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Translation Week 1

The document discusses various concepts relating to translation, including: 1. It defines translation as both the process of transferring text from a source language to a target language, as well as the resulting target text. 2. It explores the distinction between "word-for-word" and "sense-for-sense" translations, which dates back to ancient writers, and how translators have interpreted these concepts differently. 3. It covers various theories and approaches to translation, such as Nida's principles of formal and dynamic equivalence, Newmark's translation process model, and Baker's equivalence typology. 4. It also discusses issues that can cause non-equivalence between languages at the word

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Roswita Ferrini
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87 views30 pages

Translation Week 1

The document discusses various concepts relating to translation, including: 1. It defines translation as both the process of transferring text from a source language to a target language, as well as the resulting target text. 2. It explores the distinction between "word-for-word" and "sense-for-sense" translations, which dates back to ancient writers, and how translators have interpreted these concepts differently. 3. It covers various theories and approaches to translation, such as Nida's principles of formal and dynamic equivalence, Newmark's translation process model, and Baker's equivalence typology. 4. It also discusses issues that can cause non-equivalence between languages at the word

Uploaded by

Roswita Ferrini
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Concise Oxford English Dictionary:

translation n. 1 the act or an instance of translating. 2


a written or spoken expression of the meaning of a
word, speech, book, etc. in another language.
Dictionary of Translation Studies (Shuttleworth and
Cowie 1997:181):
Translation An incredibly broad notion which can be
understood in many different ways.
The ambit of translation
The process of transferring a written text from SL
to TL, conducted by a translator, or translators, in a
specific socio-cultural context.
The written product, or TT, which results from that
process and which functions in the socio-cultural
context of the TL.
The cognitive, linguistic, visual, cultural and
ideological phenomena.
2. WORD-FOR-WORD TRANSLATION vs
SENSE-FOR-SENSE TRANSLATION

The distinction between 'word-for-word' ( 'literal') and 'sense-for-


sense' (i.e. 'free') translation goes back to Cicero (first century
BCE) and St Jerome (late fourth century(CE) and forms the basis of
key writings on translation.
e.g.
word-for-word
◦ I want to hug you.
◦ I went to the market yesterday.

sense-for-sense
◦ I deadly believe in you, dear.
◦ I am really into cartoon films.
Flora Amos, in her Early Theories of Translation (1920) , notes
that early translators often differed considerably in the meaning
they gave to terms such as 'faithfulness', 'accuracy‘ and even the
word 'translation' itself.
e.g.
faithfulness
◦ Jesus is the light way.

accuracy
◦ The man climbed the coconut tree.

◦ In translating sacred texts, there is an interconnection


between (fidelity to both the words and the
sense/meaning), spirit (the energy of the Words and the
Holy Spirit), and the truth (the content).
It is called “a sterile debate over the triad of
literal, free and faithful translation (George
Steiner, 1998).
The difference between “word-for-word” and
“sense-for-sense”
 The replacement of single word of the ST with
the closest grammatical equivalent in Latin.
 The “sense-for-sense” allowed the sense or the
content of the ST to be translated.
 The “word-for-word” refers to literal, The “sense-
for-sense” refers to free.
 The “word-for-word” refers to form, The “sense-
for-sense” refers to content/message.
Gideon Toury (1995) :

Two tentative general ‘laws’ of translation :


1. The law of growing standardization
2. The law of interference
The translation
studies
Roman Jakobson (1959/2004: 139 ):

Three types of translation :


1. Intralingual translation or rewording
2. Interlingual translation or
translation proper
3. Intersemiotic translation or
transmutation
4. THE PRINCIPLE OF
EQUIVALENCE EFFECT
Nida prefers 2 ‘basic orientations’ or ‘types of
equivalence’:
1.Formal equivalence
2.Dynamic equivalence
Formal equivalence

Focuses attention on the message itself, in


both form and content … the message in the
receptor language should match as closely as
possible the different elements in the source
language. (Nida, 1964:159)
Dynamic equivalence

Based on ‘the principle of equivalent effect’,


which means that ‘the relationship between
receptor and message should be
substantially the same as that which existed
between the original receptors and the
message’. (Nida, 1964: 159)
4. NEWMARK’S V DIAGRAM
5. NEWMARK’S 4-LEVEL
PROCESS OF
TRANSLATION
1. Textual level

2. The referential level

3. The cohesive level

4. The level of naturalness


Revision procedure
7. Mona Baker’s equivalence typology

1. Equivalence at word level


2. Equivalence above word level
3. Grammatical equivalence
4. Textual equivalence
5. Pragmatic
MORPHEMES
 The minimal formal element of meaning in language.
 Morpheme cannot contain more than one element of
meaning and cannot be further analysed.
Functions :
1. Marking plurality
2. Gender
3. Tense
LEXICAL MEANING

1. Propositional Meaning
2. Expressive Meaning
3. Presupposed Meaning
4. Evoked Meaning
PROPOSITIONAL MEANING

The propositional meaning of a word or an


utterance arises from the relation between it
and what if refers to or describes in a real or
imaginary world, as conceived by the
speakers of the particular language to which
the word or utterance belong.
EXPRESSIVE MEANING

Expressive meaning relates to the speakers’


feelings or attitude rather than to what words
and utterance refer to. 
PRESUPPOSED MEANING

Presupposed meaning arises from co-


occurrence restrictions:
 Selectional restrictions
 Collocational restrictions 
EVOKED MEANING

Evoked meaning arises from dialect and


register variation:
Geographical
Temporal
Social
REGISTER
1) Arises from variations in:

2) Field of discourse (topics or contents)

3) Tenor of discourse (relationship)

4) Mode of discourse (role and medium)


8. Issues of Non-equivalence at word level

Common problems of non-equivalence:


non-equivalence
Culture-specific concepts
The source-language concept is not lexicalized in the target
language
The source-language word is semantically complex
The source and the target languages make different
distinctions in meaning
The target language lacks a superordinate
Common problems of non-equivalence:
non-equivalence
The target language lacks a specific term (hyponym)
Differences in physical or interpersonal perspective
Differences in expressive meaning
Difference in form
Differences in frequency and purpose of using specific forms
The use of loan words in the source text
9. Translation Strategies used by
professional translators :
 Translation by a more general word .
 Translation by a more neutral/ less expressive word
 Translation by cultural substitution
 Translation using a loan word or loan words plus explanation
 Translation by paraphrase using a related word
 Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words
 Translation by omission
 Translation by illustration
10. QUALITIES OF GOOD TRANSLATION

Nida’s four basic requirements of a translation


(Nida, 1964: 164) :
1) making sense;
2) conveying the spirit and manner of the original;
3) having a natural and easy form of expression;
4) producing a similar response.
Dolet’s five principles :
1) The translator must perfectly understand the sense and material of
the original author, although he [sic] should feel free to clarify
obscurities.
2) The translator should have a perfect knowledge of both SL and TL,
so as not to lessen the majesty of the language.
3) The translator should avoid word-for-word renderings.
4) The translator should avoid Latinate and unusual forms.
5) The translator should assemble and liaise(assemble) words
eloquently to avoid clumsiness.
Tytler’s three general laws (Tytler, 1797: 15) :
Nida’s four ‘basic requirements’ is similar to Tytler’s three principles of
translation:
1) The translation should give a complete transcript of the
ideas of the original work.
2) The style and manner of writing should be of the same character
with that of the original.
3) The translation should have all the ease of original composition.
THANK YOU

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