Page 30 - Міністерство освіти і науки України

Lecture 6
Translation Competence and Grammar
Coming across an unknown word in the text a translator can consult a dictionary.
A wholly different thing happens when dealing with some lexico-grammatical or purely
grammatical phenomenon in translation process. Rendering the context meanings of the
definite and indefinite articles, translating English verbals and verbal constructions,
ways of conveying the passive voice constructions – it is the subject of the lecture.

I Rendering the contextual meanings of definite and indefinite
articles
Within particular contextual environment the article may change its lexico-
grammatical nature, acquire some additional meaning and that`s the case of translator`s
special attention. So, let us consider some uncommon realizations of the article in
Ukrainian.
A. Realizations of the definite article:
1 as the identifying pronoun “весь”, “вся”, “все”:
e.g. It seemed that the room was lifting…
Здалося, що вся кімната ходить ходором…
2. as the relative pronoun “який”:
e.g. She did not know the actual fire of love.
Вона не знала, яке то справжнє полум`я кохання.
3. as the identifying attributive pronoun “сам”, “сам собою”:
e.g. The work meant nothing to him
Сама собою праця нічого не важила для нього.
4. As the indefinite pronoun “якийсь”, “певний”:
e.g. For the moment he became thoughtful.
На якусь мить він замислився.
B. Realizations of the indefinite article:
1. as the negative pronoun “жоден” or the negative particle “ані”:
e.g. He hadn`t a penny.
Він не мав жодного пенні (ані пенні).
2. as different relative adjectives, the most often used being “справжній”:
e.g. This small sum seemed a fortune.
Ця маленька сума здалася справжнім скарбом.
3. as different adverbs:
e.g. He could sit in a draught if he wanted to.
Він міг сидіти навіть на протязі, якби того хотів.
It should be borne in mind that these several ways of realization of the article,
though uncommon to some degree, are too small a set. The choice of the semantically
fitting substitute for the definite or indefinite article rests entirely with the translator,
who is well acquainted with the text under translation.

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