Transformations in Translation

Substitutions unlike the previous technique underlie transformations made on various levels: lexical, stylistic, grammatical (morphological and syntactic). Lexical substitutions include several subtypes depending on the character of changes in the lexical meaning of a SL unit:
a) concretizing - a SL word with an abstract, broad and general meaning is replaced by a TL word with a concrete, narrow and specific meaning, e.g. After dinner I sat and waited for Pyte in my room over the rue Catinat (Gr. Greene).
После ужина я сидел у себя в комнате на улице Катина и дожидался Паша (Е. Голышева, Б. Изаков). The English word dinner has a broad meaning (dinner - the main meal of the day, taken in the middle of the day or in the evening - LDCE) which has to be concretized in translation into Russian
where there are two words with more specific meanings {обед - основное прием пищи, еда (обычно в середине дня) и ужин - вечерняя еда, последний прём пищи перед ночным сном - БТСРЯ).
b) generalization - a SL word with a concrete, narrow, specific meaning changed for a TL word which has an abstract, broad, general meaning, e.g. Отец умер ровно год назад, как раз в этот день, пятого мая, в твои именины (А. Чехов)
It's exactly a year ago today that Father died, the fifth of May-your birthday (K. Cook).
The Russian word is more specific in meaning since it reflects Christian habits and is different from the word group день рождения (именины - у
православных и католиков личный праздник кого-либо, приходящийся на день, в который церковь отмечает память одноимённого святого БТСРЯ), while the English word birthday is day that is an exact number of years after the day when you were born (LDCE).
c) sense development - a SL word is replaced by a TL word the meanings of which denote notions connected with each other through cause-result links. Since such links are usually connected with an action mere may be basically 6 varieties of such transformations:
result - cause
result - action
action - result
action - cause
cause - result
cause - action
e.g. When I opened my eyes she had lit the lamp (Gr. Greene) (action/ Когда я открыл глаза, лампа была зажжена (К. Cook) (resultant state)
d) antonymic translation - a SL word is translated by its TL antonym which as a rule brings about changes in the grammatical structure of a
sentence, namely an affirmative sentence often becomes negative and vice versa a negative sentence may turn into an affirmative one,
e.g. "He will not be long ", she said as though I needed comfort for his absence (Gr. Greene)
Теперь он скоро придёт, — сказала она, будто я нуждался в утешении (К. Cook).
Compensation - the replacement of a SL word which has no ready correspondence by a TL unit with an approximate / close meaning or an acceptable way of referring to an object named. Compensation can be of two types:
1) semantic compensation which is used as a means to compensate for sense losses especially while translating culture-bound and nationally specific units and thus render the intended meaning in an acceptable form for the target reader, e.g. five-and-ten-cent store trade ^Warren) – дешёвые магазины (В.А. Кухаренко), from soup to nuts and a Corona Corona (Warren) — полный обед - от супа до десерта и дорогой сигары (В.А.Кухаренко).
2) stylistic compensation which can be local and non-local and is employed to compensate for stylistic losses that may be due to differences in stylistic reference of correlated units, compare English correspondences used to translate Russian young people's slang, буча (драка) - a scrap, a brawl, пятихатник - 500 roubles, каша (вещевой рынок) -flea market.
Grammatical substitutions refer to various changes of grammatical (morphological) forms and syntactic structures that include several kinds of modifications:
a) part-of-speech characteristics, e.g. Когда дочь переехала к родителям, ей вначале было очень одиноко. -When she moved to stay with her parents, their daughter felt very lonely at first (pronominal substitution);
...в российского министра образования чуть не попало яйцо - Russia's Minister of education was nearly hit by an egg (passivization); Он не очень хорошо сходится с людьми - Не is not a terribly good mixer (the Russian verb-adverb phrase is translated by the English adjective-noun combination;
Он копит деньги на покупку дома - Не is saving money to buy a car (the Russian deverbal noun is translated by the English infinitive); Рабочие требовали повышения зарплаты и сокращения рабочего дня -The workers demanded higher pay and shorter working hours (the Russian deverbal noun denoting increase or decrease in size, volume, range is replaced by the English adjective in the comparative degree);
Я ему обрадовался - I was glad to see him (me Russian verb denoting emotional behavior is often replaced by the English phrase: to be (turn, get, grow, become) + adjective); Проект бюджета представлен на рассмотрение правительства России - The draft budget was submitted for consideration by the Russian government (the Russian noun+noun pattern is often replaced by the English adjective-noun phrase).
b) parts-of-a-sentence substitutions: Visitors are requested to leave their coats in the cloakroom - Посетителей просят оставлять верхнюю одежду в гардеробе (the subject of the English passive form is replaced by the Russian direct object of the active form); Last week witnessed an intensification of the diplomatic activity - На прошлой неделе наблюдалось оживление дипломатической деятельности (the English subject denoting adverbial modifiers is replaced by Russian adverbial modifiers).
c) syntactic substitutions: / never even once saw him brush his teeth - Я не видел, чтобы он чистил зубы (the English simple sentence is replaced by the complex sentence in Russian); // was so dark that I couldn 't see her - Я её в темноте не мог видеть (the English complex sentence is translated by the simple Russian sentence); John kept whistling "Song of India" while he shaved - Джон брился и насвистывал «Индийскую песню» (subordination in the English sentence is replaced by coordination in the Russian sentence); It was hot as hell and the windows were steamy - Жара была адская, все окна запотели (English syndetic linking is replaced by asyndetic linking in Russian).

Additions are complex lexico-grammatical transformations which bring about changes in the lexical elements of a SLT that are accompanied by grammatical changes. As a result of additions one or more words are added in translating an original utterance which are a sort of extension to it. Additions are caused by a number of factors:

1. 
   the difference in the word-building, combinatorial, grammatical and other features of SL and TL, e.g. / '11 have him call you - Я скажу ему, чтобы он позвонил тебе.
   
2. 
   the absence of a ready-to-use lexical correspondences in TL for a certain unit of translation which makes it necessary to resort to periphrastic explanations or cultural comment, e.g.
   

Его встретили с хлебом-солью - Не was met with the bread and salt of hospitality.
c) ellipsis of some elements in a SLT where they are considered redundant, but which have to be restored in a TLT since they are compulsory in it, e.g. Everybody heard the President's energy message - Все прослушали послание президента о проблеме нехватки энергоресурсов в США. &) stylistic demands in keeping with the norms of TL, e.g. A few minutes later nurse Davis, starched and curious, arrived - Через несколько минут вошла сестра Дэвис, вся накрахмаленная, едва сдерживая своё любопытство.