UKRAINIAN-GERMAN TRANSLATION: LEXICAL, STYLISTIC AND GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF TRANSLATION OF A LITERARY TEXT (BASED ON THE NOVEL «BOARDING SCHOOL» BY SERHIY ZHADAN)

Abstract

The article examines the lexical, stylistic and grammatical features of Serhiy Zhadan’s novel «Boarding School» and their reproduction in the German translation by Yuriy Durkot and Sabine Ster. It has been found that translators often resort to transformations due to differences in the grammatical and lexical systems of the compared languages. By transformation, we mean a change in the form of expression that reflects the meaning of a word in the context and does not affect the meaning. The writer uses a regional colourful language characterized by a large number of colloquial words, phrases, swear words, realities, etc. that reflects the authentic atmosphere of Donbas. Lexical and semantic transformations are most often associated with the techniques of specification, generalization, introduction of new lexical items, explanation of certain terms, omission, etc. Translation is often based on situational transformations, in which the situation is represented by other features (вгрузають важкими грудьми в скрижаніле полотнище/Sie versinken mit ihren schweren Schultern in der vereisten Fläche; тато припирається/der Vater schneit herein). Synonymic variants for reproducing some colloquial words have been identified (ладно/Ist doch egal/Was soll das?/Na gut/Ach Quatsch!). Colloquial short forms of names have been translated authentically, but the spelling of some of them does not correspond to Ukrainian spelling (Marina, Vera und Anna). Certain realities are not only simply transliterated, but also explained, as they do not exist in the German language system or have a different meaning (Паша/репетитор//Pascha gibt Nachhilfe; інтернат/ Internat. Erziehungsheim). Grammatical transformations involve adapting the syntax of the target language to the norms of the source language. This primarily means changing the order of words, splitting long sentences into several smaller ones, or vice versa. Despite the differences in the lexical and grammatical systems of the Ukrainian and German languages, the translators managed to convey the author’s intention to the reader through skilful transformations and appropriate word choice without compromising the aesthetic integrity of the original. In order to preserve the meaning or clarify the connotation of certain language units, the method of generalization, transformation, and logization is used.