The principle of preserving the syllabic structure in the syromelkite translations of hymnographic texts (on the material of the idiomela of the Lenten Triodion)

The article describes the application of the equimetric principle in translating hymnographic texts from Greek into classical Syriac. The meaning of the term “equimetric translation” is specified, and terminological analogies are provided. The textual analysis of the selected hymns is carried out on the material of the Syriac manuscripts of Lenten Triodion and Sticherarions (11th–16th centuries, including manuscripts available through the HMML project), the Greek copy of the new Tropologion Sinait. NF. MG. 56-5, and Greek manuscripts of the Triodion and Sticherarion (10th–14th centuries). The method of equimetric translation is demonstrated on the material of selected “automela of the day” of the Lenten Triodion, a special group of 89 lenten hymns distributed over the period from Meatfare Sunday to the Friday before Lazarus Saturday. The syriac texts demonstrate almost complete coincidence in the number of syllables with the Greek original, which is achieved by enriching the text with new words and complex syntax. It is caused by the fact that the average word length in classical Syriac is shorter than in Greek. When translating hymns equimetrically, translators supplemented the text with words of the same root (for example, “let us purify ... purely”), synonyms (“forgive and leave”), function words (particles and conjunctions), adjectives, pronouns, they also complicated the syntax. In the stichera “Let us begin, people, an immaculate fast” the hymnographic text was enriched with the words from the Gospel text (Mt 6), including an extension of citation of the prayer “Our Father”. Examples are given of violations of equimetry as a result of errors and changes in Greek and Syriac manuscripts, which indicates the need of collation of different manuscripts. The need to adapt Byzantine melodies to Syriac texts is indicated as the main reason for using equimetricy in translation, it is demonstrated on the material of Syro-Melkite hymns with Paleo-Byzantine (Coislin) notation.