4) METAPHOR AND THE PHRASEOLOGICAL UNIT
A phraseological unit is a set expression consisting of a group of words in a fixed order having a particular meaning, different from the meanings of each word understood on its own.166
Metaphor is a figurative expression, transferring the meaning from one thing to another based on their similarity: table legs – ножки стола; to strain one’s memory – напрягать память.
Phraseological units may be both metaphorical (keep to the beaten track – идти по проторенной дорожке; make a mountain out of a molehill – делать из мухи слона) and non-metaphorical (to live beyond one’s means – жить не по средствам; to take part in – принимать участие в). Metaphorical phraseology is usually called idioms.
Metaphors can belong to language and speech. Language metaphors (Дождь идет. I had my teeth capped because they were in a terrible state.) are common and hardly expressive. Normally, a native speaker is not conscious of the image, though foreign learners of the language often find it rather expressive, since its figurative meaning may be new to them. Dead metaphors are not difficult to translate, as they are provided by the dictionaries.
Speech metaphors are brighter, for they are mostly situational, individual metaphors: A stubborn and unconquerable flame creeps in his veins and drinks the streams of life.167 Спит Земля в сиянье голубом. Speech metaphors conjure up a certain image. They are called genuine metaphors.
Metaphors may be single (one word) and extended (a collocation, sentence, proverb, complete imaginative text).168
Language and speech metaphors may be prolonged or sustained. In this case their figurative meaning is livened up and played upon: It was raining cats and dogs and two little puppies fell on my writing table.
5) INTERLINGUAL METAPHORIC TRANSFORMATIONS
Interlingual transformations can change metaphors. There may be three
cases169:
1. Metaphorization: a source language non-metaphoric word is translated by a metaphor. For example, The old woman came around the body of the car. – Изза автомобиля вынырнула старуха. Since the Russian metaphor is a language one, the expressiveness of the text is not emphasized by introducing the metaphor.
Sometimes this transformation occurs with the introduction of an idiom.
The reasons for translating a non-idiomatic word or phrase by a metaphor may be
• stylistic (to retain the same style). For example, a colloquial form can be compensated by a colloquially colored idiom: You ain’t no worse the rest of us. (Dreiser) – Мы все тут одного поля ягоды.
• grammatical (lexical compensation of a specific grammar form in the source language): When Rawdon and his wife wished to communicate with Captain Dobbin …, the captain had vanished. – Когда Родон с женой поспешили к нему.., нашего приятеля уже и след простыл.
• lexical (source language phraseological lacuna): to give up – разводить руками.
2. Demetaphorization, or dropping of a metaphor: a source language metaphor is translated by a non-metaphoric expression. In written translation this is the last transformation to apply, only in case of a phraseological lacuna in the target language: The skeleton in our family closet was my brother John. No one mentioned him because he drank too much. – Нашей семейной тайной был мой брат Джон. Никто не говорил о нем, потому что он пьянствовал. However, interpreters often drop metaphors in order not to be trapped by a
sustained metaphor if a speaker were to play upon the idiom.
Here is a statement made in a television program: Меры, предпринимаемые правительством, - это только пластырь на теле больной экономики. The interpreter suggested the following translation: The government measures are only a temporary relief.
3. Remetaphorization, where a source language metaphor is translated by a metaphor. Y. Retsker considers this technique to be an ideal one.170 In this case the image may be fully preserved, which is done by full or partial equivalents.
Full equivalents are target language expressions whose components coincide fully (in terms of vocabulary, grammar and style) with the source language expressions. Full equivalents may be represented by some proverbs (All is well that ends well. – Всё хорошо, что хорошо кончается.); international phrases, especially biblical, mythological, or historical (Damocles’ sword – Дамоклов меч; Noah’s ark – Ноев ковчег; to burn one’s boats behind one – сжечь свои корабли); or other phrases (to play with fire – играть с огнем; to read between the lines – читать между строк).
Partial equivalents differ from the source language expression either lexically (four corners of the world – четыре стороны света, to save money for a rainy day – откладывать деньги на черный день) or grammatically (to have news first hand – узнать новость из первых рук; играть на руку кому-либо - to play into smb’s hands).
The figurative meaning, or the image, may be changed in translation: to sit on a powder keg – жить как на вулкане; сидеть, как на углях – to sit on pins and needles.
6) WAYS OF TRANSLATING IDIOMS
In general, idioms are open to a variety of translation procedures. Among them are:
• Substitution with the analog: Don’t teach your grandmother to suck eggs. – Яйца курицу не учат. However, in oral translation a translator should sustain the image. Then a new (changed) figurative meaning may frustrate the translator. For example, the Soviet leader N. Khruschev, when speaking in the USA, used the idiom “ всякий кулик свое болото хвалит”. And in some minutes continued, “ Долго ли мы с вами будем торчать в этом болоте холодной войны?” Luckily, the translator did not use the analog in the first case, “ Every cook praises his own broth.” The continuation of the metaphor would have caused an impossible phrase of the kind “ broth of cold war ”.171 When working with an analog, one should be sure to use the same style and retain the meaning of the idiom.
When substituting a figurative expression with its analog, a translator may generalize or specify some components of the idiom: They could not conceive of any greater joy in life; to work their own land, to keep what they produced by thesweat of their brow, for themselves and their children. - Они не могли представить себе большей радости в жизни, чем работать на своей земле и делать запасы того, что они производили в поте лица для себя и своих детей. The words brow – лицо are the example of generalization. On the other hand, specification can be seen in the following example: Richard drove back to
East Hampton, Maria’s tirade still ringing in his head. - Ричард ехал назад в Ист-Хэмптон, а тирада Марии все еще звенела у него в ушах.
• Substitution with the simile. After getting married she is living in clover. – Выйдя замуж, она живет как сыр в масле. The simile also contains an image, so it is as expressive as the metaphor.
• Antonymous translation takes place when the translator uses a negative construction to translate an affirmative sentence: The situation was serious, but he kept his head. – Положение было серьезным, но он не терялприсутствия духа.
• Literal, or calque translation. This technique can be employed even if there is an idiom analog. A word-for-word translation is used in translating sustained metaphors, phraseological synonyms, and puns. Literal translation usually leads to playing upon the figurative and literal sense of an idiom, that is, to enlivening an idiom. For example, the English expression as dead as a door nail figuratively means ‘lifeless’ and corresponds to the Russian бездыханный, без малейших признаков жизни. However, in the following extract from C. Dickens the idiom is used in its double meaning, literal and figurative, which made the translator calque it. Old Marley was as old as a door nail. Mind! I don’t mean to say that I know of my own knowledge what there is particularly dead about a door nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffinnail as the deadest piece of iron mongery in the trade. – Старый Марлей был мертв как дверной гвоздь. Заметьте, я не хочу сказать, что двернойгвоздь является чем-то особенно мертвым. Я сам скорее склонен считать гвоздь от гроба самым мертвым предметом из скобяныхизделий.
Another argument in favor of literal translation is that the new metaphor in the target language will hold the interest of the reader.
Calque translation is not an incorrect and overfaithful translation that breaks the target language rules of semantic agreement and combinability and conflicts with the style of the text.
• Descriptive or explanatory translation. When an original metaphor appears to be a little obscure and not very important, it may be replaced with a descriptive expression. У него семь пятниц на неделе. – He is very confused. Это камешки в мой огород? – Was that aimed at me?
7) CHALLENGES IN TRANSLATING IDIOMS
One of the difficulties a translator encounters is selecting a variable equivalent. It should be as expressive as the original and correspond in style and connotation, and convey an adequate meaning. For example, the idiom to pull one’s leg has the following equivalents: обманывать, разыгрывать кого-то, морочить голову, водить за нос. Inthe dialog “ You are pulling my leg.” “ I’m not pulling your leg; nothing would induce me to touch your beastly leg .” (P. D. Wodehouse), this expression can be translated by морочить голову because it best suits the situation: «Ты морочишь мне голову.» «Я не морочу тебе голову; ничто не заставит меня даже прикоснуться к твоей дурацкой голове.» Variable equivalents, or synonymous idioms, used in one and the same text, break the monotony of the text and help to diversify the style. For example, in one of his works J. Galsworthy used the expression to cost a pretty money several times. To avoid monotony in the translated text, the translator applied variable equivalents: She cost him a pretty money in dress. – Ее туалеты, должно быть, недешево ему обходятся. She was spending a pretty penny on dress. – Она тратит уйму денег на наряды.
When choosing an equivalent, a translator should observe the requirements of proper style. For example, the proverb Can the leopard change its spots?
corresponds to some Russian equivalents – Может ли человек изменить свою судьбу? (neutral explanatory equivalent), Горбатого могила исправит. (informal expression), Черного кобеля не отмоешь добела. (low colloquial). The selection of an adequate equivalent will depend on the text style.
Another problem is translator’s ‘false friends’. When calqued, idioms may have another, even opposite, meaning as compared with the original one. For example, to pour oil on troubled waters does not correspond to the Russian подливать масла в огонь, whose meaning is 'to add fuel to the flame'. On the contrary, the expression means утихомиривать, успокаивать (to calm). Similarly, to see eye to eye with somebody – сходиться во взглядах, to run somebody to the ground– достать из-под земли, to wash one’s neck – закладывать за галстук, пьянствовать.
It is not only the denotative meaning of idioms that should be taken into consideration but also their connotation. It may be different in the source language idiom and the target language equivalent. For example, in Russian спасти свою шкуру has a negative connotation, whereas in English it is neutral: the expression may be used both for negative and positive meaning; e.g., Clarke aroused loathing and contempt because he had turned informer to save his skin… (K.S.Prichard) Кларк вызывал презрение, гадливость, потому что стал доносчиком ради спасения своей шкуры. 172 Betty saved Tim’s skin by typing his report for him; without her help he could not have finished on time. – Бетти выручила Тима, напечатав его доклад: без ее помощи он не смог бы закончить вовремя. In the latter sentence it would be impossible to use the Russian expression спасти шкуру.
Local coloring is another translator’s trap. It is ridiculous to attribute ethnic features of one country to another foreign culture. For example, the English idiom to carry coals to Newcastle semantically is equal to the Russian ездить в Тулу со своим самоваром. However, the following translation seems inadequate: Джо отправился в Тулу со своим самоваром, когда стал поучать доктора, как лечить простуду. (Joe was carrying coals to Newcastle when he told the doctor how to cure a cold.). A receptor would be right to ask: why should an English boy go to Russia’s Tula with a specific Russian object like a samovar? A neutral expression should be used in this translation: морю воду добавлять or something of the kind.
METONYMICAL TRANSLATION
8) DEFINITIONS
Metonymy is transference of meaning from one object to another one based on their contiguity. The word is derived from the Greek meta “change” and onoma “name”. Classified semantically, meanings can transfer from
• process to result (e.g. translation indicates the process of decoding and the result of this process)
• material to a work (to drink from a glass)
• location to people (Vladivostok greets honored guests)
• cause to effect (The little horror never stops playing tricks on his mother)
• part to whole and vice versa. This type of metonymy is called synecdoche (Little Red Riding Hood).
Metonymic transference can take place on the language level, and is called
lexical metonymy. In this case metonymy is a means of coining new words: e.g. in informal English a new word to box meaning ‘to present on TV’is converted from the noun a box, as a TV set, an old one in particular, resembles a box. Ultimately, the new word gets fixed by a dictionary and becomes part of the language vocabulary stock.
Speech metonymy usually occurs on syntactical level. In this case the word acquires a metonymic meaning in a sentence, and this occasional meaning is normally not fixed in the dictionary. For example, I am late because of the bus where the word bus does not denote an object but a situation, normally verbalized by the phrase or clause like there was no bus or the bus was late.
Stylistic metonymy is a figure of speech used to decorate the style and make the text more expressive by creating images and appealing to the receptor’s feelings. An example of stylistic metonymy is as follows: The pen is mightier than the sword.
These types of metonymy are monolingual. When metonymy is traced between two languages, we deal with metonymic translation that might be defined as a lexical or complex transformation based on metonymous relations between the source language and the target language structures.
9) LEXICAL METONYMIC TRANSFORMATION
Newspapers often name location meaning officials: Pentagon – американские военные круги; the Kremlin – правительство России, the city – администрация города. If the name is well known to the receptor, the metonymy may be preserved. In this case it is impossible to speak about metonymic translation, since no interlingual transformation takes place.
If the translator is not sure that the metonymic realia are well known to the receptor, it is better to explain the realia by a synecdoche shift: Downing Street
reported a drop in the number of unemployed. – Правительство Великобритании сообщило о снижении безработицы. Fleet Street can make or break a politician. – Английская пресса может сделать карьеру политическому деятелю или испортить ее.
10) PREDICATE TRANSLATION
Lexical metonymic transformations are often applied in translating predicates. This is due to the fact that in Russian the action is mostly expressed by the verb, whereas English implies the action by verbalizing the state with a nominal language unit.
These interlingual metonymic relations are typical of translating predicates expressed by
• the link verb to be + an adverbial phrase of place: We were at school together when we were boys. – В детстве мы учились в одной школе. Are the boys inbed? – Мальчики спят? This metonymic transformation is a kind of modulation, or logical development of the notion.
• to be + adjective / participle: Still she was hesitant. – Она все еще колебалась. Don’t berude! – Не груби! Don’t be so literal. – Не понимай все так буквально. I am serious. – Я говорю серьезно. By the time it was dark they were airborne. – К тому времени, когда стемнело, они уже летели насамолете.
• to be + noun: She is not much of a cook. – Она плохо готовит. If your handwriting is illegible, you are a fast thinker. – Если у вас неразборчивый почерк, значит, вы быстро думаете.
There are structures with abstract nouns: I am a bad influence on you. – Я плохо на вас влияю. It was some consolation that Harry was to be there. – Несколько утешало то, что там должен был быть Гарри. These nouns mostly indicate a temporary state, whereas class nouns denote characteristic, typical features of the subject.
It is very easy in English to derive an affixed noun, especially from a verb stem: Always a mouth-breather, he was biting his tongue now and panting slightly. – Поскольку он всегда дышал ртом, сейчас он кусал язык и тяжело дышал. These nouns are mostly new words, not yet fixed by a dictionary. Nevertheless their meanings are easily guessed from the context and given an explicatory translation: He is a muster. – Он любит командовать.
ANTONYMIC TRANSLATION
11) DEFINITION
Antonymic translation is a complex transformation when a source language construction is shifted to a target language construction, whose components are of opposite meanings.
There are three major types of antonymic transformations:
1) substituting a word with its antonym (Snowdrifts are three feet deep. – Сугробы высотой в один метр.) or conversive (Some of the country’s art treasures have been secretly sold to foreign buyers. – Покупателииностранцы тайно скупили некоторые из художественных шедевров страны.)
2) substituting a negative sentence with an affirmative one and vice versa: I never heard of it! – В первый раз слышу!
3) shifting the position of a negative component: I don’t think I can do it. – Думаю, я не смогу этого сделать.
12) CONVERSIVE TRANSFORMATION
A situation may be described from different angles, which calls for conversive, or antonymic proper transformations. [Do not confuse the term ‘conversive’ with that of ‘conversion’, or changing the part of speech status of a word (water, n – to water, v)].
Conversives are words naming the situation attributes from different angles: to take – to give; to sell – to buy. In this type of translation, the translator and the source text author have the same situation in mind but they look at it from different directions. For example, They remain just as clearly divided in my mind as before. – Мысленно я по-прежнему их четко разграничиваю.
In this case translation is done on the situational level of equivalence (see Part I: Chapter 4: §3). The situation denoted in the source and target texts is the same but is described differently.
Sometimes this type of antonymic translation takes place because it implies a shift of negation: Authorized personnel only. – Посторонним вход воспрещен. The two clichéd commands are antonymous, since the English phrase implies a positive statement (Authorized personnel only is allowed) and the Russian corresponding form implies negation: strangers are not allowed to enter.
13) SHIFTING NEGATIVE MODALITY
Substituting a negative component with a positive one results in synonymous relations both between the two languages and in one language. Compare: incorrect – erroneous, unsafe – dangerous; You are not serious? – Ты шутишь? This is the borderline where synonymy is very close to antonymy; thus translation equivalence is reached.
The English verb to fail is usually rendered by a negative Russian correspondence: She failed to notice it. – Она не заметила этого.
This type of modality is also observed in a number of set phrases. In Russian, negative structures are preferred; in English, affirmative ones. For instance, Hold on the line, please. – Не вешайте трубку. Keep off the grass. – По газонам не ходить. Stay out of the sun. – На солнце лежать нельзя. By verbalizing a regulation with a positive sentence (with negation implied in the postpositional adverb), an English speaker sounds somewhat less categorical than a Russian one.
As compared with Russian, a smaller degree of categorical statement is obtained in special English structures known as understatement. They use two negations logically leading to a positive meaning: I am not displeased to hear from you. – Я весьма рад получить от вас весточку. In Russian the categorical nature of the statement is softened by introducing the particles весьма, довольно, вполне: I don’t at all disbelieve you. – Я вполне вам верю.
Special attention should be given to the emphatic construction employing double negation: It was not until … that … The construction is rendered emphatically: It was not until 1959 that chemists succeeded in obtaining this component.178 – Только в 1959 году химикам удалось получить этот компонент. Similarly, personal constructions with not until (till) are rendered in Russian with the help of только: The reaction did not start until the next morning.179 – Реакция началаь только на следующее утро.
The shift in the negative element position usually takes place in compound sentences. Russians tend to express negation in the informative main part of the sentence, which is a postpositional subordinate clause: Думаю, что это не так. In English the sentence sounds less categorical due to expressing negation in the principal clause, which precedes the subordinate clause and informationally is similar to a parenthetical phrase: I don’t think it is so.
14) REASONS FOR ANTONYMIC TRANSLATION
Antonymic translation may be caused by a lack of a regular one-word equivalent in the target language. For example, the word
inferiority is equivalent to the explicatory translation ‘ более низкое качество, положение’. But this phrase is very awkward in some translations, so translators have to apply the antonymic translation: The adoption of the defensive does not necessarily mean the weakness or inferiority of our troops. – Переход к обороне не обязательно означает слабость наших войск или превосходство сил противника.
Besides vocabulary reasons, the antonymic translation may occur for pragmatic reasons. English speaking people tend to be less categorical in speech than Russians. Therefore, ignoring differences in the negative and positive structures leads to “pragmatic accent” apprehensible in a foreign speech. A foreigner may speak with his grammar absolutely correct; however, his speech will be recognized as foreign.