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ISSN 1648-2824 KALB STUDIJOS. 2010. 17 NR. * STUDIES ABOUT LANGUAGES. 2010. NO. 17

Analysis of Idiom Translation Strategies from English into Russian

Margarita Strakien

Abstract. The difficulties that the translator meets while translating English idioms into Russian language willbe analyzed in this article. The aim of the article is to present the problem of equivalence in the target language,to look through main translation strategies used in translation of idioms and examine the choice of translationstrategies used by V. Kotkina. The theoretical part is mostly based on Shanskys, Vinogradovs, Seninas andReckers theories. There is a short review of English idioms, which were discussed in the previous article,based on Bakers, Tourys and other English scholars theories. The analytical part is based on A. Christiesnovel 4.50 from Paddington and its translation made by V. Kotkina from English into Russian. Analysisprovides a general overview of the most prevailing translation solutions used in the translation from Englishinto Russian. The research has shown that even though there are a number of exact equivalents in the targetlanguage, still there is a lack of equivalent idioms in Russian language. In addition, the most prevailingtranslation strategy turned out to be translation by description according to Vinogradov, also there wereexamples of translation by applying exact equivalents and partial equivalents in the target language.

Key words: idioms, phraseologisms, translation strategies, idiom translation, phraseological units,equivalence, phrases.

Introduction

Phraseological units represent quite a large part oflinguistics. Very often they reflect the peculiarities of theculture of the language they belong to; moreover they reflecthistory of that nation, their attitude towards world,stereotypes they believe in, etc. Furthermore, phraseologicalunits usually are formed from national sayings, prejudices,and cultural traditions. Russian language as well as English

is very reach of phraseologisms. They are used in variousstyles of language such as literature, colloquial style andpublicistic style.

The purposes of the article are to overview Russianphraseologisms and analyze translation peculiarities fromEnglish into Russian language as there is a lack ofinformation on translation problems from idiomatic pointof view. This research may help other translators cope witharising problems of equivalence in the target language andencourage them to look mo closely at various translationstrategies suggested for translation of idioms.

The theoretical part of the article will present a briefoverview of Russian phraseologisms and translationpossibilities. The analytical part will show examples ofvarious translation strategies used by Russian translatorwhile translating English idioms into Russian language.

Theoretical Overview of Russian Phraseologisms

Russian phraseologisms are very similar to English idioms.They as well are classified into several groups, have thefeature of reproducibility and perform nominative andcommunicative functions as English idoms. Shansky(1969) in his book defines phraseologisms as

frozen patterns of language that consist of two or morecomponents and allow little or no variation in form,

structure or meaning (Shansky, 1969, p.28).Another linguist, Senina, in her book definesphraseological units as a semantically bound set of words

that are not produced at the moment of conversation butare reproduced as a rigid lexico-grammatical units with afirm semantical background (Senina, 2010, p.201).

Furthermore, Senina distinguishes tree types ofphraseologisms according to their stylistically expressivefunction: interstylistic, bookish and colloquial phraseologicalunits. Interstylistic phraseological units are rigid phrases thathas absolutely non expressive feature and can be used in all

styles of speech. For example: (sincelly,from all heart), (under open sky).Another type that is distinguished by Senina is bookishphraseological units. Such units have high emotional-expressive features and are used in publicistic style andliterature, for example: (immediately), (to destroy). The last type iscolloquial phraseological units. It is probably the largestgroup out of these three types of phraseologisms. Forexample: , (very thin).Phraseologisms of this type not only label some kind ofpresent event but also indicate the relation between thespeaker and the event, in other words contains in it irony,

mocking, etc. For example: (start to cry), (to get into trouble) (Senina, 2010, p.211).

According to Shansky, phraseology of contemporaryRussian language carries a very specific Russian mannerand features. Most of the Russian phraseologisms do nothave equivalents in other languages; therefore, it is veryoverwhelming for the translators to transfer the meaning ofRussian idioms into another language. The translator has tosearch for idioms with similar meaning or form, or just hasto paraphrase. In order to analyze phraseologisms ofcontemporary Russian language it is important to take thecharacter of lexical structure of phraseologisms intoconsideration. According to this fact, Russian

phraseologisms similar to English and Lithuanian idiomscan be classified into two large groups. The first group

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consists of phraseologisms that contain words which areindependent with its meaning and can stand alone in thesentence, for example: (suddenly), (slowly), (tolook). Words in these phraseologisms are bound with eachother according to the grammar rules of contemporaryRussian language. Meanwhile, another group ofphraseologisms consists of such words that have rigidusage and old fashioned lexico-semantical factors, such as: (shiver), (as possible),etc. Words in these phraseologisms can perform as archaicin contemporary language (Shansky, 1969, p.89).

The linguist distinguishes one main feature of Russianphraseologisms reproducibility. Phraseologisms are notprodused at the moment of communication, but arereproduced as one undividable unit, for example: (far away), o (there isnothing or nobody). Phraseologisms act as one single uniteven if semantically each constituent of phraseologismshas its individual meaning, for example:

(at the present moment). He states that from the semanticpoint of view phraseologisms can be distinguished into fourtypes: phraseological adhesion, units, phrases andexpressions. First two types comprise semanticallyundividable phraseologisms. They are equivalent from thepoint of view of their meaning to one word or group ofwords. Third and fourth types present themselves assemantically dividable units (Shansky, 1969, p.76).

Phraseological adhesion envolve undividable phraseologisms,which meaning is different from the meaning of each wordtaken separately. Meaning of such phraseological units isunmotivated and completely conditional, for example: (to be lazy). Therefore, phraseologicaladhesion envolves such phraseologisms that carry themeaning of the whole phrase and each word separatelydoes not correspond to the meaning of the wholephraseologism, for example: (may be). Themeaning of the phrase does not correspond with themeaning of each separate word (uneven) and (hour). However, sometimes such praseologisms as (to gossip) can carry bothidiomatic meaning and literal meaning. For example insuch sentence as (the bones of fossilized birdhave been washed several times) the same words thattogether comprise a praseologisms have literal nominativemeaning (Shansky, 1969, p.80).

The second type of Russian phraseologisms isphraseological units. They are such units that similar tophraseological adhesion are semantically stable andundividable, however their semantical origin is alreadymotivational on the basis of the meaning of separate wordsthat comprise phraseologism. For example, phraseologicalunits , , , etc. consist of separate words that havederivative, motivational meaning. Comparing tophraseological adhesion, phraseological units are not sofrozen patterns of language; parts of words that comprise

up an idiom can be separated from each other by insertionof other words. This feature of phraseological unitsseparates them from phraseological phrases and

expressions. Opposite to phraseological adhesion and units( , ) are phraseologicalexpressions and phrases which are not semanticallyundividable, but present themselves as semanticallysegmented idioms and which meaning completelycorresponds with the meaning of separate words thatcomprise an idiom, for example: , , (Shansky,1969, p.82).

The third type is phraseological phrases. They are suchphrases which words have independent and bound usage.For example, the phraseologism (bosomfriend) consists of two words where one of them (friend) has independent meaning and can be used with thebuns hog other words, while word (sincere) iscompletely bound to the word (friend) and can not beused with any other words. Shansky distinguishes that thespecific feature of phraseological phrases is that aconsistent word of a phraseologism that is phraseologicallydependant can be replaced by synonyms, for example:

(instant death sudden death). The last type isphraseological expressions.They are rigid in forms and usage. They are not onlysemantically segmented but also consist of words withindependent meaning such as , . Phraseologicalexpressions differ from the phraseological phrases in theway that their constituents can not be replaced bysynonyms. For example, phraseological phrase thatconsists of two words and one of them is dependant fromanother word and one can be replaced by synonymic word: (to open a mouth whenwonder) (Shansky, 1969, p.85).

The author defines the main characteristic feature ofphraseological expressions that distinguishes them fromword combinations is that phraseological expression arenot formed by the speaker but are reproduced as alreadyexisting units with rigid meaning and form. For example, (age is not important for love)and (poems win reader hearts by sincerity) the first example isan existing already formed expression, while the secondexample is made by the speaker at the moment of speakingaccording to Russian grammar rules. According toShansky, phraseological expressions can be divided intotwo large groups: communicative expressions andnominative expressions. The first group of expressionspresent themselves as predicative word combinationswhich equals a sentence, for example: (without an effort will notget a fish out of a pond) (Shansky, 1969, p.85). The secondgroup of phraseological expressions is such wordcombination that is equivalent only to a part of thesentence and perform a nominative function, for example: (work success), (atthe present moment).

Another linguist Vinogradov states that phraseologismscan be divided into three large groups: lexical

phraseologisms, predicative and comparativephraseologisms (Vinogradov, 2004, p.183).

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Moving on to English idioms, it is important to notice thatEnglish language is very rich of idioms, there manytheorists who analyze and defines English idioms, and oneof them is Mona Baker. Baker in her bookIn Other Wordsdistinguishes idiom from collocation by the transparencyof meaning and flexibility patterning. According to Baker,idioms are

frozen patterns of language which allow little or no variationin form and often carry meanings which can not be deducedfrom their individual components (Baker, 1992, p.63).

For more about English idioms see Strakien (2009,pp.13-19).

Translation Possibilities in the Russian Language

In order to make a good translation from English intoRussian it is important to know both about Russian andabout English idioms and their translation peculiarities.According to Vinogradov, if the form of the idiom is notessential in the context then the translator does not have topreserve the internal shape of the idiom. It is important to

transfer the emotional, stylistic and functional informationof the original idiom. Of course, the translator must alwaystry to translate phraseologism by phraseologism, howeverit is not always possible as not always there is anequivalent in the target language or there is an equivalentbut it is not suitable according to its stylistic features.Therefore, Vinogradov distinguishes the followingtranslation strategies: translation by one word, translationby description and carbon paper translation. Translationby one wordis possible when there is no equivalent in thetarget language or there is an equivalent but it is notsuitable according to its emotional, stylistic and expressivefunction. Translation by description, in other words the

translator translates an idiom by describing or paraphrasingthe meaning of the idiom using free set of words. The lasttranslation strategy distinguished by Vinogradov is carbonpaper translation. It is used very seldom as word for wordtranslation of an idiom sounds very foreign in the targetlanguage. Carbon paper translation may be useful when itis important to transfer play of words of the original idiom(Vinogradov, 2004, p.190).

According to Recker (1974), there are four maintranslation possibilities for transferring the meaning ofidioms from English into Russian language:

1) completely preserving the meaning, expressivity andform of the original idiom,2) partly preserving the meaning, expressivity and formof the original idiom,

3) changing the expressivity of the original idiom,4) completely eliminating expressivity of the original

idiom (Recker, 1974, p.161).

To the first translation strategy belong such idioms thathave international features and can be transferred by using

idioms with the same meaning but different form in thetarget language, for example: the lions share , to play with fire . Examples aboveillustrate translation that preserves the meaning of theoriginal without any change in it. The second translationstrategy preserve expressivity of phraseological units,however with some change of its lexical or grammaticalfeatures. Expressive components of the phrase can bechanged by other expressive or meaningful componentsand some components are just changed by othercomponents in the target language. For example: in broaddaylight (in the middle of the daylight),in the dead of night (in the deep night).The third translation strategy is applied when it isnecessary to exchange the expressivity of thephraseologisms. For example: to take somebody for a ride (to laugh at).

The last translation strategy is a complete elimination ofexpressivity of the original idiom. It is not the best solutionfor the translation as the expressive function is lost in the

translation, for example: a skeleton in the cupboard- (family secrete) or (trouble) (Recker, 1974, p.164).

General Overview of the Strategies Used by V. Kotkinain Translation of the Book4.50 from Paddington (2005)

Great part of idioms was collected from the book4.50 fromPaddington. This book was translated into Russianlanguage in 1991 by V. Kotkina. The discussion of thepeculiarities of translation will concentrate on thestrategies most frequently used in the translations of thenovel 4.50 from Paddington (2005).

To start with, the first two examples of the analysis intend

to show the cases of carbon paper translation that werefound only in this book.

Example 1 illustrates the case of literal translation whereRussian translator have transferred the English idiom intoRussian by translating each word of it in other words usingcarbon paper translation. Had been putting the cat amongthe pigeons is old British idiom that is used to refer tosomeone who is likely to do something that would cause atrouble. In this example, the idiom indicates that InspectorCredock seems to be that kind of person. While in Russianlanguage there is no such idiom, but the translator decidedto translate it literally as in this way more or less rendering the meaning of theoriginal idiom, however, producing the sense offoreignness of the translation. The English idiom in theExample 2 is used to refer to people who hide theirfeelings, plans, etc. (ODI, 2001, p.77) in this wayreflecting the personality of one of the main characters inthe novel. However, Kotkina decides to translate it literallyas producing an image that is notfamiliar to Russian readers and signal its foreignness.

Source text Target text 1(1991)

Ex. 1 I somehow got the impression that you had beenputting the cat among the pigeons, Inspector Credock.(Christie, 2005, p.224)

.(Kotkina, 1991, p.111)

Ex. 2 She is rathera dark horse, old Ema.(Christie, 2005, p.293)

.(Kotkina, 1991, p.146)

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Source text Target text 1(1991)

Ex. 3 Oh, poking her nose into things. (Christie, 201, p.38) . (Kotkina, 1991, p.18)

Ex. 4 You wont get me out of here until you take me outfeet first. (Christie, 201, p.56)

.(Kotkina, 1991, p.28)

Ex. 5 I always like to have something up my sleeve in theearly stages. (Christie, 2005, p.126)

.(Kotkina, 1991, p.62)

Ex. 6 But who on earth oh, you mean Martine?

(Christie, 2005, p.154)

, . (Kotkina, 1991, p.76)

Ex. 7 Hard as nails, they say, and never forgot an injury.(Christie, 2005, p.73)

,, . (Kotkina, 1991, p.36)

Ex. 8 That throws rather a light on things.(Christie, 2005, p.216)

. (Kotkina, 1991, p.108)

Ex. 9 I got a flea in the ear. (Christie, 2005, p.235) . (Kotkina, 1991, p.117):

The second group of idioms found in the translation byKotkina was translated by completely preserving themeaning, expressivity and form of the original idiom, inthis way completely preserving the expressivity andfunction of the original idiom.

The idiom poke her nose in the Example 3 is used tocharacterize Mrs. Marpls character as she is veryinterested in other peoples lives and affairs. According tothe definition collected from ODI it is used to describepeople who interfere in the affairs or business of otherpeople (ODI, 2001, p.257). The meaning as well as theemotional tone in the translation is conveyed by both theidentical in its semantic composition as well as meaningidiom which in Russian has an implication ofinquisitiveness and intrusion. (LF, 2001, p.460).

The idiom in the Example 4 means to be dead (ODI,2001, p.118). As it can be seen, Kotkina has used theequivalent Russian idiom , which consists

of the similar form, expressivity and has an identicalmeaning. The translator preserves the tone and structure ofthe source text idiom.

As a contrast to the discussion above, there appeared to beidioms which were translated by partly preserving themeaning, expressivity and form of the original idiom, inother words partly preserving the meaning of the original.Example 5 contains idiom have something up my sleevewhich carries the meaning of keeping some having someinformation and keeping it in secret in order to use it later(ODI, 2001, p.358). It was translated into Russian as what in Russian means to act or

speak openly without hiding anything (Staaitien,Paulauskas, 1985, p.158), which seems to have slightlydifferent meaning then the English one, however thenegative word at the beginning of the Russian sentence what in back translation means I don notlike at the beginning makes Russian idiom similar toEnglish idiom in its meaning and expressivity, but not inform. Example 6 who on earth is an informal idiom thatis used to show persons surprise or anger (ODI, 2001,p.97). In this case it reflects both astonishment and angeron characters speech. Kotkina has identically tranfered themood and the meaning into the target language. Russianidiom is a swear expression that is considered

to be exact equivalent in its meaning and expressivity, butdifferent in form.

The last and most frequently used strategy is translation bydescription according to Vinogradov (2004, p.187). Thegreatest amount of idioms in the 4.50 from Paddington(2005) was translated applying this strategy. In order toprove it, it is necessary to analyze the examples 7, 8 and 9.

Example 7 hard as nail which according to ODI meansnot sensitive or sympathetic was transferred into Russianapplying figurative comparison which inback translation means be as hard as the rock. On the onehand, it renders the meaning of the original speaking aboutemotions, but, on the other hand it, also, carries slightlydifferent meaning as the image of being hard as rock inRussian it can be understood as being very strong inhealth whiles here it is more appealed to the emotionalhardness. Idiom in the Example 8 throws a light onthings is defined as to make a problem easier tounderstand (OALD, 2001, p.744). Here Kotkinasparaphrase as what in back translation

means becomes clearer produce smooth and naturaltranslation. According to LDEI the idiom got flea in theear Example 9 means a sharp scolding that makes aperson go away feeling very foolish (Long, 1991, p.116),while according to ODI it means to refuse somebodysrequest very angrily (ODI, 2001, p.126). This leads to anassumption that Kotkina has paraphrased the idiom not in avery accurate way, as in backtranslation means objurgation, does not reflect the exactmeaning of the source idiom.

In addition, the discussion of all the cases of the use of thetranslation strategies in Kotkinas translation has showedthat most often used strategies remain the same through outall the analyzed book, it just depends on the kind of idiomfound in the original books. Moreover, it showed that themost popular strategy among both translators wastranslation by description. Even though, there were quitemany idioms translated by completely preserving themeaning , expressivity and form of the original idiom, alsobypartly preserving the meaning , expressivity and form ofthe original idiom. In generally, it is really hard to find theequivalent in Russian exactly matching the English idiomas the two languages are very different and belong todifferent language roots. Finally, it is very encouraging tonotice that there were found no cases of translation byomission or complete elimination of the expressivity of theoriginal idiom in the translation of this book.

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Conclusion

The aim of this study was to analyze the translation ofidioms collected from A. Christies novel 4.50 fromPaddington (2005) translated into Russian by V. Kotkinain 1991. The main focus was to analyze translatorspreferences for strategies used for translating idioms and tocompare the level of equivalence in the target language.

The analysis has showed that Kotkinas translation ofidioms involved three basic translation strategies:translation by description, idiom to idiom translation,which involves both translation by completely and partlypreserving the meaning, expressivity and form of theoriginal idiom and literal translation or carbon-papertranslation. The examples of idioms translated by applyingvarious strategies were selected from the book in order toshow the different kinds of examples. The analysis ofparticular samples was intended to illustrate the choices ofparticular strategies in Kotkinas translation. It was noticedthat such idioms as poke nose into things, take out feetfirst, etc. have established equivalents in Russian and were

translated by applying an exact equivalent in the targetlanguage. The analysis of the translation of idioms in theA. Christies novel has revealed certain tendenciesconcerning equivalence in translations. Kotkina in hertranslation frequently tried to stick to the original text andwas trying to apply existing equivalents. She opted fordescriptive translation strategy when there was noappropriate equivalent in Russian language or even if therewere an equivalent, but it was not suitable in the contextaccording to its expressive, emotional and stylisticfunction. As a result, firstly, she was translating idioms byusing idiom of similar form and meaning, or idiom ofsimilar meaning and dissimilar form in this way preserving

the effect and meaning of the original idiom. Secondly, herdescriptive translation often contained the structure of theoriginal idioms which cause an effect of interference ofanother language. Thirdly, in some places she used literalor carbon paper translation which also caused an effect offoreignization.

This analysis of the translation of idioms in A. Christiesnovel 4.50 from Paddington (2005) has shown thattranslating idioms from this novel required a lot ofknowledge about idioms and their translation problems onthe part of the translators. On the whole, the use ofdifferent strategies in translation of idioms in literarytranslation illustrates the diverse ways of treatment of thisinteresting, peculiar and difficult part of language.However, idioms express the uniqueness of the languageand culture in which they are originated and, therefore, thestrategies for their translation need careful considerationand the translators need deep knowledge of the source andtarget languages and cultures.

References

1. Baker, M., 1992.In Other Words. London: Routledge.2. Long, T. H. ed., 1991.Longman Dictionary of English Idioms.

Harlow/London: Longman.

3. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 2000. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

4. Staaitien, V., Paulauskas, J., 1985.Rus-lietuvi frazeologijosodynas. Vilnius: Mokslas.

5. Strakien, M., 2009. Analysis of Idiom Translation Strategies fromEnglish into Lithuanian. Studies About Languages, 14, pp.13-19.

6. Wehmeier, S. 2000. Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary.Oxford: University Press.

7. , . ., 2004.: o . : .

8. , . ., , . ., , . ., , . .,2010. : : . : .

9. , ., 1974. : . : .

10. , . ., 1969. . : .

Sources

1. Christie, A., 2005. 4.50 from Paddington. London: HarperCollinsPublishers.

2. , ., 1991. 4.50 . :.

Margarita Strakien

Idiom vertimo i angl rus kalb analiz

Santrauka

Straipsnyje analizuojamos vertimo strategijos veriant i angl rus kalb bei nagrinjamos vertimo problemos, su kuriomis susiduria vertjas,versdamas frazeologizmus. Straipsnio tikslas yra bendrai palyginti anglikus ir rusikus frazeologizmus, apvelgti atitikmen trkum vertimo kalbojebei pagrindines frazeologizm vertimo strategijas, kuriomis rmsi vertja, perteikdama anglik frazeologizm reikm rus kalb. Teorin dalisparemta Seninos, Vinogradovo, Reckerio bei anskio teorijomis. Analizei buvo pasirinktas A. Kristi romanas 4.50 i Padingtono (2005)bei jo vertimas rus kalb. Straipsnyje pateikta tik labiausiai dominuojani vertimo strategij ioje knygoje apvalga. Tyrimas parod, kad yra labai nedaug idiom ruskalboje atitinkani angl kalbos idiomas savo forma, iraikingumu bei reikme. Nors buvo rasta pavyzdi, kuriuose angl kalbos idiom struktra irreikm buvo identika vertimui rus kalb, tyrimas parod, kad j yra nedaug. Dominuojanti vertimo strategija iame vertime pasirod esanti apibdinantistrategija, remiantis Vinogradovu, ar parafrazavimo strategija, remiantis Niumarko ir Tori teorijomis.

Straipsnis teiktas 2010 02Parengtas spaudai 2010 10

About the author

Margarita Strakien, MA (Applied English Linguistics), part-time lecturer at the Centre of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Humanities, KaunasUniversity of Technology, Lithuania.Research interests: applied linguistics.Address: Centre of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Kaunas University of Technology, Gedimino Str. 43, LT-44240 Kaunas, Lithuania.

E-mail: margarita.straksiene@ktu.lt