GRAMMATICAL EQUIVALENCE IN THE FRENCH TRANSLATIONS OF CATULLUS 5 «TO LESBIA»

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of grammatical equivalence based on the Latin poem «To Lesbia» by Catullus and its French translations of the XVI-XXI centuries. The research reveals that the sequence of certain grammatical structures in Catullus 5 plays a significant role in revealing the author's message addressed to Lesbia. In the article we present a brief analysis of the structure of this Latin poem with an emphasis on the role of conjunctive, gerund, imperative and constructions with the sequence of tenses and moods in the author's speech. Given the importance of grammatical structures of the Latin poem for the expression of the author's intentions, their adequate rendition in translations facilitates the achievement of grammatical and semantic equivalence while also helping the translator to convey the message accurately. We have found out that French translations of Catullus 5 mainly reproduce the grammatical meanings of the original poem, often expressing them in other grammatical structures and forms. Some translations retain the architectonics of the poem, using direct grammatical equivalents of the Latin original, while others render the grammatical structure of the poem by equivalent French grammatical constructions. Further studies in this area could focus on the research of grammatical equivalence in poetic translations with the use of corpus linguistic methods.