Translation of proverbs and sayings from english into russian language

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Introduction

Problems in general translation field and particularly, in specific translation, have become important as a result of continuous international relations development. Rapidly-developing countries need qualified specialists who have necessary working skills in various spheres of human activity-such as policy, economy, culture and etc. In my course work I tried to consider some peculiarities of translation of proverbs from English into Russian.

Translation is a very ancient kind of human activity. As soon as groups of people with different languages were born in human history, bilinguals appeared and they helped to communicate between collectives of different languages. With the development of the written language, written translators join oral ones. They translated different texts of official, religious and business character. Translation had the main social function at first. It made possible inter-linguistic communication of people. The spreading of the written translation opened to people the wide access to cultural achievements of other nations; it made possible interaction and inter-enrichment of literature and culture. The knowledge of foreign languages let to read original books, but not everybody can earn at least one foreign language.

Theme of my course paper is “Translation of proverbs and sayings from English into Russian language”. I have chosen this theme, because I think it is important part of translation. The objective is to show the proverbs and how to translate them. Because it's very difficult, to translate the sayings and proverbs from other language. First of all, we must know “Phraseology”. In the main part of my course work you, can find the information about proverbs and sayings, because it is very important to know before you going to translate the sayings of the English and Russian langфuages.

Methods of investigation are different: starting with a comparison of the professors theory up to the survey population so-called independent experts.

Then, after the main part you will see the information about the English proverbs and sayings and some their meaning and explaining of them. Because its very essential to know their meanings and the interpreter should explain their means in translation process. But we know how difficult to translate the proverbs.

Translation is the transformation of the message of the source language to the message of the translating language. The exact translation is impossible because of a great number of languages differences in the grammar and the number of words, besides, the distinction of the cultures can influence the way of translating and its results. Translation is the art of revelation. It makes the unknown known. The translator has the fever and craft to recognize, recreate and reveal the works of an other artist. Translation is an art between tongues.

Where multiple English translations are given, the extra translations are own mine. The next part is “Paremiology”.

"Memorable form and which is handed down from generation to generation".

Then, after the “Paremiology” you will see the appendix. The appendix is the practical part of a translator and here you can also find the examples of translating the proverbs and sayings. Of course, it is one of the difficult part, because it's really very hard work to translate the proverbs and it is demanded attention. In these examples you may notice the peculiarities of translating sayings and they are very difference, between English and Russian sayings style.

1. Translation of proverbs

All of this peculiarities you may remark in this part of my course work. If you need it, every time you can take or read my course work. "A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorable form and which is handed down from generation to generation".

The study of proverbs is called: paremiology can be dated back as far as Aristotle. Paremiography, on the other hand, is the collection of proverbs. A prominent proverb scholar in the United States is Wolfgang Mieder. He has written or edited over 50 books on the subject, edits the journal Proverbium, has written innumerable articles on proverbs, and is very widely cited by other proverb scholars. Mieder defines the term proverb as follows:

"A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorable form and which is handed down from generation to generation".

Then, after the “Paremiology” you will see the appendix. The appendix is the practical part of a translator and here you can also find the examples of translating the proverbs and sayings. Of course, it is one of the difficult part, because it's really very hard work to translate the proverbs and it is demanded attention. In these examples you may notice the peculiarities of translating sayings and they are very difference, between English and Russian sayings style. All of this peculiarities you may remark in this part of my course work. If you need it, every time you can take or read my course work.

And the last one is the bibliography. In this part, if you think that my course work is very useful, you can look at the title of books or magazines and then go to the library and find them. And the last one is the bibliography. In this part, if you think that my course work is ver y useful, you can look at the title of books or magazines and then go to the library and find them. And the last one is the bibliography. In this part, if you think that my course work is very useful, you can look at the title of books or magazines and then go to the library and find them.

2. Phraseological word-groups with Transferred meaning

Phraseological units, or idioms, as they are called by most western scholars, represent what can probably be described as the most picturesque, colorful and expressive parts of the language's vocabulary.

If synonyms can be figuratively referred to as the tints and colors of the vocabulary, then phraseology is a kind of picture gallery in which are collected vivid and amusing sketches of the nation's customs, traditions and prejudices, recollections of its past history, scraps of folk songs and fairy-tales. Quotations from great poets are preserved here alongside the dubious pearls of philistine wisdom and crude slang witticisms, for phraseology is not only the most colorful but probably the most democratic area of vocabulary and draws its resources mostly from the very depths of popular speech. And the last one is the bibliography. In this part, if you think that my course work is very useful, you can look at the title of books or magazines and then go to the library and find them. And the last one is the bibliography. In this part, if you think that my course work is very useful, you can look at the title of books or magazines and then go to the library and find them.

And what a variety of odd and grotesque images, figures and personality's one finds in this amazing picture gallery:

(ST) He lies like a gas meter .

(TT) Он лжет как сивый мерин.

(ST) He knows best what good is that has endured evil

(TT)Не познав горечи, не осознает счастья

Sometimes this parade of of funny animals and quaint human beings looks more like a hilarious fancy-dress ball than a peaceful picture gallery and it is really a pity that the only interest some scholars seem to take in it is whether the leading component of the idiom is expressed by a verb or a noun.

3. Proverb

Proverb (from the Latin proverbial), is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. If a proverb is distinguished by particularly good phrasing, it may be known as an aphorism.

Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible (Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe, although almost every culture has examples of its own.

Consider the following examples of proverbs:

(ST)One less problem

(TT)Баба с возу - кобыле легче

(ST)The game isn't worth the candle

(TT)Овчинка выделки не стоит

Even this few examples clearly show that proverbs are different from those phrase logical units which have been discussed above. The first distinctive feature that strikes one is the obvious structural dissimilarity. Phrase logical units, as we have seen, are a kind of ready-made blocks which fit into the structure of a sentence performing a certain syntactical function, more or less as words do.

(TT) George liked her for she never put on airs (predicate).

(TT) Big bugs like him care nothing about small fry like ourselves.(a) subject.

b) Prepositional object).

Proverbs, if viewed in their structural aspect, are sentences, and so cannot be used in the way in which phraseological units are used in the above examples.

If one compares proverbs and phrase logical nits in the semantic aspects, the difference seems to become even more obvious. Proverbs could be best compared with minute fables for, like the latter, they sum up the collective experience of the community. They moralize (Hell is paved with good intentions), give warning (If you sing before breakfast, you will cry before night.), admonish (Liars should have good memories), criticize (Everyone calls his own geese swans).

No phraseological units ever do any of these things. The do not stand for whole statements as proverbs do but for a single concept. Their function in speech is purely nominative (i.e. they denote an object, an act, etc.). the function of proverbs in speech, though, is communicative. (i.e. they impart certain information.

The question of whether or not proverbs should be regarded as a subtype of phrase logical units and studied together with the phraseology of a language is a controversial one.

Professor A.V.Koonin includes proverbs in his classification of phrase logical units and labels them communicative phraseological units. From his point of view, one of the main criteria of a phrase logical unit is its stability, if the quotient of parasitological stability in a word-group is not below the minimum, it means that we are dealing with a phrase logical unit. The structural type - that is, whether the unit is a combination of words or a sentence - is irrelevant.

The criterion of nomination and communication can not be applied here either, says Professor A.V. Koonin, because there are a considerable number of verbal phraseological units which are word-groups (i.e. nominative units) when the verb is used in the Active Voice, and sentence (i.e. communicative units) when the verb is used in the Passive Voice. E.g. to cross (pass) the Rubicon - the Rubicon is crossed (passed); to shed crocodile tears - crocodile tears are shed. Hence, if one accepts nomination as a criterion of referring or not referring this or that unit to phraseology, one is faced with the absurd conclusion that such word-groups, when with verbs in the Active Voice, are phrase logical units and belong to the system of the language, and when with verbs in the Passive Voice, are non-phraseological word-groups and do not belong to the system of the language.

It may be added, as one more argument in support of this concept, that there does not seem to exist any rigid or permanent border-line between proverbs and phraseological units as the letter rather frequently originate from the former.

So, the phraseological unit the last straw originated from the proverb

(ST) The last straw breaks the camel's back

(TT)

the phraseological unit birds of a feather from the proverb

(ST) Birds of a feather flock together

(TT)

the phraseological unit to catch at a straw (straws) from

(ST) A drowning man catches at straws.

(TT)

What is more, some of the proverbs are easily transformed into phraseological units.

(ST) Don't put all your eggs in one basket> to put all one's eggs in one basket; don't cast pearls before swine>to cast pears before swine.

Justine 1st of June

3rd course paper

4. English proverbs

Below is a list of English language proverbs and sayings [from various cultures and parts of the world, natch] that I have attempted to translate literally into Russian. I am not a big fan of translating the meaning, especially when there is such a dearth of native-speakers of both languages that can attest to the translation's correctness. So, I have gone more for a word-for-word translation, and I think with most of these proverbs, the meaning should be easy to see. They are not overly idiomatic, is the point I'm trying to make.

Where multiple Russian translations are given, the extra translations are mine.

The following proverbs are from a little gem of a book titled “English proverbs and sayings with their Russian equivalents” compiled by Modestov Valeryi and published in 2007. Most of these English proverbs require meanings for better understanding in English. In fact, I may have gotten some explanations wrong from what I pulled out of the context of the paragraph in which these jewels were nested. If you are a well-known English reader and know a better meaning, please do correct them in the comments section. Or better yet, add your own proverbs with meanings.

(SТ) Quarrelling dogs come halting home

(TT) Драчливые собаки домой хромыми приходят

(ST) Put your hand no further than your sleeve will reach

(TT) Не тяни руку дальше рукава

Brokerage is a very profitable trade and to be successful at it you must be a vivacious and eloquent orator as well.

(ST)“Unship would walk among the woods in the same fashion that a critic would walk among countries.”

Premiology

The study of proverbs is called: paremiology (from Greek рбспймЯб - paroimнa, "proverb") and can be dated back as far as Aristotle. Paremiography, on the other hand, is the collection of proverbs. A prominent proverb scholar in the United States is Wolfgang Mieder. He has written or edited over 50 books on the subject, edits the journal Proverbium, has written innumerable articles on proverbs, and is very widely cited by other proverb scholars. Mieder defines the term proverb as follows:

A proverb is a short, generally known sentence of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorizable form and which is handed down from generation to generation.

Subgenres include proverbial comparisons (“as busy as a bee”), proverbial interrogatives (“Does a chicken have lips?”) and twin formulas (“give and take”).

Another subcategory is wellerisms, named after Sam Weller from Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers (1837). They are constructed in a triadic manner which consists of a statement (often a proverb), an identification of a speaker (person or animal) and a phrase that places the statement into an unexpected situation:

(ST) “Every evil is followed by some good,” as the man said when his wife died the day after he became bankrupt”

(TT)

Yet another category of proverb is the "anti-proverb". In such cases, people twist familiar proverbs to change the meaning. Sometimes the result is merely humorous, but the most spectacular examples result in the opposite meaning of the standard proverb. Examples include

(ST) "Nerds of a feather flock together"

(TT)

(ST) "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and likely to talk about it"

(TT)

and

(ST) "Absence makes the heart grow wander"

(TT)

A similar form is proverbial expressions (“to bite the dust”). The difference is that proverbs are unchangeable sentences, while proverbial expressions permit alterations to fit the grammar of the context.

Another close construction is an allusion to a proverb, such as

(ST) "The new broom will sweep clean."

(TT)

Typical stylistic features of proverbs (as Shirley Arora points out in her article

The Perception of Provability are:



Drawing 1

In some languages, assonance, the repetition of a vowel, is also exploited in forming artistic proverbs, such as the following extreme example from Oromo, of Ethiopia.

kan mana baala, a'laa gaala

(ST) “A leaf at home, but a camel elsewhere"

(TT)

somebody who has a big reputation among those who do not know him well.)

Internal features that can be found quite frequently include:

Hyperbole (ST) (All is fair in love and war)

(TT)

Paradox (ST) (For there to be peace there must first be war)

(TT)

Personification (ST) (Hunger is the best cook)

(TT)

To make the respective statement more general most proverbs are based on a metaphor. Further typical features of the proverb are its shortness (average: seven words), and the fact that its author is generally unknown (otherwise it would be a quotation).

In the article “Tensions in Proverbs: More Light on International Understanding,” Joseph Raymond comments on what common Russian proverbs from the 1700s and 1800s portray: Potent antiauthoritarian proverbs reflected tensions between the Russian people and the Czar. The rollickingly malicious undertone of these folk verbalizations constitutes what might be labeled a `paremiological revolt.' To avoid openly criticizing a given authority or cultural pattern, folk take recourse to proverbial expressions which voice personal tensions in a tone of generalized consent. Thus, personal involvement is linked with public opinion. Proverbs that speak to the political disgruntlement include: “When the Czar spits into the soup dish, it fairly bursts with pride”; “If the Czar be a rhymester, woe be to the poets”; and “The hen of the Czarina herself does not lay swan's eggs.” While none of these proverbs state directly, “I hate the Czar and detest my situation” (which would have been incredibly dangerous), they do get their points across.

Proverbs are found in many parts of the world, but some areas seem to have richer stores of proverbs than others (such as West Africa), while others have hardly any (North and South America).

Proverbs are often borrowed across lines of language, religion, and even time. For example, a proverb of the approximate form

(ST)“No flies enter a mouth that is shut”

(TT) Не судите да не судимы будете

is currently found in Spain, Ethiopia, and many countries in between. It is embraced as a true local proverb in many places and should not be excluded in any collection of proverbs because it is shared by the neighbors. However, though it has gone through multiple languages and millennia, the proverb can be traced back to an ancient Babylonian proverb.

Let's look at how many percentage of people from different countries use proverbs and aphorisms. Strangely enough, most Russians are used in everyday life proverbs and sayings (50%) and in Kazakhstan for more than 47% of the population uses the ancient Kazakh proverb, with half of the population are Russian citizens, mostly proverbs can be seen as titles of newspaper and magazine articles, or heard on national TV. unfortunately, only in the U.S. less than 12% of the population use proverbs in their daily lives, mainly from America prefer to use the sayings and slang to embellish his speech.



Drawing 2 Dead-Line 1st of June

Less interesting table of proverbs of the most popular proverbs in our country is given to prove frequently used proverbs in a poll of the population of Almaty.

(ST) The more the merrier.

(TT) В тесноте да не в обиде.

(ST) The voice of one man is the voice of no one.

(TT)Один в поле не воин; Голос одного человека не в счет.

(ST) There is по place like home.

(TT)В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше.

(ST) There is no smoke without fire

(TT)Нет дыма без огня; Без ветра камыш не качается

Proverbs are used by speakers for a variety of purposes. Sometimes they are used as a way of saying something gently, in a veiled way. Other times, they are used to carry more weight in a discussion, a weak person is able to enlist the tradition of the ancestors to support his position. Proverbs can also be used to simply make a conversation/discussion livelier. In many parts of the world, the use of proverbs is a mark of being a good orator.

The study of proverbs has application in a number of fields. Clearly, those who study folklore and literature are interested in them, but scholars from a variety of fields have found ways to profitably incorporate the study proverbs. For example, they have been used to study abstract reasoning of children, acculturation of immigrants, intelligence, the differing mental processes in mental illness, cultural themes, etc. Proverbs have also been incorporated into the strategies of social workers, teachers, preachers, and even politicians.

Conclusion

However inspiring and revealing, results of this limited probe, presented so far, do require a further research, based on more data. Nevertheless, a few more concluding remarks might be relevant.

While, on the one hand, no single introducer has been found to fulfill its role uniquely, having, thus, a monopoly on the introducing function, some of the introducers, on the other hand, do show a pronounced tendency for this.

Semantically and pragmatically, proverbs express truth (a view stated over and over again) which is general, typical and, often, accepted as normative, while being, formally, familiar to most users. What has not been investigated here and what is thus merely accepted as true is the types of situation in which proverbs are used. Most probably, this might prototypically be seen as one between two partners knowing each other, where there is the distinction older-younger and experienced-less experienced to be observed. The use of introducers seems to confirm this. Since speakers ideally belong to older and more experienced of the two, introducers and proverbs are used by them. Accordingly, the prevalent use of both proverbs and their introducers should be in direct speech, while no such conclusion is true of collocation idioms. Yet in practice, the distinction between direct and indirect speech is rather blurred and it is often difficult to distinguish between them.

Though different in their frequency and variety of forms found, there seems to be no basic difference in meaning and function between introducers used with the collocation and proverb idioms.

"We live in the world of information technologies that have come to stay in our life. The attempts to use the universal language like Esperanto have not brought to its world-wide use and the only way to escape the language disparity is the translation that was known from the most ancient times. The translation is the multifaceted phenomenon and some aspects of it can be the subjects of the research of different sciences. In the frames of the science of translation psychological, literature critical, ethnographical and other points of translation as well as the history of translation in one or other country are being studied. The main place in the modern translation belongs to linguistic translation, which studies the translation as linguistic phenomenon.

Translation may provide multiple ways for translator/researchers to extend the research agenda of business communication and to contribute to that of other disciplines. As instructors of business communication, translation has been a survival strategy.

Every course works or searches under projects can help you. Because when I was passing professional practice I had met more type of official documents. At the professional practice I worked at company where I learned more about this theme. And I have remarked the more type and forms of English documents which I have to translate into Russian language. And by this course paper I haven't felt any problems of translating the documents. And this theme of my course paper I have chosen by me is more instructive about sayings and proverbs between these two great languages which enriches my languages.

Working under course paper or some science projects you always expand your knowledge and you know other unknown things for you. If this scientific project is connected with your specialty or your future job it's good just for you, because it is useful and may improve your skills.

With the help of this my course work I have learned more about proverbs and sayings and their meanings, and also more about paremiology and world proverbs. The difficult and importance of my course paper is the main part, because it was difficult for me to find the theory about proverbs and sayings and their translation. Because if you know that to find information connected with the theme of my course work is almost impossible. I spent a lot of time in the reading rooms and searched for materials to write my course work. Then I went to the internet club and also searched the materials about “Translations of proverbs and sayings from English into Russian language”. Then in the book shop I have found just translations for proverbs and sayings of these two languages. In the end, I have found, what I wanted.

Bibliography

1. Forman “The group report: Problems in small group or writing processes?”The Journal of Business Communication, 23(4), 1986

2. Forman, Janis, “More Than Survival: The Discipline of Business Communication and Uses of Translation”The Journal of Business Communication.Volume: 35. Issue: 1, 1998

3. Grzybek, Peter."Proverb." Simple Forms: An Encyclopaedia of Simple Text-Types in Lore and Literature, ed. Walter

4. Mieder 1982; 1990; 1993. International Proverb Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography, with supplements. New York: Garland Publishing.

5. Mieder 1994. Wise Words. Essays on the Proverb. New York: Garland.

6. Mieder 2001. International Proverb Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography. Supplement III (1990-2000). Bern, New York: Peter Lang.

7. Mieder 1994. The wisdom of many: essays on the proverb. (Originally published in 1981 by Garland.) Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

8. Mieder 2004. Proverbs: A Handbook. (Greenwood Folklore Handbooks). Greenwood Press.

9. Mieder Twisted Wisdom: Modern Anti-Proverbs. DeProverbio.

10. Mieder, 1982. Proverbs in Nazi Germany: The Promulgation of Anti-Semitism and Stereotypes Through Folklore. The Journal of American Folklore 95, No. 378, pp. 435-464. Dingwaney A. “Between languages and cultures: Translation and crosscultural texts”University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, - 1995

11. Mitchell, David. 2001. Go Proverbs (reprint of 1980). ISBN 0-9706193-1-6. Slate and Shell.

12. Schulte J.R. “The craft of translation”The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1989

13. Schulte R. “Theories of translation: An anthology of essays from Dryden to Derrida”The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1992

14. Warren R. “The art of translation: Voices from the fieldNortheastern University Press, Boston, 1992

15. Wellek R. “A history of modern criticism: 1750 - 1950: The Romantic age”. (Vol.2). Yale University Press, New Haven, 1955

proverb saying phraseological translating

Appendix

(ST) Малыш в доме - хорошо как удовольствие весной

(TT) A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure

(ST) Плохое начало сделает плохой конец

(TT) A bad beginning makes a bad ending

(ST)Плохой компромисс лучше, чем хороший судебный

(TT) A bad compromise is better than a good lawsuit

(ST) Неудачные пенни всегда возвращается

(TT) A bad penny always comes back

(ST) Плохой жнец никогда не имел хорошие стрижки.

(TT) A bad reaper never had a good shears.

(ST) Плохой рабочий ссорится с его инструментами

(TT) A bad workman quarrels with his tools

(ST)Парикмахер учится бриться, брея дураков (TT) A barber learns to shave by shaving fools

(ST) Сделка есть сделка

(TT) A bargain is a bargain

(ST) Дыхание ветра

(TT) A breath of wind

(ST) Сломанная дружба может быть спаяна, но никогда не будет звуковая.

(TT) A broken friendship may be soldered, but will never be sound.

(ST) бык в китайском магазине

(TT) A bull in a china shop

(TT) A bully is always a coward

(ST) Бремя собственного выбора не чувствуют

(TT) A burden of one's own choice is not felt

(ST) К огню не пускать

(TT) A burnt child dreads the fire

(ST) Нет времени для пустяков

(TT) A busy bee has no time for sorrow

(TT) A feather in the hand is better than a bird in the air

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