Lesson Synopsis

Theme: Lexical transformations. Sense development.

The aim: To teach the students the notion of lexical transformations and Sense development
and to develop their translation skills.
Aids: cards, blackboard
Lesson Body
I. Introductory moment.
1. Greeting. Good morning! How are you?
2. Conversation with the student on duty.
Who is on duty today? Who is absent?
II. Warm up:
a. current political news
b. asking the questions:
What do you know about sense development?
How are they translated?
III. Asking the home assignments.
What were your home tasks for today?

IV. Introducing the new theme. Teacher's information.

The notion of lexical transformations. Sense development. The interchange among the cause,
process and consequence.
Modulation (sense development) is a logical development of the notion expressed by the word: But
outside it was raining. -– Но на улице шел дождь. The primary equivalent of the word outside is
снаружи. But it is impossible to say in Russian “Но снаружи шел дождь”. By means of
unsophisticated logical operation the translator finds another equivalent: на улице. Thus he takes into
consideration a tradition of the word combination and acceptability of collocation. He is aided in this
by the metonymical closeness of word meanings based on contiguity of the two notions.
It involves translating a cause by its effect or vice versa:
 You can’t be serious. – Вы, должно быть, шутите. (Sen oýun edýän bolmaly.)
(Cause is translated by its effect: Since you can’t be serious, it follows that you must be joking). In
the above example, meaning extension is combined with an antonymic translation. Another example:
 He answered the phone – Он поднял трубку.
 You can’t speak on the phone unless you have lifted the receiver. The effect answered in the ST is
translated by its cause lifted the receiver (=«поднял трубку») in the TT.
Modulation refers to the process of changing the form of information by presenting it from a different
point of view to make it more suitable for its situation. Some modulations are compulsory (or fixed),
while others (known as free or optional modulations) are not. Modulations might involve changing a
sentence from a positive to a negative.
 God knows – no one knows.
 The length of A is three times less than that of B. – B is three times bigger than A.
A metonymic translation is similar to meaning extension. Metonymy is a figure of speech in which
one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of
Moscow for the Russian government. Using a part for the whole, the whole for one of its parts, or one
of two contiguous concepts for the other are typical metonymic figures of speech. E. g.:
 School broke up for the summer recess. - Занятия прекратились. Все ушли на летние
каникулы. (Or: Начались летние каникулы.)
Exercise 1. Make a translation of the sentences below and then developing their sense,
make them more acceptable.
1. The system is easy to use. 2. Never turn off the refrigerator. 3. Protects against most
viruses. 4. The X-ray machine does not damage photographic films. 5. Most of my
friends are married. 6. He's always been hard-working and conscientious. 7. He is very
resourceful. 8. He is kind of person you could entrust your things to. 9. He is the kind of
person you could unburden your feelings to. 10. He is the kind of person who would
never feel it beneath him to help others. 11. Your parents are the first people you can
unbosom your innermost secrets to. 12. He never hurts others feelings and is always
ready to give a helping hand. 13. She is well-known for her indomitably ambitious
manner. 14. He was honoured for her unswerving loyalty towards his nation. 15. Make
sure that your file is less bigger than a megabyte.

V. Giving home assignments.

• Exercise 1.
VI. Evaluation of students' knowledge.
Comment on students' marks.