Ways of rendering tense-aspect forms

Both foreign and Russian linguists who studied the category of aspect in English stressed that it is closely connected with the category of tense (O. Jespersen, Ye.M. Gordon, I.P. Krylova). This connection is quite obvious as one and the same form of the English verb serves to express time of the action and its aspectual properties, so for the purposes of translation it is reasonable to discuss tense-aspect forms rather than to distinguish pure tense and pure aspect forms.

The definitions of the category of aspect given in different sources point out various features of this verb form, cf. it serves to show the relation of the action to the passage of time, especially in reference to completion, duration, or repetition (The American Heritage Dictionary); whether an action is continuing, or happens always, repeatedly, or once (Pearson Education); the passage of the action in time and the relation of the action to its inner limit (Rozental, Telenkova).

As a grammatical category it is found both in English and in Russian, yet opinions differ concerning the type of their correlation. Some scholars believe that the category of aspect in Russian can’t be compared with any category in non-Slavonic languages and it has no precise grammatical equivalent in other languages. This view is supported by A.V. Fedorov who argues that the obligatory opposition of perfective – imperfective verb forms is not found outside Slavic languages [Фёдоров 1968]. According to a different point of view which is held by V.N. Komissarov, A.L. Koralova, Ya.I. Retsker, etc the category of aspect exists both in English and in Russian, though the subcategories are not the same and there are no equivalent relations between aspect forms in the two languages. So it is reasonable to qualify this category as a case of partial coincidence and accordingly look for adequate solutions in order to overcome differences between SL and TL aspect forms.

In discussion of translation problems that arise in connection with tense-aspect forms we follow the system of aspect forms that comprise this category described in Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. The authors of this comprehensive grammar book establish the following system: 1) tense refers primarily to past and present time orientation, aspect relates to considerations such as the completion or lack of completion of events or states described by a verb; 2) there are two marked aspect forms in English: the perfect aspect and the continuous aspect which are distinguished structurally and semantically and both aspects can be combined with either present or past tense; 3) the perfect aspect designates events or states taking place during a period leading up to a specified time; the progressive aspect designates an event or state of affairs which is in progress, or continuing, at the time indicated by the rest of the verb phrase [Biber 1999: 460]. In Russian the category of aspect is represented by the opposition of only two forms in which the perfective form is described as marked.

The comparison of the aspect forms in the two languages is understood differently by different scholars. According to B.A. Ilish the correlation of related forms can be described as follows:

1) the English common aspect correlates with Russian Perfective, bit it has a narrower range of meanings and uses,

2) the English continuous aspect correlates with Russian Imperfective, though it is broader in its functions and uses.

J. Catford shows the correlation of English and Russian tense-aspect forms in a more detailed way in which the marked members are given in the boxes [Катфорд 2004]:

Событие

в развитии повторяющееся однократное, завершённое

писал написал

was writing wrote

J. Catford points out that the Russian imperfective писал denoting either an action in progress or a repetitive actioncan equally frequently be translated into English by both the unmarked form wrote and the marked form was writing, while the marked members in both languages написал (denoting a single accomplished action) and was writing (denoting an action in process) are mutually untranslatable.

It is possible to mention a number of drawbacks in connection with J. Catford’s classification:

1) this approach does not take into account English Perfect forms,

2) it does not consider all the functions (meanings) of the aspect forms in the two languages,

3) the English Continuous and Russian Perfect are contrasted here on the basis of one meaning, while contextually they can correlate thanks to various transformations on other levels.

Major translation difficulties in dealing with tense-aspect forms are due to the following factors:

1) absence of equivalent relations in form, meaning and uses between subcategories which make up the category of aspect in English and Russian (see above);

2) additional means of expressing aspectual meanings such as aspectual verbs which characterize the stage of progress of some other event or activity (to stop, continue, keep, begin, start, etc);

3) the lexical character of the verbs which underlies their division into terminative and durative (cf. to break, open, shut on the one hand, and to sit, read, stand, on the other) and influences the choice of marked and unmarked forms in TL;

4) the existence of the so-called aspectual partners in Russian which are identical in their meaning, but different in their aspect form (cf. писать – написать, говорить – сказать) that have no correspondences in English;

5) the appearance of a different lexical meaning developed by one of the aspectual forms of a Russian verb, cf. стыть – простыть, раздумывать – раздумать;

6) an ambiguity of aspectual meanings of verbs if they are not explicitly represented in SL, especially if there are no adverbs of frequency, in which case a translator must take into account a micro- or even a macro-context, e.g. «Вы меня раздражаете» could be translated by You annoy / irritate me (to express smth habitual) and You are annoying / irritating me (to refer to the given moment).

When translating from Russian into English a translator is required to analyse the meanings of tense-aspect forms in a SL text and try to correlate them with tense-aspect forms available in English. The most common translation solutions concerning Russian imperfective aspect forms which are defined as unmarked depend on their meanings which, according to Academy’s Russian Grammar, are realized in 4 types of situations:

1) situations of a single unrepeated action:

1.1. a long uninterrupted action, e.g. А собаки всю ночь не спали, чуют, что хозяева едут (Чехов, 617 ). – The dogs did not sleep at all last night, they felt their masters were coming (non-continuous past, continuous past). Я знаю, вы здесь живёте уже почти неделю (Чехов, 513 ). – I know you ’vebeen living here for almost a week now (Present Perfect Continuous).

1.2. a conative meaning which signals an attempt to carry out an action, e.g. Войска брали крепость целый месяц. – The troops tried for a whole month to take the fortress (lexical means – to try).

2) situations of a repetitive action, e.g. Каждый день случает ся со мной какое-нибудь несчастье. И я не ропщу, привык и даже улыбаюс ь (Чехов, 618). – Every day some misfortune happens to me. But I do not complain. No, I’m used to it, and I keep smiling (Present simple, lexical means of compensation). Он захажива л к нам, когда приезжа л в наш город. – He used to call on us when he came to our town (the phrase used to and Past Simple).

3) situations of constant relationship, e.g. Сумма углов треугольника равняется 180 *. – The sum of the angles in a triangle equals 180 degrees (Present Simple).

4) situations of a general-fact reference to an action which has a number of varieties:

· 4.1. a past event characterizes the person’s state at a given moment, e.g. the new, resulting state, i.e. resulting from the achievement, e.g. Я разбираюсь в этом (which is the result of the achievement of «Я разобрался в этом») is translated as “ I understan d ” (as a result of having figured out) (Present Simple).

· 4.2. in negative constructions the physical state of a person is due to the failure to fulfill an action, e.g. Ишь исхудала. С утра не ела. – Why, you’ve grown thin. You haven’t eaten anything since morning (Present Perfect).

· an action with a cancelled result, e.g. Что ей надо? За портретом приходила. – What did she want? Well, she came here to take the portrait (Past Simple).

Thus, it is possible to conclude that Russian unmarked imperfective tense-aspect forms can be translated by a variety of means in English including: present and past continuous and non-continuous (common), present and past perfect and non-perfect as well as by special lexical means. In the latter case a translator resorts to units of a different level which were qualified by J. Catford as level-shifts (i.e. translation shifts from the grammatical level onto the lexical level). Such shifts are quite indispensable especially when an utterance contrasts two aspectual meanings of the same Russian verb. J. Catford gives the following example to prove it, e.g. Что же делал Бельтов в продолжение этих десяти лет? Всё или почти всё. Что он сделал? Ничего или почти ничего. – What did Beltov do during these ten years? Everything, or almost everything. What did he achiev e? Nothing, or almost nothing.

To sum up, since the Russian imperfective aspect form is broad in meaning, i.e. unmarked, a translator has to take into account various aspects of the action which are not given in Russian explicitly and make the correct choice of the English aspect forms making the opposition of perfect continuous versus non-perfect continuous and continuous versus non-continuous forms, cf. the ways of translating the Russian imperfective готовила:

1) Мама готовил а рыбу, когда я пришёл домой. – Mother wa s cooking fish when I came home (the action in process at a given moment in the past).

2) Когда я пришёл домой, дома никого не было, но я сразу понял, что мама готовил а рыбу. – When I came home there was no one in but I knew at once mother had been cooking fish (the action was in progress before a given situation).

3) Мама готовил а рыбу по четвергам. – Mother cooke d fish on Thursdays (repeated action).

The Russian perfective aspect forms are characterized as marked that’s why they are more limited in the number of situations and in the character of aspectual meanings realized by them.

According to Academy’s Russian Grammar the perfective aspect forms are used in two situations with the following meanings which are translated by a variety of means:

1) situations of a single action to express:

· the beginning of an action, e.g. Она рассмеялас ь, услышав его ответ. – She burst out laughing when she heard his answer (Past Simple ). Его голос дрожал от волнения, когда он заговорил. – His voice shook with nervousness when he started to speak (lexical means – started).

· a point or momentary action, e.g. Он нырнул в ледяную воду, не раздумывая. – Without thinking he dived into the icy-cold water (Past Simple). Ребёнок побледнел, услышав шаги. – The child turned pale when he heard the approaching steps (lexical means). Стиральная машина снова сломалас ь. – The washing machine broke down again (phrasal verb).

· an action viewed as completed, e.g. Солнце уже закатилос ь, когда мы добрались до деревни. – The sun had set when we got to the village (Past Perfect). Он молча надел пальто, взял шапку и вышел. – In silence he put on his coat, took his fur cap and left the room (Past Simple in a sequence of events).

2) situations of a repeated action which are stylistically marked as colloquial, e.g. Сегодня мне весь день мешают – то кто-нибудь придёт, то телефон зазвонит. – I’m being bothered all day – people keep coming in and the phone keeps ringing (lexical means – keep doing). Жила я радостно, по-детски – проснёшьс я утром и запоёшь [Чехов, 513]. - I used to be so happy, like a child. I’d wake up in the morning and burst into song (the phrase “would + do” like in translating Russian imperfective aspect forms with a similar meaning).

Thus, Russian perfective, i.e. marked, aspect forms can be translated into English by Simple (non-continuous) and Perfect forms in Present or Past, but never by continuous aspect forms which are marked in English because the meanings of Russian perfective and English continuous forms are incompatible. Besides, like in dealing with Russian imperfective, a translator can resort to lexical means of compensation and make level shifts.

In her monograph «Синхронный перевод с русского на английский» (M., 2000: 82-84) L.Visson discusses ways of translating various combinations of Russian tense forms where the aspect form remains the same which are frequently made in speech for emphasis. Unlike Russian, English does not favour such contrasted combinations and instead it resorts to various grammatical and lexical means, e.g. Мы поддерживаем и будем поддерживать прифронтовые государства Африки. - We have always supported the front-line states in Africa / We are continuing to support the front-line states in Africa / We shall continue to support the front-line states in Africa. Cf. the variant We support and will support the front-line states in Africa sounds, in L. Visson’s view, faulty.

When translating from English into Russian a translator has to deal with at least 4 groups of tense-aspect forms which are held together around two marked centers: perfect (in Present, Past and Future), continuous (Present, Past and Future) and their combination: perfect continuous (in Present, Past and Future) and one unmarked centre which is neither perfect, nor continuous – indefinite (Present, Past and Future).

· Group I: Perfect forms may be translated by the following means in Russian:

1. perfective aspect forms in various tenses (denoting a single accomplished action or an action which has taken place for some time), e.g. Oh, I’ve promised Mrs Hale to go with her to the Exposition tonight (Th. Dreiser, 117). – Ах, как жаль! Я пообещал а миссис Гейл пойти с ней на выставку (Past Perfective). Call me when you have been here a week. – Позвони мне, когда проживёш ь здесь с неделю (Future Perfective).

2. imperfective forms (denoting a repetitive action), e.g. He hasn’ t talked t o me any of these later flames (Th. Dreiser, 116). – Что-то он мне не рассказывал об этих других своих пассиях (Past imperfective).

· Group II: Continuous forms may be translated in the following ways:

1. imperfective aspect forms in various tenses (for planned future actions or for actions in progress at some given moment), e.g. We are coming down town this afternoon ( Th. Dreiser, 122). – Мы вечером собираемся в гости (compensation by lexical means for a planned and anticipated action). I am writing about the war (p. 63). – Я пиш у о войне.

2. Perfective (for future actions), e.g. I’ll be going along. Goodbye, father (Gr. Greene, p. 62). – Я пойду. Прощайте. Russian Perfective forms can be used in place of expected imperfective thanks to transformations made in translation, e.g. I’m not being quite honest (p. 70). – Я вам сказал не всю правду.

When Continuous forms are combined in speech with Perfect forms their contrast is often stressed lexically, e.g. He had raised his eyes solemnly and was looking into her own (p.127). – Он медленно поднял глаза и теперь смотрел ей прямо в лицо.

· Group III: Perfect Continuous may be translated by the following means:

imperfective aspect form (denoting an action in progress for a certain period of time before a given situation or continued into it), e. g. Hello, you’ve been crying (p. 113). – Да ты, никак, плакала!

· Group IV: Indefinite (non-perfect, non-continuous) forms are translated in the following ways:

1. perfective aspect forms (to render a single past action), e.g. A light flashed fr om the second tower (p.62). – На второй по счёту колокольне блесну л орудийный огонь.

2. Imperfective aspect forms (to render recurrent actions or taking up some period of time), e.g. What time do you get up to get breakfast (Th. Dreiser, 30)? – Когда же ты встаёшь, чтобы успеть приготовить завтрак?

The analysis of ways of translating all the 4 groups of English aspect forms allows us to draw a number of conclusions:

1) the choice of Russian aspect forms for all the 4 groups is restricted only to two grammatical forms: either perfective or imperfective in various tense forms, which compels a translator to use other than grammatical means including aspectual verbs, lexical intensifiers, etc;

2) an English tense-aspect form can be ambiguous in its meaning as it may correspond both to perfectives and imperfectives, cf. I understand – Я понимаю / Я понял.

3) an ambiguity of an English tense-aspect form may be due to the fact that it does not specify the difference in the type of situations which in Russian should be concretized as it draws a respective distinction, e.g. He killed men brutally in which the verb form killed may correspond to two situations –
1) убил (single accomplished action), 2) убивал (repetitive action). When a verb may have a terminative and a durative meaning and thus can refer to different situations a translator has to make a proper choice of the verb form depending on a context, cf. He stood by the window in which the verb stood can be interpreted as a terminative one (a single accomplished action) an as a durative verb (an action in progress at a given moment) and be translated respectively as Он встал у окна and Он стоял у окна.

Thus, we can conclude that each of the two languages has an intricate system of its own subcategories that make up the category of aspect combined with various tense forms which do not correlate fully and make a translator look for means of rendering aspectual meanings on different levels resorting to level shifts.

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