Classification of translation transformations according to techniques of translation
Transpositions cover: all cases of restructuring, so naturally here refer transformations made on the syntactic level which result in changes in word order. They can be divided into two kinds depending on the nature of a unit undergoing restructuring, its size and syntactic functions: (a) re-patterning on the level of a word-group, (b) re-patterning on the level of a sentence.
Re-patterning I (on the level of a word-group or a phrase) is caused by differences in the structural patterns of correlated SL and TL word-groups and phrases. Quite often such changes are accompanied by morphological (part-of-speech) or syntactical substitutions, e.g.
Алёшка, стуча зубами, стал сказывать про Тыртова (А. Толстой) His teeth chattering, Alyosha began explaining about Tyrtov (tr. By A. Miller)
The Russian verbal adverbial phrase is replaced by the English absolute construction (syntactical substitution) which makes a respective re-patterning obligatory.
Re-patterning II (on the level of a sentence) can be further subdivided into three sub-types:
(a) changes in the word order within a sentence or a clause, e.g. It was very tiring to stoop all the time (E. Blyton/ Идти всё время согнувшись было очень утомительно (пер. В. Исакович).
The restructuring of the English sentence is caused by the change in the sentence-type, the difference in their theme-rheme structure and is
accompanied by other transformations (addition, morphological substitution).
There is no re-patterning of Russian sentences which are characterized by two features: 1) a verb-predicate is intransitive so there is no direct object in them and 2) a sentence begins with some adverbials (of manner, place), e.g. Км, в этом краю, очень много озёр. - Up in that lake country were many, many lakes. changes in the order of clauses within a complex or a compound sentence, e.g. Disposed as she then was to calculate upon that vague basis which allows the subtraction of one sum from another without any perceptible diminution, she was happy (Th. Dreiser).
Девушка была счастлива; она находилась в том настроении, которое позволяет вычитать одну сумму из другой без заметного ущерба для последней (пер. М. Волосова).
Re-patterning II is caused by the difference in the theme-rheme organization of the English and Russian sentences and is accompanied by a number of other transformations (syntactical, lexical and morhological substitutions, omission).
(c) changes in the order of sentences, e.g. Photographers came. The tragedy had interested the local press. - Трагедия заинтересовала местную прессу. Пришли фотографы. The main cause of the re-patterning here is the grammatical meaning of the Past Perfect form which expresses priority of the action denoted by it to an action in the Past Simple which in Russian has to be signaled by the order of respective sentences.