Interpretation and competence factors in translation

Abstract

The article deals with a complex interrelation of competence and interpretation factors in translation. In translation, interpretation implies both the understanding of the sense presented in the Source Language/Source Text (SL/ST) and its expression in the Target Language/Target Text (TL/TT) through the use of language­specific means. The limits or boundaries of interpretation are established by the invariant sense, and its adequate rendering requires a high level of professionalism. The competence factor in translation is intrinsically tied to the translator’s personality. If the translator’s language and conceptual thesaurus are poorly developed, this factor can produce a negative effect, as it limits the interpretation factor. Well­developed translator’s competences facilitate an in­depth understanding of presuppositions and implications in the SL, which serve as the basis for interpretation in translation and the criterion for the choice of transformations (shifts) used to cope with interlingual asymmetries and prevent interlingual interference. Interlingual asymmetries are present at all language levels and can cause interlingual interference that, in its turn, leads to language and translation errors. The competence factor produces impacts depending on the direction of translation: in the course of translation from a foreign language into the mother tongue the challenge is presented by the first phase of interpretation, viz. understanding, while in the course of translation from the mother tongue into a foreign language the difficulty lies in the choice of idiomatic means to express the invariant sense.

References

Evteev S.V. Perevod — equivalentno — naskolko vozmozhno i adekvatno — naskolko nuzhno [Translation is equivalent to the limit of possibility and adequate to the limit of necessity]. Vestnik Brianskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Istoricheskiye nauki i archeologiya, Literaturovedeniye, Iazykosnaniye, Pedagogicheskiye nauki. Briansk: RIO: UE, 2017. No. 1 (31), pp. 262–267 (in Russian).

Gavrilenko N.N. Obucheniye perevodu v sfere professionalnoy kommunikatzii [Teaching translation in professional communication]. Moscow: RUDN, 2008, 176 p. (in Russian).

Gak V.G. Iazykovyie preobrazovaniya [Language transformations]. Moscow: Iazyki russkoi kultury, 1998, 768 p. (in Russian).

Garbovskiy N.K. Teoriya perevoda [Theory of translation]. Moscow: MGU, 2004, 544 p. (in Russian).

Ivanov N.V. Antinomii interpretatzii: nachala analiza. Yazyk kak sistemnaya realnost v sotziokulturnom i kommunikanivnom izmereniyakh [Antinomies of interpretation: the first steps of analysis. Language as systemic reality of socio­ cultural and communicative dimensions]. Materialy VIII mezhd. nauch. konf. po aktualnym problemam teorii yazyka i kommunikatzii (June, 27, 2014, Moscow). Moscow: Mezhdunarodnyie otnosheniya, 2014, 110–135 pp. (in Russian).

Ivanov N.V. Dihotomii perevoda (k ontologicheskim osnovanijam opre­ delenija nauchnogo objekta perevodovedenija) [Translation dichotomies (to the ontologic bases of definition of a scientific object of theory of translation)]. Vest- nik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 22. Teorija perevoda, 2015. No. 4, pp. 34–65 (in Russian).

Komissarov V.N. Sovremennoye perevodovedeniye [Modern Translation Studies]. Moscow: ETS, 2002, 424 p. (in Russian) (thesis).

Korovkina M. Teoreticheskiye aspekty smyslovogo modelirovaniya spezial­ nogo perevoda s rodnogo yazyka na inostranniy (na materiale publizisticheskih tekstov ekonomicheskoi tematiki): kandidat philolol. nauk. [Theoretic Aspects of Sense Modelling in LSP­Translation from Mother Tongue into Foreign Language (on the Basis of Journalistic Texts of Economic Discourse): thesis of Cand. of Sciences (Philology)]; the RF Military University, Moscow, 2017, 241 p. (in Russian).

Korovkina M. Teoreticheskiye aspekty smyslovogo modelirovaniya spezial­ nogo perevoda s rodnogo yazyka na inostranniy (na materiale publizisticheskih tekstov ekonomicheskoi tematiki): extended abstract of candidate’s thesis philolol. nauk [Theoretic Aspects of Sense Modelling in LSP­Translation from Mother Tongue into Foreign Language (on the Basis of Journalistic Texts of Economic Discourse): synopsis of a thesis of Cand. of Sciences (Philology)]; the RF Military University, Moscow, 2017, 27 p. (in Russian).

Kriukov A.N. Metodologuicheskiye osnovy interpretativnoy kontzeptzii perevoda [Methodological basis of the interpretative concept of translation]: kandidat thesis fil. nauk. Moscow, 1988, 442 pp. (in Russian).

Luriya A.R. Yazyk i soznaniye [Language and mind]. Rostov­on­Don: Fenix, 1998, 416 pp. [in Russian].

Mishkurov E.N. O “guermenevticheskom povorote” v sovremennoi teorii i metodologuii perevoda (part I) [On hermeneutic shift in the modern theory and methodology of translation], Moscow: MGU, 2013, No. 1, pp. 69–91 (in Russian).

Orozco M. Building a Measuring Instrument for the Acquisition of Trans­ lation Competence in Trainee Translators. Teaching Translation in Universities. Present and Future Perspectives/ edited by P. Sewell and J. Higgins. M. Orozco. London: AFLS, 1996, pp. 199–200.

Paducheva E.V. Vyskazyvaniye i ego sootnesennost’ s deystvitelnostiu: referentzialnye aspekty semantiki mestoimeniy [Utterance and its relation to reality: referential aspects of semantics of pronouns]. Moscow: Nauka, 1985, 272 p. (in Russian).

Presas M. Bilingual Competence and Translation Competence. In Teaching Translation in Universities. Present and Future Perspectives / edited by P. Sewell and J. Higgins. M. Presas. London: AFLS, 1996, pp. 19–33.

Riabtzeva N. Yazyk i estestvenniy intellect [Language and human intellect]. Moscow: Academia, 2005, 640 p. (in Russian).

Schveitzer A.D. Perevod i Linguistika [Translation studies and linguistics]. Moscow: Voen. izd­vo Min. obor. SSSR, 1973, 280 p. (in Russian).

Fillmore Ch. Types of Lexical Information. In: Studies in Syntax and Seman­ tics. Ed. F. Kiefer. Ch. Fillmore. Dordrecht, 1969, pp. 109–137.