В данной статье рассматриваются особенности юридического английского с точки зрения грамматического аспекта. Анализируются способы их перевода на русский язык. Особое внимание уделяется контекстуальной сочетаемости отдельных юридических терминов. В качестве изучаемого материала взяты английские тексты юридического характера. Посредством сравнительного анализа мы выделили основные сходства и различия официально-делового стиля языка в целом и его юридической разновидности в частности в английском и русском языках. В процессе работы мы приходим к выводу о том, что грамматический аспект юридического английского имеет свои особенности, не имеющие аналогов в других языках и требующие детального изучения.
Ключевые слова: грамматический аспект, перевод, сравнительный анализ, термин, официально-деловой стиль.
This article reviews the features of legal English from the perspective of the grammatical aspect. The ways of their translation into Russian are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the contextual compatibility of individual legal terms. English texts of a legal nature are taken as the material for analysis. By means of comparative analysis, we have identified the main similarities and differences of the officialese in general and its legal variety in particular both in English and Russian. In our work, we come to the conclusion that the grammatical aspect of legal English has its own peculiarities that require a detailed study and have no analogues in other languages.
Keywords: grammatical aspect, translation, comparative analysis, term, officialese.
Economic partnership, scientific and cultural exchange require legal consolidation, that is why the sphere of cooperation with foreign experts in the field of jurisprudence is expanding. Translating documents a lawyer bears responsibility for the translation of a legal act, contract, statement, article, because, in order to ensure communication between participants in international relations, a legal translation must be accurate and of high quality.
Jurisprudence has a special linguistic form of expression. The legal text is similar to the scientific text and the text of the instruction, as it performs both a cognitive and a prescriptive function. The vocabulary used in regulations and other legal documents has an exact meaning and is interpreted in all specialized dictionaries the same way [2, p. 31].
The general features of a legal text that should be taken into account are the following:
- Cognitive information can be found in all legal terms. It expresses unambiguity, lack of emotional coloring, accuracy;
- Prevalence of present tense verbs, passive constructions, nouns and pronouns with generalizing semantics;
- Legal terms reflect the process of historical development. It was Roman law that contributed to the development of law; therefore, Latin played a huge role in the formation of terminology.
- Legal documents have a strict clichéd form. The cognitive information contained in them must be formalized in a strict manner, in accordance with the conventions [7, p. 71].
While translating, a balance must be observed in the source and translated text, so that the text intended for use in various legal systems will have an accurate meaning. The semantic equivalence between the source and translated text is carried out by converting an expression in one language into an expression in another language the way it might maintain the same meaning [5, p. 199].
There are various grammatical features of the translation of legal texts. First of all, this is the absence of any emotional coloring, as well as the complex construction of sentences, which most accurately reveals the legal wording.
Grammar transformations are an integral part of legal text translation. Every language has a specific grammatical structure which is sometimes difficult to preserve in another language. However, the grammatical structure can complicate the general understanding of a text and requires an accurate translation by means of various transformations. These grammatical transformations include:
- Changing the structure of the sentence. The English language has a direct word order, which allows us to determine the semantic center of the sentence. The Russian language has a more flexible word order. The presence of a definite article before the subject indicates that this subject does not carry new information, which means that the semantic center is in the end of the sentence. In this case, the word order in translation from English into Russian will be the same, since the centers of the sentences are the same.
Example № 1:
“If the defendant does not answer the complaint within the time allowed (generally not more than 20 days), the plaintiff may win the case by default judgment.” [1, p. 35]
Translation:
«Если ответчик не ответит на жалобу в течение отведенного срока (как правило, не более 20 дней), истец может выиграть дело по заочному решению».
In this example we can see, that the word order represented in the original is preserved in translation. Although there is not such a grammatical category as the article in the Russian language, the word order remains the same due to the definite article represented in English which conveys the same theme and rheme.
Example № 2:
“Often, an attempt is made to resolve the differences without trial.” [1, p. 36]
Translation:
«Часто предпринимается попытка разрешить разногласия без судебного разбирательства».
In the English sentence the subject is represented by a noun with an indefinite article. The word order is traditional: “Subject + Predicate”. However, in Russian translation we can see that the subject and predicate change their order due to the change in the information structure.
- Homogeneous parts of a sentence are usually represented in legal texts by doublets. Translation of doublets is often eliminated to the choice of one word in the synonymic pair (fit and proper — подходящий; will and testament — завещание; lands and tenements — имущество, etc.).
- Translation of verbs in the passive voice. The translation of verbs in the passive voice can bring extra difficulties in conveying constructions with a single subject. Most of all, sentences with one subject can have several predicates in the active and passive voice. Translation of such sentences requires several methods like omission or lexical transformation of a passive form.
Example № 1:
“The party against whom the civil action is brought is the defendant.” [1, p. 35]
Translation:
«Сторона, против которой возбужден гражданский иск, является ответчиком».
In this example we can see that the passive voice, represented in original, is transferred into Russian as Participle II (краткая форма причастия).
Example № 2:
“This step is usually done by the attorney for the plaintiff.” [1, p. 37]
«Этот шаг обычно делает адвокат истца».
In this example we can see that the original passive construction is translated into Russian by means of an Active Voice.
- Addition and omission of words. When translating into Russian, the omission of words is often required, because English is considered to be more concise.
For example:
“Deposition and other discovery procedures, such as physical examinations of persons claiming they were injured, help the attorneys learn the facts before the trial.” [1, p. 38]
«Дача показаний и другие процедуры установления фактов, такие как медицинский осмотр лиц, утверждающих получение травмы, помогают адвокатам ознакомиться с фактами до начала судебного разбирательства».
In this example we can see that articles are omitted in translation, for there is not such a grammatical category in the Russian language. Also, we can see that the phrase “claiming they were injured” is transformed into Russian «утверждающих получение травмы», where the clause with the subject and predicate is omitted and Participle I is used instead.
Having analyzed all possible transformations of a grammar structure we have come to a conclusion that the most common of them are the following:
- The change of a sentence structure;
- Word omission which allows to preserve the original meaning;
To sum up, we would like to stress that knowledge of grammatical features is an important tool for the translation of English legal texts, which in their turn allow people to communicate internationally. Incorrect legal translation can lead to a legal liability, that is why it is important for law students to study not only laws, but also Legal English and the ways of its translation.
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