It is universally accepted that one of the basic principles of translation is that the translated text should accurately reflect the meaning of the original text. Nothing should be arbitrarily added or removed, though occasionally part of the meaning can be ‘transposed’, that is, translated with a different order (Duff, 2003:10).
Translators often resort to bilingual dictionaries seeking translational equivalents during the process of translating texts across languages. This is quite unsatisfactory in the case of English and Uzbek (Russian) as the bilingual dictionaries are rather useless in handling conjunctions in a large number of cases: they lack accuracy. If we look closely at a number of conjunctions in English and Uzbek (Russian), we shall be surprised at the degree of confusion with which English- Uzbek (Russian) dictionaries handle the similarities and differences between the English and Uzbek (Russian) conjunctions. Let us take the conjunction “lest”. The field members we have already discussed are given different and confusing, translational definitions by different bilingual dictionaries. The following table illustrates this case:
“Lest” is a conjunction that can be used to connect the clauses and it has the different meaning in translation. If we look at dictionary meaning of it has the synonyms such as for fear that; so that (one) should not (used negatively to introduce a clause expressive of an action or occurrence requiring caution):
He kept his notes by his side lest faulty memory lead him astray.
that (used after words expressing fear, danger, etc.):
There was danger lest the plan become known.
Middle English leste, contraction of the lesse the, thi les the; late Old English the lǣste, earlier thȳ lǣs the, literally, whereby less that (thȳ instrumental case of the demonstrative and relative pronoun, lǣs less, the relative particle).
for fear that — Synonyms: in case, in order to avoid, so that, to prevent Word Origin & History lest c.1240, from O. E. phrase þy læs þe «whereby less that», from þy, instrumental case of demonstrative article þæt «that» + læs (see less) + þe «the». The þy was dropped and the other two words contracted into leste.
for fear that —often used after an expression denoting fear or apprehension worried lest she should be late hesitant to speak out lest he be fired insufficient in weight to fill a freight car and therefore not qualifying for a carload rate —abbreviation LCL
If we speak the English conjunction “lest” in Uzbek it is translated as “deb, -maslik uchun, -maslik maqsadida, toki, -mikan deb, degan edikda, qo’rquvda” and others.
Who that was heard a strain of music feared then lest he should speak extravagantly any more forever? — Musiqa turini eshitgan odam u abadiy bema’ni gapirmasmikan deb qo’rqdi.
He recalled Anna Pavlovna’s words and looks when she spoke to him about his house, recalled thousands of such hints from Prince Vasili and others, and was seized by terror lest he had already in some way bound himself to do something that was evidently wrong and that he ought not to do. — U Anna Pavlovnaning unga uning uyi haqida gapirayotgandagi so’zlarini, qarashlarini esladi, shahzoda Vasilidan minglab bunday sirlarni yodga oldi va uni birdaniga qilmasligi kerak bo’lgan ishni qilib qo’ymadimikin yoki qilish arafasidamasmikin degan qo’rquv egalladi.
Prince Andrew sat in another room, faint with fear lest the baby should be drowned in the front, and awaited the termination of the ceremony.- Shahzoda Andrew chaqaloq tog’oraga tushib ketmasin degan qo’rquvdan rangi oqargancha boshqa xonada o’tirdi va marosim tugashini kutdi.
He was seized with alarm lest something should have happened to the child while he was reading the letter.- Uni xatni o’qiyotganda bolaga biror narsa bo’lmasmikin degan xadik (qo’rquv) chulg’ab olgandi.
She had decided to receive them, but feared lest the prince might at any moment indulge in some freak, as he seemed much upset by the Rostov’s visit. — U ularni qabul qilishga qaror qilgan, lekin shahzoda hohlagan vaqtda g’alati (nojo’ya) harakat qilib qo’yishi mumkinligidan qo’rqdi, chunki u Rostovlarning tashrifidan xafa ko’ringandi.
One often her a clean handkerchief to wipe her charming hands, another spread a jacket under her little feed to kip them from the damp, another hung his coat ower the window to kip out the draft,and yet another waved the flies off her husband’s face,lest he should vake up — Bittasi uning chiroyli qo’llarini artish uchun toza ro’molcha tutdi,boshqasi zahdan saqlash uchun oyog’i tagiga kiyim to’shadi,bittasi namlikdan saqlash uchun derazaga paltosini ildi, yana bittasi uyqudan uyg’onib ketmasin uchun erining yuzidan pashshalarni haydardi
Morethan anything feared lest the confusion she felt might overwhelm her and betrau her as soon as she sau him.- Hammadan ham u, uni ko’rganda u his qilgan chalkashlik o’zini yengib,fosh etib qo’yishidan qo’rqardi.
Then suddenly, dismade lest he hed said too much, Petya stoped and blushed.- Petya birdan ko’p gapirib qo’ymadimmikan degan hadikda to’xtadi va qizarib ketdi.
Natasha asked quickly in a whisper,afraid to move lest she should rouse the dozing baby.- Natasha uxlayotgan chaqaloqni uyg’onib ketmasligi uchun harakat qilishga qo’rqib tez pichirlab so’radi.
It was common sense; never piss off the woman who could see the future,lest she alter it and make your life hell.- U odatiy qoida edi; hech qachon kelajagini ko’radigan ayolni jahlini chiqarma, toki uni o’zgartirib hayotingni do’zaxga aylantirmasin
In helping my son pack for college I tuck in a newly framed photo off the family for him to take with him lest he forgot what we all lucked like.- O’g’limning kollejga narsalarini joylashga yordam berayotib bizning ko’rinishimiz qandayligini unutib qo’ymasin degan maqsadda yangi ramkalangan oilamiz suratini solib qo’ydim.
I am afraid to open the door and check,lest she is sleeping and I wake her up. — U uxlayotgan bo’lsa uyg’otib yubormay deb eshikni ochishga qo’rqaman.
There is the scene in the movie wear the master chef who jump out of bed to write sushi resipes down, lest he forget them by morning –Kinoda ertalabgacha unutib qo’ymaslik uchun kravotidan sakrab turib sushi retseptini yozadigan bosh oshpaz haqida sahna bor.
I am afraid of walking past our building manager’s office, lest she realize I am unemployed.- U mening ishsizligimni bilib qolmasligi uchun (bilib qolishi mumkinligi sababli) bino rahbarining offisi yonidan o’tishga qo’rqaman.
We wrapped the instrument in oilcloth lest they should be damaged by sea water.-Asboblar dengiz suvida buzilmasligi uchun ularni yo’gli kleyonka bilan o’radik.
I suppose it is unwise of me to make this confession now, lest our insurance company reads this article. — Bu maqolani sug’urta kompaniyamiz o’qishi mumkinligidan hozir men tomonimdan iqrorlik berish nodonlik bo’ladi deb o’ylayman.
He spent whole days in his room wearing headphones lest he disturb anione.- Hech kimni bezovta qilmaslik maqsadida butun kunlarni quloqliklar (navushnik) taqib xonasida o’tkazdi.
We shall start, early,lest we should be late. — Kech qolmaslik uchun erta boshlaymiz.
I say all this lest their should be understanding. — Biror tushunmaslik bo’lmasligi uchun bularni hammasi gapiraman.
I shall remind you, lest you should forget.- Unutib qo’ymasligingiz uchun sizga eslatib qo’yaman.
She dared not approach a window,lesst he should see her from the street.- (Yigit) uni ko’chadan ko’rib qolmasin deb u (qiz) derazaga yaqinlashmaslikka jurat qildi.
Translation is a complex process which involves the knowledge and the mastery of at least two linguistic systems. The translator is required to be as accurate as possible when translating from one language to another in order to convey the meanings of the original text. To translate only “approximations” of meaning is not a satisfactory exercise. The translator is really at a loss if he depends wholly on bilingual dictionaries. In the case of the English and Uzbek (Russian) languages, these dictionaries are unreliable and lack accuracy. In general, they are unable to capture all the components of the linguistic meanings of the members. As has been shown, they offer inaccurate translational definitions for many field members. This obscures the real meaning and results in inaccurate translated texts. In Uzbek we have the conjunction “bo’lmasligi uchun, qilmasligi uchun, … asosan”. But in English it is not used as in Uzbek. Ex: the form “but lest you should be alarmed, if I don’t come home by ten, don’t expect me” or “he worried lest she should be late”.
So, in conclusion we say that it is a general observation by many linguists, translators and others that the semantic space of linguistic fields in English, Uzbek (Russian), and other languages cannot be brought into a one-to-one relationship. This necessitates a new approach to translating the meanings of the conjunctions between the two languages. This approach is based on contrasting it in English, Uzbek and other languages rather than contrasting ‘atomistic units’ unrelated to one another. The lexicon of a natural language is seen here as a network of semantic relations rather than an aggregation of isolated items to be translated as individual semantic units. This new approach to translation enables the translator to capture the full meanings of the lexical items in the field and translate them accurately according to the contexts involving the occurrence of these lexemes in the original texts.
References:
- Sophie Johnson dissertation on “The composite sentence”. 2002
- Karnadidjaya, M. dissertation “The translation process”. Indonesia: National Publication. 2001
- Hoshimov G’.M. Lectures on the theory of Modern English. — Andijan, 2010
- Хошимов Г.М. Типология сложного предложения в разностемных языках.
