The article notes the importance of the profession of a military translator for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The article examines some distinctive features of English-language military documents, classifications of special military vocabulary, difficulties and peculiarities of translating military terms, ways of translating abbreviations and abbreviations from English into Russian.
Keywords: military translator, military documents, military translation, military terms, abbreviations, difficulties in translating abbreviations, ways of translating abbreviations.
In 2024, Russia celebrates the 79th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Especially today, it is important for every citizen of our vast country to remember the exploits of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, all those terrible trials that they had to go through during the war. It is our duty to remember our relatives and friends who gave their all to the front, working in the rear. It is our duty to remember the children of the war and the residents of besieged Leningrad. It is also important to remember and honor the memory of all those whose fate was mercilessly changed by the war, the citizens of a huge country who were affected by this terrible disaster, and who, at the cost of enormous hardships and their lives, approached and fought for victory, for the future of new and unborn generations.
But not everyone knows the fact that the translators were also conscripted in addition to military personnel and medical workers. Military translators solved very risky tasks. Their mistakes and failures could not only cost them their lives, but also fail the entire planned military operation.
The translators performed various intelligence tasks. When they were on the enemy territory, they needed to get important operational information. Military interpreters participated in the negotiations of the leaders of various foreign countries, while the correct understanding of the meaning of what was said meant a lot. The fate of our Motherland depended on an accurate and correct translation.
Nowadays, military translators sacredly honor and continue the traditions of their outstanding teachers who passed the military path and made a huge contribution to our Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Interpreters translate a variety of military English-language materials. Such military materials include military-artistic and military-journalistic texts, military-political and technical materials, combat military documentation. Military documents can also include scientific and technical texts and management acts that are related to the vital activities of troops and military organizations of the armed forces (charters, orders, instructions, manuals, etc.). In this work, we consider some distinctive features that are characteristic of both military materials and military documents. We are also considering ways to translate English-language materials into Russian.
Military translation, as a special one, is also characterized by the basic principles, methods, techniques and methods of translation in general. But the peculiarities of the communicative and functional orientation of such a translation can give it typical features, which are expressed in the choice of style, the use of vocabulary and the use of grammar, characteristic of military materials.
It is necessary to emphasize the importance of maintaining the accuracy of the translation of military documents. Information from the translated document can be used to make important political and military decisions, including for preventive actions, combat military operations, etc. Therefore, the first main requirement for the translation of military materials is the accurate translation of the content of the original document, preservation of the structure of the document, the sequence of sections and parts in the document, the consistency of presentation and some other points which may seem unimportant, unimportant, formal for a civilian, but for a military professional they can become a source of valuable information.
For example, when translating combat English-language materials, it is very important to preserve the following points: the order of sections and subsections, paragraphs and sub-paragraphs, the designation of numbers with letters of the Arabic and Latin alphabets, the correctness of specifying the date, time, coordinates, the coincidence of geographical names, numbers and names of military units and divisions, as well as other important information contained in these materials.
To achieve translation consistency, a military translator must convey the style of the original document as accurately as possible. In order to preserve the style of the translated material, the translator needs to accurately select lexical and grammatical means according to the general functional and communicative orientation of the source document. In addition, a military translator must take into account the existing literary norms of the language in which the translation is performed, and be able to use politically correct euphemisms, which are an integral part of modern military-political discourse.
The translator must constantly strive to translate original English-language military documents, using the military style of the Russian language when presenting such materials. A military translator must neutralize the words of military slang sometimes found in the original document, as they are not typical for Russian military materials. Russian stylistic presentation of the translated document must adequately meet the standards of the Russian military language, which are accepted for the appropriate type of material.
In the textbook of military translation, L. L. Nelyubin divides military vocabulary into three main groups: military terminology, denoting concepts directly related to military affairs; military-technical terminology, which includes scientific and technical terms and emotionally colored military vocabulary (slang) [2, p. 13]. When translating military and military-technical terms, significant difficulties arise, since military terminology is not stable, but is constantly being transformed. When translating military and military-technical terms, significant difficulties arise, since military terminology is not stable, but is constantly being transformed. For example, in connection with the reconstruction of the types and branches of the armed forces, the modernization of outdated and the development of new models of weapons and units of military equipment, some terms are excluded from use, changes in the meanings of terms, continuous replenishment of the language with new terms. Therefore, L. L. Nelyubin quite rightly notes that «the correct translation of military materials depends largely on the correct translation of terms, since most of the military vocabulary is occupied by military and military-technical terms that carry the maximum semantic load» [2, p. 13].
When considering the distinctive features of English-language military terminology, we note its great heterogeneity. Of course, most terms are unambiguous, having precisely expressed lexical meanings. But there are also ambiguous terms. For example, the term «troop» can be translated as «company, troops, units and subunits, detachment, cavalry, sapper or tank platoon, battery, soldier»; the terms «gun», «cannon», «crew», «unit» have more than ten meanings in translation. Therefore, we conclude that the ambiguity of even single-compound terms presents difficulties for their correct understanding and translation, and the adequacy of translation depends entirely on the context and situation.
According to the difficulty of understanding and translation, L. L. Nelyubin classifies English-language military terms into three groups:
- Terms that are not particularly difficult to understand and translate. These include terms denoting the realities of English–speaking reality, identical to the realities of Russian reality, for example: «field artillery» — «field artillery»; «air defense artillery» — «air defense artillery»; «military intelligence» — «military intelligence»; «training aircraft» — «training aircraft»; “foot march» — march on foot.
- Terms denoting the realities of English–speaking reality that do not exist in Russian reality, but have generally accepted Russian terminological synonyms, for example: «classified information» — «classified information»; «Surgeon General» — «head of medical service»; «delaying resistance» — «maneuverable defense».
- Terms denoting the realities of English–speaking reality that do not exist in Russian reality and do not have generally accepted Russian terminological synonyms, for example: «alert hangar» — «hangar of departure on alert». The terms of this group cause the greatest difficulty for a military translator, so the translation of this group of terms is usually achieved in the following ways:
a) description of the meaning of the English term, for example: «tactical cover and deception estimate» — «assessment of the possibilities of ensuring the secrecy of operations and measures to mislead the enemy»;
b) literal translation, for example: «second lieutenant» — «second lieutenant», «third echelon maintenance» — «repair of military equipment of the third echelon»;
c) partial or full transliteration, for example: «master sergeant» — «master sergeant»;
d) transliteration and literal translation, for example: «quartermaster corps» — «quartermaster service»;
e) transcription, for example: «ensign» — «ensign»; f) transcription and translation, for example: «warrant officer» — «warrant officer» [2, pp. 15–16].
The large number of abbreviations and abbreviations is another feature of English-language military documents. There are no such number of abbreviations as in military documents in any materials. Consider the following sentence: «The sub elms of the div may use all the forms of mvr in the atk to xplt an offensive opn». In this sentence, almost all significant words are abbreviations (sometimes they are also called truncations). Such abbreviations are used only in written speech, and in oral speech they should, as a rule, be pronounced in full. Almost all parts of speech in the English military language are subject to abbreviations, but according to the rules of English grammar they have a plural ending, a possessive form, and are used with the article, so their translation, as a rule, does not represent a huge effort for a military translator. Abbreviations, which are divided into sound-letter abbreviations and acronyms, cause great difficulty for accurate understanding and translation, especially oral [2].
Sound-letter abbreviations represent lexical units and are used in oral speech by alphabetical names of letters, for example: MG ['em'i:] — “machine gun”; MP ['em'pi:] — “Military Police”; SP ['es'pi:] — “self-propelled”. Acronyms in English are almost the same as abbreviations, only more similar to independent words. Unlike abbreviations, they can be composed not only from the first letters of a long name (for example, OK is the acronym “Okay”, and Mr. is the acronym “Mister”) and read as a whole word instead of pronouncing the name of each letter separately. And they never put dots after each letter. Acronyms are lexical units used in oral speech according to the pronunciation norms adopted for ordinary words, for example: FEBA ['fi:'ba:] — “Forward Edge of the Battle Area”; ROAD [roud] — “Reorganized Objective Army Division”; ATACMS [a'takms] — Army TACtical Missile System. The difficulty of translating abbreviations is that many of them have several registered meanings. For example, MULTITRAN (electronic dictionary) provides about 100 values of the abbreviation FC, and 36 of them relate to the military sphere [3].
To make a correct translation of a new abbreviation unfamiliar to the translator, it is necessary, first of all, to refer to English-Russian dictionaries. But it is also necessary to realize that in no dictionary will we be able to find all the abbreviations that may be present in military documents. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the context very carefully and try to find the meaning of the abbreviation. Most often, when it is used in a document for the first time, it can be accompanied by a transcript.
The translation of abbreviations into Russian can be done in the following ways:
- Full borrowing of the English abbreviation in Latin letters. This method is usually used when transmitting nomenclature designations. For example, the British counterintelligence MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5), in Russian can be referred to as «MI5". «MI6" stands for «Military Intelligence, Section 6", the name of the UK's secret foreign intelligence service.
- Transliteration. For example, the abbreviation «radar» (radio detecting and ranging) is translated in Russian as «radar».
- Transcription. For example, the abbreviation «TOW» (Tube-launched Optically tracked Wire-guided) «anti-tank missile system» is transmitted in Russian as «TOU»; the abbreviation «MLRS» (Multiple Launch Rocket System) «multiple launch rocket system» is transmitted in Russian as «MLRS».
- Sound-letter transcription. For example, the abbreviation «CIC» (Counter Intelligence Corps) «counter intelligence service» is transmitted in Russian as «SI-I-Si»; the abbreviation «CNN» (Cable News Network) «cable news network» is transmitted in Russian as «Si-En-En».
- Translation of the full form. For example, «UN PKOs» (United Nations Peacekeeping Operations) translates as «UN peacekeeping operations».
- Translation and transcription. For example, «High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled vehicle «HMMWV» (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) is transmitted in Russian as «American military all-terrain vehicle «Humvee».
- Translation of the full form and creation of a Russian abbreviation based on it. For example, «FBI» (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is translated into Russian as «Federal Bureau of Investigation» and has the abbreviation «FBR» [1].
Concluding the article, we can conclude that the diverse number of specialized military English-language terms, abbreviations, and abbreviations greatly complicate the accurate translation of military materials. And that is why a military translator must not only be fluent in English, but, most importantly, he must know the structure and organization of the British and American armed forces and understand the subject of the original document being translated.
References:
- Kanataev, D. V. Lexical labor translations of American military documents [Electronic resource]/ D. V. Kanataev, M. V. Ismailova//Bulletin of the Volga University of the Names of Tatishchev V. N. No. 2, Volume 2, 2018. — Access mode: https: // cyberleninka.ru / article /n/ leksicheskie — trudnosti — perevoda — amerikanskih — voennyh — dokumentov (Date of appeal — 10.05.2024).
- Nelyubin, L. L. Textbook of military translation. English. General course:/L. L. Nelyubin A. A. Dormidontov, A. A. Vasilchenko. — M.: Voenizdat, 1981. — 382 p.
- MULTITRAN. English-Russian Electronic Dictionary [Electronic Resource]- Access Mode: https://www.multitran.com (Date of appeal– 12.05.2024).
