CentralKazakhstan University “MHTI — Lingua”
TheInstitute of language and translation “Lingua”
Interpretationfaculty
Eveningdepartment
ShkurskayaElena (ЗАПР-053)
PROBLEMSOF ORAL TRANSLATION
Coursepaper
Speciality:050207 — Interpreting
Discipline:Translation theory
Superviser:Isabaeva N.S.
Karagandy2008
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER I. TRANSLATION ISA MEANS OF INTERLINGUAL COMMUNICATION
1.1.TRANSLATION THEORY
1.2A BRIEF HISTORY OFTRANSLATION
1.3. MAIN TYPES OFTRANSLATION
CHAPTER II. CHARACTERISTICFEATURES OF ORAL TRANSLATION
2.1 PROBLEMS OF ORALTRANSLATION
2.2 NOTE-TAKING INCONSECUTIVE TRANSLATION
2.3 LINGUISTICPECULIARITIES OF SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION
CONCLUSION
APPENDIX
INTRODUCTION
When you stopand think about it, everything in life is translation. We translate ourfeelings into actions. When we put anything into words, we translate ourthoughts. Every physical action is a translation from one state to another.Translating from one language into another is only the most obvious form of anactivity which is perhaps the most common of all human activities. This maybethe reason people usually take translation for granted, as something that doesnot require any special effort, and at the same time, why translation is sochallenging and full of possibilities.
There isnothing easy or simple about translation, even as there is nothing easy orsimple about any human activity. It only looks easy because you are used todoing it. Anyone who is good at a certain activity can make it appear easy,even though, when we pause to think, we realize there is nothing easy about it.
Translation inthe formal sense deals with human language, the most common yet the mostcomplex and hallowed of human functions. Language is what makes us who we are.Language can work miracles. Language can kill, and language can heal.Transmitting meaning from one language to another brings people together, helpsthem share each other’s culture, benefit from each other’s experience, andmakes them aware of how much they all have in common. /tr.handbook/
The conditionsof oral translation impose a number of important restrictions on thetranslator's performance. Here the interpreter receives a fragment of theoriginal only once and for a short period of time. His translation is also aone-time act with no possibility of any return to the original or anysubsequent corrections. This creates additional problems and the users havesometimes to be content with a lower level of equivalence.
The purpose ofthe present work is to study the problems of oral translation.
To achievethis purpose it is necessary to find solve to the following tasks:
1) Togive the definition to the notion “translation”;
2) To findout the difference between written and oral translation;
3) Tocharacterize the types of oral translation;
4) Todefine the problems of oral translation;
5) Tofind various ways and translating devices for solving those problems.
This paperconsists of two chapters. The first chapter describes the translation itself,its development and types. In the second chapter there are the problems oftranslation and the ways of its salvation.
Throughouthistory, written and spoken translations have played a crucial role ininterhuman communication, not least in providing access to important texts forscholarship and religious purposes.
Writings onthe subject of translation go far back in recorded history. The practice oftranslation was discussed by, for example, Cicero and Horace (first century BC)and St Jerome (fourth century AD); their writings were to exert an importantinfluence up until the twentieth century./19/
I. TRANSLATIONIS A MEANS OF INTERLINGUAL COMMUNICATION
1.1 TRANSLATIONTHEORY
Translation isa means of interlingual communication. The translator makes possible anexchange of information between the users of different languages by producingin the target language (TL or the translating language) a text which has anidentical communicative value with the source (or original) text (ST).
As a kind ofpractical activities translation (or the practice of translation) is a set ofactions performed by the translator while rendering ST into another language.These actions are largely intuitive and the best results are naturally achievedby translators who are best suited for the job, who are well-trained or have aspecial aptitude, a talent for it. Masterpieces in translation are created bythe past masters of the art, true artists in their profession. At its besttranslation is an art, a creation of a talented, high-skilled professional.
The theory oftranslation provides the translator with the appropriate tools of analysisand synthesis, makes him aware of what he is to look for in the original text,what type of information he must convey in TT and how he should act to achievehis goal. In the final analysis, however, his trade remains an art. For sciencegives the translator the tools, but it takes brains, intuition and talent tohandle the tools with great proficiency. Translation is a complicatedphenomenon involving linguistic, psychological, cultural, literary, ergonomicaland other factors.
The core ofthe translation theory is the general theory of translation which is concernedwith the fundamental aspects of translation inherent in the nature of bilingualcommunication and therefore common to all translation events, irrespective ofwhat languages are involved or what kind of text and under what circumstanceswas translated. Basically, replacement of ST by TT of the same communicativevalue is possible because both texts are produced in human speech governed bythe same rules and implying the same relationships between language, realityand the human mind. All languages are means of communication, each language isused to externalize and shape human thinking, all language units are meaningfulentities related to non-linguistic realities, all speech units conveyinformation to the communicants. In any language communication is made possiblethrough a complicated logical interpretation by the users of the speech units,involving an assessment of the meaning of the language signs against the informationderived from the contextual situation, general knowledge, previous experience,various associations and other factors. The general theory of translationdeals, so to speak, with translation universals and is the basis for all othertheoretical study in this area, since it describes what translation is and whatmakes it possible.
The generaltheory of translation describes the basic principles which bold good for eachand every translation event. In each particular case, however, the translatingprocess is influenced both by the common basic factors and by a number ofspecific variables which stem from the actual conditions and modes of thetranslator's work: the type of original texts he has to cope with, the form inwhich ST is presented to him and the form in which he is supposed to submit histranslation, the specific requirements he may be called upon to meet in hiswork, etc.
Contemporarytranslation activities are characterized by a great variety of types, forms andlevels of responsibility. The translator has to deal with works of the greatauthors of the past and of the leading authors of today, with intricacies ofscience fiction and the accepted stereotypes of detective stories. He must beable to cope with the elegancy of expression of the best masters of literarystyle and with the tricks and formalistic experiments of modern avant-gardists.The translator has to preserve and fit into a different linguistic and socialcontext a gamut of shades of meaning and stylistic nuances expressed in theoriginal text by a great variety of language devices: neutral and emotionalwords, archaic words and new coinages, metaphors and similes, foreignborrowings, dialectal, jargon and slang expressions, stilted phrases andobscenities, proverbs and quotations, illiterate or inaccurate speech, and soon and so forth.
The originaltext may deal with any subject from general philosophical principles orpostulates to minute technicalities in some obscure field of human endeavour.The translator has to tackle complicated specialized descriptions and reportson new discoveries in science or technology for which appropriate terms havenot yet been invented. His duty is to translate diplomatic representations andpolicy statements, scientific dissertations and brilliant satires, maintenanceinstructions and after-dinner speeches, etc.
Translating aplay the translator must bear in mind the requirements of theatricalpresentation, and dubbing a film he must see to it that his translation fitsthe movement of the speakers' lips. The translator may be called upon to makehis translation in the shortest possible time, while taking a meal or againstthe background noise of loud voices or rattling type-writers. In simultaneousinterpretation the translator is expected to keep pace with the fastestspeakers, to understand all kinds of foreign accents and defectivepronunciation, to guess what the speaker meant to say but failed to express dueto his inadequate proficiency in the language he speaks.
In consecutiveinterpretation he is expected to listen to long speeches, taking the necessarynotes, and then to produce his translation in full or compressed form, givingall the details or only the main ideas.In some cases the users will besatisfied even with the most general idea of the meaning of the original, inother cases the translator may be taken to task for the slightest omission orminor error./14/
1.2 A BRIEFHISTORY OF INTERPRETATION
In mid-fiftiesof the last century conference interpreter was still in its infancy with thefirst simultaneous interpretation having been used after World War II at theNuremburg Trials (English, French, Russian and German).
In theinterwar years consecutive interpretation alone was provided at internationalgatherings, such as at meetings of the League of Nations in Geneva whereEnglish and French were used.
The firstinterpreters were not trained but entered the profession on the strength oftheir mastery of languages, prodigious memory, and their impressively broadcultural background. Some of the legendary figures of interpreting include JeanHerbert, Andre Kaminker and Prince Constantin Andronikof, who was personalinterpreter to General de Gaulle and one of the founders of AIIC, which wasestablished in 1953.
With thesetting up of international and European organizations (United Nations – 1945,Council of Europe – 1949, European Community — 1957) there was a growing needfor a much larger number of trained professionals. To meet this continuingchallenge, the course has expanded and now encompasses the languages of theEuropean Union and the UN family.
The situationin the early 20th century was totally different from what is knownnow as conference interpreting – a highly professional field requiring advancedlearning and special training. Conference interpreting actually started duringWorld War I, and until then all international meetings of any importance hadbeen held in French for that was language of the 19th centurydiplomacy.
After theArmistice had been signed on November 11th, 1918, interpreters wereinvited to work for the Armistice Commissions and later at the Conference onthe Preliminaries of Peace. This was the period when conference interpretingtechniques to be developed. According to the conference interpreter and authorJean Herbert, they interpreted in consecutive in teams of two, each into hismother tongue.
So conferenceinterpreting was becoming a profession, assuming certain standards in theperiod between the two World Wars. It started as a non-professional skill,developed from sentence-by-sentence interpreting into consecutive proper andinvolved special techniques of taking notes as well as many others.
Thisinterpreting process required special qualities on top of an excellent commandof two languages, among others tact and diplomacy; above average physicalendurance and good “nerves”.
All thisapplies to both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting and interpreters.
Simultaneousinterpreting came into life much later although first attempts to initiate thisnew conference interpreting procedure were occasionally made at multilingualgathering in the late twenties and the early thirties. In the USSR simultaneousinterpreting was first introduced at the VI Congress of the CommunistInternational in 1928 with interpreters sitting in the front row of theconference hall trying hard to catch the words of speakers, coming from therostrum, and taking into heavy microphones hanging on strings of their necks.Isolated booths for interpreters started to be used five years later, in 1933.Attempts to introduce simultaneous interpreting in the International LabourOrganisation were made a few years before the Second World War. Interpretersthere were seated in somewhat like an orchestra pit just below the rostrum.They had no earphone to facilitate listening and had to do their best tounderstand what came over the loudspeakers. They whispered their translationsinto a sort of box called a Hushaphone.
With theestablishment of the United Nations Organisation which opened up an era ofmultilateral diplomacy, and the development of multilateral economic relationsa new era for conference interpreting also began. Simultaneous interpretinggained ground, particularly as Russian, Spanish and Chinese languages wereintroduced as UN working languages./28/
1.3 MAIN TYPESOF TRANSLATION
Though thebasic characteristics of translation can be observed in all translation events,different types of translation can be singled out depending on the predominantcommunicative function of the source text or the form of speech involved in thetranslation process. Thus we can distinguish between literary and informativetranslation, on the one hand, and between written and oral translation (orinterpretation), on the other hand.
Informativetranslation is rendering into the target language non-literary texts, the mainpurpose of which is to convey a certain amount of ideas, to inform the reader.However, if the source text is of some length, its translation can be listed asliterary or informative only as an approximation. Literary works are known tofall into a number of genres. Literary translations may be subdivided in thesame way, as each genre calls for a specific arrangement and makes use ofspecific artistic means to impress the reader. Translators of prose, poetry orplays have their own problems. Each of these forms of literary activitiescomprises a number of subgenres and the translator may specialize in one orsome of them in accordance with his talents and experience.
A number ofsubdivisions can be also suggested for informative translations, though theprinciples of classification here are somewhat different. Here we may singleout translations of scientific and technical texts, of newspaper materials, ofofficial papers and some other types of texts such as public speeches,political and propaganda materials, advertisements, etc., which are, so tospeak, intermediate, in that there is a certain balance between the expressiveand referential functions, between reasoning and emotional appeal.
As the namessuggest, in written translation the source text is in written form, as is thetarget text. In oral translation or interpretation the interpreter listens tothe oral presentation of the original and translates it as an oral message inTL. As a result, in the first case the Receptor of the translation can read itwhile in the second case he hears it.
There are alsosome intermediate types. The interpreter rendering his translation by word ofmouth may have the text of the original in front of him and translate it«at sight». A written translation can be made of the originalrecorded on the magnetic tape that can be replayed as many times as isnecessary for the translator to grasp the original meaning. The translator candictate his «at sight» translation of a written text to the typist ora short-hand writer with TR getting the translation in written form.
These are all,however, modifications of the two main types of translation. The line ofdemarcation between written and oral translation is drawn not only because oftheir forms but also because of the sets of conditions in which the processtakes place. The first is continuous, the other momentary. In writtentranslation the original can be read and re-read as many times as the translatormay need or like. The same goes for the final product. The translator canre-read his translation, compare it to the original, make the necessarycorrections or start his work all over again. He can come back to the precedingpart of the original or get the information he needs from the subsequentmessages. These are most favourable conditions and here we can expect the bestperformance and the highest level of equivalence. That is why in theoreticaldiscussions we have usually examples from written translations where thetranslating process can be observed in all its aspects.
The conditionsof oral translation impose a number of important restrictions on thetranslator's performance. Here the interpreter receives a fragment of theoriginal only once and for a short period of time. His translation is also aone-time act with no possibility of any return to the original or anysubsequent corrections. This creates additional problems and the users havesometimes to be content with a lower level of equivalence.
There are twomain kinds of oral translation — consecutive and simultaneous. Interpretingrequirements – depending on the type of interpreting one is engaged in – canrange from simple, general conversation, to highly technical exposes anddiscussions. In consecutive translation the translating starts after theoriginal speech or some part of it has been completed. Here the interpreter'sstrategy and the final results depend, to a great extent, on the length of thesegment to be translated. If the segment is just a sentence or two theinterpreter closely follows the original speech. As often as not, however, theinterpreter is expected to translate a long speech which has lasted for scoresof minutes or even longer. In this case he has to remember a great number ofmessages and keep them in mind until he begins his translation. To make thispossible the interpreter has to take notes of the original messages, varioussystems of notation having been suggested for the purpose. The study of, andpractice in, such notation is the integral part of the interpreter's trainingas are special exercises to develop his memory.
Sometimes theinterpreter is set a time limit to give his rendering, which means that he willhave to reduce his translation considerably, selecting and reproducing the mostimportant parts of the original and dispensing with the rest. This implies theability to make a judgement on the relative value of various messages and togeneralize or compress the received information. The interpreter must obviouslybe a good and quickwitted thinker.
Insimultaneous interpretation the interpreter is supposed to be able to give histranslation while the speaker is uttering the original message. This can beachieved with a special radio or telephone-type equipment. The interpreterreceives the original speech through his earphones and simultaneously talksinto the microphone which transmits his translation to the listeners. This typeof translation involves a number of psycholinguistic problems, both of theoreticaland practical nature. /14/
This is ahighly specialized form of interpreting, which requires a special aptitude. Theinterpreter has to be able to listen to the speaker and repeat the same wordsin a different language almost at the same time. This takes a great deal oftraining and experience, and is paid at a higher rate than consecutive.
Simultaneousinterpretation may be required for such things as business or professionalconferences, training seminars, or presentations. A simultaneous interpretationlonger than two hours requires at least two interpreters to allow for restperiods./22/
II.CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF ORAL TRANSLATION
2.1 PROBLEMSOF ORAL TRANSLATION
Consecutivetranslation is not full by definition. Firstly, even unique memory of somelegendary interpreters is hardly able to keep all the details of a long speech,let alone the memory of mere mortals. Secondly, the consecutive translation isfulfilled basically denotatively, i.e. this is not a word-for-word translationof source text but its more or less free interpretation. This either suggestsdifferences and incompleteness.
In consecutivetranslation the interpreter should rely on as much as possible set of wide anduniversal equivalents, on the context and on maximally full common and specialknowledge base. Context plays the most important role in consecutivetranslation in contrast to simultaneous translation where the wide contextpractically absent and the choice of equivalents given by the dictionary is tobe made according to the situation and background knowledge. /18/
Professionalsimultaneous translation is the type of oral translation at internationalconferences which is realized at the same time with the perception of themessage by ear given instantaneously at the source language. The interpreter isat the booth which isolates him from the audience. During the simultaneoustranslation the information of a strictly limited volume is being processed inthe extreme conditions at any space of time.
The extremeconditions of professional simultaneous translation sometimes lead to thestatement of a question about appearing the condition of stress at thesimultaneous interpreter. /25/
Simultaneoustranslation is always connected with huge psychological works and often withstress and it is quite natural, because to listen and to speak simultaneouslyis impossible for a usual man it is a psychological anomaly. It is impossibleto translate simultaneously without special equipment. The translator needsearphones, a special booth and most of all he needs skills and translationdevices. During the translation the reporter speaks or reads his text to themicrophone in one language and the interpreter hears it from the ear-phones andtranslates it into another language simultaneously with the speaker. When theinterpreter speaks to his microphone the audience, which hears his translationfrom the ear-phones, must gain an impression that the speaker reporter speaksin their language.
Thespecialists pay special attention to the following factors which determine thedifficulty of simultaneous translation:
- Psychophysiologicaldiscomfort caused by the necessity to listen and to speak simultaneously;
- Psychophysiologicalstrain connected with irreversibility of that the reporter has said into themicrophone. The reporter won’t be stopped and asked to repeat;
- Psychologicalstrain connected with big audience and irreversibility of the translation. Itis impossible to excuse and to correct;
- Psychophysiologicalstrain caused by quick speech. The simultaneous interpreter must always speakquickly without pauses otherwise he will be left behind. But the pauses inspeech bring not only semantic but psychophysiological work: to take breath, tocollect one’s thoughts.
- Difficultlinguistic task of tying up the utterances in the languages which havedifferent structure during the simultaneous translation, when the context isextremely limited and there is lack of time for translation;
- Adifficult linguistic task of speech compression which helps to compensate thetranslation into the language which has long words and verbose rhetoric.
These factorswork in the ideal case when the reporter speaks in a usual speed in a clearliteral language, when his pronunciation is standard and he understands that heis being translated and he is interested in that the audience to understandhim. But this happens rarely.
Thesimultaneous interpreter must always be ready morally and professionally that
the reporterwill speak very fast or will read the text of his speech;
the reporter’spronunciation will be indistinct or nonstandard;
the reporterwill use nonstandard abbreviations in his speech, which weren’t enteredbeforehand, or professional jargon words or expressions.
All thesedifficulties may undoubtedly present at consecutive translation but therealways exist a feed-back with the reporter. The interpreter may ask again, askto repeat and there is always a contact of the interpreter with the audiencewhere is surely someone who knows the language and subject of the speech and hewill always prompt and correct benevolently, as a rule, if the translation iswell in general./18/
2.2NOTE-TAKING IN CONSECUTIVE TRANSLATION
Whilelistening to the speaker the interpreter takes notes of the message he or shereceives, while the utterance is being received. It means that perception andcomprehension are concurrant with note-taking.
Theinterpreter’s notes are an ideographic system of encoding the message. They areword- and symbol-based, their syntax is simple, their word order is direct andgrammatical functions are expressed by fixed positions of the elements of theutterance, while positions themselves are vertically organized.
This briefdescription of the system of interpreter’s notes makes one realize that to takenotes one has to translate the original utterance into another code. This codeis in fact very close to what has been previously described as the internalsemantic code of the Recipient. And the fact that the interpreter’s notes aresomething only the interpreter who has made them can read, or decode, provesthe point.
So in order tobe able to listen, comprehend and take down a processed and transformed versionof the original utterance the interpreter has to run ahead of the utterancebeing received and anticipate its morpho-phonemic, syntactical and semanticstructure.
If we now takeour model of the interpretation process we shall see that it represents a two-phaseprocess of consecutive interpreting in which the phases are separated from eachother, the first phase being completed when the semantic representation isachieved in the form of notes, and the second phase being started when thissemantic representation is utilized for programming and producing the messagein the TL (target language).
No suchborder-line can be drawn for simultaneous interpreting. If we attempt a graphicrepresentation of the process of simultaneous interpreting for one utterance,we shall see that the processes of speech perception and speech generationconcur and run parallel to each other.
The languagein which an interpreter has to take notes is the source language. Note-takingis a help for short-term memory. It reflects basic thoughts of the source text.The system of note-taking is based at widely spread abbreviations andindividual own symbols.
Symbols andabbreviations used in note-taking must meet the following requirements:
- they should beunderstandable, easy to write and to decode;
- to be universal and easyto remember;
- they should mean definitenotion, symbol, sense, which appears clearly and monosemantically both inlinguistic and extra linguistic context;
- to be recognizable at thegiven moment of speaking and translating.
In order toread and interpret the notes easily you should place them downward in diagonalway. The first level is subject group, the second level is predicative, thethird level is Direct Object and the fourth level is Indirect Object.
Model:
Object (Indirect)
Object (Direct)
Predicative
Subject group /> /> />
homogenous /> />
parts of /> />
the sentence
Some examplesof the symbols used in the note-taking:
MP – Member ofParliament
VIP – VeryImportant Person
G-7 – Group ofseven
Common usedabbreviations:
CIS – СНГ(Commonwealth of Independent States)
EU – EuropeanUnion
RF – RussianFederation
US – UnitedStates
UK – UnitedKingdom
UN – ООН(United Nations Organization)
MOW – Moscow
NY – New York
LON – London
CEO – chiefexecutive officer
JV – jointventure
FTZ – Freetrade zone
P – President
VP – VicePresident
I/V –investment
↑I –growth of inflation
E – employment
E – unemployment
D/B – budgetdeficit
Usage ofcontracted words:
pro –professional
demo –demonstration
info –information
Letterprecision information such as proper names and geographical names is writtenonly by means of consonants. Numeral precision information like days of a weekand months is written by numbers.
e.g. />– Friday, 11 –November
dates: currentdecade – 2008 = ‘8
current century – 1995 = .95
current millennium – 1812 = .812
numbers from1100 to 10000 is to be written by hundreds
e.g. 17H =1700
17t =17 thousand
17m =17 million
17b =17 billion
17tr =17 trillion
Marking ofsemantic ties between the symbols is the most important and rather difficultpoint. Especially when the interpreter is voicing his notation. Speaking ismarked with: after the subject group; emphasis is marked with :! (claimed,referred, accused, offered). The symbol (:) means press-conference,press-release, statement.
approval – OK
disapproval – OK
plural – signof square; e.g. MP2 = Members of Parliament
m2= millions
repeat = Rwith an arrow with the place which is repeated
> — more,
↑ — growth, rise; increase; improvement; future
↓ — decrease, fall, degradation; past
∆ — state, country
/>lines: → departure; E - export; address to
/>← arrival; I — import
Expression ofmodality:
possibility: m– may; m? – might
c – can; c? –could
doubt:? or ?!
necessity: d(must, to be to, should) – from debere (lat.)
Comparativeand Superlative degrees of Adjectives: signs of square and cube
e.g. big2– bigger, big3 – the biggest
“Speaking”symbols:
○ – congress, meeting
X – war,conflict
This approachshouldn’t be accepted as a third language. It should be created by imaginationof an interpreter. /28/
2.3 LINGUISTICPECULIARITIES OF SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION
During thetranslation the simultaneous interpreter chooses equivalents on basis of:
- common linguisticknowledge;
- microcontext;
- common backgroundinformation;
- special information.
Here is theexample of choosing the equivalents in translating the fragment of the report“Patents and other industrial property titles and their licensing.”
“When technology is to be used in cooperation with a third party, whether in the form of a license, as it isthe main aspect of this paper, or by merger or by taking capitalinvestment of a third party into the company owning the technology, it is oftremendous importance to determine the value of patents and other intangible assets, in the followingdesignated as intellectual propertyrights (IPR), belonging to the respective entity”.
Simultaneous translation of the fragment:
“Когдатехнология применяется совместно с третьей стороной,либо в форме лицензии, как в этом докладе, либо путем слияния или же вложения капитала третьей стороны вфирму, владеющую технологией, чрезвычайно важноопределить стоимость патентов и прочих нематериальных активов, что вдальнейшем мы будем называть Правами на интеллектуальную собственность,принадлежащими данному субъекту”.
At first we should note that the interpreter didn’tchoose the equivalents during the translation as he had chosen and rememberedthem earlier. These terms are “merger” – “слияние”, “intangible assets” – “нематериальные активы”, “entity” – “субъект (права)”.
At the same time there was a different interpretation andexchanging of some usual equivalents with those which do structurally andstylistically. They are “capital investment” – “инвестиция” was exchanged for “вложение капитала”, “in cooperation” – “в сотрудничестве” was exchanged for “совместно”./18/
There are maindevices which were formed during the long development of oral translation andthey are used in the work of simultaneous interpreter. They are speechcompression, omission and addition of the material. During the oral translationfrom Russian into English the compression is required when there arerepetitions, words of little importance or when the speaker is too fast. Inorder not to be behind the speaker and not to miss important segments of hisspeech the interpreter has to choose between lexical and syntacticalequivalents which must be compressed. e.g. “На международном, национальном и местномуровнях” can be translated as “onall levels” or “on several levels”.
The ability toabridge and to condense oral speech is one of the most important abilities inthe art of simultaneous translation. But, in order not to misrepresent the speaker’sidea using short words or omitting unnecessary words he is forced to decideeach time what is superfluous and should be omitted.
e.g. “Госсекретарь предложил созвать конференцию”
“The secretary of state proposed aconference”
“Просмотр состоится 22 сентября”
“The showingis on September 22”
“Это было опубликовано вгазете Нью-Йорк Таймс”
“This appeared in the New York Times”
Though duringthe translation from Russian into English the text is usually becomes shortersometimes there are the opposite cases. It happens when the rules of Englishgrammar and the structure of the language require addition of the article orwhen the complex type of tense is used. e.g. “We shall have been doing this”
The time isspending on the translation increases if the interpreter has to define moreprecisely or explain Russian realias.
e.g. “Днем они пошли с друзьями в ЗАГС, а вечером свадьбу справилив ресторане «Арбат»”
“In the afternoon they went to signthe marriage registry, and in the evening they had a reception in the Arbat”
Metonymy andsynecdoche, as the devices of simultaneous translation, are used for thespecification of common idea and the generalization of typical or concreteoccurrence. When there is no exact equivalent for a definite Russian notion orwhen the interpreter just didn’t here some word he is often saved from failureby the substitution of the general occurrence by the concrete one and viceversa.
e.g. “зелень” (Нужно добавить зелень в суп) – “parsley and other herbs”
If theinterpreter suddenly forgets the word or the idiom he can use some othersynonym even less exact.
e.g. “семь пядей во лбу” – (as wise as Solomon) –“He paid him a compliment”
Antonymousinversion is another very useful device which helps to avoid a word-for-wordtranslation when it is necessary. The possibilities of antonymous usage arevery wide but they are not boundless. Context always plays a decisive roleespecially by the inversion of idiomatic expression.
e.g. “не иметьсебе равных” – “to be second to none”
“не придавать значения” –“to overlook”
Grammatical inversion:
“И в промышленной, и ввоенном отношении, эти планы нашей страны…”
“Militarilyand industrially, our country’s plans…”
“Их было больше”
“They prevailed”
Syntactical inversion:
“Они завоевали этутерриторию”
“Thisterritory fell to them”
The search ofsemantic equivalents and avoidance of a word-for-word translation are two themost important way of translation into idiomatic English.
e.g. “глубокоубеждены” – “firmly convinced”
“идти к кому-то на встречу” – “to accommodate someone”
“случайные люди вполитике” – “outsiders in politics”
“белые пятна (в нашихзнаниях)” – “gaps”
What evereffective the devices of translation would be they don’t release theinterpreter from the necessity to solve chief problem which consists inescaping over-literal rendering during the translation. They are highlydangerous to apply to specific notions and unique realias of Russian culture asthey are lack of equivalents in English. The interpreter shouldn’t be limitedby linguistics only in order to find better equivalents for such notions. Hemust study different spheres of human life in the country of the sourcelanguage: its history, literature, psychology, etc. Only in this way thereappears a possibility for the truth expert to fulfill the most difficult task –to interpret not just from one language into another language but from oneculture into another./10/
CONCLUSION
Oraltranslation plays very important part in the world. Russian and foreignbusinessmen, scientists and politicians work side by side at differentcountries and therefore they need translation during commercial talks, signingof contracts and everyday communication.
Duringstudying this work we tried to find out the problems of oral translation andthe way these problems may be solved. We have done it by finding salvation tothe following tasks:
6) Wegave the definition to the notion “translation”;
7) Wefound out the difference between written and oral translation;
8) Wecharacterized the types of oral translation;
9) Wedefined the problems of oral translation;
10) Wefound various ways and translating devices for solving those problems.
As a kind ofpractical activities translation is a set of actions performed by thetranslator while rendering ST into another language. These actions are largelyintuitive and the best results are naturally achieved by translators who arebest suited for the job, who are well-trained or have a special aptitude, atalent for it. Masterpieces in translation are created by the past masters ofthe art, true artists in their profession. At its best translation is an art, acreation of a talented, high-skilled professional.
As we haveknown, there two types of translation: written and oral. As the names suggest,in written translation the source text is in written form, as is the targettext. In oral translation or interpretation the interpreter listens to the oralpresentation of the original and translates it as an oral message in TL. As aresult, in the first case the Receptor of the translation can read it while inthe second case he hears it.
Oraltranslation falls into consecutive and simultaneous. In consecutive translation thetranslating starts after the original speech or some part of it has beencompleted. Insimultaneous interpretation the interpreter is supposed to be able to give histranslation while the speaker is uttering the original message.
Insimultaneous interpretation the translator is expected to keep pace with thefastest speakers, to understand all kinds of foreign accents and defectivepronunciation, to guess what the speaker meant to say but failed to express dueto his inadequate proficiency in the language he speaks.
In consecutiveinterpretation he is expected to listen to long speeches, taking the necessarynotes, and then to produce his translation in full or compressed form, givingall the details or only the main ideas.
Sometimes theinterpreter is set a time limit to give his rendering, which means that he willhave to reduce his translation considerably, selecting and reproducing the mostimportant parts of the original and dispensing with the rest. This implies theability to make a judgement on the relative value of various messages and togeneralize or compress the received information. The interpreter must obviouslybe a good and quickwitted thinker./14/
Appendices to the course paper
“Problems of oral translation”