Tamara I.LeontievaLectures on Translation Theory

Department of Cross-cultural Communication and Translation Study

Foreign Languages Center

Vladivostok State University of Economics

2008

PRAGMATICS OF TRANSLATION

General notion and linguistic pragmatics

What is pragmatics?

Pragmatics, n (used with a singular verb)

The noun “pragmatics” is regarded from different sides, the simplest of which is “practical considerations” [1935-40] - Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, 1996. - P.1518.

PRAGMATICS

Logic, Philos. The branch of semiotics dealing with causal and other relations between words, expressions, or symbols and their users.

PRAGMATICS

Ling. The analysis of language in terms of (a) situational context within which utterances are made, including (b) the knowledge and beliefs of the speaker and the

(c) attitude between speaker and listener.

Linguistic Pragmatics

SEMIOTICS

semantics pragmatics

syntax

Authors of Linguistic Pragmatics

• Charles Morris (US) - introduced pragmatics as part of semiotics

• Charles Peirce (US) formulated linguistic pragmatics under the influence of John Austin’s (Great Britain) theory of speech acts (in the 60-ies and 70-ies of the XX century)

The Phenomenon of Linguistic Pragmatics

Speaker Addressee

Linguistic Pragmatics

Situation Interaction

Linguistic Pragmatics Terminology

• Illocution (the speaker’s communicative intention: question, order, information, etc.)

• Presupposition (the speaker’s background knowledge of the addressee’s interests, opinions, scope of information)

• Locution - the utterance sense (request, promise, information, order, etc.)

• Perlocution - the communicative effect of the utterance on the addressee

Pragmatics studies co-operative principle of communication

Four maxims of successful communication:

• quality (Do not make false statements);

• quantity (Do not say more than required);

• relevance (Speak to the point);

• manner (Avoid ambiguity).

Speech acts vs speech events

• Speech acts are actions performed via utterances (apology, complaint, request, compliment, order, promise, etc.).

• A speech event is an activity in which the participants interact in order to arrive at some desired outcome.Usually a speech event consists of a number of utterances moving towards the goal.

Classification of speech acts

• Declarations: I pronounce you husband and wife.

• Representatives: The sky was dark.

• Expressives: Fine! Thanks!

• Directives: Do it immediately!

• Commissives: See you tomorrow.

Communicative vs semantic translation

Beware of the dog!

Осторожно, злая Опасайтесь

собака! собаки!

Communicative or semantic?

Она впервые назвала его на ты.

It was for the first It was for the first

time she addressed time she called him

him in the second by his Christian name.

person singular.

Conclusions for the Translator

• In an adequate translation the communicat- ive effect is close to that of the source text.

• At best the text’s communicative effect coincides with the author’s communicative intention.

• Two types of translation are caused by the above principle: communicative translation and semantic translation.

Even for a Tory polititian he set up a new record for the gap between promise

and performance.

Даже для деятеля Даже для деятеля

партии Тори это партии Тори это

было неслыханное было неслыханное

несоответствие несоответствие

(противоречие) между словами и

между обещаниями делами.

и их выполнением.

В белом плаще с кровавым подбоем, шаркающей кавалерийской походкой, ранним утром четырнадцатого числа весеннего месяца нисана в крытую колоннаду между двумя крыльями дворца Ирода Великого вышел прокуратор Иудеи Понтий Пилат (М.А.Булгаков. Мастер и Маргарита).

Early in the morning on the

fourteenth of the spring

month of Nisan the

procurator of Judea, Pontius

Pilate, in a white cloak lined

with blood-red, emerged with

his shuffling cavalryman’s

walk into the arcade

connecting the two wings of

the palace of Herod the

Great (Michael Glenny).

Early in the morning on the

fourteenth day of the spring

month of Nisan, wearing a

white cloak with a blood-red

lining and shuffling with his

cavalry’s man gait into the

roofed colonnade that

connected the two wings of

the palace of Herod the

Great, walked the procurator

of Judea, PontiusPilate (Diana Burgin).

LITERATURE

1. Прошина З.Г. Теория перевода с английского на русский и с русского на английский. - Владивосток: Изд-во ДВГУ, 2002. - С.160-169.

2. Лингвистический энциклопедический словарь / Под ред. В.Н.Ярцевой. - М.: Сов. энц., 1990. - С.389-390.

3. Мильруд Р.П. Введение в лингвистику. - М.: ДРОФА, 2005. - С.24-28.