Translation of texts plays an invaluable role in the development of mankind. With its help, people learn about the culture of other countries, join the international heritage, betray scientific and any other knowledge.
The main thing in the process of translating texts is, naturally, a translator. His role is significant. That is why very high demands are placed on people in this profession. A good translator should not only have excellent command of all layers of the language. He is obliged to know the features of the country's national culture , its geography, history, economy, and politics. Without knowledge of these features of the country from which the translation is being prepared, it is impossible to accurately and correctly convey the nuances of the text.
Especially difficult is the translation of nonequivalent words, i.e. those language units that do not have a match in other languages. The definition given to this concept by Vereshchagin and Kostomarov says that equivalent vocabulary is words whose meaning cannot be compared with lexical concepts present in other languages.
Naturally, first of all, this layer includes words denoting specific, absent in other countries or other peoples concepts, realities and phenomena.
Realities include household items, ceremonies, processes that are absent in other nations. The words "sakura", "satsivi", "Perestroika" are examples of that layer of language that experts call "equivalent vocabulary."
The concept also includes historicisms, words that have lost their relevance because the objects or phenomena that they called disappeared. These include, for example, “Armenian”, “stagecoach”, “scimitar”, etc.
How are lexical translation problems solved? There are several solutions to the problem.
- Transcription or recording of foreign words with the help of the established spelling system of the target language. This is an option to include the words of one language in another with the maximum possible preservation of their sound appearance.
- Transliteration or accurate transmission of characters (or character systems) of one letter using another. In this case, transliteration is possible "sign to sign", the transfer of an entire system of characters with one character or vice versa. Sometimes, to transmit one sequence of written characters, a whole system of characters of the successor language is required.
- Hypo-hyperonymic translation, i.e. translation of equivalent vocabulary, taking into account the specific and generic relations of words. Simply put, this type of translation consists in the selection of the nearest, albeit incomplete in value of the equivalent concept, periphrases. Periphrase can be descriptive, explicative, descriptive, traced.
Equivalent vocabulary is quickly borrowed by other languages, because otherwise it is difficult to convey the characteristics of a foreign culture. This refers to the Russian "Perestroika", the English "Parliament", the Ukrainian "Settler".
But the equivalent vocabulary is not only realities and historicisms. Some words in different languages are different in their semantic volume, which should be taken into account when translating. So, for example, in English the word “girl” means both “girl” and “girl”. It is clear that in Russian these concepts have different semantics.
Translation difficulties are often caused by the evaluative component of the meaning of the word. So, if the Russian “sun” has a neutral emotional connotation, then the Tajik “oftob”, due to the hot climate, has a negative component that is close in meaning to the concepts of “scorching”, “burning”.
One of the greatest difficulties is the translation of phraseological units. Idiomatic expressions evolved under the influence of value orientations, worldviews, and cultural traditions of native speakers. That is why the translator should know not only the figurative semantics of the selected language, but also the history, culture of the people as a whole.