Lexical and Semantic Compression

Lexical and semantic compression, which is the use of more general notions instead of more concrete ones, or simply expressing the same idea with less number of words carrying the same sense in the given communicative situation. Lexical and semantic compression has much in common with a transformation called "generalisation" in written translation. Examples are: nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in the outer space and under water – ядерні випробування у трьох середовищах; And now the floor is given to the representative of Ukraine – Зараз представник України!

The extreme case of lexical and semantic compression is replacement of notional words (повнозначні слова) by deictic pronouns, which is also called substitution, e.g. The issue of illegal immigration was raised many times by the Organisation for Security and Co–operation in Europe – Це питання неодноразово піднімалося ОБСЄ.

Compression, however, should not be mixed up with omission of those words, which carry important information in the message, which often occurs with inexperienced interpreters. Only redundant elements of the message may be omitted or replaced by shorter elements without substantial losses. Thus, omissions of numerals, proper names, as well as other items of the "precision lexicon", are regarded as gaps (лакуни, пропуски) in interpreting and should be avoided by all means. Most items of the precision lexicon (except dates) have no redundancy and have to be rendered immediately before they slip out of the interpreter's memory. Compression in rendering of dates may, for instance, be as follows: in the year "zero seven " instead of in the year two thousand and seven: events of 9/11 instead of events ofthe 11 ^th of September, etc.