Riassunto esame Lingua inglese 3, prof. Bertuccelli, libro consigliato In Other Words, Baker

MONA  BAKER  

CHAPTER  I :  Introduction  

CHAPTER  II:  Equivalence  at  word  level  

Word  =  the  smallest  unit  of  language  that  can  be  used  by  itself.    

There  is  no  one-­‐to-­‐one  correspondence  between  orthographic  words  and  elements  of  meaning  within  or  across  

languages.    

Morpheme  =  the  minimal  element  of  meaning  in  language.    

The   Lexical   meaning   of   a   word   or   lexical   unit   may   be   thought   of   as   the   specific   value   it   has   in   a   particular  

linguistic  system.  

Propositional  meaning:  relation  between  the  word  and  what  it  refers  to  or  describes.    

Expressive   meaning:   cannot   be   judged   as   true   or   false,   because   it   relates   to   the   speaker's   feelings   or   attitude  

toward  what  he  says.    

Presupposed  meaning:  arises  from  co-­‐occurrence  restrictions  (restrictions  on  what  other  words  or  expressions  

we  expect  to  see  before  or  after  a  particular  lexical  unit).    

a) Selectional  restrictions:  for  instance,  we  expect  a  human  subject  for  "studious"  and  an  inanimate  one  for  

"geometrical".    

b) Collocational   restrictions:   semantically   arbitrary   restrictions   which   don't   follow   logically   from   the  

propositional  meaning  of  a  word.  For  instance,  in  English  teeth  are  brushed,  in  Italian  they  are  polished.    

Evoked  meaning:  from  dialect  and  register  variation.  A  dialect  is  a  variety  of  language  which  has  currency  within  

a  specific  community  or  group  of  speakers.    

a) Geographical:  American  /  British  English    

b) Temporal:  people  with  different  ages    

c) Social:  people  of  different  social  classes    

Register:   variety   of   language   that   a   language   considers   appropriate   to   a   specific   situation,   from   the   following  

variations:    

field   of   discourse:   what   is   going   on   -­‐>   different   linguistic   choices   whether   the   two   people   are   making   or  

• discussing  a  game/love/politics    

tenor   of   discourse:   relationship   between   the   people   -­‐>   difficult   to   translate   when   a   certain   attitude   is  

• strange  in  the  target  culture.  If  the  source  culture  are  Americans,  it  is  possible  that  teens  direct  to  their  

parents  by  calling  them  with  their  names,  or  in  a  disrispectful  way.  In  certain  cultures  it  can't  be  done,  so  

translation  can  intervene.    

mode   of   discourse:   role   that   the   language   is   playing   (speech,   essay,   lecture,   ...)   and   the   medium   of   its  

• transmission  (spoken  or  written).  

The  only  one  that  relates  to  truth  or  falsehood  is  the  propositional  meaning.  

The  problem  of  non-­‐equivalence  

The  choice  of  a  suitable  equivalent  can  depend  on  a  bunch  of  factors,  that  may  be  linguistic  or  extra-­‐linguistic.    

Semantic  Fields  

Fields   are   abstract   concepts,   the   actual   word   are   called   lexical   sets.   Each   semantic   field   has   several   sub-­‐

divisions/lexical  sets.  The  more  detailed  a  semantic  field  is  in  a  given  language,  the  more  different  it  is  likely  to  

be  from  related  semantic  fields  in  other  languages.  Two  areas  where  understanding  semantic  fields  can  be  useful  

to  a  translator:    

a) Appreciating  the  value  that  a  word  has  in  a  given  system  -­‐>  if  you  know  what  other  items  are  available  in  

a   lexical   set   and   how   they   contrast   with   the   item   chosen,   you   can   appreciate   the   significance   of   the  

writer's  choice.    

b) Developing   strategies   for   dealing   with   non-­‐equivalence   -­‐>   superordinate   and   hyponyms:   one   can   be  

used  to  define  the  other,  by  widening  the  meaning  or  narrowing  it.  

Semantic  fields  may  not  always  be  applicable,  but  their  notion  can  provide  the  translator  with  useful  strategies  

for  dealing  with  non-­‐equivalence  in  some  contexts.  

Non-­‐equivalence  at  a  word  level  means  that  the  target  language  has  no  direct  equivalent  for  a  word  which  occurs  

in  the  source  text.  Common  problems    

a) Culture-­‐specific   concepts   can   be   totally   unknown   in   the   target   culture:   abstract   or   complete   concepts,  

religious  believes,  social  customs,  types  of  food,...    

b) Source-­‐language   concept   is   not   lexicalized   in   the   target   language:   for   instance,   "standard"   expresses   a  

concept   easy   to   understand   but   it   has   no   equivalent   in   Arabic,   while   "landslide"   has   no   ready   equivalent  

in  many  cultures,  even  if  it  only  means  "overwhelming  majority".    

c) Source-­‐language  word  is  semantically  complex  (it  can  be  also  a  single  morpheme!)    

d) The  source  and  target  languages  make  different  distinctions  in  meaning.  What  one  language  regards  as  

an  important  distinction  in  meaning  another  language  may  not  perceive  as  relevant.  Indonesians  make  

differencies   between   "going   out   in   the   rain   and   knowing   that   it's   raining"   and   "going   out   in   the   rain  

without  knowing  that  it's  raining",  but  for  many  cultures  this  isn't  a  relevant  linguistic  difference.    

e) The  target  language  lacks  a  superordinate  but  it  has  the  specific  words/hyponyms.    

f) The  target  language  lacks  hyponyms  but  it  has  the  superordinate.    

g) Difference  in  physical  or  interpersonal  perspective:  it  can  be  more  important  in  one  language  than  it  is  

in  another.  It  has  to  do  with  where  things  or  people  are  in  relation  to  one  another  or  to  a  place.    

h) Difference   in   expressive   meaning   in   the   target   language,   even   if   it   may   have   the   same   propositional  

meaning   as   the   source-­‐language.   It   is   usually   easier   to   add   expressive   meaning   than   to   subtract   it.   If   the  

target  language  is  neutral  compared  to  the  source-­‐language  item,  the  translator  can  add  the  evaluative  

element  by  means  of  a  modifier  or  adverb  if  necessary  or  by  building  it  in  somewhere  else  in  the  text.  

Differences   in   expressive   meaning   are   usually   more   difficult   to   handle   when   the   target   language  

equivalent  is  more  emotionally  loaded  than  the  source-­‐language  item.    

i) Differencies  in  form:  

i. certain  affixes  which  convey  propositional  and  other  types  of  meaning  in  English  may  have  no  

direct  equivalent  in  other  languages.    

ii. affixes   which   contribute   to   expressive   or   evoked   meaning   are   more   difficult   to   translate   by  

means  of  paraphrase.  Examples  of  different  uses  of  affixes  can  be  seen  in  advertisement.    

j) Differences   in   frequency   and   purpose   of   using   specific   forms.   Even   with   the   ready   equivalent   in   the  

target   language,   there   may   be   a   difference   in   the   frequency   or   purpose   with/for   which   it   is   used.   For  

instance,  English  use  the  -­‐ing  form  more  frequently  than  German  or  Danish,  so,  reporting  with  "-­‐ing"  too  

much  in  those  language  can  seem  wrong.    

k) Use  of  loan  words.  They're  often  used  for  their  prestige  value  because  they  can  add  sophistication.  When  

a  loan  word  for  many  language  (like  "dilettante"  in  english  and  others)  is  not  in  a  particular  language,  for  

instance   Arabic,   then   it   has   to   be   translated   and   its   stylistic   effect   have   to   be   sacrificed.   Loan   words   also  

propose   the   problem   of   false   friends,   often   associated   with   historically   or   culturally   related   languages  

such   as   English,   French,   Spanish,   German,   but   there   are   false   friends   even   between   totally   unrelated  

languages,  such  as  English  and  Russian  and  Japanese.  Once  a  word  is  a  loan  in  a  language,  its  meaning  

can   develop!   It   is   neither   possible   nor   desirable   to   reproduce   every   aspect   of   meaning   for   every   word   in  

a  source  text,  but  by  explaining  every  meaning  we  can  distract  the  reader.  

Strategies  used  by  professional  translators  

a) Translation   by   a   superordinate   (a   more   general   word)   to   overcome   a   lack   of   specificity   in   the   target  

language  

b) Translation  by  a  more  neutral  or  less  expressive  word  

c) Translation  by  a  cultural  substitution,  that  involves  replacing  a  culture-­‐specific  item  or  expression  with  

a  target  language  item  which  doesn’t  have  the  same  propositional  meaning  but  is  likely  to  have  a  similar  

impact  on  the  target  reader  

d) Translation  using  a  loan  word  or  loan  word  plus  explanation  

e) Translation  by  a  paraphrase  using  unrelated  words  when  a  concept  is  not  lexicalized  at  all  in  the   target  

language:  this  achieves  a  high  level  of  precision  in  specifying  propositional  meaning.  In  certain  types  of  

environment,  such  as  subtitling,  there  are  often  severe  restrictions  on  space  that  preclude  the  use  of  any  

strategy  that  involves  this  type  of  expansion.  

f) Translation  by  omission  

g) Translation  by  illustration  

CHAPTER  III:  Equivalence  above  word  level  

Words  rarely  occur  on  their  own:  they  almost  always  occur  combined  to  convey  meaning.  

There  are  some  restrictions  for  example  in  word  order.    

Lexical  patterning:   collocations   and