Borrowed words in the English language

Contents

language lexical linguistic foreignisms

Introduction

Chapter № 1

1.1 Social functions of the language

1.2 Background of borrowed words in the English language and their translation

1.3 The problems of adoptions in the lexical system of the English language

1.4 Barbarisms, foreignisms, neologisms and archaic words

1.5 The progmatic aspect of borrowings

1.6 Reborrowings

Chapter № 2

The contribution of individual linguistic cultures to form the lexical system of the English language

2.1 Indo-European language group

2.2 Afrasian language group

2.3 Turkic language

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Fundamental analysis of modern condition of lexical system is impossible without knowledge of its history development and logical study of its various historical microscopic sections.

In the process of its development English language collide with many languages from which it adopted many words. They are dissimilar about quantity and position in the word stock of the English vocabulary.

The adoption is being done in oral and written forms of the language. Words adopting by dint of oral means are quicker assimilate to the language. And words adopting by dint of written means are longer preserve their phonetic and orthographic peculiarities. Since adoption as a process is inherent any language and integral part of lexical system of a language, then this theme is always important and urgent. It has enough material to both examine and research. There is always something new, unnecessary things disappear, that is why for scientists many questions are still remaining unsettled. Inasmuch living language is a permanent upcoming phenomenon.

The problem is that in the process of English language history it assimilated a great many words of foreign origin. Among them are subordinate words and morphemes. Such a great quantity of adopted words gave grounds for some linguists assert that English language has lost its originality. English linguist A. Bo, as an example, supposed that word-formation ability of the English language began to die out. But this statement does not correspond to reality.

The aim of the work is to show that in spite of the fact that there are many adopted words in the English language it has not lost its originality.

Examining adopted words can be considered in different ways. English language history which also investigates the structure of the language, its phonetic, lexical and grammatical peculiarities in diverse epoch of language development, studies the whole word stock of the English vocabulary.

The language is originating, developing and existing as social phenomenon. Its primary meaning consists in supplying needs of both an individual and human society and first of all to provide communication between members of a big or a small social group.

An individual, as a member of society, can be identified on the basis of a great quantity of different ways of communication, which are connected with other individuals.

The peculiarities of linguistic behavior of an individual and his behavior in society are found to be conditioned by social and other factors.

The problem of interrelation of a language and a society involve in itself many aspects, including those which are in group of:

1. Social essence of a language.

2. Language relation to social institution.

3. Variation of a language in society.

4. Interrelation of languages in polytechnic society.

A science which deals with all mentioned above points is called sociolinguistics. This science appeared from science of language and sociology.

There are two aspects of sociolinguistic research:

1. The influence of social structure of society on language.

2. Language as a factor of influence on society.

There are uncertain political aims in the center of a linguistic policy, which are reached with the help of impact on language usage. Linguistic building usually considered as a part of language policy and presented as a complex of specific measures. Among them, for instance, elaboration of social programs in the sphere of development of language, language acquisition in all spheres of general system of education, creates dictionaries and grammar books corresponding to norms (explanatory, orthographic and other dictionaries), appearance of alphabet, forming and fixation of literary language norms, normalization of language as mass communication media.

The given Diploma Paper, investigating the system of the English word stock as a whole, considers adoptions from those languages which made the greatest contribution into the English language. To achieve the problem put by some problems should be solved first:

— To research the process of adoption of foreign words into English language.

— To study the types of adoptions.

The given Diploma Paper consists of introduction, two main chapters and conclusion, bibliography and appendix.

In the introductory actuality of the theme is mentioned. Aims and problems of the given Diploma Paper, way of studying the actual problem are also expose there.

The first chapter describes questions of social function of the language and its adoptions in the lexical system.

The second chapter refers to such aspects as how the process of adoption appeared how many types of adoptions exist nowadays and what they are.

In the conclusion there are deductions made on the ground of investigation.

Bibliography includes a list of literature source used in investigating the given Diploma Paper.

In the appendix there is a list of origin of some English words.

Chapter № 1

1.1 Social peculiarities of the language

To study the language was substantiated by two factors:

1. Internal necessity of linguistic theory.

2. Social request.

Language plays great many functions in the society. The most well-known are the following:

1. Communicative or informative (communication and receiving information in the form of linguistic)

2. Cognitive (elaboration and keeping knowledge of an individual or the whole society)

3. Interpretative (opening the deepest sense of the linguistic utterance)

4. Regulating

5. Contact establishing (to determine and to maintain the interaction)

6. Emotionalexpressive (to express feeling and emotions, relations and mood) and the rest.

When a man is born he is fit for articulate speech but without it. Human nature possesses only ability to master the language which is remaining still if there are no social conditions to realize it…

Another words people possess not only ability but also necessity to learn the language as the main source of communication. Language, on the one hand, is represented as a complex system of expression where all elements are connected with each other. On the other hand, language belongs to a definite aggregate of speakers; it is the source of communication between people inside this definite aggregate.

Language not only makes possible to communicate but also limited it. To make it easier to function as a source of communication it must be known to many people and used by many people simultaneously. Language is a common property of people as the meanings of the words which people use are known as general.

Nowadays there are more than six thousand existing languages. Great quantity of languages and dialects were lost during various historical events. Among them are Gothic, Old Slavonic, and Latin, Cornwell, Manx, the Sanscrit language and the rest.

The word stock of any language passed a long way of formation. Vocabulary consists not only of native elements which are belonging only to one definite language but also of adopted words from other languages. Different foreign languages have been enriching and replenishing the language during the whole its historical process. Some adoptions were made in antiquity others not long time ago. Modern language is the language which was developing over a long historical period of time and in its process it was exposed by different modifications. These modifications touched upon all levels of linguistic levels but have different affect on them.

Language history reveals all process which happened in the language on different stages of its historical development.

1.2 Background of borrowed words in the English language and their translation

Calque

In linguistics, a calque (pronounced /k?lk/) or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word (Latin: «verbum pro verbo») or root-for-root translation.

For example, the common American-English phrase «flea market» is a phrase calque that literally translates the French «marche aux puces» («fleas' market»).

Going in the other direction, from English to French, provides an example of how a compound word may be calqued by first breaking it down into its component roots. The French «gratte-ciel» is a word-coinage inspired by the model of the English «skyscraper» — «gratter» literally translates as «to scrape», and «ciel» translates as «sky». The same is true for the Spanish word «rascacielos» (literally, a «scrape-skies») and to a certain extent the German word «Wolkenkratzer» (literally, a «cloud-scraper»).

Used as a verb, «to calque» means to borrow a word or phrase from another language while translating its components so as to create a new lexeme in the target language.

" Calque" itself is a loanword from a French noun, and derives from the verb «calquer» (to trace, to copy). Loan translation is itself a calque of the German «Lehnubersetzung» .

Proving a word is a calque sometimes requires more documentation than an untranslated loanword, since in some cases a similar phrase might have arisen in both languages independently. This is less likely to be the case when the grammar of the proposed calque is quite different from that of the language proposed to be borrowing, or the calque contains less obvious imagery.

New words

New technology, new fashions, new problems, new attitudes: the world is changing all the time and so is the English language. Every year new words are invented. Some become a permanent part of the language; others fall out of the language again when they are no longer needed.

If you know how new words are formed, you may be able to work out what they mean. All of the words in this section can be found in OALD (seventh edition).

§ Prefixes and suffixes

§ Phrasal verbs

§ Compounds

§ Portmanteau words

§ Alterations to old words

§ Loan words

§ Proper names

§ New meanings

Prefixes and suffixes

Prefixes and suffixes are added to existing words to give a new meaning and sometimes a new part of speech. A merger is the joining of two or more organizations or businesses into one; adding the prefix deto give demerger makes it the opposite, the splitting of a business, etc. into parts.

The word may change part of speech in the process: skill is a noun, but reskill (= learn new skills) is a verb. The suffixize is also used to turn nouns into verbs: dollarize (= to use the US dollar as currency).

New prefixes and suffixes can develop from existing words: the new prefixes cyberand e- (both meaning `relating to electronic communication networks') produce cybernaut and cybersquatting, e-pal and e-zine.

Phrasal verbs

PHRASAL VERBS are formed by adding an adverb or a preposition to an existing verb, for example drill down and click through in computing language.

There’s a display to show how far you’ve drilled down. From this page you can click through to all kinds of interesting stuff.

A completely new verb may be formed by adding the adverb to a noun or an adjective, for example page through sth:

She paged through the report looking for her name. We’ll have to scope out the project before we can estimate the time it’ll take.

Phrasal verbs are often turned into compound nouns and adjectives using a hyphen:

We improved our click-through rate by 30%. We provide a walk-through (= a guide) to familiarize users with the dictionary.

Compounds

Compounds are the commonest type of new word, when two existing words are combined to give a new meaning. It is not hard to guess what an asylum seeker is, or home-schooling, if you know what the elements mean. One new combination inspires another. You probably know hardware and software, but do you know liveware and wetware, formed on the same principles?

New words can be easier to remember if they rhyme, for example chick flick or shock jock, or alliterate (= repeat the same first letter), for example pester power and drag-and-drop.

These new compounds are often imaginative or humorous, because they show connections between things that seem to be very different. Some examples are fashion victim (= someone who takes fashion too seriously), golden handcuffs (= money used to encourage someone to stay in their job), and industrial-strength (used to talk about things other than industrial products).

I’ve got an industrial-strength hangover.

Portmanteau words

PORTMANTEAU WORDS, also called BLENDS, are similar to compounds but may include only part of one or both of the original words in the new word: documentary + soap (opera) = docusoap.

The figure they’ve given is nothing more than a guesstimate (= guess + estimate).

Alterations to old words

Old words are given new forms to make them sound more fashionable or humorous. For example, they are shortened, like prezzie (= present) and barbie (= barbecue). Sometimes the second part of a compound word may be omitted, like cell (= cellphone). In other cases the initial letters of a compound may be run together to form a new word, such as JPEG (from Joint Photographic Experts Group), pronounced /deI peg/.

Sometimes words are altered by being used as a different part of speech. An example of this is text, which was originally only a noun, but is now often used as a verb:

Text me when you know what time you’ll be arriving.

Loan words

LOAN WORDS are words that are borrowed from other languages. They often refer to foreign things — food, sports — that become popular or well-known in English-speaking countries. Sashimi (= slices of raw fish served with sauce) is from Japanese, capoeira (= a Brazilian martial art) from Portuguese and hijab (= a head covering worn by some Muslim women) from Persian and Arabic.

Proper names

New products which are introduced are another source of new words, especially if the type of product becomes particularly associated with one brand. This has happened, for example, with Bluetooth™ and Palmcorder™. Sometimes these brand names become so well-known that they can even be used as verbs:

If you don’t know what it means, you can google it.

Names of people or fictional characters can also sometimes be taken up and used as normal words:

He lives a Walter Mitty existence (= he is not in touch with reality).

New meanings

NEW MEANINGS for old words: sometimes the need for a new word can be filled by extending the meaning of a word that already exists.

For example, in a business context a beauty contest is an occasion on which several competing companies or people try to persuade somebody to use their services; and wallpaper in computing is the background that you have on your computer screen.

1.3 The problems of adoptions in the lexical system of the English language

Why Are Words Borrowed? Sometimes it is done to fill a gap in vocabulary. When the Saxons borrowed Latin words for «butter», «plum», «beet», they did it because their own vocabularies lacked words for these new objects. For the same reason the words «potato» and «tomato» were borrowed by English from Spanish when these vegetables were first brought to England by the Spaniards.

There may be a word (or even several words) which expresses some particular concept, so that there is no gap in the vocabulary and there does not seem to be any need for borrowing. However a word is borrowed because it supplies a new shade of meaning or a different emotional coloring though it represents the same concept. This type of borrowing enlarges groups of synonyms and provides to enrich the expressive resources of the vocabulary. That is how the Latin «cordial» was added to the native «friendly», the French «desire» to «wish», the Latin «admire» and the French «adore» to «like» and «love» .

The historical circumstances stimulate the borrowing process. Each time two nations come into close contact. The nature of the contact may be different. It may be wars, invasions or conquests when foreign words are imposed upon the conquered nation. There are also periods of peace when the process of borrowing is due to trade and international cultural relations.

Do borrowed words change or do they remain the same? When words migrate from one language into another they adjust themselves to their new environment and get adapted to the norms of the recipient language. They undergo certain changes which gradually erase their foreign features, and, finally, they are assimilated. Sometimes the process of assimilation develops to the point when the foreign origin of a word is quite unrecognizable. It is difficult to believe now that such words as «dinner», «cat», «take», and «cup» are not English by origin. Others, though well assimilated, still bear traces of their foreign background. «Distance» and «development», for instance, are identified as borrowings by their French suffixes, «skin» and «sky» by the Scandinavian initial, «police» and «regime» by the French stress on the last syllable.

Borrowed words are adjusted in the three main areas of the new language system: the phonetic, the grammatical and the semantic.

The lasting nature of phonetic adaptation is best shown by comparing Norman French borrowings to later (Parisian) ones. The Norman borrowings have for a long time been fully adapted to the phonetic system of the English language: such words as «table», «plate», «courage», and «chivalry» bear no phonetic traces of their French origin. Some of the later (Parisian) borrowings, even the ones borrowed as early as the 15^th century, still sound surprisingly French: «regime», «valise», «matinee», «cafe», and «ballet». In these cases phonetic adaptation is not completed.

Grammatical adaptation consists in a complete change of the former paradigm of the borrowed word. If it is a noun, it is certain to adopt, sooner or later, a new system of declension; if it is a verb, it will be conjugated according to the rules of the recipient language. Yet, this is also a lasting process. The Russian noun «пальто» was borrowed from French early in the 19^th century and has not yet acquired the Russian system of declension. The same can be said about such English Renaissance borrowings as «datum» (pl. data), «phenomenon» (pl. phenomena), «criterion» (pl. criteria) whereas earlier Latin borrowings such as «cup», «plum», «street», «wall» were fully adapted to the grammatical system of the language long ago.

By semantic adaptation is meant adjustment to the system of meanings of the vocabulary. Sometimes a word may be borrowed «blindly» for no obvious reason: they are not wanted because there is no gap in the vocabulary or in the group of synonyms which it could fill. Quite a number of such «accidental» borrowings are very soon rejected by the vocabulary and forgotten. But some «blindly» borrowed words managed to establish itself due to the process of semantic adaptation. The adjective «large», for instance, was borrowed from French in the meaning of «wide». It was not actually wanted, because it fully coincided with the English adjective «wide» without adding any new shades or aspects to its meaning. This could have led to its rejection. Yet, «large» managed to establish itself very firmly in the English vocabulary by semantic adjustment. It entered another synonymic group with .the general meaning of «big in size». Still bearing some features of its former meaning it is successfully competing with «big» having approached it very closely, both in frequency and meaning.

Role of adoptions in any language is unequal and depends on definite historical events of a language development. In different languages adoptions have different influence on enrichment the word stock of any vocabulary. In some languages adoptions did not play such a great role that could have an essential affect on the stock word of the vocabulary. In other languages adoptions in different historical events have a strong impact on the word stock of the vocabulary, that event auxiliary words, as an example, prepositions adopted from other languages have ejected aboriginal words. Language is a living and moving thing.

In the English language the percent of adopted words is much higher than in any other languages as during various historical events it was very permeable. It is computed that quantity of aboriginal words in the English language make up only 30%

Any influences of one language to another are explained by historical events: wars, conquests, trades, travailing, which give rise to more or less intimate communication of different language.

Adopted word usually assumes one or more meanings semantically close to its meaning words which were exist in the language earlier. Interaction of adoptions and word stock of any vocabulary is seen through the history of the language which denotes the meaning «работать, трудиться» which are synonymous to «to work». After adoptions in middle-English period of verbs «labourenтрудиться, прилагать большие усилия» (from Old-French «labourer, Latin «laborate») and «travaillenтяжело трудиться» (from Old-French «travailler», Latin «trepaliare» — «мучить»). The very first verb is synonymous to aboriginal word «swincan» replacing this last from public language to some territorial dialects. The second verb «travailler» did not withstand competition with the verb «werken» and that is why its meaning is «to travel» In this meaning it ejects aboriginal verb «lithenanпутешествовать» which was less used by the time the verb «to travailer» appeared.

The process of assimilation can be so deep that appearance of foreign words is not become aware of English spoken people and is possible to recognize only with the help of etymological analysis. In contrast to completely assimilated words partially assimilated units preserve marks of its foreign origin.

Adoption of vocabulary serves as consequence of intimacy of people on the ground of economic, political, scientific and cultural relations. In most cases adopted words come into language as a source of indication new things and expressions which were unknown earlier.

In the development of the word stock of the English vocabulary the great role played words adopted from Latin and French languages.

For example:

The English word «sport» is adopted during MiddleEnglish period from Old-French language where it was «disport» and descended from Late-Latin «disportus» .

Vocabulary adoptions are being descending in oral and written forms of the language. Words adopting by dint of oral means are quicker assimilate to the language. And words adopting by dint of written means are longer preserve their phonetic and orthographic peculiarities.

1.4 Barbarisms, foreignisms, neologisms and archaic words

In the vocabulary of the English language there is a considerable layer of words called «barbarisms». These are words of foreign origin which have not entirely been assimilated into the English language. They are bear the appearance of a borrowing and are left as something alien to the native tongue. The role of foreign borrowings played in the development of the English language is well known, and the great majority of these borrowed words now form part of the rank and file of the English vocabulary.

It is the science of linguistics, in particular its branch Etymology, that reveals the foreign nature of this or that word. But most of what were formerly foreign borrowings are now not regarded as foreign. But still there are some words which retain their foreign appearance to a greater or lesser degree. These words, which are called barbarisms, are also considered to be on the outskirts of the literary language.

Most of them have corresponding English synonyms:

" Chic" = «stylish» — «элегантность, шик»

" Bon mot" = «a clever witty saying» -" остроумное выражение, острота"

" En passant= «in passing» -" мимоходом, случайно"

" Ad infinitum" = «to infinity» -" на неопределенно-долгое время"

" Foreignisms" do not belong to the English vocabulary. They are not registered by English dictionaries, except in a kind of addenda which gives the meanings of the foreign words most frequently used in literary English. There are foreign words in the English vocabulary which fulfill a terminological function. Such words are «ukase», «udarnik», «soviet», «kolkhoz» and the like denoted certain concepts which reflect an objective reality not familiar to English speaking communities.

Both foreign words and barbarisms are widely used in various styles of language with various aims, aims which predetermine their typical functions. One of these functions is to supply local colour. In order to depict local conditions of life, concrete facts and events, customs and habits, special care is taken to introduce into the passage such language elements as well reflect the environment.

There is a term in linguistics which is by its very nature is ambiguous and that is the term «neologism». In dictionaries it is generally defined as «a new word or a new meaning for an established word» .

By etymology of words is understood their origin.

If a new meaning is recognized as an element in the semantic structure of a lexical unit, it ceases to be new.

Every period in the development of a language produces an enormous number of new words or new meanings of established words. Most of them do not live long. They are coined for use at the moment of speech, and therefore possess a peculiar propertythat of temporariness. The given word or meaning holds only in the given context and is meant only to «serve the occasion» .

The coining of new words generally arises first of all with the need to designate new concepts resulting from the development of science and also with the need to express nuances of meaning called forth by a deeper understanding of the nature of the phenomenon in question.

The first type of newly words, i.e. those which designate new-born concepts, may be named terminological coinages or terminological neologisms. The second type, i.e. words coined because their creators seek expressive utterance may be named stylistic coinages or stylistic neologisms

Many new coinages disappear entirely from the language, leaving no mark of their even brief existence. Other literary neologisms leave traces in the vocabulary because they are fixed in the literature of their time. In other words new-literary bookish coinages will always leave traces in the language, inasmuch as they appear in writing. Most of literary-bookish coinages are built up be means of affixation, suffixes and word-compounding.

For example:

" Accessorize" -" снабжать необходимыми принадлежностями"

" Moisturize" -" смачивать, увлажнять"

" Anti-ordered" -" антиупорядоченный"

" Anti-damage" -" противоаварийный"

" Showmanship" -" умение привлечь внимание"

" Brinkmanship" -" балансирование"

" Lifemanship" -" умение преодолевать тяжелые ситуации"

In Modern English new words are also coined by a means which is very productive in technical literature and therefore is mostly found in scientific style, viz. by contractions and abbreviations. Here are some of these coinages which appear daily in different spheres of human activity.

" TRUD" = «Time Remaining Until Dive»

" LOX" = «Liquid OXygen explosive»

" GOX" = «Gaseous OXxygen»

" LASER" = «Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation»

" UNESCO" = «United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization»

The words stock of the English language is in an increasing state of change. Words change their meaning and sometimes drop out of the language altogether. New words spring up and replace the old ones. Some words stay in the language a very long time and do not lose their faculty of gaining new meanings and becoming richer and richer polysemantically.

" Archaic words" are words which are no longer recognizable in Modern English language, words that were in use in Old English and which have either dropped out of the language entirely or have changed in their appearance so much that they have become unrecognizable.

For example:

" Troth" -" faith" -" честность, верность"

" A losel" -" a worthless, lazy fellow" -" бездельник, лодырь"

" Methinks" -" it seems to me" -" по-видимому, кажется"

" A palfrey" -" a small horse" -" верховая лошадь"

" Garniture" -" furniture" -" мебель, обстановка"

" Nay" -" no" -" нет"

Archaic words are primarily and predominantly used in the creation of a realistic background to historical novels. Archaic words are frequently to be found in the style of official documents. The function of archaisms in official documents is terminological in character. They are used to maintain that exactness of expression so necessary in this style. Archaic words and archaic form are sometimes used for satirical purpose.

Archaic words, word-forms and word combinations are also used to create an elevated effect. Language is specially moulded to suit a solemn occasion: all kind of stylistic devices are used, and among them is the use of archaisms.

1.5 The pragmatic aspect of borrowings

A subfield of linguistics developed in the late 1870s, pragmatics studies how people comprehend and produce a communicative act or speech act in a concrete speech situation which is usually a conversation. It distinguishes two intents or meanings in each utterance or communicative act of verbal communication. One is the informative intent or the sentence meaning, and the other the communicative intent or speaker. The ability to comprehend and produce a communicative act is referred to as pragmatic competence which often includes one’s knowledge about the social distance, social status between the speakers involved, the cultural knowledge such as politeness, and the linguistic knowledge explicit and implicit.

Pragmatic aspects of translation.

Semiotics (the science investigating the general properties of sign systems) distinguishes the following types of relations: semantic (sign to object), syntactic (sign to sign) and pragmatic (sign to man).

Pragmatic relations are superimposed on semantic relations and play an equally important role in analyzing the original text and in prodicing an equivalent text in the target language. Semantically equivalent messages do not necessarily mean the same thing to the sourceand target-language receptors, and therefore are not necessarily pragmatically equivalent. The phrase: He made a fifteen-yard end run" and «Он сделал пятнадцатиярдовый рывок по краю» are semantically equivalent for they denote yhe same situation but the American reader, familiar with American football, will extract far more information from it than his Russian counterpart who would neither understand the aim of the maneuver nor appreciate the football-player's perfomance.

Thus, the pragmatic problems, involved in translation, arise from three types of pragmatic relations: the relations of the source-language sender to the original message, the relations of the target-language message and the relation of the translator to both messages. These relations can have various characters. They are individual, when the text is not more thenonly the source of information about some facts or events that do not present valuable interest for the receptor.

The effect of the pragmatic motivation of the original message

The I type of relations amounts to the sender’s communicative intent or the pragmatic motivation of the original message. The translator, in other words, should be aware whether the message is a statement of fact, arequest, acommand, an entreaty or a joke. Very often the speaker’s communicative intent differs from what the message seems to say.

The effect of the receptorto-the text relation

Prof. A. Neubert has proposed a classification of texts depending on their orientation towards different types of receptors: texts, intended for: domestic consumption" (local advertising, legislation, home news, etc.), texts, intended primarily for the source-language receptors but having also a universal human appeal (belles-lettres) and texts without any specific national addressee (scientific literature). Typically, in written translation the translator deals with texts, not intended for target-language audiences and therefore subject to pragmatic adaptations. Allowances are made for socio-cultural, psycological and other differences between source-and target-language receptors, particularly differences in their background knowledge. According to E. Nida, snow-white was translated inti one of the African languages as «white as the feathers of awhite heron». Pragmatic factors may effect the scope of semantic information, conveyed in translating. Differences in background knowledge call for addition or deletion of some information. Some cultural realia may be translated by their functional analogues. Allowances should be made for the receptor’s professional status and his familiarity with the subject. In texts, intended for specialists source culture realia are more frequentky rendered by transcription or transliteration while in texts for the laymen explanatory or descriptive translation is preferred.

The effect of the translator’s angle of view

Another pragmatic factor, relevant to translation, is the socio-psychological and ideological orientation of the translator himself. As far back as K.I.Chukovsky wrote that «every translator translates himself, i.e. deliberately or inadvertently reflects his class affiliations. And in doing so he does not necessarily set himself the task to falsify the original». This view may be somewhat oversimplified but it is true that although ideally the translator should identify himself with the author, this is not always the case. What is more sometimes it is impossible. Any text is communicative and contains some message transmitted from the source-language sender to the target-language receptor or information which should be taken into consideration by the receptor. These relations acn have various characters. They have more rather intellectuak character whtn the text for the receptor is not anything more than only a source of information about some facts or events and do not present for him the big interest. But the received information can render much deeper influence on the receptor: it can awake his feelings, cause the certain emotional reaction or to induce to some actions. Abilityof the text to produce such communicitive effect on the receptor, to cause pragmatic relations to information, in other words, to produce pragmatic influence on the receptor of the message, is called pragmatic aspect or pragmatic value of the text.

The pragmatic value of the text is the result of the source-language sender’s choice of the original message’s contents and the way of language expression. In confirmity with the communicative intention the sender selects the language units, which possess necessary value as well as detail-logic, and connotative, organize them in the message so that it will be possible to establish between them necessary semantic connections for transmittion of the imformation. As a result the text has got the certain pragmatic potential, the ability to produce some communicative effect on the receptor. The pragmatic value is determined by the contents and the form of the original message and exists already irrespective of the text’s creater. It can happen so, that the pragmatics of the text does not coincides completely with communicative intention of the sendre («has told not that wanted or how wanted»). The degree in which pragmatics of the text depends on the transmitted information and the way of its transmittion, it represents the objective essence accessible to perception and the analysis.

The pragmatic relation of the receptor to the text depends on not only from pragmatics of the text, but also from the receptor’s background knowledge, thr previous experience, a mental condition and other features. The analysis of pragmatics of the text enables only to provide potential communicative effect of the text in relation to the typical, «average' receptor.

Realization of pragmatic influence on the information’s receptor is the main part of any communication, including interlanguage communication. The establishment of the necessary pragmatic relation of the receptor of translated message substantially depends on the translator’s choice of the language means in the precess of the text’s creation. The influence on the course and the result of the process of translation, the necessity to reproduce pragmatic potential of the original message, and the wish to provide desirable effect on the receptors of translated text is called pragmatic aspect or pragmatics of translation.

As well as any othe4r receptor of the original message, the translator has a personal relation to the translated message. Acting as the intermediary in the interlanguage communicationthe translator must try to do not let his personal relation to the infaluence on him and therefor reflected in accuracy of text’s translation. In this case translator should be pragmatically neutral.

Reproducing pragmatic potential of the original message, the translator may orient to the certain group of the translation’s receptors possessing some baggage pf special knowledge in the area implied in the original message and therefore capable to achieve necessary understanding of the message much better. Orientation to such group of receptors-experts allows to reduce the number of pragmatic explanations in translation. On the other hand, if translation intends for group of receptors, whose level of background knowledge below, than the majority of readers (nonspecialists in the given area, readers of children’s age, etc.), the great part of the information in the original message can be not understood or misunderstood, that why the number of explanatins and specifications in traslation increase.

Pragmatic translation of individual genres.

Pragmatic problems of translation are directly connected with genre of the original message and type of receptors for whom it intrnds. Translators of fiction are faced with essential difficulties in transmittion of pragmatic potential of the original message. Fiction stories in any language are focused, first of all, to people for whom this language is native, but they havealso universal value and are often translated to other languages. At the same time, very often they have descriptions of the facts and the events connected with history of the given people, varios literary associations, customs, names of national dishes, subjects of clothes, etc. That demands amendments to pragmatic distinctions between SL and TL, to provide the adequate understanding of the text by the receptor of translation.

The necessity of pragmatic reorganization in translation of the scientific and technical materials focused on experts in the gtiven field of knowledge and owning in all countries approximately the identical volume of the bacground information are more less. Such messages equally well understood by the scientists speaking in different languages, and explanatories should be given only concerning names of firms, the national units of measure, specific nomenclature names, etc.

Special problems are connected with pragmatic aspect of the texts intended for the another language speaking receptor. It is a question of the various information materials addressed to a foreign audience, and advertising of the godds for the export. In the ideal authors of such texts should write them taking into account the character and knowladge of the foreign reader or liatener. In these cases the task of the translator becomes simpler: he should not care of the maintenance of full understanding of the message by the receptor of translation, because the author of the original message has already done it. However, very often this task appears in the original message to be outstanding, and the translator possessing more information about foreign audience, have to bring additional corrective amendments to the text taking into account his pragmatic aspect.

Socialinguiatic factors of translation.

The important role in the maintenance of pragmatic adequacy of translation belonga to socialinguistic factors causing distinction in speech of separate groups of native speakers. In particular, additional difficulties for maintenance of full understanding of the transmitted massage by the receptor of translation may arrise in connection with the presence in the text of the original message of a) deviations from public norm of SL, b) the use of such substandart forms, as territorially-dialected, socially-dialected and contaminated, simulating the speech of the foreigner.

The elements of territorial dialects of SL which are found in the original message, are not transmitted in translation. The use in the original message such dialected forms can have double character. On the other hand, the text of the original can be written on any dialect of SL. In this case the dialect represents itself as means of the communication used by the sender, and translation from it will be done in the same way, as from any language (for what, naturally, the translator must have a necessary degree of possession og the given dialect). On the other hand, dialected forms can be used in the text (mainly, in fiction) with the purpose of the language characteristic of gertain characters, their identifications as inhabitant of the certain area where speak on given dialect of SL. In this case reproduction of dialected features of SL gives nothing, because for the receptor of translation they do not carry out identifying function and will be just senseless. If in the English original the character speaks on the london dialect «chocny» adding a sound «h» to words where it is absent in a standart language, and ommitting this sound there, where according to the norms of English language it should be pronounced.

Many territorial dialects are closely connected with the social characteristic of their beares, and in these cases their use in the original specifies a belonging of the given character to the certain social group.

Special problems are connected with transmission of immitation of speech of yhe foreigner conyaining in the original in translation. The presence of such forms in the original message may be involuntary or measured. In the first case the sender, who does not know enough SL, uses thre deformed forms. Such mistakes complicate perception of speech and point out the belonging of the sender to other language collective. In the pricess of the perception of such speech listener correlates apprehended with correct forms of language, guessing, what form the speaker implies, and thus carrying out «translation» from contaminated to correct speech. The same way, in the translation process into other language the translator correlates contaminated forms with correct and translates the last. In the second case contaminated forms are applied as means of the indication for features of speech of the foreigner and are tuned ti be the means of creation of pragmatic potential of the text. Thus the reproduction of pragmatic function of these forms is included into tasks of the translator. Thus the traslator can use already existing in the SL ways of the image of speech of the foreigner, or he has to invent new ways of transfer of contaminated speech. Almost all languages have their own standard ways of the reproducing of wrong speech of the person belonging to a certain nationality and speaking not quite correctly in nonnative for him language.

Application contaminated forms is quite often accompanied by use of elements of colloquial style, refusal of use of more complex grammatical forms (the subordinate clauses and so forth). But it is also must make into consideration, that some atandard ways of the reproducing of wrong speech can be understood not only as speech of the foreigner but also as speech of the non-educative person, for example, Russian «мой твой не понимай», «нету» or «мало-мало». Selection and use of contaminated elements in translation must correspond to the pragmatic characteristic of transferred elements of the original.

In some cases the pragmatic purpose of translation includes achievements of desirable influence (communicative effect) on the receptor of translation. The communicative effect which should be reprodused in translation can be determined by the dominated function of the original.

The basic pragmatic problem of translation of such text consists in creating in TL the text possessing the ability to produce the same art-aesthetic influence on the receptor of translation.

Pragmatic influence on the erceptor consists in granting to him the necessary imformation for realization of the certain activity of scientific pr technical character. If the receptor of the message is capable to carry out the desirable experiment on its basis or to make ordered operations with the device or machine tool the communicative effect of the text can be considered to be achieved. The pragmatic problem of translation of the scientific and technical text consists in maintenance of the same opportunity to carry out necessary actions to the receptor of translation. If the receptor of translation can successfully use the text of translation as a manual to the certain actions, we can say that the transfer of pragmatic influence of the original message is achieved. And in this case the equality of influence of the original and translation must not be absolute. It can happen so, that in translation the necessary scientific and technical informarion is tirned to have more precise and sccessible form providing correct use of this information by experts, and, thus, translation carries out the basic pragmatic task even better, than the original.

As a rule, the translator cannot put task to himself to achieve the set communicative effect. If such task is put, its realization often demands the pragmatic adaptation of the text which is beyond of translation as process of creation of the text, communicatively equivalentto the original. Such adaptation in the process of transfer, for example, the text of advertising which should provide selling of the given goods, quite often leads todrawing up in TL the new co_writing, considering specific tastes and bents of the futurebuyers. In the process of realization of interlanguage communications arise pragmatic problems of one more type. They are connected with an opportunity of the occurence in the translator of additional pragmatical tasks in relation to the receptor of translation. In this connection, the translator can pursue the additional purposes, more or less independent fromthe basic pragmatic task of translation to aspire to use the result of translational process in some certain special purposes.

It is eesential, that such pragmatic «supertask» render influence on a course of translation process and an estimation of its results.

The translator may achieve the pragmatic purpose which have been not connected with the contents of the original, but achieved in the process of its translation, is connected with a double role the translator plays in interlangual communications.

Existence of a pragmatic supertask in many respects determines an estimation of results of translational process. In this case translation is appreciated not only and not so much on a degree of identity to the original, but on that as far as the text of translation corresponds to those problems for decision for which translation process has been carried out. The degree of this conformity is called pragmatic value of translation. If there is sufficient pragmatic value translation can be regarded correct and adequate even if it has essential deviations from communicative equivalence of the original message.

The pragmatic supertask of the translator can be connected with aspiration to reflect in translation communicatevely irrelevant features of the original which do not transferred at equivalent transfer of the initial message. It can be formal-structural features of SL, the cultural-ethnographic elements which are not playing a functional role in the message, but reflected on its structure, conceptually-semantic featires of construction of messages in the source-language of the original. Such pragmatic installation usually leads to infringement of norms and usage of TL, as the result of literal reproduction of features of SL.

To other results brings the aspiration of the translator according to a pragmatic task of the concrete act of translation to give the simplified translation, having limited of transfer only «naked sense», i.e. the in detail-logic contents of the text, not cacing about reproduction of is emotional-stylistic and associative-shaped aspects of the original.

Special kind of the pragmatic supertask leading to essential changes in the text of translation, is the aspiration of the translator to modernization of the original message. Time and place of translation may differ from time and place of creation of the original message.

The specific purpose of the concrete act of translation can consist in aspiration to affect on the receptor of the translation, which do not connected with the contents of the original message directly or with its pragmatic potential.

Levels of equivalence and the concept of adequate translation

Inthe theory of translation different ideas have been put forward concerning the types and levels of equivalence in translation. There are following types of equivalents: formal, semantic, situational.