Transformations in Translation

Omissions represent changes in a SLT which are opposite in nature to additions, though they are also qualified as complex lexico-grammatical transformations. Omissions result in dropping some elements from a SLT which may be caused by a number of factors:

1. 
   the difference in combinability of SL and TL, e.g. English favours pair synonyms the origin of which has historical and cultural roots that have to be translated by single word correspondences in Russian, e.g. The treaty was declared null and void-Договор был объявлен недействительным.
   
2. 
   well-established traditions of expressing some information, e.g. English unlike Russian prefers to use detailed descriptions of size, volume, weight and оthеr measurements [Хайруллин 1997] which are looked upon as redundant in Russian and are usually replaced by their functional analogues, e.g. Every inch of his face expressed amazement - На его лице было написано изумление.
   
3. 
   the desire to create compression in an English sentence which is often achieved thanks to frequent uses of participial, infinitival, gerundial phrases, complex object, complex subject and other complexes, e.g. Как сообщается, свыше 30 автомашин застряли в пути на 12 часов из-за снежных заносов - More than 30 cars are said to have stuck twelve hours in snow drifts.
   

Translation practice shows that omissions are more frequently made while translating from Russian into English in contrast to additions that are usual when translating from English into Russian.

Integral modifications are such changes which involve the whole semantic and formal structure resulting in profound modifications of the
speech unit. According to S.P. Romanova and A.L. Koralova, integral modifications may take place on two levels: the level of a word-group and the level of a sentence [Романова, Коралова 2004].
On the level of word groups they usually occur when translating phraseological units which may correlate in SL and TL in sense, but differ in their form, e.g. to be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth - родиться в сорочке; to set the fire to - пустить красного петуха. But more often than not we resort to integral modifications when rendering the whole utterances, e.g. The others can go right along the road. - Остальные пусть проваливают.
The comparison of integral modifications with odier translation transformations shows that integral changes are of a higher order as they are usually accompanied by some other transformations, such as concretizing or generalization of meaning, antonymic translation and some others that refer specifically to constituent parts of an utterance which are rendered in some modified form, e.g. Have you ever in all your born days seen the like?—Ты когда-нибудь за всю свою жизнь видел что-нибудь подобное (generalization). I had the right of way - Вы должны были уступить мне дорогу (sense development).
It stands to reason that a translator may resort to integral modifications in two ways:

1. 
   when there is a ready correspondence in TL to render a given SL speed, unit which presupposes a complete transformation. This is a case when dealing with various well-established notices, warnings, etc that have a fixed form, cf. Video controlled - Ведется видеонаблюдение; Fragile - Осторожно стекло; Mind your head ~ Осторожно, низкий потолок.
   
2. 
   when a translator refrains from using a dictionary correspondence and thinks of a different way of translating a certain unit in a given context that In finds more appropriate for a given occasion, cf. Except for those two things life is nau-se-at-ing - Без удовольствий и власти жизнь - ко-ш-ишар. Thus in the former case integral modifications are regular and constani while in the latter case they are individual, optional and contextual.
   
3.