Handling context-bound words.
Most of the words arc polysemantic, that is, they have several meanings. As a rule, the word is used in the sentence in one of its meanings and the context must show what meaning has been selected by the speaker and cut off all other meanings irrelevant for the particular act of communication. If somebody complains that 'Tew Europeans speak Mandarin", the context inequivocally shows that it is the Chinese language that is meant and not a Chinese imperial official or the Chinese fruit.
The context has also a decisive role to play in the selection of TL equivalents to the words of the original. We know that in most cases, the meaning of a SL word can be rendered in TL by a number of regular equivalents.
Suppose we have to translate the following English sentence 'This issue of the paper devoted about half of its twenty news columns to the trial of a murderer". The context enables the translator to understand that the "issue" refers here to a publication, the "paper" is a newspaper and the "column" is a department in that newspaper. But he has also to find additional information in the context which will allow us to choose an equivalent to "issue" among such Russian words as «выпуск, издание, номер» or to compare the use of the Russian «отдел, колонка, столбец» as equivalents to "column".
No less important is the role of the context in translating the words with a wide range of reference whose equivalents are too numerous to be listed in any dictionary. For example, the English noun "record" is defined as "something that records" or "the recorded facts about something or someone" and can refer to any document or any events, past or present. It is clear that the Russian names of documents or events cannot be foreseen and the translator has to find the appropriate occasional equivalent in each particular context.
The contextual modification may extend to the connotative meaning of the word. The translator is greatly concerned about the adequate reproduction of this part of the word semantics since it has an impact upon the whole text. Pot example, the English noun "ambition" and the adjective "ambitious" can contextually assume either a positive or a negative connotation. Accordingly, "the UN ambitious program of providing food for the people of the earth" will be translated as «грандиозная программа ООН» while the "ambitious plans of South African racists" will be rendered as «честолюбивые планы южно-африканских расистов».
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Professional skill in using both the dictionary data and the information extracted from the context to solve his translation problems is the hallmark of a good translator.
Handling equivalent-lacking words.
No small number of SL units have no regular equivalents in TL. Equivalent-lacking words are often found among SL names of specific national phenomena, such as the English words "coroner, condominium, impeachment, baby-sitter" and the like. However, there are quite a number of "ordinary" words for which TL may have no equivalent lexical units: "fluid, bidder, conservationist" etc.
The absence of regular equivalents does not imply that the meaning of an equivalent-lacking SL unit cannot be rendered in translation or that its translation must be less accurate. The translator coming across an equivalent-lacking word, resorts to occasional equivalents which can be created in one of the following ways:
1. Using loan-words imitating in TL the form of SL word or word-
combination, e.g. tribalism – трайбализм, impeachment – импичмент, back-
bencher – заднескамеечник, brain-drain – утечка мозгов.
2. Using approximate substitutes that is TL words with similar meaning which is extended to convey additional information (if necessary, with the help of foot notes) e.g. drugstore – аптека, witchhunter – мракобес, afternoon – вечер.
The Russian "аптека" is not exactly a drugstore where they also sell such items as magazines, soft drinks, ice-cream, ect., but in some cases this approximate equivalent can well be used.
3. Using all kinds of lexical (semantic) transformations modifying the meaning of the SL word, e.g. "He died of exposure" may be rendered into Russian as "Он умер от простуды" or "Он погиб от солнечного удара".
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4. Using an explanation to convey the meaning of the SL unit, e.g. landslide – победа на выборах подавляющим большинством голосов, brinkmanship – искусство проведения политики на грани войны, etc.
When new words come into being to denote new objects or phenomena, they naturally cannot have regular equivalents in another language. Such equivalents may only gradually evolve as the result of extensive contacts between the two nations. Therefore the translator coming across a new coinage has to interpret its meaning and to choose the appropriate way of rendering it in his translation.
Consider the following sentence: "In many European capitals central streets have been recently pedestrianized." First, the translator will recognize the origin of "pedestrianized" which is coined from the word "pedestrian" – "пешеход" and the verb-forming suffix -ize. Then he will realize the impossibility of a similar formation in Russian (опешеходить!) and will opt for a semantic trasformation: "движение транспорта было запрещено", "улицы были закрыты для транспорта" or "улицы были отведены только для пешеходов".
Translating equivalent-lacking words calls for a good deal of ingenuity and imagination on the part of the translator who should be well trained to use the appropriate semantic transformations, whenever necessary. At the same time he must be prepared to look for new ways of solving his problems whenever the standard methods cannot be applied to the particular context.
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