Conveying of Meanings of Specific Units of National Lexicon.

The choice of the way of conveying the denotative mean­ing of the units of national lexicon is strictly predetermined by definite factors which may be both of a lingual or extra-lingual nature. To these first of all belongs the semantic and structural complexity (or otherwise) of the units of specific national lexicon in the source language. Besides, the way of translating may also be predetermined by the specific notion being new and not yet known or by its long tradition of usage in the target language. The choice of the way of translating may partly be influenced by the sphere of circulation of a specific notion in the source language too. Last but not least the choice can also depend on the trans­lator himself and upon the aim or purpose of translating/ interpreting. One can consequently assume the existence of several ways оf conveying the lexical meaning of the units of national lexicon. Each of the ways is to be considered quite reliable if it provides for the faithful expression of the main and specific sense of the source language unit in the target language.

Since the nature, the structure, the sphere of employ­ment and the denotative meanings of different specific units of lexicon are rarely of the same “extension” their ways of trans­lating cannot be uniform either. Depending on the aforemen­tioned factors, the following ways of conveying the meaning of specific national lexicon units can be recognized as quite reliable:

Transcoding.

The national specific lexicon units whose mean­ings are conveyed this way usually belong to genuine internationalisms and comprise the social and political lexicon mainly:

It's a poor coloured wo­man's place and you are a grand gentleman from Cape Town. (P. Abrahams)

Це кімната для бідної кольорової жінки, а ти ж великий джентльмен із Кейптауна.

You're a supercilious half-baked snob. (Cronin)

Ти насправді зарозу­мілий і обмежений сноб.

Andrew put out some bot­tled beer and asked Christine to prepare sandwiches.(Ibid.)

Ендрю дістав кілька пляшок пива і попросив Крістін приготувати сендвічі.

In many a case the lingual form of a unit of specific national lexicon conveyed in transcription or transliteration cannot provide for a full expression of its lexical meaning. Then an additional explication of its sense becomes neces­sary. It happens when the unit of specific national lexicon is introduced in the target language for the first time or when it is not yet known to the broad public. The explanation may be given either in the translation/interpretation itself or in a footnote – when a lengthy explication becomes necessary.

They took her to the To­wer of London. (Jerome K. Jerome)

Вони показали їй ста­родавню лондонську форте­цю Тауер.

A thousand dockers mar­ched down Whitehall to Downing Street yesterday to declare their protest against proposed changes in the dock labour scheme. (M. Star)

Учора тисяча докерів пройшла від Уайтхолу до Даунінг-Стріт у знак про­тесту проти пропонованих урядом змін у розпорядку їхньої праці.

As the dawn was just breaking he found herself close to Covent Garden. (0.Wilde)

Щойно почало розвидня­тися, а він уже був непо­далік від ринку Ковент-Гарден.

He said that Wall Street and Threadneedle Street bet­ween them could stop the universe. (R. Aldington)

Він сказав, що Уолл-Стріт і Треднідл-Стріт удвох спроможні зупинити всесвіт.

*Уайтхол – вулиця в центрі Лондона, де знаходяться урядові установи(переню уряд Великої Британії).

*Даунінг-Стріт №10 і11 відповідно резиденції прем`єр-міністра і лорда-канцлера Великої Британії.

*Треднідл-Стріт – вулиця в Сіті, де розташовано головні банки Великої Британії.

The combined translation is often resorted to when a sentence contains some specific notions:

У Києві чимало ресто­ранів та кафетеріїв, що спе­ціалізуються на приготу­ванні вареників, кулішу та інших страв.

A number of restaurants and cafeterias in Kyїv spe­cialize in varenyky (dump­lings), kulish (a thick meat stew) and other dishes. (News from Ukraine).

Anybody in this country can see that вареники are not simply dumplings i.e. small balls of dough which саn be cooked in soup or stew but dough wrapped around some salted/sweetish curd with fresh egg or mashed potatoes, fried sauerkraut, etc. boiled and served hot with butter and sour cream or fried bacon and onion respectively. Neither is куліш something like a thick meat stew. Besides, kulish not always and not in all regions of the Ukraine is pre­pared thick.

Descriptive translation.

For some reason or other the lingual form of a great number of units belonging to the national specific lexicon of the source language can not be conveyed in the target language. That happens mostly when transcoding would not help in expressing the sense of the spe­cific national unit, or when it might bring about an unne­cessary ambiguity in the target language narration/text: matron завгосп у навчальному закладі (суміщає економку і медсе­стру); Pilgrim Fathers перші колоністи з Англії, що прибули в 1620 р. до Північної Америки на вітрильнику “Мей Флауер”; prorogation офіційне розпорядження монарха про відновлення/закінчення сесії парламенту; quartermaster старшина стерновий у морській піхоті.

No need to emphasize that such lengthy explanations of specific notions are really needed in the text of a translation/interpretation Quite often an explanation in the target language text may be sufficient enough as in the following examples:

No coffins were available, so they wrapped George in a blanket and in the Union Jack. (R. Aldington)

У них не було домовин тож вони замотали Джорджа в ковдру та в прапор Великої Британії.

The Tommies were num­bered, formed fours, right turned and marched away... . (Ibid.)

Рядових солдатів порахували, вишикували по чотири, повернули праворуч і відвели геть.