Translation of Monosemantic Words

Monosemantic words are comparatively few in number. Among them the following lexical groups as: (1) antroponyms, (2) geographical names, (3)names of institutions, orga­nisations, periodicals, etc., (4) scientific and technical terms.

Моnоsеmу is also typical of numerals, names of months, days of the week, and other simple words which have one meaning in many languages, for example: the sky – небо, the moon – місяць, lake – озеро, black – чорне, white – біле, political – політичний, here – тут, often – часто, etc.

Rendering of Antroponyms. The proper names of people are not translated in the target language, but transcoded (transcribed or transliterated), according to the set rules of transliteration.

Rendering of Geographical Names. Well-known geographical names have traditional Ukrainian correspondences contained in bilingual dictionaries. If geographical name doesn’t have a translation equivalent in a dictionary, it is recommended to use practical transcription

Rendering of the Names.In terms of translation all names can be divided into three groups:

1) names, all components of which are translated into Ukrainian and as close to the original as possible. This group includes the names of educational establishments, public scientific and technical organizations, including international ones, research institutes, laboratories, projects, programs, scientific funds and foundations, etc. , which don’t comprise the proper names: Free University – Вільний університет, University of Technology Doctoral Program – Програма підготовки докторів наук Технологічного університету, International Society of General Research – Міжнародне товариство фундаментальних досліджень.

To convey the meaning of the name more precisely, additional words, absent in the English name, are often used in translation: Global Security Association – Асоціація дослідників глобальної безпеки.

2) names, all components of which are not translated, but transcoded (transcribed or transliterated), in particular, names of enterprises (Intelligent Systems – Інтеліджент Системз; Apple Computers – Еппл Комп’ютерз), periodicals (Journal of Applied Mathematics – Джорнел оф епплайд математикс), etc.; Names of journals, if required with informative aims (for example, in abstracts, reports, papers, etc.), may be translated into Ukrainian and added to its transcoded name in brackets: International Affairs – “Інтернешнл афферс” (“Міжнародні справи”).

3) names, one or more components of which are conveyed using transcoding (transliteration or transcription). This group comprises the names of the institutions of higher education, laboratories, research institutes, ect., containing the proper names which are transcoded (University of Vienna – Віденський університет; the University of Oregon School of Journalism – Інститут журналістики університету штату Орегон).

If the name includes antroponym, the word “імені” is added in the translation: Simon Fraser University – університет іменіСаймона Фрейзера. If there is a conventional element in the name, that is it is not a proper name, it should be transcoded: Alert Research Corporation – Науково-дослідна корпорація Алерт.

Translation of terms. Terms are generally associated with a definite branch of science. They are characterised by a tendency to be monosemantic in a given branch of science and therefore easily bring out the required concept: evidence – доказ, contract – договір, terms of a contract – умови договору, etc. But it should be taken into consideration that one and the same term may have different meaning in different branches of science, e.g. 1) terms (of a contract) – умови договору, 2) terms (of imprisonment) – строки ув’язнення, and sometimes have two or more meanings even in the same scientific sphere. In this case the meaning of the term is determined by its belonging to the particular branch of science and the specific subject-matter of the source text itself, so the translator’s task is to convey the context meaning of the term and choose the correct translation equivalent.

4.2 Translation of polysemantic, pseudo-international words and “non-equivalents”

Translation of Polysemantic Words.Different meanings of polysemantic words are revealed in the context. The term “context” is understood as the minimum stretch of speech determining each individual meaning of the word. The context individualizes the meanings, brings them out.

Translation of Pseudo-International Words. There is a distinct group of words, which constitute a special difficulty for the translator, the so-called pseudo-international words. As distinct from genuine international words which have a more or less similar phonetic form and carry the same meaning (tendency – тенденція, norm - норма, aspect - аспект), partially international words having only part of the same meanings (international – інтернаціональний, міжнародний; public – публічний, державний, громадський, народний, відкритий), the pseudo-international words differ in meaning from language to language either completely, e.g. accurate – точний, а не ‘акуратний’; complement – додаток, а не “комплімент”, intelligence – розум, а не “інтелігенція”.

Translation of “Non-equivalents”. The so-called “non-equivalents” are the words of the source-language which either have no equivalents in the target language or no equivalent denotatum in the target culture.

There are three Ways Of Rendering Non-Equivalents:

1. By Direct borrowing –with the help of transcription or transliteration, which takes place when it is impossible to convey the adequate meaning of the source notion using a word or words in the target language: bigamy – бігамія, sheriff – шериф.

2. By translation loans which is a word-for-word translation, when translator chooses the first in order dictionary correspondence in the target language as a translation equivalent of the source language word: instrument of peace – інструмент миру. Loan translation should not violate rules of usage and сollocability of words in the Ukrainian language.

3. By descriptive or interpreting translation, which is the way of translation when the source language word is replaced in the target language by the words which convey the adequate meaning of this word: answerable –те, на що можна відповісти/дати відповідь; backer– той, хто підтримує когось/допомогає, сприяє комусь у чомусь