TRANSLATION PROCEDURES

BY NEWMARK

TRANSFERENCE

Transference (emprunt, loan word, transcription) is the process of

transferring a SL word to a TL text as a translation procedure. It is the same
as Catford's transference, and includes transliteration, which relates to the
conversion of different alphabets: e.g. Russian (Cyrillic), Greek, Arabic,
Chinese, etc- into English, The word then becomes a 'loan word'. Some
authorities deny that this is a translation procedure, but no other term is
appropriate if a translator decides to use an SL word for his text, say for
English and the relevant language, decor, ambiance, Schadenfreude; the
French diplomatic words: coup d'etat, detente, coup, attentat, demarche;
dachshund, samovar, dacha, or for German Image, Job, *last but not least*.
However, when the translator has to decide whether or not to transfer a
word unfamiliar in the target language, which in principle should be a SL
cultural word whose referent is peculiar to the SL culture (see Chapter 9),
then he usually complements it with a second translation procedure - the
two procedures in harness are referred to as a 'couplet1 . Generally, only
cultural'objects1 or concepts related to a small group or cult should be
transferred; the vogue for transferring so called "national characteristics'
{Gemiittichkeit, machismo, dotce vita) should be abandoned. Needless to
say, in principle, the names of SL objects, inventions, devices, processes to
be imported into the TL community should be creatively, preferably
'authoritatively', translated, if they are neologisms, although brand names
have to be transferred. It is nor the translator's job to assist any SL
advertiser's financial, national or personal prestige interests. At the same
time, one cannot be rigid or dogmatic. The media, the experts, will be
transferring words whether the translators like it or not. Perhaps when the
translator's professional status is raised, they will not be transferring so
many.
The following are normally transferred: names of all living (except the Pope
and one or two royals) and most dead people; geographical and
topographical names including newly independent countries such as (le)
Zaire, Malawi, unless they already have recognised translations (see
Naturalisation below); names of periodicals and newspapers; titles of as yet
untranslated literary works, plays, films; names of private companies and
institutions; names of public or nationalised institutions, unless they have
recognised translations; street names, addresses, etc. (rue Thaibaut\ l in the
Rue Thaibaut').

In all the above cases, a similar type of readership is assumed andt where
appropriate, a culturally-neutral TL third term, i.e. a functional equivalent,
should be added,

In regional novels and essays (and advertisements, e.g., gites), cultural

words are often transferred to give local colour, to attract the reader, to give
a sense of intimacy between the text and the reader - sometimes the sound
or the evoked image appears attractive. These same words have to be finally
translated in non-literary texts (e.g. on agriculture, housing) if they are likely
to remain in the TL culture and/or the target language.

There are often problems with the translation of "semi-cultural1 words, that
is abstract mental words which are associated with a particular period,
country or individual e.g., lmaximalism\ 'Enlightenment', Sartre's 'nothing-
ness 1 (neam) or Heidegger's Dasein. In principle, such words should first be
translated, with, if necessary, the transferred word and the functional
equivalent added in brackets, until you are confident that your readership
recognises and understands the word-Unfortunately such terms are often
transferred for snob reasons; 'foreign' is posh, the word is untranslatable.
But the translator's role is to make people understand ideas (objects are not
so important), not to mystify by using vogue-words. Freud's formidable key-
terms may have been mistranslated, but at least they were translated. The
argument in favour of transference is that it shows respect for the SL
country's culture- The argument against it is that it is the translator's job to
translate, to explain.
NATURALISATION

This procedure succeeds transference and adapts the SL word first to the
normal pronunciation, then to the normal morphology (word-forms) of the
TL, e.g. Edimbourgh, humeur, redingote, thatcherisme. Note, for German,
Performanz, aitrakiiv, Exhalation.

CULTURAL EQUIVALENT

This is an approximate translation where a SL cultural word is translated by

a TL cultural word; thus baccalauriai is translated as '(the French) "A" level',
or Abitur (MatUTa) as '(the German/Austrian) "A'1 level1 ; Palais Bourbon as
'(the French) Westminster1 ; Montecitorio as '(the Italian) Westminster';
charcuterie - 'delicatessen' (now English 'deli1 ); notaire - Solicitor'. The
above are approximate cultural equivalents- Their translation uses are
limited, since they are not accurate, but they can be used in general texts,
publicity and propaganda, as well as for brief explanation to readers who are
ignorant of the relevant SL culture. They have a greater pragmatic impact
than culturally neutral terms. Occasionally, they may be purely functionally,
hardly descriptively, equivalents, e,g., le cyclisme, 'cricket1 , 'baseball'; 'tea
break1 , cafe-pause; carte a"'identity, 'car licence'. Functional cultural
equivalents are even more restricted in translation, but they may
occasionally be usedif the term is of little importance in a popular article or
popular fiction. They are important in drama, as they can create an
immediate effect. 'He met her in the pub * -III' a retrouvee dans le cafe. Or
again, vingt mitres derriire lui - 'twenty yards behind him*. However, the
main purpose of the procedure is to support or supplement another
translation procedure in a couplet,

FUNCTIONAL EQUIVALENT

This common procedure, applied to cultural words, requires the use of a

culture-free word, sometimes with a new specific term; it therefore
neutralises or generalises the SL word; and sometimes adds a particular
thus: baccalauriat - Trench secondary school leaving exam'; Sejm - 'Polish
parliament1 ; 'Roget' - dictionnaire ideologique anglais.
This procedure, which is a cultural componential analysis, is the most
accurate way of translating i.e. deculturalising a cultural word. A similar
procedure is used when a SL technical word has no TL equivalent, Thus the
English term 'cot death' translates as mart subite d'un nourrissoni although
the components 'unexpected* and 'without known reason1 are here omitted
from the French.

This procedure occupies the middle, sometimes the universal, area between
the SL language or culture and the TL language or culture. If practised one
to one, it is an under-translation (e.g. d^gringoler as 'tumble'). If practised
one to two, it may be an over-translation. For cultural terms, it is often
combined with transference: tattle> as 'a tax on the common people before
the Ftench Revolution, or taille\ I refer to the combination of two translation
procedures for one unit as a 'couplet'.

DESCRIPTIVE EQUIVALENT

In translation, description sometimes has to be weighed against function.

Thus for machete, the description is a 'Latin American broad, heavy
instrument1 , the function is 'cutting or aggression1 ; description and
iunction are combined in 'knife . Samurai is described as 'the Japanese
aristocracy from the eleventh to the nineteenth century*; its function was *to
provide officers and administrators', Description and function arc essential
elements in explanation and therefore in translation. In translation
discussion, function used to be neglected; now it tends to be overplayed.

SYNONYMY

I use the word 'synonym1 in the sense of a near TL equivalent to an SL word

in a context, where a precise equivalent may or may not exist. This
procedure is used for a SL word where there is no clear one-to-one
equivalent, and the word is not important in the text, in particular for
adjectives or adverbs of quality (which in principle are 'outside' the grammar
and less important than other components of a sentence): thus personne
gentille, 'kind' person; conte piquant, 'racy story'; 'awkward' or 'fussy',
difficile; 'puny effort1 , effort faible. A synonym is only appropriate where
literal translation is not possible and because the word is not important
enough for componential analysis. Here economy precedes accuracy.

A translator cannot do without synonymy; he has to make do with it as a

compromise, in order to translate more important segments of the text,
segments of the meaning, more accurately. But unnecessary use of
synonyms is a mark of many poor translations.

THROUGH-TRANSLATION

The literal translation of common collocations, names of organisations, the

components of compounds (e.g. 'superman1 , Ubermmsch) and perhaps
phrases (compliments de fa saison^ 'compliments of the season'), is known
as caique or loan translation. I prefer the more transparent term 'through-
translation'.

In theory, a translator should not 'initiate' a through-translation. In fact,

through-translations in contiguous cultures sometimes fill in useful gaps,
and perhaps it is time that 'Good appetite , 'through-compose , 'leading
motive , 'relaxation (for detente), 'no longer the youngest', 'birthday child*,
should finally enter familiar English, The most obvious examples of through-
translations are the names of international organisations which often
consist of 'universal* words which may be transparent for English and
Romance languages, and semantkally motivated for Germanic and Slavonic:
e.g., EEC, Communaute'Economique Europeenne, Europdische
Wirtschaftsgemeirtschaft (EWG, now EG)\ European Cultural Convention,
Convention culturelle europeenne; groupe d'gtudes, 'study group' but
Arbeitsgruppe; 'working party', commission d'enquexe, Arbeitsausschuss.

International organisations are often known by their acronyms, which may

remain English and internationalisms (UNESCO, UNRRA, FAO) or French
FIT (International Federation of Translators), but more often switch in
various Iangii^gesaLO^BITi^JAOiGy^UO.OMSiF^WGOiG^NATO.OTANiF),
NATO(G)).
Translated brochures, guide-books and tourist material are apt to pullulate
with incorrect through-translations: 'highest flourishing', 'programme
building', etc., which are evidence of translationese.

Normally, through-translations should be used only when they are already

recognised terms,

SHIFTS OR TRANSPOSITIONS

A 'shift* (Catford's term) or 'transposition1 (Vinay and Darbelnet) is a

translation procedure involving a change in the grammar from SL to TL. One
type, the change from singular to plural, e.g. 'furniture'; des meublest
'applause', des applaudis-sements; 'advice', des consetis; or in the position
of the adjective: la maison blanche, 'the white house' is automatic and offers
the translator no choice.

A second type of shift is required when an SL grammatical structure does

not exist in the TL. Here there are always options. Thus for the neutral
adjective as subject, I'interessant, e'estque; das Inieressanteist, dafi, V
inieressanteeche . , ., there is a choice of at least: 'What is interesting is
that. . .', 'The interesting thing is that . . .', 'It's interesting that . . ,', The
interest of the matter is that. . ,\ (But for French and Italian, it may be
'valuable' or 'useful' depending on the various contextual factors.) Again the
English gerund ('Working with you is a pleasure*) offers many choices. The
gerund can be translated by verb-noun (le travail, die
i4rfceir),orasubordinateclause('when,if,etc. I work with you'), with a recast
main clause, or, in some languages, a noun-infinitive (e.g. das Arbeiten,
which is formal style), or an infinitive.

I think the gerund is the most neglected of all translator's transpositions,

e.g., Wenn Humboldt den Auftrag . , . erhielt, so warm das mehreren
Faktoren zu danken - 'Several factors were responsible for Humboldt's
receiving the commission'. Note also the English 'do' auxiliary, 'do come*:
komm dock (or mal)\ viens done. French has 'venirde* plus the infinitive: il
vient de le faire is usually translated by 'recently' or 'just'. Again, Italian's
reflexive infinitives (per il precisarsi degli effetti negaiivi, 'by stating the
negative effects', 'when the negative effects are stated'; il suo espandersi, 'its
expansion1 , 'the process of its expansion'; I'esserci imbattuta in un caso,
'since we have come upon a case', 'the fact that we have come upon a case')
offer several choices. German has active or passive participial constructions
which are normally translated by adjectival clause or non-finite participial
clauses. Thus Beijeder sick bietenden Gelegenheit may be: 'At every
opportunity that occurs' or 'At every available opportunity' or 'Whenever the
opportunity occurs1 or 'At every opportunity' (taking sick bieten as an empty
verb). Again, Im Sinn dervon der Regierung verfolgien Ziele (Wilss, 1982)
may be 'In accordance with the aims pursued by the government', 'In
accordance with the aims which che government are pursuing' or 'in
accordance with the government's aims' - ihe three translations indicate a
different degree of emphasis.

The third type of shift is the one where literal translation is grammatically
possible but may not accord with natural usage in the TL. Here Vinay and
Darbelnet's pioneering book and a host of successors give their preferred
translations, but often fail to list alternatives, which may be more suitable in
other contexts or may merely be a matter of taste. (Grammar, being more
flexible and general than lexis, can normally be more freely handled.)

Thus, for SL verb, TL adverb: Notre commerce avec Vetranger n'a cesse de
s'ameliorer, lOur foreign trade has improved steadily (continuously)', 'Our
foreign trade has shown continuous improvement1 ; II ne tardera pas a
rentrer, *He will come back soon', 'He'll be back (return) in a moment
(shortly)'; La situation reste critique, 'The situation is still critical', l The
situation remains critical'.

In other cases Vinay and Darbelnet, sometimes rather arbitrarily, offer one
out of many possible translations; there is nothing wrong with this, but they
should have stated the fact. The translator is always concerned with
questions of currency and probability, and mere is a great difference
between Des son lever, L as soon as he gets up', where lever shows up an
English lexical gap and therefore the translation has a high degree of
probability, and Des qu'on essaie d'etre arbitraire, on est tout de suite aux
prises avec des contradictions, 'Any attempt to be arbitrary at once involves
one in inconsistencies', where ten translators might produce ten different
versions, and the semi-literal translation: 4As soon as one tries to be
arbitrary, one is immediately faced with contradictions1 ought, at first sight,
to be the most probable. But Vinay and Darbelnet's prejudice against literal
translation (admirably discussed in Wilss, 1982) has become notorious and
has had a baneful influence on translation teaching if not translation.
Incidentally, the last example contains several transpositions in Vinay and
Darbelnet's version:

(1) SL verb, TL noun (essaie, 'attempt')

(2) SL conjunction, TL indefinite adjective (des que, u any')

(3) SL clause, TL noun group (dis qu'on essaie, 'any attempt')

(4) SL verb group, TL verb {est aux prises, 'involves')

(5) SL noun group, TL noun (des contradictions, 'inconsistencies')

(6) SL complex sentence, TL simple sentence (etc!)

However, the fact that it is not possible to strictly standardise transpositions

in the way that Vinay and Darbelnet do- since so many overlap and convert
to lexis (what Catford calls "Level-shifts' e.g., apressamorr, 'after she had
died'), in noway detracts from their usefulness, and you should become
sensitised to their possibilities.

Further, there are a number of standard transpositions from Romance

languages to English which are worth noting even though they all have
alternative translations:

(1) SL adjective plus adjectival noun. TI. adverb plus adjective; d'une
importance exceptionnelle, * exceptionally large1

(2) SL prepositional phrase, TL preposition: au lerme det 'after' (cf. dans le

cadre de, au niveau dey a ['exception de, au depart de)

(3) SL adverbial phrase, TL adverb: d'une maniere bourrue, 'gruffly1

(4) SL noun plus adjective of substance, TL noun plus noun: la cellule
nerveuse, I nerve cell'

(5) SL verb of motion, with en and present participle of description, TL verb

of description plus preposition (Vinay and Darbelnet's 'criss-cross'
transposition): II gagna la/entire en rampant^He crawled to the window*

(6) SL verb, TL empty verb plus verb-noun: Jtrit, l he gave a laugh'

(7) SL noun plus (empty) past participle or adjectival clause (etc.) plus noun,
TL noun plus preposition plus noun (the 'house on the hill' construction): Le
ctfrnp/of^mrdiconrrejui,'the plot against him1 ; to ^ 'the tower on the hill'

(8) SL participial clause (active and passive), TL adverbial clause or

(occasionally) group, as in the following scheme:

SL participial clause (active) —* TL adverbial clause (group) L'unite francaise

renaissante, ('opinion pHera 'As French unity is reviving (with the de
nouveau rebirth of French unity) public opinion will carry weight again* SL
participial clause (active) -* TL adverbial clause (or group) Le moment
arrvt^je serai pret 'When the time comes (at the right time) Til be ready

The fourth type of transposition is the replacement of a virtual lexical gap by

a grammatical structure, e.g, aprissa sortie^ 'after he'd gone out'; il le cloua
au piloriy 'he pilloried him'; ilatteint le total, 'it totals'; 'he pioneered this
drug*, il a iU Vun des pionniers de ce medicament.

Certain transpositions appear to go beyond linguistic differences and can be

regarded as general options available for stylistic consideration. Thus a
complex sentence can normally be converted to a co-ordinate sentence, or to
two simple sentences: Si lui est aimable, safemme est arrogante - 'He is
(may be) very pleasant, but his wife is arrogant1 - 'He is pleasant; his wife,
however, is arrogant'. This also works the other way round, although some
would say that English, influenced by the King James Bible (Hebrew),
prefers simple or co-ordinate to complex sentences.

Again many languages appear to be capricious in converting active verbs to

animate nouns, thus: 'He is a heavy drinker1 - // boit sec\ La tdche d'un
exdeuteur fidele a"instructions recues - 'The task of someone (one) who
faithfully carries out the instructions they (he) have (has) received1 (note the
attempt to de-sex language); Une equipedepreleveurs-*A staff icam to take
(blood) samples.

A group of typical transpositions centre on a Romance-language subject:

(1) M. Tesniere, grammarien, m'a aide 'M, Tesniere (who was) a grammarian,
helped me*

(2) Une fois parti, M* Tesniere . . . 'once (when) he had left, M. Tesniere . . /

{3} Ce livre, intiressant, m'esi venu a t'esprit - 'The hook, which was (as it
was, though it was) interesting, came to my mind'

(4) L'homme,quifaisait. . . - The man doing . . .

The last point I want to mention ahout transpositions is that they illustrate
a frequent tension between grammar and stress. To take an example, should
you translate Seine Aussage ist schtechthin unzutreffend by 'His statement
is (a) completely false (one)' or There is absolutely no truth in his statement1
? My only comment is that too often the word order is changed
unnecessarily, and it is sometimes more appropriate to translate with a
lexical synonym, retain the word order and forgo the transposition in order
to preserve the stress. Transposition is the only translation procedure
concerned with grammar, and most translators make transpositions
intuitively. However, it is likely that comparative linguistics research, and
analysis of text corpuses and their trans-lations, will uncover a further
number of serviceable transpositions for us.

MODULATION

Vinay and Darbelnet coined the term 'modulation' to define l a variation

through a change of viewpoint, of perspective {eclairage) and very often of
category of thought'. Standard modulations such as chateau d'vau? 'water-
tower', are recorded in bilingual dictionaries. Free modulations are-used by
translators 'when the TL rejects literal translation', which, by Vinay and
Darbemet's criteria, means virtually always. Further, modulations are
divided into eleven rather random categories, whilst the - in my opinion -
only important one, the 'negated contrary' (sic), is not discussed.

As I see it, the general concept, since it is a super-ordinate term covering

almost everything beyond literal translation, is not useful as it stands.
However, the 'negated contrary', which I prefer to call ^positive for double
negative' (or ^double negative for positive') is a concrete translation
procedure which can be applied in principle to any action (verb) or quality
(adjective or adverb):

11 n'a pas hesite - lHe acted at once'

// n'est pas lache - LHe is extremely brave'

You will note that the translations are free, and in theory the double
negative is not as forceful as the positive; in fact the force of the double
negative depends on the tone of voice, and therefore the appropriateness of
this modulation must depend on its formulation and the context.

In the few cases where there is a lexical gap in an opposition (e.g. 'shallow';
peu profond), this modulation is virtually mandatory. In all other sentences
the procedure is potentially available, but you should only use it when the
translation is not natural unless you do so. Thus 'minor' collocated with,
say, 'detail' seems to call for a translation such as sans importance?
unbedeutend, although petit* klein, etc., remain as alternatives. Again, L it
will not seem unlikely that1 is perhaps best translated as il est fori probable
que ... In other cases, the procedure is merely a 'candidate* for use, e,g. 'He
made it plain to him' - it ne te tui cacha pas., it le luifit comprendre; 'Men
will not always die quietly' (J. M. Keynes) - Les kommes ne mourront pas
toujours sans se piaindre; "no mean city1 - cite qui n'est pas sans
importance; L no mean performer on the violin' - iljoue superieurement du
vioion.

Vinay and Darbelnet's second modulation procedure, 'part for the whole', is
rather misleadingly described; it consists of what I can familiar alternatives,
viz, te 14 juillet (fete nationale); Vkomme du 18 juin (De Gaulle); iafille atn4e
de i'Eglise (France); 'Athens of the North' (Edinburgh),
The other modulation procedures are: (a) abstract for concrete ('sleep in the
open', dormir a la belle etotle); (b) cause for effect ('You're quite a stranger',
On ne vous voit plus); (c) one part for another ('from cover to cover', de ia
premiere a la derniere page)\ (d) reversal of terms (lebensgefahrlick> danger
demort\ n'appelezpasdu has de rescalier, 'don't call up the stairs';
assurance-maladie, 'health insurance*); (e) active for passive; (0 space for
time ('as this in itself (space) presented a difficulty', l cela presemant deja
(time) une difficulte)\ (g) intervals and limits; (h) change of symbols.

Of these procedures, 'active for passive' (and vice versa) is a common

transposition, mandatory when no passive exists, advisable where, say, a
reflexive is normally preferred to a passive, as in the Romance languages.
Reversal of terms (Nida's 'conversive' terms) is also a distinct procedure,
usually optional for making language sound natural; *buy/selF,
'lend/borrow', hauteur d'eauj1 depth of water'; for English 'loan' there are
alternatives in other languages and cHance translates 'claim* as 'credit* or
'debt' depending on the point of view.

You will note that though I think Vinay's and Darbelnet's categorisation of
modulation unconvincing, their abundant translation examples are always
stimulating.

RECOGNISED TRANSLATION

You should normally use the official or the generally accepted translation of
any institutional term. If appropriate, you can gloss it and, in doing so,
indirectly show your disagreement with this official version. Thus
Mitbestimmung (in management) has to be translated first as 'co-
determination'; Rechtsstaat as 'constitutional state'. Personally I think 'co-
determination' is a poor translation of Mitbestimmung though it has the
virtue of distinctiveness and brevity. (Compare the plainer but clumsier
'employers' and workers' joint management1 .) But it is now too late to
change the term to 'workers' participation', and if you did so in any official
or serious informative text, you would cause confusion. Similarly, when
translating Gay-Lussac's Volumengesetz der Case it is no good giving it your
own title or even a brief explanation; nothing but the accepted term ('law of
combining volumes1 ) will do.

TRANSLATION LABEL

This is a provisional translation, usually of a new institunonal term, which

should be made in inverted commas, which can later be discreetly
withdrawn. It could be done through literal translation, thus: 'heritage
language', Erbschafisspracke, tangue dy heritage.

COMPENSATION

This is said to occur when loss of meaning, sound-effect, metaphor or

pragmatic effect in one part of a sentence is compensated in another part, or
in a contiguous sentence. COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS (see Chapter 11) This
is the splitting up of a lexical unit into its sense components, often one-to-
two, -three or -four translations.

REDUCTION AND EXPANSION

These are rather imprecise translation procedures, which you practise

intuitively in some cases, ad Aoc in others. However, for each there is at
least one shift which you may' like to bear in mind, particularly in poorly
written texts:

(1) SL adjective of substance plus general noun, TL noun: atleimes

infiammatoires et infectieuses, * inflammations and infections1 ; science
linguistique (etc.), 'linguistics'.

(2) For expansion, a not uncommon shift, often neglected, is SL adjective,

English T L adverb plus past participle, or present participle plus object:
cheveux igaux^ 'evenly cut hair1 ; belebend, life-giving',

PARAPHRASE

This is an amplification or explanation of the meaning of a segment of the

text. It is used in an 'anonymous' text when it is poorly written, or has
important implications and omissions.

OTHER PROCEDURES
Vinay and Darbelnet also give:

(1) Equivalence, an unfortunately named term implying approximate

equivalence, accounting for the same situation in different terms. Judging
from Vinay and Darbelnet's examples, they are simply referring to notices,
familiar alternatives, phrases and idioms - in other words, different ways of
rendering the cliches and standard aspects of language, e.g. The story so
far\ Resume des chapitres precedents.

(2) Adaptation: use of a recognised equivalent between two situations. This

is a matter of cultural equivalence, such as 'Dear Sir1 translated as
Monsieur; 'Yours ever* as Amities.

Both the above illuminate what sometimes happens in the process of

translating, but they are not usable procedures.

As I see it, there are about fourteen procedures within a certain range of
probability which are useful to the translator.

COUPLETS

Couplets, triplets, quadruplets combine two, three or four of the above-

mentioned procedures respectively for dealing with a single problem. They
are particularly common for cultural words, if transference is combined with
a functional or a cultural equivalent. You can describe them as two or more
bites at one cherry. Quadruplets are only used for metalingual words: thus,
if you translate the sentence: 'The nominal-tn^ clause, a participial clause,
occurs in the subject position', apart from a more or less literal translation
of 'nominal-mg clause', you might also: (a) transfer it; (b) explain, in an
adjectival clause, that the present participle is used as a kind of gerund in
English; (c) produce a translation label; (d) give an example, with TL literal
and functional translations! You will note my reluctance to list 'paraphrase'
as a translation procedure, since the word is often used to describe free
translation. If it is used in the sense of * the minimal recasting of an
ambiguous or obscure sentence, in order to clarify it', I accept it.

NOTES, ADDITIONS, GLOSSES

Lastly, here are some suggestions about 'Notes' (when and when not to use
them) or supplying additional information in a translation.

The additional information a translator may have to add to his version is

normally cultural (accounting for difference between SL and TL culture),
technical (relating to the topic) or linguistic (explaining wayward use of
words), and is dependent on the requirement of his, as opposed to the
original, readership. In expressive texts* such information can normally only
be given outside the version, although brief 'concessions* for minor cultural
details can be made to the reader, e.g. perhaps by translating Hemingway's
'at HandleyV by dans le bar Handley, in der Handley Bar^ etc. In vocative
texts, TL information tends to replace rather than supplement SL
information. Thus if you translate 'you can pay for ceramic tiles under a
convenient credit purchase scheme* the latter term may be 'translated1 by
the more precise Mong-term payment facility'.

Additional information in the translation may take various forms:

(1) Within the text

(a) As an alternative to the translated word: e.g., la gabelle becomes 'the

gabelle, or salt-tax*.

(b) As an adjectival clause: e.g., la taille becomes 'la taille, which was the old
levy raised in feudal times from the civilian population*.

(c) As a noun in apposition: e.g., les traiies becomes 'the traites, customs
dues

(d) As a participial group: e.g. , Voctroi becomes "Voctroi^ taxes imposed on

food stuffs and wine entering the town1 .

(e) In brackets, often for a literal translation of a transferred word: e.g. das
Kombinat becomes 'the kombinat (a "combine" or "trust")'.

(f) In parentheses, the longest form of addition: e.g., aides becomes 'aides
-these are excise dues on such things as drinks, tobacco, iron, precious
metaJs and leather-were imposed in the eighteenth century*.
Round brackets should include material that is part of the translation. Use
square brackets to make corrections of material or moral fact where
appropriate within the text.

Where possible, the additional information should be inserted within the

text, since this does not interrupt the reader's flow of attention - translators
tend to neglect this method too often. However, its disadvantage is that it
blurs the distinction between the text and the translator's contribution, and
it cannot be used for lengthy additions.

(2) Notes at bottom of page.

(3) Notes at end of chapter.

(4) Notes or glossary at end of book.

The remaining methods (2-4) are placed in order of preference, but notes at
the bottom of the page become a nuisance when they are too lengthy and
numerous; notes at the back of the book should be referenced with the book
page numbers at the top - too often I find myself reading a note belonging to
the wrong chapter. Notes at the end of the chapter are often irritating if the
chapters are long since they take too long to find.

Normally, any information you find in a reference book should not be used
to replace any statement or stretch of the text (unless the text does not
correspond to the facts) but only to supplement the text, where you think
the readers are likely to find it inadequate, incomplete, or obscure. Thus I
think it misguided to trar ;late say La dripanocyiose sr individualise par une
anomalie particuhire de {'hemoglobins by 'Sickle-cell disease is
distinguished by the fact that one amino-acid in the bent chain of the
haemoglobin is out of place*. The emphasis of the text-sentence on
'particular abnormality* is lost, and the new information, accurate as it is, is
unnecessary and is given tater in the SL text. Certainly encyclopaedia
articles often give information that reads like a paraphrase of the technical
text that is being trans-latcd> but the corresponding key-terms, not whole
sentences, should be 'lifted' from them. Similarly, when you consult an
expert, be careful not to let him, with a professional flourish, rewrite the
whole text for you, even if he produces a better text. His explanations and
interpretations also have to be at least related to, if not (literally?) subjected
to, a close translation of your text,

If you are translating an important book, you should not hesitate to write a
preface and notes to discuss the usage and meanings of the author's terms,
particularly where you sacrificed accuracy for economy in the translation, or
where there is ambiguity in the text. In the case of a scholarly work, there is
no reason why the reader should not be aware of the translator's informed
assistance both in the work and the comment. The artistic illusion of your
non-existence is unnecessary.