Pragmatic Aspects of the Translation of Russian Discourse Formulas of Objection into Bulgarian

Resumen

The issues of translating Russian expressive speech formulas into Bulgarian are considered from the standpoint of pragmatics. The analysis focuses on the stereotypical phrases Da nu (tebya) and Da ladno (tebe), used in literary dialogue to express the communicative intention of objection. Similarities and differences in their ability to implement the variants of the speech act of objection are established. The analysis shows that both formulas can convey devaluation of the stimulus replica in the variants of ‘strong objection’ and ‘mild objection’. The difference lies in the broader pragmatic potential of the construction Da nu tebya: along with the above-mentioned meanings, it is also capable of expressing a personal reproach and devaluation of the interlocutor’s non-verbal behaviour. The predominant technique of translating the formulas under study is the use of a functional analogue. Bulgarian formulas with the component stiga (Ya stiga, Stiga i ti, Stiga de) serve as regular translation equivalents. Sometimes the translators apply the supplementation technique, in which the original elliptical construction is transformed into a complete one. Translation using a free construction is also possible. The data obtained allow to conclude that the Bulgarian language is characterized by a tendency towards greater explicitness in the verbalization of the intention of objection: in certain cases, translation equivalents contain a semantically complete verb (Ti da malchish, Hayde, stiga si opyavala) and represent utterances with clearly expressed illocution. The results of the study can contribute to the optimization of translators’ decisions aimed at achieving communicative equivalence of the dialogue in the original and translation texts.