Idiomatic translation: general principles and translation solutions

Abstract

The article examines the problem of interlanguage idiomaticity from the translation studies perspective. The concept of idiomatic translation is clarified; such type of translation is viewed as a process of inter-language transfer of the original semantic and pragmatic content, which follows the lexical, lexical-grammatical, pragmatic rules for the compatibility of linguistic elements in the target language and takes into account the selectivity of this language in expressing the complex meanings of language units. The article summarizes the possibilities of overcoming translation literalism and inter-language interference. It is shown that the concept of idiomatic translation embraces both the implied-meaning relationships between the source and the target messages (their equivalence, genre-stylistic, sociocultural and pragmatic correspondences) and the form of expression in the target message which is to adhere to the usage conventions of the target language. Using the example of the Russian translation of George Orwell’s essay “The Prevention of Literature,” the author analyzes translation solutions for the selection of inter-language correspondences for syntagmatically related units of different types (idioms, clichés, collocations) that require idiomatic ways of expressing complex lexical and lexical-grammatical meanings by means of the target language. Particular attention is paid to the problem of expressing context-dependent and evaluative connotations of idioms and collocations in the process of idiomatic translation.

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