The translation of articles in business text
General characteristics of official documents. The distinctive features of English language in official documents. The translation of official documents. Problems of adequate translation of official business papers. The functions omission of articles.
| Рубрика | Иностранные языки и языкознание |
| Вид | курсовая работа |
| Язык | английский |
| Дата добавления | 19.05.2015 |
| Размер файла | 63,2 K |
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Style is expressed in proper combination of words rather than only in stylistic coloring of the individual words. Thus, any good translation should be fulfilled with due regard of the stylistic peculiarities of the source text and this applies to all text types rather than only to fiction.
It is well known that adequacy and accuracy of international contract translation, its legal terminology help to avoid disputes. In comparison with other documents translation of contract is at the same time easiest and hardest one. This translation is one of the easiest because texts of contract are well structurized, they have strictly formulated standard articles. However, it is one of the hardest because origin and realization of legal systems are revealed in it. Quality of translation is characterized by adequacy. There are some cases when translation seems to be adequate from the linguistic point of view but it is inadequate according to professional language of translation. One should take into account contextual variety of lexeme meanings, which must be translated because in certain case it can have special meaning.
Text of contract includes great number of special legal, economical, commercial terminology. One should avoid verbiage, repetition, archaic language, long sentences, inaccuracy of formulation, disparity (between articles of contract), usage of subjunctive mood. Translation of documents is rather complicated process. There are no subjective standards as for the quality of legal translation, but its main criterion is absence of problems and negative consequences caused by translation. Why is it so difficult to translate text of document? First of all each word has not only initial meaning but also some peculiarities which were formed as the result of its development in certain context.
Polysemantic words of one language and also words similar by their form are spread in other languages. Secondly, legal language is considered to be separate even inside one language. Words and phrases of this language can have special meaning which has been formulated for centuries. Thirdly, every language has a lot of words of same origin (for example Latin) that are interpreted by legal lexicon of different languages. For example word 'contract': thing that is called contract in French law is not contract in American law. Fourthly, there are different variants of one language. English encloses legal languages of Great Britain, USA, Australia, Canada and other countries. They all can vary syntactically, lexically and semantically. Fifthly, every language5 has its grammar peculiarities. That is why translator has to interpret text of document. But the question is whether text of contract should be translated or interpreted. Practice shows that legal texts should be translated. According to general rule, texts of polylingual contracts must be identical in content and form as though drawn up in one language. It is to be reached by the translation of source text into target language in that way to correspond to source text.
While comparing original texts and their translations three main principles of quality of this effect are distinguished: structure, content and potential of influence. Source and translated texts must be equal in their ability to evoke same reactions of their addressees.
Doing translation it is necessary to maintain structure of source text of contract. While rendering structure and syntax of one language into structure and syntax of another language one should decide whether to keep textual form strictly and have a risk of inadequate linguistic standard of translation or to use more free translation which might undermine legal accuracy. To solve this problem it is necessary to analyze legal terms to avoid word-for-word translation that not always explains the meaning of term. It should be noted that trying to choose words identical in form with terms in other language you are making mistake because terms can have different legal meaning.lt is also recommended not to make free interpretation of text and to use moderate level of transformation. Identical and adequate translation is the main task and characteristics of ethno- linguistic barrier overcoming. Difficulty of this task while drawing up contract is that parties think and speak different languages, they also use special language, i.e. technical, economical, legal terminology semantic meaning of which can diverge in different languages. Thus, in structure of ethno-linguistic barrier there is special level - conceptual barrier. In texts of international contracts it concerns first of all legal terminology. Very often in legal system of one language there are no institutions, concepts and corresponding terms which would transmit corresponding terminology of another party's legal system adequately. If there is no identical term in one language which explains meaning of foreign term it is recommended to use one of three ways to cope with this situation: 1. Borrowing;
2. Explanation; 3. New term formation.
But it should be mentioned that one must be careful with foreign words usage in business communication and writing. If foreign terms passed into active vocabulary of international communication they can be used in certain business papers. These are financial lexics and legal terminology.
New term fonnation is rarely used, only when contracting parties agreed on the meaning of certain terms and there is a need in new terms.
2.3 Article as a part of speech. Theoretical and practical aspects.
Definition
The issues relevant to the nature of the English article have been the focus of attention of early descriptive English Grammar books since the 16th century and it is intensively studied nowadays.
In the 16lh-18th centuries the article was considered as a noun determiner. There was, however, a different point of view when the article was included into the adjective. Besides, there existed different approaches to English articles. According to G. Mironets, the article was considered as part of the Noun, as a separate part of speech and as a particle. The terms ''definite” and ''indefinite” were first used by J.Howell in 1662.
Being aware of numerous points of view regarding the status of the article in the English language we share the view presented by B. Khaimovich and B. Rogovskaya who considered the article a separate part of speech. They consider that the two words a(an), the form a separate group or class characterized by:
a) the lexico-grammatical meaning of ”(in)definiteness”,
b) the right-hand combinability with nouns,
c) the function of noun specifiers
The lexical meaning of a(n) in Modern English is a very weak reminder of its original meaning (OE. an=one). In spite of the long process of weakening there remains enough of the original meaning in a(n) to exclude the possibility of its being attached to a ''plural” noun.
The lexical meaning of the in Modern English is a pale shadow of its original demonstrative meaning.
The general lexico-grammatical meaning of these words, as usual, is not identical with their individual lexical meanings. It abstracts itself from the meaning of ''oneness” in a(n) and the ''demonstrative” meaning in the. Perhaps, the names of the articles (''definite”, ''indefinite”) denote the nearest approach to this lexico-grammatical meaning, which, for lack of a better term, might be defined as that of ''definiteness-indefiniteness”.
The article is a form word that serves as a noun determiner. It is one of the main means of conveying the idea of definiteness and indefiniteness.
Definiteness suggests that the object presented by the following noun is individualized and singled out from all the other objects of the same kind, whereas indefiniteness means a more general reference to an object.
The lexical meaning of the English articles is determined by its historical development. That is why after considering the historical development of the English articles their rendering into Russian becomes obvious. Under the influence of the historical processes that took place both in phonetical and grammatical structure of the English language the article as a part of speech has undergone major changes. Its origin goes deep into the history of the English language both definite and indefinite articles. This explains the fact that when translating articles we get equivalents (in other languages) of various types. That is why we consider it necessary to present all stages of the historical formation of the English article.
3. The functions of articles. The use of the Indefinite Article
1. With countable nouns, both concrete and abstract, the indefinite article is used when we want to name an object (thing, person, animal, abstract notion), to state what kind of object is meant:
e.g. He gave her a cigarette and lighted it.
There came a tap at the door, and a small elderly man entered the room, wearing a cloth cap.
This function may be called the nominating function. It is the main function of the indefinite article with countable nouns.
But at the same time, owing to its origin from the numeral one, the indefinite article always implies the idea of oneness and is used only before nouns in the singular (including such words as alms, barracks, bellows, works, headquarters, etc. which may be singular in meaning).
Alongside of the above mentioned structural meanings the indefinite article may have some other functions, which are to be regarded as its additional meanings (or additional functions). As will be seen, they always result from the principal function. We may trace the following additional meanings in the indefinite article.
The indefinite article may express indefiniteness, since when we just name an object it is often indefinite in our mind.
e.g. He's got a job now.
She was going to tell us a story.
But this additional meaning is not necessarily expressed by the indefinite article. Thus we may hardly speak of the indefiniteness of the object in the following examples:
You 're a scientist and your attitude should be realistic.
I've a brother in Dorset and 1 could stay with him.
The indefinite article may have the classifying meaning since by naming an object we often refer it at the same time to. a class of similar objects and thus contrast it to other classes of objects. This function is clearly manifest when the noun is used as a predicative or in apposition, also when it is introduced by as or like.
e.g. She is a war orphan.
I saw Ann talking with her cousin, a shy-youth of twenty.
The city looked to him as brilliant as a precious stone.
She. told him that he could not treat Charles like a child.
But it would be far-fetched to speak of the classifying meaning in such cases as:
He has a father whom he goes to see quite often.
We are going to a concert tonight.
By just naming an object the speaker is likely to make reference to an object that is new to the hearer. So the indefinite article is often used to introduce a new element in the sentence. Since a new element is, as a rule, important and attracts attention, a noun with the indefinite article frequently becomes the centre
in meaning:
e.g. Then he said: "1 know it's not so easy for a woman to refuse a gift." Under the circumstances a normal girl would be heartbroken.
but not Betty.
A boy's first toy is very important. It colours his whole afterlife.
Occasionally the indefinite article acquires the additional meaning of acertain, which is also closely connected with its main function:
e.g.But James obscurely felt that he was committed to a line of action and must go through with it. "You're pretty confident up to a point, aren't you?" he asked.
The other additional meanings of the indefinite article are less important, as I they are not often found and their use is, in the main, restricted to certain patterns and set phrases.
The indefinite article always implies the idea of oneness and it sometimes becomes quite prominent. The indefinite article is then said to be. used with numeric force. It occurs in the following cases:
a) a hundred, a thousand, a minute, a mile, etc.;
b) after the negative not: not a word, not a trace, not a thought,etc.;
c) in some set phrases: one at a time, at a draught (as in: heemptied his glass at a draught), a stitch in time saves nine, etc.
In certain patterns and set phrases the indefinite article acquires the meaning of the same, as in:
They are much of a size.
We are of an age.
Birds of a feather flock together.
In the following pattern the indefinite article is said to acquire distributive force: once a month, twice a week, three times a year, etc.
It should be pointed out that all the above mentioned additional meanings of the indefinite article result from its main nominating function and from the meaning of oneness which is always implied with countable nouns. Depending on the context those meanings may or may not be expressed by the article. Sometimes more than one additional function finds its expression in the sentence. Thus in I am a teacher the classifying and the communicating meanings are clearly seen; in He bought a book indefiniteness is expressed along with the communicating function.
But it is only the nominating function alongside of the idea of oneness that is always uppermost when the indefinite article is associated with countable nouns.
2. With uncountable nouns, the indefinite article serves to bring out a special aspect of the notion expressed by the noun. In this case its function may be called aspective.
e.g. A dull burning anger rose in his chest. He had almost a supernatural courage. Her presence stirred him usually to a shy swift eagerness.
In this case the noun is usually qualified by an attribute which also brings out a special aspect, though occasionally it may be used without any attribute:
e.g. There was a warmth between them, a sense of waiting.
In its aspective function the indefinite article is devoid of the idea of oneness, which may be proved by the fact that we do not find such plurals as burning angers or supernatural courages.
The aspective use of the indefinite' article is mainly characteristic of literary style. In bringing out a special aspect of the notion expressed by the noun the author usually strives for expressiveness, desiring to attract the attention of the reader to this or that particular noun. With the attention'focused on the noun, the latter generally becomes the centre of communication and thus the aspective function of the indefinite article is usually found side by side with its communicating function.
3. With nouns which have no reference to the category of countabil-ity(i.e. nouns denoting unique things and notions) the indefinite article has the same meaning as with uncountable nouns: it is used in its aspective function and at the same time its communicating function becomes very prominent.
e.g. The moon hung in the sky, a young silver moon in the pale summer night.
He was sure in those days that a brilliant future was awaiting his son.
3.2 The use of the Definite Article
1. When used with countable nouns, both concrete and abstract, the definite article has two distinct functions.
a) It may be used with singular and plural nouns to show that the noun denotes a particular object (thing, person, animal, abstract notion) or a group of objects as distinct from the others of the same kind. We may also say that the definite article serves to single out an object or several objects from all the other objects of the same class. This function is called the defining function of the definite article, e.g. Arm herself had no doubt of the reason behind Mr. March's invitation. I called at her house on my way home one night, just after we had all received the letters asking us to dine; 1 found Ann alone. For the first time in the years 1 had known her, her courage would not answer her. As we stood on the steps, we felt the smell of fallen leaves coming from the garden.
Sometimes the demonstrative force which is inherent in the definite article owing to its origin becomes quite prominent. This occurs in a number of phrases, such as nothing of the kind, at the time, at the moment, under the circumstances, etc.
As it has been said, the definite article serves to indicate that the noun with which it is associated is not the centre of communication, i.e. that the attention of the speaker is not focused on that object. But it has also been pointed out that the definite article may be associated with a noun which is the centre of communication.
b) The definite article may also have the generic function with countable nouns.
With nouns in the singular it serves to indicate that the noun becomes the symbol of the class, that it is meant as its composite image:
e.g. The tiger has always had the reputation of being a man-eater.
There was a streak of the gambler in her.
With nouns in the plural it is used in this function only when the idea of collectivity is emphasized:
e.g. "I shan't have time for your moral sensitivity, "he said, "until
we've beaten the fascists and got a decent world. "
2. With uncountable nouns the function of the definite article may be called restricting. The definite article restricts the abstract notion expressed by an uncountable noun to a concrete instance (a); it also restricts the material denoted by a concrete uncountable noun to a definite quantity, portion or to a definite locality
(b):
e.g. a) I did not wish to betray the anxiety 1 felt.
He rested in the certainty that his duty was done.
b) "Robert, "said Aunt Lin, coming in pink and indignant, "did you know that you left the fish on the hall table and : it has soaked through to the mahogany?" As we came out into the cold damp air she shivered.
3. When the definite article is associated with nouns which have no reference to the category of countability it has its defining function. It naturally refers to a definite object, as the noun denotes a thing or notion that is unique:
e.g. The moon set, and in the sky the countless stars shone with their terrifying brilliance.
We each knew that this quarrel was different from those in the past.
Absence of the Article (The Zero Article)
The absence of the article (the zero article) has only one function with common nouns and this is synonymous with the main structural meaning of the indefinite article: it is the nominating function.
This function of the absence of the article may be found with countable nouns in the plural; it is parallel to the use of the indefinite article with singular
nouns. But while the indefinite article is associated with the idea of oneness, the zero article always implies more-than-oneness:
e.g. As Robert got out of the car Marion came round the corner of the house, wearing gardening gloves and a very old skirt.
When her friends came to tea, my mother would give me some pennies to buy apples or a magazine.
She sleeps very soundly. She had a splitting headache and took an aspirin and sleeping pills.
The road led across a stream and then through woods and open clearings.
Like the indefinite article, the zero article may convey some additional meanings. It may sometimes express indefiniteness and perform the classifying and the communicating functions.
The nominating function of the zero article is also found with uncountable nouns, both abstract and concrete (names of materials):
e.g.Last night'I felt friendship and sympathy for Henry, but today he has become an enemy.
If he is so interested in justice he might do something about that.
Winterbourne asked for water and. drank thirstily.
The place smelled of dust.
Some grammars point out the introductory function of the indefinite article and the anaphoric function of the definite article. It is not correct, however, to regard the use of the indefinite article with nouns mentioned for the first time and the use of the definite article to refer back to an object' which has already been mentioned as structural meanings inherent in the articles themselves. We rather deal with certain situations here in which the nominating function of the indefinite article and the defining function of the definite article are manifest.
The above description of the various functions of articles and their significant absence may be summed up in the table.
As can be seen from the table, the use of the articles depends on the character of the noun. But in English there are many polysemantic nouns which may be countable in one meaning and uncountable in another. As a result, the functions of the articles vary in accordance with the different meanings in which a noun appears.
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Countable nouns |
Uncountable nouns |
Nouns having no reference to the category of |
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countability |
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With singular nouns - the |
The aspective function |
The aspective function |
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nominating function + |
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Oneness |
Additional functions: |
Additional functions: |
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Additional functions: |
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1) indefiniteness |
Communicating |
communicating |
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2) classifying |
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3) communicating |
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4) any |
* |
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5) a certain |
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6) numeric 7) the same |
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8) distributive |
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With singular and plural nouns 1. the defining function |
The restricting function |
The defining function |
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The |
2. the generic function |
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With plural nouns - the |
The nominating |
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nominating function + more- |
function |
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than-oneness |
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О |
Additional functions: 1) indefiniteness |
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2) classifying |
» |
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3) communicating |
3.3 Omission of the article
Sometimes the article is not used where we naturally expect to find it in accordance with the rules. No change of meaning is observed in these cases.
The article is often omitted in newspaper headings, telegrams, in stage directions.
Gas Blast Kills Woman. (Dally Worker) Girl Gymnast Keeps Title. (Moscow News)
The article is often omitted with homogeneous members closely connected with each other and joined by the conjunction and. In most cases they go in pairs.
The breakfast was taken away and that meal over, it was the general custom of uncle and niece to separate. (Ch. Bronte)
Our analyses of theoretical and practical aspects of the English articles enabled to make the following conclusions:
1. Considering the process of the historical development of the English articles there appeared two concepts according to the first of which the article is the notional part of speech and according to the second it is one of the forms of Adjectives. Most scientists supported the first point of view in the 19th century, but at the same time there existed a theory that included the article into the class of Pronouns or into the class of Adjectives. In the 20th century the article was not considered to be a notional part of speech by a wide range of scientists. In our work we support the thought that the article is a notional part of speech as it posesses three characteristics (the lexico-gtammatical meanings of ”(in)definiteness”; the right-hand combinability with nouns; the function of noun specifiers) which make us believe that the English article is a notional part of speech.
2. The syntactical role of the article consists in marking off a noun or a noun phrase as a part of the sentence.
3. The morphological value of the article lies in indicating the substantivization of other parts of speech, mainly adjectives or participles, also pronouns, adverbs, numerals.
4. The main functions of the indefinite article are: classifying, generic and numerical.
5. The two main functions of the definite article are specifying and generic.
6. The absence of any article, which is sometimes referred to as the zero article, is as meaningful as their actual use. It is regularly observed with countable nouns in the plural, with non-counts used in a general sense., with proper nouns.
7. The omission of an article differs from the absence of an article in that it is stylistically or traditionally determined.
3.4. Rendering of the contextual meaning of the definite and indefinite articles in translation
Most researchers do not pay enough attention to the translation of the articles. But nevertheless some of them consider that when rendering the lexical meaning of the definite and indefinite articles into Russian one should consider that they are meaningful and attention should be payed to their functional meanings in the sentences or word-combinations.
One of the researches who supports the idea of the necessity of translating definite and indefinite articles is Korunets. He thinks that the article, both the definite and indefinite, is a functional word serving to identify or determine the noun (cf. to work-the work), the superlative degree of its quality (the tallest tree) or the order of nouns in a word-group (the first step) or in a row of similar nouns. In some prepositional phrases and word-combinations the definite and indefinite articles, however, may change their iexico-grammatical nature (become a particle), as in the expression the more, the better (чем болъгие, тем лучше), or acquire some peculiar grammatical, functional and lexical meaning (the Browns/Petrenkos семья Браунов/Петренко); the article may be lexicalized as in the Alps/the Carpathians Альпы/Карпаты, at the baker's/butcher's у пекаря/мясника (в хлебном /мясном магазине). Such and the like lexicalized articles, naturally, in no way weaken or lose their determining, i.e., grammatical function. As a result, their lexical meaning is inseparable in these cases from their functional meaning. The determining and lexicalizing nature of the definite and indefinite articles also manifests itself in several set expressions (cf. in the cart, in a word, what a pity, all of a sudden, etc.)
1) On several other occasions the definite/indefinite article may acquire some lexical meaning in contextual environment (only for a time) and thus serve as a peculiar means of «expressive connotation»!. This kind of articles is each time endowed in different contextual environments with some quite different meaning, which may be, nevertheless, of implicitly different semantic and lexico- grammatical/ logically-grammatical type, as for instance, that of a demonstrative, possessive, identifying, indefinite or some other pronoun: Cf: He lived more poorly than an artisan. (S. Maugham) Он л сил беднее какого-нибудь ремесленника. Corot never sold a 'picture. (Ibid) Каро не продал ни одной картины.
2) That of an adjunctive/identifying adjective and a specifying or modal particle:
... and she had acquired a reputation for neatness and accuracy (Maugham) и она заработала солидную репутацию за свою порядочность и аккуратность. She would have called him a fish. (Carrol) Она бы назвала его просто карасем.
3) A distinctly nominal or rather nominalizing meaning. The latter can be explicitly illustrated in the following sentence. He (Mr. Gills) took it (the bottle) up and having surveyed and smelt it said with extraordinary expression: «The?» «The», returned the instrument maker. (Ch. Dickens)
The real meaning of thus emphasized article can be disclosed only in the sentence that follows, where Mr. Gills fills the glass with liquour and drinks it. Without the broader context it would certainly be impossible to guess what this definite nominalizing article stands for in the extract. Nor is it always easy for our students to identify in some sentences the rhematic and the thematic function of article; and to express their meaning. Therefore, the occurrence of lexically meaningful articles is not occasional or accidental, for it is predetermined by context. Due to this, the number of lexically meaningful articles in different speech substyles often varies. Their occurrence can also depend on the personal taste of the author who may be more or less inclined to use them in his narrative. But whatever their quantity, none of the lexically meaningful articles should be ignored о overlooked in the passage under translation and its meaning must be correctly rendered in the target language.
In order to faithfully convey each kind of the aforementioned meaningful articles, the student will be advised first of all to subject the whole passage, which is to be translated, to a thorough content analysis in order to select possible lexical substitutes for the article in the target language. The substitutes in languages like Russian, which have no functionals of the kind, can differ by their logico- grammatical nature/as well as be contextually synonymous Because of this the choice of the contextually equivalent substitutes depends much on the translator who, when selecting a fitting lexical equivalent for the article, has to take some factors into consideration These include first of all the semantic factor playing a predominant role, and the stylistic factor eliminating an unnecessary repetition of the same equivalent substitute in sentences close by. In other words, the cooccurrence of the same synonymous substitutes must be strictly regulated. Besides, the translator has to keep it in mind, that some contextual meanings of the definite article may seem similar to those of the indefinite article and vice versa. Hence, the translator should be no less attentive to the style of his target language passage which in its turn will help him achieve a faithful translation of sentences or the passage as a whole, where both the defining and the nominalizing lexically charged articles are used.
When conveying the lexical meanings of the definite and indefinite articles into Russian, attention should be paid to their functional meanings in the sentence/word-combinations. Thus, the meanings of the definite article are usually expressed through different Russian attributive pronouns, adjectives, participles, adverbs or cardinal/ordinal numerals. The meaning of the numeral one, on the other hand, is always expressed only through the indefinite article, which is historically derived from this part of speech. Cf: Most offelllows in the Quarters share a studio. (Maugham) Большинство молодых людей в Латинском квартале арендуют вместе одну студию.
The nominalizing articles are mostly rendered through the parts of speech having the functions of attributes to the noun: «... I believe that a young, person in a city tea-shop has left her situation. (Maugham) ...Я думаю, что молодая официантка в местном кафе справилась с ситуацией.
The emphatically used articles, on the other hand, have usually particles for their contextual equivalents in Russian: But I must content myself with a few paragraphs. (Maugham) Жаль, но я могу обменяться лишь несколькими эпизодами.
The rhematic use of the articles introducing the new information, a new core of an utterance, and its thematic use repeating the already known information about an object or event is often disclosed in Russian sentences by other than lexical means, as will be shown further. Still, the bulk of meanings which the lexically charged articles can acquire due to their syntagmatic environment in speech are those of pronouns. This can also be seen from the citied illustrations on the forthcoming pages.
It goes without saying that such a descriptive translation of the noun (a scholarship) could be offered only by a translator well acquainted with the content of the preceding sentences or even of the whole paragraph.
There are, naturally, many more contextual realizations of the" lexical meanings, pertaining to the definite and the indefinite articles, which they may acquire in a text/at speech level.
In view of the diversity of possible lexical realizations, which the English articles may have in speech, the student will be warned to employ not only their single world equivalents to expressed their meanings. A thorough study of the broader context may sometimes help to find a more fitting substitute for a lexically charged indefinite or definite article. Thus the sentences He had a face that reminded me a frog. (W. Lewis) and But in heaven's name could they raise a sum like that? The bold type indefinite article a can not be denied the meaning of the demonstrative pronoun take. All this must be borne in mind when dealing with lexically meaningful articles in the sentences of the exercise below. Unfortunately, the restricted space of the manual makes impossible to give regular passages with the implicit (contextual) meanings of the definite and the indefinite articles.
Our analyses of translation of English articles into Russian enabled to make the following conclusions:
1. The meanings of the definite article are usually expressed through different Russian attributive pronouns, adjectives, participles, adverbs or cardinal/ordinal numerals.
2. The meanings of the indefinite article are usually expressed through the cardinal numeral one, by the indefinite pronoun всякий, as the demonstrative pronoun этот, это, эти, as one of the possessive pronouns, as the negative pronoun никакой, or the negative particle ни, as different relative adjectives; as different
adverbs, as an adjective enforced by emphatic or some other particle or group of particles, as am interrogative or indefinite pronoun also enforced by some emphatic particles.
3. The category of Definiteness and Indefiniteness which influences the way of rendering from English into Russian a lot is equally pertained to both contrasted languages.
Practical part
Use of definite articles with nouns in some set expressions
a) The use of the indefinite article with nouns in set expressions.
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1. to be at a loss - растеряться, быть в недоумении |
She was at a loss what to say. |
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2. to fly into a passion - прийти в бешенство |
If you contact him, he will fly into a passion. |
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3. to have a good time - хорошо провести время |
Last night we went to an evening party and had a very good time. |
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4. it is a pleasure - приятно |
It is a pleasure to read a beautiful poetry. |
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5. it is a shame - стыдно |
It is a shame not to know these elementary things. |
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6. to be / get in a fury (in a rage) - прийти в ярость |
If you contact him, he will get in a furry (in a rage). |
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7. a great / good deal of (with non-count nouns) - много |
We can't skate today, there is a great deal of snow on the ice. |
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8. a great many (with count nouns) - много |
I have spoken to him a great many times. |
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9. to take a fancy to - увлечься, проникнуть симпатией |
I wonder why she took a fancy to the little girl. |
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10. in a hurry - второпях |
Things done in a hurry are done badly. |
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11. in a low / loud voice - тихо (громко) |
Don't speak in a low voice. |
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12. to have a mind to do something - склоняться что-либо сделать |
I've half a mind to start up my own business but first I need some advice. |
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13. all of a sudden - неожиданно |
All of a sudden it became cloudy and began to rain. |
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14. to put an end to - положить конец |
The company is trying to put an end to the personal use of computers during office hours. |
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15. to come to an end - закончится |
When the story came to an end both of the children had fallen asleep. |
b) The use of the definite article in set expressions
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1. to keep the house - сидеть дома |
She has a cold and will have to keep the house for a couple day. |
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2. to keep the bed - соблюдать постельный режим |
She has a bad cold and will have to keep the bed for a couple days. |
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3. to tell / speak the truth - говорить правду, по правде говоря |
He always speak (tells) truth. |
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4. in the original - в оригинале |
You know English well enough to read Dickens in the original. |
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5. on the whole - в целом |
On the whole Tom is pleasant fellow, but sometimes he has whims. |
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6. to play the piano / the violin играть на рояле / на скрипке |
She plays the piano very well. |
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7. on the one hand - с одной стороны on the other hand - с другой стороны |
On the one hand he certainly excites suspicion, but on the other hand we have not enough evidence against him. |
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8. it is out of the question - об этом не может быть и речи |
Will you go to the theatre tonight? “It's out of the question lots of things to do” |
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9. to be on the safe side - для верности |
I am almost sure of pronunciation of this name, but to be on the safe side let us consult the pronouncing dictionary. |
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10. to take the trouble to do something - потрудиться |
You had difficult text to translate and you did not take the trouble to consult the dictionary. |
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11. the other day (referring to the past) - на днях |
I met him the other day. |
c) Nouns in set expressions used without an article
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1.by mistake - по ошибке |
I have brought the wrong book by mistake. |
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2. by chance - случайно |
They met quite by chance. |
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3. by land - по суше by sea - морем by air- по воздуху |
I like travelling by sea. |
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4. to go to sea - стать моряком |
My sister want to be a teacher, and my brother want to go to sea. |
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5. on deck - на палубе |
We spend hour on deck. |
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6. to take on deck - обидеться |
If he had heard your remark, he would have taken offence. |
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7. to take care of - заботиться |
l can take care of myself. |
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8. to keep house - вести хозяйство |
Her sister keeps house for her. |
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9. to give (get, ask for) permission (дать, получить, просить) разрешение |
I asked permission to keep the book a little longer. |
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10. from morning till night - с утра до ночи |
He works in his little garden from morning till night. |
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11. at first sight - с первого взгляда |
He fell in love with her at first sight. |
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12. at sunrise - на рассвете |
We left town at sunrise. |
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13. from time to time - время от времени |
We go to that restaurant from time to time. |
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14. from head to foot - с ног до головы |
She was dressed in furs from head to foot. |
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15. to take notice of - замечать |
Take notice of the great architecture. |
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16. to catch sight of - увидеть |
I caught sight of Elena in the crowd and waved to her. |
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17. to make use of - использовать |
I made use of my friend's garage to keep some of my tools. |
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18. from beginning to end - с начала до конца. |
The whole story is a lie from the beginning to end. |
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19. at hand - близко, под рукой |
I stopped working because I did not have any tools at hand. |
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20. at sunset -- на закате |
We arrived at the village at sunset. |
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21. at work -- за работой |
Whenever I come, he is always at work. |
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22. at peace -- в мире |
We want to be at peace with all countries. |
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23. by name -- no имени |
His cat, Snowball by name, was playing on the carpet. |
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24. in debt -- в долгу |
Mr. Micawber was always in debt. |
It should be mentioned that notion of indefiniteness is practically realized in all languages including English and Russian, As we know in contemporary English if we would like to express indefmiteness it is necessary use indefinite articles ( a, an ) before nouns in all kinds of sentences. But it is a trouble to translate an article into Russian. There are no such categories in this language. That's why if it is necessary to express indefmiteness during translation from English into Russian we translate English indirect article into Russian indirect pronoun.
That's it is obvious to analyze all cases of replacing indirect articles into indirect pronouns after translation from English into Russian.
First of all let's analyze the translation of English indirect article “a” into Russian pronoun in the meaning of “unknown”. In most cases such pronoun appears before a surname.
She is a Mrs. Erlynne.
Это некая миссис Эрлинн.
A Mr. Fox called you.
Вам звонил некий мистер Фокс.
A Smith asked for you.
Какой-то Смит спрашивал тебя.
“A” is also used before the surnames if we want to relate a person to a
definite group.
For after all was he not a Griffiths?
Так в конце концов, разве же он не Гриффитс?
The indefinite article “а” ( “an” ) is also put before a surname in the meaning of comparison.
Her husband is quite an Othello.
Её муж - совершенный Отелло.
Sometimes we translate the indefinite article before the surname with negative accent.
“ A Forsite - is uncommon animal ” - said a young Joylon.
«Форсайт - типичное животное» - сказал молодой Джойлон.
Sometimes English indirect article may be translated into Russian pronoun in the meaning of “one”.
He had not an enemy on earth.
У него не было ни единого врага на свете.
Speaking about the next kind of translation of the indefinite article, it is known that it may' be translated into a pronoun in the meaning of “somewhat”, after “there + to be” before nouns.
There was a lamp on the table.
На столе была какая-то лампа.
Now I'm going to tell you a few words about other variants of the indefinite article's translation.
Sometimes it is translated in the meaning of classified function.
The only sensible solution is a peace which would give the Malayan people the freedom they desire.
Единственное разумное решение - это установление такого мира, который дал бы малайскому народу желанную свободу.
It also may be translated in the meaning of indefinite pronoun any.
Now that the law has been passed... the friendly recommendation of a foreign government... can only be regarded as interference in the internal affairs of Persia.
Теперь, когда закон принят, дружественные рекомендации любого иностранного правительства могут - рассматриваться лишь как вмешательство во внутренние дела Ирана.
In some cases if indefinite article situated before a personal nouns we translate it in metonymical meaning.
This was a Guernica, a Coventry, a Lidice.
Это была новая Герника, новый Ковентри, новая Лидице.
The next variant of indefinite article's translation is in the meaning of generic singular
Sometimes the noun following after the indefinite article may be expressed by a noun in plural in the first case and in the second case by a collective singular noun.
A government with a dollar in one hand and a gun in the other.
Правительство, у которого в одной руке доллары, а в другой - оружие.
In general, this report gives us necessary information about the translation of the definite articles into indefinite pronouns and some other meaning categories. There is no doubt that knowledge of all variants of translation is important if we want to save English main idea in translated sentences.
Dear Sirs,
We have been referred to you by the firm "Langley & Co" and should be glad if you would give us is detailed information as possible regarding their financial status and business reputation. We should like to know whether a credit to the extent of approx. & 50,000 could be safely granted.
Yours faithfully, Mr. Jones
Уважаемые господа,
Нам посоветовали обратиться к Вам представители фирмы «Лэнгли и К», и мы были бы Вам очень признательны за предоставление подробной информации в качестве возможного ' подтверждения их
финансового статуса и деловой репутации. Мы бы хотели знать, можем ли мы получить гарантии при предоставлении им кредита в сумме 50 тыс.
Искренне Ваш, мистер Джонс.
Conclusion
Linguistic peculiarities of official business papers have been studied as groups of stylistic, grammatical and lexical peculiarities which are determined by formal style of English. Formal style of English has such main features as conventionality of expression, absence of emotiveness, encoded character of the language and general syntactic mode of combining several ideas within one sentence. Stylistic peculiarities of formal written English imply usage of words in their primary logic meaning and absence of contextual meanings. Formal English is characterized by the usage of special terms. They all are precise in meaning and rather bookish. Among them there are a lot of words of the Latin, Greek and French origin, replaced in spoken English by words of the Anglo-Saxon origin. In formal style whom is used instead of who. If there is a need in prepositions, they go before whom, which is not typical of informal style at all. Written Business English goes impersonal style. It means there are no direct addressees, passive constructions are used instead of active, a great number of amount words, modal verbs might and could are used instead of can and may. This all is done for a document to sound tentative and tactful.
The factors mentioned make up the standard of documents' writing. Special forms help to focus readers' attention on major information and simplify process of making a deal.
There are the following theoretical problems in studying the problem. First of all, there is a difficulty to draw a line between formal and informal English, as the latter influences formal style greatly. Sentences in documents are too long and bookish to be used freely. Documents are devoid of personal pronouns I, we, you. The language of documents lacks force and vividness to keep strict to the point. Meanwhile, it is hard to keep one's attention while reading them due to this trait.
The analysis of stylistic peculiarities of business correspondence shows that it can be observed through the syntactic pattern of business documents which is one long sentence consisting of separate numbered clauses which are divided by commas and semicolons. No connectors are used in business correspondence as they convey a little information. Every clause is capitalized. That is done to show the equality of items of a document.
The main stylistic peculiarities of contract are concreteness, conciseness, clearness of the idea, high capacity of information, strict logic, clear rhythm of sentences, word repetitions which accent the main idea, no connotations, cliches and stamps, usage of monosemantic words and words in their direct logical meaning, division of text into chapters, paragraphs, points, presence of the definite syntactic structure.
The major difference of contract from other business papers is that it is made up by two sides, and information in them is approved by them both. All informational details are not suitable. Contract should be formal, complete, clear, concrete, correct and concise. It is also neat and has an attractive arrangement. The tone of contract is neutral and devoid of both pompous and informal language. It means there are no colloquial words and expressions, idioms, phrasal verbs. Abbreviations are not used if possible. Full forms of words are preferable. Sums are written both in figures and words.
Grammatical peculiarities of the documents are characterized by high usage of verbals. Its text is presented mostly with infinitive and participial constructions. Among infinitive constructions are singled out those ones with the Simple / Indefinite and Perfect Infinitives as adjuncts to active and passive (only in newspapers and contracts) verbs and the Simple Infinitives as complex adjuncts to active verbs.
As for the tense-aspect forms of the English verb, the Indefinite and Perfect tenses, both in the Active and Passive voices, are used instead of analytical forms. The past tenses are rarely used. Shall and should are used with all numbers and persons. Omitting // in subordinate clauses is another distinctive feature of contract.
The lexicon of contract is stable. All words are used in their exact meaning. There is no emotional colouring of words. Practically in every contract there are
compounds with where-, here-, there - (whereas, thereby, herewith, thereto, etc.), hereinafter, the aforesaid, phrases: (it's) understood and agreed, including without limitation, assignees and licensees, without prejudice, as between us, solely on condition that, on understanding (hat, subject to, and others). In contracts are used words of the Latin origin: pro rata, paripassu, inferior superior, ultima, proximo, extra, and French words: force majeure, amicably. The results of the research can be taken into consideration by students who are involved in studying English and English stylistics. As well it can be used for special courses of business English for students of Linguistics, Business and Economics.
In our research we analyzed the influence of linguistics, ethnic, cultural, legal aspects on the translation of official business papers. The results of our investigation can be useful for adequate translation of official documents.
References
1. Miram I.E., Daineko V.V. Basic translation. - K.: Ельга, 2002. - 350 с.
2. Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка. - М.:
Издательство литературы на иностранных языках, 1959. - 350 с.
3. Арнольд И.В. Основы лингвистических исследований: Учеб. пособие.-
М.: Высш. шк., 1991. - 140 с.
4. Бахударов Л.С. Процесс перевода с лингвистической точки зрения. - М., 1964.- 89 с
5. Бахударов Л.С. Язык и перевод. - М.: Международные отношения, 1957 - 240 с.
6. Гальперин И.Р. Стилистика английского языка. - М., 1981. - 336 с.
7. Казакова Т.А. Translation techniques. - СПб.: Союз, 2003.-250 с.
8. Казакова Т.А. Практические основы перевода: Учебное пособие. - М.: Союз, 2002.- 356 с.
9 Коммисаров В.Н. Слово о переводе. - М.: Международные отношения, 1973.- 315 с.
10. Лукьянова Н.А. Настольная книга бизнесмена. Курс английского языка по коммерческой деятельности и формам деловой документации. - М.: Союз, 2002 - 356 с.
11. Калинина В.Д. Теория и практика перевода. - М.: РУДН, 2008.
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