Введение в теорию и практику перевода (на материале английского языка) - стр. 5
Sometimes linguistic context is closely connected with extralinguistic factors. It may be illustrated by the following sentence:
… he came to be convicted of perjury… in Wakawak, Cochin China…, the intent of which perjury being to rob a poor native widow and her helpless family of a meager plantain-patch, their only stay and support in their bereavement and desolation.
(Mark Twain)
The word "plantain" denotes either "банан" or "подорожник". In the sentence there is no direct indication of the type of plant. However, we know that the events took place in Cochin China, where the climate is quite suitable for bananas, not for "подорожник". Moreover, it is said in the sentence that the plantain-patch was the "stay and support", it gave the family either food or profit. All this settles the problem of choice: in this case "plantain" means "банан".
The context of the situation becomes especially important if the linguistic context is not sufficient for revealing the meaning of the word. When one of G. B.Shaw’s characters warns his interlocutor not to drive him too far, it is necessary to know that they are both sitting in the parlor and not in any vehicle, so the verb "to drive" is used in the meaning "привести в какое-то состояние, довести до…". It may so happen that linguistic context does not give any clue to the meaning of the word. Especially often it is the case with neologisms that do not correspond to any words in TL. To understand the word "Reagangate", which appeared in American newspapers in 1983, one must remember the notorious political scandal called "Watergate" in 1972–1974 and know some facts characterizing political methods or President Reagan. Only in this extralinguistic context can we understand the meaning of the word "Reagangate" – "a new political scandal revealing dishonest methods used by Reagan during the election campaign and resembling the methods once used by Nixon".
So translation of any word begins with contextual analysis of its meaning, after which it becomes possible to correctly choose the corresponding word of TL. All types of context can help to identify the meaning of words in SL characterized by partial correspondence to the words of TL, as well as the meaning of words that do not correspond to any words of TL. Translation of the latter group causes many difficulties and requires special means.
Translation of words having no correspondence in TL
There are several ways of translating such words. The simplest way is to transcribe them (lobby – лобби, lump – ламп, спутник – sputnik, комсомол – Komsomol, etc.). This method is widely used for rendering personal names, placenames, titles of periodicals, names of firms and companies.