Курсова робота “Peculiarities of the translation into Ukrainian of idiomatic expressions in artistic discourse (based on the material of the series of novels by J.K. Rowling “Harry Potter”)”

CONTENTS

 

INTRODUCTION 

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL BASIS OF IDIOM STUDY 

1.1 Concepts of ‘idiom’ and ‘idiomaticity’ in modern linguistics 

1.2 Translation transformations of idiom translation 

1.3 Use of idioms in fictional discourse 

CHAPTER 2. FEATURES OF THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH IDIOMS IN FICTIONAL STYLE (ON THE MATERIAL OF THE HARRY POTTER BOOK SERIES) 

2.1 Analysis of the lexical transformation of the translation of idioms 

2.2 Analysis of the grammatical transformation of the translation of idioms 

2.3 Analysis of the lexical-semantic transformation of the translation of idioms 

CONCLUSIONS 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

LIST OF DATA SOURCES 

ANNEX 

РЕЗЮМЕ 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The rationale of research. Phraseologisms are a large part in the linguistics of any language and function in all spheres of society’s communication. Due to the presence of different idioms in different languages, it is possible to study the history of the language and culture of a certain people in a certain period. The study of phraseology, as a part of the lexical wealth of a people, helps to study its historical experience. The study of phraseology is an important aspect in the development of English and Ukrainian linguistics. Since English is considered an international language, the connection between English and Ukrainian is unconditional. In order to accurately understand English texts that have been translated into Ukrainian, the translator must carefully select accurate translation methods, especially when translating idioms.

In domestic linguistics, there is no single study that would show the solution to the problems of translating idioms, as the translation of units with figurative meaning. It is precisely such unresolved lacunae that explain the relevance of the study.

Domestic and foreign scientists made an important contribution to the study of phraseology and phraseology. Among the Ukrainians, it is worth highlighting the works of such researchers as A. M. Prykhodko, O. O. Potebnia, M. F. Alefirenko, R. P. Zorivchak. Among the foreign scientists who studied this topic, it is worth highlighting: S. Bally, I. A. Beaudoin de Courtenay, O. Jespersen, J. Katz, Y. Naida, V. Fleischer. However, all these scientists did not come to a single conclusion regarding the definition of the term “idiom” and their classification, so this requires research even now. A. Denisova, L. Komar and M. Kovalchuk, who in their works analyze the classification of phraseological units and the difficulties of their translation, should be singled out separately. R. Zorivchak’s work “Phraseological Unit as a Translation Studies Category” is worthy of attention.

The aim of our study is to reveal the peculiarities of the translation of phraseological conjunctions in the fictional discourse.

Based on the aim, the following objectives are identified:

1. review theoretical studies of idioms, define the concepts of “idiom” and “idiomaticity”;
2. determine the classification of idioms;
3. to investigate the difficulties of translating idioms from English and Ukrainian;
4. analyzed the translation of selected idioms from the Ukrainian language into English and highlighted its features.

The subject of the study is idioms in English and their counterparts in Ukrainian.

The object of the study is the translation of phraseological conjunctions from English into the Ukrainian language.

The data sources are the series of books “Harry Potter” by J. K. Rowling.

The following methods were used during the research:

1. 1. the method of analysis, which came in handy for gaining knowledge about idiomatic expressions in different periods of existence and research of these units;
2. a synthesis method for combining the collected information about idioms into a single whole and establishing a connection between different types;
3. 3. a descriptive method for explaining the peculiarities of the structure of idioms and their functioning in the language;
4. sampling method for identifying the studied units;
5. the method of comparison and juxtaposition to highlight the differences of idioms in the English and Ukrainian languages;
6. method of analogies to establish the relationship between English and Ukrainian idiomatic expressions.

The practical value of the work consists in improving knowledge about idiomatic expressions in the English and Ukrainian languages. The obtained results will be useful for further research on this topic.

The theoretical value of the work is that the obtained results can be used during training in linguistic disciplines during the study of idioms. Important research results when studying the theory and practice of translation in institutions of higher education.

The structure of the study. The work consists of an introduction, two sections (theoretical and practical), conclusions, appendices, bibliography and list of data sources.

The introduction reveals the rationale, aim, objectives, subject and object of the research, data sources, methods, theoretical and practical value and structure of the research. In the first chapter, the theoretical foundations of the study are revealed, the concept of ‘idiom’, their classification and translation features are highlighted.

In the second chapter, a translation analysis of phraseological units in artistic discourse is made and lexical, grammatical and lexical-grammatical translation transformations during translation are highlighted. The results of the research and the conclusions drawn from them are disclosed in the conclusions. The bibliography provides a list of theoretical sources used to write the work. The list of data sources contain the literature that served as a source of actual research material.

 

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL BASIS OF IDIOM STUDY

 1.1 Concepts of ‘idiom’ and ‘idiomaticity’ in modern linguistics

 

During daily communication, reading or any way of obtaining information, a person comes into contact with idioms, most of which arouse curiosity due to their incomprehensibility. Examples of idioms are to break a leg – ні пуху, ні пера, to buy a pig in a poke – купити кота у мішку. Phraseologisms are stable phrases and expressions that are interpreted not by their components, but by the totality of all units of the phraseology, that is, these components do not have the same meaning individually. A phraseological unit is understood as a stable unit of language, which consists of several words that together have a certain figurative meaning.

The notion of “phraseology” causes different interpretations among scholars, which makes it important to study these units in modern linguistics. P. Simpson believes that such units originate from metaphors, which are stable phrases. The researcher also believes that these are combinations of words whose meaning is difficult to understand separately from their components [18, p. 93]. A similar opinion is expressed by F. Palmer, who considers it to be a sequence of words whose meaning is not clear from the meanings of the words of this lexemes [15, p. 41].

In our study, we will pay attention to phraseological conjunctions, or idioms. The peculiarity of this type of phraseological units is that the figurative meaning of the idiom does not follow from the meaning of the components. For example, in the idiom to kick the bucket, all components do not emphasize its meaning. The given idiom means “to die”, which cannot be understood from the lexical units of the idiom. In modern linguistics, there are two approaches to idioms – “broad” and “narrow”. According to the “narrow” approach, idioms are “stable phrases, the semantics of which is not derived from the meanings of its components, but formally integrated by them; arises as a result of the loss of motivational relations” [7, p. 173].

In American and British linguistics, most researchers follow a “broad” approach to the issue of idioms. A “broad” approach to the issue of phraseology was distinguished by P. Müldner-Nietzkowski, who includes compound words, terms, clichés, commands and orders in the realm of phraseology [14, p. 14]. Western scientists consider idioms not only phraseological units of all types, but also paremias (proverbs, proverbs, quotations, etc.). It is worth noting that Richard Spears in his work “Dictionary of American Idioms” explains the selection of units presented in the dictionary as follows: “Every language has phrases or sentences that cannot be translated literally. Many cliches, proverbs, slang phrases, phrasal verbs, and common sayings offer this kind of problem. A phrase or sentence of this type is usually said to be idiomatic. This Dictionary is a collection of the idiomatic phases and sentences that occur frequently in American English” [19, p. 7].

That is, Spiers resorted to a “broad” approach and attributed to idioms both word combinations and sentences, that is, clichés, slang phrases, proverbs, which are characterized by idiomaticity. William Collins, also the compiler of the dictionary, gave the following opinion: “When studying idioms, you always face two of the most important problems. The first is the problem of origin. As Piercel Smith notes, even experts are unable to clearly and confidently explain the meaning of numerous idiomatic expressions. Second, there is the problem of the connection between origin and current use. It often becomes necessary, in studying an idiom whose existing meaning is clear and widely used correctly, to admit that the connection between origin and meaning is not known. [11, p.11].

It is difficult for scholars to express a unanimous opinion about the place of phraseological units as lexemes. M. F. Alefirenko notes that “phraseological units, on the one hand, have all the basic properties inherent in language units, and on the other hand, they differ from other language units only by their characteristic features” [1, p. 75]. The researcher notes that the lexeme and phrase are not at the same linguistic level, “because, firstly, the syntagmatic relations of phrases and lexemes are not linguistic but speech, and secondly, because phrases can enter into syntagmatic relations with syntactic units, and then it would be necessary to distinguish a non-existent syntactic-phraseological level” [1, p. 75]. Demskyi notes that a phraseological unit is an independent linguistic unit “characterized by phraseological meaning, component composition and grammatical categories and performs a nominative function, and together with it characterizes the subject called by the phrase or its dynamic and statistical features” [4, p. 60].

Signs of idioms are:

• they may include necrotisms (words that are not used anywhere except this idioms), archaisms;
• splices – syntactically inseparable;
• it is impossible to rearrange the components;
• cannot have additional words.
• Seidle and U. McMordie believe that idioms are structures that cannot be changed, that is, they are stable (to give someone the cold shoulder). However, scientists also distinguish those in which certain parts are fixed (to make a clean breast of it), as well as those that allow certain changes in non-fixed parts (to have/to take/to enjoy forty winks) [16].

In our work, we will use the concepts of “idiom”, “idiomatic unit” and “phraseological unit”, referring to a phraseological unit characterized by reproducibility, stability and unmotivated meaning. So, idioms are an important part of linguistics and are characterized by such features as incommensurability, the presence of a figurative meaning, and reproducibility.

 

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