Patterns of Ukrainian Translation of English Item-Based Constructions: a Case of News Headlines

Abstract

The aim of the article is to identify the patterns of Ukrainian translation of English item-based constructions in the BBC headlines. Item-based constructions are a combination of form and function/meaning that is fixed within a particular language being entrenched in the long-term human memory. This aim is achieved by the application of constructionist methodology comprising three stages: selection & comparing, classification and correlation. The method of comparative translational analysis is meant to correlate the item-based constructions of the original with those in the translation as well as to single out translational patterns into Ukrainian. The novelty of the paper consists in the findings that the translation of itembased constructions of English BBC News headlines into Ukrainian follows four main patterns: lowering the status of the Latinized item-based construction in translation; expanding a Latinized construction in rendering; lexicalization or grammaticalization of its Cyrillic equivalent in translation. Within the lowering pattern, a Latinized item-based construction of the original is moved in the translation to the lead or various sections of the news text without any changes. The pattern of expanding the Latinized item-based construction of the original in the translation means that it remains unchanged in the translation being supplemented with one or more components represented by a proper name or an apposition. According to the lexicalization pattern, the Ukrainian equivalent of the original item-based construction is supplemented by one changeable component, usually represented by the anthroponym denoting oa celebrity or replaced by a lexicalized construction with a generalized meaning. According to the grammaticalization pattern, the item-based construction of the original, performing a classifying function unavailable on the BBC Ukraine is translated by a grammaticalized equivalent evoking the CONTAINER image-schema.