Если у вас возникли сложности с курсовой, контрольной, дипломной, рефератом, отчетом по практике, научно-исследовательской и любой другой работой - мы готовы помочь.
Предоплата всего
Подписываем
The peculiarities of phraseological units translation.
Two ways of idiom translation.
Table of contents
Introduction
Part I – Phraseological units and their origin
Part II – Translation of phraseological units
Conclusion
Introduction
The English language has a thousand-year history. At this time a lot of expressions appeared, which were founded as well turned, neat and fine. In this way a special layer of the language appeared, it is phraseology – the whole set of stable expressions, which have their independent meaning.
The learning of the English language is widely-spread among our country. Good knowledge of language is impossible without knowing English phraseology. If we know phraseological expressions of English and our native language it will make us easier to translate and understand.
The world of Modern English phraseological expressions is so grand and various that every aspect of its study is worth of due regard.
A.S. Pushkin, the famous Russian writer, considered «what the author said it must be paraphrased by an interpreter». A.K. Tolstoy thought that «we must not translate words, sometimes even meanings; we need just to give one’s impressions».
Phraseological expressions are widely used almost in all parlances, especially in informal speech and literary language. But for interpreters and translators phraseological expressions offer the biggest problem. Because some phraseological expressions, especially Primordial Russian cannot be translated into English, if they are connected with culture and traditions. And interpreters translate only the sense of expressions.
The theme of this course paper is « The peculiarities of phraseological units translation. Two ways of idiom translation», which is one of the most difficult, untranslatable and the most interesting theme. We will try to involve all questions about origin of phraseological expressions, their essence and main problems connected with translation of phraseological expressions.
The aim of the coursework is to understand which problems could be connected with the translation of phraseological units, and how to translate phraseological units.
In this course work the next tasks were set:
For solving the formulated tasks in this coursework we have used the following methods:
For learners of the English language as a foreign language this layer of language presents difficulties in learning, but after the mastering of phraseological units we could start to speak like British people, and to catch the meaning at once. Sometimes it is easier to say a phraseological expression to tell our thoughts and sense than try to find necessary words and sentences. In many cases the knowledge of English phraseology helps us to avoid «Russism», i.e. literally translation of sentences from Russian into English. In this way we would like to make a conclusion that actuality of this term is indisputable.
Practical relevance of our research consists in using its results in linguistics, Modern Russian literary language and basics of professional work of interpreters.
The course work consists of two parts, in the first part «Phraseological units and their origin» we examine the term «phraseological unit», how linguists explained this term, how phraseological units were appeared, and their main sources. In the second part «Translation of phraseological units» we examine all problems which are connected with the translation of phraseological units, and how to translate them correctly.
The structure of the course paper corresponds to contents and constructs into logic succession. The work consists of introduction, two parts, conclusion and references.
Part I – Phraseological units and their origin
In modern linguistics there is no unique opinion in a question about essence and definition of set phrase as a language unit. There is some theoretical difference on the occasion of phraseology and character of linguistic facts, named as phraseological units. Lexicological practice testifies the importance of precise definition of phraseological unit. When in dictionaries in capacity of phraseological units usual word combinations (feeling of fellowship; do something at the first try; not a sound; things are doing etc.) and words (hostilities; for nothing; word-perfect etc.) are given.
Charles Bally gave the definition of phraseological unit: «combinations, which firmly came into language, are called set phrases». Linguists S.G. Gavrin, V.L. Arkhangelskiy, V.N. Teliya name phraseological unit as a language unit, which has such minor criteria as metaphoricalness, equivalence and synonymity of the word. V.V. Vinogradov suggested the most important sign of phraseological unit is equivalence and synonymity of the word. But in N.M. Shanskiy’s opinion almost all words have metaphoric meaning, but not all phrases have equivalence. So, inclusion of such minor criteria and dependent signs in definition of phraseological unit is not correct. The scientist emphasized that «the correct definition of phraseological unit cannot exist without its difference from the word and free combination».
In his book «Phraseology of modern Russian language» Shanskiy gives the next definition «set phrase is readable language unit, consisted of two or more stressed components of word character, fixed (i.e. constant) by value, composition and structure». The linguist is of opinion that the major attribute of set phrases is their readability, as «phraseological units are not created in the process of communication, so they are reproduced as finished integral units». In this way phraseological units «to the other end of the world», «somebody has disappeared into thin air», «one has nothing to say for oneself» etc. are fully extracted in our mind. Readableness is significant for phraseological units in their finished type with attached and strictly fixed meaning, composition and structure. Phraseological units are significant language units. It is typical of them proper value, independent from the meaning, which constituents their components. Set phrase consists of the same components, arranged in strict established order. We ascertained that in the Russian language some phraseological units could have different word order: сгореть со стыда – со стыда сгореть (to burn with shame), тянуть волынку – волынку тянуть (chew the fat (the rag)).
N.M. Shanskiy made out some difference between set phrases and free word combinations. Set phrases differ with readableness, integrity of the meaning, steadiness of composition and structure and also with structure tightness. In scientist’s opinion the difference between set phrases and words is in the next: words consist of elementary significant units of the language, morphemes, and phraseological units consist of components of word character. Therefore, we understood that phraseological units have characteristic set of differentia:
Phraseological units must consist of all signs, which were mentioned before.
The source of idiom origin in Modern English language is very various.
We could divide all phraseological units into two groups: primordial English phraseological units and adoptions. On its part, all adoptions are divided into interlingual adoptions and intralingual adoptions.
Therefore we could single out 3 groups of phraseological units:
In most cases phraseological units of the English language are primordial English phrases, which authors are unknown. We could give some wide-spread examples of such phrases, which were created by people: bite off more than one can chew – «взять в рот больше чем можешь проглотить» , that is in the Russian language means «взяться за непосильное дело, не рассчитать своих сил, орешек не по зубам, дело не по плечу»; in for a penny, in for a pound – «рискнул на пенни, рискуй и на фунт», which can be translated into the Russian language in two ways – «назвался груздем, полезай в кузов; взялся за гуж, не говори, что не дюж»; pay though the nose – in Russian it can be also translated into two way, «платить бешенные деньги; платить втридорога etc.»
Primordial English phraseological units are connected with traditions, customs and English popular belief, but also with actual, legendry, historical facts. We would like to give some examples connected with each point mentioned above.
Baker’s dozen – «чертова дюжина» (according to old English custom, people who sells bread received thirteen loaves of bread instead of twelve, and thirteenth loaf was not paid by sellers at that); good wine needs no bush – «хорошее вино не нуждается в ярлыке», that translates into Russian translates as хороший товар сам себя хвалит (according to old custom, innkeepers hung out one ivy bush, which meant there was some wine on sale).
Put somebody in the cart – which is translated into Russian «поставить кого-либо в тяжелое положение» (cart was a carriage in which criminals were delivered to execution yard or were driven over the town with a shame); a strange bedfellow (It is a part of proverb «adversity makes strange bedfellows» in the Russian language it means «в нужде с кем не поведешься». In middle ages in England, especially in XVI – XVII centuries there were not much single beds, so same-gender people slept together).
The phraseological unit according to Cocker which can be translated into the Russian language as «правильно, точно, по всем правилам» (E. Cocker – the author of arithmetic book); Tom, Dick and Harry which in Russian means «всякий, каждый, первый встречный» (these were very popular names in England)
A black sheep translates into Russian as «позор в семье» (according to old popular belief, a black sheep was a stamp of devil); an unlicked cub which in the Russian language means «молоко на губах не обсохло» (there was the belief when bear cubs were born a female bear licks them into shape)
As well be hung for a sheep as a lamb – «если суждено быть повешенным за овцу, то почему бы не украсть заодно и ягненка» (the old English law was that if you stole a sheep you would be hung).
At this point we noticed that proverbs in English have only one meaning, we cannot change or add any word, but we could translate these proverbs into Russian in two or more ways without any changing in their meaning. And with this we want to say that the Russian language is a very rich language with words and word-meanings, while translators and interpreters translate Russian proverbs by naming the sense of the proverb, they do not translate every word, which could be unknown to foreigners.
We have found a big problem, connected with the translation of these phraseological units. For example, if we did not know how to translate «according to Cocker» into the Russian language, we would translate it literally and we received «согласно Кокеру». But in the Russian language it does not mean anything. And we understand it as Cocker said something, but not as right.
So, we need to read all phraseological expressions which we are interested in, and when we see the difference in translation from English into the Russian languages, we need to learn them by heart. It will make easier to translate these expressions later.
A great amount of English phraseological units is connected with the antique mythology, history and literature. The majority of such phraseological units have an international character, as they are found in many languages.
To the antique mythology we could attribute the next phraseological units: Achilles' heel (or the heel of Achilles) – ахиллесова пята; the apple of discord – яблоко раздора; Augean stable(s) – авгиевы конюшни; the golden age – золотой век (this expression we meet at the book «Works and days», which was written by Greek poet Hesiod. In this book there was written how people lived at the Saturn century, they lived like gods, without cares, wars and hard work); a labour of Hercules (the labours of Hercules) (also a Herculean labour or Herculean labours) – геркулесов труд; a labour of Sisyphus (also А Sisyphean labour) – сизифов труд; Lares and Penates – лары и пенаты, то, что создает уют, домашний очаг (lares and penates at ancient time in Roman mythology were Gods, who protected hearthside).
With Homer poems «Iliad» and «Odyssey» were connected the expressions:
between Scylla and Charybdis – между Сциллой и Харибдой, в безвыходном положении; Homeric laughter – гомерический хохот (this set phrase was connected with the description of God’s laugh by Homer); on the knees of the Gods – одному богу известно; Penelope's web – «планы Пенелопы», тактика оттягивания; winged words – крылатые слова.
The expression the unwritten law – неписанный закон belongs to Athenian law-giver Solon.
From philosophic works of Plato such expressions were taken: hand on the torch – передавать светоч знаний, мудрость; Platonic love – платоническая любовь.
The expression beg the question – начинать с желательного для себя вывода, а не с доказательства belongs to Aristotle.
Some expressions come from fables of Aesop and other Greek fairy-tales and fables: blow hot and cold – колебаться, делать взаимоисключающие вещи, занимать двойственную позицию; kill the goose that laid the golden eggs – убить курицу, несущую золотые яйца; cry wolf too often (also cry wolf) – поднимать ложную тревогу (from the fable about shepherd, who had fun to cheat people crying «Wolf! Wolf! »); the lion's share – львиная доля; cherish (nourish or warm) a viper in one's bosom – пригреть змею на груди; an ass in a lion's skin – осел в львиной шкуре.
The majority of English phraseological expressions were connected with Ancient Rome. For example: a bed of roses – счастливая, безмятежная жизнь. (Nowadays this expression is used in negative sentences, take for instance, life is not a bed of roses – жизненный путь не усыпан розами. In Ancient Rome rich men strewed their couch with rose leaves).
Many of English phraseological expressions were adopted from Latin language through French. But there are some expressions, which were adopted from the Latin language escapes French. This we could prove with that there are not such expressions in the French language: anger is a short madness – «гнев – недолгое безумие» (lat. ira furor brevis est - Гораций); forewarned, forearmed – «заранее предупрежденный – заранее вооруженный, кто предупрежден – вооружен» (lat. praemonitus, praemunitus); like cures like – клин клином вышибают (lat. similia similibus curantur); one fool makes many – глупость заразительна (lat. unius, dementia dementes efficit multos).
Some phraseological expressions were adopted from the French language: after us the deluge – после нас хоть потоп (fr. apres nous Ie deluge); appetite comes with eating – аппетит приходит во время еды (fr. rappetit vient en mangeant); burn the candle at both ends – прожигать жизнь (fr. bruler la chandelle par les deux bouts); castles in Spain – воздушные замки (fr. chateaux en Espagne. This expression is connected with epos «Chansons de Geste», whose heroes, knights got tenure unconquerable castles in Spain); the game is not worth the candle – игра не стоит свеч (fr. Ie jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle); gilded youth – золотая молодежь (fr. jeunesse doree); it goes without saying – это само собой разумеется (fr. cela va sans dire).
Not many English phraseological expressions were adopted from Old French Language. For example, cry havoc – разрушить, производить опустошение; подорвать, нанести тяжелый удар (OF. crier havot); curry favour with somebody – заискивать, подлизываться (OF. estriller fauvel – чистить скребницей рыжую лошадь (red horse was a sign of cunning and lies).
In the English language we could find adoptions from different languages:
(Cn. tiu lien).
fairy-tale «One thousand and one nights» were adopted next expressions: Aladdin's lamp – волшебная лампа Аладдина (talisman, which hits all spots of its owner); rub the lamp – легко осуществить свое желание.
We need to mention that analogue phraseological expressions are translated variously into different languages. That into the English, French and Spanish languages is translated as word-combination, but in German it is translated very often as a difficult word. Some phraseological expressions in modern languages correspond as calking from old classic languages, especially from the Latin language.
So, Latin phraseological expression sub rosa – секретно, тайно (a rose was a symbol of silence in Ancient Rome) is translated into English as under the rose by calking, into French – sous la rose, into German – unter die Rose.
Latin phraseological expression sal Atticum – тонкое остроумие, изящная шутка was translated into the Russian, English, French, German, Italian and other languages by calking: «аттическая соль» - Attic salt – sel attique – attisches Salz – sali attici. This expression belongs to Cicerone.
A lot of phraseological expressions coincide in Russian, English, French, Italian and German without any adoption. Take for instance, перелетная птица (eng. a bird of passage, fr. oiseau de passage, it. uccello migratoro, ger. Zugvogel).
Not always we could find the sources of adoption of any phraseological expression with accuracy. So the translation of the proverb, a close mouth catches no flies – «слово – серебро, молчание – золото» could be from Italian proverb in bocca serrata mai non entro mosca or from Spain proverb en boca cerrada no entran moscas.
The set phrase make love – «ухаживать за кем-либо», could be translated from French expression faire 1'amour or from Italian expression far 1'amore.
Language – is a weapon of literary man, as a gun of a soldier. The better the gun, the better the soldier… Maxim Gorkiy.
We cannot disagree with these words. If there were not any adoptions from any languages the language would be poor in lexicon.
The lexicological wealth of language consists of synonyms, phraseological expressions, neologisms, polysemantic words, adoptions and obsolete words. With this we need to mention that the Russian language has all things mentioned above.
In history of the Russian language we need to note that there were a lot of words which we do not use nowadays and even do not know them. But in XIX century in the Russian language there were a lot of changes, appeared a lot of new words and adoptions from the English language.
With the words of famous Russian writers we see that they were against adoptions. The famous Russian writer A.S. Pushkin said «There are not such words in the Russian language as woman’s drawers, tailcoat, and waistcoat». Peter I tried to avoid adopted words, where it was possible. Nowadays the Russian language is one of the most complicated languages. There are a lot of phraseological expressions in Russian, which cannot be translated into other languages.
The English language is popular simple language. It has a lot of borrowings, adoptions of phraseological expressions, but it is not wealth in grammar and lexicology.
Phraseological expressions improve our speech. Sometimes it is easier to say a phraseological expression to tell our thoughts and sense than try to find necessary words and sentences. But there are such phraseological expressions which can be translated variously into different languages.
With these we would like to say that without phraseological expressions our speech would be considered as poor. So, if we want to improve our speech we need to know and understand phraseological units in our native language. And if we want to avoid problems with the translation of these phraseological expressions we need to learn them by heart.
A lot of phraseological expressions came to England from the USA. They belong to intralingual adoptions. Some of these phraseological expressions were assimilated that in English dictionaries there is no mark of their American origin. To such «Americanisms» we could attribute, for example, bark up the wrong tree – ошибиться, обратиться не по адресу, do one's level best – сделать все возможное, не щадить усилий; face the music – стойко переносить неприятности, расплачиваться; а (or the) green light – зеленая улица, свобода действий; sell like hot cakes – раскупаться как горячие пирожки, нарасхват; sit on the fence – занимать нейтральную или выжидательную позицию; spill the beans – выдать секрет, проболтаться, проговориться; take a back seat –стушеваться, отойти на задний план, занимать скромное положение and others.
The mark like chiefly US shows the partial assimilation of Americanism. To such phraseological expressions we could attribute off limits – вход запрещен; out of sight – великолепно, несравненно; small potatoes – мелкая сошка and others.
There are no American words in mentioned above phraseological expressions and in many others, so they could easily be accepted as primordial English phraseological expressions. Their American origin we could ascertain with lexicographical facts and with analysis of sources.
In some Americanisms we could find American words, take for instance, cent and dollar: a red cent – медный грош; feel (or look) like a million dollars –отлично себя чувствовать (отлично выглядеть; иметь шикарный вид) and others.
The creators of the most set phrases are known.
Benjamin Franklin: Time is money – время – деньги («Advice to a Young Tradesman», 1748)
Washington Irving: the almighty dollar – «всемогущий доллар»
Fennimore Cupper: go on the warpath – вступить на путь войны, быть в воинственном настроении
Henry Longfello: ships that pass in the night – мимолетные, случайные встречи
John Hoy: the grapes of wrath – гроздья гнева
Jack London: the call of the wild – «зов природы»; the iron heel – «железная пята», империализм
Theodor Roosevelt: the big stick – политика большой дубинки, политика силы.
Nowadays we think that there is a difference between the American English and the British English, but the difference is connected with the pronunciation of some words, meaning of some word and we thing that Americans use wrong language. They could use wrong tense, wrong word, and we not to mention pronunciation. It is possible that some of us would think that it was a stupid thing to adopt phraseological expressions from the American English.
In our opinion, there is not anything bad in idiom adoptions from the American English. British people just wanted to improve and renew the English language. They did not change anything in American phraseological expressions. So, we cannot imagine how we would live if we did not have these expressions.
The Bible is considered as one of the most important sources of phraseological expressions. The scientist Smith says that the Bible was widely read book and often cited in England for more than one hundred years. Not only separated words were adopted from the pages of the Bible, but also intact idiomatic expressions were adopted. The amount of bible phrases which were gone down into the English language is too much, that it is impossible to count them.
Bible phrases are considered as full assimilated adoptions. We give some examples of the most widely-spread bible phrases, which are also used in the Russian language:
at the eleventh hour – в последнюю минуту, в самый последний момент; can the leopard change his spots? – горбатого могила исправит; cast pearls before swine – метать бисер перед свиньями; filthy lucre – презренный металл, деньги; in the twinkling of an eye – в мгновение ока; new wine in old bottles –новое вино в старых мехах, новое содержание в старой форме; the olive branch – оливковая ветвь; the root of all evil – корень зла; a wolf in sheep's clothing – волк в овечьей шкуре etc.
Bible phrases have some changes with their bible prototype. We have mentioned only the main types of such changes.
A millstone about somebody's neck – тяжелая ответственность, камень на шее. In the Bible the phrase was used in literal meaning. Nowadays this phraseological expression could be used with the verbs hang and have. We could substitute the word about with the words round or around.
Or for example in the phraseological unit gall and wormwood – нечто ненавистное, постылое word order was changed and all articles were felt. The wormwood and the gall.
the land of Nod - царство сна appeared with the word game. The word nod – дремота and Nod – the place. This expression was created by Swift: go into the land of Nod – отправиться спать.
For example: for better or for worse – на радость и горе, в счастье и несчастье; from the bottom of one's heart – от всего сердца, от всей души were created with the word-play.
Bible phrases are not set citations without any changes. In Modern English language they could also change their meaning, could have some additions or fallings. We would like to give some examples: cast in (or throw in) one's lot with somebody – связать свою судьбу с кем-либо; proclaim (cry or shout) from (or upon) the housetops – объявить во всеуслышание, разгласить на всех перекрестках; a drop in the bucket (or ocean) – капля в море etc.
As it was started above bible phrases as any other phraseological expressions could lose their meaning, emotional nuance. But we need to mention that almost all of these bible phrases are used in written form and in rare instances they could be used in spoken language, but not often.
In every day speech we use such word combinations, which we cannot name bible phrases. They are more connected with popular belief. Take for instance such expressions: My God! (or Good gracious! or My goodness!) – Боже мой!; Good grief! (or Good heavens! or Holy cow!) – Боже праведный!; Thank God! (or Thank goodness!) – Слава Богу!; For God’s sake! (or For heaven’s sake! or For goodness’ sake!) – Ради Бога!; And so help me God! – И да поможет мне Бог!;
God bless you! – хранит вас Бог!; God willing, I’ll be back soon! – Бог даст, я скоро вернусь!; God forbid! – Не дай Бог! Боже упаси!; A God-given right (talent etc.) – Богом данное право (талант и т.д.); Godforsaken place – Богом забытое место (захолустье).
In Modern English Language there are a lot of phraseological expressions, which have the main function is to heighten the aesthetic aspect of the language. A lot of phraseological units appeared in connection with traditions, customs and English popular belief, but also with actual, legendry and historical facts, but also we must not forget that the majority of phraseological expressions appeared from poems of famous writers.
The phraseological expressions from poems of the popular English classical writer William Shakespeare are considered as one of the most important origin, which improved the English language. Their total amount is near one hundred. We give the examples of the most popular phraseological expressions of William Shakespeare or Shakespearean phrases: the be-all and end-all («Macbeth») – то, что заполняет жизнь, всѐ в жизни; eat somebody out of house and home («King Henry IV») – разорить человека, живя на его счет; a fool's paradise («Romeo and Juliet») – призрачное счастье, мир фантазий; give the devil his due («King Henry V») – отдавать должное противнику; the green-eyed monster («Othello») – «чудовище с зелеными глазами», ревность; the observed of all observers («Hamlet») – центр всеобщего внимания; paint the lily («King John») – «подкрашивать цвет лилии», e.g. пытаться улучшить или украсить что-либо, не нуждающееся в улучшении и украшении; the seamy side («Othello») – неприглядная сторона, изнанка чего-либо; the wish is father to the thought («King Henry IV») – желание порождает мысль, люди охотно верят тому, чего сами желают etc.
William Shakespeare was the greatest dramatist, whose novels were of great importance in forming of the English literary language. The most active process in XVI-XVII centuries was the creation of phraseological expressions. So W. Shakespeare was one of the writers whose phraseological expressions continue to be used.
M.M. Morozov, a researcher of Shakespeare’s works, writes «It is wonderful that the majority of the Shakespeare phraseological expressions are continued to be used in Modern English language».
The researches write that it is very hard to assign when the transformation of Shakespearean phrases into phraseological units appeared. In their opinion the transformation appeared in works of different authors. They used Shakespearean phrases in their works, and changed something in his phrases.
In Modern English language some Shakespearean phrases were changed. Some examples of such changes we could show in the following way.
The Shakespearean phrase at one fell swoop («Macbeth») – одним ударом, одним махом, в один момент nowadays is used in contracted form at one swoop, as a result appeared quantitative variants. Quantitative variants are formed with reduction or adding some elements in phraseological expressions.
They go quick, one after another – five of them vanished already at one swoop (S. O'Casey).
We need to note that the American variant of the phrase is in one fell swoop.
Mr. Strongfort had decided, he said, to teach me everything in one fell swoop.
(W. Saroyan).
Also were changed the next phraseological expressions:
Shuffle off this mortal coil («Hamlet») – покинуть этот бренный мир, свести счеты с жизнью nowadays is used as (this) mortal coil – «мирская суета»
Out of joint – пришедший в расстройство was used as the time is out of joint («Hamlet»).
The phrase to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve for daws to peck at («Othello») – выставлять напоказ свои чувства; душа нараспашку in Modern English is used in contracted form: to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve.
We could give the example of Shakespearean phrase with the addition of elements, more honoured in the breach than in the observance – чаще нарушается, чем соблюдается. This phraseological expression was created by William Shakespeare in the poem «Hamlet», but without the second preposition in. This preposition was added later, and as a result quantitative variants appeared.
Shakespeare combined the set phrase more honoured in the breach than the observance with the word custom. In Modern English language the combinatory power of this Shakespearean phrase is widely used, and the phrase could refer to everything that is violated.
In the course of time a lot of Shakespearean phrases started to have their own lexical variants: take for instance, applaud (or cheer) to the echo – шумно, восторженно аплодировать, устроить овацию (applaud to the echo – Shakespearean phrase; «Macbeth»); cram (ram or thrust) something down somebody's throat – навязывать кому-либо (your own opinion, your point of view etc.) (thrust something down somebody's throat – Shakespearean phrase; «Titus Andronicus»); get (have, take or catch) somebody on (upon) the hip – держать кого-либо в руках; быть хозяином положения, иметь кого-либо в своей власти.
In contamination of two Shakespearean phrases gild refined gold and paint the lily appeared the new set phrase gild the lily, which is considered as a variant of the phraseological expression paint the lily.
The Shakespearean phrase the better part of valour is discretion («King Henry IV») – одно из украшений храбрости – скромность in Modern English language is used with changed word order: discretion is the better part of valour.
We could give more examples with changed word order:
Somebody’s memory is green – что-либо еще свежо в чьей-либо памяти in Modern English is used as something is green in somebody’s memory;
as night follows day – неизбежно, неотвратимо, как смена дня и ночи nowadays was changed to follow as night the day;
give somebody pause – приводить в замешательство, ставить в тупик, заставить кого-либо призадуматься, не разрешить сомнений was changed to give pause to somebody.
The set phrase lay it on with a trowel – преувеличивать, пересаливать; грубо льстить; хватить через край (в похвалах) was used in passive voice by W. Shakespeare:
Сelia: Well said: that was laid on with a trowel («As You Like It»).
In Modern English this phraseological unit is used in active voice:
She continued to flatter him... She got a little private amusement by seeing how much he should swallow. She laid it on with a trowel (W.S. Maugham).
In the phraseological expression buy golden opinions – заслужить благоприятное, лестное мнение о себе, вызвать восхищение in Modern English the verb win is used instead of the verb buy.
be food for worms – быть пищей для червей, быть мертвым, похороненным the word food was changed to the word meal. And nowadays the phraseological expression sounds as to be meat for worm;
set a stone rolling – вступать на опасный путь nowadays changed to put a stone rolling;
the devil can cite (quote) scripture for his purpose – proverb «черт, если нужно может и на священное писание согласиться».
The set phrase the milk of human kindness – «бальзам прекраснодушия», сострадание, доброта, сердечность
Lady Macbeth: ...yet do I fear thy nature: It is too full o' the milk of human kindness... («Macbeth»). In Modern English language this phraseological unit is used in appreciation, but also jocularly and ironically.
Besides a man with the milk of human kindness in him can scarcely abstain from doing a good-natured action, and one cannot be good-natured all around (G. Eliot).
Sellers said privately that Rossmore was the most extraordinary character he had ever met – a man just made out of the condensed milk of human kindness... (M. Twain).
We know that all these phraseological expressions appeared in XV-XVI centuries, and it is logical that they must be changed in whole course of their existence. Because any language is changed, something becomes unpopular, something disappears, some words change their meaning and something new was appeared.
We need to mention that a lot of Shakespearean phrases were changed, some of them changed their word order, some words in these phraseological expressions were changed, and also some prepositions were added. But their meaning was not changed. This means that all these expressions would never disappear; they also would be changed for improving the English language.
Part II – Translation of phraseological units
Difficulties in translation of phraseological units start with their recognition in the text. Practically in any language there are several types of phraseological units:
In any case, the first and the main condition is to be able to recognize phraseological units in the text. The most productive way is the skill of selection of contradict units in text, as a rule, exactly the forthcoming of such units indicates an extended sense. For example: By that time he had reached the condition to see pink elephants. If we translate this phrase literally, i.e. «розовые слоны» it forms us an unmeaning context. From these facts, we may conclude that if we see the expression, which is logically contradicts the context, we can put down it like a probable phraseological unit.
The second condition in the process of recognition of phraseological units consists in the skill of analyses their language functions. For example the conflict between extended sense and direct meaning is used by the author for description of esthetic, emotional and other associations, but also for creation of humoristic effect. Moreover, phraseological units could be fixed by any layer of society. And they have different stylistic nuances: these could be the grand style, neutral style and low style or slang expressions.
Also an interpreter could face a problem of national-cultural difference between similar phraseological units in both different languages. Having the same sense, phraseological units could have different stylistic nuances. For example: the phraseological expression when Queen Ann was alive, in which the sense could be explained as «в незапамятные времена» or to save the direct meaning «при дворе королевы Анны». This phraseological expression cannot be translated into Russian as «при царе Горохе», because this time is not connected with the signs of the reference text such as: ladies, intrigues, balls. It would be correct to translate it as «при дворе короля Артура» or any other royal name which is well-known to Russian readers or to translate more general «как в средневековье».
Also the problems could appear because of the resemblance of phraseological units, which have different meanings. Interpreters and translator sometimes confuse the parts of phraseological units, so we need to be more attentive to them. Take for instance, in the English language there are two closely similar phraseological expressions, these are every tree is known by its fruits and as the tree, so the fruit in translation they get different forms: «узнается дерево по его плодам» (the person is recognized with his deals) and «яблоко от яблони не далеко падает» (as bad signs are sent hereditably).
We should also point out the famous case of wrong translation, which was connected with the translation of the Russian phraseological expression кузькина мать. It happened in 1960 when N.S. Khrushev addressed to American people, his interpreter translated the Russian expression literally «Kuzma’s mother». The Americans were shocked; they did not understand how it is connected with the mother of Kuzma, and who «this Kuzma» was. The correct translation of this expression is to make it hot for somebody.
There are a lot of complications in translation of phraseological units and the rules of the best idiom translation, which we would show below.
In order to speak about methods of translation of phraseological units theoretically we need to arrange discursively all phraseological units of this language into groups, and we will see which method repeats more often. A lot of authors take as a source linguistic classifications, which were constructed on criteria of indivisibility of phraseological units, continuity of its components, reason for meaning, metaphoricalness. V.V. Vinogradov divided all Russian phraseological units into four groups: phraseological fusion, phraseological unity, phraseological combinations, and phraseological expression. This classification was used into the work of theory and practice of translation of L.V. Phedorov. He said that some phraseological units would present some difficulties for interpreters and translations as all Russian phraseological expressions have different degrees of motivation and national specification. Ya.I. Retsker also holds this classification, but he divided Russian phraseological units into two groups: phraseological unity, phraseological fusion. He thinks that phraseological units would have non-ordinary methods of translation: «the translation of phraseological unit must be figurative and imaginative», and «the translation of phraseological fusion must be fully translated».
We must not think that this classification of methods of idiom translation is incorrect. However, theorists of translation include new additional division of phraseological expressions into imaginative and non-imaginative units.
Literally translation of full value depends on correlation of original language and target language:
In interpreter’s point of view, we could divide phraseological units into two groups: phraseological units, which have the equivalence in transferable language, and phraseological units with no direct equivalents in other languages.
We should note here that phraseological expressions are translated in phraseological translation, if there are the equivalences or the analogues for phraseological expressions, or in non-phraseological translation, if there is a lack of equivalences and analogues.
These methods of translation show us the problem of translation of phraseological units, but also broaden and simplify the choice of the most suitable and appropriate method of translation.
It is well known that phraseological method consists of equivalence and analogue. In this part we would like to give examples of full phraseological equivalents and partial phraseological equivalents and analogues in the English, Russian and Italian languages. Doubtless, only a great knowledge of language and dictionaries could help us to translate phraseological units correctly.
To begin with, phraseological equivalent is a phraseological unit on transferable language, which is equal in all performances to transferable unit. As a rule, it must have the same denotative and connotative meanings, no matter from the context. It means there must not have any differences in point of semantic content, stylistic nuance, metaphoricalness, emotional-expressive nuance between these correlative phraseological units. They must have approximately the same component structure; have the same lexico-grammatical signs: combinative power, belonging to the same grammatical category, connection with context words etc., but also there must be the absence of national color.
First of all, let us try to understand which equivalents belong to full and partial phraseological equivalents. Full phraseological equivalents are equivalents, which coincide with English (or other language) phraseological units in their meaning, lexical structure, figurativeness, stylistic orientation and grammatical structure. For example the English phraseological expression take the bull by the horns – взять быка за рога, belongs to full phraseological units. Into the Italian language it is translated as prendere il toro per le corna and would also belong to full phraseological units, as they have the same structure and the same sense. Or for example, the phraseological unit «валять дурака» is translated into English as play (or act) the fool and into the Italian language as fare lo stupido also would belong to full phraseological units.
We should, however, not forget that partial phraseological units are equivalents, which do not coincide with English (or other language) phraseological units in lexical structure, and grammatical structure, but coincide in their meaning.
We would like to give some examples of full phraseological units in both languages: a drop in the ocean – капля в море – una goccia nel mare;
Be in the seventh heaven – быть на седьмом небе – essere al settimo cielo;
Be on the tip of one’s tongue – вертеться на языке – ce l’ho sulla punta della lingua;
He would not hurt a fly – мухи не обидит – non farebbe malea una mosca;
Keep a snake in one’s bosom – пригреть змею на груди – scaldare la serpe in seno;
Sharp tongue – острый язык – lingua mordace;
To play with fire – играть с огнем – scherzare con il fuoco;
To sit on the phone – висеть на телефоне – incollarsi al telefono;
To take oneself in hand – взять себя в руки – aver qd in pugno;
Waste money – выброшенные деньги – soldi buttati via.
The examples we have presented would indicate that all these phraseological expressions are literally translated into both languages. There is no problem to translate full phraseological units into the English or Italian languages.
But we could have some difficulties in translation of partial phraseological units. As we have mentioned before partial phraseological units coincide in their meaning, but have some lexical or grammatical differences. For example, the English phraseological expression to hang by a thread – висеть на волоске, belongs to partial phraseological units. It is translated into the Italian language as è appesa a un filo and would also belong to full phraseological units, as they have the same sense, but these variants a little differ from the Russian variant. The words «thread» and «filo» are translated into the Russian language as «нитка».
Or take for instance the English phraseological unit it is a jawbreaker which also belongs to partial phraseological units and is translated into Russian as «язык сломать можно». The word «jawbreaker» is translated into the Russian language like «сломать челюсть», so these two phraseological expressions have the same meaning, but they differ in lexical structure. If we translate this phraseological unit into the Italian language which would sound as c’è da rompersi la lingua and would fully conform to the Russian phraseological unit – «язык сломать можно». In this case we must label the Italian translation of this phraseological expression belongs to full phraseological units, as it was literally translated.
Or for example the Russian phraseological unit «нем, как рыба» is translated into English as dumb as an oyster, which belongs to partial phraseological units. Because the English word «oyster» is translated as «устрица», so there is a little difference in this phraseological expression. The same expression is translated into the Italian language as muto come un pesce, and we noticed again that this expression was literally translated.
We would like to give a famous example of the English partial equivalent of phraseological unit; it is to be like a squirrel in a cage, which has a little difference in some words with the Russian expression «крутиться как белка в колесе». Into Italian it is translated as girare come una trottola, which is the full equivalent to the Russian phraseological unit. In these three examples we see that they have the common word «squirrel», it is because of a squirrel is a sign of quickness, spryness and tirelessness. Dexterity of a squirrel shows us its slyness, and almost in all countries a squirrel is a sign of persistence.
So we ascertained that the majority of Russian phraseological expressions are literally translated into Italian, it is because the Italian language was very popular and had a great influence on many languages, including Russian, in the Renaissance period. We cannot possibly accept the fact that a lot of words in the Russian language were adopted from Italian, which became our native words nowadays. From this fact, we may conclude that as we use the Italian words in our language, it makes us easier to translate Russian phraseological units into the Italian language.
Furthermore, we should not forget that there is the other way of translation of phraseological units – it is analogue, which offers big problems for interpreters. Analogue is a translation of phraseological expressions from original language to target language in adequate way with the same sense, but in different structural-component composition. There are a lot of phraseological units in the Russian and English languages which have the same sense, but which are differently translated. Take for instance the Russian expression «воздушные замки», which meaning is unrealizable dreams, fancy, imagination, it is translated into English as built castles in Spain. This expression is connected with epos «Chansons de Geste», whose heroes, knights got tenure unconquerable castles in Spain. Into the Italian language the phraseological unit will be translated as costruire castelli in aria, which is translated into Russian literally «строить замки в воздухе». This example shows us that the Russian and Italian languages are similar in sentence building, because the majority of Russian phraseological units are literally translated into Italian.
The other example of analogue is the expression «в каждой бочке затычка», which is differently translated into the English and Italian languages. This expression is very rude and impolite; it describes a person, who shows an initiative in deals which he must not participate. Into English there is the analogue of such expression, it is one who has a finger in every pie, which is literally translated «совать палец в каждый пирог». It is necessary to mention that the first pies appeared in the 12th century in Great Britain. English people put a finger in a pie for checking if the pie is ready or not. The English analogue is connected with English customs and traditions, that’s why we cannot literally translate it. But there is not any analogue in the Italian language. Italians only call such people like ficcanaso, which meaning is a curious person, i.e. it is not the analogue to the English phraseological unit, but the description of this expression.
Or for example the phraseological unit когда «рак на горе свистнет», which is also differently translated in both languages. The origin of this phraseological unit is connected with Russian popular belief and legendry. In period of the expression appearing about «свистящий рак», the last word was written from capital letter. «Рак» – it was a nickname of famous Odessian thief whose full surname was Rakachinskiy. One day he lost the bet, and was obliged to whistle from the mountain three times if the rain poured too much. But the rain was not often in that place and the expression appeared from this story. In the English language there is the analogue of this expression, which is when the pigs fly and appeared in the period of Middle English when poor English people depended on French rulers. Into the Italian language it is translated as il giorno di San Mai, that is a day which would never exist.
The analogues cannot be literally translated into the Russian language, because they differ from the Russian expressions, as they are connected with customs and traditions. Let us take for instance, the English phraseological unit to draw the wool over someone’s eyes, which offers many difficulties for interpreters. If we translate it literally, i.e. «натянуть шерсть на глаза кому-нибудь», Russian people will not understand the sense of this expression, as there is no similar expression in the Russian language. The correct way for interpreters would be to explain the sense of the expression or to learn it by heart that we could remember it at once. The translation of this translation is «водить кого-либо за нос» which has the full equivalent in the Italian language – that is portare per il naso.
Phraseological analogue offers big problems to interpreters, because it is connected with customs and traditions, which quite differ from each other. If we do not know the traditions of the language we deal with, we could translate phraseological units incorrectly. But we have another way of the translation of phraseological units, it is the descriptive method, which makes the translation easier, naming the sense of the phraseological unit.
Non-phraseological method of idiom translation conveys phraseological units with the help of lexical ways, but not phraseological ways in target language. This method is used when it is known that there are not any phraseological equivalents and analogues. It is difficult to name such translation of full value; there are always some losses, such as figurativeness, expressivity, connotation and aphoristic character. It makes interpreters use non-phraseological method of idiom translation only in case of emergency. In this part we would like to give examples of these types of idiom translation in the English, Russian and Italian languages.
Non-phraseological method consists of four ways of idiom translation: calking, antonymous translation, combined translation and explication or descriptive translation.
It is well known that some types of translation, such as calking and explication, are more widely used than antonymous and combined translations. We will start with calking way of idiom translation.
Calking or literally translation of phraseological units is used in cases when it is impossible to use another ways of translation, saving semantic-stylistic and expressive-emotional meanings of phraseological expression. We can use calking if the literal translation could bring the sense and the idea of an expression to a reader and the native speaker of target language could understand the sense of phraseological units correctly. Take for instance the phraseological expression keep your cool – to control your temper and stay calm in a difficult situation, which is translated into the Russian language «сохранять спокойствие, хладнокровие», and into the Italian language as «mantenere la calma». In both languages they were literally translated, i.e. using the calking way of idiom translation. Or for example another phraseological unit which was translated with calking is over my dead body – used to emphasize that one completely opposes something, into the Italian language it is translated as «dovrai passare sul mio cadaver» and into Russian – «только через мой труп».
Calking gives us a great opportunity to avoid peculiarities, which could appear in original. For example, the English phraseological expression it is raining cats and dogs, which is usually translated as «дождь льет как из ведра». But it is differently translated in combination with other words; a good example is it was raining cats and a little puppy got on my page. It would be better to translate the expression using parenthesis, for example, был такой дождь, будто, как говорят англичане, с неба сыпались кошки и собаки, и один маленький щенок упал мне на страницу. Such type of translation is used when the original expression is a little changed with additional components.
Unfortunately not all Russian phraseological units could be translated into English with calking. We have given an example of the wrong and curious translation of the Russian phraseological unit «кузькина мать», when the interpreter translated it literally. But we cannot say the same about translation into the Italian language; it had a great influence on the Russian language in the Renaissance period. A lot of words in the Russian language were adopted from Italian, which have become our native words nowadays. From this fact, we may say that as we use the Italian words in our language, it becomes easier to translate phraseological units from the Russian language into Italian.
The other way of translation of phraseological unit is antonymous translation. Antonymous translation is a lexical-grammatical transformation, in which affirmative form in original is substituted into negative form in translation, or vice versa from negative form into affirmative. For example: to keep one’s head – remain calm, which is translated into Russian «не терять головы», to keep one’s head above water – avoid succumbing to difficulties, typically debt is translated as «не влезать в долги», to keep one’s pecker up – remain cheerful, which has two ways of translation into the Russian language «не падать духом» and «держать нос выше».
The essence of antonymous translation of phraseological expressions consists in expressing the idea of phraseological unit though the opposite meaning with some changes in the structure. We would like to give an example of the Russian phraseological unit «не сходить с языка» which is translated with antonymous translation into the English language, i.e. to be on somebody’s tongue all the time, but into Italian the expression is translated with a little difference – ce l'ho sulla punta della lingua which is literally translated as «быть на кончике языка».
Or for example the expression «грош цена» is translated into the English language like it is not worth a brass farthing which literally means «не стоить медного фартинга» and into Italian the expression is translated as non vale un soldo bucato, that is «не стоить медных денег». But these translations are connected with Russian, English and Italian cultures, values of people. In Russian culture the small charge was «грош» and in English the small charge was farthing. We see a little difference in translation; it is used for explaining the sense of the expression. If we translate the expression with the Russian variant, not all English and Italian people will understand the expression; the reason is that such charge was used long ago.
Another example of antonymous translation is «первый блин комом», it is fully connected with Russian traditions, and foreigners do not know what the word «блин» means. This means it is impossible to translate it with calking, but it would be better to translate it with antonymous translation or explain the sense of the expression. The expression is translated into English as practice makes perfect, but the translation differs from the Italian language – non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco, which is literally translated like «не все кренделя получаются с дыркой». This expression is connected with knot-shaped biscuit preparing, it was difficult to cook this biscuit because of pastry, it was going up fast and not always you could get a roll with a whole lot of nothing.
This type of idiom translation is used not often, but in some cases when we do not remember the translation of a phraseological unit we can use the antonymous translation for conveying the same sense of the expression. For example: to keep one’s pecker up, which is translated into the Russian language «не падать духом» and its antonymous translation is chins up – «выше нос». They have the same sense, but they are different in translation. Sometimes this translation is used in showing the differences in cultures and traditions. And this brings us to the combined translation.
Combined translation is used in cases when the Russian analogue does not convey the sense of the English phraseological expression or if it has the other specific color of place and time. It consists of all types of idiom translation which we have mentioned above, i.e. we give the calking translation then we use the descriptive translation and the Russian analogue for comparison. Take for instance: to carry coals to Newcastle, which is translated as «возить уголь в Ньюкасл». Newcastle was a leading centre for coal mining and manufacturing in the 19th century, i.e. the Russian analogue of the expression is «ехать в Тулу со своим самоваром». Tula is a small town in Russia where the first samovar appeared. But this expression is differently translated into the Italian language portare legna al bosco, i.e. «возить дрова в лес». We want to emphasize that the sense of these phraseological units is the same, but they are different in translation.
There is the other good example of combined translation, Rome was not built in a day which is literally translated as «Рим был построен не за один день». In the Russian language the expression would not be translated literally, because in the Russian language there is the same equivalent – «Москва не сразу построилась». At this example we could emphasize that combined translation consists of calking and descriptive translation.
But there are some phraseological units which could be translated differently for people with different nations. Take for instance, the Russian phraseological unit «в чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят», which is translated into the English language as when in Rome do as the Romans do. But we could change the name of the city, for example when in Paris do as the Parisians do that is «если вы находитесь в Париже, поступайте как парижане», such translation would be classed as combined translation, because it consists of calking, descriptive translation and analogue. But we cannot say the same for the translation into the Italian language. The Italian people use only descriptive translation for expressing the idea and the sense of this phraseological unit, take for instance paese che vai or usanza che trovi which have the same idea and translates into Russian as «поступай также как и все люди в этом месте». As we see all these translations have the same idea, the same sense, and people could understand such type of translation. But we need to remember that it would be better to translate this phraseological expression with naming the city or the country from which our client is. As we can mention combined translation is more connected with cultures and traditions, this means we must take into account the name of the country from which our client came from.
But the majority of phraseological units, which are connected with culture, traditions, popular belief etc, cannot be translated with combined translation. A good example is the Russian phraseological expression «сибирское здоровье», if we translate it literally we will get «Siberian health». The origin of this expression is explained as Siberia is a vast region of Russia, noted for the severity of its winters, the expression «сибирское здоровье» describes a person with a good health, who is very strong and never catch a disease. But American and British could not understand the sense of this expression, because they do not say «Canadian health» or «The northern Irish health». They explain the sense and the idea of this expression with descriptive translation, i.e. healthy man, disease-free. And this brings us to descriptive translation.
Explication or descriptive translation is a lexical-grammatical transformation, in which the lexical unit in original language is substituted for word-combination, explaining the sense of the phraseological expression in target language. With the help of explication we could convey the sense of any expression with no direct equivalents in the other language. It could be explanation, comparison, description, and commentary – all methods for sending the sense of phraseological units. Good examples are, to rob Peter to pay Paul, this phraseological unit does not have any analogues in the Russian language, but it shows us the sense and the idea of this phraseological unit, which is translated as «отдать одни долги сделав новые». Another example is to burn the candle on both ends, which is literally translated as «зажечь свечу с обоих концов», there is no analogue in Russian. Into the Russian language it is translated as «работать с раннего утра и до позднего вечера». With this expression we could see how different cultures and traditions are if we compare them.
Phraseological expressions not only improve our speech, but also offer many difficulties for interpreters; because they cannot remember at once how to translate a phraseological unit correctly. So they do not translate literally or try to find an equivalent in English, they translate primordial Russian phraseological units with descriptive method; it means they explain only the sense and the idea of the expression. We would like to give some examples: «бить баклуши» – is a famous Russian idiom, but it is really hard to translate it into English. We cannot translate it literally, because we do not know what the old Russian word «баклуши» means. So it would be correct if we explain this phraseological expression like to fritter away one's time or to waste one's time.
Or for example, another popular Russian expression «точить лясы». We also need to explain the sense of the phraseological expression, but not to translate it literally. The correct translation would be to talk idly, to wag one's tongue or just chatter.
It is a well-known fact that there are a lot of Russian phraseological expressions, which cannot be translated into English. Take for instance such phraseological units: «баню задать», «зубы на полку положить», «достать из-под земли», «горе луковое», «держи карман шире», «душа в пятки ушла» to translate them is a real hard work. We cannot translate them literally, because it is impossible, there will not be any sense in «such translation», and nobody understands it. The first expression «баню задать» is translated into English as to give a rating we cannot translate it literally «give Russian baths», the first reason that it sounds not well and the sense of this expression is changed, and it is the biggest mistake of interpreters and translators. The other expression «зубы на полку положить» is translated like to hunger, to starve, that is naming the sense and the idea or the expression. The other three phraseological expressions could be translated into English, but we lose their Russian origin. For example: «горе луковое» is translated into the English language as «weakling», in the Russian language it means you must not cry because of trifles, the other expression «держи карман шире» is translated as «not a chance», but also we can give its description, for example, do not think about it or do not dream about it. The next expression it is hard to translate, so we need to learn it by heart to have one’s heart in one’s boots or to explain it with the description like to be frightened, scared.
It is very clear from these observations that if we do not know how to translate the phraseological expression we could explain the sense and the idea of the expression or give its description. But we must know the meanings of all phraseological expressions, for explaining its sense. But sometimes it becomes harder to translate phraseological units which are connected with stereotypes and characteristics of every nation. A good example of such phraseological unit is strike on the job, which is connected with the stereotype of Italian people. Strikes are not rare things in manufacturing and consumers services, when workers stop do their work. But Italian people went on strike in 1904; they did not refuse to work, but started to do it very slowly. It turns out that it is harder to suppress such strike. This type of strikes started to appear in other countries, but into the Russian language it is translated as «итальянская забастовка», that is because of the stereotypes of Italian people that they are slowcoaches. Unfortunately, this stereotype we cannot change or delete it. And it is differently translated into the Italian language, if we translate it as «lo sciopero di l’italiani» Italian people could not understand us, and if someone understood the sense of expression he could take offence.
In conclusion, we can say if we want to avoid curious moments in translation, we need to pay our attention to phraseological expressions, especially to Russian ones, because the majority of them cannot be translated into English and other languages. We, interpreters and translators, need to know a lot of things, which belong to our profession or do not. But we can have problems in translation, which cannot be avoided. Concerning the translation of phraseological expressions, as we mentioned before, there are a lot of expressions which cannot be translated. There is no doubt we have one main thing, we can explain the sense of phraseological expressions if we do not remember or do not know the exact translation.
Also we want to suggest some rules for correct translation of phraseological expressions:
In addition we could give an advice is to use dictionaries which were published in Russian and check the translation of every phraseological unit. And do not afraid to translate or feel shy of your translation, we must be sure that our translation is accurate and well-formed.
Learning from mistakes and constantly improving knowledge is a key to all successful interpreters and translators.
Conclusion
Thousand years ago a special layer of the language appeared, it is phraseology – the whole set of stable expressions, which have their independent meaning. The world of Modern English phraseological expressions is so grand and various that every aspect of its study is worth of due regard.
The learning of the English language is widely-spread among our country. Good knowledge of language is impossible without knowing English phraseology. If we know phraseological expressions of English and our native language it will make us easier translate and understand.
In this course work we have examined the source of phraseological expressions and peculiarities in its translation in the English and Italian languages. We think that every person must know general information about phraseological units. The «father» of phraseology, Charles Bally, gave the definition of phraseological unit: «combinations, which firmly came into language, are called set phrases». The linguist N.M. Shanskiy made out some difference between set phrases and free word combinations. Set phrases differ with readableness, integrity of the meaning, steadiness of composition and structure and also with structure tightness.
The source of idiom origin in Modern English language is very various.
We could divide all phraseological units into two groups: primordial English phraseological units and adoptions. Many of English phraseological expressions were adopted from Latin language through French. But there are some expressions, which were adopted from the Latin language escapes French, even there were adoptions from American English and other languages. A lot of phraseological units appeared in connection with traditions, customs and English popular belief, actual, legendry and historical facts, but also we must not forget that the majority of phraseological expressions appeared from poems of famous writers, we have learnt Shakespearean phraseological units.
Phraseological expressions improve our speech. Sometimes it is easier to say a phraseological expression to tell our thoughts and sense than try to find necessary words and sentences. However, they offer big problems to interpreters and translators. It is not great surprise that there are such phraseological expressions which can be translated variously into different languages.
An important point is that different linguists offer different classifications of phraseological units and their translation. But we decided to use the classification in interpreter’s point of view; we could divide phraseological units into two groups: phraseological units, which have the equivalence in transferable language, and phraseological units with no direct equivalents in other languages.
We should note here that phraseological expressions are translated in phraseological translation, if there are the equivalences or the analogues for phraseological expressions, or in non-phraseological translation, if there is a lack of equivalences and analogues.
We decided to use the modern classification of phraseological units, which consists of six ways of idiom translation: phraseological equivalents; analogue; calking; antonymous translation; combined translation; explication or descriptive translation.
In conclusion, we can say if we want to avoid curious moments in translation, we need to pay our attention to phraseological expressions, especially to Russian ones, because the majority of them cannot be translated into English and other languages. We, interpreters and translators, need to know a lot of things, which belong to our profession or do not. But we can have problems in translation, which cannot be avoided. Concerning the translation of phraseological expressions, as we mentioned before, there are a lot of expressions which cannot be translated. There is no doubt we have one main thing, we can explain the sense of phraseological expressions if we do not remember or do not know the exact translation.
In this science work we also express which problems could appear in translation of phraseological units in cultural aspect. Culture offers a big problem for interpreters and translators. Of course, it is impossible to know all detailed things in culture and traditions of any country, but we need to have some general idea about every country.
Doubtless, only a great knowledge of language and dictionaries could help us to translate phraseological units correctly.