Zvieracie idimy v procese prekladu a tlmoenia

BAKALRSKA PRCA

Tereza Slovkov

KOMENSKHO UNIVERZITA V BRATISLAVE FILOZOFICK FAKULTA KATEDRA ANGLICISTIKY A AMERIKANISTIKY

2.1.35 Prekladatestvo a tlmonctvo

kolite: PhDr. Ferdinand Pl

BRATISLAVA 2009

Animal Idioms In The Process Of Translation And Interpretation

BACHELORS THESIS

Tereza Slovkov

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA FACULTY OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STUDIES

2.1.35 Translation And Interpreting

Consultant: PhDr. Ferdinand Pl

BRATISLAVA 2009

ESTN VYHLSENIE:

estne vyhlasujem, e bakalrsku prcu som vypracovala samostatne, po pretudovan odbornch materilov a inch informanch zdrojov, ktor som v zvere prce uviedla.

......................... Tereza Slovkov

V Bratislave, 23.04.2009

POAKOVANIE:

akujem

PhDr.

Ferdinandovi

Plovi

za

cenn

rady

a pripomienky, ktor mi pomohli pri tvorbe tejto prce.

ABSTRAKT SLOVKOV, Tereza: Zvieracie idimy v procese Katedra prekladu a tlmoenia.[bakalrska v Bratislave. pre obhajoby: prca]. Univerzita Komenskho anglistiky Stupe

Filozofick Anglistika

fakulta;

a amerikanistiky. kolite: PhDr. Ferdinand Pl. Komisia a amerikanistika. Bakalr slovn odbornej kvalifikcie: Idimy typick a vrazov preto narba a a a ustlen prekladatestva s sasou obraznos je citlivo

a tlmonctva. Bratislava: FiFUK, 2009, 42 str. spojenia zauvanej slovnej zsoby kadho jazyka, pre ktor s podtrhuj bohatos. Pre vedie jeho jedinenos, prekladateov s tmito a tlmonkov

dleit,

prostriedkami

zachovva tak

vetky aspekty

textu a ciele

jeho autora. V tejto bakalrskej prci je nam cieom rozbor vybranch zvieracch do frazeologickch jazyka sa na jednotiek odboru zauvanch v anglickom a slovenskom jazyku a ich preklad a pretlmoenie prekladatestvo kombincii. frazeolgie cieovho sme tudentmi oblas a tlmonctvo vysokho nielen v danej potu jazykovej zvieracej typu ale aj tohto

Zameriavali z dvodu jednotiek

frazeologickch itatea

v anglickej,

slovenskej slovnej zsobe. Na zaiatku prce zoznamujeme z teoretickho hadiska s frazeologickmi jednotkami a disciplnami, pod ktor ich tdium spad, zatia o vo vskumnej asti sa sstreujeme na psomn preklad a stne pretlmoenie idim tudentmi. a ben Takisto laick porovnvame, ako s oboznmen s tmito idimami budci profesionlni prekladatelia/tlmonci pouvatelia anglickho jazyka. Kov slov: Idimy, preklad, tlmoenie, porovnanie.

ABSTRACT SLOVKOV, translation Comenius PhDr. Tereza. and University Pl. Animal in idioms in the Faculty process of of interpretation. [bachelors thesis]. Arts; an of of

Bratislava.

Department of English and American Studies. Consultant: Ferdinand and Evaluation Academic Committee: Degree: Bratislava: English Faculty American Translation Studies. Bachelor

Interpreting.

Arts, 2009, 42p. Idioms and phraseological units are, as a part of lexis, typical uniqueness, for every language. They and richness emphasize its of expressing figurativeness

oneself. It is, therefore, very important for translators and interpreters to know how to use them in a deliberate way and in this manner maintain all the aspects of a text and aims of its author. In our bachelor thesis we aim to analyze animal idioms in English and Slovak and their translation and interpretation into the target language by the students of translation and interpreting in the given language combination. We focus on animal idioms since they are considered to be one of the largest stocks of idiomatic expressions not only in English lexis, but as well as in Slovak. and Firstly, we which present deal the reader study with of the them. on of the how theoretical Concerning students. background our We concerning with we part, idiomatic the expressions

disciplines

research also

concentrate in comparing

written translation and oral interpretation of idioms by are interested familiar future professional translators/interpreters and common learners and speakers of English language are with these idiomatic expressions. Key words: Idioms, translation interpreting, comparison.

PREFACE The work of interpreters and translators is in many ways a very difficult task. One may think that their only job is to convey information, however, it is far more complicated. Translators and interpreters are not only asked to forward the received information, but also to present the audience with the information in a way which corresponds with the aims and intentions of the author. Successful are those which are able to convey not only information, but also stylistic qualities and richness of the original. In my bachelor thesis, I have therefore focused on stylistic values of interpreted and translated texts, particularly idiomatic expression, and their translations from and into English. Concerning the theoretical part of my work, I have derived information from works written by Pavol Kvetko An Outline of English phraselogy, English Lexicology (Theory and Practice) and works by other authors such as Chitra Fernando and R.S Ginsburg. We have characterized which discipline deals with the study of idioms, what the idiom is, what kind of idioms we know, and approaches which help us study idiomatic expressions. The practical part consist of the research in the area of translating and interpreting of idioms by students of translation and interpreting and analyzing how capable of translating idiomatic expressions they are. Part of the research is also the comparison of familiarity with idiomatic expression between the university students of English and the regular users of English.

CONTENTSINTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................9 1 IDIOMS WITHIN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS.......................................................................11 1.1 LEXICOLOGY AND ITS BRANCHES................................................................................11 1.1.1 IDIOMS AND PHRASEOLOGY.....................................................................................13 1.2 CATEGORIZATION OF IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS...................................................15 1.2.1 IDIOMS AND THEIR STRUCTURE............................................................................15 1.2.2 FIXEDNESS OF IDIOMS AND THEIR VARIATIONS..........................................16 1.2.3 SEMANTIC OPACITY OF IDIOMS............................................................................17 2 DIFFERENT APPROACHES WHEN COMPARING ENGLISH AND SLOVAK IDIOMS.......18 2.1 CONTRASTIVE VIEW.........................................................................................................19 2.2 TRANSLATIONAL VIEW....................................................................................................20 3 PRACTICAL RESEARCH..............................................................................................................23 3.1 TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION...........................................................................23 3.1.1 TRANSLATION FROM ENGLISH INTO SLOVAK.....................................................25 3.1.2 TRANSLATION FROM SLOVAK INTO ENGLISH.....................................................31 3.2 COMPARISON OF KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS AND COMMON USERS OF ENGLISH................................................................................................................................36 CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................38 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................40

9

INTRODUCTION

The English language is one of the most used languages in the world and it belongs among an important means of international communication. During its long history it has been influenced by many languages which sculpted most of its lexis. Vocabulary, as a part of language, consists of all the words and expressions one may use in everyday communication. English has always been a very flexible language and among ones with the biggest stock of idiomatic expressions. It is crucial not only for learners of English, but especially for translators and interpreters to uncover all the levels of the language in order to understand it. One of the most difficult facets is mastering the idiomatic expressions that are part of the daily speech of its native speakers. They occur in the language because people have learned to use specific also phrases as a in specific of situations. heritage, They the function master. In this bachelor thesis we would, therefore, like to concentrate on these idiomatic expression as one of the most difficult, but at the same time interesting, parts of the English language. We have also further narrowed this area of speech, and concentrated on the animal idiomatic expressions. This group belongs among one of the most frequently used expressions in English, as well as in Slovak language. It may be due to the fact since the origins of human existence, our lives have been closely connected and dependent on animals. People do not only breed them, but historically incorporated them into their lives as companions and members of their family. It is, therefore, very natural that many animal idioms can mirror cultural

state, and the people whose language we are willing to

10

be found within English language; people have had lots of time to notice and observe the similarities between the activities and phenomena they experience in daily life and the behavior and lives of animals. The aim of our bachelor thesis is investigating to what extend the students of translation and interpretation are to be familiar with such expressions, and how they cope with translating and interpreting these difficult indeed. phenomena We have which excerpted phraseological some animal units are idiomatic

expressions which have occurred in articles found in the newspapers or magazines. We will take a look at idiomatic expressions from a theoretical point of view and then, in practical research, translators translating and and we will concentrate on are of able idioms to in how future cope with context. interpreters interpreting

Firstly, they were asked to interpret the set of idioms immediately after hearing them. By this, we simulated a simultaneous sense of interpreting. Afterwards, they were given the text in the written form, and were asked to perform another translation, this time with allowance of a dictionary and other information sources. Another part of our research is to find out to what extend the students and common English users are familiar with these expressions.

11

1 IDIOMS WITHIN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS 1.1 LEXICOLOGY AND ITS BRANCHES

Language was created to serve people as a way to express themselves and communicate between one another, to verbalize what is on their mind in a sense of what they feel, what they think, and what they want to share with others. As Vachek says, it is a means of mutual communication.1 However, if we want to communicate, so that other people understand us, we have to follow certain paths. We have to pronounce words correctly, use them in the right order, or with right inflections. The structure phonic, 13). Dissecting its name, we can assume what the study of lexicology is. The name lexicology is composed of a Greek word lexis, which can be translated as the words or vocabulary of a given language, and the suffix logy meaning knowledge or study of something. Therefore, we can, in general, characterize lexicology as the study of vocabulary in a language. Lexicology can be defined as empirical, analytical linguistic discipline within the general theory of language whose main aim is to define and establish the form, structure, meaning and usage of the elements of lexis, as well as, the systematic interrelations of the and words cross synchronically, diachronically of language contains many levels, such as lexical, grammatical, etc. (Kvetko, Lexicology

linguistically attempting at synthetic generalizing

1

KVETKO, Pavol. English Lexicology In Theory And Practice, p.13.

12

statements

concerning

the

lexis

in

its

present

dynamic stability or chronological dynamism.2 According to Sankin, lexicology investigates words, word-groups, word-equivalents and morphemes which make up words.3 Lexicology can be, according to what it concentrates on, divided into: General lexicology It studies languages in general. Special lexicology It concentrates on the study of lexicology of one language. Contrasting lexicology The objective of its study is of two or more languages, which are then contrasted. Comparative lexicology It deals with two or more languages, and it studies how they are related from the historic point of view (Bhmerov). The scope of the study of lexicology is very wide and therefore it is divided into several branches where each of them specializes on the certain aspect concerning the lexis of the language. To name a few of them, within lexicology we lexical called can find branches such there deals as onomasiology, a sub-branch types of semasiology, etymology, or lexical morphology. Within the morphology phraseology. branch It exists with all

expressions consisting of more than one word and the scope

2

BHMEROV, Adela.Lexicology.Lecture. Univerzita Komenskho v Bratislave, Bratislava,Slovakia. 4 Feb. 2009.3

GINZBURG, R.S., et al. A Course In Modern English Lexicology, p.5

13

of its study is lexical phrases, collocations, idiomatic expressions, etc. (Kvetko, Lexicology 13).

1.1.1 IDIOMS AND PHRASEOLOGY

It has been only since 1950s that English linguists started to pay attention though a to the study of idiomatic expressions. Even study of English idiomatic

expressions had been carried out, it was mostly done by other than English linguists. Those tended to investigate idioms from more practical point of view, how the idioms are used, in what types of texts they occur, or how they were created. In English, phraseology is still not considered as a separate study (Ginzburg 100). Since there is a lack of research on a scientific basis in phraseology, a consensus does not exist in the different terminologies. In this work, we use the term phraseology to name the study of idiomatic expressions, even though in English it often stands for the manner of how we express ourselves has and by what more means. longer We have chosen this term because in Slovak, where the study of idiomatic expressions much tradition because of the impact of Soviet scholars, we often use the term frazeolgia to name this study and frazma to denote a basic unit of phraseology. In our thesis, we will use term idiom when talking about idiomatic expressions (Kvetko, Phraseology 16). When comparing idiomatic expressions, we can see some similarities They and of characteristics more than one they word, have in common. consist describe

figuratively some phenomena, and are understood as one unit and not as separate words which happen to occur next to each other (Fernando 3). They were created and are

14

understood as one unit, because people have constantly been using them in the specific form over a long time. As mentioned before, the lexis consists of all words occurring in the language, single words as well as multiword expressions which are used as one lexical unit. These multi-words expressions are used in the fixed form. In some cases, if the form changes, the meaning of the phrase will disappear. 34). However, it is not always so because there are also idioms which allow some changes (Mikov Kvetko The first divides type are of words them and into collocations/non-idiomatic combinations/idioms. as the latter one. combinations idiomatic multi-word which are

expressions is not as rigid, when speaking of its form, Collocations likely to be used with other particular words and it is natural for native speakers to use them in this way. Collocations can be, according to Aisenstadt, further divided into free and restricted collocations (Kvetko, Lexicology 100-101). As already mentioned, idioms are being created by constant re-usage by native speakers. The words which used to be separate items have become parts of a fixed phrase with metaphoric meaning. This fixed phrase begins to appear more and more often in speech of common people and it becomes institutionalized. Since they are closely connected with practical usage of the language, idiomatic expressions are linked to very common situations and human activities which have often something to do with their work or free time. They put a considerable emphasis and strength to what we are trying to express. Very often the technological terms, citations of famous people or famous characters from literature become standardized and enrich the stock of English idiomatic expressions (McMordie 6).

15

1.2 CATEGORIZATION OF IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS 1.2.1 IDIOMS AND THEIR STRUCTURE

Idioms are characterized as multi-word expressions, and there is given no limit to the number of the words they consist of. Kvetko divides idioms, according to their structure, into two main groups: phrasal idioms, and sentence idioms. 1) Phrasal idioms These can be further subdivided into two groups: a) Syntagmatic idioms: verbal idioms For example: to see pink elephants, to smell a rat, to be a fly on the wall; non-verbal idioms For example: a red herring, cold turkey, etc.; b) Minimal idioms Those are idioms which consist of one full and one functional word as for example in a word, at hand, at all, etc.4 2) Sentence idioms For example: Man is a wolf to man. You cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Wild horses would not drag me there.etc. (Phraseology 28).

4

KVETKO, Pavol. An Outline Of English Phraseology, p.29.

16

1.2.2 FIXEDNESS OF IDIOMS AND THEIR VARIATIONS

Words which participate in the compilation of an idiom are no longer separate lexical items; they are part of a phrase which is understood as an inseparable lexical unit. However, some idioms allow words they consist of to change to some degree, whether we speak of an exchange of the whole word within the idiomatic expression or only of changes in the word structure. The most of them, however, may be changed as we can see in, for example, to gentle/meek as a lamb, die/drop like flies. Since there are idioms which may be changed to a certain degree, we can easily come across various variants of idiomatic expressions which are given the

term allophrases. These variants may undergo such changes as when one word, within the phrase, is substituted for different one, or when When an idiom can be written changes, differently, etc. undergoing these

different variants of one idiom may differ in how often they are used in texts and in what stylistic types of texts they mostly occur (Kvetko, Phraseology 30). Kvetko in his work distinguishes: a) Lexical variants For example: to put the cat among the pigeons- to set the cat among the pigeons, to cling to somebody like a barnacle- to stick to somebody like a barnacle; b) Grammatical variants c) Orthographical variants For example: to play cat and mouse with somebody- to play cat-and-mouse with somebody; d) Quantitative variants For example: to be no chicken- to be no spring chicken, to play at ducks and drakes with money- to play at ducks and drakes.

17

We can also mention so called geographical variants. Since English is used in more than one country as an official language, some idioms become specific for a certain country (Kvetko, Phraseology 31).

1.2.3 SEMANTIC OPACITY OF IDIOMS

Words may have, besides their primary meaning, various different ones depending on the context in which they occur. It means that whereas in one sentence each word may have its own literal meaning and is treated separately, in another one may participate on the meaning of the whole phrase of words and lose therefore its primary meaning (Kvetko, Phraseology 32). Idioms are figurative phrases. It means that not all the time is clear how the idiom arose or why a specific idiom is used in the specific context. Sometimes, it may be very hard for non-native speakers to guess the meaning of the phrase since idiomatic expressions are typical for each separate language. Kvetko distinguishes these three types of idiomatic expressions 1) Pure idioms With this type of idioms it is very hard to say what they mean if we do not already know it. There is no link between the meaning of the words used in a phrase and the meaning of the phrase as the whole. For example, the idiom to smell a rat means in its figurative meaning sensing that something is wrong. according to their literalness or nonliteralness of meaning:

18

2) Semi-opaque idioms These are idioms in which the primary meaning of the words in an idiomatic expression leads us to predict the meaning of the whole phrase. For example to play cat and mouse with someone means to keep someone in suspense and uncertainty 3) Semi-idiomsThese

or

back

the

wrong

horse

which

means

to

support the wrong one. are idioms which consist of a word, which is used

in a figurative way and the rest is used in its primary sense. For example a one-horse town means a town in the middle of nowhere (Phraseology 32). It ought to be mentioned that even though most idioms have only one meaning due to their uniqueness and specific emotional value which they convey, it is not so in all cases. We can come across some exceptions as for example a dark horse which can have two different meanings: 1) a person who does not talk much to others about his plans, activities and feelings or, 2) a person who has greater abilities than he shows or than people are aware of.5

2 DIFFERENT APPROACHES IN COMPARING ENGLISH AND SLOVAK IDIOMS

Each language has its own history. It has undergone certain changes due to a political, historical and cultural situation of the country in which it is spoken. Therefore, when comparing languages, we can find some features which they have in common or which they do not share. When we want to compare two or more languages and5

SEIDL, Jennifer, McMORDIE, W. English Idioms And How To Use Them, p. 201.

19

the means of communication used within them, in our case idioms, we can look at this problem from translational or contrastive point of view (Kvetko, Phraseology 49).

2.1 CONTRASTIVE VIEW

When approaching the problem of idioms in English and Slovak from a contrastive point of view, we concentrate on comparing English idioms with their Slovak counterparts and try to find equivalents to the idioms of one language in the other one. If no corresponding counterpart is found, other lexical items expressing the same meaning are to be found which would be suitable to express the original idiom (Kvetko, Phraseology 49). According to Kvetko, there are two types of systemic equivalents: 1) Absolute equivalents These often come from the well-known literary pieces. They share the same imagery and the similar words are used to express the meaning of the idiom. They can be further divided into: a) Absolute equivalents proper These are equivalents which share the word-for-word translation of the expression; b) Similar equivalents These are idioms however, in which we come slight across the same on imagery; there are differences

grammatical and lexical levels of words. For example: When the cats away, the mice will play. Ke kocr nie je doma, myi maj hody.

20

2) Relative equivalents: a) Relative equivalents proper In this group belong idioms which are composed of completely different words and which built the symbolism on different imagery. For example: to see which way the cat jumps- odkia vietor zafka, to cook ones goose- podpli si konr pod sebou, all ones geese are swanspreha a preceuje dobr vlastnosti; b) Partially different equivalents These idioms contain at least one identical word, but are based on different symbolism and imagery. They put emphasis on different objects. For example: to drink like a fish- pi ako dha, be weak as a kitten- by slab ako mucha, be happy as a lark- by astn ako blcha; 3) Deceptive equivalents This group is formed by idioms which seem to be equivalents to Slovak expressions because they consist of the same words. Their meaning is, however, different.

2.2 TRANSLATIONAL VIEW

Translating is a very difficult process. The translator of the text does not only have to understand the original but version he/she and also know has how to to have interpret in mind it the correctly,

intentions of the author during the whole process, and has to try to express the content of the original text in the other language with the same power, emphasis, and effect upon the reader as the original. Therefore, dealing with idioms from the translational point of view may be a very tricky task.

21

The the

crucial

thing has

for to

the do

translator when

is

to

actually

identify the idiom in the text. One of the next things translator translating figurative lexical unit is to find a lexical unit in the target language which would represent the idiom of the original text in the best way possible. It is not important to translate idiom by the means of using a dictionary and replace the idiom with the equivalent found there. Much more important is to find an expression which would stylistically fit into the text, so that the reader of the text, which was translated into the target language, does not find the expression unnatural or odd in that specific context. When translating, we often have to use equivalents which target replace, with the help of some other means the of the language, original idiom into target

language. The process is called the functional shift. The result of this process is the translational equivalent which does not have to correspond with the translation found in the dictionaries, but it has to be stylistically adjusted, so it corresponds with the stylistic qualities of the text and intention and aims of the author (Kvetko, Phraseology 53). The other type of shift which we can come across is a systemic one. It is a result of what two language systems have in common and what they lack. Systemic shifts can be divided into: a) Constitutive(linguistic) shifts For example: to cast pearls before swine- hdza perly sviniam, at a snails pace- slimam tempom, etc.; b) Thematic shifts These resulted from different cultures of users of languages.

22

For example: to grin like a Cheshire cat- ukiera sa, to play at ducks and drakes- hdza abky, to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs- znii svoje astie, etc.(Kvetko, Phraseology 53). The third type of shift in the process of

translation is individual shifts. These are influenced by the characteristics of interpreter. They are determined by the character of a translator, his approach to the text, his language knowledge, etc. (Kvetko, Phraseology 54). Kvetko differentiates between: a) Positive shifts We replace the original idiom with other means offered by the target language; b) Negative shifts They arise, when the translation lacks expressiveness and/or the use of deceptive idiomatic equivalents.6

6

Kvetko, Pavol.An Outline Of English Phraseology, p.54.

23

3 PRACTICAL RESEARCH 3.1 TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION

The students and future translators and interpreters face many challenges in their career. The process of translation and interpretation does not only require to skillfully master the given language, but also to stay updated and work on oneself during ones whole career. Even though many people consider them to be two similar jobs, it is not so. Each of them has its specific characteristics and requirements, which one needs to have and to fulfill in order to become a successful translator or interpreter. Both of them transfer information from the original needs to be to the target language. and needs to This information be conveyed to accurate

readers/listeners so that they are able to understand the translated information. In addition to this, translators and interpreters have to consider the culture, history and other aspects The main of the lives of people using the and original as well as the target language. difference between translation interpretation is that the latter is carried out orally, whereas the first is in the written form. This also means that an interpreter who conveys information orally has much less time to express himself than a translator who can work with help of dictionaries, internet and other information sources. Therefore, in our research, we take a look at how skillfully the students of translation and interpretation are able to interpret and translate the given text from and into English with focus on animal idiomatic expressions which are the result of tradition, culture and usage of peoples. We have selected ten English and

24

ten Slovak idiomatic expressions which we analyze one by one. We will be also interested in comparison how well educated the future professional translators and interpreters are in this field compared to the common users of English language. Before the students took a part in this research, they had also been questioned, whether they come across idiomatic expressions. Almost 28% have claimed that they do not use idiomatic expressions in Slovak, neither in English. The rest said that they use it very often and they come across them mostly in economic and journalistic articles, television and books. The following graph shows the percentage of occurrence of idiomatic expressions in three areas in which our participants have come across idioms that we have selected for our research. As can be seen, the vast majority of them can be heard or seen in mass media which include television broadcast, internet, newspapers, etc. However, a big amount can also be found in literature and in everyday communication of people. Graph No.1

25

3.1.1TRANSLATION FROM ENGLISH INTO SLOVAK

Idiom No. 1

Generally, a 20 percent increase qualifies as a bull market.7 A bull market is term used in bussiness to denote

a

situation

in

which

prices

of

shares

on

the

stock

market are rising.8 Taking a look at the interpretation of this idiom, almost 43% of respondents example as trh. expressed trhov Less this or third idiom trh of descriptively, for used the term nrast one

s vzrastom cennch papierov. The rest of the respondents bi than respondents came across bull market, mostly in economic or journalistic articles. Translation of this idiom was not much different from its interpretation. Only around 9% of the students reconsidered the usage of their original interpretation in translation they were and would use a and different expression it in for their instead. It concerns those who used the term bi trh when interpreting trh s exchanged papiermi rastci/zosilujci translation. Idiom No. 2

cennmi

The

stock

market's bear

rally market,

is

nearing

a

critical late-

point: This could become the biggest rebound of the 17-month-old surpassing the November-to-early-January rally.97

PENDER, Kathleen. Signs Of Economys Demise Are Fading A Little. San Francisco Chronicle 29 March 2009 < http://www.sfgate.com/>.8

Bull market.Macmillan English Dictionary For Advanced Learners, International Student Edition.9

HARNISCH, Larry. The Pinch Quota. 20 March 2009 .

26

A bear market is an expression opposite to a bull market. It denotes a market where the prices are not rising, but they are falling. Even though the students have been given a sentence with the opposite expression of a bear market, many interpreted this idiom by an expression medved trh. We speak here of almost half of the students. On the other hand, slightly bigger amount of students (more than 43%) interpreted it with expressions such as klesajci trh. However, would use when the translating same almost 72% of trh students as when described this term as klesajci trh, whereas the rest expression medved interpreting. Idiom No. 3

Where

that

debt-driven

American

investment

binge

led is now clear: to financial meltdown, tens of millions of lost jobs and a global hunt for fat-cat scapegoats paying themselves bonuses for failure.10 In expression this case, we come to across two idiomatic We have standing next each other.

concentrated on the expression fat-cat which is used in informal speech. It stands for a wealthy businessman or politician who is very influential. All of the respondents dealt with this idiom during their interpretation such as mostly the same. vek, They or used dobre expressive adjectives denoting someone/something that is overweight iven. When they were asked to translate this text, 86% of the students translated it as zazobanec, zazoban. Idiom No. 410

vypasen,

COHEN, Roger. America Agonistes. The New York Times 1 April 2009 .

27

Following Revenues

increasing

loan

shark

incidents, to

the

Administration

decided

investigate

further and uncover the factoring services companies suspected of illegal operations.11 A loan shark can be described as a person who lends money to people in need and then asks for much bigger amount of money in return, because he/she sets high interest rates. In a process of interpretation, 9, 5% of respondents used the word-for-word translation verov ralok. The rest of the questioned used phrases such as nekryt piky or simply very. When translating this text, 71, 5% of the students inclined to use either erncka pika or simplified the meaning down to ernk. The rest of them used the same translation as when interpreting.

Idiom No. 5 But their fight against the bill gaining momentum in Congress is an overreaction, or a red herring to prevent the industry from realizing inevitable losses, some judges said.12 A red herring is an idiom which means that one is given such information which cause one to stop concentrating on important things. A high number of students interpreted this idiom and understood it. We speak of around 50% of students who used expressions and such around as 28, zavdzanie 5% who used or odptanie falon pozornosti term

stopa. The rest was not able to translate this idiom and11

Suspected Loan Shark Firms Under Close Inspection. .

12

YOON, Al. U.S. Judges See Red Herring In Mortgage Cramedown Fear. 6 March 2009 .

28

therefore either misinterpreted the information, or was not able to convey it. While translating, the number of respondents using falon stopa in their work rose up to 57%. The rest used similar expression as they did when they were interpreting. Idiom No. 6

But Berst notes that the company could be "a dark horse" in the coming years.13 The idiom to a win dark horse has but two he one, possible surprises when one

interpretations. It nobody kind of expects secret

could either

denote a

person, who

something, which

everyone by winning or it could be a person with some ability surprises finds out about it. The students mostly used the expressions ah or an k with which maintained the animal idiomatic element however it did not express surprise of that company becoming the number one. The surprise was expressed in translations, but with help of other elements such as words zrazu or neoakvane. These were used by 57% of the students. Idiom No. 7

While the public is focused on AIG small fry, Wall Street's big fish are getting the bulk of Washington's goodies.14 A big fish is a well known idiomatic expression

also in Slovak language. It stands for someone who is important, influential, and powerful.13

FEHRENBACHER, Katie. Who Will Win Big In The Smart Meter Rollout? Business Week 31 March 2009 .14

SLOAN, Allan Deals. Outrageous Fortune. The Washington Post 31 March 2009 .

29

Therefore, interpreted expressions. vek this 28, 5%

all of

the with the

students help of students

translated Slovak it

and as

idiom

idiomatic vek

translated expression

zvery,

almost

57%

used

the

ryba, and 14% interpreted it as eso. The students used similar expression also in their translations. Idiom No. 8

Clinton

and the

state department

must let

North

Korea know that we are sick of playing the cry wolf game.15 To cry wolf means that someone is making up problems that do not exist and then no one believes him when some real problems arise. In this case, students mostly faced problems with misinterpreting the idiom and its meaning. Only 14% of them used the corresponding expressions, such as falon poplach, which could be used in Slovak. When translating, all of the students used expressions which have something to do with a word poplach and similar adjectives to falon. Idiom No. 9

Three were sent upstairs as babies, introduced to Fritzls story: wife, Rosemarie, with a he cock-and-bull said, of the the discarded offspring,

errant and absent Elisabeth.16 A cock-and-bull story means that someone is making up a story which is not obviously based on the truth. The vast majority of students were able to interpret this15

idiomatic

expression

correctly.

There

occurred

KONRAD, Alexander R. Korean Wolf, No More. The Harvard Crimson 9 March 2009 .16

BOYES, Roger. Secret Court To Guide Josef Fritzl family from media in dungeon incest trial. The Times 14 March 2009 .

30

mostly

expressions

such

as

vymyslen

historka,

rozprvka, falon prbeh. Since their interpretation was correct, no changes were made in their translations and similar expressions were used. Idiom No.10

There

exists

a

misperception

that

the

Green

Village Road School has been an empty white elephant draining school district assets for decades.17 The expression a white elephant stands for something that becomes a burden for its owner, it might have cost a lot of money, and it is useless now. Since it is not a very common idiomatic expression, it was surprising to find out that almost 30% of the students interpreted this idiom correctly. Mostly, it was expressed indirectly or by expressions such as ierna diera or bezodn studa. The rest misinterpreted this idiom or totally omitted it. In the translation part, the rest used translations found in the dictionaries and translated this idiom with an expression zbyton which pra not or expression convey the with full similar meaning, did fully

meaning of the phrase.

3.1.2 TRANSLATION FROM SLOVAK INTO ENGLISH

Idiom No.11

17

Meet The Candidates For The Madison Board Of Education. Independent Press 1 April 2009 .

31

By pokusnm krlikom na nov lieky je spsobom, ako rchlo prs k relatvne vysokej sume peaz.18 This Slovak idiomatic expression can be expressed in

English as a guinea pig. Only around 15% of students were able to interpret this idiom as a guinea pig. The rest used expressions such as a laboratory rat, a word-for-word translation an experimental rabbit, and neutral expressions such as an experimental object. In translation all the students used the expression a guinea pig in their works. Idiom No. 12

Otvorenos zahraninmu kapitlu m lev podiel na tom, e sa Luxembursko stalo svetovm rekordrom v priemyselnej integrcie.19 The idiom lev podiel can be translated into vrobe a priekopnkom eurpskej

English as lions share. This expression is a word-forword translation which maintains all the aspects of the original idiom in the target language. When interpreting, only 24% of respondents used the expression solved lions share. by The using rest of the students this problem other non-idiomatic

expressions such as great deal, the main reason and other similar ones. After being able to use a dictionary and translate this text under no time stress, all of the students found the expression lions share suitable and used it in their works.

18

GREGOR, Jn. Testovanie liekov, ktor sa vymklo z rk. SME 23 March 2006 .19

HOLUB, Milan. riedla modernho eurpanstva April .

32

Idiom No. 13

erven

koht

zakikirkal

na

hospodrskej

budove

oproti elezninej stanici.20 erven koht is a Slovak idiom denoting fire. There is no synonymous idiomatic expression in English. Our interpreters dealt with it individually. Most of them used fire or in flames to express this idiom. Only around 10% of the students used a word-for-word translation a red rooster. Their translation of the text was not much different and also those 10% of students gave up on their interpretation variant and used fire instead. Idiom No. 14

Mravou

prcou

tudenti

odhalili

50

metrov

pvodnho kamennho chodnka.21 Mravia prca denotes in Slovak very diligent way of working. The students participating in our research interpreted it as hard/diligent/meticulous/precise work with help of all these adjectives. Around 14% of students used expressions such as bee work or antlike work. In their translation, the vast majority of the students used the same or very similar expressions as they did while interpreting.

Idiom No. 15

radncky ime stle dr opraty ekonomiky.22

20

PAVELEK, Martin. Pokus o samovradu skonil obrovskm poiarom. Noviny Orava 27 October 2008 .21

KOCINOV, Eva. Aby sa Kalvria pohla, museli prs tudenti. Bratislavsk noviny 25 August 2005 .

33

This idiomatic expression is used for bureaucracy and it can be translated into English by means of the idiomatic expression red tape. Almost 30% of the students had a problem defining the expression radncky ime in Slovak and therefore they translated it simply as administration. The rest did not use the idiomatic expression red tape, however they used better term than administration and that is bureaucracy. In the process of translation, approximately 15% of the respondents used expression red tape and the same amount inclined to the expression a bureaucratic white horse. Idiom No. 16

Jej

posledn

rozhodnutie -

nevedela si

franczska e je

spolonos

prehltn

vina

mysl,

krkavia matka.23 Krkavia matka stands for a mother who neglects her children. In English, the term unnatural mother may be used. The students interpreted this Slovak idiom as a bad mother or used a description of the expression. However, also some misinterpretations occurred even in the translations, in which some students, approximately 24% of them, used as an equivalent a word a stepdame. The same amount of students used an expression an unnatural mother. Idiom No. 17

22

JAGLOV, Tatiana. radncky ime stle dr opraty ekonomiky.

Euroreport April 2005:50..23

ZSILLEOV, Miriam. Ministerka Datiov- arltov psmo v sarkonlande. SME 26 January 2009 .

34

Tks

urobil

medvediu sluba

slubu denotes

aj that

predsedovi somebody

SMK does

Plovi Cskymu.24 Medvedia or someone. While interpreting, over 1/5th of the respondents did not interpret the idiom correctly. They interpreted it as doing a big favor or service to someone. The rest understood the meaning of the idiomatic expression and translated it in a descriptive way. In their translations, the students used mostly expressions similar to doing a disservice to someone. Idiom No.18

something which turns out to do only wrong to something

Poslednou

iernou

ovcou

na

internete

medzi

slovenskmi mestami je ierna nad Tisou.25 The Slovak idiomatic expression ierna ovca may be very easily translated into English since it is a wellknown idiom. All of the students did not have any difficulties recalling this expression and they used it while interpreting as well as in their translations. Idiom No. 19

Je

jasn,

e

by

mu

pridelili

lohu

obetnho

barnka.26 This idiomatic expression is as well-known as the previous one. Even though, other imagery is used, both of them are commonly used in English as well as in Slovak.24

MIZERKOV SKYVOV, Beta. Europoslanes toil na Slovensko.

Hospodrske noviny 10 October 2008 < www.milangala.sk/>.25

PIKO, Michal. ierna nad Tisou je offline. SME 20 January 2009 < http://sme.sk/>. MORVAY, Peter. Nechcete by premirom? Ptaj sa politici v Maarsku.

26

SME 27 March 2009 < http://www.sme.sk/>.

35

The students, in the role of interpreters as well as translators, used mostly the term a scapegoat to express the given Slovak idiomatic expression. Only a few of them used the word a victim in their interpretation. All of the interviewed used a scapegoat in their translations. Idiom No. 20

Trend

ktor

sa

raz

a

je

modern,

to

je

trend

drsnch vlch zkonov, v ktorch plat, e jedinec sa mus vdy stara iba sm o seba a osud inch mu me by ukradnut.27 Vlie zkony are such laws or regulations which create a very competitive situation in which only the best and the most ambitious ones can be successful. In English the term dog eat dog may be used. Most of the students interpreted this idiom by omitting a word vl. Only around 10% of the subjects used dog. In the translations, the students did not find it necessary to substitute Slovak idiomatic equivalent with the English one. Therefore, only 24% of them used the term dog eat dog. The rest expressed the information similarly as they did when they were interpreting. in their interpretation the expression dog eat

27

OLH, Brao. Vetci mme ance rovnak!? Alebo kto chce bi psa, palicu si 21 July 2005 < http://www.rnl.sk/>.

njde.Roma Li

36

3.2 COMPARISON OF KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS AND COMMON USERS OF ENGLISH

It has been very interesting, and in some parts surprising, to compare how well informed the students studying English language and common users of English are in the area of English idiomatic expressions and their meaning, and of translating English idiomatic equivalents to Slovak ones. Two graphs have been created to demonstrate what amount of students would be able to interpret correctly the selected animal idiomatic expression because they have already come across them before and how many common English speaking people would. The first graph deals with idioms translated from English to Slovak and the second one deals with the idiomatic expression translated from Slovak to English. Graph No. 2

37

Graph No.3

It is clear that the students of English and common users have the approximately same knowledge of English idiomatic expressions. The results were very close, but in both cases, more successful group were the students who were able to identify the idiom within the text with which they have already dealt sometime in the past, even though they did not necessarily interpret it under a time stress as well as they could have. What is surprising is the fact that common users were much more informed of not very common idioms which caused some problems even for the future professional translators and interpreters.

38

CONCLUSION

In our bachelor thesis, we have decided to deal with idiomatic expression since these are one of the most difficult parts of English vocabulary for translators and interpreters to master. It is because these expressions describe phenomena indirectly and it is often very hard for non-native speaker to understand them and include them in their basic stock of vocabulary. Firstly, we introduced our readers into the theory concerning language in idiomatic general. expressions Since the and study lexis of of the idiomatic

expressions is not yet fully established within English Linguistics and is not treated as a separate study, there are many definitions and terms concerning idiomatic expressions and the study of them, out of which we have chosen those used throughout the bachelors thesis. We continued with an investigation in the area of characteristics of idioms and their classification based on various aspects. In the second part we characterized approaches which we can take when analyzing the idioms in two different languages and the main processes which influence the translation of idioms. In the third part of our bachelor thesis, we concentrated translation compared translation how on and of the research with and among at the ten the students of and and interpretation dealt ten Slovak the university

they

interpretation English

idiomatic

expressions into the target language. These idioms were gained mostly from newspaper and magazine articles found online. Afterwards, we analyzed the main changes between translation occurred and and for interpreted better variants of text which the illustration expressed

39

results in percentages. It is not much surprising that the students gained better results in the translation part since they had much more time to think how they could express the information in the best way possible and they could also find help in other sources of information such as dictionaries, internet and others. However, when interpreting, there is only a little time to think of how to transform the information into the target language. This assumption is also supported by the results of the students in this area which were worse. Even though these The comparison some claimed that they of our they could had not already recall consisted and come the of across expressions second between part the

correct idiomatic phrase under time stress. research university students common

English speaking non-natives. The comparison was based on how well the both groups are educated and informed in the area of English idiomatic expressions and where they have obtained their knowledge in this area. We found out that even though the common users of English language may not concentrate expressions. general, research the on study of it English is language, to they are, in our the however, quite well informed of the meanings of idiomatic However, necessary say that in university better students participating even

gained

results,

though

difference was not as big as one may assume. According to the participants, mostly we can come across the idiomatic expressions in mass media such as newspapers or television. It is also quite helpful to read a lot of various texts in English to educate ourselves in this area, because idiomatic expressions are remarkable part of every language. However, when one does not master them, they can easily become ones nightmare.

40

BIBLIOGRAPHYBhmerov, Adela.Lexicology.Lecture. Univerzita Komenskho v Bratislave, Bratislava,Slovakia. 4 Feb. 2009. Fernando, Chitra. Idioms And Idiomacity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Ginzburg, R.S, et al.A Course In Modern English Lexicology. Moscow: Higher School Publishing House, 1966. Kvetko, Pavol. Anglick frazeolgia v terii a praxi. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenskho, 1996. Kvetko, Pavol. English Lexicology: In Theory And Practice. Trnava: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda, 2005. Kvetko, Pavol. Anglicko-slovensk frazeologick slovnk. 2.vydanie. Bratislava: SPN,1991. Kvetko, Pavol. An Outline Of English Phraseology. Trnava: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda, 2003. Mcmillan English Dictionary For Advanced Learners. International Student Edition. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., 2002. McMordie, W. English Idioms And How To Use Them. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1975. Mikov, Gabriela. Lexicology Of English. Nitra: Vysok kola Pedagogick/Fakulta humanitnch vied, 1993. Seidl, Jeniffer, and W. McMordie. English Idioms And How To Use Them. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978. Wood, F.T., and R. Hill. Dictionary Of English Colloquial Idioms. London: The Macmillan Press Limited, 1980

.

41

BIBLIOGRAPHY-ARTICLESBoyes, Roger. Secret Court To Guide Josef Fritzl family from media in dungeon incest trial. The Times 14 March 2009 < http://www.timesonline.co.uk/>. Cohen, Roger. America Agonistes. The New York Times 1 April 2009 < http://www.nytimes.com/>. Fehrenbacher, Katie. Who Will Win Big In The Smart Meter Rollout? Bussiness Week 31 March 2009 . Gregor, Jn. Testovanie liekov, ktor sa vymklo z rk. SME 23 March 2006 . Harnisch, Larry. The Pinch Quota. 20 March 2009 . Holub, Milan. riedla modernho eurpanstva, po stopch otca mylienky Eurpy s vonm pohybom tovaru, kapitlu a ud. April. Jaglov, Tatiana. radncky ime stle dr opraty ekonomiky. Euroreport April 2005:50.. Kocinov, Eva. Aby sa Kalvria pohla, museli prs tudenti. Bratislavsk noviny 25 August 2005 . Konrad, Alexander R. Korean Wolf, No More. The Harvard Crimson 9 March 2009 . Meet The Candidates For The Madison Board Of Education. Independent Press 1 April 2009 . Mizerkov Skyvov, Beta. Europoslanes toil na Slovensko. Hospodrske noviny 10 October 2008 < www.milangala.sk/>. Morvay, Peter. Nechcete by premirom? Ptaj sa politici v Maarsku. SME 27 March 2009 < http://www.sme.sk/>. Olh, Brao. Vetci mme ance rovnak!? Alebo kto chce bi psa, palicu si njde. Romano Nevo Li 21 July 2005 < http://www.rnl.sk/>. Pavelek, Martin. Pokus o samovradu skonil obrovskm poiarom. Noviny Orava 27 October 2008 < http://www.novinyorava.sk/>. Pender, Kathleen. Signs Of Economys Demise Are Fading A Little. San Francisco Chronicle 29 March 2009 . Piko, Michal. ierna nad Tisou je offline. SME 20 January 2009 < http://sme.sk/>. Sloan, Allan Deals. Outrageous Fortune. The Washington Post 31

42March 2009 < http://www.washingtonpost.com/>. Suspected Loan Shark Firms Under Close Inspection. . Yoon, Al. U.S. Judges See Red Herring In Mortgage Cramedown Fear. 6 March 2009 . Zsilleov, Miriam. Ministerka Datiov- arltov psmo v sarkonlande. SME 26 January 2009 < http://www.sme.sk/>.