The problems of translation modal verbs from English into Uzbek Contents: Introduction

2.3. Translation analysis of frequent verbs


I don't think there is an English word that can't be translated into any other language, but specific examples for specific languages abound. You can't say that you "miss" something in Japanese for example. I would guess that there are lots of slang words in particular that don't quite carry the same flavor or meaning of the English original.
Sam, Higashine- Japan
Translators usually have to deal with six different problematic areas in their work, whether they are translating technical documents or a sworn statement. These include: lexical-semantic problems; grammar; syntax, rhetoric; and pragmatic and cultural problems. Not to mention administrative issues, computer-related problems and stress…
Lexical-semantic problems can be resolved by consulting dictionaries, glossaries, terminology banks and experts. These problems include terminology alternatives, neologisms, semantic gaps, contextual synonyms and antonyms (these affect polysemic units: synonyms and antonyms are only aimed at an acceptance which depends on the context to determine which meaning is correct), semantic contiguity (a consistency procedure which works by identifying semantic features common to two or more terms) and lexical networks.
Grammatical problems include, for example, questions of temporality, aspectuality (the appearance indicates how the process is represented or the state expressed by the verb from the point of view of its development, as opposed to time itself), pronouns, and whether to make explicit the subject pronoun or not.
Syntactical problems may originate in syntactic parallels, the direction of the passive voice, the focus (the point of view from which a story is organized), or even rhetorical figures of speech, such as a hyperbaton (the inversion of the natural order of speech) or an anaphora (repetition of a word or segment at the beginning of a line or a phrase).
Rhetorical problems are related to the identification and recreation of figures of thought (comparison, metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, oxymoron, paradox, etc.) and diction.
Pragmatic problems arise with the difference in the formal and informal modes of address using “you”, as well as idiomatic phrases, sayings, irony, humor and sarcasm. These difficulties can also include other challenges; for example, in the translation of a marketing text from English into Uzbek, specifically with the translation of the personal pronoun “you”. The translator must decide whether the formal or the informal “you” is more appropriate, a decision which is not always clear.
Cultural issues may arise from differences between cultural references, such as names of food, festivals and cultural connotations, in general. The translator will use language localization to correctly adapt the translation to the culture targeted. A very simple example is a financial translation which includes dates. If the text is in English, it is most likely, but not absolutely certain.
“Probably all of them. The dictionary may give us approximate translations of words, but we must interpret these according to our own experience. The word "hill", for example, is easy to translate, but according to the country in which we are brought up our mental picture of a hill will vary. One of the things that first struck me on arriving in Japan was that it would be possible to stand with one foot on the hill and the other on the plain, a feat which would be impossible on the undulating hills of Britain, where one cannot tell where the hill begins. The mental image of a "hill", therefore, is quite different for a British or a Japanese person, or even for an American, where translation is not required. All words and expressions have cultural and behavioral connotations which cannot be transferred to another language without explanation. Consider, for example, the simple act of having a "bath". The Westerner gets into a long, fairly shallow tub, soaps himself vigorously, and then lets the water run away. The Japanese soaps and rinses himself thoroughly outside his squarish and deep tub, and when he is quite clean gets into the hot water to soak there at leisure. Ideally, for maximum enjoyment, the water should overflow when he gets in. When he has finished, he leaves the water for the next person. The cultural norms of bath-taking then produce a psychological dimension: the Japanese person, thinking of the Westerner sitting among his soapsuds, thinks "Ugh! - how dirty!" while the Westerner, thinking of having to get into water that someone else has already used, thinks in turn "Ugh! - how dirty!" While we agree that they are both washing the entire body, rather than just the hands and face, can one say that the Westerner and the Japanese are really performing the same act? A Japanese child would not have reacted as I did when I first heard about Archimedes, who discovered his famous Principle when his bath overflowed as he stepped in to it. Instead of admiring his genius, I thought, appalled, "Whatever did his wife have to say about the mess in the bathroom!" When our interpretation of a concrete object or a daily routine can vary so widely, how much more scope there is for misunderstanding when we discuss abstract ideas!” - Lucy, Marbella Spain.
Writers sometimes use an incorrect tense or don't know how to use the past participle forms of irregular verbs. Using verb tenses imprecisely or inconsistently can also distract a reader and block communication. Recognize time sequences in your writing and choose verb tenses that logically reflect that sequence. Sometimes the choice of a verb tense affects your meaning.
Kelsey worked at the library for a year.
As the previous sentence shows, the past tense indicates a completed action. Kelsey no longer works at the library.
Kelsey has worked at the library for a year.
Here, the present perfect tense indicates that a past action is continuing in the present. Kelsey is still working at the library.
Kelsey had worked at the library for a year.
In this sentence, the past perfect tense indicates that something else happened after Kelsey's year at the library. For example, Kelsey had worked at the library for a year when she was asked to take over technology development.
Learn to use the perfect tenses when they are appropriate to your meaning. Don't limit yourself to the simple past tense when writing about past action. In the following sentences, a perfect tense should have been used to establish a clear time sequence.
The car wash stood where the sandwich shop was. (no)
All the things you told me, I heard before. (no)
In the first sentence, since the sandwich shop was in the location before the car wash—they can't occupy the same space at the same time—past perfect should be used for the second verb.
The car wash stood where the sandwich shop had been.
The logic of the second sentence dictates that heard should be in the past perfect tense. The word before is an obvious clue that the hearing took place before the telling, even though both actions were completed in the past.
All the things you told me, I had heard before.
Faulty if clauses
The past perfect tense should also be used in a subjunctive past tense “if clause.”
If she had thought of it, she would have called you.
A common error is to use the conditional would have or could have in both clauses. Would have and could have should be used only in the clause that states the consequences.
If I had wanted to, I would have made cookies.
Not: If I would have wanted to, I would have made cookies.
If we had brought matches, we could have made a bonfire.
Not: If we would have brought matches, we could have made a bonfire. Inconsistency in tenses
Another common error is illogically mixing tenses in a sentence or in a piece of writing. Choose the verb tense you want to use in your sentence or in your essay. Then make sure that all verbs are consistent, either by being in the same tense or by reflecting past and future times in relation to your main tense.
Roberto went into the market, walks over to the produce section, and picks through the tomatoes. (inconsistent tenses)
In the preceding sentence there is no logical reason to move from the past tense (went) to the present tense (walks, picks). Use the past tense or the present tense—not both. Rewrite the sentence using consistent tenses.
Roberto went into the market, walked over to the produce section, and picked through the tomatoes. (consistent tenses)
Look at the verb tenses in this group of sentences.
This new program will pay its own way. It specified that anyone who wanted to use the service has to pay a fee. People who refused to do so won't receive the benefits. (inconsistent tenses)
Notice that the changes in tense between sentences are not related to a clear time sequence. A rewritten version of this piece shows a more consistent, logical use of tenses.
This new program will pay its own way. It specifies that anyone who wants to use the service has to pay a fee. People who refuse to do so won't receive the benefits. (Consistent tenses)
In this version, all verb tenses except the first (will pay) and last (won't receive = will not receive) are in the present tense. The future tense is correctly used for the first and last verbs because these verbs indicate future consequences.
Irregular verbs. Even when you understand the correct uses of verb tenses, you can run into trouble with irregular verbs. Irregular verbs form the past tense and past participle in a variety of ways (as shown in Table 1), not by adding -d or -ed as regular verbs do.
Table 1. The table of regular and irregular verbs

Present:	Talk, joke say, bite
Past:	Talked, joked said, bit
Past participle:	Have talked, have joked have said, have bitten

Irregular verbs cause errors because people aren't sure about the correct past and past participle forms. Which is it: “I drunk the beer” or “I drank the beer”?

In the given work, we studied the translation problems of short stories of O. Henry from English into Uzbek. The collection of stories by O. Henry was translated form English into Uzbek by Q. Yusupova. The object of our research is the story “The Ransom of Red Chief”, which is translated from Russian by H. Teshaboev. Ransom- an amount of money that is paid to free someone who is held as a prisoner: the kidnappers were demanding a ransom; 2. to pay an amount of money so that someone who is being held as a prisoner is set free: They were all ransomed and returned unharmed.
So translation issues of verbs became the object of the given paper. At the same time frequent verbs, the role and meaning of phrasal verbs are essential in the process of translation. The term phrasal verb is commonly applied to two or three distinct but related constructions in English: a verb and a particle and/or a preposition co-occur forming a single semantic unit. This semantic unit cannot be understood based upon the meanings of the individual parts in isolation, but rather it can be taken as a whole. In other words, the meaning is non-compositional and thus unpredictable. Phrasal verbs that include a preposition are known as prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs that include a particle are also known as particle verbs. Additional alternative terms for phrasal verb are compound verb, verb-adverb combination, verb-particle construction, two-part word/verb, and three-part word/verb (depending on the number of particles), and multi-word verb.
The analyses of translation of verbs used in the story showed that, some phrasal verbs don`t correspond with the one in original text. For example, to pull off — olmoq. Ex. Bill and me had a joint capital of about six hudred dollars, and we needed just two thousand dollars more to pull off a fraudulent town-lot scheme in Western Illinois with.[3.P.13] — O’sha paytda Bill bilan birga jamg’arib kelayotgan pulimiz olti yuz dollarcha bo’lib, harbiy Illinoysdayer-suv oldi-sotdisi bilan bog’liq “ishbilarmonligimiz” ni boshlab yuborish uchun naq ikki ming dollar yetmay turgandi [2, P. 223].
To talk sth over- ...ni muhokama qilmoq. Ex. We talked it over on the front steps of the hotel [3, P.13] — Mehmonxona oldida o’tirib, bu haqda obdon gaplashdik [ 2, P. 223].
The aspect of these types of phrasal verbs that unifies them under the single banner phrasal verb is the fact that their meaning cannot be understood based upon the meaning of their parts taken in isolation. When one picks on someone, one is not selecting that person for something, but rather one is harassing them.
In analyzed story we faced it very often, so Uzbek translation of some phrasal verbs draw our attention: To stir up-qo’zg’amoq: Ex. Philoprogenitiveness, says we, is strong in semi-rural communities therefore, and other reasons, a kidnapping project ought to do better there than in the radius of newspapers that send reporters out in plain clothes to stir up talk about such things [3, P.13].
Yarim qishloq joylarning odamlari bolajon bo’ladi, shuning uchun, yana boshqa sabablarga ko’ra odam o’g’irlash rejamizni aynan shu yerda amalga oshirish osonroq bo’ladi, degan qarorga keldik. Boshqa joyda qilsak, gazetchilar e’tiborini tortardik va ular buni darrov shov-shuv qilib har tomonga ayg’oqchi muxbirlarini jo’natishardi [ 2, P. 223-224].
One of properties of the fiction, it from other products of a book word, its semantic capacity is distinguishing. It is shown in ability of the writer to tell more, than speaks direct sense of words in their set, in its skill to force to work both ideas, and feelings, and imagination of the reader. The semantic capacity of a literary work is shown or in forms of realistic typification, or in allegorical meaning, or in the general diversity of art speech.
While analyzing translation materials we observe semantic changes in translation:
To melt down- erimoq: Ex. Bill and I figured that Ebenezer would melt down for a ransom of two thousand dollars to a cent. [3, Р.15] — Bill bilan xom cho’timizga ko’ra, Ebenezer o’g’li uchun bizga oz emas, ko’p emas, naqd ikki ming dollarni shu zahoti qurtdek sanab berardi. [ 2, Б. 224 ]. Translating verbs and appropriating its synonyms to the target language verb meaning requires also stylistic knowledge. In the above given example melt down is used by its positive meaning, but in Uzbek variation “qurtdek sanab bermoq” may seems negative meaning.
To put up- tan bermoq: Ex. That boy put up a fight like a welter-weight cinnamon bear; but, at last, we got him down in the bottom of the buggy and drove away[ 3, P.18]- Bola emas, balo ekan. Mitti ayiqdek biz bilan rosa olishdi, lekin oxir-oqibat uni bir amallab arava tubiga tiqishtirdik-da, u yerdan jo’nab qoldik [2, P. 225]. In this example we meet Uzbek proverb “bola emas balo ekan”, but the translator prefers using “to put up” and by choosing this combination “put up a fight like a welter-weight cinnamon bear” he constitutes stylistic appropriate translation.
One more characteristic feature of fiction is a strongly pronounced national painting of the maintenance and the form. It is important as well close communication between historical conditions and images of product reflecting it. On all these features, characteristic for fiction, also the individual manner of the writer comes to light.
The analyzed phrasal verbs contain national coloring: To camp out — lagerga chiqmoq. Ex. I never camped out before...[3, P.22] —Hech qachon o’rmonda yashamagandim...[2, P. 226].
To pick up-termoq, olmoq: To pick up something or somebody (or pick something or somebody up) is to lift something or somebody by using your hands.
Ex. Every few minutes he would remember that he was a pesky redskin and pick up his stick rifle and tiptoe to the mouth of the cave to rubber for the scouts of the hated paleface [ 3, P.23-24] — Bolakay har besh daqiqada qizil tanli ekanini eslab qolar, o’zi qurol deb aytayotgan tayoqni qo’liga olib, oyoq uchida g’or og’ziga biqsinib borar, jirkanch kelgindilarning ayg’oqchilarini poylardi [2, Pp. 226-227].
To spread down- yoymoq, tarqatmoq: Ex. We spread down some wide lankets and quilts and put Red Chief between us. [3, P.25]- Jun va qavima choyshablarni yerga to’shab, o’rtasiga Qizil tanlilar Sardorini yotqizdik, o’zimiz esa ikki chetiga yonboshladik. [2, P. 227]
To fix up- aniqlamoq, tuzmoq: Ex. But we have got to fix up some plan about the ransom. [3, P.35]-Lekin tovon masalasida qandaydir reja o’ylab topishimiz kerak [2, P. 230].
To knock out-hushidan ketkazmoq, hushsiz qilmoq, yengmoq: Ex. Just then we heard a kind of war-whoop, such as David might have emitted when he knocked out the champion Goliath. [3, P.36-37] — Shu payt vahimali jangovor na’rani eshitdik. Axilles Gektorni jangga chorlaganda, xuddi shunga o’xshash na’ra tortgandirov [2, P. 230].
To send smb to smb- aytib yubormoq. Ex: If I meet him, I shall send him to you.- Agar yo’lda ko’rinib qolsa shohim, albatta, aytib yuboraman. In this sentence the verb “send” is used as the meaning “report, inform”.
To find smth- ko’rinmoq. Ex: If I find it at the market, I shall bring it for you¹⁸.- agar u bozorda ko’rinsa, yanagi kelishimda men ham olib kelaman. In this example if a translator use the verb “see” instead of “find” it would be incorrect translation. Besides in the above given example in Uzbek the meaning of the tense of the verb is in the future form, but in translation into English the form of the verb is in the present simple form.
The verb to roar by itself denotes making a long and loud noise and is equal to na’ra tortmoq, o’kirmoq. In the sentence Tanks roared into the city, the verb indicates not only producing a loud noise, but also moving. So the sentence corresponds to the Uzbek Tanklar shaharga shovqin solib bormoqda edi. The seme of movement is easily recognized by the preposition into. The same role is performed by a postpositional element of a phrasal verb¹⁹.
The examples of verbs used in the story showed they are not adequate with the one ones in the original. The meaning of equivalents practically does not depend on the context, so to translate them literary one should merely look them up in a dictionary. The demand to consult dictionaries is essential. No guesswork is allowed in translation.
However, proper combination of these means makes it possible to translate any literary text rendering all the necessary information. When choosing the means of translating it is also important to keep in view stylistic characteristics of the text itself and of different words in both the languages. It is much more difficult to translate those words of source language, which are characterized by partial correspondence to the words of target language. Such words are mostly polysemantic.
That is why in order to translate them correctly it is necessary first of all to state which particular meaning of such a word is realized in the utterance. The most reliable indicator in this case is the context in which the word is used.