Cognitive basis of translation

E.g. "He has a friendly attitude towards all"

We have already seen a lot of examples of using the word "attitude" in different contexts. Thus we understood that this word has several Russian correspondences, that is: "отношение,позиция, поза, взгляд", but these equivalents does not clearly show the exact meaning in which the word "attitude" is used in the utterance. But, at the occasional correspondence, it is clearly see that this word has Russian equivalent "относится", so above-mentioned utterance will be translated as:

Он ко всем относится по-дружески.

Or another example:

Englishmen who have recently visited USSR, is writing about his impressions connected with the movements in Moscow, and further adding:

"Which for the stranger is the most visible sign of a city's vitality"?

There are several Russian equivalents for the word "Stranger" given in the dictionary. These correspondences are: "чужестранец, незнакомец, посторонний человек." Comparison of these equivalents with the given meaning of English word "stranger" makes impossible using any of this equivalent at the translation of given sentence. Lively motions are sign of dynamic city not only for "чужестранца", so even stylistically this correspondence is less suitable for the given context. Let's have a look into another variant of translation, which is "незнакомец", we have to refuse from the using of this correspondence at once, because the word "незнакомец" is connected with the person who is not acquainted with anybody. And in the sentence we speak about person who is not acquainted with the city while he (Englishmen) can be well-known towards the people of that city. The third variant is also not suitable for the translation because it shows with the great sense of the foreignness of the person, and in the sentence is meant the great interest of the person in all happening around him. Analyzing all these facts we can definitely say that here we speak about the person who is acquainting with the city for the first time. So, there we can use occasional correspondence which will be "приезжий". Even that the word "приезжий", is not the direct correspondence for the word "stranger" given in the utterance.

Contextual replacement also will be used during the translation of the word "vitality". Dictionary gives the following variants of translation this word: "жизнеспособность, живучесть, энергия, живость". However, in given situations these variants are not suitable for the translation of the word "vitality". Traditionally words "жизнеспособность" and "живучесть" are being used in the context when we talk about n ability to survive at the fight/battle or stay alive, and in the given context another is meant. Further, the words "энергия" and "живость" are inapplicable with the word "city". Generally speaking, the word combination "City's vitality" means that the live in the city "is in full swing", than "it is full of live and energy". Another possible variant of contextual replacement can be combination "sanguineous live":

"... что для приезжего служит явным признаком полнокровной жизни города".

Occasional correspondences are frequently used in the stylistic aims for the creation of belles-lettres style of the Original text. As an example we can take the verb "to hide" that has a row of Russian correspondences: "прятать, скрывать, таить" and so on, but it does not mean "тонуть". However, at the following example we can see that exactly the verb "тонуть" is quite suitable for the translation of the utterance:

E.g. "The mountain tops were hidden in a grey waste of sky".

"Вершины гор тонули в сером небе".

The verb "тонули" is quite suitable for the translation because it shows spaciousness of the sky.

Thus, separately taken correspondences are used in the translation with the greater or less regularity and knowing of this correspondences help the translator to decide how he/she will translate these combinations and by which ways.

The meaning of a given word or set of words is best understood as the contribution which word or phrase can make to the meaning or function of the whole sentence or linguistic utterance where that that word or phrase occurs. The meaning of a given word is governed not only by the external object or idea that particular word is supposed to refer to, but also by the use of that particular word or phrase in a particular sense, in a particular context, and to a particular effect.

The first type of meaning, i.e., the meaning of the reference, is often referred to as the "referential meaning", the "lexical meaning", "the conceptual meaning" or "the denotative meaning. It is also sometimes referred to as the "signification" of a lexical item.

There is a distinction between conceptual meaning, on the one hand, and connotative, stylistic, affective, reflected, and collocative types of meaning on the other hand. Thus, we classify the last five types of meaning under one general category of associated meaning. There is a clear distinction between the logical meaning or the lexical reference of a particular word, and between the types of associated meanings. Such a distinction in the field of semantics between the lexical and the associated may remind us of the distinction between the semantic and the communicative approach as far as the literature on translation is concerned. The reason why there is a distinction, however, is that the conceptual meaning of a word is the type of meaning which could be mainly deduced in isolation from any other linguistic or even non-linguistic context, where-as the other types of meaning, where associative or theoretical, are broadly speaking to be derived from the context of the utterance. It is usually easier to find the conceptual or the logical meaning of a given word, but that type of the meaning is not always telling in the case of translation. However, it is often difficult to obtain even the lexical equivalent of a given item in translation, when the translation is taking place across two different languages that do not have culture in common, such as the translation from Arabic into English and vice versa.

There is a difference between the referential meaning of a word and the contextual meaning of the same word. Let's have a look, for example, three lexical items which have the same physical reference in the world of non-linguistic reality, but are not simply used alternatively in free variation on each other. These words "father", "daddy", "pop" refer to the same physical object, i.e. the male parent. Yet other factors contribute to the choice of one rather than the other two in different situations. These factors may vary in accordance with the personality of the speaker or addressor, the presence or absence of the male parent in question, the feelings the addressor has towards his father as well as the degree of formality or informality between the two. In the case of translation, it is almost needless to point out the significance of such factors.

The same difference is recognized between referential and contextual types of meaning of lexical items, by the use of a different set of labels. Distinction is made between the signification of a given lexical item and its value or meaning when used in a particular context. In translation, consequently, the translator ought to translate the communicative function of the Source Language text, rather than its signification. A translator must, therefore, look for a target-language utterance that has an equivalent communicative function, regardless of its formal resemblance to original utterance as far as the formal structure is concerned. Conveying textual effect of the original is the final objective to which a translator aspires, "A text is a whole entity, to be translated as a whole".

2. Practical part

2.1 Historical text

Of all the varieties of English which have developed within the British Isles, there are none more distinctive or more divergent from standard English than some of those associated with Scotland. Indeed, the extent of the divergence in one of these varieties has led a well-established use of the label, the 'Scots' language, and to the spirited defense of all that such a label stands for. It is argued that Scots differs from the regional dialects of England in two crucial ways. It is unique because it was once variety used, in the Late Middle Ages, when Scotland was an independent nation; and it is unique because it has a clearly defined history of its own, with a strong literary tradition beginning in Middle Ages, it is own dialect variants, its own 'golden age' and period of decline, a modern literary renaissance, and a contemporary sociolinguistic stature which other dialects of British English do not share. There are many more Scottish expressions in current use in any dialect of England. The term 'dialect island' is sometimes used to capture the character of the Scottish situation.

The people of Scotland are generally far more aware of the distinctive character of their speech and writing, take it far more seriously, and argue about standards of usage in it far more forcibly than in the case of speakers of regional dialects to the south. A representation of a regional dialect often appears in print only for jocular or folklore purposes; this is not so in Scotland, where there is in addition a strong and respected tradition of academic linguistic study, societies devoted to the furtherance of Scots as a language, and a growing corpus of written material in one or other of its varieties. For example, Scots has received far more lexicographic description than other regional British varieties, with such major publications as John Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish language (1808, 1825) and the present-day Scottish National Dictionary (1976). The Association for Scottish literary Studies has an active Language Committee. And the Scots language Society's journal, Lallans begun in 1973, presents material in prose which extends the range of the language to well beyond the literary uses to which it has largely been put in recent years.

Translation:

Из всех возможных вариаций английского языка, развивавшихся на Британских островах, нет ни одного такого особенного и расходящегося со стандартным Английским, языка как шотландский. И в самом деле степень распространения этих расхождений в одной из этих вариаций способствовало формированию хорошо известного всем лейбла (названия)- шотландский язык, а также закреплению этого понятия и отличий от других подобных вариации английского. Ведется много споров о том, что Шотландский язык отличается от других региональных диалектов Англии двумя способами. Это является уникальной особенностью, так как вариации современного шотландского языка использовалась в Средние века, когда Шотландия была независимы государством; кроме этого уникальность заключается в том что у Шотландии есть своя собственная история, с характерной распространенностью литературы, начавшейся еще в Средние века, также Шотландскому языку присуще наличие собственных диалектов, "золотого периода" и периода упадка, кроме этого Шотландский язык пережил период Ренессанса, и продолжает развиваться дальше в современном социолингвистическом направлении. Не одному другом диалекту английского языка это не свойственно. В современном Шотландском больше исконно шотландских фраз и выражений чем английских выражений. Термин " Остров диалекта" часто используется в отношении Шотландского языка для того чтобы показать ситуацию, происходящую в Шотландии.

Шотландцы более осведомлены в отличительных чертах их речи и письменности, они более серьезны и постоянно спорят о стандартах использования языка чем носители региональных диалектов южного региона. Региональный диалект появляется в книгах посвященных юмору и фольклору. Это происходит благодаря тому что шотландцы сильно почитают традицию академического написания. Так же существуют общины которые посвящают свою деятельность дальнейшему развитию Шотландского как языка, а не диалекта. Например, Шотландский язык получил больше лексикографических описаний чем остальные британские вариации. Среди них можно встретить такие важные публикации как Этимологический словарь шотландского языка Джона Джеймсона (1808) и современный национальный шотландский словарь (1976). В ассоциации изучения шотландской литературы есть языковой комитет. А так же журнал общества шотландского языка, начатый в 1973 году, который представляет развитие и становление шотландского языка в последний годы.

2.2 Metaphor

translation cognition metaphor

In order to identify the different methods of transfer of metaphors, we analyzed 11 texts-the originals and several variants of the translation of each of them. Let us consider the scheme of the analysis on the example of the poem «Sun of the sleepless» by Bairon. We found six variants of the translation of the poem, and offered our own version.

Sun of the sleepless! Melancholy star!

Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far,

That show'st the darkness thou canst not dispel,

How like are thou to joy remembered well!

So gleams the past, the light of other days,

Which shines, but warms not with its powerless rays:

A night- beam Sorrow watcheth to behold,

Distinct, but distant - clear - but, oh how cold!

Неспящих солнце! Грустная звезда!

Как скучно луч мерцает твой всегда!

Как темнота при нём ещё темней!

Как он похож на радость прежних дней!

Так светит прошлое нам в жизненной ночи,

Но уж не греют нас бессильные лучи;

Звезда минувшего так в горе мне видна;

Видна, но далека - светла, но холодна.

Перевод А.К. Толстого

О солнце тех, кто не вкушает сна,

Звезда задумчивых, печальная луна!

Украся свод небес эфирный и пространный

Сколь ты прекрасна для очей!

Но луч твой нежный и туманный

Не разгоняет тьмы ночей.

Луна! Твоим лучам равно воспоминанье.

О наслажденье прошлых лет:

Других времён далёкий след -

Протекших радостей сиянье,

Для нас озарено небесной красотой,

Оно задумчивость рождает;

Но слабый свет его на сердце оставляет

Печали хлад и мрак ночной.

Перевод Н. Маркевича

Бессонное солнце, в тумане луна!

Горишь ты далёко, грустна и бледна.

При тусклом мерцанье мрак ночи страшней,

Как в памяти радость утраченных дней.

Минувшее блещет меж горестных туч, но сердце не греет томительный луч,

И радость былая, как ночью луна,

Видна, но далёко, ярка, но хладна.

Перевод И. Козлова

О, солнце глаз бессонных! Звёздный луч,

Как слёзно ты дрожишь меж дальних туч!

Сопутник мглы, блестящий страж ночной,

Как по былом тоска сходна с тобой!

Так светит нам блаженство давних лет;

Горит, а всё не греет этот свет;

Подруга дум воздушного видна,

Но далеко - ясна, но холодна.

Перевод А. Фета

Бессонных солнце, скорбная звезда,

Твой влажный луч доходит к нам сюда.

При нём темнее кажется нам ночь,

Ты - память счастья, что умчалась прочь.

Ещё дрожит былого смутный свет,

Ещё мерцает, но тепла в нём нет.

Полночный луч, ты в небе одинок,

Чист, но безжизнен, ясен, но далёк!

Перевод С.Я. Маршака

О солнце тех, кто бодрствует в ночи,

Ты как потоки слёз струишь лучи.

Но не рассеять им ночных теней,

В твоём сиянье ночь ещё темней.

Не такова ли память прежних лет?

Лишь леденит, не греет этот свет.

Минувшего лучистая тоска

Ты так ясна, но вечно далека.

Перевод А. Ибрагимова

Бессонницы солнце! Печали звезда!

Трепещет твой луч, как на оке слеза.

Не может рассеять твой луч темноты,

Но радость былого приносишь мне ты.

Так свет прежних лет посылает лучи,

Во мраке злой ночи не греют они.

Лишь грусть звезды дальней мне ясно видна,

Что светит так ярко, но так холодна.

Перевод Я.С. Рулёвой

Options for the transfer of metaphors by different interpreters were reflected in the following table.

Metaphor in the original (crib)

The possible variants of translation

1) Sun of the sleepless (Солнце бессонных)

1а Неспящих солнце (А.К. Толстой)

1б О солнце тех, кто не вкушает сна

(И. Маркевич)

1в Бессонное солнце (И. Козлов)

1г Солнце глаз бессонных (А. Фет)

1д Бессонных солнце (С. Маршак)

1е О солнце тех, кто бодрствует в ночи

(А Ибрагимов)

1ж Бессонницы солнце

2) Melancholy star (Грустная звезда)

2а Грустная звезда

2б Звезда задумчивых, печальная луна

2в в тумане луна

2г звёздный луч

2д скорбная звезда

2е отсутствует

2ж печали звезда

3) tearful beam… / show'st the darkness thou canst dispel (слёзный луч показывает темноту, но не может её рассеять)

3а как темнота при нём ещё темней

3б но луч твой нежный и туманный не разгоняет тьмы ночей

3в при тусклом мерцании мрак ночи страшней

3г сопутник мглы, блестящий страж ночной

3д при нём темнее кажется нам ночь

3е но не рассеять им ночных теней

3ж не может рассеять твой свет темноты

4) So gleams the past, the light of other days (также сияет прошлое, свет других дней)

4а так светит прошлое нам в жизненной ночи

4б Луна! Твоим лучам равно воспоминанья о наслажденьях прошлых лет

4в минувшее блещет меж горестных туч

4г так светит нам блаженство давних лет

4д ещё дрожит былого смутный свет

4е Не такова ли память прежних лет?

4ж Так свет прежних лет посылает лучи

5) Which shines, but warms not with its powerless rays (что светит, но не греет своими бессильными лучами)

5а но уж не греют нас бессильные лучи

5б отсутствует

5в но в сердце не греет томительный луч

5г горит, а всё не греет этот свет

5д ещё мерцает, но не греет этот свет

5е лишь леденит, не греет этот свет

5ж во мраке злой ночи не греют они

On the basis of the analysis were identified five trends of metaphors' translation:

1) skip the passage containing a metaphor;

2) the translation is not a metaphor;

3) replacement of metaphors by “trope”;

4) a translation of metaphor by another metaphor;

5) the literal translation of metaphors.

However, the use of each of these methods has a different relation. We examined 62 cases of the use of metaphors. Comparative analysis showed that the metaphor transferred to the Russian language by the same trope in 56 cases, and only ten of them are translated literally. The remaining six metaphors were not transferred at all, and four were either replaced by other visual means, or interpreted without the use of stylistic devices.

On the basis of these data we can draw the following conclusions. A metaphor in the poetry is a vivid visual means, which largely affects the aesthetic value of the original and to a large extent determines the individual style of the author. For this reason, 90.3% of metaphors transferred to the Russian language by the same visual means. 9.7% of the cases, when the metaphor was not translated, due to the different way of thinking of the two people.

The most important thing to take into account the translator, using this method is equivalent to the degree of expressiveness of the metaphor, chosen by him to replace the original. In addition, the translation should provide the same associative links, which have graphic means in the text of the original, in order to precisely as possible to convey all the smallest nuances of meaning. Thus, the most accurate recreation of the metaphor in the poetry product is one of the most important conditions for the establishment of its adequate translation.

Conclusion

It cannot be assumed that the cognitive processes of translation and interpreting (either consecutive or simultaneous) are identical to the cognitive processes involved in the tasks of speaking, listening, reading or writing. In fact, although this may seem mere repetition, these processes of language mediation are extremely complex, since they are not only linguistic processes. These processes must also be understood within their social, cultural and above all psychological contexts. A comprehensive analysis of the tasks of language mediation can distinguish three basic stages:

v The communicative function established between the speaker or writer (the first sender) of the source text or discourse and the mediator as first recipient.

v The mental activity of the mediator processing the message received (either written or spoken).

v The communicative function established between the mediator as second sender of the target text or discourse and the final recipients of the message.

These three stages are understood to be common to both translation and interpreting. The first and the third cover the functional pragmatic aspect of mediating as a communicative social and cultural action, whilst the second covers the mental or cognitive processes. For the communicative function successfully to be fulfilled, an optimum implementation of these cognitive processes is of paramount importance.

Our main objective in presenting this paper is to outline a comprehensive theory of language mediation that fully specifies the component processes of translation and interpretation tasks.

The work presented here is a piece of interdisciplinary research endeavouring to bring together developments and experiences both in the field of cognitive psychology and in the field of translation and interpreting. Its main objective is to contribute to a better understanding of the cognitive processes implied in translating and interpreting. We have proposed, so far, an outline of a comprehensive theory of language mediation combining psychological work on comprehension with research approaches on translation and interpreting that stress the role of attention and memory capacity. Once a theory formulating the processes involved has been elaborated, including the different variables which affect each one of these processes, we propose a methodology of empirical research using the same methods that Cognitive Psychology has been using.

We believe that, despite so much criticism of the lack of ecological validity in this kind of methodology, it is precisely the diversity of experimental methods and the indicators of processes (dependent variables) that make it possible to study different aspects of these complex cognitive tasks objectively and rigorously. The validity of the results comes from the contrast and convergence of the data obtained with different methodologies. Our line of empirical research, started some years ago, is based on this general approach. Undoubtedly the immediate implications of our results must be their application to a more efficient training of future interpreters.

Translation is the main concept of the theory of translation.

Translation is a multidimensional and multifaceted process determined by the System and norm of two languages, the two cultures, the two communicative situations (the primary and the secondary), the referential situation, the functional parameters of the Source text and the translation norm.

The aim of translation is to provide such bilingual communication that on its opportunities will be closely connected to the natural, one lingual communication on the maximum level.

Cognitive basis of translation - a general type of connection or relationship; circumstances relevant to something under consideration; the environment surrounding a phenomenon that determines its meaning, similar to setting, background, frame and ground.

Cognition is referred to an immediate linguistic environment (rarely detached or isolated) in which a particular word occurs. Since it is not always explicit, it may be hidden within the neighboring members of a word used in a piece of text. If we cannot extract the information relevant to the meaning of a word from its immediate linguistic environment, we need to take into account the topic of discussion as a sphere of necessary information.

At last it can be concluded that linguistics and cognitive sciences both have importance of their own and we can't say which one is better over the other because they are entirely different in application, but one can positively say that the combined study of these two can reveal some very interesting factors which can deepen our knowledge, understanding, usage and future prospects of a language. Cognitive linguistics (CL) refers to the branch of linguistics that interprets language in terms of the concepts, sometimes universal, sometimes specific to a particular tongue, which underlie its forms. It is thus closely associated with semantics but is distinct from psycholinguistics, which draws upon empirical findings from cognitive psychology in order to explain the mental processes that underlie the acquisition, storage, production and understanding of speech and writing.

Translation is understood as an act of carrying the meaning of a text from one language to another. This process involves interpretation of meaning of the source text and producing the same meaning in another language. Text however cannot exist out of context. By context what is meant is the entire environment in which the word or sentence is expressed or stated. So a translator has to go into the background of the text to understand the text. Thus translator first de-contextualizes the original text and re-contextualizes it for the target text. This forms a good contextualized translation. While seeking the context of a text there may be two categories of factors that may influence the meaning of the text- linguistic context or the situational context.

Language therefore should be considered a part of culture and understood in its context. Translator must be giving over the top stress to understand the context so as to produce a good contextualized translation.

Thus, separately taken correspondences are used in the translation with the greater or less regularity and knowing of this correspondences help the translator to decide how he/she will translate these combinations and by which ways.

The meaning of a given word or set of words is best understood as the contribution which word or phrase can make to the meaning or function of the whole sentence or linguistic utterance where that that word or phrase occurs. The meaning of a given word is governed not only by the external object or idea that particular word is supposed to refer to, but also by the use of that particular word or phrase in a particular sense, in a particular context, and to a particular effect.

In translation, consequently, the translator ought to translate the communicative function of the Source Language text, rather than its signification. A translator must, therefore, look for a target-language utterance that has an equivalent communicative function, regardless of its formal resemblance to original utterance as far as the formal structure is concerned. Conveying textual effect of the original is the final objective to which a translator aspires, "A text is a whole entity, to be translated as a whole ".

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