Difficulties in translating phraseological units, proverbs, sayings and aphorisms

In the article, the author tries to reveal the difficulties during the translation of proverbs and sayings, aphorisms. The article describes the factors that should be taken into account when translating phraseological units.

Keywords: translation, phraseological units, proverbs, sayings, aphorisms.

В статье автор пытается раскрыть трудности при переводе пословиц и поговорок, афоризмов. В статье описываются факторы, которые следует учитывать при переводе фразеологических единиц.

Ключевые слова: перевод, фразеологические единицы, пословицы, поговорки афоризмы.

Proverbs, sayings and phraseological units are a turn of speech, a special form, clothed in a short, rhythmized saying, bearing a generalized thought, conclusion, allegory with a didactic bias. Their main features are ambiguity, inconsistency with the meaning of the components, homonymy. Proverbs and sayings are considered the heart of the language and the whole nation [1]. In a short, succinct form, they reflect the social structure, the reality in which people live. They can be considered a true mirror of the mentality of the people. Knowledge of phraseological expressions helps to understand the culture of the people, their way of thinking and to isolate the values characteristic of them. But it is not easy to adequately translate foreign phraseological units into their native language, since they were born in a different historical, cultural and social context.

Difficulties in translating proverbs, sayings and phraseological units from one language to another have existed, and will always exist, since their translation is not unambiguous. One of the important problems in translation is the recognition of stable expressions in the original text. After all, their incorrect perception leads to distortion of the translation text. It should also be noted the need to take into account the national and cultural specifics of the language, its imagery. After all, coinciding in meaning, they can have different emotional shades or stylistic coloring [2].

The following correspondences of proverbs, sayings and phraseological units can be distinguished. Phraseology completely coincides with the phraseological unit of the translation language in direct and figurative meanings. Below, you can see examples in the table 1.

Table 1

Partial match with the target language. The same figurative meaning is conveyed using a different image, preserving all the other components of the phraseology as it is shown at the table 2 [3].

Table 2

1. Phraseological units may include names, names or household items specific to a particular country. Here you need to be careful, because even if there is a semantic equivalent, it should not get out of the cultural context. For example, the Russian equivalent of the saying «Carry coals to Newcastle» is «в Тулу со своим самоваром”. Although the Russian version reflects the same idea, but from the mouth of an English citizen, the mention of Tula will sound clearly inappropriate.
2. Mentality and different worldview may complicate the selection of the appropriate equivalent. For example, the English expression “If you can't be good, be careful» will require rather a descriptive translation, since a similar idea is not fixed in Russian [4].

The original version does not correspond to the translation language. Here there is a rejection of the use of phraseological correspondence and there is a description of the main (figurative) the meaning of the translated combination [5].

For example:

«Every dog has his day» — «Будет и на нашей улице праздник»;

«Neck or nothing» — «Либо пан, либо пропал»;

«East or West, home is best» — «В гостях хорошо, ɑ дома лучше».

A lot of philosophers, linguists, writers, lexicographers, scientists of various fields have always pondered over the concept of «aphorism». Many of them tried to present the essence of this concept in their own understandings.

There are many linguistic research works devoted to the study of aphorisms, which set out the concept, essence, definition, meaning of an aphorism. Scientists carry out a clarification of the concepts of aphorism, parody, maxim, winged expression, epigram, saying, apt word, paradox, pun, essay, parable, fable.

Thus, V. F. Rudov refers aphorisms to phraseology [6], G. L. Permyakov suggests calling proverbs folk aphorisms and states that " there is no the exact terminological meaning of the word 'aphorism'" [7, p. 12], pay attention to the lack of a clear definition of the aphorism by N. T. Fedorenko and L. I. Sokolskaya [8]. O. A. Rekhlova names the generally accepted characteristics of the aphorism: conciseness, generality, independence from context, sharpness of form [9].

So here given some definitions of the term “aphorism”. According to Ozhegov 's Explanatory Dictionary:

An aphorism is a short expressive saying containing a generalizing conclusion.

An aphorism (Greek) is a short and clear saying, a rule based on experience and reasoning; a fragmentary, but complete statement in itself.

As such, there are no specific rules for the translation of aphorisms (unlike, for example, the translation of phraseological units), many translation theorists in their works do not touch on such a topic, but S. Vlakhov and S. Florin in the book «Непереводимое в переводе» [10, 311] distinguish two basic principles according to which aphorisms should be translated. When translating aphorisms, translator should:

1. Keep the form of the aphorism
2. Preserve the connotative meaning of the aphorism: hints, allusions related to their source.

That is why it is very useful for a translator to know the authorship of aphorisms and the history of their origin. For example:

Here the author used antonymic translation. not be believed — поверили.

In conclusion‚ translation of phraseological units, proverbs and sayings, aphorisms by right, can be considered one of the most difficult aspects of translation. Since it is very difficult to translate what is considered the spiritual heritage of the people, part of their culture. The meaning that one person understands seems to be something new for another. Often, in order to reveal the full meaning of a phraseology, it is necessary to find its equivalent in the translation language. However, the real process is not just a search for equivalent language correspondences, but a complex, multifaceted process, which, in addition to the skill and professionalism of the translator, is influenced by many other factors that subsequently affect the quality of translation.A good translator should be familiar with proverbs and sayings and have their translation equivalents ready. But do not forget that the meaning of a phraseological expression can have different emotional coloring and differ depending on the context of use. Language and speech are very multifaceted, and many factors and details must be taken into account when translating.

References:

1. Даль В. И. Пословицы русского народа. Cборник пословиц, поговрок, речений, присловий, чистоговорок, загадок, поверий и проч. М.: 1862.
2. Кунин А. В. Англо-русский фразеологический словарь. М.:1997.
3. Kunin A. V. Course of phraseology of modern English. M.:1986.
4. Ж. А. Жақыпов. Аударматануды аңдату: лингвистикалық және лингвомәдени мәселелер, — Астана: ТОО «Искандер КО», 2005 жыл.
5. Комиссаров В. Н. Современное переводоведение. М.: ЭТС, 1999.
6. Рудов В. Ф. Фразеология произведений М. Горького // Ученые записки Таганрогского государственного педагогического института. 1957. № 2. С. 14–16
7. Пермяков Г. Л. От поговорки до сказки. М.: Наука, 1970. 240 с
8. Федоренко Н. Т., Сокольская Л. И. Афористика. М.: Наука, 1990. 415с
9. Рехлова О. А. К вопросу определения афоризма в современной российской филологии // Речевое общение: специализированный вестник / под ред. А. П. Сковородникова. Красноярск: Краснояр. гос. ун-т, 2004. Вып. 5–6 (13–14). С. 142–146.
10. Влахов С., Флорин С. Непереводимое в переводе. — М.: Международные отношения, 1986. — 320с.