Types of interference as the manifestation of cross-cultural communication in translation

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TYPES OF INTERFERENCE AS THE MANIFESTATION OF CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN TRANSLATION

Viktoriia AHIEIEVA, PhD in Philology,

Senior Teacher at the English Theory and Practice of Translation Department of Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University (Mykolaiv, Ukraine)

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the problem of types of interference as the manifestation of cross-cultural communication and translation. Interference as a language phenomenon arises in the process of translation and plays an important role if we deal with the English and the Ukrainian languages (especially when translating texts to/from these languages). The above-mentioned languages are quite different in their structure, morphological features and characteristics. In the process of translation texts from English into Ukrainian and from Ukrainian into English, the translator faces certain difficulties. It is through this fact that we talk about such a language phenomenon as interference. Researchers distinguish several types of interference, for example, by the method of influencing the language, it may be hidden or not hidden. By the origin we distinguish the interference internal and external. Classification of types of interference also depends on a specific set of linguistic indicators. Depending on this, types of interference are divided into several types: phonetic, lexical, grammatical and orthographic. Interference of phonetic type is usually combined with phonological errors. That is why this type of interference is often called phonological. The lexical type of interference is observed in translation, provided the penetration of the vocabulary of one language system into the vocabulary of another language system. Grammatical interference in the process of translation is observed in the case of violation of using words in a sentence, using passive state of a verb (widespread in English, but absent in the Ukrainian language), usage or omission of pronouns, etc. When transferring the rules of the writing from one language to another one, we talk about the presence of orthographic interference in translation. A clear example of spelling interference is transliteration. In addition to the above mentioned types of interference we distinguish semantic, morphological and stylistic interference. To facilitate the work of translation in contact with interference we use methods such as generalization, replacement, paraphrase and omission.

Key words: translation process, interference, phonetic interference, lexical interference, grammatical interference, orthographic interference.

Анотація

Вікторія АГЄЄВА, кандидат філологічних наук, старший викладач кафедри теорії та практики перекладу з англійської мови Чорноморського національного університету імені Петра Могили (Миколаїв, Україна).

ТИПИ ІНТЕРФЕРЕНЦІЇ ЯК ПРОЯВ МІЖКУЛЬТУРНОЇ КОМУНІКАЦІЇ В ПЕРЕКЛАДІ.

Статтю присвячено проблемі типів інтерференції як прояву міжкультурної комунікації в процесі перекладу. Інтерференція як мовне явище виникає в процесі перекладу та відіграє важливу роль, якщо ми маємо справу з англійською та українською мовами (особливо коли перекладаємо тексти з/на ці мови). Вищезазначені мови є досить різними за своєю структурою і морфологічними ознаками та характеристиками. У процесі перекладу текстів з англійської мови на українську та з української мови на англійську перекладач стикається з певними труднощами. Саме через цей факт ми говоримо про таке мовне явище, як інтерференція. Дослідники виділяють декілька типів інтерференції, наприклад, за способом впливу на мову вона може бути прихована та неприхована. За походженням виокремлюють інтерференцію внутрішню та зовнішню. Класифікація типів інтерференції також залежить від певного набору лінгвістичних показників. У залежності від цього інтерференцію поділяють на декілька типів: фонетичну, лексичну, граматичну та орфографічну. Фонетичний тип інтерференції зазвичай поєднують із помилками фонологічного характеру. Саме тому цей тип інтерференції часто називають фонологічною. Лексичний тип інтерференції в перекладі спостерігається за умови проникнення словникового складу однієї мовної системи у словниковий склад іншої мовної системи. Граматична інтерференція в процесі перекладу спостерігається в разі порушення порядку слів у реченні, використання пасивного стану дієслова (широко розповсюдженого в англійській мові, проте відсутнього в українській мові), використання або опущення займенників тощо. У разі перенесення правил письма з однієї мови в іншу ми говоримо про наявність орфографічної інтерференції в перекладі. Яскравим прикладом орфографічної інтерференції є транслітерація. Окрім вищезазначених типів інтерференції, виокремлюють також інтерференцію семантичну, морфологічну та стилістичну. Для полегшення роботи перекладачі, стикаючись з інтерференцією, використовують такі методи, як генералізація, переклад з використанням заміни, перефраз та опущення.

Ключові слова: процес перекладу, інтерференція, фонетична інтерференція, лексична інтерференція, граматична інтерференція, орфографічна інтерференція.

Introduction

Researching English and Ukrainian languages in the aspect of translation, we observe the process called interference which takes the leading positions nowadays. A lot of researches connected with interference are dedicated to the problem of orthographic and other types of interference and their influence on the process of translation. During the XX century this language phenomenon was considered to have the negative influence not only on the process of translation, but also on the language itself. Nowadays this point of view isn't proved. For that reason scholars changed their attitude to this language phenomenon and they even proved that interference in general may have positive characteristics. Among these positive characteristics they single out the influence on human memory and specific language skills.

The following types of interference are singled out by scholars nowadays: (1) according to the origin (it may be external and internal); (2) according to the character of specific language skills transferred from mother tongue (that is direct or indirect); (3) according to the manner of influence (hidden and not hidden); and (4) according to the linguistic nature (phonetic, lexical, grammatical and orthographic) (Alimov, 2005: 164). The latest types of interference are the object of our research because any type of it may cause difficulties in translation and even have a kind of influence on this process. The main goal and the specific tasks of the article are defined by the fact that in the process of cross-cultural communication we have to deal with translation, which in its turn causes the necessity of using interference in its different variations. The task of the article is to show what phonetic, lexical, grammatical, and orthographic types of interference are, and also the way they can influence translation process.

Analysis of the latest research into this problem proved that the problem of interference was studied by many scholars. Most of their works were dedicated to the problem of cross lingual interference as a part of translation process. Among the most famous scientists we may easily single out Einar Haugen, Viacheslav Karaban, Stanislav Semchynskyi, Yurii Zhluktenko, Uriel Weinreich and others. The aspects of their researches were connected with the negative influence of interference. The above mentioned scientists stated about spoiling effect on target language text and pointed the prevention from learning languages. Cross-lingual interference is impossible without speech. And our speech, in its turn, has different character and contains various levels of speech processes. When we talk about interference shown in translation we first of all talk about the meaning of a word and its external form. According to this, scholars, especially I. Serakovska, state that interference is a kind of negative transfer from source language text into target language text words with formal correlation and not full coincidence, and lexemes with full semantic coincidence. Manifestation of interference is shown through phonetics, grammar and wordstock. Interference is based on the tendency to extension of internationality in modern language parallels of the European languages. The above stated tendency shows that new borrowings (barbarisms and foreignisms) are adopted into language without taking into consideration specific rules of the target language. And in this case we have the full right to talk about extra linguistic cases of preserving foreign sounds and forms (Bartell, 2003: 37). Some scholars denote that in the process of translation orthographic interference, for example, may be combined with graphic interference as the both: (1) may be singled out in writing; (2) transfer rules of writing from source language text into target language text; (3) cause spelling mistakes.

Main material

Communication as a general phenomenon is the process of the message transmission consisting of the three parts the sender of the message, the message itself and the recipient of the message. In other words, it is the process of exchanging ideas, information etc. between two or more people. Communication has always been an important need of all societies and it is still an integral part of our life. It may occur between people of the same culture (and language) and of different cultures (and languages). The latter means the transmission of information through cross-cultural communication and the difficulties we face in it. It's not only cultural specific expressions but also facial expressions, gestures with universal and different meaning in different cultures etc.

When we talk about cross-cultural communication, we definitely face challenges. In this case for effective communication strategy we need understanding that the sender of a message and the receiver are the representatives of different cultures and backgrounds. Without getting into cultures and sub-cultures, it is perhaps the most important for people to realize that a basic understanding of cultural diversity is the key to effective cross-cultural communications (Bell, 1991: 386).

Modern researches of language prove that representatives of various cultures look at the same phenomena differently, as well as perceive them differently. Therefore, a translator faces a task not only to transfer lexical units from one language to another, but also to consider cultural aspects of language and communication in the course of the work, that is, in the process of translation. The translation as a language science plays an important role in society as exactly due to it, important political and economic agreements are signed. There is also a distribution of religious and social trends and exercises occurring due to translation. Exactly thanks to translation we can get acquainted with the most modern researches of the European scientists in various fields of scientific researches and they become accessible for reading. The same may be mentioned about works of modern European writers.

As for the features of cross-cultural communication, they are based on the principles that the social experience is passed on and acquired in the course of communication. Language and the so-called paralinguistic in the system of information in which certain social values are assigned play a special role in cross-cultural communication. In the course of cross-cultural communication cooperation happens between subjects which have certain similarities and distinctions. From this aspect translation takes a leading role. It requires concentration around such concepts as value, requirements and institutions of the native speaker formed under the influence of culture. Namely, we can talk about that for successful communication between representatives of various cultures. A translator has to realize what the most valuable for one native speaker is (and it is necessary to consider this while translating) and to define what valuable for the representative of another culture is, and also to consider it when translating (Semchynskyi, 1974: 164). interference translation text interpreter

In everyday life individuals, representatives of different cultures do not analyze the elements entering their cultural activity as we all live on the principle of stereotypes. But what is stereotype in cross-cultural communication? Stereotype may be understood as group characteristics to individuals singled out on the basis of cultural membership. The term stereotype may be used when we talk about typical member of a culture. But this term cannot be used for particular individual as we all are completely different. Stereotypes have a way of potentially devaluing people from other cultures. The latter allows the individual to be guided quietly in the situations which are not demanding acceptance of crucial decisions. However, the stereotype also plays a negative role because it prevents us from estimating independently and objectively arising contradictions in the process of public relations. Therefore, the translator in the course of cross-cultural communication cannot lean on behavior stereotypes as the specified stereotypes to differ because of our belonging to different cultures.

As for the role of translation in the process of communication, it performs several functions. It is the function of breaking misunderstanding among representatives of different cultures. Then it is the communicative function as a translation process is the transmission of information first of all. And the third function is the comparison and the correlation of language units.

As for translation functions in cross-cultural communication, it is, first of all, the function of overcoming misunderstanding between representatives of different languages and representatives of various cultures. It is, of course, the communicative function as in translation process there is a transfer of a certain information and also function of comparison and correlation of language systems. In cross-cultural communication we carry to a separate translation function intermediary or as it is still called transport function, when process of communication happens between representatives of different cultures, but at the same time one of speakers is not a native speaker of a language he uses (Finkel, 2007: 93а).

V. Alimov in his work Interference and Translation points out the next types of interference: phonetic interference, orthographic interference, grammatical interference, and lexical interference. Except these types of interference, he also mentions semantic interference, stylistic interference, and interference within language. Phonetic interference is observed when we make mistakes of phonological character where we change sound form and meaning, and these mistakes may lead to disturbing communication act. According to this phonetic interference is sometimes called phonological interference. The examples of phonetic interference may be observed in such words as childhood or development where we may find issues connected with the stress. He points out that translators facing interference have to use specific translation strategies, such as generalization, the strategy of translation by a more specific term, the strategy of translation by cultural substitution, translation by paraphrase and the strategy of translation by omission with the aim to overcome structural differences caused by this interference.

Graphic or orthographic interference happens in writing where we make transference of spelling rules from source language text into target language text. This causes orthographic mistakes and graphic incongruity. For example, personal pronoun I in the English language is written with the help of a capital letter, and this may cause a mistake when translator in the Ukrainian language writes Я also with the help of a capital letter.

The main peculiarity of the phonetic interference is that it concerns the manner the listener or the speaker gets and produces or reproduces the sounds of one language in terms of another. Phonetic interference may occur due to four factors. The first factor is properly phonic. This includes differences in the stocks of phonemes of the languages in contact, in the componential analysis, and in the distributional patterns of their phonemes. The second factor is extra-phonic factors. This type of factor is aimed to avoid a particularly undesirable homophony. The third factor is extra-linguistic factor. It is connected with the motivations to achieve intelligible, acceptable or native-like speech present in a definite speech situation or in the general socio-cultural setting where the language contact takes place. The fourth factor is connected with erratic cases of phonetic interference which is similar to the unaccountable kind of slips of the tongue that the unilingual speaker makes.

Orthographic interference is based on the tendency to extension of internationality in modern language parallels of the European languages. The above stated tendency shows that new borrowings (barbarisms and foreignisms) are adopted into language without taking into consideration phonetic or orthographic rules of the target language. And in this case we have the full right to talk about extra linguistic cases of preserving foreign sounds and forms (Finkel, 2007: 95b). Some scholars denote that orthographic interference may be combined with graphic interference as the both: (1) may be singled out in writing; (2) transfer rules of writing from source language text into target language text; and (3) cause spelling mistakes.

The phonetic interference is shown in change of the place of an accent in some foreign words under the influence of the native language, for example: magazine, industry, collegue; and also in pronunciation of letters not pronounced in English: whistle, sword. Also cases of the so-called wrong accent of words are widespread in the English language. It concerns those words where the accent falls on the first syllable if it is nouns and on the second syllable if it is verbs: suspect suspect. The phonetic interference takes place when distinctive sign, characteristic of the phonetic system of one language, is absent in another one. As for the main types of the phonetic interference, they are: wrong accent; omission of sounds which do not exist in Ukrainian; pronunciation of sounds which by rules of the English phonetics have to fall; wrong reading combinations of letters; others altered manifestations in language phonetics which not only distort the correct sounding of language, but also add over time to its lexemes of uncharacteristic sounds, has result of formation of words with negative impact on purity of language and its originality.

Lexical interference is observed when we define intervention of word-stock of one language system into another one, and it may lead to literalisms. As an example of lexical interference we may define the word magazine which is rendered into Ukrainian as журнал but not as газета.

Except the above mentioned types of interference, we may also observe several more types of this language phenomenon. Among them are: semantic interference, morphological interference, stylistic interference and spelling interference. As for semantic interference it is defined while intervention of elements of one language system into another one on the semantic level. As an example we can give the following sentence: «Забронюйте, будь ласка, номер у готелі,» where a translator may use the word number instead of room.

Morphological interference is observed when we find peculiar grammatical forms and constructions. For example, when we use not appropriate prepositions in source language and target language texts. It happens due to the influence of mother tongue and morphological differences in languages under comparison. Another example of morphological interference is the usage of verbal phrases of the English language consisting of more than two words and their equivalents in Ukrainian consisting of only one word. And of course this may influence the process of translation as a translator may use a wrong word or a phrase.

And finally stylistic interference may be observed while influence of a style of one language on a style of another language. That's the case when a translator uses jargonisms or slang words to render lexical units belonging to the neutral layer of word-stock.

One of the main manifestations of a spelling interference in linguistics and in the translation is transliteration which definitely presents difficulties for the translator, especially if he / she deals with proper names. Therefore, the term transliteration designates the transmission medium of foreign-language words borrowed on the basis of graphic structure of original language on the graphic system of target language text. In translation several types of transliteration allocate. They are: (1) a strict transliteration which provides consecutive replacement of one sign only with one sign of other letter; (2) weakened, consisting in replacement only of some signs; (3) expanded which characteristic is in representation of the corresponding connections of signs in the special way in other system of the latter.

As for the functions of interference in cross-cultural communication, they are as follows: (1) serves as means of achievement of coherence of the text; (2) serves as an instrument for ensuring of adequacy of the translation; (3) serves as means of enrichment of language with new stylistic and lexical means and also means of filling of lexical lacunas; (4) serves as means of approach of national cultures. In translation process it is expedient to allocate interference as negative, synonymic and functional. It is especially relevant in the translation of works of art (Alimov, 2005: 22b).

Conclusions

Interference as a language phenomenon is defined to be of several types according to the manner of influence and according to the linguistic nature. Modern scholars single out the following types of interference in translation: phonetic, lexical, grammatical and orthographic. Phonetic interference is observed when we make mistakes of phonological character where we change the sound form and the meaning, and these mistakes may lead to disturbing communication act. Lexical interference is observed when we define intervention of word-stock of one language system into another one, and it may lead to literalisms. Grammatical interference in the meaning structure of the languages and their morphological peculiarities includes such elements as word order, verbal and nominal sentences, the usage of the passive voice, subject-verb agreement, and the usage of prepositions (which cause peculiar difficulties in the process of translation). Orthographic interference presupposes the usage of extra linguistic cases of preserving foreign sounds and forms.

Scholars, for example V. Alimov, within the above mentioned types of interference in translation also define such types of interference as: semantic, morphological and stylistic. Semantic interference is observed in the intervention of elements of one language system into another one on the semantic level. Morphological type of interference is characterized as the usage of peculiar grammatical forms and constructions, not appropriate prepositions in source language and target language texts. Stylistic interference is the type of interference observed while influence of a style of one language on a style of another language or the breaking of norms of stylistics.

To overcome the difficulties in translation caused by the structural peculiarities of languages (especially if we talk about the English and the Ukrainian languages) translators often use specific translation strategies. They help to overcome the structural differentiation of the languages. To these strategies belong such methods as: generalization, the strategy of translation by a more specific term, the strategy of translation by cultural substitution, translation by paraphrase and the strategy of translation by omission.

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References

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