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Pragmatics in Translation






Pragmatics is the study of language in use. It is the study of meaning, not as generated by the linguistic system but as conveyed and manipulated by participants in a communicative situation. Words are related to the people who use them. To the users of the language its words are not just indifferent, unemotional labels of objects or ideas. The people develop a certain attitude to the words they use. Some of the words acquire definite implications, they evoke a positive or negative response, they are associated with certain theories, beliefs, likes or dislikes. There are “noble” words like “honor, dignity, freedom” and “low” words like “infamy, cowardice, betrayal”. Words can be nice or ugly, attractive or repulsive. Such relationships between the word and its users are called “pragmatic”.

The pragmatic implications of a word are an important part of its meaning that produces a certain effect upon the Receptor. Of even greater significance is the pragmatic aspect of speech units. Every act of speech communication is meant for a certain Receptor, it is aimed at producing a certain effect upon him. In this respect any communication is an exercise in pragmatics.

Since the pragmatic effect plays such an important part in communication, its preservation in translation is the primary concern of the translator.

The pragmatics of the original text cannot be as a rule directly reproduced but often require important changes in the transmitted message. Correlated words in different languages may produce dissimilar effect upon the users. An “ambition” in English is just the name of a quality which may evoke any kind of response – positive, negative or neutral. Its Russian counterpart “амбиция “is definitely not a nice word. Thus, the phrase “The voters put an end to the general’s political ambitions” can be translated as “Избиратели положили конец политическим амбициям генерала”, retaining the negative implication of the original, but if the implication were positive the translator would not make use of the derogatory term. The sentence “The boy’s ambition was to become a pilot” will be translated as “Мечтой мальчика было стать лётчиком”.

Such words as “idealism” or “nationalism” often have a positive effect in the English text and are rendered into Russian not as “идеализм” or “национализм” but as “служение идеалам, бескорыстие” and “национальное самосознание, национальные интересы”.

When we consider not just separate words but a phrase or a number of phrases in a text, the problem becomes more complicated. The communicative effect of a speech unit does not depend on the meaning of its components alone, but involves considerations of the situational context and the previous experience. A great role is played by differences in the historical and cultural backgrounds of different language communities, in their customs and living conditions. It stands to reason that the natives of a tropical island can hardly be impressed by the statement that something is “as white as snow”. The reported “cooling” in the relations between two friends may be understood as a welcome development by the people who live in a very hot climate.

The inability to relate a piece of information to his\her own context can lead the reader to draw the wrong inferences from a text. Whereas the size of a house or flat is indicated in Britain by the number of bedrooms, it is normally indicated in Switzerland by the total number of rooms. A German version of O. Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest which was shown in Zurich some time ago drew what Rommel(1987) refers to as a “vulgar snigger” from the audience when Lady Bracknell asked Wieviel Schlafzimmer (literally “How many bedrooms? ”) instead of adjusting the question to the realities of the Swiss context. The sexual connotations inferred by the Swiss audience were not intended by Oscar Wilde.

It seems imperative that translation should involve a kind of pragmatic adaptation to provide for the preservation of the original communicative effect. This adaptation must ensure that the text of translation conveys the same attitude to the reported facts as does the original text. It goes without saying that in an adequate translation the comical should not be replaced by the tragical or a praise turned into a censure. The translator has to take care to include in the overall meaning of the text all its emotional, figurative and associative implications. The pragmatic adaptation of this kind is an integral part of translation procedures which ensure the necessary level of equivalence.

The pragmatics of the text, which are linguistically relevant and depend on the relationship between the linguistic signs and language users, are part of the contents of the text. It is a meaningful element whose preservation in translation is desirable at any level of equivalence.

Apart from the pragmatics of linguistic signs, there is also the pragmatics of individual speech acts. In a concrete act of speech the Source has to do with the specific Receptor upon whom he tries to produce the desired effect, and from whom he would like to elicit the desired reaction.

E. Nida introduced the concept of “dynamic equivalence” which should be judged not against the original but against the Receptor’s reactions. Sometimes books written for adults are translated for children’s reading with appropriate alterations made in the course of translation. Presumably the text should be differently translated depending on whether it is for experts or laymen, for staging or screening, and so on.

When a book is translated with a view to subsequent publication in another country, it may be adapted to meet the country’s standards for printed matter. The translator may omit parts of the book or some descriptions considered too obscene or naturalistic for publication in his country, though permissible in the original.

For the sake of pragmatic adaptation of the text, the translator uses different translation transformations. Differences in background knowledge require the use of addition, for example while translating geographical and proper names. In translating the American Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Virginia, Canadian Alberta, Manitoba or English Middlesex, Surrey we are to add the words “штат, провинция, графство”. We may use addition when translating the names of firms, offices, organizations, newspapers, etc.

The strike movement in Spain is on the increase, “Newsweek” reports.

Как сообщает журнал «Ньюсуик», в Испании растёт забастовочное движение.

We can use addition translating the nationally-biased units of lexicon:

…for dessert you got Brown Betty, which nobody ate…

…на сладкое – «рыжую Бетти», пудинг с патокой, только его никто не ел.

In some other cases pragmatic adaptation of the text may include the use of omission. The translator omits some details unknown to the Receptor of the translation.

There were pills and medicine all over the place, and everything smelled like Vicks’ Nose Drops.

Везде стояли какие-то пузырьки, пилюли, всё пахло каплями от насморка.

One more transformation used with the purpose of pragmatic adaptation is generalization: a word with a more concrete meaning is changed for a word with a more general meaning.

…a ‘swept’ yard that was never swept where Johnson grass and rabbit-tobacco grew in abundance.

… «чистый» двор, который никогда не подметался и весь зарос сорной травой.

Generalization is often realized in using common names instead of proper names.(Brand names).

Parked by a solicitor’s office opposite the café was a green Aston-Martin tourer.

У конторы адвоката напротив кафе стоял элегантный спортивный автомобиль зелёного цвета.

I lit a cigarette and got all dressed and then I packed the two Gladstones I have.

Я закурил, оделся, потом сложил оба своих чемодана.

One more transformation is called concretization. In concretization a word or word combination with a wider primary meaning in the SL is replaced by a word or word combination with a narrower meaning in the TL.

The British people are still profoundly divided on the issue of joining Europe.

В английском народе до сих пор существуют глубокие разногласия о том, стоило ли Англии вступать в «Общий рынок».

Readers of translated texts are prepared to accept a great deal of change and a view of the world which is radically different from their own, provided they have a reason for doing so and are prepared for it. In attempting to fill gaps in their readers’ knowledge and fulfill their expectations of what is normal or acceptable, translators should be careful not to ‘overdo’ things by explaining too much and leaving the reader with nothing to do.

The translator should remain pragmatically neutral.

 






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