Файл: Аббревиатурные процессы в английском языке ..pdf

Abbreviation processes in modern English are very active, due primarily to the desire to make thought as capacious as possible. Abbreviations are characteristic not only for scientific discourse, in which a significant number of concepts are expressed through abbreviations, but also for colloquial speech and journalism, where they have their own characteristics of use.

The relevance of this study is due to the lingering interest of linguists to abbreviation processes and the problem of translation, which has recently received a lot of attention in connection with the development of translation computer programs, their improvement and the development of new terminological dictionaries and educational translation books.

The novelty of this study is determined by a thorough and detailed analysis of translation techniques applied to various types of business correspondence, which is a new step towards achieving high-quality translation of abbreviations in various functional styles.

This paperwork examines the problem of translating abbreviations used in fiction, journalism, scientific, characterizing financial and economic texts and business correspondence, a question that is not well studied and deserves in connection with various interpretations and ambiguities of abbreviations presented in two languages, which requires close attention translation.

The emergence of a new abbreviation word is the result of a struggle between two trends: the tendency of language development and the tendency of its preservation. In order to more adequately reflect, reproduce and consolidate new ideas and concepts, language in general and vocabulary in particular are forced

rebuild, differentiate, generate new lexical units.

In the formation of new concepts, morphemes existing in this language, or morphemes and even words borrowed from other languages, can be used, or, which is much less common nowhere and never before existed vocabulary.

Abbreviations of words and phrases to several letters and one letter have recently become increasingly widespread due to the general tendency of the language to save money on the expression of lexical meaning [20]. The constantly growing pace of life, the rapid increase in the flow of information lead to the formation of a

large number of reductions of various kinds. The modern era is associated with the emergence of new phenomena in art, technology, changes in all areas of human activity. In this regard, there are new concepts, the designation of which, as a rule, is associated with phrases, used in the form of abbreviations to the initial letter of each individual lexical component, and not using the original phrase in full form.

Since the materials of this study are abbreviations, we focus on the features of various discourses that affect the specifics of their use and translation in various kinds of texts.

The necessary theoretical foundation for a multi-aspect study of the nature of stylistic phenomena that affect the abbreviation translation features is created by the achievements of domestic and foreign scholars in the field of general linguistics (А.Вежбицкая, П.Н.Денисов), stylistics (И.В.Арнольд, И.Р. Гальперин), and translation theories (Л.С. Бархударов, В.Н. Комиссаров, Т.А. Казакова).

The purpose of this work is to study the specifics of the reflection in translation from English into Russian of such structurally important translation units as abbreviations.
Drawing attention to the many works devoted to the problem of the lexical meaning of the word and are given in the bibliography, we formulate the tasks of the work as follows:

• consider in general terms the stylistic features of the use of abbreviations in colloquial speech, presented in fiction, journalism, scientific, characterization of financial and economic texts and business correspondence,

• describe the features and different types of abbreviations: slang, common vocabulary, terms,

• find out the features of the translation of abbreviations in fiction, journalism, scientific, characterization of financial and economic texts and business correspondence paying attention to the reasons for the use of specific translation techniques.

The practical significance of the work is that the results of the study and the proposed translation solutions can be used in theoretical and practical classes in lexicology, morphology and translation studies.

The work includes an introduction, two chapters, conclusion and list of references.

CHAPTER 1. USE OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TRANSLATION PROBLEM

1.1. Classification of abbreviations: slang, common vocabulary, terms.

The abbreviation of phrases, considered by a number of lexicologists as a lexical abbreviation of the phrases [Елисеева 2003], is used quite often when forming new words in English to express meaning in the most capacious form:

VIP = very important person – оченьважныйчеловек

PRO = publicrelationsofficer – сотрудникпосвязям с общественностью

However, the abbreviation is represented more frequently in various terminologies. When shortening words and phrases, in most cases only the first letter of each word is used [Ахманова 2002: 487]. Most often abbreviations are subject to scientific and technical terms, as well as the names of social groups and organizations. Usually abbreviations are used more often than full forms of names. For example, in the field of banking, mathematics and medicine, the following initial abbreviations can be called:

BB = bill book – книгасчетов

NZ (Non Zero)неноль

ARD = acuterespiratorydisease острое респираторное заболевание

If there is an official word in the composition of the phrase (most often the union and), this word is either omitted completely or remains [Ахманова 2002]. In some cases, the abbreviation is not fully implemented:

BandPcost = bidandproposalcost–ценазаявкиипредложения

C and F = cost and freight – стоимостьифрахт

C and I = cost and insurance – стоимостьистраховка

C and F, CAF = cost and freight – стоимостьифрахт

All the abbreviations listed are scientific and business terminology.

The abbreviations used in journalism are primarily the names of various organizations. Many of which are now part of the common vocabulary:

NASA (NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministration); - НАСА (Национальное управление по аэронавтике и исследованию космического пространства);

NATO (NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization) - НАТО (Организация Североатлантического договора);

OPEC (Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries) - ОПЕК (Организациястран-экспортеровнефти).

In addition, slang abbreviations are closely related to the common vocabulary:

VIP = very important person;

PRO = public relations officer ...

“In commercial letters written in English,” says E.E. Izrailevich, - there is a large number of standard expressions used to confirm the receipt of business letters, to express a request, when reporting on the sending of documents, catalogs and samples, when referring to documents, etc. Among these stereotypical expressions there are fancy turns and expressions characteristic of commercial jargon”[Израилевич 1992: 7]. Many such cliche and terms are often used in the form of abbreviations:

GDP or gdp - gross domestic product - ВВПилиВВП - валовойвнутреннийпродукт;

CV - curriculumvitae – биографическиеданные

IMF - International Monetary Fund - МВФ - Международныйвалютныйфонд;
CEOs - chiefexecutiveofficers - генеральныедиректора
CFOs - chief financial officers - финансовыедиректора;
COOs - chief operating officers; - главныеоперационныедиректора;
rep - representative - представитель

Among the usual abbreviations, acronyms should also be distinguished, that is, initial abbreviations, pronounced as words and having homonyms in the form of words in a given language. This group of initial cuts began to develop in the twenties of the twentieth century and became widespread after the Second World War [Алексеев 2010]. Acronyms include the following initial abbreviations:
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AIDS (AcquiredImmuneDeficiencySyndrome) - СПИД (синдромприобретенногоиммунодефицита);

BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) -Бейсик(языкпрограммирования);

In recent years, a new structural type of initial abbreviations of this type has appeared, at the end of which the suffix -y / -ie was added to the initial abbreviation or was the initial abbreviation of the last component of the phrase, for example:

JUPPIE (Japanese Urban Professional Person) - яппи, японскогопроисхождения;

MUPPIE (Middle-aged Urban Professional Person) - городскойжительсреднихлетсвободнойпрофессии (юрист, врач, преподавательит.п.);
as well as educational types:

DINKY (DoubleIncomeNoKidsYet) - семья, гдеобасупругаработают, адетейпоканет;
NELKY (NoIncomeLotsofKids) - безработныесбольшойсемьей;
CARD (CampaignAgainstRacialDiscrimination) - движениепротиврасовойдискриминации;
CLASS (Computer-basedLaboratoryforAutomatedSchoolSystems) - класспрограммированногообучениясприменениемэлектронно-вычислительныхустройств;
NOW (National Organization for Women) - Национальнаяорганизацияженщин;
SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) - хандравзимниемесяцы;
SALT (StrategicArmsLimitationTalks) - переговорыпоограничениюстратегическихвооружений (ОСЕ);

STOPP (SocietyofTeachersOpposedtoPhysicalPunishment) - Обществоучителей, выступающихпротивтелесныхнаказанийвшколе;

WAY (World Assembly of Youth) - Всемирнаяорганизациямолодежи;

WOMAN (World Organization for Mothers of All Nations) - Всемирнаяорганизацияматерей.

PIPPY (Person Inheriting Parents' Property) - человек, разбогатевшийпослеполучениянаследства;

WOOPIE (Well-Off Older People) - зажиточныепожилыелюди;

YEEPIE (Youthful Energetic Elderly People) - пожилыелюдиполныеэнергии, частопутешествующие.

Such abbreviations can be called abbreviated-derivative (suffixal) formations [Мешков 1976].

However, the most common type of abbreviation of words is an apocope, i.e. truncation of the end of a word.

Among the abbreviations of this type stands out a group of nouns ending in -о, such as:

condo from condominium; – откондоминиума

demofrom demonstration - отдемонстрации

disco from discotheque–отдискотеки

intro from introduction - отвведения;

info from information – отинформации;

memo from memorandum – отмеморандума

panto from pantomime – отпантомимы

polio from poliomyelitis – отполиомиелита

гесоfromreconnaissance – отразведки

retro отretrospective - от ретроспективы
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steno from 1) stenographist; 2) stenography–отстенографист; 2) стенография

video from 1) videoplayer; 2) videofilm. – отвидеоплеера; 2) видеофильм

In all the abbreviations listed above, the element o forms part of the complete framework. By analogy with such abbreviations, lexical abbreviations are formed, where the element o is added to the abbreviated part of a word and is a kind of suffix [Елисеева 2003], for example:

Afro from African - изАфрики

ammo from ammunition - отбоеприпасов

combo from combination - изкомбинации

duo from duet - издуэта

muso from musician–отмузыканта

resto from restaurant - изресторана

smoke from smoking interval –перерывдлякурения

Among the new words, there are other forms of the apokopa [Елисеева 2003], namely: the first syllable is used without changes, for example:

beaut from beautiful – красиваявещь;

i'ab from fabulous - потрясающий;

fratfrom fraternity - братство (студенчество);

frank QT frankfurter - сосиска;

lib from liberation - освобождение;

mag from magazine — журнал;

met from meteorologist - метеоролог;

mod from modern person –модник, модница;

narcfrom narcotic - наркотик;

pol from politician - опытныйполитик;

progfromprogressiveperson - «передовая» личность (с ироническим оттенком);

prom from promenade - балл;

teen from teenager - подросток;

urbfromurban– большой современныйгород.

Similar lexical abbreviations are widely used in slang:
Undies = underwear;

Tot = totalisator ...

In some cases, the abbreviation of the word is not shortened to the initial letter, but loses only one or another of its parts (Tot = totalisator), which can be modified (Undies = underwear) [Мешков 1976].

Abbreviation is very characteristic of proper names [Андреева2004]. Formed new words give the conversation a more intimate and familiar character: Benjamin / Ben; Albert, Gilbert, Herbert, Hubert / Bert; Desmond / Des; Geoffrey / Geoff; Geffrey / Geff; Joseph / Joe; Leonard / Len; Elizabeth / Lisa, Liza; Gillian / Gill ...

These abbreviations of proper names are often found in colloquial speech and fiction.

In addition to lexical abbreviations, examples of which are given above, there are also a number of “graphic abbreviations” in modern English [Williams 1992]: des res (desirable residence); pedxing (pedestrian crossing); xrds (cross roads) ...

These abbreviations are very often used in business correspondence.

1.2. The problem of adequate translation of abbreviations

The genre-stylistic translation rate is determined by V.N. Komissarov as “the requirement that the translation corresponds to a dominant function and stylistic features, the type of text to which the translation belongs” [Комисаров 1990: 229], largely determining the necessary level of equivalence and the dominant function,
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which is the main task of the translator and the most important quality assessment criterion his works.

“The style of individual varieties of translated material,” notes A.V. Fedorov - manifested in the features specific to him it is in the system of a given language that requires functional, rather than formal, correspondences to be translated. For the scientific text - both in the original and in translation - the important role of the term and compliance with the norms of terminology in a given language are characteristic, for science presupposes an exact terminological expression of concepts ”[Федоров 1983: 206].

“Reproduction of the language content of the original at different levels of equivalence may have different effects on the ability of the translation receptor to recreate the specific contextual meaning of the original. The role of the specific environment of communication and individual knowledge and experience of the receptor in the formation of a specific contextual sense is so great that it can be maintained with a significant variation of language content and, conversely, can vary considerably within the maximum preservation of the original content plan. It should also be borne in mind that the belonging of a receptor to another linguistic group may in itself deprive it of any knowledge that the original receptor has and is necessary for a complete interpretation of the linguistic content of the source text. Here it is already necessary to communicate this knowledge to the translation receptor by including them in the content of the text or in extra-text references and notes ”[Комисаров 2000: 57].

“The ratio of equivalence and adequacy in each act of translation is determined by the choice of strategy that the translator makes based on a number of factors that make up the translation situation. Among these factors, the purpose of translation, the type of text being translated, and the nature of the intended translation receptor are of most importance [Комисаров 2000: 114].

In this regard, it is necessary to take into account the knowledge of abbreviations of the target audience. For example, these abbreviations will be clear to everyone:

UNO (United Nations Organization) - ООН

NATO ['neitau] (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) - НATO

They do not need to be given in full.

The same abbreviations as CAM, GASP, IATEFL, etc. can lead to

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misunderstanding, and therefore when translating when they are first used, it is desirable to bring them in full lexical form.

CAM (Computer-AidedManufacture) - производство, основанное на применении компьютерной техники;

GASP (GroupAgainstSmokers' Pollution) - организация, борющаяся против загрязнения окружающей среды;

IATEFL (InternationalAssociationofTeachersofEnglishasaForeignLanguage) - Международная организация учителей английского языка как иностранного (американская организация учителей
английского языка для иностранцев).

The main goal of the translation is to achieve adequacy. Adequate, or, as it is also called, equivalent translation, is such a translation that is carried out at a level necessary and sufficient to transmit an unchanged plan of content while observing the corresponding plan of expression, that is, the norms of the translating language [Казакова 2002].

By definition, A.V. Fedorov, there are three most characteristic cases:

1. “In the language of translation there is no dictionary conformity to one or another word of the original (in general or in its given meaning).

2. Conformity is incomplete, i.e. only partially covers the meaning of the word of the original language.

3. Different words in the source language correspond to different meanings of the multivalued word in the translation language, which to one degree or another accurately convey them ”[Федоров 1983: 54].

All these three cases are very characteristic for the translation of abbreviations that require to take into account the macrocontext (the genre of the text to be translated) and the microcontext (the nearest lexical environment).

So, for example, the use of the well-known abbreviation AIDS is not in medical, but in a polytechnic text will indicate that it is rather сокращениеот automated information data system (автоматизированнаяинформационнаясистема),

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and not from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; (СПИД, синдромприобретённогоиммунодефицита).

Findings

Thus, the tendency to save, to abandon the use of other morphological means in the formation of new words is reflected in the use of such a method of word formation as an abbreviation.

The abundance of office clichés in the form of abbreviations is very characteristic of business correspondence.

The existence of special terms, primarily abbreviations, is considered to be a common characteristic of texts of a journalistic, scientific, and business nature. In artistic texts, abbreviations are also often used. This is an important feature of the conversational style presented in literature. The most important requirement for the adequacy of the translation of abbreviations is the requirement for a translator to choose the most concise, but at the same time understandable target audience equivalents, which in many cases requires the use of a composite phrase, rather than an abbreviation.