Translation of Two-Componential Asyndetic Substantival Clusters

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 1990.

ASYNDETIC NOUN CLUSTERS AND RENDERING THEIR MEANING INTO UKRAINIAN

Synopsis 7

Synopsis 7

Asyndetic noun clusters are word-groups consisting of two, three or more nouns like yarn production; yarn production fig­ures; the House of Commons debate; mother and child care.

Irrespective of the number of components in these clusters or their structure, they are always in subordinate relation to each other, i.e. they function as adjunct (attributive component) and head (nucleus). The former occupies the left-hand (initial) position and the latter - the right-hand (closing) position in the cluster. It can be graphically presented as follows: yarn -> production, the House of Commons -> debate, mother and child -> care.

Many asyndetic noun clusters have often extended adjuncts and ex­tended/expanded heads as in examples Upper Clyde Shipbuilders -> shop stewards; Noise Advisory Council -> working group representa­tive; the Suez Canal Zone base -> agreement negotiations.

The transla­tion of two componential asyndetic NN-structure clusters may start:

1) with the head noun: board members члени правління; economy regime режим економії; policy change зміна політики; payment imbalance нестійкість/незбалансованість платежів;

2) with the adjunct (functioning as an adjective) or with the head (functioning as a noun): dinner-time break обідня перерва/перерва на обід; student groups студентські групи/групи студентів; currency reform грошова реформа/реформа грошової системи;

3) the meaning of some asyndetic substantival clusters with compound adjuncts can be rendered into Ukrainian in a descriptive way as well: nine-men defence захист із 9 гравців (спорт); theunder-16 match матч спортсменів віком до 16 років.

Asyndetic substantival clusters are often preceded by adjectives, participles, pronouns, numerals, used in the function of attributes. They usually form with the noun components distinct sense units, which may often predetermine the way of approach to the translation of clusters. For example, in the substantival clusters as final press conference, English amateur champion the attributive components modify the NN head components forming with them word-groups of the A+NN struc­ture. In examples like a Democratic Party member, the Tory Govern­ment policy the attributive components form close sense units of the AN+N structure with the head noun. As a result, the meaning of the A+NN-type substantival clusters can be rendered into Ukrainian by the fol­lowing main approaches:

1) beginning with the initial adjective after which the head noun and its adjunct noun is translated in succession: junior hospital staff молодший медперсонал лікарні; British health serviceанглійська служба охорони здоров'я/ служба охорони здоров'я Великої Британії;

2) beginning with the adjective after which the adjacent to it follow­ing noun (adjunct) and then the head noun is translated in succession: final press conference заключна пресконференція;major autumn campaign головна осіння кампанія;

3) a considerable number of lexically transparent asyndetic sub­stantival clusters of the A+NN-type are translated in reverse order, i.e. beginning with the head noun after which the attributive compo­nent and the adjunct noun are translated in succession: Local authority staff працівники місцевих органів влади;

4) some asyndetic clusters of the type may be semantically condensed. As a result, more words are needed in the target lan­guage to render their meaning, i.e. they are to be translated in a descriptive way: London Evening News лондонська вечірня газета «Івнінґ ньюз»; Royal Air Force військовоповітряні сили Великої Британії.

Much simpler is the approach to translating the AN+N-type of asyndetic noun clusters in which the initial adjective (A) and the fol­lowing adjunct noun form a sense unit of their own. Translation of the AN+N type asyndetic substantival clusters predominantly starts with the head noun, after which the attributive component and then the adjunct noun is translated in succession: the Republican Party candidate кандидат у президенти від республіканської партії США; human resources planning планування людських резервів.

The asyndetic clusters with the N+AN structure of their componetns may be translated in the following ways:

1) beginning with the AN head sense unit: US military bases військові бази США; NATO nuclear weapons атомна зброя (країн) HATO; UN General Assembly Генеральна Асамблея ООН;

2) a similar approach should be employed when dealing with the N+AN or N+QN/N+VingN structure substantival clusters with the initial proper names components. This is observed in the following word-groups: the Avior Airline general manager генеральний директор авіакомпанії «Авіор ерлайн»; New Times editorial staff редакційні працівники журналу «Нью-Таймз».

Extensively exemplified in the-newspaper and scientific matter speech styles of present-day English are also A+AN+N-type asyndetic substantival clusters with preceding adjectival, participial and other modifiers in the function of attributes. They can be translated in the following ways:

1) starting with the head noun, proceeding to the adjunct (AN) unit and concluding with the adjunct noun: major Western states in­terests інтереси провідних західних держав;

2) starting with the initial adjective or participle, proceeding to the head noun and concluding with the adjunct (AN) unit: effi­cient public transport system рентабельна система комунального транспорту;

3) starting with the head noun, proceeding in a reverse order of components to the sense unit with the adjunct noun and concluding with the initial adjective, which becomes a noun in Ukrainian:Scottish Labour Party resolution резолюція лейбористської партії Шотландії;

4) descriptive translating can also be resorted to when dealing with this type of asyndetic substantival clusters: International Social Security Association міжнародна Асоціація з питань соціального забезпечення.

Two-componental AN+AN-type asyndetic substantival clusters, irrespective of the structural forms of A or N components, are pre­dominantly translated starting with the head (AN sense unit). The A(djective) component of the head sense unit becomes usually the starting point: Big Business multi-national firms багатонаціональні фірми великого бізнесу.