Grammatical peculiarities of translating newspaper articles

As was stressed above, an English news article is structured differently from a Russian one since it attaches a special significance to the leading paragraph which determines its functions, semantic features and peculiarities in form that have to be taken into account in translation.

From the functional point of view the lead is closely connected with the headline as it expands upon the gist of the information given in the headline.

Semantically, many words in the headline and the lead are synonymous, though there are conspicuous differences between them, namely, in the lead the words tend to be longer (cf. bid – protest, ban – prohibition) and more narrow and concrete in meaning. Through repeated use short headline units become cliches which are easily recognizable. At the same time they preserve their emotional force in a headline: being fuzzy in their nature such units are capable of implying a greater amount of information. Besides headline vocabularyt may serve as a basis for creating various stylistic devices. In addition to examples given above we can refer to some more,

Car-makers drive up profits (pun)

Crash scene like a battlefield (simile)

Ministers read the riot act by PM (metaphor)

In form a translator has to be aware of a number of restrictions which are still active in English newspapers. The formal (grammatical) demands of translation observed in the leads are as follows:

1) arrange the content of the lead according to the following pattern:

who?- (did) what? (how?) where? when?-why?

This pattern is known in English Grammar books as SVO(M)PT or the 6-Wh- rule and it helps to structure information in a sentence. In Russian a typical pattern is different:

when?- where? – (did) what? – who?,

that is the TPV/p-S pattern is typical of a communicative structure of a Russian sentence with its rhematic position at the end, thematic elements opening a sentence.

In view of this difference a translator has to apply the transformation of restructuring, i.e. changes in the word order, e.g. Вчера во время встречи президента Франции Николя Саркози и президента России Дмитрия Медведева было подписано новое Соглашение о сроках вывода российских миротворческих сил из Грузии. – French President Nicolas Sarcozy and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev met yesterday to agree on a new timetable for withdrawing Russian peacekeeping troops from Georgia..

2) Refer to sources of information in English using the patterns: M (message) – S (source) instead of the Russian pattern: S (source) – M (message). Alongside changes in word order apply other grammatical transformations:

как заявил X ---- X said / X is reported as saying

как сообщается из X --- it is reported from X

как сообщают из X ---- it is reported from X

согласно заявлению X ---- according to X

E.g. Как сообщает источник в министерстве внутренних дел Ингушетии, в среду в крупнейшем городе республики Назране был застрелен кузен президента республики. – A cousin of the Ingush President was shot dead in the republic’s largest city Nazran on Wednesday, a source in the republic’s Interior Ministry said..

3) Change adverbial modifiers in Russian di-rhematic utterances into a grammatical subject of an English sentence, e.g. В совместном заявлении подчёркнуто, что стороны согласны расширять обмены в области культуры и образования. – The joint statement stresses that both sides have agreed to step up cultural and educational contacts and exchanges.

4) Leave out redundant information from a Russian sentence for the sake of compressing information in an English utterance, e.g. Согласно данным ВОЗ, главным фактором смертности являются сердечно-сосудистые заболевания. – According to the WHO statistics, cardio-vascular diseases are the No. 1 killer.

When translating from English into Russian a translator has to resort to the lexico-grammatical transformation of addition in keeping with the norms of the newspaper writing in Russian, e.g.

The settlement may be considered to be of primary importance to a number of home industries. – Можно считать, что заключение этого соглашения будет иметь решающее значение для ряда отраслей отечественной промышленности.

The example shows that there is a syntactic change in the type of sentence (simple sentence > complex sentence) and a greater number of notional words compared to functional words in the Russian sentence (12 units against 3) while in the English sentence the correlation of notional and functional words is opposite (8 to 8).

14.3. Lexico-phraseological and stylistic peculiarities
of translating newspaper articles

Russian and foreign investigators of the language of newspapers point out a number of lexical features that have to be taken into account in translation. Prof. V.G.Kostomarov stresses two opposite trends that are active in newspapers, on the one hand – the expressiveness and on the other hand – repetitiveness of language means used. Hence, a translator is confronted with a number of difficulties that arise out of these trends.

· the core of newspaper lexis is constituted by standard well-established clichés. The investigators of newspaper lexis find such formulas among political and diplomatic vocabulary, sport lexis, science and technology, economic terms, etc. Some of them are international words, but the bulk of standard newspaper lexis are nationally specific, cf. решительная борьба с местничеством – resolute drive against parochial interests производство на душу населения – per capita production развитая производственная база – well-developed production facilities мыслить по-современному – to think along modern lines - история подтверждает – history bears out.

Prof. A.D. Shveitser points out two important features of newspaper clichés:

a) they may be nationally and culturally specific so a translator should look for adequate means of compensation in order to prevent any misunderstanding and “cultural shock”, cf.

Проблема отцов о детей является неразрешимой и чрезвычайно острой в нашем обществе. – The generation gap is an insoluble and most dramatic problem in our community [Швейцер 1973].

b) they may have peculiar connotations in SL that offer difficulties for TL readers, cf. the expression silent majority was created by R. Nixon and carried a negative connotation with reference to people who do not take an active part in political life. In this meaning it penetrated into Russian newspaper lexis – молчаливое большинство, though its true connotations are rather ambivalent: silent majority may refer to people who either have no political opinions, or who do not express their political opinions, or show passive consent with things.

One of the key notions of British mentality is connected with privacy – (the desirable state) of being away from other people so that they cannot see or hear what one is doing, interest themselves in others’ affairs [LDLC]. This word is difficult to translate because the Russian correspondences alter or destort the real sense of the English word, cf. уединение, уединенность; личное (частное) дело, секретность [NERD].

· a wide use of stylistically marked vocabulary which are determined by different reasons in the two languages: in English they are used as a means of emphasis which in translation are often replaced by neutral units as there are no correspondences with a similar colouring in Russian. E.g. The Prime Minister axed 25 bills in the big rush. – Премьер-министр в большой спешке отклонил 25 законопроектов.

A similar substitution is often made in translating English slang, e.g. Why accuse the Sarge for the coup? – Стоит ли обвинять сержанта в совершённом перевороте?

Russian newspapers freely admitted non-literary words and phrases with the advent of perestroika which in translation were translated by English analogues or replaced by neutral correspondences, cf.

мент – cop, ranger

новояз – new speech

показуха – show-off, window-dressing

· newspaper lexis is highly sensitive to changes in all spheres of life that’s why when translating newspapers it is necessary to deal with neologisms following the recommendations and rules that apply to new coinages, cf. замена натуральных льгот денежными компенсациями – replacement of in-kind social benefits (welfare benefits) by cash payments; получать тринадцатую зарплату – to get a 13^th pay packet; фракция силовиков – siloviki faction.

· newspaper lexis abounds in shortenings, abbreviations, clippings which are treated differently in translation depending on their character:

1. universal shortenings which are well-known outside a particular country are translated by their well-established TL correspondences, e.g. GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) – ГАТТ (transliteration), IMF (International Monetary Fund) – МВФ (loan translation), VAT (Value Added Tax) - НДС (loan translation).

2. nationally specific shortenings which are restricted in use may be translated by loans with comment or by ready analogues combined with explanation, cf. ГКО (государственные краткосрочные облигации) – short-term Government bonds (treasury bills, government securities with a fixed interest rate); ГИБДД – State Road Traffic Safety Inspectorate ( see more examples in [Чанышева, Дьяконова 2007: Чанышева 2000]).

3. highly frequent shortenings may not be translated at all and used in their SL form, e.g. SWIFT (Society for World-wide Interbank Financial Telecommunications), CD-ROM (compact disc with read-only memory).

· English newspaper lexis is noted for the use of diminutive and fanciful forms of reference to politicians including high-profile politicians and public figures in order to create an atmosphere of familiarity and arouse the readers’ trust. This is not common practice in Russian newspapers though they admit of abbreviated personal forms but for different reasons, e.g. ВВП (Владимир Владимирович Путин), БАБ (Борис Абрамович Березовский). That’s why English diminutive forms and various others including shortened are usually replaced by their neutral counterparts, cf. Maggy Thatcher – Маргарет Тэтчер, President Ike – Президент Эйзенхауэр, Barry Gold H2O – Барри Голдуотер, JFK Airport – Аэропорт им. Кеннеди, Gorbi – Горбачев.

· newspaper lexis both in English and Russian is rich in stylistic devices and expressive means. A translator is required to resort to stylistic compensation, both local and non-local, in order to retain a stylistic effect, the similarity in form is not so important as the desirable impression may be created by another stylistic device in TL, e.g. He is soaring into his world of fantasy, because in the real world his policies are getting such a lashing from the working people. – Но он предпочитает летать в облаках, потому что на земле его политика встречает резкий отпор со стороны трудящихся (the difference in the images created in the two utterances, the replacement of the members creating antithesis in SLT and TLT).

When translating from Russian into English great problems arise when rendering the meanings of linga-cultural concepts. According to prof. S.G.Vorkachev a lingua-cultural concept is defined as a unit of collective consciousness which has a verbal expression and is marked by ethnocultural specificity [Воркачев 2004: 51]. Such concepts possess a number of semantic parameters including notional, imagery, evaluativel, etymological and cultural components, that means that they denote phenomena which are relevant in this particular community. The investigation of these features shows that they are deeply rooted in the life experience of the people, reflecting peculiar features of world view and mentality of the people. The English dictionaries of the new generation include special sections in dictionary entries which deal with cultural information [LDELC 1992; MED 2007].

We can best of all exemplify the ethnocultural roots of such phenomena in new coinages revealed in translation practice. The analysis of Russian neologisms testifies to three main sources of their appearance:

1) neologisms formed after productive patterns of Russian (чернобылец, лимитчик, яблочник, челночить),

2) neologisms borrowed from other languages, таймшер (time-share), оффшор (off-shore), опцион (option), фьючерсы (futures)),

3) neologisms described as inner borrowings as they result from penetration into official language of stylistically low units like jargonisms, colloquialisms, slang, etc (развлекуха, отмазывать, откат).

Translation solutions which have been made when translating Russian neologisms are based on the following methods of translation:

1) borrowed translation: transcription /transliteration, loan-translation: самиздат – samisdat, префект – prefect (head of a district in Moscow), губернаторские выборы – gubernatorial elections; груз-200 – cargo/freight 200; личное подсобное хозяйство – individual subsidiary holding;

2) equivalent correspondences: утечка мозгов – brain-drain, оперативная группа – task force, номенклатурный капитализм – crony capitalism; представительские расходы – hospitality expences;

3) analogues (approximate translation correspondences): общепит – public catering facilities, невозвращенец – defector; круглый отличник – straight-A student;

4) variant correspondences: отмывание денег – legalization of dirty money, money laundering, hot money recycling; государственные краткосрочные облигации – government short-term bonds, cf. state treasury bills;

5) explanatory (periphrastic) translation: десоветизация – liquidation of the system of Soviet power, дерьмократ – shitty democrat;

6) combined translation: (a) borrowed translation + explanatory translation: черный нал – black cash: funds that do not appear on either clients’ or contractors’ sheets, ОМОН – OMON: special purpose police units commissioned to carry out tasks of particular significance calling for utmost courage and discipline; (b) borrowed translation + explanatory translation + analogues: ОМОН – OMON: special purpose police units commissioned to carry out tasks of particular significance calling for utmost courage and discipline; cf. paramilitary police, special function police detachments.

The analysis of various correspondences reveals differences in those cases when translation is made by means of ready correspondences, cf. невозвращенец – defector. The dictionary definition of the English word shows that it is much broader in its meaning compared to the Russian unis: defector – a person who deserts a political party, group or country, especially in order to join an opposing one [MED]. For example, There were several defections from the Labour Party.

Translation practice shows that a translator may be confronted with three tasks when dealing with Russian neologisms:

a) to be aware of the differences between existing correspondences,

b) to look for adequate means of compensation in case he deals with lacoonae lexis,

c) to take into account cultural information.

The differences are numerous and they refer to various aspects:

1) denotatinal – such differences have always attracted translators’ attention since they reveal divergences between the languages that may be very important in intercultural communication, cf. справка – certificate, referent; соцномер – a social security number // a tax-payer’s identification number. According to the dictionary definitions the English phrase social security number means number of the special form 000-00-0000 which the US government gives to all working people in order to bring them into the welfare system which allows to pay money to people in special need (poor, unemployed, in need of medical treatment, etc). Its Russian counterpart just implies ИНН (индивидуальный номер налогоплательщика).

Such examples can be multiplied as they are very frequent. Cf. refusenik (English informal) – hist. a Jew refused permission to emigrate to Israel from the former Soviet Union. Now it has broadened its meaning to a person who refuses to cooperate. But compare with its Russian counterpart:

отказник – refusenik: 1) a person deprived of the right to go abroad, 2) a young man who refuses to serve in the Army, 3) a child forsaken by parents and handed over to state orphanage.

2) differences in evaluation, cf. спекулянт (a person who buys things cheap and resells them at a profit in conditions of shortage of consumer goods) – speculator (a person who buys or deals in goods, shares, etc whose future price is still uncertain, in the hope of a large profit): the Russian word is obviously marked with a negative connotation, while its English counterpart tends to be rather positive );

3) the differences in combinability: торговая палатка – trade retail outlet, convenience stores; образ врага – the idea of the foe;

4) differences in the extralinguistic aspect which relate to objects of reality denoted by respective words, e.g. прописка – passport registration, residence permit. The English word passport refers to an object which is not the same as the one designated by the Russian counterpart, cf. passport – a small official book which is given to a citizen leaving their country and entering a foreign country; паспорт – официальный документ, удостоверяющий личность владельца; прописка – оформление официальной записью проживания кого-либо по определенному адресу. The English word permit is wider in its sense as it means an official written statement giving one the right to do smth, cf. travel permit, work permit.

In order to cope with these problems it is useful to resort to a number of additional supplementary means to convey the content of SL units properly. To such devices we can refer:

1) comments on the usage:

поступить в вуз через собеседование – to enter a college after an interview: Usage: about medal-holders, Olympiad winners, etc.

2) comments on e tymology: прихватизация – illegal privatization. Origin: blending of «прихватить» (seize up) and «приватизация» (privatization); Процесс пошел! – The process has started! Origin: oneof M. Gorbachev’s historical phrases about perestroika, now used mostly ironically.

3) comment on the linguacultural situation and its elements that gave birth to a certain phenomenon designated by a respective Russian word, совок – sovok. Cultural note: of any bearer of Soviet tastes and mentality; an ordinary Soviet citizen; the Soviet type, Homo Sovieticus.

When rendering lacoona lexis, that is units that do not have ready correspondences in English a translator has to think not only about the content, but also about the form. This is particularly important when translating proverbial expressions, e.g. Хотели как лучше, получилось как всегда – We wanted the best, you know the rest (rhythmical structure and rhyming); ломать – не строить – the “breaking is not making” principle.