RENDERING LEXICAL UNITS EXPRESSING PRECISION INFORMATION

Abstract

The article deals with basic peculiarities of rendering lexical units expressing precision information. Such units are traditionally subdivided into numeric and verbal. The authors state that rendering of numeric precision information acquires particular importance in interpretation as it should be correctly memorized, set down by means of interpreter’s shorthand and rendered adequately. Verbal precision information encompasses lexical units denoting people’s proper names, positions, ranks, titles etc. The translation of such language signs requires thorough knowledge of state and governance structure, of hierarchical positions in Ukrainian, international and foreign state and private bodies, organizations, corporations, etc. The difficulties in rendering precision words in written translation should not be overlooked. Though it is traditionally believed that people’s proper names are not translated, their rendering is regulated by some rules which should be followed as well. The number of lexical units denoting precision information is constantly growing and no dictionary can cope with the incessant influx of such words, so the analysis of the basic ways of their rendering in translation and interpretation seems topical.
In interpretation as well as in translation the precision information should first of all be identified. The translator/ interpreter understands that this or that lexical unit functions not as a common but as a proper name, and is, accordingly a name of a brand, a person’s name (Major) or a title (major). While interpreting the main task of the interpreter will be to memorize, take notes and render adequately such units depending on his/her knowledge of the field. While translating we recommend to turn to various reference sources in the search for a traditional equivalent or to the special dictionaries of proper names. Though the general rule of rendering people’s proper names reads that they should be transliterated by means of Latin letters in translations from Ukrainian into English, a lot of them have traditional equivalents. In translations from English one uses transliteration, transcription, explication, loan translation in rendering proper names, though many of them are preserved in their original form.
Specific nature of units denoting people’s proper names and positions, titles and ranks in every language gives rise to the problems in translating such language signs. Analysis of these aspects in rendering precision information has been based on articles in the magazines Український тиждень and “The Ukrainian Week”.