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58PRAGMATIC DISCORDANCES OF ENGLISH AND UZBEK PHRASES OF COMMUNICATION
Khushmurodova Shakhnoza Shaymonkulovna
English teacher, Doctoral student, Samarkand State University, Samarkand, Uzbekistan,
Abstract. The article is about pragmatic discordances of English and Uzbek set expressions or proverbs which may lead to incorrect communication. Theoretical part is approved by numerous examples.
Аннотация. Статья исследует прагматические несоответствия английских и узбекских выражений или пословиц, которые могут привести к неправильному общению. Теоретическая часть статьи доказана многочисленными примерами.
Key words: intercultural communication, phrase, set expression, proverb, discordance, pragmatic meaning.
Ключевые слова: межкультурная коммуникация, фраза, выражение, пословица, несоответствие, прагматическое значение.
Pragmatics deals with semantics of language units in a definite speech act due to create interrelation between communicants. The term "pragmatics" was used for the first time in 1930. In the middle of the 20th century some philosophers (Austin, Searle, Paul Gris) created theory of speech communication and paid much attention to development of pragmatics. In 1977 the first journal "Pragmatics" was published by Jacob L. Mey. Later there we published Levin's "Pragmatics" and G. Leech's "Principles of pragmatic association". In our country a tremendous scientific issue was printed by professor Sh.S. Safarov "Pragmalinguistics" in 2008 [4].
Pragmatic meaning is revealed in the linguistic interconnection of form and meaning of utterance. One of the weak points of intercultural communication can appear because of lack of pragmatic meaning. It means that lexical content is rendered in another language, grammatical structure is correct but there is a lack of pragmatic meaning. For example in order to render the speech formula "Where can I get inexpensive meal?" we should pay attention not only to lexical units and grammatical structure but the whole pragmatic meaning too. If we render "inexpensive meal" into Uzbek as "arzon ovqat" - we are mistaken. Under "inexpensive" not cheap or low-quality is meant, "quick", "fast" is understood. So, when hear such phrases we should know that a foreigner means outlet with fast food.
If in a restaurant or café an Uzbek interpreter wants to render "bu stol bo'sh" in English like "this table is free", it will convey totally another meaning because the English word "free" has also a meaning "free of charge", "not to be paid". That's why one should say "this table is vacant" which means that nobody has taken it yet.
Interesting and necessary are pragmatic peculiarities of rendering of the following speech formulas:
My nose is running - men tumovman. The word "running" is equal to Uzbek "yuguryapti" but it can't be used in this phrase, otherwise it will be funny.
First night - premyera (not "birinchi kecha"). A specialist of English-Uzbek intercultural communication should know the phrase "first night" which is widely used in topics concerning cinema, the atre and performance.
Regular telegram - oddiy telegramma (not "doimiy"). This phrase is often used at the post-office.
Hard currency - erkin almashtiriluvchi valyuta (not "qattiq valyuta").
Difficulties in bilingual communication can also appear when scientific-technical terms are used. Pragmatic meaning can't be transferred separately out of context, out of situation. Pragmatic meaning is opened in a real communicative interaction. For example, let's analyze a real situation: a young couple is sitting in a café and a husband asks his wife: "Do you love me?" She answers: "You're good. I like you". In this situation with these communicants (husband and wife) the answer "I like you" is catastrophic because it has negative meaning. It means that she doesn't love him. If the same situation were given in Uzbek in the replicas would be as following:
Husband: Meni sevasanmi?
Wife: Siz yahshisiz. Sizni hurmat qilaman (meaning that she respects him but doesn't love).
As it is clear, pragmatics is subjective attitude of language means to system of speech acts. Pragmatics peculiarities of language units can vary due to diversity of situations and roles. If we analyze speech formulas of invitation we can find different ones:
I'd like to invite you to my home - Men Sizni uyimga taklif qilmoqchi edim.
Come and see me - Biznikiga kirib keting.
Come around - Kirib turing.
Drop round - Kirib tring.
Though all these expressions denote same meaning - invitation to one's home, their pragmatic meanings are different. The expression "I'd like to invite you to my home" is rather formal, used in order to invite respected guests or foreign partners. "Come and see me" can be said to a relative, neighbor or acquainted person. The last two phrases are informal and are used for close friends or members of family. So, pragmatics is not less important in maintaining international dialogues.
According to pragmatic peculiarities of lexical units there are differentiated the following points of set expressions:
Neutral set expressions which can be used in any context and are proper for any language style.
Colloquial - are used in informal way, in oral speech act. They can appear in written texts as replicas of literary characters.
Bookish - are used in books mostly, less in oral speech, are rich in pragmatic meaning. Poetic - are used in poems and lyrics.
Terminological - belong to specific area of science and aspect of human activity.
Besides all this, it should be mentioned that every nation of the world has its own world picture, mentality and social norms of behavior. Such differences can be explained by unique history of every nation, religious morality, philosophic ideology and national spirit. That's why to transfer pragmatic meaning of set expression of one language into another one is rather complicated.
However, every language has general notions which reflect human relations, feelings, attitude to surrounding objects and current events. But they are expressed in another way by use of different language means. A translator or specialist of intercultural communication should know these nuances and be able to choose correct ways of conveying the linguistic, cultural, pragmatic content of the utterances. Sometimes one sentence can contain different pragmatic shades: Please come in (formal). Come in (neutral). Come in, will you (every day)
Get the hell in here (familiar, negative emotional) [3, p. 76].
Sometimes neutral or emotionally pragmatic meaning is created due to contextual description of a character in literary texts. It means same meaning can be expressed by different words: I left my child with his nurse (positive emotional).
I left my kid with his (a slight negative meaning if used in American English). I left my son with his nurse (neutral).
So, language means can be classified into several groups due to pragmatic and stylistic meaning: for everyday use, professional, bookish, formal, informal, familiar, poetic, etc. A participant of bilingual communication should be aware of all of them in order to choose the best variant for a definite situation and definite context of usage.
In expressing pragmatic meaning a significant role is played by use of comparisons or metaphors. Especially they are frequently used in oral speech. For example, when we say "Are you a lark or an owl?" we don't compare a person with a lark or an owl. Under "lark" we mean a person who is more energized in the first half of the day, we call a person "owl" if he keeps late hours and is active in the second half of the day. If we translate this expression into Uzbek it will actually cause fun.
Such comparative expressions as "as clear as a day", "as busy as a bee", "as brave as a lion", etc. are very often heard in conversations. In order to render their meaning a translator should not translate them word-for-word but to find their proper equivalents. Some of them have direct or full equivalents: as cunning as a fox - tulkidek ayor as clear as a day - kundek ravshan.
But others do not have analogues and when they are used in English, they can't be rendered in Uzbek in the form of comparison. Their meaning can be conveyed by other lexical units: as cool as a cucumber - sovuqqon, beparvo as blind as a bat - ko'zi ojiz, ko'r as busy as a bee - juda band.
A rich pragmatic meaning of an utterance can be obtained by use of idiomatic expressions and proverbs which add emotional content to the description. Idioms and proverbs make the speech bright and expressive by creating unusual images. That's why they are widely used in works written in belle-lettre style. Idiomatic expressions as well as proverbs deal with the history, culture and life style of language bearers. They are "the mirror of soul" of any nation [Teliya].
A specialist of international relations should remember that idiomatic expressions and proverbs should not be translated. He/she can either find a proper equivalent or, if impossible, explain its meaning in another language. Some proverbs have analogues in both languages: To err is human - Beayb - Parvardigor. A friend in need is a friend indeed - Do'st yomon kunda bilinar. A good beginning is half the battle - Yahshi niyat - yarim davlat. A good wife makes a good husband - Erni er qiladigan, qora yer qiladigan ham - hotin. Marry in haste and repent at leisure - Shoshgan qiz erdan yolchimas.
Many English proverbs have no equivalents / analogues in Uzbek or vice versa Uzbek proverbs have no analogues in English:
A great dowry is a bed full of brambles - has no analogue in Uzbek, means "if you marry a rich woman, she will reproach you the whole life".
A great ship asks deep waters - has no analogue in Uzbek, means "a great person needs high positions and does much".
Qizil tilim tiyolmadim - qizimnikiga borolmadim - has no analogue in English, means "I was rude and that's why can't go to my married daughter's home".
Hotini o'lgan qizli ovulga qarab yig'lar - has no analogue in English, means "a widower weeps looking at a girls' home".
Er bo'l, er bo'lmasang - qora yer bo'l - has no analogue in English, means "be a leader in family, if you can't, you will be a strip of carpet" (used for a man).
As the examples show pragmatic meaning given in proverbs should be rendered by means of another language. It is a sophisticated work. It demands much knowledge of historical, religious, national-cultural and social background of the language of communication. As V.N. Komissarov writes: "The people develop a certain attitude to the words they use. Such relationship between the word and its users are called "pragmatic" [2, p. 93].
Every pragmatic utterance reflects emotional or expressive content. The task of a translator is to convey this content, emotional side of the utterance. This is called a pragmatic competence. It is manifested in correct rendering of information about a person, his/her traits, background, experience, psychological state, feelings and personal attitude to objects around. V.N. Komissarov defines three relations between language units: semantic, syntactic, pragmatic. Semantic reflects interrelation of form and meaning, syntactic - means which connect language units between each other and pragmatic - demonstrates informative function of lexical units in the process of communication [2, p. 101].
In order to be able to transfer all these three relations, a good bilingual specialist should have deep knowledge of history, culture, literature, customs and traditions, moral-religious principles, social norms, etc. Positive atmosphere of intercultural communication is based on rich background knowledge of the person who maintains it, i.e. interpreter.
In many cases there are discordances in expressing the same idea in both languages: Kechirasiz in Uzbek is equivalent to Excuse me; Sorry; Pardon in English [1, p. 7]. As we see three kinds of apology in English can be used in different cases, however, in Uzbek there is one frequently used language unit Kechirasiz, which can be used as a polite beginning of asking someone for help as well.
In the English language the polite beginning of conversation in order to ask for a help is expressed by the following phrases: Could you tell me..., please? Can you tell me..., please? Excuse me, can you tell me..., please? Excuse me, could you tell me..., please? Excuse me, do you happen to know...? Please... Would you..., please? Would you mind..., please? Would you be good (kind) enough to tell me..., please? May I ask (you) a question? Can I have a word with you?
The signal for attracting people's attention:
In Uzbek: Diqqat! E'tiboringizni so 'rayman. (=Attention! I beg for your attention)
In English: I say! Look here! See here! [1, p. 12]
The replicas used in case when people are introduced, but already know each other:
In Uzbek: Biz tanishmiz. Biz bir birimizni taniymiz. Men bu kishini taniyman (=We know each other). The same semantics but different morphological and structural content is conveyed in English phrases: We've met before. We've already been introduced. We've met before. I know you.
Polite replicas used in case when people try to remember each other:
In Uzbek: Sizni qaerdadir ko 'rganman (= I have seen you before). Ko 'zimga issiq ko 'rinyapsiz (=Your look hot in my eyes). As we see the last example is bright to demonstrate what a rude mistake and misunderstanding can take place in case of word-for-word translation of this phrase from Uzbek into English. So, the non-native English speakers should be aware of fixed English expressions used in this case: Could I have seen you somewhere? I have I feeling we've met before. Your face seems familiar to me.
We absolutely agree with G. Rahimov who writes that for a proper translation sometimes lexical transformation can be used in case if the information given in English sentences can be unclear to Uzbek listeners / readers [3, p. 82]:
The Prime-Minister spoke a few words from a window in No. 10. This sentence should be translated as "Bosh vazir o'z qarorgohi balkonidan qisqa nutq so'zladi". It may happen that Uzbek readers don't know that the Prime-Minister lives in London at Downing Street, 10 [3, p. 82].
Sometimes names of unknown objects (plants, clothes, cars, meals) can be replaced by other words basing on lexical transformation due to the context.
Difficulties in international dialogue can be caused by using names of various organizations, companies, geographical places, etc. Sometimes they can't be translated and they should be explained in order to be clear to representatives of another lingual culture.
Literature:
1. Буронов Ж., М. Ирискулов, Э.Файзуллаева. Инглизча-узбекча-русча сузлашгич. - Тошкент: Калдиргоч нашриёти, 2017. - 152 б.
2. Комиссаров В.Н. Теория перевода (лингвистические аспекты). - М., 1990. - 354 с.
3. Рахимов Г.Х. Таржима назарияси ва амалиёти: дарслик-мажмуа. - Тошкент: Узбекистан миллий энциклопедияси, 2016. - 176 б.
4. Сафаров Ш.С. Прагмалингвистика. - Тошкент: Миллий энциклопедияси, 2008.
