REALIA AS A MEANS OF RENDERING NATIONAL COLOURING

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 5925.

Realia – originates from Latin [rēs, rěi – thing, object, fact, event]. Its predecessor was “everyday term” (побутовий термін, побутовізм) used by I.Kashkin. The term “realia” was used for the first time by A.Fedorov in his fundamental work “On literary translation” in 1941 to denote not a lexeme but a specific nationally coloured object. In Ukrainian TS, it was first used by O.Kundzich in 1954, but he emphasizes the problem of its untranslatability. V.Koptilov, promoting the study of realia, underlines the importance of the binary opposition because each pair of languages disclose different realia. Some scholars use the term “exotic vocabulary”, or refer to realia authentic verbal images, which is not true in this case. If we had to agree to this, then we would have equalled realia and untranslatable words. Verbal images usually denote not nationally biased notions, but those objects or phenomenon which pertain to the humans in general, only the means is specific to the language background.

Prof. R.Zorivchak gives the following definition: realia – mono- or polilexemic units the lexical meaning of which includes traditionally established complex of ethnocultural information which is alien to the objective reality of the TL and which is realised only within the limits of a binary opposition. e.g. дбати про скриню, запити могорич, подати рушники, на панщину ходити (гонити), піднести (дати) гарбуза. Apart from interlingual realia there exist intralingual realia, which coincide with semantic archaisms: ринський (unit of money in Western Ukraine in the period of it being a part of Austria), пацифікація (acts of punitive forces of the Polish government in the 20-30s to subdue the revolt movements in Western Ukraine and Western Bielarus)

From the historic-semantic point of view, we may distinguish between:

1) realia proper (at existing referents) – baby-sitter, Boxing Day, Halloween, Oval Cabinet, Poppy Day; коломийка, трембітяр, постоли, китайка, яворівка, коливо;

2) historical realia – semantic archaisms, which due to the dying-out of the referents enter the historically distant vocabulary. Along with the national colouring they also bear the chronological one: щезник, арідник, смерд, копний майдан, свячений, підбрехач (другий сват у давніх українських весільних обрядах), медведиця (група жінок, що, переодягнувшись, ходила по селі під час косовиці), зелені хлопці (опришки), тарниця (дерев'яне сідло гуцулів); an ale conner (an officer appointed yearly at the courtleet of ancient English manors for the assze of ale and ale-measures), a priest's hole (a secret room in the church or castle, where the Catholic priests were hiding in England during the prosecution of the Catholics).

Structurally realia is divided into:

1. realia-monolexeme: вечорниці, крини чар, денцівка, кобзарювати, валило, sheriff, a threepence, a maypole («травневе дерево» - «стовп, прикрашений квітами, різнобарвними прапорцями, довкруги якого танцюють в першу неділю травня у Великобританії»)

2. realia-polylexeme with nominative value: курна хата, разовий хліб, троїста музика, решетилівське шитво, братська могила, banana split, St.Valentine's Day, a Sussex pudding, a ticket day, a toffee apple, a Yorkshire coach horse, pea-soup fog, a soap-opera, garden seats, a means test man.

3. realia-phraseologisms: лоби забрати, коло печі поратись, дбати про скриню, стати під вінок, на панщині бути, to reach the woolsack, to enter at the Stationers' hall.

Realia possess a definite semantic structure. They consist of:

1) denotative;

2) connotative;

3) local national, cultural semes

жупан: 1) верхній чоловічий одяг, 2) ознака заможності, багатства, 3) одяг українця.

But sometimes, connotative semes prevail in the semantic structure of realia, thus they become symbols (кленові листки, (maple leaves) are symbols of loneliness, parting; червоні маки (red poppies) symbolise unhappy love etc.) But not all symbols are realia (лілея, lily symbolising purity, tenderness is not realia in Ukrainian-English binary opposition).

From the point of view of practical translation, it is necessary to single out obvious and latent realia. The latter are: піч, сорочка(-вишиванка), скриня, рушник; a forty-niner (one who took part in the California gold rush after striking gold there in 1848) in the English-Ukrainian opposition. They seem to have their counterpart in the TL, however, the denotata differ greatly in the extralinguistic reality. The hierarchy of semes in the semantic structure of realia is expedient to be studied by means of componential analysis.

Accordingly, there are the following ways of renderingrealia:

1. Transcriptionis the most exact rendering of the sounding of a SL word by means of TL graphemes. Transliteration is rendering of the spelling accordingly. Quite clear that antroponyms and toponyms are to be either transcribed or transliterated. But sometimes there are cases when realia of this kind bear a very specific semantic load, speaking names in particular, e.g. in I.Franko's tale “Fox Mykyta” translators found different ways out, a very original one being the translation in prose by a Canadian translator B.Mel'nyk: King Lion – Tsar Lev; Wolf the Hungry – Vovk Nesyty; Cat the Purry – Keet Moorlyka. In his rhymed foreword B.Mel'nyk writes: “I'm inviting you hereby/ To meet a fox nicknamed The Sly (He's called Mykyta in Ukraine/ And this name, too, he will retain)”. It is also necessary to transcribe the realia which due to the significance of their denotata with time have a chance to enter the marginal vocabulary stock of the TL: robot (an automaton; a person who acts or works mechanically and without thinking for himself) ← the very lexeme “robot” was used for the first time by K.Chapek in his utopy-drama “RUR” («Россумові універсальні роботи»- “Rossum's universal robots”).

2. Hyperonimic renomination (or semantic adaptation by acad. V.Vinogradov; pars pro toto) is a lexical transformation, generalization which is rooted in the existence of interlingual universals. It implies the rendering of a hyponym in the SL by a hyperonym in the TL. From the point of view of componential analysis the meaning of hyponym includes all the differential semes of hyperonym as well as some features which are peculiar only for this hyponym. The less are the differential semes in the word, the more general is the notion it denotes. While rendering realia by means of hyperonyms a substantial part of cultural and area information of realia is lost. Cвитка is often rendered by a coat, thus the translation is not adequate, being deprived of the differential seme homemade, a connotative seme worn by poor people and a local seme worn by Ukrainian peasantry: Fata Morgana: «Мала, суха, чорна, у чистій сорочці, в старенькій свитці» - “There was Malanka, small and thin, in a clean blouse and old coat”. Or «Старий Петро Джеря вдягся в нову свиту» - “Petro Dzherya put on a new coat”.

3. Descriptive paraphraseis the creation of a descriptive equivalent in the TL to realia in the SL: кожух – a sheepskin coat, пилипівка – fasting before Christmas, полонина – a mountain meadow, опришок – a peasant rebel, на покуті – in the only corner by an icon, in the place of honour, маківник – a poppy seed roller, оселедець – a long forelock; брати на панщину ходили (Т.Шевченко) – my brothers slaved on the estate (tr. b y J.Weir). It is applied when we need high precision of rendering the denotatum. Descriptive potential of a language is a universal which enables creating a description instead of any name. «А я ще й грошенят йому, коли гривеничка, а коли й четвертака» - «I used to give him some money, ever now and then – sometimes ten kopecks and sometimes twenty-five»; «На Покрову вернувся Прокіп» - «Prokip returned at the end of October»;

4. Combined renominationmost often is a transcription combined with a descriptive paraphrase (more seldom with the hyperonym). It is a very effective though verbose way of rendering the semantics of realia: a transcribed word bears the seme “uncommonness, foreignness” while a descriptive paraphrase explains the semantics of realia, be it denotative or connotative (if possible), in particular national-cultural connotation. The same method is applied in original works, e.g. in a well-known short story by M.Kotsiubyns'kyi “For common wealth”: За хвилину заторохкотіли колеса, і Замфір, ледве здержуючи гарячі коні, заїхав під хату новим, на залізних осях, мальованим возом – каруцою. Or: вечорниці – the Vechernitzi, the evening gatherings and revel of youths and maidens (F.R.Livesay), думи: dumas + (in footnotes) an epic folk ballad – a narrative poem saturated with lyrical motifs sung to the accompaniment of Ukrainian stringed folk instruments (J.Weir).

5. Loan translation (calque)is applied to render the structural-semantic model of the SL component for component. There exist full (the cases are rather seldom) and partial (mixed, modified) loan translations: Salvation Army (USA, Great Britain) – Армія порятунку; the Order of the Garter/of the Bath – орден Підв'язки/Лазні; skyscraper – хмарочос; Verkhovna Rada, Supreme Rada. Sometimes one can meet cases when loan does not perform its function owing to cultural lacunas in Ukrainian-English opposition: Олеся пошанувала любих гостей і рушники подавала (M.Vovchok) in M.Skrypnyk's translation sounds Olesya honoured the pleasant guests and presented them with towels. This loan translation will not help the English reader grasp the idea of the Ukrainian tradition. In N.Pedan-Popil's translation the semantics of the expression is rendered to the full while there is no hint to the Ukrainian matrimonial tradition: Olesya paid her respects to the honoured guests and accepted the proposal of marriage.

6. Transposition on the connotative level is applied when realia lose their denotative meaning altogether and perform their functions only on the connotative level. Their national characteristics are not taken into consideration too. These are mostly the cases when realia are components of a trope or a verbal image. Then Ukrainian realia are substituted by English realia or by lexemes with the corresponding connotative information, though the denotative meaning of such correspondent item may be different: калина – cranberry (журавлина): «Маруся почервоніла, як калина» -“She became crimson as clusters of the cranberry”

7. Assimilation – rendering of semantico-stylistic functions of SL realia by TL realia. Війт – reeve (in Canada, the president of a village or town council) (I.Franko “Вовк війтом”)

8. Contextual explanation of realia – connected with the integrity of an artistic text. “На копу скликають, на раду громадську”, – сказав Максим. (І.Франко “Захар Беркут”) – “They are calling the people to the kopa, the community council,” said Maxim (tr. by J.Weir). Sometimes contextual explanation occurs with descriptive paraphrase and hyperonymic renomination. Вони ж тепер з батьком свати (Г.Косинка “Політика”) – He and Father must be pretty thick after their children's marriage – relatives” (tr. by O.Taukach)

9. Situational correspondenceis an occasional correspondence the semantics of which has nothing to do with realia beyond the very context. In Marko Vovchok's “Kozachka” we find: Свати й не переводяться в Олесиній хаті. In M.Skrypnyk's translation we find the correspondent free word-combination while the local seme is lost: The young men continued to press their suit in Olesya's house, in N.Pedan-Popil's translation the realia are rendered by means of hyperonimic renomination, which is quite understandable for English readers: The matchmakers kept coming one after another to Olesya's house. Пан – pan, pahn, owner, doctor, gentry, gentleman, gentlefolk, noble, landowner, master, lord, overlord, learned person.