Liberty - the transfer of key information without taking into account the formal and semantic components of the source text.
The allocation of liberties and literalisms is the most traditional and, at the same time, narrow approach understanding translation errors. On the one hand, it indicates a violation of only one of the translation norms - the equivalence norm, and on the other hand, it is practically unsuitable for assessing the quality of a translation, does not give an idea of the degree of misleading impact of translation.
In the most general form, the typology of the causes of translation errors when deciphering the system of meanings of the source text can be represented as follows:
- v Insufficient knowledge of the original language.
- v Insufficient cognitive experience. Lack of knowledge about the area of reality described in the original text.
- v Inattentive attitude to the system of meanings contained in the source text. Misunderstanding what the author is saying about the subject.
- v Inability to distinguish the features of the individual style of the author of a speech work.
For methodological purposes, a broader concept of translation error is used to assess the quality of translation. It is based not only on taking into account violations in the transmission of IT content, but also on taking into account errors associated with "adapting this content to new linguistic and ethnic conditions." In other words, the second type of error is the so-called. expression errors, which are both forced (provoked by the original) and not forced violations of the norm and custom of the TL.
Classification of errors based on the works of L.K. Latysheva:
- 1. Errors in the translation of the original content - functionally unmotivated deviations from the content of the original, differing in the degree of misleading impact
- 2. Distortion - subjectively determined deviation of the content of the translation from the original, as a result of which the impacted potential of the TT does not correspond to the impacted potential of IT (misleads the recipient regarding the subject of the message, causes inadequate representations).
- 3. Inaccuracies - deviations from the content of the original, characterized by a lesser degree of misinforming impact; unmotivated omission or addition of information that does not completely distort the content of the original, but requires clarification.
- 4. Ambiguities - a functionally meaningful flaw in the translation, obscuring the meaning of the statement, quite clearly expressed in the source text, often arises due to the indigestibility of syntactic constructions. It may be associated with an unsuccessful choice of word or phrase structure, or due to inadequate use or non-use of a translation technique.
Errors in adaptation the content and forms of its expression to new linguo-ethnic conditions of perception, their reason is the inability to compensate for the discrepancies between the LCC of FL and TL carriers, the so-called. language errors, errors in the design of the text in TL. They are classified according to the types of units of language and speech.
b Lexical error- an error associated with the incorrect use of the main or contextual meaning of the word, as well as a violation of the rules of word compatibility in the TL.
b Grammar mistake- violation of grammatical (including syntactic) norms of the target language, which does not lead to a distortion of the meaning of the original.
b Stylistic error- the use of a word, construction or stylistic means that does not correspond in their functional and linguistic properties to the genre and stylistic variety of texts to which the translation belongs.
b Spelling mistake- an error in the spelling of the words PYa.
b Punctuation error- non-compliance with the rules of punctuation PYa.
Successful translation decisions increase the value of the translation.
The cause of both translation and language errors can be literalisms (more often) and liberties.
Such a system (subject to an assessment of the "cost" of each type of error in relation to distortion) allows you to determine how many and what errors are allowed in the translation of texts of a certain volume. Excellent for 2 thousand characters (1 typewritten page) - the content and style are fully conveyed, the norms of the PY are mostly observed: minor language errors are allowed, with a total “weight” of 1.5 of a complete error). Satisfactory: up to 4 complete errors, incl. 2 semantic.
We see the disadvantage of this classification as the lack of consideration for the quality of the translated text as a text, its textual integrity, consistency, and consistency. It is no secret that translations often contain errors that are detected even without referring to the original, but which are not related to language errors. These are logical errors. Some errors of this type can be correlated with semantic errors in the previous classification, but their selection is carried out in a different way. The classification of logical errors proposed by D.M. Buzadzhi, MSLU, in translation is valuable for editors, employers who do not have the opportunity to assess the compliance of the translation with the original, as well as for the translators themselves, who get an idea about the mechanism of such errors and how to prevent them.
This classification is based on the understanding that “a meaningful text is stitched with logical connections of two types: on the one hand, between parts of the text as a speech work, and on the other hand, between the elements of the situation described in the text” (Buzadzhi, 2007). The first type of logic is called conceptual logic, and the second - subject logic. B.N. Golovin defines these types as follows: “Subject consistency consists in the correspondence of semantic connections and relations of language units in speech to the connections and relations of objects and phenomena in reality. Conceptual logicality is a reflection of the structure of logical thought and its logical development in the semantic connections of language elements in speech.
Errors that violate subject logic. A common cause of object consistency violations is the translator's unwillingness or inability to compare the meaning of his text with the reality described in the original.
- 1. General logical violations - errors against the background knowledge of the reader about the world in general;
- 2. Special logical violations - errors against the logic of the subject area that is described in this text;
- 3. Private logical violations - violations of logic within a particular segment of the text.
When a translator is faced with the fact that this or that place in the original is not completely clear to him, he either translates verbatim and calmly answers all claims that “it says so there”, or generalizes or completely omits an incomprehensible phrase, instead of trying to restore the meaning based on the logic of the context, the described situation and give the reader a complete translation. However, the “restoration of meaning” is not fortune-telling, and the translator must double-check all his assumptions, no matter how true they may seem, both by linguistic and logical analysis. Otherwise, the elements of the situation turn out to be connected, but not in the way they were in the original, and, most often, the broader context conflicts with the “logically” built segment of the text.
Errors of the second kind - violations of conceptual logic- appear when the author of the translation does not think about how the language means chosen by him are suitable for solving a given translation task or how the translation is logically consistent in terms of language.
One of the most typical violations of conceptual consistency in translation is distortion of the structure of the actual articulation influenced by the word order in the original text.
Many violations of conceptual logic are expressed in incorrect or unfortunate word usage. The translator does not take into account the immediate environment of the word, as a result of which a conflict sometimes arises between statements that are quite acceptable in form and content or their parts.
When translating, it is important to remember that:
- 1. the author describes a certain world built according to the laws that do not change throughout the story (this world can either coincide with reality or be fictional);
- 2. The author has sufficient command of the original language and the principles of logical thinking so that the text expresses his thoughts with the degree of clarity and consistency that he deems necessary.
Thus, actual translation errors, translation errors in the narrow sense, include errors that lead to a discrepancy between the content of the translation and the original. In a broad sense, the concept of a translation error, in addition, includes errors that reduce the quality of translation as an independent text and violate other regulatory requirements for translation that are not related to equivalence. These are errors, which are violations of the norm and usage of the TL, as well as logical shortcomings of the PT.
The traditional types of translation errors are literalisms and liberties, their selection is focused on determining the cause of the incorrect translation. The classification of errors into semantic ones is most often used (mistranslation of IT content, errors of understanding and language. Semantic errors are divided into distortions, inaccuracies and ambiguities, and linguistic errors are divided into errors of a lexical, grammatical, stylistic, spelling and punctuation nature. In addition, the text of the translation can be characterized in logical terms, as containing or not containing logical errors of the subject or conceptual type.
Bibliography
translation error literalism vocabulary spelling
- 1. Garbovsky N.K. Translation theory. - M., 2004.
- 2. Komissarov V.N. Translation theory. - M., 1990.
- 3. Komissarov V.N. Modern translation studies. - M., 2001.
- 4. Latyshev L.K. Translation technology. - M., 2001.
- 5. Lvovskaya Z.D. Theoretical problems of translation. - M., 1985.
- 6. Alekseeva I.S. Introduction to translation studies. - St. Petersburg, 2004.
/ Komissarov V.N. "Theory of translation (linguistic aspects)"
295. For a number of practical purposes, such a system of criteria is needed, which would primarily proceed from the gradation of errors based on the degree of distortion of the original content during translation. Such a system should not be purely "arithmetic" in order to enable the evaluator (editor, teacher or critic) to take into account the entire set of normative requirements. At the same time, it should make it possible to digitally evaluate the quality of a translation, say, on a five-point scale. To solve this problem, you can use various methods for classifying semantic errors. As an example, we will give a scheme according to which four main types of errors are distinguished in the text of the translation, which play an unequal role in the subsequent assessment of the quality of the translation:
1. Errors, which are a gross distortion of the content of the original. Such errors lead to the fact that the translation indicates a completely different situation and in fact misinforms the Receptor. They usually arise as a result of a translator's misunderstanding of the content of a given segment of the original. Although these criteria for a gross distortion of meaning in translation may seem very vague and inaccurate, in the vast majority of cases such errors are relatively easy to detect when comparing the translation with the original. It is usually easy to see the cause of the error: incorrect reading of the original text, ignorance of some grammatical or lexical phenomena of the foreign language, lack of technical information necessary for a correct understanding of the units of the original, etc. Let's assume that the English saying C was , indeed , out of concern for the well - being of the eaters the world over that the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO ) was born was translated by the translator as “The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was not created out of concern for the well-being of food consumers around the world”, instead of the correct “The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was just created to care for the well-being of food consumers around the world.” It is quite obvious that in translation the meaning of the statement is actually replaced by the reverse, i.e. this error must be qualified as a gross distortion of the content of the original. It is not difficult to point out the cause of the error. The translator clearly proceeded from the understanding of the union out of as having the meaning "outside", "beyond" (cf. out of sight, out of bounds, etc.), not taking into account that in combinations out of love (consideration, concern, etc .) for takes on a completely different meaning.
2. Errors leading to an inaccurate transfer of the meaning of the original, but not completely distorting it, as in the previous case. As a result, the translation describes the same situation as in the original, but its individual details are not specified accurately enough. As a rule, such errors arise due to an inaccurate understanding of the meaning of some words in the original or an incorrect assessment by the translator of the degree of correspondence between the meanings of the English and Russian terms. It is rather difficult to determine the criteria for identifying such semantic inaccuracies, since there may be unclear or borderline cases. Usually, the evaluating translation is forced to confine itself to the general formula: "there is no complete misinformation, but the meaning is conveyed in this place inaccurately or incompletely."
As an example of a translation in which such a mistake was made, one can cite the incorrect transfer of the name of a period of time in the following statement: Not was one of the best british football players m 1930 "s. - In 1930, he was one of the best football players in England.
The translator did not pay attention to the plural formant when naming the year in the original, showing that it means not one year, but a whole decade - the thirties. The main content of the statement is preserved, but an incorrect date should be regarded as a semantic error.3. Errors that do not violate the general meaning of the original, but reduce the quality of the translation text due to deviations from the stylistic norms of the TL, the use of units that are not commonly used in this type of text, the abuse of foreign borrowings or technical jargon, etc. Such errors are associated with the establishment of equivalence at higher levels than the level of the situation, and in many cases do not affect the overall assessment of the quality of the translation. They can be assessed differently by individual verifiers, cause disagreement among them, sometimes not be recognized as translation errors at all. An example of such errors is the following translation: If the Prime -Minister " s speech made few new points on Britain"s economic light, it was a skilful exercise in rhetoric. - If the Prime Minister's speech did not contain anything new about the plight of the British economy, it was still an example of skillful rhetoric.
Much could be improved in the Russian translation of this statement. First of all, the translator should have chosen not a conditional, but a concessive subordinate clause (Although the speech of the Prime Minister ...). It would be more correct to say: Although the Prime Minister in his speech did not say much that was new ... . The word "British" in Russian is stylistically marked, and he should have preferred the more neutral "English". "Rhetoric" more often means the doctrine of the rules of oratory, and not "oratory" or "eloquence" itself. Instead of "example" one could say "sample". All these corrections could improve the translation stylistically, but they do not affect the essence of the message being conveyed. And in the first version, the translation could be considered quite satisfactory.
4. Violations of the mandatory norms of the target language, which do not affect the equivalence of the translation, but testify to the translator's insufficient knowledge of this language or his inability to overcome the influence of the original language. Errors of this kind give grounds to judge the general language culture and literacy of the translator.