False friends of translator

Chapter 4.  TRANSLATOR’S FALSE FRIENDS

The term ‘translator’s false friends’ (les faux amis) was introduced by the French theorists of translation M. Koessler and J. Derocquigny in 1928.¹⁶⁰ This term means a word that has the same or similar form in the source and target languages but another meaning in the target language. Translators’ false friends result from transferring the sounds of a source language word literally into the target language. P. Newmark calls them deceptive cognates,¹⁶¹ as their meanings are different and they can easily confuse the target text receptor.

Misleading words are mostly international, or it is better to say that  they are pseudointernational. They are loan words that can be borrowed from the source text but have developed their own meanings in the target texts. For example, interview = ‘a series of questions in a formal situation in order to obtain information about a person’; интервью = a journalist’s questioning some public figure in order to be published in mass media’. Or they can have the same origin of the third language (mainly Greek and Latin) and be borrowed both into the source and target languages: aspirant = ‘a person who has great ambition, desires strongly, strives toward an end, aims at’; аспирант = ‘a graduate student’. Sometimes the form similarity can be accidental: herb = ‘an aromatic plant used in medicine or as seasoning’; герб = ‘an object or representation that functions as a symbol’.

Reference to some ‘false friends’ can be found in some dictionaries, like a special dictionary of ‘false friends’¹⁶² or Cambridge International Dictionary of English.¹⁶³

‘False friends’ could be called interlanguage synonyms, homonyms and paronyms.

Interlanguage synonyms are words that coincide in one or more meanings. However, beside similar meanings, they have some special meanings. For example, concert – концерт. Both words have the meaning of ‘a musical performance’, but the English word has the second meaning: ‘agreement in purpose, feeling, or action’. The Russian one has acquired a generic meaning of ‘any performance (reciting, drama extracts, etc.)’. Thus they can be equivalents in only the first meaning and somewhat erroneous in their second meaning.

Interlanguage homonyms are words that have no common meanings, like accord – аккорд. The English word means ‘agreement, harmony; a settlement or compromise of conflicting opinions; a settlement of points at issue between the nations. The Russian word is more specific, meaning ‘musical chord’.

Interlanguage paronyms are words with similar but not identical sound, and with different meanings. The case can be illustrated by example – экземпляр. The Russian word denotes ‘a copy’, whereas the English indicates ‘a representative of a group as a whole; a case serving as a model or precedent for another that is the same or similar’.

When compared in the source and target texts, translators’ false friends can  differ semantically, syntactically, stylistically, and pragmatically.¹⁶⁴

Semantic difference presupposes the following oppositions:¹⁶⁵

• generic vs. specific meaning: actual (real, existing in fact) – актуальный (topical); моторист (air-fitter; machinist) – motorist (one who drives or travels in an automobile).
• monosemantic vs. polysemantic: галантный (couth) – gallant (1. Showy and gay in appearance, dress, or bearing a gallant feathered hat; 2. Stately, majestic; 3.high-spirited and courageous gallant soldiers; 4. Attentive to women, chivalrous, flirtatious.)
• different connotation (positive vs. negative): aggressive (determined to win or succeed) – агрессивный (inclined to act in a hostile fashion)

Structural difference leads to

• different word combinations: comfortable – комфортабельный have the same meaning ‘producing a feeling of physical relaxation’. But in English this word is combined with the noun income (comfortable income), and in Russian this combination is impossible – the English expression has the equivalent of хороший доход. Likewise, sympathetic – симпатичный, but sympathetic strike – забастовка солидарности.
• impossibility of calque translation: ходячая энциклопедия – walking library. In this case idiomatic meanings are expressed by different structures.
• multi-component phrase vs. one-word structure: аудитория читателей – readership, readers.

Stylistic difference results in stylistic overtone of the words:

• neutral vs. emotionally colored words: ambition (stylistically neutral) – амбиция (often negative); protection (neutral) – протекция (bookish)
• modern vs. archaic: depot – депо (in the meaning of ‘a building where supplies are kept’)
• common word vs. term: essence – эссенция (vinegar).

Pragmatic difference implies the different associations a word carries for various groups of people, nations, etc. For example, when saying “Моя мама родилась через два года после революции”, a Russian person will definitely mean the Russian Revolution of 1917. S/he might be misunderstood by an American for whom the word ‘revolution’ is associated with American Revolution. The same with the common Russian expression после войны: Он поступил в институт сразу после войны. Probably, it will take time and effort for an American to associate the event with World War II, since America also knew the Korean and Vietnam wars in this century.

¹⁶⁰ K o e s s l e r  M.  et  D e r o c q u i g n y   J.  Les faux-amis ou les pièges du vocabulaire anglais. - 5 ed. - Paris, 1961.

¹⁶¹ N e w m a r k  P.  A Textbook... – P.283.

¹⁶² А н г л о - р у с с к и й   и р у с с к о – а н г л и й с к и й с л о в а р ь «л о ж н ы х д р у з е й п е р е в о д ч и к а» / Сост. В. Акуленко, С. Комиссарчик, Р. Погорелова и др. – М., 1969.

¹⁶³ C a m b r i d g e  I n t e r n a t i o n a l  D i c t i o n a r y  o f  E n g l i s h . – Cambridge University Press, 1995.

¹⁶⁴ К о м и с с а р о в В. Н.,  К о р а л о в а А. Л.  Практикум по переводу с английского языка на русский. – М.: Высшая школа, 1990. – С.84-87.

¹⁶⁵ Б у д а г о в Р. А.  Как мы говорим и пишем. – М.: Изд-во МГУ, 1988. – С. 46-54.

Content 
 
Introduction………………………………………………………………………2 
 
Chapter 1 “False friends” as one of the main problems of the translation theory 

1.  
   The translation as a kind of the interlingual communication…………………4
2.  
   “False friends of translator” and their kinds…………………………………..7

 
Chapter 2 The translation of “false friends” 
 
2.1 The causes of the “false friends” formation………………………………….18 
 
2.2 Examples of the “false friends” translation ...….……………………………20 
 
Conclusion………………………………………………………………….…….31 
 
List of the used literature…………………………………………………………33 
 

Introduction 
 
Since the ancient times the people use the translations from one language into the other one.  
 
But nobody can tell exactly when the first translation was made. It is known only that this event took place when people having different mother tongues began to communicate with the help of the intermediary – the translator. 
 
Thank to the translation the people could communicate in the multinational states, the translation helped the interlingual and intercultural communication. The translation favoured the spreading of religion. 
 
Linguists emphasize the role that the translation plays in the development of science, culture, economy, literature and language itself.  
 
Sometimes, the translators (or simply people who learn the foreign language) during their professional activity can be entrapped by the words which have similar form, but different meaning. These words are known as “false friends of translator”. Our work is devoted to this aspect of the theory of translation. 
 
The aim of our work is to reveal the main features of the “false friends of translator”. 
 
The aim of our work has defined next tasks: 

1.  
   To give the definition of “false friends of translator”.
2.  
   To reveal the reasons of “false friends’ ” formation.
3.  
   To analyze the “false friends of translator” in different languages. 
4.  
   To make the practical research on this problem.

 
The work consists of introduction, two chapters and conclusion. 
 
In the first chapter we give the information about the translation in general and about the “false friends of translator” particularly.  
 
The second chapter represents the immediate studying of “false friends of translator”. We consider thoroughly the example of translations of “false friends of translator” from Russian into English and vice-versa. 
 
The practical value of this work is that it can be useful for students of philological faculty and anybody who learn foreign language.  
 
While making our research we used the works on the translation theory of Alimov V.V., Dmitrieva L.F., Budagov R.A. and others.  
 
At the analysis of a practical material the English-Russian dictionary of Мuller and explanatory dictionaries of publishing house of the Oxford University were used.  
 
 
Chapter 1 “False friends” as one of the main problems of the translation theory 

1.  
   The translation as a kind of the interlingual communication

 
There are many definitions of the translations which are based on the A.V.Fyodorov’s proposition that the “translation is the transmission of the text of oral and written speech by the means of the other language”.  
 
The Russian and foreign linguists give their own definitions of the translation in their works. Every researcher, aspiring to develop his own theory, gives his own definition of the research’s object. Let’s give some of them.  
 
^ V.S. Vinogradov:  
 
«We have to agree with the fact that the translation is the particular, original and independent kind of the verbal art. This art is “secondary”, it is the art of “expression” of the original in the material of the other language. The art of the translation is like the art of the musician, actor by that he reproduces the existing art work, but does not create something absolutely original. The creative liberty of the translator is limited by the original text. The resemblance is finished by these facts. But in others aspects the translation is distinguished sharply from any kind of the performance. It is the distinctive kind of the creative activity, the original form of the “secondary” art creative work.¹  
 
R.K.Mignar-Beloruchev:  
 
«The object of the science of the translation is not only the communication with using of two languages, but the communication with using two languages which includes the activity of the original, translator and the recipient. The main link of this communication is the activity of the translator or the translation, which represents one of the complex kind of the verbal activity.² «The translation doubles the components of the communication. Two sources appear, each of them with its own motives and aims if the statement. Two situations (negative and positive), two verbal productions and two recipients appear too. The doubling of the components of the communication is the distinctive feature of the translation as a kind of the verbal activity. The doubling of the components makes its own problems. The problem of the possibility of the translation and the problem of the invariant in the translation are the most important problems.³  
 
Lederer M.  
 
“While translating it is not sufficient to understand yourself, it is needed that the others will understand. The operation of the translation disintegrates for two parts: the perception of the meaning and its expression.”⁴ 
 
Mounin G.  
 
“The translation is the contact of the languages, the phenomenon of the bilinguisme. But this very specific case of the bilinguism can be rejected as an uninteresting one because it departures from the norm. This is the case when the translator struggles against any departure from the norm, against any interference”.⁵  
 
L.S.Barkhudarov: 
 
«The translation can be considered as a definite kind of the transformation, namely the interlingual transformation». In the common meaning the transformation is understood as some change, modification of the thing. 
 
The Latin word transformatio means transfiguration and the latin verb transformare – to turn, to change. This verb means also to translate.  
 
The last meaning of the latin word is very important for us because it allows to consider the process of the translation as the actions of something's changing. 
 
The positive connotation is clearly shown in these Latin words.  
 
Both transformatio and transformare means the process of the transfiguration. The transfiguration means to attach to something the other image, form and condition. It means to change something completely. For example, such word combinations as the nature's transformation, the spiritual transformation and many others are considered as the positive processes.  
 
Can we use such words as the improvement and the renovation saying about the translation? Yes, we can, because the original text after being translated, has new linguistic “clothes” and it became accessible for many other cultures.  
 
The original as the object of the national culture became the property of the worldwide culture. From this point of view we can be examined as the improvement of the original.  
 
But if we appeal to such situations when the text suppose the obligatory translation (for example, during the negotiations) the translated text is better than the original.  
 
Moreover, the new text appears, it conforms to the original indirectly. 
 
This fact allows us to consider the transformation as the renovation. 
 
So, the common meaning of the word “transformation” is “the processes of transfiguration, the original form and appearance changing. The transformations are the positive changes which reform the object's state. 
 
The result of the translation is the text of the original, transmitted by the means of the other language. From some definitions of the translations given in the dictionary of the linguistic terms of O.S.Akhmanova we would like to cite the two ones: 1. “The translation is the transmission of the information of the given verbal work by the means of the other languages”; 2. “The translation is the finding out in the other language of the means of expression which could provide not only the different information, but the full correspondence of new text by the form that is needed in the case of the translation of fiction.⁶. 
 
The translation is distinguished from the summary by the fact that it is the process of the creation of the unity of content and form of the original. While translating from one language into the other the translator has to take account the same logical and semantic facts to transmit the content of the text, keeping its stylistic, expressive and other features.⁷ 
 
It is needed to distinguish the educational and professional translation. The educational translation is connected with the decoding of the foreign text aiming to understand it. This translation gives the possibility to perceive the bases of the foreign language, the methods and technics of the translation, to improve the knowledges in the languages corresponding the chosen profession. The professional translation is the special activity which creates the original in the other language. this activity demands the special training and knowledges. The quality of the translation is defined by the adequate translation and the level of the translator’s training.  
 
1.2 “False friends of translator” and their kinds 
 
False friends of translator (or faux amis in French) are pairs of words in two languages or dialects (or letters in two alphabets) that look and/or sound similar, but differ in meaning. 
 
False cognates, by contrast, are similar words in different languages that appear to have a common historical linguistic origin (regardless of meaning) but actually do not. 
 
Both false friends of translator and false cognates can cause difficulty for students learning a foreign language, particularly one that is related to their native language, because students are likely to misidentify the words due to linguistic interference. Because false friends of translator are a common problem for language learners, teachers sometimes compile lists of false friends of translator as an aid for their students. 
 
One kind of false friends of translator can occur when two speakers each speak different varieties of the same language. Speakers of British English and American English sometimes have this problem, which was alluded to in George Bernard Shaw's statement "England and America are two countries divided by a common language." For example, in the UK, to "table" a motion means to place it on the agenda, while in the U.S. it means exactly the opposite—to remove it from consideration. Let’s see the list of British and American words.

 
 
 
Comedy sometimes includes puns on false friends of translator, which are considered particularly amusing if one of the two words is obscene; when an obscene meaning is produced in these circumstances, it is called cacemphaton (κακεμφάτον), Greek for "ill-sounding". 
 
The problem of “false friends of translator” is widely considered in the theory of translation. R.A.Budagov in his work “False friends of the translator” has defined eight main types of the “false friends of translator”. They are formulated by next way:  
 
1) in one language the word has more general (less special) meaning than in other language;  
 
2) in one language the word has the generic meaning and the specific meaning in other language;  
 
3) in one language the word has one meaning and many meanings in other language;  
 
4) the words and word combinations have different stylistic meanings in two languages; 
 
5) in one language the word has the non-archaic meaning and the archaic meaning in other language;  
 
6) in one language the word has the free lexical meaning and the non-free lexical meaning in other language;  
 
7) in one language the word is the term and it is not the term in other language;  
 
8) in one language the word is translated by the word combination into the other language.⁸ 
 
And now let’s consider the “false friends of translator” in different languages. 
 
The Parker Pen Company may have experienced a case of such confusion when they were trying to translate their slogan "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you" for the Latino market. As they mistakenly thought embarazar meant to embarrass, the Spanish slogan was proudly displayed across Latin communities as: "It won't leak in your pocket and impregnate you" (to embarrass in Spanish is "avergonzar"). 
 
Words like hot dog can become lost in translation, and especially since words carry different connotations in different areas; Richard Lederer, an author and professor of English, reports going to Germany and asking a vendor for a heißen Hund (a literal translation of "hot dog"). The vendor broke out laughing, for in German, heißer Hund suggests a dog in heat (Germans use the English term hot dog as a loan phrase). 
 
Also, since English and German have the same etymological origins, there actually are a great number of words in both languages that are very similar and do have the same meaning (word/Wort, book/Buch, house/Haus, water/Wasser). However, similar words with a different meaning are also quite common (bekommen means to get, that is, to come by, not to become, and is thus a false friend, which could lead a German English learner to utter an embarrassing sentence like: "I want to become a beefsteak.").  
 
This often causes some confusion for native speakers of one language learning the other language, and equally confusing (and sometimes amusing) for the listener who speaks the learnt language.  
 
Another example is the word gift, which in English means "present" but in German and the Scandinavian languages means "poison". 
 
An example in Spanish/English is red, with different pronunciation in both languages. This refers to the colour in English but means 'network' in Spanish, and therefore gives rise to such phrases as red inalámbrica (wireless network). 
 
The Latin root of concur has several meanings; to meet (in battle) and to meet (in agreement).  
 
In many European languages, words derived from this root take after the first meaning - English being a notable exception (French concurrent is a competitor in English). 
 
Some of words will be “false friends of translator”, such as French “éventuellement” (meaning “maybe”) and English “eventually” who look very similar but have different meanings.  
 
But most cognates - words that look similar in two different languages - are real friends. That means that to remember them all you need is see the similarity with the other word you already know. You will do this without having to think for most words (French “le restaurant” is English “the restaurant”).  
 
Other similarities will come to some people earlier than others (cat/chat, to flirt/compter fleurette, etc...).  
 
With some basic etymological knowledge, but you can also investigate a little closer words that at first do not seem to be similar in any way, but are. For instance, French and English have many shared words who only differ by one letter. Where French uses 'G', English puts a 'W'. To learn that French for 'warren' is 'garenne', all you need is replace the 'g' by a 'w'. The same goes for William/Guillaume, war/guerre, warranty/guarantie, ward/guarde, wasp/guêpe, wage/gage, etc 

 
Some words are false friends of translator in some contexts only:  

1.  
   English positive can usually be translated as positiivinen (and in some contexts it must be translated that way), but translating I'm positive that way would be an error (it must be translated e.g. as olen varma). 
2.  
   invalid can often be translated as invalidi or synonymously vammainen, but not in a context like invalid command (which could be translated asvirheellinen komento). 
3.  
   liberal is often liberaali (or synonymously vapaamielinen, "free-minded"), but liberal education is certainly not liberaali kasvatus (though it is often mistranslated that way) but rather klassillinen koulutus 
4.  
   moral as an adjective is normally translated as moraalinen, but moral of the story is not tarinan moraali (rather, tarinan opetus). 

 
The word pair pathetic - pateettinen is more difficult to describe. Originally, pateettinen means 'high-flown' (and English pathetic in its modern meaning, as opposite to its old dictionary meaning, is translated e.g. as säälittävä or surkea). But it seems that the impact of English has changed things so that pateettinen now very often means 'pathetic'. (In the Finnish version of The Lion King on video, Zazu's words about Simba becoming a pretty pathetic king has been translated as "sinusta tulee hyvin pateettinen kuningas". In this context, both interpretations are plausible, and perhaps the translator intentionally created the ambiguity!) 
 
The English words brandy and brand and their use in Finnish is an interesting phenomenon, too. Probably the words don't get confused with each other in English, but in Finnish things might be different.  
 
The word brandy has been used in Finnish a long time. The use of brand is newer, and fashionable, and it is typically written as brandi or brändi (where the final -iis pronounced roughly as -y in English brandy). In this case, and in some other cases mentioned above, false friends reflect similarity of two words (or even polysemy) within the English language. But the problem is that a Finn is inclined to associate a word wrongly much more probably than an Englishman might confuse the two English words with each other. For example, English has liquor and liqueur, but only the latter has a counterpart in Finnish; and since films and books in English mention liquors more often than liqueurs, a Finn might easily understand liquor as likööri.  
 
The problem of “false friends of translator” is considered not only in the translation theory. It is considered also in the methods of language teaching.  
 
It is undoubtful that the language learning becomes more and more popular. The positive tendencies in this sphere are the language teaching in the primary school and the possibility of the acquiring the complementary profession of the interpretor in universities. 
 
But the language learning causes some difficulties. The transmission of knowledges and skills from the mother tongue on the foreign language makes a negative influence.  
 
The pupils often transmit their verbal skills on the foreign language. The mother tongue makes them to do the wrong analogies. This phenomena is known as an interlingual interference. In the lexical sphere the interference is expressed in “false friends of translator”.  
 
The Russian language borrowed many words from English. Making the analogy like менеджер — manager, the pupils begin to think that such English words are the “friends” by their form and meaning.  
 
Really, these are the “false friends of translator”, because many English words borrowed by Russian did not keep their initial meanings.  
 
In new language, the borrowed word acquires easily new meaning, which differs from the initial word. The pupils seeing the similarity of words translate the wordsмагазин, сатин as magazine, satin, making a rough mistake. 
 
The list of “false friends of translator” is not limited by the words borrowed from English. The words of the cognate languages represent a particular difficulty. Let’s consider some “false friends of translator” in the languages which are cognate with Russian: 
 

 
 
Chapter 2 The translation of “false friends of translator” 
2.1 The causes of the “false friends” formation 
 
The false friends can be created in several ways: 

1.  
   Borrowing. If Language A borrowed a word from Language B, then in one language the word shifted in meaning or had more meanings added, a native speaker of one language will face a false friend when learning the other. 
2.  
   Homonyms. In certain cases, false friends evolved separately in the two languages. Words usually change by small shifts in pronunciation accumulated over long periods and sometimes converge by chance on the same pronunciation or look despite having come from different roots. 

 
For example, German Rat (pronounced with a long a) (= council) is cognate with English read and German Rede (= speech), while English rat for the rodent has its German cognate Ratte.  
 
In another example, the word bra in the Swedish language means good, like in the sentence "this is a good song." In English, bra is short for the French brassière, which is an undergarment that supports the breasts. The English spelling, brassiere, is now a false friend in and of itself (the modern French term for brassiere is "soutien-gorge").  

3.  
   Different alphabets or homoglyphs. For example, Roman P came to be written like Greek rho (written "Ρ" but pronounced [r]), so the Roman letter equivalent to rho was modified to R to keep it distinct. 
4.  
   Pseudo-anglicisms. These are new words formed from English morphemes independently from an analogous English construct and with a different intended meaning. 

 
For example, in German: Oldtimer refers to an old car (or antique aircraft) rather than an old person, while Handy refers to a mobile telephone.  
 
Japanese is replete with pseudo-anglicisms, known as wasei-eigo ("Japan-made English"). A particularly complicated one is the word naitā which means night-time baseball game. It is derived from the American twi-nighter which is short for twi-night doubleheader, baseball slang meaning two games played by the same teams in a single day, one in the afternoon and the other in the evening, usually starting at twilight and continuing into the night.  
 
The Japanese naitā is strictly Japanese baseball slang, and is unknown to American baseball fans. In English, nitre (of very similar pronunciation) is a name forpotassium nitrate.  

5.  
   Idioms. Some phrases commonly used in one culture and language may lose context when translated to another language, conveying a totally different meaning. 

 
For example I'll call you back means that I will return your call, or make a later attempt to call you again.  
 
However, translating literally to Spanish would end up in something like te llamaré para atrás. Although this phrase has no meaning whatsoever in Spanish, it is used frequently in Puerto Rico, and can be confusing when heard by other Spanish-speakers. The correct translation would be te volveré a llamar or te devuelvo la llamada (I'll return your call). 
 

2.  
   ^ Examples of the translation of the “false friends”

 
As we said above, there are many borrowed English words in Russian. It seems that this fact should to make easy the learning the English words. But many of these words are the “false friends of translator”.  
 
For example, the words "фабрика" и "fabric" (ткань). The word was borrowed and then acquired its own meaning. In other cases only one meaning was borrowed or the English word while the English language developing has acquired new meanings. For example, the word "invalid" besides "инвалид" can mean "недействительный".  
False cognates, also know as "false friends", are Russian words that sound or look similar to words in English but have different meaning. Here is several false cognates with definitions and examples that illustrate the difference. 
 
^ Аккуратный vs Accurate 
 
Аккуратный -- neat, punctual 
Accurate -- правильный, точный  
 
Он выглядит аккуратным.  = He looks neat. 
 
Он аккуратен и никогда не опаздывает.  = He is punctual and never comes late. 
 
Артист vs Artist  
 
Артист -- actor 
Artist -- художник  
 
Он - известный артист.  = He is a well-known actor. 
 
 Аудитория vs Auditorium  
 
Аудитория -- audience 
Auditorium -- зал  
 
Это была внимательная аудитория.  = It was an attentive audience.  
 
Декорация vs Decoration  
 
Декорация -- setting 
Decoration -- украшение, убранство  
 
  Мне не понравились декорации.  = I didn't like the settings. 
 
Интеллигентный vs Intelligent  
 
Интеллигентный -- cultured 
Intelligent -- умный, разумный  
 
 Он интеллигентный человек.  = He is a cultured man. 
 
Кабинет vs Cabinet  
 
Кабинет -- office, study 
Cabinet -- шкаф с ящиками; кабинет министров  
 
 Он в своём кабинете.  = He is in his office (study) 
 
 
Комплекция vs Complexion  
 
Комплекция -- constitution 
Complexion -- цвет лица  
 
 У него крепкая комплекция.  = He has a robust constitution. 
 
Композитор vs Compositor  
 
Композитор -- composer 
Compositor -- наборщик  
 
 Она -- известный композитор.  = She is a famous composer. 
 
Магазин vs Magazine  
 
Магазин -- shop 
Magazine -- журнал  
 
  Я купил этот журнал в магазине.  = I bought this magazine in a shop 
 
^ Марка vs Mark  
 
Марка -- stamp 
Mark -- знак; метка, пометка  
 
 Он купил машину новой марки.  = He bought a car of a new mark. 
 
Новелла vs Novel  
 
Новелла -- short story 
Novel -- роман  
 
 Он прочитал интересную новеллу.  = He read an interesting short story. 
 
 
Оператор vs Operator  
 
Оператор -- cameraman 
Operator -- механик, машинист; связист, радист  
 
 ^ Мне понравились съёмки. Кто оператор?  = I liked the camerawork. Who is the cameraman? 
 
Проспект vs Prospect  
 
Проспект -- avenue 
Prospect -- вид, перспектива  
 
 Машина едет по широкому проспекту.  = The car is going along a broad avenue. 
 
^ Фамилий vs Family  
 
Фамилия -- surname 
Family -- семья  
 
 Как ваша фамилия?  = What is your surname? 
 
Физик vs Physique  
 
Физик -- physicist 
Physique -- телосложение  
 
 Мой папа - физик.  = My father is a physicist. 
 
The analysis of dictionaries show that the number of “false friends” is rather considerable: 
 
A 
accord - согласие, единодушие (не аккорд) 
accurate - точный (а не аккуратный) 
agitator - подстрекатель (не только агитатор) 
alley - переулок (не аллея) 
Alsatian - немецкая овчарка (а не только эльзасский) 
amber - янтарь (а не только амбра) 
ammunition - боеприпасы (а не амуниция) 
angina - стенокардия (а не ангина) 
arc - дуга (а не арка) 
artist - художник (а не только артист) 
 
B 
ball - мяч (а не балл) 
balloon - воздушный шарик (не баллон) 
band - лента, музыкальная группа (не банда) 
brilliant - блестящий (редко бриллиант) 
 
C 
сabin - хижина (не только кабина) 
cabinet - шкафчик, чулан, витрина (не кабинет) 
camera - фотоаппарат (а не тюремная камера) 
cataract - водопад (а не только катаракта) 
(to) champion - поддерживать кого-либо (а не быть чемпионом) 
chef - шеф-повар (а не шеф или шофер) 
circulation - тираж газеты (а не только циркуляция) 
cistern - бак, бачок унитаза (а не цистерна - tank) 
clay - глина (а не клей) 
climax - высшая точка, кульминация (а не климакс) 
cloak - плащ (а не клоака) 
compositor - наборщик (а не композитор) 
conductor - дирижер (не только кондуктор) 
corpse - труп (не корпус) 
 
D 
data - данные (а не дата) 
decade - десятилетие (а не декада) 
decoration - орден, знак отличия, украшение (а не декорация) 
Dutch - голландский (а не датский) 
 
^ E 
engineer - машинист (не только инженер) 
 
F 
fabric - ткань (а не фабрика) 
family - семья (а не фамилия) 
figure - чертеж, цифра (не только фигура) 
film - пленка (не только фильм) 
 
^ G 
gallant - храбрый, доблестный (не только галантный) 
genial - добрый (а не гениальный) 
gymnasium - спортзал (а не гимназия) 
 
H 
honor - честь, долг (а не гонор) 
 
^ I 
instruments - измерительные приборы (реже инструменты) 
intelligence - ум, интеллект; разведка (а не интеллигенция) 
 
J 
lily of the valley - ландыш (а не лилия долины!) 
(to) liquidize - превращать в жидкость (а не ликвидировать) 
list - список (а не лист) 
 
M 
magazine - журнал (а не магазин) 
mark - метка, пятно (а не марка) 
matron - старшая медсестра, кастелянша (не только матрона) 
mayor - мэр города (а не майор) 
monitor - староста класса (а не только монитор) 
multiplication - размножение, умножение (а не мультипликация) 
 
^ N 
number - число, количество (а не только номер) 
 
O 
officer - чиновник, должностное лицо (а не только офицер) 
 
P 
partisan - сторонник, приверженец (а не только партизан) 
prospect - перспектива (а не проспект) 
(to) pretend - притворяться, делать вид (а не только претендовать) 
production - производство (а не только продукция) 
professor - преподаватель вуза вообще (а не только профессор) 
 
R 
(to) realize - ясно представлять, понимать (а не только реализовать) 
(to) rationalize - объяснять (не только рационализировать) 
record - запись, отчет (а не только рекорд) 
replica - точная копия (а не реплика) 
resin - смола (а не резина) 
 
S 
satin - атлас (а не сатин) 
sodium - натрий (а не сода) 
spectacles - очки (а не спектакли) 
speculation - размышление, предположение, догадка (а не только спекуляция) 
spinning - прядение (не только спиннинг) 
stamp - марка (а не только штамп) 
stool - табурет (а не стул!) 
 
T 
talon - коготь (а не талон) 
tax - налог (а не такса) 
tender - нежный (а не только тендер) 
tent - палатка (а не только тент) 
terminus - конечная остановка (а не термин) 
trap - капкан, ловушка (не трап) 
trace - след (а не трасса) 
trek - поход (а не трек) 
troop - отряд, эскадрон (а не труп и не труппа) 
tunic - солдатская куртка (а не туника) 
turkey - индейка (а не Турция, турецкий) 
 
U 
uniform - постоянный, одинаковый (а не только форменный) 
urn - электрический самовар (а не только урна) 
urbane - учтивый (а не городской, урбанистический) 
utilize - использовать (а не только утилизировать) 
 
V 
vacuum - пылесос (а не только вакуум) 
valet - лакей, камердинер (а не валет) 
velvet - бархат (а не вельвет - corduroy) 
venerable - почтенный (а не венерический) 
verse - стихи (а не версия) 
vice - порок, тиски (а не только вице-) 
vine - виноградная лоза, (а не вино) 
virtual - фактический (а не виртуальный) 
virtuous - целомудренный (а не виртуозный) 
 
We would like also to present the table with the “false friends” which would help while translation from Russian into English. 
 

 
 
Conclusion 
 
We have studied the theoretical works on the translation theory and have made the practical research. We came to the conclusion that the false friends of translator are pairs of words in two languages or dialects (or letters in two alphabets) that look and/or sound similar, but differ in meaning.  
 
One kind of false friends of translator can occur when two speakers each speak different varieties of the same language. Speakers of British English and American English sometimes have this problem. For example, in the UK, to "table" a motion means to place it on the agenda, while in the U.S. it means exactly the opposite—to remove it from consideration. 
 
The problem of “false friends of translator” is considered not only in the translation theory. It is considered also in the methods of language teaching. False friends of translator can cause difficulty for students learning a foreign language, particularly one that is related to their native language, because students are likely to misidentify the words due to linguistic interference. Because false friends of translator are a common problem for language learners, teachers sometimes compile lists of false friends of translator as an aid for their students. 
 
As the Russian language, there are many borrowed English words in Russian. It seems that this fact should to make easy the learning the English words. But many of these words are the “false friends of translator”.  
 
For example, the words "фабрика" и "fabric" (ткань). The word was borrowed and then acquired its own meaning. In other cases only one meaning was borrowed or the English word while the English language developing has acquired new meanings. For example, the word "invalid" besides "инвалид" can mean also "недействительный".  
 
The list of “false friends of translator” is not limited by the words borrowed from English. The words of the cognate languages represent a particular difficulty. We presented in our work some “false friends of translator” in the languages which are cognate with Russian: Polish, Byelorussian, Ukranian. 
 
Concluding all that was said above we came to the conclusion that the translator during his work has to select the best linguistic means to express well the image or the idea, given in the original text. Making the translation the interpretor had to remember the main task – to reconstitute the substance of the translated work. 
 
 
The list of the used literature 
 
1. Алимов В.В. Теория перевода. Перевод в сфере профессиональной коммуникации. – М.: КомКнига, 2006. 

2.  
   Бархударов Л.С., Рецкер Я.И. Курс лекций по теории перевода. – М.: Издательство МГПИИЯ, 1968.
3.  
   Бархударов Л.С. Язык и перевод. – М.: Международные отношения, 1975.
4.  
   Будагов Р.А. Ложные друзья переводчика //Человек и его язык. - М., 1976.
5.  
   Васильева Н.В., Виноградов В.А., Шахнарович А.М. Краткий словарь лингвистических терминов. – М.: Русский язык, 1995.
6.  
   Влахов С., Флорин С. Непереводимое в переводе. – М.: Советский писатель, 1970.
7.  
   Гак В.Г., Григорьев Б.Б. Теория и практика перевода. – М.: Интердиалект, 1999.
8.  
   Гарбовский Н.К. Теория перевода. – М.: Издательство московского университета, 2004.
9.  
   Дмитриева Л.Ф. и др. Английский язык. Курс перевода. - М.: МарТ, 2007.
10.  
    Комиссаров В.Н. Слово о переводе (Очерк лингвистического учения о переводе). – М., 1973.
11.  
    Комиссаров В.Н. Современное переводоведение. Курс лекций. – М.: Издательство ЭТС, 1999.
12.  
    Крупнов В.Н. В творческой лаборатории переводчика. – М.: Международные отношения, 1976. 
13.  
    Кузнец М.Д., Скребнёв Ю.М. Стилистика английского языка. – Л.: Учпедгиз,1960.
14.  
    Левицкая Т.Р., Фитерман А.М. Проблемы перевода. – М.: Международные отношения, 1976.
15.  
    Миньяр-Белоручев Р.К. Общая теория перевода и устный перевод. – М., 1980.
16.  
    Михайлов М.М. Двуязычие в современном мире. Учебное пособие. – Чебоксары: Чувашский госуниверситет, 1988.
17.  
    Муравьёв В.Л. Faux amis, или ложные друзья переводчика. – М.: Просвещение, 1969.
18.  
    Нелюбин Л.Л., Дормидонтов А.А., Васильченко А.А. Учебник военного перевода. – М.: Воениздат, 1969.
19.  
    Проблемы двуязычия и многоязычия./ Сборник статей под редакцией Азимова П.А. – М.: Наука, 1972.
20.  
    Рецкер Я.И. Пособие по переводу с английского языка на русский. – М., 1976.
21.  
    Рецкер Я.И. Теория перевода и переводческая практика. – М.: Международные отношения, 1974.
22.  
    Фёдоров А.В. Введение в теорию перевода. – М., 1968.
23.  
    Швейцер А.Д. Перевод и лингвистика. – М.: Воен.издательство Мин обороны, 1973.
24.  
    Швейцер А.Д. Теория перевода. – М.:Воениздат, 1988
25.  
    Щетинкин В.Е. Пособие по переводу с французского языка на русский. – М.: Просвещение, 1987.
26.  
    Теория перевода и сопоставительный анализ языков /Под редакцией Медниковой Э.М. – М.: Издательство Московского университета, 1985.