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МАТЕРИАЛЫ И СООБЩЕНИЯ
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2020.1.14
UDC 81'25:339.138 LBC 81.18
TRANSLATION OF IT MARKETING TEXTS: LINGUISTIC AND PRAGMATIC FACTORS
Natalia V. Sokolova
Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Perm, Russia
Abstract. The paper focuses on translating specialised marketing texts of software vendors and draws upon lexical units thereof and translation tactics employed in the process. The research material is English marketing texts of SAP and their German and Russian translations. Our hypothesis is that the choice of translation tactics may be conditioned by intertwined linguistic and pragmatic factors. To achieve the goal - to identify factors influencing the translator's tactic choice of rendering English lexical units of marketing texts into German and Russian - the following methods have been utilized: the continuous sampling, comparative, descriptive ones, and the lexico-semantic analysis. The findings demonstrate that the choice of translation tactics in this respect can be conditioned by the following linguistic and pragmatic factors: 1) translatological information types, with all the four types being present in the material of study (cognitive, operative, emotive, and aesthetic); 2) target languages and cultures (German or Russian); 3) the lexico-semantic structure of the lexical units under study. With regard to cognitive information, the use of the precise information transfer tactic is relevant while correct information presentation can be avoided as some terms and abbreviations are left untranslated, with the latter tactic being prevailing in the German texts. As for emotive, aesthetic, and operative information, stylistic adaptation can be evident in the Russian target texts as opposed to the German ones.
Key words: translatological information type, cognitive information, operative information, emotive information, aesthetic information, marketing text, target audience, translation tactic.
Citation. Sokolova N.V. Translation of IT Marketing Texts: Linguistic and Pragmatic Factors. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 2. Yazykoznanie [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Linguistics], 2020, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 167-177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2020.U4
УДК 81'25:339.138 Дата поступления статьи: 18.04.2019
ББК 81.18 Дата принятия статьи: 06.12.2019
ПЕРЕВОД МАРКЕТИНГОВЫХ ТЕКСТОВ СФЕРЫ ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫХ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ: ЛИНГВОПРАГМАТИЧЕСКИЕ ФАКТОРЫ
о
® Наталья Владимировна Соколова
> Пермский национальный исследовательский политехнический университет, г. Пермь, Россия
£
g Аннотация. Статья посвящена проблемам перевода специальных маркетинговых текстов производителей программного обеспечения. Объектом исследования избраны лексические единицы, функционирую-¿о щие в таких текстах, а предметом - тактики их перевода. Материалом изучения послужили англоязычные © маркетинговые тексты производителя программного обеспечения SAP и их переводы на немецкий и рус-
Submitted: 18.04.2019 Accepted: 06.12.2019
ский языки. Мы предполагаем, что переводческие решения по выбору тактик в этом случае могут быть обусловлены взаимосвязью собственно лингвистических и прагматических факторов. Для достижения поставленной цели - выявить факторы, определяющие выбор переводчиком тактик передачи рассматриваемых англоязычных лексических единиц на немецкий и русский языки, - применялись сопоставительный и описательный методы, а также метод лексико-семантического анализа. Установлено, что выбор переводчиком тактик перевода маркетинговых текстов обусловлен взаимосвязью следующих лингвистических и прагматических факторов: 1) транслатологические типы информации, которые были выявлены в рамках проведенного исследования: когнитивная, оперативная, эмотивная, эстетическая; 2) язык перевода (немецкий и русский); 3) лексико-семантический состав единиц. Применительно к когнитивной информации можно говорить о востребованности тактики точной передачи как на русский, так и на немецкий язык, а также тактики отказа от правильного представления информации (передача терминов и аббревиатур без перевода), причем вторая тактика типична для переводов на немецкий язык. В отношении оперативной, эмотивной, а также эстетической информации можно говорить о большей востребованности тактики стилистической адаптации при переводе на русский язык.
Ключевые слова: транслатологический тип информации, когнитивная информация, оперативная информация, эмотивная информация, эстетическая информация, маркетинговый текст, целевая аудитория, тактика перевода.
Цитирование. Соколова Н. В. Перевод маркетинговых текстов сферы информационных технологий: лингвопрагматические факторы // Вестник Волгоградского государственного университета. Серия 2, Языкознание. - 2020. - Т. 19, №№ 1. - С. 167-177. - (На англ. яз.). - DOI: https://doi.Org/10.15688/jvolsu2.2020.1.14
Introduction
Since the 1990s, the Internet has been an important channel of computer-mediated communication (CMC) - "the communication produced when human beings interact with one another by transmitting messages via networked computers" [Herring, 2001, p. 612].
The Internet is also a means via which specialized product information posted on websites, web pages, etc. can be made available to consumers bridging the gap between companies and prospective buyers based in various countries and on different continents of the world.
Such websites and web pages superseding textual products [Puschmann, 2010, p. 13] are text-based: messages are entered via an electronic device and can be read as texts on a screen, typically by a person or persons at different locations [Herring, 2001, p. 612]. Texts are understood in this case as concrete entities which unfold in sequences of communicative functions in such a way as to achieve an overall rhetorical purpose [Hatim, Mason, 1990, p. 73].
The purpose of a marketing text delivering product insights and posted on a website is to promote a company's products and services throughout the world and across its multicultural nations. This is when marketing texts carefully elaborated by people of one nation are to be
translated in order to be perceived by another target audience, that is - people of some other nation.
It should be emphasized that translation in this respect involves both linguistic and cultural transfer; in other words, it is a culture transcending process [Vermeer, 1978] adapting the text as seen through the prism of a different culture [Shweitser, 1988].
A proper translation strategy and tactics thereof are instrumental in this process. The translation strategy can be defined as "a general program of the translator's activity worked out on the basis of the general approach to translation... determined by... the translation goal and, in its turn, determining the character of the translator's professional behavior" [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 861].
Marketing texts are a sort of special texts servicing particular producing sectors which are normally translated within the framework of the communicatively equivalent translation strategy that "requires presentation of the information contained in a special text in the most correct way, i. e. in accordance with the rules of presenting certain types of data in a given language" [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 865].
However, one cannot but think that the process of rendering such specialized marketing texts into the target language and - eventually -into the target culture may be closely intertwined with a number of linguistic and pragmatic factors making translators opt for this or that tactic within
the framework of the communicatively equivalent translation strategy such as: the tactic of precise and complete information transfer; tactic of explicating implied information; tactic of stylistic text adaptation; tactic of rendering stylistic peculiarities of the ST; tactic of correct presentation of information; tactic of pragmatic text adaptation [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 867] all of which will be defined below in line with the adopted approaches [Sdobnikov, 2012].
Within the framework of the communicatively equivalent translation strategy, the amount of the communicatively relevant information in the target text must be the same as in the source one and -if the goal is achieved, the communicative effect produced by the target is equal to that of the source text [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 862]. At the same time, the acceptability approach [Toury, 1995] provides for manipulating with some types of information perceived as acceptable or unacceptable from the target audience's perspective. The notion of acceptability should become of primary importance as "subscription to norms originating in the target culture determines its acceptability" [Toury, 1995, p. 57] in line with the pragmatic approach to translation. The translation goal defined by M. Larson [Larson, 1987] is as follows, "the goal of most translators is to produce translations which are acceptable for the audiences for whom the translations are produced" [Larson, 1987, p. 69]. This can be rightfully said about the translations of marketing texts aimed at prospective consumers of other nations.
Thus, our hypothesis is that a translator's choice of tactics for translating marketing texts may be influenced by a number of linguistic and pragmatic factors, that is: translatological information types such as cognitive, operative, emotive, and aesthetic information [Alekseeva, 2008a, p. 50; Alekseeva, 2008b] and lexico-semantic specifics of words as well as the target language and culture.
Material and methodology
To test this hypothesis, a prolific material of research is required: that is, contemporary and up-to-date marketing texts are needed as well as their translations into at least two target languages.
Modern software vendors are the companies that make a rigorous use of CMC
communication reaching to customers of multiple nations via the World Wide Web within a single click of a mouse. The websites of such companies feature up-to-date web pages available first and foremost in English and translated into a variety of languages such as German, French, Russian, etc. what makes this material a proper choice to test our hypothesis.
Utilizing the continuous sampling method, the comparative and descriptive methods, as well as the lexico-semantic analysis, the paper draws on lexical units of the English marketing texts of SAP posted on the vendor's website and the German and Russian translations thereof in the amount of nearly 7,000 words.
The goal of this paper is to identify factors influencing a translator's choice of tactics employed to translate lexical units of the English marketing texts under study into German and Russian.
To achieve the goal specified, a number of important methodological objectives should be set as follows:
1. Defining relevant CMC parameters in order to carry out the pre-translation analysis of the linguistic content of the web page texts since it is translation that is in focus.
2. Identifying types of translatological information [Alekseeva, 2008a, p. 50; Alekseeva, 2008b] and lexico-semantic means of their expression in the marketing texts under consideration - both in the source and target texts.
3. Analyzing such lexico-semantic means with regard to their macrocomponents such as denotative and connotative meanings; direct and figurative ones [Sternin, 1985, p. 43, 44, 55, 100; Sternin, 2013; Vinogradov, 1980, p. 248-249].
4. Investigating if there are differences in the choice of translation tactics with regard to rendering the translatological information types [Alekseeva, 2008a, p. 50; Alekseeva, 2008b] of the English marketing texts into the German and Russian target texts aimed at recipients of the heterogeneous cultures.
5. Testing the hypothesis and identifying if there is a connection between the choice of tactics on the one hand and the information type and the target language on the other hand, that is defining a factor or factors influencing the translator's decision-making process.
Integrating the functional stylistic and pragmatic criteria, the comprehensive genre model
below proposed by W. Orlikowski and J. Yates [Orlikowski, Yates, 2002] is appropriate to carry out the pre-translation analysis of marketing texts within the framework of our research:
1. Purpose (why) - to deliver SAP value offerings to existing and potential customers in order to retain current customers and acquire new ones.
2. Content (what) - information (value offerings) about software products.
3. Form (how) - textual and multimedia features such as pictures, photos, infographics, and video.
4. Participants (who) - the source: SAP software vendor, its staff.
5. Participants (whom) - the target audience: existing or potential customers - English, German, and Russian users of SAP software.
6. Place (where) - a website, WWW.
Point two of the aforementioned
classification - information - should be given a more detailed consideration from the perspective of translation studies. This paper draws upon the translation-orientated text typology elaborated by I.S. Alekseeva who differentiates between the following types of information: cognitive, operative, emotive, and aesthetic ones [Alekseeva, 2008a, p. 50; Alekseeva, 2008b] to be considered below. The study undertaken has demonstrated that all the four types of translatological information find their manifestation in the specialized English marketing texts of SAP. The information types, the means of expression and translation thereof, and the tactics employed in the German and Russian translations of the English marketing texts will be put under scrutiny below.
Cognitive information
Cognitive type of translatological information can be defined as objective and unbiased, impartial data about things under consideration according to I.S. Alekseeva [Alekseeva, 2008а, p. 50].
In special texts, such information finds its manifestation in terms - also in the form of abbreviations meeting the criteria of cognitive information such as objectiveness and compactness. The English marketing texts under study feature terms and abbreviations of the IT industry (software, cloud, suite, etc. ) and economic sector (ERP, a company, etc.).
Normally, the tactic of precise and complete information transfer is used to translate terms into other languages "since the translator's goal in dealing with a special text is to reproduce information of the source text in a target text" [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 863] and to convey its denotative meaning fully.
However, the analysis of the German and Russians translations of the English marketing texts has demonstrated a new remarkable tendency to use some IT and economic terms and abbreviations without translating them, and such terms can be named within the context of this paper 'transplants' because they are literally transplanted into the German and Russian target texts.
This observation is true of the English terms and abbreviations such as ERP, software, suite, cloud, in-memory as demonstrated in the examples below:
(1) Choose your SAP software for ERP for midsize companies (ERPSBMC).
Wählen Sie Ihre SAP-Software für ERP in mittelständischen Unternehmen (CERPMB).
Выбор ERP-решения SAP для предприятий среднего бизнеса (ERPMC);
(2) . ..Achieve rapid value with our cloud-based ERP software suite (ERPDC).
.. .Und erzielen Sie eine schnelle Wertschöpfung mit unserer ERP-Suite in der Cloud (ERPDK).
...И получайте быструю отдачу с помощью нашего пакета облачных ERP-решений (ERP);
(3) SAP HANA in-memory processing (SAPCERP).
Nutzt In-Memory Computing von SAP HANA (SAPCERPG).
На базе SAP HANA - системы вычислений in-memory (SAPSC).
As it can be seen above, the German translations (1), (2), and (3) feature such transplants as compared to the Russian targets texts where the transplants in-memory and ERP are used only.
The overall findings based on the entire material of the study demonstrate that that the ratio of using such transplants to render the English terms in the German target texts is 54 % as compared to only 9 % in all the Russian target translations analyzed, with the rest of the percentage being term equivalents in the IT marketing context such as solution - Lösung -решение, etc.
The observations above make us come to the conclusion that in this case of IT terms in the German and Russian target texts there is some avoidance of the tactic of the correct information presentation that normally requires "accordance with the rules of presenting certain types of data in a given language" [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 865]. Ignoring this tactic can "make it more difficult for the recipient to perceive the information as the way the information is presented is not what the recipient has got accustomed to" [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 865].
The avoidance of the correct information presentation tactic in the examples above can be explained by the fact that translators considered it acceptable to use English borrowings in the target texts aimed at professionals familiar with the terms. Using more borrowings in the German texts makes us suppose that the German-speaking IT professionals may be more aware of the English-language terminology of the IT sector as viewed from the point of the translators.
The translator's choice can also be influenced by somewhat different connotations of the words under study. The English examples (1) and (2) also feature the term software denoting computer programs and being transplanted into the German translation as Software. However, in the Russian translation we come across the translation решение, not компьютерная программа or программное обеспечение. While the denotative meaning is the same, the Russian translation of this term as (программное) решение in the marketing context may be regarded as conveying a connotative meaning of a positive solution addressing and meeting specific needs of a particular client what is the most appropriate choice of equivalents in the target translation.
One more illustrative example demonstrating how the translator's choice of term equivalents can be influenced by assumptions of the meaning, target language and - respectively - audience is the English term predictive analytics where predictive means "the practice of extracting information from existing data sets in order to determine patterns and predict future outcomes and trends. Predictive analytics does not tell you what will happen in the future. Instead, it forecasts what might happen in the future with an acceptable level of reliability, and includes what-if scenarios and risk assessment" (Webopedia),
according to the Webopedia dictionary of IT terms. So the part predictive of the term under study has nothing to do with fortune-telling, it deals with forecasting instead. The examples below demonstrate the translations of the term into German and Russian:
(4) Machine learning and predictive analytics (ERPSBMC).
Maschinelles Lernen und vorausschauende Analysen (CERPMB).
Машинное обучение и прогнозная аналитика (ERPMC).
As it can be seen, in the Russian translation the choice was made in favor of the word прогнозная which corresponds to the meaning of the English term in this context as forecasting. Sometimes the term predictive analytics can be translated as предсказательная аналитика [Garda Technologii]. However, the word предсказательная may be misleading and sound inappropriate to prospective customers in this context as it might imply unreliability of forecasts made. Thus, the choice of the equivalent прогнозная in the marketing texts under study is conditioned by the purely linguistic (meaning) and pragmatic (target recipients) factors.
Within the framework of this study, no trace of using the tactic of explicating implied information [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 863] was found what could be explained by the fact that both the source and target texts are aimed at professionals. This statement is also true of the so-called pragmatic adaptation tactic employed with respect to situations "when the things mentioned in the source are not known to the reader and, thus, are difficult to understand as explained by" [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 863]. The fact that this tactic was not found during our study can also result from the fact that the target audience of the marketing texts is constituted by professionals fully aware of the terms and the industry's state of the art.
Thus, the tactics of precise information transfer and correct information presentation are considered to be instrumental in rendering the cognitive information of terms [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 863]. Rendered with the help of the precise information transfer tactic, the German and Russian translations of the English IT marketing texts aimed at professionals also demonstrate the use of the so-called 'transplants' - English terms
utilized in the target texts without any translations, with the German target texts featuring more of such transplants ( Software, Cloud, ERP). The fact evidences the avoidance of the correct information presentation tactic in the target texts aimed at IT pros.
The results also demonstrate that the terms under consideration are rendered using those equivalents that deliver more positive connotations (software - Software - решение instead of программное обеспечение) and less negative ones (predictive analytics - vorausschauende Analysen - прогнозная аналитика instead of предсказательная аналитика) to the target recipients of the marketing texts when it comes to this or that language under investigation. So the pragmatic factors of the target language also play a crucial role in making decisions how to render the cognitive information of terms in the marketing texts which may be intertwined with positive or negative connotations.
Emotive information
Emotive information - as opposed to cognitive information - conveys emotions which may be partial, biased, and subjective [Alekseeva, 2008a, p. 53].
Despite being specialized ones - the English marketing texts under study feature an extensive array of adjectives and adverbs going 'hand in hand' with means of cognitive information (terms) in order to showcase the advantages of the IT solutions what makes such means of emotive information positively charged in this context. Among them are lexical units describing the benefits of performance efficiency (productive, enhanced, accurate); performance speed (accelerated, instant, rapid, faster, growing, easily, quickly); the demonstrated track record of using these solutions (proven) and their integrated and all-encompassing nature (comprehensive, continuous).
Normally, such lexical units are rendered using the respective equivalents in line with the precise information transfer tactic as can be seen in the examples below rapid - schnelle - быструю; enhanced - besser - эффективный; comprehensive - umfassend - комплексного:
(5) ...And achieve rapid value with our cloud-based ERP software suite (ERPDC).
.. .Und erzielen Sie eine schnelle Wertschöpfung mit unserer ERP-Suite in der Cloud (CERPMB).
...И получайте быструю отдачу с помощью нашего пакета облачных ERP-решений (ERPMC);
(6) Enhanced project profitability tracking
See how Dickinson + Associates improves
business visibility and tracks project profitability with our comprehensive ERP cloud solution for professional services (ERPDC).
Die Rentabilität von Projekten besser erkennen
Dickinson + Associates gewinnt mit einer umfassenden ERP-Cloud-Lösung Geschäftstransparenz und kann die Rentabilität seiner Projekte nachverfolgen (CERPMB).
Эффективный контроль рентабельности проектов
Узнайте, как компании Dickinson+Associates удается повысить прозрачность операций и эффективно отслеживать рентабельность проектов с помощью комплексного облачного решения (ERPMC).
Nevertheless, when comparing the German and Russian translations with the English originals, one cannot but notice that such positively charged - qualitative - adjectives and adverbs are omitted in some Russian translations while they are rendered in the German ones as demonstrated in (7) where accelerated and productive are translated into German as schnelle and productive and omitted in the Russian target text:
(7) From designing and value discovery to accelerated innovation to productive usage for tangible business results, you can evolve your business by breaking new ground with a trusted adviser that knows SAP software best (ERPDC).
Begleitet von einem vertrauenswürdigen Berater mit exzellenter Kenntnis der SAP-Software können Sie Ihr Unternehmen weiterentwickeln, indem Sie neue Wege gehen - von der Konzeption und Ermittlung des Nutzens über schnelle Innovationsprozesse hin zu messbaren Ergebnissen, die produktiv genutzt werden können (ERPDK).
От проекта и анализа до внедрения инноваций и получения ощутимых бизнес-результатов -ваша компания будет развиваться и завоевывать все новые территории при поддержке надежного консультанта, знающего решения SAP лучше всех (ERPMC).
In the example (8) the adverb easily is rendered into German as flexibel and omitted in the Russian target text:
(8) Extend easily with native integration to other SAP solutions and open interfaces (SAPCERP).
Native Integration mit anderen SAP-Lösungen und offene Schnittstellen für flexible Erweiterung (SAPCERPG).
Возможности расширения благодаря натив-ной интеграции с другими решениями SAP и открытым интерфейсам (SAPSC).
The excerpt (9) once again demonstrates the omittance of such words because continuous in the collocation to deliver continuous innovation is not rendered in the Russian translation:
(9) Take instant advantage of a cloud-based ERP solution that combines real-time context, intelligent technology, and an intuitive user experience - managed as a service to deliver continuous innovation... (ESAPCERP).
Nutzen Sie die Vorteile einer cloudbasierten ERPSuite, die Echtzeit-Kontext, intelligente Technologien & intuitive Nutzung kombiniert. Sie beziehen die Suite als Cloud-Service inkl. aller kontinuierlichen Innovationen... (SAPCERPG).
Воспользуйтесь преимуществами облачного ERP-решения, сочетающего контекст реального времени, интеллектуальные технологии и интуитивно понятный интерфейс, управляемый как услуга для внедрения инноваций... (SAPSC).
It should be noted that in the example above the word instant is omitted not only in the Russian, but also in the German target text.
One more English example (10) contains two lexical units describing the speed of the solutions -quickly and rapid rendered into German as beschleunigen and schnelle, with only one out of the two lexical units being left in the Russian translation - быструю (отдачу):
(10) Run in real time, innovate quickly, and achieve rapid value with our cloud-based ERP software suite (ERPDC).
Agieren Sie in Echtzeit, beschleunigen Sie Innovationen und erzielen Sie eine schnelle Wertschöpfung mit unserer ERP-Suite in der Cloud (ERPDK).
Управляйте бизнесом в реальном времени, внедряйте инновации и получайте быструю отдачу с помощью нашего пакета облачных ERP-реше-ний (ERP).
So the precise information transfer tactic is not the only one employed for conveying emotive
information; and this choice of tactics may also be made taking into account the target recipients. As shown in examples (7), (8), (9), (10), the Russian translations of the English marketing texts make a use of the stylistic adaptation tactic with its practical operation of omitting some 'abundant' stylistic peculiarities [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 864] -positively charged adjectives and adverbs - what is not typical of the German translations since only 6 % of them demonstrate this tendency as compared to 27 % of all the Russian target translations.
Thus, the English marketing texts feature means of emotive information such as qualitative adjectives and adverbs (accurate, productive, comprehensive, enhanced, accelerated, quickly, faster, etc.) showcasing multiple benefits of the proposed IT solutions in terms of performance, speed, integrity, etc. The precise information transfer tactic is utilized in this respect (rapid - schnell - быстрый, etc.). However, the abundance of such means conveying emotive information in the original as well as the assumptions of the target audience may lead to utilizing the stylistic adaptation tactic of omitting such means as demonstrated above in the Russian translations of the English marketing texts.
Aesthetic information
Aesthetic information is a sort of emotive information which conveys emotions arising from the means of conveying this aesthetic information [Alekseeva, 2008a, p. 55]. This translatological type of information focuses not only on the means but also on how they are conveyed through the use of metaphors, puns, and many other stylistic devices. And the specialized English marketing texts under study do employ the expressive means reaching out to existing and potential customers in an attempt to appeal to them since their goal is not only to inform but also to persuade the recipients into making a product purchase.
The metaphors used in the marketing texts result from figurative meanings [Vinogradov, 1980, p. 248-249] of the constituent words as can be evident from examples of collocations such as break new ground; no matter where you are on your journey; close the gap between; and provide a launch pad for business in the
particular contexts (11), (12), (13), and (14) to be analyzed below.
This is when different figurative meanings can be employed in the target languages as it is the case with the metaphor break new ground:
(11) From designing and value discovery to accelerated innovation to productive usage for tangible business results, you can evolve your business by breaking new ground with a trusted adviser that knows SAP software best (ERPDC).
Begleitet von einem vertrauenswürdigen Berater mit exzellenter Kenntnis der SAP-Software können Sie Ihr Unternehmen weiterentwickeln, indem Sie neue Wege gehen - von der Konzeption und Ermittlung des Nutzens über schnelle Innovationsprozesse hin zu messbaren Ergebnissen, die produktiv genutzt werden können (ERPDK).
От проекта и анализа до внедрения инноваций и получения ощутимых бизнес-результатов -ваша компания будет развиваться и завоевывать все новые территории при поддержке надежного консультанта, знающего решения SAP лучше всех (ERP).
The metaphor break new ground is rendered into German as neue Wege gehen and into Russian - as завоевывать новые территории. As it can be seen in (11), the tactic of rendering stylistic peculiarities is implemented with regard to the metaphor "through the use of interlingual (lexical, syntactical and semantic) correspondences (when they are available) and transformations of the text necessary to secure the same effect that is produced by stylistic devices in the source text (when correspondences are not available)" [Sdobnikov, 2012, p. 865].
However, rendering stylistic peculiarities is not always the case with the metaphors in the texts under study. The following excerpt features the metaphor no matter where you are on your journey which is rendered as an jedem Punkt der digitalen Reise in the German target text, with the word digitalen being added - evidently to make the metaphor more obvious to the German target audience - and absolutely omitted in Russian:
(12) .. .Drive ROI by collaborating with industry experts, consultants, and support engineers to receive guidance, prescriptive best practices, and expertise -no matter where you are on your journey (ERPDC).
...Erhöhen Sie den ROI, indem Sie von Empfehlungen, Best Practices und Kenntnissen der
Branchenexperten, Berater und Servicetechniker profitieren - an jedem Punkt der digitalen Reise (ERPDK).
...Возвращайте инвестиции благодаря сотрудничеству с экспертами, консультантами и специалистами. Пользуйтесь советами, практиками и опытом экспертов (ERP).
Omitting the metaphor in the Russian translation looks like an inappropriate translator's decision as the Russian language provides a wide array of lexical means to choose a proper metaphor.
In the next example (13) the English metaphor close the gap between is translated as schließen damit die Lücke zwischen into German while the Russian target text features a collocation devoid of figurative meanings ускоряя процесс реализации:
(13) SAP Digital Business Services connects business and IT to help you close the gap between your digital transformation strategy and execution (ERPDC).
SAP Digital Business Services verbinden Business mit IT und schließen damit die Lücke zwischen Strategie und Durchsetzung der digitalen Transformation (ERPDK).
SAP Digital Business Services объединяет подразделения и ИТ-структуры, ускоряя процесс реализации цифровой трансформации (ERP).
The Russian translation in (13) demonstrates the use of modulation ускоряя процесс реализации devoid of the figurative meaning as a result of abstaining from using any metaphors such as сокращая / преодолевая разрыв между, etc.
The example (14) shows a quite different situation when the metaphor provide a launch pad is rendered in Russian; however, a neutral collocation is used in the German target text:
(14) Provide a launch pad for business growth (ERPDC).
Womit Ihr Unternehmen schnell und nachhaltig wachsen kann (CERPMB).
Стартовая площадка для роста вашего бизнеса (ERPMC).
The metaphor used in the Russian translation conveys the figurative meaning. As for the German translation, it seems not adequate in this case as there is a verb launchen (Duden) in the German language that could have been used figuratively. So the examples (12), (13), and (14)
above evidence the use of the stylistic adaptation tactic employed in order to omit or convey only denotative meanings of the aesthetic means.
The specialized English marketing texts do feature expressive means of aesthetic information such as metaphors, and this fact poses specific challenges to translators who are supposed to convey but sometimes fail to render the figurative meanings. Two tactics can be employed in this case: the one of rendering the stylistic peculiarities (and figurative meanings of metaphors) and that of stylistic adaptation. Stylistic adaptation was carried out by translators both in the German and Russian texts by rendering direct meanings only (12 and 35 % of the overall German and Russian translations respectively). The tactic of stylistic adaptation cannot be regarded as appropriate in this respect as some part of the aesthetic information initially intended to appeal to the target audience is not rendered in this case and - eventually - turns out to be lost upon the recipient.
Operative information
Marketing texts reach out to would-be buyers and consumers of products what makes a use of operative information in such texts quite inevitable as operative information is a call to carry out some actions [Alekseeva, 2008a, p. 53].
Imperatives are used in the English marketing texts under consideration both in headings, subheadings, and in texts themselves encouraging consumers to leverage the benefits of the IT solutions showcased on the SAP web pages.
The excerpts (15) and (16) below are English headings and subheadings of the SAP web pages and the German and Russian translations thereof:
(15) Solve the ERP needs of your fast-growing business (ERPSBMC).
So erfüllen Sie Ihre speziellen und unternehmenstypischen Anforderungen an ERP (CERPMB).
ERP-решения для предприятий среднего бизнеса с учетом вашей специфики (ERPMC);
(16) Simplify complex operations with enterprise ERP for global corporations (ERPDC).
Komplexe Vorgänge mit einem ERP-System für globale Unternehmen vereinfachen (ERPDK).
ERP-система для большой компании упрощает сложные операции (ERP).
In (15), the imperative mood is used in the German translation, however, in the Russian one a noun is utilized in a nominative sentence. In (16), the Russian translation features the indicative mood.
The indicative mood may be also used in the Russian translation of the marketing texts per se as demonstrated in (17) and (18) whereas the mood of the German translation is imperative:
(17) Create a flow ofreal-time information across your international organization - and adopt new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI - with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems for over 500 users (ERPDC).
Bewirken Sie einen Informationsfluss in Echtzeit und führen Sie neue Technologien ein, wie das Internet der Dinge und künstliche Intelligenz - mit ERP-Systemen (Enterprise Resource Planning) für mehr als 500 Anwender (CERPMB).
Корпоративная система планирования ресурсов предприятия (ERP) для 500+ пользователей позволяет обмениваться информацией в режиме реального времени в масштабе крупной международной компании и успешно применять такие новые технологии, как Интернет вещей и искусственный интеллект (ERP).
It should be emphasized here that the Russian target texts also feature the imperative mood as in the example below:
(18) Run all aspects of your small or medium business (SMB) with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software packages and tools that help you streamline and grow (ERPSBMC).
Steuern Sie alle Bereiche Ihres mittelständischen Unternehmens mit einer ERP-Anwendung, die Ihnen eine klare Ausrichtung auf Ihre Kernkompetenzen ermöglicht (CERPMB).
Управляйте всеми аспектами деятельности своей компании среднего бизнеса при помощи локальной или облачной системы планирования ресурсов предприятия (ERPMC).
What is important in this respect is that the indicative mood is used in the Russian target texts (15), (16), (17) as a result of applying the stylistic adaptation tactic in the Russian translations what is not true of the German target texts analyzed where the imperative mood is rendered.
The findings demonstrate that the operative information of the English marketing texts in the form of the imperative mood is translated into Russian using the stylistic adaptation tactic what might be the result of trying to make the Russian translations sound less categorical to the Russian recipients, with the ratio of all the imperative sentences analyzed in the SAP context and rendered in the indicative mood being 21 and 7 % in the Russian and German target texts respectively.
Conclusion
Specialized IT marketing texts of today posted on company websites play an instrumental role in reaching out to customers of different nations across the globe.
Such texts pose a number of challenges when it comes to their translation into the languages of other target recipients; and the translator's decision-making and choice of tactics might be conditioned both by linguistic and pragmatic factors.
Although specialized texts are normally considered to be devoid of emotive and aesthetic means, this study of the English marketing texts of the IT sector has revealed the presence of all the four types of translatological information including cognitive, emotive, aesthetic, and operative ones and the means thereof such as terms, positively charged lexical units, metaphors, imperative verbs, etc.
The hypothesis outlined in the introduction has been tested and the findings demonstrate that the choice of marketing translation tactics can be determined by interconnections of the linguistic and pragmatic factors such as the abovementioned translatological information types, their lexico-semantic specifics and connotations, as well as the acceptability of the translation results from the perspective of the target culture, such as the German or Russian one in our case.
When it comes to rendering cognitive information of terms both into German and Russian, the precise information transfer tactic is relevant. However, the fact that the target audience is professional makes it possible to avoid the tactic of correct information presentation leaving some terms and abbreviations untranslated, with the tactic prevailing when translating into German.
As for emotive, aesthetic, and operative information types and the stylistic means thereof, these peculiarities are normally rendered. However, the adaptation tactic prevails when it comes to the Russian target texts as compared to the German ones. This observation may be explained by the fact that such means might be perceived untypical to and unacceptable of specialized texts in the target Russian culture.
The findings of the study may be utilized as guidelines for dealing with the linguistic and pragmatic challenges of translating English marketing texts of the IT sector into German and Russian.
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Information About the Author
Natalia V. Sokolova, Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Linguistics and Translation, Perm National Research Polytechnic University, Prosp. Komsomolskiy, 29, 614990 Perm, Russia, ntlk0@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0550-2272
Информация об авторе
Наталья Владимировна Соколова, кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры иностранных языков, лингвистики и перевода, Пермский национальный исследовательский политехнический университет, просп. Комсомольский, 29, 614990 г. Пермь, Россия, ntlk0@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0550-2272
