Suggested Topics for Discussion
1. What is the result of the structural similarity of ST and TT? Is thenotion of equivalence applicable to the correlated SL mid TL units in these texts?
2. How can regular equivalents be defined? How arc they discovered? How can they be classified? What role do they pby in the translation practice?
3. How are regular equivalents used in the translating process? What is context? What types of context influence the choice of an equivalent? What is an occasional equivalent?
4. What are equivalent-lacking words? What types of words have, as a rule, no regular equivalents? What are the principal ways of rendering the meaning of an equivalent-lacking word in translation?
5. What are equivalent-lacking grammatical forms? What role does the grammatical meaning play in the formation of text semantics? What are the principal ways of rendering the grammatical meaning in translation?
6. What is the role of SL syntactical structures in translation? How does the type of the syntactical structure in SL influence the choice of equivalents in TL? What are the main features of the meaning of the English attributive groups and how are they rendered into Russian?
7. What are the main types of set expressions? What rok do set expressions play in communication? What role do they play in the translating process?
8. What is an idiom? What are the meaningful components of an idiom? In what way can an equivalent to a SL idiom be found in TL? What factors should be considered in selecting such an equivalent?
Text
DIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES
(1) The problem I propose to discuss is rather a hard nut to crack. (2) Why does homo sapiens, whose digestive track functions in precisely the same complicated ways the world over, whose biochemical fabric and genetic potential are essentially common in all peoples and at every stage of social evolution — why does this unified mammalian species not use one common language? (3) It inhales, for its life processes, one chemical element and dies if deprived of it. (4) It makes do with the same number of teeth and vertebrae. (5) In the light of anatomical and neurophysiological universals, a unitary language solution would be readily understandable. (6) But there is also another "natural" model. (7) A deaf, non-literate observer approaching the planet from outside and reporting on crucial aspects of human appearance and behaviour, would conclude with some confidence that men speak a small number of different, though probably related, tongues. (8) He would guess at a figure of the order of half a dozen with perhaps a cluster of dialects or pidgins. (9) This number would be persuasively concordant with other major parameters of human diversity. (10) Why, then, this mystery of Babel?
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Text Analysis
(1) What is the meaning of the verb "to propose" when followed by an infinitive? What is the figurative meaning of the idiom "a hard nut to crack"?
(2) What is "homo sapiens"? What is the meaning of "fabric" in this context? Who is the author of the "Origin of species"? What is a mammalian? In what sense is man referred to here as "unified"?
(3) Is there any difference in meaning between "to breathe" and "to inhale"? What chemical element is meant here? What does the elliptical phrase "if deprived" stand for?
(4) What is "to make do with smth."? Is the form 'Vertebrae" plural or singular? Is there anything in common between the spine and vertebrae?
(5) What is a "universal"? How can the phrase "a unitary language solution" be paraphrased to make its sense more explicit? Does "understandable" here mean "something that can be understood" or "something that seems quite natural"?
(6) Why is the word "natural" written within inverted commas? How can the sentence be paraphrased to make the sense of "natural" in the sentence more explicit?
(7) Why should the observer be deaf and non-literate to make a wrong conclusion about the number of languages on the earth? What does "outside" mean here? What is the meaning of "crucial"? Is there any difference between "a language" and "a tongue" as used in this text?
(8) Does the phrase "of the order of imply an exact or an approximate number? What is a "pidgin"? In what way does a pidgin differ from a dialect?
(9) What is the origin of "persuasive"? Does "to be concordant" mean "to coincide" or "to correspond"? What is a "parameter"? How can the phrase "human diversity" be paraphrased?
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(10) What is the Tour of Babel? What is the figurative sense of "Babel"? Why is Babel spoken of here as a kind of mystery?
Problem-Solving Exercises
A. Types of Equivalents
I. Find the words and word combinations in the text which have permanent Russian equivalents. What part of the English vocabulary do such words belong to?
II. What equivalents can you suggest to the word "fabric" (sentence 2)? Which of them would you choose while translating this sentence?
III. Should word-for-word translation be used in rendering the English phrases "social evolution" and "mammalian species" (sentence 2)? If not, what syntactical transformations would you suggest?
IV. What kind of equivalent should be used to translate the English idiom "a hard nut to crack" (sentence 1)?
V. Suggest an occasion! Russian substitute for the word "unified" in sen-
tence (2) and explain your solution.
VI. Make a word-for-word translation of sentence (3) and then make it syntactically more acceptable by changing the word order.
VII. Can any of the regular equivalents of the word "solution" fit the context of sentence (5)? If not, what can serve as an occasional substitute?
VIII. Make your choice between the permanent equivalent to the English "deaf" (sentence 7) — глухой and the occasional substitute невоспринимающийзвуков. Give your reasons. Suggest a proper substitute for the word "non-literate".
IX. What method would you resort to in order to produce a substitute for the words "pidgins" in sentence (8) and "homo sapiens" in sentence (2)?
X. Use an explanation as an occasional substitute for the phrase "human di-
versity" in sentence (9).
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