Rielaborazione basata su appunti sul genre analysis e moves in testi di carattere economico/giuridico, Prof. Falco, Esame di Lingua e Traduzione Inglese 2

Slides

(p.5)

JAKOBSON STATED THAT THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF TRANSLATION OR 3 WAYS OF INTERPRETING A VERBAL SIGN:

• INTRALINGUAL TR. OR REWORDING, OR SUMMARIZING WITHIN THE SAME LANGUAGE
• INTERLINGUAL TR. OR TRANSLATION PROPER → THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF TRANSLATION FROM ST TO TT OR THE SHIFTING FROM ONE LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER
• INTERSEMIOTIC TR. OR TRANSMUTATION → THE CHANGING OF A WRITTEN TEXT INTO A DIFFERENT FORM (DRAWING, MOVIE ETC.)

(p.11)

THE COMPETENCES THAT I NEED TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATOR ARE

• LANGUAGE COMPETENCE
• TIC COMPETENCE
• TRANSLATION SERVICE PROVISION COMPETENCE
• INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
• TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCE
• INFORMATION MINING COMPETENCE

INCLUDES A SOCIOLINGUISTIC AND A TEXTUAL DIMENSION

MARKETING, SOCIAL ROLE OF THE TRANSLATOR

INTER ALIA: KNOWING HOW TO IDENTIFY INFO. AND DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS, TERMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH

MASTERY OF, KNOWING HOW TO USE EFFECTIVELY AND RAPIDLY SOFTWARES TO ASSIST TOOLS → IN TRANSLATION, TERMINOLOGY, RESEARCH

KNOWING HOW TO CREATE/MANAGE A DATABASE AND FILES

TO SEARCH FOR APPROPRIATE INFO

TO GAIN A BETTER GRASP OF THE THEMATIC ASPECTS OF A TEXT, LEARNING TO DEVELOP ONE'S KNOWLEDGE IN SPECIALIST FIELDS AND APPLICATIONS

→ MASTERING SYSTEMS OF CONCEPTS, METHODS OF REASONING CONTROLLED LANGAGE, TERMINOLOGY

Language Competence

Includes knowing how to understand

• grammatical structures
• lexical
• idiomatic
• the graphic
• typographic conventions

of language A and other working languages (B/C). Translators must also possess the know-how to use the same structures/conventions in languages A and B and develop sensitivity to changes in languages.

Knowledge of the genre, register and text-types in both S/T cultures serves the translator in good stead. Language for Specific Purposes.

LSP texts can be classified according to their content or register:

• medical
• economic
• legal texts

Socio-pragmatic criteria or genres → functional typologies

Different forms of writing or text-types

• Instructions (use of commands, use of fiction verbs, use of imperative)
• Description (use of passive voice/genre, use of action verbs when describing behavior)
• Report (use of passive voice, use of general, use of technical terms, use of past tense)

Jakobson proposed a model of verbal communication which highlights the importance of the codes and social contexts involved. He outlined what he regarded as the 6 factors in any act of verbal communication:

• Context
• The Addresser sends a message to the Addressee
• Contact Code

To be operative, the message requires:

• a Context, referable to, seizeable by the Addressee, verbal or not
• a Code, common to the Addresser/Addressee
• a Contact, a physical channel and psychological connection between the two, enabling them to stay in comm.

Move 1

Establishing a Territory

Usually by describing the general "picture" of the research area using one or more of the following strategies (steps):

Step 1

Claiming Centrality

Usually stating that the topic of research is useful, relevant, important or worth since it is part of a significant research area. Centrality claims often serve as topic sentences usually followed by evidence to support this statement (extensively, considerable attention, great importance).

Step 2

Making Generalizations

Concerning the current state of knowledge, practice, or description of phenomena. (is known to, generally accepted, a standard procedure)

Step 3

Presenting Background Information

Needed to relate what has been found or claimed and with who has found or claimed it. (Smith, 1989)

Move 2

Establishing a Niche

Academic writers try to claim a niche for their research, by showing that the previous research is not complete or needs further investigation. This is often signalled by words expressing contrast or negative evaluation (however, fail, inconclusive).

Step 1a

Counter-Claiming

Following Move 1 Step 3, used to introduce an opposing viewpoint or pinpoint weaknesses in previous research. (however, failed, but)

Step 1b

Indicating a Gap

Following Move 1 Step 2

Term-Related Problems

• "Soft" science → unstable terminology

1. Time (diachrony)

The rise of new economic disciplines results in the semantic shifts of old terms or their death.

• Ex. depression:
  • 1800 → slightly negative connotation
  • 1930 → strongly negative connotation = recession

The development of economic disciplines and the rise of new domains lead to neologisms.

• Ex. downsizing, rightsizing, plateauing

2. Idiosyncracy between common and specific meaning of a term

• Ex. curve
  • Common meaning → bent
  • Economic meaning → straight and jagged line joining points that have been plotted from their coordinates along the x/y axes.

How to solve those problems:

Research - Documentation - Info Mining

• Glossaries
• Dictionaries
• Web
• Concept Mapping
• Encyclopedias
• Visual Thesauri