Examples of language errors in translation. Normative aspects of translation: typology of translation errors. The work consists of four chapters, introduction and conclusion.

Unlike deformations, translation errors are made unconsciously. A few centuries ago, it was rightly noted that the causes of translation errors should be sought primarily in the lack of education of the translator. Therefore, the study of the nature of comprehension errors can be built on the basis of an analysis of the translator's cognitive experience, i.e. his individual experience in the cognition of the surrounding reality, both linguistic and extralinguistic.

Insufficient education of the translator is manifested, firstly, in poor knowledge of the original language and, secondly, in insufficient knowledge of the "subject of the author's thought", i.e. what is said in the original text. Moreover, and this, in my opinion, is the main aspect of assessing the hermeneutic activity of a translator: the translator must understand not only what the author writes about, but also what he says about the subject, because the subject of thought and thought about the subject are two different things. . An inattentive reading of the original text may also be due to a lack of philological education. As a result of the fact that the translator has not developed "linguistic sensitivity", he is unable to understand the peculiarities of the style of the translated work.

In the most general form, the typology of the causes of translation errors when deciphering the system of meanings of the source text can be represented as follows:

1. Insufficient knowledge of the original language.

2. Insufficient cognitive experience. Lack of knowledge about
the area of ​​the surrounding action described in the source text
validity.

3. Inattentive attitude to the system of meanings
noah in the original text. Misunderstanding what the author says
rit about the subject.

4. Inability to distinguish the features of an individual style
the author of the original speech work.

Of course, all the causes of errors presented in this typology are interconnected, as they relate to one linguistic personality - the translator, his knowledge and competence, his mental state and the conditions in which he has to perceive the original message, his ideas about the ethics of translation work. But such a dissected presentation of translation errors seems to be productive both for translation criticism, i.e. objective, as far as possible, assessment of translation work, and for teaching translation, when it is necessary to find the cause of each translation error. Their reasons are well known: insufficient knowledge of the original language and the target language, lack of knowledge of the translator about the subject situations referred to in the original message, inattentive or dismissive attitude to the original text, to the ideas and individual style of the author, and much more.

Analysis of translator's mistakes is a special section of translation criticism. It not only makes it possible once again to make sure that ignorance, illiteracy and mediocrity are incompatible with translation activities, but in some cases it is also able to reveal certain aspects of natural translation interference. Interference can be due to both the impact of the original text on the translator's thinking, and the dominance of the system of one language over the system of another in the mind of the translator.

Translation errors occur at the stage when the translator decides to translate one or another orientation unit. They can be caused both by an incorrect interpretation of the meaning of the signs that make up the unit of orientation, and by the wrong choice of signs in the target language for the design of the translation unit. It can be quite difficult to distinguish the nature of translation errors, since the most common way to identify errors is to compare the translation text with the original text. But this comparison is not always able to show why the discrepancy arose - whether the translator misunderstood the meaning of a character in the original text, or because he chose a character in the target language that does not correspond to the concept. In other words, in the act of verbal communication, the translator can also make mistakes as the recipient of the original message, i.e. the listener, the reader of the original text, and as the sender of the translated message. In conditions of asymmetric bilingualism, which usually characterizes the language competence of a translator, errors of the first kind often occur when translating from a foreign language into a native language, when the translator

collides not only with a language system dominated by another, but also with a different culture, a different worldview. Errors of the second kind often occur when translating from a native language into a foreign one, when the translator lacks knowledge about the entire system of expressive means of the target language. However, this division is far from absolute, and errors of both kinds can occur in all cases of translation.

If we conditionally limit the translation unit to a concept fixed in a sign, then the structure of translation errors can be represented as follows:

I. IT mark F concept = sign TP P. Sign IT ~ concept F TP sign

Translation is a multifaceted phenomenon, it can be of different types (oral and written) and may involve working with texts of different styles and genres. In this regard, there are classifications of errors in oral and written translation. You can talk about the concept and typology of errors in a literary or technical text, you can build a classification of lexical or grammatical errors in translation (i.e. errors associated with translation, for example, phraseological units or puns or the specific meaning of a verb - i.e. by type original unit). Classifications of errors can be focused on the evaluation of the translation, and may involve an analysis not so much of the result of the translation as of the translation process and reflect the possible causes of errors.

Unlike deformations, translation errors are made unconsciously. A few centuries ago, it was rightly noted that the causes of translation errors should be sought, first of all, in the lack of education of the translator. Therefore, the study of the nature of comprehension errors can be built on the basis of an analysis of the translator's cognitive experience, i.e. his individual experience in the cognition of the surrounding reality, both linguistic and extralinguistic.

Insufficient education of the translator is manifested, firstly, in poor knowledge of the original language and, secondly, in insufficient knowledge of the "subject of the author's thought", i.e. what is said in the original text. Moreover, and this is the main aspect of assessing the hermeneutic activity of the translator: the translator must understand not only what the author writes about, but also what he says about the subject, because the subject of thought and thought about the subject are two different things. An inattentive reading of the original text may also be due to a lack of philological education. As a result of the fact that the translator has not developed "linguistic sensitivity", he is unable to understand the peculiarities of the style of the translated work.

In the scientific and educational literature, we have not been able to find a single formal definition of a translation error. However, the analysis of existing classifications and reasoning on this subject allows us to build the following chain of conclusions leading to the development of this concept.

Error is usually defined as incorrectness, unintentional deviation from the normative, standard, correct, deviation from the rules, violation of requirements. Therefore, in order to understand what a translation error (error in translation) is, it is necessary to answer the question of what is correct in translation, the solution of which tasks should ensure error-free translation. Translation in its most general form is defined as the transfer of the content of a text in one language by means of another language. This definition focuses on one of the basic translation requirements - transfer the content of the original. Violation of this requirement, no doubt, is perceived as a mistake. Let us explain here that the content of the text in the translation sense is usually understood as a set of elements of the semantics and structure of the text, fixed by the recipient and participating in the formation of the meaning of the text, which, in turn, is not reduced only to the meanings realized in the text, but represents a global holistic understanding of the text, based incl. on background knowledge, ideas about the state of affairs in the real world, knowledge of the subject area in question, knowledge of the communication situation. Most authors, therefore, understand the error as an unreasonable deviation from the normative requirement of equivalence (i.e., meaningful correspondence of the translation to the original - Schweitzer), as a measure of the inconsistency of the translation with the original (Minyar-Beloruchev), a measure of misleading influence on the reader (Komissarov).

The “meaningful”, semantic errors discussed above are divided into two fundamental types - literalisms and liberties. The definition of these long-established concepts in translation theory can be found in any terminological dictionary, the entire history of translation thought can be seen as an attempt to find a way to balance between these two extremes in translation.

Literalism is a translator's mistake, which consists in the transfer of the formal or semantic components of a word, word, phrase or phrase to the detriment of the meaning or information about the structure (Minyar-Beloruchev, 1999), the transfer of communicatively irrelevant elements of the original, which leads to a violation of the norm and usage of the TL, or the actual content of the original turns out to be distorted (Komissarov, 2002).

Liberty - the transfer of key information without taking into account the formal and semantic components of the source text.

The allocation of liberties and literalisms is the most traditional and, at the same time, narrow approach understanding translation errors. On the one hand, it testifies to the violation of only one of the translation norms - the equivalence norm, and on the other hand, it is practically unsuitable for assessing the quality of translation, does not give an idea of ​​the degree of misinforming impact of translation.

In the most general form, the typology of the causes of translation errors when deciphering the system of meanings of the source text can be represented as follows:

• v Insufficient knowledge of the original language.
• v Insufficient cognitive experience. Lack of knowledge about the area of ​​reality described in the original text.
• v Inattentive attitude to the system of meanings contained in the source text. Misunderstanding what the author is saying about the subject.
• v Inability to distinguish the features of the individual style of the author of a speech work.

For methodological purposes, a broader concept of translation error is used to assess the quality of translation. It is based not only on taking into account violations in the transmission of IT content, but also on taking into account errors associated with "adapting this content to new linguistic and ethnic conditions." In other words, the second type of error is the so-called. expression errors, which are both forced (provoked by the original) and not forced violations of the norm and usage of the TL.

Classification of errors based on the works of L.K. Latysheva:

• 1. Errors in the translation of the original content - functionally unmotivated deviations from the content of the original, differing in the degree of misinforming impact
• 2. Distortion - subjectively determined deviation of the content of the translation from the original, as a result of which the impacted potential of the TT does not correspond to the impacted potential of IT (misleads the recipient regarding the subject of the message, causes inadequate representations).
• 3. Inaccuracies - deviations from the content of the original, characterized by a lesser degree of misinforming impact; unmotivated omission or addition of information that does not completely distort the content of the original, but requires clarification.
• 4. Ambiguities - a functionally meaningful flaw in the translation, obscuring the meaning of the statement, quite clearly expressed in the source text, often arises due to the indigestibility of syntactic constructions. It may be associated with an unsuccessful choice of word or phrase structure, or due to inadequate use or non-use of a translation technique.

Errors in adaptation the content and forms of its expression to new linguo-ethnic conditions of perception, their reason is the inability to compensate for the discrepancies between the LCC of FL and TL carriers, the so-called. language errors, errors in the design of the text in TL. They are classified according to the types of units of language and speech.

b Lexical error- an error associated with the incorrect use of the main or contextual meaning of the word, as well as a violation of the rules of word compatibility in the TL.

b Grammar mistake- violation of grammatical (including syntactic) norms of the target language, which does not lead to a distortion of the meaning of the original.

b Stylistic error- the use of a word, construction or stylistic means that does not correspond in their functional and linguistic properties to the genre and stylistic variety of texts to which the translation belongs.

b Spelling mistake- an error in the spelling of the words PYa.

b Punctuation error- non-compliance with the rules of punctuation PYa.

Successful translation decisions increase the value of the translation.

The cause of both translation and language errors can be literalisms (more often) and liberties.

Such a system (subject to an assessment of the "cost" of each type of error in relation to distortion) allows you to determine how many and what errors are allowed in the translation of texts of a certain volume. Excellent for 2 thousand characters (1 typewritten page) - the content and style are fully conveyed, the norms of the PY are mostly observed: minor language errors are allowed, with a total “weight” of 1.5 of a complete error). Satisfactory: up to 4 complete errors, incl. 2 semantic.

We see the disadvantage of this classification as the lack of consideration for the quality of the translated text as a text, its textual integrity, consistency, and consistency. It is no secret that translations often contain errors that are detected even without referring to the original, but which are not related to language errors. These are logical errors. Some errors of this type can be correlated with semantic errors in the previous classification, but their selection is carried out in a different way. The classification of logical errors proposed by D.M. Buzadzhi, MSLU, in translation is valuable for editors, employers who do not have the opportunity to assess the compliance of the translation with the original, as well as for the translators themselves, who get an idea about the mechanism of such errors and how to prevent them.

This classification is based on the understanding that “a meaningful text is stitched with logical connections of two types: on the one hand, between parts of the text as a speech work, and on the other hand, between the elements of the situation described in the text” (Buzadzhi, 2007). The first type of logic is called conceptual logic, and the second - subject logic. B.N. Golovin defines these types as follows: “Subject consistency consists in the correspondence of semantic connections and relations of language units in speech to connections and relations of objects and phenomena in reality. Conceptual logicality is a reflection of the structure of logical thought and its logical development in the semantic connections of language elements in speech.

Errors that violate subject logic. A common cause of object consistency violations is the translator's unwillingness or inability to compare the meaning of his text with the reality described in the original.

• 1. General logical violations - errors against the background knowledge of the reader about the world in general;
• 2. Special logical violations - errors against the logic of the subject area that is described in this text;
• 3. Private logical violations - violations of logic within a particular segment of the text.

When a translator is faced with the fact that this or that place in the original is not completely clear to him, he either translates verbatim and calmly answers all claims that “it says so there”, or generalizes or completely omits an incomprehensible phrase, instead of trying to restore the meaning based on the logic of the context, the described situation and give the reader a complete translation. However, “restoring the meaning” is not fortune-telling on coffee grounds, and the translator must double-check all his assumptions, no matter how true they may seem, both by linguistic and logical analysis. Otherwise, the elements of the situation turn out to be connected, but not in the way they were in the original, and, most often, the broader context conflicts with the “logically” built segment of the text.

Errors of the second kind - violations of conceptual logic- appear when the author of the translation does not think about how the language means chosen by him are suitable for solving a given translation task or how the translation is logically consistent in terms of language.

One of the most typical violations of conceptual consistency in translation is distortion of the structure of the actual articulation influenced by the word order in the original text.

Many violations of conceptual logic are expressed in incorrect or unfortunate word usage. The translator does not take into account the immediate environment of the word, as a result of which a conflict sometimes arises between statements that are quite acceptable in form and content or their parts.

When translating, it is important to remember that:

• 1. the author describes a certain world, built according to the laws that do not change throughout the story (this world can either coincide with reality or be fictional);
• 2. The author has a sufficient command of the original language and the principles of logical thinking so that the text expresses his thoughts with the degree of clarity and consistency that he deems necessary.

Thus, actual translation errors, translation errors in the narrow sense, include errors that lead to a discrepancy between the content of the translation and the original. In a broad sense, the concept of a translation error, in addition, includes errors that reduce the quality of translation as an independent text and violate other regulatory requirements for translation that are not related to equivalence. These are errors, which are violations of the norm and usage of the TL, as well as logical shortcomings of the PT.

The traditional types of translation errors are literalisms and liberties, their selection is focused on determining the cause of the incorrect translation. The classification of errors into semantic ones is most often used (mistranslation of IT content, errors of understanding and language. Semantic errors are divided into distortions, inaccuracies and ambiguities, and linguistic errors are divided into errors of a lexical, grammatical, stylistic, spelling and punctuation nature. In addition, the text of the translation can be characterized in logical terms, as containing or not containing logical errors of the subject or conceptual type.

Bibliography

translation error literalism vocabulary spelling

• 1. Garbovsky N.K. Translation theory. - M., 2004.
• 2. Komissarov V.N. Translation theory. - M., 1990.
• 3. Komissarov V.N. Modern translation studies. - M., 2001.
• 4. Latyshev L.K. Translation technology. - M., 2001.
• 5. Lvovskaya Z.D. Theoretical problems of translation. - M., 1985.
• 6. Alekseeva I.S. Introduction to translation studies. - St. Petersburg, 2004.

error - an unreasonable deviation from the normative requirement of equivalence, as a measure of the inconsistency of the translation with the original, a measure of the misleading impact on the reader.

liberty- transfer of key information without taking into account the formal and semantic components of the source text.

The typology of the causes of translation errors can be represented as follows:

Insufficient knowledge of the original language.

Lack of knowledge about the area of ​​reality described in the original text.

Inability to distinguish the features of the individual style of the author of a speech work.

Error classification:

distortion– subjectively determined deviation of the content of the translation from the original, as a result of which it misleads the recipient regarding the subject of the message, causes inadequate representations.

inaccuracies– deviations from the content of the original, characterized by a lesser degree of misleading impact; unmotivated omission or addition of information that does not completely distort the content of the original, but requires clarification.

ambiguities– a functionally meaningful flaw in the translation, obscuring the meaning of the statement, quite clearly expressed in the source text, often arises due to the indigestibility of syntactic constructions. They are classified according to the types of units of language and speech.

Lexical error- an error associated with the incorrect use of the main or contextual meaning of the word, as well as a violation of the rules of word compatibility in the target language.

Grammar mistake- violation of the grammatical and syntactic norms of the target language, which does not lead to a distortion of the meaning of the original.

Stylistic error- the use of a word, construction or stylistic means that does not correspond in their functional and linguistic properties to the genre and stylistic variety of texts to which the translation belongs.

Spelling mistake- an error in the spelling of the words of the target language.

Punctuation error– non-compliance with the rules of punctuation of the target language.

Features of the translation of phraseological units.

The main feature of phraseological units is the discrepancy between the plan of content and the plan of expression, which gives flexibility and depth to its meaning. the following classification is proposed:

1) phraseological fusions (fusions) - stable words and expressions with a shifted meaning of the words that make up this expression: to kick the bucket - play in the box. To translate splices, there is not enough context, you need to refer to the dictionary.

2) phraseological units (unities) - the meanings are derived from the components: to prepare for the better world - to die. 3) phraseological combinations (collocasion) - the meanings of the components clearly indicate the meaning. To take asleep - take a nap

4) international phraseological units: the sword of Damoclos - Domokles sword (Domokl sword)

The first condition is to be able to recognize phraseological units in the text, in contrast to free language units. phraseological units have a certain stylistic coloring. In addition to the problem of recognizing phraseological units, the translator encounters national and cultural differences between phraseological units similar in meaning in two different languages. Coinciding in meaning, phraseological units can have different stylistic coloring, different figurative basis, different emotive function.

Translation rules.

1) the optimal solution is to search for an identical phraseological unit in the target language. Achilles"" heel, theheelofAchilles - Achilles' heel.

2) the original phraseological unit can be translated by searching for a similar phraseological unit that has a common meaning, but built on a different verbal-figurative basis.

3) tracing, word-by-word translation. (e.g. Hell'sAngels - Hell's Angels, Zerooption - zero option).

4) a double or parallel translation of phraseological units is used, when a phraseological unit and an explanation of its figurative meaning in the shortest possible form are combined in one phrase. For example, TheCityofBrotherlylove - the name """"city of Brotherly Love""", """"speaking"""" for any American, in Russian requires contextual processing, for example, in the form of a parallel translation: """" City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia"""".

5) translation-explanation of the figurative meaning of a phraseological unit, that is, by transforming a stable phrase into a free one. At the same time, the phraseological unit loses its figurative-associative properties.

6) when working with phraseological units in the source text, the translator can rely on a number of explanatory phraseological dictionaries.

Translation of realities.

Translation of realities is part of the problem of transferring national and historical identity and color.

the concept of "reality" serves to refer to an object or thing that exists materially. As a rule, these are objects of material culture that are characteristic of a particular people, nationality or community and are an expression of national identity and color. such broad groups as geographical realities (prairie, tornado, sequoia, koala) are distinguished; ethnographic realities (koumiss, fibula, sledges, upper room); social and political realities (Khan, Ku Klux Klan, constable).

Techniques for conveying reality in translation: transcription and translation.

Transcription involves the introduction into the text of the translation with the help of graphic means of the corresponding reality with the maximum approximation of its phonetic essence to the original: taverne (fr) - tavern, satellite - sputnik. The use of transcription in the transfer of realia is due to the fact that when transcribing, the translator manages to convey both the semantic content and color of the realia.

translation involves several ways to solve the problem of reality:

A) tracing - that is, borrowing by literal translation: skyscraper - skyscraper.

B) semi-tracing - partial borrowing: DritteReih (German) - the third Reich

C) replacement of reality by the reality of the target language: bell-boy – corridor

D) adaptation of reality - that is, giving it the appearance of a native word on the material of a foreign language: Walkure (German) - Valkyrie.

Translation of puns.

absolutely accurate translation (that is, the transfer of content and form), which we strive for as an ideal when translating a pun, can be achieved rather as an exception; as a rule, there are no losses here.

Decisions: first of all, the requirements of a broad context or the whole work as a whole. And already in the second place, the "punning possibilities" of the target language in comparison with a foreign language and the lexical data of the units themselves are taken into account.

The translation principles underlying this study are as follows:

a) translatability;

b) the relationship of form and content;

c) the need to preserve in the translation the relationship between the part and the whole, which is characteristic of the original text.

The starting point of this process is the semantics of the elements of the core of a foreign language pun and its location. At the same time, the following can serve as a support for creating a pun in translation:

a) the semantics of both core elements;

b) the semantics of one of the core elements;

c) a new semantic basis.

The use of the semantics of both elements is a rather rare case in translation practice, since it implies the presence in the target language of parallels to the elements of a foreign language. If the conditions for the implementation of the core elements into a pun coincide, the translation is carried out practically at the word level.

In the case when the core elements do not have equivalents in the target language, translators create a pun on one of the core elements, adjusting to it another one that matches the first in form, but does not match in meaning.

If it is impossible to use even one of the elements of the core of a foreign language pun, the device of the target language can be created on a completely changed semantic basis.

There are cases when the content of the reception is transmitted in a non-punning form. Since two semantic plans are combined in a pun, it is necessary to neutralize one plan, while retaining the main components of the content of the device. Here there is the largest number of typical translation errors associated with the literal transmission of the semantics of both elements of the core of a foreign language, which leads not only to a violation of the norms of a foreign language, but also to the creation of a meaningless context in place of the lost technique.

Introduction

Chapter 1. Features of assessing the quality of translation and translation norm

1 The problem of assessing the quality of translation

2 Translation evaluation models

3 Translation norm as a standard for evaluating translation

4 Translation and language errors

5 Analysis of the development of translation activities in the field of video games in Russia

Chapter 1 Conclusions

Chapter 2. Typology of translation errors

1.1 Omission of information

1.2 Adding information

1.3 Replacement of information

2.1 Omissions

2.2 Additions

2.3 Substitutions

3.1 Violations in the transfer of functional-style or genre features of the original text

3.2 Tracing an original

3.3 Inaccurate reproduction of the expressive background of the original

3.5 Omission of semantic information included in the semantic invariant of the text

3.6 Replacing the semantic information included in the semantic invariant of the text with information that contradicts the semantic invariant of the text

3.7 Decreased expression

3.8 Expression enhancement

Chapter 2 Conclusions

Chapter 3. Analysis of translation errors based on video game media texts

1 Overview of the main causes of translation errors in media texts

2.1 Causes and possible solutions to prevent the occurrence of errors of the first category

3.1 Causes and possible solutions to prevent the occurrence of errors of the second category

4.1 Causes and possible solutions to prevent the occurrence of errors of the third category

Chapter 3 Conclusions

Conclusion

List of sources used

Introduction

Translation and localization of video games is a very young direction in the field of translation studies. First of all, this is due to the fact that the phenomenon of video games itself arose relatively recently. The first commercial video games appeared in the 1970s in the United States and were initially aimed exclusively at the home market, which meant that they did not require translation into other languages. However, due to the rapid development of the industry as a whole and the development of local markets, it became necessary to translate video games into the most important international languages, including Russian.

The problem of classification and typology of translation errors is an urgent problem in translation theory, which is in dire need of research in the field of translation of many new types of media, especially video games.

The purpose of this workis the compilation of a classification of translation errors in the translation of game discourse. Based on this material, an analysis of the translation of various video games was carried out in order to establish its quality.

The object of this workis a video game series Uncharted, on the example of media texts of which translation activities in video games in Russia are considered.

The subject of this workgame discourse serves as media texts, materials from various video games that have gone on sale over the past twenty years, in particular the Uncharted series.

The relevance of this topicThis is due to the fact that video game translation and localization is a very young field in the translation industry, and therefore is in dire need of study in order to develop better approaches to video game translation. There are very few works on this topic and most of them are very superficial. At the same time, the translation of video games can be classified as literary translation, about which you can find many works of varying degrees of sophistication. Also, for an adequate and equivalent translation of video games, it is extremely important to take into account the specifics of each particular game. This aspect of the translation activity in video games is extremely poorly described and studied.

Research methodsare determined by the versatility of the problem under consideration and are a way to obtain reliable knowledge, data and practical skills in the field of video game translation.

Practical significanceThis work consists in the possible use of the results of the study, which will help to clarify the features of the translation and localization of video games, as well as to establish a clear typology of translation errors, on the basis of which it will be possible to evaluate the quality of video game translations.

The work consists of four chapters, introduction and conclusion.

The first chapter, entitled "Peculiarities of assessing the quality of translation and the translation norm", covers the following topics:

1)The problem of assessing the quality of translation in general;

2)Translation evaluation models;

3)Translation norm as a standard for translation evaluation.

Moreover, it talks about the history of the development of translation activities in the field of video games over the past twenty years, and also provides an analysis of the current situation regarding the quality of translation and general trends in the development of the direction.

The second chapter, entitled "Typologization of translation errors," deals with the types of translation errors. This chapter outlines the typology of errors, on the basis of which the analysis of video game texts was carried out in the practical part of this work.

The third chapter mainly analyzes examples of translation activities from the games of the Uncharted series.

scientific sourcesfor the development of the theoretical basis of this work were materials such as:

1)"A new look at the classification of translation errors" (D.M. Buzadzhi, V.V. Gusev, V.K. Lanchikov, D.V. Psurtsev). Ed. prof. I.I. Ubina.

2)"Hermeneutic foundations of the typology of translation errors and unsuccessful translation decisions" (Zhigalina V.N.)

To work on the second chapter, namely "The history of the development of video game translations in Russia", many Internet resources were used, including a specialized Internet site for video game developers and IT workers habrahabr.com and the Russian online news publication lenta. ru.

To work on the practical part of this work, translated media texts from the video games of the Uncharted series were used.

Chapter 1. Features of assessing the quality of translation and translation norm

1.1 The problem of assessing the quality of translation

The problem of assessing the quality of translation in a literary text is one of the most relevant and little studied in translation theory. According to K. Popper, in order to detect an error in a translation product, you need to have: 1) a standard of ideal translation, 2) a classification of errors that arise in the process of creating this product, 3) an algorithm for finding such errors.

Such an algorithm for searching for errors within the framework of translation practice is an assessment of the quality of translation.

A. Chesterman described the mechanism for making working decisions by a translator using the methodology proposed by K. Popper, which implies understanding the evaluation of translation quality as the first stage of the Error Elimination Process. After that, an experimental theory (Tentative Theory) is put forward, the phase of finding and correcting errors begins. The theory is analyzed, tested, updated, then tested again. It is important to bear in mind that such a theory can only approach the truth, but not become it, since it remains a hypothesis forever, no matter how many supporters it has. The evolution of scientific knowledge does not lead to the achievement of certain final truths, but to the formulation of new problems, and to the emergence of new theories. This provision can be projected onto translation activity, thereby arguing that neither the theory nor the practice of translation claims to be the ultimate truth and perfection.

Any translation is an interpretation of the text by the translator, which is why we will never be able to get the final ideal translation. Translation is considered in this case as an experiment, which is improved and redone for as long as there is a need for it. In this case, we take as a basis the definition of translation by G. Turi, who sees translation as “an experimental solution to the original problem of how to translate the source text” . That is why it is absolutely not surprising that texts of a certain type, for example, those that make up “cultural capital” (S. Bassnet) are translated differently each time: each new generation has different ideas about what a proper translation should be. For example, The Tale of Igor's Campaign, a well-known literary monument of Ancient Russia, has been translated into Russian more than forty times. All these translations reflected both the personality of the translator and the time when the translation was created, because each translator introduced into his version exactly those details that formed the basis of the aesthetics that were relevant at that time. [Chukovsky 1968: 276].

The problem of assessing the quality of translation has existed for as long as the profession of translator itself. Starting with the work of St. Jerome, we can see the translator's self-reflection. In the Apologia Against Rufinus, he sharply criticized Rufinus's inaccurate translation of the Elements by Origen. [Smirnov 1995: 36].

In the XV century. in Florence, L. Bruni published a critical treatise "On the Art of Translation", in which he analyzed the ambiguities and inaccuracies of the translations of Aristotle and Plato, taking the originals in ancient Greek as a basis. He not only pointed out the most common errors, but also tried to uncover the reasons why they occur.

E. Dole in the 16th century, conducting discussions with the theorists of translation of his time and asserting for the translator the right to transform the original text, conveying the meaning, not the word, was the first to propose abandoning the practice of literal translation. It should be noted that when translating philosophical or sacred texts, the translator was required to carry out a word-for-word translation, and additions, even those necessary from the point of view of linguistic norms or style, were perceived as blasphemy.

One of the first rules of the translator was formed by C. G. Bache de Meziriac back in the 17th century: “... Do not add anything to what the author said, do not reduce anything and do not make any changes that can tell the meaning” . The problem of inevitable subjectivism in the evaluation of translation, as well as the dynamic nature of translation norms, has remained at the center of attention of translation theorists for as long as there has been a tradition of translation criticism.

In the seventies. 20th century the total number of translations and languages ​​in translation has increased sharply, in connection with which the problem of assessing the quality of translation has become one of the most important. Sentence-level analysis was the highest level of linguo-stylistic analysis, so "translation was perceived as a transcoding, as a replacement of a chain of certain members in the FL with a chain of equivalent members in the TL." .

The question of equivalence came to the fore, only then it was about how to find a trouble-free way to achieve it. Reflection on the texts from the translator was not required, as well as his understanding, the most important thing was to know a certain amount of vocabulary and be able to correctly replace one language unit with another.

In modern translation studies, there are two main approaches to the problem of assessing the quality of translation. On the one hand, there are theories that seek to bring the text of the translation to a certain norm, thereby obtaining "the neatest, clearest possible translation, which, of course, is never possible to achieve." . On the other hand, the tradition of intercultural interaction is gaining more and more supporters, since the latter "awakens susceptibility to what is outside the cultural barrier of the individual, contributing to the establishment of a better understanding between people" .

It is impossible to create universal and objective criteria for evaluating translation, because they are formed differently for different types of translation: in different forms (written - oral), in different genres, each of which has its own features. Even in one single type of translation, there are different approaches to understanding a quality translation. With the exception of educational and methodological works, where students' mistakes are mainly considered, where there are practically no scientific studies studying the assessment of the quality of translation.

J. House emphasizes that “assessment of the quality of a translation presupposes the existence of a theory of translation. Thus, it turns out that different views on translation lead to different concepts of translation quality, and, accordingly, to different methods of its evaluation. .

Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that the criteria for assessing translation are very different, just like the types of translation that can be oriented, on the one hand, to the source culture, and, on the other hand, to the receiving culture.

1.2 Translation evaluation models

Informational approach to translation(R.K. Minyar-Beloruchev, L.S. Barkhudarov, A.D. Schweitzer, G. Jager). In this approach, as a criterion for assessing the quality of the translation, the completeness of the transmission of information in the source text is taken [Barkhudarov 1975: 19] and, accordingly, the quanta of the original information not transmitted in the translation are considered a translation error. [Schweitzer 1979: 28]. The simplicity of such an approach is deceptive already due to the fact that “the information contained in any natural text is actually inexhaustible… the loss of information is absolutely inevitable, because the translation takes into account all the information about the material form of expression of content, the share of which in the total amount of information units is very small.” [Zwilling, Turover 1978: 4-5].

A. Chesterman considered different approaches to assessing the quality of the text and identified the following models: retrospective (retrospective), prospective (prospective), lateral (lateral), introspective (introspective) and the educational translation assessment model (pedagogical). .

Retrospective evaluationis based on the norms of the source culture and is aimed at identifying how completely the elements of the source text were transferred by the translator and how much the segments of the translation text correspond to the segments of the source text.

At prospective evaluationtranslation proposed by A. Chesterman, the effects produced by the original and translated texts on recipients are compared, and within the same approach, two opposing opinions are distinguished: Y. Naida is convinced that the expected effect from the translated text will be the same as from the original, and Gutt argues that if the recipients of the text are different, then the effect of one text cannot be the same. .

Lateral assessment methodevaluates not the translation itself, but how fully this text is included in the corpus of “parallel texts” (parallel texts), i.e. texts that already exist in the translation culture, to what extent the new text complies with the norms of the host culture. The translation is checked against authentic texts of a similar type that function in the translation culture, as a result of which this evaluation model turns out to be the most objective for this culture.

Interspective assessmentis based on an analysis of the decision-making processes of the translator himself and has as a basis a long history of translation comments from St. Jerome to G. Miram and K. Chukovsky. As part of this assessment, the following method was proposed - the consideration of the internal decision-making process of the translator in combination with other assessment models. In other words, before evaluating the result of any decisions, it is necessary to consider their causes. Ideally, when evaluating a translation, “it is necessary to completely recreate the translation process, thereby carrying out a psycholinguistic reconstruction, and although it is impossible to get directly into the mind of the translator, there are certain methods that allow you to represent the translation process in an indirect way” , for example, a protocol method in which the translator comments aloud their actions during the translation process. However, the final product of the translation is judged from the standpoint of the quality of the translation, regardless of how the translator translated, how he came to this or that decision.

Evaluation of educational translationbegins with the analysis of errors in the translation text. Based on the provisions of such translators as V.N. Komissarov, S. Florin, A. Chesterman and others. An error is a deviation from the norm, or, more precisely, an unmotivated deviation from the translation norm. In educational assessment, the concepts of "unmotivated" and deviation from the norm depend on the degree of competence of the translator: what is excusable for a student in a learning situation is considered a translation error in the translation of a professional. It can be argued that when evaluating educational translation, the concept of error remains relative, not absolute.

1.3 Translation norm as a benchmark for translation evaluation

The search for inaccuracies and errors in translation is inextricably linked with the concept of the standard of this activity - some kind of ideal product, or simply - the norm. It is necessary to refer to the variety of norms regulating the activities of an interpreter.

In 1790, A. Taitler formulated the following translation standards: “1) the translation must completely translate the idea of ​​the original; 2) the style and manner of presentation of the translation must be the same as in the original; 3) the translation should be as easy to read as the original works.” .

One way or another, all professional standards come down to three main ones:

1.Liability norm(the accountability norm): “The translator must act in such a way as to be loyal to the author of the original, to the customer of the translation, to himself, to the future reader and to other interested participants” . This norm is ethical-pragmatic, going back to Horace's idea of ​​a "correct translator", making translators responsible for how they translate.

2.Norm of communication(the communication norm): "The interpreter must act in such a way as to optimize communication, as required by the situation of communication between all participants in the communication." This norm is social, since it defines the actions of an interpreter as a specialist in intercultural communication, at the same time as an intermediary, broadcasting the intentions of others and as a full participant in communication.

3.The norm of the relationship between the texts of the original and the translation(the relation norm): “The translator must act in such a way as to establish and reinforce the proper relation of relevant similarity between the original text and the translation” . This rule concerns the relationship between texts.

1.4 Translation and language errors

The main impetus for the analysis of translation errors as a theoretical direction in translation studies was given by S. Order, who distinguished between "random errors (mistakes) and deviations from the norm of the language (errors) that cannot be self-corrected" . Most modern researchers note that the very definition of "error" is the biggest difficulty.

According to R. Keller, the word "error" has two meanings. “In the first sense, an error is an incorrectly or incorrectly performed action. In the second case, the error is the result of such an action. It is clear that the main differences in the definitions of error depend on which of the definitions is taken as the initial one. Authors who consider an error as a result of an action, when defining an error, are guided by the system of the target language, where an incorrect understanding is fixed, or the norm of the receiving language is violated, while authors who consider an error as a process derive error criteria from the system of the original sign.

Much of the typology of translation errors is built on the linguistic errors of the receiving language, due to the long tradition of translation criticism. In the existing typologies of translation errors, there is no division into which language the error occurs, however, this is very important for determining what is a translation error: the low textual competence of the translator when constructing speech in the native language (i.e. violation of the norms of the language) is a linguistic a mistake, and a failure during transmission from a foreign language (i.e. a violation of translation standards) is a translation error.

Translation theorists - foreign and Russian - call "mistake" (error/faute) literally all cases of inconsistency of the original with the translation - although the approach itself contains an internal contradiction, as a result of which the classifications of translation errors presented below turn out to be inapplicable in many cases. Almost no one describes cases of loss of meaning in the translation of literary texts, since this requires interpretive parallel work with the original and translation. Establishing language errors is less time consuming.

Most translation errors are described exclusively in terms of the linguistic theory of translation, which does not always make it possible to fully explain their nature. Nevertheless, it is impossible to do without equivalence - or another similar concept in translation studies, since there must be certain relations between the translated text and the source text, on the basis of which the first can be considered a translation of the second. In addition, the concept of equivalence is necessary when evaluating non-fiction translation and identifying certain types of translation errors.

Cases of language errors can be classified in terms of the norms of the receiving language as poor command of the target language and called them language errors in translation; and cases of translation errors in terms of inefficient translation activities. Thus, language error- violation of the norm of the target language, and translation error- violation of the translation norm.

1.5 Analysis of the development of translation activities in the field of video games in Russia

The history of the development of translation activities in the field of video games is inextricably linked with the gaming culture in Russia. The first computers and

video games appeared in the United States and Western European countries as early as the 1970s, while their import and distribution to the territory of the USSR was prohibited.

The first foreign video games became available to Russian users only after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Officially, foreign video games were not released on the territory of Russia until 2000, and all translations made before this period can be considered unofficial (“pirated”).

Here it is worth immediately making a distinction - at that time there were two main types of electronic devices for launching games on the Russian market: consoles (among them SEGA Mega Drive, SEGA Saturn, NES, Nintendo 64 and others) and personal computers.

In the case of consoles, games have never been officially translated to those platforms. However, for games on some consoles, unofficial translations were still created, but there were a small number of them. Examples of such a translation could be found in games for the Sony PlayStation (1994). However, it should be noted that the translation in the vast majority of cases was of extremely poor quality, since amateur translators, sometimes with only basic knowledge of a foreign language, took part in its creation. As an example of such a translation, we can recall a series of games Resident Evil, Harry Potter and Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars.

When translating Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars and Harry Potter, the translators worked exclusively with text format, while work on Resident Evil required the involvement of actors to voice the characters in the game. The translation of Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars was done at an extremely low level, close to machine translation. For example, the dubbing of the game Resident Evil was done by the translators themselves, the quality of which was far from the standards of professional sound recording.

This situation was typical for localizations and translations of games on consoles of that time. Translations were extremely rare and were performed by non-professionals. At the same time, we can say that the presence of a translation, even if of poor quality, significantly increased the audience's interest in these games. It is also important to note that the translation of the names of the games most often was not made.

If we talk about translations of games on personal computers, then we can say with confidence that it was on this platform that the first large unofficial, and then official translation companies and game publishers appeared in Russia. Among them, it is worth highlighting "7 Wolf", "Fargus" and "Triada".

It is these companies that can be attributed to the founders of translation activities in the field of games in Russia. They mainly operated in the 1990s and also in the early 2000s.

It is worth noting that all these companies have never been official publishers and distributors of video games in Russia. All their activities, including translation, took place illegally and were not agreed with the developers and official foreign publishers.

Fargus can be considered the largest company engaged in translations and localizations of games. In addition to the large volume of translations performed, the Fargus company has also successfully maintained a high level of translations, which in most cases managed to preserve the artistic value of the original.

As an example of the company's work, we can recall the translation of the games Fallout 1-2 (1997-1998) and Planescape: Torment (1999). The localization of these games was limited to translation of the text, while the original soundtrack remained intact. The translation of these video games has received wide recognition among the players, and was carried out in accordance with all norms for the translation of literary text. It is worth noting that due to the high quality, in 2016 the “pirated” translation of Planescape: Torment from the Fargus company received official status.

Sometimes "pirated" companies translated games with complete disregard for the original source, simultaneously creating something of their own from the product of Western developers. So it was with Neverhood, a game in the genre of "quest" about a little man living in a plasticine world. In the version of the studio "Uncle Risech" the game was called "Do not believe in evil." The story itself turned into a story about hatred for the Windows operating system: it became the main villain, due to whose “glitches” everything “hung” in a fairy-tale land. All this was completely invented by the translators.

Translations from Fargus were in great demand among the players, which is why many smaller companies that performed machine translation instead of full-fledged ones began to use the Fargus logo to sell their products, which caused confusion and confusion among the players. The case even went as far as litigation, in which Fargus, being a "pirate" company, sued other "pirate" companies in order to protect their intellectual property, but did not succeed.

In the early 2000s, the first official publishers and translators of games began to appear in Russia, the largest of which were Buka, 1C, and Novy Disk. The first big success in the field of licensed products was Heroes of Might and Magic III, published and translated by Buka.

However, licensed and high-quality translation at that time was extremely rare. Special mention deserves the translation of the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), in which the dialogues were full of all sorts of jargon and slang expressions. The translation was made exclusively by the machine method, which led to the emergence of various comical and incomprehensible situations when the player could not understand the meaning of the words spoken by the characters.

With the rapid development of the Internet and with the advent of the ability to distribute games without using a physical medium, "pirated" translation studios were forced to start working officially. By 2006, all major "pirate" studios either closed or began to operate within the law, as, for example, the Akella company did.

It is important to note that the presence or absence of a Russian translation in a video game has always been a matter of financial gain. For a long time, foreign publishers did not allocate funds to work with companies that could translate and distribute their games on the territory of the Russian Federation. The reason, first of all, was the high level of "pirated" products, which greatly reduced the final profits for developers and foreign publishers.

The situation began to change in the mid-2000s, when, due to the active promotion of licensed products, the number of official translations of video games increased significantly. In addition to publishing and distributing foreign games, Russian companies began to conduct their own development, but the economic crisis that occurred in 2008 had a strong negative impact on all game companies operating in the Russian market. In particular, numerous game projects under development were closed, and budgets for localization and translations of foreign games were severely cut. For example, until 2009, the practice of attracting professional actors to voice video games was actively used. After the economic crisis, Russian publishing companies either completely abandoned Russian dubbing and limited themselves to translating subtitles, or even released games without translation. Especially often this situation took place on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles, in games on which, until 2008, there were practically no translations.

Since 2009, Sony has taken a course to translate all games on its platform into Russian. The first PlayStation 3 games to receive official Russian language support were Uncharted 2, God of War 3, and Heavy Rain. These games, in particular, received full dubbing into Russian. Soon, full translation of all video games on consoles became common practice.

Separate development studios have opened their own divisions that translate their games into Russian. The most striking example in this case is Blizzard, which actively supported the promotion of its games in the Russian Federation and their full localization.

Since 2011, the number of quality translations of video games has increased significantly. In particular, this is true for games by Japanese developers, which traditionally did not have an official Russian translation until 2015. The first Japanese game to be translated into Russian was Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the Russian publisher of which was SoftClub, formerly 1C. At the end of 2016, a new game from another successful Japanese game series, Final Fantasy XV, received official localization.

Today it is difficult to find a game that would be sold in Russia and at the same time did not have Russian localization. The quality of translations has increased significantly over the past twenty years, and the large number of video game translation studios and companies provide a high level of competition, which has a positive effect on the quality of translations. In the future, it will be considered in detail how game translation activities have developed using the example of the Uncharted game series, thereby an analysis will be made and an assessment will be made of the translations of games from the Sony publishing house in the period from 2009 to 2016.

If we talk about the trends and future development of game translations in Russia, then it should be noted that today the number of translation companies that have started working in the field of game translation has significantly increased. With the rapid increase in the number of games on mobile platforms, in social networks and in the browser, the need for high-quality and fast translation is higher today than ever.

According to the SteamSpy service, Russian-speaking players are the largest audience in Europe on personal computers. It also demonstrates a direct relationship between the number of players from Russia in games with and without the Russian language - the presence of localization increases the number of Russian players by two to three times. In view of this fact, it became obvious for foreign developers and publishers to localize their games into Russian.

translation video game genre text

Chapter 1 Conclusions

1.The problem of assessing the quality of translation is one of the most relevant and little studied in the theory of translation. Due to the fact that this problem has the same long history as the translation profession itself, many practicing translators and linguists put forward their own parameters and criteria for assessing the quality of translations, which indicates the diversity of opinions in this area.

2.There is a wide variety of approaches to translation evaluation. An important role in their classification and typology was played by A. Chesterman, who singled out the following assessment models: retrospective (retrospective), prospective (prospective), lateral (lateral), introspective (introspective) and the educational translation assessment model (pedagogical).

3.The presence of a translation norm is the most important component, without which it is impossible to carry out a high-quality translation. Many scientists put forward their own translation standards, which boil down to three main ones: the norm of responsibility, the norm of communication, and the norm of the relationship between the text and the original.

4.All translation activities of video games in Russia were carried out illegally and most often with the help of automated translation systems or low-skilled translators, which had an extremely negative impact on the overall level of video game translations at that time.

5.The first official translations of video games into Russian, which began to appear in the early 2000s, were a great success, thus setting a new standard in this area.

6.Most modern foreign video games, when entering the Russian market, are limited to translating only media texts and subtitles, avoiding dubbing the voices of professional actors, and, consequently, their translation.

7.Today we can talk about the ever-growing demand for the translation of media texts in video games, and the need for translation in a modern video game has already become an essential necessity.

Chapter 2. Typology of translation errors

This classification was based and adapted on the basis of material from the scientific work "A new look at the classification of translation errors" (D.M. Buzadzhi, V.V. Gusev, V.K. Lanchikov, D.V. Psurtsev). ed. prof. I. I. Ubina.

Speaking about the types of errors, one should single out errors of a logical, syntactic, lexical nature, i.e. associate the type of error with the level to which the phenomenon belongs, during the translation of which an error was made. The logical level is the deepest, correlating with the sphere of human thinking, while the syntactic and lexical levels belong to the language system; as for stylistics, this component determines the nature of the choice of units of different language levels. The expression "lexical error", "logical error", "stylistic error" is convenient to use in translation when discussing specific errors, since in this case it is clearly visible how one error differs from another.

Speaking of groups of errors, one should proceed from the fact that groups are more global and should correspond to the ideas about the success of the translation, both in particular and in general, i.e. correlate with the concept of equivalence and adequacy, as well as with other elements of the general and particular theory of translation. Within the groups there are more detailed divisions into categories and subcategories. The scope of the concept of "error category" is, first of all, an assessment for practical, "production" purposes. Such an assessment is made by the editor, the head of the translation department in order to determine the quality of the translator's work; the quality of the translation may affect the hiring of an employee, remuneration of his work, contractual rates, etc.

Category 1 includes cases of distortion in the translation of the denotative content of the original. Such a distortion may consist in omitting (1), adding (2) and replacing (3) information:

2.1.1 Omission of information

The essence of such a violation lies in the omission of relevant information included in the semantic invariant of the text.

Example:

Original: Return operating control to neutral or Offposition after verifying the isolation of the equipment.

Translation: After checking the equipment shutdown, return the control to the neutral position.

This translation, due to the obvious incompleteness of information transfer at the lexical level, cannot be called equivalent at the semantic level.

The essence of this violation is to add information to the translation text that is not present in the semantic invariant.

Example:

Original: Nothing can become law without Parliament s assent.

Translation: No document becomes law without unanimousparliamentary consent.

The essence of this violation is to replace the information present in the semantic invariant.

Example:

Original: At two hundred and forty-seven feet, its wings span is fifty-two feet longer than a seven forty-seven jumbo jet.

Translation: At an altitude of 75 metersThe wingspan of this aircraft is 16 meters larger than that of the Boeing 747.

Suggested translation:The wingspan of this aircraft (approximately 75 meters) is 16 meters more than that of the Boeing 747.

The essence of such violations lies in the fact that the translator allows omissions (1), additions (2) and substitutions (3) that do not lead to inaccurate reproduction of the actual component of the semantic invariant in translation.

2.2.1 Omissions

With such an omission, despite the fact that the semantic variant of the test is transmitted inaccurately, on the whole it remains in the correct form.

Example:

Original: Of these jewels, the middle stone is used exclusivelyto feed impulses from the escape pinion.

Translation: The middle of the pale serves to transmit impulses from the trigger tribe.

With such an addition, there is no obvious contradiction with the semantic invariant, but the addition either introduces factual accents that are not provided for by the semantic invariant, or creates “picturesque” details not provided for by the original.

Example:

Original: The basic layout of a mechanical watch is as follows.

Translation: In general, the following stages of work can be distinguished Totalclock mechanism.

With such a replacement, there is no obvious contradiction with the semantic invariant, however, the actual semantic information implied in the FL text with high probability is replaced in the TL with information implied with a lower probability.

Example:

Original: Brand awareness of IWC is at an all-time high.

Translation: The reputation of the company is now constantly kept at a high level.

The replacement leads to a state of translation, which can be characterized as a partial (insufficient) lexical-semantic equivalence.

2.3.1 Violations in the transfer of functional-style or genre features of the original text

The essence of the violation lies in the unmotivated use of lexical units and syntactic constructions in the TL that are not characteristic of the functionally and genre-similar text of the TL.

Example:

Original: In 2002 a clinical trail of an experimental Alzheimer s vaccine was halted when a few patients began experiencing brain inflammation, a result of the immune system mounting an attack against the body.

Translation: In 2002, clinical trials of a vaccine against Alzheimer's disease were suspended. This is related tothat some patients developed inflammation of the brain due to the fact thatthe immune system took up armson the body.

: In 2002, clinical trials of the Alzheimer's disease vaccine were suspended due to the fact that some patients developed inflammation of the brain due to the attack of the immune system on the body.

2.3.2 Tracing an original

The essence of the violation lies in the literal copying of the elements of the lexical content of the original, as well as the elements of the syntactic content of the original, as well as the elements of the syntactic organization of the original.

Example:

Original: As I try to make my way through the salsa dancers, the situation starts to fall apart.

Translation: As I made my way through the waltzes...

The essence of such a violation is that the translator uses expressive means that are weaker than those provided by the original.

Example:

Original: BUYER shall nominate an inspector for SELLER S acceptance, which acceptance shall not be unreasonably withheld.

Translation: BUYER shouldpropose a candidate for an inspector, which the SELLER must certainly approve, if he has no reason to disagree.

Recommended translation option: BUYER proposes an inspector for SELLER's approval and approval cannot be denied without good reason.

The essence of such violations is associated with an unmotivated change/distortion of the evaluation inherent in the original text.

Example:

Original: The second-to-last paragraph begins: “As an information technology, biology is subject to… “Of course I Thought it should have read, “As in information technology…” But then I identified the author, Ray kurzweil. His tendency to analogize biology to information technologies arrogant and naive(From a reader's letter to Scientific American).

Translation: … His tendency to draw analogies between biology and information technology seems too bold and somewhat naive.

Recommended translation option: ... His desire to reduce biology to information technology smacks of naivety and impudence.

2.3.5 Omission of semantic information included in the semantic invariant of the text

Example:

Translation: British employees spend up to 56 working days waiting for the delivery of goods, or visits from repair services.

Recommended translation option: British employees spend up to 56 working days a year waiting for goods to be delivered, or visits from maintenance workers.

2.3.6 Replacing the semantic information included in the semantic invariant of the text with information that contradicts the semantic invariant of the text

Example:

Original: The world s six billionpeople can be divided into two groups.

Translation: Everything six millionthThe population of our planet can be divided into two groups.

An error in the transmission of the numeral.

Example:

Original: "Conversion" evokes images of defense plants shifting from production of swords to plowshares, or from troopships to trolleys.

Translation: During the “conversion”, factories arise in the imagination, where swords are forged into plowshares or convert military vehicles into supermarket carts.

Example:

Original: The reform is still in danger of being changedout of all recognition.

Translation: There is a danger that the reform fix itbeyond recognition.

Example:

Original: The more you read and observe about this political thing, you got admit that each party is worse than the other.

Translation: The more you read about politicsand you watch it, the better you understand that each of the games is worse than the previous one.

Chapter 2 Conclusions

Based on the problems discussed in this chapter, the following conclusions can be drawn, which will be important in further work:

1.All translation errors were divided into groups, types and categories, a clear designation of which is necessary for further work.

2.The first category of translation errors included cases of distortion in the translation of the denotative content of the original. Such a distortion consists in the omission, addition and replacement of information.

3.The second category of translation errors included cases of inaccurate transmission of the content of the original, which, however, do not entail a critical change in the denotative content of the original text.

4.The third category of translation errors included cases of inconsistency in the translation texts of the stylistic, genre and expressive qualities of the source text. Such inconsistencies are manifested in cases of text tracing, inaccurate transfer of the expressive background of the original, inaccurate transfer of the author's assessment, weakening and strengthening of expression, as well as in changing the author's assessment.

Chapter 3. Analysis of translation errors based on video game media texts

The video game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was used as material for analyzing the translation of the Uncharted series, as well as Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, the name of which in the Russian version was translated as Uncharted 4: The Way of a Thief.

Before proceeding to the analysis, an important remark should be made regarding the translation of the names of the games in this series. The fact is that since 2009, Sony, the publisher of this series, has embarked on a full translation and localization of its games into Russian. One of the first such games was Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which received a full translation of both the subtitles and the audio track. However, only a little later it was decided to also translate the titles of games from the Sony publishing house into Russian. The word "Uncharted", however, remained without translation, as it is widely recognizable among the players and difficult to translate, while only the second parts of the names have undergone translation. For example, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - Uncharted 4: The Way of a Thief.

Translation of the titles of works is considered mandatory for any movie or book that goes on sale in Russia. We can say that this is an established tradition. If we talk about the names of video games, then for historical reasons, in the vast majority of cases, the names remain without translation. The translation of the Uncharted series in this sense goes against the established tradition.

3.1 Overview of the main causes of translation errors in media texts

Ignorance of the context is the most common reason why the translators of this game series made a large number of errors of the first category. It is precisely because of such errors that the player often has to hear incorrect and sometimes absurd dialogues. Dialogue translation, by the way, is a big part of the work of the translator in the games of this series.

Knowledge and understanding of the culture of the country of the original language are important skills of a translator, without which a competent comprehensive translation is impossible. In one of the examples, there is a mistake made precisely because the translator did not know the cultural characteristics of the English-language youth slang.

Another important problem in the translation of a literary text is the adaptation of phraseological units. It is important to note that in this aspect, translators in most cases managed to preserve the meaning of the original set expressions and correctly translate them into Russian.

As an example, consider the expression:

Time to fight fire with fire.

There is no complete analogue in Russian for this expression, but there is one that has a similar meaning:

"We treat like with like."

English expression "Payback s a bitch" was a stable Russian expression "Revenge is sweet", which fully fits the meaning of the English expression.

Wordplay translation is one of the main problems that translators face when working with literary text.

"In like Flynn" is a slang expression meaning "to get what you want quickly or easily."

In one of the dialogues of the English version, this expression was beaten:

"In like Flynn. right?"

The fact is that Flynn, aka Flynn in the Russian version, is the name of one of the characters in the game.

In the Russian version, this expression received the following translation:

"Ah yes Flynn, cool!"

In this case, the translator managed to convey the original meaning of the original.

In the following example, one of the characters recalls the catchphrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do", but decides not to pronounce this idiom in full, limiting himself to only the first part of the sentence:

Well, when in Rome...

In the Russian translation, the translator decided that the recipient of the translation might not be familiar with this English expression, so he translates it in full:

"Well, in Rome, do like a Roman."

Another important problem faced by the translators of Uncharted was "lip sync" - a technique in which the translation version must be pronounced by the voice actor within a given period of time in order to get into the facial expressions of the characters during the recording of the voice.

It is for this reason that in the following example the translator had to reduce the number of words in the translation, but at the same time it was necessary to keep the same meaning originally laid down. Here is the English version of the dialogue:

-It took a long time for him to get out of this game.

-Do you see the gun to his head? He chose this. And here is the Russian translation of this dialogue:

He had such a hard time ending this business.

I didn't force him, he came on his own.

3.2 Errors of the first category

1)In one of the scenes, when the main characters of the game sneak up on two guards and are just about to attack them, a character named Flynn in the Russian dub says this phrase:

"Heck! The second one is ready.

Thus, indicating that the action has already been completed, but in reality it is not. While the original replica in English is as follows:

Crap! I ve got another one".

Since the character is just about to attack, the line in this case should be translated as:

"Heck! I'll take on another"

The problem of translation in this case is related to the lack of context, due to which the translator could not correctly convey the meaning and coordinate tenses.

Based on the classification described in the third chapter of this work, this error should be assigned to the first category. In this case, we are seeing an example of the replacement of information present in the semantic invariant, which directly distorts the denotative content of the original.

2)Another example of a translator's error due to lack of context can be found in the following scene:

Due to the fact that in English this phrasal verb is translated in several ways, in the absence of context or even a commentary on the original text, the translator had to blindly guess the appropriate variant. The final Russian version included the following translation: “Get off!”

Although in fact the correct translation in this case is the word "Get down!"

There is a replacement of information that affects the semantic load of the translated phrase, which is why the error falls under the first category.

3)In another scene, the main character asks his partner:

To which he receives in response:

As in the previous example, here we can talk about the lack of understanding on the part of the translator of the fact that these two remarks are connected and create a dialogue, because in the translation we see this option:

-Are you okay?

-Yes.

Replacing semantic information in this case changes the meaning of the dialogue too much, which is why this error also falls into the first category.

4)It is also impossible to ignore another example of incorrect translation in the absence of context. In one of the scenes, the main character in the English version says this line:

"You are gonna make me missmy train.

In the Russian version, we see the following translation:

"You make me missby train."

As in one of the previous examples, in this case there is a double meaning of the verb, depending on which the meaning of the whole sentence changes. The verb "miss" also has the meaning of "to miss / miss", and in the context of this scene, the following option would be the correct translation:

"Because of you I missyour train"

In this case, we are seeing an example of the replacement of information present in the semantic invariant, which directly distorts the denotative content of the original.

5)In this example, you should pay attention to how the title of the game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End was translated. The fact is that the original title "A Thief's End" hints at the plot of the game, namely that this is the last chapter in the story of the protagonist of the series - Nathan (Nathan) Drake. The Russian version of the translation, “The Way of the Thief”, loses this shade of meaning. In addition, it should be noted that in Russian such a translation may be associated with prison history, which fundamentally contradicts the meaning of the original title.

This error can be attributed to the first category, because the information that is present in the semantic invariant is replaced.

6)Another example of a play on words is related to the translation of the English phraseological unit - "in the ballpark". According to the online dictionary of English slang words and phrases, Urban Dictionary, the expression "in the ballpark" means "close to what was expected." Here is a line from the protagonist of the game: