The peculiarities of phraseological units translation.

The peculiarities of phraseological units translation.

Two ways of idiom translation.

 

Table of contents

Introduction

Part I – Phraseological units and their origin

1. Definition of the term phraseological unit

2. Source of idiom origin in Modern English language

2.1. Primordial English phraseological units

2.2. Adoption from different languages translated by any type of translation

2.3. Phraseological units adopted from the American English

2.4. Biblical phrases

2.5. Shakespearean phrases and changes in them

 

Part II – Translation of phraseological units

1. Complications in translation of English phraseological units

2. Classification of methods of idiom translation

2.1. Phraseological method

2.2. Non-phraseological method

Conclusion

 

Introduction

 

       The English language has a thousand-year history. At this time a lot of expressions appeared, which were founded as well turned, neat and fine. In this way a special layer of the language appeared, it is phraseology – the whole set of stable expressions, which have their independent meaning.

    The learning of the English language is widely-spread among our country. Good knowledge of language is impossible without knowing English phraseology. If we know phraseological expressions of English and our native language it will make us easier to translate and understand.

    The world of Modern English phraseological expressions is so grand and various that every aspect of its study is worth of due regard.

    A.S. Pushkin, the famous Russian writer, considered «what the author said it must be paraphrased by an interpreter». A.K. Tolstoy thought that «we must not translate words, sometimes even meanings; we need just to give one’s impressions».

    Phraseological expressions are widely used almost in all parlances, especially in informal speech and literary language. But for interpreters and translators phraseological expressions offer the biggest problem. Because some phraseological expressions, especially Primordial Russian cannot be translated into English, if they are connected with culture and traditions. And interpreters translate only the sense of expressions.

    The theme of this course paper is « The peculiarities of phraseological units translation. Two ways of idiom translation», which is one of the most difficult, untranslatable and the most interesting theme. We will try to involve all questions about origin of phraseological expressions, their essence and main problems connected with translation of phraseological expressions.

    The aim of the coursework is to understand which problems could be connected with the translation of phraseological units, and how to translate phraseological units.

 In this course work the next tasks were set:

1. To examine the term «phraseological unit» from many points of view of scientists;

2. To show the main sources of phraseological units;

3. To elicit which changes were made in some phraseological units;

4. To emphasize what complications could appear in translation of phraseological units;

5. To understand how translate phraseological units correctly;

6. To learn the rules of correct translation of phraseological units.

For solving the formulated tasks in this coursework we have used the following methods:

1. cognitive method;

2. comparative analysis;

3. descriptive method

4. componential analysis

For learners of the English language as a foreign language this layer of language presents difficulties in learning, but after the mastering of phraseological units we could start to speak like British people, and to catch the meaning at once. Sometimes it is easier to say a phraseological expression to tell our thoughts and sense than try to find necessary words and sentences. In many cases the knowledge of English phraseology helps us to avoid «Russism», i.e. literally translation of sentences from Russian into English. In this way we would like to make a conclusion that actuality of this term is indisputable.

Practical relevance of our research consists in using its results in linguistics, Modern Russian literary language and basics of professional work of interpreters.

The course work consists of two parts, in the first part «Phraseological units and their origin» we examine the term «phraseological unit», how linguists explained this term, how phraseological units were appeared, and their main sources. In the second part «Translation of phraseological units» we examine all problems which are connected with the translation of phraseological units, and how to translate them correctly.

The structure of the course paper corresponds to contents and constructs into logic succession. The work consists of introduction, two parts, conclusion and references.

 

Biblical phrases

 

The Bible is considered as one of the most important sources of phraseological expressions. The scientist Smith says that the Bible was widely read book and often cited in England for more than one hundred years. Not only separated words were adopted from the pages of the Bible, but also intact idiomatic expressions were adopted. The amount of bible phrases which were gone down into the English language is too much, that it is impossible to count them.

Bible phrases are considered as full assimilated adoptions. We give some examples of the most widely-spread bible phrases, which are also used in the Russian language:

at the eleventh hour – в последнюю минуту, в самый последний момент; can the leopard change his spots? – горбатого могила исправит; cast pearls before swine – метать бисер перед свиньями; filthy lucre – презренный металл, деньги; in the twinkling of an eye – в мгновение ока; new wine in old bottles –новое вино в старых мехах, новое содержание в старой форме; the olive branch – оливковая ветвь; the root of all evil – корень зла; a wolf in sheep's clothing – волк в овечьей шкуре etc.

    Bible phrases have some changes with their bible prototype. We have mentioned only the main types of such changes.

1. Bible prototype is used in literal meaning. And phraseological units are created after its rethinking. Take for instance the set phrase kill the fatted calf which were used in parable about prodigal son in literal meaning « заклать упитанного тельца ». Later this set phrase gained new meaning угостить лучшим , что есть дома .

A millstone about somebody's neck – тяжелая ответственность, камень на шее.  In the Bible the phrase was used in literal meaning. Nowadays this phraseological expression could be used with the verbs hang and have. We could substitute the word about with the words round or around.

2. When the variant of prototype becomes separate phraseological unit. For example the set phrase live on the fat of the land – жить в роскоши, жить припеваючи (кататься как сыр в масле) supplanted the prototype eat the fat of the land, which did not become widely used. 

3. Changing the form of bible phrases. Take for instance the phraseological expression a drop in the bucket – капля в море is considered as changed bible phrase Behold the nations as a drop of a bucket.

Or for example in the phraseological unit gall and wormwood – нечто ненавистное , постылое word order was changed and all articles were felt. The wormwood and the gall.

4. Phraseological components which were used in the Bible in literal meaning, but do not create variable combination. The phraseological expression loaves and fishes – земные блага . In the Bible the word loaves and the word fishes were used, but not the word combination loaves and fishes.

5. Creation of phraseological units with word-play. Take for instance

the land of Nod - царство сна appeared with the word game. The word nod – дремота and Nod – the place. This expression was created by Swift: go into the land of Nod – отправиться спать .

For example: for better or for worse – на радость и горе , в счастье и несчастье; from the bottom of one's heart – от всего сердца , от всей души were created with the word-play.

Bible phrases are not set citations without any changes. In Modern English language they could also change their meaning, could have some additions or fallings. We would like to give some examples: cast in (or throw in) one's lot with somebody – связать свою судьбу с кем-либо; proclaim (cry or shout) from (or upon) the housetops – объявить во всеуслышание, разгласить на всех перекрестках; a drop in the bucket (or ocean) – капля в море etc.

As it was started above bible phrases as any other phraseological expressions could lose their meaning, emotional nuance. But we need to mention that almost all of these bible phrases are used in written form and in rare instances they could be used in spoken language, but not often.

In every day speech we use such word combinations, which we cannot name bible phrases. They are more connected with popular belief. Take for instance such expressions: My God! (or Good gracious! or My goodness!) – Боже мой!; Good grief! (or Good heavens! or Holy cow!) – Боже праведный!; Thank God! (or Thank goodness!) – Слава Богу!; For God’s sake! (or For heaven’s sake! or For goodness’ sake!) – Ради Бога!; And so help me God! – И да поможет мне Бог!;
God bless you! – хранит вас Бог!; God willing, I’ll be back soon! – Бог даст, я скоро вернусь!; God forbid! – Не дай Бог! Боже упаси!; A God-given right (talent etc.) – Богом данное право (талант и т.д.); Godforsaken place – Богом забытое место (захолустье).

Phraseological method

 

It is well known that phraseological method consists of equivalence and analogue. In this part we would like to give examples of full phraseological equivalents and partial phraseological equivalents and analogues in the English, Russian and Italian languages. Doubtless, only a great knowledge of language and dictionaries could help us to translate phraseological units correctly.

To begin with, phraseological equivalent is a phraseological unit on transferable language, which is equal in all performances to transferable unit. As a rule, it must have the same denotative and connotative meanings, no matter from the context. It means there must not have any differences in point of semantic content, stylistic nuance, metaphoricalness, emotional-expressive nuance between these correlative phraseological units. They must have approximately the same component structure; have the same lexico-grammatical signs: combinative power, belonging to the same grammatical category, connection with context words etc., but also there must be the absence of national color.

First of all, let us try to understand which equivalents belong to full and partial phraseological equivalents. Full phraseological equivalents are equivalents, which coincide with English (or other language) phraseological units in their meaning, lexical structure, figurativeness, stylistic orientation and grammatical structure. For example the English phraseological expression take the bull by the horns – взять быка за рога, belongs to full phraseological units. Into the Italian language it is translated as prendere il toro per le corna and would also belong to full phraseological units, as they have the same structure and the same sense. Or for example, the phraseological unit « валять дурака» is translated into English as play (or act) the fool and into the Italian language as fare lo stupido also would belong to full phraseological units.

We should, however, not forget that partial phraseological units are equivalents, which do not coincide with English (or other language) phraseological units in lexical structure, and grammatical structure, but coincide in their meaning.

We would like to give some examples of full phraseological units in both languages: a drop in the ocean – капля в море – una goccia nel mare;

Be in the seventh heaven – быть на седьмом небе – essere al settimo cielo;

Be on the tip of one’s tongue – вертеться на языке – ce l’ho sulla punta della lingua;

He would not hurt a fly – мухи не обидит – non farebbe malea una mosca;

Keep a snake in one’s bosom – пригреть змею на груди – scaldare la serpe in seno;

Sharp tongue – острый язык – lingua mordace;

To play with fire – играть с огнем – scherzare con il fuoco;

To sit on the phone – висеть на телефоне – incollarsi al telefono;

To take oneself in hand – взять себя в руки – aver qd in pugno;

Waste money – выброшенные деньги – soldi buttati via.

    The examples we have presented would indicate that all these phraseological expressions are literally translated into both languages. There is no problem to translate full phraseological units into the English or Italian languages.

But we could have some difficulties in translation of partial phraseological units.    As we have mentioned before partial phraseological units coincide in their meaning, but have some lexical or grammatical differences. For example, the English phraseological expression to hang by a thread – висеть на волоске, belongs to partial phraseological units. It is translated into the Italian language as è appesa a un filo and would also belong to full phraseological units, as they have the same sense, but these variants a little differ from the Russian variant. The words «thread» and «filo» are translated into the Russian language as «нитка».

Or take for instance the English phraseological unit it is a jawbreaker which also belongs to partial phraseological units and is translated into Russian as «язык сломать можно». The word «jawbreaker» is translated into the Russian language like «сломать челюсть», so these two phraseological expressions have the same meaning, but they differ in lexical structure. If we translate this phraseological unit into the Italian language which would sound as c’è da rompersi la lingua and would fully conform to the Russian phraseological unit – «язык сломать можно». In this case we must label the Italian translation of this phraseological expression belongs to full phraseological units, as it was literally translated.

Or for example the Russian phraseological unit «нем, как рыба» is translated into English as dumb as an oyster, which belongs to partial phraseological units. Because the English word «oyster» is translated as «устрица», so there is a little difference in this phraseological expression. The same expression is translated into the Italian language as muto come un pesce, and we noticed again that this expression was literally translated.

We would like to give a famous example of the English partial equivalent of phraseological unit; it is to be like a squirrel in a cage, which has a little difference in some words with the Russian expression «крутиться как белка в колесе». Into Italian it is translated as girare come una trottola, which is the full equivalent to the Russian phraseological unit. In these three examples we see that they have the common word «squirrel», it is because of a squirrel is a sign of quickness, spryness and tirelessness. Dexterity of a squirrel shows us its slyness, and almost in all countries a squirrel is a sign of persistence.

So we ascertained that the majority of Russian phraseological expressions are literally translated into Italian, it is because the Italian language was very popular and had a great influence on many languages, including Russian, in the Renaissance period. We cannot possibly accept the fact that a lot of words in the Russian language were adopted from Italian, which became our native words nowadays. From this fact, we may conclude that as we use the Italian words in our language, it makes us easier to translate Russian phraseological units into the Italian language.

Furthermore, we should not forget that there is the other way of translation of phraseological units – it is analogue, which offers big problems for interpreters. Analogue is a translation of phraseological expressions from original language to target language in adequate way with the same sense, but in different structural-component composition. There are a lot of phraseological units in the Russian and English languages which have the same sense, but which are differently translated. Take for instance the Russian expression «воздушные замки», which meaning is unrealizable dreams, fancy, imagination, it is translated into English as built castles in Spain. This expression is connected with epos «Chansons de Geste», whose heroes, knights got tenure unconquerable castles in Spain. Into the Italian language the phraseological unit will be translated as costruire castelli in aria, which is translated into Russian literally «строить замки в воздухе». This example shows us that the Russian and Italian languages are similar in sentence building, because the majority of Russian phraseological units are literally translated into Italian.

The other example of analogue is the expression « в каждой бочке затычка », which is differently translated into the English and Italian languages. This expression is very rude and impolite; it describes a person, who shows an initiative in deals which he must not participate. Into English there is the analogue of such expression, it is one who has a finger in every pie, which is literally translated «совать палец в каждый пирог». It is necessary to mention that the first pies appeared in the 12^th century in Great Britain. English people put a finger in a pie for checking if the pie is ready or not. The English analogue is connected with English customs and traditions, that’s why we cannot literally translate it. But there is not any analogue in the Italian language. Italians only call such people like ficcanaso, which meaning is a curious person, i.e. it is not the analogue to the English phraseological unit, but the description of this expression.

Or for example the phraseological unit когда «рак на горе свистнет», which is also differently translated in both languages. The origin of this phraseological unit is connected with Russian popular belief and legendry. In period of the expression appearing about «свистящий рак», the last word was written from capital letter. «Рак» – it was a nickname of famous Odessian thief whose full surname was Rakachinskiy. One day he lost the bet, and was obliged to whistle from the mountain three times if the rain poured too much. But the rain was not often in that place and the expression appeared from this story. In the English language there is the analogue of this expression, which is when the pigs fly and appeared in the period of Middle English when poor English people depended on French rulers. Into the Italian language it is translated as il giorno di San Mai, that is a day which would never exist.

The analogues cannot be literally translated into the Russian language, because they differ from the Russian expressions, as they are connected with customs and traditions. Let us take for instance, the English phraseological unit to draw the wool over someone’s eyes, which offers many difficulties for interpreters. If we translate it literally, i.e. «натянуть шерсть на глаза кому-нибудь», Russian people will not understand the sense of this expression, as there is no similar expression in the Russian language. The correct way for interpreters would be to explain the sense of the expression or to learn it by heart that we could remember it at once. The translation of this translation is «водить кого-либо за нос» which has the full equivalent in the Italian language – that is portare per il naso.

Phraseological analogue offers big problems to interpreters, because it is connected with customs and traditions, which quite differ from each other. If we do not know the traditions of the language we deal with, we could translate phraseological units incorrectly. But we have another way of the translation of phraseological units, it is the descriptive method, which makes the translation easier, naming the sense of the phraseological unit.

 

Non-phraseological method

 

Non-phraseological method of idiom translation conveys phraseological units with the help of lexical ways, but not phraseological ways in target language. This method is used when it is known that there are not any phraseological equivalents and analogues. It is difficult to name such translation of full value; there are always some losses, such as figurativeness, expressivity, connotation and aphoristic character. It makes interpreters use non-phraseological method of idiom translation only in case of emergency. In this part we would like to give examples of these types of idiom translation in the English, Russian and Italian languages.

Non-phraseological method consists of four ways of idiom translation: calking, antonymous translation, combined translation and explication or descriptive translation.

It is well known that some types of translation, such as calking and explication, are more widely used than antonymous and combined translations. We will start with calking way of idiom translation.

    Calking or literally translation of phraseological units is used in cases when it is impossible to use another ways of translation, saving semantic-stylistic and expressive-emotional meanings of phraseological expression. We can use calking if the literal translation could bring the sense and the idea of an expression to a reader and the native speaker of target language could understand the sense of phraseological units correctly. Take for instance the phraseological expression keep your cool – to control your temper and stay calm in a difficult situation, which is translated into the Russian language «сохранять спокойствие, хладнокровие», and into the Italian language as «mantenere la calma». In both languages they were literally translated, i.e. using the calking way of idiom translation. Or for example another phraseological unit which was translated with calking is over my dead body – used to emphasize that one completely opposes something, into the Italian language it is translated as «dovrai passare sul mio cadaver» and into Russian – «только через мой труп».

    Calking gives us a great opportunity to avoid peculiarities, which could appear in original. For example, the English phraseological expression it is raining cats and dogs, which is usually translated as «дождь льет как из ведра». But it is differently translated in combination with other words; a good example is it was raining cats and a little puppy got on my page. It would be better to translate the expression using parenthesis, for example, был такой дождь , будто , как говорят англичане , с неба сыпались кошки и собаки , и один маленький щенок упал мне на страницу. Such type of translation is used when the original expression is a little changed with additional components.

Unfortunately not all Russian phraseological units could be translated into English with calking. We have given an example of the wrong and curious translation of the Russian phraseological unit «кузькина мать», when the interpreter translated it literally. But we cannot say the same about translation into the Italian language; it had a great influence on the Russian language in the Renaissance period. A lot of words in the Russian language were adopted from Italian, which have become our native words nowadays. From this fact, we may say that as we use the Italian words in our language, it becomes easier to translate phraseological units from the Russian language into Italian.

The other way of translation of phraseological unit is antonymous translation. Antonymous translation is a lexical-grammatical transformation, in which affirmative form in original is substituted into negative form in translation, or vice versa from negative form into affirmative. For example: to keep one’s head – remain calm, which is translated into Russian «не терять головы», to keep one’s head above water – avoid succumbing to difficulties, typically debt is translated as «не влезать в долги», to keep one’s pecker up – remain cheerful, which has two ways of translation into the Russian language «не падать духом» and «держать нос выше».

The essence of antonymous translation of phraseological expressions consists in expressing the idea of phraseological unit though the opposite meaning with some changes in the structure. We would like to give an example of the Russian phraseological unit «не сходить с языка» which is translated with antonymous translation into the English language, i.e. to be on somebody’s tongue all the time, but into Italian the expression is translated with a little difference – ce l'ho sulla punta della lingua which is literally translated as «быть на кончике языка».

Or for example the expression «грош цена» is translated into the English language like it is not worth a brass farthing which literally means «не стоить медного фартинга» and into Italian the expression is translated as non vale un soldo bucato, that is «не стоить медных денег». But these translations are connected with Russian, English and Italian cultures, values of people. In Russian culture the small charge was «грош» and in English the small charge was farthing. We see a little difference in translation; it is used for explaining the sense of the expression. If we translate the expression with the Russian variant, not all English and Italian people will understand the expression; the reason is that such charge was used long ago.

Another example of antonymous translation is «первый блин комом», it is fully connected with Russian traditions, and foreigners do not know what the word «блин» means. This means it is impossible to translate it with calking, but it would be better to translate it with antonymous translation or explain the sense of the expression. The expression is translated into English as practice makes perfect, but the translation differs from the Italian language – non tutte le ciambelle riescono col buco, which is literally translated like «не все кренделя получаются с дыркой». This expression is connected with knot-shaped biscuit preparing, it was difficult to cook this biscuit because of pastry, it was going up fast and not always you could get a roll with a whole lot of nothing.

This type of idiom translation is used not often, but in some cases when we do not remember the translation of a phraseological unit we can use the antonymous translation for conveying the same sense of the expression. For example: to keep one’s pecker up, which is translated into the Russian language «не падать духом» and its antonymous translation is chins up – «выше нос». They have the same sense, but they are different in translation. Sometimes this translation is used in showing the differences in cultures and traditions. And this brings us to the combined translation.

Combined translation is used in cases when the Russian analogue does not convey the sense of the English phraseological expression or if it has the other specific color of place and time. It consists of all types of idiom translation which we have mentioned above, i.e. we give the calking translation then we use the descriptive translation and the Russian analogue for comparison. Take for instance:  to carry coals to Newcastle, which is translated as «возить уголь в Ньюкасл». Newcastle was a leading centre for coal mining and manufacturing in the 19^th century, i.e. the Russian analogue of the expression is «ехать в Тулу со своим самоваром». Tula is a small town in Russia where the first samovar appeared. But this expression is differently translated into the Italian language portare legna al bosco, i.e. «возить дрова в лес». We want to emphasize that the sense of these phraseological units is the same, but they are different in translation.

There is the other good example of combined translation, Rome was not built in a day which is literally translated as «Рим был построен не за один день». In the Russian language the expression would not be translated literally, because in the Russian language there is the same equivalent – «Москва не сразу построилась». At this example we could emphasize that combined translation consists of calking and descriptive translation.

But there are some phraseological units which could be translated differently for people with different nations. Take for instance, the Russian phraseological unit «в чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят», which is translated into the English language as when in Rome do as the Romans do. But we could change the name of the city, for example when in Paris do as the Parisians do that is «если вы находитесь в Париже, поступайте как парижане», such translation would be classed as combined translation, because it consists of calking, descriptive translation and analogue. But we cannot say the same for the translation into the Italian language. The Italian people use only descriptive translation for expressing the idea and the sense of this phraseological unit, take for instance paese che vai or usanza che trovi which have the same idea and translates into Russian as «поступай также как и все люди в этом месте». As we see all these translations have the same idea, the same sense, and people could understand such type of translation. But we need to remember that it would be better to translate this phraseological expression with naming the city or the country from which our client is. As we can mention combined translation is more connected with cultures and traditions, this means we must take into account the name of the country from which our client came from.

But the majority of phraseological units, which are connected with culture, traditions, popular belief etc, cannot be translated with combined translation. A good example is the Russian phraseological expression «сибирское здоровье», if we translate it literally we will get «Siberian health». The origin of this expression is explained as Siberia is a vast region of Russia, noted for the severity of its winters, the expression «сибирское здоровье» describes a person with a good health, who is very strong and never catch a disease. But American and British could not understand the sense of this expression, because they do not say «Canadian health» or «The northern Irish health». They explain the sense and the idea of this expression with descriptive translation, i.e. healthy man, disease-free. And this brings us to descriptive translation.

Explication or descriptive translation is a lexical-grammatical transformation, in which the lexical unit in original language is substituted for word-combination, explaining the sense of the phraseological expression in target language. With the help of explication we could convey the sense of any expression with no direct equivalents in the other language. It could be explanation, comparison, description, and commentary – all methods for sending the sense of phraseological units. Good examples are, to rob Peter to pay Paul, this phraseological unit does not have any analogues in the Russian language, but it shows us the sense and the idea of this phraseological unit, which is translated as «отдать одни долги сделав новые». Another example is to burn the candle on both ends, which is literally translated as «зажечь свечу с обоих концов», there is no analogue in Russian. Into the Russian language it is translated as «работать с раннего утра и до позднего вечера». With this expression we could see how different cultures and traditions are if we compare them.

Phraseological expressions not only improve our speech, but also offer many difficulties for interpreters; because they cannot remember at once how to translate a phraseological unit correctly. So they do not translate literally or try to find an equivalent in English, they translate primordial Russian phraseological units with descriptive method; it means they explain only the sense and the idea of the expression. We would like to give some examples: «бить баклуши» – is a famous Russian idiom, but it is really hard to translate it into English. We cannot translate it literally, because we do not know what the old Russian word «баклуши» means. So it would be correct if we explain this phraseological expression like to fritter away one's time or to waste one's time.

 Or for example, another popular Russian expression «точить лясы». We also need to explain the sense of the phraseological expression, but not to translate it literally. The correct translation would be to talk idly, to wag one's tongue or just chatter.

It is a well-known fact that there are a lot of Russian phraseological expressions, which cannot be translated into English. Take for instance such phraseological units: «баню задать», «зубы на полку положить », «достать из-под земли», «горе луковое», «держи карман шире», «душа в пятки ушла» to translate them is a real hard work. We cannot translate them literally, because it is impossible, there will not be any sense in «such translation», and nobody understands it. The first expression «баню задать» is translated into English as to give a rating we cannot translate it literally «give Russian baths», the first reason that it sounds not well and the sense of this expression is changed, and it is the biggest mistake of interpreters and translators. The other expression «зубы на полку положить » is translated like to hunger, to starve, that is naming the sense and the idea or the expression. The other three phraseological expressions could be translated into English, but we lose their Russian origin. For example: «горе луковое» is translated into the English language as «weakling», in the Russian language it means you must not cry because of trifles, the other expression «держи карман шире» is translated as «not a chance», but also we can give its description, for example, do not think about it or do not dream about it. The next expression it is hard to translate, so we need to learn it by heart to have one’s heart in one’s boots or to explain it with the description like to be frightened, scared.

It is very clear from these observations that if we do not know how to translate the phraseological expression we could explain the sense and the idea of the expression or give its description. But we must know the meanings of all phraseological expressions, for explaining its sense. But sometimes it becomes harder to translate phraseological units which are connected with stereotypes and characteristics of every nation. A good example of such phraseological unit is strike on the job, which is connected with the stereotype of Italian people. Strikes are not rare things in manufacturing and consumers services, when workers stop do their work. But Italian people went on strike in 1904; they did not refuse to work, but started to do it very slowly. It turns out that it is harder to suppress such strike. This type of strikes started to appear in other countries, but into the Russian language it is translated as «итальянская забастовка», that is because of the stereotypes of Italian people that they are slowcoaches. Unfortunately, this stereotype we cannot change or delete it. And it is differently translated into the Italian language, if we translate it as «lo sciopero di l’italiani» Italian people could not understand us, and if someone understood the sense of expression he could take offence.

In conclusion, we can say if we want to avoid curious moments in translation, we need to pay our attention to phraseological expressions, especially to Russian ones, because the majority of them cannot be translated into English and other languages. We, interpreters and translators, need to know a lot of things, which belong to our profession or do not. But we can have problems in translation, which cannot be avoided. Concerning the translation of phraseological expressions, as we mentioned before, there are a lot of expressions which cannot be translated. There is no doubt we have one main thing, we can explain the sense of phraseological expressions if we do not remember or do not know the exact translation.

 

Also we want to suggest some rules for correct translation of phraseological expressions:

1. The optimum solution of translation of phraseological units is to search identical phraseological units in target language. However, we need to remember that the number of such identical units is very limited.

2. If there are no identical phraseological units, which are used in original language, we can translate it using analogous phraseological unit. But the stylistic and emotional color would be changed.

3. The method of calking or literal translation is not effective. But sometimes interpreters could implant the phraseological units with cultural aspect in target language. The most known cases are connected with translation of phraseological units from the Bible, ancient or mythological sources.

4.  Also calking can be used with descriptive translation, such type of translation of phraseological units is called combined translation, which is more preferable, because it makes the translation more clear and understandable.

5. If we do not remember the translation of phraseological unit or are not sure if it is correctly translated, we can explain the sense and the idea of phraseological unit. But it is in case of an emergency, such type of translation is called descriptive translation.

 

In addition we could give an advice is to use dictionaries which were published in Russian and check the translation of every phraseological unit. And do not afraid to translate or feel shy of your translation, we must be sure that our translation is accurate and well-formed.

Learning from mistakes and constantly improving knowledge is a key to all successful interpreters and translators.

 

 

Conclusion

        

Thousand years ago a special layer of the language appeared, it is phraseology – the whole set of stable expressions, which have their independent meaning. The world of Modern English phraseological expressions is so grand and various that every aspect of its study is worth of due regard.

The learning of the English language is widely-spread among our country. Good knowledge of language is impossible without knowing English phraseology. If we know phraseological expressions of English and our native language it will make us easier translate and understand.

In this course work we have examined the source of phraseological expressions and peculiarities in its translation in the English and Italian languages. We think that every person must know general information about phraseological units. The «father» of phraseology, Charles Bally, gave the definition of phraseological unit: «combinations, which firmly came into language, are called set phrases». The linguist N.M. Shanskiy made out some difference between set phrases and free word combinations. Set phrases differ with readableness, integrity of the meaning, steadiness of composition and structure and also with structure tightness.

The source of idiom origin in Modern English language is very various.

We could divide all phraseological units into two groups: primordial English phraseological units and adoptions. Many of English phraseological expressions were adopted from Latin language through French. But there are some expressions, which were adopted from the Latin language escapes French, even there were adoptions from American English and other languages. A lot of phraseological units appeared in connection with traditions, customs and English popular belief, actual, legendry and historical facts, but also we must not forget that the majority of phraseological expressions appeared from poems of famous writers, we have learnt Shakespearean phraseological units.

Phraseological expressions improve our speech. Sometimes it is easier to say a phraseological expression to tell our thoughts and sense than try to find necessary words and sentences. However, they offer big problems to interpreters and translators. It is not great surprise that there are such phraseological expressions which can be translated variously into different languages.

An important point is that different linguists offer different classifications of phraseological units and their translation. But we decided to use the classification in interpreter’s point of view; we could divide phraseological units into two groups: phraseological units, which have the equivalence in transferable language, and phraseological units with no direct equivalents in other languages.

We should note here that phraseological expressions are translated in phraseological translation, if there are the equivalences or the analogues for phraseological expressions, or in non-phraseological translation, if there is a lack of equivalences and analogues.

We decided to use the modern classification of phraseological units, which consists of six ways of idiom translation: phraseological equivalents; analogue; calking; antonymous translation; combined translation; explication or descriptive translation.

In conclusion, we can say if we want to avoid curious moments in translation, we need to pay our attention to phraseological expressions, especially to Russian ones, because the majority of them cannot be translated into English and other languages. We, interpreters and translators, need to know a lot of things, which belong to our profession or do not. But we can have problems in translation, which cannot be avoided. Concerning the translation of phraseological expressions, as we mentioned before, there are a lot of expressions which cannot be translated.     There is no doubt we have one main thing, we can explain the sense of phraseological expressions if we do not remember or do not know the exact translation.

In this science work we also express which problems could appear in translation of phraseological units in cultural aspect. Culture offers a big problem for interpreters and translators. Of course, it is impossible to know all detailed things in culture and traditions of any country, but we need to have some general idea about every country.

Doubtless, only a great knowledge of language and dictionaries could help us to translate phraseological units correctly.

 

The peculiarities of phraseological units translation.

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