Comparative Constructions in Tatar and Their Translation Methods

Abstract

This article discussed the specifics of the translation of comparative constructions in literature from Tatar into Russian. It also suggested methods for the full-fledged translation of such constructions according to semantics and functional features of conjunctions. Postpositions were the main method to represent comparative constructions in simple and complex sentences in Tatar. Conjunctions, the instrumental case of the noun and other means, could further express the meanings of such postpositions when translated into Russian. The analysis of translation of comparative constructions helped to identify the integral and the differential in the semantics and functioning of the conjunctions, which not only connected the components of the comparative constructions, but also created imagery. Using comparative constructions, writers and translators could refer both to the general concepts inherent in their native culture, and to their personal worldview. This seemed possible only with a preliminary comparative analysis of the semantics and the structure of lexical units. Analyzing the translations of literary texts, some functional and semantic correspondences were revealed: comparative postpositions such as kebek, syman, kuk, etc. and Russian comparative conjunctions such as As if for sure, etc. (Eng. like, as if, kind of); relative pair words in Tatar and correlative pairs in Russian; affixes of adverbs such as -cha/-che, -day/- dey in Tatar and the instrumental case of the noun in Russian.