Lingua Inglese 2 completo

VARIATION ON LITERAL TRANSLATION

Elegant variations: when the translator wishes to write in a style that is natural to

 him/her

Back-translation test: establishing the validity of a translation by translating it back

 to the ST. it is not valid if there are lexical gaps between ST and TT.

Accepted translation: some transparent institutional terms are translated literally in

 at least Western European languages even though the TL cultural equivalents have

widely different functions. Concept -words such as “radicalism” or “realism” are

translated literally and often misleadingly, as their local connotations are often

different. Any “core” denotative meaning is swamped by the connotative pragmatic

meaning.

Constraints on literal translation: the SL word may: a) be used more frequently; b)

 have a wider semantic range than the corresponding TL word, or a different connotation

Natural translation: resisting literal translation is sometimes necessary when it feels

 unnatural, especially when there are no satisfactory one-to-one equivalents.

re-creative translation: the last resort is interpreting the sense, not the words. First,

 (fight)

we struggle with words, then we get to the sense.

The sub-text: another reason might be the search for the “hidden agenda”, the

 pursuit of the sub-text or the intention of the text. The meaning behind the meaning. To

an intelligent reader, the true meaning behind the meaning is clear, and the translator

must word the sentence in such a way that the sub-text is equally clear in English.

Untranslatable words



REVIEW OF TOURISM LANGUAGE FEATURES :

a) At a lexical level:

The use of positive adjectives to give beauty and distinction to the text

 (spectacular, exotic)

The use of superlatives, either with adjectives or with the morphological form, is

 very high.

The very careful lexical choices of keywords as a way, adventure, dream,

 imagination, pleasure, escape to comply with the tourist’s expectations about

(visiting);

holidaying together with a technique called languaging, which refers to

the use of foreign and invented words in tourist’s texts to induce a sense of

exotic feeling in the tourist.

The use of cultural references, called realia which do not have any equivalent in the

target language.

b) At a syntactic level:

Preference for nominalization

 benefit)

Imperatives, in order to urge the tourist to avail ( him/herself of the

 opportunities which are on offer

The use of the present simple tense in order to make the times of the holiday still

 and everlasting

c) At a functional level:

Is always the main function, since the objective of tourist texts is to inform and

 describe a country, a region, a community.

These are Spanish terms which have no equivalents in other languages, hence

 they need some explanation, but it loses part of its meaning.

The persuasive or vocative function is the other predominant function; the major

 aim of language of tourism Is to “aim, persuade, transform them from potential

into actual clients”

Expressive function, connotative function, and poetic function are secondary

 functions

Slide 28 (descrizione della Puglia, ed Ediburgo): per esercitarsi

WEEK 8

Other translation Methods

Transference: 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.

Generally, only cultural objects or concepts related to a small group or cult should be

transferred; the trend for transferring so called “national characteristic” should be

abandoned.

However, when the translator has to decide whether or not to transfer a word unfamiliar in

the target language, he usually complements it with a second translation procedure.

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.

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 recognized translations (see

Naturalisation below);

- names of periodicals and newspapers;

- titles of yet untranslated literary works, plays, films;

- names of private companies and institutions;

- names of public or nationalized institutions, unless they have recognized

translations; (rue Thaibaut\

- street names, addresses, etc. lin the Rue Thaibaut').

The argument in favour of transference: it shows respect for the SL country’s culture.

The argument against of transference: it is the translator’s job to translate and 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. Also, grammar

-s.)

is naturalized (e.g. English loans in Italian lose the plural

Cultural equivalent: This is an approximate translation where a SL cultural word is

translated by a TL cultural word;

baccalauriai

- is translated as “(the French) "A" level”,

Abitur (Maturità)

- as “(the German/Austrian) "A” level”;

Palais Bourbon

- as “(the French) Westminster”;

Montecitorio

- as “(the Italian) Westminster”;

charcuterie –

- “delicatessen” (now English “deli”);

notaire

- – Solicitor.

They are approximate cultural equivalent and they have a greater pragmatic impact than

culturally neutral items.

Occasionally, they may be purely functionally, hardly descriptively, equivalents, like saying

“calcio” as a metaphor for national sport.

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 neutralizes or

generalizes the SL word; and sometimes adds a particular:

baccalauriat -

- French secondary school leaving exam

Sejm

- - Polish parliament;

- Zanichelli – Italian dictionary.

-

This procedure, which is a cultural componential analysis, is the most accurate way of

translating i.e. decentralizing a cultural word.

Descriptive equivalent: In translation, description sometimes has to be considered against

machete,

function. Thus, for the description is a “Latin American broad, heavy instrument”,

Knife”.

the function is “cutting or aggression”; description and function are combined in “

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 are essential elements in explanation and therefore in translation.

In translation discussion, function used to be neglected; now it tends to be overplayed.

Synonymy: 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

persona gentile, difficile;

quality: thus, “kind” person; awkward' or “fussy”,

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 should 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 caique

organizations, the components of compounds and perhaps phrases; is known as or

loan translation.

The most obvious examples of through-translations are the names of international

organizations which often consist of universal words: they 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 Ianguages (UN→

ONU). Normally through-translation should be used only when they are already recognised

terms.

Shifts or transpositions: A “shift” or “transposition” is a translation procedure involving a

change in the grammar from SL to TL. One type, the change from singular to plural, e.g.

I mobile gli applausi; I consigli;

“furniture”; “applause”, “advice”, or in the position of the

la casa bianca,

adjective: '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

“What is interesting is that...”, 'The interesting thing is that 'It's

of at least: ...”,

interesting that…”, “The interest of the matter is that…”.

Again, the English gerund “Working with you is a pleasure” offers many choices. The gerund

lavorare,

can be translated by verb-noun or a subordinate clause “when, if, etc. I work with

das Arbeiten,

you”, with a recast main clause, or, in some languages, a noun-infinitive (e.g.

which is formal style), or an infinitive.

(per il precisarsi degli effetti negativi,

Italian's reflexive infinitives “by stating the negative

il suo espandersi,

effects”, “when the negative effects are stated”; “its expansion”, “the

I'esserci imbattuta in un caso,

process of its expansion”; “since we have come upon a case”,

“the fact that we have come upon a case”) offer several choices.

- The third type of shift is the one where literal translation is grammatically possible

but may not accord with natural usage in the TL.

There are a number of standard transpositions from Romance languages to English which are

worth nothing di una larghezza

(1) SL adjective plus adjectival noun, TL adverb plus adjective;

eccezionale, “exceptionally large” dopodiche

(2) SL prepositional phrase, TL preposition: “after”,

in modo improvviso,

(3) SL adverbial phrase, TL adverb: “suddenly”

la cellula nervosa,

(4) SL noun plus adjective of substance, TL noun plus noun: SL “nerve

cell”<