1. Lecture 7.PRAGMATICS OF TRANSLATION
Plan
1. Difference between Semantics, Syntax and Pragmatics
2. Multiple Meanings of Words
3. The Problem of Synonymy and Polysemys
4. Translation and Style
5. Terms and Professionalisms
6. Types of Texts
7. Pragmatics of the Text

2. Key Words:
Relationships, pragmatics, implications, evoke, unrestricted, prolific,
mound, jogging , inappropriately, catch on , subtleties, frustrating, domains , slots, supersede ,invoice, innocuous , boredom, affliction, plausible, alterations,
presumably, obscene.

3. 1. Difference between Semantics, Syntax and Pragmatics
Words in any language are related to certain referents which they designate and to other words of the same language with which they make up syntactic units. These relationships are called semantic and syntactic. Words are also related to the people who use them. This relationship is called pragmatics. Syntax is concerned with words and how they are combined to form phrases and sentences. Semantics is concerned with what these combinations mean. But in any text syntax and semantics interact. In any language one and the same meaning may be expressed syntactically in more than one way.

4. If we take English, for example, the semantic property of possession can be expressed by the Genitive case “England’s king” or by an “of-construction” “ the King of England”. Paraphrases are used in all languages and their result is the expression of the same meaning by different syntactic structures.
A similar situation arises with certain semantic concepts such as “ability”, “permission” or “obligation”. These may be expressed syntactically by means of “auxiliary” or “helping” verbs.
He can go. He may go. He must go.

5. They may also be expressed without the auxiliaries, as:
He is able to go/ He has the ability to go/ He is permitted to go/ He is obliged to go/ He has an obligation to go.
Active-passive pairs constitute another common type of paraphrase.
The child found the puppy. – The puppy was found by the child.

6. But the person working with the English language should know that not all sentences can be passivized.
John resembles Bill.
The book costs ten dollars.
These sentences can’t be passivized because of the relationship of the verb and direct object. When the Subject is not in the state of doing some action it can’t be passivized. These examples show how the semantics of the verbal relationships affect syntactic relationships.

7. Now, let’s look at the following two sentences and decide whether they have the same meaning:
The Greeks who were philosophers liked to talk.
The Greeks , who were philosophers, liked to talk.
The first sentence means that among the Greeks, the ones who were philosophers, liked to talk. The second means that all Greeks were philosophers and they liked to talk. And again here we see the task for the translator/interpreter.

8. In oral speech we can rely only on the pauses and intonation, in written speech we can rely on the punctuation marks to translate these two sentences in a right way. These two sentences contain the “relative clause” “who were philosophers”. But they are used in different syntactic structures. The difference in syntax makes the difference in meaning, though both sentences contain the same words in the same sequence.

9. These two sentences contain the “relative clause” “who were philosophers”. But they are used in different syntactic structures. The difference in syntax makes the difference in meaning, though both sentences contain the same words in the same sequence.

10. 2. Multiple Meanings of Words
Words are also 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 and dislikes. Any language has the word-stock of three main layers: literary, neutral and colloquial.
Ex. Boy – youth - guy

11. The literary layer contains a number of subgroups each of which has a property it shares with all the subgroups within the layer. This common property which unites the different groups of words within the layer may be called its aspect. The aspect of the literary layer is its markedly bookish character. It is this that makes it more or less stable. The literary layer of words consists of groups accepted as legitimate members of the English vocabulary. They have no local or dialectal character.

12. For example: approximate, to commence, to compute, feasible , thereby, nevertheless, thereupon, etc. – these are all words of literary layer.
The aspect of the colloquial layer of words is its lively spoken character. It is this fact that makes it unstable, fleeting. Colloquial layer consists of literary colloquial words which are used by educated people in everyday life.
Ex. Daily, greens, woollies, etc.

13. and low colloquial words which are used by uneducated people.
Ex. Doc (doctor), hi (how do you do), ta-ta (good-bye), etc.

14. The aspect of the neutral layer is its universal character
The aspect of the neutral layer is its universal character. That means it is unrestricted in its use. It can be employed in all styles of language and in all spheres of human activity. It is this that makes this layer the most stable of all.
3. The Problem of Synonymy and Polysemy
For translator/interpreter it is necessary to know that neutral words are the main source of synonymy and polysemy. It is the neutral stock of words that is so prolific in the production of new meanings.

15. When we speak about synonymy we speak about different words with the same meaning. Ex. “ I have always liked you, I admire your talent very much, but I could never love you”.
Here the verbs to like, to admire, to love are synonyms, they show the same feeling of liking, but the emotional coloring is different.

16. Polysemy. This word means plurality of meanings of one word
Polysemy . This word means plurality of meanings of one word. A word which has more than one meaning is called polysemantic. Ex. Word Blanket means : a covering used on beds; a covering for horses; a covering of any kind.

17. Because of polysemeous character of the words the translation based on one-to-one substitution of words is seldom acceptable.
Besides synonyms and polysemeous words there are words which are called homonyms (homonyms are words identical in sound and spelling but different in meaning).
Let’s take, for example, two meanings of the word “bank”. The investigations show that historically the financial and the river meanings of the word “bank” are related. They both come from the notion “a raised shelf or ridge of ground”. The financial sense evolved from the money changer’s table or shelf. Later the word came to represent an institution that takes care of money for people.

18. The English word “fish” can be used to refer to either a live fish swimming in a river or a dead fish that has been cleaned and is ready for the frying pan. In a sense, English makes a similar distinction between “fish” and “seafood” but “fish” can be used in both cases.
The verb “to run” is another example of a word that causes troubles for translation. In English this word means not only the next step in speed from jogging but very often is used in the expressions of the type “to run a company “or “long run” (when referring to a play or meeting), or “run dry” (when referring to a river).
A computer or an inexperienced human translator will often be insensitive to subtle differences in meaning that affect translation and will use a word inappropriately.

19. 4. Translation and Style.
While speaking about English vocabulary, synonymy and polysemy we can’t but mention the role of style, because the knowledge of style is also very important for the interpreter/translator. Any translator/interpreter should know when, where and what word should be used. If he works with educated people or with scientists he should use literary style; if he works with lay people he should use neutral or even colloquial style, in order his speech be clear to everybody.

20. The types of texts distinguished by the pragmatic aspect of communication are called functional styles or register.  Modern stylistics distinguishes the following varieties of functional styles; belles-lettres (prose, poetry, drama); publicistic; newspaper ; scientific and official documents styles. Any comparison of the texts belonging to different stylistic varieties listed above will show that two of them (scientific and official documents) are almost entirely devoid of stylistic coloring being characterized by the neutrality of style whereas the first three are usually rich in stylistic devices which a translator should pay due attention to.
Stylistic devices are based on the comparison of the primary (dictionary) meaning and the meaning which is dictated by the contextual environment; on the contradiction between the meaning of the given word and the environment; on the association between words in minds of the language speakers and on purposeful deviation from accepted grammatical and phonetic standards. The stylistic devices are as it follows.

21. Certainly, in order to produce an acceptable translation you must find acceptable words in other languages. Here it is possible to speak about so-called general or neutral language and specialized language. In general language it is undesirable to repeat the same word over and over unnecessarily. Variety is highly valued. However, in specialized terminology consistency (which would be called monotony in general language) is highly valued. Indeed, it is essential to repeat the same term over and over whenever it refers to the same object.

22. It is frustrating and potentially dangerous to switch terms for the same object when describing how to maintain or operate a complex machine such as commercial airplane. Thus, to produce an acceptable translation you must find acceptable words. In the case of specialized terminology it should be the one and only term in the other language that has been designed as the term in a particular language for a particular object throughout a particular document or set of documents.

23. 5. Terms and Professionalisms
It’s very important to touch such notion as “term”. Sometimes it is very difficult to differentiate between “term” and “professionalism”. Both of them belong to literary style.
 Stephen Ullman said” All scientists are linguists to some extent. They are responsible for devising a consistent terminology, a skeleton language to talk about their subject-matter. Philologists and philosophers of speech are in the peculiar position of having to evolve a special language to talk about language itself”.
Unlike professionalisms the terms can be polysemantic. They may have different meanings in different texts. Their translation depends on the context. Let’s take , for example, the word “bus”. We know that it is a special term in programming. It means shina. But it has a meaning of “a machine for transporting people” and so on.
Sometimes it is twice as difficult to translate because the translator/interpreter knows all words in their neutral meaning but in some professional context he can’t understand them. The only way out for the translator is to study the specialty not in detail but to know some principal facts about it. In modern world many interpreters/translators are specializing in some definite branch. For example, they work in one definite branch such as medicine, economics, auditing, etc.

24. This quotation makes clear the essential characteristics of a term, i
This quotation makes clear the essential characteristics of a term, i.e. its highly conventional character. A term is generally very easily coined and easily accepted; and new coinages easily replace the out-dated ones.
Terms are mostly and predominantly used in special works dealing with the notions of some branch of science. Therefore it may be said that they belong to the style of the language of science.

25. But their use is not confined to this style
But their use is not confined to this style. They may as well appear in some other styles. They may appear in newspaper style, in publicistic and practically in all other styles. But their function in this case changes. They do not always fulfill their basic function that of bearing exact reference to a given concept. The function of terms, if encountered in other styles, is either to indicate the technical peculiarities of the subject dealt with, or to make some reference to the occupation of a character whose language would naturally contain special words and expressions.

26. Many people say that all scientists are linguists to some extent
Many people say that all scientists are linguists to some extent. They are responsible for the appearance of a consistent terminology.
There is an interesting process going on in the development of any language. With the increase of general education and the expansion of technique to satisfy the ever-growing needs and desires of mankind, many words which once were terms have gradually lost their quality as terms and have passed into the common literary or even neutral vocabulary. Such words as “radio, telephone, television, and computer” and the like have long been in common use and lost their terminological character.

27. There is difference between terms and professionalisms
There is difference between terms and professionalisms. Professionalisms are the words used in a definite trade, profession or simply by a group of people connected by common interests both at work and at home. The main feature of a professionalism is its technicality. Professionalisms generally remain in circulation within a definite community as they are linked to a common occupation and common social interests. Professionalisms do not allow any polysemy, they are monosemantic. Ex. tin-fish=submarine; block-buster= a special bomb; clone(medicine).

28. Unlike professionalisms the terms can be polysemantic
Unlike professionalisms the terms can be polysemantic. They may have different meanings in different texts. Their translation depends on the context. Let’s take , for example, the word “bus”. We know that it is a special term in programming. It means shina. But it has a meaning of “a machine for transporting people” and so on.
Sometimes it is twice as difficult to translate because the translator/interpreter knows all words in their neutral meaning but in some professional context he can’t understand them. The only way out for the translator is to study the specialty not in detail but to know some principal facts about it. In modern world many interpreters/translators are specializing in some definite branch. For example, they work in one definite branch such as medicine, economics, auditing, etc.

29. Sometimes it is twice as difficult to translate because the translator/interpreter knows all words in their neutral meaning but in some professional context he can’t understand them. The only way out for the translator is to study the specialty not in detail but to know some principal facts about it. In modern world many interpreters/translators are specializing in some definite branch. For example, they work in one definite branch such as medicine, economics, auditing, etc.

30. Thus we see that to do a good translation the translator should know not only the words of the general (common) vocabulary but terms and professionalisms as well.

31. 6. Types of Texts
The word-stock of every language is varied. It contains the words of different layers. This variety helps the translator/interpreter to express one and the same thought in different ways (by means of literary, neutral or colloquial lexis). Thus the translator/interpreter should know what text he works with and for whom he translates. For example, if the translator translates the words of an intellectual person but uses in his translation vulgarisms or slang – it is a great mistake. And vice versa, translating the speech of an illiterary person he can’t change the words and use literary language.

32. It’s a well-known fact that the word-stock of any language is not fixed. It changes with time. All words have their own age. Some of them become archaisms, some get other meanings.

33. Apart from the pragmatics of linguistic signs there is also the pragmatics of individual speech acts. This pragmatics involves plans and goals and the textual characteristics of intentionality, acceptability and situationality – the attitudes of the Producer and the Receiver of the text to its context of use – all matters which take us well beyond the code ( syntax and semantics) and into the area of the use of the code for communication.

34. When we speak about the “speech acts” or “text” we face three problems: 1. what it’s about; 2. what’s the writer’s purpose; 3.what a plausible context is for its use.
In order to answer these questions and make sense of the text, the reader has to draw on appropriate linguistic and social knowledge - syntactic, semantic and pragmatic (as it was mentioned above).

35. According to the research in the field of the specialized texts they can be divided according to the type of information and the purpose for which they are conveyed, i.e. by their communicative function. Taking into consideration the communicative function of the texts they can be divided into:
- juridical –normative texts;
- progress-oriented actualizing texts;
- didactic-instructive texts;
- compilation texts.

36. The communicative function of juridical-normative texts consists in establishing a legal basis or an unambiguous standard of reference. The information conveyed always involves legal claims or efforts towards achieving uniformity (technological or test standards).
Speaking about the juridical-normative texts the author speaks about the standard specifications, patent specifications, abstracts and so on. The juridical-normative texts have a legal status. They are “technical” both in the field of science and technology and in the field of law. Understanding, writing and translating them requires knowledge in both fields. They are intended for a restricted group of Recipients sharing roughly the same technological and legal knowledge and purpose.

37. Progress-oriented actualizing texts have the communicative function of conveying information intended to advance science and technology. They always deal with new research results and findings which may also be a (re)evaluation and current knowledge.
Recipients of progress-oriented actualizing texts are mostly scientific and research workers. These texts include articles in scientific journals; research reports, monographs, dissertations, etc.

38. Didactic-instructive texts convey information for the purpose of intellectual enrichment, entertainment or practical application.
The recipients of didactic-instructive texts are relatively non-homogeneous with regard to both their previous knowledge and their purpose. Readers will include both school pupils and students and they will be reading texts of this category to inform themselves about their theories, or to learn how to operate some equipment, or to prepare for an exam or just to enrich themselves intellectually.
To meet all these different requirements didactic-instructive texts cannot but incorporate a relatively large number of variants. Here are included popular science articles, product information, operating instructions, manuals, summaries, reviews, etc….

39. Compilation texts have the communicative function of giving a survey of the knowledge conveyed in the texts of the other three categories and providing access to this knowledge.
Compilation texts are intended for all types of Recipients. They include encyclopedic texts; dictionaries, reviews, etc….

40. 7. Pragmatics of the Text
The pragmatics of the text depends on the relationship between the linguistic signs and the language users and thus pragmatics is a meaningful element and its preservation in translation is desirable.
Apart from the pragmatics of linguistic signs there is also the pragmatics of individual speech acts. In a concrete act of speech the Speaker has to do with the specific Receptor upon whom he tries to produce the desired effect and from whom he wants to get the desired reaction.

41. The pragmatics of speech acts is present in translation process
The pragmatics of speech acts is present in translation process. A translation process is pragmatically oriented in two directions.
On the one hand it’s translation which means that its primary purpose is to give the closest possible approximation to the original text. This orientation towards a foreign text is one aspect of its pragmatics.

42. But on the other hand, a translation event is a concrete speech act in the target language. Therefore, it is not just an act of interlingual communication between the Source and Target Recipients, but also an act of speech communication between the Translator and Target Recipient. This involves two important implications. First, a translation event may be pragmatically oriented toward a concrete Target Recipient, and, second, it is the result of the activities of a concrete translator who may have some additional pragmatic motivation, may pursue some aims beside and beyond the true reproduction of the original text.

43. As long as translation is not just an exercise in producing an equivalent text in another language but a pragmatic act under specific circumstances, its results can be assessed both in terms of its loyalty to the original and its ability to achieve the purpose for which it has been undertaken.

44. As has been pointed out, the additional pragmatic goal of the translation event may depend either on the particular type of the Target Receptor or on the translator’s designs beyond his call of duty as a no-nonsense transmitter of the original message.
The users of the translation often make judgment of its quality exclusively on its merits as an instrument in achieving some specific aim. If in doing so the translation departs from the original text, so much the worse for the latter.

45. Sometimes books written for adults are translated for children’s reading with appropriate alterations made in the course of translation. Presumably, any text should be differently translated depending on whether it is for experts or laymen, for staging or screening, and so on.
As to the specific aims pursued by the translator, they may also bring about considerable changes in the resulting text. Each translation is made in a certain pragmatic or social context and its results are for a number of purposes. Any translator tries to make his work meet this extra-linguistic requirements, introducing appropriate changes in the text of translation. Sometimes these changes are prompted by the desire to produce a certain effect on the Receptors.

46. When a book is translated with a view to subsequent publication in another country, it may be adapted or abridged 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.
In technical or other informative translations the translator or his employers may be interested in getting the gist of the contents or the most important or novel part of it, which may involve leaving out certain details or a combination of translation with brief accounts of less important parts of the original.

47. A specific instance is consecutive interpretation where the interpreter is often set a time limit within which he is expected to report his translation no matter how long the original speech may have been. This implies selection, generalizations, and cutting through repetitions, incidental digressions, occasional slips or excessive embellishments.
It is obvious that in all similar cases the differences which can be revealed between the original text and its translation should not be ascribed to the translator’s inefficiency or detract from the quality of his work. The pragmatic value of the translation clearly compensates their lack of equivalence. Evidently there are different types of translation serving different purposes.