Identification of possible translation solutions based on comparative stylistic studies (using the material of English and Russian parallel newspaper texts)

Abstract

The study aims to identify communicatively equivalent interlanguage correspondences in English and Russian by conducting a comparative analysis of parallel texts in a communicative-pragmatic aspect, followed by the use of these results in solving translation problems. Based on the analysis of newspaper texts on the subject of ‘spontaneous combustion of smartphones’ / ‘phone fires’, the paper identifies the patterns of linguistic representation of logical and semantic categories and associative-verbal networks of words representing the key concepts within this topic. Associative-verbal networks consist of semantic zones reflecting the paradigmatic and syntagmatic representation of keywords. The study is novel in that it is the first to develop a methodology for conducting a comparative analysis of parallel texts and to obtain data on the patterns of use of linguistic units in the linguistic representation of the key logical and semantic categories. As a result, the theoretical and empirical research, on the one hand, identified interlanguage communicative-pragmatic correspondences at the level of expression of extra-linguistic, logical-semantic categories within the framework of comparative analysis, and, on the other hand, it proved the possibility of applying the results of such a functional, communicative-pragmatic comparative study in translation practice.