Non-equivalent lexical groups and methods of translating them from Turkmen into English



One of the most neglected phenomena in the translation process is the non-equivalent lexical units. The problem of achieving a sufficiently clear translation is constantly analyzed by various linguists. When information from one language is translated into another language, the translator loses some of the features of the word. This is mainly because the translator is from a different culture. In some cases, the translator’s language does not provide a sufficiently accurate translation when translating certain words, so he only offers a translation that gives an approximate meaning. This happens chiefly because of the non-equivalent lexical units. The article discusses the various definitions of this phenomenon and provides the ways of translating these units from Turkmen into English by the examples taken from different translations.

Keywords: translation, non-equivalent lexical unit, culture.

The term «non-equivalent lexical unit» is frequently found in the works of many authors studying the problems of language and translation (Y. M. Vereshchagin, V. G. Kostomarov, L. S. Barkhudarov, Y. I. Resker and others). The main reasons for the non-equivalent lexical units to attract the attention of linguists are the many features found in languages and the expansion of international relations.

G. V. Shatkov was the first to use the term «non-equivalent lexical unit» in the theory of translation and introduced it as one of the main terms of linguistics. He defines this term as «the total or partial absence of words from one language to have equivalents in another». Non-equivalent lexical unit is «a word or one of its literal or figurative meanings that does not have an accurate and suitable translation «ready» in the lexicon of another language at a certain historical period» [3, p. 7].

Shortly after Shatkov’s work, the linguist Chernov also used this topic as the object of his scientific research. G. V. Chernov understood it as «the absence of one or all equivalents of the meaning of the translated word in the lexicon of the target language.» He distinguished three types of non-equivalence: the material non-equivalence that occurs when a certain object or event is absent in the life of the people speaking the target language; lexical-semantic non-equivalence which comes forth in the absence of a suitable and equivalent translation of the concept of an object, or event in the objective reality; stylistic non-equivalence which appears in the case where the lexical-stylistic characteristics of the lexical unit in the source text do not correspond to that of the target language.

Y. M. Vereshchagin and V. G. Kostomarov give the following explanation to the term non-equivalent lexical units: «Non-equivalent lexical units are words used to express concepts that do not exist in other cultures and other languages; words related to cultural elements and belonging to the culture «A» and absent in the culture «B»; as well as words that do not have a translation in another language. In a word, they are words that have no equivalent outside the borders of their respective languages» [4, p. 53].

Among the research works of various linguists, the work that provided the most consistent and comprehensive approach to the concept of non-equivalent lexical units was carried out by O. A. Ivanov. He defines non-equivalent lexical units as «lexical units of the source text language that have no equivalent in the lexical structure of the target language». That is, they are units that cannot be given all appropriate meanings within the context given in the target language [5, p. 9–10]. Ivanov also presents a detailed classification of non-equivalent lexical units. He sees non-equivalence as a mismatch of referential or pragmatic meanings. Based on this, the author distinguishes referentially non-equivalent and pragmatically non-equivalent lexical units. He included realia, phraseologisms, individual neologisms used by the author, semantic lacunae (gaps), words with broad semantics to the lexical units caused by the incompatibility of the referential equivalent lexicon.

Non-equivalent lexical units related to pragmatic meaning inconsistencies include territorial and social features, dialects, jargonisms, argotisms, taboo words, archaisms, etc., which do not correspond to the general norms of the language; abbreviations, because it is difficult to find appropriate translations in the context of the target language; subjective evaluation suffixes; words representing sound and image; associative gaps, that is, words in which certain words have certain additional associations in the minds of speakers of one language, but do not have such associations in speakers of another language;

As a result of the analysis of the written literature on translation problems, it is possible to identify the following main methods of translation of non-equivalent words from one language to another language:

1) transliteration;

2) transcription;

3) calques; semi-calques; semantic neologism;

4) contextual translation;

5) descriptive translation;

6) analogical translation;

7) the reduction or omission;

8) rendering of realia unfamiliar to the source language by the realia of the target language.

A Turkmen literary text can be translated into English in a number of ways.

Descriptive translation . This method of translation involves describing or defining of the non-equivalent lexical unit in the process of translation. For example:

Table 1

Turkmen text	English translation
Türkmen halkynda «ata — Kybla », «ene — Käbe » diýilýär [1].	The Turkmen people say: «Father is kybla (a direction of the world where the sun rises) and mother is Kabe (the Muslims’ sacred land) [1].
Ýurdumyzda Ene mähri merkezleri döredilip, olarda enäniň saglyk ýagdaýynyň kadaly bolmagy we çaganyň sagdyn dünýä inmegi, olaryň saglygynyň goralmagy üçin ähli şertler döredilýär [1].	In the newly established «Ene Mähri » Centers (hospitals for new mothers and their babies) all conditions to take care of the health of a mother and her newborn baby have been created [1].
Il-halkymyzyň ynamynda enäniň yhlasy bilen mähirine eýlenip bişirilýän türkmen çöregi, saçak, tamdyr , duz-tagam mukaddeslik hasap edilýär [1].	The Turkmen people believe that every Turkmen chorek (traditional bread) or dishes prepared by the efforts of mother and such articles connected with chorek as sachak (piece of f abric woven from camel hair to keep bread soft) and tamdyr (clay oven to bake bread) are considered sacred [1].

The objects denoted by the words «Kybla», «Käbe», «Ene mähri merkezleri», «çörek», «saçak» and «tamdyr» refer only to the ethno-national objects of the Turkmen people. Since the realities expressed in these words are not available in English, a form of translation through explanation has been used to bring them to the readers in English. If the names of those objects are given by direct translation, ambiguity will be created. Therefore, a description of what they are is given in parentheses.

Analogical translation or translation by approximation is one of the methods of rendering nouns in translation, in which the given subject in the source text does not have an equivalent in the target language, but is defined by a concept that is close to it and corresponds to a significant part of its lexical meaning. This method of translation of non-equivalent words allows us to clarify the concept or phenomenon being described. Analogical translation is quite frequently used in translation. Such a translation helps to create clearer images of certain objects in the readers’ minds. For example:

Table 2

Turkmen text	English translation
XI asyra degişli bolan «Kowusnamanyň» bäşinji fasyly «Ata-enäni sylamak hakynda» diýlip atlandyrylýar [1].	... the fifth chapter of the «Kovusnama» which belongs to the 11 th century, is called «On the Respect for Parents» [1].
Ýaňy dünýä inen çaga sallançakda ýatyrka, oňa rahatlyk berýän şol mähirli ses ene hüwdüsidir [1].	A newborn baby sleeping in the cradle is comforted by the soothing melody of a sweet bedtime song of his mother [1].
Dünýäniň akyldarlary, weliler, ýagşyzadalar hakyndaky tymsallarda hem gowy adam bolmagyň ýoly enä goýulýan hormatdan ýagtylanýar [1].	In the stories about scientists, prophets, and kind people the way of becoming a good person is enlightened by the respect for mother [1].

Calque (from French: calque — copy) means to create a new word or a new meaning of a word through a completely appropriate translation of a lexical unit in another language. See the examples:

Table 3

Turkmen text	English translation
Nusaýdan günbatarlygyna gidýän Beýik Ýüpek ýoly Nusaý welaýatynyň düzümine girýän birnäçe obadyr şäherleriň üstünden geçipdir. [2]	To the west of the Nisa, the Great Silk Road ran past many villages and small towns that were a part of the district of Nisa. [2]
«Jennet eneleriň dabanynyň astyndadyr» diýen pähim şu mazmundaky pikirleri ganatlandyrýar [1].	There is a wise saying, which expresses these precepts, «Paradise is under the feet of our mothers» [1].

Transliteration is the rendering of one language’s writing using the writing symbols of another language. Transliteration is the literal creation of a lexical unit in the source language using the alphabet of the target language. It is a literal imitation of the original word form in the translated language [6, p. 63].

Table 4

Turkmen text	English translation
Taryhyň dowamynda bina edilen türkmen döwletleriniň soltanlarynyň kuwwatly güýje eýe bolmagynda, olaryň pähimli netijä gelip bilmeklerinde hem eneleriň täsiriniň bolandygyna men ynanýaryn [1].	I believe that the sultans of the Turkmen states that have been established in the course of history, have gained such a great strength and made wise decisions due to the influence of their mothers [1].
Dünýäni güýji bilen boýun egdiren Çingiz hanyň enesiniň adaty däldigi barasyndaky rowaýat kysmy gürrüňi hem okyjylaryň köpüsi bilýändir [2].	Perhaps many readers know the stories similar to legends about an extraordinary woman, the mother of Genghis Khan who conquered the whole world by his strength [2].

Transcription is a translation at the level of phonemes, i. e. it means rendering the foreign name in the closest form to its phonetic form. Transcription is the expression of lexical units with the help of phonemes of the target language. Transcription is based on the phonetic principle. This method of translation is common nowadays because it is not derived from the orthography of the foreign language, but rather from the pronunciation of the name through the sound in that language.

Table 5

Turkmen text	English translation
Enesi oglunyň kellesinden tahýasyny çykarýar hem-de oňa ak gar ýaly telpegi geýdirýär [1].	During this performance mother takes off her son’s tahya and puts a white telpek on his head [1].

Contextual translation. In some cases of translations of non-equivalent words, they were replaced by another word depending on the context. This is conditioned by the context surrounding that lexical unit.

Table 6

Turkmen text	English translation
Adamyň öz mähribanlary baradaky ýatlamalary onuň durmuşynyň iň gyzykly we ýakymly ýatlamalarydyr [1].	The person’s memories about his family are his best and most interesting reminiscences [1].

Omission. In case of errors, the translators leave some words incomplete. This translation method is used when it helps to understand the general text. It removes unnecessary words from the sentence and makes the text more fluent.

Table 7

Turkmen text	English translation
Mertligiň nusgasy Burla hatyn bilen Oraz Salyryň arasynda bolýan gürrüň okyjynyň on iki süňňüni elendirýär [1].	Readers feel excited when they read the conversation between Oraz Salyr and Burla hatyn [1].

Generalization involves the translation of a narrow meaning of a foreign word with a broad meaning in the target language. For example:

Table 8

Turkmen text	English translation
Söze baý, dile çeper, sözleýşe dilewar halkymyzyň ene dili Oguz han Türkmeniň diliniň dowamydyr [1].	The incredibly rich native language of the Turkmen people is a continuation of the language of Oguz Khan the Turkmen [1].

When translating from one language to another, non-equivalent units require a special approach. Filling and compensation appear as the main ways of translating non-equivalent words. They are transliteration, transcription, calque, semi-calque, appropriation, semantic neologism, analogical translation, contextual translation, hyponymic translation, derivation, etc. translation methods are used. When translating a non-equivalent word, the translation method is chosen depending on the task the translator faces.

References:

1. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. Worshipping Mother — Worshipping a Sacred Person. Ashgabat, 2018.

2. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow. Turkmenistan — the Heart of the Great Silk Road. II Volume. Ashgabat, 2018.

3. Шатков Г. В. Перевод русской безэквивалентной лексики на норвежскийязык: Автореф. дис. канд. филол. наук. — М., 1952.

4. Верещагин Е. М., Костомаров В. М. Лингвострановедческая теория слова. — М.: Русский язык, 1980.

5. Иванов А. О. Безэквивалентное и непереводимое в переводе в свете современной лингвистической теории: Автореф. дис... канд. филол. наук. — Л: ЛГУ, 1984.

6. Казакова Т. А. Практические основы перевода: English to Russian. — СПб: Союз, 2002.